Brag#584 by The Brag

ISSUE NO. 584 OCTOBER 15, 2014

FREE Now picked up at over 1,500 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

V IOL EN T S OHO

Local pride keeps these Queenslanders rocking.

LANIE LANE ON BEING HERSELF

A L L OUR E X E S L I V E IN T E X A S

“It’s not true, sadly. They still live in Newtown.”

F E A R FA C T ORY

What inspired their metal revolution?

T HE A S T ON SHUF F L E

Mikah Freeman on the everchanging music business.

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: the latest touring and music news...with Chris Martin, Tyson Wray and Kelsey Berry

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speed date WITH

STUART FERGIE AKA DIDGERISTU FROM OKA Your Profile Try to imagine Bob Marley meets Stevie 1. Wonder via The Chemical Brothers, on acid, playing in a steaming rainforest with a didgeridoo, and you are getting close. OKA is a celebration of freedom, beauty and love. It’s electric, it’s conscious roots, it’s Dreamtime. OKA draw upon their indigenous connection to place and country through an irresistible blend of influences spanning house, big beat, reggae-dub, roots, jazz and world music. Keeping Busy We have just returned from just over four 2. months of touring extensively through Europe and Canada. It was our maiden voyage to Europe and was really well received, so now we’re in motion to finish our new album and head back overseas sharing more OKA tunes. Best Gig Ever We have had some amazing gigs over 3. the years, but recently we played a show at the Colours of Ostrava festival in the Czech Republic to 20,000 peeps hearing and reacting to OKA for the first time. It’s a crazy experience watching someone absorb OKA for the first time. But

the real highlight was supporting the godfather of funk, Mr. George Clinton, at The Forum in London. It was such a religious experience and honour to share our sound before hanging side of stage as George did his magic… wow, I still get goosebumps thinking about it now. Current Playlist I’m really into an amazing first nation 4. band from Canada, A Tribe Called Red. They put on an ‘electric pow wow’ where they create heavy dance music with traditional summing and singing. Such a dope experience! Your Ultimate Rider Our ultimate rider is two words: Ron 5. Zacapa. Rum is our weapon of choice and is really all you need. We love a good Jamaican Mule and a Zacapa XO is medicine. And we have a few vegetarians in the group so finding good organic ‘herb’ is always important. With: Markandeya Where: Paddington Chapel When: Saturday October 18 Xxx

Dan Sultan

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray ONLINE COORDINATOR: Emily Meller SUB-EDITOR: Emily Meller STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Kelsey Berry, Gloria Brancatisano, Roger Ma, June Murtagh, Tyson Wray ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: James Ambrose, Ashwin Arumugam, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Georgina Pengelly - 0416 972 081 / (02) 9212 4322 georgina@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Furst Media 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: Emily Meller, June Murtagh, Debbie Shankhar - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@ thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Roger Ma, Debbie Shankar, Jacob Mills, June Murtagh REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Christie Eliezer, Blake Gallagher, Fergus Halliday, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Adam Norris, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Amy Theodore, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Fishished Art: No later than 2pm Monday Ad cancellations: Friday 4pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to. Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045 All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L / Furst Media P/L 2003-2014 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600 PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204

6 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

HOMEGROUND ADVANTAGE

The Sydney Opera House’s two-day festival celebrating indigenous culture from Australia and overseas has revealed the first round of artists for its November event. After a spectacular debut in April this year, Homeground returns on the eve of summer with headline artist Dan Sultan, fresh from releasing and touring his new album Blackbird. Also on the bill are Richard Frankland & The Charcoal Club and Canada’s Digging Roots. The full program will be announced on Tuesday October 21. Homeground returns to the Sydney Opera House on Saturday November 22 and Sunday November 23.

Eyehategod

EYEHATEGOD

Sludge metal icons Eyehategod are making their way Down Under in January. Over two-anda-half decades (though they weren’t without their difficulties), Eyehategod have flown the flag for rock in New Orleans, and shared stages with the likes of Pantera, Goatwhore and Crowbar. Nowadays they’re as strong as they’ve ever been, with a new self-titled album in the ether and fresh Australian dates on the way. Eyehategod play Manning Bar on Saturday January 31.

range of older favourites. Catch The Gaslight Anthem at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday January 31. Tickets go on sale Friday October 17.

SWOON OVER SPOON

Spoon will return to Australian shores early next year for the first time since 2010. Last here for an appearance at Groovin The Moo, Spoon’s 2015 tour follows the release of their latest studio record They Want My Soul, which features singles ‘Do You’ and ‘Inside Out’. Catch them at the Metro Theatre on Saturday February 14.

KING PARROT

Melbourne heavy metal rockers King Parrot will be returning home this November for a string of Australian dates. The tour caps off a busy year for the group, which will have toured Australia three times and North America four times before the year is done. The boys have also been busy recording their second album, with fans set to be treated to some of the new material at their November shows. Catch King Parrot on Thursday November 20 at the Exchange Hotel.

WOMADELAIDE 2015

WOMADelaide has revealed a huge first lineup of 25 international artists for its 2015 incarnation. Senegalese singer, percussionist and social revolutionist Youssou N’Dour leads the charge this time, while The Gloaming, Abdullah Ibrahim Quartet, Balkan Beat Box, Bombino, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Charlie Musselwhite, Che Sudaka, Criolo, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Flavia Coelho, Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys, Jambinai, Jupiter & Okwess International, Lake Street Dive, Live Live Cinema, Luzmila Carpio, Marrugeku Theatre Company, Malawi Mouse Boys, Meeta Pandit, Neneh Cherry with RocketNumberNine+, Public Service Broadcasting, Ramzi Aburedwan and Ensemble Dal’Ouna, Rufus Wainwright and Soil and ‘Pimp’ Sessions are all set to perform. WOMADelaide will be held from Friday March 6 – Monday March 9 in Adelaide’s Botanic Park.

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

New Jersey punk rockers The Gaslight Anthem will return to Australia early next year for a whirlwind run of dates. The tour will showcase tracks from the band’s fifth album Get Hurt, released in August this year, as well as a whole

George Clinton London Grammar

BLUESFEST SIDESHOWS As usual, Easter 2015 will see dozens of unmissable acts make their way to Byron Bay for Bluesfest – but if you can’t make the trip, Sydney will have you covered as well, hosting its share of festival sideshows. The first round of announcements include Beth Hart at the Metro Theatre on Tuesday March 31; The Chris Robinson Brotherhood at the same venue on Monday April 6; G. Love & Special Sauce at The Basement on Sunday April 5; George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday April 1; and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the Factory Theatre on the same night. Tickets to all shows are on sale now.

LONDON GRAMMAR

Due to huge demand from fans Down Under, London Grammar have added an intimate theatre show here in Sydney on their 2015 Australian tour. After the success of their 2013 visit for Falls Festival and the release of their debut album If You Wait, the UK natives are bringing their uplifting sounds back our way for a sold-out show at the Hordern Pavilion on Thursday March 12, and the freshly added Enmore Theatre date on Monday March 9. Secret Sounds members can access presale tickets from 9am Friday October 17, while general public tix go on sale 9am Monday October 20.

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live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Gloria Brancatisano and June Murtagh

five things WITH

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

THE CHURCH

MARK WELLS FROM TWENTY TWO HUNDRED soon with California Breed, including Wembley Arena! Can’t believe it. The Music You Make We are a blues-driven heavy rock 4. band with a lot of groove. It’s a blend of Rage Against The Machine, Led Zeppelin, Clutch, and even a bit stoner rock in places. I produced our EP Eleven [2010] at Woodstock Studios in Melbourne, and I mixed it literally in my bedroom. I also produced our first album Carnaval De Vénus [2013] at Sing Sing in Melbourne and Stagg Street Studios in LA. It was mixed by Andrew Scheps at his studio in LA, and he released it through his own label Tonequake Records.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Iconic Aussie rockers The Church have been a near-constant presence on the scene since their formation in 1980, and they’ve returned with a 25th studio album, Further/Deeper, due out this Friday October 17. Long-term guitarist Marty Willson-Piper was unable to join Steve Kilbey and co. this time around, but ex-Powderfinger man Ian Haug has stepped in to fill the breach, so it’ll very much be business as usual when The Church head out on their album launch tour this month. They’ll be exclusively playing songs from the new record at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday October 25, and we’ve got three double passes to give away. To be in the running, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us which song by The Church is most special to you. The Church

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think the music scene at the moment is 5. the hardest it’s ever been. Bands have to fund

Growing Up I grew up moving a lot. Music was always a constant. Almost everyone is a musician in my family. Inspirations My first influence as a kid was The 2. Beatles, which progressed to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Clutch, too many to list.

Your Band Twenty Two Hundred is myself, Drew Alig on drums, Marcus Kain on guitar/bass, and our latest addition Cam Brown on vocals. Marcus and I share the guitars and solos on the album, and share bass and guitar live. We formed in Melbourne about four years ago. We have done some international tours, opening for Slash a couple of times, Stone Temple Pilots, Coheed and Cambria, it’s been amazing. We’re opening on the Slash UK tour

everything themselves. You have to really love what you do. Having said that, we are very fortunate to have done the things we have done. The local scene has a lot of great bands and a lot of great music. It is thriving. I’m more familiar with the Melbourne live scene, but we’re playing at Frankie’s soon, and I’ve heard that’s a great rock venue in the Sydney CBD. Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Thursday October 16

The Dead Love

THE DEAD LOVE

Sydney alt-rockers The Dead Love are wrapping up their east coast tour to launch debut album Transitions this weekend, so you can bet they’ll be raring to go at Frankie’s on Sunday October 19. The trio’s most recent single ‘Back To You’ has received plenty of love on the airwaves, while the band has shared stages with the likes of Aerosmith, Calling All Cars, Kingswood, The Snowdroppers and many more.

FLOYD VINCENT

The Dandelion

SYDNEY PSYCH FEST

Some of Australia’s finest young psychedelic musicians and artists will be showcased at this year’s Sydney Psych Fest. After selling out its inaugural edition in 2013, the festival is back with an exciting lineup including Glass Skies, The Dunes, The Dandelion, Sounds Like Sunset and Dead Radio, with more acts to be announced. Sydney Psych Fest 2014 will be held at the Factory Theatre on Saturday December 13.

DEL BARBER

Youthful Canadian singer-songwriter Del Barber is making the long trip across the seas to show his wares next month. The folk, Americana and alt-country performer has just put out his fourth record, Prairieography, and is coming our way for the Mullum Music and Woodford Folk festivals. He’ll stop by Brighton Up Bar on Thursday November 20 with support from the effervescent Fanny Lumsden.

HALLOWEEN AT FRANKENSTEIN’S

Frankie’s Pizza is refashioning itself Frankenstein’s Pizza for one night only on Thursday October 30 in celebration of Halloween

Eve. A special spooky menu will be available as a one-shot deal, accompanied by dastardly tunes by Frankie’s World Famous House Band, electric doom metal crew Sumeru and DJ Goggles. Oh, and the worst dressed wins.

SHADY DAYS

It’s a rockin’ shade of blue that’s taking over Shady Pines this weekend, with a double bill of heavy blues music hitting the stage. First up on Saturday October 18 are StormCellar, who’ve been on tour in the US for the past few months and no doubt have some new tricks to show for it. Then Sunday October 19 sees Juke Baritone & The Swamp Dogs come to town. Expect theatrics, evocative lyricism and a hot, hot time.

RACHEL COLLIS

Indie-pop/folk singer-songwriter Rachel Collis is set to launch her new album Nightlight at a Sydney show. Already an outstanding talent, she has performed regularly at both the Adelaide and Sydney Fringe Festivals and the Riverside Theatre, and is back on the scene with her second record. If you love Regina Spektor, Joni Mitchell or Sarah McLachlan, you’ll appreciate these sweet tunes. The launch is on Friday October 31 at Foundry616.

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PEPA KNIGHT

Jinja Safari man gone solo Pepa Knight is giving fans a sneak peek at his 2015 debut album with the release of Hypnotized Vol. 1. It’s the first half of the record proper, and being issued as a standalone collection on Friday November 28. Knight’s solo venture continues after his first singles ‘Rahh!’ and ‘Clams’, and he’s returning to the stage to perform more new material along the east coast, including Newtown Social Club on Sunday November 9, Newcastle’s Small Ballroom on Thursday November 27 and Gosford’s Baker St on Friday November 28.

WHAT WOULD SNEAKERS DO

Converse Australia has announced Sneakers Would, a multi-city series of music gigs across Australia and New Zealand, encouraging would-be participants to take a spur-of-the-moment opportunity to score tickets. The series will be showing up unpredictably in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington throughout October and November. Fans will find ticket offers in unexpected places and receive invitations to drop whatever they are doing to attend. The Sydney live events will kick off with a Remi and Collarbones performance on Thursday October 23. Head to sneakerswould.converse.com.au for more info.

thebrag.com

The Dandelion photo by Robert Saponja

Rachel Collis

A veteran of the Australian live music scene, the genre-shifting Floyd Vincent and his band The Temple Dogs are back on the circuit with a new live album. A Little Saturday Night Music captures the group in its natural environment at the Wickham Park Hotel and The Junkyard in Maitland, showing off Vincent and The Temple Dogs’ famous live energy. The title doffs its cap to Mozart, but the comparisons end there – expect a meld of indie rock, world music and pop. Floyd Vincent and The Temple Dogs launch the record at the Wickham Park Hotel on Saturday October 18, Lazybones Lounge on Saturday October 25 and The Junkyard on Sunday October 26.

NEW ALBUM RUCKERS HILL OUT OCT 17 FEATURING ‘I’M NOT COMING BACK’ & ‘SAINT JOAN’

Thu 13 Nov, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney Fri 14 Nov, Small Ballroom, Newcastle Sat 15 Nov, Transit Bar, Canberra Sun 16 Nov, Brass Monkey, Cronulla WWW.HUSKYSONGS.COM BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 9

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

MORE AUSSIES GO PLATINUM

THINGS WE HEAR * Which manager, while returning to the physio for treatment after a car accident, tripped and broke his wrist at the door? * Which lead singer is bragging to friends heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determined to land a role in Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 when it starts shooting in Queensland? * How will Live Nation buying 51% into Big Day Out owner C3 Presents affect rumoured plans to change BDOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name to Lollapalooza Australia? * Has Southern Cross Austereo offered a $10 million package to Hamish and Andy to do breakfast on the ailing 2Day FM? * Are Jay Z and BeyoncĂŠ secretly recording an album to be released with a movie? * Why does a new AC/DC video,

shot in London, not feature drummer Phil Rudd but UK skinsman Bob Richards? Rudd was called away at the last minute on the second day of the shoot but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not saying why. * Midway through Amity Afflictionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s US tour, co-founding guitarist Troy Brady announced on their Facebook page he has quit but declined to say why. * Up to 100 people who turned up to Alt-Jâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show at the Enmore Theatre found their tickets were invalid after buying them through Gumtree from a serial scammer who goes by the name â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Alex Ferreroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. * Taylor Swift did a pianocentred version of Vance Joyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Riptideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for BBC Radio 1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Live Lounge show, saying it was one of her fave songs from 2014. * Port Macquarie Wildwood Music Festival will be an annual event after the first one, headlined by Ash Grunwald, drew a big crowd to the Cassgrain winery. Promoter

FREE U2 ALBUM REACHES 26 MILLION DOWNLOADS The U2/Apple deal that involved sending 500 million copies of Songs Of Innocence to subscribers dismayed sectors of the music industry that were worried such giveaways cheapen the value of music. But as a marketing exercise itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exceeded all expectations. 81 million people listened to it and 26 million downloaded it, but data has not been released about how many customers then visited a website to remove the album from their libraries.

NEW SIGNINGS #1: BARNETT JOINS NATIVE TONGUE Courtney Barnett has assigned her publishing to the local Native Tongue as she preps the release of her debut album. After

Simon Leigh, a local booker, has been planning such an event for 15 years. * Sticky Fingers got evicted from the Union Club Hotel after their sold-out gig, with venue manager Josh Bradley telling the Illawarra Mercury their antics had been â&#x20AC;&#x153;disgustingâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;childishâ&#x20AC;?. He claimed they were late, abused security, thrashed the in-house gear and one had pissed on the balcony. * Avicii finally went public about the health problems that forced cancellation of most of his 2014 tour dates. He said that having just a month off after his gall bladder and appendix surgery in March had made him sicker. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was dropping weight. I needed to take a break.â&#x20AC;? He was recording during that month off. * High-performance sports car enthusiast Deadmau5 got a cease and desist letter when he painted his Ferrari 458 in a Nyan Cat theme and rainbow colours, referring to it as a

her sold-out Australian tour, she does a North American and European run for two months, returning for Laneway.

NEW SIGNINGS #2: GOOCH PALMS SIGN WITH PANACHE BOOKING A 17-date US tour covering 12,000kms (including Gonerfest in Memphis) not only won Newcastle duo The Gooch Palms new fans (including Outkastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AndrĂŠ 3000, who turned up to their Detroit show and was gifted with their tees and record) but an agency deal with North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Panache Booking (Mac DeMarco, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard). Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll return to the States in early 2015 to tour, record and release a second album. In San Francisco, they cut two tracks for Detroit label Urinal Cake.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Purrariâ&#x20AC;?. So he told Ferrari to get stuffed and is now driving only UK firm McLarenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vrooms. * Violent Soho almost didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it to Melbourne for the Independent Music Awards after airline staff or security took umbrage at guitarist James Tidswellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Painters & Dockers t-shirt that read, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eat Shit Dieâ&#x20AC;?. * Apart from being a singersongwriter, Newcastleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nick Saxon also indulges his love of adventure travel and photography as a reporter for the National Geographic Channel. His new single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sherpaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; came from an encounter with an old man while trekking the Himalayas to Tengboche Monastery. * Thom Yorkeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solo album had 1.2 million downloads in the first week of its release on BitTorrent. * The Eastwood Hotel, which features live entertainment, has lodged development plans with Ryde Council to increase its capacity by 150.

NEW SIGNINGS #3: OVERSEAS DEALS FOR LITTLE MAY Before heading out to play London, New York and LA, Sydney trio Little May signed deals with Island Records (UK) and Capitol Records (US). They also signed with US booking agent Kevin French of the Paradigm Agency. Capitol A&R man Mike Flynn is confident theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll â&#x20AC;&#x153;effortlessly translate here in the Statesâ&#x20AC;?.

NEW SIGNINGS #4: SUI ZHEN AT TWO BRIGHT LAKES Sui Zhen, AKA one-time Sydney resident turned Melbourne musician/DJ Becky Sui Zhen, has released her first single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Infinity Streetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; through Two Bright Lakes/Remote Control. Her music is described as â&#x20AC;&#x153;her own version of Japanese post-punk through a dreamy balearic-bossanova filterâ&#x20AC;?, with her debut album Secretly Susan due out in 2015.

PANDORA TO BE IN 60% OF FORD CARS

E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

THEHIFI.C

Just Announced

This Week

Car entertainment is the new growth sector globally and in Australia, and now Pandora has cut a deal with Ford to install its internet radio service in its cars. It will be an app in the dashboards of the Fiesta ST, Focus ST and Kuga, and next year the Ranger and Transit. It is a great way for Pandora to grow advertising revenue. It already has deals in Australia with Holden, Mazda and Nissan.

DAN NEVIN NEW AIR GM Dan Nevin is the new GM of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR), as announced at the Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards. He was most recently digital music manager at JB Hi-Fi.

Fri 31 Oct

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NYE festival Shore Thing is canned for this year â&#x20AC;&#x153;after lengthy discussions with Council and other stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;?, said promoters Fuzzy Events and Mi5. The event on Bondi Beach received complaints about noise and that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t familyfriendly.

Coming Soon

Sat 25 Oct

SHORE THING AXED FOR 2014

Fri 7 Nov

Sun 9 Nov

Fri 14 Nov

Anvil

Ten Walls Live

Tue 25 Nov

Fri 5 Dec

Sat 13 Dec

Tue 6 Jan

Nahko & # The People

LANEWAY LOOKING AT MORE COUNTRIES? Laneway Festival, held in Singapore, NZ and Australia, could expand. Co-owner Danny Rogers told The Sydney Morning Herald thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d â&#x20AC;&#x153;been conversationsâ&#x20AC;? (read: offers) about staging it in Glasgow, California and northern Asia. The problem is â&#x20AC;&#x153;trying to figure out what we can and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do, really â&#x20AC;Ś To do this all year round, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to fall out of love with what we do.â&#x20AC;? Rogers is also musing on making Laneway a two-day event, because of the number of great acts offered. For 2015 they turned down 150 bands, 120 of which he wanted to book.

10% TAX ON CROWDFUNDING Wed 7 Jan

Fri 9 Jan

Joey Bada$$ & Run The Jewels

Glass Animals

Sat 10 Jan

Sat 17 Jan

Tycho Live

Inquisition

Crowdfunding has been such a boon for the music industry, so it was inevitable that someone would piss on the picnic basket. In this case, the Australian Taxation Office has told Parliament that as crowdfunding is essentially services in exchange for revenue (donations), it should be up for 10% GST.

Certified platinum are The Veronicasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You Ruin Meâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (number one for a third week), Sydney DJ Timmy Trumpetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Freaksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Nathanielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Live Louderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

PUSH FOR SMALL BAR LIQUOR ACCORD IN NEWCASTLE A push has begun for a second Liquor Accord in Newcastle just for small bars, which cop the same conditions as bigger (and more violent) venues, The Newcastle Herald reported. It started when Terrace Bar owner Chris Hearn closed the live music venue in protest â&#x20AC;&#x153;of unfair and inequitable licence conditions and controlsâ&#x20AC;?. He was supported by Michael Kearney, whose Bar Petite must stop live music at 10pm, independent candidate Karen Howard and the Australian Hotels Association president Rolly De With, who said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Small bars are not impacting the community to the same degree as larger venues.â&#x20AC;? The Herald saidÂ Hearn is meeting with Greens Newcastle candidate Michael Osborne and its Federal member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, to discuss the matter.

MITSUBISHIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S INDIE COMP DRAWS AUSSIE TALENT Mitsubishi Motorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; music initiative Accelerate got 295 songs uploaded in three weeks. It gives indie acts the chance to write a song or track that could become Mitsubishiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anthem as well as $10,000 in cash and a recording session.

LAWSUIT OF THE WEEK Red Bullâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tongue-in-cheek ads claiming it gives its consumers wings resulted in a US$13 million lawsuit in America. The class action claimed that it was false and misleading advertising, as was its claim it increases performance and speed. Red Bull will pay the no-wingers US$10 each, or $15 worth of Red Bull products.

Lifelines Hospitalised: the father of 18-year-old Canberra musician Hamish Peterson complained the young pianist waited nine days for surgery at Canberra Hospital for a broken hand and had his operation postponed four times. Ill: Adelaideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Come Out festival creative director Susannah Sweeney has continued to pull the event together during heavy chemo for breast cancer. Ill: Morrissey revealed heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s had four surgeries to remove cancerous tissue. In Court: Jack Apostolidis, security chief at Adelaide nightclub Red Square, was jailed for three-and-a-half years for his role in bashing a 19-year old patron in December 2011. Nightclub owner Antony Tropeano got a suspended sentence (and may lose his liquor licence), and so did security man Wayne Patrick Ngaia. Both were put on good behavior bonds. Arrested: rapper Too Short for trying to bring a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag through security at a Californian airport. He fled when discovered. Died: pioneering Australian music journalist, author and historian Ed Nimmervoll, 67, in Melbourne from a brain tumour. He was editor of Go-Set, founder of Juke and radioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Take 40 Australia and wrote books on Aussie music history. He was the first local scribe to provide serious critical analysis of local records and remained passionate about Aussie music to the end. Died: Paul Revere of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;60s US band Paul Revere and The Raiders, 76, after a period of ill-health. Their biggest hit was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Indian Reservationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Died: Rob Skipper, guitarist with UK band The Holloways, 28, of an accidental heroin overdose while drying out in Thailand.

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LIGHT AND SHADE BY MEG CRAWFORD

LANIE

LANE

own-to-earth and straighttalking singer-songwriter Lanie Lane had a meteoric rise to fame. Jack White invited her to record on his label before she’d even released her debut album To The Horses, her song ‘Bang Bang’ featured on Glee, she hung out with rockabilly regent Wanda Jackson (in fact, Lane bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Jackson), and she went touring for a solid two years around that first record. It was mind-blowing as well as knackering. While Lane is thoroughly grateful for the experience, the end of her tour in 2012 brought on the necessity for a pretty significant change. “It was too stressful and I didn’t want to keep living that way,” she says. “It was the first time that I’d ever been so much the centre of attention and I didn’t have the internal resources to cope with it – it was tiring. By the end of the regional tours it had got to the stage where I didn’t even have the energy anymore to do signings at the end of the show, which I’d always done previously – there was just no energy left to give. “Since that time I’ve filled up the tank. I’m more mindful now, too – I can pull back if I look like I’m starting to run on empty.” So exactly how has Lane changed? Well, for a start, she’s no longer a rockabilly princess – she’s gone for something much more earthy. “I am definitely more comfortable now,” she says. “This is a lot less work – that kind of look took a lot of maintenance. This wasn’t just about my physical appearance, though. I made some conscious decisions about how I operate and started working on myself from the inside out. When you make those internal changes, at some point that’s going to shine through in how you look.”

As part of the whole transition, Lane moved to the Victorian bush, and is on the verge of moving another 40 minutes out (taking her two hours out of the city in total). Some folk find that sea changes are not all they’re cracked up to be, but Lane is thriving out yonder. “It is so much more peaceful,” she enthuses. “You just don’t get bombarded with advertising and consumerist stuff. I’ve made a decision not to be involved in that part of our culture. When I first moved out here, I didn’t have too much in the way of a social life, but now that I’m recharged I go into the city to catch up with my friends, although I can’t do it for too long – I start looking forward to being home, surrounded by nature again.” If that weren’t all idyllic enough, Lane is also raising four chickens. “They’re all very friendly,” she smiles fondly. “Two of them let me pick them up and cuddle them, but the other two are like, ‘No way.’ They’re so sweet – they’re part of the family.” She’s also been baking like crazy. “I do that sometimes, especially if I have people around, because it gives me a purpose to bake,” she says. “Sometimes I don’t know quite what to do with myself and baking’s good for that. Say on the day that ‘Celeste’ [Night Shade’s first single] was being released, I was so nervous – I cleaned the house for a bit, but then I ended up baking and it was awesome.”

“THIS ALBUM IS SO FROM THE HEART, AND IF IT HAD IMMACULATE, RETOUCHED IMAGES ON THE COVER, IT JUST WOULD HAVE TOTALLY COMPROMISED MY INTEGRITY.”

While this newfound identity may come as a surprise to her fans, for Lane it’s nothing too strange. “Yeah, I’ve always made heaps of changes in terms of my appearance and had lots of different looks over the years,” she says. “That’s been normal for me, it’s just that no-one’s ever seen it before – it hasn’t been a public thing.” Her sound is different now, too. If To The Horses was rockabilly, new album Night Shade is more popcountry, and in terms of content it’s a celebration of change and feminine power. Lane has found the shift in sound liberating. “I can go anywhere now,” she laughs. “In the same way that I’ve always changed my look, I’ve always changed musically too – again, it’s just that this is the first time I’m doing it publicly. If I was worried about how other people would receive it, nothing would change. I’m not worried about that, though. I’m freed and no-one will be able to dictate to me creatively now.” The importance of being honest and true to herself is a consistent theme with Lane. Get this: not that she needs the touch-up anyway, but Lane specifically stopped people from fiddling with her pictures for Night Shade’s artwork. “They weren’t totally un-retouched,” she admits. “There are always a few weird things that need to be fixed. The retoucher was a lovely guy but I think he works mostly in the fashion industry, where the aim is perfection. The first set of pictures he gave me were completely retouched and I had to say to him, ‘It looks great, but that’s not me anymore,’ and he apologised and said he’d actually had a conversation with the photographer about how I wanted the photos left as is, but he just went on autopilot. “With retouching, an arm gets trimmed and a jawline’s made perfect. I’m not a supermodel,

12 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

though, so I just asked him to take it back about ten steps. I wanted things to be very minimal, because otherwise I felt that I’d be lying to people. This album is so from the heart, and if it had immaculate, retouched images on the cover, it just would have totally compromised my integrity.”

Another change has been Lane’s increasing attraction to physical and visual art. You can check out what she’s been up to in the clip for ‘Celeste’, which features beautiful mandala-like sculptures constructed from natural materials. “One of the things I like most about them is that they’re impermanent,” she explains. “You photograph them and then they’re destroyed – they blow away. That’s where I feel I am at the moment – doing something more physical and less wordy.” Part of Lane’s skill set in this department arises from the fact she used to be a florist – something she now regards as a bit of a blessing. “It gave me a physical awareness,” she says. “In floristry you can’t force things. Something hard and spiky is not going to go with something soft and delicate – you need to have subtle layers.” Lane is inspired in this regard by British sculptor and environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy, who also makes site-specific and land-based artwork. “He’s been working with rock and shale or flat stones and building these amazing sculptures that look like pine cones. He says that he needs to listen very carefully when he’s doing it – he needs to listen to what the sculpture needs. Sometimes after working on things for five or six hours, he’ll have the whole thing tip over and he just says, ‘It’s my fault for not listening.’ That’s something I think about a lot – how can I listen better.” Rightly, Lane is pleased by her metamorphosis. “I feel more in touch with myself now and it’s given me more empathy,” she says. “I also feel like I’ve softened a bit – I’ve got softer edges now. I’m not living in such a hard way.” What: Night Shade out Friday October 24 through Ivy League Where: Newtown Social Club When: Thursday October 30

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Tafelmusik: House of Dreams Goldner String Quartet Steven Isserlis with Connie Shih I Fagiolini Paul Lewis Modigliani Quartet Eggner Trio

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Violent Soho x By x eld Men By Benjamin Pratt Mansfi

oming head-first out of Mansfield, south-east of Brisbane, in 2004, Violent Soho have grown to become Australia’s leading fundamental grunge outfit, with their honest and old-fashioned brand of I-don’t-give-a-shit rock’n’roll. It’s been a long journey since the time guitarist James Tidswell almost ended up working at McDonald’s when the band was in between labels. “I was on my way to a job interview at McDonald’s, the one at Mt Gravatt on Logan Road,” he remembers, “and I got a text from my mate saying, ‘Congratulations.’ I wrote back and said, ‘Congratulations on what?’ He finally got back to me with: ‘Finally cutting your hair,’ and all I thought was, ‘Fuck, that was weird.’ “Then I went into McDonald’s, went through the interview and walked through the store. This kid saw me and said something like, ‘Hey, I saw you at Splendour and stuff,’ which was pretty funny to happen during a McDonald’s interview.” By this point in Tidswell’s career, Violent Soho had taken him to New York, where they lived, toured and recorded for over a year, and got him signed to Ecstatic Peace! – the label founded by Thurston Moore, guitarist of Sonic Youth, a band prominent in the seminal grunge movement. Now the bloke was close to flipping burgers at Maccas. “I hopped into my car, put on the radio and listened to triple j, and The Doctor announced the ARIA nominees, and I heard our band announced and just went, ‘Holy fuck!’ It was so far from my mind that that could even be a possibility after coming out of an interview at McDonald’s. I just had no idea what to do. “I ended up getting the job and on my first day I pulled over and called them up and said, ‘Hey, I’m really sorry but I can’t come in.’ I was going in to pick up my uniform and do my first shift when I called them up – I said, ‘I’m sorry man, I just can’t do this job.’” It was Violent Soho’s 2010 self-titled album that grabbed the ARIA nomination for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album, but it was even before that when the real magic happened. They debuted with their EP Pigs & T.V. in 2006, which was funded solely by the sale of Tidswell’s car. “I had just written off my car and bought this Nissan Micra, so this tiny little white thing,” he recalls. “I sold it and got 6.5k for it – that’s how we ended up with the EP sounding so good, because we had a bit of money and got to take our time.” Having morphed and mutated like the culture they exist in, the underlying truth to Violent Soho’s success is not where they’ve been or where they’re going, but rather where they come from and how the Mansfield ‘4122’ identity has translated into the roots of the band’s sound, attitude and personality. “Mansfield is important to us because it shaped who we are as people and our band would like to represent what it’s like to just be yourself and not try to be more than that. It gave us the perspective of what things to do now to be ourselves, and that brings a lot of people to shows.” Growing up together, the band members made bonds that no level of rock’n’roll ego could break. “We were growing up in the Fat Wreck Chords era when Blink was the equivalent of Nirvana and that sort of stuff,” Tidswell says. “Then it turned into My Chemical Romance stuff and the local scene kind of turned shit – people were getting big on bands like Amity Affliction and Mourning Tide and we just didn’t really connect with what was going in that scene.” As for inspirations, Tidswell doesn’t hide the fact Violent Soho don’t mind their fair share of the mean green. “We like to smoke weed – I’m smoking weed right now,” he says. “We’re not trying to be ‘pro-weed’, but I guess we are – it’s not an issue, it shouldn’t be an issue. “In America we just put it out there from the beginning. Literally, I walked down the street – I’d been there for three days, which had been the longest I’d gone without smoking weed, and I just started walking up to people asking [for it] and they would start shaking their heads saying ‘No.’ Then I saw a bunch of dudes sitting together on stools – it looked like a scene out of a movie – and I thought, ‘Those guys will definitely know where to get weed,’ so I walked up to them and said, ‘Hey, I’m from Australia, I’ve been here four days, we smoke weed every day there, do you guys know where we could get it?’ “One of them goes: ‘You a cop?’ Straight up. He asked me to show him my driver’s licence, so I get it out and he starts asking me all these questions – ‘What street do you live on? Why did you move here?’ I told him I play in a band and I point at an apartment down the street and say, ‘This one,’ and he just stopped and said, ‘Oh damn, we’re neighbours.’ He starts shaking my hand and introducing me to everyone and then he pulls out this huge blunt, looks at me and says, ‘You wanna get high?’ and gives it to me. So I start smoking it and this big black dude leans over me and slowly booms, ‘Inhale.’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, I know how to smoke weed,’ so I just hit it and the dude watched me and then ran across the street, came back with weed and that’s how we started getting on.” What: Hungry Ghost out now through I Oh You Where: Metro Theatre / Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle When: Friday December 5 / Saturday December 6 14 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

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All Our Exes Live In Texas Easy Being Green By Adam Norris

am afraid All Our Exes Live In Texas might be cursed. The band comprises Hannah Crofts, Katie Wighton, Elana Stone and Georgia Mooney, and while I have seen them several times, it’s never been with the full lineup. Someone is always missing, and indeed for this interview we are down to two. The most sensible conclusion is that they are gradually being kidnapped by some harmony-mad composer lurking in the depths of the Opera House. A less plausible answer might be their busy schedules – they each maintain strong solo careers, and all were recently enlisted for a children’s musical. As the Exes themselves would have you believe, the mystery surrounding the quartet is stranger than you might expect.

Stone purses her lips in consideration and leans back in her chair. “We are just totally funky vegetables,” she says. Sitting opposite, Mooney agrees. “Well, it’s all about the fun associations you can make with an avocado, really,” she says, and the two singers burst into laughter. Their fruit-and-veg chat refers to The Vegetable Plot, a “roots musical” penned by fellow songwriter Luke Escombe that saw the Exes take on the roles of various vegetables singing about the virtues of healthy eating. The show drew a different audience from their usual folk-loving crowd. As Stone and Mooney describe the gig, the banter between the pair steadily builds, and it is easy to see how the band has established such a reputation for charm in so short a time.

growing enthusiasm for the group that they themselves are surprised by the reception. “It’s always weird talking about the writing stuff,” Stone admits. “I’ve been thinking about it lately though, because I’ve been trying to work out what motivates people to play music. Working out what drives someone to get up in front of an audience and demand love from strangers. It’s an odd profession, and I’m constantly asking myself, ‘What is it about me that needs this?’ I’ve never had the answer.” “Because your identity becomes so caught up in it,” Mooney says before pausing, considering her reply. “Then comes this whole level of self-promotion … Mostly you just want to play and have an audience find a bond with what you’re saying.” “But this is our first-ever actual publicity,” says Stone. “So, you know…” she looks hopefully to Mooney. “I hope people actually come to the show.” “Yeah,” Mooney nods. “That would be nice.” With: Martha Marlow, The Maple Trail Where: Newtown Social Club When: Friday October 24

“It’s interesting seeing little kids reacting to loud music,” Stone says. “There were guitars and bass, a full drum kit. We might have been a bit too loud. But it’s the comedy in those songs that really sells them. It’s all incredibly punny, and we’re all in silly costumes. But every audience response is different, everywhere you go. I think it depends a lot on where we’re playing.” “And we’re pretty family-friendly,” Mooney adds. “We’re not particularly rock’n’roll. We want to be, but we’re so not.” “Yeah, the room’s never full of sexy hipsters. Well. Some sexy hipsters. Not many though. First Aid Kit probably takes all of the sexy hipsters.” “We don’t want them anyway, they’re fickle.” “No fickle hipsters,” Mooney nods, happy with the decision. “We’re the kind of band our mums would feel comfortable taking their friends to.” “And now we can start making salads onstage,” adds Stone. Mid-gig cooking breaks are actually something the hipsters would probably flock to, but the Exes have enough on their plate without worrying about capricious crowds. The band is set to embark on a national tour to support latest single ‘Tell Me’, before working towards an album in 2015. Not bad for a group that began quite casually. “It all started as friendship, really,” Mooney recalls. “Some friends invited us to a country roadshow at The Vanguard, so we formed this all-girl singing band and it just stuck.” “We Googled bad country song titles for our name,” Stone elaborates, “and found this George Strait song, ‘All My Ex’s Live In Texas’, which we thought was hilarious. Katie was screaming, ‘Noooo!’ She hated it at first. We had a month to learn our instruments – I already played the accordion, but Georgia took up the mandolin for the band – and put a set together for the gig, and we really enjoyed it. It was a really good crash course in what it’s like just getting something happening.” “For a while there we were looking at calling ourselves something like The Pretty Pollys,” Mooney remembers, and Stone groans in mock disgust. “We had nothing, and then walking home it suddenly came up. All Our Exes Live In Texas. People always ask if it’s true, and it’s not true, sadly. They still live in Newtown.” “They all play in the same band,” Stone quips, and Mooney laughs. “Hannah always introduces us as having ten husbands who we’ve all shared, and they’re all dead in Texas. Sometimes we killed them. Sometimes we’re Amish, I don’t know.” “And we’re actually all magical,” Stone adds. “Clearly we’re still working this all out,” Mooney sighs. At the rate the band is progressing, you suspect that any audiences taking the time to learn the Exes’ backstory or analyse writing influences quite misses the point. Their strength lies in the beauty of their harmonies, their instrumentation, and the pleasure of watching them perform; all things that don’t require a prologue to enjoy. Such is the thebrag.com

BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 15

Fear Factory x By x Industrial Revolution By Jody Macgregor

alifornia’s Fear Factory permanently changed the sound of heavy music, and they did it in two ways. The first was singer Burton C. Bell’s blend of death growls and clean vocals; that particular knack he has for switching from hamburger-chewing verses to uplifting, soulful choruses (in ‘Replica’ he goes from barking “I AM HATE” like a demon to crooning “Spare me from the life that’s full of misery” in five seconds flat). To keep his voice in condition he has to be careful. “I exercise, I take care of myself. That’s just normal, but when it comes to vocal time I won’t smoke – certain things,” Bell says with laugh. “I won’t drink on a day that I’m supposed to do vocals, I won’t be hungover when I need to go in to do vocals. I’ve just got to be smart about it, really.” The other way Fear Factory revolutionised metal was with their use of double-kick drums. Their former drummer Raymond Herrera was once clocked as the second-fastest in the world, and his high-speed rumble in sync with Dino Cazares’ machine-gun riffing was a formative part of their sound. Herrera is no longer a member of the band, however, and

SECRET SOUNDS PRESENTS

while Fear Factory have found a new drummer in Mike Heller, their 2012 album The Industrialist was recorded entirely with programmed drums. Their next record will have a mix of both programmed and live drumming. “Using programmed drums was mostly for expedition,” says Bell. “It was to expedite the process, just to simplify it, and therefore we can work on it more quickly and efficiently. This time we’ve had more time to work on it so we’re able to make plans and have Mike prepare the drums and come in. One day, boom, it’s done.” The irony of a band whose songs so often explore the theme of machines replacing humanity and technology making us obsolete – Fear Factory’s 1998 album was literally called Obsolete – going on to replace its drummer with a literal machine isn’t lost on Bell. No matter how fast the double-kicks got, the human element always meant there was a limit and the tempos would have to be altered to suit. That might seem like a weakness, but it often gave Fear Factory’s songs a dynamic that suited the shifting vocal styles – one which they didn’t manage to replicate on The Industrialist, but hope to rekindle on the album they’re working on now. “It’s the tempo,” says Bell. “The songs that we want the live drummer on are not blistering speed, but it’s a tempo that has a fast but heavy groove to it that having live drum sounds will make a world of difference.”

“We went with Gary Numan to see Dark City. Sitting there in the movie theatre going, ‘Holy fuck, Gary Numan is sitting next to me!’” WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

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That new album will hopefully be out before Fear Factory return to Australia to play the Soundwave Festival. They’ve been touring here since 1993, an eventful tour on which “every crowd was insane, every crowd knew the words”. Bell enjoyed his time here so much he asked the promoter if he could stay. “I mentioned, ‘Man, I would have wanted to come to Australia as a kid. I want to stay and be a tourist.’ So we made it happen where we extended my ticket, extended my visa, and I stayed in Australia for almost another two months. I was in Perth, I got a job as a barback in a bar there for a couple weeks and my promoter gave me a job to go on tour with a local Australian band, Painters And Dockers. Years ago, I went on tour with Painters And Dockers on the west coast; drove from Esperance all the way to Darwin in a minivan.” Fear Factory also chose Australia to be the first placed they played for their 2004 reunion shows, debuting as a mystery band at that year’s Big Day Out. Bell enjoyed it not just for the shows but for the opportunity to hang out backstage and meet the rest of the bands as a fan. “It was huge, and that was a great tour. There were a lot of good bands. Metallica was on that, The Darkness, Black Eyed Peas, The Strokes, Dandy Warhols. God, Muse was on that tour. It was a fantastic tour.” It shouldn’t be a surprise that Bell’s tastes range far beyond metal. Fear Factory after all are the band which got Gary Numan to do two songs with them, including a cover of his classic ‘Cars’. “We had no idea that he would do it,” says Bell. “We told the label that we were gonna cover ‘Cars’ because it’s a great song, and why not? Unbeknownst to us the label reached out to Gary Numan and contacted his management and asked him if he would be interested. He said yes, so the label fl ew him out to Vancouver, where we were, and he was there for a couple days. Obviously he did his part fl awlessly in like fi ve seconds and the rest of the time was just vacation.”

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What: Soundwave Festival 2015 With: Slipknot, Faith No More, Soundgarden, Slash, Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Lamb Of God, Fall Out Boy, Judas Priest and many more Who: x Where: Sydney Olympic Park Where: x When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday When: March 1x thebrag.com

Fear Factory photo by Stephanie Cabral

ALL AGES

But what do you do on vacation with Gary Numan? You go see a sci-fi movie, of course. “We went with Gary Numan to see Dark City. Sitting there in the movie theatre going, ‘Holy fuck, Gary Numan is sitting next to me. I’m watching a movie with Gary Numan!’”

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Tim Wheatley Saint Or Sinner By Augustus Welby

here’s no denying Melburnians are exceedingly proud of their city, especially when it comes to the local music scene. Generally speaking, this smugness is justified by the breadth and diversity of live music on offer in Melbourne all year round. However, as LA-based Melbourne native Tim Wheatley explains, this doesn’t mean Melbourne promises ‘the good life’ to all aspiring local musicians. “I consider Melbourne one of the great places to cut your chops,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of work out there in Melbourne. As a performer I found it hard, without turning to covers, playing a couple of nights a week down there.” Armed with a stack of folky pop-rock tunes, Wheatley relocated to Los Angeles 18 months ago. The pop culture worship that permeates America’s large population means the potential for generating a steady income through music is enhanced over there. And it’s not only those sitting at the top of the charts who are able to make a buck out of music. “There’s a great rootsy scene, there’s a great singer-songwriter scene,” Wheatley says. “You can make a decent living just by working in California alone. There’s a lot more people that seem to go out with expectations to certain venues, knowing almost what they’re going to get. Whereas in Melbourne, the venues have to rotate the crowd in order to survive. Over here you go to a singer-songwriter venue or you go to a rock’n’roll venue and you know what you’re going to get when you go there.” In July this year, Wheatley released his first official solo EP, Crooked Saint. Since that time he’s been doing his utmost to get the attention of as many Americans as possible. In order to do so, his job has had to extend beyond simply playing music. “[I’m trying to] establish myself with as many people as I possibly can off the back of this EP,”

he explains, “in hope that they will consider me quite a nice person and worthy of some kind words on the album. It will help sell a few. I’ll shake everyone’s hand in America if it means selling a record.” The path to commercial success will always be impossible to calculate, but the US mainstream market is known for being especially fickle. In the past, the quest for American success has caused many Australian bands to change their name, get an image makeover, rework lyrics or even adjust their personnel. Wheatley admits that Crooked Saint’s lead single, ‘Burning The Midnight Oil’, was revised specifically for US radio. “We wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t say that the song’s too long or the intro’s too long or [ask], ‘Where does it sit with regards to genre?’ We wanted to make it real clear-cut to everyone where the song stood, so that there were no excuses.” Tailoring the single to suit radio station tastes isn’t the only compromise Wheatley felt compelled to make. The four-track Crooked Saint EP is a shortened version of a full-length album that Wheatley and his backing band recorded just prior to his move overseas. While he concedes it was necessary to do it this way, with a bit of luck the album won’t be withheld for too much longer. “I’m still a bit of a purist in that I still buy vinyl and I like to listen to records,” he says. “The purity of a complete record and the journey it takes you on is what got me into music. I would like to get the record out and I’d like to get the record out as soon as humanly possible.” What: Crooked Saint out now through Ironbark/Universal Where: Annandale Hotel / Welcome Hotel When: Thursday October 16 / Sunday October 19

Declan Kelly Diesel N’Dub By Augustus Welby

ver the last two decades, Sydney’s Declan Kelly has made a name for himself both as a drummer – working with artists such as Katie Noonan, Alex Lloyd and Bondi Cigars – and a songwriting bandleader, most recently with the reggae/ Afrobeat group The Rising Sun. Kelly’s latest release Diesel N’Dub is the boldest collaborative venture of his career. Each track features a different lead vocalist, including Noonan and Lloyd, as well as Emma Donovan, Frank Yamma and King Tide’s Tony Hughes. While this is an impressive list of guests, the album content is of even greater note. Put simply, Diesel N’Dub takes ten classic Midnight Oil songs and gives them a dubreggae makeover. “Some of the songs just feel like a natural fit for turning them into reggae style,” Kelly says. “Also the sentiment – the Jamaican reggae music has always been a platform for social commentary. Especially after hearing the Easy Dub All-Stars doing Dub Side Of The Moon and Radiodread – those albums inspired me to do one for our own heroes here.” Though the title Diesel N’Dub is a direct nod to Midnight Oil’s 1987 LP Diesel And Dust, the record includes songs from various stages in the band’s history. The earliest composition is 1981’s ‘Armistice Day’ and the most recent is the 1993 single ‘Truganini’.

It wasn’t just the material’s sustained significance that encouraged Kelly to put this project into action early last year. Even though his own music bears little semblance to Midnight Oil’s, the band played a crucial role in his musical education.

The Oils’ original recordings blew minds and burrowed into the hearts of countless listeners all over the world, which inevitably applied pressure during the construction of Diesel N’Dub. “It was just more of a forethought of what their hardcore fans would feel about us changing the songs or interpreting the songs,” Kelly says. “Also, it was not sort of a fear, but more of a fascination to know what the band would think about these versions. “Consequently we got to meet Peter Garrett, and I already knew Rob Hirst. It was met with curiosity on their behalf. They’re fans of the project. Not sure about big fans, but they’re fans.” The first two singles taken from the record, ‘The Dead Heart’ (featuring Donovan) and ‘Beds Are Burning’ (featuring Yamma and Pat Powell), were both immediately picked up by radio stations all around the country. Kelly believes the recording and forthcoming tour will not only emphasise the undying strength of Midnight Oil’s songwriting, but also introduce these songs to a new listenership. “Hearing the songs done in a more Afro-centric form is going to definitely open Midnight Oil’s music up to a different demographic,” he says. “And also some of the younger generation that didn’t get to feel the power of their music will get to link back to some of the older recordings they put out. They’re timeless, I think.” What: Diesel N’Dub out now through Diaspora/MGM Where: Factory Theatre When: Friday October 31 And: Also appearing at The Rhythm Hut, Gosford on Friday October 17

In Flames Sound The Siren By Rod Whitfield

here is often a lengthy lull period for bands between the end of recording, mixing and mastering a new album and when it is actually released. It’s no different for Swedish legends In Flames, despite the fact they’ve been around for almost a quarter of a century and have no less than 11 albums under their collective belt. Long-time bassist Peter Iwers, speaking from his hometown of Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, admits he got a little toey in the lead-up to the release of the band’s latest record Siren Charms, but is very pleased with the final result. “I feel very happy,” he says. “I’ve had this album in my iPhone for the last eight months or so, or even nine months, listening to it and having to keep it a secret from everyone. But now it’s finally out and I’m able to share it with everybody in the world, and I’m very, very pleased with it – so happy that everybody can finally listen to it.” Some bands are inherent experimenters with their sound, and some simply prefer to keep on keeping on, remaining consistent and true to their musical roots and their core audience. In Flames certainly belong to the latter category, their consistency imperative to the quality of 18 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

their releases. They seem incapable of putting out a poor album, even by their standards. “Well thank you so much for those kind words,” Iwers says modestly. “What we do is write music that we ourselves like. Something that I would like if somebody else wrote it. And if that’s the case, then we know we did the right thing.” Even better news for Australian fans of In Flames is that the band is heading Down Under in November. It may seem hard to believe, but in 24 years together, the Swedes have only visited our shores on three previous occasions (twice on the Soundwave tour and once with Chimaira), and Iwers wants to make this tour a memorable one. “Every time we come to Australia we’re treated so well, there’s just so much love, and it’s such a pleasure to come,” he says. “I’m really sad that we haven’t been able to come as often as we would have liked to, but I think that we’ll be able to change that this time around, having Sony in Australia now and all that. I’m really looking forward to coming back.” Iwers recalls one particularly amusing and non-musical memory from a previous trip to Australia. “I’ve been out deep sea fishing a

couple of times, and that was amazing! The first time I wasn’t really prepared, so I guess I spent the most of that first day leaning overboard and puking,” he laughs. “The second time I was a little better prepared, and I hadn’t eaten, and I’d taken seasick pills, and it was great.”

“We’ve been friends with them for so many years now as well, it’s kind of like going on tour with a second family. We get along great with them, and it’s a pleasure to be able to play with them; they have a very big following in Australia. To do this tour with them is amazing.”

Topping it all off is the fact the tour offers an incredible double headlining bill, as American mainstream metal act Trivium are also making the trip. The two bands have crossed paths many times in the past, and Iwers can’t wait to hit the road with Trivium again.

What: Siren Charms out now through Sony With: Trivium Where: UNSW Roundhouse When: Friday November 21

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Declan Kelly photo by John Domeney

Throughout their career, Midnight Oil’s lyrics frequently addressed matters of contemporary political relevance, but the songs haven’t aged poorly as a result. “There’s a few bands that are deeply embedded in the Australian subconscious and Midnight Oil are one of them,” Kelly says. “Their songs written, some of them over 30 years ago, still ring true today.”

“I think one of the first vinyl records I ever heard was 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and before that it was just whatever was on Countdown and Rage at the time. Hearing the music for the first time was like hearing progressive rock and having my mind blown without even realising it.”

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arts frontline

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Chris Martin and Roger Ma

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five minutes WITH

Ray Chen

KATIE BURCH there’s so much talent around. You did it with a set that included a dead baby joke – is anything off-limits in your comedy? Ha. No, I don’t think anything is off-limits, so long as you believe in the material. I personally love comics who do violent punchlines, there’s something funny about things that are wrong. Those kind of jokes are so much fun to perform too, because everyone in the room has to react – it makes the crowd band together like an angry mob, everyone feels like they’re a part of something.

that many people to come and see me again. The crowd was so supportive, 1,500 people sitting for two hours laughing at new comics – man, I’ve done gigs where guys were sleeping on the table in the front row while pro comics were on! I felt pretty lucky to get so far, the NSW Finals were amazing,

Do we take things too seriously in our day-to-day lives? Definitely. You’re all going to die, and so am I. What’s the best gig you’ve ever played? It changes all the time. I had a gig in a country town where everyone was drunk and yelling stuff out –

MEN OF LETTERS

What about the worst-ever gig? It changes all the time. Last week I did a gig in a room where I was the weakest link, everyone else on was one of my comedy heroes. I only had seven minutes, but I kept going and going waiting for a bell – there was definitely a peak where I should have left the stage but I stayed and stayed; people looked sad, someone coughed. At 13 minutes I gave up on the bell and left the stage. There was no bell. What I heard earlier was a dinner bell. With: Matt Okine, Simon Kennedy Where: Happy Endings Comedy Club, The Unicorn, Paddington When: Tuesday October 21

RAY CHEN

Rock stars and classical musicians mightn’t seem to have a lot in common, but virtuoso violinist Ray Chen has the sharp looks and youthfulness to match any famous rocker – he’s even got a sponsorship from Giorgio Armani. Chen is one of the shining lights in the Musica Viva season this year, signed to Sony and forging a tangible connection between a younger audience and the music that’s lit up history. Born in Taiwan and raised in Brisbane, Chen will tour around Australia with accompaniment from pianist Timothy Young next month, performing pieces by Mozart, Prokofiev, Bach and Sarasate. Chen plays the City Recital Hall Angel Place on Monday November 10, and we’ve got three double passes to the show. To be in the running, head to thebrag.com/ freeshit and tell us an unlikely celebrity you think would make a good rock star.

xxxx

ou finished runner-up in this year’s RAW Comedy competition. Tell us about the experience. Yeah, RAW was pretty cool. I think the best part was performing to such a big crowd in the national finals, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna take a while before I can convince

there were hundreds of people squished in, an old man fell off his chair in the middle and couldn’t escape, there was a ghetto blaster, that one was pretty good.

Absinthe

The brainchild of the fine crew behind Women Of Letters, the masculine equivalent Men Of Letters has been locked in for a fourth annual Sydney date this month. Celebrating the lost art of letter-writing will be Australian artist Ken Done, Canadian hip hop star Buck 65, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and TV personality Andrew O’Keefe, plus Omar Musa, Brett Kirk, Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, Nick Coyle, Patrick McIntyre and Neil Lawrence. Each of the performers will read a letter they’ve written to ‘The Woman Who Changed My Life’. All funds raised go to Edgar’s Mission. See Men Of Letters at The Basement on Sunday October 19.

Daylight Saving

MORE HIJINKS

IT’S DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Daylight Saving is one of late Nick Enright’s (Cloudstreet, The Boy From Oz) most loved comedies. Directed by Adam Cook (The Motherf**ker With The Hat, A Doll’s House), this new, fast-paced production about love, loneliness, food and friendship is led by Australian actress and Logie Award nominee Rachel Gordon (Blue Heelers, The Moodys) and multiaward-winning actor Christopher Stollery (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Gross Und Klein). They play husband and wife, Felicity and Tom. Daylight Saving is on at Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst, Friday October 31 – Sunday November 30.

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SPIEGELWORLD RETURNS

Spiegelworld will be bringing its Las Vegas show Absinthe to Sydney in September 2015, following the highly successful tour of Empire. Inspired by the cabarets of late 19th century Europe and presented in a 700-seat antique spiegeltent, furnished with mirrors, plush velvet seating booths and a well-stocked bar, Absinthe is an adult-themed cocktail of circus and burlesque designed for a 21st century audience, hosted by the outrageous Gazillionaire and his sidekick Penny. Celebrity audience members this past year have included James Franco, Olivia Newton-John, Neil Patrick Harris, Brad Garrett and Pamela Anderson. The Sydney season will open on September 15 next year.

NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER

November Spawned A Monster is a oneman musical interwoven with the music of Morrissey and The Smiths. Written by Alex Broun, the piece is a strongly autobiographical recount of his decade-long struggle with drugs and alcohol. The new musical stars James Wright in the lead role and is directed by Robert Chuter, with the songs and lyrics of Morrissey and The Smiths recreated for this context. November Spawned A Monster opens at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Woolloomooloo, Tuesday October 28 – Saturday November 15.

PLATONOV

The Australian Theatre For Young People is set to present a production of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s Platonov. Following on from the sell-out ATYP season of 4000 Miles last year, MopHead and Catnip Productions are putting on a new indie version of Chekhov’s original ‘unfi nished play’, adapted and directed by Anthony Skuse. The play has been reimaged in an urban, modern, liberal and forward-thinking world and features a cast of 20. Platonov is playing Wednesday November 5 – Sunday November 22 at ATYP Studio 1, at The Wharf in Walsh Bay.

WINDOWS ON EUROPE Windows On Europe Film Festival is a showcase of the best new films from the 28 member states of the European Union. Presented by the European Delegation to Australia, Windows On Europe is now in its ninth year. This year’s festival will see 15 new feature films shown in Australia for the very first time. Opening the festival is Fair Play, a Czech film by Andrea Sedlackova set in the 1980s about one young woman’s efforts to train for the Olympics as a sprinter, as a way to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. Windows On Europe runs Monday November 17 – Saturday November 23 at Dendy Opera Quays.

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Absinthe photo by Tom Donoghue

It’ll be a variety-style Halloween at Sea Life Aquarium this month when the Hijinks night returns on Thursday October 30. After a debut event that captured the minds of fans of Sydney theatre, entertainment and all things fishy, Hijinks is putting on a Halloween party like no other. Expect magic from Manik Jones, the interactive theatre piece Phantom Follies, popup bars, marine life bingo and tunes by DJs Dem Jeannes. On Thursday November 13, Hijinks will return again for a Retro Beach Party. For full details on Hijinks, the Aquarium’s night of emerging art, theatre and music, head to hijinkssydney.com.

Encoded

Siddharth [FILM] In Search Of The Truth By Travis Johnson

[DANCE] Media Revolution By Tegan Jones

ith his 2007 debut feature, Amal, Indian-Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta demonstrated a strong narrative voice and a telling eye for cultural detail. Then he disappeared from our screens for a number of years before returning with another India-set drama, Siddharth. If nothing else, the last several years of Mehta’s life go some way towards demonstrating the twisting, often frustrating path a filmmaker’s career can take.

Encoded

utside the realms of the Just Dance and Dance Dance Revolution video games, it’s hard to imagine the words ‘dance’ and ‘gaming’ in the same context. That was at least until the artistic director of Stalker Theatre, David Clarkson, began working on his latest piece, Encoded. In this interactive 3D performance, audiences are treated to an immersive and mind-bending experience that takes the ancient tradition of dance and thrusts it into the 21st century. Considering the vast differences between the mediums of dance and technology, it’s difficult to comprehend how Clarkson came up with the original concept. “The initial inspiration partly came from the desire for me to work with my nephew, Sam Clarkson,” the director explains. “He had been doing some really interesting stuff with photogrammetry, which is the process of taking photographs of real environments and turning them into threedimensional, cubic models.

Encoded photograph by Matthew Syres

“Sam was designing a game called Casebook,” Clarkson continues, “and I was intrigued by some of the parallels between what he was working with and what I was playing with. In theatre, in a very simple sense, there is the tradition of mask, but I started to become interested in masking objects, buildings and the full human body.” For those who have reservations about combining a traditional artistic medium with such a hyper form of technology, so did the artistic director at first. “I had always been a little resistant when it came to working with technology and I just thought that maybe it was time to plunge on in and give it a go.” The involvement of a game designer in a dance piece will excite the cockles of many a gamer geek heart. Not that Clarkson’s a gamer himself. “I’m not a gamer, but [Sam] would show me what he was working on

and I just saw all the possibilities for creating very interesting and immersive spaces in a theatrical and dance context,” he says. “It’s opened up a whole field of creativity because there are very few people working on the crossover between live theatre and gaming and interactive technologies. Everyone knows the Xbox, but applying it to a live performance is unique. “You’re working with a very ancient tradition that goes back thousands of years, pressed hard up against new technology. But there is a possible dialogue between a lot of the concepts and ideas, which I find very exciting.” Even those who aren’t particularly interested in technological innovation are sure to be spellbound by the way in which it is woven into Encoded. “There are three main pieces of technology that we use, and they’re all innovative in their own ways,” Clarkson explains. “The first is something we call a ‘virtual costume’. They involve very small projectors that are mounted on a frame, similar to a puppet. They project images onto the performers’ bodies as they move.

“After I finished Amal,” he recalls, “I travelled for about a year with it just to get it out and I started working on my next project; I was writing things. And then I got hired in 2009 to do a film for Disney, which would have been their first live action film in India. So I started working on that extensively, rewriting and prepping to direct it in India, and then two weeks before we were due to shoot the film in India, the film got cancelled. So that was a bit of a setback and when that happened, I happened to meet the rickshaw driver who was the inspiration for Siddharth. “Also in that time, I started working on an old script of mine, I’ll Follow You Down, which is a science-fiction script that I started writing years ago. So I developed both films and they both wound up finding financing at the same time. And I shot back-to-back; I shot Siddharth and I shot I’ll Follow You Down and then I edited them together, so they were concurrent.” I’ll Follow You Down has yet to find distribution in Australia, but audiences can now see Siddharth, the story of a povertystricken zipper repairman searching for his missing son, who may have been abducted.

The seed of the story was sown by that chance encounter Mehta had in India. “Like I said, I was in India and I was basically finishing up my trip on that Disney project and I was in a rickshaw and the fellow asked me for help in finding Dongri. And I didn’t know what he meant so I asked, ‘What is Dongri?’ And he went on to explain that he sent his 12-year-old boy to this other town to work and he never saw him again. He heard that he had been kidnapped and taken to a place called Dongri and he doesn’t know where that is. He didn’t have a photograph, he didn’t know how to spell the boy’s name and this had happened a year ago. So I did a Google search and I found Dongri in five seconds, but I was the first person who could help him.” If the story has a happy ending, Mehta doesn’t know it. “I never saw him again,” he says. “He gave me a phone number which turned out to be a wrong number, so when I wanted to contact him I couldn’t. I sat on it for about a year and the thing just started boiling inside me. I realised that this guy was never going to give up. And because of the economic conditions, he had to go to work – he didn’t have a grieving period. I’m born in Toronto – I come from a world, similar to yours, where if these kinds of things happen, you have a reason to check out, to no longer be a functioning member of society, and he didn’t have that. And I thought, ‘My God, if this guy can get through this emotionally, then I have something to learn from him.’” What: Siddharth (dir. Richie Mehta) Where: In cinemas now

Siddharth

“Then there’s the fluid simulation, which is interactive. With a close collaboration with Creativity and Cognition Studios at UTS we use a type of physics engine that emulates fluids, which is triggered by the movement of the dancers. “The other thing that we’re doing is capturing an environment, photographing it or [making] a 3D model of it, and then [projecting] it back on itself whilst tweaking and playing with it.” What: Encoded Where: Riverside Theatre, Parramatta When: Thursday October 23 – Saturday October 25

Antenna Documentary Film Festival [FILM] Cinematic Education By Ian Barr

Art And Craft still courtesy Sam Cullman

Art And Craft

“I

was looking for a job in the festival landscape and was surprised to understand that there was no festival dedicated to documentary cinema in Sydney, or Australia,” says David Rokach, director of Sydney’s Antenna Documentary Film Festival, now entering its fourth year. To some, the word ‘Antenna’ would seemingly refer to documentary film’s function as

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relator of information. However, as Rokach tells me of the variety of films playing in this year’s lineup, the title corresponds more with the festival’s receptiveness to the many forms of documentary filmmaking: essayistic, experimental, hybrid or cinéma vérité, among many other sub-strands. “To be honest, I do not see documentary as different from fiction

or any other art form,” says Rokach. “When it is good, the role of all these mediums are a reflection of our life. I feel that fiction and documentary are both powerful mediums that can allow great work to be made.” He does give his specific area of interest the edge, though: “I do think that complexities are more powerfully conveyed through documentary.” The films chosen reflect this, and among the contentious titles bound to spark conversation and debate, Rokach highlights two. “I Will Not Be Silenced tells the story of Australian Charlotte Campbell-Stephen, who is fierce and brave in talking about her horrific gang rape in Kenya, which led to a sevenyear battle for justice … The Dog [is the] funny and fascinating story of John Wojtowicz, who robbed a bank to pay for his lover’s sex change operation; the inspiration behind the Al Pacino film Dog Day Afternoon.” Elsewhere in the program, the universally acclaimed Last Days In Vietnam recounts the war’s chaotic final days and the heroic efforts of American soldiers to save as many South Vietnamese lives as possible, while The Internet’s Own Boy tells of the life of the late Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, who took his own life last year.

Among the more formally audacious films showing is Maidan, which observes the recent Ukrainian uprising in Maidan Square using only a series of rigorous, (mostly) static-frame compositions. Despite its unyielding and relatively nonmanipulative approach, its rewards are considerable, building to a climax of tremendous emotional power. Ditto Joaquim Pinto’s intensely personal diary-film What Now? Remind Me, which tells of the filmmaker’s life with HIV – a must-see for anyone with an interest in both the subject and the poetic possibilities of non-fiction filmmaking. Rokach also draws attention to three crowd-pleasing gems that might go unnoticed amidst titles with more obvious ‘star’ power (such as Regarding Susan Sontag; the Elliott Smith bio Heaven Adores You; the Scorsese co-directed New York Review Of Books chronicle The 50 Year Argument; and a retrospective of classic Maysles Brothers docos). “The Creator Of The Jungle is a captivating story that one needs to see to believe. It tells the story of a man who has spent 45 years building a giant playground in the

forest. We are very excited to have director Jordi Morató here for a Q&A after the screening … Art And Craft is a beautiful film about an eccentric and talented art forger. It is a smart yet very humorous cat-and-mouse caper about art, originality, obsession and truth … [and] Living Stars is a perfectly composed and endlessly entertaining film. What is unique about this one is that there’s no narrative, just a series of everyday Argentineans dancing in their living rooms, kitchens, backyards, garages and workplaces.” What Rokach’s programming stresses above all is that documentary shouldn’t be seen as a handicap in relation to fictional filmmaking, and that it can and should be of equal cinematic accomplishment. “By definition, documentary is a cinematic art form and filmmakers should perceive it as such. And by ‘cinematic’, I don’t mean it has to be polished and beautiful.” What: Antenna Documentary Film Festival Where: Palace Verona and Chauvel Cinema, Paddington When: Until Sunday October 19 BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 21

Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and bareboards around town Howie The Rookie photo by Kathy Luu

■ Theatre

Howie The Rookie

HOWIE THE ROOKIE Playing at Old Fitzroy Theatre until Saturday October 25 The air in the Old Fitz is cold and still. As we settle in, two characters in trackie dacks and hoodies appear and stand in front of their respective chairs. They are Rookie Lee and his namesake, Howie Lee. However, this is vital information that, at this point, the audience is yet to get wind of, and will evidently spend a bum-itchingly long time waiting for it to be revealed. A solid ‘thank you’ to the Aboriginal landowners by Andrew Henry (Howie) and in seconds Howie’s spinning into monologue as Rookie sits silently on his side of the stage (read: story). Almost immediately Henry’s accent changes ring Irish. The tongue is thick enough to be believable, but not so strong that it impairs our ability to comprehend words. He draws us in with his endless energy as he regales us with tales of sexual encounters in bar bathrooms with a monster of a woman called Avalanche.

Stephanie Yip

■ Theatre

The Glass Menagerie

THE GLASS MENAGERIE Playing at Belvoir St Theatre until Sunday November 2 Inside the Upstairs Theatre at Belvoir, the stage is dressed as a dissected homestead. At its centre is a kitchen table, and to its left is the front door and porch. To its right is an alcove with window. And at downstage is an open space to serve for all manner of cameo-appearance rooms. In true Tennessee Williams style, The Glass Menagerie is the story of dreams, reality and family – coupled with a taste of the American South. It’s an autobiographical piece about Tom Wingfield (Luke Mullins), a factory worker with little ambition for work and all the passion for poetry. After having been abandoned by his father years prior, his family now consists of a doting mother, Amanda (Pamela Rabe), and a crippled older sister, Laura (Rose Riley). Amanda spends her days reminiscing on a romanticised youthfulness filled with multiple suitors. But with her husband courting freedom in a “long-distance relationship”, all her hopes are pinned on Laura and the gentleman callers who never call. Childish and directionless, Laura harbours little care for the future, preferring to spend her days wandering through parks and museums and cleaning her menagerie of glass animals to learning the ladylike qualities that has seen her peers married off.

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya ■ Film

THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA Playing at Dendy Newtown until Wednesday October 22 The Tale Of Princess Kaguya looks and feels like few other animated films around, including those also playing in the current Studio Ghibli mini-showcase that it’s a part of. It’s been gestating long enough that a feature-length documentary charting its eight-year making is playing concurrently in the showcase (along with director Isao Takahata’s classic Grave Of The Firefl ies), though it never feels like the product of painstaking labour so much as passion and freedom of imagination.

The title refers to a Tinkerbell-esque young girl found – in full princess garb – by a bamboo cutter in a stalk in the woods, before evolving into a human infant. Taken in and raised by the cutter and his wife in the countryside, the young Kaguya ages at a rate that outpaces the local village’s children, and quickly assumes the regal role from her unusual birth circumstances. What’s striking about the film is how Kaguya’s evolution is rendered in a manner that feels at once mythic and subjective, befitting both the story and the point of view of this beyond-time central character. The backdrops and characters are animated to effortlessly resemble dreamy wisps of charcoal sketching and hues of watercolour, with

more concrete drawings used to represent her eventual induction into a life of stifling formality, as she vies for the role of wife to five different suitors. It’s all so beguiling and beautiful that it’s easy to forgive patches of its admittedly bloated runtime (nearly two-and-a-half hours) where you’re just staring at it rather than properly engaging – the high points, including two startling expressionist dream sequences, are frankly some of the best animated cinema, ever, full stop. Cumulatively, it’s genuinely otherworldly and transporting enough to make ‘too long’ seem like an especially banal objection. Ian Barr

As the story progresses, with each character seeking their own means of freedom and happiness, the characters burn little holes into the audience’s mind. It’s not the script or poetical prowess of Williams that lets this production down (how could it?) but the execution of his words that hampers our connection. Perhaps, yes, it would have been a betrayal to stray from its American roots, but in holding true to the authenticity of annunciation, the play loses compassion, dialogue flow and believability, leaving us caring little for the future of these ‘characters’. All commendation, however, must go to the production and cinematography, which can only be described as stunning. Cameras manipulated by the actors deliver black-andwhite visions onto two overhead screens, driving emotion into the performance on the back of classic Hollywood glamour. They peer through windows and capture the characters’ gaze with such beauty and artistry they’re sure to leave you breathless. Stephanie Yip

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Pact: 50 Years On The Edge PACT Centre For Emerging Artists, Erskineville, Saturday October 18 For half a century now, PACT – AKA Producers Artists Curators Technicians – has been supporting emerging Australian artistic talent, with its space in Erskineville dedicated to allowing experimental performers to develop their stories in a supportive environment. After standing strong at the base of the artistic pyramid for so long, it’s now time for PACT to look both to the past and to its future. The 50th birthday event will feature a one-off performance by the 2014 PACT ensemble, and double also as a fundraiser and launch event for the 2015 program. Tickets start at $50 and are available at pact.net.au.

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PACT Matthew Prest photo by Lovis Ostenrik

We stare at Rookie. He stares back at times, and we ponder where his part comes in. The question of ‘When will dialogue will begin?’ distracts us at times we probably shouldn’t be distracted, as all the while he turns his head and sips his beer. It’s all a little unnerving and confounding – but that’s alright because his part makes it all come full circle. When Howie finally goes silent,

Rookie (Sean Hawkins) takes his cue. He begins in a much faster, less settled accent. To be fair, this is difficult for someone who’s been a silent player onstage for half an hour. Eventually, though, his accent does settle, and we’re able to follow his version of the story. It’s about getting on the wrong side of a dangerous thug after accidentally stepping on his Siamese fighting fish and having to hustle for the money to pay him back. It’s about contracting an itch in the nether regions that slowly takes over. And it’s about how the infamous Howie (now revealed, now explained) sweeps in like an angel to come to Rookie’s rescue. The plot may not be the easiest thing to follow, and the lack of interaction may serve more to distract and confuse rather than intrigue and seduce, but what really shines here is the strength and command of both its actors. Bravo.

’ S G U I D E TO T H E B R AG

Raise a glass, it’s that time of year again: the 2014 edition of Sydney Craft Beer Week kicks off this weekend. Spread across more than 50 venues, this celebration of all things barley, yeast, water and hops pays tribute to the great tradition of lagers, ales, pilsners and more – which of course doubles as a great Australian pastime. We’ve picked out a few highlights for you to enjoy (responsibly) – so ‘hop’ to it!

Venue Profile

pizza matched with excellent beer? Yep, I didn’t think so…

It’s called: Dimitri’s Pizzeria Craft Beer And Pizza Special

Cost: Free admission! Pizzas from $10, beer $6 and up.

What to see and do: We’re offering specials on a select range of brews and matching beer with pizza.

Website: dimitrispizzeria.com / facebook.com/dimitrispizzeriasurryhills

DIMITRI’S PIZZERIA

Where: 324 Crown Street, Surry Hills For our ears: At Dimitri’s we’re all avid supporters of independent and underground music. No DJs per se, though as always, we will be playing some our favorite tunes.

When: 365 days a year! And of course throughout the entire SCBW14.

Bevvy of choice: Aghh, really?! We’ll have a ludicrously diverse range of beer as usual, with multiple offerings from some of the best brewers from within Australia and around the world, plus some extra special limited releases. Best drunk with: Can you really beat amazing, piping hot, thin and crispy

SYDNEY CRAFT BEER WEEK 2014 GALA

YOUNG CAVALIERS BLOCK PARTY

GIANT DWARF THEATRE, REDFERN, FRIDAY OCTOBER 17. $37.50.

NEWINGTON HOTEL, PETERSHAM, SATURDAY OCTOBER 18. FREE.

The week will kick off in style with a gala event this Friday, featuring more than 20 brewers plus live music and food trucks. The house band for the night is Green Mohair Suits – the Sydney bluegrass boys who’ll provide the perfect soundtrack for you to chow down on burgers by Marys and brews by Stone & Wood, 4 Pines, Batch, Young Henrys and many more.

Papa Pilko and The Bin Rats will headline the music lineup at this one, but it’s all about the brew, of course – the brew in question being a Young Henrys and Cavalier collaboration being released for this event. There’ll be art, music, food, culture, and a new drop for the tasting. What’s not to love?

SIP & SAVOUR

Sip & Savour is the official closing event of SCBW14, and you better believe it’s going out with a bang. We caught up with some of the brewing and musical talent that’s on show next weekend.

Carriageworks, Saturday October 25 and Sunday October 26. Tickets $44 from sipsavour.com.au.

our next single and the rest of our upcoming EP, as well as our next tour, so it’s all pretty non-stop. What’ve you got planned for your set at Sip & Savour for Craft Beer Week? Some ear-pleasing tunes, followed by a few big, delicious craft beers! We were thinking we might dedicate each song of our set to a different beer and turn it into “Castlecomer’s Great Beer Odyssey”... maybe. It certainly has a ring to it. We’re looking forward to catching Husky’s set as well.

Tell us about your band – what do you sound like, who’s the biggest rock star, and who’s most likely to enjoy a quiet drink at the end of a gig? The Castlecomer sound could be described as pop-rock, with our five-part harmonies bringing a twist of folk to the table. We’re just about to release our third EP, which is a definite maturation in our sound, so we’re really excited about sharing that, and always

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looking forward to our next tour. The biggest rock star in the band would have to be our bass player Joe, hands down – if it wasn’t already obvious from his dreadlocks. Our keyboard player Neely would have to be the most likely to enjoy a quiet drink at the end of a gig, and lead singer Bede most likely to enjoy a loud one! They say beer goes down best with a hard-earned

thirst – what’s been keeping you guys busy of late? We toured the east coast promoting our single ‘Fugitive’ throughout September, and followed that up with a few shows at Caloundra Music Festival on the Sunshine Coast earlier this month. We’ve also been doing a lot of songwriting and work in the studio when we have a bit of time in between shows. On top of that we’re busy making preparations for the release of

What’s on your ultimate rider? Our current usual rider entails a whole lot of beers and waters. It keeps us happy and hydrated, and ensures that we have (and put on!) a good show. Our ultimate rider would be a completely different animal, which it’s doubtful we could go into all the details of here. But there are few things Joey dreams of more than having an industrial-sized fan next to his keyboards to keep him from overheating – he already has one of these in our rehearsal space, and the day he got it was a good day for all of us. And we’d also love a Lazy Susan in our dressing room, because Lazy Susans just make everything easier, not to mention more fun.

THE BIG PIG OUT THE MULE, PETERSHAM, SATURDAY OCTOBER 25. $28.75. Stone & Wood is keeping things simple for Craft Beer Week this year. The Big Pig Out is back, and the formula goes something like: four Stone & Wood beers on tap, three big pigs, a live band, and good times aplenty.

See sydneycraftbeerweek. com for more

R’S PROFILES B R E W EBrewer’s Profile #1

BATCH BREWING COMPANY Your story: Batch Brewing Company was started in late 2013 by friends Chris and Andrew. They embody a philosophy of brewing beer the old-fashioned way; handcrafted ales brewed batch by batch for the local community. An American Pale Ale is the only staple beer from Batch Brewing Company, with the boys regularly showcasing a range of limited release ales, which can be enjoyed at the brewery (44 Sydenham Road, Marrickville), or in local venues in Sydney’s inner west and CBD. Your speciality: We brew an American Pale Ale that is our only constant beer, and we think it’s pretty damn good. However, what’s more our specialty is bringing out new variations on known beer styles, or even new styles altogether, on a regular basis. We embrace change when it comes to variety! Best drunk with: Friends and good conversation. It’s fun to have a great beer and be able to sit down and chat about it with your friends. From the great experience you had at the brewery (where you may have picked up the beer), to the interesting tastes your experiencing on the palette. Pour us a drink – where to get it: Come to the brewery for beer fresh out of the tanks Thursday to Sunday until 8pm. We are also currently supplying to various bottle shops and pubs in the inner west and CBD. If we’re not in a venue and you want to get us, ask the bar staff! Website: batchbrewingco.com.au Phone: 0419 348 958

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Sydney Cra

BREWER’S PROFILES SIP & SAVOUR CONTINUED

Brewer’s Profile #2

MURRAY’S CRAFT BREWING CO Your story: Murray and the team have been brewing unique and offbeat naturally crafted beers since 2006, and in the process have won a bunch of awards and accolades – including Australia’s Brewer of the Year last year. As a small brewer, authenticity is very important to us. We are an independent, 100 per cent Australian owned and run craft brewer who is passionate about improving the public’s perception of beer as a beverage in our country. Today, Murray’s Craft Brewing Co shares its home with Port Stephens Winery, the region’s oldest vineyard. Showcasing beer and wine together is quite a natural thing for us. Bringing the two together in a great tourist location seemed like a great way to provide visitors with a wide variety of taste sensations. Your speciality: Over the years we have brewed over 55 beers including Whale Ale, Angry Man Pale Ale and Moon Boy Golden Ale, but our latest addition is an American IPA called Fred. The beer is 6% ABV, 75 IBU and is aggressively late hopped with a house blend of hops from the Pacific Northwest of the US. It has classic US IPA hop aroma and flavour with big citrus and pine notes throughout. At 75 IBU it has assertive bitterness which is just balanced by the single pale malt addition. Unfiltered and natural. Best drunk with: Have with anything smoky Southern US/Mexican with loads of habanero or chipotle sauce.

Brewer’s Profile #3

Brewer’s Profile #4

THE AUSTRALIAN BREWERY Your story: Located in north-west Sydney in the rolling Hills District we’ve been brewing for four years. We put some serious investment into the brewery and focus on great examples of various beer styles with the focus always being on flavour expression and drinkability. Our two main sellers, The Pale Ale and The Pilsner, are distributed nationally through Dan Murphy’s and our Extra Hoppy Ale through Vintage Cellars. Seasonals are found in all the usual great venues around Sydney and Melbourne and we also have significant distribution in Japan with other Asian countries coming on line shortly. Your speciality: The Pale Ale, which is an Australian pale ale brewed to showcase Galaxy hops. Unfiltered, unpasteurised, it’s a simple and highly enjoyable beer. We’re also the first Australian craft brewery to put our beer into cans for the quality and environmental benefits this packaging format gives us. Best drunk with: Another one. We don’t aim to make big beers, we aim to make them such that the third or fourth one tastes even better than the first. Harder than you’d think.

Website: australianbrewery.com

Website: murraysbrewingco.com.au

Phone: (02) 9679 4555

Your story: Originally Schwartz Brewery, founded by Dr. Jerry Schwartz and housed in the belly of The Macquarie Hotel for seven years. Now all beer is produced at the brand new Lovedale Brewery at the Schwartz-owned Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley. And the renowned Sydney Cider, now produced at Australia’s first purpose-built cider room at World Square. All distribution is currently handled in house. Your speciality: The first beer out of Lovedale Brewery, Lovedale Lager has recently received a trophy and Gold Medal for Best European Style Lager at the Australian and International Beer Awards. Glamarama Summer Ale just received a Silver Medal at The Royal Sydney Beer and Cider Show and is the featured beer at this year’s Sculpture By The Sea. Sydney Cider received a Bronze Medal at Sydney Royal and will also be featured at this year’s SXS, given Sydney Brewery are proud Event Partners. Best drunk with: Lovedale Lager is a clean, crisp lager that matches beautifully with a charcuterie board and pizza. Glamarama is a refreshing summer ale with strong citrus notes that teams perfectly with fresh prawns and grilled seafood. Sydney Cider is a champagne cider that is versatile at the table, matching equally well with pork dishes, spicy Asian and desserts including chocolate and most cheeses.

Pour us a drink – where to get it: At our three venues in the Hills – The Australian Brewery, Hillside Tavern and Bella Vista Hotel. In the city, The Union, Dove & Olive, Cookhouse, Brooklyn Social, Quarrymans Hotel – you know the ones…

Pour us a drink – where to get it: BWS, Dan Murphy’s, Vintage Cellars, Liquorland and all good craft beer shops and pubs nationally.

SYDNEY BREWERY (& LOVEDALE BREWERY)

Website: sydneybrewery.com Phone: Richard Feyn, 0412 288 144

Brewer’s Profile #5

RIVERSIDE BREWING COMPANY Your story: Riverside Brewing Company is a craft brewery based in western Sydney, founded in 2012 by head brewer Dave Padden and Stephen Pan. All of Riverside’s beers are brewed and bottled onsite in Parramatta and available on tap and in 330ml bottles. Your speciality: Riverside quickly became known for our ‘hop-forward’ style of beers and our two flagship beers are definitely the ‘77’ India Pale Ale and ‘44’ American Amber. Both beers regularly feature in the Hottest 100 Craft Beers of Australia and the Critics’ Choice Australia’s Best Beers. Best drunk with: The ‘77’ India Pale Ale matches perfectly with spicy foods such as a good curry or chilli dish, while the ‘44’ American Amber loves to be paired with flavoursome grilled or smoked meats. Pour us a drink – where to get it: The best place to check out the brewery and try our beers is on the brewery cellar door, which is open Friday 2-6pm and Saturday 12-4pm. You can take our beer home fresh in two-litre growlers or in 330ml bottles. Riverside beers can also be found on tap all over Sydney and Newcastle at venues that support good craft beer, while our bottles can be found in over 30 independent bottle shops as well. Jump on the website below for a list of stockists. Website: riversidebrewing.com.au Phone: (02) 9890 7007

Brewer’s Profile #6

WILLIE THE BOATMAN Your story: Best mates and mad home brewers Nick Newey and Pat McInerney decided two years ago to give up their day jobs and open up their own brewery in Mary Street, St Peters. Our doors will open during this Craft Beer Week… arrrrgh! How did we manage to do that?! Your speciality: All our beers are named after our mates. So choosing one absolute fave would be like causing a fight in the family. I love the Foo Brew Golden Ale (named after our plumber). There’s also Todd’s Trailer Pale Ale (Todd Payne, owner of a trailer); The Crazy Ivan – IPA (Ivan is just crazy); Nick’s Black Bunny – Black Ale (fellow brewer and handy guy); and finally Old Salty – a German Gose (named after Nick’s dad Paddy). Best drunk with: Our beers are all about friends both old and new. You should always share our beers with your mates at any occasion. Pour us a drink – where to get it: Taps: Black Penny, Henson Hotel, Tempe Hotel, Golden Barley, The Bank, Gasoline Pony, Lazy Bones. Bottle shops: Barney’s, Newtown Fine Wines, Enmore Fine Wines, Wine Society. Website: Best to find us on Facebook Phone: 0413 514 026

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Album Reviews

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK CD OF THE WEEK CARIBOU

of the lot. ‘Back Home’ throws out cavernous vocals that echo back atop staccato beats, before bleeps and trills lead into the gradual build of closer ‘Your Love Will Set You Free’.

Caribou photo by Thomas Neukum

Our Love City Slang/Inertia

The kaleidoscopic artwork of Caribou’s Our Love reflects the aural tapestry contained within, equal parts gossamer and viscous.

Mesmerising and undulating, Our Love Xxxxdraws you into its wonder: sparkling light underpinned with a deeper darkness.

The title track is a glinting, sun-dappled cloud, anchored with snapping snares and softened by glimmering synths, billowing out to a house anthem by its end. Downtempo ‘Dive’ is an exercise in fluid electronica, followed by ‘Second Chance’ – the most vocal-driven track on the album, a collaboration with singer Jessy Lanza, and the closest thing to a club banger

This is outwardly simple, yet deceptively complex music, something Dan Snaith has now mastered, and the elements wash over each other beautifully. For all its celebration of love, the album dips into a darkness that is often what makes the light so bright. There is an undercurrent of melancholy to each song, whether in the increasingly frenzied repetition of the mantra-esque title (and only lyric) in ‘Can’t Do Without You’, or the mournfully waning love in ‘All I Ever Need’. Natalie Amat

THE 2 BEARS

BEAR’S DEN

COLD WAR KIDS

STARS

TWIN ATLANTIC

The Night Is Young Southern Fried/Liberator

Islands Communion/Dew Process

Hold My Home Downtown / Create/Control

No One Is Lost ATO

Great Divide Red Bull

According to the second track on The Night Is Young, Joe Goddard needs an angel to touch him and tell him that everything is going to be alright. That line itself is a pretty concise summary of The 2 Bears’ humorous approach to conventional house music across their five-year existence.

At its best, Bear’s Den’s full-length debut is warm and cathartic and showcases a gift for folkadjacent sensibilities with all the hopefulness to evolve in unexpected directions yet never losing their organic centre.

Marking the ten-year anniversary of the band, Cold War Kids’ fifth album Hold My Home finds the indie rockers striving, with mixed results, for the vitality and relevance of their early years. Their 2006 debut Robbers & Cowards stood out from the crowd with an exciting and fresh blend of blues and indie rock, fronted by Nathan Willett’s powerful, earnest vocals.

Forming at the turn of the 21st century, Canadian indie collective Stars have bubbled under the collective conscience for several years, occasionally breaking through with gems like 2004’s ‘Ageless Beauty’ or 2007’s ‘Take Me To The Riot’. Outside of their native land, however, Stars have struggled to keep their light shining long enough to maintain proper interest.

Not to tar all guitar-wielding Scots doing big business with the same Highland brush, but when it comes to Glasgow’s Twin Atlantic, their mantra appears to be less “Mon the Biff” and more “become the Biff”. Yes, the band’s trajectory mirrors that of its hirsute superiors Biffy Clyro, albeit in a condensed fashion.

The Night Is Young is a crash course in sampling and production. Thankfully it distances itself from the generic danciness of their earlier releases and brings a more rounded musical approach to the actual making of a song. The sheer creativity of the boys shines through the album and makes you understand just how versatile these guys can be in genre mixing. However, their versatility is also the album’s downfall. While there is an underlying string of minimalist electronic beats that creates a similar feel from track to track, that is unfortunately where the continuity ends. It’s refreshing to see the guys bounce from trip-hop-oriented reggae sampling on ‘Money Man’ to R&B fusion breakbeats on ‘Modern Family’, but the absence of direction turns The Night Is Young from a great album into a great playlist. The Night Is Young is one of those albums that sounds good on a road trip, but is impossible to dance to. Jacob Mills

Islands fits very easily alongside the trio’s previous output. Lush flows of silky-smooth harmonies glide along a riverbed of soft strumming – the echoes of Marcus Mumford are hard to miss. Opening song ‘Agape’ unleashes a vibrant backbone of banjo served under a pillowy falsetto. ‘Above The Clouds Of Pompeii’ is laced with a gentle stream of fingerpicking, later completed with the addition of percussive lines and rumbling horns that together reach great heights. From the moody synth current in ‘When You Break’, to the claps and rattles strung underneath ‘Think Of England’, to the tambourine threaded below ‘Magdalene’, this acoustically charged LP is infected with many a groove-worthy recording and clever, subtle hooks.

Sophomore effort Loyalty To Loyalty followed much the same blueprint but was more hit-and-miss, and it’s been a case of diminishing returns ever since as they skew closer to the anonymous pop-rock of Kings Of Leon or The Killers. On Hold My Home, the bad news is that Cold War Kids are continuing down this track, but the good news is their songwriting is sharper and capable of producing some memorable tracks. ‘First’ is a standout; a thumping anthem that still retains enough of the old Cold War Kids to excite. And the double shot of closing ballads ‘Harold Bloom’ and ‘Hear My Baby Call’ gives Willett a chance to showcase his great ability to sound powerful and vulnerable all at once.

It is the fragile and emotional ‘Isaac’, however, that resonates most and sets the mind adrift into a golden brown wheat field, swaying in the silence of a treasure lost.

Fans looking for a return to the energy and brashness of Cold War Kids’ debut are in the wrong place, but there’s enough quality here to keep them relevant.

Kiera Thanos

Keiron Costello

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK After years off to the side with The Herd and as the right-hand woman for Urthboy, Melbourne-via-Sydneyvia-Newcastle’s Jane Tyrrell is, at long last, ready for her close-up. Echoes In The Aviary, her debut full-length, lays down a variety of winding paths for Tyrrell to traverse, each leading to curious corners of the human condition.

JANE TYRRELL Echoes In The Aviary Elefant Traks

Lush, smoky jazz surrounds itself around cloud-gathering ambience while distant, cavernous blips of electronica flash from afar. The A-team assembled to work on the record offers a phenomenal touch, ranging from the production of Pip ‘Countbounce’ Norman (TZU) to the sturdy foundations of percussive

mastermind Laurence Pike (PVT) and the guiding hand of Dustin McLean (no three-letter band). It does, however, ultimately come down to the unmistakable voice on which the album is centred. Whether gently weeping to herself (‘Raven’, ‘Transcendant’) or calling out for help (the album’s finest moment, ‘The Rush’), the sorrow that dwells within Tyrrell’s songs is truly gripping. Echoes In The Aviary makes for a completely assured and pristine debut. Tyrrell has achieved in 40 minutes and change what it takes some performers their entire lives to do.

Perhaps this will change on No One Is Lost, their seventh studio album, which sees the band taking a particularly interesting move into bright roller-disco grooves and emphasising the vocal interplay between Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan. The band often indulges in twirling, life-affirming pop while subtly adding in shades of grey through lyricism that’s aware of mortality and often afraid of consequence. This is a strength that is played to here, and while it doesn’t entirely work throughout the tracklisting, there’s more than enough on offer that does in order to deem this a successful return. Perhaps Stars have gone under your radar up to this point, or perhaps you’ve been keenly observing their moves from the beginning. Whatever the case, No One Is Lost makes for a worthwhile listen. It could even be your biggest surprise this year. David James Young

For those not au fait, here’s the skinny: rock band mixes angular, vaguely mathy rock with allencompassing hooks, eventually abandoning the former entirely in favour of the latter to shift cult fan base into mainstream. Much like the last Biffy LP, Opposites, Great Divide is instantly accessible and will probably do wonders for Twin Atlantic’s profile. It does, however, come at a price – the songwriting has grown increasingly lacklustre, based around tepid lyricism and the kind of crystal-clear production that shines through to reveal each song’s hollow interior. There’s some fun to be had with tracks like ‘Heart And Soul’, but the flavour is lost quickly and is not regained through repeated listens. “You can tell that the youth of today have lost their voice,” laments frontman Sam McTrusty at one point on Great Divide. Let’s hope the irony of this isn’t lost on him. David James Young

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... THE SNOWDROPPERS - Too Late To Pray VARIOUS ARTISTS - Chef: Original Soundtrack HOT CHIP - One Life Stand

TINASHE - Aquarius PULP - We Love Life

David James Young

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live reviews

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

tenderness of ‘Dissolve Me’. There was no room for stillness or observance until the band’s rendition of ‘Warm Foothills’, which demanded everyone’s full attention.

ALT-J, GRACE Enmore Theatre Tuesday October 7 If Alt-J were little-known or underappreciated once upon a time, it’s all but a distant memory now, as told by the force of cheers that greeted them for their Sydney show at the Enmore Theatre. And though this energy lifted the mood of everyone in the room, it often stole away the more tranquil moments. Support act Grace held herself quietly and confidently at the mic in front of a packed crowd, lit by a ghostly glow with vocals dripping in darkness. Though her voice had a nice resonance to it, each note seeped indistinguishably into the next. Yet when she picked up the guitar, she assumed a more natural stance and began to create a full sound, filled with silky electric tones. Delivering a powerful opening to their set with the pulsating ‘Hunger Of The Pine’, Alt-J were a veritable force. Though the show was comprised largely of tunes from new album This Is All Yours, older favourites were sprinkled throughout. The crowd was vocal, shouting, whistling and cat calling, which all worked well in favour of tracks like the cheeky ‘Every Other Freckle’, but detracted from the

The enthusiasm of the audience was well warranted, as it became evident that each member of the band was a significant piece of the puzzle. Certainly, Joe Newman’s bizarrely beautiful voice plays an important role in creating Alt-J’s signature sound generally, but what stood out most clearly tonight was their impressive integration of rhythms. This was especially remarkable in ‘Fitzpleasure’, when the combination of crackling castanets, spot-on syncopation of vocal harmonies and the deep hum of the bass were particularly engaging. But really, it was the drum line that kept everything together throughout the night – the precision in the hits and control of dynamics was like musical glue to the disparate parts. Alt-J is a group made up not only of exceptional composers but natural performers, and this was not lost on the crowd. If only Alt-J fans were equally good at listening. Erin Rooney

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PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

12:10:14 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney thebrag.com

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COURTNEY BARNETT, D.D DUMBO

up all night out all week . . .

Oxford Art Factory Friday October 10 After recently scoring with one of the singles of the year (‘Avant Gardener’) and in a week that she won two Independent Music Awards, Courtney Barnett could easily have been a live letdown. She wasn’t. Beforehand, D.D Dumbo’s Afrobeatinspired loop-pop made me wonder if singing over made-onstage loops was any less ‘live’ than doing so over a prerecorded backing track. Unfortunately, Oliver Hugh Perry’s craft – for which he must layer guitar riffs, snare and bass drums (and even pan pipes and a recorder at one point) – quickly becomes tedious. Also, when your sound man tells you there’s 15 minutes of your set left, muttering “Fuck” and worrying about how you can fill the time is not really encouraging for a crowd. His guitar work sometimes demanded attention but Perry could learn a thing or two about stage presence.

You could do worse than liken Barnett to a female, Aussie Alex Turner. Although she crams in the syllables, she languidly spins ordinary tales and delivers wry witticisms, half sung, half spoken. On ‘Avant Gardener’: “I’m breathing but I’m wheezing / Feel like I’m emphysem-in’ / My throat feels like a funnel fi lled with Weet-Bix and kerosene”.

twin caverns

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But maybe it’s not something one can learn. Courtney Barnett didn’t seem to make an effort at all. Not with her choice of outfit, a baggy t-shirt, nor in bantering with the crowd. But she had no need to. She let her music do the talking and revelled in playing it.

11:10:14 :: The Lansdowne Hotel :: 2-6 City Rd Chippendale 8218 2333

Thanks to a super-tight band, including guest guitarist Dan Luscombe of The Drones, the songs were given a heavier treatment than that present on double EP A Sea Of Split Peas. Glam-rock weight was given to opener ‘David’; the bluesy metal of ‘Canned Tomatoes (Whole)’ would’ve made Jack White sit up. Occasionally, country flourishes illuminated lines like on ‘Don’t Apply Compression Gently’ – “I take pieces of myself from everyone around me / I’m not individual enough for you” – giving tantalising image to Kirsty MacColl fronting the Stones. Barnett is certainly a star in the making, albeit presumably a reluctant one.

the griswolds

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David Wild

11:10:14 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA CLAR

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OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

MAR S :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY

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

pick of the week

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18

The Cat Empire

Hordern Pavilion

The Cat Empire

+ Madre Monte + Tom Thum

7:30pm. $59.90. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra Coopers Hotel, Newtown. 8:45pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Phil Gray Court House Hotel, Lithgow. 7:30pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann + Alister Marshall + Malachy Milligan The Loft (UTS), Ultimo . 6pm. free. Strut At The Stag Band Comp - feat: The Moving Stills + Ryan Thomas + Lonely Empire + More The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $15.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Others Jam Night Spring Street Social, Bondi. 9pm. free. Kim Lawson Quartet Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $11. Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free. Yuki Kumagai + John Mackie Bondi Beach, 1:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole

The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Convergence Jazz Festival Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $13.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Benjalu + Susanna Carter + Jorja Carroll Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $10. Songsonstage - feat: Loretta D’Urso + Beck Fielding + The Sideshow Band Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Mick Hambly + Warren Munce Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free. The Button Collective The Wild Rover, Surry Hills. 7pm. free. The Royal Artillery + Bones Atlas Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm. free.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Bandsonstage - feat: Young Fellas + Steve Tulinsky Duo + Our Friend Barbra Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free. Kye Brown Wentworth Hotel, Homebush

West. 9pm. free. Ryan Thomas The Grand Hotel, Rockdale. 5pm. free. Song Jam - feat: Phil Gray + Guests Rosehill Hotel, Clyde. 7:30pm. free. The Slow Downs The Old Growler, Woolloomooloo. 8pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Anna Saleh: Brazil & Beyond Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50. Jazz Hip Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. $5.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

2thorns Optus Centre, Macquarie Park. 4pm. free. Aaleatha And The Audio Fix PJ Gallagher’s, Parramatta. 9pm. free. Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Andrew Dyce Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 5:30pm. free. Andy Mammers Trio Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 10:30pm. free. Armistice + Laura Castillo + Breaking Point + Total Addiction Roxbury Hotel, Glebe. 7:30pm. $12. Ben Finn Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free. Big Way Out Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free. Cambo Massey Park Golf Club, Concord. 7pm. free. Clayton Vetter Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Dave White Duo Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. David Agius Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9:30pm. free. Divine Knights - feat: Betty Grumble + Glitta Supernova Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 3pm. $23.50. Drew Mcalister The Ranch, Eastwood. 5:30pm. free. East Coast Band Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. Endless Summer Beach

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS 10 O’Clock Rock Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. free. A Team Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 9pm. free. Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 8pm. free. Alkemie Night - feat: Live Music + DJ Sudek Spring Street Social, Bondi. 9:30pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 10pm. free.

Miley Cyrus

Party Club Engadine, Engadine. 8pm. free. Felicity Robinson Club Rivers, Riverwood. 8:30pm. free. Francisco’s Fortune - feat: Capitol + Adaptors Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10. Geoff Rana Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 8pm. free. Greg Agar St George Motor Boat Club, Sans Souci. 7pm. free. Happy Presents Head! Owen Rabbit + Elbee + Baerfrens FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Heath Burdell Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Hooray For Everything Windsor Leagues Club, Windsor South. 9pm. free. Jess Dunbar Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Jimmy Barnes Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $89. JJ Duo Springwood Sports Club, Springwood. 8:30pm. free. Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s Whisky Bar, Jacksons On George, Sydney. 5:30pm. free. Joe Echo Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 10pm. free. Krishna Jones Parramatta RSL, Parramatta. 5pm. free. Kučka Easy Tiger, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $8. Last Stand Chisel Barnes Show Vinyl Room, Gymea. 10pm. free. Light My Fire – A Tribute To The Doors Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $22. Live Coverage Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 8pm. free. Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt. 9:30pm. free. Love Child The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. free. Matt Price Ingleburn Hotel, Ingleburn. 9pm. free. Miley Cyrus Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 7:30pm. $79.90. Nova Tone Vikings Sports Club, Dundas Valley. 7pm. free. One Hit Wonders Canterbury League Club, Belmore. 8pm. free. Perry Keyes + Bernie Hayes The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $28. Rob Eastwood Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 6:30pm. free. Rock Solid Duo Club Central Menai, Menai. 9:30pm. free. Shane Flew Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 6pm. free. Skyz The Limit Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 8pm. free. Sugar Reef Horsley Park Tavern, Horsley Park. 7pm. free. The Beautiful Girls + Pierce Brothers + Bobby Alu Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $38.90. The Field Duo Horse & Jockey Hotel, Homebush. 7:30pm. free. The Harry Heart Chrysalis The Eastern, Bondi Junction. 7pm. free. The Tribe Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. Tim Conlon Harbord Beach Hotel,

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Andy Mammers Duo

Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Brett + Neddi Duo Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 6:30pm. free. Captain Cook Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free. Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Cheveux Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7pm. free. D’Luna + Tall Hearts + Honeyglow + Grace Pitts Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $18. Fat Bubba’s Chicken Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Flux Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Justin Townes Earle Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $60. Metak + Hatemail + Stu Tyrrell The Vanguard, Newtown. 7pm. $12. Strange Karma Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 8pm. free. The Tea Party + The Superjesus Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $91.65.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. free. Jess Dunbar Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Joe Echo Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free. Josh T Pearson Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $49. Night Attack - feat: Broken Hands Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Sahara Beck FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $12. Schapelle! The Musical Manning Bar, Camperdown. 7pm. $20. Songsonstage - feat: Phil Gray + Gabriel Levin + Emma Wolthers + Jacob Leslie + Lucy Lowe + John Hibbons + Lorias James Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale. 7:30pm. free. Steve Tonge Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7pm. free. The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. The Rumjacks + Bad Feeling Woman Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. free. Thieves + The Mountains + Andy Golledge + Ben Horder The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $18. Twenty Two Hundred Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. free. Twin Caverns + La Mar + Audient + Spirit Faces Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $8.20. Yoke Freda’s, Chippendale. 8pm. free.

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Harbord. 7pm. free. Tim Shaw Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. Victoria Avenue Adria Restaurant, Darling Harbour. 5pm. free. Wildcatz Sportsmans Hotel, Blacktown. 8:30pm. free. Winston Surfshirt Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 8pm. free. Zoltan PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield, Enfield. 8pm. free.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

OKA + Markendeya Paddington Uniting Church, Paddington. 8pm. $40. Wanderlust Foundry616, Ultimo. 6:30pm. $16.50. Yuki Kumagai + John Mackie Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Leichhardt. 8pm. free.

Xxx

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Bandsonstage - feat: Young Fellas + Steve Tulinsky Duo + Third Hour Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 8pm. free. Paul Hayward & Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free. Rhiannon Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 2pm. free. Ryan Thomas Hotel Pennant Hills, Pennant Hills. 10pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Andrew Denniston + Guests Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 8pm. free. Stormcellar Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free. The Royal Artillery + Chase The Sun Hermann’s Bar, Darlington. 7pm. $20.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

2thorns The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 8:15pm. free. 80’s Flashback Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 9:30pm. free. After Dark Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9:30pm. free. Airling + Jasia Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $10. AJ Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. free. Alex Hopkins Cronulla Leagues Club Sharkies, Woolooware. 7pm. free. All Star Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 6pm. free. Andrew Dyce Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 10pm. free. Antoine Demarest PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park. 7:30pm. free. Armchair Travellers Duo Campbelltown RSL Club, Campbelltown. 8pm. free. Arundel + No Body Died Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. free. Australian Guns N Roses Show Pioneer Tavern, Penrith. 9pm. free. Bam Bam Duo

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Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Bam Bam Duo Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Ben Finn Trio The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free. Big Way Out Epping Hotel, Epping. 10pm. free. Cara Kavanagh & Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 10pm. free. Cover Me Crazy Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. Dan Spillane Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free. David Agius Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 9pm. free. Endless Summer Beach Party PJ Gallagher’s, Parramatta. 9pm. free. Evie Dean Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 2pm. free. Exekute + Infested Entrails + The Mudering + Death Warrior + Dispolar + Pizza Gut Cosmo’s Rock Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. free. Felicity Robinson Henry Lawson Club, Werrington. 7:30pm. free. Grrrls To The Front - feat: Djani Davidson + Bette Von Bombe + Kayte Choi + Grace Csoke + Jen Buxton + Kathleen And The Brat Pack + Bad Vibes... + The Dandelion + Bonney Read + Pulse Mavens + Bandintexas Red Rattler, Marrickville. 11am. $20. Heath Burdell Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free. Hooray For Everything Sutherland United Services Club, Sutherland. 7:30pm. free. Jackson Holt Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 8pm. free. Jed Zarb PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield. 9pm. free. John Milligan New Brighton Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. JP Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. free. Keith Armitage Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. Macson Overlander Hotel, Cambridge Park. 7pm. free. Mark Travers St George Rowing Club, Wolli Creek. 7:30pm. free. Marty Stewart Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West. 9pm. free. Matt Jones Duo Panthers, Penrith. 9pm. free. Michael McGlynn Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. Modtoberfest 3 - feat: The Smart Folk + The Broken Hands + Jan Stark’s Soulsville + Urban Guerillas + Project Collective Ska + The Freds + Puss In Boots + Mick Horan + Beccy Connell + Tim Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 3pm. $10. One Hit Wonders Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8:45pm. free. Panorama Duo The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 3pm. free. Party Central R.G. McGees, Richmond. 9pm. free. Rick Fensom Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9pm. free. Ruby Keys Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

10:30pm. free. Sam Newton Hibernian House, 10pm. free. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 5:30pm. free. Say Anything Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $50. Speedball - feat: Feskit + Mixtape For The Drive + Driverside Airbag + Street War + Kiss Me + Planet Terror + Many More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10. Stephen Kiely Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 6:30pm. free. Steve Flack’s Guitar Heroes + Jill Player Cotton Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $17. Sugar Reef Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. free. The Cat Empire + Madre Monte + Tom Thum Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7:30pm. $59.90. The Matchbox Tribute Show Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 9pm. free. The Whitlams Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8:30pm. $45. Tori Darke Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 6pm. free. War Rages Within + Exekute + War Of Attrition + Edenfall Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Zoltan Adria Restaurant, Darling Harbour. 4pm. free. Zoltan Le Pub, Sydney. 9pm. free.

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

The South African Project feat: Mark Ginsburg Vjs Chatswood, Sydney. 6:30pm. $18. Yuki Kumagai + John Mackie + Tony Burkys Willoughby Art Centre, Willoughby. 10am. free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Jordan Millar The Wild Rover, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Juke Baritone & The Swamp Dogs Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free. Peach’s Sunday Jam - feat: Peach Montgomery + Guests Garry Owen Hotel, Rozelle. 3pm. free. So We Meet Again, My Heartache - feat: Lisa Schouw + Penelope Wells + Peter Bailey + Robin Gist + Cath O’Connor + Rhys Keir + Cecilia Morrow + Jacob Warner + Chantel Leseberg + Michael Wood Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $20.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Andy Mammers Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 5pm. free. David Agius Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 2pm. free. Elevation U2 Acoustic Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Handpicked Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

wed

thu

15 Oct

16 Oct (9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

17 Oct (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

18 Oct

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sun

19 Oct (9:30PM - 1:15AM)

mon

20 Oct

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

tue

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

21 Oct

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 29

g g guide gig g

gig picks

Xxx

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com 1pm. free. Jess Dunbar Family Inn Hotel, Rydalmere. 6pm. free. Krishna Jones Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. free. Lisa Schou + Robin Gist + Penelope Wells + Peter Bailey + Caroline O’Connor Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $20. Mandi Jarry Commodore Hotel, Mcmahon Point. 2pm. free. Mark Travers Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 1pm. free. Marty Stewart Waverley Bowling Club, Waverley. 3pm. free. Matt Price Buena Vista Hotel, Mosman. 2pm. free. Mitch Twins Huskisson Hotel, Huskisson. 4pm. free. Rachel Laing Pritchards Hotel, Mount Pritchard. 1pm. free. Redlight Ruby Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free. The Dead Love Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. free. The Field Duo Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 2pm. free. The Sydney Rock N Soul Review - feat: Sally King + #5 Blues Drive + Brian Ralston Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $20. The Venus Alkatraz - feat: Megasur + King Wong + Flacid Mohawk + Perception Shift Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 5pm. $10. Three Wise Men

Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Torche Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $48.10. Zoltan St George Rowing Club, Wolli Creek. 1pm. free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 20 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Songsonstage - feat: Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti Kelly’s On King, Newtown. 7:30pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Latin & Jazz Jam Open Mic Night World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free. Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Jess Dunbar Opera Bar, Sydney. 7:30pm. free. Matt Jones Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free. The Great Swillhouse Collaboration Coup - feat: The Great Frankie’s Pizza House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 6pm.

up all night out all week... free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Old School Funk & Groove Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Swingtime Tuesdays The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $9.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Greg Agar Cock & Bull, Bondi. 7pm. free. Maxine Kauter Band + Kristy Apps & The Shotgun Shirleys The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $15. Maxwell + Leela James Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $89. Nikki Lane + The Delines Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $41.50. Triumphant Tuesdays - feat: Dave Eastgate Karaoke Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 8:30pm. free.

FROM 9PM

TRIUMPHANT TUESDAYS FROM 8PM

FRANKIE’S WORLD FAMOUS HOUSE BAND KEITH MOON CUP PINNIE COMP DAVE EASTGATE’S ROCK&ROLL KARAOKE HURST 1 TH LITTLE COYOTE 8 TH STRANGE KARMA 15 22 ND TINNIE TAKEOVER + LEPPERS&CROOKS 29 TH ADAM ECKERSLEY BAND

FROM 9PM

RED WINE ROSESS

THURSDAY

10’O’CLOCK ROCK FROM 10PM

SUNDAY

SABBATH SESSIONS FROM 6PM

2 ND 9 TH 16 TH 23 RD 30 TH

ROHAN RICK DANGEROUS TWENTY TWO HUNDRED MARSHALL OKELL & THE PRIDE FRANKENSTEIN’S HALLOWEEN

5 TH 12 TH 19 TH 26 TH

WORKINGHORSE IRONS BLACK LABEL THE DEAD LOVE BONEYARD FEST

FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 Jimmy Barnes Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $89. Miley Cyrus Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 7:30pm. $79.90. The Beautiful Girls + Pierce Brothers + Bobby Alu Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $38.90.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18

Blues Tuesdays Spring Street Social, Bondi. 7:30pm. free. Blues Tuesdays - feat: Ray Beadle Spring Street Social, Bondi. 7:30pm. free.

WENESDAY

Justin Townes Earle

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

OCTOBER 2014 MONDAYS

The Tea Party

TUESDAY OCTOBER 21

Grrrls To The Front - feat: Djani Davidson + Bette Von Bombe + Kayte Choi + Grace Csoke + Jen Buxton + Kathleen And The Brat Pack + Bad Vibes... + The Dandelion + Bonney Read + Pulse Mavens + Bandintexas Red Rattler, Marrickville. 11am. $20.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15

OKA + Markendeya Paddington Uniting Church, Paddington. 8pm. $40.

Justin Townes Earle Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $60.

Say Anything Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $50

The Tea Party + The Superjesus Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $91.65.

The Royal Artillery + Chase The Sun Hermann’s Bar, Darlington. 7pm. $20.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 Josh T Pearson Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $49.

The Whitlams Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8:30pm. $45 War Rages Within + Exekute + War Of Attrition + Edenfall Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Thieves + The Mountains + Andy Golledge + Ben Horder The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $18.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19

Twenty Two Hundred Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

The Dead Love Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. free.

Twin Caverns + La Mar + Audient + Spirit Faces Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $8.20.

Torche Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $48.10.

Torche

frankiespizzabytheslice.com • facebook.com/stcfrankiespizza

30 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

xxx

50 HUNTER STREET, SYDNEY thebrag.com

BRAGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

brag beats

inside:

plus: + club guide + club snaps + weekly column

buck 65

the

aston shuffle voices of the people

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BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 31

brag beats

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

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Martin, Tyson Wray and Roger Ma

songwriters’ secrets WITH

STYALZ FUEGO

Hermitude

The First Song I Wrote I wrote so many awful 1. songs starting out, none I would want to remember but I do have a vague memory of writing a song with my friend Zip in my bedroom in Byron when I was maybe 15 – he played guitar over some stock drum loop we found in Acid Pro 1.2 and we both proceeded to write really cliché rap lyrics. The Last Song I Released 2. I worked with Peking Duk on their new single ‘Take Me Over’. I co-wrote it with them and Ben from Safia. Great dudes with forward-thinking electronic pop music. I’m pretty confident this one will do quite well.

Songwriting Secrets I’ve never had rituals or a specific process when it comes to writing. I didn’t grow up playing instruments or learning music theory but I did realise early on that I wanted to know the basics and have a decent knowledge of how to play

piano, and I’m so happy I took the time to do that because it helps me work quickly in the studio with session musicians and other songwriters. One thing that I’ve picked up over time is the importance of first instinct and vibe when writing. Getting lost in technical elements of a song is the quickest way to ruin a vibe in the studio in my opinion – like if someone decides to start EQing a kick while I’m writing, I’ll switch off. The Song That Makes Me Proud 4. The most successful song I’ve written is ‘Boys Like You’ for 360, but I think I’m most proud of ‘Child’. There’s obviously things I’d change about it now but I love that we wrote a superpersonal, almost five-minute song that ended up being as successful as it was and it ticked none of the boxes sonically of what other songs did at the time on commercial radio. I put down the original idea of that

73 ’TIL INFINITY

Two of Sydney’s leading community radio tastemakers are getting exposure up close and personal at Play Bar this weekend for the 73 ’Til Infi nity night. Resident DJ Edseven will be joined by Jon McCulloch

SUBSONIC SECOND LINEUP

32 :: BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14

The Song That Changed My Life 5. I don’t really have a

NYE ON THE HARBOUR

The party-loving folk at Falcona have announced the lineup for the 2014 NYE On The Harbour event, featuring headliners Hermitude playing a live set. The Elefant Traks signees lead a bill that’s sure to get 2015 underway with a bang, joined by a secret headline DJ alongside Yolanda Be Cool, Crooked Colours, Hayden James and more. NYE On The Harbour takes over Cargo on Wednesday December 31.

Kuč Ku čka

particular song but Michael Jackson’s Dangerous is a very important album to me. I know it’s not Thriller or Off The Wall but to me being seven years old hearing it while it was current was incredible. From as early as I remember I always had an affinity with R&B music and I think it started with Dangerous cause it definitely didn’t come from my parents’ influence. What: Telstra Road To Discovery Songwriting Master Class with Styalz Fuego, Kav Temperley and Linda Bosidis Where: Streaming online at telstra.com/rtd When: Monday October 20

of The Vinyl Frontier on Eastside FM and Thomas Studdy of Midnight Swim on Bondi Beach Radio for a wax-happy party celebrating funk, breaks, soul, Afrobeat, hip hop and more. It’s all happening Friday October 17.

Move D

REDFOO

Serial Sydney party boy and LMFAO man Redfoo knows that Friday is the day for getting down, so he’s doing an exclusive show and live DJ set in his adopted home city this week. It’s all to launch Redfoo’s ‘New Thang’ – that being the name of his latest single, but perhaps it might apply to a new dance move or two as well. And while the X Factor judge and serial wiggler is signed to Universal, he claims to have done all the funding for the new single himself, so you know he believes in it. Wiggle on down to Marquee this Friday October 17 to check it out. Sidney Charles

KUČKA

Poptronica act Kučka is set for big things, having been singled out as one of the standout artists at this year’s Bigsound festival, and now the enigmatic Aussie is stepping out on a debut national headline tour. ‘Unconditional’ is the single that’s put her in the spotlight, and it’s far from a rip-off of Bjork or FKA Twigs – Kučka has an identity of her own to forge, and she’ll be doing just that at Easy Tiger on Friday October 17.

IAN POOLEY

Leading tech house exponent Ian Pooley is set to make a return Down Under. The German producer and DJ made the inevitable pilgrimage to Berlin from his hometown of Mainz six years ago, and has hardly looked back since, with a total of fi ve albums to his name in a 20-year career. Being one of the older school, Pooley does it the traditional way – he still has a fondness for analogue gear and vintage beats – but it’s no mean feat keeping up with him on the dancefl oor, as you’ll discover on Saturday November 1 at The Burdekin.

DUSTY AND PAUL

Genre takes a back seat to whatever gets the party kicking this Saturday October 18 at Play Bar, when the double trouble that is Paul Favretti and Dusty Allen take over the decks. Favretti calls himself a “mixologist of dance music”, while Allen plays retro beats from funk to hip hop. The Surry Hills venue is fast establishing itself as Sydney’s home of wax and funk, but that won’t mean there’s not something for everybody.

MANTRA TURNS TWO

Party crew Mantra Collective is bringing fast-rising Berlin talent Sidney Charles to Sydney for its second birthday bash. Mantra has been putting on cheeky parties in clubs, on the sea and at secret warehouse locations for the past couple of years. And to celebrate the upcoming birthday, there’ll be another top-secret warehouse party with Charles spinning alongside Whitecat, Antoine Vice, Space Junk and Aboutjack. The party is all BYO, and tickets are strictly presale only – sure to sell out. Mantra Collective’s 2nd Birthday is on Saturday November 1 at a secret warehouse location somewhere in Sydney. Tickets are available through Pulse Radio.

thebrag.com

Move D photo by Yonathan Baraki

Subsonic has grown even bigger with the reveal of its second round of acts for 2014. The second round lineup includes a slew of heavyweight electronic names, including Move D, Robag Wruhme and Kevin Griffiths. The full lineup as it currently stands features James Holden, Alexkid, Addison Groove, Britta Arnold, Dirty Doering, Factory Floor, Ellen Allien, Eli Verviene, Kevin Griffiths, King Kapisi & Che Fu, Move D, Mike Huckaby, OKA, Pepperpot, Peverelist, Robag Wruhme, Sage Francis and Saritah. Subsonic 2014 goes down at Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort from Friday December 5 – Sunday December 7. Tickets are on sale now.

song (chords/chorus and rough beat) in 30 minutes or so one morning before ’60 arrived at the studio, albeit finishing the song took probably two months [laughs].

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

F E E L L I KE C RAP J U ST FOR

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.

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BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 33

Buck 65 Can’t Spare A Dollar By Augustus Welby

‘S

uper Pretty Naughty’, the lead single from Buck 65’s new LP Neverlove, is the most vanilla thing the Canadian alt-rapper has ever released. The music video finds Buck (AKA Richard Terfry) feigning cool, wearing shiny bling and obnoxious sunglasses, while hoards of women cavort around him. Meanwhile, the song’s chorus features the refrain “I wanna get messed up and get laid and cake on my birthday,” spoken over a pedestrian pop/EDM arrangement. It’s an oddly embarrassing move from an artist whose reputation rests on abstract lyricism and 20 years of continual musical evolution. But the thing is, the song is so blatantly garish that Buck 65 fans should know better than to take it at face value.

Ever since Terfry’s low-key career beginnings in Canada’s Nova Scotia precinct back in the mid-’90s, he’s never inclined towards what’s in fashion. It’s thus interesting to note that ‘Super Pretty Naughty’ wasn’t simply issued as a joke. Rather, it’s an official single, which sits bang

“There wasn’t the intent to include it on the album at all when it was first made,” Terfry says. “To be honest, I was really bracing myself for people to say how much they hate it. I put a post up on Facebook sort of apologising for the song and waiting for the backlash, but it didn’t really come.” Similar to ‘Super Pretty Naughty’, the remainder of the record was conceived as a means of fending off encroaching mental demons. However, the single’s 2D hedonism is completely at odds with Neverlove’s primary themes. “It’s a divorce record, it’s pretty gloomy,” Terfry explains. “The first song that I wrote for the record was ‘Baby Blanket’. It’s an unbelievably heavy song that even I have a hard time listening to myself right now. One day I played it to the president of my record label and he said, ‘That makes me extremely uncomfortable to listen to, but I think that’s exactly why we should include it on the record.’” Indeed, far from being a cloying campaign for superstardom, Neverlove is propelled by an explicitly personal and fiercely independent spirit. Even so, Terfry isn’t completely oblivious to the fact he’s running a commercial enterprise.

“When it comes time to offer these things up, you come to those realisations that not only will people hear this material, but I’ll also have to answer to it. I don’t really think about that at the time while I’m writing or while I’m recording. At that time it just feels like it’s something that I have to do.” As a result of this unfettered creative approach, many of Neverlove’s lyric-loaded compositions showcase Terfry’s innermost thoughts and feelings. While there are times when our narrator sounds obstinately crestfallen, Terfry says putting his heart and soul into the album provided redemption for some of the darkest moments of his life. “When I wrote ‘Baby Blanket’, it was so heavy it felt like I was holding my own head underwater. But I woke up the next day feeling great for the first time in months. I felt like I took all the negative things I was going through and I turned it into currency with which I bought back something good in my life. It felt extra good knowing that the price I had to pay to create something like that was an awful one.”

Buck 65 by Rob Campbell

“I guess it’s pretty obvious to anyone that it’s not meant to be taken seriously,” Terfry says. “It was really just a way to kill an afternoon and get my mind off some heavy things. So it was meant primarily as something to make myself and my producer laugh.”

in the centre of Neverlove’s track sequence.

Where: Neverlove out now through Warner With: Ellesquire Where: The Basement When: Thursday October 23

The Aston Shuffle Made For Music By Augustus Welby The Aston Shuffle got their first breakthrough back in 2006 with a string of self-released remixes. They soon turned towards original production and have since become Australian festival favourites, as well as branching out overseas. The Aston Shuffle’s second LP Photographs landed in March this year, containing plenty of the exceedingly listenable yet club-ready house music they’re renowned for. “When Vance and I were writing and learning to produce, it was basically about going, ‘OK, I really like what that person’s doing in that sound, I might try to see if I can replicate it,’ just to know how to do it. When we built up enough skill sets and started writing music together, we were trying to draw from all these influences that really resonate with us, but bring them out in our own way. “A lot of people, when they hear an Aston Shuffle song, they kind of know it’s us. Whether it’s something downtempo or banging, it’s about really bringing your own unique vibe to your songs.” Developing a sound of their own has allowed The Aston Shuffle’s two constituents to call music their profession for the better part of a decade now. Freeman encourages all young musicians to adopt a similar attitude.

lectronic music certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s becoming an increasingly saturated field of creative exploration. The wide distribution of digital recording tools in recent years has made dabbling with electronic production a more approachable option than ever before. Due to the new technology’s immense usability, technical knowhow is no longer imperative. And just like smartphones have basically severed the facility of memory, state-of-the-art home studio software has given rise to stacks of gratuitous electronic music. “I remember when I was a kid coming up,” says one half of The

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Aston Shuffle, Mikah Freeman, “if I wanted to learn how to get that great compression sound on a snare, or how to comp vocals, I’d literally spend hours and hours of my time working it out. Whereas now you can do a Google search and come up with infinite answers on how to achieve those things you’re after. So the possibilities are endless, but the signal-to-noise ratio is probably out of control.” Freeman and his Aston Shuffle co-pilot Vance Musgrove have just signed on as Budweiser Made For Music mentors. In a nutshell, Made For Music is a brand new website devoted to fostering burgeoning talent in local electronic music.

The site will give away prizes to artists of especial note, but more importantly, a group of experts will offer constructive guidance to all registered musicians. “It’s always good to have someone there to bounce musical ideas [off] and help you with your learning curves,” Freeman says. “Myself, Uberjak’d and also the Universal Music people will be listening to every sort of clip that gets uploaded. If I was an up-andcoming bedroom producer I would certainly put myself out there and get some really good experienced ears listening to my music and hopefully get some advice that would further my music creation.”

“The tricky part is making sure you sound different or you’re adding new ideas to these same values,” he says. “I urge a lot of people when they’re starting out to just learn how to produce songs and sounds that they really love and then move onto other things. By the time you have something to say, you can kind of draw upon all those influences and have all these different skill sets to help you write what you actually want to write.” Of course, placing too much stress on devising an unprecedented combination of sound and thought is likely to preclude some of your most exciting ideas. Retaining a spirit of adventure is also particularly valuable for cultivating a distinct artistic voice.

“When you’re young and you’re just starting out, there’s this reckless abandon that you have in all facets [of what you do],” Freeman says. “You’re just vibing on writing music and you don’t really care about what’s going on in the outside world. “It’s about latching onto things that you really like within certain sounds and genres and bringing them out in your own way. Sincerity is key in all things that you do. People aren’t stupid, they can tell if you’re blatantly ripping off the latest hot record in town.” The Aston Shuffle mightn’t have churned out what you’d describe as the ‘hottest record in town’, but in the last handful of years they’ve established a solid fan base while building a repertoire they can truly be proud of. And with creating something unique as their primary goal, there’s plenty more to discover. “It feels like we’re still going after it,” Freeman says. “We’re still hungrier than ever. What we were writing seven or eight years ago was certainly different to now, but there’s still that love and passion in what we do. We’re certainly not going to rest on our laurels. “The music is almost like the base part of having a music career. It’s all about content; constantly being in people’s faces with social media and stuff like that. “The game has changed a lot in the last ten years and it’s very much an adapt-or-die type of situation. [But] it beats a real job, that’s for sure.” What: Photographs out now through EMI Where: Baker St, Gosford / Argyle House, Newcastle / Stereosonic 2014, Sydney Showgrounds When: Friday October 24 / Saturday November 1 / Saturday November 29 More: Register with Budweiser Made For Music at budweisermadeformusic.com.au

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Off The Record

up all night out all week . . .

Dance And Electronica With Tyson Wray

Soul Clap

During EMC week this December there will be a special after-hours event at The Spice Cellar with Dirtybird head honcho Claude VonStroke. There’s little that the San Fran producer and DJ hasn’t accomplished in his career, having played pretty much every major club and festival in the world, released two artists albums, a Fabric mix and a whole lot more. Thursday December 5, get down. Speaking of Spice, they’ve just launched a new weekly Friday named Soul Control. Hosted by local legends Ben Fester (of Heavenly and Astral People) and Preacha (of Low Motion), the first month will see back-to-back performances from both Fester and Preacha, while Simon Caldwell and Andy Webb will also be dropping by.

Ramp Recordings) and will also see performances from Simon Caldwell, Magda Bytnerowicz, U-Khan and more. Tour rumours: word on the grapevine is that Ben Frost (fun fact: before moving to Iceland he grew up in Hamilton, Victoria – wool capital of the world) will be returning to Sydney in summer. The legendary Prosumer has locked in a Melbourne date this Halloween so expect a Sydney show announced at any moment, and you can expect a return from the always on-point Dixon early next year, too. Best releases this week: Raresh has once again brought some serious heat on his Fabric 78 mix, while other highlights include Hieroglyphic Being & The Confi gurative Or Modular Me Trio’s The Seer of Cosmic Visions (Planet Mu), Royer’s Skokie Intruder (Material Image), Riohv’s Moondance (1080p) and Lakker’s Mountain Divide (R&S Records).

Another new regular party: every Saturday from Saturday October 25, the Burdekin Hotel will be hosting Something Else. Fronted by Alex Dimitroff and DJ Dave Stuart, expect to see appearances from some of the most forward-thinking house and techno names in the game. The launch party will be headlined by the Scottish-born and Berlin-based Danny Berman, AKA Red Rack’em (Bergerac/

allday + remi + baro 10:10:14

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ugar Mountain has dropped the lineup for its Melbourne event next year, which indicates that a lot of electronic talent will be heading up to Sydney on the Australia Day weekend or thereabouts. Hot picks include Soul Clap, Anthony Naples, Horse Meat Disco and The 2 Bears. Stay tuned for Sydney dates to be announced.

:: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

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Raresh

RECOMMENDED FRIDAY OCTOBER 17

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28

THURSDAY OCTOBER 23

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29

Peter Van Hoesen The Imperial Hotel

DJ Godfather Goodgod Small Club

FRIDAY OCTOBER 24

Ten Walls The Hi-Fi

Return To Rio: Ten Walls, Lake People, Laura Jones, Gavin Herlihy Astral People beyondblue Del Rio Resort Fundraiser Goodgod Small Club SATURDAY

SATURDAY OCTOBER 25

NOVEMBER 22

Dave Clarke Chinese Laundry

Lost Disco: Seth Troxler, Âme, Pachanga Boys, Optimo Greenwood Hotel

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23

Sidney Charles Mantra Collective Sasha Chinese Laundry

Stimming The Spice Cellar

Powell The Imperial Hotel

OutsideIn: Pantha Du Prince, Seekae, Client Liaison Manning House, Sydney University

THURSDAY DECEMBER 5 Claude VonStroke The Spice Cellar

THURSDAY JANUARY 1

Spice Afloat: Space Dimension Controller, Trus’Me, Oliver Koletzki, Niko Schwind Sydney Harbour

SATURDAY JANUARY 10 Tycho The Hi-Fi

Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos? Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. thebrag.com

BRAG :: 584 :: 15:10:14 :: 35

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

club pick of the week Common

Mos Def

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 Victoria V i Park

Soulfest

D’Angelo + Common + Aloe Blacc + Mos Def + Maxwell + Anthony Hamilton + Angie Stone + More

12pm. $139. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. free. The Wall - feat: Various Local And International Acts World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5. Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 HIP HOP & R&B

Joyride Lo-Fi, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free.

Hustler Fridays - feat: MC Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm. free. Jamie Lindsay Cyren Restaurant , Darling Harbour. 6pm. Joelistics Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $23. Nhostic - feat: Electric Elements + Myth N Double + Sleepwalkers + BC + 316 + DJ Riley JM Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. T-Pain Collector Hotel, Parramatta. 9pm. $30.

CLUB NIGHTS

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 HIP HOP & R&B

Crate Digger Thursdays feat: David Jacyna + Fifi La Frug Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6:30pm. free. Fear Of Dawn Goldfish, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Full Up! - feat: Mikey Glamour + Nick Toth + Jimmy Sing + Prince Andrew Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free. Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Hot Damn Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10. Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free. The World Bar Thursdays 36 :: BRAG :: 584 : 15:10:14

73 ‘Til Infinity - feat: Jon Mcculloch + Thomas Studdy + Edseven Play Bar, Surry Hills. 4pm. free. Bassic - feat: Loudpvck + Hydraulix + Chenzo + Autoclaws + Front 2 Back + Blackmale + Flying Fortress + Blackjack Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. free. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. DJ.S Huskisson Hotel, Huskisson. 8pm. free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. free. Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 10pm. free. Dusty Allen + Paul Favretti Play Bar, Surry Hills. 4pm. free. El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 10pm. free. El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $109. Frat Saturdays - feat: DJ Jonski Side Bar, Sydney. 6pm. free. Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Jerome Isma-ae Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60. Lndry - feat: LDRU + Sable + Nat Noiz + Pantheon + Magic Bird + Fingers + Mike Hyper + DJ Just 1 Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.60. Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25. Pacha Sydney - feat: New_ ID + Minx + Glover + Ben Morris + Mo’Funk + Fingers + U-Khan + Chris Arnott + DJ Just 1 + Jonathan Terrific - Sloclo + Devola + Danny Lang + Chris Fraser + Heke + Heres Trouble + Mike Hyper + Pat Ward Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $35. Sienna Saturdays - feat:

Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney. 9pm. free. Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Start:Cruise 018 - feat: Adam Shelton + Little Fritter + Adam Protor + Ross Ashman + Rickstar + Tommy Rutherford + Al Hearnshaw + Dyson The Pontoon, Darling Harbour. 4pm. $55. Start:Cue 018 - feat: Adam Shelton + Little Fritter + Ross Ashman + Tommy Rutherford + Al Hearnshaw + Adam Proctor + Dyson + Rickstar + Ben Ashton Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $11. Subsonic Launch - feat: Phil Smart + Robbie Lowe + Dean Relf + Declan Esau & James Greville The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. free.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19 CLUB NIGHTS

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney. 8pm. free. S.A.S.H Sundays

Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10. Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfish, Kings Cross. 4pm. free. Sunday Spice - feat: Kato + Charlie Chux + U-Khan + Steven Sullivan The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 9pm. $10. Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 20 HIP HOP & R&B

Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $76.10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 21 CLUB NIGHTS

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com 5pm. free. Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free. Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free. OAF 7th Birthday - feat: Kilter + Oscar Key Sung + Hatch + Kanyon. + Meare + Phondupe Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7pm. free. Peter Van Hoesen + Methodix + Gav Whalan Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 10pm. $27.50. Redfoo Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $23.50. Soul Control - feat: Simon Caldwell + Ben Fester + Preacha The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15. Thank Funk It’s Friday The Ranch, Eastwood. 9:30pm. free.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 HIP HOP & R&B

Soulfest - feat: D’Angelo + Common + Aloe Blacc + Mos Def + Maxwell + Anthony Hamilton + Angie Stone + Ngaiire + Musiq Soulchild + Leela James + Nathaniel + Ms Murphy + Miracle + DJ Trey Victoria Park, Camperdown. 12pm. $119.

CLUB NIGHTS

Bounce Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free. Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests

Peter Van Hoesen

OAF 7th Birthday - feat: Kilter + Oscar Key Sung + Hatch + Kanyon. + Meare + Phondupe Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7pm. free. Peter Van Hoesen + Methodix + Gav Whalan Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 10pm. $27.50. Redfoo Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $23.50. Soul Control - feat: Simon Caldwell + Ben Fester + Preacha The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 Dusty Allen + Paul Favretti Play Bar, Surry Hills. 4pm. free. Jerome Isma-ae Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 Full Up! - feat: Mikey Glamour + Nick Toth + Jimmy Sing + Prince Andrew Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 17 Nhostic - feat: Electric Elements + Myth N Double + Sleepwalkers + BC + 316 + DJ Riley JM Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10. Bassic - feat: Loudpvck + Hydraulix + Chenzo + Autoclaws + Front 2 Back + Blackmale + Flying Fortress + Blackjack Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. free. Joelistics Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $23.

Pacha Sydney - feat: New_ID + Minx + Glover + Ben Morris + Mo’Funk + Fingers + U-Khan + Chris Arnott + DJ Just 1 + Jonathan Terrific - Sloclo + Devola + Danny Lang + Chris Fraser + Heke + Heres Trouble + Mike Hyper + Pat Ward Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $35. S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10. Start:Cue 018 - feat: Adam Shelton + Little Fritter + Ross Ashman + Tommy Rutherford + Al Hearnshaw + Adam Proctor + Dyson + Rickstar + Ben Ashton Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $11.

MONDAY OCTOBER 20 Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7pm. $76.10.

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live review

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

HOT DUB TIME MACHINE Enmore Theatre Friday October 10 Even though Hot Dub Time Machine DJ Tom Loud is a glorified iPod, you’re not turning up to his gigs because he’s a musical prodigy. You’re turning up because you want to dance and scream yourself hoarse for two hours straight in a room full of people doing the same thing. For those who don’t know, Hot Dub Time Machine is a self-described ‘Time Travelling Dance Party’ – starting back in the 1950s, he takes us year by year through the decades playing snippets of some of the most popular songs of the time. It’s extreme karaoke, in a giant room with 1,500 other drunk people. We went through the likes of Chubby Checker’s ‘The Twist’, The Isley Brothers’ ‘Shout’ and Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ before moving into the 1970s, which saw everything from Led Zep and Fleetwood Mac to ABBA and The Bee Gees, with a dedicated ‘Michael Jackson Megamix’ at the end of the decade.

heavy rain… cue The Weather Girls’ ‘It’s Raining Men’. The ’80s gave us A-ha, Eurythmics, Whitney Houston, et cetera. The ’90s really set the place alight, and was the longest of the decades in terms of songs played. Think Snoop Dogg, The Spice Girls, and a “MOSH” segment featuring Rage Against The Machine and Nirvana. The 2000s had huge R&B/pop jams like House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’, Britney’s ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’, and R. Kelly’s ‘Ignition (Remix)’, moving all the way into the 2010s, where we got Calvin Harris and Avicii (sigh). Loud appears to collate his setlists for each night according to the city he’s playing in, which shows a dedication on his end to making each gig different and relevant. With a simple but genius concept, Hot Dub Time Machine essentially plays music from the local RSL and turns it into one of the rowdiest evenings you’ll have in a long time. Raf Seneviratne

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PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

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Hot Dub Time Machine’s appeal is enhanced by the party accessories – Loud accompanies the songs with fun video footage, he shoots confetti guns and has giant illuminated neon beach balls. At one point during the 1980s, warning alarms sounded and the big screen indicated that the Hot Dub Time Machine had had an “’80s Overload”. Nena’s ‘99 Luftballons’ started, Loud pulled a cord, and a tonne of red balloons were released from a net hanging from the ceiling. A hilarious little touch was added later on when the music stopped and a Channel Ten ‘live’ weather report came on the big screen, with Tim Bailey holding an umbrella out in a wild storm talking about the

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09:10:14 :: Studios 301 :: 18 Mitchell Rd Alexandria 9698 5888

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s.a.s.h sundays

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