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

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speed date WITH

BILLY ‘GOAT’ MORGAN FROM BASTARDIZER What Do You Look For In A Band?

1.

We’re a black thrash’n’roll band that likes to rock as hard as possible. We write heavy music intended to raise fists, bang heads and make babes horny. We go from high-paced thrash mayhem to mid-paced fury which harkens back to the Norwegian old-school legends as well as classic Aussie metal.

Keeping Busy We’ve just recorded our 2. debut LP which comes out this month. It sounds killer so we’re excited about that. Despite this we’ve kept a strong work ethic, playing plenty of shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, as well as writing material for a second LP. We’ve also just replaced bass players so we’ll be unleashing that maniac to the public this month.

We won’t let up after that. Plenty of gigs in the pipeline including supporting Toxic Holocaust in April

JOSS STONE AND INDIA.ARIE EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS EDITOR: Lisa Omagari lisa@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS + ONLINE EDITOR: Hannah Warren hannah@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Chris Honnery, Mina Kitsos ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry PHOTOGRAPHERS: Liam Cameron, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar, Jamie Williams, Prudence Upton 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 COORDINATORS: Thea Carley, Julienne Gilet, Mina Kitsos, Xiaoran Shi, Andy Huang - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)

so we’re very keen for that. We’ll be hitting Brisbane, Melbourne and possibly overseas in 2014.

Best Gig Ever All our shows have been 3. pretty wild experiences. I remember a show in Canberra where a mad bastard smashed his head wide open against the foldback and was covered in blood. It didn’t stop him rocking out til we were done before heading to hospital… We also supported Lightning Bolt and it’s fair to say the crowd were not used to a band like us. It was hipster heaven. But I think we won over their hearts in the end and got a few heads banging and singing along to our blasphemous odes.

Current Playlist Our set consists of our 4. album material. We always close with a unique cover which could be anything from Darkthrone to

CH-CH-CHANGES AT THE BRAG

With the New Year comes new beginnings at the BRAG. Lisa Omagari vacates her position as Arts Editor for a role in online media. She’s replaced by new Arts + Online Editor Hannah Warren, who’s worked in editorial and teaching positions

overseas and lists creating balloon animals as a secret skill. In 2014, the BRAG will hit streets every Wednesday – but your fix of all the happedy-haps is available 24/7 at thebrag.com.

BIG STAR’S THIRD

Cult rock heroes Big Star and their third

album Sister Lovers are set to be resuscitated at Sydney Festival with international guest vocalists Cat Power, Kurt Vile, Edwyn Collins, Skylar Gudasz, Brett Harris, plus local cats including You Am I’s Tim Rogers, The Scientists’ Kim Salmon and Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner joining the performances. It’ll all be backed by a local 12-piece strings and brass ensemble. With The Replacements, Belle & Sebastian and The Flaming Lips all swearing by Sister Lovers as an influence, this exclusive live performance is not to be missed – lucky for you, there are still tickets available for the Enmore Theatre event on Thursday January 23. Head to sydneyfestival.org.au for details.

I-rish I had been at the Sydney Opera House when Glen Hansard and his band The Frames cast audiences under a spell with their epic three-hour performance and undoubtedly adorable accents last year. Fortunately, the Irish troubadour is set to return to the white sails on Thursday March 20 for a solo show as part of the summer Music at the House program.

Expect a magical night of storytelling, as fellow Irish singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill warms up the audience with her poetic lyricism and melodic musings.

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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What: Vulgar Display Of Pizza With: Disintegrator, The Eradicated, Darker Half, The Corps Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Sunday January 26

GLEN HANSARD IN THE HOUSE

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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and lots of it. We love a high-tech beverage, perhaps a Duvel, Chimay, all the Belgian faves. Chuck some pizza and hot babes in there and we’re in heaven (I mean, Hell).

Thankfully those things come in abundance at Frankie’s so it’s pretty exciting to be playing there, where we’ve been known to drink in excess on a regular basis.

It’s time to recover your brick-sized iPod mini and revisit your Joss Stone playlist. ‘Super Duper Love’, ‘You Had Me’, ‘Right To Be Wrong’, ‘Fell In Love With A Boy’... remember them? Yep, the Brit soul prodigy is returning to our shores with six hit albums’ worth of sing-alongs, and who better to accompany her on a Bluesfest sideshow double billing than India.Arie? The Denver-born artist has been nominated for 21 Grammy awards for four wins, and has sold over 10 million albums.

She’ll be playing cuts from her new LP, SongVersation. The double slice of soul comes your way at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday April 24.

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

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

Your Ultimate Rider For a rider I guess we’re simple 5. guys with simple desires – beer

Joss Stone And India.Arie

AWESOME INTERNS: Mina Kitsos, Callum Wylie, Tahlia Pritchard, Xiaoran Shi, Julienne Gilet, Thea Carley, Andy Huang

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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

Twisted Sister. We’ve been lucky to see some killer bands as well ourselves. Enslaved, Black Breath, Moonsorrow and Van Halen come to mind.

Chicks On Speed

CHICKS ON SPEED WANT YOU

With a career spanning 15 years, Chicks On Speed have successfully blurred the boundaries between music, art, fashion and new media performance, incorporating all of these features into their stunning live shows. Returning in 2014 with what can only be described as media-art-pop-music, Utopia is the Chicks’ latest studio album, scheduled for release in March and feauturing collabs with figures as diverse as Yoko Ono and Julian Assange. Founding members Melissa Logan (USA) and Alex Murray-Leslie (Aus), accompanied by electro-drummer Erica Lewis, will unveil new tracks from the album, inviting audience members to participate in the creative process onstage by live-composing and mixing audio-visual scenes via the Chicks on Speed iPad apps. Don’t miss out on what is sure to be one of the most creative live performances of the year. Chicks On Speed play Friday March 14 and Saturday March 15 at FBi Social.

JUNGAL AT THE VANGUARD

Not to be confused with the three gigantic stone structures situated in the Blue Mountains region in NSW, the three sisters of Jungal are winning over festival audiences in all corners of the world with their blend of roots, rock and honey-drenched harmonies. Hailing from rural Victoria, where they were overheard rehearsing in a shed and subsequently given their first residency, Jungal are set to launch their sophomore album Leave My Head, coproduced by Fraser Montgomery (Symbiosis, The Cat Empire, Bonjah, Nicky Bomba). They’ll bring their invigorating, head-bopping, shoestomping live set to The Vanguard on Monday January 20. thebrag.com

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rock music news

free stuff

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

he said she said WITH

Your Band Cara: The band is the 3. both of us, Hat Fitz & Cara, and

Dusty, and my dad playing guitar.

My dad was a muso and it was apparent through the household.

Cara: My earliest musical memory was my nanny, Ruby; I guess when she hammered on the piano her honky-tonk versions of good Christian songs. My mum

was quite [into] rebelling against the church hymns so she listened to a lot of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Carole King. My dad played bass in a band – he said it was to pull the girls in school, but he has more of a musical ear and a great vinyl collection.

we pretty much hold our own onstage. Fitzy plays bass almost [entirely] with his right thumb and the rhythm and melody too, where I play the solid rhythm and we both sing. When we were in the studio with Jeff Lang for the making of the Wiley Ways album, Jeff had some great ideas to apply sounds that enhanced the two of us. We both totally agreed that Jeff was the one to produce our Wiley Ways album and the next one that will be finished at the end of February this year – he is most innovative when in the studio with the minimal instruments that we work with.

Inspirations Cara: My favourite musicians 2.

Music You Make from way back when I was 13 Fitzy: We have recorded with 4. The

YABUN FESTIVAL Beth Hart

Forgoing the typical festival traditions of blotchy spray tan, slurring along to misogynistic rap, clothing-is-optional landscapes and goddarn exxy tickets, Yabun Festival 2014 is a pocket of oxygen with its one-day showcase of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts – the biggest in the nation, to be precise. Underscored in its 12th year by the theme ‘Survive’, the revelry will be headlined by Aussie rock icons Bart Willoughby Band, with serenades from Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, Leah Flanagan, Kutcha Edwards, Renegades of Munk and King Brown. The festival is free on Sunday January 26 at Victoria Park in Camperdown.

PIGEON SETTLING IN

BETH HART TO DEBUT IN SYDNEY

Los Angeles rose Beth Hart is set to make her debut Sydney appearance, announcing a Bluesfest sideshow in April. The singer-songwriter recalls the most powerful female voices of the rock era, and has collaborated with the likes of Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and even Slash. She’ll arrive in the aftermath of her latest release, Boom Boom Bang Bang. See her at The Basement on Saturday April 12.

PRIMITIVE CALCULATORS THINK THE WORLD IS FUCKED

Remember that one time a shoeless dreadlocked man stormed off chanting “The world is fucked” after you said you didn’t have a cigarette and/ or pet hamster? Primitive Calculators seem to share the same ideal, their first-ever studio album The World Is Fucked wreaking sonic havoc with nine one-word songs including ‘No’, ‘God’ and ‘C**t’. Forming in 1978, the exuberantly narcissistic Melburnians appeared in the classic flick Dogs In Space, and reunited in 2009 to recharge their brand of synth-punk. You can dive right into their new record on Saturday January 18 when they launch it at The Red Rattler with support from Ghastly Spats and Litter.

Hm. Should you have given that guy a ciggie?

Probably.

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Brisbane electropop outfit Pigeon are set to release a fresh EP, Settle In, on Friday January 24, and are backing it up with an east coast tour. The five-piece has dropped two singles from the EP already – ‘Curtain Call’, which earned airplay on triple j, and ‘Two Moon Love’.

Frontman Danny Harley, AKA The Kite String Tangle, has also just announced a tour of his own. Settle in with Pigeon at Brighton Up Bar on Friday February 7, with support from Back Back Forward Punch. The Kite String Tangle’s show is at Oxford Art Factory on Friday February 14.

Jeff Lang and also Jim Conway from the original Backsliders …

The live show [we have] now is songs from Wiley Ways and the new tracks that we are making for the new album. There’s a feel of the old-time vibe throughout our style, yet the songs seem to be coming from our experiences on the road over the last few years together and some interesting tales of history around where we live, near Kin Kin, and the far-off land of Ireland.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

Fitzy & Cara: The music scene at the moment [seems] to be filled with so much variety and different styles of music, what with The Voice and the likes … making it so easy for little talent to become big talent almost at the press of a button. The local scene is the best place to get started sometimes where you can get your work out there with a kind but critical ear.

Where: Camelot Lounge / The Brass Monkey / The Basement When: Thursday January 16 / Wednesday January 22 / Saturday January 25

BDO MEET AND GREET: NORTHLANE

Northlane are going places. Many, many places. They’re about to head out on a 63-date world tour to kick off 2014 – it’ll take them from the USA to Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and beyond.

It all starts at the Big Day Out, though, including the Sydney stop on Australia Day, Sunday January 26. There they’ll play alongside Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, The Hives, Major Lazer, DZ Deathrays, The Drones, Kingswood and many more.

If you’ve already got your tickets to the festival, we can get you backstage for a meet-and-greet with the Northlane boys themselves. Head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us your favourite Northlane tune for your chance to win.

GUDRUN GUT

Legendary Berlin artist Gudrun Gut first came into prominence in the early ’80s as a member of Mania D (with Bettina Koester and Beate Bartel) and as an early incarnation of Einstürzende Neubauten. Now widely known now as a member of influential experimental art-rock band Malaria! – whose infamous track ‘Kaltes Klares Wasser’ was later made into a hit a second time around by Chicks On Speed – Gut works throughout Europe as a musician, performance artist, record label owner, audio engineer, programmer and record producer. Don’t miss your chance to catch one of Germany’s most eclectic experimental exports. Gudrun Gut will play The Square on Thursday January 30.

Mother's Cake

BOOTLEG RASCAL

Get primed this summer for the chilled reggae/ indie rock vibes of Bootleg Rascals. Their latest release, ‘Overflow’, with its solid grooves and hip hop breaks, has proven to be another winner, showcasing the band’s signature soul. For the past year, Bootleg Rascals have been enjoying community radio love, with tracks ‘Psychotica’ and ‘Sharks’ receiving triple j attention. All the while, the lads from Bootleg have been at work on their new record, and have just played a stint at the Woodford Folk Festival. Catch them at Name This Bar on Saturday January 18 and the Mona Vale Hotel on Saturday January 25.

THE HOLIDAYS NEW ALBUM, TOUR

Time to get feel with The Holidays. Real Feel. That’s the name of their new album, announced for release on Friday February 21. The record’s been two years in the making since the band’s debut, Post Paradise, and already we’ve had a peek at the new sound via singles ‘Voices Drifting’ and ‘All Time High’. Now The Holidays are prepping for an album launch tour kicking off in March. See them at Oxford Art Factory on Friday March 14.

The Holidays

Ah, the ’90s. It was the decade alternative rock took over the Western world, from Seattle to Sydney. They just wrote tuuunes in those days, didn’t they? Spiderbait’s ‘Buy Me A Pony’, Jebediah’s ‘Harpoon’ (the song with which they invented emo, Kevin Mitchell likes to joke), Silverchair’s ‘Freak’, Pauline Pantsdown’s ‘I Don’t Like It’ – the list goes on. Dirty Jeans: The Rise Of Australian Alternative Rock is the new 25-track compilation covering 1988 through 2002, including all those tracks (OK, except for Pauline’s) and more. It’s a stroll through the history of one of the most fruitful eras in Australian rock, and it should downright be compulsory on the high school curriculum.

Anyway, we’ve got ten copies to giveaway – for your chance to win, head to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us your favourite forgotten song from the ’90s in Australia.

MOTHER’S CAKE

February will mark the first-ever Australian visit for Mother’s Cake.

The Austrian prog rockers will be playing songs from their debut album, Creation’s Finest, which is due for Australian release next month via Inway Records. With their effortlessly cool rebellious aesthetic, and a sound that is reminiscent of rock heroes Led Zeppelin and The Mars Volta, it’s not too difficult to see where the accolades are coming from. A random fun fact: Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens has his fingers in the (Mother’s) cake too (bad pastry pun, sorry), featuring on single ‘Soul Prison’.

Mother’s Cake will be playing The Bald Faced Stag on Friday February 21.

THE BENNIES

After touring extensively over the last year, riding the wave of triumph that followed their second album Rainbows in Space, The Bennies seemed to be hell bent on continuing down the same path. Returning from a stint in Asia, playing to adoring fans in China and Japan, the band will take a brief break, but by the end of January their new national tour (the second in six months) titled Knights Forever will be in full swing. They are playing two Sydney shows: at Hermann’s Bar on Saturday March 15 and Beatdisc (all ages) on Sunday March 16. Support from Apart From This. thebrag.com

Hat Fitz & Cara photo by Rob Roy

Growing Up Fitzy: My earliest music 1. memory was listening to Slim

THE RISE OF AUSSIE ALT ROCK

HAT FITZ & CARA years old were Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin … I danced around the living room bedroom – any room that had space – and sang each song at the top of my voice, then cried to Otis Redding’s version of ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’. It still makes me cry, I had never realised music could be so powerful.

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * Multi-day camping event Falls Festival is held annually in Lorne, VIC; Marion Bay, TAS; and Byron Bay, NSW, but co-director Paul Pittico told the Launceston Examiner that Falls could eventually spread out to QLD and even WA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think there is room for a Falls in a few locations because of its community nature, the fact that it is not too big, because the crowd size is sustainable and aspects of the local market can support it long-term,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he said. * A Las Vegas police

captain who helped Guns Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Roses guitarist Daren Jay â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;DJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Ashba pull off an elaborate wedding proposal has opted to retire rather than get demoted. Capt.

David Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary arranged for a police helicopter to give DJ and Colombian actress Nathalia Henao a flight over Vegas, after which he proposed with roses and champagne.

The guitarist couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t resist posting pics of the ride online, incriminating the captain. The helicopter pilot was transferred out of the department and cannot fly for the police again. * A petition has begun for the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Streets in

15 SYDNEY ACTS HEAD TO SXSW 15 acts from Sydney are among the 43 acts that have confirmed they are playing South

by Southwest in Austin, Texas. They are Angus & Julia Stone, Boy & Bear, Gang of Youths, The Preatures, Kid Mac, Josef Salvat, Kirin J Callinan, The Swiss, Mt Warning, Panama, Seekae, The Griswolds, Touch Sensitive, Wave Racer and What So Not. They join acts from other parts of Australia including Vance Joy, Oh Mercy, Gossling, Dune Rats, Owl Eyes, Favoured Nations, DZ Deathrays, Mia Dyson, King Parrot and Miami Horror. SXSWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Australian representative Phil Tripp reckons that the Australian contingent will rise to a record-breaking 50, adding, â&#x20AC;&#x153;This group of artists for 2014, as well as the ones yet to be contracted, represents the strongest talent pool Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen since starting with SXSW in 2002. We succeed at these showcases because Australian bands are unrelenting through our tradition of taking no prisoners in the beer barns and pub circuits.â&#x20AC;?

Manhattan, depicted on the cover of the Beastie Boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 1989 album Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Boutique, to be renamed Beastie Boys Square. * Rumours that George Michael is about to retire have been denied. * The push is for NSW and the ACT to introduce Newcastleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strict restrictions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1am lockout, 3am close, cut back on spirits â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to battle alcoholrelated violence. The NSW Labor Party re-released its Drink Smart Stay Safe policy, which includes an 18-month trial in the Sydney CBD. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been dismissed

by Police Minister Mike Gallacher who said tough rules already were in place.

ENDLESS SUMMER A HIT The inaugural Endless Summer Festival in Cronulla is returning next year after the free December 27 to 29 music, art and food event proved a hit. The first day, headlined

by Bluejuice, drew 11,000 punters. The next day had 20,000 with names including The Preatures, Marlin Zando and Amy Meredith.

The final day, which drew 15,000, showcased indie acts like Dustin Tebbutt, I Oh You, I Am Apollo, Strangers, Shinobi, Skryptcha and Murray Lake. The beachside vibe fest, at Gunnamatta Park, was the brainchild of Mario Kalpou.

BIRDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ROBE SIGNING Mike Soloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sydney-based label Birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Robe Records signed Melbourne progressive rock band A Lonely Crowd. Their second album Transients, two and a half years in the making, is out early 2014.

REDFOO SUED OVER â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;SHUFFLINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; PHRASE Redfoo and his LMFAO colleague Sky Blu

are being sued by hip hop superstars Rick Ross and Jermaine Jackson. Ross reckons that the line â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyday Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m shufflinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? from LMFAOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2010 hit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Party Rock Anthemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was nicked from his own â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyday Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m hustlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? from his 2006 hit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hustlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;. He contends the phrase was performed to sound like him, and cash in on his success. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Party Rock Anthemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sold 7.5 million copies and was used in films, TV, games and airline ads, and the phrase was used to market a clothing line.

VENUES #1: THE ROLLER DEN ARRIVING The Roller Den, in the basement of the Imperial Hotel, opens in March as the inner westâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest music venue. The 550-capacity venue, licensed till 8am, will showcase original live music and the alternative club scene. This month it is building a stage for touring acts and installing a new NEXO in-house PA system through GAS Audio Services. Operators Kingdom Sounds (known for developing coastal music venues through NSW) will work with other venues to strengthen the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s live music. Kingdom Soundsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Steve Sewell said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe the venue will be one of many more to come in Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hub for music, arts and culture and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m stoked to have my team and myself involved in the new wave of live music venues & culture in the area.â&#x20AC;? The Snowdroppers will headline opening night on Friday March 7. A hip hop night called Knowledge launches on Saturday March 22 headlined by L-Fresh The Lion, while weekly indie club night Common People kicks off on Friday April 4.

The booking agent for the venue is Laurie Mahon at laurie@kingdomsounds.com.au.

VENUES #2: ABERCROMBIE CLOSES The Abercrombie Hotel in Chippendale has closed, due to the Central Park development, operators posted on Facebook. A trendy place for 20-somethings, it was home to Purple Sneakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; club nights and S.A.S.H parties.

VENUES #3: NEW OWNERS FOR RAILWAY JUNCTION Emma and Josh Meijerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NSW pub group City Country Hotel Management (CCHM), whose portfolio of venues include live music venue the Crown Hotel in Surry Hills, has bought the Railway Junction Hotel in Dubbo.

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Just Announced This Week

Coming Soon

Ghost (SWE)

Rotting Christ (GRE)

Eyehategod

Tue 28 Jan

Fri 17 Jan

Sat 18 Jan

Supernova U18s Headhunterz Thu 23 Jan: U18s

Toro Y Moi + Portugal The Man

Havok (USA) & King Parrot

Wed 29 Jan

Thu 6 Feb

Groundation (USA)

Kerser

Fri 7 Feb

Sat 8 Feb: All Ages

PEARL JAM ACCOUNTANT STOLE US$380,000 A former executive with Pearl Jamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s company, 55-year-old Rickey Charles Goodrich, admitted he stole US$380,000 from the band over four years. He was employed in 2005 as their accountant, and the following year became part of the management team, which gave him access to their tour and fan club funds.

Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be sentenced on Friday February 21.

He faces six months in jail, having paid back $125,000, but the sentence could be extended to 14 months if he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay back the rest of his ill-gotten gains.

DJ MAG LAUNCHES IN AUSTRALIA

International dance music magazine DJ Mag will launch an online Australian version next month. Its office is in Potts Point, with ten journos working under editor Victor de la Serna who set up the title in Spain in 2010. The Australian version is published

by HM Global, which publishes DJ Mag in Canada and the Caribbean. It will feature international and local content, and de la Serna reckons it will get 60,000 unique viewers in its first month. A US version is also set to go live.

BRUNO, RIHANNA MOST PIRATED IN 2013

TnT, Frequencerz, + More

The Coronas (IRL)

Six60 (NZ)

Sat 22 Feb

Fri 28 Feb

Sat 15 Feb: U18s

Sat 8 Mar

Darkside Wed 02 Apr

Dark Tranquillity (SWE)

Robert Glasper Exp & Roy Ayers & Lonnie Liston Smith

Kylesa (USA) Thu 3 Apr

Sat 29 Mar

Toxic Holocaust & Skeletonwitch

Children of Bodom

Sat 26 Apr

Fri 9 May

Skid Row & Ugly Kid Joe

The Crimson ProjeKCt

Sun 27 Apr

Fri 27 Jun

Bruno Mars and Rihanna were 2013â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most-pirated artists according to a new study. Their music was illegally downloaded 5 million times each over 12 months. They beat Daft Punk and Justin Timberlake who were downloaded illegally 4 million times. The figures are from industry analysts Musicmetric, who used data from pirating method Bittorrent to find that the 20 most-pirated artists were downloaded 64.5m times in 2013. BeyoncĂŠ made a landmark decision when she unexpectedly released an album without any fanfare that sold 900,000 in its first week, but she lost almost US$4mil worth of sales when 240,000 copies of the album were pirated in the first ten days. Last year, Taylor Swiftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red was downloaded 270,000 times in its

first ten days, while Timberlakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The 20/20 Experience was pirated 336,000 times.

BLUESFEST FERRIS WHEEL OWNER PLEADS GUILTY The owner of a Ferris wheel hired at Bluesfest 2010, which seriously injured three teenagers, pleaded guilty last month in the Industrial Relations Court to breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. WorkCover NSW said a carriage fell six to eight metres to the ground after the axle failed. A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old suffered head, neck and spinal injuries, and a 15-year-old had neck and facial injuries.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR JAZZ BELL AWARDS Nominations have opened for the 2014 Australian Jazz Bell Awards, to be held on Thursday May 1 at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne. The categories are best jazz, modern jazz, contemporary avant-garde and traditional jazz albums, as well as the yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best jazz song, ensemble and jazz artist, and they share a prize pool of $40,000.

Nominations close Friday February 14.

Lifelines Engaged: James Blunt, 36, and long-term aristocrat galpal Sofia Wellesley, 29, granddaughter of the Duke of Wellington.

Married: Editors singer Tom Smith and radio presenter and film critic Edith Bowman, in a secret ceremony, after an eightyear courtship and two kids.

Married: former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and Lisa Lane.

Married: former EMI Chairman Mark Poston and stylist and creative David Bonney tied the knot in Sydney with Paul Mac as musical director. Congrats messages came from around the world, including from Kylie Minogue and Molly Meldrum, which Poston likened to â&#x20AC;&#x153;getting blessed by your musical fairy godparentsâ&#x20AC;?.

Injured: a man at Origin Festival in Perth sneaked past security during A$AP Rockyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set and climbed up the lighting rig and dangled off it. A$AP went, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh shit, kid. Come on man, be careful... Somebody help this kid before he kills himself.â&#x20AC;?

He fell, getting â&#x20AC;&#x153;serious but not life threateningâ&#x20AC;? injuries.

Injured: months after a knee transplant, Queen guitarist Brian May learned two torn discs were pressing on a nerve in his back, causing huge pain.

Died: NT rock, country and gospel multi-instrumentalist and singer Kwementyaye Johnson was killed by a road train near Tennant Creek.

Died: Benjamin Curtis, 35, guitarist for US band School of Seven Bells, after a battle with lymphoblastic lymphoma, a cancer of the blood.

Died: Ricky â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lord Infamousâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Dunigan, 40, founder of Three 6 Mafia, was found dead in his motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home in Memphis, of a heart attack. They were the first rap band to win an Oscar in 2006 for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hard Out Here For A Pimp.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Died: British producer David Richards, 57, from an illness. He ran Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and worked with Queen, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and The Cribs.

Died: The body of Nicholas Sofer-Schreiber, 27, a member of Canberraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s punk music fraternity, was found in his apartment with multiple stab wounds. He contributed news reports to triple jâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s punk show short.fast.loud and appeared in a video by local band Revellers. Friends confirmed plans to establish The Ginger Ninjaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Annual Punk Rock Festival. Police have extended their inquiries to include former housemates.

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SNOOP DOGG

THE LION’S ROAR

BY ALI HAWKEN pine trees. Sometime around mid-afternoon, one festivalgoer made the grave mistake of throwing a cigarette butt into the surrounding bush, and so an almighty bushfire ensued.

With close to 20,000 people all stranded on this island with no other means to get back to the mainland, to say it was a chaotic scene is an understatement. All the bands had ceased playing, as nobody could see the stage due to the smoke. The First Aid tents were inundated while people were having asthma attacks left, right and centre. Police officers were standing around nervously assessing the situation, as they needed an evacuation plan. My friends and I were making plans to swim ashore and had all but given up on seeing the headliners we were promised later that night, for surely this was reason enough for the Beastie Boys and Snoop Dogg to forego their commitments.

Then, to the astonishment of all onlooking, as if it were a clichéd gangster film, a limo burst through the wall of flames and pulled up at the festival gates. Yes, that’s right – it was Snoop Motherfucking Dogg. His pimpin’ fur jacket on (never mind the 40-degree day) and smoke in hand, he took to the stage. Dozens of police were standing by to see what Snoop had in store for everyone. And you better believe it, the motherfucker did it – he opened with N.W.A’s ‘Fuck Tha Police’. If anyone were to have the balls to pull such a stunt, it was Snoop.

“I’ve pretty much seen it all and done it all in my career,” he tells me with a laugh when I ask him about that festival. “That Australia show with the bushfire was a good one though.”

This time around, he’ll be heading back Down Under as Snoop Dogg to play the Big Day Out, with a touch of Snoop Lion thrown in for good measure. “You can expect all the classics with some new stuff sprinkled in,” he reveals. “And a live-ass show!”

As he tells it, Snoop Lion was a Rastafarian reincarnation of the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg, while Snoopzilla is more of a branch of his truer self rather than another character altogether. “Snoopzilla is another extension of my personality, not so much of a Superman/Clark Kent thing. We do what we feel,” he explains. “Snoopzilla is into the funk!”

Will there be another incarnation of Snoop in the foreseeable future? “You’ll just have to wait and see,” he says. Only last month he told Rolling Stone, “One day I will go back to being Snoop Dogg, because I love him and he loves me. Right now, what’s necessary is Snoopzilla – because this is the funk, and may the funk be with you.”

But just as ’Zilla and his 7 Days Of Funk arrived, he left again, with a return to his Snoop Dogg roots set for this year. The Doggfather, it’s been announced, will be teaming up with Wiz Khalifa for a new album.

And what about the ‘family man Snoop’, behind closed doors? “Life as a family man is a whole ’nother side of me,” he says. “Family is very important to me. I started my SYFL [Snoop Youth Football League] program from being involved in my own kids’ lives and what they were doing. Shout out to my wife the Boss Lady and my kids.”

W

hat’s his name again? While Snoop Dogg’s debut single was released some 20 years ago, ‘Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)’ now rings out like some kind of clue as to what lay ahead for his career. With all his various monikers and name changing, Snoop Dogg is damn well giving Prince a run for his money these days.

It’s hard to keep up – Snoop announced last year he was now to be known as Snoop Lion after converting to Rastafarianism, but in recent months the name has been forsaken in favour of Snoopzilla. ’Zilla – being an homage of sorts to legendary ParliamentFunkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins, who often referred to himself as Bootzilla – released 7 Days Of Funk last month, the result of his latest collaboration with Dam Funk. Let’s not forget DJ Snoopadelic, either; and that’s just touching on his musical personas before we get onto his forays into film and television. So who is the real Snoop?

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Growing up in Long Beach, California, Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. was nicknamed ‘Snoopy’ by his parents because of his appearance. He began singing and playing piano at the local Baptist church from a young age. “I grew up listening to a lot of old school and soul music, and I play a lot of that to this day,” says Snoop. While he listened to rap from Grandmaster Flash, Whodini and The Sugarhill Gang, he also looked up to soul artists like Curtis Mayfield “because he was a bad motherfucker”. As he explained to Playboy magazine back in ’95, “That’s why motherfuckers say that I sing instead of rap.

That’s why I got more of an R&B sound. They say my shit is gangsta shit because of the words I use. But if you listen to it, it’s R&B shit.”

At school, Snoop spent his days hanging out with the likes of Nate Dogg and Warren G, the three of them going on to form the band 213

in 1990, named after the Long Beach area code. His music career didn’t really take off, however, until a couple of years later when he was discovered by Dr. Dre, who brought him onboard to collaborate on The Chronic.

In 1993, Snoop unleashed Doggystyle onto the world, his first solo record debuting at number one on the US Billboard charts and selling almost a million copies in its first week, signifying Snoop was set to join the greats of the rap game.

From the outset, it was clear that he was never going to be anything but legendary.

I managed to catch Snoop on one of his visits to Australia several years ago when he played a music festival on an island just off the Gold Coast. It was a typically hot summer’s day, and all the punters had to walk the long road that joined the island to the mainland to get to the festival grounds – a road lined with nothing but eucalypts and

Of course, we can’t properly discuss the shifting personas of Snoop without reference to his widespread film career – both Hollywood and Bollywood. He’s had cameos as himself in over a dozen films and television shows, and then there’s the various characters he’s taken on: Huggy Bear Brown in Starsky & Hutch, Ja’Marcus in Scary Movie 5, Mac Johnson in Mac & Devin Go To High School, Dra-Man, C-Dawg, Blue, Rodney, Jimmy Bones… you get the picture. Snoop even had a cameo in the 2008 Bollywood film Singh Is Kinng, doing his first ever rap in an Indian movie.

After all that, who exactly is the real Snoop?

Tell you what, I’ve still got no fucking idea.

When: 8pm, Red Stage Sideshow: Enmore Theatre, Saturday January 25, with Mac Miller thebrag.com

THE WORLD’S FESTIVAL LINE UP INCLUDES

Billy Bragg

Mikhael Paskalev Arrested Development

Muro

Washington

Femi Kuti

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THE HIVES C

hris Dangerous, drummer of The Hives, is no doubt dressed to the nines and sipping on a Heineken somewhere as he waits for the operator to hook up our interview call. “I’m pretty fucking good,” he affirms, with bandmates chatting up a storm backstage, as the line is connected. “I just played a show in a huge arena in Newark, New Jersey.”

It’s fitting, really, that The Hives would already be out there on the road at a time when they have come to save the day (along with Deftones and Beady Eye), filling in at the Big Day Out for UK icons Blur. That the Swedes’ inclusion comes at the cost of some rare downtime at home only adds to their rockworthiness.

“Actually that fill-in spot has worked out perfectly because we were just gonna be at home,” Dangerous says. “We were going to try to rehearse some new stuff, but then the question was asked and we looked at our calendar and it just fit perfectly.

“I mean, we love playing in Australia. We’ve had so many great tours over there and the Big Day Out is such a great experience for any band. We’ve done it before and we know they’re serious about anything they do. So it’s really a no-brainer for us.”

The added bonus of squeezing a little more summer into their year would appear to have sealed the deal. “Exactly,” Dangerous says. “It’s always good to be at home, you know, when you have some downtime with your family, but when there’s an offer to come to Australia we hardly ever say no. The audience, the country, everything about it... it’s just a place that we really love.”

After last playing in Australia at the beginning of 2013, the five-piece has been busy touring in support of 2012’s Lex Hives album, mainly in the US. Part of the adventure saw The Hives supporting Pink on numerous stops of her The Truth About Love tour. It was a different experience for the well-dressed rockers, playing shortened sets to mainstream pop audiences.

“It’s quite interesting,” Dangerous says. “We were quite scared in the beginning but we’ve always been really good in the face of difficult competition. We love to walk into these arenas

TOP AND TAILS

BY BOB GORDON

and try to explain to people what we’re doing and why they should love us. Pretty much every night we’ve gained some 15,000 new fans who would never have heard us before.”

Even if you’ve seen The Hives perform in the past, there’s always room for surprises in any of their live shows. Pity the poor Pink fans who didn’t know what they were in for...

“I wish I could be that person,” says Dangerous.

“To not know about our band and go see us for the first time and just get fucking blown away. I would like to be those people.”

The secret to the long stints on the road, Dangerous explains, is not letting illness or injury get in the way. “For us it’s all about every show being as good as the other one.

I’ve played the same night that I was robbed with pepper spray, or when my body’s been in such bad shape that I couldn’t even stand up but somehow I’ve pulled through and played a show.

“The main thing is, if you’re in a band and you go out on a six-week-long tour, you might not want to do everything you can to destroy yourself on the first night. It’s gonna bite you back and it’s gonna hurt. There’s not really much advice you can give, it’s really just being able to play the show every night. Whatever situation you face, somehow you gotta pull through. It’s easier if you don’t try and hurt yourself [laughs].”

Still, The Hives’ unpredictability means it’s not always fun and games. Last month, vocalist Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist dedicated a song to the people of Boston during a show in their city. Unfortunately, that song happened to be ‘Tick Tick Boom’, and it was deemed by some to be too soon/too much after the Boston Marathon bombing earlier in the year. The Hives apologised via Facebook and it seems the slipup was accidental rather than a poor-taste joke.

“When we’re up onstage – and we do this a lot – we always want to dedicate a song to people who came to the show,” Dangerous says. “It was really unfortunate that it happened to be that song. When we’re onstage we don’t really think about anything but trying to make the best show possible. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve had

so many comments coming back just saying, ‘You don’t have to apologise; you’re a rock band who just like to dedicate their songs.’

drum stool, in the manner most associated with classical pianists. It was a nice touch, to say the least.

“You could probably interpret a lot from the lyrics into whatever you want, but it’s still just a song. The title of the song is ‘Tick Tick Boom’ but it doesn’t have to do with bombs.

It’s not about that. It’s just very unfortunate and unlucky.”

“I do that every night when I have a tux on,” he laughs. “It just felt right, having a tux on when you’re about to play a song, no matter if it’s the piano or the drums!

The Hives’ last Australian tour saw the band perform in tuxedos. As Dangerous hit the drum riser, readying to pound into album and set opener ‘Come On!’, he flicked his tuxedo tails dramatically behind him before sitting on his

PORTUGAL. THE MAN

BY AUGUSTUS WELBY

“When we moved down to Portland it was just crazy. I couldn’t believe that I was going and watching these amazing bands I’d definitely heard of that were playing some cool little bar for like three dollars. Seeing all these bands just get in a van and go travel across the country playing shows every night, it really inspired me to go out and do it.”

Portland maintains a strong underground scene, which Carothers believes to be a creative impetus. “You try to surround yourself with people that are very talented and it definitely pushes you. I grew up snowboarding a lot; John and I both did. We would always go with the older guys, the guys that are pretty much professional snowboarders in Alaska. They would always push us more to do everything, so I think that’s a big thing to have people that you look up to that are doing something right.”

A

16 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

expansive psych-pop sound, Carothers explains there wasn’t a lot of music available to them when growing up in Alaska.

“We were very, very isolated up there. Before the internet all we had was oldies stations and Top 40 radio,” he says. “Luckily our parents had amazing record collections but we had no idea about underground music at all. If it was underground, it got up to Alaska about ten years later.”

In 2004 Gourley and Carothers relocated to the bohemian mecca of Portland, Oregon to enhance the opportunities for the then freshly conceived Portugal. The Man. In the last few decades Portland has given rise to many leading indie music figures, including

When: 4:30pm, Orange Stage

FRIENDS LIKE THESE

Elliott Smith, The Shins and Blitzen Trapper.

Carothers says moving to the city hastened the band’s development.

laska doesn’t have a huge rock’n’roll reputation; in fact, the state’s geographical obscurity basically excludes it from the American music narrative altogether. Yet the core duo behind indie rock five-piece Portugal. The Man – singersongwriter John Gourley and bassist Zach Carothers – are Alaskan natives helping to establish their state’s musical relevance. In the last decade the band has issued eight full-length releases, culminating in 2013’s Evil Friends. On their latest record, Gourley’s and Carothers’ affection for ’60s and ’70s pop music is relayed with a distinctly modern edge. Recorded with revered producer Danger Mouse, Evil Friends has a shiny pop-rock sheen, but the psychedelic quirks of previous releases remain. Despite Portugal. The Man’s

“For this tour, at least, we’re wearing mariachi outfits so I can’t do it now. I’m not sure what we’re wearing for the Big Day Out. We’ll see what is fitting for the occasion.”

After releasing six LPs through various indie labels, Portugal. The Man signed to Atlantic Records for 2011’s In The Mountain In The Cloud. Thanks to the major label budget the band has teamed up with some big-name producers and subsequently indulged the pop curiosity. The influence of Brian Burton (AKA Danger Mouse) on Evil Friends is evident in the record’s bass-heavy grooves. Carothers, however, reveals that the band’s continual rise hasn’t pleased everyone in its adopted hometown.

“A lot of those people in Portland, they don’t want to get big, they want to stay as this ‘cool small band’. And I don’t. I want to play for a lot of people, I want to travel as much as I can.

You know, I get to go to Australia and spend a few weeks there travelling around the country playing shows. That’s fucking awesome.”

Portugal. The Man will be coming Down Under for the Big Day Out this month and Carothers says he’s particularly excited to see the headliners. “I’ve never seen Pearl Jam live, so that’s one of the ones that I’m definitely excited

to see. The first time I took my own money and went to the local music shop I bought Pearl Jam’s Ten, when I was about 11 years old. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to that record.”

The Seattle Sound legends are a good example of a band that managed to craft its own unique sect within rock music while achieving massive commercial success.

Carothers says his intention is to have Portugal. The Man follow a similar path.

“We’re trying to make music that’s successful because I want to make the mainstream cooler. I would love to be able to turn on any Top 40 radio station and have the Top 40 songs be awesome. There’s always been artists like that, that are good. Like David Bowie – how many hits does that guy have?

Nobody ever questions his artistic intent. It’s stuff like that that’s really inspiring. The Beatles – listen to the ‘White Album’. That’s one of the most popular records of all time. You can write popular stuff and still have it be fucking amazing.”

Pop songs often rely on concision and a certain hypnotic quality to succeed. It’s a delicate balance and artists who miss the mark can be subjected to harsh scrutiny.

Carothers offers his view on the nuanced craft of successful pop music.

“I’ve been in prog-rock bands, I love that kind of stuff, but writing a seven-and-a-half-minute epic prog song is a lot easier than writing a three-minute pop song. Take something like [Bill Withers’] ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’. It’s got pretty much one progression, one hook, one groove; it’s two minutes and thirty seconds long and it takes me so many places in that two minutes thirty seconds. I just think that’s beautiful and that’s hard to do. That’s what we’re striving to do.”

What: Evil Friends out now through Atlantic/Warner When: 1pm, Orange Stage Sideshow: The Hi-Fi, Wednesday January 29, with Toro y Moi

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MUDHONEY STICKING AROUND

BY LACHLAN KANONIUK

TAME IMPALA

I

n the aftermath of was what a mammoth year for Tame Impala – touring the globe, appearing at the Rolling Stones-headlined Glastonbury Festival, a performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, winning three ARIAs, and their recently announced Grammy nomination in the Best Alternative Album category for sophomore psychedelic rock/dreampop release Lonerism – Kevin Parker is speaking from his bedroom studio at home in Perth. “It feels good to be back home,” he says.

Lonerism, released in late 2012, is a brilliantly lush and synth-laden album, delving into the psyche of a

BY MIMI VELEVSKA

But what has the album taught Parker most about himself? “It’s taught me that whilst [making music is] therapeutic, it won’t fix your problems. It’s like taking Panadol.

At the time it seems like it’s fixing a problem.” He adds, “I’ve become more free and open to expressing my emotions.”

self-confessed loner over a poppier melodic base. Looking back, Parker says the record only took thematic shape halfway through the recording process. “[Lyrically] from the beginning I didn’t know what I was doing, putting words and phrases and emotion that fit the music. There was no master plan in the start – halfway, I realised what was the running theme.” While some would interpret the term ‘lonerism’ to mean being alone without feeling lonely, Parker says it’s about the opposite – the feeling of loneliness amongst a room full of people.

The five members of Tame Impala’s live incarnation are known for their numerous, equally brilliant side projects falling under the psychinspired umbrella (Pond, GUM, Allbrook/Avery) and Parker already has a new project in the works. “I’m currently working on another band I’ve started – like a weird, superrepetitive Kraftwerk, but with disco,” he says.

It’s a similar phenomenon to what one experiences at a Tame Impala live show. Watching them recreate those huge, multi-layered psychedelic grooves seems incredibly personal – any one member of the audience is almost isolated, as if the band is playing to them directly. Having spent over six months mixing Lonerism himself – its overall production stretched to two years – Parker points to the feeling that makes him happiest about touring the album. “When we’re on tour and there are fans, you can just see it on their face that you’ve really got them attached. You realise that it’s affected them in a deep way. To see the result your music has [on people] is the pinnacle of what it’s about.”

DZ DEATHRAYS

Having previously confessed that he is a devotee of sugary pop, we may even see Parker one day following Sia Furler’s lead and writing hits for some of the world’s biggest pop stars, on top of all the music he already creates, performs and produces. “That’s my fantasy. That’s the dream, writing super pop hits after doing the hard yards. You’d just observe them being performed by others and watch the songs grow like they’re your children.”

When: 2:30pm, Orange Stage

OLD HEADS

BY ROHAN WILLIAMS “We got on a bus, leaving at four in the morning, and the bus would take us down to the Gold Coast.

We’d hang out at Big Day Out all day, moshing and jumping and running around having a great time. Then we’d get back on a bus, all sweaty, and we’d just freeze our arses off because of the air conditioning all the way back to Bundaberg. We’d get back at four or five in the morning. So it was a huge day, but when you were young you just didn’t care. You were just so excited.”

“I just remember standing there watching bands at Big Day Out, just thinking, ‘I don’t even know what I’d do if I got a chance to stand on that stage’.”

onsidering he grew up in Bundaberg, you might not think the Big Day Out played a big part in the life of DZ Deathrays frontman Shane Parsons. You’d be wrong.

C

“It was what I looked forward to every year,” he remembers. “I’ve only missed two since I was 14. I’ve been to, like, 11 or 12 of them. So,

18 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

yeah, it was a big thing. It was the only live music I really got to see.

There weren’t too many all-ages shows in Bundy. I got to see Frenzal [Rhomb], they played there once, and there were some random bands that you’d just go see because you wanted to see live music. I was in a band at school, but we just used to play at house parties. So Big Day Out was… it was a huge thing.

These days, of course, Parsons and fellow Deathray Simon Ridley know exactly what to do on a Big Day Out stage. It’s the same thing they do to every stage – lay waste to it, mercilessly, until God takes pity on anyone who has to follow them. Debut LP Bloodstreams was a master class in brutality, winning the Brisbane-based duo an unlikely ARIA and earning them rave reviews from international tastemakers Pitchfork and NME, giving them plenty of opportunities to destroy stages in the US and UK as well.

A

few hours before our interview, footage surfaced of Mudhoney’s Mark Arm (as well as guitarist Steve Turner and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil) joining Pearl Jam for their hometown Seattle show, with Arm bounding across stage while weaving through the legs of everyone else and belting out ‘Kick Out The Jams’. “It was fun, y’know? I love the MC5, that song’s a lot of fun to play, and we’ve done it before with Pearl Jam. It was an easy song to pull out of the quiver.”

It was a showcase of Seattle’s musical history, yet Arm doesn’t feel any innate geographical allegiance. “I’ve never been one to have any hometown pride. I’m not a nationalistic person, not like ‘Go USA!’ or ‘Go Washington State! Go Seattle!’ Where you’re born or where you grow up isn’t anything you have to do with, it’s sheer happenstance.

It’s always baffled me that people have hometown pride.”

Though Mudhoney enjoy the status of revered veterans, Arm rejects the nostalgia that overwhelms many of his contemporaries. “For me it’s always moving forward. I don’t dwell on past glories, I’m not even sure if there were any,” he laughs. “Sure, I have fond memories, but there are shitty memories too. There’s a balance to be struck there.”

Last year saw the release of Vanishing Point, Mudhoney’s ninth full-length studio LP. It came five years after the release of The Lucky Ones, marking the longest time between Mudhoney albums.

“There were a couple of things.

Steve [Turner, guitar] moved down to Portland when we recorded The Lucky Ones, which was our last album. So our practices became a little bit fewer and further between, because Portland is a three-hour drive away. Any time we practised it was a six-hour round trip for him.

Then in 2010, one of my good friends at Sub Pop died in a car accident. So that took me a long time to think about not missing him.”

Recent setlists for Mudhoney’s US

shows provided a varied selection of new and old material. “For these Pearl Jam shows, we came up with two different setlists. One where I didn’t play guitar, the old songs with just one guitar, like ‘Who You Driving Now?’ and ‘Suck You Dry’, then a couple songs off The Lucky Ones and a couple songs from the new album. When we played with Pearl Jam here in Seattle we tried to come up with more of a psychedelic setlist for our own amusement, songs with a lot of guitar solos, where the other one was more punk. Who knows what we’ll be doing on the Big Day Out, we’re not sure what our set times are.”

The divergent styles of punk, psychedelic and everything in between stem from a democratic songwriting process. “When we write, we collaborate. We end up writing stuff that falls into stuff that everyone in the band likes. Steve tends to be a huge folky as well, he likes more folk than I do. Then I like a lot more jazz than he does, not that I can really play jazz. When the four of us get together, it mutates into something else. When we try to play jazz, by virtuosity, it becomes a Mudhoney thing.”

As for longevity, it seems Mudhoney will be around as long as the band’s collective carcasses allow. “I don’t know if it takes a lot of mental sharpness, because I’ve been really, really drunk up there [onstage] and it’s seemed to have gone fine as well. I actually do wonder how long we can do this, physically. The hopping around, acting like a fool onstage part of it, for sure.”

Like ducking and weaving between between Pearl Jam’s legs? “Yeah, if my back went out, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

What: Vanishing Point out now through Sub Pop/Inertia When: 4:30pm, JBL Essential Stage Sideshow: Oxford Art Factory, Wednesday January 29, with Feedtime

At this year’s Big Day Out, however, audiences will see a new side of DZ Deathrays. New single ‘Northern Lights’ is the closest the duo has ever come to recording a ballad.

“It’s probably the softest song that we’ve ever written,” Parsons says, “but we thought it’d be cool to release it to show that we’re not just doing loud stuff all the time.”

Unsurprisingly, ‘Northern Lights’ has been another success for Parsons and Ridley, even going into rotation on BBC Radio 1. It’s the sort of thing that would be unthinkable for most local bands, but was almost inevitable for DZ Deathrays.

Not that they’re taking anything for granted. “We don’t expect anything,” Parsons stresses.

The pair wrote the track while isolated from the rest of the world and the weight of expectations. “We went and spent two weeks out in country New South Wales; there was this house in Yass that Jack Ladder and PVT recorded at. We just hired it out and did demos there by ourselves, just me and Simon, so we were in this four-storey, tenbedroom, 120-year-old homestead by ourselves. It was creepy as. We spent two weeks just writing, and that’s when we wrote ‘Northern Lights’. It just felt right.”

“That’s always been our little motto – don’t expect anything. The only time you’re going to be really disappointed is when you expect that you’re going to be played on the radio; when you expect that you’re going to play at a festival and it’s going to be packed out. If you get those opportunities, don’t expect anything, and you’ll always be surprised. That’s always been the way I’ve felt about it, you know.

Don’t expect anything. It’s better to just do things.”

When: 11:30am, Orange Stage

thebrag.com

Tame Impala photo by Matt Saville

2014 is shaping to be another very big year for the band, having received the highest of musical nods – a Grammy nomination alongside the likes of Vampire Weekend, Nine Inch Nails and Arctic Monkeys, with whom they’ll be playing in May after performing at Big Day Out. But do the growing global attentions afford them more or less creative freedom? “That’s the thing about going through the stages,” Parker explains. “As one door opens, another door closes. [The small pub stages] can’t really happen again.” Perhaps his success and the construction of the lonerism image alienate Parker. “In a way,” he says, “but I don’t like to think my life is a slave to it.”

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The Julie Ruin I Predict A Riot By Patrick Emery order to be heard. “Most things you see in the mainstream were originally created in the underground – but that’s OK, because people in the underground have unlimited creativity. So you’ll still have these great ideas being ripped off, over and over.”

Hanna cut her political teeth in the ’80s, in the Washington State capital Olympia. Olympia was home to Evergreen State College, where Hanna had moved to study photography. There she teamed up with fellow student Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox and Billy Karren in Bikini Kill. “I remember [US government] policies being passed around that time that were putting girls who’d been raped in their homes back in their homes to try to keep the family together,” Hanna says. “And you had the war on drugs – totally insane things like that, that unfairly targeted minorities. We were at a boiling point – we were being told that feminism didn’t exist, we were seeing racism all around us.”

I

t’s the radical’s perennial dilemma: is it better to agitate for change from outside of the dominant institutions of political and economic power, or can change be affected by manipulating the levers of power from within those governing structures? Tom Hayden evolved from radical ’60s activist to typical Californian senator; in the late ’70s, The Clash’s left-wing credibility suffered a torpedo blow when the band signed with the multinational CBS. Kathleen Hanna has spent her life challenging the dominant discursive structures of power,

both in the music industry and generally. As lead singer of Bikini Kill, and a protagonist in the late ’80s and early ’90s riot grrrl punk scene, Hanna’s confronting public and lyrical statements on issues of sexuality, violence and gender politics provided inspiration for musicians – especially female musicians – across the world, and a talisman for the contemporary punk movement.

“I think it’s definitely possible for pop music to bring up interesting conversations,” Hanna says, when I ask her if it’s necessary to remain outside the dominant political institutions in

Hanna and her contemporaries turned to the punk scene and found it compromised by the same reactionary values that permeated the mainstream community.

“So we thought, ‘What’s the alternative to the alternative?’ There were definitely a lot of good things that happened in the ’80s and ’90s – Rock Against Racism, and a lot of good bands – but there was this overriding straightwhite-male type of mentality. And I think we were reacting against that and looking at older punks in the ’70s and early ’80s and realising there was all this female involvement back then that got erased – Poly Styrene, Alice Bag, The Raincoats and The Slits. We thought, ‘Hey, this is what punk is all about!’”

Bikini Kill eventually folded in 1997, not long after releasing the band’s final album, Reject All American. As the group began to fall apart around her, Hanna conceived of a solo project that continued the punk ethos of Bikini Kill, but would enable her to stretch into more electronic music territory.

“I don’t really know where the ‘Julie Ruin’ name came from, though I’ve always liked the name Julie,” Hanna says. “I felt that I’d been vilified in the punk scene – I’d got a lot of attention for riot grrrl, and that had kind of pulled me out of my community, which was really painful. So I made up this person called Julie Ruin who was a lot stronger than me and who didn’t give a shit, and who just wanted to make music.”

Last year’s The Punk Singer documentary described Hanna’s battle with Lyme disease, the serious illness that precipitated her withdrawal from the music scene. Now having received stabilising treatment for the disease, Hanna has revived the Julie Ruin concept, and with it, provided herself with the strength to return to music and to continue to explore her punk philosophy.

“I’ve always considered punk an idea and not a genre. I feel a big part of that idea is that people don’t take their entertainment from corporations.

People can take it upon themselves to create their own music, and their own communities, and to use music and art to connect with each other.”

With: Early Woman, DJ Sveta Where: Factory Theatre When: Friday January 17

Warpaint Changing Their Stripes By Keiron Costello

M

arking their ten-year anniversary as a band, 2014 is shaping up to be a big year for Los Angeles-based indie rockers Warpaint. Before embarking on a jetlag-inducing tour that touches four continents, they’ll finally be releasing their second album later this month after a recording process that began over two years ago. And fans of their majestic 2010 debut The Fool should brace themselves for something of a change. While the murky, hypnotic mood remains, the stunning vocal harmonies and layers of reverb that defined songs like ‘Undertow’ and ‘Shadows’ are used much more sparingly on their self-titled follow-up.

Bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg explains that the change in sound is due to a desire to step out of their comfort zone and embrace a ‘less is more’ mantra. “We put the last record out and we toured it for two and a half years, so I think naturally, not that we got tired of that sound, but I think that we were excited to do something a little bit different.”

While the change in direction on Warpaint may not be entirely noticeable on lead single ‘Love Is To Die’, deeper cuts such as ‘Disco//Very’ and ‘Drive’ display the shifting style of the band. “I think these songs are, I want to say a little more minimalist, maybe a little bit more dancey, maybe a little darker than things that we’ve done before,” says Lindberg.

Significantly, Warpaint is also the first album written and recorded by the band as a complete unit. Current drummer (and Sydney native) Stella Mozgawa joined only just before 20 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

the release of The Fool, after Lindberg’s sister Shannyn Sossamon departed to focus on her acting career. According to Lindberg, the involvement of Mozgawa was a significant influence on the band’s shifting sound.

“Stella wasn’t really a part of the writing process when we were developing the songs that we put on the last record, they were already written and she just came in and put the drums over them. This time round we all had time to get in there with each other and write things from scratch. Just her being a part of the process changed things a lot.”

In a piece of good luck, Australian fans will be among the first to see the group play live after their album release, with the band touring in February as part of the Laneway Festival. With a connection to the country through Mozgawa, Warpaint are keen visitors to Australia, much to the delight of their bassist.

“I think that Australia’s a wonderful place, it’s beautiful, I love it. I love the air, it’ll be summertime, and I love the people. I always have fun; I think it’s my favourite place to go,” says Lindberg. “And then hanging out with Stella’s parents and staying at her house where she grew up in is also really nice.”

Warpaint are no strangers to the Laneway set-up, having toured in the 2011 edition and more recently played Laneway’s American debut in Detroit. But according to Lindberg, the one-off American festival was a poor substitute for the more tour-oriented nature of the Australian Laneway.

“The American version of Laneway was kind of a typical festival, there wasn’t really anything I guess unique about it,” she says.

“But in Australia you travel around with people, there’s a real band camp vibe. You get to be friends with the people in the other bands and you get to see them all the time, and it felt like family.”

And with Warpaint’s reputation for stunning live performances that transcend their studio material, Australian crowds should expect a very different Warpaint live than the band they know from the records. “I would say to expect it to be rather different than the record, much different than listening to it. I think the songs come alive more. I don’t want to say that they translate better, but I think it’s just a different experience. Sometimes bands can nail it and sound exactly like their record, other bands don’t sound like their record at all and it’s kind of strange. I guess what we’re known for is the live experience is much better.”

What: Laneway Festival 2014 With: Haim, The Jezabels, Jagwar Ma, Frightened Rabbit, Kurt Vile and more Where: Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle When: Sunday February 2 And: Warpaint out Friday January 17 through Rough Trade/Remote Control thebrag.com

Warpaint photo by Mia Kirby

After spending months rehearsing and demoing their new songs at Joshua Tree in the Californian desert, Warpaint enlisted superproducer Flood to work on the album.

With a string of credits from Nick Cave and Depeche Mode to U2 and Sigur Rós, Flood surprised the band with his willingness to let them control their own sound. “What I really loved about him was that he didn’t just come in and control the situation, he was very open to allowing us to find what it was he wanted us to find, or hear us out, or kind of let us take control,” says Lindberg. “But I think the really special thing was that we would get to a place where we had written a song and we’d maybe been around the ringer with that song, and we finally got to a place where we were really happy with, and thought there was nothing else we could do to that song – and he would come in and push us even further and say, ‘You know, I don’t think that you found it, I think you can dig deeper,’ and you do, and you end up liking it even more.”

Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings Beating The Odds By Joshua Kloke

T

o say it’s been a long road that Sharon Jones has had to travel to the release of Give The People What They Want, her sixth full-length with backing band The DapKings, would be an incredible understatement.

It would be one thing to note that the esteemed soul singer did not release her first record until the age of 46. That fact would serve as testament enough to the drive Jones has displayed throughout her career to prevent her dreams from perishing. Yet when the now-57year-old singer was diagnosed with bile duct cancer midway through 2013, many believed Jones had sung her last note onstage. Even Jones herself believed she could not be saved after receiving the original diagnosis.

“There was no music on my mind,” she says of the tough times. “I didn’t sing throughout the summer while I was going through treatment.”

While Give The People What They Want was nearly complete at the time of the diagnosis, the release was delayed to accommodate Jones and her health. With the record now ready to go, Jones says she feels “great”, and that it was “upsetting” when the album didn’t come out on schedule last August.

Still, the US singer has a long recovery ahead of her before she begins touring confidently full-time again to deliver the legendary, energetic live show upon which she’s built a name for herself. “It’s going to be a happy new year,” says Jones as she continues making her way back from chemotherapy treatment.

“Every time I look at myself I feel a little better”.

Throughout our conversation, Jones sounds tired and speaks often of the continuing treatment she’ll have to endure to beat the cancer and return to the stage. She speaks softly and answers questions in short bursts, parcelling the little energy she has. For a woman whose power onstage emerges from a seemingly endless supply of raw soul, it is at times terrifying to hear Jones sound so close to defeat. I ask if the new record and possible touring has afforded her a new lease on life, but she isn’t quite ready to agree with any grand, affirming statements like that.

She repeats this phrase often throughout our conversation: “It is what it is,” as if she came to terms with the cancer long ago. She carries the sense of realism regarding the process of returning to the stage that only someone who has weathered many other personal storms could. While the diagnosis may have been one of the worst blows her career has ever been delivered, Jones is still nothing if not incredibly honest. “I didn’t want to go back onstage but I need to let my fans see who I am [through the record],” she says. “This is me now. I want to think of my fans; that’s been a positive and that has kept me going.”

Coming to terms with the cancer and actually beating it before continuing to sing are two different scenarios altogether. So much so that it became difficult for Jones herself to imagine getting back to live performance. However, considering how long it took for the world to be turned onto the ferocious power of Sharon Jones, it should come as no surprise that the tenacity she used to succeed has also helped her through her health struggles. No part of her wanted Give The People What They Want to be the last Sharon Jones offered the world.

“I actually thought this was going to be my last record,” she says frankly. “I thought I was going to die and I thought people would be sad about this record because it would be my last one. People might say, ‘This is her last album, blah blah blah,’ and I didn’t want that.”

And so, with a will as strong as the performances she’s become renowned for, Jones is emerging out the other side, and Give The People What They Want was waiting in the wings all along. It will serve as a powerful reminder of just how strong the singer’s will is.

“For me, it’s a reminder that I’m not gone, I’m not dead.”

What: Give The People What They Want out now through Daptone/Shock

Sharon Jones photo by Kyle Dean Reinford

“When I’m able to start working out again and get back on the treadmill and start working my

arms then I’ll know if I’m ready or not. But right now, honestly, it’s pretty scary. It is what it is. I have to be truthful to myself.”

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arts frontline

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Mina Kitsos and Hannah Warren

five minutes WITH

Pandas

PHIL SPENCER Tell us about your background in stand-up comedy and storytelling. I’ve been writing plays for a while now and I see the comedy/storytelling stuff as a natural extension of that. I still see the need for a narrative arch, dramatic tension, rounded characters and a cathartic finale.

You just don’t need as many costumes.

U

K-born writer-performer, Phil Spencer, has joined forces with Sydney-based singer-songwriter Richard Cuthbert to create a brand new show. Equal parts stand-up comedy and storytelling, You And Whose Army? looks at misplaced love, drug use and violence in our contemporary world. We caught five with Spencer ahead of launch to find out more.

How was You And Whose Army? conceived and what themes are

you exploring? Some people are making resolutions to get fit and stop drinking this January. I made a pact with myself to write a new show (and keep drinking). The show is a darkly comic tale about growing up in the ‘slums’ of rural South Oxfordshire, moonlighting as a Glasgow drug dealer and how a 29-year-old man has never, ever, thrown a punch. It examines my own personal relationship with violence and its wider political implications in our society. And it’s about trains. I like trains. A lot.

FILMS AT THE SODA FACTORY

The Soda Factory is not only your favourite secret-entry-via-vending-machine venue; it’s now also a cinematic Mecca of your favourite classic fl icks, with free screenings every Monday night. Movie Mondays kicks off this week, with classics such as Spirited Away, Batman, Beetlejuice, Shaun of the Dead and Amelie lined up for the following weeks. Our mates at the Factory are even offering $5 beer and wine between 7-9pm, and free popcorn all night. Yep, you read that correctly. All movies start at 8pm at 16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills (look for the coke machine), but for the full lineup, check out sodafactory.com.au.

Holly Fraser

punters happily standing and listening to poets and comics and political satirists as warm up acts.

So when I thought about my show I was excited about inviting a musician onto the bill. Plus Richie is a fantastic lyricist and a great songwriter and I’ve wanted to work with him for a while. How it melds together? I’m not sure yet.

Sydney has a really great storytelling scene and I’ve been writing and performing at events like Story Club, Penguin Plays Rough and Teen Diary Readings over the past couple of years.

What kind of experience will audiences have? A handful of fantastic songs. A brutally funny and magically mundane story.

A very cute and intimate BYO venue. If you like these sorts of things, you’ll have a great night.

You And Whose Army? will be the third full-length solo show I’ve made. The other two: Bluey (about my Dad’s experience in Iraq) and The Great Apeth (about my beautiful but casually racist grandmother) have toured Sydney, Melbourne, Glasgow and London.

Exciting future projects we should know about? Next month I’ll be working with The Chaser’s Chris Taylor and Andrew Hanson on their new touring live comedy show. And if Richie and I don’t get booed off – we are thinking about taking You And Whose Army? to Edinburgh Fringe in August.

What was it like collaborating with Richard Cuthbert? I’m obsessed with the UK post-punk scene of the ’80s when bands and spoken word artists shared the same bill. You had John Cooper Clarke open for The Fall and Joy Division. You had gig

ATYP 2014 SEASON

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REFORMATION

White Rabbit is said to be one of the biggest and most significant collection of Chinese contemporary art and its first exhibition of 2014 is set to be its best so far. Reformation, the gallery’s tenth show, will present more than 50 stunning paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, installations and sculptures in their Australian debut. This collection shows off the boldest and most audacious works from what the head of China’s national art academy calls “the most experimental country in the world”. Standouts of the exhibition include MadeIn Company’s Play 201301, a cathedral made out of S&M leather, draped in chains, and suspended from the ceiling. One Metre of Democracy is a (slightly gruesome) photographic record of He Yunchang allowing a doctor to make a metre-long cut down his body to make a statement about democracy.

The exhibition starts on Thursday March 6, so check out whiterabbitcollection.org for more about what’s on offer.

The Triangle Affair

If you fancy a moment of peace and quiet this summer, head to Stills Gallery in Paddington, which will be playing host to Justine Varga’s exhibition Sounding Silence. Her latest photographic offering focuses on fi nding the sublime in the quotidian, and reminds us to allow for fl eeting moments of quiet and recognize the understated beauty in the cluttered world around us. Varga describes her works as “playing at the edge of vision”, and toys with magic in the minutiae of the everyday world, such as sunlight on sticky tape or discarded bubble wrap. Sounding Silence opens on Wednesday February 19 and runs until Tuesday March 22, and more details can be found at stillsgallery.com.au.

Self Portrait in a Room, Alexandra Clapham and Penelope Benton

RAW COMEDY

It’s nearly time to roar with laughter at RAW Comedy, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival initiative. So, budding comedians, it’s time to throw your best punchlines into the ring.

The national open mic comedy competition kicks off the NSW heats this week, and the NSW State Final sees the state’s best go head to head on Wednesday March 19. Having launched the careers of Chris Lilley, Josh Thomas, Hannah Gadsby, Peter Helliar, Claire Hooper, Ronny Chieng and Tim Minchin, RAW has become a stomping ground for the nation’s best up-and-comers.

The battle of wits will provide the winner with the chance to compete in So You Think You’re Funny? at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Expect an array of stitches-inducing talent, including stand-up, sketch, musical comedy and double and triple acts.

Head to rawcomedy.com.au for competition details and how to sign up.

SAFARI LIVE

The local contemporary art scene has become a thriving jungle so it makes sense that SafARI LIVE is here to present the finest local artistic specimens.

Branching out from the SafARI 2014 project, SafARI LIVE is focused on showcasing Sydneybased performance artists across three weeks from Friday March 14 to Friday April 4. The seven handpicked artists and collectives offer a broad landscape of live interventions spanning sculpture, video, live performance and painting.

Frances Barrett, Penelope Benton & Alexandra Clapham and Kate Blackmore are among the cast who’ll plunge you into a haven of concepts including mimetic play, motherhood, architectural symmetry and art history. For more info, contact curators Christiane KeysStatham or Liz Nowell at info@ safari.org.au, or head to safari.org. au/2014/

thebrag.com

ATYP 2014 Season photo by Zan Wimberley

Australian Theatre For Young People is unleashing another lineup of riveting works for its 2014 season. Artistic director Fraser Corfi eld says the new program is a culmination of ATYP’s work over the past few years. “The plays we are producing this year refl ect the company’s investment in new Australian playwriting over the past fi ve years. These are powerful Australian stories created specifi cally to showcase the extraordinary ability of our nation’s best artists.” The performances are set to include fully commissioned works from playwrights Lachlan Philpott, Wayne Blair, Rachael Coopes and John Armstrong, a collaborative piece with the Sydney Theatre Company, and a Darwin tour. The season launches next month with Bite Me by highly acclaimed The Voices Project.

Visit atyp.com.au to pen dates in the diary.

If you want to be there (and I know you do!), head to http://www.thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us the weirdest fact you know.

Go on, freak us out.

SOUNDING SILENCE Past winner Tom Ballard

MOP PROJECTS

Artist-run initiative MOP is running three new projects until Sunday February 2. James Lieutenant is showing SUPER, a series of random images and words connected only by the hyper-pop colours and layered surfaces and displayed in a conventional exhibition format. Paul Wells examines the ambiguous space between the human body and the rest of the world in Dwelling. This photographic exhibition explores bodies and architecture as extensions of each other as co-affecting partial subjects. Ben Denham worked with a custom built drawing machine to produce a new body of work that ranges from drawings to works made of computer code as part of a material investigation in Dimensions Of Line: I/O U In Material Thought. Opening night is Wednesday January 15 from 6-8 pm. Check out mop.org.au for more details.

Annual short fi lm festival Flickerfest is back for another year of the best bite-sized cinematic offerings from fi lmmakers around the world! On Saturday January 18 down at the Bondi Pavilion they’re showing Weird and Wacky Shorts, a selection of the weirdest and wackiest submissions from this year’s competition, and the BRAG has fi ve double passes to give away!

What: You And Whose Army?

Where: The Newsagency, Marrickville When: January 16-17 More: tinshedtheatrecompany. com.au

A SURVEY OF SHADOWS

Patrick Cremin’s award-winning investigative photographic works have persuaded audiences to examine modern censorship and surveillance, and are now set to transform the display cabinets at St James and Museum train stations into a springboard of ideas via the Conductors Project. By subverting relationships between the public, observational technologies and control mechanisms, A Survey Of Shadows is a speculative commentary on humans and their surroundings in the 21st Century. Using digital collage and drawing influence from dystopic literature and Cold War histories, Cremin has compiled images of Museum and Saint James train stations, presenting them as archetypes of an urban metropolis. The artist’s work will inhabit said cabinets until Saturday February 8. Go to conductorsproject.com for more detalils about this and other exhibiions.

WEIRD AND WACKY FILMS! WIN!

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema [FILM] Starring Movies, Ice Cream And Music By Stephanie Yip

A

s the balmy evenings settle in, so too does the desire for a love affair with a tub of ice cream at one of Australia’s most iconic outdoor cinemas. Now in its 10th year, Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema is a summer institution that travels nationwide regaling film fanatics and picnicmakers alike. This year it returns to the green that overlooks Bondi Beach from Friday January 24, where it’ll remain for six long, summer weeks of movies, music and munchies.

Caroline Kemp, Openair’s event manager agrees ours was a city destined for an open-air culture. “I think Sydney is a beautiful city and being surrounded by water it makes for a great outdoor entertaining scene,” she says. “People are keen to be involved in something different.

Watching a movie outdoors is different from going to the pub and drinking with mates. You can still engage in a social activity, but you can also watch a beautiful movie, under the stars, on the grass, with the sea breeze flowing, and really enjoy this beautiful lifestyle of ours.”

Films set to screen as part of Openair’s 2014 season include: The Wolf Of Wall Street, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, American Hustle and Anchorman 2. “I think The Wolf will be a great one outdoors,” says Kemp of her pick of the mix. “Another one I’m really looking forward to is Dirty Dancing on Valentine’s Day. And we

have a couple of Bondi-themed nights with Point Break … and The Big Blue, which is one of my favourite cult films.”

What about those munchies? “They’ll be Ben & Jerry’s, obviously,” says Kemp. Particularly on Sundae Sessions, which are a family friendly melting pot of live entertainment, outdoor games, and free tubs of B&Js. But for every other occasion there is Doughboy pizza and drinks for purchase. “We have a liquor license which is a really nice complement to the relaxed atmosphere,” says Kemp. “So people can come and listen to some nice music, have a glass of wine and watch the sun go down.”

Now one may assume that Kemp, a former actor/theatre producer, current event manager and self-confessed “straight from the tub” B&J’s Triple Choc Fudge indulger, accepted her role with Openair for the special access privileges to the on-site ice cream stash. But whether true or not, there was another motive behind her decision seven months ago to join the team.

“I live five minutes from the cinema,” she says.

“So I’ll be going down a lot – particularly on the days when we have live bands.” Which are Saturdays and Sundays, by the way.

The incorporation of live music prior to screenings is paramount to the Openair experience. After gates open at 6pm, weekend

ticket holders, along with their picnic blankets and beanbags, will leg it to premium spots on the green before being entertained by a carefully selected local act. “We try and promote local artists in each city and we try and pair them with the movie if we can. For instance, on Australia Day we’re screening Crocodile Dundee and we’ve got a nice up-and-coming musician called Franky Walnut who has that Australian vibe going on,” says Kemp. “Where we can’t [pair music with

movie], we try and pick some up-and-comer who matches well with our event instead. We look for artists with nice acoustic instruments that complement the whole summer, free, relaxed, happy vibe.”

What: Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema When: January 24 – March 2 Where: Dolphin Lawn, Bondi Beach More: openaircinemas.com.au

The Redux Project: Aussie Mega Redux [FILM] Putting The Lo To The Fi In Iconic Australian Films By Kate Robertson

A

Richard DeDomenici

“The essential basis of the Redux Project is that we attempt to make a shot for shot remake of sections of films in the original locations.

There’s a kind of lofty ideal about the project – how it’s supposed to be able to disrupt the cinema industry, or the studio model really by making counterfeit versions of existing works,” says DeDomenici. “It was inspired by The Pirate Bay and illegal downloading and the way people are being criminalised for sharing media, and I thought that if people could make their own versions of existing films that are sort of copyright free to an extent, then maybe it’s a way of sharing culture without breaking the law. We haven’t been shut down by any of the Hollywood studios yet

because I think it’s all under the auspices of fair use because we’re adding to the original work.”

The Redux Project wasn’t always as welldeveloped as it is today. “[It] was only ever supposed to be a one-off project in Bangkok last February [where we] filmed a Thai rom-com called Bangkok Traffic Love Story, which was the most popular movie in Thailand in 2009. I thought that was going to be it, but the response to it was quite good – the critic from the newspaper in Bangkok said that he preferred our version to the original, which I was not expecting. I thought that people might be insulted by my slightly cheap attempt to replicate their film, but people loved it.”

For DeDomenici’s Sydney Festival instalment, Aussie Mega Redux, the artist has chosen to re-create scenes from Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, Muriel’s Wedding, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and The Matrix. “These are great Australian films that are very famous in the UK, Muriel’s Wedding especially, which is considered a classic… We consider the ’90s to be a heyday for Australian cinema,” he says. Original locations are essential to the project, such as the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, where the beginning of Priscilla was shot. “Luckily, most of the bar looks almost the same as it did in 1994 – that’s always

a challenge, because obviously the further back in history you’re filming something the chances are that the place isn’t there, has been knocked down or has completely changed.” The extras, DeDomenici says, are similarly crucial. “Wherever we go out into the world to do a project we find some local people keen to be involved. It’s a really interesting way to get to know a place through its cultural history.

“Hopefully by making a fake version of something that is itself already fake we’ll somehow arrive at a greater truth. I encourage people, if they want to, to redux their own projects, because I think it’s something we should all do. It makes you realise that cinema is all an artifice and pretend, and people probably know that already, but I think it gives people a new realisation that a lot of our mass produced culture is fake. There’s no reason we can’t make things that are just as legitimate.”

What: The Redux Project: Aussie Mega Redux Where: Carriageworks When: January 18-19 More: sydneyfestival.org.au / dedomenici.com

Maltesers Moonlight Cinema [FILM] The Cinema Renaissance By Harry Windsor

F

or all the talk about the declining popularity of the moviegoing experience, pecked at from all sides by DVDs and downloads, Sydney seems to be going through something of a cinema renaissance. There’s the revived Blacktown drive-in, as well as new ventures like the Golden Age Cinema and Bar in Surry Hills, the closest thing we’ve got to Melbourne’s enviable Cinematheque. And the roster of annual summer-only outdoor venues seems to grow yearly. Flickerfest, St George OpenAir and Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema have been joined by upstarts in every other alleyway or pub courtyard, from The Beresford Hotel to the Local Taphouse. The old faithful in this pack is Centennial Park’s Maltesers Moonlight Cinema, which runs until March 23. Bill McDermid, the Moonlight Cinema National Film Manager, says he’s unphased by all the competition. “One of Moonlight’s major points of difference in terms of films is the huge number of advance preview screenings we are showing this season. In the first half of the season alone we have ten preview screenings! That’s ten films you can see at Moonlight before they’re released in any other cinema. These include The Wolf Of Wall Street, August: Osage County, Saving Mr. Banks and The Hobbit:

thebrag.com

The Desolation of Smaug. There’ll be plenty more preview screenings in the second half of the program as well, which will be available on the Moonlight website from Tuesday 21 January.”

Moonlight also screens the tried and true.

The lineup this year includes Dirty Dancing, Grease Sing-A-Long, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, Top Gun, The Castle and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. McDermid gets the plum job of curating the classics, but is quick to stress that “we consult our customers via social media channels to see what they really want to see. For all the cult classic film fans out there, if there’s something you want to see at Moonlight, let us know.” Encouraged, I tell him that, as a Swayze fan, I was glad to see Dirty Dancing featured, but how about Point Break for next year? “We are playing Point Break this season! I can’t reveal the date just yet, but if you check out the Moonlight website on January 21 you’ll be able to keep your calendar free!” Johnny Utah fans, you’ve been warned.

The program also accommodates the kiddies.

Think Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Turbo and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2. Then there’s the adults-only bill sporting Captain

Phillips, The Book Thief, Prisoners, Philomena and Blue Jasmine. For an event that’s long been a favourite date night destination, this year is surprisingly light on new rom-coms, opting more for broad comedies (We’re The Millers with Jennifer Aniston, Delivery Man with Vince Vaughn) instead of straight-downthe-wicket tearjerkers, of which About Time is perhaps the solitary example. No doubt there are plenty of boyfriends out there breathing a sigh of relief at this paucity. I ask McDermid what he’d suggest as a compromise that’d please both parties: “I tend to go for a comedy, like Delivery Man or The Castle. And you can’t go wrong with a classic like Top Gun. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones will guarantee you a cuddle.”

McDermid’s advice on how to make the Moonlight experience even better? The bellsand-whistles option would be a couple of Gold Grass tickets. “Tickets cost $32 and you get a bean bed in a premium viewing location on the lawn, as well as waiters to serve you, so no lining up for food and drinks! The Gold Grass area is roped off, so you feel pretty fancy. Put it this way, take a girl there on a first date and she’ll definitely be keen for a second.”

What: Maltesers Moonlight Cinema Where: Belvedere Amphitheatre, Centennial Park When: Until March 23 More: moonlight.com.au

BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 25

The Redux Project photo by Jessica Richardson

fter a year of travelling the world re-creating scenes of popular movies, Richard DeDomenici is bringing his ongoing Redux Project to Australia as part of Sydney Festival 2014. With just a handheld digital SLR and a team of up to one hundred local volunteers, the UK artist will re-shoot sections of four classic Australian films, which will be screened alongside their originals at Carriageworks. DeDomenici speaks to BRAG about his ambitious, low-budget, lo-fi filmmaking, and the unprecedented challenge he has set himself: to make and edit four movies in under two weeks.

Film Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen around town

■ Film

■ Film

HER

SHORT TERM 12

Joaquin Phoenix in Her

■ Film

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG In cinemas now

Showing now

In Her, Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely down-andout writer who makes a living out of penning love letters for those who fi nd it hard to express their feelings. When he upgrades his computer, a friendship blossoms with Samantha – the voice of his operating system. As Theodore shows Samantha more of his world, a fully-fl edged romance blooms between them.

Short Term 12 won the audience award at last year’s SXSW fi lm festival, but don’t let that put you off. It’s the kind of fi lm that gives “crowd-pleaser” a good name, bearing only some of the dramatic elements that the term implies. One warning bell is that our twenty-something protagonist (Brie Larson) – a supervisor at a foster care facility for at-risk teenagers – is named Grace. Cue the facile irony that she has problems just like the kids she’s looking after. Additionally, the fi lm is aesthetically negligible, using shaky handheld camerawork and natural lighting to achieve an insta-realism that’s consistently undermined by an overly intrusive, cloying musical score and the schematic tendencies of the fi lm’s screenplay.

Rather than pushing the quirk, director Spike Jonze handles the relationship matter-of-factly. As Theo and his OS share their worlds, it becomes apparent that the central issue is with defying cross-cultural boundaries, rather than the fact that a human is in love with an inanimate object. Interestingly enough, however, as the fi lm progresses, said inter-digital romance carries particular relevance to contemporary fi lm-goers as Theo quickly discovers he’s not alone in loving a smartphone.

Naturalism might be slightly off track for Jonze, but the subject matter is oddball enough to remind you that it’s his fi lm.

The fi lm’s mis en scene successfully creates a world that feels familiar, yet remains in the not-too-distant-future.

Her’s costume design also contributes to the sense that characters are not quite a product of our time. Hipster fashion, pastel colours and high waisted tweed pant-sporting individuals hint that the fi lm could be set in the year 2020.

That aside, Jonze’s central idea – that modern technology provides new emotional paths to navigate – is very much attached to the now. Her questions everything from online dating, the complex issues surrounding disruption and progression, and the cult of loneliness. The point of it all?

With the saturated data environments of today and the ability to create the most intelligent companions, the future may still be a very lonely place.

That these are only minor hiccups speaks largely to writer-director Destin Cretton’s ear for believable conversation between young people, and the sheer conviction of the fi lm’s cast; the immensely appealing Larson, the love interest in the recent 21 Jump St, carries the fi lm effortlessly, while John Gallagher Jr. is endearingly dopey as her co-worker boyfriend Mason. As Marcus and Jayden, the two admitted teenagers who come into their live, Keith Stanfi eld and Kaitlyn Dever are heartbreaking, each selling their Big Dramatic Moments beautifully. In lesser hands, their characters would have been cringeworthy, but these talented young actors carry the roles with sensitivity beyond their years.

Jackson is largely faithful to Tolkein’s mythical universe with a few convenient additions, notably Orlando Bloom reprising the role of Legolas and the appearance of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. Despite the added star power, what really steals the show is the widely-lauded CGI masterpiece, dragon Smaug (voiced by the posh Benedict Cumberbatch).

Beginning in the eerie Mirkwood forests, we follow Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the band of dwarves, led by the increasingly aloof Thorin (Richard Armitage), in their attempt to find a mythical hoard of treasure underneath the mountain in Erebore.

With Gandalf (Ian McKellen)

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins leaving the group to attend some urgent wizardry business – hanging out in the ancient ruins of Dol Guldur – the group are first attacked by gargantuan spiders, saved by the beautiful Silvan Elves who live in the forest, and then taken captive by the suspicious elves. This all happens in the first half hour or so helping to establish the film’s frantic pace.

The highlight of Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations have always been the mesmeric production design and Desolation doesn’t disappoint, seamlessly moving from the eerie Mirkwood forests, to the squalid tenements of Laketown to the finale, Smaug’s glittering dragon lair.

Despite the animated mastery of Smaug’s character, his devilish charisma shines through best in the pivotal scene where he attempts to coax Bilbo out into the open.

Realising that Bilbo is not alone, but accompanied by his favourite companions, dwarves, Smaug launches into a furious tide of anger, which brings him out of the mountain and ready to destroy whatever comes across his path. Ending with Smaug heading to Laketown to unleash his fury, the film does well to drum up anticipation for the third and final instalment.

For fans of The Lord Of The Rings series this will be –––– another fantasy ‘hamburger’ to pig out on – you can forget about the sconesand-tea-taste left by the first Hobbit film. Desolation is a dazzling visual spectacle and by delving into new parts of Tolkein’s Middle-Earth, Jackson gives his trilogy a much-needed boost.

Larry Lai

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

Short Term 12 has been loved by almost everyone it’s played to, and if I don’t quite agree with the rapturous praise, I also don’t want to sell its virtues short, especially considering the ultralimited one-cinema (Dendy Newtown) Sydney engagement it’s received. It’s warm, openhearted, humane, and – unlike nearly everything in theatres now – could conceivably be someone’s favourite fi lm.

Julian Ramundi Ian Barr

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

S AT T E H AR T! ST IGH N TO

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Forklift Sydney Festival 2014 Carriageworks January 16-19 At Carriageworks you can see a combination of choreography, contortion and aerial acrobatics on and around a working 2.5 tonne forklift. Honest! Forklift, presented as part of Sydney Festival 2014’s About An Hour program from January 16-19, sees three women in an industrial wasteland willing to risk everything in a strangely poetic interplay with one another.

Director Kate Denborough will impress audiences with her carefully constructed interactions between human limbs and heavy metal, brought to life by Melbourne-based dance theatre company KAGE. For more information head to sydneyfestival.org.au.

26 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

THE ULTIMATE COMEDY CLIFF FACE! WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY, 8PM with MC Michael Hing COMEDY STORE, BOOKINGS: 9357 1419 OR COMEDYSTORE.COM.AU THEN EVERY WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY - 19 MARCH MCs include Matt Okine, Sam Simmons & Tom Ballard PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY RAWCOMEDY.COM.AU thebrag.com

Her and Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug stills courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

In cinemas January 16

Following the underwhelming An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson revs up the action and intrigue with The Desolation Of Smaug. The second offering in Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the Kiwi director cuts out the ephemeral dawdlings which marred the first film to deliver a more considered representation of the novel’s fantastical milieu.

e

2013 Alasdair Duncan Top three Australian albums: Cut Copy – Free Your Mind Mitzi – Truly Alive Strange Talk – Cast Away Top three international albums: Haim – Days Are Gone Phoenix – Bankrupt!

Lorde – Pure Heroine Top three fi lms: Stoker – dir. Park Chanwook The Conjuring – dir.

James Wan American Hustle – dir.

David O. Russell Music festival of the year: Laneway continues to be one of the best and

Favourite interview: Dizzee Rascal was one of the more memorable – our interview went way, way off topic and ended in me giving him travel tips for Tasmania, including where to fi nd the best sheep cheese in Hobart. I hope he got his hands on some.

Three Australian artists to watch: Honestly there’s really just one. Chet Faker is already kind of a big deal around these parts, but he’s spent the last year or

Arts Editor

Top three Australian albums: Big Scary – Not Art Jagwar Ma – Howlin’ Boy & Bear – Harlequin Dream

Top three theatre productions: The Maids – dir. Benedict Andrews; STC Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead – dir. Simon Phillips; STC Angels In America – dir.

Eamon Flack; Belvoir

Top three dance productions: Blak – chor. Stephen Page, Daniel Riley; Bangarra Dance Theatre Vanguard – chor. George Balanchine, Jirí Kylián, Wayne McGregor; The Australian Ballet G – chor. Garry Sewart; Australian Dance Theatre Best arts/cultural festival of the year: Art & About.

Those snails!

What I’ll miss most about 2013: The BRAG, Lezisms

What I’ll miss most about 2013: Miley Cyrus, who released some excellent singles and proved to be a source of constant lolz.

What I won’t miss about 2013: Pop music’s race to the middle – Katy, Britney, Gaga, I’m looking at all of you.

What I’m looking forward to in 2014: I’m looking forward to a lot of second albums this year, from Aussie acts like Miami Horror, Bag Raiders and Beni.

A foolproof prediction for the year: Grimes will return and a lot of people will write a lot of blog posts about her, and I will probably be one of them.

Top three Australian albums: The Drones – I See Seaweed Dick Diver – Calendar Days Big Scary – Not Art and W5 from Tommy’s City Edge sandwich joint.

What I won’t miss about 2013: Miley Cyrus + Robin Thicke + gifs of Miley Cyrus grabbing Robin Thicke’s crotch at the VMAs. What I’m looking forward to in 2014: 19th Biennale of Sydney.

Top three Australian albums: Jagwar Ma – Howlin’ Boy & Bear – Harlequin Dream Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away

Carriageworks. A spectacular display of Australian talent, with good vibes all round. Everyone was there for the right reasons and the music hit the spot.

Top three international albums: Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks Arctic Monkeys – AM The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Favourite interview: John Lydon. The formerly Rotten frontman of the Sex Pistols spouted at me for 40 minutes – I only got in about three questions.

Film of the year: Filth – dir.

Jon S. Baird Gig of the year: Neil Finn and Paul Kelly at the Sydney Opera House. They finally let Finn inside the building, and we witnessed two of Australasia’s greatest ever songwriters trading their wares. “Got any more songs with big choruses?” Kelly laughed to Finn after one of the hits. Yes – another and another and another.

Festival of the year: FBi Turns Ten! at

Top Australian album: Jagwar Ma – Howlin’ Top three international albums: Nils Frahm – Spaces Connan Mockasin – Caramel Juan Atkins & Moritz Von Oswald – Borderland Top dancefl oor tracks of the year: Isolée – ‘Allowance’ Mount Kimbie – ‘Made To Stray’ James Holden – ‘Blackpool Late Eighties’ Top three remixes: Jagwar Ma – ‘Come Save Me’ (Andrew Weatherall remix) Le Carousel – ‘Winter Months’ (The Hacker remix) Donna Summer – ‘Sunset People’ (Hot Chip Rework)

Three Australian artists to watch: Tigertown, Brighter Later, Emma Davis.

What I’ll miss most about 2013: Left-of-centre pop music was in a wonderful place in 2013. Lorde, Haim, Chvrches… for the first time in a decade, pop escaped the confines of reality television and ceased to be a dirty word.

Anyone who’s tried to write a decent pop song will tell you how difficult it can be – less is more, and a hook can turn on a single

Van Etten at The Spiegeltent. 45 degrees in a hushed tent with a captivating, emotional and angsty songstress. Hot.

Top three international albums: Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II Gig of the year: Sharon

Three Australian artists

to watch: It’s bound to be a big exciting year for Melbourne’s whimsical songwriter Courtney Barnett. Also look out for Melbourne-bred/NY-based scraggly dudes Scott & Charlene’s Wedding and Sydney electropop act Lanterns.

Three international artists to watch: New Zealander wispy eccentric Connan Mockasin, London dark-psych act Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs and LA ’60s revivalists Fortress Social Club.

What I won’t miss about 2013: Animal memes.

“Boooo!” Forgive me, but I’m over them. I don’t need a reaction alpaca to help me digest every piece of pop culture news. But they’ll be back. You just know they’ll be back.

What I’m looking forward to in 2014: New Game Of Thrones. The return of the old fogies to our shores – Springsteen, the Stones.

The emergence of young pop singer-songwriting talent in Australia. Maybe even another Blur record… and arriving at my desk to one pile of CDs after another. If I start listening now and never stop, I might get halfway through them

by December 31.

A foolproof prediction for the year: Time travel won’t be invented. Otherwise they’d have travelled back to tell us already, right?

What I’ll miss most about 2013: Reading Morrissey’s autobiography.

What I won’t miss about 2013: Tony Abbott (that was all just a dream, right?)

What I’m looking forward to in 2014: New music from Twerps, St. Vincent, Frank Ocean, Angel Olsen, The War On Drugs.

A foolproof prediction for the year: Australia will win the Ashes.

Dance News / Deep Impressions

Top three songs: The National – ‘Humiliation’ Coma – ‘My Orbit’ Jackson And His Computerband – ‘Billy’

has partaken in the many memorable parties that the ’Crombie has hosted over the years will remember the venue with plenty of fondness.

Gig of the year: Darkside at The Hi-Fi

A foo lproof prediction for the year: Given the proliferation of club heavyweights that have descended on Sydney in recent times, there is every reason to expect 2014 to set a high watermark for clubbing in our city. With everyone from heavyweights James Holden and DJ Koze to emerging underground monoliths like Amir Alexander and Rødhåd touring in recent weeks, it is apparent that the tyranny of distance is no longer constraining Australia from matching it with any destination in the world.

Music festival of the year: Subsonic Three Australian artists to watch: Seekae, Francis Inferno Orchestra Three international artists to watch: Francis Harris, Patrice Bäumel, Fort Romeau What I’ll miss most about 2013: All of Sydney’s clubbing community will sorely miss The Abercrombie following its recent closure. Everyone who

Jagwar Ma

thebrag.com

breath. When it happens, my breath goes with it.

Staff Writer

Festival of the year: Laneway Festival.

Laneway had loud guitars (The Men, Cloud Nothings, POND), indie cool-dude elite (Divine Fits), endearing European folk (Kings of Convenience) and majestic pop beauty (Bat For Lashes).

Chris Honnery

Editor

Year 2013 InTheReview

Top three visual arts exhibitions: War Is Over! (if you want it): Yoko Ono; MCA America: Painting A Nation; AGNSW Smash Palace; White Rabbit

so building anticipation for his album, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Augustus Welby

Top three international albums: Kanye West – Yeezus Daft Punk – Random Access Memories Earl Sweatshirt – Doris Top five films: Only God Forgives – dir.

Nicolas Winding Refn Mystery Road – dir. Ivan Sen Spring Breakers – dir.

Harmony Korine Django Unchained – dir.

Quentin Tarantino Behind The Candelabra – dir. Steven Soderbergh

Chris Martin

Staff Writer

most downright civilised festivals around, and always draws a great lineup. This year’s is even better than last.

Lisa Omagari

Twenty-thirteen, we hardly knew thee. Or perhaps we did. It depends on how much attention we paid to Miley’s wrecking ball, probably... elsewhere, it was the year that brought us the Harlem Shake, Sharknado, a new pope, the Red Wedding, two royal babies (that’ll be Prince George and North West), three PMs and the Ashes. We witnessed the comebacks of My Bloody Valentine, David Bowie, Justin Timberlake and Mazzy Star, while we lost Nelson Mandela, Lou Reed, Chrissy Amphlett and Hazel Hawke. The BRAG team takes a look at the best and worst of 2013, and casts an eye to what 2014 has in store.

BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 27

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

AMANDA PALMER The Spiegeltent, Hyde Park Thursday January 9 Amanda Palmer eats, poops, cries and bleeds like the rest of us. It’s a reality that was conveniently forgotten by many of her detractors last year, when Palmer crowdsourced a touring band and (half) the internet turned against her. This on top of a long spell of personal troubles and family illnesses that pushed the New York punk/comedy/cabaret performer into a darkness from which she’s only recently emerged.

The opening night crowd of her ten-date Sydney Festival run is reminded of this as Palmer barely holds herself together through the broody middle act of an hourlong show. Not that it’s all about tears and feels. Palmer opens with an unplugged ukulele version of ‘In My Mind’, in which she saunters around the Spiegeltent greeting fans with bellowing choruses of self-affirmation. The comedy arrives with ‘Vegemite (The Black Death)’ – the only love song, her husband Neil Gaiman

complains, that Palmer has ever written him – and ‘Map Of Tasmania’.

Yes, Palmer is an Aussie at heart, and it’s on her interpretation of Ted Egan’s ‘The Drover’s Boy’ that the show turns. The tragic tale of Aboriginal women masquerading as men to work on the frontiers is punctuated

by Palmer’s booming stomps on the stage floor, and an artful touch of nudity that’s too important to spoil. Next, a special guest arrives at the back of the room: Brendan Maclean, who performs a jaw-dropping duet with Palmer of Bat For Lashes’ ‘Laura’.

The Spiegeltent couldn’t be better suited to Palmer’s sound and show. Even in solo form – perhaps more so than ever – Palmer is affecting, sharp, surprising and brilliant.

And though she’s been wounded, it feels as if she’s back where she belongs, for an hour at least. “When they put me in the ground,” she sings with a grin, “I’ll start pounding the lid, saying / I haven’t finished yet / I still have a tattoo to get / It says,‘I’m living in the moment’.”

Chris Martin

ECLIPSE Sydney Town Hall Thursday January 9 Malian husband-and-wife duo Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia met at Bamako’s Institute for the Young Blind in the ’70s and have since enjoyed a widely lauded career spanning nearly four decades. The couple’s story is one of discovering music as children, one of love and one marked by a musical pedigree that’s been key to their success in becoming one of the most celebrated nonWestern acts the world over.

For Amadou and Mariam’s Sydney Festival show, Eclipse, we’re plunged into complete darkness to experience music, time and space just as our blind performers do. Enter Sydney Town Hall and we’re greeted by various scents and ambient sounds evocative of a West African dawn – sandalwood lingers, roosters crow, children play and cars hum in the distance.

Narration begins (by whom we’re not too sure) and we learn of Amadou’s early career as a guitarist and Mariam’s time as leader of the Institute’s music program.

Structurally, Eclipse alternates between narration and live music to chart the development of the pair’s blues-infused,

African pop-inspired sounds. Each narrative chapter is matched with a song to demonstrate how Amadou and Mariam’s music has been shaped by various places, artistic collaborations and life experiences.

For us, the pitch black factor affords no distractions; we’re able to focus entirely on the music’s intricacies and engage with each song in a sensory way.

As stage lights come on, Eclipse’s finale sees Amadou and Mariam revealed behind a heavy black curtain. As we adjust to the new visual setting, the couple and their band address us directly. It’s an odd feeling – after nearly two hours in darkness we’re afforded sight and we might even find it difficult to connect what we’re seeing to what we’re hearing. Treating the crowd to performances of their latest material, the couple encourages us to get up and dance.

And dance we do.

Despite a slow opening and at times longwinded narrative, Eclipse delivers. We’re left with not only an understanding of the challenges faced by Amadou and Mariam throughout their musical journey, but we also inherit an enriched appreciation of the different ways of listening. A sterling performance deserving of praise.

Lisa Omagari

IAMS PHOTOGRAPHER :: JAMIE WILL

IAMS PHOTOGRAPHER :: JAMIE WILL

JOHNNY MARR Oxford Art Factory Tuesday January 7 In his recent autobiography, Morrissey says of Johnny Marr: “[He] is safely tucked away as everyone’s friend – yet no-one’s”.

It’s a customary double-edged assessment from the former Smiths singer, yet he did well to have Marr onside in the first place – for here is the man who fashioned a canvas for Manchester’s foremost exponent of musical misery. Without Marr’s guitar, indie rock – let alone The Smiths – would sound nothing the same.

Marr has spent most of the years since The Smiths’ demise featuring – albeit without underselling himself – as something of a session player to the stars. Modest Mouse, Oasis and The Cribs are among those who’ve shared the services of axe-for-hire Marr, but with The Messenger, he at last has a musical statement that’s his and his alone.

Three bandmates in tow, Marr covers much of the solo record tonight on his famous Fender Jaguar, off-white. Even after all those years as the sideman, it’s not such a shock to see him up front. He’s a stylish character in his aqua velvet jacket and silver painted nails, and while his voice 28 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

lacks power and range, the parts are written to his abilities.

‘The Right Thing Right’ opens proceedings, but it’s not long before Marr launches into the material that made he and Morrissey famous.

‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’ is up, plus ‘Panic’ and a forceful ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’.

Of the newer efforts, the spacious and spacey ‘Say Desmesne’ is the most adventurous – the rest, passable rhythmand-melody indie rock with the occasional football terrace refrain. But oh, the things this man can do with six strings and an amp.

The sing-alongs are saved for encores: on ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’, Marr and his crowd do a surprisingly decent impression of the absent Morrissey, and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ is more optimistic than ever. For Marr, it’s the end of a world tour which started in February 2013, and he’s beaming.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

As the saying goes, class is permanent; the choruses might not be there, but the licks sure are. Did anybody really pay to hear him sing anyway? When a master is at work, nobody minds if he whistles as he goes.

Chris Martin

thebrag.com

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

have won over fans from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds.

BOMBINO The Spiegeltent, Hyde Park Thursday January 9

The Tuareg rebellion of 2007, during which two of Moctar’s fellow musicians Enter the Sydney Festival Spiegeltent Wto h the a t rhythmic w e ' v epercussion b e e n oand u thypnotic t o s e e . . .were executed, forced him again to flee his home country, Niger. Filmmaker vocals of Bombino and you may as well Ron Wyman, who had stumbled across be in a camp in Saharan West Africa. a cassette of Bombino while making a feature documentary about the music of Omara ‘Bombino’ Moctar is energised the rebellions, sought Moctar out while he and wholly immersed in his music. When was in exile and convinced him to record he first addresses us it’s with a shy “Ça his first album, Agadez. va?” that gives the impression he is both humble and grateful to the crowd which Here, the band plays songs from across has gathered to hear the desert rock he both Agadez and their recent album, has become famous for.

Nomad, recorded with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. The set ends with a His music alone is mesmerising, but the few killer instrumental tracks and a huge story behind the man makes it even more response from the audience. The image of so. Bombino was given his first guitar by a red, windy Saharan landscape under a a visiting relative while living as a refugee starry sky that Bombino conjures up jars in Algeria and it fast became his passion. with the sight of Hyde Park on this balmy When not studying under renowned Tuareg evening as we filter out of the Spiegeltent. guitarist Haja Bebe, the teenage Moctar spent his time watching videos of Jimi Moctar has remarked that his guitar is Hendrix and Mark Knopfler, addicted to the not a weapon, but rather “a hammer with freedom and expression in their music. which to help build the house of the Tuareg people”. As he continues his world tour, These influences shine strongly through as performing to a fan base of millions, he the set picks up pace and the Tuareg-style takes his story and the Tuareg spirit with loops blend into electric rock riffs. Looking him. around at the swaying crowd, it’s obvious this is not a band that commands a niche Jessica Hamilton audience, but whose talent and energy

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pick of the week Féfé

SATURDAY JANUARY 18

The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

7pm. free.

Jodie Michael’s Broken Time Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $16.50.

Sam Hawksley + Nina Ferro Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 8pm. $18.40.

The Cellar Jazz Jam - feat: Phil Stack And Guests The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. free.

Jagwar Ma

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Afenginn + The Crooked Fiddle Band + Lolo Lovina The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $24.

Bodyjar Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

8pm. $23.50.

Karnivool + Dead Letter Circus + Sleepmakeswaves Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West. 7pm. $55.

Seagull + Julian Day + Devotional Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $15.

The Wameki + Jugular Cuts + 10k Free Men + Litter FBi Social, Kings Cross.

8pm. $10.

The Wildbloods + Ivory + Lil’ Smoke + Maurice Jones Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

St John’s College, University Of Sydney

So Frenchy So Chic In The Park Lilly Wood & The Prick + Féfé + Babylon Circus + Edward Deer 12pm. $86.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

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

5pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Steve Westlake Sackville Hotel, Rozelle.

7:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Nova Heart Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free.

Sarah Blasko + Appleonia St Stephen’s Uniting Church, 32 :: BRAG :: 545 : 15:01:14

Sydney. 6:30pm. $62.50.

Sydney Festival: Matmos City Recital Hall, Sydney.

8pm. $30.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Steve Barry Trio Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $16.50.

Elodie Sablier The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $24.

THURSDAY JANUARY 16 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Greg Byrne Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Hat Fitz & Cara

Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $25.

Joe Robinson The Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $20.

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

Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Monica & The Explosion Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Andrew Denniston + Emily Takayama Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

FRIDAY JANUARY 17 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Ornithology - The Music Of Charlie Parker Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

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

Elevate PJ Gallagher’s, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Jammin With Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin + Monica & The Explosion + Steve Westlake Earlwood Hotel, Earlwood.

7:30pm. free.

JP Stacks Taverna, Sydney.

5pm. free.

Kye Brown Cock ‘n’ Bull, Bondi Junction 7pm. free.

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

Wolfe Tones Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

7pm. $66.30.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bandsonstage - feat: Hailstone + Absent Hours + String Fiction Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

Diesel + Kim Wempe The Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7pm. $48.

Heavyfest - feat: Rotting Christ + The Amenta + Terra Australis + Rise Of Avernus + Denouncement Pyre + Bane Of Isildur The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 7pm. $52.50.

Hue Williams Club Ashfield, Ashfield. 7pm. free.

Jagwar Ma + Jonti Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

Karnivool + Dead Letter Circus UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 7pm. $61.60.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

The Julie Ruin The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $44.

The Stevens + Day Ravies

+ Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys + Nathan Roche The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $10.

Underneath The Stairwell Book Release Party - feat: Stanley Knife + The Corps + Unknown To God + The Fuck Outs + Oily Boys Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10.

SATURDAY JANUARY 18 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bandsonstage - feat: Master Tiger + The Reunion + Duchamps Child + Stuart Jammin Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free.

Chopdog Promo Presents Kujo Kings + The Quarters + Nerdlinger + Ben David + Dividers Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Courtney Barnett + Sures + Nic Cassey Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $12.

D’Luna + The Cupcake Conspiracy + Gypsys Of Pangea + Bad Valley FBi Social, Kings Cross.

8pm. $10.

Diesel + Kim Wempe Bodyjar

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Jazz Degustation - feat: Michelle Owen

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The Julie Ruin

The Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $48.

Electric Anthems Trio Paragon Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Eyehategod + Special Guests The Hi-Fi, Moore Park.

7:30pm. $45.50.

Grenadiers + The Union Pacific + Epics + Ivan Drago The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale. 12pm. free.

Gutter Tactic + War Of Attrition + Omniscienta + Dystopic + 13th Gate Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo.

12pm. $10.

Karnivool + Dead Letter Circus UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 7pm. $61.60.

Lij Gilmour + Jordan Jansen + Dylan Cartwright The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney. 4:45pm. $15.

Metal Vs Punk Show feat: Dead Life + The Fuck Outs + Abacination + Chambers Of Insanity + Terrorential Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo.

7pm. $10.

Primitive Calculators + Ghastly Spats + Litter The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $14.

Satellite V Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free.

Tumbleweed + Bruce + Baby Machine The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West. 8pm. $23.50.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Alister Spence Trio Foundry616, Ultimo.

8:30pm. $15.

So Frenchy So Chic In

The Park - feat: Lilly Wood & The Prick + Féfé + Babylon Circus + Edward Deer St John’s College, University Of Sydney. 12pm. $86.

Yuki Kumagai + John Mackie Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Leichhardt. 11am. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK After Dark Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10:30pm. free.

Bootleg Rascal Name This Bar, Darlinghurst. 8:30pm. $12.

Bounce Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free.

Paul Albert Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 7pm. free.

Paul Hayward & Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free.

SUNDAY JANUARY 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Kingston Flavaz Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo.

2pm. free.

Suite Az The Star, Pyrmont. 9:30pm. free.

The Brassholes Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 6pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Grimskunk + Raindrop + Death Sleds The Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $13.

Karnivool + Dead Letter Circus Tour Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 7pm. $56.10.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK 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.

MONDAY JANUARY 20 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney.

10pm. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Funk Engine Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. free.

Jungal + Genevieve Chadwick + Minnie Marks The Vanguard, Newtown.

6:30pm. $18.80.

Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti + Rick Taylor Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

7pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

wed

16 Jan (9:30PM - 12:30AM)

(9:35PM - 1:30AM)

fri

17 Jan

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sat

sun

18

19

Jan

Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

9pm. free.

TUESDAY JANUARY 21

thu

15 Jan

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Jan

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

mon

tue

20

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

21

Jan

Jan

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Kim Churchill

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Kim Churchill The Vanguard, Newtown.

7pm. $12.

BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 33

gig picks up all night out all week...

Sarah Blasko

5th Juke Baritone

12th Graveyard Rockstars Archaic Revival & Bones Atlas

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15 Sarah Blasko + Appleonia St Stephenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uniting Church, Sydney.

6:30pm. $62.50.

Sydney Festival: Matmos City Recital Hall, Sydney. 8pm. $30.

THURSDAY JANUARY 16

19th GROOVERFEST Very special super unnannounced secret guest & Jugular Cuts, The Owls

The Wameki

Hat Fitz & Cara Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $25.

Afenginn + The Crooked Fiddle Band + Lolo Lovina The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $24.

Bodyjar Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 8pm. $23.50.

Seagull + Julian Day + Devotional Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $15.

The Wameki + Jugular Cuts + 10k Free Men + Litter FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

FRIDAY JANUARY 17

26th VULGAR DISPLAY OF PIZZA Australia Day Mozzarella Metal Fest

Diesel + Kim Wempe The Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $48.

Heavyfest - eat: Rotting Christ + The Amenta + Terra Australis + Rise Of Avernus + Denouncement Pyre + Bane Of Isildur The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 7pm. $52.50.

Jagwar Ma + Jonti Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $33.70.

Karnivool + Dead Letter Circus UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 7pm. $61.60.

The Julie Ruin The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $44.

The Stevens + Day Ravies + Bed Wettinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Bad Boys + Nathan Roche

The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $10.

SATURDAY JANUARY 18 Courtney Barnett + Sures + Nic Cassey Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $12.

Eyehategod + Special Guests The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 7:30pm. $45.50.

Lij Gilmour + Jordan Jansen + Dylan Cartwright The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney. 4:45pm. $15.

Primitive Calculators + Ghastly Spats + Litter The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $14.

Tumbleweed + Bruce + Baby Machine The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West.

8pm. $23.50.

So Frenchy So Chic In The Park Feat: Lilly Wood & The Prick + FĂŠfĂŠ + Babylon Circus + Edward Deer St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College, University Of Sydney.

12pm. $86.

Bootleg Rascal Name This Bar, Darlinghurst. 8:30pm. $12.

MONDAY JANUARY 20 Jungal + Genevieve Chadwick + Minnie Marks The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $18.80.

TUESDAY JANUARY 21 Kim Churchill The Vanguard, Newtown. 7pm. $12.

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BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

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

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ASTRONAUTALIS

Francis Inferno Orchestra

SOFT & SLOW FT FRANCIS INFERNO ORCHESTRA

Fresh from a stint in London, Melbourne producer Griffin James, who releases under the nom de plume Francis Inferno Orchestra, will headline Soft & Slow at the Spice Cellar next Friday January 24. James has been making waves since entering the production fray in 2010, with his productions combining reference points drawn from soul, disco and sample-based music, and his DJ sets juxtaposing classic house and techno cuts. Francis Inferno Orchestra launched his own label BBW with the help of Tyson Ballard a few years back, while his recent cut ‘Take No Time’ dropped late last year on the acclaimed first EP put out by the fledgling Big Doint label. Punters will also enjoy music curated by James Cripps, Pink Lloyd and Parihaka throughout the course of proceedings. Doors open at 10pm and the party goes all night.

THE HIP HOP HOUSE PARTY Growing Up Your Crew Music, Right Here, Music played a rather I don’t have a crew in the Right Now 1.

3.

5. large role in my whole family; traditional hip hop sense, but I think this is the most

Astronautalis photo by Annie Ray

there was always music playing [when I was growing up]. My father with his old soul and R&B, my mother with folk and rock, but it was my older brother who really shaped my tastes. I was listening to The Smiths and The Clash at eight years old, and he is the one who eventually lead me to rap music, by the way of a dubbed tape of Lord Finesse’s album Return Of The Funky Man. That tape changed my life.

Inspirations The first time I heard 2. my favourite band, Rachel’s, I was lying naked in bed with a girl I was madly in love with. That was probably 15 years ago…

That girl and I are no longer together, but I still listen to Rachel’s almost every single day.

Mount Kimbie

I am rather lucky to have a really amazing circle of friends that I get to work on music with. Amazing folks like Bon Iver, P.O.S, Tegan and Sara, members of Poliça, Radical Face, Doomtree, The Paper Chase. Tons of great folks in my life. And I am very proud to say that, after years of shit jobs, music is my only job now.

The Music You Make I am not very good at 4. describing my own music – it is sort of all over the place.

Rap is the foundation of it all, but there are elements of folk, indie, punk, dance, classical… I sort of cram it all in there. But my show? That is easy. My show is like an old southern Baptist church revival… but with way more whisky and way less God.

exciting time in the history of the world to be a musician. The terrible old oligarchy of huge labels has toppled and the playing fi eld has levelled. It is now possible to write, record, and release an album all from your room for next to nothing. And thanks to the internet, it is possible to target tiny pockets of fans all over the world that support whatever weird folk-indie-punk-danceclassical-rap you want to make.

With: Empire Rising, Deadbeat & Hazy, Broken Thought Theory Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Saturday January 25

Oxford Art Factory is launching a new monthly local hip hop night, The Hip Hop House Party, which will run once a month following the launch party on Thursday January 16. The Hip Hop House Party is aiming to establish itself as a hub for anyone interested in hip hop in Sydney and to help grow the scene and allow artists of all types to get together. The launch party will feature local duo Mind Over Matter, who recently released a new track entitled ‘Real Life’, and Big Village’s The Daily Meds, along with fellow Sydneysiders Sleazy Greazy. Entry is $15 on the door.

Avicii

PETE TONG @ MARQUEE

Club icon Pete Tong headlines Marquee this Saturday January 18. Renowned for his hugely popular Essential Selection [well done if you didn’t read that to yourself in Tong’s voice] radio show on BBC, Tong has maintained his reputation as a dance music tastemaker for over a decade. It’s not just the clubbing community lauding Tong either – he was recently awarded an MBE by the Queen, joining the likes of Sir Ian Botham and Paul Collingwood. “It’s great to receive this honour for being a DJ,” Tong said in his official statement. “I’m proud that it acknowledges a profession that I care about a great deal, and one that’s made a huge impact around the world.” These days, Tong hosts the weekly ‘Evolution with Pete Tong’ show, along with his ‘All Gone Pete Tong’ radio show on iHeartRadio’s Evolution station.

MOUNT KIMBIE

In addition to their performance at the Laneway Festival, UK bass duo Mount Kimbie will also headline the Metro Theatre on Wednesday January 29 in their first appearance Down Under since the release of their second album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth on Warp Records. Cold Spring showcased a vastly different sound to that which imbued their debut LP Crooks & Lovers, and audiences can expect a similar evolution in their live show, which has more of a ‘band’ sensibility since they added a drummer to their guitar, keys and percussion live setup. Tickets to see Mount Kimbie do their thing will set you back $33.70.

AVICII

Following the release of his debut album True last year, Swedish dance giant (speaking figuratively) Avicii is set to return to Australia later this month with a headline tour. The chart-topping, two-time Grammy Award nominee emerged back in the acid-washed spring of 2011 with the worldwide dancefloor favourite, ‘Levels’, which racked up over 50 million YouTube views and was declared by undisputable authority David Guetta as his “Tune of 2011”.

Not that Guetta was alone in jumping on the Avicii bandwagon, with Nile Rodgers dubbing the Swede one of his “favourite songwriters” and Forbes magazine ranking him as the second-most influential under-30 person in music, before he was voted 2013’s Favourite EDM Artist at the American Music Awards. Avicii will be supported by the 20-year-old creator of ‘Melbourne Bounce’, Will Sparks, who is fresh from a seven-month tour of the USA and Europe and is still basking in the success of recent hits ‘Ah Yeah’ and ‘Hello’. Rounding off the bill are production siblings New World Sound, the pair behind the dubstep anthem ‘Bantam’. All of the abovementioned acts will perform at Centennial Park on Saturday January 25 courtesy of Future Music.

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Jaguar Skills

DUANE BURIANI-GENNAI FROM FAKE FORWARD

Growing Up We always loved music 1. growing up. We both started

Inspirations Our inspirations really 2. vary I think due to our eclectic

collecting records at an early age.

Wayne was more into techno, D&B and progressive. I was more into house music. We both DJed from about the age of 18, so we both have ten-plus years of experience behind us. We started doing small clubs and parties and we have really played the whole spectrum.

We got into production together about six years ago and really things stepped up for us from there.

taste in music. We like to draw influences from old-school stuff varying from very classic house sounds of Masters At Work, to more UK bass stuff like 187 Lockdown and Double 99, deep stuff like Hipp-e and Halo, to older progressive stuff from Sasha and Digweed.

Crew There are certain people 3. Your

that have been more influential in supporting us along the way in terms of influencing our sound, giving us advice and supporting our various projects through their respective labels and sets. These people include the likes of Roger Sanchez, Carl Cox and Eric Powell. We have started to build a crew with Fake Forward surrounding our new record label Habitual Recordings. These friends of ours are really the Aussie artists pushing the underground house, deep and tech sounds.

Big props to the guys who we believe are the most talented in the industry right now – Benson, Jack Love, Acaddamy, Motez, MoodMachine, Ports, Magic Bird and Steve Ward.

The Music You Make We make house in various 4. forms, all with deep, tech and bass influences. We have a great new remix coming out on our label Habitual for two Sydney artists called Magic Bird which is very nu-disco sounding

James Zabiela

but still in the 4x4 house genre.

We also have a bunch of new originals we have just finished, including a track with arguably one of the biggest vocalists in dance music in Amba Shepherd.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

We think that the scene here in Australia is diversifying. It’s not just big room EDM. There are a lot more indie clubs coming up, deep house is making a really big resurgence at the moment, and some of these nights are packing out… in general there’s a healthier vibe. The scene’s not just so narrow anymore; it’s kind of broad, harking back to the earlier days of the late ’90s. You can kind of do what you want to do here and be successful.

What: Born Electric Garden Party feat. James Zabiela, Pedestrian, Drew Hill, Fake Forward and more Where: Ivy When: Saturday January 25

JAGUAR SKILLS

Boom British DJ Jaguar Skills is ninjasharp – he continues the fine tradition of cartoon musicians and transplants it onto the dancefloor, having honed his chops for the last decade and a half. It’s hard to decipher his face, name or age, but Jag lets his tunes do the talking anyway. He’s mixed hundreds of tapes, including those released through BBC Radio 1, and has done production work for megastar rapper Lupe Fiasco (‘We Love You’). Jag is hitting Chinese Laundry on Friday January 24 alongside Deckhead, Blackmale, Adam Zae, FKNA and more. We’ve got a double pass up for grabs – to be in the running, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and let us know your secret ninja skill. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.

Mark Henning

JAMES ZABIELA

UK progressive house don James Zabiela will headline a Garden Party at The Ivy on Saturday January 25, which will run from midday till 8pm, as part of an Aussie jaunt that will also include an appearance at the Rainbow Serpent festival. Zabiela is renowned for his Renaissance mix compilations, and has a reputation for the formidable technical skills that he utilises during his DJ sets. Mentored by Sasha, Zabiela has gone on to carve out his own identity in the top tier of DJs, remixing the likes of Radiohead, Röyksopp, Ladytron and Orbital while accumulating his own discography of original productions. In support of Zabiela, fellow UK producers Pedestrian and Drew Hill will also be throwing down throughout the afternoon and early evening, along with a local lineup headed by S.A.S.H main man Matt Weir.

Trus’Me

CHARADES + BOOM BOOM PRESENT MR.G ET AL.

Local party crews Charades and Boom Boom have joined forces to host a party on Friday January 17 at The Imperial Hotel featuring Manchester producer David Wolstencroft, who plays under the moniker of Trus’Me; London tech house proponent Colin McBean, AKA Mr G, who will be playing a live set; and New Zealand’s Chaos in the CBD. Trus’Me rose to prominence with his acclaimed debut album Working Nights back in 2007, with excited critics describing Wolstencroft’s mix of disco, soul, house and jazz influences as “Moodymann with a smile”. Mr G uses analogue hardware to craft club tracks that are characterised by their deep and heavy bass. Tunespotters will tell you that McBean has also released under the monikers The Reaver, Mango Boy and Halcyon Daze throughout his lengthy career. Doors to this triple bill open at 10pm, and presale tickets are still available online.

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MARK HENNING @ SPICE CELLAR

Berlin-based producer Mark Henning, whose sound melds minimal house and techno soundscapes, will DJ at The Spice Cellar on Saturday February 22. Henning initially broke through on the back of his A&R talents with his net label Clever Music, and its association with then-new (but now well established) artists Pheek and JPLS. Henning began to refine his own skewed take on club sounds as he notched up releases for Freude Am Tanzen, Trapez and Cynosure, before releasing his 2008 debut album Jupiter Jive on Slam’s lauded Soma Recordings label. Henning has maintained his place in the underground echelon ever since, spinning at world-renowned clubs like Panorama, Rex Club, Space and releasing his own tracks on Fabric and M_nus compilations.

LATE NITE TUFF GUY ALL NIGHT LONG

Adelaide’s foremost techno export Cam Bianchetti, AKA DJ HMC AKA Late Nite Tuff Guy, is heading back to the Civic Underground for an all-night DJ set courtesy of Picnic on Saturday February 15. Bianchetti landed an international club hit in 1995 with ‘Phreakin’, which put Adelaide on the world techno map. Bianchetti topped that effort with his subsequent cut as Late Nite Tuff Guy, ‘I Get Deeper’, which remains a favourite amongst current DJs such as Seth Troxler et al. 2013 marked Bianchetti’s long-awaited return to Europe after a decade staying put Down Under (the man isn’t fond of fl ying). His trip was crowned by a set at Berlin clubbing coliseum Berghain, an honour very few Australians have earned. A string of releases on disco edits imprint Dessert Island Discs and his recently launched Tuff Cut label has confirmed that Bianchetti is losing none of his creative zest. Tickets are available online from $22, and the beats commencing at 10pm.

DERRICK CARTER

Veteran DJ/producer Derrick Carter will headline the Goldfish in Kings Cross on Saturday March 1, when he will play a midnight set. Carter was one of the earliest secondwave Chicago house impresarios to crack the European club milieu, and Australian crowds have followed suit over the years. First making his mark in 1987 with ‘Love Me Right’, Carter has remained a constant in club culture ever since, remixing the likes of Cajmere, Ian Pooley and Felix da Housecat. He has also released a litany of compilations, including an outing for Fabric and a House Masters mix for Defected Records. Grab your tickets online for $22.

COMPOUND

Compound will throw its first party of 2014 at Goodgod Small Club on Saturday February 8. To celebrate Compound’s grand return from a four-month break, Ben Fester and Zeus will go back-to-back for a three-and-a-half hour set (insert platitude about taking dancers on a journey here) ahead of the likes of Waz & Statz and Compound co-founder Subaske. The beats get going at 11pm, and entry is just $10 on the door.

Michael Mayer Still Compact By Rezo

I

f you consider yourself a fan of electronic music, let me introduce you to Michael Mayer.

A softly spoken yet effervescent musical legend, Mayer is understandably somewhat of a celebrity in his native Germany.

His seminal Kompakt imprint – a partnership between Wolfgang Voigt, Jürgen Paape and Mayer – is well known for breaking all the rules. Originally established as a record store in Cologne, Kompakt is home to some of the world’s most forward-thinking minimal techno and is today the outlet for releases from artists like Superpitcher, The Orb and John Tejada.

Mayer oversees not only the label’s artists but also Kompakt’s distribution wing – home to over 50 record labels. Amazingly enough, he also manages to fi nd time in the studio to produce his own music, and has remixed the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Foals and Rufus Wainwright. Likewise, with Total Confusion, Mayer and partner-incrime Tobias Thomas established one of Cologne’s longest-running club nights.

“2013 was a pretty exhaustive year,” Mayer says. “I’ve been celebrating that – I’ve also done some specifi cally dedicated releases as well as played some really cool gigs in a lot of great cities. So yes, things have been very busy, but we’ve received very

good feedback.”

That little record store which opened back in 1993 led to the creation of one of electronic music’s great labels, which has just celebrated its 20th birthday. “It is amazing to think that we’ve been around for so long now,” says Mayer. “Creating a compilation [Kollektion 1] to commemorate that great moment is something I took great pride in.”

Indeed, the label is one for the purists, releasing everything on vinyl or CD. “Nothing has really changed there. Sure, the pressing numbers have gone down a bit over the times, but when pressings come, it is a very special moment for me. It gives me a sensation of a new baby being born; if it’s a digital release, I don’t get this sensation. I can’t take it as seriously as a physical release.

“The label now has almost 500 releases and over that time, we’ve gained a lot of trust from record buyers who want to check out what we’re doing. As well as this, we are always doing a broad range of music and that has always been a way of defi ning us.”

Kompakt takes pride in offering its artists the creative freedom to thrive, rather than boxing them into a particular approach. Mayer isn’t a fan of tags and genres.

“It’s music and I don’t like being

specifi c about it. Artists like to act freely and take freedoms as much as they can. In my opinion, genres are keeping us from listening to music – at least this is my thinking.”

With the little studio time he does have, Mayer still enjoys doing a remix or two, but admits he can’t really focus on a full suite of releases right now. That said, he hopes after his imminent Australian tour to take some time off during February and March, and come up with some new music.

But DJing at the weekend remains his first love. “I do need to work all week in the office and on the label; it’s like my step child because I can’t fi nd the time to do everything I’d like. I still get a lot of pleasure from being a DJ though. I guess you can’t have it all.”

With: Matt Aubusson, Slow Blow, Garth Linton, Start:Cue, Le Brond, Jordan Deck and more Where: Ivy Pool Club When: Monday January 27 And: Also appearing alongside Matsumoto Zoku, The Orb, Zion Train, James Zabiela, FreQ Nasty, Felguk, Mantra, Joelistics and more at Rainbow Serpent Festival, 24-27 January, Lexton, Victoria

Paul Van Dyk Revolution Reconsidered By Augustus Welby

T

here’s been much talk among both artists and the media in the last few years concerning an EDM revolution. The idea has seemingly been confirmed by the increase of electronic sounds in mainstream pop music. However, one of the most respected figures in global electronic dance music for the last two decades, German DJ and producer Paul van Dyk, observes scarce innovation coming out of the purported revolutionaries.

“For me, electronic music has always been about breaking the boundaries on the creative side, as much as using the latest technology,” he says. “If you look at what’s going on with the stuff that’s being called EDM in some parts of the world, that’s not really electronic music anymore. That’s just like the ever same-sounding pop song.”

Evidently van Dyk perceives a major distinction between the EDM dominating the mainstream and his own career output. “Every single thing that I’ve done actually has an importance to me. For me electronic music is a very intense, very important art form.”

“If you look at what’s going on with the stuff that’s being called EDM in some parts of the world, that’s not really electronic music anymore. That’s just like the ever same-sounding pop song.” thebrag.com

Van Dyk’s artistic ambitions haven’t prevented him from gaining popular success. Since emerging in the early ’90s, he’s released six albums of original music, achieving aggregated album sales of over four million. Back in 2003, his fourth LP Refl ections was the first nominee in the newly introduced Best Dance/ Electronic Album category at the Grammy Awards (he didn’t take the award home, but in 2009 he received a Grammy for his work on the soundtrack to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight). Van Dyk offers his thoughts on the acts nominated in the Dance/Electronic category more recently.

“To be really honest the only person in the last two, three or four years who was valuable or should have been the winner of the dance music award is the sound designer of the Nexus 2 software synthesisers, because everything comes from that machine. Everybody uses those presets – I mean, everybody who’s in that ‘EDM’ thing.”

Such disparaging opinions about the contemporary EDM proliferation are warranted when you consider van Dyk’s been performing and recording for over 20 years. He remains one of the world’s busiest DJs, however he’s not tiring of his profession.

“What I do I’m really passionate about, so it doesn’t feel like a job. It doesn’t feel like as much work as it is,” he says. “I appreciate every day what I can do. The fact I have such a loyal fan base enables me to see the world and play my favourite music in front of my favourite audience.”

A regular visitor to our shores, van Dyk returns to Australia this March for the Future Music Festival.

Anyone who has seen van Dyk in the past will be aware that his live show is not a passive undertaking.

“I’m not just pressing ‘play’ on a CD player and waiting for the record to be over. There’s so much more that I do all the time that possibly

can [go] wrong that gives the whole thing a very intense and a very lively feeling.”

“As soon as it was possible to take production elements with me onstage I did that – more than ten years ago. Ever since, my equipment list and all the stuff that I use onstage [has] kept evolving.

I have keyboards onstage and a computer and custom-made mixers and controllers. It enables me to actually play live so every set is fairly different – it varies from venue to venue.”

Van Dyk’s stage setup doubles as a mobile studio, which allows him to evade the common creative barriers enforced by being on tour.

He reveals that his songwriting experiments aren’t merely conducted behind closed doors.

“I’m trying out things live when I play. I’m trying some riffs and seeing the reaction directly when I play it live. On the last album especially and with new stuff coming out, with [the forthcoming record] Politics Of Dancing 3 as well, some of those hooks that are in the album actually came up while I was playing live. I let the basic chord play out and I had some drums and then I played a melody on top and I’m just like, ‘Wow, I really like this.’ When you are inspired by the moment, directly by your audience – it doesn’t get more direct.”

In addition to utilising crowd responses to evaluate new music, van Dyk indicates the attitude of those present in the room has a big impact on the overall direction of his shows.

“I have a very clear idea about the sound and the music I like to bring across but everything else is always down to the interaction with my audience. It’s always about the vibe and about the feel and of course the communication with the audience …

I have an idea of which direction I want to go but I have a few thousand people in front of me that have an opinion of where we all should go together.”

What: Future Music Festival With: Deadmau5, Hardwell, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Phoenix, Kaskade, Knife Party, Rudimental, Sub Focus, Porter Robinson and more Where: Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 8

BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 37

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

FRIDAY JANUARY 17

SUNDAY JANUARY 19 CLUB NIGHTS CLUB NIGHTS

Juan Atkins

Sydney Town Hall

Modular Presents: Juan Atkins + Movement + Roland Tings + Worldlife + Softwar + Club Mod DJs 8pm. $36.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15 HIP HOP & R&B

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

COMEDY

Game Of ... Spiky Metal Chair Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $43.80.

The Laugh Stand - feat: Sam Simmons FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.

CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs 38 :: BRAG :: 545 : 15:01:14

Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: DJs Camo + Snillum + Jaimie Lyn Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free.

THURSDAY JANUARY 16 HIP HOP & R&B

Hip Hop House Party - feat: Mind Over Matter + Daily Meds + DJ Skae + Sleazy Greazy + Shadows + More Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.

CLUB NIGHTS

Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

Cakes Da Killa - feat: Black Vanilla (DJ Set) + Brothers Hand Mirror + Bhenji Ra + Gg Magree + Del Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

10pm. $15.

Charades & Boom Boom Present Mr G + Trusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Me + Chaos In The CBD + Robbie Lowe + Boom Boom DJs + Charade DJs The Imperial Hotel, Newtown.

9pm. $44.

DJ Degustation - feat: Ant J Steep The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

7pm. $55.

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

5pm. free.

Soft & Slow - feat: Tunnel Signs + Andy Webb + Steven Sullivan + Pink Lloyd + Parihaka The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. $10.

Sydney Festival: Modular Presents Juan Atkins + Movement + Roland Tings + Worldlife + Softwar + Club Mod DJs Sydney Town Hall, 8pm. $36.

Yo Grito!

Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Zannon Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $15.

SATURDAY JANUARY 18 COMEDY

Game Of ... Spiky Metal Chair Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $43.80.

CLUB NIGHTS

Dutty Dancing - feat: Smutlee + Shantan Ichiban + Mike Who + Basslines Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

11pm. $10.

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

11:30pm. free.

Goldfish & Paul Strange Present Balance 024 - feat: Danny Howells + Johnny Gleeson + Matt Cahill Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. $27.50.

Goodgod Hai-Life Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. free.

Pearson Sound + Ben Ufo feat: Ra Bazzar + Fingers + King Lee + Josh Riley + Jeff Drake + More Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $15.

Pete Tong + Helena Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 7pm. $28.60.

Soapbox Events & Cakes Presents Pleasurekraft + Benson & Mike Metro +

Martini Club And Friends feat: Ocky + Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free.

S.A.S.H Sundays Flyover, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

The Beach Ball - feat: Special Guests Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 4pm. free.

Unknown Landscapes Tour feat: D.A. Calf (The Book Of Ships) + Matt Wicking (The General Assembly) + Special Guests The Newsagency, Marrickville.

8pm. $12.

COMEDY

Game Of ... Spiky Metal Chair Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $43.80.

MONDAY JANUARY 20 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Mattia Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

TUESDAY JANUARY 21 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Robin Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

Marcus Worgull

Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

Solarium - feat: Nicole Millar + Solarium DJs Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

COMEDY

Game Of ... Spiky Metal Chair Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $43.80.

FRIDAY JANUARY 17 COMEDY

Game Of ... Spiky Metal Chair Burlesque The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $43.80.

thebrag.com

Xxx

club pick of the week

Acaddamy + Jack Bailey + This Mess + Diego Slim + More World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $20.

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

5pm. free.

Spice - feat: Aram + Michelle Owen + Robbie Lowe + Dean Relf + Le Brond The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. $20.

The Black Projekt & La Famiglia Present Marcus Worgull + Jordan Deck + Ben Ashton + Ben Counsel + Dave Stuart + Leoch + Shepz Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

10pm. $16.50.

Helena

Deep Impressions

club picks p send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15

024 - feat: Danny Howells + Johnny Gleeson + Matt Cahill Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. $27.50.

The Laugh Stand - feat: Sam Simmons FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.

Pearson Sound + Ben Ufo - feat: Ra Bazzar + Fingers + King Lee + Josh Riley + Jeff Drake + More Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $15.

THURSDAY JANUARY 16

The Orb

FRIDAY JANUARY 17 Cakes Da Killa - feat: Black Vanilla (DJ Set) + Brothers Hand Mirror + Bhenji Ra + GG Magree + Del Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. $15.

Charades & Boom Boom Present Mr G + Trus’Me + Chaos In The CBD + Robbie Lowe + Boom Boom DJs + Charade DJs The Imperial Hotel, Newtown. 9pm. $44.

Soft & Slow - feat: Tunnel Signs + Andy Webb + Steven Sullivan + Pink Lloyd + Parihaka The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $10.

The Orb Oxford Art Factory

Zannon Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $15.

Donato Dozzy The Civic Underground

MONDAY JANUARY 27

Spice - feat: Aram + Michelle Owen + Robbie Lowe + Dean Relf + Le Brond The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $20.

Michael Mayer Ivy Pool Club

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1

The Black Projekt & La Famiglia Present Marcus Worgull + Jordan Deck + Ben Ashton + Ben Counsel + Dave Stuart + Leoch + Shepz Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $16.50.

S.A.S.H Sundays Flyover, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

SATURDAY JANUARY 18 Dutty Dancing - feat: Smutlee + Shantan Ichiban + Mike Who + Basslines Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. $10.

Goldfish & Paul Strange Present Balance

SATURDAY JANUARY 25

Soapbox Events & Cakes Present Pleasurekraft + Benson & Mike Metro + Acaddamy + Jack Bailey + This Mess + Diego Slim + More World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $20.

SUNDAY JANUARY 19

Smutlee

I M A G I N E B E I N G M A D E TO

F EEL L IKE CRAP JUST FOR

LEFT

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY JANUARY 18

Pete Tong + Helena Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 7pm. $28.60.

Hip Hop House Party - feat: Mind Over Matter + Daily Meds + DJ Skae + Sleazy Greazy + Shadows + More Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15.

BEING

Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Andy Weatherall Oxford Art Factory

A

nd like that, it’s 2014. The dust has only just settled from the New Year debauchery, and Sydney has sadly bid farewell to the iconic venue The Abercrombie. But life goes on – it must – as a slew of salacious club gigs has already been announced for the start of this year. One such show is The Orb’s return to Sydney at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday January 18, which will prefigure their performance at Victoria’s annual Rainbow Serpent Festival. Comprised of Alex Paterson and German techno auteur Thomas Fehlmann, The Orb have been plying their trade since the late ’80s, notching up a whopping 12 albums along the way – their most recent was More Tales From The Orbservatory, which dropped in October. Credited with pioneering the ambient house genre, Paterson recalled recently that, “We wanted to take ambient to the streets and give it to the working class… up until us, I guess, ambient had this clichéd image where it was all [Brian] Eno and highbrow.” Well and truly succeeding in their pursuit of this mission, The Orb established themselves as one of the most enduring acts to emerge from the UK acid house era, with their tracks remixed by club monoliths like Aphex Twin, Orbital and Danny Tenaglia. But let’s keep looking forward, not back, and turn our focus to…

North American producer Francis Harris, who is renowned for his output as Adultnapper and for his Sycophant Slags project with Mr. C. Harris will release a new album entitled Minutes Of Sleep under his birth name on the Scissor & Thread label that he oversees with Anthony Collins in February. The American has accumulated over 40 EPs and remixes for respected labels like Poker Flat, Mule Electronic and Get Physical throughout his career, endearing himself to Sydneysiders through several standout performances, namely at Subsonic’s inaugural End of the Line bash at Favela and at the Subsonic Music Festival in 2012. Having now discarded

his Adultnapper moniker, Harris recently released the lead-off single from Minutes Of Sleep, ‘You Can Always Leave’, which features Danish vocalist Gry Bagøien and No Regular Play’s Greg Paulus, who contributes mournful trumpet interludes.

‘You Can Always Leave’ has been remixed by the enigmatic Terre Thaemlitz (AKA DJ Sprinkles), who delivers an atmospheric slice of refined, late-night lounge-infused house music.

As was the case with Harris’ debut album Leland, his second album traverses melancholic themes such as “memory, loss and profound grief”. Whereas Harris composed Leland as a requiem to his father, Minutes Of Sleep is heavily influenced by the recent passing of Harris’ mother. The resulting album offers listeners an immersive listening experience, exploring the outer regions of the dancefloor with a collection of brooding compositions that also reflect Harris’ mastery of modern classical and experimental influences. Thaemlitz turns in another epic remix for the album with his 14-minute take on ‘Dangerdream (How Che Guevara’s Death and Bob Dylan’s Life Militarized Brigate Rosse)’, which complements its many intricate layers of sample-laden ambient soundscapes with plangent piano to create a haunting piece that evinces Thaemlitz’s exceptional attention to detail. The fact that this track is matched by the other compositions on Minutes Of Sleep is indicative of the album’s quality, which comes at dance music from a far more ambitious standpoint than one is used to. This is challenging dance music that avoids the pitfall of being pretentious. Don’t be put off by the motif of mourning – Harris has crafted an album that is highly emotive and contemplative without being slit-your-wrists gloomy. I’m tipping rave reviews for Minutes Of Sleep when it drops next month – and if it doesn’t receive them, then there’s no justice in the music industry. But I suppose we already know there isn’t, don’t we?

Francis Harris

H A N D E D.

Okay, that’s hard to imagine? But being gay, lesbian, bi, trans or intersex is no different to being born left handed, it’s just who you are. So stop and think because the things we say are likely to cause depression and anxiety. And that really is pretty crap.

GO TO LEFTHAND.ORG.AU TO WATCH THE VIDEO

thebrag.com

STOP t THINK t RESPECT

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 39

snap

de la soul

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up all night out all week . . .

the aston shuffle + smutlee

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28:12:13 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

08:01:14 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 FORE :: CLARKE :: FALCONA :: KEN LEAN S :: LIAM CAMERON :: KATRINA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: N UPTO E ENC :: PRUD ASHLEY MAR :: JAMIE WILLIAMS

40 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

s.a.s.h closing party

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solange

PICS :: KC

11:01:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

05:01:14 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486 thebrag.com

snap up all night out all week . . .

live review FIELD DAY Wednesday January 1 The Domain The ’90s were back at Field Day for sure.

From rainbow He-Man shirts to crop tops and bucket hats, everything old (stylewise at least) was new again.

Clad in matching blue-and-white Adidas trackies, Flight Facilities dipped back to, you guessed it, the ’90s for their decade set, playing the likes of Coolio, Biggie, Beastie Boys and Snoop circa Dogg before getting dancier with some Jamiroquai. Continuing the DJs-inAdidas theme, Alison Wonderland kept the punters going in between sets.

A$AP Rocky wasn’t coy about what was keeping him going through the haze of jetlag – “I’ve got a confession to make: I’m really fucking high right now. We’re gonna have to see mosh pits, exposed tits, fucking backfl ips.” And with ‘Wild For The Night’ the stage turned into a dancefl oor, Rocky’s crew getting crazy alongside Wiz Khalifa, who also took the opportunity to philosophise about what brings us all together (hint: it’s weed).

Over at The Island, rumoured sleeping pill imbiber Chet Faker turned the chill factor up to 11, debuting a new track ‘1998’, followed by his laidback version of ‘No Diggity’ rolling almost imperceptibly

into ‘My Happiness’ while NYE survivors stretched out on the grass.

Hermitude gave the crowd a taste of things to come, debuting an unfinished track before they led into the non-Flume version of ‘HyperParadise’ with a sing-along to ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’. They went on to pay Flume back in kind, playing their own remix of his track ‘Holdin On’.

Solange was undoubtedly the queen of the day. Her set was deliciously cool – she sashayed and whipped her miles of braids back and forth; ‘Lovers In The Parking Lot’ was sublime and ‘Losing You’ saw the crowd try its best to match her move for move. She even managed an encore before disappearing with a “Thank you Sydney, you’re glorious!”

2013 was the year of Flume and he capped it off nicely with a main stage headline set.

He played the hit remixes, from Hermitude to Disclosure and an extended mix of ‘Insane’, which featured a ghostly projection of vocalist Moon Holiday. Meanwhile, across the park The Wombats played ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ in darkness; singer Matthew Murphy leading the enthusiastic crowd by yelling encouragingly, “C’mon you bastards!”

As for the post-festival trudge back to transport, we could have all done with a golf cart out of The Domain à la Solange.

Natalie Amat

:: PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14 :: 41

up all night out all week . . .

snap

ltj bukem + calyx & teebee

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up all night out all week . . .

on the harbour

PICS :: F

03:01:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

the roots

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31:12:13 :: Cargo Bar :: 52-60 The Promendade Sydney 9262 1777

s.a.s.h @ flyover

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27:12:13 :: Hordern Pavilion :: 1 Driver Ave Moore Park 9921 5333 S :: LIAM CAMERON :: KATRINA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: PRUDENCE UPTON :: ASHLEY MAR :: JAMIE WILLIAMS

FORE :: CLARKE :: FALCONA :: KEN LEAN

12:01:14 :: Flyover Bar :: 275 Kent St Sydney 9262 1988

42 :: BRAG :: 545 :: 15:01:14

thebrag.com

kwp!CPR12197