Brag#531

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Rebecca Whitman, Olivia Kadir and Rachel Eddie

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five things WITH

CHRIS EATON FROM ROUND MOUNTAIN GIRLS Growing Up I remember watching 1.

A Hard Day’s Night on a freezing, Boxing Day morning as a kid in Liverpool, UK aged about eight or nine. It was then I knew I wanted to be a musician. At the time I had no idea I would end up in Australia playing the banjo in a five-piece band.

Inspirations As a five-piece our 2. inspirations are wide and varied – Johann Pachelbel to The Police; Smashing Pumpkins to the Bee Gees; Charlie Daniels to Dizzy Gillespie. It’s all in there.

Your Band RMG is a mish-mash 3. of musical talents which blend to make the whole so much more than the sum of its parts. Chris Brooker and I play guitar, banjo and mandolin between us

and provide most of the original compositions and lead vocals. It’s a great platform for the virtuoso skills of one of Australia’s greatest fiddle players, Rabbit Robinson, to weave his magic, ably abetted by Rex Carter (drums), a student of jazz and funk, and Willy Bee (bass), a melodic old rocker.

The Music You Make Imagine a cross between 4.

Mumford & Sons, The Pogues, Dolly Parton and Neil Young delivered

by Metallica – I really can’t think of another way to describe it. It’s hugely energetic, very musical and a lot of fun with real heartfelt moments in between. We’ve been coined as ‘Celtabillypunkfolkgrassrootsrock ’ and have been accused by some writers of inventing our own genre.

We started out with no expectations – just playing covers on the wrong instruments at local pubs. It became obvious quite early on that we’d hit onto something special and the audiences just kept building. Now we’ve released three original albums

and a covers EP, have played main stages at some of Australia’s biggest festivals and had Jack Thompson (the actor – harmonica) and Felicity Urquhart (Queen of country – vocals) appear on our new album, Getting There Is Only Halfway Back. You know you’re doing alright when you find yourself backstage at Bluesfest sharing a urinal and a yarn with Robert Plant!

Music, Right Here, Right Now Although the pub scene is 5. tricky, the festival market seems to be booming. We do a lot of travelling to get to fans. It’s hard work but very rewarding. We’re fortunate as there are really good venues on the north coast that support quality live music, but we are very excited about coming down to play shows in Dee Why and Newcastle at Lizotte’s.

Where: Lizotte’s Dee Why / Lizotte’s Newcastle When: Friday September 27 / Saturday September 28

GOSSLING Paul Kelly

EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS EDITOR: Lisa Omagari lisa@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss NEWS: Chris Honnery, Mina Kitsos, Rebecca Whitman, Victoria Shehadie, Olivia Kadir, Rachel Eddie, Nick Timms, James Dunlop, Lily White

GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: James Dunlop, Olivia Kadir, Rebecca Whitman, Mina Kitsos, Lucy Smith, Nick Timms - gigguide@thebrag. com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Mina Kitsos, Rachel Eddie, Olivia Kadir, James Dunlop, Nick Timms, Helen Vienne, Lucy Smith, Rebecca Whitman REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ben Cooper, Marissa Demetriou, Rachel Eddie, Christie Eliezer, Chris Honnery, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Jody Macgregor, Alicia Malone, Daniel Prior, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Rick Warner, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby, David Wild, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of The BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Thursday 12pm (no extensions).

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Bec Laughton

ROBERT ELLIS, CORY CHISEL

Houston-bred, Nashville-based singersongwriter Robert Ellis returns to the Australian east coast to tour his album Photographs, plus songs from his yet-untitled new album. Joining him as co-headliner is Cory Chisel, a recent guest in Norah Jones’ tour van. New Zealand Music Award winner Marlon Williams, who’s been enjoying the Melbourne music scene since he moved across the ditch, will also be there in support. The gang reaches The Basement on Wednesday November 20.

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Gossling, AKA Helen Croome, has had a busy year here and overseas – and it’s not over yet. The warbling songwriter is set to release her debut album, Harvest Of Gold, on Friday November 1. The lead single, ‘Never Expire’, is already winning hearts, so it’s all cause for one big celebration. The east coast tour brings Gossling and her full band to the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 23.

HOMEBAKE LINEUP ANNOUNCED

Homebake turns 18 this year and to celebrate the coming of age, they’ve decided to forego the usual rented hall and casks of goon associated with most 18th birthday bashes and instead deliver us an extended, threeday anniversary edition of the festival.

To make this birthday extra special, they’ve joined forces with a venue that is also celebrating a birthday this year, the iconic Sydney Opera House. The event promises to be a more intimate affair this year and will take place on the stunning harbourside forecourt over three balmy summer afternoons and evenings on Friday December 6, Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 9. This year’s main stage acts include Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, Eskimo Joe, Vance Joy, Thelma Plum, Sheppard, The Presets, The Cat Empire, Architecture in Helsinki, Miami Horror, The Aston Shuffle, Way Of The Eagle, Deep Sea Arcade, Bam Bam, Birds Of Tokyo, Bernard Fanning, The Rubens, You Am I, Beasts of Bourbon, Kingswood and Courtney Barnett. Tickets are on sale Wednesday September 25 through oztix.com.au.

VAUDEVILLE SMASH

Vaudeville Smash are announcing shows to launch their debut album Dancing For The Girl and will finally make it to Sydney after cancellations earlier this year. These shows are also accompanied by the release of the new video for the single ‘Devil Said’, and welcome the band home after successful tours in Japan and America. Their flute tootin’, fun lovin’, ’70s funk and disco fusion will have you tearing up the dancefloor on Saturday October 19 at Upstairs Beresford.

BEC LAUGHTON

Brisbane’s Bec Laughton may be small in stature, but what she lacks in size her voice makes up for in power and personality. The budding songwriter recently landed at number one on the triple j Roots Charts and had the Indie Clip of the Week on Rage. With her new single ‘Darkest Love’ out now – the title track for her upcoming EP – Laughton is embarking on her debut tour around Australia. She hits Upstairs Beresford on Friday November 15.

KADAVAR, BLUES PILLS

Euro rockers Kadavar and Blues Pills are embarking on their first-ever Australian tour in November. Kadavar cast a spell on their fans with their debut album Abra Kadavar last year and have joint forces with the young AmericanSwedish-French quartet, Blues Pills, to bring us some classic old-school rock, promising to “transport us back to a time when rock music was art!” Find them in Sydney at The Factory Floor on Friday November 29 and the Annandale Hotel on Saturday November 30.

Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel

SAL KIMBER & THE ROLLIN’ WHEEL

Sal Kimber and her band The Rollin’ Wheel will be turning the wheel again and this time it’ll be rollin’ up the east coast of Oz. With years of popular success and a long list of awards under their belts, the five-piece alternative country outfit is beginning work on their third album, and in the lead-up to its release are set to hit the road. Accompanied by Nick Lovell on lead guitar and vocal, you can catch them on Thursday November 14 at the Camelot Lounge.

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Rebecca Whitma, Olivia Kadir and Rachel Eddie

five things WITH

DAVEY LANE

RAPHAEL HAMMOND FROM THE ROYAL JELLIES Your Band OK! So there are seven or 3. eight or nine of us in the band

Melbourne. My goal was to get played on RRR in Melbourne, and guess what? We did!

depending on the different phases of the moon. The main contenders are: Steve (clarinet, keys, cornet), Glen (bass), Alex (drums), Nick (banjo/guitar), Ben (baritone sax), Cam (piano, organ, Wurli), Harry (vox), and myself (trumpet, vox, relationship mentoring). Harry and I met at the audition for acting school; I met Glen, Steve, Alex, Nick and Cam at TAFE; Ben and I are work chums. Recently, we had the most excellent good fortune to record and tour with Clare Bowditch. She’s amazing, don’t you know?

Growing Up Growing up, my three elder 1. brothers played instruments, so it was a normal thing in the house to have the sound of the drums banging away disturbing the neighbours… They exposed me to Queen, Led Zeppelin, U2, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, James Brown – many great artists.

I reckon I must have listened to Sex Machine about a bazzilion times.

My earliest childhood memory is Mum playing a record of Chubby Checker’s ‘Let’s Twist Again’.

Inspirations The Music You Make Damon Albarn is one of my 2.

So we started out learning to 4. favourite musicians at the moment. play trad jazz standards like ‘Saint He’s managed to generate so much interesting material through his career, and his melodies are oh so sweet. And I’m jealous when his sings baritone because I can’t get that low. Him and Tom Waits, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Neil Young, Bach, Stravinsky, Beethoven.

Man! Have you ever listened to Beethoven’s Eroica super loud during a big night in? I highly recommend it.

MISFITS

Despite being around for a solid 35 years, New Jersey punk deviants Misfits are still infamous for live shows that pack more punch than a band high on red cordial in the terrible twos. The trio is headed to Marrickville’s Factory Theatre on Saturday January 18 for their One Heck Of A Ghouls Night Out tour. If your favourite tee is black with a white skull, you oughta get in line for their long-awaited show at metropolistouring.com. Tickets go on sale from 9am on Friday September 27.

OPERA HOUSE TURNS 40

Turning 40 can be daunting, particularly if you’re gluten intolerant and your cutesy-eyed six-year-old niece is waiting intently for you to try the birthday cake she made you. This isn’t the case when you’re an international icon, although the lineup for the Sydney Opera House’s 40th anniversary may also be a lot to digest. John Weiley’s cinematic treasure documenting the creation of the white sails, The Dream of Perfection, will be screened for the first time Down Under, an appetiser to the contemporary music feast that will include The Australian World Orchestra, Deborah Mailman, Baz Luhrmann, Sarah Blasko, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, John Butler, Megan Washington, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Save the sonic salivating for the catastrophic sized cake, the photographic exhibitions and behind-thescenes access tours. The candles go out Sunday October 27 – visit sydneyoperahouse.com.

HAVE/HOLD

email: freestuff@thebrag.com

Louis Blues’, ‘Tiger Rag’ and the like. I just wanted to sound like Louis Armstrong. We started out called The Royal Jelly Dixieland Band. I tried writing songs incorporating different elements of the early jazz genre, and then we gave recording a crack, basically diving in headfirst, without a safety net. What came out was our selftitled debut EP recorded by my brother Joe at Pots and Pans in

We recently had the fantastic opportunity to record with Marty Brown for our new album Burrows St. Poolside. We’ve shortened our name to The Royal Jellies (easier to say, type and remember), and moved into new musical territory, but still hold onto the trad jazz roots. I like to call the music ‘neovintage-trad-jazz-pop’. Got that?

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

We haven’t spent much time in Sydney before, so we are really keen on discovering the pubs, bands and general good vibes!

I can’t really talk for others, but the hardest thing I have had to overcome as a muso has been the commitment in communicating my own songs to others. But I’ve discovered that once you breathe life into a song, and it grows legs and other people start to enjoy it, it’s such a wonderfully magical feeling… For me, it’s nourishment for the soul rather then fast food for Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Thursday September 26

Going solo isn’t such a bad thing, especially when you’re Davey Lane. The homegrown rocker and You Am I guitarist is set to showcase his debut solo EP The Good Borne Of Bad Tymes on tour this month and next. This EP will take you on a musical journey with its heavy rock beats and cosmic pop stylings. You can catch this sharply dressed gent at Spectrum on Saturday September 28 – and the BRAG has two double passes to give away. Email freestuff@thebrag.com with the names of Lane’s You Am I bandmates.

TUMBLEWEED

Seminal Aussie rockers Tumbleweed are drifting back on the scene with a new album, Sounds From The Other Side.

Recorded to two-inch tape, it includes songs that have been kicking around since the old days, as well as some fresher offerings gathered together since the band’s 2009 reunion. Sounds From The Other Side marks the first time in 15 years the original Tumbleweed lineup has come together to record, and we’ve got five copies up for grabs. For your chance to win, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us which (rather) popular Seattle grunge band Tumbleweed supported on Australian soil in 1992. Too difficult? Then nevermind.

Tumbleweed

THE STANDARD

If your week is looking a little standard thus far, sneak a peek at The Standard’s gig guide. Wednesday September 25 will see Los Angeles based indie pop group Capital Cities hit the stage for their first ever Aussie tour in support of breakthrough hit ‘Safe And Sound’. After the release of The Rambunctious Ploy, Thursday September 26 will see Sydney rockers Horegeous accompanied

by Karl Marx (not the one you’re thinking of), Woodland and The Spoon Collectors.

Melbourne’s The Barons of Tang will give Sydney a run for its money on Sunday September 27 for the launch of debut album Into The Mouths Of Hungry Giants with supporting acts Waiting for Guinness and Svelt. Each of the acts will be kicking off at 8pm at the Surry Hills live music favourite.

Head to wearethestandard.com.au for more.

Closure In Moscow

EVAN & THE BRAVE

Sydney foursome Evan & The Brave will be dropping debut EP Island on Friday September 27, following up the single ‘Stay This Way’. To celebrate, the boys will be heading out on an east coast tour this October.

After previously sharing a stage with Hungry Kids of Hungry and Josh Pyke, this will be the group’s first full-length tour. Catch them at Newcastle’s Small Ballroom on Thursday October 17, the Grand Junction on Friday October 18 in Maitland, and Darlinghurst’s Brighton Up Bar on Saturday October 19.

CLOSURE IN MOSCOW

Progressive rockers Closure In Moscow have announced The Church of the Technochrist single tour for November and December this year. Supported by Melbourne’s selfproclaimed “progressive vintage” outfit All The Colours, the two groups are “jam-packed with prog virtuosity” and promise to put on quite a show. Closure In Moscow are just finishing off their second album Pink Lemonade, produced in Melbourne by Tom Larkin.

The tour reaches Sydney on Friday November 29 at the Annandale Hotel, and Newcastle on Saturday November 30 at the Small Ballroom.

The Dames

Melbourne collective Have/Hold are celebrating the release of a new single with their debut national tour. The little indie tune, ‘Song For Bill Of The Trains/Dexamphetamine Blues’ – inspired by actual events in the lives of the band – is jam-packed with emotional energy.

Having raised a devoted fan base in Melbourne, Have/Hold are set to give Sydney a taste of their sound. Catch them at Black Wire Records on Saturday October 19, accompanied

by Harbourer, Summer Policy and Zzzounds.

THE DAMES

Have/Hold

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Melbourne-based female three-piece The Dames are launching their self-titled new album with a run of dates up and down the east coast. The album was recorded in Melbourne and mixed by the award-winning icon of UK post-punk and ’90s film funk music, producer Barry Adamson. Lead vocalist Clare Moore describes the group’s sound as “a sci-fi spaceship landing on the west coast of pop”. Catch them playing The Red Rattler on Friday December 13 with Harry Howard and the NDE.

thebrag.com

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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

* Insane Clown Posse – aka Violent Jay and Shaggy 2 Dope – let slip they’ll be here in November. * Arcade Fire reveal that when David Bowie popped into a studio in New York to hear their latest stuff and throw in some mixing ideas, he was so enamoured with ‘Reflektor’ that he kept saying, “Hurry up and mix the song, or I might just steal it from you.â€? To which they replied, “Why don’t we go one better, why don’t you sing on our version?â€? * Real Estate: Gin Wigmore is spending more time in the US these days, so she and Snowdroppers drummer Andy Cook sold their Marrickville house for $1.2 million ‌ Ministry of Sound Australia chief Tim McGee and wife Kara have their Birchgrove two storey terrace place for auction on Saturday October 12 ‌ Hilltop Hoods’ MC Pressure

(AKA Dan Smith) and his chiropractor partner Dr Rebekah Talbot, are selling their Flagstaff Hill home in Adelaide – home of many a Hilltops afterparty – after seven years and have bought a place in Belair where Smith grew up and where he can stay close to nature. * Morrissey was about to release his autobiography through Penguin in the UK this month. Three days out, the deal went arse over tit when the two parties disagreed over some of its content. * Mike Myers’ directorial debut Supermensch explores the life of legendary rock manager Shep Gordon. Gordon arrived in LA in the ’60s after failing to become a prison guard and was famously punched out by Janis Joplin. Her friend Jimi Hendrix asked, “Are you Jewish?� He replied, “Yes.� The guitar hero surmised, “Then you should be a manager,� and helped

NOW JETSTAR GETS MUSOFRIENDLY

It took a media storm to do it, but Jetstar has realised that violins are expensive instruments which can’t be stored in the hold. Violinists have been having run-ins with the airline, which didn’t move with the times as Qantas and Virgin did three years ago. Two weeks ago folk violinist Caroline Trengove was rushing from Hamilton Island to Sydney to see her dying father but got offloaded when she refused to store her violin in the hold and was told to pay $150 in excess baggage charges.

Ducking from the bad PR, Jetstar returned the money, apologised, and updated its carry-on

design a logo and got a name for his company Alive.

He later managed Joplin, Hendrix and Pink Floyd, dealt drugs for other bands, got Teddy Pendergrass by challenging him to a marathon of drugs and women, and finally discovered Alice Cooper. * A rich woman in the Hamptons in upstate New York heard noise coming from her kitchen at midnight before sneaking down to see Alicia Keys, husband Swizz Beatz and friends having a party. The couple had recently rented a place nearby but accidentally went into the wrong house. * Sydney metal act Lord are taking their album Digital Lies to Asia. They’ve just finished dates in Johor and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and one in Singapore, and now head for their seventh tour of Japan to play four cities. * Short film festival Tropfest extended its entry deadline to Thursday October 17.

THEHIFI.C

Musicians Alliance (AFMA) in Sydney last Monday. They unanimously endorsed a resolution to build a strong union presence in the music industry, and to form a Music Industry Committee to develop strategies and campaigns for better outcomes for working musicians.

NEW HOMES #2: HOMEBAKE TO OPERA HOUSE

VENUES #2: LANSDOWNE BACK WITH BANDS

This year’s Homebake (Saturday December 7) will go to the steps of the Sydney Opera House. Its organisers would have no doubt preferred to have made the announcement themselves but Tex Perkins let it slip during an interview with ABC Dig Music when he confirmed that Beasts of Bourbon were playing. Homebake has been held at the Domain for the past 13 years. The move to a more intimate space could be a cautious one given the low ticket enthusiasm for Pyramid, Harvest and Boomerang.

FESTIVALS #1: FAT AS BUTTER CANS CAMPING

policy. Musos can now take on instruments as large as 81cm x 36cm x 23cm and weighing 10kg or less.

In related news, Qantas and Spotify have struck a deal where members of its frequent flyer program can use loyalty points to buy Spotify subscriptions.

NEW HOMES #1: ARIA TO THE STAR

This year’s ARIA Awards, on Sunday December 1, move to The Star in Sydney.

The annual back-slapping event has more reasons to celebrate this year. Ten Australian

Build Your Music Empire Today E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

albums reached #1 (not achieved for nine years) and there was a 50 per cent jump in nominations from last year. Returning is ARIA Week, a run of events before the big night, and which last year injected $1.4 million into the NSW economy. The list of nominations is announced on Tuesday October 15 at the Art Gallery of NSW, at which the winners of the Fine Art and Artisan awards will be announced.

The December ceremony will again be broadcast on Nine’s digital channel Go!, for which they drew a peak of 750,000 viewers last year. This year ARIA brought in Rdio as its streaming partner, and welcomed back PPCA as sponsor for the third year for the Breakthrough Artist category.

Info here:

Coming Soon

Fat As Butter’s plans to offer camping for 870 people for the first time this year is canned. Promoter Brent Lean applied almost a year ago and he finally got the okey-dokey from Newcastle City Council last Tuesday, presumably delayed by griping from some residents. But Lean didn’t think he could pull it together before the festival on Saturday October 26. It will draw 18,000 people and inject $1.8 million into Newcastle’s economy.

Lean plans to offer camping next year, but Newcastle East Residents Group president Joan Browning said, “We’ll do our best to stop it!� She says the camping grounds are too close to high rise apartments.

FESTIVALS #2: STEREOSONIC DESIGN COMP GETS 3,500 ENTRIES

Stereosonic and graphic design marketplace 99designs admit they’re overwhelmed by the response to their inaugural t-shirt design competition: they got 3,500 entries. John Curtin, Brand Manager for promoter Totem Onelove Group, said, “Graphic designers from across the globe embraced this contest and the spirit of Stereosonic to produce designs of an outstanding quality.� Public voting has begun on the designs. The first two winning designs get a $1,500 prize chosen by Totem Onelove and merch company EFM Group. A third ‘People’s Choice’ winner will be selected from a public poll and pocket $500. To vote, go to 99designs.com.au/tshirt-design/vote-yl4kai

FESTIVALS #3: BIG DAY OUT Disclosure (UK)

Regurgitator

Tue 1 Oct

Fri 4 Oct

SOLD OUT

Rap City feat.

Talib Kweli (USA) Sun 6 Oct

Stratovarius (FIN) Fri 25 Oct

Dj Quik & Kurupt (USA) Sat 19 Oct

Kid Ink (USA)

Bodyjar

Spit Syndicate

Sat 26 Oct: All Ages

Fri 1 Nov

Sat 2 Nov: All Ages

AJ Maddah already set himself up as the one to watch within the new breed of festival promoters when his hard rock Soundwave Festival grew to drawing over 200,000 punters, beating Big Day Out. Now he’s become a third partner in Big Day Out – alongside founder Ken West and the USA’s C3 Presents, which runs Lollapalooza – putting him in a very enviable position.

Not bad for a man who started out writing about clubs in Sydney freebie On The Street. Maddah wants to cut BDO’s bureaucracy and some staffers have been told to go, although CEO Adam Zammit still has his role.

ELIZABETH ROSE WINS QANTAS AWARD

Hits & Pits 2.0 feat Black Flag (USA ) Sun 17 Nov

The Brian Jonestown Massacre (USA) Thu 19 Dec

Deerhunter (USA) Tue 10 Dec

Rotting Christ (GRE) Fri 17 Jan

Melvins (USA) & Helmet (USA) Sun 15 Dec

Kerser Sat 8 Feb: All Ages

Dark Tranquillity (SWE) Sat 29 Mar

Sydney producer, writer and singer Elizabeth Rose won the music category of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards. It is offered to musicians under the age of 30 to move their career forward. Rose collected a cash prize of $5,000, international Qantas travel worth $5,000 and professional mentorship by Sydney producer Lee Groves, who served as judge. “I’ve been aware of Elizabeth’s work for a while and I love her innovative use of melodies and textures,� Groves said. Runners-up were Brendan Maclean and The Preatures.

MUSICIANS DECIDE: MORE UNION PRESENCE

50 musos fronted for the first meeting of the newly formed Australian Freelance

VENUES #1: BANK SETS UP BAND ROOM

Jake Toivonen, licensee of the recently renovated Bank Hotel in Newtown, has set up a band section called Upstairs at The Bank. Live bands will play in a ‘’60s Swinging London’ themed room with low, dark timber booths and walls covered in skulls and crocodile skin.

The Lansdowne Hotel, closed since January due to fire, is back showcasing bands from Friday October 18. The venue announced, “Live music plays an important part in the cultural fabric of Sydney, and as an iconic live music venue, the Lansdowne remains committed to both its patrons and bands.�

LABELS SHOWCASE AT SOUND SUMMIT

Among the labels showcasing at Sound Summit (November 7-10) in Sydney are NSW labels Popfrenzy, Hunter Gatherer, Y202, Intense Nest and Moduluxx as well as Goethe-Institut (Denmark/Aus), Aariight!

(VIC) Breakdance The Dawn (QLD) and Family (SA). In all, five international bands and 150 Aussie acts will perform over the four days.

Lifelines Born: son Samuel Bear Isamu, to Device/Disturbed frontman David Draiman and singer Lena Yada.

Investigated: two members of the Bloodhound Gang, by Russian authorities, for “inciting hatred and enmity� after they stuffed the Russian flag down their pants at a show in the Ukraine (much to the crowd’s delight).

Arrested: South Carolina woman Vernett Bader for stabbing her 64-year-old roommate repeatedly when he refused to stop listening to his Eagles music.

Sued: Insane Clown Posse by their ex-publicist for sexual harassment, on the grounds that when she split from her boyfriend, they gave her a “large sex toy�.

They also called her a bitch and told her to source some illegal automatic weapons for use in a video.

In Court: Kanye West faces up to a year in jail after being charged with assaulting a photographer at LA airport and grand theft for trying to take his camera.

Arrested: Gucci Mane for carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and marijuana possession after a friend called cops over his behaviour.

Jailed: Melbourne rapper Mr Morgz for two years for a series of robberies during an ice binge.

These included stealing a car, waving a gun at its terrified occupants and holding up a post office.

Died: Jamaican reggae singer, producer and DJ Prince Jazzbo, 65, lung cancer. He ran Ujama Records and guested on a Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry cut.

Died: Australian jazz saxophonist Bernie McGann, 76, following recent heart surgery. His unique sound made him a highly influential and respected figure.

Died: UK singer Jackie Lomax, 69. From Liverpool, he was signed to The Beatles’ Apple label where George Harrison wrote and produced the single ‘Sour Milk Sea’.

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

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Civic Theatre, Newcastle Saturday 9th November Bookings PH: 4929 1977 ticketek.com.au BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 11

hree years ago The Cult did the All Tomorrow’s Parties classic album concert thing, touring their 1985 release Love and playing its collection of theatrical post-punk bravado from start to finish. That tour went well enough that they’ll be repeating the trick, only this time with 1987’s Electric. The thing is, Electric was a very different album to Love, and deliberately so. For their first attempt at recording a followup they went to work in a manor house in Oxfordshire owned by Richard Branson, but the 12 songs they came up with in that genteel setting weren’t what they were looking for.

The British band then flew to New York to find something else instead. For lead singer Ian Astbury – an Englishman who’d grown up in Canada – New York in the 1980s was fascinatingly grimy and dangerous.

“I mean, I walked around the corner one night after there’d been a mob hit in the street on 6th Avenue,” he recalls. “I didn’t know until I got in the studio. Someone said, ‘A guy’s been shot around the corner.’ The place where we used to get ice cream got held up; Billy Idol got arrested when we tried to cop dope in Washington Square Park. There were muggings. It was winter, it was filthy, going down Alphabet City to after-hours clubs – it was pretty exciting.”

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As well as spending time with Idol, The Cult got to work with producer Rick Rubin for the first time. He’d only recently become an associate of the Def Jam label, and was hanging out with the Beastie Boys, steering that group away from their punk roots and into hip hop. “Being in New York making the record had a real incredible impact,” says Astbury.

“Being around the whole Def Jam family, hanging out with people like LL Cool J and Run-D.M.C. and Slayer and Beasties. They were omnipresent, they always used to come over and hang out in the studio, so it was like a different scene in the studio every day.

Strangely enough, they used to always come by when it was dinnertime,” he laughs. “Pizza boxes would be open and beers knocking around, everyone would get stuck in and then disappear. But they knew where Rick was, and everybody wanted to find Rick. Rick was in the studio 24/7. He was in the studio every day with us, which I think is a bit of a rarity now.

But it was great.”

Rubin obviously didn’t want to push The Cult in the same direction as the Beastie Boys, but he did have an influence on their shift from the post-punk sound that had seen them labelled ‘goth rock’ (Astbury bristles at the words even today), and into hard rock and heavy metal revivalism. Astbury was already a fan of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and especially The Doors – he’d eventually go on to join them, fronting The Doors of the 21st Century, AKA Riders on the Storm – but it was Rubin showing them American metal pioneers Blue Cheer that had the biggest impact.

“He wasn’t ‘Rick Rubin’ then,” Astbury says of the superstar producer who now works with the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z. “He was in his dorm room when we met him. He basically

showed us a Blue Cheer video, said, ‘Do you want to do this or do you want to do fluffy English alternative music?’”

They picked the former. You could mistake guitarist Billy Duffy’s riffs on Electric for Angus Young of AC/DC and songs like ‘Love Removal Machine’ were a million miles away from “fluffy English alternative music”. Their hard-edged new sound helped them break America, and Electric eventually outsold Love and was certified gold. Being big in America wasn’t just important to Astbury because of the financial rewards, but because when he’d been a kid in Canada, American culture was unavoidable.

“A lot of the TV shows I was watching were broadcast from New York,” he says; “its sports teams were very dominant, the local channel was from Buffalo, New York. I mean, we had 48 channels of TV and most of it was from the States. I kind of grew up with a real strong North American influence on me, which is great.

When I went back to England everybody goes, ‘Why are you talking in an American accent?’

It’s because I’ve grown up in North America!”

One of the things that made the move from rural England to Canada so formative for Astbury was that they had FM radio when it was still a rarity, and record stores you could lose yourself in. “The FM radio in the ’70s was unbelievable, because a new album would come out and they’d play the entire album, both sides. There was a record store, a shopping centre not too far from where I lived that had a record store called Sam the Record Man, which was – I’d never seen so many records in my life ’cause where I grew up, you’d go to, like, Woolworths or something for your records. And here I am in an actual chain store that just sells records and 8-track tapes. I spent a lot of time in there.”

During that time in Canada, Astbury’s family moved around a lot, and he attended “11 or 12 schools”. One of them he describes like something straight out of the Victorian era, a school where they still taught Latin and came down hard on anybody who was different. “I got thrown out of school when I was like 11 for having blue food colouring in my hair,” he says. “Trying to emulate, being a glam kid. It was just food colouring, it wasn’t permanent, but I got thrown out of the class immediately.

And that definitely sets a boundary right there, you know? That becomes a division.

I love Bowie, I get thrown out of school because I love Bowie’s music and I want to effect his look, so obviously I’m going to side with Bowie as opposed to side with school.”

Being a recent immigrant to the country as well as a bit of a troublemaker, the young Astbury had difficulty fitting in at first. “I got ostracised by most of the other white kids at school, like the landed natives, but then my peer group was all the other immigrant kids, native American kids, indigenous Canadians – my best friend was from Kingston, Jamaica [and] I had a friend from Ankara, Turkey. So that was my crew. I ran around with all the kids who were misfits, who didn’t fit in. That was a good education.”

A love of music helped to form bonds between kids from very different backgrounds who might not otherwise have had much in common. Astbury’s fonder memories of the era come from that, from the way music turned strangers into friends. “The environment was constantly shifting but what wasn’t shifting was my taste in music,” he says. “The first thing I ever bought was David Bowie, ‘Life On Mars?’, when I was ten or something. And I’ve probably bought everything he’s ever released since, so that was a constant. The bedroom and record player was a refuge, and also a point of reference for the kids – you meet kids and say, ‘What do you listen to?’ ‘I listen to the Sex Pistols.’ You go, OK, that’s instant rapport – instant bond.”

What: The Cult performing Electric With: Redcoats, Beaches Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Friday October 4 thebrag.com

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The Basics We Found Wally By Lachlan Kanoniuk

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ver the course of the past 12 or so years, Melbourne trio The Basics have generated a fervent following with their slick rock acumen and charismatic live performances. The start of 2012 saw the release of the best-of collection Ingredients, followed by the complementary rarities collection Leftovers. The releases could well have been a full stop on the story, with the band seemingly in stasis since 2010.

Since that time, Tim Heath has enjoyed film work, Kris Schroeder set up base in Kenya (complete with a bout of malaria), and Wally De Backer saw immense worldwide success as Gotye. But against the odds and to the rejoice of fans, The Basics are back in full swing in 2013. Ahead of their upcoming national tour, Schroeder speaks about the band’s vitalising idiosyncrasies and their longawaited return to the stage.

“It’s been three years. I think the last show was Woodford [Folk Festival] 2010,” he says. “Obviously it’s better than what the mindset was then, because then we were thinking, ‘Oh, let’s give it a rest, let’s just stop.’ So now we’re much more relaxed about what we’re doing. I think we’re all much more comfortable in our own space as individuals. Now we’re a bit more open with what we want to do and what we don’t want to do. We’ve only just embarked on the latest journey, but the vibe is good and we’re talking about doing more recording. We’ve got a bunch of shows to do, so that will test our resolve. I guess we’re just open to what may come.”

Last year, while Schroeder was residing in Kenya, De Backer and Heath performed a set of Basics material at an impromptu Melbourne show. Being oceans away from the stage that night didn’t instigate any Basics FOMO for Schroeder, however. “Not at all. I just took the time off, I didn’t really do much music stuff. I did some stuff with some local Kenyan bands, some stuff for the Australian High Commissioner – who was a fan. Other than that, I just let it go. I was stoked that they got together and did that. Then Tim and I did a similar thing when I was back for a couple weeks in October last year. I didn’t anticipate that it would get to this point. It was more going through the material for the Leftovers thing that sort of led to that for me – going through the old material and thinking, ‘Hey, we’re a pretty good band.’ Thinking, ‘Maybe we could do this.’”

MGMT Self-Realisations By Tyson Wray

It’s strange to think about it, but The Basics are one of the few survivors of the past decade of Australian rock. “I was asked in a previous interview, ‘Who do you think your peers are?’

And I was trying to think of other bands that were comparable in terms of being around as long as us, and I couldn’t really come up with any that are still going,” Schroeder says. “It’s been around 12 years for us. There are bands like Even and The Fauves that have been going a lot longer. Then you have the other bands that are dead. So the cult, niche thing comes around because of the fact we’re still alive as a band.

So when the gig-going public are looking for good gigs, we’re still around. It’s survival of the fittest, maybe. Maybe people have heard the name and haven’t seen us, or maybe people have seen us before but it’s been six, ten years and they think, ‘Fuck, these guys are still going.

Let’s go check ’em out.’”

Many years ago, it seemed like The Basics’ ascension was hampered by the national youth broadcaster’s aversion to spinning any

of the band’s material. At the time, Schroeder was outspoken about his frustration with triple j music director Richard Kingsmill.

Though triple j did end up rotating a few Basics singles down the line, Schroeder can reason that the dearth of radio play may have been a blessing in disguise. “It’s allowed us to be free, where we don’t need to get a song on triple j, or meet a goal that the record company has set us. Thinking about Jet, Little Red, Wolfmother, to a smaller extent The Vasco Era – they had their thing and hit it really well. I don’t know what their mindset was, whether they were thinking, ‘This isn’t us, we didn’t enjoy that.’ There are so many egos in a band – I don’t mean that in a bad way, I just mean that people want to express themselves. So we’ve been able to do that because we haven’t got anything to lose and everything to gain, so we can keep doing what we want. People have no specific expectations of what that might be. It’s quite freeing in a way. I think that’s one of the things that drew Wally back. He’s trying to do

a follow-up Gotye album, and he has lots of musical ideas but might be struggling lyrically, as he said to me. It gives him the freedom to not have to think about it and not have that pressure.”

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songs would be before we went to work with him. This time we went up there with a clean slate. It was a cool way to work. We really just recorded ourselves jamming in the studio. Just recording for a couple of hours and then going back and listening to what we did and picking moments that we thought would be cool to expand on and try and turn into a song.

en Goldwasser was 25 years old when he and fellow band member Andrew VanWyngarden were thrust viciously into the global spotlight. In 2008 the duo released arguably the biggest breakthrough debut album of the decade in Oracular Spectacular, and while the paramount levels of success were no doubt welcome, the subsequent pressures and expectations laid upon them became overpowering and deeply affected their artistic output.

“When we worked on [2010’s] Congratulations we didn’t really give ourselves much of a break after touring Oracular Spectacular,” explains Goldwasser. “A lot of the moods on that album were influenced by what we were feeling, which for the most part was overwhelmed by all of the attention we were getting and not really knowing how to deal with fame and success. It’s really easy to get disillusioned with the whole machine that is the music industry.”

These realisations led the duo to step back and take an unrefined approach when they recorded their third, self-titled studio album.

“Things were pretty crazy for a while – it got really confusing. But now we’re really feeling in control. We’re feeling really confident and really happy with the music that we’ve made.

We’re really excited that now people can finally hear it, we’ve been waiting for a fair while. On this album we really gave ourselves a lot of time to decompress after we finished touring, which I think really helped. We were in a really good frame of mind when working on this album.”

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With: Hoy Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday October 4

“For this album we used a lot more analogue synths and drum machines than we ever did in the past. A lot of it was written by setting up sequences, building up from something and synchronising a bunch of things together and slowly starting to make changes to the patterns that were playing and getting a lot of variations and stringing together a song that way.”

Returning to Australia over the New Year, Goldwasser admits that MGMT’s current live performances are evolving rapidly but also provide a steep learning curve. “For the past few months we’ve been playing about half of our new material, but a lot of it is really difficult to play live,” he explains. “Considering it was built in the studio from improvisation and filled with a lot of unique moments, it really isn’t possible to recreate.

“We’re still using a lot of the same instruments [from when we toured Congratulations], but I feel that we’ve gotten a lot better at creating the sounds that we want to. We’ve been playing really well together. We don’t have a lot of gimmicks, or whatever, it just sounds really good.”

What: MGMT out now through Sony Music Australia With: London Grammar, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Johnny Marr, The Cat Empire, Violent Femmes, Vampire Weekend, Hermitude, Flight Facilities and more Where: The Falls Music & Arts Festival at Byron Bay, Marion Bay and Lorne When: Saturday December 28 – Friday January 3

thebrag.com

MGMT photo by Danny Clinch

For MGMT, the duo returned to Tarbox Road Studios to work with longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann (co-producer and mixer of Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations).

“We had a lot more time with Dave to record all of the album up there, we actually learnt a lot of the songs in the studio,” Goldwasser says. “Previously we’d do a lot of the recording somewhere else and already have these fully-fledged ideas of how we wanted things to sound and what the arrangements of the

While De Backer’s inevitable Gotye commitments will impose a finite timeframe on the current Basics chapter, Schroeder is calm and confident about the unit’s current headspace. “I think we’re doing better stuff now than we’ve ever done before. We’re sounding better, we’re looking better, we’re a lot more comfortable with ourselves and who we are as a band. We’ve hit a bit of a Zen stage where things are seeming to work without trying too hard. The best is happening now, rather than in the past. The past is cool, but I think we’re in a good spot now.”

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Steven Wilson Quoth The Raven By Peter Hodgson

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egarded as a visionary and one of the driving forces behind the modern progressive rock/metal movement, Steven Wilson, the man who created Porcupine Tree, is an eclectic and prolific artist who is able to tap into the pure emotional heart of his music as well as the intellectual side without compromising either. Witnessing a Steven Wilson live performance is to be engulfed by mindbending visuals and a bombastic aural surroundscape. His latest album, The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) is perfectly built for the live stage. Actually, scratch that: the album is so ambitious and enveloping that it requires a special stage set-up in order to pull it off in a way that’s true to Wilson’s vision.

This approach makes perfect sense. After all, Wilson has made a name for himself

Wilson is no slouch on the guitar, but he finds himself taking on more of a multiinstrumentalist approach in his solo material. And each of the band members is an established player in their own right, with their own voice and their own following, something Wilson is happy to emphasise in the form of plenty of spots for improvisation and solos. “That was almost fundamental to the whole philosophy of putting this band together,” he says. Guthrie Govan (whose band The Aristocrats just released their second album, Culture Clash), takes the lion’s share of big guitar moments. “Guthrie is absolutely extraordinary. Not only is he a brilliant technician, he’s also someone that completely understands how to do the

right thing for the music, and those things very often don’t go together. You have extraordinary musicians who are somehow unable to do anything except inspire other people to also achieve Olympic levels of guitar technique. But that’s not music.

That’s Olympic sport. And there are too many musicians out there that approach it as if it’s an Olympic sport. What I love about Guthrie is, if I ask him to play two notes for ten minutes, as long as he understands why he’s doing it and he agrees it’s the right thing for the song, he’s just as happy to do that.”

Wilson concludes of the new project, “It’s a foolish thing to do, to walk away from an established band and brand, and drop all of that material and play material which is new.

I think in a way I’ve earned the opportunity to do that by virtue of the fact that anybody who’s followed my career has learned to accept that I’m someone that needs to constantly develop and evolve, and I can’t just stand still. You accept that as part of the deal in a way that you wouldn’t with AC/ DC.” Where: Metro Theatre When: Thursday October 3 And: The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) out now through KScope/Shock

MGMT photo by Danny Clinch

“The show is in many ways the most ambitious live event I’ve ever staged,” Wilson says. “Some people may think that because I’m doing a solo tour it’s more stripped down. In fact, no, the opposite is true. In many respects I’ve taken the philosophy of what I was doing with Porcupine Tree – the film, the visuals – one step further. We have films, multiple projectors, and we also have a quadraphonic sound system, to try to create a more immersive feeling to the audio and the whole experience.”

as someone who has made many surround sound mixes, including the Jethro Tull and King Crimson back catalogues. It’s a medium he understands better than most, for both its creative potential and its limitations. It’s not just a matter of putting different instruments in different speakers and letting it be. “It’s not as simple as that because it can’t be as simple as that,” he says. “The problem with quadraphonic sound is that every room you go into is different. Every room has its own dimensions and its own logistical and acoustic conditions. So we have to be very careful what we put in surround sound.”

Xavier Rudd No Easy Ride By Augustus Welby

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rior to his forthcoming Australian tour, Xavier Rudd completed a run of soldout dates across Europe and North America in support of his seventh album, Spirit Bird. Profi ting from the overseas market can require constant work, but Rudd has managed to uphold a distinct artistic identity throughout. “I’ve been touring internationally now for about 13 years, so I’ve built up my fan base as I’ve gone. It’s all been through live touring and doing what I do and keeping it real, not really changing anything for any reason, just doing shows.

People seem to dig it.”

Still, living such an unsteady existence did take time to get used to, admits Rudd. “It’s a bit of trial and error on the road. Especially the overseas thing, it’s a different beast to travelling in Australia. I’m lucky enough to be doing the numbers that we can make it pretty comfortable, in a tour bus. If you’ve got to fl y or you’re in a van that’s a whole other ball of wax. Doing it in a bus is pretty groovy, you just go to bed in the bus and wake up in the next city.”

“I see my music a little bit like my grandmother.

I wouldn’t tell my grandmother what to wear to church. I respect my music the same way.”

The irregularity of the touring lifestyle is infamous for hindering the creative impulse, but Rudd says the full-on schedule doesn’t greatly interfere with his writing habits.

“Music just comes for me, it doesn’t matter where it is. It just comes when it’s ready.

That can be surfi ng, it can be going for a run, it can be sitting around under a tree on tour.”

Rather than adhering to a detailed brief of what he’d like to achieve musically, Rudd’s organic approach to songwriting allows his life experiences to intertwine with his music.

“With the songwriting, it’s more about what’s going on in my life, as opposed to what’s going on musically. The spirit that’s with me, the emotion, the journey that I’m on is what shapes the music and it’s always changing. It seems like the music always changes with it.

Or maybe the music changes ahead of it and I learn from that. It’s a hard one to pinpoint.”

Rudd refrains from making self-important claims of ownership over what he creates and posits the belief that his music exists separately from him. “I see my music a little bit like my grandmother. I wouldn’t tell my grandmother what to wear to church. I respect my music the same way. I understand that it comes through and I’m a bit of a vessel for it and often times I feel like I can’t really be responsible for it. It comes from another place. I try not to involve my mind in it, try not to involve my ego; just letting it be what it is when it comes through in its raw form and leaving it that way.”

With: Donavon Frankenreiter, Nahko And Medicine For The People Where: Big Top Sydney, Luna Park When: Friday October 4 16 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

Going For It By Krissi Weiss

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ydney five-piece punk outfit Tonight Alive have played the game well so far in their young careers. Theirs is a cookie-cutter style of pop punk, with rugged hair and scruffy clothes quite strategically placed and that overly structured quasianarchy that bands like All Time Low and Anberlin are so renowned for – but it’s working. Ahead of their appearances on this year’s ludicrously massive Vans Warped Tour, Tonight Alive have released their second album, The Other Side, into the adoring arms of Australian fans as well as those they’ve amassed in the US, UK and Japan.

After their demo fell into the hands of US pop punk producer extraordinaire Mark Trombino, giving rise to their debut album What Are You So Scared Of?, Tonight Alive garnered the attention of a devoted fan base.

Vocalist Jenna McDougall and guitarist Whakaio Taahi are bouncing out of their skin from the excitement of album number two seeing the light of day. “It’s absolute, massive excitement,” Taahi says. “We just feel like this is such a massive step up from the first album. The fans have been so great; it’s awesome to hear what they have to say when they first hear it. I guess at the end of the process we realised it was quite different to our first [record] but it doesn’t seem to have had a bad effect at all.”

In this new world order of music, it doesn’t take long for an audience to sniff out the truffles of their favourite band. “We’ve been playing a few new songs already on this tour and it’s outrageous to hear people singing along to these really new songs that for some gigs hadn’t even been released,” McDougall says. “They were only streaming on the internet and they’d have to be hardcore fans to go and find them and then learn the lyrics, and it’s surreal. You wait so long to put an album out and this feels like instant payback.”

Tonight Alive could seem like too much of a good thing – their story reads like an effortless rise to stardom, but Taahi and McDougall explain that it was really the opposite. “All five of us literally dropped everything to focus on this band, so there’s never been a point where we weren’t giving it 100 per cent,” says Taahi.

“Jenna dropped out of school, some of the other guys stopped working, and it’s not that we got any different opportunities to any other band in the world – I feel like we’ve just always worked hard. We always had a goal, we’ve always tried to get there and we’ve always tried to better ourselves rather than sitting back and waiting for something to happen, like I feel like a lot of bands do. Every tour we said yes to; we had the songs, we had the CDs and it just grew.”

It wasn’t ego-stroking that got them to where they are now either. They play note-perfect shows with uninhibited enthusiasm and in a game of chicken first, or egg, it seems their professionalism came long before the praise.

“I think our mindset came first; we started the band in 2008 and we all left school and jobs in 2009,” McDougall says. “We were like, ‘Let’s just go for it.’ It took us a really long time to get there, in a way. We had a manager at the time who was kinda like, ‘It’s all happening,’ and he put a lot of ideas in our head but that worked out to be a good thing in the end because that was the motivation. Five days a week we practised eight hours a day, and while we tried to do it for a while without management or a label, it ended up working for us.”

What: Vans Warped Tour With: The Offspring, Parkway Drive, Simple Plan, New Found Glory, The Used, We Came As Romans and more Where: Barangaroo, Sydney When: Sunday December 1 And: The Other Side out now through Sony Music Entertainment Australia

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Tonight Alive photo by Kane Hibberd

Over time, it’s become apparent to Rudd that he’s outlasted many of his former peers. “I used to feel like I was the young guy coming up, but when you’ve done post-ten years on the circuit, not a lot of acts last that long … I feel like there’s a real element of respect for me out on the road. I have young bands coming up and saying they used to listen to me when they were kids. It makes me feel a bit older.”

Tonight Alive

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Adalita Taking Charge By Lachlan Kanoniuk respect and be the leader of the project.

That took up all my resources and a lot of my energy. Every second of the day, even when I was sleeping, I was thinking about every detail and how it was all going. I was putting on a lot of different hats, which I’ve never really had to do. But I sunk my teeth into it. I was really up to the task. I knew it would be hard, but you don’t know how hard it’s going to be until you’re thrown into those situations. I feel satisfied that the decisions were good.”

The fleshed-out full band sound on All Day Venus is the biggest distinction between it and Adalita. The task of gathering likeminded musicians proved to be a difficult one at first. “I didn’t really know who I’d get, so I had to audition people. That was hard for me, having to turn people down. I didn’t enjoy that. But you can get used to anything, and it’s the way you do it. With hindsight, I could do it a bit easier now. It took a while to find a drummer, but then I found Lee Parker.

That started the ball rolling, he was great and brought a new element to the songs. Then I ran into Hugo Cran from The Devastations, and [Dirty Three drummer] Jim White was also in town. The bass player, Matt Bailey, I’ve known for a long time. He was always in the back of my mind. Luckily, he said yes when I approached him. It’s always a gamble and you don’t know how people are going to go, but he’s a good fit. I was very much the leader this time around, I wasn’t just part of a team … It was very much a trial by fire. I feel exhausted but extremely satisfied. There was a lot going on that I had to wrangle, but I feel really good.”

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“[They were] completely different in every way,” she says. “I can’t begin to describe how different it was. Obviously I didn’t have Dean [Turner, Adalita’s late Magic Dirt bandmate and co-producer of her first solo record] there, which was the main thing. I was the main dude, the central figure. I had to organise everything, coordinate everyone, plus organising song choice and deciding who to work with, who was in the studio band. So I had to manage everything in that

At this stage in her career, Adalita draws inspiration as much from her own back catalogue as she does from other artists. “I think I’ve always been influenced by my own music. The timeframe varies. Back in the Magic Dirt days, I’d always been influenced by what I’d done prior. With the writing process, I’ve always existed in a bubble. I love music, and I love listening to other bands and I’m influenced by other artists … [But]

when it comes to creating my own music, I shut everything out. There’s no reason for it, I just seal myself off so I can concentrate on the writing. When I write the next record I always think about the one prior to it. My main thought is that I want to write something better. I don’t think what I’ve done is not good, I just can’t wait to write the next one.

I did a good job there, [but] I want to do a better job there. It’s a path that I feel like I’m on, and I’m continuing on from the records that came before me.”

Though All Day Venus is only fresh out of the oven, Adalita is already preparing for the next chapter. “I definitely felt like I could write a record as soon as I was finishing this one,” she says. “But I felt like I was in too much of an intense mood, like I had to get out of the storm and get into a more detached, calmer state. But I have thought about it, where I’m going to go aesthetically. I haven’t got a clear idea yet, but it’s definitely brewing.”

What: All Day Venus out now through Liberation Music With: Laura Jean Where: Annandale Hotel When: Friday October 18 Xxx

eleased to critical acclaim in 2011, the self-titled debut solo album from Adalita Srsen was an emotive triumph that contained little more than vocals and immaculately distorted guitar.

Following up that record is All Day Venus, an album emboldened by a full band set-up, while retaining the distinctive guitar tonal signatures. Speaking ahead of the album’s release, Adalita looks back on the differing recording processes behind each LP.

“Every second of the day, even when I was sleeping, I was thinking about every detail … you don’t know how hard it’s going to be until you’re thrown into those situations.”

Dream Theater Never Sleep By Augustus Welby

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udging by Dream Theater’s characteristically complicated arrangements, accumulative song structures and academically informed instrumentation, it’s easy to identify that relaxation is not their strong suit. Dream Theater’s non-stop working regime has seen them release 12 albums since forming in 1985, with a brand new self-titled studio LP landing this week. Keyboardist Jordan Rudess says their unrelenting work ethic is essentially founded on subsistence.

“It is a business. In order to have a business, we have to work – we have to produce an album or we have to be touring. If we sit around for too long the business will fall apart. It’s not like Dream Theater’s at the level where we could take a year or two off and expect to continue to put food on the table.”

Dream Theater have released seven albums this century alone and when you factor in non-stop touring, a handful of live albums and a lengthy list of side projects (including instrumental project Liquid Tension Experiment, solo albums from both guitarist John Petrucci and singer James LaBrie, and Rudess’ recent work in Levin Minnemann Rudess) you’ll likely find yourself suffering from vicarious exhaustion. However, even though Rudess refers to the band as a business, it’s not as if they view their constant activity as a chore.

“There’s an element of ‘work’ to it because sometimes it’s a little bit challenging or maybe something’s technically hard to pull off and you’ve got to make it happen. It’s work but it’s work that we enjoy doing, on that level it’s OK.” The new record is the first self-titled release of Dream Theater’s 28-year career and Rudess reveals the 18 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

album title was prompted by their supreme confidence in the new material. “We feel it’s good enough and representative enough of who we are, and the musicians and people that we are, that we could put that official title to it for the first time.”

Rudess adds that from the outset they approached this album with a plan to create a more concise entity than much of their previous work.

“We didn’t necessarily want to have everything on the album stretchedout, broad and wandering, if you will, like some prog albums or even like some Dream Theater music. We wanted to say, ‘OK guys, we’ve got these cool ideas, we’ve got these chops, but let’s see if we can write some songs that are not all nine to ten minutes long’.”

The finished product reveals that Dream Theater didn’t completely adhere to this manifesto. “There’s a 22-minute piece on this album, but we’re Dream Theater so we’re allowed to do that. There’s also a couple of four-minute things and a couple of six-minute things, so we wanted to try to be a little bit more to the point about some of the songs,” says Rudess.

Dream Theater is also significant as the first album to feature drummer extraordinaire Mike Mangini (who replaced founding member Mike Portnoy in 2011) as a creatively contributing member. Each member’s technical strength is irrefutable – in addition to Mangini’s multiple ‘World’s Fastest Drummer’ titles, a number of accolades have been bestowed upon Rudess, Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Rudess doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge the band’s technical prowess, but he admits their instrumental wizardry alone is not enough to make emotionally affecting music.

“It’s really, really important to us to have that emotional connection.

Some people might say Dream Theater are virtuosos or whatever but that’s not our primary concern.

The bigger concern for us is that we write really cool songs and they feel good to listen to and not be offputting by being too complex or too academic. We like to stop and have a good hook or a nice melody, you know, a chance to breathe a little bit. The technique is just a vehicle to make music. The reason we tried to become good at our instruments is so we could express ourselves and that would definitely mean that we’re trying to get an emotion across.”

Even though Dream Theater are almost 30 years into their career, they continue to conduct sell-out tours across the globe. Despite the passionate following, Rudess says the band still seeks to attract new fans with each release and ultimately hopes to push into a higher stratum of the popular culture sphere. “We want to keep the fans we have and make some new ones; broaden our horizons.

We’d like to have Dream Theater move to the next level, become more like what Rush means to the world of music. That would be great.”

Rudess’ ambition to emulate bands of gigantic stature, such as Rush, indicates Dream Theater are aware

each record they produce impacts upon their place within the cultural milieu and contributes to the next chapter of their continually evolving story. “We’re very conscious of that when we go into an album, like, ‘What have we done, what haven’t we done, where are we in the story, what would we enjoy doing now, what should be done at this point in our career?’ For any recording we do, or any touring that we do, those types of things are definitely taken into consideration, because the bigger picture really is the more important thing in all of this.”

What: Dream Theater out Tuesday September 24 through Roadrunner Records thebrag.com

James Iha Smiling Politely By Alasdair Duncan

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ames Iha is not a man in any great hurry. After the release of his first solo album, Let It Come Down, he took more than a decade to release another.

Look To The Sky is, in a sense, more of the same – gentle and quietly spoken indie pop that flies well underneath the musical radar. When I ask Iha the obvious question of why this new album took so long to arrive, he just shrugs. “It’s not easy for me to write songs for myself,” he says. “A few years ago, I started a recording studio in Manhattan with some friends. I was doing things with various people, taking my time, but it took a long time for me to feel like I could come up with something good and something different from what I’d previously done.”

In a past life, Iha was the guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins, and since then he has played with the likes of A Perfect Circle. It seems strange that someone who has stood onstage and shredded with some of the biggest and loudest bands in the world should make solo albums as gentle and unassuming as Iha’s. He once said he wrote his first solo compositions while in hotels on tour, and that he did so quietly in order not to wake sleeping guests in other rooms. Does this approach continue to shape his songwriting? “I don’t know, I tried doing more rock music, and I don’t think my voice really suits an accompaniment that’s super heavy. I also think I can’t try to compete with those two bands, or try to make music that approximates either one, because it’s impossible to do that, so I just go with what comes naturally.”

The recording of Look To The Sky, Iha says, was a fairly relaxed process – it took place over three or so years, with various friends dropping in on him in Brooklyn to lend a hand. “My co-producer Nathan Larson has a lot of friends, and he suggested calling various people up to see if they wanted to contribute.

It was very organic and I love all the people on there – Nick and Karen from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who I know through a photographer friend in Brooklyn, both came and did their thing on the album. Tom Verlaine from Television, who’s awesome, came and played guitar.

Sara from Tegan and Sara sang background vocals on a couple of songs. They’re all great collaborations that I wouldn’t necessarily think of, but I feel lucky to have them on the record.”

“As a solo artist, I think of myself as being more the songwriter. I don’t really care if I play anything on the track; it doesn’t matter to me who plays on it, just as long as it sounds good and it helps the record out.”

Given Iha is a famous guitar player himself, I put it to him that he’s quite generous to allow two other guitarists as accomplished as Nick Zinner and Tom Verlaine to come and play on his album. For his part, though, he insists ego didn’t play a part – it was just about getting great people to come in and help out. “If I were just a guitar player, maybe it would be weird, but at this point I just don’t care about things like that. As a solo artist, I think of myself as being more the songwriter. I don’t really care if I play anything on the track; it doesn’t matter to me who plays on it, just as long as it sounds good and it helps the record out. It never really occurs to me to worry about those things, but I know what you’re saying.”

Look To The Sky was a big undertaking for Iha, and the writing process led him to completely re-evaluate how he puts songs together. “When I started the record, something that was holding me back is that I wanted to do it oldschool style and have everything written top to bottom before I started recording, have all the lyrics and chords figured out. By the end of the record, I would just go into the studio without anything in mind and put a beat down, or try to think of something on the fly with a guitar.

By the end, it felt a lot easier to be able to go in and work that way, so there’s quite a bit of experimentation there.”

Before letting Iha go, I have to ask the inevitable Smashing Pumpkins question. Being a part of something as huge as that band – and then breaking up so publicly – must surely leave an indelible impression. How does Iha reflect on it? “You know, I feel very lucky to have played in The Smashing Pumpkins,” he says, seeming to choose his words carefully.

“They were a great rock band during an exciting time in music. It was great to be part of a movement, and it was more than a band playing songs, it was cultural. It was exciting – a great band with great musicians and records that stand the test of time. I feel lucky to have played with them, I’m lucky to play with A Perfect Circle. I’m proud of all the things I’ve worked on, but those two things are definite highlights.”

What: Look To The Sky out now through Stop Start/Inertia

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King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard

Russell Morris The Right Thing By Matthew Connellan with Ian Meldrum, the record company hated it,” Morris says. “They thought it was rubbish.

The day it was released, radio jumped on it and it took off like crazy. Very similarly to Sharkmouth, no-one wanted it.”

Rollercoaster Rides By Jody Macgregor

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he new King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard album, Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, opens with a song called ‘Head On/Pill’ that is 16 entire minutes long. You could do a lot of things in 16 minutes. You could very thoroughly hard-boil several eggs in that time. But a far better use of those minutes would actually be to listen to this lengthy psychedelic freak-out jam. “That is the most intense song on the album,” as frontman Stu Mackenzie describes it, “but I suppose it does start the album off – like it introduces you to the album, a bit.”

That it does. It’s like a warning sign in front of a rollercoaster ride: ‘You must be at least this into lengthy sitar wig-outs to ride.’ “I didn’t want to put it at the end of the album,” says Mackenzie.

“I think when you put a long song at the end of the album people tend to skip over it or think it’s the boring song, or like the long cliché epic last track of the album. I wanted it to be the opposite of that.”

Lengthy epics are a specialty for King Gizzard, who recently played a house party in Brisbane during which they performed a single song that lasted for half an hour. Then they said, “That’s it!” and left. When they’re not onstage they’re a different beast, however, one less prone to swirly improvisation and more into the hard graft of constructing songs like Lego blocks. “It was quite a recording project,” Mackenzie says.

“It wasn’t a case of us getting together and jamming, figuring out songs in rehearsal and then recording them. It was more a case of us setting up a recording [studio] in wherever, in like a shed or a bedroom or whatever, and figuring out little tiny ideas as we go and adding to them, and the recordings expanding and changing as they go … It was very much a recording project first and foremost. None of the songs were really played before we

recorded them or anything. They were just recordings for this album.”

That piecemeal, studio-focused method of songwriting has made for a killer set of sounds, but also given the band some trouble now they’ve begun performing them live. During recording, one member of the seven-piece might play drums, bass and guitar on the same song, while another plays all the keyboards.

Other band members aren’t on certain songs at all. “It’s a real higgledy-piggledy mash of who played what on the album so getting in and rehearsing and figuring out how to actually play the songs has been really, really hard. Working out, ‘I’m gonna play this guitar part’ and ‘Who played that one? Alright, well you have to play keyboard in this song,’ or, ‘Alright, you give me that acoustic guitar.’ It’s been very challenging putting it all together so I think that’s the main thing we’re focusing on: trying to play it.”

Now though, Morris has found significant success through Sharkmouth, an album written and recorded in his own image.

“It took people by surprise. No-one ever expected me to do the blues. I went back to what I wanted to do. I’m still pretty proud of the old stuff and I do salute that. I did this because I hadn’t had any success for a long time. I love the blues and I’m a real fanatic about history. I didn’t do it to be successful. I did it as a project that I actually loved. I never thought I would have any success with it.”

A 43-year gap splits ‘The Real Thing,’ a single of immense critical and popular acclaim, and Sharkmouth, which has sold more than 60,000 copies and is destined to go platinum.

The veteran artist is justifiably proud of his latest offering – and with two follow-up albums planned for the near future, and a headlining slot at the Sydney Blues & Roots Festival next month, Morris is riding the crest of the wave.

“I did six albums that sunk without a trace, because I was repeating the same habits, style and patterns … People had heard it before. I was trying to write something like I’d done. [Then I decided] I’m not going to do what people expect me to do. I’m going to do what I want to do, because my albums aren’t selling. I did it out of love. I was absolutely gobsmacked when everyone loved it. I think it is the proudest project of my career.”

Somehow, even though they’ve been busy pulling their live show together, King Gizzard have also managed to assemble a significant chunk of the next album already. “We’ve been working on new stuff,” Mackenzie says. “We’ve kind of got another album that we’re gonna release later – maybe next year – mostly done.

I’ve been working on that a lot, recording and writing new songs. We don’t really get to chill out that much.” They may seem like a relaxed bunch of dudes, but Mackenzie makes them sound like workaholics. “It’s a bit of an OCD thing; we’re a bit obsessed. It’s really fun, making records.”

What: Float Along – Fill Your Lungs out Friday September 27 through Flightless/Dot Dash.

Where: The Standard When: Saturday November 2

I

t was the album nobody wanted. Russell Morris’s 2012 labour of love, Sharkmouth, almost sunk without a trace. “When you’ve been around as long as I have, if you go for 30 years and you don’t have any success on the charts...” Morris tails off.

“If I was in their position I’d be the same,” he continues diplomatically. “When you’ve been around for a long time, you’re like a pair of slippers. People decide they want a new pair and put them under the bed and they don’t listen with the same attention. I couldn’t get it picked up because people had this preconception. It’s human nature and I can understand it. You want to turn the soil over and find fresh things.”

Morris’ 1969 super-hit, ‘The Real Thing’, was recently added to the Sounds of Australia Registry, at a time when sales of Sharkmouth are going through the roof. The psychedelic rock hit of 1969 and the blues and roots album of today couldn’t be more different. Except for one stark and surprising similarity – both nearly fell on the scrap heap. “When we recorded ‘The Real Thing’

Such is the staggering success of Sharkmouth, it will also prove to be Morris’s most successful career project. Even more successful than ‘The Real Thing’, which took Australia by storm with its uniqueness and the way it pushed the envelope. “Ian [Meldrum] decided to make it a psychedelic record and to make it six minutes. We came out and did something that no-one had done. Ian Meldrum was the total architect of that, I can’t take much credit for it at all. Ian Meldrum was just sensational.

“But Sharkmouth is probably going to be more successful. It’s going to eclipse ‘The Real Thing’, the way things are going. ‘The Real Thing’ was a phenomenal single, but this is an album. It gives you the indication that if you’re doing something, do it because you love it, not because you’re trying to be famous.”

What: Sydney Blues & Roots Festival With: Diesel, Ash Grunwald, Chris Wilson, The Cyril B. Bunter Band, Charlie Parr, Sandi Thom and more Where: Windsor, NSW When: Thursday October 24 – Sunday October 27 And: Sharkmouth out now through Ambition/EMI

ACO Underground Dangerous Ideas By Alasdair Duncan

S

atu Vänskä plays lead violin with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but outside of hours she leads a strange musical double life. Vänskä founded the group known as ACO Underground, a collective of classical musicians who get together to play more daring and experimental works, finding the point between classical and contemporary music where Stravinsky meets Nine Inch Nails. “ACO Underground is an opportunity for us to really have fun putting different kinds of music together and next to each other, and trying things out in quite improbable ways,” says Vänskä. “It’s the sort of programming that you wouldn’t put on the main stage of a big concert hall, it’s more underground. We’re performing at Oxford Art Factory, which is a much less formal setting – the show is like our little laboratory where we can experiment and play with our more dangerous ideas.”

Like most of the current generation of classical musicians, Vänskä grew up listening to just as much popular music as classical, and these youthful experiences have shaped her adult perspective on music. “I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, and for anyone who came of age in that era, grunge was unavoidable, we all listened to Nirvana,” she laughs.

“Every composer and songwriter has their own distinctive feeling, their own distinctive set of emotions they’re trying to express, and I think that’s more important than talking about genre. For example, we played some Shostakovich in our last show, and you could argue that the sentiment behind his music and the sentiment in grunge were quite similar. It’s really interesting the way they can fit together in the same program.”

The program for the next ACO Underground show is as eclectic as always, and Vänskä, who both sings and plays violin over the course of the performance, gives a taste of what to expect. “We’ll be playing part of the ‘Black Angels’ quartet, from the visionary American composer George Crumb,” she says. “We’ve got a work by an Australian composer called Anthony Pateras, who is very well known in the underground. He composes a lot of pieces for prepared piano, but this time we’re playing a piece of his that he composed for two violins. We’ll be playing Phil Spector and Nick Drake, and a cover of ‘Something I Can Never Have’ by Nine Inch Nails, which I love. We’ll be playing a lot of noisy music,” she adds with a laugh, “so we take a break play a little old standard, ‘Tea For Two’, before getting back into it.”

Vänskä is the proud custodian of Australia’s only Stradivarius violin, courtesy of a fund started by the ACO allowing patrons to invest in beautiful instruments. “Several people put money in,” she says humbly, “and I was the lucky one who got to play it, because the other principal players already had really nice instruments and I didn’t. It’s an incredible honour and a humbling experience.”

Obviously, a Stradivarius requires a good deal of care and attention. “It’s the last thing on your mind at night and the first when you wake up!” Vänskä says. “We violinists grew up with

our instruments, though, so we develop an urge from childhood to be very protective of them. It’s like if you had a baby, you wouldn’t be throwing it around or dropping it. It’s the same with a violin. There are parts of the instrument that I don’t touch at all – I don’t touch anywhere other than where I play, in order to protect the wood and the varnish.

Looking after it becomes an instinct.”

Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Sunday September 29 xxx

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BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 21

arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Victoria Shehadie, Mina Kitsos and Lily White

five minutes WITH

MANTAUR

up the ranks together, so have always had a connection to each other onstage and off.

We’d been toying with the idea of forming a double act for a while, and thought the Sydney Fringe Festival was the perfect place to test the waters.

S

ydney performers Harry Milas and Rob Johnson have branched out of their regular improv troupe to bring us Mantaur: A Comedy Show With Music And Magic. Presenting as part of Sydney Fringe Festival 2013, the duo will bring the romp with a performance borne out of a common love of vaudeville, magic and absurd humour. We caught up with Johnson ahead of opening night to get the low-down.

Danielle Asciak

What draws you to such a multi-faceted medium? A complete and utter lack of clear artistic direction as well as a desire to really push ourselves and make a show that we would really like to see put onstage. During rehearsals we’ve constantly asked each other what would make us laugh, or what would interest us if we saw it onstage. The one thing we didn’t want is a one-note idea. It’s a tricky

What does the one-man-band, Laurence Rosier Staines, bring to the performance?

Laurence is an extremely talented and experienced musician who has had his own successes at the Fringe in the past, so his involvement immediately raises the bar for us. He also embodies the visceral, slightly offbeat nature of the show as an anonymous showman with a guitar who arbitrarily weaves in and out of proceedings with songs and musical accompaniment.

What will Fringe-goers take away from the show? We feel that our approach to the show, which more or less fuses sketch comedy with a vaudeville-style cabaret, will bring something very fresh and engaging to the Fringe lineup.

If all goes to plan, we don’t just want our audiences leaving with a smile on their faces, or remembering a punchline, but feeling like they’ve been thoroughly entertained.

Join high school misfits Will, Simon, Jay and Neil as they pedal straight through their puberty-stricken adolescent years. A social balancing act of sorts, they survive the embarrassment of teenhood in a mockumentary of their selectively omitted teenage hardship. With jokes, antics and acne rife, it’s sure to hit close to home. Based on the acclaimed Brit series, The Inbetweeners USA season 1 (releasing on Wednesday September 25) breathes authenticity into the struggle for adulthood and extended curfews. We have 10 DVDs to reward anyone with the courage to email their most treasured high school photo to freestuff@thebrag.com.

What: Mantaur: A Comedy Show With Music And Magic Where: The Factory Bar, The Factory Theatre When: September 26-28 More: 2013.sydneyfringe.com

JUST AN OLD FASHIONED GRRRL!

xxx

Tell us about Mantaur and how the collaboration came about. We have been performing together for several years, both with the Sydney University Musical Society and on the uni improv scene. We both came

What can we expect from Mantaur: A Comedy Show With Music And Magic? The show is actually fully scripted (Harry and I do a lot of improv, but this particular show is more structured). We love the idea of a sketch show, which showcases all the facets of the performers involved. Harry is a professional magician and I’m a classically trained singer, so we thought it would be daft not to try and integrate those aspects of our performance style into the show. I’m also a concert tubist – Mantaur: A Comedy Show With Music And Magic will mark one of the rare occasions a Sydney Fringe show will feature tuba accompaniment. What a rare opportunity!

thing to bottle, but that quality is what the show is all about.

THE INBETWEENERS! DVDS! WIN!

Tom Ballard

Melbourne-based cabaret star Danielle Asciak is hitting Sydney town to perform her sexy new show Just an Old Fashioned Grrrl! Based on the life of soul singing sensation Eartha Kitt, Asciak’s performance combines music and biographical storytelling to explore themes of love, relationships, rejection, empowerment, grief, womanhood and independence. Backed by professional jazz pianist Denis Follington, Just An Old Fashioned Grrrl! will draw bona fi de cabaret enthusiasts to Slide Lounge on Wednesday September 25. Head to slide.com.au for more information.

MOVING UP

Sydney artist BENNETT is taking over Oxford Street’s kind of – gallery with a clutch of new works for his show Constant Elevation as part of Art & About’s 2013 program. The artist’s mixed media paintings project themes of positivity and growth, building on his earlier collage work to illustrate alternative perspectives of everyday landscapes. BENNETT blends a nostalgic pastel palette and soft textures with strong geometric elements projected through the lens of abstraction, creating works that invite audiences to explore their own sense of history through the seemingly forgotten debris of daily life he appropriates. Constant Elevation launches on Wednesday September 26 at 6pm, and will be open from 11am-7pm daily until Sunday October 6. Visit kindofgallery. com for further details.

AFFECTORS: INSPIRED BY MUSIC

M2 Gallery’s latest exhibition Affectors: Inspired By Music looks at the human experience and the way we communicate. In collaboration with The Loop, Aisle6, Drawing Book illustrators and Holding Pattern musicians, the exhibition celebrates the sounds, art and magic that lie at the core of our very existence.

In a multisensory environment, participating artists will be creating original artworks inspired by a song or album. In addition to this, musicians from Holding Pattern will offer a track to enliven the process videos that will be filmed during the creation of each artwork.

Sure does sound like an interesting project to witness. Affectors: Inspired By Music runs from September 25-27. Head to m2gallery.com.au for more information.

Bangarra Dance Company’s Dance Clan 3

Bangarra Dance Company’s latest production Dance Clan 3 features an all-women choreographic team comprising four of the company’s senior female dancers who’ll present a diverse range of styles and ideas from November 20 through December 1 in conjunction with Corroboree Sydney. Deborah Brown, Yolande Brown, Tara Gower and Jasmin Sheppard will explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander narratives that’ll be performed by a troupe of 14 dancers. “It’s exciting to see the new choreographic voices of Bangarra emerging. The women of Bangarra are deeply connected to their culture and artistry and have strong and powerful voices. I’m eager to see what Dance Clan 3 brings to the evolution of Bangarra’s theatrical storytelling,” said Artistic Director Stephen Page who commissioned the work. Tickets on sale Thursday September 26.

Head to bangarra.com.au for further details.

22 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

In today’s increasingly complex world, we’re often too absorbed with technology to consider the beauty of nature. With this in mind an international touring photography exhibition, Peru Amazonico, will represent a number of contemporary Peruvian artists whose photographs document the Amazonian rainforest and its indigenous people who have chosen to isolate themselves from the mainstream.

Curator Diego Acevedo Llosa hopes that the exhibition will raise awareness of the indigenous families while also offer commentary on the unique relationships they have with nature. Peru Amazonico is currently showing at Customs House and runs until Sunday October 27.

BLAKE PRIZE POETRY PRIZE SHORTLIST

The NSW Writers’ Centre has announced the Blake Poetry Prize shortlist. The selection of nine shortlisted works include: River Lines by Ross Gillett, Grand Final by Jennifer Harrison, Almost Pause/Pareidolia

by Amanda Joy, The Pines by Anthony Lawrence, Nocturne by Anthony Lawrence, Appellations by Anthony Lawrence, Prayer: Quick And Dirty by Lizz Murphy, The Quality Of Light by Christine Paice and Ars Moriendi by Chloe Wilson. The poetry prize received over 500 entries this year with themes centred around meditations on death, illness, travel and intoxication.

Said works will be exhibited in a major exhibition alongside 62nd Blake Art Prize fi nalists at the new Galleries UNSW at the College of Fine Arts from October 18 through November 16. The Blake Poetry Prize winner will be announced on Thursday October 17, so we recommend you keep your eyes on blakeprize.com.au for further updates.

COSMIC CAMBODIA

You don’t often hear of singers being discovered at karaoke bars. Meet Srey Thy, who was snatched up by Khmer maestro Julien Poulson for his band Cambodian Space Project after he caught a glimpse of her ’60s dreamy Cambodian pop vocals.

This month, the Newsagency Gallery (332 Stanmore Rd, Petersham) will host Cosmic Cambodia, a set of works by Poulson and Sticky Fingers Arts Prints Cambodia.

The exhibition comprises screen prints in 30

LONG WEEKEND LOLS

Haven’t fi gured out what to do on the Labor Day Long Weekend?

Interested in spending it with stand-up comedians Tom Ballard, Michael Workman, Mel Buttle and Patrick Cross? If you said yes, pen Saturday October 5 in your diary, folks, because these professional joke tellers are headed to The Independent Theatre on the North Shore to bring the LOLs. And this bunch certainly has cred in the biz – Ballard was the youngest ever recipient of Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Best Newcomer award in 2009, Workman won the Adelaide Fringe Best Comedy award last year, Buttle’s been described as “gifted of rare talent”

by The Age and Cross’ been gigging the NY stand-up scene in comedy joints like the Comedy Cellar. Head to theindependent. org.au for more info and tickets.

eclectic pop-art designs that depict images of the band, Cambodian pop stars and daily life in the country. Proceeds from the project will go to the families of the artists, affected by the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Cosmic Cambodia is showing until Sunday September 29. Visit newsagencygallery. com.au for more information. thebrag.com

Bangarra Dance Company Dance Clan 3 photo by Greg Barrett

DANCE CLAN 3

PERU AMAZONICO

JAE LAFFER

(THE PANICS)

GEORGIA FAIR KARL SMITH

(SODASTREAM)

WHEN THE IRON GLOWS RED-TOUR FRI 8th NOVEMBER

OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au JAE LAFFER NEW ALBUM ‘WHEN THE IRON GLOWS RED’ Follow

jaelaffer.com

dew-process.com

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Golden Age Cinema And Bar

Nicholas Mason

[FILM] Classics Then And Now By Stephanie Yip

Manhattan Short [FILM] The Ultimate Platform By Shirin Borthwick

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

W

hen you enter the niche Golden Age Cinema & Bar in Surry Hills, sit in the middle of the fourth row. That’s where the venue’s film programmer, Kate Jinx, sits. But if she’s staked her spot, take heart, for all the seats in this intimate 60-seater historical theatrette are sublimely comfortable. “Our cinema seats are from a private cinema in Switzerland from the ’40s.

They’ve been shipped over and reupholstered. The curtains, also green, match them and the bar outside is a dark wood with gold and copper fittings,” says Jinx. “We’re trying to bring the charm of going to the movies here.”

And it’s not hard to imagine. With popcorn served in cocktail shakers and photographs of bygone eras hung on walls, the cinema is certainly brining back the Golden Age. “Paramount Pictures used the building from the late ’30s and early ’40s through to the ’70s as their office space,” says Jinx. Back then, exhibitors came here to view Paramount’s films before purchasing movie reels in what is now the bar space. “During the war, they turned the theatre into a screening room where service men and women could watch news reels,” says Jinx. “We’ve got amazing photographs of people in their military finery watching them. It’s incredible.”

The Golden Age Cinema & Bar project has been five years in the making, since Melbourne’s Right Angle Studio began eyeing the premises for a Rooftop Bar. But after complaints, they moved the theatrics several flights down to the basement where the cinema was already established. They then named it Golden Age in honour of the here and now. “The idea being we shouldn’t think of, the good old days as the past. We’re living it,”

And the actual program? That’s turned into somewhat of a guilty pleasure for Jinx, the movie buff. “As a film critic, I see what’s going to hit the cinemas no matter how big or small. But sometimes you’ll see a film and six months later, it won’t get released despite being amazing. That’s quite distressing; to see these films that get screened for critics or at festivals slip away. That was a big thing for me – to pick the best of the new releases and exclusives. We’ve just shown Tiny Furniture, the Lena Dunham film, which never got a theatrical release here, which is absolutely criminal,” she says. Other films getting their Sydney debut here include documentaries Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me and Matt Wolf’s I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard.

Just as exciting are the genre sessions. There’s Friday Fright for all things horror, Saturday afternoons’ child friendlies and Sunday’s back to back classic/modern combo. According to Jinx, however, Tuesday nights are “the most exciting and fun thing to do”. “Instead of cheap Tuesdays, we’re doing Golden Price Tuesdays. It’s a grabbag of films,” she says. “No genre is too unruly for that 6.30pm slot. All you pay is the approximate admission price of when the film came out. So The Graduate cost $2. Duck Soup is from 1933, so was 5c. The most expensive one coming up is Muriel’s Wedding.” It’s going to be a bargain at just $11. Go for gold.

What: Golden Age Cinema & Bar Where: Paramount House, 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills More: ourgoldenage.com.au

T

he story behind Manhattan Short is one of lucky breaks and the steadfast vision of Nick Mason. A true blue North Shore boy who’s lived 18 years in New York, Mason is working to extend the reach of the world’s only global short film festival.

How’d it all start? Booted out of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (“I’ve never been more disliked in my life,” he laughs), Mason fell into a share of a champion racehorse through family ties, which paid for years of travelling. He ended up in NYC, of course. The year was 1995 and while acting in Off-off-off-Broadway plays and student short films, Mason noticed that beside the traditionalist New York Film Festival, there was a lack of edgier film festivals. So he took short film submissions and introduced outdoor screenings to the city. Eric Petterson, owner of celebrity haunt the Union Square Café, roped in Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and others to act as judges. But the festival only truly gained exposure in September 2001 while international film crews were reporting on the city’s mood after September 11. It was a case of “the right place at the worst of times,” and submissions from every country quickly multiplied. Today the festival shows in over 300 cities worldwide.

Ten finalists are chosen by Mason and his team, and the process is not so much a matter of picking favourites, as a matter of speaking to different demographics. “Every film’s got to find its festival, and every festival’s got to find its audience,” he says. “I’m sitting down and saying, ‘I know an audience that will like that.’”

Manhattan Short is now the most popular film festival of Russia, “possibly because [of people’s] conflict with the government.” The festival “offers you an opinion and you can vote, and voting in Russia has had a lot of question marks over it.” This anti-establishment appeal carries across many social issues; one of the films in this year’s crop has homosexual overtones. Mason asserts, “Now I don’t

know if they’re going to like it in New Milford, Connecticut. But I know they’re going to love it in Russia.”

He’s glad that social media can create a much larger, empowering conversation about the films. “You throw things out to the public, they do amazing things to it. [Manhattan Short] offers us global debates – it’s so classless.

You’ve got to go out somewhere, and see other people, and share an opinion.” Switching from celebrity judges to an audience vote in 2004 was a pivotal moment that aligned perfectly with this democratising spirit. “It’s not something I wanted to see become, ‘Oh, we’ve got to be in this cool arthouse cinema’. It’s not just for Paddington and Bondi. I hope it finds a home with the Hoyts cinema chain getting involved as well – something you can go to any cinema to see. All demographics, all age groups, all wageearners, all races, they can go out one night, and share in the world of that kind of cinema.”

Over the past 16 years, has he noticed any changes to how films are being made? “It used to be, to get a film made you needed friends at Panavision and Kodak, and you needed $10K.” But today one finalist, I Am A Big Ball of Sadness, for example, can be casually filmed on an iPhone by actors rehearsing a play – and find a massive audience.

His advice for budding filmmakers? Read any interview with double-finalist Christopher Stollery. “At the end of a good short film you’ll say, ‘I wanna see that again.’” It’s like the first time you had sex. Maybe the second time. You wanna do that again.”

What: Manhattan Short Where: Shortlisted films will screen at Glen St Theatre When: Sunday September 29 More: msfilmfest.com

Nicholas Mason photo by CyCy Sansders

Another incredible thing is the success the cinema has seen only a fortnight into its launch. “[During] opening week only two sessions didn’t sell out,” says Jinx. “This has been living in my head a long time. It’s nice to see it come into fruition and that Sydney’s behind it. It’s not just me. It’s something Sydney wants.”

says Jinx. “There’s something exciting happening in Sydney with businesses, bars, retail spaces and community groups doing exciting new things.

We’re living in the Golden Age and should be celebrating it. We’re screening both old and new films.”

Doku Rai

[THEATRE] Mythic Darkness By Emma McManus actually call a ‘day off’ the whole time we were living [there],” says Thomas Henning, director of Black Lung Theatre. Henning was involved in the original production of the work and is also codirecting the production’s remount for the Sydney season alongside Melchior Dias Fernandes.

Part theatre and part rock concert – the 24 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

work is a coproduction between anarchic Melbourne-based theatre group Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm, and East Timorese rock gods Liurai Fo’er and Galaxy – Doku Rai marks the world’s first international theatre production created in Timor-Leste. The production has performed to sell out houses in Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne.

The creation of the work was an intense process. The group of artists lived and worked together for two months. “It was all the time work … we had two days off that you would

There was also the issue of negotiating communication between a cast who spoke many different languages as well as having different artistic practices. The Timorese collaborators had a much stronger background

And despite the production being ‘political’, Henning believes that the work dodges being aligned with the word in a strictly linear way.

“We consciously avoided making anything that is of a very particular kind of politic, and we buried that idea in the nature of the story...” she says.

What: Doku Rai Where: Carriageworks When: September 25-28 More: carriageworks.com.au thebrag.com

Doku Rai photo by Andrew Fraser

C

reated in a disused colonial hotel on a remote island in Timor-Leste, Doku Rai (You, Dead Man, I Don’t Believe You) tells the story of a man who is killed but cannot die. The piece was conceived on the set of Robert Connolly’s 2008 film Balibo, where Doku Rai’s director Thomas M Wright first met Timorese actor Osme Gonsalves. The two then became friends and came up with the idea of a theatre collaboration between the two countries.

Henning describes these two months as a bizarre circumstance to create work within.

They were living in an abandoned Portuguesestyle colonial hotel built by the Indonesians on a remote island in Timor-Leste called Atauro, which is situated just off the coast of Dili. The island’s only regular access route was by boat once a week; the boat travels across an extremely deep channel separating Atauro from Dili. Their first trip across this channel was on a fishing boat laden with chairs, and involved stopping and starting the motor to hop from wave to wave in a journey that took about three hours. And life on Atauro had other difficulties – broken water pumps on the island made access to water to wash with extremely difficult.

in music and installation, where as the Melbournians were firmly planted in the world of theatre. “The styles present onstage are completely different, completely bizarre in their combination. [We have] a very particular way of harmonising … but to find such harmony comes with many jarred notes, what are actually often a great source of content, pathos and drama,” says Henning. “We benefit from each others’ differences greatly I think.” As a result, Doku Rai interweaves myth, personal stories, music, film, four languages and ritual to create a completely new theatrical language through which to explore mortality, fragility and chaos.

Arts & Culture Reviews Hits and misses on the white walls and the bareboards around town

Craig Walsh, In Country – Lawrence Kerr, 2012

■ Comedy

WIL ANDERSON

■ Theatre

Friday September 13 The Enmore Theatre is sold out, and it feels like recess in the schoolyard.

Everyone is ready to laugh. triple j expat, Scott Dooley, kicks things off confidently with a short and sharp set, instantly getting laughter in waves.

Dooles is the troublemaker on the playground, drawing his mates in with dirty stories and making fun of the cool kids.

■ Visual Arts

EMBEDDED Until November 24 In Embedded, Australian artist Craig Walsh takes everything we don’t know about the Murujuga Aboriginies, iron ore and the Australian land, and places us right in the middle of it.

Last year, I was walking through Hyde Park and accidentally found myself inside Walsh’s 2012 exhibition, Emergence. The video-projected faces against trees took me by surprise – especially when they started talking. I ended up staying for an hour and was late for dinner.

This is where Walsh’s exhibitions usually exist; the artist’s work doesn’t hang on walls, but rather realises itself within the environment – amongst the trees, on the water and against buildings. With Embedded, however, Walsh brings the environment into the gallery. Literally.

Brendan Cowell photo by Gary Heery

Twenty-one industrial bins, over-flowing with iron ore from the Pilbara in Western Australia gridlock the floor like caskets.

Yellow and blue walls wrap the room like the safety jackets of the Rio Tinto miners that partnered the exhibition. Taking centrestage are two moving image works and a series of photographic portraits of the local Aboriginal people projected onto landscapes – like the faces in the trees – in what has become Walsh’s signature style.

Brendan Cowell

MISS JULIE

Now Wil hits the stage and it’s apparent that he’s the teacher on duty. Not a taskmaster, but the cool teacher who lets you play Red Rover. Mr. Anderson opens the show with an extended bit of crowd work that proves he’s something of an offthe-cuff genius.

He long ago stopped being the enfant terrible – these days he’s a pro; last year’s Gold Logie nom made that official.

Yes, he still rattles the cages, but he’s more grown up about it. Yes, there’s still plenty of the shouty, rapid fire, verbose railings that he’s become famous for.

But there’s also a different Wil, a more thoughtful Wil, a Wil who’s perhaps been humbled by a year of bad luck. And it’s when he becomes personal that you can feel the audience literally lean in closer; we want to hear about his country childhood, his Dad’s wedding day cricket match, his struggle with osteoarthritis. We want to hear about him. And, yes, it helps that he’s funny.

The show’s called GoodWil and it’s not just a punny title. There’s a thread of optimism, charity and humanity that ties together his trademark manic riffs, jabs at celebrities and sincere anecdotes. The message here is: be positive. It’s a simple message, but I can’t think of a better one to tell a theatre full of people. Or a schoolyard full of troublemakers.

Until October 6 Miss Julie is not a play you come across everyday. The raw characters, unbridled emotions and toxic themes are confronting, tantalising and brilliant. Written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg in 1888, Miss Julie was originally rejected by publishers, banned from Denmark theatres and snubbed by critics. It wasn’t until 1896 that audiences were able to witness Strindberg’s unique portrayal of social boundaries, sexual desires and visceral human emotions.

Simon Stone, a renowned writer for having the guts to rework classics of modern theatre like Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and Death Of A Salesman, has adapted Miss Julie for its current run at Belvoir. Set in modern day Australia, Stone repositions the characters for this landscape – Julie (Taylor Ferguson) is the daughter of a wealthy politico, Jean (Brendan Cowell) is his right-hand man and bodyguard, and Christine (Blazey Best) is Jean’s fi ancée.

The play opens with Christine cooking in a stone cold, stark white kitchen; a deliberate move by set designer Robert Cousins to portray the coldness and distance of relationships beyond the stage.

As the daughter of an absent and unloving father, Julie is a confused and torn teen, who uses her virginity and unashamed sexual frivolity to win the attention of Jean, her temporary knight in shining armour.

Although a stoic character, Jean’s sense of duty is blinded by the fl attery he feels from Julie’s advances – a tangible jab at class disparity by Strindberg. Losing sight of the bigger picture, and desperate to disappear from each of their despondent lives, sees Julie and Jean hauled up in a seedy motel room where the excitement of

forbidden sexual desires fi nally gives in to the question of ‘what the hell are we going to do now?’

Brilliantly directed by Leticia Cáceres, Miss Julie is a play that will shock, entertain and stay with you long after the fi nal applause. If not for the vivid and discomforting themes, the performances of Ferguson and Cowell are defi nitely worth a trip to the theatre. Cowell’s hunky persona pitted with comical one-liners is hilarious and intriguing to watch, while Ferguson’s unashamed innocence and fi ery attitude is amusing and provoking.

Haylie Pretorius

Cameron James

The visuals are scored by atmospheric layers of crickets and the spiritual narrations of the Pilbara people. The result is immersive and interactive as we confront the dual notions of land as a spiritual and economic commodity. But Walsh is not on a soapbox. He’s smarter than that. He understands the complex relationship our country has with mining, and uses Embedded to explore the even deeper connections with indigenous Australians.

It’s complicated, it’s beautiful, and we’re right in at the core of it.

Wil Anderson

Cameron James

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Party After Hours

Jennifer Blau, Jayme, 2011

AGNSW, Art Gallery Road, The Domain Wednesday September 25 You’re all decked out in circa 1930s gearc complete with pearl necklace and freshly-polished brogues.

Yes, that’s right, you’re ready for a good ol’ swing number with your partner.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is celebrating its tenth year of Art After Hours festivities with a vintage-style part this Wednesday September 25. There’ll be a free swing dancing class, a collage workshop and screening of cinematic classics all on offer. You’ll also be free to roam blockbuster exhibitions Sydney Moderns and Renaissance To Goya for a tenner. There’s going to be a prize for best dressed and you’ll want to bring out your darndest because you’ll even be in the company of special guest Sarah Blasko. Head to artgallery.nsw.gov.au for further information.

BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 25

bread&thread

THE ROYAL HOTEL

Food & Fashion News with James Dunlop, Nick Timms and Lily White

12:09:13 :: 156 NORTON ST, LEICHHARDT :: 9569 2638

NINE NIGHTS, NINE CIDERS

Gazebo Wine Garden and Rekorderlig Cider have teamed up to bring us a unique dining experience. From 1-9 October a series of dinners will celebrate Rekorderlig’s nine famous cider flavours. Head chef Jason Dean has been working closely with the brand’s Swedish mixologist to develop a themed cocktail, canapé and four-course dinner for each evening. Tickets start from $100 and bookings through info@ gazebowinegarden.com.au.

12.30-7.30pm; Fri – Sat 12.309pm, December – January Mon – Sat 12-9pm; Sun and public holidays 12-7.30pm. Seriously though. Go. Now! Head to theislandbar.com.au for further details.

GOOD FOOD MONTH

ASIA ON YOUR DOORSTEP

ISLAND BAR

It’s back, folks! Island Bar on Cockatoo Island is shaking and stirring until January next year. The crew have honed their nautical cocktail-making skills over winter and are bringing back the booze-infused good times. Bar manager Stefano Catino and his charismatic bartenders will serve up summer-inspired creations to the backdrop of Sydney Harbour.

And then there’s the wood-fired pizza. Think buffalo mozzarella, parma prosciutto, and provolone cheese. Didn’t have a pizza in mind? There’ll also be sambos, salads and anipasto plates.

Island Bar opening hours are: September – October Fri – Sat 12.30-9pm; Sun 12.30-7.30pm, November Wed – Thu and Sun

From October 1-31, Crave International Food Festival will up the ante in Chinatown with the Asia On Your Doorstep festival. Master chefs from participating restaurants will be banging about the pans with demos of signature dishes to offer punters $10-$20 specials throughout the month. And on Friday October 25, Little Hay Street in Chinatown will be transformed into a makeshift marketplace designed to showcase fl avours from a range of regions across Asia like Hong Kong and Hanoi among others. Want more? If you eat at one of the participating eateries you’ll be given the chance to enter online and go in the draw to win a trip to Thailand for two. Yes please! Visit asiaonyourdoorstep.com.au for more info.

WORLD’S BEST BEER TRIP

BRAG WORKOUT

HOW TO CHOOSE A PERSONAL TRAINER We’re well and truly into spring and because BRAG cares about you we’re telling you it’s time to get your game on. We want you looking damn fine at your next gig and exhibition launch, but also understand it’s tough to leave those sluggish winter days behind. But fear not, friends, because we don’t expect you to go it alone.

We’ve enlisted the help of City Gym’s Paul Haslam to help us out with a few tips on how to choose the right personal trainer.

1.

Personal Experience

Ask yourself: “How long has the trainer been involved in their own training, irrespective of their vocational experience?”

The best lessons are often learnt from our mistakes and long personal involvement certainly helps in this regard. Long-term involvement also displays that the trainer has a passion for training. Also noted should be the personal experience in the area or areas that relate to the particular clients’ goals like weight loss, body building and strength training.

26 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

The Morrison Punch

BIZARRE BAZZAR

Anything alliterated receives crazy cool points by default.

Newtown’s Bizarre Bazaar Folk Market wins that title for other reasons, chiefl y its wickedly wide range of artisan crafts and vintage gems.

Step into Newtown Hotel’s ground fl oor and sift through the one-of-a-kind pieces on offer, while Huckleberry Hastings provides the perfect live soundtrack to your hunt.

Think Rock’n’r oll vinyls, hand-knitted sweaters and handmade leather items, ’60s Japanese jewellery and folkinfused racks. Pen Saturday September 28 into your diaries and come prepared with a bring a rucksack or two.

2. Vocational Experience

Often this is in tandem with personal experience, and relates more to professionalism and business practices as well as having experience in dealing with clients that need differing goals. On the job learning probably outranks initial qualifications on most occasions in any profession or trade.

3. Qualifications

This is important because everyone needs a sound base from which to begin. In recent times, the quality of course options, in my opinion is being diluted. Unfortunately I have seen the applicable courses go from what were originally, loads of hands-on, relevant information for creating a good trainer, to being a business focused on the bottom line and earning dollars for the company. You can now do your Cert IV in Fitness online! That is, you can get qualified to teach complex and coordinated skills without any hands-on component … study

above and beyond the minimum displays enthusiasm for self-improvement.

4. Personality/Training Style

If you’re going to be spending some time together over the coming months, you had better make sure that there’s some compatibility. It doesn’t mean that you have to be besties. Some prefer or need the Sergeant Major type. One or two sessions will give you a good indication for the future.

5. Try Before You Buy

Have sample sessions with a number of trainers, just like buying a new car. This way you can determine what features you like and more importantly, what you don’t like!

Paul Haslam is a resident Personal Trainer at City Gym in Darlinghurst with over 35 years’ experience including two national titles in Olympic Weightlifting and two Mr Australia Body Building champion. Visit citygym.com. au for further information.

thebrag.com

xxx

What would you do to win a trip to some of the world’s best craft beer breweries? Pay thousands of dollars?

Trade a limb for it? Make a sacrifice to the beer gods? Well, it seems all you have to do for the chance to win the World’s Best Beer Trip is take a pic and write 50 words and, hopefully, schooner or later you’ll be jetting off.

Yeah, it’s that easy. 4 Pines Brewing Company and Feral Brewing Company have teamed up to give one lucky beer lover the chance to visit breweries in Australia, New Zealand, the US and China. Want in? Head to worldsbestbeertrip.com for more information on how to enter.

Ever had a smoked cocktail?

No? Well now’s your chance, because the Morrison Bar & Oyster Room has launched a new spring/summer cocktail menu. And trust us when we say things are being taken to a whole new level. The lineup includes the Banana Old Fashioned, a bananainfused Jack Daniels and smoked maple syrup glass of goodness. Next up there’s the Nacho Libre, a salted caramel-infused tequila matches with camomile tea, grapefruit juice and popping candy. Oh and then there’s The Morrison Punch, a fusion of Beefeater gin, camomile, pink grapefruit, triple citrus syrup and soda. Creations come courtesy of Julian Serna (ex The Fern, Gardel’s Bar, Hemmesphere) who’s taken inspiration from the kitchen to incorporate a few tricks like smoking, infusing, foams, and ‘fluff’. Go on, you know you want to. It’s time to mix things up. For further details visit themorrison. com.au.

PHOTOS: CASSIE LALIEU

Good Food Month will take over Sydney with food and drink celebrations aplenty from October 1-31. And if you’re anything like us, you’re already frothing at the mouth in excitement. Festival highlights include crowd favourites Night Noodle Markets, Let’s Do Lunch and Hats Off Dinners as well as some new projects like a café-hour Breakfast Club, late-night Supper Club and Good Dinners Under $30.

Celeb chef Rene Redzepi’s also on the bill this year – for those of you who aren’t aware, this guy heads up the kitchen at the world’s second best restaurant, NOMA in Copenhagen. He’ll be presenting a series of dinners and talks, with tickets ranging from $40-$350.

Tight on the cash monies?

Better check out Good Food Month’s Bar Hop where a number of participating bars will happily serve you up a Tanquery-inspired cocktail with bar snack for just $20. Then there’s a slew of community and outdoor festivals running throughout the month such as Sydney Craft Beer Week, Norton Street Italian Festa, Newtown Good Food Fair and the 9th Annual Australian Beer Festival. And hang with us here, for we’ve left the best ‘til last. Rumour has it, Dinner In The Sky, will be making an appearance on the Sydney skyline as part of this year’s program. Don’t quite get it?

The event’s name is actually quite literal. Diners eat at a table that’s suspended at a height of 50 metres by a team of professionals. Head to goodfoodmonth.com for the full lineup.

MORRISON’S SPRING COCKTAILS

LV L 3 , 3 8 3 B O U R K E S T S U R RY H I L L S

L I V E M U S I C , V I S U A L A R T, T H E AT R E , CO M E DY, B U R L E S Q U E & B O O Z E

COME IN WE’RE OPEN TIL 3AM!

WED 25 SEP THU 26 SEP

HOREGEOUS KARL MARX WOODLAND THE SPOON COLLECTORS

FRI 27 SEP GINGER & DRUM

THE CONVERSATIONS

SUN 06 OCT C A B A R E T

Coming Up 11th 17th 18th

IN OCTOBER

SAMPOLOGY TWIN LAKES DUBMARINE

DON’T MISS...

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BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 27

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE FABERGETTES

nightcap while the drum beats away like the angry neighbour trying to get those crazy kids to keep it down.

Big Bruiser Independent/Bandcamp

In the music world, the true guilty pleasure that everyone suffers is a love of 1960s girl groups. The Fabergettes seem to have discovered this secret and have blended in the dirty sound of garage with the vintage twang of the ’60s to create a doo-wopgarage-pop sound, one which sticks in your head long after their second EP Big Bruiser has come to an end.

Xxxx With the EP’s kiss-and-tell style, The Fabergettes leave us with a peck on the cheek, a lipstick mark and a promise of what’s to come.

Opening with the title track, a strutting guitar kicks off, possessing a strong doo-wop vibe and killer vocals from frontwoman Nat Martin. ‘Little White Lie’ follows up with a teasing quality to it; the guitar and vocals call out to us, inviting us upstairs for a

LIME CORDIALE

BUSHWALKING

Falling Up The Stairs Chugg Music/MGM

No Enter Chapter Music

You could say this sprightly Sydney five-piece are on a bit of a roll; they’re touring with the likes of Cosmo Jarvis and Sticky Fingers, they’ve just played at Bigsound in Brisbane and have now released their second EP, Falling Up The Stairs – a commendable follow-on from 2012’s Faceless Cat. The classically trained lads in Lime Cordiale rock out with funky basslines, a trombone and killer pop hooks on their new EP. Recorded in four months with producer Daniel Denholm (Midnight Oil, Washington, The Whitlams), this record certainly sounds like the Leimbach brothers are having a lot of fun along with the rest of their talented band members, including Sydney favourite Tim Fitz on keys and guitar.

Jazz flavourings influence this group’s outrageous eclectic pop, no more so than in opening track ‘Bullshit Aside’.

Throwing well-timed pop punches at every opportunity and with a bridge that’s perfect for fits of slow, staggering air-guitar, it’s the nearperfect single.

A halfway point highlight, ‘Sleeping At Your Door’, induces listeners to bop along to the Leimbach brothers’ soothing harmonies; vocals that strike the perfect balance between soulful and croony.

‘Everything Else’ is a slightly more understated track with self-aware themes, but flourishes beneath a powering chorus. Similarly, ‘Falling Up The Stairs’ is again subdued and carries casually slick, low-slung melodies.

Quite unlike the actually very awkward act of falling up stairs, Lime Cordiale’s new EP is confident and unabashed leftof-centre pop, exuding the right amount of cool from start to finish.

It sounds like the ladies (and perhaps the gent, too) of Bushwalking have had a few love troubles since we last heard from them.

If their debut LP of last year, First Time, explored the wonder, joy and carefree confusion of young love, No Enter manifests the anger, bewilderment, loneliness and deeply hollow sting of that early love betrayed.

Even the painted eyes that adorn each of the album covers hint at this: the debut’s eye was bright blue, looking up and out – this one’s downcast, a murkier green, sleepless and teary.

The theme of heartbroken angst is established early on and continues relentlessly. Against a backdrop of guitars that emit muffled screams and rev like subterranean engines, enter cries of unrequited love, stubborn arguments, the loneliness of an empty home, talk of giving in.

Melody doesn’t drive these songs so much as the strange, hypnotic rhythms and clashing textures that set the scene – a hostile environment through which the paranoid, angry, despair-ridden lyrics wander, vanish and return, like voices in your head.

Even as they swirl and echo, the two-part vocals are distinct and often discordant, more ghostly than angelic.

It feels like the higher-register harmony – lingering always a few notes above the main vocal – embodies the irrational self; shrill, wailing, shrieking, sighing, barely contained at the edge of consciousness.

If you’re not in a mood to match the sustained intensity of these tracks, No Enter can overwhelm – but it’s ultimately cathartic. Relief in the form of softly sorrowful acoustic song ‘Always Here’ is reserved for the very end – like the calm that only descends after a hot deluge of angry tears.

‘Do The Hula’ feels like it should be played on a beach somewhere, with everyone too busy dancing to ever bother going in the water. Meanwhile, ‘Kiss Hairspray Away’ keeps true to The Fabergettes’ favourite topics of hairspray, bubblegum and other teenage fantasies of the yesteryears.

This release follows on from The Fabergettes’ first and self-titled EP, which contained the single ‘Ding-Dong’, a track that exploded in popularity and threatened to mark the band as a one-hit wonder.

Big Bruiser proves the band is much more than that.

Daniel Prior

WILLIS EARL BEAL

THE BLOODY BEETROOTS

Nobody Knows.

Hot Charity/Remote Control Records

Hide Hussle/Ministry Of Sound

After releasing his debut album Acousmatic Sorcery, Willis Earl Beal was hit by the spotlight. He toured the world, appeared on television and was interviewed endlessly. Now he’s decided he wants to be Nobody, saying: “I want to be a shadow, not the man casting it.”

Setting about to accomplish that in a musical sense, he’s released Nobody Knows. An album that is both empty and alone while at the same time full and oppressive, it is a record on which Beal seems to have found the shadow world he seeks.

Possessing a strong voice which he whips around this beautifully composed album in a wide range of styles, from soul to blues to a beautiful duet with Cat Power on ‘Coming Through’, Beal fits perfectly with all of these genres but changes them just enough to create his own twist on them.

Beal wages into these familiar circles, crafting a sound before mixing in garbage cans and electric toys, resulting in a striking and sometimes haunting sound – the ambient sound on the R&B track ‘Everything Unwinds.’ is a perfect example.

While Nobody Knows. isn’t perfect, Beal has created something special. It’s an album with an otherworldly quality to it; one that is full of ideas and yet at the same time feels completely void and stays true to Willis’ mantra, which the album closes with: “I am nothing, and nothing is everything.”

Daniel Prior

Jenny Noyes

Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, perhaps better known to the rest of us as the Italian electro punk juggernaut The Bloody Beetroots, has been synonymous with the loud, the brash and the downright bombastic since 2006.

Now we’ve arrived at sophomore offering Hide, it could be argued that not too much has changed with Sir Bob; the same jagged, forthright thumps and crunches of electro/ house that are worked into a vast melting pot of influences are found in spades here. The argument could be proved right, in this sense, except that for Hide, Rifo has really gone for broke. Enlisting the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee and Peter Frampton as collaborators is no mean feat, let’s be honest.

Featuring McCartney and Youth on lead single ‘Out Of Sight’ is a stroke of unabashed genius. On paper it seems too much to believe, but somehow Rifo pulls it off. By keeping it all so unimaginably large-scale – the stadium rock-worthy drums, the hyper drama of each and every element coming together in a riotous climax of sound – it makes for intense listening.

Intense, however, seems to be a factor that Rifo manages to impart upon the entire record, and it feels at times there’s little reprise from the cacophony of noise that comes from just about every angle. Still, tracks like ‘All The Girls (Around The World)’, featuring the impossibly smooth Theophilus London, provide some soulful refuge.

Hide might have everything you could want from a Bloody Beetroots record – noisy, unrestrained fun that just keeps giving – but there is an astute cleverness and method to the madness that slowly reveals itself after a few listens.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK Move In Spectrums Moshi Moshi/[PIAS] Australia Many reviews and subsequent discussions of Move In Spectrums, the fourth album from Brooklyn trio Au Revoir Simone, will clamber over one another to be the first to point out it has indeed been a long four years since the band’s last album. That may well be, but ultimately it’s hardly worth the mention in the first place: listening to this record truly makes it feel as though that time has passed in the blink of an eye.

28 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

Loud Like Love Caroline/Universal It’s ten years since Placebo released Sleeping With Ghosts – and, one might argue, ten years since the prospect of a new Placebo album has been something to get excited over. The material released in the interim has ranged from patchy (2006’s Meds) to flat-out uninspired (2009’s Battle For The Sun), seeing the band devolve from iconic and angsty to tepid and tentative.

Loud Like Love, the band’s seventh LP overall, does little to slow this decline. At times on this album, it truly feels as though one is playing a game of Placebo bingo – and winning, too. Piano-driven, midtempo balladry? ‘A Million Little Pieces’ has you covered. Big chorus and sexually ambiguous lyrics? Tick off ‘Too Many Friends’. Overwrought animosity over a relationship? Too easy – ‘Exit Wounds’ takes care of it, complete with the cringe-worthy melodrama of the final line, “Put me in the ground!”

This feels more like a collection of B-sides than a cohesive album, never quite figuring out exactly what it wants to say, let alone how it wants to say it. Not all is lost, however: the album’s top and tail make for a brief respite from the band’s meandering. The title track offers some gorgeous guitar tone and some of Brian Molko’s best vocal delivery; while finale ‘Bosco’ is a touching slow-burner that’s as honest and warm as anything from their earlier work.

Diehards will once again fall at the feet of their guyliner saviours, but Placebo have ultimately given us an album that is all bark and no bite.

David James Young

Marissa Demetriou

Katie Davern

AU REVOIR SIMONE

PLACEBO

Any questions as to whether the band can recapture the magic after the time away are immediately deemed irrelevant the second one latches onto the earworm chorus of ‘Crazy’ or the melt-inyour-mouth harmonies of ‘Love You Don’t Know Me’. Spectrums is an immediately welcoming listening experience, presenting a versatile and smart take on indie pop that skews its guitar-based conventions; instead choosing to delve significantly further into the band’s unique triple keyboard set-up.

Each of the eleven songs on offer presents a more mature and focused ARS, offering up strikingly honest lyricism coated in honeyed, reverberating vocals and a lush backdrop of synths and keys that buzz, whirr and twirl beneath it all. Not only will Move In Spectrums please those that have followed Au Revoir Simone from their inception, it also showcases a sound that is accessible enough for those essentially coming to the band afresh.

An album that is easy to please, easier to love and difficult to get out of one’s head – in other words, their finest material to date.

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

BROADCAST - Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age ROBBIE WILLIAMS - Sing When You’re Winning KENDRICK LAMAR - Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

JAMIE T - Panic Prevention THE KILLS - No Wow

David James Young

thebrag.com

live review

What we've been out to see...

CLOUD CONTROL, PALMS, GANG OF YOUTHS

Palms left the stage and the audience stayed in their designated positions waiting for Cloud Control.

Metro Theatre Thursday September 12

Perhaps there’s something wrong with the Metro. Maybe the stairs at the entry tire out the crowd before the night has even begun.

Maybe it’s the multi-tiered layout of the main theatre. Maybe the Metro itself isn’t to blame for the stoic attitude of tonight’s crowd at all.

Perhaps it was the opening act, Gang of Youths. The Sydney five-piece got straight into the music upon taking stage. Possessing a powerful sound, Gang of Youths played a lively set, swapping instruments and dancing about the stage in a band-only mosh. The one thing they didn’t do was talk to the crowd; it was simply song after song and once they were finished they couldn’t get offstage fast enough. Despite a solid opening performance, the crowd itself had barely moved a muscle the entire time.

Surely the second act, the go-for-broke, slacker punk band Palms, would wake the crowd up and get them moving.

Like Gang of Youths,

Coming out to enormous applause, the band immediately launched into ‘Dojo Rising’ and ‘This Is What I Said’. The crowd slowly began to realise they were at a music gig and started to regain movement of their arms and legs, beginning to jump around the place.

Cloud Control played one of the tightest, best-sounding performances I’ve heard in a long time. It’s clear the band wasn’t just twiddling their thumbs during their time spent in Europe. Their setlist was an even mix of songs from Dream Cave and Bliss Release, and the audience lapped it up, with some crowd-surfing even breaking out during ‘Gold Canary’. Still, regardless of how amazing the band’s performance was, the crowd would drift back into its slumber anytime there was a moment of silence.

Disappointing, considering the audience’s lack of enthusiasm was the greatest detractor to what was one of the best live sets of 2013.

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

OD AND MUSIC O F T A E R G Contact: chris@fair ustralia” A in t n ra u a st e R t en “Best Entertainm EY

for Live and Localsau!

Calling all artistsplay entertainment.com.

02 9984 9933

LIZOTTE’S SYDN

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Daniel Prior

AST O C L A R T N E C ’S IZOTTE 02 4368 2017 L nment presents Fairplay EntertaiLOCAL 25 Coopers LIVE & SEP sta 26 Paul Co SEP oses Ojah Band 27 Afro M to Rain SEP Dragon – Sunshine 28 Acoustic Tour zz SEP Brian’s Famous Ja 29 & Chilli Crab Night nment presents OCT Fairplay EntertaiLOCAL 2 Coopers LIVE & OCT s 3 Toni Child

by Dobson OCT Baby Et Lulu – Ab 4 & Lara Goodridge OCT isby – SOLD OUT! 5 Steve Cl OCT Fatalists 6 Hugo Race SEP

they performed a great set; their sound, exciting and loud and energetic.

Palms, however, were far more interactive, talking to the crowd after every song and doing their best to get them involved. And even though they played crowd favourites ‘Love’ and ‘Summer Is Done With Us’, the majority of the crowd stood completely still.

Even the people on the top platform in the back of the theatre were commenting on the zombie-like stasis downstairs. Taking a

02 4956 2066

ASTLE LIZOTTE’S NEWC nment presents Fairplay Entertai CAL 25 Coopers LIVE & LO to Rain SEP Dragon – Sunshine 27 Acoustic Tour SEP d Mountain Girls 28 Roun presents y Entertainment OCT Fairpla 2 Coopers LIVE & LOCAL OCT rty 3 Jack Ca OCT ilds 4 Toni Ch OCT ce Fatalists 5 Hugo Ra

barbarion

PICS :: TL

SEP

13:09:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587 thebrag.com

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

W W W. L I ZOT T E S.CO M.AU BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 29

snap sn ap

up all night out all week . . .

The Factory Theatre Friday September 13 There is something wonderful about attending a gig of an artist with a legacy, imagining the fans at the same gig 30 years ago. The vibe at the Factory Theatre this Friday night may start out like an awkward school reunion, but one hour into Billy Bragg’s set, the auditorium returns to 1983 and the audience is riled up and youthful, fists in the air.

Bragg enters the stage alone, picks up his acoustic guitar, sets his cup of tea down and bursts straight into 1986 hit ‘The Warmest Room’. Throughout the evening, Bragg weaves us back and forth in time through rhyme and story, politics and romance. An angst-ridden love song (“written only to get laid,” he says) is followed by a more recent ballad on relationship expectations, ‘Chasing Rainbows’: “If you go chasing rainbows / Then you’re bound to end up getting wet”.

Bragg intercepts each song with anecdotes and cheek, reminding us that despite the cup of tea, he’s still an outspoken cockney punk with a guitar. He recalls the controversial joke he once told the Queen (who later requested a signed copy of his album) and how he welcomed

the news of Margaret Thatcher’s death with a smile.

When Bragg turns his monologue to the recent Aussie election, the lefties in the audience make themselves known. He takes this opportunity to tell us, “The worst possible outcome after an election is cynicism,” and follows up this insight with a song about equal marriage (“…as we refer to it in England. Not ‘gay’ or ‘same-sex marriage’”). He encourages us to stand up for what we believe, that we can make a difference and announces a march for refugee rights in Sydney on Sunday. More than two hours into his set, he aptly closes with ‘Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards’ and a dad joke about a man in a bank queue (just to remind us that he is, after all, 55).

But wait… what about all the tracks from first album Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy? Surely this is cause for an encore. Bragg re-enters the stage with electric guitar in hand (and another cup of tea) and announces that considering it’s the album’s 30th birthday and it’s only 17 minutes long, why not do an album encore? And so we all sing along to the music that made his mark in the ’80s: ‘The Milkman Of Human Kindness’, ‘A New England’ and more. I leave the auditorium with a bunch of punks from 1983.

Emma Freeman

go violets & sures

PICS :: TL

BILLY BRAGG

14:09:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

KVELERTAK, TOTALLY UNICORN Manning Bar Sunday September 15

rufus

PICS :: TL

Hailing from the sleepy south coast, the firecracking four-piece Totally Unicorn blew the crowd away with their self-proclaimed “magical animal hardcore”. Far from a symbol of grace and purity, the talented quartet philandered their topless, hairy, sweat-slicked Homer Simpson figures with obvious pleasure. Bearded lead vocalist Drew Gardner crotch-thrusted and threw himself around the mosh pit, whipping the crowd into a trance with his entertaining gorilla-like unpredictability. Gardner’s lunatic antics brought to mind images of a deranged man-child on acid, with his tie-dyed drooping underpants, backwardsideways baseball cap and pulled-up black socks.

13:09:13 :: The Hi-Fi :: Entertainment Quarter 122 Lang Rd Moore Park 8683 2301 S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR ::

30 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

:: ABOUT LAST NIGHT :: AMATH

Totally Unicorn’s buffoonery definitely injects some light-heartedness and humour into their rather brutal music style. There was floor swimming, man boob wobbling, crash tackling the audience, jumping into a nearby garbage bin, belching into the microphone and tabletop dancing outside. They also very kindly dedicated one of their heartwarming songs to “all the pole dancers out there.” Sounds like a scene out of Jackass, right? Throughout all of this the Wollongong outfit maintained their powerfully abrasive vocals and a super-tight pulverising hardcore sound. Their performance is more vulgar Rich Fulcher than mystical unicornian

folklore. The effect is hilariously crude and lowbrow but the punters loved it.

The crowd surged and chomped at the bit as the intriguing Norwegians Kvelertak appeared onstage. Frontman Erlend Hjelvik kept up the shirtless trend for the night and donned what appeared to be a spectacular taxidermy owl headdress with creepy Warlock-glowing eyes. Kvelertak’s technical versatility and diverse sound is dangerously catchy and addictive. We were served up a fresh and tasty Frankenstein fusion of metal, hardcore, punk and rock.

An anarchic dance broke loose in the mosh pit and the crowd saluted the band eagerly with air punching and trademark rock’n’roll horns. Each of the four heavily tattooed guitarists delivered skillful speedy riffs and thunderous solos. They fervently throttled their instruments in the air with satanic craze. Kjetil Gjermundrød’s highpowered drumming was slick and ferocious.

I may have ground down some of my teeth witnessing their neck-breaking moshing and unflinching energy.

Kvelertak create one hell of an intoxicating, turbo-charged performance despite no-one understanding what they’re actually singing about in their native Norwegian tongue. It was an epic performance from both bands that left me feeling overwhelmed and fuzzy when the bright lights signalled the end.

Kylie Finlay thebrag.com

snap sn ap

starry field

PICS :: TL

up all night out all week . . .

dustin tebbutt

PICS :: TL

14:09:13 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9572 6322

ginger & drum

PICS :: TL

12:09:13 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William St 9331 9900

14:09:13 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William St 9331 9900 S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: MAR LEY ASH :: MAGNAN

thebrag.com

:: ABOUT LAST NIGHT :: AMATH

BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 31

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29

Hump Wednesdays - feat: The Petting Zoo The Little Guy, Glebe. 7pm. free.

Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

World Music Wednesdays feat: El Orquestron The Basement, Circular Quay.

8pm. $5.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Foals

Enmore Theatre, Newtown

Foals + Alpine 8pm. $74.50.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Songs On Stage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti & Little John & The Hipsters Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

7pm. free.

Ute Lemper Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

8pm. $45.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Mariachi Mondays - feat: Victor Valdes And Friends The Basement, Circular Quay.

5pm. free.

Motown Mondays - feat: Soultrane The White Horse, Surry Hills.

32 :: BRAG :: 531 : 23:09:13

8pm. free.

Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney.

10pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bernie Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Oliver Goss Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free.

Parkway Drive UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 7pm. $45.60.

Steve Tonge Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Muso’s Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm. free.

Pulp Kitchen And Folk Club - feat: Live Rotating Folk Bands Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Songs On Stage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann & Heshewonderland The Loft (UTS Loft), Ultimo.

6pm. free.

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Chris Stretton Stamford Grand, North Ryde.

5:45pm. free.

Five Decade Faint - feat: Hey Sugar + Cherry Slick Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $7.

Gemma Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

Greg Agar Duo The Orient, The Rocks, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Knox - feat: King Dog & The Catz + Muddy Lamb Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $10.

Lunchbreak With Adalita FBi Social, Kings Cross. 1pm. free.

New Lovers, High-Tails & Mary Gunn Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Royal Chant Lizotte’s Dee Why, Dee Why. 7pm. $10.

Steve Tonge Duo O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross.

9:30pm. free.

Tug Dumbly And The Hellsong Gospel Choir & Polski Orgoki Portable Orkestra Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown.

8pm. free.

Uni Bar100 Bar100, The Rocks. 9pm. free.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

Andy Mammers Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9:30pm. free.

Benn Gunn Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

9pm. free.

Big Way Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free.

Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Dave White The Orient, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

David Agius Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7pm. free.

Greg Agar Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free.

Heath Burdell Trio Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Hue Williams Lane Cove Club, Lane Cove.

7:30pm. free.

Isotonic Presents The Delta Riggs, The Dead Love & Bright Young Things Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Mic Conway & Liz Frencham Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown.

8pm. $15.

Mother & Son Hotel Steyne, Manly. 9pm. free.

Panorama Three Wise Monkeys Pub, Sydney. 10pm. free.

Redlight Ruby O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross.

9:30pm. free.

Srey Channthy & The Cambodian Space Project, Destiny 3000 & Thee False Swamis FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.

Steve Lane + The Autocrats + Terry Serio’s Ministry Of Truth Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7pm. $20.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Organ Groove - feat: Dave Goodman + Darren Heinrich + Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Liz Frencham + Paul Greene The Royal Exchange, Newcastle. 7:30pm. $15.

Renae Stone Customs House Bar, Sydney.

7pm. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Johnny Cass Band - feat: Andrew Peacock + Matt Lyons Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12.

Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill.

8pm. free.

Songs On Stage - feat: Chris Raicevich + Anthony Duggan & Tom Simmonds Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

The Catholics Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $21.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free.

Amalgam - feat: Tomorrow Never Comes + After Thirteen + My Reply + A World’s End

Baby Et Lulu Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7:30pm. $38.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Achtung Baby Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt, 9pm. free.

Andy Mammers Duo Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

9:30pm. free.

As You Were Engadine Tavern, Engadine.

9:30pm. free.

Ben Shang A Lang Taren Point Bowling Club, Taren Point. 8pm. free.

Big Way Out Three Wise Monkeys Pub, Sydney. 10pm. free.

Black Diamond Hearts Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10pm. free.

Bombs Are Falling - feat: Punk Rock Show + Ivan Drago + Nerdlinger + Last + Topnovil + That’s The Last Straw + Feskit

Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

Dave Mac Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Dave Phillips O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross.

8pm. free.

David Agius Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 8pm. free.

DJ Clockwerk Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 9:30pm. free.

Gleny Rae Virus And Her Playboys + Leah Flanagan Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown.

7pm. $15.

Greg Agar Duo Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 12am. free.

Hue Williams Lane Cove Club, Lane Cove.

7:30pm. free.

James Fox Higgins Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 6:30pm. free.

JJ Duo North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free.

Jonathon Jones & Reckless The Orient, The Rocks.

4:30pm. $5.

Klay Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Mandi Jarry Novotel, Darling Harbour.

5:30pm. free.

Nickelback Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free.

Nicky Kurta Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Pete Hunt Cock N’ Bull, Bondi Junction.

7pm. free.

Powderfinger Show Riverstone Bowling Club, Riverstone. 9pm. free.

Pseudo Echo + Merrity Murphy + Bob Stamper Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $35.

Rihanna Experience Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10:30pm. free.

Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Sons Of The East - feat: Julia And The Deep Sea Sirens + Annabelle Kay + DJ Bambii Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

Steve Tonge Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. free.

Swervedriver Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $60.

Teenage Hand Models + The Shooters Party + Firesaint Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street, Kings Cross. 7pm. $10.

The Affairs Trio Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

The Griswolds + Chance Waters - More Than Just Friends Tour Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.40.

The Nickelback Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free.

The Sleepwalkers Club feat: Sister Jane + Wheat Fields + Girl Attorney & Sleep Walker DJs FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $12.

Tim Conlon Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free.

Uncovered Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 9pm. free.

Will Teague Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

5:30pm. free.

thebrag.com

Xxx

pick of the week

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

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

The Drones

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Jonah & The Wailers + The Elementals Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $19.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free.

Steve Edmonds Presents (Hendrix And Heroes (A Salute To The 70s) Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $20.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Juke Baritone & The Swamp Dogs Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7:30pm. $20.

Yuki Kumagai - feat: John Mackie Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Leichhardt. 11:30am. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Alex Hopkins Stacks Taverna, Sydney.

6pm. free.

Andy Mammers Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7pm. free.

Armchair Travellers Duo North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free.

Ben Finn PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

7:30pm. free.

Bounce Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10:30pm. free.

Brendan Deehan Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

Buried Six Feet Underground - feat: Inslain + Upside Downside + Magnatron + Blackened Beneath + Dead Life + Fenrir + Daemon Foetal Harvest Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 6pm. $15.

Castlecomer PJ Gallagher’s, Leichardt, 9pm. free.

Cath & Him Crown Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Craig Thommo Surfies Cronulla, Cronulla.

7:30pm. free.

Crash Avenue Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free.

Dark Shadows – Eisbär Video Clip Launch The Record Crate, Glebe.

9pm. free.

Daybreak Showcase - feat: Series + Clockworks + Paranoid + Disengaged + A Greater Distance + Tomorrow Never Comes + Ellen Subway Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo.

12pm. $15.

East Coast Band

thebrag.com

Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10pm. free.

Electric Anthems Trio Paragon Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Foals + Alpine Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $74.50.

Foals – Official Tour Wrap Party feat: Foals DJ Set The Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 7pm. free.

Good Oak, All Our Exes Live In Texas & Little Bighorn FBi Social, Kings Cross.

8pm. $13.30.

Gus N Ella Engadine Tavern, Engadine.

9:30pm. free.

James Fox Higgins Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 10pm. free.

King Tide + Ocean Alley Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Krista Pav + Funkdafied DJ’s Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown.

8pm. $17.

Kye Brown The Orient, The Rocks.

4:30pm. free.

Leon Fallon Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

5:30pm. free.

Louis London - feat: Safia + Pear Shape + DJ Kristy Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Michael McGlynn Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

7pm. free.

Money For Rope Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street, Kings Cross. 7:30pm. free.

Money For Rope, The Owls & B Massive Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street, Kings Cross. 7pm. $10.

Nicky Kurta Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 5:30pm. free.

Rihanna Experience PJ Gallagher’s, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Rolling Stoned & Doors Alive Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free.

Saturday Live Band - feat: Kickstart Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8:30pm. free.

Souled Out The Orient, The Rocks.

9:30pm. $5.

Steve Tonge Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 8pm. free.

The Drones + Harmony Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $40.

Venom Club Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10.

Victoria Avenue Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 6:30pm. free.

Wildcatz Three Wise Monkeys Pub, Sydney. 10pm. free.

Antoine O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 8pm. free.

Big Blind Ray + Hank Hain Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Dan Spillane Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 6pm. free.

Dave White Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 2pm. free.

Foals + Alpine Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $74.50.

Helpful Kitchen Gods + Fabels + Strange Horizon + City Circles Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale. 5pm. free.

Josh McIvor Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction. 3pm. free.

Kryptic Clothing Presents Kaos At The Valve - feat: Illcontent + Exist Within + Alaska + Seconds Till The End + The World In Cinematic + Heiress + Rivalries + Under Grey Skies + Chambers Of Insanity + Blind Oracle + Blackout To Oblivion Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo.

12pm. $10.

Lonesome Train The Orient, The Rocks.

4:30pm. free.

Nicholas Roy + Dan Twining + Crooked Kingdom Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $15.

Nicky Kurta Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free.

Outlier Trio The Orient, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Reckless Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free.

Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8pm. free.

The Sunday Roast - feat: Christian Ralston & DJ Andy Benke Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 3pm. free.

Three Wise Men Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

4pm. free.

Vtribe Hotel Steyne, Manly. 7pm. free.

tue

22 Sep

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

wed

23 Sep

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

24 Sep

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

fri

25 Sep

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON (2:30PM - 5:45PM) then:

sat

26 Sep

(5:45PM - 8:00PM)

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

sun

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Sep

SUNDAY NIGHT

27

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Acoustic Sets - feat: Anthony Hughes Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 2pm. free.

Finn Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 6pm. free.

Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney.

6pm. free.

Little Sundays - feat: Stephanie Grace The Little Guy, Glebe. 7pm. free.

Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free.

Sydney Blues Society feat. Illya Szwec’s Groove Depot Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free.

BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 33

gig picks

up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25

Ute Lemper

Royal Chant Lizotte’s Dee Why, Dee Why. 7pm. $10.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 The Catholics Venue 505, Surry Hills. 6pm. $21.

Isotonic Presents The Delta Riggs, The Dead Love & Bright

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24

Ute Lemper Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

8pm. $45.

Parkway Drive UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington.

7pm. $45.60.

34 :: BRAG :: 531 : 23:09:13

Swervedriver

Young Things Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach.

8pm. Free.

The Griswolds + Chance Waters - More Than Just Friends Tour Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $18.40.

Srey Channthy & The Cambodian Space Project + Destiny 3000 + Thee False Swamis FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.

Gleny Rae Virus And Her Playboys & Leah Flanagan Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28

Swervedriver Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $60.

The Drones + Harmony Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $40.

Gleny Rae Virus And Her Playboys

thebrag.com

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

SEAMUS HAJI

1.

Growing Up My mum was always playing music from The Beatles and Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan and Gerry Rafferty. Without realising it at the time she subliminally drilled Cat Stevens’ ‘Was Dog A Doughnut?’ into my head – probably the first electronic dance track I was exposed to. As a child I was there at the beginning of hip hop and house in the ’80s in the UK, which have always been major influences.

Inspirations Black dance music has always been 2. my thing from the early ’80s onwards, and I got into a lot of ’70s stuff from soul and funk to jazz funk and disco, so there are too many artists to mention – but people like Roy Ayers, James Brown, to labels like Salsoul, Prelude… all the classic stuff, the backbone of dance music today. DJs that influenced me to teach myself how to mix and scratch as a young teenager were Grandmaster Flash, Grandmixer DST and Tony Humphries.

Your Crew Since I was 18 I’ve only ever made a 3. living out of music. From working in dance record shops, writing for magazines, then at record labels like H.O.T.T., Slip-n-Slide and Defected until setting up my own Big Love

PICNIC FT. TIAGO

Following on from their bash headlined

by Marcos Cabral, Picnic will return to the opulent confines of Bondi’s Icebergs on Sunday October 20 for the second of ten parties at the venue, with Lisbon’s Tiago headlining proceedings this time around.

Tiago has chalked up releases on labels such as DFA, Leng, Italians Do It Better and Jolly Jams under his own name, while also releasing under a host of other guises, from his psychedelic jams as part of Gala Drop and down-tempo gems for ESP Institute as Sea Power & Change, to his Balearic house and techno offerings on his 2013 debut LP as TNT Subhead. Support will come from DJs Dreamcatcher, Valerie Yum, Kali and Andy Webb, with proceedings kicking off at 4pm.

Tickets include complimentary bar food, and are capped at 100.

MOTORIK

Motorik is venturing back to Club 77 this Friday September 27 for a bash featuring Beni and Wordlife. Beni cut his teeth as part of the now defunct Riot In Belgium before releasing his debut solo album, House Of Beni, on Modular Records back in 2011. House thebrag.com

label ten years ago and really expanding into remix and production work. As long as I can continue in that direction I’m more than happy!

The Music You Make I play house with an electronic edge 4. and I reflect that in the music I play and produce so I’m always trying to keep my sound fresh. I’m influenced by what’s going on in current music but I try to put my own stamp on things. If people check out my radio show and podcast on iTunes they’ll get an idea of what I’m into: bit.ly/13GpYf1.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think that if you’re a new DJ/producer 5. trying to get your music out there, it’s a lot easier these days with all the social sites.

The shift has gone from just being a DJ. As we all know you really have to produce music to progress in this business now, and if you do it well it doesn’t take much for someone to offer to manage you. Dance music is big business right now!

THE BAMBOOS

Melbournian purveyors of funk and soul The Bamboos are embarking on a national tour at the end of this year as they prepare to release their new album, Fever In The Road.

Co-produced by John Castle, Fever In The Road will be The Bamboos’ sixth album, and is touted as a “genre-defying” outing that is “leaner and more muscular [than previous releases], yet upon closer inspection the tracks reveal themselves to be densely multilayered in a ‘Wall Of Sound’ style”. Fever In The Road will be the follow-up to last year’s Medicine Man, which featured collaborators such as Kylie Auldist, You Am I’s Tim Rogers, Washington, Mark Ronson collaborator Daniel Merriweather, Aloe Blacc and Bobby Flynn. Expect The Bamboos to show off some of their new material when they play the Factory Theatre on Saturday November 30.

The Bamboos

MAD RACKET FT. AARDVARCK

Mad Racket rises from the ashes on Saturday October 26 at the new venue of the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville. Headlining proceedings is the Dutchman Aardvarck, a chap who has been DJing for over 30 years across the globe, ticking off all the venues and gigs that any top echelon DJ should: Panorama Bar, Sonar, DEMF, Exit et al. Rewinding for the uninitiated, Aardvarck began releasing his own productions back in ’93 on Dutch techno label Djax, before chalking up subsequent releases on labels like Delsin, Kindred Spirits and Rush Hour and starting his own label, Rednose Distrikt. Selected by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke

in his instalment of the ‘Dead Air Office Chart’, Aardvarck’s output traverses house, techno and down-tempo soundscapes. His more recent material has been dubbed ‘Nosestep’ and ‘Pigstyle’ – make of that what you will, but in essence Aardvarck has always been about feeling the music, not following genres or trends.

Aardvarck will be playing both a live and a DJ set, with support from the resident Racketeers: Jimmi James, Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell and Zootie. The party is themed ‘Mad Racket sleeps with the fishes’ (think ‘underwater dance grotto’), with $30 presale tickets available online.

And for anyone who thought that Mad Racket was no more, here’s the response straight from the horse’s mouth: “Rumours of our demise have been greatly exaggerated”.

Rudimental

Who: Seamus Haji, Alex Taylor, Lovida, Liam Sampras & more TBC Where: Goldfish, Kings Cross When: Saturday October 5

Of Beni featured vocal contributions from the likes of Sam Sparro, Hercules and Love Affair’s Nomi Ruiz and Mattie Safer, formerly of The Rapture. The other headliner, Wordlife, is the duo collective of Kato and Adam Bozzetto, who have released material together on the Bang Gang record label. ViVi will also be representing, along with a quirky cast of support DJs. The revelry commences at 10pm.

BODY LANGUAGE: AZARI & III

Azari & III will contribute the thirteenth installment to Get Physical’s Body Language compilation series, with the group’s core members Alixander III and Dinamo Azari each mixing one disc of the double album release. Alixander described his disc as being inspired by “memories of cassette mix tapes from my early ’90s industrial/rave days,” while Azari was not as forthcoming, mumbling something inaudible before returning to reading a critique of Herzog’s finest documentaries.

The tracklisting across both discs features cuts from the likes of Shed, Barnt, Daphni, Planetary Assault Systems, Plastikman and Scuba. Body Language 13 is released as a digital download at the end of this week.

FMF 2014

The lineup for next year’s Future Music Festival has been announced, and as one would expect it is laden with big guns plucked from various crevasses of the EDM universe. Standouts include the ageless Sven Väth (returning for the sixth consecutive year!), Berlin Calling star Paul Kalkbrenner, Guy Gerber and Maya Jane Coles.

Other drawcards include Phoenix, Eric Prydz, Deadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Hardwell, Knife Party, Rudimental, Paul van Dyk, Gesaffelstein and Brodinski, all of whom will perform ahead of a lengthy support cast that includes the brassman himself, Timmy Trumpet. Tickets for FMF 2014 go on sale Tuesday October 1 via futuremusicfestival.com.au.

BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 35

dance music news

free stuff

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

email: freestuff@thebrag.com

he said she said WITH

Kaskade

DJ DAINJAZONE

into music, and then one thing led to another.

It’s crazy how things work out! I love to be a DJ as I have the opportunity to be a creator and share my creativity.

How would you describe your sound?

I’m tastefully all over the map. I like to play multiple genres, so if I’m working with a diverse crowd everybody wins. I don’t like to play one specific genre too long, so I’m pretty quick to switch things up.

How would you describe your working relationship with Redfoo?

A friend from high school introduced me to Redfoo’s manager, Ian Fletcher. We have great chemistry. I know exactly what he’s going to play, so I know what not to play. He always asks me what’s the new sound, and if he has a new track he plays it for me and sometimes asks for my opinion.

a world where every pleb with a laptop themselves a DJ, Dainjazone needed Itoncalls take some serious action to stand out from

is gaining rather a large following in dance circles.

the pack. In the summer of 2010, Dainjazone befriended Redfoo of LMFAO and before long became a regular of LMFAO’s Party Rock Wednesdays at the famous Hollywood venue Drai’s. Dainjazone has been categorised by some as a “new wave DJ”, mainly because of his innovative online program The MikiDz Show which airs every Monday night and

Kristy Johnson caught up with Dainjazone ahead of his springtime residency with Redfoo at Marquee.

Has music always been your main passion?

No, I was a baseball player and wanted to become a professional in the sport. I stumbled

How did you enjoy your last trip to Australia?

I’ve never had a bad trip to Australia. Every trip is top shelf! The party scene in Australia is great because people come ready to party. I think it’s better than LA. LA isn’t as fun as you think. A lot of people stand around and talk instead of getting lost in the music.

What: Redfoo Spring Residency Where: Marquee At The Star When: Friday September 27 / Saturday October 12

KASKADE

Here at the BRAG we love our dance anthems and having a bit of a boogie. Don’t you? Well, Kaskade is back with his new album and it’ll have you throwing shapes till you can’t throw shapes no more. Following on from last year’s Fire & Ice, Kaskade’s eighth record Atmosphere paints a picture of the places, people, sounds and ideas that have shaped him into a dance music icon. To be in the running for one of five free copies, email freestuff@thebrag.com with your most embarrassing moment on the dancefloor.

GOODGOD CONGRESS

Goodgod Small Club has you covered this Friday night – and for many more to come – with the launch of their new party, Goodgod Congress. This weekly party is brought to you by a joint venture between Jimmy Sing, Magda Bytnerowicz, Vic Edirisinghe and Gardland. It’s all about featuring those local heroes who, between them, have glued together the Sydney scene while international headliners take the plaudits. The residents include DJs Simon Caldwell, Ken Cloud, D&D, Ben Fester, Andy Webb and James Walsh.

For your chance to win one of two double passes for this Friday September 27, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us what you love most about Fridays.

MOVING HOUSE PARTY

This Friday September 27, Moving House is hosting a prom-themed warehouse party featuring Astral People’s Ben Fester and Future Classic’s Chad Gillard playing back-to-back sets. Both men play the Svengali roles at their respective organisations, curating parties with renowned internationals such as Michael Mayer and Omar-S and happy to play the support sets.

However, this weekend they will take centre stage, fronting a lineup that also comprises the Moving House DJs, Adi Too Easy and Cleveland House’s Modern Fairytale, at a “never-seen-before secret location”. The party runs from 8pm-4am, with presale tickets available online.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

This Friday September 27 marks the launch of a new weekly party called Goodgod Congress. The party is based upon the concept of giving respected support DJs a chance to step out of the shadows and command the dancefloor, playing a range of sounds under the loose umbrella of house and techno. Resident DJs include Simon Caldwell, Magda Bytnerowicz, Ken Cloud, D&D, Ben Fester, Andy Webb and James Walsh, who between them have toured and supported the likes of Frivolous, Tim Sweeney and Steffi over the years. Entry is free before midnight, with Goodgod Congress set to become a staple Friday outing for those after a more discerning variation on 4/4 club sounds.

JACOB KORN Disclosure

GARDLAND

Grey Ghost

GREY GHOST

Following a 27-date Australian regional tour with Seth Sentry and Mantra, Grey Ghost will hit the road for a string of headline shows to mark the release of his five-track The Elixir EP. Grey Ghost is the moniker of Jeremy Koren, a musician, filmmaker and graphic artist who started out making music as Jeremedy in the Melbourne beat experimentalists The Melodics.

Grey Ghost will play at Good God on Friday October 11, with The Elixir currently available through EMI.

36 :: BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13

La Famiglia and Charades will combine teams to host German techno proponent Jacob Korn on Saturday November 16 at The Burdekin. The vaunted Dresden producer has released a string of EPs and remixes under various names on international labels like Astrolab, Running Back, Permanent Vacation and Steffi’s Dolly imprint, building up a devoted following of dancers in the process. Korn released his debut LP You & Me last year to a strong critical response, with Little White Earbuds bailing the release as “one of the richest and most absorbing albums of the year”. A lengthy lineup of DJs will spin in support of Korn, including Magda Bytnerowicz, Garry Todd, Dave Stuart and Shepz.

LISTEN OUT TICKETS ON SALE

This Saturday September 28, Fuzzy will host Listen Out, the replacement for the nowdefunct Parklife festival. The lineup features Disclosure, Azealia Banks, John Talabot, TNGHT, Duke Dumont, AlunaGeorge, Classixx, Miguel Campbell, Just Blaze, Touch Sensitive and Laura Jones, with organisers promising the event will debunk the festival pitfalls of “endless timetable clashes, long hikes to the 12th stage and spending your day with several thousand people you can’t relate to”. Listen Out will run from 2-10pm, with full details available at listen-out.com.au. Anyone after an encore dose of Disclosure can catch the UK duo play a sideshow at The Hi-Fi on Tuesday October 1.

Australian duo Gardland, made up of Alex Murray and Mark Smith, are the latest signing on the acclaimed RVNG Intl imprint.

Discovered by Teengirl Fantasy, Garland were promptly signed to RVNG Intl, and soon set about recording their debut album Syndrome Syndrome, only to have the majority of their synthesizers stolen halfway through the recording process. This forced them to start over on the long and winding road to creating a psychedelic journey through offkilter variations on house and techno amid murky beats and distorted and lo-fi accents.

Though for the record, the pair has described the sound of the album as “elegantly wasted”.

You can decide which description is more apt once Syndrome Syndrome is released at the end of the month. thebrag.com

Dizzee Rascal The Pursuit Of Dizziness By Alasdair Duncan

A

few years ago, Dizzee Rascal’s single ‘Dance Wiv Me’ signalled a change in the cheeky UK rapper’s music, away from the grime sound of old into the direction of unabashed pop. His new album, The Fifth, sees him embrace the idea of pop even more. Packed with dancefl oorready beats, it’s his most joyous release to date. As he tells it, he wanted to make an album that would give his live show more punch. “The whole thing with this record is that it’s geared towards live audiences,” he explains. “The earlier stuff didn’t have a lot for the crowd to latch onto in terms of hooks and the rest of it, it was just me rapping away, so this time I really wanted to give people something. I challenged myself to bring those big hooks in and make it work.”

On his newfound musical direction, Rascal has said that if his last record, Tongue N’ Cheek, represented him dipping a toe into the swimming pool of happiness, then The Fifth is him diving in and going for a few laps. He’s simply arrived at a point in life where he appreciates the benefi ts of happiness and positivity. “I want to see people smiling and jumping around and having the time of their lives at my shows,” he says. “I want music that facilitates that.

I mean, the energy that it gives off, people

“I want to make people feel good. I want to make classics. I want people to put my music on when they have a celebration.

That’s how I want to be remembered.”

might run around and have a fi ght to, but I want people to have a good time. I want to make people feel good. I want to make classics. I want people to put my music on when they have a celebration. That’s how I want to be remembered.”

The Fifth was made in Los Angeles, and the atmosphere of the city – itself undergoing something of a hip hop resurgence at the moment – contributed greatly to the sound of the album. “I’ve been coming to LA for years,” Rascal explains. “It’s actually the first place I went when I came to America back in 2003, but I’ve never made music here before this album. It’s always been my favourite American city, even ahead of Miami. This time around, I decided to come out here and do the pop star thing – I worked with some big people in some big studios, and I just had a laugh. It’s funny to be waking up in hotels – every day is sunny, going to the studio all day… There are so many people here. You can go to a studio here and anyone can be next door. You’ll be walking the halls and bump into Tyga or Chris Brown.”

Across a decade-long career Rascal has always determinedly produced his own material, but when making The Fifth he decided to try a new approach, entrusting production duties to his various collaborators so he could focus on songwriting instead. “I’d never done that kind of thing before, because I’d always done it myself from home. It was cool, though, because the calibre of producers and beatmakers I worked with was very high.” Pop heavyweight RedOne contributed, along with R&B star Jean Baptiste and many more. “The production side of me was still there, because I picked the beats, and I worked on the arrangements,” Rascal explains. “The way things fi t together on the album isn’t necessarily the way they fi t together when I was first presented with the beats. When you have to build a beat then write to it, your

thought process is different, so I liked that I started out working with smashing pop hooks for this one.”

Dance and hip hop are changing and evolving all the time, and on that front Rascal considers it a part of his job to be always on top of the newest sounds and the freshest beats. “That’s especially true when it comes to hip hop,” he says. “My heart’s still there, it’s still the core of what I do, so I wake up every morning and look all over the internet for new shit, from the mainstream as well as the underground. That’s my main thing. I also listen to a lot of club music – it’s not necessarily my main thing, but I hear a lot of it about, and I’m always curious about why and how people respond to different beats. I was in Ibiza and went to the clubs there and had an eye-opening experience there. It’s not necessarily what I’m into, but it’s not always about what I’m into, it’s about fi nding out what stimulates people, and then trying to fi nd a balance, putting that into my own music.”

Rascal puts on a very energetic live show, constantly bouncing from left to right around the stage, and The Fifth will only add more energy to the performance. “I defi nitely give it my all in the show,” he laughs. “My knees are fucked afterwards! I feel super hyped after I come off. I put everything into the show, but I always fi nd that if you give everything, you’ll get it back. There’s nothing worse than seeing a lazy rapper. Live performance is the most important part of this whole thing for me – when people come to see me, they want to see the music come to life, they want to have the full experience, and it’s very important for me to give them that.”

What: The Fifth out Friday September 27 through Dirtee Stank/Liberator Music

Mantra Simple Words By Krissi Weiss

As with his previous releases, Tremlett has chosen to be forthright and honest in his lyrics and subject matter on this album, though not beyond reason. “I think for the most part the things that I write about are the things I’m generally comfortable with people hearing and discussing. If you’re putting something in a song you’re basically putting it up for public discussion. If there’s something I’m totally not comfortable with I won’t put it on a record.

Some of the biggest obstacles and emotional issues I’ve dealt with in my life I’ve come to terms with a lot more after writing songs about them. There have been a few massive heartbreaks and tragedies that have become easier to think about.”

T

here’s no use pretending that rap is still a niche genre in this country. The Australian music industry is bursting at the seams with men and (not enough) women clambering over each other to spit rhymes in some sort of time. Genre saturation can be creative suicide but luckily for all involved, the hip hop scene in our fair land has stayed afloat by its safety in numbers. Talent has always been there, skill has definitely grown, but mateship and collaboration – that’s the key ingredient that has pushed Aussie hip hop beyond the hilltops and into the stratosphere. thebrag.com

Mantra (Rob Tremlett, according to his passport) has finally revealed album number three, Telling Scenes, and has a whole new setlist to go with it for the album launch tour. “I’ve been pretty cagey about it all,” Tremlett says of the shows he played immediately before Telling Scenes dropped. “[I was] doing the two singles and dropping little bits of other tracks, like a verse of one and a chorus of another dropped in … keeping it close to my chest until the big album tour.”

As is Tremlett’s MO, the record includes a slew of guests, from Grey Ghost to old sparring

partner Tom Thum. Tremlett has always enjoyed collaborative creation but what stands out with this album is its musicality. “I started getting some vocal lessons, mainly to strengthen my voice and take care of it on the road and nail my tunes each and every night,” he says. “That then led to trying more out with singing and I got to learn some piano and it got to solidify some of the music theory I’d learned back in the days, as well as giving me that really strong foundation to build on. It really affected my writing and my music in a cool way. The more I think about it now though, I probably did need to do it.”

Though Tremlett continues that emotional purging, he explains the catalyst for each song can always come back and take him by emotional surprise. “You’ve poured your heart out but after rehearsing and performing a song night after night it makes it a bit strange,” he says. “I have a song I wrote, ‘For You’, about my friend who was murdered and I’d written the song a few years ago now, and I’d recorded before and performed it – I decided to record it again in its final incarnation. I laid it down in the studio and then just this one time listening to it in the studio that was suddenly a trigger for me to have to leave the room for a minute and go and cry my eyes out in the bathroom. It’s like I hadn’t properly thought about what it was for so long – it had become just a song – so shit never really goes away, but you do become desensitised. And there’s no better place to do that than in music.”

What: Telling Scenes out now through Ten To Two Records Where: Great Northern, Newcastle / Annandale Hotel, Sydney / Beachcomber, Toukley When: Thursday October 3 / Friday October 4 / Saturday October 5 BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:11 :: 37

club guide g

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Rudimental

Xxx

club pick of the week

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27

Aluna George

HIP HOP & R&B

Low The Argyle, The Rocks. 12am. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25

Enmore Theatre, Newtown

Rudimental

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28

+ Gorgon City

CLUB NIGHTS

8pm. $61.60.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24 CLUB NIGHTS

CHU World Bar, Kings Cross.

7:30pm. free.

Rudimental + Gorgon City Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $61.60.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 HIP HOP & R&B

Kooyeh The Basement, Circular Quay.

8pm. $5.

Sosueme Presents Thundamentals, Yacht Club DJs & Citizen Kay Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Resident DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.

Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

CLUB NIGHTS

Rudimental + Gorgon City Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $61.60.

The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Resident DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: DJs Camo + Snillum + Jaimie Lyn

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26 Matt Nukewood & Orkestrated Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10.

Pool Club Thursdays Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Propaganda World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.

Thursdays Unibackers Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. free.

Kooyeh

38 :: BRAG :: 531 : 23:09:13

Argyle Fridays The Argyle, The Rocks, Sydney. 9pm. free.

El’Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Fresh Fridays Presents Electric Elements + DJ Secret Weapon Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Mashed Fridays - feat: DJ Ric C + Jason K Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8pm. free.

Mr K’s Cabaret - feat: Porcelain Alice + Diesel Darling + The Margaritas + Benny O + Sagirah May Roseville Memorial Club, Roseville. 7pm. $20.

Mum World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $15.

Redfoo Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Soho Fridays Soho Bar & Lounge, Potts Point. 9pm. free.

The Guestlist - feat: Various Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $15.

After Dark - feat: Resident DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

8pm. $15.

Argyle Saturdays The Argyle, The Rocks. 9pm. free.

Cakes!

World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $20.

DJ Andy Benke Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 9:30pm. free.

DJ Clockwerk Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

FBi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefits FBi Social, Kings Cross.

11:30pm. free.

Homemade Saturdays feat: Resident DJs Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $25.

Jacksons Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Jacksons On George, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Listen Out - feat: Disclosure + Azealia Banks + TNGHT + Duke Dumont + AlunaGeorge + Classixx + Miguel Campbell + John Talabot + Just Blaze + Rufus + Touch Sensitive + Laura Jones + Cosmo’s Midnight + Hayden James + Lancelot + Softwar + Yahtzel + Beni + John Glover + Paradise Lost + Slow Blow + Sosueme DJs Centennial Park. 2pm. $125.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm.

Official Listen Out After Party - feat: TNGHT (Lunice And Hudson Mohawke) + Spenda C + A-Tonez + Ocean + Kerry Wallace + Hannah Gibbs + U-Khan + Fingers + DJ Eko + Goodfella Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

10pm. $30.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Tonite Only + Ben Morris And MC Losty + Baby Gee + Matt Nugent + Devola + Fingers + Chris Fraser + Kato + Dylan Sanders + Slicker Cities + E-Cats + Pablo Calamari + Deckhead + Kid Crookes + Pro/Gram + Gmod Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $40.

Skybar Saturdays - feat: Resident DJ The Watershed Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. $20.

Slow-Blow ‘A Journey Through Space And Time’ Feat: DJ Dreamcatcher + DJ Jungle Snake + Softwar Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

11pm. $5.

Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Strange Fruit - feat: Peter Van Hoesen + Marcotix + Methodix + Jordan Peters + Jordan Deck The Abercrombie, Broadway.

9pm. $10.

Strangers Club 77, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. $20.

Sunday Sessions - feat: DJ Tone Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 7pm. free.

The Suite - feat: Resident DJs Sapphire Lounge, Potts Point.

8pm. free.

Trance Central - feat: Mark Dynamix + Nik Fish + Jumping Jack + Andrew James + John Ferris + DJ Ange + Toby Matrix Oxford Art Factory,

Darlinghurst. 10pm. $20.

Usual Suspects Soho Bar & Lounge, Potts Point. 9pm. $20.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29 CLUB NIGHTS

Beresford Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 3pm. free.

Easy Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

Random Soul - feat: Yogi & Husky The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

S.A.S.H Sundays The Abercrombie, Broadway.

2pm. $10.

Sapphire Sundays - feat: DJ Troyt + DJ Dim Slm + Bobby Digital + Steve S Sapphire Lounge, Potts Point.

9pm. free.

Soup Kitchen - feat: The Soup Kitchen DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Spice After Hours - feat: Steven Sullivan + Murat Kilic And Guests The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

4am. $20.

Sunday @ Gay Bar - feat: Resident DJ The Gay Bar, Darlinghurst.

3pm. free.

Sunday Sessions - feat: DJ Tone Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 7pm. free.

Peter Van Hoesen

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Deep Impressions

club picks p

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25

DJ Jungle Snake + Softwar Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. $5.

Kooyeh The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $5.

Strange Fruit - feat: Peter Van Hoesen + Marcotix + Methodix + Jordan Peters + Jordan Deck The Abercrombie, Broadway. 9pm. $10.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27

Strangers Club 77, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. $20.

Redfoo Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Listen Out - feat: Disclosure + Azealia Banks + TNGHT + Duke Dumont + AlunaGeorge + Classixx + Miguel Campbell + John Talabot + Just Blaze + Rufus + Touch Sensitive + Laura Jones + Cosmo’s Midnight + Hayden James + Lancelot + Softwar + Yahtzel + Beni + John Glover + Paradise Lost + Slow Blow + Sosueme DJs Centennial Park. 2pm. $125.

Xxx

Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Tiga

Trance Central - feat: Mark Dynamix + Nik Fish + Jumping Jack + Andrew James + John Ferris + DJ Ange + Toby Matrix Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $20.

Usual Suspects Soho Bar & Lounge, Potts Point. 9pm. $20.

Redfoo

Official Listen Out After Party - feat: TNGHT (Lunice And Hudson Mohawke) + Spenda C + A-Tonez + Ocean + Kerry Wallace + Hannah Gibbs + U-Khan + Fingers + DJ Eko + Goodfella Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $30.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Tonite Only + Ben Morris And MC Losty + Baby Gee + Matt Nugent + Devola + Fingers + Chris Fraser + Kato + Dylan Sanders + Slicker Cities + E-Cats + Pablo Calamari + Deckhead + Kid Crookes + Pro/Gram + Gmod Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $40.

Slow-Blow ‘A Journey Through Space And Time’ - feat: DJ Dreamcatcher +

H

ere’s one for the raving diary: a headline show from Montreal’s Tiga Sontag at The Imperial in Erskineville on Friday November 22.

Given that two rounds of presale tickets have already sold out at the time of writing, you’d be foolish not to follow up that diary entry by actually procuring a ticket. Tiga is one of the more colorful characters in the dance world, but his caricatured public persona should not cloud his credentials as one of the most influential figures in dance music.

What separates Tiga from the legions of pretenders is his ability to balance churning out quality main room and mainstream hits – who doesn’t have a soft spot for ‘You Gonna Want Me’, his cover of ‘Sunglasses At Night’ or his ‘Na Na Na Na Na Na’ remix of Tomas Andersson’s ‘Washing Up’? – with more experimental output (for example, ‘Man Hrdina’) that draws on acid, techno and broken beat influences. Somewhere between pop star and techno titan, Tiga is adept at churning out both ‘songs’ and ‘tracks’, with his output generally resonating with different factions of the clubbing community: house heads, technophiles, ravers – you all know the stereotypes and the apparent delineations between them. Emerging during the electroclash epoch, Tiga has remained a constant in the club sphere, whether as the curator of his label Turbo Recordings or a producer in his own right.

After a period of silence following his 2009 album Ciao!, which featured guest spots from the likes of James Murphy and Scandinavian techno monoliths Jesper Dahlbäck and Jori Hulkkonen, Tiga has demonstrated he’s lost none of his production spark over the past year.

Recent Tiga highlights have included the 100th release on Crosstown Rebels, ‘The Picture’ (which channeled Prince, blended with some serious dancefloor oomph), and his latest offering, ‘Let’s Go Dancing’, an instantly infectious collaboration with Audion that melds elements of each producer’s style to create one of the more successful club anthems of recent times. Tiga’s influence upon the club sphere is reflected in the list of producers who have remixed his music, which comprises everyone from Carl Craig, Matias Aguayo, Jamie Lidell and Trevor Jackson to Wagon Repair main man Mathew Jonson, Seth Troxler and Loco Dice. Such a diverse list of prominent producers as fans is evidence that, for all his self-puffery and (extremely entertaining) overstated displays of narcissism, Tiga can back up the pantomime act. So, in his own words, get down to his show at The Imperial and “revel, but at a respectful distance. I’m all about inclusion, as long as it doesn’t involve me in any way personally”.

Astral People will launch a new series of events on Saturday October 12 with a double billing comprised of UK artists Sigha and Shifted, who will be playing back-to-back for over five hours at the Civic Underground. Sigha is the nom de plume of James Shaw, who curates his own label, Our Circula Sound, and makes tracks that draw on techno, dubstep and ambient influences, blurring any distinction between the abstract and the dancefloor. The first producer to commit exclusively to producing hard-line techno on Hotflush Recordings, Sigha released his debut album, Living With Ghosts, on Scuba’s label last November.

Meanwhile, Shifted has established himself in techno circles by releasing his first couple of EPs on Luke Slater’s esteemed Mote Evolver imprint, through which he also released his debut LP, Crossed Paths.

Sigha and Shifted have recently teamed up to release their first EP together, Model 001, under the moniker of A Model Authority, which was released through the pair’s new label of the same name. The Model Authority collaboration was apparently “born out of the desire to rise above the very modern mediocrity and complacency that surrounds us. A stamp of hard-lined ideals in a pragmatic world, a new order, a new beginning and a better way of living”.

Quite a serious mission statement should come as little surprise to anyone familiar with each of the respective producers’ uncompromising output. You have your chance to experience the pair melding their esoteric influences with pitch black techno first hand on arguably the best soundsystem in Sydney in a few weeks’ time, with the D&D DJs warming things up beforehand.

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Peter Van Hoesen The Abercrombie

SATURDAY OCTOBER 12 Sigha & Shifted The Civic Underground

SATURDAY OCTOBER 26 Coma The Abercrombie

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22 Tiga The Imperial

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com thebrag.com

BRAG :: 531 :: 23:09:13 :: 39

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live review What we’ve been out to see...

GHOSTPOET, OSCAR KEY SUNG Oxford Art Factory Friday September 13

illy + tuka + allday

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14:09:13 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9331 3100

14:09:13 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

Oscar Key Sung got the groove going with pulsing beats and soulful atmospheric cooing reminiscent of The Weeknd meeting up with James Blake. He built up fragile musical monuments on stage with deceptively simple layers of vocal loops, reverb and delay.

London wordsmith Ghostpoet, AKA Obaro Ejimiwe, took the stage with a toothy grin. His second album Some Say I So I Say Light is a more polished, expansive affair, and the live show reflected this, with his three-person band including Clare Uchima on keys, bringing “more tune, more bass, more of everything”.

On record, Ghostpoet’s subtle, layered loops and beats allow his thoughtful observations to take centre stage. In action the thoughts were still there, but they were muddled (in a good way) with the musical elements as the band played with new arrangements, keeping things interesting. ‘Gaaasp’ and a whirring, skittery rendition of single ‘Meltdown’ got the crowd moving – but just to confirm, the ringmaster, clad in a simple black button-down and his trademark thick-rimmed glasses, asked, “Are you having a good time?” With the response an emphatic “Yes!”, he countered, “I just have to check!”

Uchima lent her gorgeous vocals to ‘Dial Tones’, which floated above Ghostpoet’s mournful musings: “The taste in my mouth now / Bitter like old tea … Opened up a jam jar / Of past pain narratives”. New single ‘Cold Win’ was also a highlight, along with the swirling ‘Liiines’ from his debut Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. ‘Plastic Bag Brain’, all choppy echoes and electric strums, led to the end of the set, with the earnest rapper thanking the appreciative crowd before launching into the sparse yet heavy ‘Comatose’. The band returned to the stage for an encore, before letting the deep bass rhythms of ‘Us Against Whatever Ever’ rise to crescendo with the looped vocals to play things out.

Ghostpoet may be concerned with the intimate details of everyday minutiae, but he also knows how to overlay them with seriously groovefriendly beats.

Natalie Amat

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15:09:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486

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