Brag#537 by The Brag

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6th NOV 8PM TILL LATE | FREE ENTRY

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“AN OUTSTANDING FILM BY ANY STANDARD” Los Angeles Times

“AN UNSTOPPABLE CINEMATIC FORCE” Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

+ + + + ...PROFOUNDLY COMPELLING” “

USA Today

PRODUCED BY ACADEMY AWARD ® WINNER FOREST WHITAKER

MICHAEL B. JORDAN

MELONIE DIAZ

AND

OCTAVIA SPENCER

EVERY STEP BRINGS YOU CLOSER TO THE EDGE

Violence, coarse language and drug use

IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 7 DE NDY OPER A QUAYS • DE NDY NE W T OWN • PA L A CE V E RON A BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 7

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SECRET SOUNDS PRESENTS

YOUTH LAGOON WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Mina Kitsos, Rebecca Whitman and Chris Martin

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speed date WITH

TREVOR DAVIES FROM LITTLE BASTARD Keeping Busy The last few months have been really 2. fun – national tours with The Snowdroppers and The Beards; a showcase slot at Bigsound; demoing and pre-production for an album that will be out early next year. We’ve got a Sydney headline show in November and a cheeky trip to Victoria planned too. We’ve also been added to the Falls Festival in Lorne for New Year’s, which will be a lot of fun too. Until Johnny makes us all sick by eating smoked oysters from a can in 35 degree heat. Sorry to whoever camps near us. Best Gig Ever I’ve got a lot of sick memories of the shitty 3. house parties we played when we were first starting out. We’d usually end up with a seveninch-long wizard stick of gaffer-taped-together VB cans being thrown in our face, while a joint was passed between us. They were always great. Peats Ridge last year was mad.

What Do You Look For In A Band? We’ve never been very good at describing ourselves. Plenty of other people have given it a go. Apparently we’re some kind of punk, string, ramshackle, boot stompin’, drunk’n’disorderly, old-time-jangle-loving, op-shopping, hipster runoff, fuck knows what

else type of band. If you’d like to be a fan of ours (particularly an interstate fan) we would love for you to help us get on, give us a place to stay, hang out with us at our shows (and buy us beers). But anyone that enjoys music and likes to have a good time is welcome to drop us a line.

THE BE PROJECT

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, Nick Timms, James Dunlop ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Karl Braasch, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Bianca Lockley - 0412 581 669 / (02) 9212 4322 bianca@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Rob Furst MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600, 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATORS: Lucy Smith, Helen Vienne, Nick Timms, Victoria Shehadie, James Dunlop - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)

The Be Project is a new national competition which asks young Aussies to produce an inspirational song or action sports film, with the aim of forming a collective voice challenging the Aussie binge drinking culture. Hip hop artist PEZ is encouraging young Aussies to get involved. Having seen the effects that alcohol can have on budding musicians, he’s passionate about musos fulfilling their potential without succumbing to the pressures of binge drinking and the ugliness that comes with it. Footage from the amateur filmmakers’ category will be mashed together and played over the soundtrack of the winning song to produce an inspirational music video, developed by young people for young people. The ten best action sports clips will win a handheld action camera so they can continue to capture impressive sports moments with their friends. The winner of the music category (best track) will win a trip to Melbourne where they’ll have their song professionally recorded by one of Australia’s leading producers, a professional music industry mentorship, and a Macbook Pro so they can continue recording tracks at home. Some pretty sweet prizes there. The competition is now open and closes at midnight on Friday December 20. To enter or find out more please visit tacklingbingedrinking.com.au.

Current Playlist When we’re travelling we usually have a pretty standard music rotation. Plenty of Creedence, Springsteen, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Old Crow, Trampled By Turtles… shit like that. If I could choose who I’d like to be watching right now it’d probably be Gay Paris, The

Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Friday November 8

KT Tunstall

KT TUNSTALL

Country girl KT Tunstall has announced a Bluesfest sideshow for next April. The loved and adored singersongwriter is bringing her stunning new album Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon on tour, with her sound having taken a new alt-country direction after the tragic death of her father and a divorce. But she’s back and sounding more beautiful than ever – and will be here to show us what she’s got. Get down The Basement on Saturday April 26.

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

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Our normal request is two cases of premium bottled beers. Never happens though. Although the boys at Frankie’s and Lefty’s hooked us right up. Shout out to you lads.

Everybody’s favourite accidentally ironic venue, The Standard, is set for another month of anything-but-standard acts. Drum roll... Thursday November 7 will tow in the Lo-Fi Collective’s Basel Royal art comp finalists, who have made the cut from over 800 stellar submissions based on style, skill and concepts, with Fishing and Kilter providing beats on the night. Busby Marou will bring their tongue-in-cheek folk on Saturday November 9, with The McQueens, Jenny Broke The Window, Albert Salt and March Of The Real Fly tag-teaming on Friday November 15. Then, brace yourself for Teenage Hand Models on Saturday November 16, preceding back-to-back ARIA Week acts: DZ Deathrays, Bliss n Eso and Alison Wonderland. For full dates and tickets, hit up wearethestandard.com.au.

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

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of us so most requests are seven in total, divisible by seven or can serve the needs of seven. 4x cases mixed brews; 7x dirt bikes; 7x grams of cocaine; 140 strips of prosciutto; 14x trained attack dogs; 4x dirty, dirty strippers; 1 ounce of weed (1/2 bush, 1/2 chronic); 1x butler monkey*; 1x water cooler; 1x pool table; 49x condoms; 7x paintball guns; 1x nice big bong; 7x bottles of life juice; 10x sets of every instrument (breaking during shows); 7x horses for arrival; 7x bottle of single malt (25yo minimum); 1x eagle that sits in the room and chills and looks around. *Butler monkey must: roll joints, chop up, wingman, carry seven beers.

THE STANDARD

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Chris Honnery, Cameron James, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Jody Macgregor, Alicia Malone, Daniel Prior, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Rick Warner, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby, David Wild, David James Young

DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600.

Your Ultimate Rider We’ve spent a fair bit of time putting 5. together the perfect rider. There are seven

LITTLE MAY

Sydney kids Little May are all set for their debut east coast tour, following up the success of their second single, ‘Hide’. The three-piece, who claim Fleetwood Mac as inspiration (who doesn’t, but who wouldn’t?), are all about diverse folk and pop with a percussive undercurrent. They play Brighton Up Bar on Friday December 20 and Saturday December 21.

AWESOME INTERNS: Mina Kitsos, James Dunlop, Nick Timms, Helen Vienne, Lucy Smith, Rebecca Whitman, Victoria Shehadie

DEADLINES: Editorial: Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Thursday 12pm (no extensions). Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045. All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L/ Furst Media P/L 2003-2013

Preatures, Papa Pilko and The Bin Rats, The Delta Riggs. Mostly local stuff. It’s the best stuff going round.

LOUIS LONDON

Karnivool

KARNIVOOL & DEAD LETTER CIRCUS

Old friends, together again: Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus are teaming up for the Polymorphism Tour, coming your way early 2014. Perth’s Karnivool debuted at number one on the ARIA charts in July with their third album, Asymmetry, proving – yet again – that Australia’s appetite for prog rock is going nowhere. Currently, they’re in the midst of a mammoth European tour. Their mates Dead Letter Circus, meanwhile, dropped The Catalyst Fire recently to great reviews, including a four-and-a-half star write-up in the BRAG. Together with guests sleepmakeswaves, they hit UNSW Roundhouse on Friday January 17.

I’m sure you can recall times in life when you’ve been in too deep. That new cupcake recipe, that stint on Australian Idol, that 1.5-metre swimming pool (it was scary, we get it). Louis London’s The Big Deep, however, is one you’ll want to drown in. The release of the band’s second EP will coincide with an east coast tour this month, their immersive beats ready to win over more hearts and ears. Forming from the dissolved rivalry of two bands, Louis London have continued to meld genres and refine their sound, scoring support slots for Hunting Grounds and RüFüS along the way. Infectious fresh cuts ‘This Night Time’ and ‘We’re Not Alone’ have already raided airwaves, and are set to enchant audiences when the tour launches on Thursday November 14 at Bull n Bush in Baulkham Hills, and again at Goodgod on Friday December 6. thebrag.com

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Mina Kitsos, Rebecca Whitman and Chris Martin

speed date WITH

The Rubens

BEC LAUGHTON as well as aerial acrobats. It’s so cool to see people choreograph routines to your music. Worst show ever would be our first show in Adelaide; 40 degree heat and then the venue air conditioning shut down! On top of that, we were staying at the world’s dodgiest backpackers where they served us out-of-date UHT milk. Out-of-date long life milk?? Current Playlist I’ve just picked up my Selah Sue record 4. again – an amazing singer from Belgium who I first saw singing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Europe. [She’s a] skinny little white girl who learnt English off old Bob Marley records and sounds Rastafarian. I’m loving Jordan Rakei, an amazing young talent rising out of Brisbane at the moment. I’ve just discovered that I love San Cisco. And I went to see the incredible Noah Slee live recently, whose mixtape lives in my car and I’m about to hit the studio with.

What Do You Look For In A Band? My music sounds like peanut butter and 1. cheese. You may never have tried it before, but once you do, you won’t want to eat anything else. Or maybe it sounds more like Frank Ocean or Pharrell Williams with curves and red hair. I like long walks on the beach or around the park with Jill Scott. Or just a day sweating it up on the drum kit. I look for fans who have red hair. Then we can make a cult called Gingerlicious.

Keeping Busy I made my first trip to the USA earlier

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

this year. It was epic. I got to play at South by Southwest and see just how crazy Austin, Texas is. It’s amazing. Since we got back I’ve been flat out getting my new EP ready. Recording, collaborating, shooting film clips, eating cereal, it’s been hectic. I can’t wait to release the new tracks, they’ve got a great new vibe – very different from anything I’ve ever done before. Best Gig Ever Best gig I’ve ever played was main stage 3. at Easterfest [in Toowoomba] this year. We had a hip hop dance crew onstage with us,

Your Ultimate Rider My ultimate rider would include frozen 5. yoghurt with dark chocolate and berries, homemade Italian lasagne, a never-ending massage, a live re-enactment of Community featuring the entire cast, a live ‘getting ready’ soundtrack by André 3000, a sound check drum solo from Tony Royster, Jr and a preshow service from any gospel church in Harlem. I think I’d better update my current rider. Where: Upstairs Beresford When: Friday November 15

RED ROOM FT. THE RUBENS, THE PREATURES

An exclusive event, featuring live performances from The Rubens and The Preatures, launches the new flavour of Jack Daniel’s, 1907, at the Cleveland Street Theatre on Thursday November 14. It’ll be something of a house party, with up-closeand-personal performances from these ‘next big thing’ acts. For your chance to win a double pass to the invite-only event, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us: If you could have any musician, alive or dead, at your house party, who would you choose?

AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS

The Australian Independent Music Awards celebrate artists spanning a wide range of genres from jazz, country, dance, rock, folk and pretty much any other musical pocket that you can think of. This musical smorgasbord goes down at The Star Event Centre on Thursday November 7, with performances from Steve Balbi, Claude Hay and more. Ahead of the night, you can support your favourite unsigned or independent producer by voting in the Budweiser People’s Choice Award (budweisermadeformusic.com.au). And we’ve got two double passes to give away to the Awards themselves – just head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us your favourite indie album of the year.

THE CRIMSON PROJEKCT

King Crimson spin-off band The Crimson ProjeKCt have announced a January tour of Australia. Featuring ex-King Crimsonites Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, the six-piece Crimson ProjeKCt found their feet supporting Dream Theater on a US tour last year. Catch them at Manning Bar on Friday January 10.

THE GIN CLUB

Powerhouse collective The Gin Club is celebrating ten years together, and rereleasing The Gin Club to celebrate alongside a tenth birthday tour. The sprawling group of Brisbane multi-instrumentalists has performed alongside The Drones, Paul Kelly, You Am I and Band Of Horses, and is currently recording a fifth album due for release in mid2014. Catch them at Goodgod Small Club on Saturday December 7.

YO LA TENGO Charles Bradley

CHARLES BRADLEY

A little birdie told us that the Screaming Eagle of Soul, Charles Bradley, is set to enchant Australian audiences in celebration of his sophomore album Victim Of Love. Since being discovered by the founder of prestigious funk record label Daptone, the former James Brown impersonator has endured a phenomenal rise, with his 2011 debut record No Time For Dreaming garnering international critical acclaim. Flanked by his Extraordinaires, a stellar band comprising members of The Dap-Kings, The Menahan St Band and The Budos Band among other rhythmic royals, soul’s new golden boy will premiere his latest LP at The Basement on Sunday March 2.

THE NEVER EVER

The Never Ever will embark on their final live performances for 2013 in December, with a Christmas show in Sydney. It’s been a big year for the local five-piece, with the release of their third EP Ghosts And Ghouls, recorded in New York by renowned music producer Shep Goodman, as well as sold-out shows on their recent Hoodie Weather Tour. Supported by Let’s Not Pretend and Drawing North, the band will round off its successful year with two last shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Catch them at The Lair at the Metro Theatre on Saturday December 14. 12 :: BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13

Fait Accompli

CAPTAIN COOK HOTEL

Another live music venue has popped up on Sydney’s horizon, with the Captain Cook Hotel in Surry Hills the new kid on the block. This Wednesday November 6 they’re inviting the local music community along to celebrate, with complimentary Sailor Jerry, Coopers, Resch’s and food. Fait Accompli, The Owls and Katnip are on the lineup.

Yo La Tengo have locked in a Golden Plains sideshow at the Sydney Opera House. They will return to Australia this March for an encore performance of their two-set opus, An Evening With Yo La Tengo, which they have performed around the world and most recently at Melbourne Festival. An Evening With Yo La Tengo highlights the New Jersey-based trio’s huge musical range. See them at the Concert Hall on Thursday March 13.

LARRY GRAHAM

Larry Graham and Graham Central Station are on deck in the second round of Bluesfest sideshow announcements. Psychedelic soulfunk bass guitarist Graham is famous for pioneering the slap bass technique during his time with Sly and the Family Stone. Now his funk powerhouse of a band, Graham Central Station, is on its way Down Under. They’ll play The Basement on Sunday April 20.

RAMPS

There’s something about ramps that puts a smile on the face of every stair-hating human. Coincidentally, there’s something about Ramps that puts a smile on the face of every stair-hating, shoegaze-loving human. Why the niche comparison? Well, the Sydney sonic cats have just released their debut single, ‘Joe’, and are set to launch it on Friday November 8 at the Town Hall Hotel in Newtown, with Yes I’m Leaving, The Berkshire Hunting Club and Your Loving Tyrant also taking the stage. With bellowing guitars, ratatat drums and indie rock ambience sans the murky overbearing bass, it’s a show you won’t want to miss. Between killer gigs, the band posts up raw rehearsal recordings on their Facebook page – worth a gander.

The Spoils

THE SPOILS

Lots of things can happen in eight years. You could have a child, who could turn seven. You could have graduated with a degree, thrice. You could have had 2,920 sleeps, unless you are a koala reading this, of course, which would be really, really weird – no offence. For fans of Melbournian urban melodic heavyweights The Spoils, the sleep count would be exponentially less, and understandably, with eight years of sleepless nights anticipating their return. Now, the time has come. The Spoils are back with their sonic intersection of dreaminess and the macabre, which has seen them win audiences across the world, sharing the stage with everyone from Cat Power and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy to Tex Perkins and Bad Seed Mick Harvey. They shake up Frankie’s on Thursday November 28 at 9:30pm and then kick on at Brighton Up Bar from 11pm.

thebrag.com

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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * When officially announcing a global publishing deal with Universal Music, INXS manager Chris Murphy revealed that aside from the Never Tear Us Apart miniseries on the Seven Network, a film, a doco and a musical are â&#x20AC;&#x153;on the wayâ&#x20AC;?. * Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SFX Entertainment has acquired 100 per cent of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Totem OneLove Group, which promotes the Stereosonic festival. SFX now controls 52 dance music festivals around the world.

* David Bowie is adamant he wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tour behind his new album, The Next Day. But Pixies have invited him to go on tour. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can be his band,â&#x20AC;? Frank Black said of his hero. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be cool. We can be his backing band. We go out and do our set, he comes out to do his set with us.â&#x20AC;? Black says he was gratified that when Pixies were in retirement, Bowie did â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cactusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for 2002â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heathen. * Rihanna has covered up a traditional Maori-inspired tattoo she got while in New Zealand last month using the traditional (and painful) way with a mallet

VENUES WIN â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;RIGHT OF ADMISSIONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; A Sydney legal case has determined all licensed venues and nightclubs have the right to choose who they let in. Last year journalist Richard Sleeman launched separate defamation and anti-discrimination proceedings against the Palms on Oxford nightclub. The 62-year-old claimed he had not been allowed in on December 23, 2011 because (a) the doorman thought he was too old; and (b) had loudly accused him of being drunk in the queue, telling him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Go away and sober up somewhere else.â&#x20AC;? In June, Palms won the defamation case in the District Court. Last week it won the discrimination case too, after getting statements from older patrons. The Administrative Decisions Tribunal told Sleeman his claim he was excluded because of his age was based more on speculation than real evidence, and that the doorman had sufficient reason to believe he was drunk.

MTV TO LAUNCH TWO NEW CHANNELS MTV Australia is launching two new music channels, MTV Music and MTV Dance, on Tuesday December 3. MTV Music is an Australian version of the UK channel, covering pop, rock, urban and alternative, video premieres, chart shows and countdowns. MTV

and chisel. After returning to America, she did an 11-hour session for a new tattoo that â&#x20AC;&#x153;incorporatedâ&#x20AC;? the Maori design, which drew blood when she did it in Auckland. * One Direction celebrated the last of their Australian shows, in Melbourne, with an onstage cream pie, food and water pistol fight with Sydney support act 5 Seconds Of Summer. 1D sold almost 300,000 tickets on their Oz/NZ run. * Byron Shire musicians raised a further $3,000 towards the $40,000 restoration of the community centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Steinway

Dance will feature electronic, hip hop and R&B. MTV Australia has moved most of its operations to London, and now part of a bloc with the UK, Ireland, Russia, Hungary, Israel and New Zealand under Kerry Taylor. MTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Australian GM Rebecca Batties is leaving.

HAVANA BROWN SCORES ANOTHER US #1 Aussie-born, LA-based performer Havana Brown has landed her third number one on the US dance charts with single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Flashing Lightsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Currently on promo in Australia (where the Flashing Lights album entered the ARIA chart at number six), sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll head back to America but is returning to play NYE shows. She has 40 million YouTube views of her videos.

JAMES BLAKE WINS MERCURY PRIZE James Blake won the ÂŁ20,000 Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2013 with his album Overgrown. At the event in London, radio DJ Lauren Laverne mistakenly introduced him as James Blunt. After Blake thanked his parents and band, Laverne had to call him back as he walked off without his trophy. Blake won against 11 other acts, including David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Rudimental and Jake Bugg.

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piano with a Neil Young tribute night. In May, a Bob Dylan tribute night raised $4,000. * The Catholic Student Organisation of an Omaha university protested at a concert by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis because of their pro-gay marriage song â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Same Loveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. But university authorities let the show go ahead. * Mel B asked for a chicken salad when she appeared on Rossoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mix FM drive show to peddle her new album. She had to cancel, so Rosso auctioned the salad off, raising $400 for the NSW Bushfire Appeal.

SIX MORE LONGLISTED FOR THE AMP The ninth Coopers AMP (Australian Music Prize) announced six more Longlisted albums: The Wolves by Brighter Later, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m A Bird by Sam Buckingham, Sun, Cloud by Luke Howard, Calluses by Pikelet, King Amongst Many by Horrorshow and Calendar Days by Dick Diver. Applications closed last Friday.

MORE TUNE/LESS AUTO More Tune/Less Auto is a masterclass on how to make the best use of time in the recording studio. The first workshop is the Ableton Liveschool Production Masterclass, where a school trainer and established act will run through mixing, mastering and production techniques aimed at emerging producers and electronic artists. The second will be the ProTools recording Masterclass at 301 Studios. The initiative of MusicNSW, Studios 301 and ARIA will be held on Friday November 29.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE FILM SUED Greek writer Odysseus Lappas is suing the makers of Justin Timberlakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sci-fi thriller In Time for US$4.5 million, saying they stole his idea. Lappas claims that the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premise â&#x20AC;&#x201C; set in a future world, where humans stop ageing at 25 and must buy, borrow or steal time from other people otherwise they die â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is similar to a synopsis he wrote in 1996 called Time Card and which is filed with the Writers Guild of America. Lappas says 20th Century Fox offered to buy the rights to his idea for $80,000 but he said no, as he wanted to write or produce anything from his script. In Time, which came out in 2011 and made $173 million, was credited to screenwriter/ director Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca).

SELECTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW SIGNINGS Coming Soon

Big Sean (USA) Fri 15 Nov

Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club (USA) Sat 16 Nov: All Ages

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

Insane Clown Posse (USA)

Sat 7 Dec: All Ages

Sydney-based Select Music has announced four new signings, including three from Melbourne. They are soulsters Saskwatch, who tour nationally this month behind their â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Handsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; single; singer-songwriter Hayden Calnin, named by triple j as one of the 20 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Next Cropâ&#x20AC;? artists to watch; and hip hopper Bam Bam, whose debut single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bags Packedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has been playlisted on triple j. The fourth signing is Brisbaneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Major Leagues, who also just signed a management deal with Chugg Music.

APRA MAKES $177.4M FOR MEMBERS

Deerhunter (USA) Tue 10 Dec

The Brian Jonestown Massacre (USA) Thu 19 Dec

Kylesa (USA) Thu 12 Dec

Waka Flocka Flame (USA) Fri 20 Dec

Looptroop Rockers (SWE) & Sage Francis (USA) Fri 13 Dec

Melvins (USA) & Helmet (USA)

Earthless (USA) & The Shrine (USA)

Crystal Fighters (UK)

Sat 4 Jan

Sun 15 Dec

Thu 9 Jan

Wehrmacht (USA) Rotting Christ (GRE) Kerser Dark Fri 17 Jan Grave (SWE) Sat 8 Feb: All Ages Tranquillity (SWE) Primate (USA) Sat 29 Mar Sat 11 Jan ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

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Figures from APRA/AMCOS have revealed they paid 323,311 songwriters, composers and music publishers a total of $177.4 million this year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; up 4.2% on 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for the performance of over 822,000 unique musical works. There was a 15.4% rise in the amount of APRA members (12,443) paid royalties for overseas performances, a 9.8% increase in licensing revenue and a 7% increase in live performance claims by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

BRITNEY MUSIC SCARES SOMALI PIRATES Naval authorities use Britney Spearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oops!... I Did It Againâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;ŚBaby One More Timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Toxicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to scare Somali pirates off when they approach supertankers along the east coast of Africa. Navy officer Rachel Owens explained, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. These guys canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stand Western culture or music, making Britneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hits perfect.â&#x20AC;? Steven Jones, of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry, added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pirates will go to any lengths to avoid or try to overcome the

music. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d imagine using Justin Bieber would be against the Geneva Convention.â&#x20AC;?

SCA LAUNCHES DIGITAL CHANNEL It looks like Southern Cross Austereo is launching a new digital channel, Triple M Classic Rock Digital, on Monday November 25. It will be heard in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

ELEFANT TRAKS EXPANDS CELEBRATIONS Aside from four showcases in Sydney and Melbourne (of which two are already sold out), Elefant Traks is expanding its 15th year celebrations. Its artists will host ABC TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rage on Saturday November 16. On Sunday November 24, Elefant Traks will join up with One Day Sundays at The Vic in Marrickville. Saturday November 30 will feature an Elefant Traks afternoon pop-up store in Marrickville with artist signings and a BBQ. More details coming.

MODULAR EVENTS AT SYDNEY FESTIVAL Modular is organising two events during Sydney Festival. On Friday January 17, it takes over Paradiso at Town Hall with an eclectic lineup spearheaded by Detroit techno originator Juan Atkins. On Tuesday January 21, 100 Million Nights â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the sight and sound collaboration between visual artist Daniel Boyd and Modular act Canyons â&#x20AC;&#x201C; makes its Sydney debut at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

PLEDGEMUSIC, MOSHCAM ANNOUNCE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;SHOOT MY GIGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Crowdsourcing system PledgeMusic and Australian creator of original online music videos Moshcam have come up with an initiative called Shoot My Gig. Artists can fund the filming of one of their gigs. The end product will be marketed using their direct-tofan platform as a DVD or download and via Moshcamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global network, sharing revenue with the artist who retains total copyright of their content.

Lifelines Dating: 50 Centâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new galpal is Tatted Up Holly, named on account of an assortment of body ink. He has just avoided jail after being accused of hitting an ex-girlfriend (model Daphne Narvaez, the mother of his second child) and destroying her furniture. Engaged: for her 28th birthday, rapper Future gave R&B singer Ciara a 15-carat emerald cut diamond ring with which he proposed after knocking on the door of her New York hotel room. Sued: Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath, by the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original bassist and drummer who claimed he cheated them out of their money, destroyed their reputation on Twitter, and for his diva-like behavior. Suing: R&B legend Marvin Gayeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children are taking action against Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. over â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blurred Linesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; copying Gayeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Got To Give It Upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Suing: Quincy Jones launched a US$10 million suit against Michael Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s estate and Sony Music Entertainment, claiming they improperly re-edited songs to deprive him of royalties and production fees from their use in the film This Is It and a pair of Cirque du Soleil shows based on the King of Popâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s songs. Jailed: a NSW woman, already in jail for fraud, was given a further three-month sentence for selling bogus tickets to six Pink fans to a Sydney show. In Court: New York journalist Liza Ghorbani, mother of Liam Gallagherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love child, is fighting for full custody of their ten-monthold daughter Gemma â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whom he has never seen or plans to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; saying he can only see her under supervision.

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Already that decision appears to be paying off. Between the ARIA nominations and a slew of sell-out gigs, the MSO is gaining a lot of ground. Seeing the band live is an experience in controlled chaos, where 30 musicians somehow manage to conduct an entire audience to its feet while clearly having the time of their lives. One of the most entertaining things about the MSO is the sense of narrative it presents. Each song sounds like a chapter or vignette, and when I put to Bomba that catching the orchestra is somehow akin to being told a story, he says this was exactly the intention.

rom humble beginnings (a ramshackle crew attempting to break the world record for the number of musicians performing the skank – a number which no-one actually remembered to count at the time), the Melbourne Ska Orchestra has developed into one of the most unexpected and engaging acts of 2013. Now with two ARIA Award nominations, including one for Best Blues and Roots Album, and a national tour underway, frontman Nicky Bomba says the ska is here to stay. Two things are immediately apparent when chatting with Bomba. First, the man talks a mile a minute; it is as though there are so many directions the conversation could take he needs to sample them all before the words become tangled in his mouth. The second is the unbridled passion he has for performing. “The energy of any performance is doubled simply by connecting, or even just by trying to connect with an audience,” he says. “It’s something that not every band does, but I do know that it’s something that the MSO does well. That’s certainly part of the appeal. It’s not just people looking for any excuse to dance, it’s people really engaging with the sound.” That sound is ska, which by Bomba’s own admission is a genre that many audiences – even his own – aren’t entirely familiar with. Born in Jamaica in the late ’50s, ska rose to prominence in 1964 with Millie Small’s worldwide hit, ‘My Boy Lollipop’. Reggae, Two Tone and rocksteady were all movements that drew from ska, and evidence of the genre remains everywhere today. Given Bomba describes it as his “spirit music”, he is thrilled though unsurprised.

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You get the impression that kind of engagement comes quite readily to Bomba – his enthusiasm for different projects, for other ways to showcase new sounds, is evidenced in almost all aspects of his life. “For me, a consummate musician is one who is constantly roaming, always looking to do better, to learn and improve,” he says. I do wonder, however, just how sustainable this lifestyle is. Does the fear of failure grow greater when you’re juggling multiple passions? Will one project begin to unknowingly suffer while another charges ahead? In August it was announced that Bomba would be leaving the John Butler Trio, and this overlap of momentum seems to be in part a reason for his decision. “With the Trio, it just came down to where I wanted to focus my energy for the next ten years, and if you’re trying to juggle everything at once, it’s all going to suffer. So I felt, ‘Why not take the time to nurture this thing of yours?’

When you’re playing in somebody else’s band – and as much as I loved working with John and that amazing team, the places we’d play, the audiences, the whole circus of performing – there comes a point where you realise, there’s something that I’m relinquishing here. It’s possible I could have kept doing both, but, you know, things were starting to clash. In the end, John and I decided it together. It was bittersweet. “Our last concert together was a beautiful outdoor setting. The moon was out, and I felt really relaxed. I was looking out across stage to the audience, and I knew that it was the right decision. We were really just two travellers who came together for a little while. It’s like with any artist. You need to find your own style, your own voice, and I realised that I can just try to develop my own voice on the side, and stay in a very popular band and be financially comfortable – or, I can take that journey knowing I’ll be able to look back in ten years and say, ‘I’m glad I did that.’ And you know, as I played that last night the overwhelming feeling was that I couldn’t wait to do this with the MSO. To play these festivals, to really move an audience. I sat there and I felt a lot of hope.”

“I went to a Salvador Dali exhibition,” he explains, “[and saw how] he would paint 12 pictures on a theme. For me, they were like 12 songs. Each picture was related to the theme, but with its own uniqueness. That’s what I wanted with the album, that each song would be unique but have that line of ska, or some hybrid, connecting them. Having the Orchestra there gives you so many elements to play with, so you can really focus on giving each song its own character.” Given the success the MSO is now experiencing, coupled with his own achievements with Bustamento and the John Butler Trio, I wrap up by asking Bomba if he feels as though he has at last found his own voice; if he has found the style that will carry him into the future. He’s quiet for a moment. “I think there has to be humility in what you do, but there still always has to be that belief in yourself. It’s for when you think, ‘I’m never going to achieve this’, and you can look back on your work over a span of months or years and see a growing maturity; can see that you’re writing better lyrics, [making] a better sound. What I realised was that it’s really just about the art. All you’re doing is making art, and the best you should hope for is to be able to do that and have it be your day job. You know, I’m writing my own songs, I’m playing in wonderful places where I’m invited back, and I’m able to maintain this lifestyle. That’s what makes me happy. If I wasn’t able to adapt, I wouldn’t be here. Things change, you adapt. But the essence of your writing – your songs – it has to endure.” Where: The Factory Theatre When: Saturday November 9 xxxx

“I’ve always thought it was one of the more universal forms of music. I think the combination of the joy you get from the music itself and the activity that happens onstage – having 30 people performing is its own wonderful, uncontrollable mayhem – is quite a spectacle. I’d always believed that when people hear good music they’re instantly converted, but I didn’t quite realise just how quickly it would spread. After our first Bluesfest gig, for example, by the time the second performance came around word of mouth had taken off and the audience

was just massive – people dancing as far as you could see. It was something new to a lot of that audience, our style of music, seeing so many people onstage having so much fun. The music takes you places … There’s enough variation in our set to not just keep the audience interested, but to keep us engaged as well.”

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for Live and Localsau! Calling all artistsplay entertainment.com. Contact: chris@fair

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Gossling Striking Gold By Alasdair Duncan

elen Croome began her university career studying psychology, after deciding that it was time to put music aside after high school in favour of something more serious. A few months into the course, though, she realised she may have made a mistake. “I thought psychology seemed really cool at first, but part way through my first year I realised it was all statistics, and I hated it!” Croome let her impulses guide her back to her first love – she dropped psychology and switched to a Bachelor of Music, with a major in composition. While studying in this area, she developed an immediate affinity for arrangements and instrumentation, and hasn’t looked back since. You probably know Helen Croome a lot better as Gossling, the maker of sweet, melodic indie pop tracks like ‘Heart Killer’. The past few years have been busy for her, with three Gossling EPs, a good deal of national touring, a collaboration with 360 that sent her to the upper reaches of the ARIA charts, and another with Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow that saw the two fl y to Paris to shoot a music video. This month, things got bigger still, with the release of Gossling’s long-awaited debut album,

Harvest Of Gold. The record represents the culmination of a lot of time and hard work. “I can’t believe it’s fi nally coming out after all this time,” she laughs. “I just [couldn’t] wait for people to hear it.” Harvest Of Gold went through something of a difficult gestation period. Croome initially went to Tasmania with the aim of getting lonely and depressed and writing a lot of songs, but in the end only two of those things happened. “My family have a place in a little beach town called Bicheno on the north-east coast. I went there because I thought it would be good to get isolated, but I wasn’t very productive. I got just as lonely and depressed as I’d hoped, but the songs didn’t come. It wasn’t until I got back to Melbourne and was surrounded by friends and had the internet again that I started to get actual writing done.” If Croome was initially aiming for ‘lonely and depressed’ on this album, I ask where she actually ended up. “It’s a real mix,” she says. “There are a few tracks that are very obviously a continuation of my past EPs, but on the whole, Harvest Of Gold is a lot more pop than what I’ve done before.” Indeed, the album features more synths and electronic

Croome initially went to Tasmania with the aim of getting lonely and depressed and writing a lot of songs, but in the end only two of those things happened. “I thought it would be good to get isolated, but I wasn’t very productive.”

Jill Scott A Long Walk By Jody Macgregor

sounds than Gossling’s previous, more folky recordings. “I’ve always wanted to do something like that, and I was lucky in that the material I was writing lent itself to that. I wouldn’t have gone down that road if the songs I’d been writing didn’t want to go in that way.” Harvest Of Gold sees Croome hooking up with an array of collaborators, not least the aforementioned Gow of rakish Melbourne rockers Oh Mercy. “Alex and I met a couple of years ago on tour,” Croome says. “I was doing a solo support with him, and after that we stayed mates, and eventually did

What: Harvest Of Gold out now through Dew Process/Universal Music Australia Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday November 23

“You look at people’s faces and see if the thought is connecting and, I don’t know… how does it feel? It feels like I’m on the right track. If I’m not moving the crowd in some way, shape or form then I’m not doing my job”.

hen Jill Scott was growing up she had no idea she had a beautiful voice. It seems baffling that there was a time when the woman responsible for neo-soul classics like ‘A Long Walk’ or ‘Cross My Mind’ (for which she won a Grammy, one of three she’s been awarded) didn’t realise she could sing, but there it is. Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness in North Philadelphia, she didn’t grow up with church choirs, or opera. She was influenced by listening to Marvin Gaye and The Manhattan Transfer and Ella Fitzgerald, but none of her friends had heard of them and she had no idea that kind of powerful soul voice was such a rare gift. “I thought, what if I sang somewhere and somebody says, ‘Ew, I don’t like it’ or ‘You suck!’? I would be devastated, so I kept it to myself. I didn’t want anyone to tarnish it or destroy it and I didn’t sing publicly until I felt confident enough about it.” The first time Scott felt that confidence was when she was a teenager, but she found the experience of performing so troubling that it almost put her off completely. “The very first time was when I was 14, it was something called Freshmen Day. They selected a few freshmen to perform, and I was selected and I sang ‘Theme From Mahogany’. And it was my very first standing ovation and it was wonderful, but I noticed that people changed after I sang; in a positive way, but I felt like I had hangers-on for some reason. I’m an only child, I didn’t like the way it felt, so I stopped singing at that point.” She briefly tried to learn an instrument, but that didn’t take either. “I played violin as a kid but my instructor made me cut my nails and I hated that, which is so silly because now I couldn’t care less.” Hindsight is 20/20. “It’s like that for most people, they give up on something that they could have been great at. There’s a piano downstairs that I don’t play and I always consider it. I have great friends who are [like], ‘I’ll teach you, I’ll teach you.’ One day.” Scott spent years focused on poetry and acting instead, only using her voice when she landed a role that required it. By her mid-20s she was performing in a Broadway musical, and although she could have made a career of it, she realised that if she was going to be singing she’d rather be doing it on her own terms, with her own songs. “[Theatre is] a great job but it’s a little restricting. You have to be in the same light, in the same clothes, singing the same songs, acting with the 18 :: BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13

a song together for Mélodie Française, a compilation of Australian artists doing French songs. We got to go to Paris for four days to make a video clip, which was pretty incredible. A while later, we got together again for a really long writing session – one song from which, ‘Accolade’, made it onto the album. That’s defi nitely one of my favourites.”

same people every night – and I knew that I needed to be more free than that, so I decided that I would go ahead and try to make a record.” Her musical career received a surprise boost right at its start when Questlove caught one of her spoken word poetry readings and was so impressed with her work that he invited her to co-write a song with The Roots. The result, ‘You Got Me’, featured Erykah Badu at the label’s insistence – but the band had liked Scott’s take so much that when they toured she joined them to perform it onstage. They returned the favour by appearing on her 2000 debut album, Who Is Jill Scott? Words And Sounds Vol. 1. As well as helping forge The Roots connection, Scott’s live poetry readings taught her performance skills that remain with her today: her shows have a reputation for feeling intimate even when she’s backed by a nine-piece band and playing a huge room. What she learned is how to look people in the eye and connect with them. “You look at people’s faces and see if the thought is connecting and, I don’t know… how does it feel? It feels like I’m on the right track. If I’m not moving the crowd in some way, shape or form then I’m not doing my job, so it feels like I’m on the right path. It’s like a pat on the back: ‘OK, keep going.’ Confirmation.” After eight years of albums and tours, Scott returned to acting after being offered a particularly special role, the lead in the HBO/BBC co-production of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, based on the books by Alexander McCall-Smith. That meant filming in Botswana – a revelation for Scott, who had never travelled to Africa before. “It was extraordinary, because every stereotype I’d read or heard about Africa was wrong. Everything was wrong, and it gave me a sense of home and it just broadened my horizons about other places. When you grow up in North Philadelphia, you never think that you’re going to – I mean, I figured one day I would get to New York and never imagined that I would be living in Africa and sleeping in tents and sleeping in people’s backyards in metal huts. I never imagined any of it, and it was literally the best experience I’ve ever had in this life thus far.” What: An Evening With Jill Scott Where: Enmore Theatre When: Saturday November 23 / Monday November 25 thebrag.com

Emma Davis The Cutting Edge By Jesse Hayward

ife changes us slowly and steadily and these changes often remain obscured until they’re examined with hindsight. Memories are laid down like railroads connecting our past to our present, the journey a bright blur, the stations a simple clarity. Emma Davis’ 2010 selftitled debut album is a track stretching into her past, her soundtrack to the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. Her music provokes feelings of loss and impersonal sadness. The emotional tones are blue and grey, conveying a reflection on bleakness from the outside, looking in.

“Some of those songs were written when I was 15 or 16,” Davis says. “Some were much later. I think that’s why I like that album. It told my story, showed my progression over quite a few years, so it was an important thing to get out and move on from. I was probably pretty naive when I wrote that album. A lot of those songs were written about my first experiences with things, so I don’t think you can help but change.” In September, Davis spent a week in Cairns laying down her new single ‘Stand Tall’ with producer Mark Myers. With semi-electronic drums underpinning the plucks of folk, the song is a slight departure from her previous work, showing off Myers’ production skills with a sonic purity resonating in warm space. “I didn’t want any preconceived notions of where I wanted the track to go because I think that defeats the point of working with someone new,” Davis says. This single is less heavy on the heart than her debut; the lighter tones summon more forward-looking hope than resigned acceptance.

be the first, so we had a little warm-up. I therefore know how he is on a long car journey. He likes to sing very loudly – I will be bringing earplugs this time. He also likes to get a beer wherever we stop, even if it’s 10am. He does a lot of the driving though, so he’s a good tour pal and he’s quite handy – he made us DIY hot water bottles when we were in Bellingen, out of a couple of glass jars!” Despite making it clear that she much prefers writing and recording, Davis is looking forward to the tour. “I think what’s really important about the tour is that Brian and I are doing it together. We’ve gone through a period where we’ve both been feeling uncertain about our music and our writing. When my album came out I got a bit of momentum, nice reviews, radio play. I felt like I was getting something started. Then I had writer’s block and found it really hard to write the next thing – I dropped the ball a little bit. I just want to get it going again.” What: Emma Davis and Brian Campeau – Best of Friends Tour Where: FBi Social When: Friday November 8

“I think I’m growing older,” she laughs, apparently an old woman at 27. “My new single I wrote for friends of mine who are getting married and having a baby. I think just realising I’m getting to that age has affected my view without me even noticing.” But it’s not just the deleterious effects of age changing her; Davis is also strongly affected by her current tour partner, Sydney musical gadabout Brian Campeau.

“Brian is really good at pushing me out of my comfort zone. He started this thing where you had to write 20 songs in 20 days. I’ve never been able to write in that way; I’m romantic about the idea that a song should come naturally.” Campeau and Davis have worked together since their chance backstage meeting in 2008, which led to Campeau co-producing Davis’ debut. Not just a confidante or collaborative partner, Campeau is clearly a source of motivation for Davis. “Brian is really good at pushing me out of my comfort zone. He started this thing where you had to write 20 songs in 20 days. I’ve never been able to write in that way; I’m romantic about the idea that a song should come naturally. “Originally Brian forced me to try out ideas that I wouldn’t necessarily have thought of and taught me to experiment a bit more with sound. He also taught me the importance of reflection time when recording. It’s so easy to lose perspective when you’re listening so closely to a song over and over and again. He forced me to take a week sometimes between recording where I wasn’t allowed to listen at all.” It can be hard as a singer-songwriter in Australia given the wealth of talent floating around, and in Sydney in particular. Davis herself floated around in the last year before deciding to move back here. “I came back in February after four months of living in Victoria and three months before that in Europe. I spent most of those four months working out whether to try out Melbourne or not, but in the end just didn’t feel like I was quite finished with Sydney. “I’m glad I came back,” she adds. “I think it’s a really good time. Since I’ve been back it’s felt like people seem to be hitting the nail on the head. There’s some really exciting projects happening, new creative spaces to be in. I think I’ll stick around for a while now.” For now, Davis and Campeau will be heading out of our fair city to tour the nation, starting at FBi Social this week before heading to Canberra, Newcastle and beyond. In preparation for the long hours on the road, Davis and Campeau did a practice run, one show in Sydney and one show in Brisbane. “Both of us hadn’t done any of our own shows in a while and we didn’t want this tour to thebrag.com

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Jack Colwell Jumping Jack Flash By Krissi Weiss

ack Colwell is a rare kind of up-andcoming indie musician. His days at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney – on top of endless hours at the mercy of his craft – have ensured he is a far more accomplished musician than his youth would suggest. He released his first EP in his teens, and is remarkably comfortable working in different creative environments – from writing his own pop gems to composing for theatre. But what sets Colwell apart the most is his willingness to share so much of himself with his audience. He’s not selling his soul talk show-style to make a buck, but he’s more than ready to explain the man behind the melodies and the moods that have inspired the music. It’s a rare fi nd in these days of quasi-privacy when artists refuse to open up in one forum but will share their most unnecessarily intimate moments in another. Colwell’s classical training unavoidably creeps into his music but he’s certainly humble about its infl uence. “I think when I began writing songs, seriously, I really believed my classical training made me somehow different, or special,” Colwell says. “Being locked away in the

Conservatorium for seven-odd years can do that to you. To a degree, I’m sure it does; I have the capacity to understand music at a different level to some, and to pull it apart and look at it technically, but I don’t think it makes you better – which seems to be the question on most people’s lips. With my first EP, White Noise, I was highly concerned with being taken seriously as ‘an artist’… whatever that means now. I tried to write complicated piano parts and picked sounds that were at times unsettling for the listener. It was a long time ago.” Pop music can suffer from serious cultural elitism, says Colwell. But the emotions that influenced last year’s album, Picture Window, and his forthcoming release, ‘Far From View’, exist on a far more personal level. “For the last eight years I’ve struggled with depression,” Colwell says. “During the last 12 months it became really bad, overwhelming, to the point that I wanted to stop my career and took no real solace in composing or performing. It was hard to perform any daily routine. I opened myself up to a person I trusted; emotionally, financially, sexually – and really felt like in the end I was taken advantage of. I had never experienced anything like it. I was left feeling very alone

and confused. It forced me to face a traumatic event I had tried to bury. “When I wrote my debut album, Picture Window, I felt I really wanted to let people in on the fact that I was suffering inside – it’s in the album, if you listen – but I was a bit naive. And at the same time as wanting people to share in my experience and my music, I was afraid of exposing my insecurities and fears so hid my secrets behind walls of metaphor. “I am older now, and less afraid. In what I now refer to as ‘the year of waste’, I learnt to face my shame and anguish over these experiences in what has manifested in a new single I plan for release in early 2014, ‘Far From View’. [The song] takes on various meanings. It is of a lover scorned, or that moment your very being is crushed, but maybe at its core it’s a song about hiding from an inner turmoil, shame; and forcing yourself to look in the mirror even when you think all the light has vanished. There’s a comfort in that.” With: Brendan Maclean Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday November 7

Dyson, Stringer & Cloher Handle With Flair By Krissi Weiss

hree of Australia’s hardest working and most accomplished songwriters – Mia Dyson, Liz Stringer and Jen Cloher – have joined forces Traveling Wilburys-style and are embarking on an exhaustingly extensive tour. Their combined talent, experience and critical acclaim is sure to deliver all those in attendance a great show, but in truth it’s the familiarity the three have with each other that creates the intangible spark.

“We’ve known each other for close to a decade,” Cloher says. “I met Mia just before she released her first album, Cold Water, at the ripe old age of 20. Mia met Liz after she was handed a demo of her songs back in 2006 and asked her out on tour. Since then we’ve all played with each other, on each other’s records and in each other’s bands.” It seems a simple enough question but it’s hard not to ask why they chose to throw themselves into this tour when it has been such an arduous one to plan. “A mutual love for great songwriting and genuine passion for performing live,” says Cloher. “That couple of hours onstage makes the hundreds of hours of emailing and organising worth it.” The mutual respect the performers have for each other is immediately evident, but in an industry as tough as this one, is there ever any healthy competition between them? “There’s no rivalry,” says Cloher. “It’s a hard business, making a living from your music as an independent artist – any win is a win for all of us. We’re inspired by each other, though; we’re always trying to write our best songs.” If you read one of the many press announcements for this tour you’ll notice the word ‘female’ or ‘ladies’ countless times. It’s still a thing – a damned and burdensome

thing – that their gender must be mentioned. It makes sense to seek Cloher’s perspective on the issue. Does the group see the gender attention as positive or negative, or are they indifferent? “It’s weird, huh?” she says. “It doesn’t seem to happen as much for men in the music industry. Our favourite review said the EP was one of the best guitar records of the year. We thought that was cool. Perhaps the only way you can change those perceptions is to keep making music on your own terms. Creating art and the media perception of that art are two very different worlds.” The EP in question is the accompanying tour release that Dyson, Stringer and Cloher have prepared together. “This tour is a true collaboration, and making an EP together seemed the best way to give people an idea of what we’re doing,” Cloher says. “A recording is exactly that – a document of a time when a group of people decided to sit in a room together and create something new. The EP will always be that document for us, and for anyone who comes along to one of the shows.” So, three seasoned performers in their prime; three long-time friends, no less – is this tour going to be all work or should pundits beware of mayhem? “We’ve done a lot of the work,” she says. “This tour has been two years from inception to execution. Performing is a peak experience – nothing, not even the best drugs come close to being in the moment with a band onstage. That’s where the mayhem needs to happen; that’s what we want to share with our audience.” When: Thursday November 7 / Friday November 8 Where: Lizotte’s Dee Why / Factory Theatre

Bonjah Beyond The Horizon By Augustus Welby

ew Zealand-bred, Melbournebased four-piece Bonjah returned to the fold early this year with the groove-heavy tune ‘Evolution’, and they’ve now dropped a follow-up single, ‘Blue Tone Black Heart’. The new songs step away from the band’s rootsy origins, incorporating a raw rock’n’roll feel, and lead vocalist Glenn Mossop explains that the band chose to pursue this sound after simply refl ecting on what songs in their catalogue they enjoy playing most. “We’ve always enjoyed playing the more up-tempo numbers live, so we thought, ‘Let’s just make a louder, faster record,’” he says. “I put down the acoustic and upon picking up the electric, that’s just the way I began writing. Everything started coming out gritty, which I really liked, so we’ve continued to build on that energy.” This year’s two single releases are the first new music Bonjah have let slip since 2011’s Go Go Chaos LP, but their third full length album is yet to arrive. Mossop says that despite the delay, songwriting for the forthcoming record has felt more natural and honest than ever before. “We are really refi ning a more collective sound for an album than what we have in the past, and using a different songwriting process. We’re also a bit older now and choices become more direct and certain. So it’s feeling more natural and true to where we’re at musically at the moment.” Bonjah relocated to Melbourne from NZ’s Bay of Plenty in 2006, and after a couple of years inserting their brand of roots-tinged pop-rock into the live music network, their debut LP Until Dawn shoved them into public view in 2009. A number of years of songwriting and witnessing audience reactions has allowed Bonjah to recognise that, rather than trying to please everyone, following their own impulses and crafting music according to what they like optimally strengthens the quality of the songs. “Finding what’s best for the band and band members so the music can reach its potential; I think that’s giving more to the people who listen to our music than

trying to please anyone purposely,” says Mossop. “You can see right through any artist – whatever their craft is – that’s not doing it firstly for their own development as a creative individual or group. That’s where magic happens.” Similarly, over the years the band’s perspective on what they want to achieve has shifted somewhat. Initially the focus was on gaining masses of fans but Mossop says they’re now driven chiefl y by writing the best music they can. “The focus now for us is just writing and recording a record we can be proud of, and it’s a bonus if people want to put it on.” Despite this stated quest for artistic sovereignty, Bonjah’s ambitions to cultivate a wider-reaching fan base haven’t completely subsided and Mossop reveals their plans for a more rigorous approach to cracking the overseas market. “It’s been over seven years in Oz; we’ve done a fuckload of touring and gathered some amazing fans and friends along the way, which we’re pretty honoured about, but we’re defi nitely going to head over to Europe sometime in the next year and broaden the horizon.” With two singles now out in the open fans are no doubt getting antsy for the new Bonjah record. Mossop says the album is still a work in progress but assures it will come out in the early part of next year. “We’re still continually coming up with new tunes and having a great time writing. We’ve got some pre-production dates set with Jan [Skubiszewski, producer] to hone in on the songs and even write more with him, so we’re all pretty pumped at the way it’s travelling at the moment.” Where: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi When: Thursday November 7 And: Bonjah also proudly support The Be Project, a national competition inviting young Aussies to submit an inspirational song to form a collective voice challenging Australia’s binge drinking culture. To enter or find out more, visit tacklingbingedrinking.com.au Xxx

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Seabellies Fever Pitch By Mina Kitsos

hen you’ve exploded onto the scene, been hounded with praise over your inaugural LP and raided venues across the country, a break seems well-deserved. Seabellies, however, have not spent the past three years resting on their laurels. Rather, the Newcastle five-piece sought out a sea change, venturing across the globe in search of inspiration and finding themselves reunited in magical Berlin, the city that would breathe out their spellbinding sophomore album Fever Belle. Frontman Trent Grenell says the process was both cathartic and intense. “We really kind of locked ourselves in a studio for a month in Melbourne two years ago, and we locked ourselves in a studio in Berlin about six months after that, and just jammed [songs] out more than we ever have. Someone always brings an initial idea and it’s just really space-jammed out of there.”

The new record is a simulacrum of the band’s time in the German arts mecca, complete with slick beats and eclectic soundscapes. “I was just going to lots of shows and clubs in Berlin,” says Grenell. “There was a lot of strange electro music which I was quite intrigued by, and there were a few songs on this album that I really wanted to push our programming skills on.”

and shade.” Grenell admits with a laugh, though, “live, it’s getting harder and harder. We use a lot of looping stuff live, and sequencers. We quite like using old gear so we’ve got some pretty dated sequencers and keyboards. We don’t like taking a laptop up and pressing ‘play’. We like still twiddling the knobs and trying to beatmatch it in time.” As for the stunning surrealist album artwork, Grenell says it’s just another thing to thank Berlin for. “I managed to meet a young artist when I was living there. I saw that painting and I immediately just said to her, ‘I think that’s the new album cover.’ It just seems to encapsulate the beauty and the vileness on the record. Half the album’s about beauty and love, and the other half is about the pain of when it’s gone. It just summed it up, for me.” What: Fever Belle out now through Permanent/Shock Where: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney / Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle When: Saturday December 14 / Saturday December 21

The lead track from the record has already leapt up the charts. “’It’s Alright’ is quite an interesting song, in that it has four different drums and rhythms going in and out of sync with each other. That came from Berlin.”

“The fi rst album was kind of guitary and sunny and shiny, and we wanted to have a point of difference in [this] album without changing our sound completely.” Fever Belle vaunts the golden touch of musical Midas Simon ‘Berkfinger’ Berckelman (Philadelphia Grand Jury), teamed with the legendary Tim Whitten (Powderfinger, Augie March). Grenell says the group collaboration came about thanks to fate. “It was really comfortable – it was really awesome. I actually ran into Simon Berckelman just in the local market in Berlin, because he was living there as well. We just got talking music for a while and I expressed that we really wanted to do a new album and he said that he’d really like to do it for us, and then he suggested – ‘How about we try something different? How about we get Tim Whitten on board as well?’ And we’d just go crazy.” So what was their secret recipe? “Tim sat in the control room and Simon was in the tracking room with us, trying all sorts of interesting mic set-ups and instrumentation, rewiring people, doing all sorts of weird things that Simon does. It was a really fun process to be in, experimentation in our room and Tim making sure the sonics were really beautiful in the other room.” Veering away from the saccharine pop of By Limbo Lake, Fever Belle has a tinge of nostalgia and layers of infectious, progressive beats. “The first album was kind of guitary and sunny and shiny, and we wanted to have a point of difference in [this] album without changing our sound completely. So we made sure there’s a bit of our old electronic roots in there,” Grenell says. Grenell also asserts that time was essential for the band to mature into their own sound. “The first album, we were on the scene, dying to make an album but dying to impress a lot of people. We were talking to a lot of record labels at the time and I think we were subconsciously maybe writing songs with record labels in mind. It’s really overwhelming when you first get that attention. But this album, we’ve done all that and we really just wanted to make an album that we were happy with, that we really enjoyed. So I think that’s why it’s a little different. It sounds a little more like how we’ve always intended on sounding.” On the brink of their biggest tour yet, Grenell says Seabellies are fired up and ready to make waves. “We’re going to be spending far too much time in the band van. It’s fine, we’re pretty close ... Playing new songs is a new energy for us. On the new record, the songs are a lot more diverse than our last album, so there’s a bit more light thebrag.com

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arts frontline

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Nick Timms, James Dunlop and Lily White

five minutes WITH

ANDREA ADDISON processes you engaged to bring her to life onscreen. Jo is a tomboy surfer chick who isn’t afraid to say exactly what she thinks, except for when it comes to her own feelings. She’s madly in love with her best friend Jesse and is becoming frustrated at being trapped in the friend zone. The creative process was fun. I spent time at the gym with Justin building our friendship and indulging my inner tomboy. On an emotional level, I built Jo on a mixture of imagination and past experiences.

esse Milton’s life is pretty perfect until a series of murders involving his friends ruins everything. Determined to go after the killer himself once the police close their investigation, Jesse is shocked to learn of many more unexplained deaths caused by a centuriesold, soul-sucking demon. Enter Joanne ‘Jo’ Peterson, Jesse’s best friend. The thing is, you see, Jo wants to be more than just friends – ain’t a saucy demon flick without the romance, hey? We caught up with actor Andrea Addison who plays Jo to learn more.

Tell us about your background in acting. When I was 19 I moved to Sydney and started at Actors College fulltime. I was really inspired to pursue something I thought would challenge me because I’m a shy person. Since then I’ve been between Sydney and Perth doing commercials, print and videos and have been fortunate enough to work on several feature fi lms. In Foreshadow, you play the character of Joanne ‘Jo’ Peterson. Tell us about her and what kind of creative

What was it like working under the direction of filmmaker Carmelo Musca and producer Estelle Buzzard? Working with Carmelo was fun. I think he’s a real romantic at heart. He enjoyed indulging in the romance of the scenes. Estelle was great to work with. She’s looked after me through everything from the audition process to dressing me for the premiere. She’s been a mentor for me in the industry. How do you think audiences will receive Foreshadow? It’s a real Aussie fi lm and I think those who appreciate indie fi lms will really like it! I also

ON/OFF AT BORDELLO THEATRE

It’s a pretty big leap from her best-known role as Claire McLeod on McLeod’s Daughters, but Lisa Chappell’s left the farm and is ready to bring the romp with some saucy cabaret. Chappell will be performing On/Off, (a stage show that she herself wrote) at Kings Cross Hotel’s Bordello Theatre until Sunday December 15. The play is a darkly comical take on the world of cabaret, and features jazz standards such as ‘Get Happy’ and ‘The Man I Love’. The show also includes songs from Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Peggy Lee, with accompaniment by Daryl Wallis. If you’re a jazz or cabaret fan, or you just miss Claire McLeod, you should check it out. Tickets are $25 or $20 for concessions. Visit trybooking.com to secure your seat. John Stezaker, Mask CXLIX, 2010

19TH BIENNALE OF SYDNEY

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Imagine if the Mona Lisa was painted on a sheet of A4 paper. Or The Scream. Or that one of the dogs playing poker. Some artists may scoff at the idea, but probably not the slew of leading contemporary artists exhibiting in 4A Centre for Contemporary Art’s upcoming exhibition, 4A A4. Renowned international artists such as Vernon Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Ali Kazim and Dadang Christanto will all represent and sell their A4-sized works for $200 a pop with proceeds going towards the development of 4A’s 2014 artistic program. “4A A4 is a fun way people can help us raise funds to support crucial Asia-Australia understanding and to pick up a work from an up-and-comer or an art star,” said director Aaron Seeto. 4A A4 launches on Thursday November 7 and runs until Saturday November 30. Head to 4a.com.au for more information.

THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW

Someone examining a pillow doesn’t sound like the most interesting topic for a play. But keep in mind, this is a play by Academy Award, Pulitzer Prize, Tony, and Drama Desk Award-winning writer John Patrick Shanley. Unpathed Theatre Company is back after its production of Blood Moon to wrap up the year with its production of Shanley’s work. Set in the Bronx in 1985, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow is a surreal exploration of the irrationalities that follow our hearts being broken. Director Vashti Pontaks leads a cast comprising Ainslie Coulston, Peter McAllum and Scott Lee in a deeply emotional investigation of how one might resolve the conundrum of true love versus lustful fi xation. The Dreamer Examines His Pillow will take to the stage on Tuesday December 10 and present until Saturday December 21. Visit unpathed.com.au for more information and tickets.

What are your career aspirations and do you have any exciting future projects lined up we should know about? I would love to do more fi lm and I also really want to try my hand at presenting. Hopefully the future includes the release of feature fi lm, Raven’s Cabin. It was my first lead role and I got to work with an amazing cast of rising Aussie actors so I’m really looking forward to sharing that with everyone. What: Andrea Addison stars in Foreshadow When: November 8-16 Where: Hoyts, Broadway More: foreshadowmovie.com

SYDNEY INTERCULTURAL FILM FESTIVAL

From November 13-24, the Sydney Intercultural Film Festival will screen 100 fi lms from 30 countries spanning Japan, Korea, Russia, Iran, India, Poland and Israel for free. Yes – free. There’ll also be 26 titles competing in the festival’s official selection. Program highlights include a selection of North Korean fi lms made between 1974 and 2008, a selection of fi lms exploring gay culture, transgender identity and religion, and a number of world premieres. You can catch some screen action at a range of community venues such as Belmore Park, Town Hall, Parliament House Theatrette and Sydney Square among other city fringe locations. “We want to give Sydneysiders access to great fi lms that they wouldn’t necessarily see in everyday cinemas; to bring them culture experiences and insights that might allow them to look at people, communities and the world in perhaps a more interesting, educated or enlightened way,” said the festival’s creative manager

GREEK FILM FESTIVAL! TIX! WIN!

The Greek Film Festival is celebrating its 20th birthday with a selection of 35 films screening nationally throughout November and December. Christoforos Papakaliatis’ What If… opens the festival on Thursday November 7 at the Palace Chauvel in Paddington and the silverscreen fun wraps up on Sunday November 24 with Costa-Gavras’ financial thriller, Capital. To help you get in on the action, we’ve three double passes to give away to the Thursday November 7 screening of Constantina Voulgaris’ A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant. The film tells the story of heroine Electra, a 30-something nonconformist who has a jailed anarchist for a boyfriend, reformed hippies for parents and considers the eight-year-old boy she babysits as her best friend. Elektra then stages a large-scale activist event in an attempt to make sense of the complex world she lives in. For your chance to win, head to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us what activist event you’d stage and why. Kate Ryerson. Watch this space for more announcements about the festival or head to siff.org.au for further details.

MOFO PROGRAM ANNOUNCED

The Festival of Music and Art (FOMA) held annually by MONA gallery in Tasmania, has announced the details of its 2014 event. Now in its fifth year running, MOFO is the culmination of Tasmania’s brightest artistic talents working together to unleash creative chaos throughout Hobart. Next year’s program has been curated by Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes, The Break) and MONA senior curators Nicole Durling and Olivier Varenne. Running from January 15-19, the five-day party of sorts will feature two stages, three orchestras and more than 200 artists. Think a dancing robot, a freestyling philosopher, prog-punk space opera, morning meditation, black metal with violins, gender liberationists, ambient electronica, string quartet pop music, bluegrass Bach and all that jazz. Head to mofo.net.au for the full program and tickets.

ART MONTH APPOINTS 2014 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

New Zealand-born Scrap Wall has been appointed Artistic Director of Art Month 2014. The festival’s fi fth instalment will run from March 1-23 and pull together 300 exhibitions, 200 events and 100 art spaces across commercial galleries, artist run spaces and public institutions. Yeah, we thought so too – that’s one mammoth task for Wall to direct. But we reckon he might just be the man for the job; Wall has had many years of experience in the arts sector and is an established innovator in Auckland’s emerging art scene. “I hope to use my diverse career experiences to bring a fresh perspective. Through Art Month, we hope to deliver new contemporary art experiences for seasoned gallery-goers and first time visitors. Above all, it will be a celebration of the imaginative, eclectic and compelling range of contemporary art on view in Sydney,” said Wall. Stay tuned into artmonthsydney.com for forthcoming details.

Xxxxx

Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney, Juliana Engberg, has made public a vibrant program of more than 90 artists from 31 countries who’ll represent in Sydney from Friday March 21 through Monday June 9 next year. Offering a curated anthology of collective imagination, next year’s theme ‘You Imagine What You Desire’ will showcase contemporary art designed to offer an aesthetic experience through the inventions and desires of wellknown artists. “For me artists are active philosophers who seek to engage the audience and viewer in an exploration of our world through metaphor, narrative and poetry. They do this so that we might find inspiration in the sensations and intensities produced by art, and so that we might, temporarily, step aside from our commonplace experiences and feel something uncanny and unusual,” said Engberg. Spanning five venues – Cockatoo Island, Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of NSW, Carriageworks and partner venue Artspace – the Biennale features a slew of talent from John Stezaker, Deborah Kelly, Eva Kock, Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger, and Laurent Montaron among many others. For the full program and further information, visit biennaleofsydney.com.au

4A A4

hope the audience gets scared when they watch it. The book we used in the fi lm was a real demon exorcism book from the 1600s. It gave everyone the heebie-jeebies and we’re pretty sure it cursed the set. We had three car crashes, sprinklers going off during a night scene and a stolen laptop! It’s only fair that the audience experiences some of the angst we did.

Scrap Wall

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6 - 24 November 2013 Chauvel Cinema Cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington An initiative of the

OPENING NIGHT GALA Sydney premiere of Christoforos Papakaliatis’ What If... Wednesday 6 November, 6:30pm $40 inc canapés, drinks & live entertainment For bookings and schedule visit

greekfilmfestival.com.au

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La Sylphide

Matthew Donnelly and Adam Bull in La Sylphide

[DANCE] A Magical Evening By Alasdair Duncan

a Sylphide is a story of love, enchantment and heartbreak, about a man who is swept away – a classic and beloved work, it’s one of the last surviving ballets of the romantic period. The Australian Ballet are preparing to mount a new production of La Sylphide, featuring dancer Matt Donnelly in a most unusual role … but we’ll get to that in a moment. “This is a ballet with an incredible amount of history,” Donnelly says of La Sylphide’s rich heritage. “It’s visually stunning, and really quite moving. It’s also famous as the first work that put female dancers en pointe – it’s all about fairies, so dancing up on their toes makes the women look weightless and ethereal. It’s a ground-breaking show in that sense.”

The twist in this performance is that Donnelly himself is playing the witch, and he relishes the chance to cross gender lines for such a wicked role. “Magda is so much fun,” he says. “She’s very old, probably about 80, but she hobbles across the stage with great purpose. There’s quite a lot of make-up to put on, so I start about an hour and a half before the curtain goes up. I fi nd that while I’m sitting there, turning into this haggard old woman and putting her scraggy costume on, I become her. In preparation, I mean, this is purely a character role, there’s no dancing at all, so the rest of the company are doing their warm-ups and I’m sitting in front of a mirror pulling faces at myself!” Donnelly may not be required to dance as Magda, but the role itself is still a challenging one. “Embodying her is surprisingly tiring,” he says. “It’s a whole different way of moving and holding your body. Magda’s quite active in the way she runs around the stage. It’s not as tiring as playing James, the principal role, but performing the role can still be draining.” He

does, however, have some history with the character. “The Australian Ballet’s version of La Sylphide is based on the Royal Danish Ballet’s version,” he says, “which is funny for me, because I started my career with them when I was a youngster. I didn’t play the witch then, but I get to do it now, so it’s fun to have a whole different experience of the ballet.” I ask Donnelly if he has any fi nal word on the show. “The program is a double bill,

Tiny Stadiums

with another ballet called Paquita,” he says. “It’s known as the last romantic ballet, and it opens the night. That combined with the beauty and the romance of La Sylphide makes for a great and magical evening.” What: La Sylphide Where: Sydney Opera House When: November 7-25 More: australianballet.com.au

La Sylphide photo by Jeff Busby

The story of La Sylphide is all about treachery. “It’s set in Scotland,” Donnelly explains, “and it’s about a man named James. He is engaged to a local girl named Effie, but in the middle of the night, he’s visited by a magical sylph, and he falls in love with her, so he leaves his fi ancé and runs off to the forest with her.” This is where things become complicated. “There’s also an evil witch named Magda,” he says. “She shows up at James’ house on the eve of his wedding – it’s a cold night, so she comes to warm herself by the fire, but he throws

her out of the house. She gets her revenge by giving him a magical scarf, telling him it will capture the sylph when, in reality, it will actually kill her. It’s a very sad ending, but that’s typical of romantic works.”

Blue Wizard

[VISUAL ARTS] Awakening Erskineville By Kate Robertson

ack for its sixth year, Tiny Stadiums 2013 is set to turn Erskineville into a hub of innovative site-specific art and performance from November 13-23. Again, the community festival is produced by PACT Centre for Emerging Artists and curated by Groundwork, a collective comprising Christopher Hodge, Amelia Wallin and Maria White. Each curator has a passion for interdisciplinary art and wants to share this with people who might not usually engage with contemporary art. As project coordinator, White encourages community engagement by involving local businesses and residents in the transformation of Erskineville Village’s familiar spaces. We caught up with her to get the low-down on what to expect from this year’s program. Tiny Talks on Wednesday November 6 is a slide night run by curators and participating artists designed to give punters a teaser of this year’s talent lineup and creative vision. White reveals that there’s “a lot of freedom about what the slides can be”. So expect presentations that are as surprising as they are thought provoking. Overall, some of the works showcased in Tiny Stadiums 2013 will be installed for the duration of the festival, such as Leahlani Johnson’s delicate floral sculptures that audiences can discover creeping through Erskineville’s streets.

Others are spectacles designed for the two Live Art Saturdays on November 16 and 23, such as Hossein Ghaemi’s The Deficient Of Solution Development. For White, this is one of the program’s most exciting projects – three performers will emerge on the rooftops at the Triangle of Erskineville Hotel, Erskineville Town Hall and Allans Cakes Building and communicate via voice as a means of crossexamining the idea of a conversation between three unique locations.

Erskineville. The artist Imogen Semmler has teamed up with a vet, technicians and locals who volunteered to install GPS tracking devices and cameras on their cats each night. Yes – cat cams. Semmler’s plan is to collate the nocturnal footage, which will be shown on monitors along the main street. The best part? Not only can you view these feline adventures, but you can accompany Semmler on tours where you can meet the cats and their owners.

Considering White’s background in performance, it’s unsurprising that another highlight for her is the double-bill theatre season. In Blue Wizard – a new work commissioned for Tiny Stadiums – actor, writer, director and general purveyor of hilarity Nick Coyle plays an intergalactic gay wizard. Stranded on a mountain, he desperately tries to return to his comet by unleashing spells, magical dances and lots of smoke and glitter. The second act is Friend Ship by Kenzie Larsen, an artist who was part of the very first Tiny Stadiums. Performed for the first time in Sydney, the artist promises to reveal groundbreaking research by a fictional Kenzie on the mechanics of making friends.

The cultural life of Erskineville locals is also a concern of Tiny Stadiums. Several works reflect upon the history of the suburb and its idiosyncrasies such as erskineville where Jennifer Hamilton and Craig Johnson lead a walking tour to explore the area’s controversial food politics, starting with the recently opened Woolworths. Further investigating the changing social and economic landscape of Erskineville is Zin Collective’s The Dictator’s Ball. As Tiny Stadiums’ closing night romp, partygoers will be “given a certain number of tokens, which sets your status”. According to White, this could be a lot or nothing. Throughout the evening, there’ll be opportunities to build your status – but you might need to collect a few glasses in exchange for tokens first.

One of the most ambitious projects in Tiny Stadiums 2013 is PussyFoot: Cats Of

What: Tiny Stadiums 2013 Where: PACT Centre for Emerging Artists When: November 13-23 More: pact.net.au

The Comedy Of Errors [THEATRE] A Laughing Matter By Liza Dezfouli

For this season of The Comedy Of Errors, director Imara Savage gives the text a modern treatment. “It’s definitely a contemporary setting,” explains Taufa. “The story is of a character who is not allowed into the community. He’s not supposed to be there. He’s been brought in by border patrol… It’s very much in the now – there are links with current affairs. It looks at whether or not someone belongs when they’re a fish out of water. It’s

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relevant and contemporary, and very funny.” Savage has also set the play from evening ’til morning instead of from dawn ’til dusk as the original script describes. “Imara’s spot on. It’s much more recognisable for a modern audience. We know what happens on those big nights out, those big benders when you go out at ten and stay up ’til the sun comes up. At night you allow yourself to do things you wouldn’t do during the day. You’re less inhibited. We’ve all had those weird nights out when you’ve been surrounded by all these faces but then in the morning you’re alone. You wake up not remembering everything. It becomes a bit warped.” Taufa recognises that punters expect to laugh. “It’s called The Comedy Of Errors,” he reminds us. “It’s got to be funny. We do a lot of physical comedy. In parts it’s like Shakespeare’s attempt at farce, with doors and characters coming in and out. There are archetypes with the characters that people recognise – the nagging wife, the tough guy, the merchant. There are sight gags, fart gags and a memorable scene involving a washing machine.” With such a date-heavy season, how does the Taufa continue to challenge himself onstage?

“Every show counts,” says Taufa. “Even if you’re only performing for 116 people. Every show will be new. You gauge the reaction of the audience, you pace up to make them laugh, or pace down.” One method of staying present and fresh involves the intensity of the interaction onstage. “You always make sure you’re affecting the other actors,” Taufa adds. “Sometimes the other players change something, emphasise something different, there’s a different nuance in lines. It changes from show to show, it changes from audience to audience.” Has Taufa noticed any differences between the responses of rural audiences and those of towns? “Definitely,” he says. “The regional areas love the theatricality of the show, the slapstick comedy, the commedia dell’arte aspects of it. They embrace the vastness of it, the bigness of our concept. In the cities you can hear people murmur in recognition before the monologues.” So what’s it going to be, Sydney? What: The Comedy Of Errors Where: Playhouse, Sydney Opera House When: November 12 – December 7 More: bellshakespeare.com.au

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The Comedy Of Errors photo by Matt Nettheim

ell Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors arrives in Sydney later this month as part of a six-month tour of 31 locations around the country. Story goes: two sets of identical twins are separated at birth after being rescued from a shipwreck. Thereafter unfolds a tale of mistaken identity, reconciliation and the yearning to connect with others. Cast member Anthony Taufa, who plays the characters of Duke and Balthazar, sees these as universal experiences. “I don’t have a twin, but it’s like we’re all trying to find other parts of ourselves, looking for someone to complete us,” he says. “Not necessarily a relationship or a career, but there’s that yearning for the other; we have our public faces, but we’re looking for something to make us complete … we all want to feel part of something bigger.”

SPEAKERS INCLUDE: ARCHIE ROACH • PETER NOBLE (BLUESFEST) • CHRIS SAMPSON (BONNAROO FESTIVAL, USA) • MALCOLM HAYNES (GLASTONBURY, UK) IAN JAMES (MUSHROOM MUSIC PUBLISHING) • RHODA ROBERTS (BOOMERANG FESTIVAL / SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE) • VAL WOLFE (THE AGENCY GROUP, USA) KERRY CLARKE (CALGARY FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL, CANADA) • GRANT PALEY (AGENT, PAQUIN ENTERTAINMENT, CANADA) • SHIN FUKUZUMI (A&R - P-VINE, JAPAN) LU ZHIQIANG (YUGONG YISHAN CULTURAL PROMOTIONS, CHINA) • MARC-ANDRÉ SARAULT (MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, CANADA) LISA WHYTOCK (SHOWCASE SCOTLAND) • KATE LITTLE (SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS) • WARREN SMITH (THE SIERRA NEVADA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL, USA) FRED LACHAIZE (REGGAE SUN SKA FESTIVAL, FRANCE) • DANNI COLGAN (SYDNEY FESTIVAL) • MILLIE MILLGATE (SOUNDS AUSTRALIA) • BASIL COOK (ABC MUSIC) DAVID BRIDIE (ARTIST/WANTOK MUSIK) • JAMIE MCKEW (PORT FAIRY FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL) • MARY MIHELAKOS (AUSSIE BBQ/THE AGE) CHRIS WADE (BEVERLEY FOLK FESTIVAL, UK) • MARTA DOBOSZ (WARSAW CROSS CULTURAL FESTIVAL, POLAND) • JANIS MONTURE (HARBOURFRONT CENTRE, CANADA) CLINTON WALKER (WRITER) • BUNNA LAWRIE (COLOURED STONE) • OL JOHAN GAUP (RIDDU RIDDU INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS FESTIVAL, NORWAY) JESSE LLOYD (SONGLINES ABORIGINAL MUSIC) • JEFF LANG (ARTIST) • SIME NUGENT (SWEET JEAN) • LOU BENNETT (ARTIST / BLACK ARM BAND) ROGER KNOX (ARTIST) • KIRSTY RIVERS (APRA|AMCOS) • LISA MAZA (ARTIST) • MICHAEL HUTCHINGS (APRA) • REGAN LETHBRIDGE (123 AGENCY) ELLA COCHRANE (MUSHROOM PROMOTIONS) • CHRYSS CARR (AUM PR) • CUSHLA ASTON (ARTISTS MANAGEMENT, NZ) • SARAH GUPPY (TONE DEAF) CHRISSIE VINCENT (CVP) • LORRAINE BARRY (ARTISTS MANAGEMENT, NZ) PLUS MANY MORE CONFERENCE PASSES AVAILABLE ONLINE

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

Amanda Bishop in STC's The Wharf Revue 2013: WHOOPS!

After a year of political strangling and global blunders, the revue’s title needs no explanation. Additional effort has also gone into visuals, with premade video sketches and introductions working well as a backdrop to the main action. Julian Ramundi ■ Film

FLY ME TO THE MOON In cinemas now File this one under rom-com. And nothing more. Never mind that Fly Me To The Moon’s producer and writer Laurent Zeitoun produced heart-warmer The Intouchables, or that its director Pascal Chaumeil worked on revolutionary crime drama, Leon: The Professional. Consider this a catharsis away from art with substance.

■ Theatre

WHARF REVUE 2013: WHOOPS!

The Wharf Revue is back for another year of biting satire and this year’s instalment is called Whoops! The annual Sydney Theatre Company tradition is now in its 13th year, with writers Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott at the helm. Joining Biggins and Forsythe onstage are newbies Amanda Bishop, Simon Burke and Andrew Worboys. The ensemble brings an excellent standard of impersonation, song and dance to a sharply executed set of comedic sketches. With everyone covered from Rudd to Abbott, and Tom Waterhouse to Gina Rinehart, the cast doesn’t leave an area unscathed. Julian Assange, Marieke Hardy and the ABC are even brought to the grind. The revue offers some fantastic song and dance routines and various piss-takes on everything from the Australian Workers Union’s The Abbott Family to The Wizard Of Oz as an allegory for the Labor party. With such a diverse program of sketch, the varied abilities of the cast are put to the test; Biggins shreds the guitar like he has a rock star past, Burke fleshes out his music theatre roots and Worboys’ musical direction riffs on Les Mis to Titanic. Reprising her famous Julia Gillard role, Bishop steals the show while also displaying some strong operatic pipes and the sharpest comedic timing.

The story is simple; Isabelle (Kruger) and Pierre (Robert Plagnol) are madly in love, but despite wishing to tie the knot, Isabelle can’t as her family is cursed with doomed first marriages, but successful second ones. So she, in cahoots with her sister, organises to be married and divorced in Denmark so Pierre can be saved from superstition. She lucks out on the flight over, sitting beside the obnoxious and rather annoying Jean-Yves (Boon). And you know what happens next – the man she’s to marry stands her up. Isabelle, in her desperation, turns to the next best thing; Jean-Yves. What follows is a rather unbelievable journey through Africa with Isabelle puppydogging onto Jean-Yves who, despite her beauty, does little short of mistreating and ignoring her. Against all logic, Isabelle refuses to be dissuaded from her mission.

An Ordinary Person

AN ORDINARY PERSON Sydney Independent Theatre Company at Old Fitzroy Theatre Until November 16 Robert Allan’s new play is funny, confronting and distinctly Australian. An Ordinary Person explores the destructive and multiplicitous nature of victimhood in everyday lives. At the age of 35, Louise (Mel Dodge) sets out to confront her estranged parents, Aggie (Cherilyn Price) and Topher (David Jeffrey), to pinpoint exactly why she holds them accountable for her unfortunate life. Meanwhile, Nathan (Jai Higgs), 25 and perpetually stoned, fears that his girlfriend, Fiona (Carla Nirella), is about to leave him. Desperate, Nathan motivates himself to start a business and get his life on track. Aggie and Topher’s simple existence is tested by Louise’s intrusion and Nathan’s strained transformation sets these two parallel worlds on a sudden and revealing collision course. Allan confronts the plays weightier issues with a sharp sense of humour. Aggie and Topher’s banter

is engaging, and Nathan’s attempts at goofily rekindling his relationship are satisfyingly cringe worthy. Yet despite the laughs, as the story unfolds and secrets surface, there is the feeling that the characters are using humour distractively. They are living lives unlived, destructively stubborn, tormented by the past and deluded by the promise of enlightenment. In this swift disintegration, Allan’s concern with victimhood, at times, is slightly pushed. The acting is strong enough to carry the play’s heavier themes, as is Julie Baz’s thoughtful navigation of a minimalist set to complement the

characters’ restrictive circumstances. Cleverly, at the intersection of storylines, Allan does manage to divide the audience. Our loyalties are complicated as we are forced to consider who’s side to take, where to look to for answers, what past events to interrogate. The closeness of their lives is discomforting and their inability to function beyond this is the play’s most affecting quality. An Ordinary Person is confident, believable and well worth a viewing. Douglas Whyte

The actors are well cast, and their performances, first rate, if not overdramatised in parts (seemingly on purpose). As for the comedy? It sometimes hits, but most of the time it misses, preferring to roll on amiably in its own cut of French cheese, until the oddball ending. It’s all good fun, but nothing life-changing. Stephanie Yip

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Arts Exposed

INSPIRED BEGINNINGS SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER, 7PM SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER, 2PM

What's in our diary...

America: Painting A Nation Art Gallery of NSW / Opens Saturday November 9 If you didn’t catch BRAG’s feature on America: Painting A Nation in last week’s issue, here’s your chance to redeem your art history loving self. As part of the Sydney International Art Series, the Art Gallery of NSW is playing host to the country’s largest retrospective of American painting from Saturday November 9 through Sunday November 9, 2014. The exhibition collects pieces from art institutions all across America and spans works from more than two centuries – the earliest comes from 1750, the latest from 1966. Featuring some of the modern art world’s most renowned painters including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Georgia O’Keeffe, James McNeil Whistler, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, American: Painting A Nation will enlighten audiences with deep insights into the life and culture of a nation finding its identity. Head to artgallery.nsw.gov.au for further details. Ernest Martin Hennings, Passing By, 1924

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A tribute to the Inspired Beginnings of Beethoven, Chopin and Mendelssohn Join Willoughby Symphony for their final concert of 2013 – Featuring the works of three master composers and the inaugural performance of the winning work of the 2013 Young Composer Awards. Students only $20!

1300 795 012

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WHOOPS! photo by Tracey Schramm

Sydney Theatre Company at Wharf 1 Theatre Until December 21

Originally titled Un Plan Parfait (The Perfect Plan), Fly Me To The Moon is an easily digestible French number, even for those who shy away from ‘foreign’ movies. It’s the kind of film you’d expect big names like Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black to lay claim to. If only either could speak French. Instead, the thespians testing their romantic compatibility are Diane Kruger and Dany Boon.

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK FUTURE OF THE LEFT

How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident Prescriptions/Remote Control From hardcore to Dischord-style post-punk, Dead Kennedys shout-alongs and Fall-esque rants, over the course of these 14 songs FOTL cover the gamut of punk, all filled with moments that’ll make your jaw hit the floor.

Xxxx For anyone wondering whether any quality punk will arrive this year, wonder no more; Future Of The Left have the entire genre covered.

The experimental production and instrumentation of past FOTL albums seem to have been simply tests for this album. There’s nothing on How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident that doesn’t work; the production is perfect, changing from dirty to clean and hi-fi to lo-fi to suit whatever the individual song needs. The same goes for the arrangements, whether sparse or cluttered.

Andy ‘Falco’ Falkous’ notoriously scathing lyrics are on full display here, with the type of perspective and flow that only true talents can deliver. My current choice line: “Her cock is so hard / Her aim is true / I hear that when she comes / She comes enough for two”. As for the actual music, there are way too many highlights to mention all of them. The last 20 seconds of ‘Future Child Embarrassment Matrix’ will rip your face off. ‘French Lessons’ will shock you with how pretty FOTL can sound in comparison to the rest of the album. And ‘How To Spot A Record Company’ is the best song Falco

has ever written (and I’m including all of Mclusky Do Dallas). On top of all this, there’s a hidden element that helps make How To Stop Your Brain In An Accident an instant classic: never has music so angry at its core been so fun to listen to. Leonardo Silvestrini

OCEANO

YUCK

POLIÇA

THE ANCIENTS

TARJA

Incisions Earache/Shock

Glow And Behold Fat Possum/Mercury

Shulamith POD/Inertia

Night Bus Chapter Music

Colours In The Dark Edel/Shock

Within 30 seconds of slipping this disc into my CD player I felt an urge. I just wanted to call Oceano up and tell them to stop. These deathcore bantamweights mindlessly bore and boulder through Incisions, their third record. Maybe they’re nu-metal? They sure love dat slap bass, making it rain over opener ‘Eternal Wasteland’. ‘Internal War’ suffers through throat-grinder Adam Warren whispering creepy nothings in our ear. It’s got the worst case of split personality any single metal track has ever had. They crib Behemoth-style rolling blast beats before facing toward sparkly postrock atmospherics. Where are you going, ‘Internal War’? Do you need a lie down? Oceano are marginally better sticking to an agenda. ‘New Age Apophis’ is deathcore-by-numbers; big ole blast beats serving as bedrock to heaving blobs of guitar and breakdowns – breakdowns where guitars rest and dead air rushes through the gaps. The title track again runs loose like a kid on red cordial. Is it active rock radio fodder or a soundtrack for a sweaty, ultraviolent moshpit? As for the Chuck Schuldiner memorial instrumentals on ‘Disseverance’ – why not more of that? Why not all of that, for the entire record? I know I said they ought to stop. They don’t need to stop forever, just pause and reflect. What kind of band does Oceano want to be? On Incisions, it feels like Oceano, conceptually speaking, are stuck sword fighting a particularly noxious fart. Next time, pick something and stick to it. Tom Valcanis

Sonically and personally, Yuck have come a long way since their first album. Singer Daniel Blumberg has departed for solo endeavors and guitarist Max Bloom has stepped into the shoes of lead vocalist. Their second album features strings and brass and echoey vocals that are far removed from their earlier work – less scuzzy, more gauzy. Instrumental opener ‘Sunrise In Maple Shade’ hints at the London band’s change in direction: Glow And Behold is a broader, more expansive record than their self-titled debut. ‘Out Of Time’ is a mellow slow burner that fades nicely into single ‘Lose My Breath’, which echoes the sunny pop-rock of The La’s. ‘Memorial Fields’ is a musing, melancholy track offset by the thumping drive of ‘Middle Sea’. ‘Somewhere’ and ‘Nothing New’ are meditative, guitardriven tracks that, while lovely, lack energy. The Yuck of 2011 were rough-andtumble, loose but on the same page. The Yuck we hear on Glow And Behold are tight but lacking the raw energy of their previous iteration. ‘How Does It Feel’ features a swirling guitar solo that harks back to the Yuck of old, but otherwise it’s a softer, more steady side of the band we hear on this album. The title track is a highlight that recalls Supergrass, while hinting at what the sophomore release could have been. It is consistent and features some interesting ideas, but lacks the fresh inventiveness that cut through their previous songs.

Shulamith is the second album from Minnesota synthpop group Poliça. Last year they served up Give You The Ghost, an album full of floaty pop melodies and esoteric vocals. It walked a path worn by the Cocteau Twins and various trip hop artists – moody symphonies and electronic beats creating a darkly emotional tapestry of layered sound. Their new release has them sticking with the downbeat style that has so impressed critics internationally but with a stronger drive and more accessible catchiness.

When listening to The Ancients’ third album, Night Bus, one is immediately taken aback by its grandeur. There are sweeping landscapes of guitar with dreamy vocals floating gently around like leaves caught in a breeze. ‘Elegance’ is the word that springs to mind.

This new energy is evident from the first track, ‘Chain My Name’. Leaping straight into a synth-driven electronic bass, Channy Leneagh’s voice soon falls into line, displaying greater energy and confidence than on the previous record. The album is full of almost ironic lounge jazz licks – are they ironic or sincere? Does it matter?

Opener ‘Chaos And Futility’ sets the tone with gentle vocals contrasted against the coarse guitar reply. ‘She Lives In A Tent’, ‘Hey Now’ and ‘Night Bus’ all prolong this musical daydream. The only songs that shake things up a little are ‘Hamster’, which uses faster drum beats and guitars contorted to the point they take on the manner of aeroplanes flying overhead or waves breaking upon a shore, and ‘House Of Cards’, which centres around a banjo and a more rambling feel than a dreamy one.

Some of the synths are reminiscent of Numan-era fantasy pop; some basslines could fit into the soundtrack for a whimsical video game. ‘Very Cruel’ starts with a sinister melody that wouldn’t be out of place on one of Trent Reznor’s records, while ‘Spilling Lines’ opens with a 140bpm house beat before resolving into a more breaky style. Poliça excel at drawing together these disparate electronic elements and using them to build something warmer and less obvious than the sum of its parts.

Yuck still know how to make a solid summer record. Glow And Behold features some very blissed-out tracks that are fairly strong, but the standout tracks blend into the rest of the album, which is consistent, but not necessarily ground-shaking.

Though Leneagh has said Auto-Tune “adds a certain amount of drama … and control,” there are moments where it is overly noticeable and slightly jarring. At times some tracks fall into an unanchored, vaguely soporific haze, but these moments are rare and sit between tight and focused self-aware pop.

Glow And Behold is grander than Yuck’s earlier work, but lacks the sparkle of their debut.

Whether playfully ironic or painfully sincere, Poliça have nailed their sound with this album.

Natalie Amat

Jesse Hayward

Elegance, however, comes at a cost; and in this case, it results in lacklustre energy and presence, leading to an underwhelming album from the Melbourne psych-pop band.

These songs come too late in the album to make much of a difference, missing their chance to make the album more than what it is, and leaving almost every other song sounding like it consists of the same dreamy vocals over the same wonderfully played guitar. It’s not that the album is bad; there is just nothing special or memorable about it. It’s background music at your local cafe. Albeit very elegant background music. If you’re only looking for dreamy psych-pop, then Night Bus is all you need. But if you want something more, this just won’t deliver. Daniel Prior

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE BAMBOOS Fever In The Road Pacific Theatre/ Inertia When bands get fi ve albums in like The Bamboos are, it can be a hard thing to deliver a sixth. Your sound is already well established, and the fans are expecting you keep true to it – however, you also need to show that you’ve still got places to go creatively, and prove the show isn’t over. Fever In The Road does just that. It succeeds in sounding exactly the way you think The Bamboos should sound, while shaking up your

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expectations at the same time. Band leader and multi-instrumentalist Lance Ferguson once again enlists John Castle as co-producer (the two already having worked together on previous album Medicine Man), and together they venture into the unknown, exchanging Medicine Man’s guest-heavy lineup for the core band, stripping back their rich sound to its bare structure, then bulking it back out with more guitars, organs, pianos, and other instruments. The result is still striking: a reduced album which doesn’t feel like it’s missing a thing. The opener ‘Avenger’ is testament to the band’s darker stance, while

‘Rats’ answers any worry that the band has lost any of its funk and soul essence. Vocalists Ella Thompson and Kylie Auldist swap back and forth between songs, passing the mic to each other like a baton in a relay. Thompson’s ‘Your Lovin’ Is Easy’ is full of sweetness and innocence, while Auldist’s ‘Leave Nothing Behind’ contains the same strength and distinctiveness as the intro of a James Bond fi lm. Fever In The Road feels like a rebirth and a creative reawakening for a band secure in its history and confi dent of its brave new direction.

Tarja Turunen is Finnish rock royalty. Her star rose during a tenure in symphonic metal staple Nightwish. In 2005, keyboardist and prima donna Tuomas Holopainen accused her of diva-like behaviour. At the end of their tour, the band cast her out with a group hug of death. Go figure. No biggie, Tarja kept her captivating mezzo-soprano pipes warm going solo. In Europe, her records mostly rang gold and platinum gongs. The mere word ‘Tarja’ dances like silk across the tongue. Her conservatory-to-rock-star story reads like a fairytale. But Colours In The Dark shatters a once deeply held illusion. Tarja’s band apes the Nightwish sound. No doubts cast there. It’s kind of like hearing them outside the pub while stuck neck-deep in a chat about tax accounting. Opener ‘Victim Of Ritual’ builds around a suspiciously knocked-off Bolero march before taking off into full-blown Hollywood metal. Later, she realigns hippie chakras in ‘Lucid Dreamer’. She’s a waif-like doll dancing gracefully across a dive bar stage on ‘Neverlight’, penned by ex-In Flames headbanger Jesper Strömblad. She struggles in Peter Gabriel cover ‘Darkness’, proving her opera hall voice doesn’t fit inside pop-sized boxes. It feels like Tarja’s handlers swatted her into an array of bizarre backgrounds, hoping her sublime voice will carry us away every time. It feels like Tarja has fallen from symphonic metal heaven only to hold court in a stylistically confused hell. Nightwish proved repeatedly they don’t need Tarja. With this record, Tarja indentured under a crazed, top-hat-wearing martinet doesn’t sound so bad after all. Tom Valcanis

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... SEX PISTOLS - Never Mind The Bollocks... SANTIGOLD - Master Of My Make-Believe THE VELVET UNDEGROUND - The Velvet Underground

THE STROKES - Angles MUSE - Origin Of Symmetry

Daniel Prior

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

VIOLENT SOHO, STRAIGHT ARROWS, DUNE RATS Oxford Art Factory Friday October 25 If there was any doubt concerning Australia’s current adoration of Brisbane four-piece Violent Soho, one need not have looked any further for clarification than an electrifying performance at a sold-out Oxford Art Factory. In lieu of local act Housewives, who pulled out of the show earlier in the week, Brissy party rockers Dune Rats kicked things off in true Dunes style. Fans got down early to catch the trio, the floor almost at capacity by the time they began. Blazing through a dynamic set with signature exuberance, it stood testament to the band’s penchant for inciting good vibes. Next up were Sydney’s own Straight Arrows. Tapped for the full run of dates alongside Violent Soho on their national tour, the hometown show saw the ’60s garage rock revivalists deliver an undeniably infectious performance, closing with catchy-as-hell favourite ‘Bad Temper’. With beers flowing freely and a palpable buzz stirring throughout the room, Violent Soho took the stage to a veritable roar from below. Due to a relentless touring schedule that’s seen the outfit hit Sydney stages several times this year, fans knew what to expect – not that it hampered the joyful response as the band kicked into ‘Dope Calypso’, the opening track on new

SLEEP Manning Bar Sunday October 27 Is there a mightier three-piece than Sleep? If Sunday night’s washout vibe could speak it would answer “no” and declare itself stunned and satiated after the seminal stoner doom band’s first gig in Australia. It’s been 18 years since Sleep disbanded after their record company refused to release their 64-minute opus Dopesmoker, which became a cult classic. But there is no sense they are just going through the motions tonight when they play Dopesmoker’s first half, a clutch of songs from other records, and wrap up with Dopesmoker’s last half. Instead, the show progresses like a nuclear-powered icebreaker: ploughing slowly, relentlessly, repetitively and powerfully with bassist Al Cisneros, guitarist Matt Pike and drummer Jason Roeder coming at us so directly from the music’s molten heart centre that, while the sound roars from multiple Marshall stacks – tangible in its density – the spectacle too is utterly gripping, as are the hands that rise with the music to collectively clutch the metal orange. There is no light show and minimal theatrics. Cisneros, especially, revels

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album Hungry Ghost. Over the next hour the same ecstatic energy could be felt in spades as the Sohos played a generous set comprised of tracks from Hungry Ghost as well as gems from their eponymous 2010 album. Tight and cohesive as a sonic unit while maintaining a sense of recklessness, the band performs with the confidence of almost a decade’s experience together, and it shows. The shared vigour in the room was epitomised towards the end of the night, with latest single ‘Covered In Chrome’ shouted back word-for-word and providing an ample backdrop for mass stage dives (and the dejected glares of security unable to dissuade revellers).

H PHOTOGRAPHER : KARL BRAASC

Leaving the venue, a slightly older punter could be heard noting that the show made him reminiscent of the kind of excitement present when seeing ’90s alternative rock acts in his teens, and that ultimately sums it up. Youthful and vivacious, Violent Soho (not to mention Straight Arrows and Dune Rats) capture the unpretentious glee of everything a sweat-soaked, uniquely Australian rock show should be. It’s little wonder they’re riding a wave of hype throughout the country at the moment. Blake Gallagher

in a sort of slow-motion chicken dance that is gloriously vicarious in that it is so rock-posture-agnostic you feel it would be precisely the same were he alone in his bedroom or before hundreds as he is tonight. Pike’s white Gibson is dwarfed by his big, bare beer gut, the rest of his flesh tattooed in a history of metal. The smell of weed wafts by, followed by the odour of burning beard (a sticky ember gone rogue?) with few people resigning their posts to get a beer. When they deliver the first bluesy riffs of ‘Dragonaut’ – preceding one of stoner rock’s all-time-best-ever transitions – and Cisneros begins to sing, “Ride the dragon toward the crimson eye / Flap the wings under Mars red sky” all the heads in the room move as one. But he doesn’t sound evil enough. He stops. “We’ve waited a long time to play this to you so we’ll get the monitors right and play it again,” he says, followed, in rather un-metal exasperation with: “Where are the monitor people?” Meanwhile, everyone is beaming, thinking, “You mean we get to hear the start of ‘Dragonaut’ again? Sweet!” Afterwards, outside, strangers smoke strangers’ cigarettes in celebration. Together, we’ve crawled a marathon. Kate Hennessy

KORPIKLAANI, TROLDHAUGEN, TROLLGASM Manning Bar Friday October 25 “We need more drunken panty throws and whatnot!” – were the words hollered into the mic as we entered the doors of the uni bar. I knew I was in the right place. This was going to be fun. This was Korpiklaani’s inaugural gig in Sydney and Trollgasm, the Dubbo-based Scandinavian/mythological metal band were on the stage, where lead singer Tim Read had control of the mic. The room was full of your standard metalhead, student crowd: a sea of Metallica and System Of A Down t-shirts, dreadlocks, mohawks and facial piercings – and one random blonde chick with a My Little Pony backpack. The crowd had started out mellow but Read was taking it in his hands to get the party started. “This one is about beer,” went his introduction to the next tune. “And by the way, I want to see motherfuckers dancing!” he exclaimed, as they hit off their latest party song, ‘Humppa Humppa!’ The night had officially begun and plenty of alcohol both on and offstage began to flow. Wollongong’s Troldhaugen hit the stage next, performing high-energy songs from

their debut album Ramshackle. Kicking things off with a black metal cover of AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’, things only got better and the crowd rowdier as the night progressed. Looking a little like crazed circus freaks with wide eyes and wild movements, Troldhaugen mesmerised the room. Beer bongs, shots and more beer – and that was just the support acts. After a lengthy intermission of sound checking and time for a little more drinking the six-piece Finnish folk rocking metalheads Korpiklaani made their grand entrance. Like an all-out pirate gypsy metal hoedown the room was full of thrashers, folk dancing, jumping, stomping and, well, more drinking, as Korpiklaani performed a slew of hits including ‘Vodka’, ‘Tequila’ and ‘Wooden Pints’. The highlight of the night came during Korpiklaani’s encore as they performed obvious crowd favourites ‘Happy Little Boozer’ and ‘Beer Beer’. Lead vocalist Jonne Järvelä, visibly stoked with the night, left the crowd with the promising words, “It is our first time out here, but definitely not the last time.” Julienne Gilet

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24:10:13 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322

live reviews

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up all night out all week . . .

26:10:13 :: Camp Shortland :: Newcastle Foreshore

What we've been out to see...

Annandale Hotel Thursday October 24 Brass instruments and energetic singalongs with Cosmo Jarvis and Lime Cordiale inside the sweatiest corner of Parramatta Road on a Thursday night: clearly a recipe for good times. The good times began with “The Lime Cordials” (as Jarvis teasingly christened them), who, true to their unique sense of pop, belted out a mix of songs from their two EPs and even treated the audience with a generous handful of new songs. Trombones inches away from people’s faces and brotherly harmonies engaged the crowd almost as much as Louis Leimbach’s perfectly pitched yells and drawly growls. Long intros and a verbal ad or two proclaiming the drummer’s singleness kept the set fresh and induced equal amounts of giggles and sways. Lime Cordiale provoked bellowing applause as they left the stage, the kind of applause that makes your plastic cup of poison vibrate gleefully. And just when you thought the Annandale patrons couldn’t be more thankful, the applause re-erupted when the humble Cosmo Jarvis hopped onto the stage. Jarvis returned the thanks by giving his fans a

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more-than-solid performance. ‘Whatever’, the ultimate opener, emitted breezy vibes via Jarvis’ precious mandolin. Jarvis proved himself a vocal master at transitioning from melodic niceties in one line to screaming angst in the next. His storytelling found a comfortable home on the Annandale stage, where he revelled in both old and new tunes, and jammed alongside the boys from Lime Cordiale and all of their brass for ‘She Doesn’t Mind’. It was clear for anyone to see that Jarvis is a genuine guy who is passionate about his art form (whether that be music or film), and who works extraordinarily hard – the streams of sweat racing down his face all night were testament to that fact. He chose crowd favourite ‘Gay Pirates’ to finish on, during which one brave young male did what everyone secretly wanted to do. The free-spirited lad jumped onstage to plant a big fat one on Jarvis’ lips, and everyone gasped and squealed in fits of tangled joy and jealousy. A good sport and an honest troubadour, Cosmo Jarvis, along with the talented Lime Cordiale, put on a rollicking good show that fixed immovable grins on everyone’s faces.

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COSMO JARVIS, LIME CORDIALE

20:10:13 :: The Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville 9550 3666

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up all night out all week . . .

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27:10:13 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

little big wolf

PICS :: AM

26:10:13 :: Sydney Entertainment Centre :: 35 Harbour St Darling Harbour 9320 4200

yellowcard

PICS :: KC

27:10:13 :: Frankie's Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney

fall out boy

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the cribs 25:10:13 :: Sydney Entertainment Centre :: 35 Harbour St Darling Harbour 9320 4200 thebrag.com

PICS :: KC

26:10:13 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

24:10:13 :: Upstairs Beresford :: L1 354 Bourke St Surry Hills 8313 5000 S :: KARL BRAASCH :: ASHLEY

OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

MAR :: KATRINA CLARKE ::

BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 31

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

Bluejuice

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Peter O’Mara European Quartet - Affiliation Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $20. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Eri Yamamoto Trio Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $40.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Metro Theatre

Bluejuice + Sures + The British Blues 8pm. $31.20. MONDAY NOVEMBER 4 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Songsonstage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann + Bradley Lee + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti + Rick Taylor Kelly’s On King, Newtown. 7pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Gerald Clayton Trio Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $37.50. Happy Monday Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. free. Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney. 10pm. free. 32 :: BRAG :: 537 : 04:11:13

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Aimee Frances Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free. Bernie Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK Songsonstage - feat: Angelene Harris + Paul McGowan + Bradley Primmer Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Old School Funk And Groove Night Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 11:15am. free. Big Rich Club Engadine, Engadine. 12pm. free. Champagne Jam - Open Mic Night Dundas Sports Club, Dundas. 7:30pm. free. Co-Pilot Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free. Dave Phillips Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 6pm. free. Dave White + Nicky Kurta Duo Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 3:15pm. free.

Musos 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. Songsonstage - feat: Taos + Gavin Fitzgerald + John Chesher Charing Cross Hotel, Waverley. 7pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Angelene Harris + Stu Tyrrell Collector Hotel, Parramatta. 7pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Guests Sackville Hotel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann + Huntley Mitchell + Natalie Wardan + Bloom + Olivia Jean + Jon Jobbagy + Sam McLaren The Loft (UTS Loft), Ultimo. 6pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. City Slickers Band Comp Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $15. Joe Echo Duo O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 9:15pm. free. Mark Travers Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free. Peking Duk + Guineafowl + Fox & Fowl Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Phil Jamieson + Jackson McLaren Lizotte’s Newcastle, Newcastle. 8pm. $39. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Steve Kilbey And The Hoffmenn With Strings

The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $39.80. The Spooky Men’s Chorale Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $30. Uni Bar100 Bar100, The Rocks. 9pm. free. Vice Presents: Turbo Fruits + DZ Deathrays (DJ Set) + The Nugs + You Beauty Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Camino Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $10. Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Frøy Aagre Electric Foundry 616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $25.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Benjalu Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 8pm. $13.30. Fred Smith + Liz Frencham The Vanguard, Newtown. 8:30pm. $28.80. Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Guests Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free. SOS For RFS - feat: Chris Raicevich + Brian Manning + Confession&Denial + LJ Phillips Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free. Transvaal Diamond Syndicate Old Manly Boatshed, Manly. 8pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Andy Mammers Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7:30pm. free. Basel Royale Final - feat: Fishing + Kilter The Standard, Surry Hills. 6pm. free. Bonjah + The Lulu Raes Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. David Agius Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free. Furnace And The Fundamentals Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Heath Burdell Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9:30pm. free. Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta. 7pm. free. Little Stevies Album Launch + Achoo! Bless You Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $20. Mutual Stranger + Donegal + Marty Bryant 34 Degrees South, Bondi Beach. 8:30pm. free. No Dice Paradise - feat:

Brendan Maclean + Jack Colwell + Embassy + Froyo + Okin Osan Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Redlight Ruby O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 9:30pm. free. Set Sail Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free. Sudden State Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney. 10pm. free. Tiger Widow Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst, Sydney. 8pm. $10. Watsup Orient Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Wylie Peyote Mexican Party - feat: Fox Company + Michelle Madden + Joe Guiton + More Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival - feat: Shannon Barnett Quartet The Sound Lounge, Chippendale. 8:30pm. $35. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Tina Harrod Band Foundry 616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $25. The Gyuto Monks Of Tibet – Chanting And Meditation KMYOGA, Bondi Junction. 7pm. $40.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Amaya Laucirica The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $15.80. Bandsonstage - feat: Les Montgomery Band + Ben Hardie Trio + Doctor Solid Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free. Flamin Beauties Crown Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. free. Fred Smith + Liz Frencham The Clarendon Hotel, Katoomba. 8:30pm. $20. Jake McDougall The Leichhardt Hotel, Leichhardt. 4pm. free. Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Carolyn Woodorth + Ziggy & Jaii + Patriarchs Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 8pm. free. Sophie Joy Madison Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 5:30pm. free. Steve Crocker Duo Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard. 9:30pm. free. The Folk Informal - feat: Liam Gale And The Ponytails + Ed Wells + Susie Hurley + Recall FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Transvaal Diamond Syndicate + Knox + Barefoot Alley + Wildbloods Studio Six, Sutherland. 8pm. $12.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Scott Kelly & The Road Home Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $35. Alex Hopkins Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Andy Mammers

thebrag.com

Xxx

pick of the week

Greg Agar Duo Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 4pm. free. Greg Byrne + Jamie Lindsay Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 3:30pm. free. James Englund Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 6pm. free. James Fox Higgins Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3:15pm. free. John Vella St George Leagues Club, Kogarah. 12:30pm. free. LJ Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 11:30am. free. Matt Price + Jess Dunbar Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3:15pm. free. Steve Tonge Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. The Starliners Souths Juniors, Kingsford. 12:30pm. free.

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Cronulla RSL, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Ben Finn Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. Bluejuice + Sures + The British Blues Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $31.20. Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 6:30pm. free. Castlecomer + Jordan Leser + Rohin Brown + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free. David Agius Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 8pm. free. Evie Dean Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 8pm. free. Fallon Bros Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 10:30pm. free. Geoff Rana O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Gerard Masters Band Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. James Fox Higgins Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 5:30pm. free. Jess Dunbar Novotel, Darling Harbour. 5:30pm. free. Joe Echo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Joe Echo & Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 9pm. free. Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt. 9:30pm. free. Luke Dixon Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free. Luke Escombe And The Corporation + All Our Exes Live In Texas Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 9pm. $20. Phil Jamieson + Jackson McLaren Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 8pm. $41.85. Ramps + Yes I’m Leaving + The Berkshire Hunting Club + Your Loving Tyrant Town Hall Hotel, Newtown. 8pm. free. Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Ryan Thomas Parramatta RSL Club, Parramatta. 5pm. free. Scott Kelly & The Road Home Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $29.75. Steve Tonge Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 9pm. free. The Corps + Dark Horse + Bloody Ripper + Oily Boys + Ivan & The Backpackers + Holiday Project Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10. The Dead Heads + The Ruminators + Girl Attorney Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. The Demize Engadine Tavern, Engadine. 9:30pm. free. Zoltan Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9pm. free.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK Busby Marou + Harry thebrag.com

Hookey + Nat Dunn The Standard, Surry Hills. 8pm. $25. Jake McDougall Duo Riverwood Inn, Riverwood. 8pm. free. Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Paul Hayward Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 3pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Brazilian Funk Night feat: Kriola Collective Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 9pm. $25. Miss Pole Dance Australia 2014 Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $76.10. Sarah Mckenzie Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $20. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Eri Yamamoto Trio Foundry 616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $30. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Judy Bailey Trio The Sound Lounge, Chippendale. 5pm. $25.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

All The Colours + New Brutalists Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 8pm. free. Antoine Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 10:30pm. free. Baby Animals + Steve Balbi Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $38.90. Cara Kavanagh + Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 7:30pm. free. Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4:20pm. free. Crash Avenue Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Dave Phillips Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 8pm. free. Dave White Experience Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. DNA Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. free. Electric Anthems Trio Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Frenzal Rhomb The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West. 8:30pm. $25. Geoff Rana Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 10pm. free. Heath Burdell Clovelly Hotel, Clovelly. 8pm. free. Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park, 7:30pm. free. Josh McIvor Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7pm. free. King Tide + Crooked Colours + Big Nothing + DJ Bambii Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free. Little Bastard + The Lu Lu Raes Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15. Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Machiniso Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free. Michael McGlynn Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. Patrick James + The

Starry Field + Maples Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.40. Renae Stone Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Revive Agency Presents Mosh For Cancer - feat: My City Screams + The Ocean The Sky + Polaris + To The Grave + Life Beyond + Spectrums Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 12pm. $10. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 3:30pm. free. Seance Records Presents Lunar Ritual feat: Moon + Drohtnung + Seraphic Behest + Inclemency + Host Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15. Temperamentals Divinyls Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free. The Exes Engadine Tavern, Engadine. 9:30pm. free.

mon

tue

Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

wed

thu

06 Nov

07 Nov (9:00PM - 12:00AM)

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

fri

08 Nov (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON sun

sat

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10

(6:00PM - 9:30PM)

09 Nov

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

10 Nov

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

Kalascima Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $22.70. Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival feat: Eri Yamamoto Trio VJs Chatswood, Chatswood. 7pm. $25.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Damien Dempsey The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $41.80. Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free. Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free. Sunday Blues And Roots The White Horse, Surry Hills. 5pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction. 3pm. free. All The Colours + Deaf Dears Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney. 7pm. free. Bright Young Things + VCP + My Fiction + Wunderground Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Dave White Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free. Greg Agar Harbord Beach Hotel, Freshwater. 6pm. free. Heath Burdell Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free. Matt Jones Band Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney. 10pm. free. Olly Murs Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $75. Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. free. The Baddies Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free. Three Wise Men Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free.

BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 33

gig picks up all night out all week...

Busby Marou

SuNdAy 3Rd SuNdAy 10Th GANG OF BROTHERS

ALL THE DEAD COLOURS DEAF DEARS

SuNdAy 17Th

FRONT END LOADER SPARROWS THEM DREAMERS CELEBRATING DRUM and PERCUSSION CO OP OPENING

SuNdAy 24Th NEVER MIND

THE SWILLFEST

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6 Phil Jamieson + Jackson Mclaren Lizotte’s Newcastle, Newcastle. 8pm. $39. Steve Kilbey And The Hoffmenn With Strings The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $39.80. Vice Presents: Turbo Fruits + DZ Deathrays (DJ Set) + The Nugs + You Beauty Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7 Fred Smith + Liz Frencham The Vanguard, Newtown. 8:30pm. $28.80. Basel Royale Final - Feat: Fishing And Kilter The Standard, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Bonjah + The Lulu Raes Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free. No Dice Paradise - Feat: Brendan Maclean + Jack Colwell + Embassy + Froyo + Okin Osan Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Tiger Widow Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8 The Folk Informal - Feat: Liam Gale And The Ponytails + Ed Wells + Susie Hurley + Recall FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Bluejuice + Sures + The British Blues Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $31.20.

Castlecomer + Jordan Leser + Rohin Brown + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Scott Kelly & The Road Home Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $29.75. The Dead Heads + The Ruminators + Girl Attorney Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 Busby Marou + Harry Hookey + Nat Dunn The Standard, Surry Hills. 8pm. $25. Baby Animals + Steve Balbi Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $38.90. Frenzal Rhomb The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West. 8:30pm. $25. King Tide + Crooked Colours + Big Nothing + DJ Bambii Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free. Little Bastard + The Lu Lu Raes Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15. Patrick James + The Starry Field + Maples Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.40.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10 All The Colours + Deaf Dears Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney. 7pm. Free. Bright Young Things + Vcp + My Fiction + Wunderground Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Olly Murs Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $75.

FREE MUSIC EVERY SUNDAY!

4PM - 4AM DAILY 34 :: BRAG :: 537 : 04:11:13

Frenzal Rhomb

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

SPL

MR C WIZ KHALIFA

Hip hop figurehead Wiz Khalifa will be appearing in Australia for the first time early in the new year to headline Enmore Theatre on Friday January 3 courtesy of Niche productions. Since dropping his debut album Show And Prove back in 2006, Khalifa has ascended to the apex of the pop cultural pyramid on the back of anthems like ‘Black And Yellow’, his collaboration with Snoop Dogg ‘Young, Wild And Free’ and his eight mixtapes on DatPiff, which chalked up a host of downloads. Khalifa will be backed by a full live band when he gets acquainted with Sydneysiders Down Under, with tickets on sale through Enmore Theatre’s website from 9am on Tuesday November 5.

“A great philosopher once wrote, ‘Naughty naughty very naughty’.” Iconic club figure Mr C will headline Strange Fruit on Saturday November 23, with support from Bombis Records label boss Dave Brennan, Tonkind’s Marky and Strange Fruit main man Jordan Deck. Mr C, born Richard West, made his name as an MC in London nightclubs while still a teenager. He subsequently carved out a legacy in club folklore, learning to DJ, opening The End nightclub in London, founding multiple record labels and topping the charts with his group The Shamen, who released the classic single ‘Ebeneezer Goode’. “It was so cleverly written that a lot of people still don’t get it,” said West when discussing the track’s success last year. “One way, it’s about this guy called Ebeneezer Goode; another way, it’s about ecstasy.” Mr C remains a relevant figure on the cutting-edge of club culture today, collaborating with [a]pendics.shuffle, Omid 16B and Adultnapper under the moniker Sycophant Slags and releasing on labels such as Poker Flat, Wagon Repair Records, Get Physical Records and Adjunct Audio. The revelry commences at 9pm, with pre-sale tickets available online for $10.

A VERY SWEATY XMAS

Australian record label Sweat It Out! will host a Christmas bash, ‘A Very Sweaty Xmas’ at The Metro Theatre on Saturday December 21. The year started on a terrible note for Sweat It Out! with the passing of label co-founder, the venerated local DJ Ajax. However Sweat It Out! has achieved plenty during 2013, and the likes of Yolanda Be Cool, What So Not, SÜFÜR (RÜFÜS DJs), Motez, Indian Summer, Danny T, Purple Sneakers DJs and Caseno will be playing to celebrate the label’s achievements and honour their late leader. At the request of Ajax’s family, all profits from the party will be given to the St Vincent de Paul Society. Pre-sale tickets are available online for $29.

FACT MOBILEE NYE

Wiz Khalifa

Growing Up I had a pretty musical childhood. I grew up with my mum playing piano and guitar for me. I also [learned] piano as a kid. I remember spending countless hours listening to my dad’s vinyl collection as well. We’d have fun recording our favourite records onto cassette so I could listen to them on my Walkman and in the car. I have an aunt and uncle that have musical careers. My aunt sings in a choir in Seattle, and my uncle plays saxophone and is the leader of a jazz orchestra in Seattle. He has also developed some musical software technologies … he recently got his PhD in music. Another one of my uncles plays banjo in an Irish-style band.

The Music You Make Well, lately I’ve been working on this 4. thing I’ve been calling Balearic Bass which is pretty much bass music meets Ibiza vibes. I’ll be playing a bit of that as well as some of my favourite dubstep and D’n’B tracks and VIPs. Music, Right Here, Right Now Living in LA, I have to say that the 5. music scene is amazing and fertile. I love

hard for me to say who my favourites are, though, since I listen to so many different styles of music. I’ll list a few just to give you guys something to chew on… Aphex Twin, Nine Inch Nails, Orbital, Noisia and Autechre. The Downward Spiral by NIN made me really want to get into producing music electronically.

it. It’s hard to say what my favourite recent acts have been. I need to go catch some bands; I’m getting bored right now with DJs! I’ve been listening to lots of classic rock and random stuff lately. Right now I’m enjoying Deftones, The Rolling Stones and I Am Legion.

thebrag.com

Mix Master Mike

record stores in my hometown. I didn’t know anyone else producing electronic music in my hometown when I was young so it was up to me to find information online. Now I am close to a few of the SMOG members and various artists throughout the world. I would say that at this point I have many friends in music. Some good homies would be 12th Planet, Messinian, Flinch, UFO, Mayhem – I know I’m leaving folks out too.

Inspirations I remember getting really into The 2. Beatles growing up; also lots of Bach. It’s

Your Crew I became interested in music kind of on my own and with people working in the

Tickets are now on sale for FACT’s New Year’s Eve party featuring two open-air stages atop the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay. Two artists from the Mobilee Records roster, Ray Okpara and Miss Jools, will headline the night. Okpara has been a key figure in Germany’s house scene for over a decade, but garnered wider acclaim thanks to releases on labels such as Cecille, Oslo and Get Physical in 2008 during a time when ‘Mannheim house’ was all the rage. Miss Jools is a Londoner who’s found her niche since moving to Berlin, spinning regularly at iconic club spots such as Club der Visionaere and mixing the third instalment of Mobilee’s Back to Back compilation series. For those who prefer to line their stomach before they get down, dinner is included in the ticket price for this one.

With: Optiv, BTK and more Where: Chinese Laundry When: Friday November 8

MIX MASTER MIKE

Legendary Beastie Boys DJ Mix Master Mike, a three-time undefeated winner of the DMC World DJ Championships, will play an intimate show at the Upstairs Beresford on Wednesday November 20. The multi DMC World Champion cemented his formidable reputation through his high profile work with the Beastie Boys, including the albums Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs. He has since worked on everything from indie film soundtracks to PlayStation games and has his own radio show in Los Angeles. The event will have a strictly limited capacity with only 400 tickets available.

BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 35

dance music news

free stuff

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

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five things WITH SANTÉ Growing Up I grew up with 1. jazz music, because

been living in music for a long time.

my father was – or still is – totally addicted to it! Maybe this inspired me a bit but I didn’t really like it when I was young, so I started to play guitar and listen to bands like Joy Division and Talking Heads.

The Music You Make 4. It’s some energetic house and techno. It always depends on the crowd and on my mood. I think this is what DJing is all about: reading the crowd and playing some exciting tunes.

Inspirations Music, Right Here, I totally love Joy Right Now 2. 5. Division and still listen The electronic music to their album once a week; I like music with melancholic emotions. Your Crew On the label 3. side, I work a lot with my homeboy Sidney Charles and I have lots of musician friends who I’m working with on my new tunes. When I moved to Berlin I was hired as a composer for TV and commercials in a big commercial studio – that’s what I did as a day job – so I have

BASS BOUTIQUE

Saturday December 28 marks the launch of a new bass music event called Bass Boutique at Ivy Courtyard. Headlining the launch will be UK producers Plump DJs, Wilkinson, Dom & Roland and Featurecast. The Plump DJs have commanded a strong Sydney following since performing at the first Fuzzy Field Day in the early noughties, which together with their releases A Plump Night Out and their mix for the canonical FabricLive series made a lasting impression on a generation of Australian clubbers. The Plump DJs will be spinning together with their compatriot headliners and an array of local DJs, with the beats running from midday ’til 8pm.

scene is growing and growing, and that’s what I really like. Nowadays, many people want to become a DJ or producer so you need to try and produce a lot to become top in the game. It’s a process which never ends. What: Mantra Collective & Strange Fruit present Santé Where: The Abercrombie Hotel When: Saturday November 9

Dro Carey

RA VS: FUNKINEVEN, DRO CAREY The next installment of the RA VS series, in collaboration with Astral People, will be going down at the end of this month. The VS format sees two DJs paired up based on stylistic similarities and mutual respect to create a unique musical experience. This time around, FunkinEven and Dro Carey will be playing side by side at The Civic Underground on Friday November 29. Both artists have a passion for experimentation and exploration, so expect a broad range of sounds and styles on the night. To get your hands on one of two double passes, visit thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us who you’d want to go up against in a DJ battle.

HAHA ESP PARTY

The HAHA underground party posse will throw their next event on Saturday November 16 at a secret warehouse location. The ESP Party will feature DJ sets from Jamie Lloyd, Melbourne’s Noise In My Head and Canecutter & Defocu, with residents D&D, AKA Dean Dixon and Dave Fernandes also taking to the decks. Lloyd is a Sydney producer and DJ who made his mark with his albums Trouble Within and Beware Of The Light, which produced tracks that were remixed by the likes of Quarion, Brennan Green, Trickski, Mark E and Matthew Herbert. The action kicks off at 10pm and it’s BYO, folks. Tickets are $25 and available through thisiswhitelabel.com.

S.A.S.H NYD

Sunday party institution S.A.S.H has announced details of its New Year’s Day bash at the Abercrombie, which will commence at midday on January 1 and run deep into the night. While the organisers remain tight-lipped about the “big secret guest” headlining, they’ve generated significant anticipation by announcing the presence of internationals Trus’me, Kris Wadsworth and Dexter Kane. Trus’me is the nom de plume of Manchester’s David Wolstencroft, the chap behind the Prime Numbers label, who released his acclaimed debut Working Nights back in ’07. Detroit native Wadsworth dropped his debut album Life And Death on the Get Physical imprint last year, which featured a guest appearance by Jimmy Edgar, while Dexter Kane is an East Londoner who was influential in the rise of the Lower East record label. With plenty of locals also set to throw down, and the mystery headliner still to be announced, you’d be ill advised not to jump on the early bird $50 tickets when they go on sale at midday on Wednesday November 6.

Danny Howells

DANNY HOWELLS HEADLINES LAUNDRY

Revered veteran DJ Danny Howells will play Chinese Laundry on Saturday January 18, following the release of his forthcoming Balance mix, which is due out in mid-November. From championing progressive house to sporting eyeliner, Howells has been a prominent presence in clubbing circles since his compilations for Global Underground and Renaissance hit shelves back in those amphetamine-fuelled days of the mid-’90s. A regular visitor to Australia, Howells’ sound has diversified over the years – adapt or die as they say – and he’s put together a delectable tracklist for his Balance compilation, collecting cuts from Michael Mayer, Four Tet, The Mole and local lads Jagwar Ma. “I was always semi-consciously thinking about the tracks I was buying and playing that I thought would be suited to an album. I’m talking about tracks that don’t really age, and that mainly have some kind of soulful edge…” Howells stated in relation to Balance 24. He’ll surely be showcasing many of the tracks featured on the Balance mix, along with a host of others, when he returns to our shores in the new year.

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Trus’me

PICNIC FT TEJADA & MOOMIN

Frankfurter Sebastian Genz, AKA Moomin, and John Tejada will both play at The Burdekin on Saturday November 23 for Picnic. Tejada is the man behind Palette Recordings, who’s remixed the likes of Claude VonStroke and Gui Boratto, and released on labels such as Poker Flat and more recently Kompakt. Meanwhile, Moomin is one of the foremost purveyors of deep house, first

emerging with the Hardmood/Joe MacDaddy EP alongside Berlin house figurehead Oskar Offermann before entering the spotlight in 2011 with the release of his debut album The Story About You on Hamburg’s Smallville Records label. Citing everyone from DJ Shadow to Omar-S as influences, Genz has translated his sampling skills into soulful deep house productions that have captured the imagination of dancers worldwide. A local lineup that includes Phil Smart will be turning to support the headlining duo. thebrag.com

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Elizabeth Rose Living The Life By Alasdair Duncan

here’s a sense of the romantic about ‘The Good Life’. The song, taken from Elizabeth Rose’s self-titled EP (due for release in the new year), is all about chasing your dreams – moving out of home, making your own way, and trying to find the best that life has to offer. When Rose wrote it on an old Yamaha DX21 keyboard purchased from a friend, she had no idea just how much of an impact it would have. ‘The Good Life’ was the most played track on triple j for the month of September this year, a fact that definitely took Rose by surprise. “I wasn’t expecting anything like that!” she laughs. “Initially, I didn’t even know if it was the right track to release from the EP. If people like ‘The Good Life’, they’ll definitely like the next single.” If ‘The Good Life’ is about moving out of home, then the Elizabeth Rose EP itself is all about the thrill of new discoveries. “I’ve been listening to a whole heap of new music these last few months,” Rose says, “most of it electronic and slightly unconventional. I’m a big fan of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Disclosure, I love the beats they make, but likewise, when I wrote the songs for this EP I really wanted to make sure they had rich harmonic and melodic components. Another influence that I really wanted to make clear in the tracks was my R&B vocal melodies – I grew up listening to and

“…I was a big fan of Destiny’s Child. That was my first concert that I went to when I was ten – I cried because it was so overwhelming! [Laughs] I love bringing those influences into my songs.”

obsessed with late ’90s R&B and pop, and I just loved writing with that influence in mind.” Rose’s next single, ‘Sensibility’, will be officially released early next year. It’s a lithe synthpop song that takes these R&B influences even further. “I grew up listening to a lot of Aaliyah, Brandy, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera. I loved Missy as well, and I was a big fan of Destiny’s Child. That was my first concert that I went to when I was ten – I cried because it was so overwhelming! [Laughs] I love bringing those influences into my songs. It’s there in the electronic instrumentation, but I guess the biggest place it comes through is the vocal melodies. I try to channel those influences through my voice.” Rose worked on her EP with Cameron Parkin, the producer otherwise known as Shazam, who helped give it that distinctively slick electronic edge. “I was originally going to work with Styalz Fuego, who’s Melbourne based,” says Rose. “It didn’t work out in terms of time, but he recommended Cam, who he’d worked with on some projects.” The two met on Skype and bonded over common influences and ideas. “He flew into Melbourne from Perth, and we had seven days at Styalz’s studio. Styalz popped in and out for the first few days to give his input, and Cam and I worked together until 3am every night that week to get it done. It was really good – I’m definitely working with him again.” In the weeks to come, Rose will be touring her EP around the country, and I ask what we can expect from those shows. “The biggest change is I have a new keyboardist playing with me,” she says. “That’s exciting, because it frees me up to dance a lot more now! I’ll be playing an all-new set, with new costumes by a wonderful designer from Helsinki.” When it’s all done, Rose plans to start work on a debut album, and may even move to London or New York to write it. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but they’re the things I’m thinking about at the moment.”

Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Friday November 8

Arty Lessons Learned By Alasdair Duncan books on there, so it’s not too bad,” he says. Electronic music is big business right now, especially in America where Arty spends a lot of his time. Given the demands, however, it seems entirely possible that young DJs might burn out when faced with the demands of constant touring. I put this to him, but he seems philosophical about it. “In America, there are a crazy number of festivals in summer and club shows in the winter. There are a lot of really big clubs in Las Vegas, and they’re open from Monday to Sunday. The market there is really huge, but there’s a lot of competition, so you need to do a pretty good job as a DJ there. It’s okay, though, if you’re doing what you love.”

rtyom Stolyarov, otherwise known as Arty, is something of a dance music prodigy. The Russian DJ and producer came to the world’s attention at the age of 19 with the release of his Vanilla Sky EP. Now aged 24, he tours the world collaborating with huge names like Paul van Dyk and playing shows in Las Vegas and New York. Given that he makes his living as an electronic musician, Arty’s background is somewhat surprising – he spent many of his teenage years studying piano at a strict music school in Russia.

Arty used this knowledge of melody and harmony to the fullest when making Vanilla Sky. The release mixed trance and house in youthful and exuberant style, and it was met with great success. From there, things only got bigger – Armin van Buuren featured the next Arty single, ‘Bliss’, on A State Of Trance, and soon after, Above & Beyond signed him to their Anjunabeats label. It wasn’t long before Arty’s name was everywhere. Skip ahead a few years, and the youngster finds himself flying from continent to continent every week.

“I did piano lessons for seven years growing up,” he explains. “Music school was tough – you needed to practise for six, seven, eight hours a day, and be incredibly focused – you didn’t get to hang out and do the fun stuff that kids in regular school got to do, necessarily.” He admits he hated the experience at the time, and gave up the piano after graduating, only realising its value as an instrument years later. “My studies gave me a background in harmonies and melodies – and they made me who I am right now.”

For instance, on the day we talk, he’s spending some much-needed time in Russia with his girlfriend and family, before hitting Spain, Germany and the United States in the week to follow. “This year has been pretty mad with all the shows I’ve done,” he says. “It’s tough in some ways, because I’m really close to my family and I always want to be at home, even if it takes a long time to get here.” Arty will spend 14 hours in the air if it means spending a day at home. “I bring my iPad on the plane, and I have a lot of TV shows and

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This new lifestyle has made him more adaptable as a producer. “In the beginning when I started to travel a lot, that was a really big problem because I was used to working at home. I had my big speakers, I had my computer and my whole set-up, and it was just a place that I knew. When you work in a hotel on your laptop it’s just not the same as working from home, but getting used to it is just a matter of time. I’m a lot more comfortable doing that these days.” One of Arty’s biggest breaks came last year, when he was featured on two tracks on van Dyk’s album Evolution. He appeared on ‘The Sun After Heartbreak’ and ‘The Ocean’, which was nominated in the category of Best Trance Track at last year’s International Dance Music Awards. The story of how this collaboration came about, however, is a strange one. “I’ve always been a really big fan of Paul’s,” says Arty, “and a little while ago I was invited by his label to play alongside him at a big show in Berlin. I was really excited to meet him, and he told me all about his upcoming album.” Arty told van Dyke that he’d love to work with him as collaborator – as anybody would – and the trance superstar responded by asking him to send some ideas. “I sent through two or three and he picked a couple

“Music school was tough – you needed to practise for six, seven, eight hours a day, and be incredibly focused – you didn’t get to hang out and do the fun stuff that kids in regular school got to do, necessarily.” that he liked, some melodies, and then put them on the album. It was an unusual way to do it, because I didn’t work with him at all after sending him those initial ideas, but I guess that’s how he works.” Arty’s other recent big hit, the BT and Natia Ali collaboration ‘Must Be The Love’, was a different story. “BT came to me with an early version of the track, which had Nadia’s vocals but was otherwise totally different. He asked me to rework it, so I redid the whole arrangement around an a cappella line, then I sent that back to BT, who really liked it, so he worked on the mix some more and then put it out. I guess you’d say that’s a more traditional collaboration, where everyone involved does hands-on work on the track.” What: Future Music Festival 2014 With: Deadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Phoenix, Hardwell, Rudimental, Eric Prydz, Kaskade, Porter Robinson and more Where: Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 8

thebrag.com

Deep Impressions Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Tin Man

alifornian-born, Austria-based producer Johannes Auvinen, renowned for his output as Tin Man, will perform live at the Agincourt Hotel in Ultimo on Friday November 22. Auvinen has accumulated a diverse oeuvre as Tin Man, making off-kilter dance music that traverses acid, house, pop and “moody classical themes” in what are often lyricallydriven productions. His albums such as 2012’s Vienna Blue LP meld ambient, classical and dance music paradigms in a homage to his home city Vienna. Auvinen began his career by releasing acid houseinfluenced EPs on Finnish label Keys of Life and has since released on labels such as Absurd, remixed the likes of Donato Dozzy and Audision, and been remixed by heavy hitters like Tobias Freund and more recently G-Man and Christopher Rau on the Chimes EP that dropped earlier this year. Oscillating between brooding songwriting and more robust club-friendly tracks, Auvinen says that “Tin Man is techno imagining a world where techno is pop,” explaining that his moniker is based on a character who is defined by his struggle to “become more human, to find a heart”. (For those after a tangential anecdote on the subject of the Tin Man, Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan had a Tin Man doll that he conversed with at length during the nadir of his drug addiction. “It was basically psychotic behavior, which of course now I can see. But at the time I thought, ‘Doesn’t everyone have these things?’”) Auvinen’s live set will be a moody techno-leaning affair interspersed with his own live vocals and is a must for discerning fans of experimental electronica. Pre-sale tickets available online for $15. Fresh from releasing his seventh artist album, Beautiful Rewind, Kieran Hebden, AKA Four Tet, will play a night-long DJ set at Goodgod Small Club on Thursday February 6. Hebden, a London-born Four Tet

producer of Indian lineage, first made his mark with his band Fridge, who released their first album Ceefax on Trevor Jackson’s label Output Recordings back in ’97. Hebden has since crafted masterful solo albums such as Rounds and There Is Love In You, accumulating a diverse discography that has also yielded a FabricLive mix, collaborations with Burial and Thom Yorke and memorable remixes of Kings of Convenience, Radiohead and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard. Having played live in previous Australian appearances, the forthcoming tour will mark the first time that Hebden has performed as a DJ Down Under. The concept continues Hebden’s increased interest in club music, which has imbued his more recent releases – ‘For These Times’ is a certified dancefloor destroyer – and follows on from sets at renowned clubs like Plastic People, Berghain and Fabric. But if you’re after the best indicator of what to expect from Hebden’s Goodgod all-nighter, perhaps you should look to his recent eight-hour show on Rinse FM, which incorporated house, jazz, garage and electronica. However, since trying to forecast what such an eclectic selector will play is a futile task, the prudent course of action is to score your ticket and find out for yourself. Veteran Essex techno producer Ben Sims has helmed the 73rd chapter in the Fabric mix cannon, with the final compilation set to release before the year’s out. Sims hasn’t released a commercial mix for five years, but has seemingly made up for lost time here; he’s crammed in 44 tracks (18 of which are unreleased) into the mix, which was initially recorded live before Sims added edits and stitched it all together using Ableton. The tracklist for Fabric 73 comprises cuts from luminaries Robert Hood, Kirk Degiorgio and Marcel Dettmann, with the final product apparently laden with “samples folded, creased, and crammed into the spirited techno in a way that suggests a raucous party inside the tunes themselves”. Fabric 73 drops in early December and if you’re after a Christmas stocking filler for your technophilic friend, it’s doubtful this will disappoint.

LOOKING DEEPER SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17 Tama Sumo The Spice Cellar

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21 Carl Craig The Spice Cellar

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22 Tin Man The Agincourt Hotel

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 6 Four Tet Goodgod Small Club

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

BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 39

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

Dave Seaman

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 HIP HOP & R&B

Home Brew + Loose Change + DJ Morgs The Basement, Circular Quay. 11pm. $19.80.

CLUB NIGHTS

After Dark - feat: Resident DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15. Argyle Saturdays - feat:

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9

Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Dave Seaman + J-Trick + Ember + A-Tonez + U-Khan + Daniel Farley + Fingers + Mo’Funk + Samrai + Hannah Gibbs Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $20. FBi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefi ts 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. Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. Skybar Saturdays - feat: Resident DJ The Watershed Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. $20. Slow Blow’s Last Party - feat: Stereogamous + Softwar + Jimmy Sing Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. $10. Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Space Tribe The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney. 10pm. $29. The Suite - feat: Resident DJs Sapphire Lounge, Potts Point. 8pm. free. Timmy Trumpet Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 8pm. $25.

Xxx

club pick of the week

Pyrmont. 8pm. $15. El’Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $109. Elizabeth Rose + Charles Murdoch Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $12. Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Mashed Fridays - feat: DJ Ric C Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8pm. free. SPL + Optiv & BTK + Samrai + Nemo + Big Deal + Gillespie + Vertigo + Celsius + Committ Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $20. Voodoo Friday - feat: Lisa Lashes + Amy Parnell + Hannah Gibbs + X-Dream + Dexi + Ange Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 11pm. $25.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10 HIP HOP & R&B

Scribbling Idiots - feat: DJ Maniak + Izzy N The Profi t + BRB + B.O.S. + Damage & Pushr + Hard Evidence + Juxta Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 6pm. $10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Beresford Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 3pm. free. Easy Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Tomek + Gabby + Morgan & Daniel George + Greg Sara + Craig Rodgers + Matt Weir + Owen Howells The Abercrombie, Broadway. 2pm. $10. 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.

Chinese Laundry

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Dave Seaman

Jneiro Jarel

+ J-Trick + Ember + A-Tonez + U-Khan + Daniel Farley + Fingers + Mo’funk + Samrai + Hannah Gibbs TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5

9pm. $20.

T.I. + French Montana + Bridgette Kelly Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $86.10.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6

HIP HOP & R&B

T.I. + French Montana + Bridgette Kelly Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $86.10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Moet & Chandon Melbourne Cup After Party - feat: The Potbellez Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 5pm. free.

COMEDY

Enmore Comedy Club feat: Harley Breen Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $15.

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

CLUB NIGHTS

The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Whip It Wednesdays - feat: DJs Camo + Snillum + Jaimie Lyn Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7 HIP HOP & R&B

Redbull Music Academy 40 :: BRAG :: 537 : 04:11:13

feat: Jneiro Jarel AKA Dr. Who Dat? + True Vibenation + Mute X Roleo & Huwston Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

Jamie Vlahos Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10. Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8 CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free. Connor Cruise Marquee At The Star,

Moet & Chandon Melbourne Cup After Party - Feat: The Potbellez Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 5pm. Free.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7 Redbull Music Academy - Feat: Jneiro Jarel AKA Dr. Who Dat? + True Vibenation + Mute X Roleo & Huwston Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8 Connor Cruise Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 8pm. $15. Elizabeth Rose + Charles Murdoch Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $12. Spl + Optiv & Btk + Samrai + Nemo + Big Deal + Gillespie + Vertigo + Celsius + Committ Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $20. Voodoo Friday - Feat: Lisa Lashes

+ Amy Parnell + Hannah Gibbs + X-Dream + Dexi + Ange Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 11pm. $25.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 Home Brew + Loose Change + DJ Morgs The Basement, Circular Quay. 11pm. $19.80. Slow Blow’s Last Party - Feat: Stereogamous + Softwar + Jimmy Sing Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. $10. Space Tribe The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney. 10pm. $29. Timmy Trumpet Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 8pm. $25.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10 S.A.S.H Sundays - Feat: Tomek + Gabby + Morgan & Daniel George + Greg Sara + Craig Rodgers + Matt Weir + Owen Howells The Abercrombie, Broadway. 2pm. $10.

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snap

outer bass sound

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up all night out all week . . .

s.a.s.h

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24:10:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

fuck buttons

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27:10:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9280 2178

26:10:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9280 2178 NAN :: ASHLEY MAR :: S :: KARL BRAASCH :: AMATH MAG

OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

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DAVID ROUSE

garden party: booka shade + digitalism

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strange fruit

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24:10:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

26:10:13 :: The Ivy :: 330 George St Sydney 9254 8100 BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13 :: 41

snap

boss bass

25:10:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

42 :: BRAG :: 537 :: 04:11:13

fat as butter

26:10:13 :: Camp Shortland :: Newcastle Foreshore

dutty dancing: electric punanny

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26:10:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

PICS :: KB

ben sims

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up all night out all week . . .

26:10:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587 S :: KARL BRAASCH OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY

MAR ::

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