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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly
five things WITH
LACHLAN FROM THE GUPPIES Growing Up Probably my favourite music memory from 1. my childhood would have to be going to violin lessons. I don’t remember ever wanting to play violin but my grandma would take me there so I just did it. There was this absolute legend of a guy in my class, who turned his violin on the side and started shredding on it like it was a guitar. I think that’s what really started my love of music. And shredding. Inspirations I’m always changing my musical taste. 2. I used to spend months on end listening to really old blues records. The obvious ones like Freddie King, Albert King and Buddy Guy were always amongst it but I ended up finding these super obscure blues/jazz fusion players who I really dug. But nowadays I tend to jump between everything – I’m always vibing on something new. I feel that’s a good thing. I’m dead certain I’ll realise in a year or two that I’ve blatantly ripped off someone’s work though. Your Band We’re just three dudes playing pretty lame 3. punk music. I started getting a fair collection of original tunes when I was about 16 and just desperately wanted to play them for people. So
I literally resorted to talking to random players at local gigs until I ended with two other likeminded dudes. I don’t think we exactly had similar musical taste but we were like-minded in wanting to play in a band and giving it our all. The Music You Make We haven’t really been round long enough 4. yet to have our own sub-genre named after us, but I would definitely call it rock’n’roll. It’s a pretty noisy, angry thing we got going on, but people seem to be digging it and we love playing it live. We are all super stoked that we are about to release our first ever collection of tunes, should have something out in the real world in the coming months! Music, Right Here, Right Now The Newcastle music scene is really quite 5. different to anywhere else I’ve been. Especially starting out (probably didn’t help that we were underage) getting those first few shows was a real battle. Ever since I’ve been 18 though, I’ve been heading to places like The Annandale checking out upcoming bands like us. Where: Gallery Bar @ Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday April 11
‘APPY MONDEES
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Just in case Happy Mondays’ May 4 show at UNSW Roundhouse won’t seem enough like an acid flashback from those candy-flipping halcyon Madchester days, Peter Hook of Joy Division but mostly of New Order will be DJing, and Melbourne shoegaze/psych heroes Underground Lovers will be opening proceedings. Also, don’t be surprised if Bez comes up to you and says this exact thing: “Got any veras, la? Fookin’ mad for it, me. Get a load of those geezers near the smoke machine? Well into knocking them right out if I hear any more lip from those fookin’ knobends.”
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So, let me get this straight. Not only are LA indie geniuses Local Natives playing The Metro on May 15 (buy their album Hummingbird) but local natives New Gods – who are made up of two Little Red lads, a guy called Richard who insists he is also in Eagle And The Worm, and Sam Raines of Ground Components – are supporting?! I’m buying two tickets, in case I accidentally print one out and run it through the wash, then delete the email with the digital ticket in it, then forget all my personal details and Ticketek’s phone number. Life is pretty easy these days, isn’t it?
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Simon Binns, Katie Davern, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Chris Honnery, Kate Jinx, Nathan Jolly, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Jody Macgregor, Alicia Malone, Chris Martin, Jenny Noyes, Hugh Robertson, Rebecca Saffir, Jonno Seidler, Rach Seneviratne, Luke Telford, Simon Topper, Rick Warner, Krissi Weiss, Caitlin Welsh, David Wild
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Kirin J Callinan once planted an epileptic guy in the crowd at one of his shows, with plans to induce a seizure with the aid of a manic lighting display. Not surprisingly, the organisers weren’t thrilled about this, so instead he screened a video of the guy having a seizure, cut with quick-fire shots of Callinan masturbating, among other things. The show fell apart, people were appalled and confused, and I guess what we are saying is you’ll wanna get along to his April 12 show at St. James Crypt. There are two performances: one at 7pm, one at 9pm. Anything could happen! That usually means the frontman yelps a bit and sometimes breaks strings accidentally, but let us be clear – we mean Anything Could Happen.
WE ALL WANT TO
We All Want To’s ‘Ramp Up The Bleeding’ is easily one of the best side one, track ones in recent history, so much so that we have swung all the way from excusing the Dylan-aping vocals to celebrating them. It also features the line “stop deleting the past, whenever it suits ya” which sounds like the type of kiss-off a speed-addled Dylan would have rattled out on his typewriter, before turning to Joan Baez and sneering “Bet Donovan wishes he’d written this.” We All Want To’s new single ‘No Signs’ continues the ‘holy shit, this is awesome’ trend they have established, and they’ll be showcasing it, and various other songs, on ANZAC Day (April 25 you disrespectful bastards) at Newtown’s Union Hotel, and April 26 at Goodgod Small Club with Charlie Horse (slang for Cocaine Heroin)
and Bambino Koresh (whose debut record Up And Left is a mighty, mighty cracker!)
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Neighbourhood Youth sounds like a Fat Albert-esque kids show from the ’80s in which a rag-tag assortment of colourful (not in that way!) characters learn lessons about life – and themselves. Turns out it isn’t, and that they are a kick-arse Melbourne rock band, whose recent single ‘My Friends’ is causing all sorts of trouble, what with the loud guitars, and that hook that lodges itself in your brain until your co-workers yell, “Stop humming that fucking song”, and you have to report them for foul language in the workplace. They play two Sydney shows next week, April 5 at World Bar, and April 6 at Upstairs Beresford.
CHEMISTRY
Perth-based swampy, indie-bluesy band The Chemist are currently being championed by Luke Emperor Steele and were signed by Kav “Hey, I’ve got a label now” Temperley from Eskimo “Hey, we’re a serious band now” Joe, and when Perth’s musical collective get behind an act, it usually means they are going to blow up in a big way. They’ve just released their debut record Ballet In The Badlands, and are gonna be showing it off June 1 at Brighton Up Bar, which is a still a while off, assuming that time is linear.
Kirin J Callinan photo by Cara Stricker
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
KIRIN YAY!
Bonjah have that handsome-man, poundingdrums, vaguely roots-infused rock thing down pat, which means their forthcoming third album is likely to be their best yet. It’s not out until spring, but you can hear their new single ‘Evolution’ now, which was mixed by Nick DiDia, which is possibly why sonically it sits somewhere between Springsteen and Powderfinger. Catch them on May 23 at Oxford Art Factory. It’ll probably sell out too – these guys have a fairly mental following, who love pre-buying tickets.
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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
five things WITH
THE DRONES
VANCE JOY step back from your own life and see how different things played their part in forming you. I was surrounded by thoughtful and sensitive adults who loved music and books. Inspirations I am always discovering my 2. favourite artists and musicians. I am not sure if there is a single most potent influence. Paul Kelly sticks out for me as a child. I remember hearing a lot of music in Mum’s car on the many trips we took in it. I’m inspired by good writing and people who express themselves simply and elegantly. Your Band I am still learning who I like 3. playing with and have only had
1.
Growing Up I learnt to play guitar when I was 14 and would play Metallica
songs. My dad made sure I learnt music and got me a Squier Strat Pack. I think it is hard to
TUFF ENUF?
There’s a song on the skuzzy, punkish second King Tuff album called ‘Bad Thing’ in which, after a mopey, self-pitying verse, Kyle Thomas yells “I’m a bad thing!”, stretching and tearing the vowel in “bad” as if to say “Fuck you, I know it, and I’m owning it, so what have you got on me now?” That bit is gonna rule when he does it on April 24 at Goodgod. So time your toilet-breaks appropriately, or just hold it – you’re not a toddler, dear.
WILLY AND BEN
Willy Mason and Ben Howard sound like the names of two guys in your brother’s year at school that got suspended for accidentally lighting the carpet on fire in the drama room, but they are actually two accomplished singersongwriter types who hail from US and the UK respectively, and dream in sepia, and wish for a simpler time, and will never turn Judas like
one experience with a producer. I like the chemistry that can occur when playing with other people, everyone moving together and being sensitive to the balance of the music. My band that I perform with at the moment consists of a drummer, bass and keys. We are developing our own language and that is exciting.
The Music You Make The music is folk music, 4. but there’s no banjo or mandolin or violin as yet, no straw hat. I want a live show that has a soaring quality, where the songs start somewhere and take you somewhere else you didn’t expect. I guess I just want to provide a live show that brings people in, connects with people and engages them. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. I think there are some beautiful songs floating about at the moment. Twerps have this song called ‘Bring Me Down’ and it kills me – the jangly guitar and low vocals, almost spoken. I think there is a bright and fertile music scene. I like going to see bands I don’t know too well and having a completely new experience. I saw Ainslie Wills in that way.
Casually ask a Drones fan what the band are like live, and they will turn red and fling a bunch of excited superlatives at you, and probably drag you to a computer to watch a fifteen-minute version of ‘Jezebel’ or something similar. There is a very good reason for this: they absolutely rule live. They make massive, visceral music, and watching it unfold at Sydney Opera House on Saturday April 27 will be an amazing experience for you, assuming of course you win one of the double passes we are giving away just because we like to see you happy; it brings us joy, and giving to others is the true meaning of life, or Easter, or something. The band have just released their sixth studio album, I See Seaweed, which no doubt a lot of you are currently playing as you read this, so to win a double pass, simply send us your favourite Drones lyric. Not the one you just heard then, have a think about it. Don’t try to sneak in a Paul Kelly or Don Walker lyric, either, we’ll know. Oh, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are supporting, and are a flailing psychedelic rock beast which you really should show up early to watch.
With: The Falls Where: The Vanguard When: Thursday April 18
Dylan, and have together sold out two shows at The Metro (April 2 and 3, bet you can totally sneak in. Just swagger in like you own the place). Willy is going to wait ‘til Ben is in a different aisle to him at the IGA then sneak off to play a show by himself at the Moonshine Bar in Manly on April 4, which we assume was called Charlie’s or something before he demanded they change the name. Oh, and it’s free entry. Sorry, we mean IT’S FREE ENTRY!
Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders
MOVIES AND RECORDS
Ever seen Last Shop Standing: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop? What, really? Oh, it’s great, it charts the rise and almost-demise of record stores, and because you love being a po-mo mofo, you should watch it in a record store (The Record Crate in Glebe) on April 20, Record Store Day. Screening at 8pm. Entry $22. Call 9660 1075 to book a ticket (or two).
TO MARKET
On Sunday April 7, the Rock‘n’Roll and Alternative Markets are happening again at Manning House and Manning Bar, from 10.30am, with vintage fashion, CDs, records, books, art, collectables, food and live sets from Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders, Martin Cilia (just Australia’s king of surf guitar, no biggie) and Paulie Bignell & The Thornbury Two. Entry is $2 and don’t glue two 5c coins together and spray it gold, they’ll be able to tell. Now, spread out and help me find a copy of the Reality Bites soundtrack, I need it for this crisis I’m planning to have.
RUBEN SOHO
Gold Fields
GOLD FIELDS FOREVER
There’s something fantastic about a band from Ballarat called Gold Fields, especially considering they play trashy electro-pop and probably barely ever go prospecting, even though there’s still gold in dem fields. They’re kicking some serious goals overseas, including playing on Jimmy Kimmel, and being nominated for a Woodie Award, which sounds suspiciously like a porn prize (we tried to Google it, but could only find used copies of Forrest Hump). Ask them about it on June 28 when they play the Oxford Art Factory, whydoncha? Tickets through Moshtix.
6 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
Go grab that display binder that you keep all the past editions of Rock News in, and turn to roughly this time last year. You’ll notice that we threw out some pretty big predictions regarding The Rubens, such as “they will be massive, probably” and “easily poised to be the biggest band from Menangle”. Well, we totally nailed it: they are the biggest band from Menangle, and have also sold Gold in Australia, signed to an overseas major, and are now on the cusp of selling out their second Enmore Theatre show. It happens May 25 (May 24 is the aforementioned sold-out show), and tickets are somehow still available, through Ticketek. Supported by Ohio’s Walk The Moon, and those super skuzzy everbabes, Bloods.
NEW CHAPTER
There are a handful of Australian labels where, whenever they send us a record, we play it straight away because we know it is going to be great. Chapter Music are one of those labels, and the news they are re-releasing Melbourne foursome The Stevens’ scratchycatchy debut EP (which came out last year, and sounded like a Chapter release anyway) fills us with glee. Google ‘Look Back’ by them, and get along to their April 27 launch at the Old Fitzroy Hotel with support from Day Ravies and Adults, and us. We will be clapping enthusiastically and asking questions about their debut album, which is currently be completed by producer Mikey Young, who records most of the good things that happen in this country.
WARM BODIES! TICKETS! WIN!
S AY W EA IV G
WIN!
“D
on’t be creepy. Don’t be creepy. Don’t be creepy.” How many times have you repeated a mantra like this while trying to work up the courage to chat up a crush? Everyone can relate to the plight of R (Nicholas “Kid From About A Boy Who Grew Up To Model For Tom Ford” Hoult), who’s just trying to have a nice, normal conversation with the capable, beautiful Julie (“our” Teresa Palmer). But if you think it’s hard to conquer your social awkwardness now, try doing it without a pulse. Warm Bodies is a darkly funny take on the rom-zom-com, also starring Rob Corddry, Dave “Mini” Franco, John “Malkovich Malkovich” Malkovich, and a killer soundtrack.
IN CINEMAS FROM APRIL 11 To win one of 20 in-season passes to see this cult classic waiting to happen, email us at freestuff@thebrag.com with your postal addy and the worst/best pick-up line you’ve heard.
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www.thebrag.com Extra bits and moving bits without the papercuts BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 7
The Music Network
themusicnetwork.com
Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR
* Black Eyed Peas angrily denied Perez Hilton’s claim that the newly pregnant Fergie is about to be replaced by a female singer (unspecified) because she’s told friends she’s taking a few years off to bring up the kid. * There's no ambiguity as Bluejuice’s keyboardist Jerry Craib leaves the band after 12 years. They posted an entertaining farewell, calling him “the most talented keyboard player we’ve ever met (not to mention a shit-hot drummer, bass player, guitarist, and presumably sensual lover and efficient masturbator)” and “the only member of Bluejuice who knows how all our equipment works, and where it’s supposed to plug into.” * No confusion either after My Chemical Romance announced their split after 12 years, although a petition has been set up demanding they do a farewell tour.
PRICING INQUIRY
* 30 Seconds to Mars’ Jared Leto reveals that the strangest gift he received from a fan was … a severed ear, attached to a note “Are you listening?” * The Happy Mondays tour will have New Order’s Peter Hook doing a DJ set. * The Greens might like music but their Senator Lee Rhiannon filed a noise complaint against newly opened Play Bar, which is right under her Surry Hills office. The good senator and staff work late at nights, and sometimes had to stop because of the hip hop and jazz seeping under the floor. * Coffs Harbour police reportedly nabbed the promoter of an illegal rave party near Gleniffer. Neighbours claim the doof-doof kept them up late, and that underage kids were consuming drugs. * Dance music site InTheMix has launched in America. * Tamworth venue operator Joan Douglas was given life membership of the Capital to purchase them? A new 15,000-capacity Broadway-style theatre? Unsold theatre seats sold to low income students for $1? These are some of the ideas suggested in the new Creative City Cultural Policy to invigorate Sydney’s cultural landscape and get people out to venues. Asking for feedback, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said, “This paper aims to start a conversation.” A live music taskforce to sort out issues facing live music venues includes Sounds Australia’s new National Live Music Coordinator Dr Ianto Ware and jazz musician and live music policy activist John Wardle. It will make its report in July. Go to www.sydneyyoursay.com.au or facebook.com/cityofsydney and make your submission by May 31, or email creativecity@ cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.
The Parliamentary inquiry into why Australian consumers pay up to 50% more for digital music and software than Americans, is calling the heads of the local arms of multinational record companies to testify. This came after testimony from Apple blamed the labels and content providers for the high prices on the local iTunes store. Last week, the music industry raised its collective eyebrow over this claim that retailers have little control over the price of a product. Sydney Labor MP Ed Husic, who’s been on a mission to solve pricing disparity, confirmed that Universal, Sony and Warner will be called. He said the committee was perplexed at how none of the IT companies or ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen seemed to know how a price for a digital track or software is set, and suggested the committee ask retailers.
US STREAMING UP
The growth of digital music in the US to $2.8 billion has seen it represent 59% of total recorded music revenue from 51% last year. Streaming and subscription services alone rose grew 59% to $571 million from $360 million and account for 15% of total recorded music revenue. The number of paid
SYDNEY CULTURAL POLICY
Soundproofed music rooms in residential apartments? Extended opening hours for childcare centres so young couples can go out to concerts and theatre? Libraries where musos can borrow their gear and micro loans
This Week
E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU THEHIFI.C
Hungry Kids of Hungary Fri 5 Apr
Coming Soon
Country Music Association (CCMA) for her contributions to the Tamworth country music festival and the Golden Guitar music awards. * Dubbo pop-punk band Peoples Palace were picked to be the opening local act of triple j’s One Night Stand. The band members are aged 19 to 22. * Yannis Philippakis of Foals is “bored” with seeing “the same old ’90s bands” headlining UK festivals, citing The Stone Roses as an example. * One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson isn’t in a hurry to reconcile with his dad Troy Austin, who left his mother Johanna when he was two. Austin was burbling in a paper about how he was the “proudest dad in the world” because his kid was in the “biggest band in the world.” Tomlinson wrote “Fuck you” on Twitter. Austin had gone to see One Direction at a show with Tomlinson’s half sister but was refused entry when he tried to get backstage. subscribers grew 86% to 3.4 million from 1.8 million. The new business models still haven’t replaced revenues from the old format – physical revenue slipped $587 million and digital revenue gained just $497 million. The slight difference of $90 million represented less than a 1% decline in total revenue.
MUSHROOM LAUNCHES FESTIVAL
The Mushroom Group is taking the name of its new Smokescreen Festival too literally – very little is being revealed about the bill or its style of music. A 17-second teaser video was launched on YouTube. The promoter “Michael Mike Michaels” (Michael Gudinski?) promises it will feature “all the killer acts you’ve been dying to see to take your breath away”, and Ella Hooper of Killing Heidi and Verses fame, tweeted that she’s involved in the festival.
APPLICATIONS FOR SEED FUND
The Seed Fund is calling for applications from emerging musicians and arts workers for four grant categories and three initiatives. This year, the artists running the Seed – John Butler, Mama Kin and Blue King Brown – all have releases out, so the popular Management Workshop won’t run this year but is back in 2014. Two new categories are being introduced. One of these involves grants of up to $5000 for three emerging managers who need some income during a period of heavy workload and little commission (ie. setting up for an album or tour) or needs to hire an assistant. The Seed has also now been granted DGR status, which means it can receive direct, tax deductible, donations from the public. To apply or donate, go to www.theseedfund. org.
CULTURAL POLICY STILL ON
Blue Oyster Cult (USA)
28 Days
Otep (USA)
Sat 20 Apr
Wed 24 Apr
Thu 25 Apr
Simon Crean’s National Cultural Policy will be carried on by the new Federal Arts Minister, Tony Burke. The guitar-playing Burke is a fan of the policy and last week held forums in three cities to meet with the creative community. “Simon Crean produced an inspiring cultural policy in Creative Australia,” he said. “It’s an honour to implement it as Arts Minister.”
SE LL IN G
FA ST
NEW PROGRAMS, VOICES, FOR 2SER
Example (UK)
Enhanced
Fri 26 Apr
Sat 27 Apr
(UK)
Frightened Rabbit (UK) Tue 30 Apr
Bilal (USA)
Opiuo + Spoonbill
Fri 3 May
Sat 4 May
Fri 10 May
Born Of Osiris (USA)
Municipal Waste (USA)
Sat 18 May
Sun 16 Jun
Cannabis Corpse (USA) & King Parrot
Norma Jean (USA)
Fri 28 Jun ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY
8 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
After four months of community consultation, 2SER is unveiling some programming changes in May. There’s a ramp-up of news and current affairs, with a local news service, more talkback, a regular paid breakfast show and more magazine-style programming. 2SER Managing Director Melanie Withnall said the changes allowed for more students to make radio, while a revision of its production model “allows for more ‘off-air’ volunteer roles to be created.” There were 40 applications for new programs.
WORK AT SPUNK
Spunk Records is looking for a Label and Publicity Manager. Reporting to both Spunk and Cooperative Music/Universal, you need a minimum 2-3 years of experience in a similar role in the industry, and a proven track record in both the publicity and marketing aspects of indie music releases. Your duties include running the label with the managing director, coming up with innovative marketing plans and being the key point of contact for the media. This position is based in Universal Music's Sydney head office. Apply to HR.Australia@umusic.com.
MANLY DJ WORKSHOP
Manly Council and Futureskool is holding two free workshops at Manly Library from 5 pm to 8 pm. The Music Production session is Mon April 8. Topics covered include writing and recording, melody and harmony, vocal exercises and finger drumming techniques. You set up a small studio to produce and remix your own song to sound the way you want. The DJ workshop is on Wed April 10 between 5 to 8 pm. It will teach you to beat match, scratch, select and create a DJ performance, set up turntables, and run a DJ business and DJ event.
YOUR SHOT
Your Shot, the search for the next big DJ, is on again. In its first year, it drew 1,000 entries in the first week from around NSW. 72 performed over two nights for prizes including a set at a summer festival. Since then, it’s gone national, and last year saw crowds of over 10,000 attend the state events. It received 4300 entries – hey, more than The X-Factor – in less than three weeks. Registration is May 18 at Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney.
BYRON TRIALS LOCKOUT
Byron Bay is trialing a 1.30am lockout, with initiatives including no serving of booze 15 minutes before closing time, and refusing entry to those seen drinking 50m of venues or have been thrown out of other venues. There are 72 venues in Byron, but only 27 joined the Byron Bay Liquor Accord.
MUSIC BOOTCAMP
MusicNSW and Are You Serious? will hold a workshop in Wollongong called Call My Agent: A Music Bootcamp. Stav Yiannoukas (Bluejuice) and Dave Rennick (Dappled Cities) discuss when an act is ready for management, how to approach an agent and the nitty gritty of contracts and who pays the bills. It is on Wednesday April 10 at Yours & Owls – 95a Crown Street. It’s free, just RSVP to samantha@musicnsw.com.
RIHANNA MOST STREAMED
Rihanna was Spotify’s most streamed female artist in the last six months. Britney Spears and Taylor Swift were #2 and #3 respectively, followed by Ke$ha, Carly Rae Jepsen, Florence Welch, Nicki Minaj, Pink, Loreen and Alicia Keys.
SYDNEY FAREWELLS AARON CHUGG
A memorial tribute event will be held at the Enmore Theatre on Tuesday April 2 for tour manager Aaron Chugg. He died on March 18 – aged just 52 – from a stroke while tour managing The Stone Roses for Future Music. The memorial, which will run from 3pm to 5pm, will see friends and colleagues remember him in stories and song, and will be MC’d by promoter Michael Chugg (who is no relation).
Lifelines Engaged: British rapper Professor Green and Made In Chelsea star (and Quality Street heiress) Millie Mackintosh. They began dating in November 2011 after The Prof saw her on the cover of FHM magazine. Dating: reborn blonde Britney Spears’ latest is LA lawyer David Lucado. In Court: Rihanna granted a three-year extension to a restraining order against an alleged stalker Steveland Barrow, 31, who broke into a neighbour’s Los Angeles home thinking it was hers and slept in what he thought was her bed. Died: British trumpet player Derek Watkins, 68, who played on every James Bond movie soundtrack. Died: Deke Richards, leader of Motown’s famed songwriting/production team The Corporation, aged 68, of esophageal cancer. He produced the Jackson 5’s first three #1s: ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’ and ‘The Love You Save’. He also co-wrote #1 pop hit ‘Love Child’ for Diana Ross & The Supremes.
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Bon Jovi,” Eastwood says. “We were literally smashing out ‘Living On A Prayer’,” Rogers says, “and laughing our arses off. We look down into the crowd and people were just eating it up. Bizarre.” They were particularly influenced by the working musician role they saw Eastwood’s father inhabiting. “When we were growing up, Dave and I used to skip school and go along and watch my dad play in bars,” Eastwood says. “We’d watch him sitting around the piano, and we’d just join in and jam with him. So we were sort of supplementary musicians, and I guess that helped us in terms of picking stuff up quickly.” “Jos’ dad would yell out ‘We’re going into ‘Moondance’ - it’s in E! Let’s go!’” Rogers laughs. Eastwood adds: “My dad is a great man, but when he’s performing it’s all on. Keeping up with him is hard enough, let alone finding the right key and trying to jam in a jazz style. It’s undeniable that he’s got a gift, he can make people stand up and dance.” “As a matter of fact,” Rogers says, taking a swig from his beer, “I seem to remember dirty dancing with a Korean businessman at one of those gigs.” “That’s right!” Eastwood laughs. “That Korean businessman was on his knees for you.” “I was shimmying on him,” Rogers says. “He didn’t know what was going on. That was a pretty good New Year’s.”
“As a matter of fact, I seem to remember dirty dancing with a Korean businessman at one of those gigs.” Eastwood’s experience in film and video has also benefited the group – he makes all their clips, and has made particular choices about the aesthetics. “The videos don’t necessarily appeal to a broad audience; they’re definitely not meant to be easily digestible,” he says. “They’re meant to be a little bit different, and are definitely meant to be artistic rather than marketable.” That intent is part of what defines Nantes – their desire to keep moving and exploring. “We keep very active with what we do,” Eastwood says. “A lot of time is spent on videos, and creatively that allows me to keep expanding and contributing more to the band. The roles within the group can change, depending on what we’re working on.” “At the moment we’re actually working towards the next album,” Rogers says. “The entire next album’s already planned. Every time we’ve done something we seem to get better at planning and preparation.”
here’s this vibe that connects us. The three of us aren’t interested in creating things that have already been created, so we approach things from more of an artistic perspective,” Josiah Eastwood says. The keyboard player and guitarist of Nantes (pronounced “narnts”) is describing the way that his band works. “We’re all fairly strong about not doing something that’s popular for its own sake,” clarifies the band’s founder, vocalist and fellow multi-instrumentalist Dave Rogers.
The sense of space afforded by the bleachers feels like a more natural environment to encounter two-thirds of the creative nucleus of Nantes. (The final element is producer and
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Just over a year later and they’ve returned with BeingsBeing, a debut album that is as surprising as it is fully-realised. It eschews the easy rush of pop that peppered their eponymous release, preferring the space ensured by the more considered and intelligent cuts that arise from the solid base of Rogers’ baritone and Eastwood’s lush synths. “There’s always going to be a pop sensibility to what we do,” Eastwood says. “It’s not on purpose, but the influences on us when we were growing up possessed a certain degree of pop. At the same time, though, we don’t want to just be emulating the bands that we like or that have gone before us. We want to expand the ideas of those bands we like and
take those influences and create something that’s unique in its own right. And none of that is necessarily with the goal of it being successful. We want to create something that is purely of and from us.” “At the same time we’re not trying to do something that’s different for the sake of difference,” adds Rogers. “We’re just trying to do something that we can be happy with.” Finding something that makes them happy has been made more difficult given their personnel adjustments in the last couple of years. “Changing bands has meant that our live show has suffered in the past,” Eastwood says. “It’s been difficult to gain momentum in the past, but we’re fortunate to be in a place right now where we’ve got people involved who love playing together; they want to carry the album, and they’re making it their vision too. It’s an exciting time as a band.” The boys grew up in the north-west suburbs of Sydney, and were creatively fused from a young age. “Years before we were playing in real bands we were in school bands, covering
“Having said all of that, we think we’re pretty generic human beings,” Eastwood says, draining the last of his beer as we watch someone in a tiger suit playing with children in the playground opposite. “We don’t consider ourselves to be geniuses. We’re also not trying to be too clever, or compare ourselves to other people. We just prefer to try to do things that are different, rather than just giving up and doing what people expect.” With: Light Giant, Battleships When: Saturday April 13 Where: Goodgod Small Club And: BeingsBeing is out now through Deadhand Music, via MGM
Nantes photo by Mikey Pozarik
The daylight is fading as the duo sit at the back of the grandstand of Redfern Oval, longnecks in hand, watching people walk their dogs and dudes in fluoro with fashionable mullets pretend to be leaguies. It’s a brief moment of reprieve in an otherwise hectic schedule that involves rehearsals, photo shoots, press interviews and tour planning for their first run of national dates.
engineer Simon Todkill, who is hard at work at Studios 301.) The group began in 2011 as Rogers’ recording project, and with the aforementioned personnel released a self-titled EP the same year. Earworm singles ‘Fly’ and ‘Charlie’ got massive airplay both at home and abroad in the UK and US, with the former favoured by numerous domestic advertisers throughout the summer period.
“To be completely honest,” Eastwood continues, “we feel like we’re at the tip of the iceberg. The album sounds amazing, and we’re really glad to be hitting the road and seeing what will happen – believe me when I say we’ve been looking forward to the tour for months – but Nantes is long-term. It’s not something we intend to finish, or to stop growing.” “And we won’t necessarily be recording what worked before,” Rogers says. “We won’t just take what works in a commercial sense and repeat it. And that’s evident from the EP to the record. The new album is completely different: it’s the next advancement in our own creative explorations. It’s where we want it to go, but there are no signs of us stopping.”
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The Black Seeds Fighting Reggae Fundamentalists By Simon Topper
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s a musician, you know you’ve hit a high point when it’s easier to book a series of live shows overseas than it is at home. Through an odd but enviable combination of factors, that’s the position in which The Black Seeds find themselves right now: they’re one of New Zealand’s biggest bands, but find it easier to tour across the world than they do back home in Wellington.
That’s nothing to do with any fading of their popularity. 2012’s Dust And Dirt was another #1 album, and their shows are still sellouts. But Daniel Weetman, co-vocalist and percussionist with the nine-piece reggae outfit, warns that financial factors makes touring New Zealand difficult.
Luckily for Weetman and his crowd of colleagues, the world of touring possibilities has opened up further than just Middle Earth. He estimates the band’s forthcoming trip to Australia will be at least the twentieth time The
“Slowly but surely people have come onto what we’re doing,” he says. “In Europe and the United States, we’re probably a bit refreshing because they see us out there as a reggae or funk-influenced act, and then they come along and find there’s something a bit more than that to us, and we’re not stuck in that genre. I think when a lot of bands play reggae, and strictly stick to reggae and nothing else, that becomes pretty boring to me.” Weetman says that, for one thing, his own rock background helps keep other sounds in the mix. “Then there are others in the band who bring other influences, so without really talking about it, we write stuff that’s a progression on reggae, and it comes out sounding like The Black Seeds. That’s what we’ve been reading in [overseas] reviews of Dust And Dirt anyway, and it’s so good to know that people are getting it.” The Black Seeds have run into their share of reggae purists who take a more fundamentalist approach to their favourite genre. “We’ve played a few festivals over in Europe where there’s definitely been a staunch vibe from other [reggae] artists, and we’ve had stuff said to us in passing in bars,” Weetman says. “But we just play music, at the end of the day. Rastafarians and the religion surrounding reggae, that’s all
Georgia Potter Fear Of Pop By Simon Topper
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have much money, so we ate cheese on toast for I don’t know how long so we could afford to see him. That concert is one of the sole reasons I do what I do. I used to do singing and dancing in my lounge room, and I’d always have the same daydream where Michael Jackson would be walking up my street and see me through the window, and he’d knock on the door and ask me to join his band and go on tour with him.”
Potter’s life started surrounded by contradiction, in the beauty and poverty of the Aurukun community. “My parents were living up on Cape York when I was born, and I had my little years up there,” Potter says. “It’s a really special part of the world. Kind of like going to another country. Different language, different culture. It definitely has a magic that I don’t think will ever fade. As well as the beauty of the culture and the surroundings, when I started going back up there I was pretty shocked at how there’s people living in third world conditions, in my state. It’s ridiculous.”
Potter’s new single ‘Reckless’ shows off her ample writing and singing skills; it’s well-produced pop that blurs the lines between dub, electro and R&B. Potter says she needed to play with other artists, such as Laneous & The Family Yah and Yeo And The Fresh Goods, to gain the confidence to make the music she always wanted to make. “I started out by making roots music when I was a teenager. It feels like eons ago, creatively,” she says. “I truly didn’t have the confidence in myself and I got that by being on tour with Laneous – we toured nationally with Regurgitator, playing soldout shows, and it was really wild and adventurous music and pushed a lot of boundaries, so I’ve learned so much from those guys that I’ve brought to my own music.
While there aren’t any other professional musicians in the family, the vocalist and songwriter credits her folks for her lifelong love of music. “Both my parents are pretty wild, and they definitely value the arts,” she says. “The first concert I went to was Michael Jackson. We didn’t
Where: Selina’s, at the Coogee Bay Hotel When: Friday April 26 And: Dust And Dirt is out now through Remote Control
DZ Deathrays
“And pop was a dirty word!” she adds. “I definitely had a little bit of that pop shame. And maybe part of that time that it’s taken me was learning to accept that I love pop music. I love pop music! I’m that way inclined.” With: Georgia Potter plays as part of Pink Dove III: The Bird Fire Review, with Laneous & The Family Yah, MKO, Superfeather, The Melotonins and more Where: The Standard When: Friday April 5
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or a scrappy brat-punk duo who started out playing house parties because they couldn’t be bothered organising gigs at actual venues, DZ Deathrays have become shockingly organised these days. They’re already hard at work on the follow-up album to last year’s Bloodstreams, and are planning to spend two weeks in the country, doing nothing but working on demos. They’ve booked Blackburn Estate – it’s the same place that Gareth Liddiard used to record Strange Tourist, and has also been a temporary home for musicians from PVT to Jack Ladder. Apparently it has an outdoor pizza oven, but what DZ Deathrays frontman Shane Parsons really likes about the place is the idea of being able to get away from it all – especially neighbours. “At the start I was really like, ‘How the hell are we gonna find a house where people don’t care about two guys coming along and setting up a bunch of gear and making noise throughout the whole day and even into the night?’,” recalls Parsons. “Especially with us, [when] I’m doing vocals sometimes I’m screaming and if you’ve got neighbours it can be pretty – like, not that I would care, but it could be a bit shit for the people that own a house having someone scream for two weeks next door.” They spent the same amount of time recording their last album as they’ll spend demoing the next one. Parsons says that they learned a lot during the Bloodstreams process, which they’ll be applying this time. “It was two weeks but we worked every single day and we got 14 songs recorded. Just those little things [like] how we should change a song to make it sit better when you’re just listening to it on speakers at home or on your headphones rather than in your face at a show, where it’s just blistering.” Back when they both lived in Brisbane (Parsons is currently staying with his girlfriend’s
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to Burning Spear and Bob Marley ... But I like it when bands try to reinvent their sound or experiment a bit more.”
The Funnest By Jody Macgregor
eorgia Potter is a study in contrasts – for one thing, she’s a self-described “ridiculously petite white girl from Brisbane” who was born and grew up in a remote Indigenous community in Far North Queensland. She cut her musical teeth in the indie/art rock/ hip hop collective Laneous & The Family Yah, but she has a new release under her own name – electronic alt-pop single ‘Reckless’.
“So Indigenous rights has been a huge part of the way I was brought up, and it was a huge part of my parent’s life,” she says. “That’s why they moved there in the first place because they saw the value of understanding the first culture of this country. It’s been such an asset in my life, and I’ve been so intensely lucky that Indigenous people and Indigenous culture is normal to me. I just wish that all Australians could have that experience and that could be normal for us. It should be normal for us!”
part of it and we love it and respect it, but we’re just there to play music. We want to progress the sound. We don’t say ‘Hey, let’s go into the studio and progress reggae music’, but we’re open bringing our own ideas, and I think that’s healthy for reggae music. Some of these people don’t get that, so yeah, I’ve had a few stern words to people who don’t understand, but if they don’t enjoy what we’re doing, then go back
family in Sydney, because “I don’t have any money!”), DZ Deathrays spent most of their band-time rehearsing and writing in a storage room in the suburbs. The minimum time they could rent a room for was five hours, and they’d usually only use it for half that before getting worn out and bored – so their current schedule is uncharacteristically intense in comparison. “We’re trying to get our next album done as soon as possible,” he says. “It’s only been under a year since the first one was released but if we get some more songs out this year then it means we can keep touring, which is the funnest bit.” Once they’re done with their trip to the countryside, they’ll be travelling further afield – to Britain where they’ll meet with their UK label and start talking about finding a producer to record with. That British trip coincides with a tour their other band, many-headed garagerock monster Velociraptor, is undertaking. And that’s the final reason why being organised has become important for DZ Deathrays: being committed to two popular bands. Parsons makes this part sound easy. “I just do the shows that I can do,” he says. “Now I’m in Sydney if they do a Sydney show I’m there. We’re doing a Melbourne show with Violent Soho so I’m going down a day early, doing the show and we’re both doing Pushover Festival, so that stuff fits in really well. But the whole band is based on this rotating roster of members with some key members in there and [we] sort of play different instruments and fill in for other people and, you know, if there’s not five guitarists it doesn’t really matter. Two guitarists, it can still sound really good. Three is really good.” Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Saturday April 6
The Black Seeds photo by David James
“On this [NZ] tour, we’re doing a show every two weeks or so,” Weetman says. “New Zealand’s not a very big place, so you used to get about four popular bands touring in the summer. There’s The Black Seeds, Six60, Shihad and a few others, and people would get around to the majority of them. But now in this climate, with finance how it is for people, they don’t want to commit to more than about two festivals or bands. It’s completely different to how it was only five years ago.”
Black Seeds have toured here, and the group’s reputation has also been growing even further afield.
Turin Brakes Not Slowing Down By Joshua Kloke
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“On big stages you just have to pronounce what you’re doing a little more,” says Knights. “But we just adapt, we’ve played so much it’s second nature by now.”
But after nearly a decade and a half of working together, even the strongest relationships can be tested. Has their friendship survived all the pitfalls and rough patches that a career in music can bring? “Yes, or we wouldn’t still be going,” Knights says simply. “Humour and understanding get all of us through. We have so many shared moments in life, that is where our music comes from, partly.”
You can’t help but believe Knights when he refers to the work he’s done with Turin Brakes as second nature. The band have stayed grounded and focused in an industry where it can be incredibly difficult to do so. For Knights and Paridjanian, staying honest with each other has always remained top priority. And it’s working. “I couldn’t imagine it any other way,” Knights says. “I guess we can only be honest with each other. If we were dishonest the other one would know immediately.”
ale Paridjanian and Olly Knights have been best friends since childhood – a relationship that’s formed the basis of their career as acoustic duo Turin Brakes. Though their debut EP The Door was released in 1999, the two have shared a lifetime of memories.
There’s a benign sense of possibility to the majority of Turin Brakes’ six studio albums; they’re easy, inspiring and buoyant. There’s very little cynicism, not only in their approach, but in the manner in which Knights reflects on how he and Paridjanian got their start in the late ’90s. “We were really lucky with our timing,” he says. “Everyone around us seemed to be making electronic beat music in the late ’90s in London. We could simply pick up some guitars and have a whole sound right there in front of people. And that got us noticed fast.”
When: Thursday April 25 Where: Oxford Art Factory Also: Playing the Gum Ball, with Tumbleweed, Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, Katalyst, The Hillbilly Killers, The Beards, Saskwatch, Jordie Lane, Mojo Juju, The Medics, Mia Dyson, Money For Rope and heaps more, from April 25 – 27 @ Belford, Hunter Valley
Getting noticed may have happened relatively easily for the duo, but sticking with the project through thick and thin is another matter. Not only has Turin Brakes made great efforts to tour with consistency, but their focus when it comes to songwriting is to keep things fresh. The lighthearted nature of The Optimist, their Mercury Prize-nominated debut LP, gives way to more thoughtful, complex tracks heard on Outbursts, their latest (released in 2010). Knights doesn’t understate the importance of constantly working towards a new sound. In the 14 years he’s been playing with Paridjanian, attempting to constantly move forward has been one of the givens. “If we didn’t make new music we would simply be a nostalgia band on the live circuit,” he points out. “That would never work for us – we can’t help but create new music. I always feel like our best work is the next thing we’re going to do. It’s something we can’t seem to help; our new album is always a reaction to the one before it.”
“I always feel like our best work is the next thing we’re going to do. It’s something we can’t seem to help; our new album is always a reaction to the one before it.” So is Outbursts any indication of what the band’s next full-length will sound like? Knights, busy at work in the studio on their next album, doesn’t believe so. “Outbursts was made with laptops across a whole year, at home and our little studio,” he explains. “The new album is currently being tracked to analogue tape in just two weeks, at a wonderful old studio in the countryside, with our live band. It’s a totally different approach for a totally different sound and feel. With this album we’re trying to bring back an acoustic rawness we had on our first album as well as the energy and groove of our live band.” Turin Brakes’ albums have consistently placed well on the notoriously cutthroat UK Charts over the years, showing promise of commercial success. But the band have always preferred to keep their aesthetic a genuine one, relying more on word-of-mouth support from their fans (though getting played on Ricky Gervais’ popular radio show didn’t hurt).
Xxx photo by JXxx Xxxx
It’s fitting then, that when it comes to inspiration in their songwriting, Knights says that their muse, and most dominant theme, is other people – “the music of the human condition, our angle on the world”, as he puts it. “We never really tell stories,” he says. “I think we’re more interested in atmosphere and the invisible. It’s more about feeling than understanding.” Despite their long and solidly successful career, Turin Brakes still have a modest enough profile that they can keep it intimate on their upcoming Australian visit, for which they’ll be playing in some of the country’s best smaller venues. Though when Turin Brakes do roll into larger venues, as they will at the Apollo Bay and Gum Ball festivals, Knights insists not much will change. BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 13
The Superjesus They Are Risen! By Benjamin Cooper he Superjesus have always been different. They rose from the artistic wasteland of mid’90s Adelaide and didn’t wait for success to find them. They made the road their home, and toured relentlessly for the first few years of the band’s life. Their efforts were rewarded, with 1996 EP Eight Step Rail winning two ARIAs for Best New Band and Best Debut Single the following year. Their debut album Sumo embedded them even further in the national consciousness, via massive single ‘Down Again’.
“I was blown away. I’d forgotten how big our sound is live.”
They had anthemic tunes and an incredible notso-secret weapon in diminutive frontwoman Sarah McLeod. Her cohort of guitarist Tim Henwood (who replaced founding member Chris Tennent in 1999), bassist Stuart Rudd and drummer Paul Berryman created beautiful, pounding and melodic tracks that spoke to those with a taste for the big riffs of You Am I and Silverchair.
What the band didn’t count on, however, was how much the audience would enjoy seeing them together again. Nor did they anticipate how much they would enjoy the performance themselves. “The gig was amazing,” Henwood says. “Even before we played there was a bit of a buzz in the air. I remember Sarah and I were driving home from rehearsal and were just chatting about how nothing has really changed. Playing together felt exactly like it did before, except we just had to work a bit harder to remember the songs,” he laughs.
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Following the release of their third album, Rock Music, the band was dropped by their label and commenced an indefinite hiatus, after close to a decade of power chords and jubilant riffs. “It was just what had to happen at the time,” says Henwood, from his recording studio in Victoria. “There was no real plan, and we’d had a good run, but it was time to do some other things.” The band’s members drifted off into other projects. In 2005 McLeod released a solo album titled Beauty Was A Tiger, featuring the single ‘He Doesn’t Love You’. The remixed version of the track was a hit in Australia as well as the UK, and after the success of the album she formed a new group called Screaming Bikini. Henwood formed the pop quartet The Androids – who had a radio smash hit with ‘Do It With Madonna?’ – and later joined dance-pop act Rogue Traders. Berryman was kept busy as the drummer of Sydney band Faker until 2008, before working on other projects in subsequent years. Late last year, the pent-up frustration and abject disappointment of fans abandoned by the band in 2004 found relief: after nearly a decade apart, the band announced they were getting back together. The only problem was that it was to be a one-off show, and it was in their hometown. “We actually hadn’t spoken in ten years,” Henwood says. “There was no acrimony – it was just that we were all off doing different things so we weren’t in touch. Then Paul came back from America and someone mentioned the possibility of doing
a gig. We thought about it, and decided we’d give Adelaide a go. The thinking was to do one hometown show, just for the fans and just for the hell of it.”
Luckily for us, the success of the Adelaide show meant that they decided to take the show on the road. After playing the inaugural STONE Music Festival in Sydney, they will head out to a range of smaller venues around the country – many of which they last played 15 years ago. “We’re very lucky to be able to play those rooms,” Henwood says. “There’s a fair bit of significance that we’re opening things at The Annandale, particularly at the moment. I think at the moment our aim is to head out on the road, have a whole lot of fun, and then see what comes next.” Henwood is quick to clarify that they’re very much doing this on their own terms, and because the bristling potency that made them such an exciting prospect throughout their decade-long career never went away. “For better or for worse, those songs are still in us,” he says. “We’ve started to think about writing new songs, and we’ll probably get together to do it at some stage, but for now we’re going to give the fans what they want. I was talking about it with Paul and Stu [Rudd, bass] the other day, and we all agreed that even though it’s a new world and a lot has changed, we’ve really thrown off any of the tentativeness we had coming into this.” While Henwood is not usually given to tooting his own horn, he admits that “once we started playing the songs again I was blown away. I’d forgotten
how big our sound is live. And I’d probably also forgotten how big the songs actually are.” Henwood is particularly excited about sharing the stage with some bonafide international rock gods at STONE. “It’s a powerful thing, rock and roll. I reckon I’m going to be excited at the festival. Having played guitar my whole life, it’s going to be a pretty big deal for me to be standing side of stage watching Van Halen. I didn’t think I’d ever get to see them in Australia, and it’s about to happen.”
What: STONE Music Festival, with Billy Joel, Van Halen, The Living End, Icehouse, Buckcherry and loads more Where: ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park When: Saturday April 20 and Sunday April 21 / The Superjesus play April 20 Also: The Resurrection Tour Where: The Annandale Hotel When: Thursday May 30 and Friday May 31
The xx
Into The Light By Alasdair Duncan
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he xx’s music has a hushed and intimate quality; it sounds like a private conversation between two lovers in the small hours of the morning. They are best appreciated late at night. Unfortunately, that’s not how festival timetables work, and when they toured Australia a few years ago, they found themselves playing shows in the scorching afternoon sun. It felt awkward. “When you’re starting out, you don’t have the luxury of being able to play in the dark at festivals,” says singer Romy Madley Croft. “I remember feeling very exposed! I was wearing a lot of necklaces, and a lot of black, and my outfit sort of absorbed the heat, which was a bit uncomfortable!” When the band return to Australia, they will be playing a series of their own shows, and much to Madley Croft’s relief, they will be doing so under cover of darkness. “I’m really excited to be coming back,” she says. “We’ve spent a lot of time getting the show just right.” Of particular interest is the band’s new lighting setup. “It sort of reflects the artwork for Coexist – it’s very engaging, and I think it adds to the experience,” she says. “It brings something new, and it’s something that you wouldn’t get just from listening to the album. We’re very happy, first of all, that we get to come back and play in the dark, but also that we get to show off this cool and beautiful thing to people.”
The xx’s second album, Coexist, was released last year to great acclaim, and Madley Croft tells me that the inspiration behind its title came from a very peculiar place. “What happened is that one day we saw a puddle of oil and water on the ground,” she explains. “It was really beautiful, and I spent a long time staring at it, because I was really fascinated by the rainbow on the surface. I wondered why it was that way, so I researched it, and found that oil and water don’t mix, they coexist – that’s where the name of the album came from. The artwork for the album reflects that effect, that iridescence. I love the idea that these two things that don’t mix can still create something very beautiful.” Madley Croft shares vocal duties in The xx with her friend Oliver Sim, their voices intertwining to haunting effect on the band’s gossamer-fine songs. One particularly striking thing about their songs is the ambiguity of the lyrics – they sing about love and loss and heartbreak, but do so without ever mentioning gender. This does not happen by accident.
“We like the idea that the songs are about ‘you and I’. Whether you’re a boy or a girl, and whether you like boys or girls, you can fi t yourself into the songs.” 14 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
“We don’t like the lyrics to be too specific,” she explains. “We like the idea that the songs are about ‘you and I’. Whether you’re a boy or a girl, and whether you like boys or girls, you can fit yourself into the songs. We never mention places or times for that reason. We like to keep it quite open to interpretation.” While The xx could generally be considered a shy bunch, Coexist sees them coming out of their shells a little – some of its tracks, like ‘Sunset’ and ‘Reunion’, even hint at a love of clubbing and house music. “I’ve always loved those things,” Madley Croft explains, “but we were on tour so much between the ages of 19 and 22 that I never got to do them. “When we came back from touring and had our time off, we caught up with our friends and went out a lot and did normal stuff. Jamie spent a lot of that time DJing, and he got really into house music at that point, and I guess I did too. It just felt very natural to start putting those sorts of sounds into our music. It’s fun for us. Our
live show has developed into something much more upbeat, which is also a lot of fun for us.” A short while ago, a sample of The xx’s song ‘Intro’ showed up on the Rihanna track ‘Drunk On Love’. While you wouldn’t make any immediate connection between the two artists, The xx were thrilled to hear their music in this new context. “We’re such fans of Rihanna’s,” Madley Croft says, “and when it came out, we were really excited. She’s one of the artists who inspired us when we were younger – she and Beyoncé. It’s such a different way of making music, when you get to that massive pop star level – it’s very different from what we know – and it felt very interesting to be a part of that. We’d love to write for pop stars like that one day.” With: Jagwar Ma Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Saturday April 6 and Sunday April 7
The xx photo by Alexandra Waespi
As far as their live show is concerned, The xx are very conscious of the need to constantly evolve and change. Anyone who’s seen them
more than once will know that the songs are ever-changing beasts, with new and surprising elements coming out in every performance. “That’s one of the things we really try to do,” Madley Croft says. “We were rehearsing today, working on various different versions of the songs, working on connecting passages to blend them all together. We want to put on a different show to what people would have seen the last time we came. We want to keep evolving, and to keep it interesting for ourselves as well as the people who come to see us.”
Paramore Three Is A Magic Number By Poppy Reid
orced to downsize in December 2010 after founding brothers Zac and Josh Farro made a fiery exit, Paramore have emerged after two years restless, experimental and more driven than ever. Frontwoman Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis and guitarist Taylor York are in Australia for the first time since – as Williams calls it – “the Paramore soap opera” first screened.
F
“Everything’s supposed to be going wrong right now and it’s not.”
“It’s been kind of surreal,” says York, sitting forward on a hotel room couch next to Williams and Davis. “Everything’s supposed to be going wrong right now and it’s not.”
there’s always a struggle or a compromise to be had about everything.”
York is addressing the concerns of media and fans alike. After the Farro brothers left, dubious whispers circulated about Williams’ songwriting skills without ex-boyfriend Josh leading the charge – not to mention the fact none of the remaining three knew their way around a drum kit. But with sought-after drummer Ilan Rubin (Lostprophets, Nine Inch Nails, Angels & Airwaves) now recording and touring with Paramore, the band are taking on new influences, injecting fresh fervour into not only their music but also their live show. All eyes have been on Williams since the Farro foray; in a statement posted on their blog in 2010, the brothers claimed she was the only one contractually obligated to Atlantic Records, the silent distributor for Fueled By Ramen. They suggested the rise of Paramore was a careful strategy that only included them because the label approved of songs they wrote. When asked about Josh and Zac, Williams bows her head, picks her nails, and looks to York – an understandably less controversial channel to speak on the subject.
Paramore photo by Pamela Littky
“Everyone kind of saw what it was,” says York dismissively. “There wasn’t any direct communication between the two parties so I think it was kind of out there for everyone to see.” But with the release of their self-titled fourth album next month, the trio are hoping to change public perception. Ditching the much-maligned emo schtick for the type of sophisticated pop-rock that is best served howling and shiny, Paramore are demanding answers much in the way they did with their 2005 debut (All We Know Is Falling). However Williams isn’t 16 anymore – the new Paramore are clearer about their demands and just how they want them heard. On radio-ready lead single ‘Now’ Williams sings “There’s a time and a place to die / But this ain’t it.” They may be falling in line with the genre a few years too late, but the pressure weighing on Williams’ tiny shoulders coats the band’s revival with suspense. “We found a lot of freedom [because] a lot of people were thinking we were going to be limited this time around,” Williams says. “It pushed us to find new ways to do things and what we found is we’re actually liberated by it.” “It feels like we’re actually experiencing for the first time what a band is supposed to feel like,” adds York. “Going places and having fun, enjoying spending time with each other and not feeling like
Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who produced the record, helmed the transition into Paramore, calling upon his experiences playing guitar for Beck and touring with Nine Inch Nails. “There was a smartness to his– ” Williams stops herself to laugh (“Smartness? Is that even a word?”) before continuing: “There was a smartness about how he approached certain elements that I think really comes from his experience with Beck. Then I think on songs like ‘Fast In My Car’ or ‘Part II’ [co-written with Meldal-Johnsen], there was something industrial and heavy about those songs that I think his love for goth and playing with Nine Inch Nails helped aid us in those moments.” While they brought in Rubin on drums and Meldal-Johnsen to co-write five tracks, recording Paramore was far less stressful than its tumultuous predecessor, the ARIA #1 Brand New Eyes (2009). The band entered the studio in March 2009, having written just four songs, and had just three-and-a-half weeks to record it. “We were writing the full album, trying to record it and travelling on tour with No Doubt,” says Williams. “And trying to mend our friendships at the same time,” quips Davis, Paramore’s most sporadic member in the early years. This time, forced to discover dormant talents, the trio’s self-reliance led to a record full of uncharted influences, spinning a new dynamic within the band. “I know that Jeremy can play slap bass but the world doesn’t know that,” beams Williams. “We walk in the studio and he’s like [imitates the opening theme music from Seinfeld]. It’s things like that, where we were just constantly surprising ourselves and each other.” While zealots are waiting impatiently for lyric sheets and liner notes to pore over in the hopes of decrypting clues about the fall-out, Williams says Josh and Zac don’t get a look-in. Paramore have farewelled the two brothers as well as the emo epithets that were shaped just shy of a decade ago in York’s basement. “I think it’s easy to read over a song like ‘Fast In My Car’ and be like ‘Oh, that’s a bitter sort of song that must be about Josh and Zac leaving the band.’ It’s actually not at all, it’s about the cloud that has been following our band for so long now,” says Williams. “We’re ready to leave all that behind us. We want people to give us that break. Let us live this moment, now.” What: Paramore is out April 5 through Warner Music Australia BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 15
arts frontline
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arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...
five minutes WITH
SAMUEL DUNDAS
occupying the town in which this production is set. He captures the environment where the action takes place. The drama opens with Morales dragging a peasant girl onto the stage and throwing money at her. He is truly the opposite of a gentleman. He represents the contrast to Carmen’s liberty and freedom. What and when was your first interaction with Carmen? It was the first opera I ever performed with Opera Australia, as a member of the chorus in 2008.
B
elieve the hype: Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour’s production of Carmen is fantastic (har) – one of the opera canon’s most ravishing works smashed together with the production values and highenergy staging of a Broadway musical, and served up in balmy Sydney summer twilight at Lady Macquarie’s Chair, overlooking the Harbour Bridge. We took five with Sam, a 30-year-old baritone (and brother of Temper Trap’s Toby) who plays a minor villain part, to see what it takes to make world-class opera. Tell us about your character: I play Morales, a Brigadier in Franco’s army, which is
WIND WALK
Last year, the City Of Sydney and the National Art School teamed up with British installation artist and bona fide wind-nut Tim Knowles to install a canopy of ‘paper’ planes over Taylor Square. Knowles also set up a public-access WindLab in NAS, and held a ‘windwalk’ – the kind of thing where participants wear weathervane hats and walk around the city according to whatever direction the wind blows… If this sounds like your cup of rooibos, circle April 21 in the calendar, when the second Windwalk will take place – alongside the screening of the GPStracked movements of the walkers. Anyone can do it, and there’s a limited-edition print of the resulting ‘wind map’ provided to all participants at the end. Sign up to participate at timknowleswindwalk2. eventbrite.com.au
SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL
That flutter in your heart is the onset of film festival season; last week Sydney Film Festival
Your bro is in Temper Trap, you’re an opera singer – was your childhood particularly music-infused? The easiest answer was that our childhood was cultured. We both had art, music and theatre at school. I enjoyed it, but I never imagined I’d end up where I am now. Toby has always loved music. I like to joke that Toby is the real musician and I’m just the cover band, because I sing dead people’s music. What have you learned working with the international leads in this production, and with director Gale Edwards? Gale has had
launched an online publication celebrating 60 years of programming – an opening shot in a series of announcements, including the ‘teaser’ announcement this Wednesday April 3 (25 films from the lineup), the full program launch on May 8, and of course the festival itself, running June 5-16. Get excited, get a flexi-pass, and check out the e-book – including essays by former Festival Directors and critics David Stratton and Paul Byrnes, recently departed festival head (and current BFI programmer) Clare Stewart, and cultural commentator David Marr – at sff.org.au
Your vocal chords are your living; what special care do you have to give them? Unfortunately, it’s not an instrument you can take out and put in a case. I just try to keep myself in the best possible shape, physically and mentally. Sleep is the singer’s ultimate ally. What’s something we wouldn’t necessarily know about your job? Backstage often sounds like dusk at the zoo as we all make our bizarre noises in an attempt to warm our voices. And finally: you’re on a 365-day campaign to ‘make it’ – no booze, all work. How is it going so far? So far so good. It all came into concept last year in the lead up to turning 30. I finally found myself in a position where I could devote myself almost solely to work, and I thought it was a great opportunity to push myself as hard and as far as I am capable. What: Carmen – Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (#HOSH) When: Until April 12 Where: Lady Macquarie’s Chair More: operaonsydneyharbour.com.au
SLEEPWALK WITH ME People who sleepwalk have also been known to eat everything in the fridge, clean, cook, send emails, call family, go out for a drink, or even have sex, and have no memory of any of it. Our brains are seriously weird. Luckily, Mike Birbiglia’s excellent brain has survived his sleep issues – in fact, he's turned them into a comedy bit, a book, an episode of This American Life, and now a semi-autobiographical movie, Sleepwalk With Me. It’s funny and sad and you should go read our interview with him on page 17. To win an in-season double pass, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us (briefly) about a weird dream you had (and your postal address – no funny business, promise).
Opera Australia's La Bohème photo © Branco Gaica
What’s the best part about your role? This will sound horrible given my character description, but just slipping inside the nature of the character is what I enjoy the most. I hope I live my life in the opposite way, but I think we all have a dark side to our character and it’s fun to explore that, if only for a few hours a night.
a profound effect on my stagecraft and my understanding of character. The international singers highlight just what is possible in the operatic forum. I find it inspiring to know there is always more to strive for in vocal technique, language and stagecraft.
SPECIAL MOVES
Artist and illustrator Jonathan McBurnie opens a group show this month – the culmination of two years of work, bringing together works by six connected artists: Julie Fragar, Christian Flynn, Leah Emery, Miles Hall, Arryn Snowball and himself. The binding theme is an exploration and celebration of the art of drawing, but the works span media as diverse as video and cross-stitch. McBurnie writes, “At different times friends, rivals, mentors, colleagues, students and teachers to each other, the studio works of each artist speak to each other in a fascinating visual conversation.” Special Moves opens April 18 at 6pm and runs til May 5, at MOP Projects (2/39 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale).
TUCKER IN
Launching off the success of his latest project, the Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook, stitch-inducing stand-up king Chris Tucker is set to tickle funny bones Down Under this June. A veteran at his game, having honed his craft since age 19, Tucker has shared the screen with everyone from Jackie Chan to Danny Devito, traversing a range of characters, from a detective to a mental-patient. Tucker’s national tour will see him return to his position on a bare stage, a podium from which he can aim and fire his legendary fusion of wit and swag. Tucker will swing by The Star on June 18. Tuck into tickets at ticketek.com.au
Jonathan McBurnie: Welcome to the Future, Future, 2013
FINDERS KEEPERS
The irony of the annual Finders Keepers markets is that the event itself is a find. Think racks on racks of the crème de la crème of Australian design, showcasing the vanguard of our national art and design milieu – over 200 handpicked designers sashaying through with fashion, jewellery, stationery and homewares that should just be any-wares, because it would be a shame to leave them hidden at home... Of course, inspirational/prance-prompting/squeal-concealing music will be provided by local independent musos, with tummy-tickling food trucks on hand. Rush into the Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh on Friday May 31 and Saturday June 1 with a gold coin for the door. Check out the lineup of stallholders at thefinderskeepers.com Artwork by Kirthana Selvaraj
WE’RE WOLVES
The kids from Lo-Fi Collective are having a group show this week at their old haunt, The Standard; it’s called We're Wolves, and the lineup is a catch-all of homegrown talent, including familiars Joel Gibson, Jumbo, Roach, Will Cooke, QWUX, Cam Wall and Fintan Magee, and newcomers Kirthana Selvaraj and Claire Perini. Expect something colourful – opening from 6pm Thursday April 4 at Level 3, 383 Bourke Street.
DAVID BOWIE
Not to be confused for the Ab-Swing 3-In-One, everybody’s favourite triple-tone purveyor, David Bowie (AND Thin White Duke AND Ziggy Stardust), will be celebrated in an exhibition by DC Willans, as part of the April 16 edition of Jurassic Lounge. Harnessing his own ‘photorealism airbrushing’ technique, Willans’ works deviates from Pop Art of the late ’60s, producing evocative imagery through mechanical means; fans of his work include the late Amy Winehouse, who commissioned a portrait from him. The Changing Faces Of David Bowie follows a timeline of the music icon’s transformations, spanning from the origins of his career to his recent return to the charts. Check it out from 5.30pm til late at the Australian Museum (6 College Street, CBD).
PAPER PLAY
Paper art by Bianca Chang
Brenda May gives good sculpture; this month they’ve assembled an epic lineup of artists to explore and celebrate paper – as a material, medium and subject. Artists range from the established to the relatively new, including Sydneyvia-Jamaica graphic designer and artist Robin Clare, arts writer and artist Tracey Clement, artist and upholsterer Fiona Edmeades, sculptor Sandra Pitkin, illustrator Fiona Fenech, Hyun Hee Lee – and paper artist Bianca Chang, whose painstaking works of layered paper melt our minds. Paper Works II runs from April 16 – May 4 at Brenda May Gallery (2 Danks Street, Waterloo). Xxxx
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Mike Birbiglia [COMEDY] Waking Life By Nick Taras
“S
ome people are very confident about sex –they videotape themselves, which I’ve never understood. After I’ve had sex all I can think is, ‘At least no one saw it’.” This was my introduction to the brilliance of Mike Birbiglia, from 2006 album Two Drink Mike. It’s the joke that got me hooked on Birbiglia’s comedy, and while he’s a sublime storyteller, Birbiglia’s early years were largely influenced by one-liner legends like Steven Wright.
Dance Better At Parties photo © Ellis Parrinder
“I have a lot of favourites of Steven Wright’s and Mitch Hedberg’s. My favourite of Steven Wright’s is probably, ‘I went to a drive-in movie in a cab. The movie cost me 95 dollars.’ And there’s a scene in my movie Sleepwalk With Me where a bunch of comedians are watching Mitch Hedberg’s special and he says, ‘I wrote a letter to my dad. I was going to write, “I really enjoyed being here”, but I accidentally wrote ‘rarely’ instead of ‘really’. But I wanted to use it, I didn’t want to cross it out, so I wrote, “I rarely drive steamboats, Dad. There’s a lot of shit you don’t know about me. Quit trying to act like I’m a steamboat operator”.’ Ha. That makes me laugh even writing it. I love that it’s a joke-joke but it’s also kind of an emotional observation about being misunderstood.” Since then, Birbiglia has released several comedy albums, featured in film and TV (including a cameo in HBO’s Girls) and has written and starred in a
soon-to-be-released film based on his standup show, Sleepwalk With Me. “Yeah, I’ve wanted to make my first feature film for the past 15 years and I finally was able to do it so it’s like the culmination of all of the comedy and writing I’ve ever done,” he explains. “It’s based on a true story and it’s about my semi-autobiographical character’s struggles with romance and a serious sleepwalking disorder. And it’s funny! And people in America have really taken to it and I’m hopeful that Australian people will take to it as well because when I brought My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend to Sydney a couple years ago, it was exciting to me that it translated and that people were into it. So it’s exciting to me to see if the movie connects because I feel like it could, but I really don’t know. And it’s actually the international premiere of the movie. It’s the first time it’s played theatrically outside of the United States.” Birbiglia will make his debut at MICF with My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend – a critically acclaimed show full of sharp insights into his love life. He’ll be shooting a TV special for the show in about two months, and is currently adapting it into a screenplay. Birbiglia is the type of comedian whose tales of helplessness and simple desires (like his obsession with pizza) persuade you to immediately like him. So much so, in fact, that the audience can become too comfortable. “It’s funny because my style is so conversational, sometimes people will heckle me without even realising that they’re heckling me,” he says. “In other words, they’ll be lured into a sense of calmness by my show because I’m kind of soft-spoken and they’ll start talking back to me as though we’re having a conversation and there aren’t 500 or 1000 people sitting around them. So they’ll be like, ‘That’s a really good point.’ And I’ll have to be like, ‘We’re doing, like, a show right now. You’re saying this out loud!’” What: My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend When: Saturday April 6, 8pm Where: Drama Theatre at Sydney Opera House More: Sleepwalk With Me opens on April 4 at Dendy Newtown, Chauvel Cinema, Hayden Orpheum. Special post-screening Q&A at Dendy Newtown on Friday April 5
Dance Better At Parties
Dance Better At Parties with Steve Rodgers
[THEATRE] Clunky Moves By Simon Binns
A
regular on our screens and stages, Steve Rodgers has had his fair share of auditions and rehearsals, but he counts his latest as one of the worst. “[The director] made me make up a dance to the paso doble,” he says. Any Baz Luhrmann fans will recognise the bullfighting dance that was so central in Strictly Ballroom, and appreciate that coming up with one on the spot is hardly an easy task. “[It’s] not my background,” Rodgers demurs. The director was Gideon Obarzanek, and the work is Dance Better At Parties – the first foray into text-based theatre by the founder and former artistic director of acclaimed Australian dance company Chunky Move. Pioneers in the use of performer-sensitive audiovisual displays, technology and even sculpture in their shows, Chunky Move are known for cutting-edge work. Dance Better At Parties, however, is about the simpler things in life. It’s based on a true story that Obarzanek previously adapted for the stage, in shorter form, in 2004. “There’s this man, and he’d had a traumatic car accident where he lost his wife and he had two kids in the backseat of the car,” Rodgers says of his character’s real-life counterpart, “so dance lessons were an attempt to get back into life and meet women, essentially.” In an effort to overcome his awkwardness on the dance floor, he enrols in what he thinks is a group dance class, but it turns out to be a one-on-one with a young woman in her 20s – which for a man in his early 40s brings along its own awkwardness. “He just wants to be able to show up at parties and move, but she introduces him to the salsa and very technical dances, and at first he thinks it’s not for him,” Rodgers explains. “But something keeps him in the room and he strikes up a relationship with this woman – they become co-dependent.” Like his character, Rodgers had to go through the same process of learning the steps to each dance. Of his dancefloor skills, he says, “I can take off Peter Garrett – but actually isolating hips and knowing where your hands are going is something else.” The solution was actual dance lessons, with Jessica Prince, an instructor who’s been on Dancing With The Stars. “The first day I came in and started doing lessons, and she says, ‘Put both your hands on my hips and can
you feel the figure of eight pattern in there?’ And I’m thinking ‘No, all I can feel is your hips and how beautiful you are,’” Rodgers recalls. “And that’s a lot of what it’s about, it’s about intimacy with strangers, and how you play out that intimacy and the drama of the dance – without mistaking it for what it isn’t.” Dance Better At Parties is a relatively feelgood work – which makes life a lot easier for Rodgers, who’s just finished playing a broken husband and murderer over at Griffin Theatre Company, in Duncan Graham’s Dreams In White. “Thank God,” he exclaims. “When the subject matter’s so fuckin’ yucky it’s hard to have a good time doing it.” Dance Better At Parties is also the latest in a string of new plays that Rodgers has starred in recently, and the actor (himself a playwright) is finding new work more and more satisfying. “I'm into making," he says. "I haven’t been as happy an actor in a long time; they’ve been [in] smaller rooms, and that’s where I want to be.” What: Dance Better At Parties When: April 5 – May 11 Where: Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4/5 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay More: sydneytheatre.com.au
Girl In Tan Boots [THEATRE] A Disappearance By Alasdair Duncan
T
Girl In Tan Boots photo by Patrick Boland
ahli Corin trained in acting straight out of high school, but found the idea of sitting around waiting for a great role entirely too frustrating. When she decided to give writing a try, however, it all began to make sense. “You can’t just get up in the morning and be an actor,” she explains. “You can’t put on a play by yourself; you need an audience, you need a director, you need permission. When it comes to acting, you need a lot of other people in order to be creative – but when it comes to writing, the opportunities to be creative come whenever you want them.”
Corin’s new play, Girl In Tan Boots, tells the story of a young woman’s disappearance, and was inspired by the daily commuter magazine MX. “They have a column called ‘Here’s Looking At You’," Corin explains, “which is basically where people can write in to other people that they’ve seen around. I think it’s really curious that people make a public declaration of interest like that before they actually go up to the person they like and say ‘hello’. It’s interesting and funny. I started collecting issues of MX for a couple of years, before I had the opportunity to develop the play [as part of Sydney Theatre Company’s Rough Draft program].” Girl In Tan Boots is told from the point of view of a detective, who searches for the missing girl – a loner named Hanna – after her disappearance, piecing together the strange details of her life. “Hannah disappears while waiting for a mystery man at a train station,” Corin explains.
“Essentially, she has seen some messages in the paper, written by an anonymous man, and thinks they’re for her, so she goes and waits on the train platform for him. It follows the detective through this case, and through her, we meet Hannah’s friends and family, and get to know her a bit.” Throughout this search, the detective comes to realise just how easy it can be to disappear when there is nobody looking out for you.
The cast of Girl In Tan Boots
The play, in part, functions as a sort of cautionary tale about the ways that people can slip through the cracks of society. “I was interested in the ideas of visibility and invisibility in the modern world,” Corin says. “You hear stories about people dying in their homes and staying there, undiscovered, for years because they’re cut off from their neighbours and everybody else. There are lots of ways that we can make ourselves invisible, from singles columns like the one Hannah reads, through to Facebook messages. We’re able to remain anonymous, even as we attempt to make connections.” Corin has spent the past few months developing Girl In Tan Boots with Griffin Theatre Company, where it opened last week. “I’ve been really lucky to work with amazing actors throughout this whole process,” she tells me. “The director, Susanna Dowling, has made me very welcome in the rehearsal room, which has been fantastic for my peace of mind, and for the script. … It’s amazing what actors can bring to a work. I realised that, in a few instances, I’d over-written
things, and hearing the actors deliver the dialogue with such truth made me confident in paring it back a bit.” The lessons that Corin learned as an actor remain present in her writing work. “I’d say training as an actor was really valuable in terms of my understanding of character,” she says. “I’m able now to write characters
that I’d like to play, and that’s what I’ve done here.” What: Girl In Tan Boots Where: SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross When: April 2-20 More: griffintheatre.com.au BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 17
Arts Snap
Arts & Culture Reviews
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week...
Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai
■ Film
HARA KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI In cinemas now
PICS :: KL
is./wet: ted o'donnell & vicki lee
Takashi Miike’s latest film is a bento box of connected tales comprising a meal of love, honour and revenge – served cool, rather than hot. Surprisingly light on violence, gore and fight scenes (compared to his cult hits Ichi The Killer and Audition, or even his prior film, 13 Assassins), it’s rather more like a fable, or morality tale. As a genre, samurai films are, like Westerns, typically reassuring: there’s a very clear morality and codes of honour in samurai society, and a certain inevitable logic of cause and effect (notwithstanding the twists and reveals of the plot). Here Miike subverts the genre to the extent that although the universe and hero are moral, the outcome is not.
22:03:13 :: Sun Studios :: 42 Maddox St, Alexandria
art month: rozelle precinct 21:03:13 :: Sydney College Of The Arts :: Rozelle
Arts Exposed What's in our diary...
Slide Night at Late Night Library Thursday April 4, 9pm Surry Hills Library / 405 Crown Street
18 :: BRAG :: 506:: 01:04:13
Miike takes his time setting up the necessary backstory to involve his viewers in the debate at hand, and build the emotional stakes – perhaps a little too much time, because at a little over two hours, this does feel long and a bit emotionally overwrought in the middle. By the time you get through the backstory, and back to the present, you’re waiting for some massive explosion of violent revenge – that never entirely arrives, with a somewhat bloodless (in the literal and figurative sense) fight scene.
SLEEPWALK WITH ME In cinemas from April 4 Despite the fact that Sleepwalk With Me started its course in 2008, it couldn’t have come at a more welcoming time. With a rise in interest in the inner workings of comedy thanks in part to popular podcasts like Marc Maron’s WTF and Comedy Bang Bang, it’s a good time for stand-ups to reveal their trade secrets and obscure early days and mine them for laughs. As Matt Pandamiglio, Mike Birbiglia plays a guy only a few steps removed from his real life. “I’m going to tell you a story, it’s true,” he affirms at the beginning, narrating from his car at a fast food drive thru, as we look back over a specific, shaky period of his life. When struggling stand-up Matt isn't on stage, he’s behind the bar at the back of the room. He’s only got eleven minutes of material at best, and even that’s only going to get a few polite chuckles. At home, he lives with his long-suffering girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose) who is too reasonable, goodhumoured and loving to be pulled through many more of Matt’s unsteady career movements. And yet she does, even when he starts to drive cross-country to lowpaying gigs for long stretches at a time. Life on the road is presented with a realistic flourish – a drag with occasional solo pizza parties in the motel room. The longer Matt’s away, the more he starts to doubt his commitments to Abby, reacting to pressure about getting hitched – which he starts to insert into his routines, to his audience’s delight. As Matt and Abby careen along their affable but not-quite-right relationship, his sense of self heightens. So does his REM behaviour disorder, which makes him act his dreams out physically while sound asleep. These sequences are effectively mixed in to the narrative as both realtime sleepwalks and the dream sequence Matt’s experiencing.
Otherwise, the film benefits from beautiful photography, in terms of shot composition, colour-palettes that range from the earthy damp of spring to vibrant autumnal shades, and elegant tracking shots.
Originally staged as a successful oneman off-Broadway show, and popularised as a radio piece on The Moth and This American Life, Sleepwalk With Me has made a surprisingly easy shift to film. The relationship between Abby and Matt feels warmly real and Birbiglia has an affable, earnest charm which lifts the film from being a simple storytelling piece. He also has an easy rapport with the other performers, who include Carol Kane, Kristen Schaal, Girls' Alex Karpovsky and a cameo by This American Life host Ira Glass, who also co-wrote and produced the film.
Dee Jefferson
Kate Jinx (Picture Show, FBi)
Sleepwalk With Me
Tom Tilley
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
Sleepwalk With Me still by Adam Beckman
Eddie Sharp (Erotic Fan Fiction) and Tom Tilley (triple j’s Hack) have teamed up to create an intriguing hour-long conversation event – no doubt the first of many, debuting this week as part of the Late Night Library program. The concept brings together three investigative journalists to expose the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of one of their stories – with slides. First up are former Dateline reporter Sophie McNeil on her experiences in the Syrian refugee camps, young journo Scott Mitchell on stories from Beirut that never made it to print, and Tilley on his visit to a remote Christian commune. Book a spot (free!) via eventbrite.com.au
PICS :: TL
Set in 17th-century feudal Japan, the film examines how samurai codes of honour intersect with common human virtues like compassion, inside a political (i.e. aristocratic) setting – and comes up with a fairly bleak picture. The film opens with a samurai arriving at the House of Li, where he begs an audience with the Senior Retainer of the house, in order to ask a favour; he is granted an audience, and asks the retainer if he may use the House’s courtyard as the location for his ritual suicide. He says he is unemployed after the dissolution of his principality, and now unable to bear the poverty and disgrace of being a nonpractising samurai/ronin. The Senior Retainer then tells him a story – about a young man who turned up not long ago, in similar circumstances, and with a similar story. It is the first of a few told in this film, which elegantly intercuts the present time with the past to reveal a chain of events leading inexorably to the dilemma at hand: a battle of ideas between a samurai whose code of honour is tempered by compassion, and another whose code of honour is tempered by pride.
■ Film
Album Reviews
What's been crossing our ears this week...
CD OF THE ALBUM OF THE WEEK WEEK XXX THE BESNARD LAKES Cosmogramma
distance. But then, from out of nowhere, a guitar solo will slice through the fog and consume you, overwhelming the puny earthling mind lulled into near-REM by the preceding haze.
Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO Warp Jagjaguwar/Inertia
Xxxx Stunning. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. Transportive.
In an age when everything is instantaneous, and few albums are able to stay ‘relevant’ for longer than a week, it’s a tremendous spiritual boost to have The Besnard Lakes. This is a band for whom epochs pass in the strum of a guitar; who write six, seven, eight-minute songs that are over far too soon; who combine intimate, hushed vocals with soundscapes so epic it sometimes feels like staring into the soul of the universe. UFO is classic Besnard Lakes, like My Bloody Valentine if MBV weren’t constantly trying to crush your skull with noise. There’s a mesmeric quality to these songs languidly swirling about you, grounded by one voice singing quietly amidst white guitar noise, drums rolling and crashing like a storm in the
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
THE STROKES
Minnesota band Off With Their Heads, and especially frontman and songwriter Ryan Young, aren’t really used to working with a producer when recording their albums. However, after signing to the mightiest of non-majors, Epitaph Records, it’s par for the course to move into the big leagues. So enter Bill Stevenson, drummer for hall-offamers Descendents, and producer for the likes of NOFX, Rise Against, Propagandhi, and loads, loads more. From the outset, there was tension between lead singer Young and producer Stevenson. Stevenson said that his recording studio wasn’t equipped “to deal with such out-ofkey vocals”, while Young said that Stevenson would just “come in and be a dick to us for five or six hours.” However, despite the adversity, the result, Home has some strong moments. The album is a mixture of anxiety, hurt, love and funnily enough, home. Album opener ‘Start Walking’ is furious and seems to suggest an album akin to OWTH’s previous fast and angry albums – but Home is not that one-dimensional. From the mid-tempo pop-rock of ‘Don’t Make Me Go’ to the fuzzed-out, Jesus & Mary Chain-esque ‘Stolen Away’, this latest album shows a splash of variance. The blistering punk is still present with songs like ‘Take Me Out’, ‘Nightlife’ and the thought-provoking ‘Focus On Your Own Family’ – which calls out the Focus On The Family organisation and their ‘conversion therapy’ camps for young gays and lesbians – but Home is more measured. While Ryan Young’s constant selfdeprecation and teenage-wisdom imagery can test a listener’s patience at times, Home still captures a raw band writing some abrasive, gritty music.
Here’s what a threestar review means. Three stars accorded to a fifth album of a band that you loved when you were 17 is basically the easiest way to say "Meh" without actually writing a one-word synopsis. Comedown Machine is good. It does all the right things, Julian hits all the right notes and the band still play tight and fast like they’ve only discovered two key signatures – ‘C’ for cool and ‘D’ for ‘debonair’. But in 2013, good isn’t good enough. Particularly when your last album was pretty much a write-off, and the one before that was your attempt at being a stadium rock band, The Strokes seem to be burning through their nine lives pretty damn fast. The big issue here is that for every glorious, Spoon-esque guitar bomb like ‘Welcome To Japan’ there’s a hangover from Casablancas’ weird synth phase (‘80s Comedown Machine’) or songs that are only entertaining because they sound like dead ringers for Is This It. If you tell me that ‘Partners In Crime’ is not ‘New York City Cops’ plus a Casio, you’re clearly not a real fan. It’s totally reductionist to say that we only liked the Strokes when they were five dudes with guitars and white Cons, but they did much better at expanding their palette when they went production-crazy on First Impressions Of Earth than they do here. There’s still that obvious disconnect between singer and band, and it’s only getting wider as time goes on. The Strokes’ average songs used to be cause for fascination. Now they’re on the way to writing albums full of them. Probably the most apt title for a record ever. Jonno Seidler
Rick Warner
There might be too little variation – earlier albums have a couple of songs that break up the tempo a little bit, that add a little more urgency to all this dreaminess. But that only becomes apparent when you go back to the old albums. While you are listening to UFO, it’s almost impossible to think of anything else. Hugh Robertson
THE CHEMIST
WAVVES
Comedown Machine RCA/Sony
Home Epitaph Records
You would think that formula would become boring and predictable after four minutes, let alone four albums, but it never does. That mesmeric quality never lets up, each song moving inexorably forward with rolling drums and hypnotic riffs. ‘At Midnight’ is a perfect example, with layers and layers of guitars cascading over each other like a waterfall.
Nathan Williams’ lyrical outlook hasn’t brightened in the three years since Wavves’ last LP King Of The Beach. Song titles on Afraid Of Heights include ‘Paranoid’, ‘Beat Me Up’, ‘Everything Is My Fault’ and ‘Gimme A Knife’, and two tracks in we’ve already heard him sing “we’re probably just dumb … the truth is that it hurts / and what’s it really worth?” But if the loping angst and isolation that was dotted through the earlier album has here crystallised into something truly depressed, it’s countered by an equally developed sense of melody, and music that sounds hugely alive. The result is a set of instantly-energising rock'n'roll powered by some truly epic nihilism. As on King Of The Beach, we are treated to thunderous effected snares, guitars that are fuzzy, jangly and furiously pop-punk all at once, moments of beautiful lushness, and everything so awash in reverb that the drier moments seem almost harrowingly intimate. Vocals in a couple of songs are so effected as to be intentionally indecipherable, as if Williams doesn’t even care if people hear his desperation. The album is so solipsistic that the occasional acknowledgement of others (as on ‘Cop’) is like a ray of sunshine. Deep melancholy can lurk beneath even the most upbeat pop – see The Beach Boys – but here it’s relentless and exposed (the refrain of the title track is “I’ll always be on my own” and, later, “nothing to do, nothing to prove”). Williams doesn’t often engage with the reasons for his angst, making much of the negativity frustratingly inarticulate, but it’s undeniably lived-in and honest. Both anthemic and deadening, this is some pretty big ‘low’ music. Wavves’ Pinkerton, except with less irony and even less redemption— but similar amounts of musical awesome.
After releasing two EPs in the last few years, Perth rockers The Chemist have finally gotten around to releasing their debut album proper. Ballet In The Badlands plays like a concept album that could soundtrack a sparse Western like True Grit. The band have settled into a comfortable alt-country niche for the LP, a development for which their earlier output laid the groundwork. Single ‘Silver & Gold’ is a rollicking tune, and ‘Test Tubes (Only Forgotten Son)’ is a fuzzy organ-based tale that evokes The Black Keys. Gentle ballad ‘December’ and the jangly guitar of ‘Sparrow’s Shadow’ recall the recently more mellow-sounding The Walkmen. Influences aside, Ballet In The Badlands is a solid album with only a few lulls. A few of the tracks occasionally cross the line of “cohesion” into “samey” territory, but that is a risk when the concept is so clearly defined. It’s a tightly produced album, which is both a help and a hindrance – the songs are so developed that they’re complete which leaves little room for progression, but also pushes the album into “assured debut” territory. But it’s still an interesting blend of tones with “Oooh oooh”-ing harmonies that offset Witt’s husky drawl like honey and whiskey. The lyrics are often poignant, oblique and poetic: “You’re not the first to go break my heart / You could bathe in the warmth of the west / And I’ll freeze in the east.” Ballet In The Badlands is lean, accomplished and great fun, especially if you want to (sonically) escape to a dusty border town to nurse your broken heart for a while. Natalie Amat
Laurence Rosier Staines
Surrender to Victory Elefant Traks
It’s almost a relief to listen to the third LP from outspoken wordsmith The Tongue. A relief because here is a record that would change the mind of any naysayer of the Australian hip hop scene; equal parts thoughtful musing and raise-your-glass party anthems filled with some of the freshest beats you’ll come across in 2013. Never mind the guest roster that features some of the biggest talent in Aussie hip hop,
including Thundamentals, Suffa of Hilltop Hoods, Sky’High, Spit Syndicate and Jimblah. It’s easy to come across too earnest, too preachy or just plain narcissistic when it comes to penning hip hop verses, and The Tongue touches on a broad range of subject matter; there are references to kush (most of the album), partying (‘Die Tonight’) and relationships (‘So Profound’ featuring the criminally underrated Ellesquire) but there are plenty of tracks offering food for thought (‘Champion Sound’ ft. Suffa) to balance things out. Although it’s the clever, multi-layered wordplay – unexpected namechecks of Kurt Cobain and The Presets, songs
DAUGHTER
Ballet In The Badlands Dirt Diamonds/Create Control
Afraid of Heights POD/Inertia
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE TONGUE
The Besnard Lakes photo by Richmond Lam
x
that dream of a world with “laws against Nickelback strictly enforced” – that sets this record apart from its contemporaries, there is more positivity, pragmatism and hope on Surrender To Victory than there is hand-wringing, ranting and raving. Elsewhere, there’s tracks like ‘Rhymin’ that showcase his truly enviable flow; he knows how to twist, turn and manipulate words to keep you interested in following the verses rather than passively nodding your head to the beat. You’ll need this if you want your hip hop honest, funny, fresh and with that little extra acid on its tongue.
If You Leave 4AD/Remote Control
Daughter is a Londonbased trio made up of Elena Tonra (vocals, guitar), Igor Haefeli (guitar) and Remi Aguilella (percussion). Listening to the debut record that is If You Leave, you could say that in another way, Daughter is Tonra, and Tonra alone. It’s not that Haefeli and Aguilella’s instrumentation doesn’t ably swell up and crash down to provide a desolate canvas for these ten aching songs. It’s just that Tonra’s haunting sigh of a voice, delivering starkly depressed lyrics in songs that she wrote and co-arranged, relegates everything else to the shadows. Individually, most of these songs work as effective cathartic releases, although on ‘Tomorrow’, Tonra’s lyrics (“By tomorrow we’ll be lost amongst the leaves / In a wind that chills the skeletons of trees”) veer away from the influence of The xx or Everything But The Girl, and more towards Jewel. However, taken as a whole, the monotony weighs the entire record down. There’s nothing wrong with a good heartbreak record, but the songs here flatly mourn everything – relationships, death, depression, numbness – and for an album so invested in the state of the heart, it offers a glimpse of neither hope nor vengeance. Anger, grief, confusion, acceptance – any of these moods would be a welcome addition to the norm of forlorn that Tonra inhabits, as her beautiful vocals are used time and time again to wallow in self-examination, without offering us enough insight to ensure we care as much as she does. By the time the eighth track ‘Touch’ rolls around, the grimness is so firmly established that the repeated lyric “Give me touch / So I can feel something” comes across as self-parody. A debut heartbreak album with beautiful vocals and guitar soundscapes that deserve way more diversity in the songwriting. Simon Topper
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... KANYE WEST - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy NEKO CASE - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood DEPTFORD GOTH - Life After Defo
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - This Is Happening DELAYS - Faded Seaside Glamour
Marissa Demetriou
BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 19
snap sn ap
live reviews
up all night out all week . . .
What we've been to see...
Given the buzz and favourable reviews surrounding Harts and his Offtime EP, the back room of the World Bar was much quieter than I (and he) had hoped, but it proved well worth a visit. Sydney four-piece Siren Lines looked like they’d just ram-raided Topman, but their printed shirts suited their jangly guitar music. They had clearly been listening to a lot of Delays songs, which is no bad thing – everyone should listen to more Delays – except that singer Jake Smithers doesn’t have same command of his voice as Delays’ Greg Gilbert. Camden were altogether more glamorous. For the band’s first gig in a year the immaculately groomed frontman Camden Chan sported a sequined jacket and, like the title of his band’s single, did indeed look ‘Too Pretty For Punk’. Musically, they were smart, but Chan’s eerie Morrissey impersonation was annoying from the first syllable. The purpose of my visit was to see if Harts could successfully recreate the energy on his incredible mini-album in a live setting. The set wasn’t without its flaws, but the answer was an assured yes. On stage alone, accompanied by just his guitar, a keyboard and drum pads, he began with ‘Vampire’, a funky ‘Thriller’ homage to which you just couldn’t remain still. Looking around the room during ‘Back To The Shore’ many of the couple of dozen people present (including myself) were singing along, testifying to Darren Hart’s ability to pen a catchy hook.
Oxford Art Factory Saturday March 23 Actress, AKA Darren Cunningham, knows dance music well, and is devoted to rearranging its components in new and beautiful forms. Last year’s R.I.P. seems like a dance record if you skip through it – the textures and structural pragmatism speak loudly of that vast generic umbrella. A closer spin shows each track’s stripped of bass and almost any discernibly danceable rhythm, revealing a heady collection of disintegrating ‘club’ facsimiles that glow like fading embers. Given his anti-club practices, it may have surprised some people to see Actress booked for a Saturday night at Oxford Art Factory. Though billed by the doorman as one of the supports, the figure setting up onstage at 11.30pm looked very much like headliner himself – a featureless, dark face framed by a bright white hoodie. As the opening swathes of ‘Maze’ filled the room, it became clear this was, in fact, Cunningham, but the audience’s lacklustre reception could’ve suggested otherwise. They yammered and milled like only a pre-pill weekend OAF crowd can, letting gems like ‘Uriel’s Black Harp’, ‘Lost’ and ‘Raven’ spill graciously over their heads with barely a whimper of enthusiasm. Cunningham sensed this, and responded in kind – swigging absentmindedly from a bottle, ambling offstage disinterestedly, and teasing us with only the tiniest snatches of his most treacly ambiences.
‘All Too Real’, a song that I’ve been unable to shake from my consciousness since first hearing it several weeks ago, best demonstrated Harts’ onstage prowess. He flitted between guitar and keys and punters were dragged closer inwards by his irresistible energy and easy confidence. Harts did the splits and sank to his knees during indulgent guitar solos and even got the security staff bopping along when he jumped into the crowd and played behind his neck. His set went by in a flash but those crying “More!” need not worry: this guy will be around for a long time to come. Harts is the real deal.
Those who were lucky enough to see his set at Unsound Adelaide may have felt similarly underwhelmed. Beneath a broad screen of seething video patterns, Adelaide witnessed Actress as a tense, shadowy figure, wresting a collage of viscous, potent anti-club music from a quagmire of static. The room was almost dark besides the screen, and silent beyond the music. Cunningham could clearly feel the pressure of the occasion, and channeled it into the flow of the music. His black, hooded silhouette was often obscured, crouching behind a laptop and table of gear, with only his hands to be seen working to nurse the pressure building in the venue’s cavernous space. It was intense and cathartic, in the way the best electronic music can be. Such a shame the Sydney show proved a non sequitur by comparison.
David Wild
Luke Telford
fall out boy
PICS :: RK
Mum @ The World Bar Friday March 22
ACTRESS
25:03:13 :: The Metro :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666
sydney rock'n'roll & alternative market party profile
HARTS, CAMDEN, SIREN LINES
It’s called: Sydney Rock‘n’Roll & Alternative Market It sounds like: A whopping great party!
Who’s playing? Live music from Brothers Grim & the Blue Murders, Martin Cilia, Paulie Bignell & the Thornbury Two, and the Jordan C. Thomas Band; on the decks, Rockin’ Marc Rondeau, The Crimplenes, The Rockabilly Rhino, and Andy Travers; MC duties taken by Wolfman Dan and The Rockabilly Rhino Sell it to us: Shop at a multitude of amazing and over three levels – rockin’ new and vintage fashio unique music culture related stalls n, records, jewellery, collectables, vintage homewares, rock posters, cult movie DVDs and more. A huge and rather awesome entertainment lineup, DJs, tiki bar courtyard, great food, reasonably priced drinks, kids activities, vintage vehicle displa y… The bit we’ll remember in the AM: All the unique goods you purchased, how much you partied and how many awesome peopl e you ran into. Crowd specs: All are welcome (under 18s in the company of an adult) Wallet damage: A crazy $2 entry! Where: Manning House & Manning Bar, Mann ing Road, University Of Sydney When: Sunday April 7, from 10.30am – 5.30p m
JAMES BLAKE Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Friday March 22 James Blake got acquainted with Verbrugghen Hall by “getting the noisy stuff out of the way” – opening with 2009 cut ‘Air & Lack Thereof’. He followed with ‘I Never Learnt To Share’, the gorgeous canonical soul piece that flows first, then plods, then gallops until it yields the most buzzy, unrelenting breakdown that filled every corner of the Verbrugghen. There was a sensation of experiencing a performance in a space that was both intimate and cavernous at the same time. Blake decided to introduce the doting audience to some unreleased material from his sophomore album Overgrown, which is looking to be one of the year’s best. These newer songs completely reject flimsy notions of what constitutes a ‘song’, as Blake explores and experiments with his voice; a voice that has even more strength and charisma than before. He has an amazing knack for making beautiful songs that are devoid of distinguishable verses or choruses, yet still hook you and draw you in.
PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR
20 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
The last time I saw James Blake was in 2011 at a festival in Denmark, and the festival setting does him no favours. This time around, not only was the audience silent and respectful, but the
beautiful Verbrugghen Hall enhanced the clarity and fullness that Blake’s music affords. He was the first to acknowledge this, telling us that he doesn’t play sit-down gigs as often as he’d like to. “Let’s revel in how weird my voice sounds”, he quipped, as the Kelis-sampling ‘CMYK’ began. We were treated to his new collab with Brian Eno, ‘Digital Lion’, and his stunning covers of Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case Of You’ and Feist’s ‘Limit To Your Love’, as well as the popular ‘The Wilhelm Scream’. Blake comes across as humble, charming, and blithely unaware of how much good he is doing for music right now. Recognising the stature of the Conservatorium of Music, he gestured to his Nord keyboard and apologised for the “ludicrousness” of there being two Bechstein pianos in his rehearsal room “while I’m sitting here, playing this piece of shit”. He concluded by bringing his band back on for ‘Retrograde’… but as he sang the opening vocal loop, the crowd’s cheers were recorded along with it – and the cheers unintentionally played a cameo every 8 seconds for the rest of the song. The audience and Blake laughed together at the whimsy of it all, and he jested back at the crowd, “it’s your fault, guys”. Rachitha Seneviratne
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wanda jackson
PICS :: KL
up all night out all week . . .
23:03:13 :: Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville 9550 3666
the mark of cain
It’s called: Maxine Kauter Band album previe w It sounds like: A cross between Mazzy Star and Sarah Blasko. Who’s playing? Maxine Kauter Band, Jame s Teague, Speck. Sell it to us: Not only will the Maxine Kaute r Band be putting on the enigmatic live show they’re renowned for, they’ll be previe wing their new material in an intimate setting ahead of recording their sopho more album. With two other talented acts on the bill in support, this gig sells itself. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Kauter’s distinct sultry vocals, plus the great anecdotes and tales brought to the stage… Crowd specs: Inquisitive folk-pop fans clutch ing debut will be all over this one, as well as lovers copies of the band’s self-titled of gorgeous new indie tunes.
Wallet damage: $12
Where: FBi Social / Level 2 Kings Cross Hotel When: Thursday April 4, 8pm
PICS :: KC
21:03:13 :: Brighton Up Bar :: 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322
party profile
PICS :: TL
these vagabond hours
maxine kauter band
23:03:13 :: UNSW Roundhouse :: Gate 2/High St Kensington 9385 7630 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: RYAN S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) RO XAVIER OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER PED :: MAR LEY KATE LEWIS :: ASH KITCHING :: DANIEL MUNNS ::
mutemath
PICS :: AM
hits & pits
22:03:13 :: The Standard :: Level 3 Bourke St Surry Hills 9660 7953
PICS :: PX
22:03:13 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William St 9331 9900
the snowdroppers
PICS :: PX
fbi social 2nd birthday
PICS :: PX
23:03:13 :: The Metro :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666
24:03:13 :: The Hi-Fi :: Entertainment Quarter 122 Lang Rd Moore Park 8683 2301 BRAG :: 469 :: 02:07:12 :: 21
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week Hungry Kids Of Hungary
FRIDAY APRIL 5
The Hi-Fi Sydney, Moore Park
Hungry Kids Of Hungary, The Preatures, Them Swoops $25.50 8pm MONDAY APRIL 1 ROCK & POP
22 :: BRAG :: 506 : 01:04:13
JAZZ
The Monday Jam: Danny G Felix And The Mondays OGs Ginger’s, The Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9pm Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (USA), Martinez Blue Beat, Double Bay $55 (+ bf) 8pm
TUESDAY APRIL 2 ROCK & POP
Ben Howard (UK) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7.30pm Iggy & The Stooges (USA), Beasts Of Bourbon Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $107.29 8pm all-ages Paul Simon (USA), Rufus Wainwright (USA) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $99$199 7.30pm Wilco (USA) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay $79$90 8pm A Wilhelm Scream (USA), The Flatliners (CAN)
Annandale Hotel $44 (+ bf) 8pm
& Chief, Louis London, Christo Jones Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Simone Felice (USA), Jess Ribiero, James Thomson The Vanguard, Newtown $33.80 8pm Sons Of Oxley, Human Exxtinction, Shannon Guihot Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm Staff Picks: The Model School, Gods Of Rapture, The Sculptures, Hailer, Hey Horze Annandale Hotel $5 7pm Stormcellar The Jannali Inn free 7.30pm Tom Silver, Bradley Cork & The Folklore Mantra, In Measures, Kay Proudlove Valve Bar & Venue 7pm Willy Mason (USA) Moonshine, Hotel Steyne, Manly free 5pm Yacht Club DJs, StepPanther Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $18 (+ bf) 8pm
JAZZ
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Matt McMahon Trio, Casey Golden Trio Venue 505, Surry Hills $10 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Angelene Harris, Lily Ray Cat And Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 7pm Helmut Uhlmann, Olivia Jean, Madame Wu & Elise Graham, Tom Lemon, Tim Busuttil UTS Loft, Broadway, Ultimo free 6pm TAOS, John Chesher, Gavin Fitzgerald, Pauline Scarf Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm
JAZZ
C’est Si Bon The White Horse Hotel, Surry Hills free 7.30pm Old School Funk & Groove Night Venue 505, Surry Hills free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Angelene Harris Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction free 7pm Champagne Jam – Open Mic Night Dundas Sports Club free 7.30pm Darren Bennett George IV Inn, Picton free 7.30pm Greg Sita Five Dock Hotel free 7.30pm Mikael Sandstrom, Harriet Whisket Club, Brixton Bells Café Lounge, Surry Hills free 7.30pm Peach Montgomery Newington Inn, Petersham free 7pm
WEDNESDAY APRIL 3 ROCK & POP
Baby et Lulu The Vanguard, Newtown $33.80 8pm Ben Caplan (CAN), Genevieve Chadwick
THURSDAY APRIL 4 ROCK & POP
Charlie A’Court (CAN) Brass Monkey, Cronulla 7pm Feskit, Two Faced, Ivan Drago, Riot Nine The Square, Haymarket $8 8pm Gimme Shelter: The Walking Who, The Ruminaters, Atom Bombs, The Knits, Erik The Red Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $5 8pm Hang The DJ: Buzz Kull, Whipped Cream Chargers, Will And The Indians Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Hot Damn! - Toby’s Birthday Mega Party: Divide & Conquer, Seek The Silence, Where The Enemy Sleeps, Thesis, Hot Damn DJs, DJ Kane Kirby Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15$20 8pm Jake Shimabukuro (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $55 (+ bf) 8pm Maxine Kauter Band, James Teague, Speck FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $12 8pm Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm The Seabellies, Lurch
JAZZ
The Midnight Tea Party Venue 505, Surry Hills $10 8pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Simon Tedeschi & Kevin Hunt Blue Beat, Doube Bay $20 8pm The Woohoo Revue Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15-$30 7pm Briana Cowlishaw, Martha Marlow The Newsagency, Marrickville $11.50 7.30pm Daniel Hopkins, Starr Witness Olympic Hotel, Paddington free 7.30pm Peach Montgomery, Chich, Frankie Francis Forest Lodge Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm
FRIDAY APRIL 5 ROCK & POP
Bettye LaVette (USA), Jones Jnr The Factory Theatre, Marrickville $60.10 7pm Bruce!, Nunchukka Superfly, The Scam, Los Hombres Del Diablo, Witch Fight Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington $15 7.30pm Dead Radio, Psychlops Eyepatch, Black Springs Annandale Hotel free 8pm Deap Vally (USA) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35.20 (+ bf)
8pm Entersix, Til Rapture, Harmony Of Hate, Passive Resistance Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm Film Fundraiser For The Blind Passenger: Axis, Forenzics, Toydeath, Triangle The Red Rattler, Marrickville 6pm Forever The Optimist, Shinobi, Triangle Skies, After Thirteen The Wall @ Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $15 8pm Furious Five Heathcote Hotel free 8pm Glass Towers, Contrakids, Karl Broadie, S.Kobar Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Hungry Kids Of Hungary, The Preatures, Them Swoops The Hi-Fi Sydney, Moore Park $25.50 8pm Livewirez 3 Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 9pm The Living Eyes, Gooch Palms, East River, Family FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm MUM: Buzz Kull, Whipped Cream Chargers, Neighbourhood Youth, Big White, This Mess (DJ set), Cinderland, Vandellay DJs, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Mustang Jerx (JPN), Nudist Colonies Of The World, BUNT, Hell Crab City Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Pennywise (USA), Face To Face (USA), The Menzingers (USA) UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington $57.20 (+ bf) 7.30pm all-ages Pink Dove III: Laneous & The Family Yah, Georgia Potter, MKO, Superfeather, The Well Alrights, The Melotonins The Standard, Surry Hills $12 (+ bf) 8pm Pug’s Day Out Punk Festival: Topnovil, Voice OF A Generation, Eager 13, Stanley Knife Valve Bar & Venue 7pm Simone Felice (USA), Jess Ribiero, James Thomson Brass Monkey, Cronulla $37.75 7pm Soja (USA), Current Swell Metro Theatre, Sydney $36.90 7.30pm Soulfood The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm
JAZZ
Andrew Robson Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10$20 8.30pm Mi Tierra Venue 505, Surry Hills $15$20 8pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie
Deap Vally
Xxx photo by xxx
24th Annual Byron Bay Bluesfest: Paul Simon (USA), Wilco (USA), Bonnie Raitt (USA), The Lumineers (USA), Xavier Rudd, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, The Bamboos, The Beards, Fat Freddy’s Drop, JD McPherson (USA), The Music Maker Blues Revue (USA), Soja, Bettye LaVette (USA), Ben Caplan (CAN), Ben Howard (UK), Royal Southern Brotherhood (USA), Chris Smither, Zac Brown Band (USA), Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Grey Ghost, Tony Joe White (USA), Mavis Staples (USA), Current Swell, Allen Stone (USA), Matt Anderson (CAN), The McMenamins, Newton Faulkner, Kim Churchill, King Cannons, Mason Rock Band, Wilson Pickers, Busby Marou, Genevieve Chadwick, Round Mountain Girls, Brother Fox Tygarah Tea Tree Farm $159 (single day) 2pm Blind Boys Of Alabama (USA), Allen Toussaint (USA), Sweet Honey In The Rock (USA) Enmore Theatre $96.20 6.45pm Dropkick Murphys (USA), Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Swingin’ Utters
Big Top Sydney, Milson’s Point $65 6.30pm all-ages Motown Monday: Soultrane The White Horse Hotel, Surry Hills free 8pm Playing For Change The Factory Theatre, Marrickville $55 (+ bf) 7pm
Blue Beat, Double Bay $33 (+ bf) 8pm Ben Howard (UK) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7.30pm Bonnie Raitt (USA), Mavis Staples Enmore Theatre $99.50$118.80 7pm Daybreak Band Competition Valve Bar & Venue 7pm Jake Shimabukuro (USA) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48 8pm JD McPherson (USA), Ray Beadle The Basement, Circular Quay $44 (+ bf) 7.30pm Katy Steele Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $20 (+ bf) 8pm The Khans, Swimming Weather Brass Monkey, Cronulla 7pm Lazy Cole & The Colts Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 6pm Lionel Cole The White Horse Hotel, Surry Hills free 7.30pm Melodie Nelson Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney free 8pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt free 8pm Velociraptor, Bondi Hipsters, City Riots Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Wilco (USA) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay $79$90 8pm
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Holdsworth Centre, Woollahra free 1pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co. Café / Wine Bar, Glebe free 8pm
Bec & Ben
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Julia & The Deep Sea Sirens Yours & Owls, Wollongong $10 8pm Soleyla, Charlie Gradon The Newsagency, Marrickville $11.50 8pm
SATURDAY APRIL 6 ROCK & POP
ABBAsBack Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $34 8pm Baby et Lulu Camelot Lounge, Marrickville sold out 7.30pm Black Breath (USA), I Exist, Dark Horse Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington 8pm Cash – The Concert: Stuart French and Daniel Thompson Brass Monkey, Cronulla $34.70 7pm Dirt River Radio, The Consorts, Drover Mad, The Raids, Meza Annandale Hotel $12 7.30pm DZ Deathrays, Palms, Bec & Ben Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $15 (+ bf) 8pm Jon Anderson (IRE), Harry Healy The Factory Theatre, Marrickville $82.10 7pm
The Last Waltz Revival Blue Beat, Double Bay $25 (+ bf) 8pm The Laurels, World’s End Press, Zeahorse, East River The Standard, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm Lee Hom (USA) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $122.15-$462.35 8.15pm Ma. Gallery Fourth Birthday Festival: The Pieter Van Hoogen Band, The Nugs, The Living Eyes, The Otchkies, Whipped Cream Chargers, In Helvetica, La Mancha Negra, The Fuzzards, Dead Farmers, Flash, Velvet Gallagher, Honeybear &
Blackbear, Los Sprouler, Howlin Alvarez Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm Passenger (UK) Enmore Theatre sold out 7pm Polar Nation, Tales In Space, Neighbourhood Youth Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Pug’s Day Out Punk Festival: The Corps, RUST, Slick 46, Foot Soldier, Plan Of Attack, All In Brawl, Standard Union, Mouth Guard, Razor Cut, The Lungs, Marching Orders, Mick Horan DJs Valve Bar & Venue 12pm Red Fire Red, Go With
Colours, From Afar, Citizen Of The World, Gladstone, Ackers, Kay Proudlove, Mimi Gilbert (USA), Justin Stewart Cotta The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm The Resignators, Jobstopper, Chris Duke & The Royals, Steel City Allstars The Wall @ Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $7 8pm Sex In Mexico, Feick’s Device, The Nice Folk, Krip Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $12 7pm Stormcellar The Royal Hotel, Bondi free 8.30pm World Musician Day 2013: Jeff Duff, Sydney Street Choir, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Chango Salsa Band, Betty & Oswald, Natalie Magee, The Lunch Mothers, Duo Diavolo, Raphael Hudson & Sydney Lyric Opera, Ethan Birncowe, Andrea Ng & Friends Sydney Park, St Peters free 12pm all-ages The xx (UK) Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park sold out 8pm
JAZZ
Chosen Afrique The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 7.30pm Going Solo Piano Series: O’Halloran/Isaacs The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The
Rocks free 5pm Pugsley Buzzard & Christina Hughes Venue 505, Surry Hills $15$20 8pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co. Café / Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.15pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK ACES, Matt Ralph The Newsagency, Marrickville $16.50 8pm Klay The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Nic Cassey, Bud Petal, Julia Why? Lamps, Surry Hills $10 8pm
SUNDAY APRIL 7 ROCK & POP
Cass Eager The Wickham Park Hotel, Islington free 1.30pm Ebony Black, Betty And Oswald Brass Monkey, Cronulla $19.90 7pm Electric Lunchbox The Red Rattler, Marrickville $12 (+ bf) 4pm Fouulhawk, Berkshire Hunting Club, Witch Fight, Swine Annandale Hotel $5 5pm Hue Williams Chittaway Tavern free 2.30pm Humungous Pony, Shed Muzak Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $10-$15 (+ bf) 1.30pm I The Breather (USA), The Storm Picturesque,
Prepared Like A Bride The Wall @ Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $20 5pm Marshall Okell Chinderah Tavern free 2pm Passenger (UK) Enmore Theatre $42 7pm The Script (IRE), The Original Rudeboys (IRE), Sinead Burgess Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $80.70 7.30pm all-ages Size Is Important Valve Bar & Venue 3pm Sydney Rock ‘n’ Roll Alternative Markets: Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders, Martin Cilia, Paulie Bignell & The Thornbury Two, Jordan C. Thomas Band, Rockin’ Marc Rondeau, The Crimplenes, Andy Travers, The Rockabilly Rhino Manning Bar, University of Sydney, Camperdown $2 10.30am The xx (UK) Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park sold out 8pm
JAZZ
Bobby Singh Presents: Soul Food Sunday Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20-$25 (+ bf) 6.30pm Peter Head Band Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Julia & The Deep Sea Sirens, Post Paint Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle 8pm Peach Montgomery, Starr Witness Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm
tue
02 Apr
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
wed
thu
03
04
Apr
Apr
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
fri
05 Apr
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(9:30PM - 1:30AM)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON (4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sat
06
SATURDAY NIGHT
Apr
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sun
07 Apr
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 23
gig picks
up all night out all week...
THURSDAY APRIL 4
Melodie Nelson
Gimme Shelter: The Walking Who, The Ruminaters, Atom Bombs, The Knits, Erik The Red Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $5 8pm Jesse Willesee's Flash/Mob: Buzz Kull, Whipped Cream Chargers, Will And The Indians Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm
MONDAY APRIL 1 Dropkick Murphys (USA), Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Swingin’ Utters Big Top Sydney, Milson’s Point $65 6.30pm all-ages
A Wilhelm Scream (USA), The Flatliners (CAN) Annandale Hotel $44 (+ bf) 8pm
WEDNESDAY APRIL 3
Playing For Change The Factory Theatre, Marrickville $55 (+ bf) 7pm
Ben Howard (UK) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7.30pm
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (USA), Martinez Blue Beat, Double Bay $55 (+ bf) 8pm
JD McPherson (USA), Ray Beadle The Basement, Circular Quay $44 (+ bf) 7.30pm
TUESDAY APRIL 2
Melodie Nelson Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney free 8pm
Iggy & The Stooges (USA), Beasts Of Bourbon Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $107.29 8pm all-ages Paul Simon (USA), Rufus Wainwright (USA) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $99-$199 7.30pm
24 :: BRAG :: 506 : 01:04:13
Velociraptor, Bondi Hipsters, City Riots Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Wilco (USA) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay $79-$90 8pm
The Seabellies, Lurch & Chief, Louis London, Christo Jones Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Staff Picks: The Model School, Gods Of Rapture, The Sculptures, Hailer, Hey Horze Annandale Hotel $5 7pm Willy Mason (USA) Moonshine, Hotel Steyne, Manly free 5pm Yacht Club DJs, Step-Panther Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $18 (+ bf) 8pm
The Living Eyes, Gooch Palms, East River, Family FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm
The Laurels, World’s End Press, Zeahorse, East River The Standard, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm
MUM: Buzz Kull, Whipped Cream Chargers, Neighbourhood Youth, Big White, This Mess (DJ set), Cinderland, Vandellay DJs, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm
Red Fire Red, Go With Colours, From Afar, Citizen Of The World, Gladstone, Ackers, Kay Proudlove, Mimi Gilbert (USA), Justin Stewart Cotta The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm
Pennywise (USA), Face To Face (USA), The Menzingers (USA) UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington $57.20 (+ bf) 7.30pm all-ages Pink Dove III: Laneous & The Family Yah, Georgia Potter, MKO, Superfeather, The Well Alrights, The Melotonins The Standard, Surry Hills $12 (+ bf) 8pm
SATURDAY APRIL 6 DZ Deathrays, Palms, Bec & Ben Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $15 (+ bf) 8pm
FRIDAY APRIL 5 Bettye LaVette (USA), Jones Jnr The Factory Theatre, Marrickville $60.10 7pm Deap Vally (USA) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35.20 (+ bf) 8pm Glass Towers, Contrakids, Karl Broadie, S.Kobar Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm
The Laurels
The xx (UK) Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park sold out 8pm
SUNDAY APRIL 7 Passenger (UK) Enmore Theatre $42 7pm Sydney Rock ‘n’ Roll Alternative Markets: Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders, Martin Cilia, Paulie Bignell & The Thornbury Two, Jordan C. Thomas Band, Rockin’ Marc Rondeau, The Crimplenes, Andy Travers, The Rockabilly Rhino Manning Bar, University of Sydney, Camperdown $2 10.30am
BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
brag beats
dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
five things WITH
BEN FESTER
SPICEY OXIA
Stalwart French producer Olivier Raymond, AKA Oxia, will headline Spice Cellar on Wednesday April 24, Anzac Day eve. With a discography that dates back to the mid-’90s, Oxia has evolved into a highly diverse techno proponent whose music transcends the club paradigm and incorporates jazz, soul and funk influences. In addition to releasing singles for a vast smorgasbord of labels including Kompakt, Tsuba and his own Goodlife imprint, which set he up with Alex Reynaud and The Hacker and named after the Inner City song of the same name, Oxia has also crafted accomplished LPs 24 Heures and Tides Of Mind. He’s also collaborated with the likes of Miss Kittin and remixed Agoria, Slam and Butch. Murat Kilic and Robbie Lowe will be spinning in support.
Oxia, emerging from locker...
DAFT PUNK
Growing Up I was always around music as a kid; 1. my dad was a drummer, and Mum was
and a new weekly party at The Flinders called Kitchen with the Cosmonaut guys.
always singing funny songs to us around the house. Learnt a few instruments from primary school and all through high school, though, when I was about 15 me and my younger brother saved up and bought a pair of bad CDJs.
The Music You Make I play a lot of different stuff out. I like 4. the music I play to have a strong percussive
Inspirations I have been inspired by quite a large 2. variety of music, I guess – from Big L to Arthur Russell. I’ve always been largely inspired by older funk, soul and jazz. There are guys these days like Floating Points or Brandt Brauer Frick that continue to embrace those older ideas and further them. Your Band I’m proud to be a part of the Astral 3. People family. They were the guys that took me out of my bedroom and put me into a club for the first time and have since brought me many great opportunities. I started as, and still am, one half of Astral DJs along with Thom from Alba. Only just at the end of last year have I been starting to play shows under my own name, which I come at with a bit of a different approach. I also run a monthly party called Heavenly with Thom
xxx photo by xx
AJAX TRIBUTE
The Bang Gang DJs will reunite at Sydney’s Club 77 on Friday April 5 for a celebration of the life and times of one of Sydney’s finest DJs, the late Adrian Thomas, AKA Ajax, who was also one of the most endearing people you could ever hope to meet. Ajax’s legendary status in the club realm can be linked to his long-running residency at Chinese Laundry, his continual domination of the top spot in ITM’s
aspect to it and some sort of element of funk. Whether it’s current or older house and techno, disco or some more UK-influenced records. I guess it really comes down to what I’m feeling at the time and place. I am currently producing too, but who knows if that music will ever see the light of day.
The hype machine has shifted into overdrive with official confirmation that Daft Punk will release their much-anticipated new album Random Access Memories on May 21. At present, all that we know is that the new LP features thirteen tracks, and that Daft Punk worked closely with some seminal figures in
crafting the release: the inimitable moustache man and soundtrack magician Giorgio Moroder, who put together classic soundtracks to films such as Scarface, The Cat People and Midnight Express during the 1980s, and anther disco pioneer, Chic’s Nile Rodgers. The rest of Random Access Memories remains a closelykept secret, though there’s not long until all will be revealed!
Plump DJs
Music, Right Here, Right Now I think Sydney is really trying hard 5. at the moment – it’s great. There are lots of fresh guys doing good things: live acts like Cliques and Alba flourishing with their own styles, and then guys like Gardland really pushing the Sydney techno scene. Some great parties happening too, like Compound and Anomaly. Low Motion and Death Strobe boys holding it down strong too. Recognise. With: Cliques, Zeus, Body Language, Faux Hemia, Tom Francis, T. Mingus Where: Heavenly at Tatler When: Saturday April 6
Australia’s Top DJ poll and his work founding his record label Sweat It Out. Ajax was also one of the protagonists of the Bang Gang parties, where many local party veterans earned their stripes. It is fitting, then, that the Bang Gang DJs Beni AKA DJ Damage, Jamie Doom, DJ Dangerous Dan, Nolan and Gus Da Hoodrat will unite to remember Ajax in the best way possible: by spinning a host of classic tunes and getting down all night at the bat cave, Club 77.
PLUMP DJS
Breaks stalwarts the Plump DJs will perform at Chinese Laundry on Saturday April 20. Any younger readers who aren’t familiar with the Plumps’ pedigree, gather near and listen closely: the pair’s performance at the first ever Fuzzy Field Day way back in the early noughties would leave a lasting impression on many young clubbers in attendance, and together with their releases A Plump Night Out and their mix for the canonical Fabriclive series helped shape a generation of Australian clubbers. However, the inevitable backlash followed and the breaks scene in Australia has evanesced since those halcyon days. But that’s not to say the Plumps have lost any of their prowess behind the decks – moving with the times, they have continued to adapt and develop their sound(s), while lesser relics of the breaks scene have gradually retreated into the sonic shadows.
BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 25
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
on the record WITH
House Shoes
SPENDA C The First Record I Bought: 1. I don’t remember the very first
somewhere deep in the archives at triple j, ha!
piece of music I bought but I do remember the first music I discovered independent from my parents’ influence was gangster rap in the early/mid-’90s. Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle and N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton were on high rotation on my Walkman back then.
The Last Thing I Recorded: I don’t really record anything 4. because I produce music using
2.
The Last Record I Bought: A$AP Rocky – LONG.LIVE. A$AP. I got into A$AP while I was holidaying in Paris and the ‘Goldie’ film clip was playing on the TV at least five times a day. Every time it came on I wanted to rent a convertible and do laps around the Arc de Triomphe.
3.
The First Thing I Recorded: I was in a ska band in high school and we recorded a tune for triple j Unearthed. We never heard anything back but the cassette is probably sitting
RODRIGUEZ JR
Oliver Mateu AKA Rodriguez Jr will headline the next Subsonic bash across two levels of The Burdekin on Saturday April 27. The Mobilee Records producer established himself in the club realm through his work as part of the techno duo The Youngsters with Gilles Escoffier, with the pair releasing two acclaimed albums on Laurent Garnier’s F Communications imprint. Over the past few years, Mateu has focused on establishing himself as a standalone producer, releasing his debut solo LP Bittersweet on Mobilee in 2011. His forthcoming tour will coincide with the release of his new mix Back To Back Vol 7, a double CD compilation that follows on from previous volumes helmed by Pan-Pot and Marcin Czubala, and comprises nine Rodriguez Jr tracks produced in collaboration with the likes of Anja Schneider and Sebo K. Mateu will be flanked by a lengthy local support cast of DJs, including Subsonic main men Marcotix and MSG, while VJs will be putting on an LED-based visuals show to complement the beats.
DASH BERLIN
Fresh from spinning at Ultra Music Festival and EDC in Chicago, Dutch trance DJ Jeff Sutorius, AKA Dash Berlin, will return to our shores and perform at the Sydney Showground on Sunday June 9. Dash Berlin has a devoted fanbase, and a strong Sydney following thanks to his performance at last year’s Stereosonic
samples and synths, but I am working on a few tracks with Sydney vocalists Zuri Akoko and MC Shureshock as well as Whiskey Pete from LA. The Record That Changed My Life: 5. I’m a massive Less Than Jake fan! My favourite album changes from time to time but at the moment it would have to be Anthems. Each album, each song reminds me of a place and time in my life. They really are the soundtrack to my life. What: Trap Bombs album launch With: DJ Butcher, Northie, Them Kids, Judson, Kyro & Bomber, Turnt Up When: Friday April 5 Where: Chinese Laundry
The Partysquad
ROCKET #9
The brotherly duo Rocket Number Nine will release their second album MeYouWeYou in May through the Norwegian imprint Smalltown Supersound, a label that has released material from the likes of Todd Terje, The Idjut Boys, and Lindstrøm. The pair have a strong collaborative history with Kieran Hebden (AKA Four Tet), having released their excellent Matthew & Toby EP through his Text imprint back in 2010 and teaming with Hebden on their Roseland EP, which was produced by Floating Points and dropped earlier this month. Details about the musical direction of MeYouWeYou are limited, though album track ‘Rotunda’ has been doing the rounds online and evokes Jamie xx with its rich use of African percussive rhythms. It’s safe to say that any fans of both Jamie xx and Four Tet should ensure they wrap their ears around MeYouWeYou when it is released.
PARTYSQUAD
Dutch DJ producer duo The Partysquad, made up of Jerry Leembruggen and Ruben Fernhout, will play at Soho on Saturday April 6. The pair have been producing international releases on labels such as Spinnin Records, Dim Mak and Mad Decent since back in ’09, and will be touring Australia in support of their latest track ‘The Lion’. The Partysquad has been one of the most popular DJ duos of The Netherlands for the past eight years, with ten of their singles reaching the Dutch Top 40 charts. They’ve collaborated with the likes of Major Lazer, Afrojack, Bassjackers, Alvaro, and Hardwell, with Jerry surviving a serious car crash and ensuing coma along the way. Drawing on various electronic, hip hop, reggae, rock and dub sounds and transposing them onto the club floor, The Partysquad arrive Down Under ready to live up to their moniker.
MOUNT KIMBIE
Opiuo and Spoonbill will comprise a headline double bill at the Hi-Fi on Friday May 10. Spoonbill started out as an idiosyncratic sound designer whose talents led him to fully embrace production and cultivate a distinct, glitchy brand of electronica that draws on hip hop, big beat and jazz influences. He will be performing in support of the release of his latest EP, which is entitled Boca Fiesta. Opiuo is a New Zealander who experiments with jazz, reggae, funk, rock and psychedelic influences. Known around the traps as a man who knows how to put on a show, Opiuo has performed alongside the likes of MC Hammer, Bassnectar, FreQ Nasty and Tipper, released albums such as Slurp And Giggle, and remixed Kimbra and Infected Mushroom.
26 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
Rapper-producer combo Blu and Exile are reloading their collaborative arms for one peanut-butter-and-jam-packed-emphasison-the-jam night of mixtape magnitude at Goodgod Small Club on Friday April 5. Their vaunted Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them mix saw highlydemanding become high-demand, adding to the duo’s slate, which includes more peanutbutter-and-jam-emphasis-on-the-jam projects with Aloe Blacc, Mobb Deep, Ghostface Killah, Snoop Dogg and Big Sean. Just to make an already killer set a touch more murderous, Detroit’s DJ House Shoes will be laying down his Motown-infused beats, while Aussie hip hop pioneers Frenzie and DJ Mike Who will bring their funkin’ brilliant floor-shaking tracks. For your shot at snagging one of two double passes, tell us your favourite track by the pair.
festival. The Dutchman seemingly has a far more positive attitude than many of the entitled superstars who populate the DJ realm, and goes out of the way to thank his fans at every possible opportunity. “It’s virtually impossible to make progress without the continuing support of the people,” Dash says in his tour presser. “I can’t wait to play a long set and do my thing in Australia and return my thanks to the fans.” Don’t you just melt in the face of such flattery? Doors for Dash’s Sydney show open at 10pm, with presale tickets available online.
Opiuo
OPIUO + SPOONBILL
BLU & EXILE & HOUSE SHOES & STUFF
UK bass duo Mount Kimbie have announced that they will release their second album, Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, in late May on the vaunted imprint Warp Records. With a sound that has been described as “post-dubstep,” the London-based duo made their mark with twin EPs on Scuba’s Hotflush Recordings, before dropping their breakout debut LP Crooks & Lovers. The release traversed hip hop, jazz, techno, ambient and post-rock influences, and was followed up by a world tour that even led the pair to perform in Berlin clubbing colosseum Berghain – and the Sydney equivalent, Goodgod Small Club. Their forthcoming album features two collaborations with Rinse-signed crooner King Krule, ‘You Took Your Time’ and ‘Meter, Pale, Tone,’ with the group’s Dom Maker telling listeners to expect “a bigger sound compared to the last album” that is “informed really greatly by what we’ve spent the last two years doing – playing live”. Word has it Mount Kimbie will be playing live in Australia following the release of their new album – watch this space. For now, that news is unconfirmed, off the record, on the Q.T. and very ‘hush-hush’.
HAHA 8TH BDAY
First Release tickets are all gone, and we’re now onto second release tickets for HAHA’s 8th birthday bash, slotted for Saturday April 20 at Goodgod Small Club. To commemorate the milestone, HAHA have teed up a headline slot from Glaswegian DJ pairing JD Twitch and JG Wilkes, who will be representing as Optimo, an identity drawn from the infamous Scottish nightclub of the same name. Optimo burst onto the international stage with the release of How To Kill The DJ (Part 2) back in that sun-kissed spring of ’04, with the mix catapulting the duo onto the international gigging circuit. And it’s been a continued ascension ever since, with the duo compiling a mix for Fabric and wowing Australian crowds on previous visits. The HAHA brand, meanwhile, has been steadily establishing itself since about the time Optimo broke through, expanding its loyal following due to an unflinching commitment to showcasing quality music, often in warehouse venues or on the hallowed turf of Marrickville Bowlo. HAHA have hosted the likes of Hunee, Basic Soul Unit and Robert Hood over the years, and we hope they’ll continue to add to that impressive list and host plenty more parties yet.
Sinden
That Beep By David Wild
N
o stranger to Australian shores, Sinden is back this month – and this time he’s brought a friend: the Essex-born, LA-based DJ/producer behind that ‘Beeper’ song is doing a series of co-headline shows with the oh-so-hot Brenmar. Together they will be showcasing the “grey area sounds” of Sinden’s own Grizzly label, and spruiking the new compilation Pull Up: A Grizzly Retrospective. “I’m really looking forward to it,” he says. “The London clubbers are a little bit too-cool-for-school but the Aussies just go for it.” Growing up, Sinden (or Graeme, as his mum called him) feasted on the diet of homegrown underground music and US imports not uncommon to an adolescent living in the outskirts of London. “I was too young to go to UK garage raves so I was going to underage parties,” he remembers. “I heard a lot of stuff in the record stores. A lot of proto drum-andbass and jungle really influenced me. And as a kid I was crazy about rap music. I loved the Native Tongues crew [Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul] and Public Enemy as well.” In the mid-2000s, while handing out flyers for a club night, Sinden met Jesse Rose, and eventually fell in with a group of fellow producers and DJs who favoured a harder, dirtier brand of house and techno – among them Dave Taylor (AKA Switch/Solid Groove) and Joshua Harvey (AKA Hervé/The Count of Monte Cristal). Together, they started making “house music with rude basslines.” ‘Beeper’, a fidgety, squelchy monster of a collaboration with The Count, launched Sinden’s profile into the stratosphere. “We had no idea at all that it was going to blow up as big as it did. It was originally a B-side. You couldn’t get a more accidental smash.” The track found an influential fan in Annie Mac, a presenter on BBC Radio 1. She played ‘Beeper’ to death before a vocal by US rapper Kid Sister was added and the track was given a proper release on Domino. However, despite the single’s success, owing to heavy use of a sample borrowed from a record by Fam-Lay featuring Pharrell, it was no money-spinner, at least not for Sinden himself. “We really got rapped for the publishing. But it definitely did us good in other ways – and Fam-Lay did well out of it,” he says.
“We had no idea at all that it was going to blow up as big as it did. It was originally a B-side. You couldn’t get a more accidental smash.”
In 2008, Sinden launched a record label. “I started Grizzly as an outlet for my stuff, and also new artists kept asking me if I could help them.” Now it exists as “a forum to support music that sits between genres and brings a sense of unexpectedness.” Not least among their claims to fame, Sinden and Grizzly were instrumental in launching the career of one Aaron Jerome, better known as elusive masked beatmaker SBTRKT, before he went on to bigger things. Sinden talks proudly and excitedly of the strong core of artists currently at the label, including touring partner Brenmar. Born and raised in Chicago, Brenmar now resides in Brooklyn where he is carving a nice niche for himself by marrying the sounds of commercial R&B and the early house sound of the city of his birth. In a typical Brenmar set you might hear R. Kelly and Monica cosying up next to Mr Fingers or Brenmar’s own remixes of Rihanna and Justin Timberlake. His excellent single ‘Children Of The Night’ encapsulates all of these influences, and you can also hear his input on ‘One Two’, a free-to-download acid house track by Sinden and Brenmar. Also on the Grizzly roster are familiar names like Brodinski and Melé, and other up-andcomers 5kin And Bone5 and Wafa. Sinden speaks particularly highly of a funk-influenced Welsh duo that you might soon be hearing a lot more about: “We put a record out a couple of months ago with Bodhi, who are really cool. They’re going to be doing big things this year on a deeper, melodic, ’90s house revival tip.” Another Sinden signee who should already be well-known in these parts is 22-year-old Sydney indie producer Elizabeth Rose, an FBi Radio fave and triple j Next Crop 2012 pick. “I was introduced to her the last time I was in Australia, in 2011,” explains Sinden. “We went into the studio and we just clicked. There was some good material to come from that session, although it did take a little bit of time to come out.” One of those tracks was ‘Again’, a lush production which makes the best of Rose’s poppy voice and ear for melody and Sinden’s darker beats. It was eventually released as a single from Rose’s debut EP Crystallise. With the running of the label, the tour, his own productions, and no end of remix requests, Sinden is as busy as he has ever been – but really happy. “I really feel like I’m in a good place right now and that’s the honest-to-God truth,” he says. “I’m working on some exciting projects: me and Mykki Blanco are working on new tracks and I’ve got some things that I can’t even tell you about yet. Then I’m collaborating with lots of artists. Yep, it’s busy but everything’s where I want it to be.” With: Brenmar Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday April 6
BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13 :: 27
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week SATURDAY APRIL 6
Sinden
MONDAY APRIL 1 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway End Of The Line Nico Stojan (GER), DJ Stratos (Greece), Jonathan Lukermann (GER), Jay Smalls, Gemma Van D, MSG, Ben Ashton, Nick McMartin, Trinity, Jordan Deck, Franchi Brothers, Ezikiel, LeOch, Angelo, Marcotix $20 12pm Santa Barbara, Kings Cross Picnic 5th Birthday Superpitcher (GER), Ken Cloud, Kali, Andy Webb $15$25 2pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket Mother Of A Monday DJ Smokin’ Joe free 7pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice After Hours Sash DJs, Katie Drover $25 4am The World Bar, Kings Cross Latin Jazz DJs free 7pm
TUESDAY APRIL 2 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel Salsa DJ Willie Sabor free 8pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket I Love Goon Resident DJs free 7pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday Resident DJs 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Chu Resident DJs free 8pm
WEDNESDAY APRIL 3
Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Grizzly Tour
Sinden (UK), Brenmar,
A-Tonez, Samrai, Fingers, Brothers Grimm, Ctrl Alt Delicious, Astrix, Chenzo, Sneaky Simon, Barcom Ballers $15-$25 9pm 28 :: BRAG :: 506 :: -01:04:13
The Lewisham Hotel Garbage 90s Nights Resident DJs free 7pm The Passage, Darlinghurst Jerkboy, Cassette, Pharley, Chux 7pm The Ranch Hotel, Epping Hump Wednesdays Resident DJs 8pm Whaat Club, Potts Point Whip It Wednesdays Vertigo DJs free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Resident DJs $5 8pm
THURSDAY APRIL 4 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Flash/Mob Andy & Mike $10 8pm The Cool Room, The Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursdays Troy T, Big Will 8pm Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst Hot Damn! Hot Damn DJs 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Loud Resident DJs 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Swag Resident DJs $10 9pm Whaat Club, Potts Point Chakra Resident DJs free 9.30pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Propaganda DJs free (student)-$5 9pm
FRIDAY APRIL 5 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Trap Bombs Spenda C, DJ Butcher, Kyro & Bomber, Northie, Turnt Up, Them Kids, Judson $15-$25 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour
Gimme Five Resident DJs free 5pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Blu & Exile (USA), House Shoes (USA), True Vibenation, Frenzie, Mike Who $30 (+ bf) 9pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour The Guestlist Resident DJs 9pm Jacksons On George, Sydney $5 @ 5 On Fridays Resident Top 40 DJ free 5pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Hard Rock Sofa, ZeroCool $20 10pm Oatley Hotel We Luv Oatley Hotel Fridays Resident DJ free 8pm Omega Lounge, City Tattersalls Club, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Romy & Michelle’s Teen Spirit Reunion Teen Spirit DJs $10 9pm The Ranch Hotel, Epping Retro Fridays Resident DJs 9.30pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross MILF – Man I Love Fridays! Resident DJs 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Soft & Slow Co-Op, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 11.59pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Bring On The Weekend! Cadidate, DJ Matt Roberts free 5pm Whaat Club, Potts Point Think Fridays Resident DJs 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM Buzz Kull, Whipped Cream Chargers, Neighbourhood Youth, Big White, This Mess (DJ set), Cinderland, Vandellay DJs, MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm
SATURDAY APRIL 6
SUNDAY JUNE 24
Burdekin Hotel – Dugout Bar, Darlinghurst EK Presents Hubert’s Birthday Angelo Cruzman, Jeremiah, Hita, Boet $10 10pm Candy's Apartment, Kings Cross Shake Shake Shake DJs 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Grizzly Tour Sinden (UK), Brenmar (USA), A-Tonez, Samrai, Fingers, Brothers Grimm, Ctrl Alt Delicious, Astrix, Chenzo, Sneaky Simon, Barcom Ballers $15$25 9pm Club 77, Darlinghurst Starfuckers Starfuckers DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Yellow Sox Resident DJs free 8pm Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Outer Bass Sound Moonbase Commander, B.O.O.M.A., HyperColour, Juke Of Edinburgh, Rubio, Tokoloshe $10 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Jingle Jangle’s 4th Birthday Smart Casual, Smokey LaBeef $5 11pm High Spirits Hideout, Marrickville High Spirits Special K Edition Ken Cloud, Kali, Love’s Disciple, Prize, Steele Bonus $10-$15 10pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Homemade Saturdays Resident DJs $20-$25 9pm Ivy, Sydney Pacha Walden, Ben Morris,
John Glover, Baby Gee, Matt Nugent, Devola, Pat Ward, Fingers, Kato, Pablo Calamari, Cassette, Hansom, E-Cats, Heke, Deckhead, Gmod $40 6.30pm Jacksons On George, Sydney Resident DJs free 9pm Kaya Sydney, Darlinghurst Spoilt Relaunch Mesan, Brendan Clay free 10pm The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney Centre Stage – Under 18s Block Party Young Mens Society, Mike Champion, Royalty Dance Screw, DJ Morphingaz, MC Dazzle, Ozone, MajikHoney $10 6pm all-ages The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont K-Note 9pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Jamie xx (UK) $41 (+ bf) 10pm Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Halfway Crooks 4th Birthday Franco, Levins, Elston $10 10pm The Red Rattler, Marrickville Woofta Zanzibar Chanel, Black Vanilla, My Midnight 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Resident DJs 8pm Soho, Kings Cross Usual Suspects Partysquad, Cold Blank, Oakes & Lennox, Danny Lang, Lights Out, Rain, Bounce Crew DJs, J-Squad, Matt Bann 9pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice – Trojan House Records Launch Jaded & James Petrou, YokoO, Cameron Cooper, Dan Baartz, Morgan $20 10pm Sugar Mill, Kings Cross Miller City Sessions Jason Lema (USA) 10pm Tatler, Darlinghurst Heavenly #003 Cliques, Zeus, Body Language, Faux Hemia, Tom Francis, Ben Fester, T. Mingus $5 2am Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Trademark Saturdays Resident DJs 9pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Skybar Saturdays Resident DJ $20 9pm Whaat Club, Potts Point After Dark Resident DJs 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Resident DJs $15-$20 8pm
SUNDAY APRIL 7 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Axel Boman (SWE), Gabby, Wizard of Odd, Jon Jak, Simon Bell, Stefano Pea, Matt Weir, Kerry Wallace $10 2pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 3pm Jacksons On George, Sydney Aphrodisiac Industry Night Resident DJ free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Easy Sundays Resident DJs free 10pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone free 7pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays Resident DJs 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice After Hours YokoO, Morgan $20 4am The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour DJ Brynstar free 2pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Soup Kitchen Resident DJs free 7pm
Deep Impressions
club picks
Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery
Axel Boman photo by Alex Hinchcliffe
up all night out all week...
James Holden Axel Boman
M
MONDAY APRIL 1 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway End Of The Line Nico Stojan (GER), DJ Stratos (Greece), Jonathan Lukermann (GER), Jay Smalls, Gemma Van D, MSG, Ben Ashton, Nick McMartin, Trinity, Jordan Deck, Franchi Brothers, Ezikiel, LeOch, Angelo, Marcotix $20 12pm Santa Barbara, Kings Cross Picnic 5th Birthday Superpitcher (GER), Ken Cloud, Kali, Andy Webb $15-$25 2pm
FRIDAY APRIL 5 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Trap Bombs Spenda C, DJ Butcher, Kyro & Bomber, Northie, Turnt Up, Them Kids, Judson $15-$25 10pm
Metro Theatre, Sydney Jamie xx (UK) $41 (+ bf) 10pm Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Halfway Crooks 4th Birthday Franco, Levins, Elston $10 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice – Trojan House Records Launch Jaded & James Petrou, YokoO, Cameron Cooper, Dan Baartz, Morgan $20 10pm
SUNDAY APRIL 7 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Axel Boman (SWE), Gabby, Wizard of Odd, Jon Jak, Simon Bell, Stefano Pea, Matt Weir, Kerry Wallace $10 2pm
Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Blu & Exile (USA), House Shoes (USA), True Vibenation, Frenzie, Mike Who $30 (+ bf) 9pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Hard Rock Sofa, ZeroCool $20 10pm
SATURDAY APRIL 6
Now with the prelude out of the way, we can introduce the point of focus for this week’s column - the fact that Holden will finally release his second artist album in June, The Inheritors. (All together now: “About bloody time!”) The album’s presser cites Elgar and The KLF as major influences, describing the release as scything through the “sharp, painfully literal nature of modern digital music”. “In dance music you’re face to face with redundant, pointless music the whole time … I wanted to make the opposite and try to find my own successful combinations and strategies,” Holden said of the processes that underscored The
Burdekin Hotel – Dugout Bar, Darlinghurst EK Presents Hubert’s Birthday Angelo Cruzman, Jeremiah, Hita, Boet $10 10pm Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Outer Bass Sound Moonbase Commander, B.O.O.M.A., HyperColour, Juke Of Edinburgh, Rubio, Tokoloshe $10 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Jingle Jangle’s 4th Birthday Smart Casual, Smokey LaBeef $5 11pm High Spirits Hideout, Marrickville High Spirits Special K Edition Ken Cloud, Kali, Love’s Disciple, Prize, Steele Bonus $10-$15 10pm Jamie xx
any moons ago, sometime back in the bleary winter of 2006, one of the most creative producers in the game, James Holden, released his debut album The Idiots Are Winning, which was lauded by the (admittedly excitable) English publication The Guardian as “the most astonishing debut in electronic music since Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children”. Holden downplayed the critical reception at the time, even outwardly debating whether the release was even an album, preferring to label it as an EP that grew out of control. But despite his best attempts, Holden couldn’t downplay the praise for his output as a producer, which is inextricably tied to his status as a tastemaker who oversees the Border Community record label (home to the likes of Luke Abbott and Nathan Fake), and the respect he commands as a DJ who has released such compilations as DJ-Kicks, At The Controls and Balance 005. (In typically self-effacing style, Holden likened DJing to “coming to terms with always being a dilettante – never really knowing whole albums or remembering the names of things” in dismissing discussions on club culture, asserting that “after you’ve seen a few of the scene’s circular cycles, things like the current deep house revival – the third I’ve witnessed since I started DJing! – just don’t seem interesting at all.”)
True Vibenation
LOOKING DEEPER WEDNESDAY APRIL 10 Matthew Herbert The Standard
SATURDAY APRIL 13 Move D The Spice Cellar
SATURDAY APRIL 27 Rodriguez Jr The Burdekin
MONDAY MAY 27
xxx
Karl Hyde Sydney Opera House
Etienne Jaumet
Inheritors.“That part-explains the long gestation, I guess. But what would be the point of doing anything else? The album is not meant to sound like now, but it’s not meant to sound like the past either.” While the album includes a saxophone cameo from Frenchman Etienne Jaumet of Zombie Zombie on ‘The Caterpillar’s Intervention’ – great title eh? – and vocals by Shimble on ‘Circle of Fifths,’ the rest of the time it’s the Holden show, with James playing all instruments and even providing some vocals. The leadoff single, ‘Gone Feral,’ is available for streaming via SoundCloud. It’s a week for the announcement of sophomore albums: Ohio born producer John Roberts will release his second album, Fences, through Dial Records in May. Roberts was signed to Dial on the basis of one single-sided 12” – so, like one song – making him the German imprint’s only American artist. He then popped up on Dial’s annual anthology compilations alongside the likes of Efdemin and Lawrence, before releasing his 2010 debut LP, Glass Eights, a sophisticated ‘grower’ of an album that offered intricately layered variations on deep house sounds and was extremely well received by the club cognoscenti. Roberts recorded Fences all around the world throughout his travels while working on the magazine he edits, The Travel Almanac, a high-end publication that explores “travelling for an increasingly sophisticated and mobilized generation of travellers.” (My coffee table suddenly looks very bare.) From the horse’s mouth: “With this album I really wanted to consciously attempt to channel the feeling of certain experiences from recently visited places that stuck with me for one reason or another, so all of the tracks were produced for this record specifically and are meant to be listened to in the order in which they appear.” Anyone with a penchant for immersive sound design and contemporary club music ought to seek out Fences when it drops – Roberts’ debut was one of the best electronic albums of 2010, and if last year’s Paper Frames EP is any indication, his production prowess has only increased as he has continued to explore different parts of the world.
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG ::506 :: 01:04:13 :: 29
snap
boss bass
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
s.a.s.h
PICS :: AM
22:03:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999
24:03:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486
party profile
trap bombs launch It’s called: Trap Bombs Launch It sounds like: Ghetto-influenced trap club muzik Who’s playing? Spenda C, DJ Butcher (QLD ), Kyro & Bomber, Northie, Turnt Up, Them Kids, Judson and more! Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Spend a C & DJ Butcher – ‘My Shit’; DJ Butcher – ‘Booty Hop’; Kyro & Bomber ft. The Mane Thing & Oh Snap – ‘Every Nation’ And one you definitely won’t: Lou Bega – ‘Mambo No.5’ Sell it to us: A night of trap music and electr o showcasing the hottest jams to make you bounce ‘til the cows come home. This is the official launch of Klub Kids’ epic trap compilation CD, Trap Bombs. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: That one track you found on Shazam while Spenda C was killing it. Crowd specs: Friendly attitude and desire to dance! Wallet damage: $10-$15 Where: Chinese Laundry When: Friday April 5
:: KATRINA CLARKE :: RYAN S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) RO XAVIER OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER PED :: MAR LEY ASH :: IS KATE LEW KITCHING :: DANIEL MUNNS ::
30 :: BRAG :: 506 :: 01:04:13
snap
hold tight!
PICS :: KC
up all night out all week . . .
stanton warriors
PICS :: AM
23:03:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711
netsky
PICS :: AM
23:03:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999
pelvis
PICS :: AM
20:03:13 :: Upstairs Beresford :: 354 Bourke St Surry Hills 8313 5000
sonicanimation
PICS :: TL
22:03:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
brighton up bar
PICS :: KC
bad apple
23:03:13 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322
PICS :: KL
21:03:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711
23:03:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: RYAN S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) RO XAVIER OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER PED :: MAR LEY KATE LEWIS :: ASH KITCHING :: DANIEL MUNNS ::