Brag#691

ISSUE NO. 691 NOVEMBER 30, 2016

FREE Now picked up at over 1,600 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

1967: MUSIC IN T HE K E Y OF Y E S The Sydney Festival concert celebrating 50 years since a famous referendum.

THERE'S NO HOLDING BACK L AUR A M V UL A

The British soul star finds her loudest voice yet.

MO SE S SUMNE Y

How he'll bring you to tears when you see him live.

ANTI-FLAG

Ten years of a political statement that remains as relevant as ever.

Plus

T OR T OISE M AT T A NDER SEN CIRQ UE ÉL OI ZE T HE DE A D DA ISIE S A ND MUCH MOR E

T HE BANANA A RMY VS NEW ZEALAND

24 million Aussies take on New Zealand in the Victoria Bitter ODI Series.

Dress-up for a chance to win a round the world trip for two or an at match seat upgrade.

4 DEC SCG | 6 DEC MANUKA OVAL | 9 DEC MCG ADULTS FROM $30 ı KIDS FROM $10 ı FAMILIES FROM $65 *Terms and n Conditions apply. See crircket et.com m.au/co c mpet etitionss

Patti Smith and her band perform

PLUS: ANDREW BIRD

Horses Sun April 9 * FEW TICKETS Mon April 10 * SELLING FAST Tue April 11 * JUST ANNOUNCED State Theatre

JAKE SHIMABUKURO JOAN OSBORNE THE LUMINEERS MAX JURY THE RECORD COMPANY ROY AYERS THE STRUMBELLAS TREVOR HALL TURIN BRAKES

METRO TH E ATR E S UN DAY A PR I L 16

SNARKY

BLUESFEST TOURING IN ASSOCIATION WITH PRESENT

MILES DAVIS PROPERTIES LLC

PUPPY “Jazz at its most joyful and optimistic, designed to unburden and enliven.”

“Stax Revue lifted off the night and did not disappoint.”

THEMUSIC.COM.AU

THE MON METRO APR

10

ALLMUSICTELEVISION.NET

ENMORE THEATRE MONDAY APRIL 10

ENMORE THU THEATRE APR

13

THE THU METRO APR

20

“He’s a truly outrageous performer … it makes you breathless just to watch him.”

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

METRO THU THEATRE APR “This was one of those nights when live music becomes really live, when the bond between performer and audience pushes everyone further than expected.”

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

STATE THEATRE 13 FRIDAY APRIL 7

THE SUN BASEMENT APR

9&

MON APR

10

THE WED METRO APR

ENMORE WED THEATRE APR

12

“Giddens explores the frontiers of Americana.”

THE GUARDIAN

19

FACTORY SAT THEATRE APR

8

“Brilliantly fierce and fiercely brilliant.”

THE EVENING STANDARD

oxford art factory tuesday 18 april

METRO WED THEATRE APR

12

NEWTOWN MON SOCIAL CLUB APR

17

tickets & info from 02 6685 8310 or go to www.bluesfesttouring.com.au thebrag.com

BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: .

the BRAG presents

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Joseph Earp, James Di Fabrizio and Chris Martin

TURIN BRAKES Newtown Social Club Monday April 10

five things WITH

TREVOR HALL

right through to bands like Ghost, Gojira and Meshuggah.

Your Band Chaos Divine has been 3. kicking around since early 2006

fond memories of raiding his collection of early Metallica, Sepultura and Deftones records and jamming along to them on his guitar. When he turned to electronic music I kept going with metal, rock and prog and discovered a whole new world

of music, guitar gods and expensive gear.

Inspirations Steve Vai was my biggest inspiration as a young player, and I remember the day I met him and he signed my seven-string Ibanez Universe! These days, I’m digging everything from Porcupine Tree, Biffy Clyro and The Dear Hunter,

2.

in our high school garage band days when we all got together to record our first demo Ratio after playing some small shows. We’ve gone on to release three studio albums and tour Europe, and we’re now writing our fourth record. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have had production masters like Jens Bogren and Forrester Savell work on our last two albums.

The Music You Make The five of us have fairly similar tastes, but we each bring in a really mixed bag of ideas and concepts when we write music, so it ends up being fairly layered and complex – technicality, a good dose of heaviness and a lot of melody and hooks. We are suckers for tasty production, so our albums and live

4.

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: James Di Fabrizio SUB-EDITOR: Joseph Earp STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: David Burley, Harriet Flitcroft, Ariana Norton, Anna Wilson ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHER: Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Tony Pecotic - (02) 9212 4322 tony@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 COORDINATOR: Sarah Bryant - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Anna Wilson, Ariana Norton, Harriet Flitcroft, David Burley REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Arca Bayburt, Prudence Clark, Chelsea Deeley, Christie Eliezer, Matthew Galea, Emily Gibb, Jennifer Hoddinett, Tegan Jones, Sarah Little, Emily Meller, David Molloy, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, George Nott, Daniel Prior, Tegan Reeves, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Leonardo Silvestrini, Jade Smith, Aaron Streatfeild, Rod Whitfield, Anna Wilson, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

Tinie Tempah

like us:

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4 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

Newtown Social Club Monday April 17

THE STRUMBELLAS Oxford Art Factory Monday April 17

ST PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES Metro Theatre Wednesday April 19

Mary J Blige

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF MUM

Drunk Mums and The Pinheads are getting together to rip across Australia in a co-headline jaunt. It comes in the wake of a new video from The Pinheads, with ‘Wildfire’ getting the full visual treatment. The clip shows each member lured into an ominous coffin by their personal vices, only to be transported through the vortex and into the secret satanic lair of frontman Jez Player. “The song is a bit of a tongue-incheek stab at love as a product,” Player says.

“Everybody thinks it’s the be-all and end-all and they lose sight of their passions and what’s going on around them for the cheap thrill of love [and the] gratification of being loved.”

Meanwhile, Drunk Mums will be doling out some top-notch Australian punk and garage ahead of their forthcoming record, Leather. The two bands hit the Chippo Hotel on Saturday January 14.

TINY TRIUMPHS

Award-winning rapper, singer, songwriter and producer Tinie Tempah is returning to our fair shores for his first headline shows since 2014. He first shot to prominence in 2010 with his debut album, Disc-Overy, and followed it up with Demonstration. His most recent efforts have seen him unleash ‘Not Letting Go’ and his latest track ‘Girls Like’ to commercial success in the lead-up to his hotly anticipated third album, Youth, due to drop Friday January 27. He’ll hit the Metro Theatre on Wednesday March 8.

Killswitch Engage

PREPARE FOR DRAMA

One of the world’s foremost voices in soul and R&B, Mary J. Blige, will head to Sydney for a headline show while in the country for Bluesfest. Blige has amassed eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards, 32 Grammy nominations, a 2012 Golden Globe nomination and five American Music Awards throughout her illustrious career, as well as releasing a string of hit singles including ‘Be Without You’ and ‘No More Drama’. She’ll play the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Monday April 10.

DEAR SIRS

Zac Brown’s new band Sir Rosevelt will make an Australian premiere at Bluesfest for one show only. Sir Rosevelt is an interesting build on Southern music styles, pulling inspiration from pop and EDM sensibilities and a departure from the country stylings of the Zac Brown Band. The group joins an already massive lineup for Byron Bay’s 28th annual Bluesfest at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm next Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17.

DEADLINES: Editorial: Friday 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

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NIKKI HILL

Hardcore outfit Death By Stereo will leave their Orange County nest to revisit their Australian fan base. Off the back of a new EP, Just Like You’d Leave Us, We’ve Left You For Dead, the heavy-hitting veterans are bringing their explosive live performances Down Under once more. Having played on the Vans Warped Tour and churned out a bunch of highly acclaimed records over the last 20 years, this will be Death By Stereo’s first stop in Australia since 2014. They are set to hit Hermann’s Bar on Saturday April 29.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Kris Furst: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121

@TheBrag

Metro Theatre Sunday April 16

With: Genetics, Three Wise Monkeys, Dyssidia Where: Factory Floor When: Friday December 2

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204

CORINNE BAILEY RAE

in Australia has heaps going on right now – which presents both opportunities and challenges. There are so many big tour shows that audiences are getting the chance to experience, but with that carries risk that smaller local bands are losing their share of audiences who pass up going to smaller local shows.

The industry must still provide opportunities for young bands to thrive and continue to support the local scene which has helped so many of our great Aussie bands.

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227

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Enmore Theatre Thursday April 13

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

The heavy and prog music scene

Trevor Hall photo by Marina Chavez

SOMETHING ON THE STEREO

MILES ELECTRIC BAND

shows carry a fair bit of impact, and we’re always striving to make things as big and epic as possible.

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL

Metal legends Killswitch Engage will thrash through their landmark album in its entirety to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Australian fans will get to hear the metalcore-defining Alive Or Just Breathing in the flesh, not to mention Killswitch Engage’s other heartpumping, energetic songs. They’ll be supported by death metal titans Fallujah across all their huge tour dates, making this tour unmissable. Be there at the Enmore Theatre on Friday March 3.

The Strumbellas photo by Josh Goldman

Growing Up My brother got me into 1. playing guitar, and I have

Newtown Social Club Wednesday April 12

RYAN FELTON FROM CHAOS DIVINE

St Paul and The Broken Bones photo by David McClister

music news

The folks behind Party In The Park sure do know how to draw the names, hey? The 2017 iteration of the event is set to feature the likes of Dope Lemon, Boy & Bear, The Preatures and The Delta Riggs, among many others, with each band ready to wow audiences. Better still, the party doesn’t just boast music: your ticket will also guarantee you access to a beer barn, a food farm and live art. How’s that for a day out? It all goes down at Pittwater Park on Saturday March 18. See the full lineup at thebrag.com. thebrag.com

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BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 5

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Harriet Flitcroft, David Burley and Joseph Earp

songwriters’ secrets WITH

2.

The First Song I Wrote 1.

I wrote my first song when I was 12 and it’s called ‘You Can Cry’. I can still play it and remember it word for word. This is the first time anyone’s

asked about it, and honestly the question is hard because the song is about how much it hurt when my mum and dad were fighting. I know that sounds really sad, but it’s true and probably explains

LAST OF THE GIANTS

The Song That Changed My Life 5.

The song that changed

“Live like a suicide” went the motto from Guns N’ Roses when they lived together in their infamous Los Angeles home, the Hell House.

This is where Kerrang! writer Mick Wall first met them, joined their inner circle and subsequently was publicly denounced

by Axl Rose in ‘Get In The Ring’. 25 years later, Wall is now releasing a celebration of the dangerous and different, the anti-MTV and the tumultuous Guns N’ Roses. Last Of The Giants: The True Story Of Guns N’ Roses is out now, published by Hachette.

With: James Kenyon Where: Gasoline Pony When: Wednesday December 7

Will you be slashing down the doors to the nearest bookstore to get a copy? Fear not, we have three copies to give away. Enter at thebrag.com/freeshit.

EMMA ANGLESEY a lot about the darkness that comes out in my songwriting.

The Last Song I Released My new song ‘Mary-Anne’ is definitely my best work.

‘Mary-Anne’ is about turning the feeling of struggle into revelling and rising to the fight. My very talented friend Joshua Barber produced the song (Josh plays with Gotye and Archie Roach and produces for Gretta Ray) and Jonathan Dreyfus, who is an award-winning composer, arranged strings. My friend Tim Kling (Sarah Blasko, Chase City) and I made a film clip which features a road trip to Lake Pedder and embraces the

wildness of the Tasmanian landscape.

Songwriting Secrets 3.

My songwriting process

lands somewhere between the Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen styles (RIP Leonard) – honesty and inspiration combined with intentional technique.

My songs normally start with pure emotion, rhythm, guitar riffs and vocal melodies all at the same time and then the right words materialise and find their way into the song.

The Song That Makes Me Proud 4.

I’m so excited about my new song ‘Mary-Anne’.

When I first played it to Josh we both knew it

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

had something special because of the way the rhythm, melodies and story were all working together.

my life was Radiohead’s ‘Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box’. I reckon it’s like what Jesus or Muhammad would say to all their followers if they were here today. In fact, Radiohead in general have changed my life. They are the best soundtrack for a revolution.

Los Tones

Toby Martin

TIME OUT WITH TOBY ROCK ON RAMSAY STREET

Ramsay Street’s favourite daughter, Anne Wilkinson AKA Brooke Satchwell, will be the subject of a special celebration at a secret location in Sydney this Saturday December 3.

OK, it all sounds a bit cult-like, but the intentions are pure – this is Satchfest, a mini-festival dedicated to, quote, “celebrating the life of Neighbours star Brooke Satchwell”. After she departed her role as Anne in 2000, Satchwell went on to work in charity and environmental awareness, and continued her glittering acting career via Packed To The Rafters and the film Subdivision. Satchfest features a lineup of Brooke-loving bands like Mesa Cosa, Los Tones, Rackett, Bilby and Simo Soo. Booze is BYO, and there’ll also be karaoke and a Brooke Satchwell art gallery (whatever that means). Find out more via the Facebook event, Satchfest.

SANDRIDGE OVER SUMMER

The Wollongong busker turned adored triple j Unearthed product Bec Sandridge will be touring the country in support of her new EP release, exemplifying her incredible songwriting and artistic range. In The Fog is a collection of five songs that, according to Sandridge, has been two years in the works. Lead single ‘In The Fog, In The Flame’ opens things with a bang, followed by the disco pulsations of ‘You’re A Fucking Joke’. The woozy ‘High Tide’ is backed up by a cover of Roy Orbinson’s ‘I Drove All Night’ and closing track ‘I Keep Running Back’. Learn the words and see Sandridge at Newtown Social Club on Thursday March 23.

IN THE TOWER OF SONG

Newtown live music venue Leadbelly is hosting a tribute to the dearly departed Leonard Cohen this Friday December 2. A bunch of all-star Aussie musicians will share their favourite selections from Cohen’s tower of song, and with so much material to choose from, it’s no surprise the list of acts is exhaustive. The lineup includes Leroy Lee, Melanie Horsnell, Maples, Caitlin Harnett, Andy Golledge, Maxine Kauter, Sam Newton, Stephanie Cherote, Luke Escombe, James Morrison, Louise Nutting and James Edgar Francis, with more to be announced.

CHRISTMAS WISHES

Darren Hanlon will be topping off a busy 2016 with his 11th annual Christmas tour, which will 6 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

Australian singer-songwriter Toby Martin has a lot in the pipeline. His much-anticipated release Songs From Northam Avenue is due out in early 2017, he’s got a tour lined up, and he’s just dropped a fascinating new single called ‘Spring Feeling’. Martin is a fine performer, known for his intimate yet powerful shows, so only a fool would pass up the opportunity to catch a taste of such a sonic force. Get on it – he plays Carriageworks on Saturday April 29.

King Social

feature an intimate solo set drawing on songs from his entire back catalogue and a surprise guest or two each night. A recent addition to the shows has been The Christmas Address, in which guests are invited to explain what Christmas means to them. Such ramblings on the festive season have come from Bob Hawke, Lawrence Leung, Tom Ballard and Bob Ellis. The last 12 months have seen Hanlon tour remote areas of the outback and indigenous communities of the Northern Territory, before heading to the glacial beauty of Alaska in October. Joining him for the majority of the dates will be Nadia Reid, a singer-songwriter from New Zealand with whom Hanlon also toured earlier this year. Join Hanlon, Reid and friends at St. Stephen’s Uniting Church on Saturday December 17.

FAREWELL MATT AND ALEX

Matt Okine and Alex Dyson are leaving triple j, but not before heading around the country for five ‘raves’ in five days. The Sydney incarnation of the breakfast hosts’ farewell tour will feature DJ sets by Gang Of Youths, Lisa Mitchell, Montaigne, One Day DJs, The Preatures and various triple j presenters. “As Darude’s messengers here on Earth, we felt it was our duty to spread the word of the rave across the country,” say the departing pair.

“With a heavy heart, and heavy investments in the glow stick industry, we look forward to raving with you one last time.” It’s all happening this Thursday December 1 at the Beach Road Hotel.

KINGS OF MANY

Queensland outfit King Social have been busy working on a new album, but they’re taking time off to come down the coast for some shows. The country rock, hip hop and reggae blenders are set to return to New South Wales in December. They’re planning on playing some favourites from their first two EPs as well as sneak previews from their upcoming album, which is set to be the best-supported crowd-funded debut in Australian history with over $27,000 raised. The album is expected to be released around the middle of 2017. Catch King Social playing an afternoon gig at the Miranda Hotel on Sunday December 11.

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BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 7

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR • Which exec was escorted out of the post-ARIAs Warner party for over-indulging and turning on a staffer who suggested the revelry should cease?

• Which small-time film operation contacted a top songwriter to ask if she would pitch a song for their upcoming movie?

• Is Amazon about to launch a live ticketing service?

• How many Australian promoters are in the bidding for a Paul McCartney tour?

You can bet the former Beatle is in high demand.

Lifelines Injured: Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds broke his leg in a motorbike accident.

Born: a boy to Peter Andre and wife Emily MacDonagh.

Recovered: Kanye West should be released from hospital after a week, following a nervous breakdown that was apparently due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

Arrested: Alabama-based physician Dr. Richard Snellgrove for allegedly supplying ex-3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts with the drugs that led to his fatal overdose in a Wisconsin hotel in August.

In Court: US rapper The Game must pay US$7 million after a contestant on reality show She Got Game claimed he sexually assaulted her while shooting scenes.

In Court: Florida’s A Day To Remember won a five-year battle against Chicago indie Victory Records, which claimed it was still owed two more albums from a five-album deal and withheld royalties as the band tried to move onto a major. An Illinois court ruled the label must pay the band US$4 million.

In Court: Martin Phillipps of New Zealand band The Chills for being recorded at twice over the drinking limit. He said he’d heard some bad news about his mother, and polished off two whiskies before heading to McDonald’s for food when he was nabbed.

Died: Mick Fettes, 65, singer of ’70s Aussie band Madder Lake.

As early signings to Mushroom Records, they had hits with ‘Goodbye Lollipop’ and ‘12lb Toothbrush’ and their albums Stillpoint and Butterfly Farm.

Fettes retired from performing in 2011 due to heart-related health reasons.

Died: folk rock guitarist and songwriter Hugh McDonald, best known for his time with Redgum (‘I Was Only 19’), 62, after a battle with cancer. After the band split up in 1990, he released solo albums including The Lawson Album, worked with the Geelong Music College Orchestra and ran his own studio in Melbourne. His deep interest in the military and treatment of ex-soldiers by the government saw him play to soldiers overseas and earn the nickname of ‘Bullet’.

Died: Manchester band Inspiral Carpets’ drummer and “beating heart” Craig Gill, 44. He joined the band at 14.

Died: Geoff Gray, singer with the late ’60s Sydney pop/psychedelic outfit Flake (‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ and ‘Teach Me How To Fly’).

He was also a booker at Nova Agency.

8 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

• Is Beyoncé urging Jay Z to mend his relationship with Kanye West following the latter’s nervous breakdown?

• Tame Impala will take most of 2017 off after their Laneway dates.

• No, Kate Bush didn’t die last week, as per internet reports.

• In case you missed it, when Kiwi duo Flight Of The Conchords inducted Crowded House into the ARIA Hall of Fame, they claimed to have a letter from the New Zealand Prime Minister that read: “Hello. Stop it, Aussies! Neil Finn is from New Zealand. Yours, PM NZ, AKA John.”

• The long-awaited book on the legendary early ’70s Sunbury festivals has secured a

AUSSIES ARE CUTTING DOWN ON MUSIC PIRACY

An Australian Government report has found that music piracy has dropped noticeably in 2016. The report was commissioned by the Department of Communications and the Arts in order to determine the digital consumption of music, movies, TV shows and video games, and to see if attitudes towards consuming such mediums online have changed. A sample of 2,400 people aged 12 and over, conducted across a three-month period, saw that those who downloaded content illegally dropped from 43% to 39% in the last year. Music is the most frequently legally downloaded medium when compared to movies, TV and games, and also saw the largest drop in piracy, from last year’s 29% to 26%, with 279 million tracks consumed during the three-month sample period. Also curbing piracy is the rapid adoption of streaming.

According to the report, 71% of Australians now stream music and games on a weekly basis.

Nonetheless, the report emphasised that despite its decline, piracy is still an issue in Australia. “We estimate that, over the first three months of 2016, 23% of Australian internet users aged 12 and over consumed at least one item of online content unlawfully, which equates to approximately 4.6 million people,” the report said. “This was a significant drop from the 26% who had consumed unlawful content in 2015.”

publisher and will be out next year.

• The Drones’ Gareth Liddiard won the music component of the eight $160,000 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowships.

• US sales streams of Leonard Cohen music have jumped 407% since his death.

In the meantime, guitarist Oscar Dawson of Holy Holy tells us they were on tour when the news came through, and they decided to cover a song by the master in tribute. The problem, Dawson lamented, was that Cohen wrote so many verses: “They are wonderful to immerse oneself in, but a nightmare to learn.” Thankfully, coming to the rescue was good mate and Cohen expert Husky Gawenda, who

had come to the end of the road. It will be held in Byron Bay from Friday March 10 – Monday March 13. “If you are a non-refunded ticketholder from the 2016 event, then entry to the 2017 event is on us!” promoters said. It still owes thousands of dollars to suppliers.

SEBASTIAN CHASE HONOURED

Among the industry figures celebrated at last week’s ARIA Awards was Sebastian Chase, head of MGM Distribution. Through the years, MGM has helped set up acts such as The Whitlams, John Butler and The Waifs as their own businesses, which means they earn more royalties than many major label acts. In the ’70s, Chase kick-started the careers of Cold Chisel, Rose Tattoo (his original concept for them was to have bright orange hair, no eyebrows and wearing all black), Dragon, Buffalo and The Reels. He set up labels like Chase Records and Black Yak, and 20 years ago was prophesying for spellbound audiences about the day when music would enter houses like electricity and the indie sector would be on par with majors.

The ARIAs drew a metro television audience of 586,000, their biggest since 2010. The ceremony was the tenth most-watched TV show of the night, ranking at number two with the 16-39 and 18-49 age demographic and number three for 25-to-54-year-olds.

sang at shows in Sydney and Melbourne, and was on hand with bandmate Gideon Preiss to perform the six verses to ‘So Long, Marianne’ while the Holys delivered the choruses.

• A crowdfunding campaign to raise US$50,000 for Eyehategod singer Mike Williams’ medical bills as he awaits a liver transplant made $57,000 in the first week.

• The first 50 acts for the UK’s The Great Escape festival include Sydney’s Middle Kids and Tigertown, and Melbourne’s Gold Class.

• Morrissey wrote to General Motors suggesting it offers a vegan leather option for its car seats.

PISTOLS MANAGER’S SON BURNING £5M OF PUNK STUFF

Joe Corré, son of the Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and punk designer Vivienne Westwood, has kept to his promise eight months ago to burn £5 million worth of memorabilia. He was objecting to the way last Saturday’s 40th celebration of punk was turning the genre respectable.

First on the pyre was an original acetate copy of the Sex Pistols’ ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’ He had initially put it on eBay with a reserve price of £1 million but only drew £62,500.

FEEDBACK EXTENDS SOUND, VISUAL MIX

Parramatta screen and digital arts organisation I.C.E. is set to continue its experimentation across sound and vision with a project known as Feedback. The work is set to team up six video artists with Autism Spectrum Australia’s supported music studio Club Weld, in order to create music videos for its 2016 compilation album using an analogue video synthesizer, transforming the eclectic sounds into psychedelic and hypnotic visuals. Feedback will launch on Friday December 16. Head to ice.org.au for more information.

…AND SPENDING MORE ON EXPERIENCES THAN THINGS

The advent of Australians increasingly streaming over buying doesn’t seem to be confined to music fans, either. The new Roy Morgan research report, State Of The Nation, shows that most Aussies are opting to spend on ‘experiences’ such as concerts or eating out rather than buying ‘things’. In the last financial year, we splurged $137 billion on leisure and entertainment versus $105 billion on discretionary purchases.

Most of the latter was spent on clothes, with such purchases totalling 55% of all products bought over the period. In terms of leisure spending, $77 billion went on concerts, holidays, movies and dining out, with about $16.8 billion spent on gambling, and $43.5 billion on entertaining. However, this change of spending hasn’t affected retail. In the last year alone there were 90 million visits to retail outlets, which means retailers have already spotted the trend and made shopping at their stores a greater ‘experience’.

BLUESFEST WINS GOLD AT TOURISM AWARDS

Byron Bay’s Bluesfest took out its fourth gold prize at the 27th NSW Tourism Awards in Sydney for the Major Festival and Event category. It was up against Tamworth Country Music Festival (which took silver), Handa Opera and the Hunter Valley Steamfest. Bluesfest director Peter Noble, while observing that Bluesfest was recently nominated among global festivals in the US-based Pollstar awards for a fifth year in a row, said, “Winning this award in our home state for the fourth time is something that is both humbling whilst at the same time exhilarating. We are simply over the moon today as this sinks in.” In the Festivals and Events category, Parkes Elvis Festival won gold while the Deni Ute Muster took bronze. Of the nominated Business Event Venues, Luna Park came third while Star Event Centre got a special commendation.

MAITREYA HEADS TO BYRON

Victoria’s troubled Maitreya Festival has returned from the dead a mere month after festival organisers stated the event

thebrag.com

www.gasolinepony.com 115 Marrickville Road, Marrickville (02) 9569 2668

Tue—Thu 5pm — 11.30pm Fri—Sat 3pm — 11.30pm Sun 3pm — 9.30pm

Marrickville small bar & live music venue

PERFECT FOR END OF YEAR PARTIES LOCAL CRAFT BEERS ON TAP

<]Úfal]dq _an] l`ak hdY[] Y ljq& A _mYjYfl]] qgm dd [ge] ZY[c Keira, via Facebook. May 2016.

Mf\]jjYl]\$ [ge^gjlYZd]$ Yf\ jmf Zq ]p[]dd]fl h]ghd]& Mark, via Facebook. July 2016.

LARGE SUNNY COURTYARD

COMING UP IN DECEMBER! TUE 6 - OPEN MIC NIGHT WED 7 - JAMES KENYON TRIO THU 8 - OUT

OF

NOWHERE

FRI 9 - UKES

OF

HAZARD + BGM

SAT 10 - PAUL HAYWARD’S SIDEKICKS (2.30PM) SAT 10 - THE BRAVADOS! SUN 11 - JOHN KENNEDY’S 68 COMEBACK SPECIAL TUE 13 - MARRICKVILLE (SEA!) SHANTY CLUB TUE 13 - ACCAPONY COMMUNITY CHOIR WED 14 - ALEX

LIVE MUSIC 6 NIGHTS A WEEK

SEAL + ROGUE COMPANY

THU 15 - BERNIE HAYES FRI 16 - QUEEN PORTER STOMP SAT 17 - DANNY YAU INNERWEST-MAS REVIEW SUN 18 - A

COMMUNITY MUSIC EVENTS

THE

VERY

BLUNT XMAS

WED 21 - YOU & YOUR SO-CALLED FRIENDS THU 22 - LOS ROMEOS OXIDADOS FRI 23 - A VERY SALTY XMAS

full listings online: gasolinepony.com/upcoming

THU 1 - CARAVANA SUN + COLIN JONES & THE DELTA REVUE

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COVER STORY

“I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE A PROFESSIONAL – NOT THAT I LIKE TO USE THAT WORD – BUT A CAREER MUSICIAN, OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT I AM. IT’S ALL ORGANICALLY HAPPENED, WHICH IS THE SAME WITH ANYTHING I’VE DONE.”

happened, which is the same with anything I’ve done. It’s evolved, the same with writing the music and how I got into it to begin. In that way I’m not very calculated in general, and so a lot of times when I write these albums, I don’t even know what it will be called. It’s funny, because it always presents itself, it makes a statement when I put the name on at the end, and I go, ‘Oh! It’s all come together now.’ The retrospective part comes after all the work is done, so I sort of work externally, and then it becomes an internal critique afterwards.”

As retrospection goes, Peaches has found a unique way of looking back to her most recent record, 2015’s Rub. Over a year old, the dust of its release has now settled, and such distance grants her a perspective impossible to fathom in the depths of the studio or in the dervish of touring. But in June this year, Rub Remixed appeared, the entire thing reimagined through the eyes of others, which sounds both exciting and nerve-wracking. Not that Peaches herself suffered any trepidations.

“I trusted those people, and I was curious. I also had enough distance, enough confidence to know that the original songs were fine and held up, that I still liked them and was ready for them to have a new life on their own. You have to let them go.”

Contemplating the life of any piece of art once it leaves the nest is a curious thing. Where does its fidelity to the artist end? Were the artist’s intentions ever noteworthy in the first place, or once it is released, is a song – or poem, or painting – already untethered and in the hands of strangers? At least Rub Remixed allowed Peaches to see these songs keep evolving in very real, visceral ways. For most artists, any reinvention is probably only going to happen onstage. However, as a songwriter who is not tied to a particular work routine – composing instead whenever the inspiration presents itself – Peaches gets the best of both worlds.

“Well, I’m not a person…” She pauses for a while, musing over her words. “I don’t write every day. I’m no Nick Cave who just goes to the office to write. Because I’m such an arduous performer, I kind of take time to go and write. I don’t give myself a deadline, really. It’s more of a place and time than it is a position.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this evolution of Rub seems entirely fitting with the nature of Peaches’ music. Shock, amazement, outrage, inspiration – whatever the response, the idea is transformation. Watch the extremely NSFW video for Rub’s eponymous track, and it’s impossible not to walk away without having an opinion. Peaches is like a musical John Waters, an influence she has cited in the past. You can see the cult director’s shadow not only in Peaches’ lyrics and tone (and what lyrics they are), but in the striking visual style she has been developing, particularly since 2009’s I Feel Cream.

“In the end, the songs [are] all very connected, and I revel in that,” she says. “My last album, I made a video for every song, and for this I really wanted to make every song interconnect.

It could almost be seen, loosely, as an abstract movie or something. I still have one more video to make, and there are connections. There are reoccurring characters, things like that. I think I didn’t have enough money or time to plan it from the beginning, because as I say I work so spontaneously. So I can’t say these videos were completely spontaneous, particularly with the song ‘Rub’. There were two months of me and two friends working out what to do, what can go wrong. But I feel there’s definitely always a connection with me.”

PEACHES RUBBED THE RIGHT WAY

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verything you read about Peaches seems enamoured of momentum.

The near-unquantifiable Canadian provocateur has been “moving forward” and “pushing boundaries” ever since her second release back in 2000, when the artist born Merrill Nisker ditched avant-garde folk rock and became the Peaches that we all know and love. Even the term ‘provocateur’

doesn’t quite do the job; it’s not just reaction that Peaches is trying to achieve, no shock for the sake of it. She is a performer with something to say.

Which is all well and good, but usually that’s the kind of empty platitude heaped on every artist when they release something new. Hell, releasing an album solely on eight-track these days would be considered ‘moving forward’, and transgression is about as polished as a Grammy. But of all the performers who actually live up to the romanticism of the artist standing at the edge and singing into the void, Peaches has a real claim to shaking things up a little.

There’s very little bullshit, no legerdemain to be shocking for notoriety. Peaches’ often explicit message comes right from the guts.

“You know, I definitely work very organically,” she says. “Just to give a little history, I never thought I would be a professional – not that I like to use that word – but a career musician, or whatever it is that I am. It’s all organically

We have been given precious little time for this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it chat; hardly enough to get a true sense of the person and the art. The best you can hope for is a sense of the pleasantly ridiculous – if, for instance, Peaches suffered any injuries from the video for ‘Diddle My Skittle’ (after watching it, you’ll never look at silver balls the same way again) – and of what might be coming next. To that end, further work with long-term pal Feist seems a certainty.

“No, I didn’t hurt myself,” she laughs.

“Collaborations with Feist, well, she was the only one on my first album, because I didn’t know how to overdub vocals so I asked her to sing. That song, ‘Diddle My Skittle’, she was there in the background. And she’s on Impeach My Bush, and [Rub]. We’ve done a lot together, and hopefully we’ll do a lot more.”

What: Rub out now through I U She Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday December 9

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Radical Son

1967 TO NOW:

12 Significant Moments In Modern Indigenous Music constitutional referendum to 1967: The recognise Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples as part of the Australian population passes with a 90.77 per cent majority.

Aboriginal Land Rights Act is 1976: The passed after the Gurindji Strike, led

by Vincent Lingiari. Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody would later write ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ about these events in 1991.

Redfern begins broadcasting 1981: Radio on Sydney community radio station

2SER and serves as a voice of the Aboriginal community in Sydney, playing a vital role in protests against Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. In 2001, Koori Radio launches to give indigenous musicians a vital platform for their music.

Roach releases ‘Took 1990: Archie The Children Away’, a semi-

autobiographical song about the Stolen Generations. The song is awarded two ARIA Awards and an international Human Rights Achievement Award – the first to be awarded to a songwriter for a song.

Yindi become the first 1991: Yothu indigenous band to achieve Top

40 success with their song ‘Treaty’ from their second album Tribal Voice. ‘Treaty’ won the 1991 ARIA for Song of the Year and Single of the Year, and Tribal Voice won Best Indigenous Record.

1967: Music In The Key Of Yes A Proud History By Adam Norris

40

years ago, the Waratah Festival underwent something of a rebirth. It was a far cry from Sydney Festival as we know it today – a three-week spectacle of hundreds of artists across hundreds of performances, from a variety of disciplines and nationalities – but the ethos has always been celebration and discovery; not just of Sydney and its relationship to the world, but Australian culture itself.

Enter Wesley Enoch. As the festival’s new artistic director, he has managed to pull together an exceptional program, but one of the highlights is certain to be 1967: Music In The Key Of Yes. Commemorating 50 years since the referendum to remove language discriminating against indigenous Australians from the Constitution, it is a chance for some of our finest musicians – including Thelma Plum, Dan Sultan, Adalita, Leah Flanagan and Radical Son – to mark one of Australian history’s finer moments.

“The way we keep talking about it,” Enoch explains, “is that it’s a concert of gratitude for the generation beforehand who fought for all the things we have. Here’s some music from the period, some songs that celebrate that period, here’s some footage from the time, so you can go back and remember what we were like 50 years ago as a nation.

How 90.77 per cent of Australians voted ‘yes’ in that referendum, which is by far the most successful referendum the country has ever had. And this real notion that there was an embracing of what it meant to go through that.

“The ’67 referendum was two years before I was born, and my career has paralleled the changes in government policy along the way, from education and health through to housing, through employment, the rise of the artist as a cultural voice. My career is absolutely affected by a celebration in the change of government policy. So this concert is as much a reflection on who we were, and how amazing we were as a country deciding this had to happen, but also as a sense of, ‘Here’s the gratitude we feel as this generation.’ That they could make that change, and we could benefit from it.”

are a lot more things for emerging artists down there. As a performing artist, I don’t do many gigs in Sydney at all. Most of my work is in other states. Not to say there isn’t a live music scene here, but I hear it’s hard.”

It certainly is an interesting time to be celebrating art and culture in a city whose voice has been significantly restricted, but such is the passion of artist and audience alike that the commitment to supporting the arts has never been stronger. Events like Sydney Festival provide a chance to come together in celebration not only of what is, but of what could be.

“What festivals allow you to do is prototype change, to imagine things differently,” Enoch says. “It’s not about the everyday, it’s not every artist or company doing what they’ve always done. It’s a moment of ambition and looking forward, where both audience and artist can learn something from that ambition.

“I do hear that the live music scene in Sydney compared to Melbourne is bad now – there

“Music is able to transcend a whole range of rules,” Enoch concludes. “It speaks straight to

Anu releases her version of 1995: Christine Warumpi Band’s ‘My Island Home’,

becoming one of the first indigenous female artists to achieve mainstream recognition. The track wins Song of the Year at the 1995 APRA Awards and is nominated for an ARIA. It goes on to be listed in APRA’s Top 30 Australian Songs of All Time.

“We all search for a soundtrack to our lives.

We have a little playlist that we go to that says something about our lives. And that’s what 1967 is really all about.”

and wins Best Adult Contemporary Album with Messenger. He also wins at the Deadly Awards for Best Male Artist and Best Single Release.

What: 1967: Music In The Key Of Yes as part of Sydney Festival 2017 With: Dan Sultan, Thelma Plum, Radical Son, Leah Flanagan, Stephen Pigram, Yirrmal, Adalita Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Tuesday January 17

singer Jimmy Little is 1999: Country inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame

Oil perform ‘Beds Are 2000: Midnight Burning’ at the closing ceremony

of the Sydney Olympics wearing black outfits emblazoned with the word ‘sorry’ – a protest against the genocide of indigenous Australians and the continual failure of the government to make any kind of apology. first annual NT Indigenous 2004: The Music Awards are held at the Darwin

Festival Club as a way to recognise indigenous talent and contributions to the Australian and Northern Territory music industry. They’re now known simply as the National Indigenous Music Awards.

Gurrumul Yunupingu 2008: Geoffrey releases his debut album Gurrumul,

sung in both Yolngu and English, and becomes a worldwide success. The album goes three times platinum and is certified silver in the UK. Mauboy performs at the 2014: Jessica Eurovision Song Contest. Originally

from Darwin, Mauboy was runner-up on the 2006 season of Australian Idol and has since released three platinum albums as well as starring in Australian films Bran Nue Dae and The Sapphires.

Yothu Yindi’s Tribal Voice

Ariana Norton

The Sapphires

Radical Son photo by Harvey House

“I think it’s great that Wesley’s there and we have this opportunity,” agrees Radical Son (AKA David Leha). “My main experience working with Enoch is that he’s very inquisitive.

Even though he knows what he wants to do, he makes sure that everyone else has some input. Emerging artists can come and see this, not just indigenous [artists], and see the opportunities.

“I’ve got a 17-year-old who’s just graduated high school. He’s just started his first day of work as a teacher’s assistant, and in December he goes for an Australian title in a mixed martial arts competition. And I was saying, ‘There is no difference between you and what you do.’ I want him to have passion in what he does, commitment, focus, and I think I was trying to show him that – that is me as Radical Son, and that is also how I wish to be as a man, be it as a husband or father. I could see that, that could benefit him. Be it martial arts, assisting primary students to be better, or just himself as a brother.”

rappers Munkimuk and Brothablack, who would become instrumental in pioneering the indigenous hip hop scene.

your heart, and that’s what I love about it. Like visual art. You don’t always need to understand it intellectually. You can understand it on a very deep spiritual or cultural level. It can transport you in a way that nothing else can. Theatre can engage you in a certain way. Dance, you can feel an energy through that. But it’s music that transports you.

“To be critical of festivals, the danger up until recently is that they were becoming formulaic.

What I love about what I’m seeing, especially with a lot of Australians now, is we’re saying, ‘Actually, this is what I want for a festival.

Come and have a look at this!’ At Sydney Festival, by asking questions, I was able to shape things. There are people [there] who have been working for a decade or more across different festivals, so they know what it needs, and they knew to ask me, ‘What do you find fascinating?’ That’s what I love about good arts administration. It isn’t about dictating what needs to happen because this is the precedent. They say, ‘How are you imagining the future?’ And that’s what the program really represents.”

For Radical Son, too, the future weighs heavy on his mind. As a family man, ensuring his morals as a performer and indigenous role model are supported by his daily life is crucial.

hop collective South West 1992: Hip Syndicate form, including indigenous

“WE ALL SEARCH FOR A SOUNDTRACK TO OUR LIVES …

AND THAT’S WHAT 1967 IS REALLY ALL ABOUT.” 12 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

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Matt Andersen The Best Policy By Adam Norris

C

anadian bluesman Matt Andersen has one of those profoundly powerful voices that emerge every now and again to shake the foundations of your home and captivate your ears. He won Australian fans performing alongside Jeff Lang and Mia Dyson at the 2014/15 Woodford Folk Festival, and now, for those who missed his last two-month wander through the country, you have the chance to experience him fi rst-hand.

Anti-Flag H

After all, according to the bassist Chris Barker (AKA Chris No. 2), the record is almost prophetic in terms of its analysis of the media and its intersection with American politics – particularly given the post-Trump era we now inhabit.

“We’ve been rehearsing today,” Barker begins. “And I think that one of the things I noticed today is just that so much of [For Blood And Empire] is about the failure of the media to be the watchdog of the powerful. And then ten years later you look at Donald Trump, who is 100 per cent a byproduct of that same fact. We haven’t held politicians accountable, and journalists don’t act as journalists – they act as ratings warriors who are just looking for stories that are going to be exciting versus being the truth.”

Indeed, though President-elect Trump is a genuine threat, Barker reckons the real problem lies with a range of troubling forces that have been present for years. “There is a lot of really apropos social commentary on Blood And Empire that really fits on what’s happening in the world [today], whether it be global terrorism or Monsanto and the company’s recent merger,” he says. “Just the global conglomerate takeover of what we eat, and what we are able to buy and what we are able to ingest on a daily basis.”

Part of Barker’s issue lies in the deliberate obfuscation of the

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truth, a problem not unfamiliar to Australians. After all, the media in this country provides wall-to-wall coverage for people like Pauline Hanson, and though Andrew Bolt frequently squeals about the restrictions of his freedom, he has a platform few others have been blessed with.

“We’re giving a voice and allowing discussions with people that we really shouldn’t,” agrees Barker. “We should really cut them off before they begin. I think as a journalist, your job is to say, ‘Science is real, black lives matter.’ We’re allowing people a voice to say the opposite of the truth, and it’s just wrong. Facts are facts. We’ve given space for people to allow their arguments to be spoken as though they’re valid, and some of them aren’t.”

It’s not like Barker and his bandmates haven’t offered up such a bold analysis of the press cycle before – ‘The Press Corpse’, one of the most blistering tunes on For Blood And Empire, takes journalists and editors to task. But is Barker proud of his prescience? “I think in a lot of ways, a lot of the songs make more sense now than they did in 2006,” he says. “But you never want to look at it as, ‘Oh, we were right.’

But I found myself today going, ‘This was the stuff we were talking about. This is what we were warning ourselves of falling into, and that’s where we are.’”

That said, For Blood And Empire is far from a depressing record. It rattles and rages with its own sense of hope, and every line about oppression is countered by one about resistance.

Anti-Flag will celebrate the album’s tenth birthday by playing it in full on their Australian tour in December, and Barker says the counter-aggression that drives the songs was fostered by the atmosphere of support the band felt at the time.

“Back then, when we were writing Blood And Empire, it seemed like everywhere you looked someone

Andersen is now seven studio albums into a career that has seen a tremendous amount of vitality and evolution, which is as much by design as it is the natural growth of a performer. Some years back, Andersen remarked how fortunate he was to have friends who could help with writing, given the real dangers of being left alone to endlessly cycle the same old sounds. More than ever, he says, the need for collaboration and

“I FIND I DO MY BEST WORK WHEN I’M CHALLENGED, A

Tortoise

Ten Years Of Blood And Empire By Joseph Earp istory is unforgiving.

Occasionally, bands find themselves releasing politicized, socially aware records that time will reveal to be almost laughably sincere (consider a well intentioned but paralysed and stiff album like Stark Raving Mad’s Amerika). But then, every once in a while, a work comes along like For Blood And Empire – Anti-Flag’s magnum opus, and an album with a staying power that makes it feel as vital today as when it was first released in 2006.

Given the strengths of his latest batch of songs – this year’s Honest Man, which includes the eponymous single and the sublime ‘One Good Song’ – the prospect of seeing them stripped

“I’ve always liked a variety of music, so I think that’s a big part of that. For a long time, before I had much of a catalogue, I had to learn a lot of covers to kind of fill in the holes in my set. If I needed a fast or slow song there, I’d pick something that would suit. I’ve never been one to learn covers note for note, though. I’ve never thought that was necessary. I think the best version is usually the original version, and I don’t want to try and copy that. You’ve got to just try and do it your own way, find that spot between inspiration and originality.”

was opposing George W. Bush and Tony Blair and their war of aggression in the Middle East. I mean, that really made us feel like we weren’t alone.

That’s where those songs came from.

“I will say that of the records we’ve brought into the touring world, probably the two that we have played the most of have been For Blood And Empire and American Spring. I think it’s really funny – we have three records between For Blood And Empire and American Spring, and I think one of the reasons why we play so many songs from [those two] records is because those are the records where we are at our most hopeful.

Anti-Flag photo by Megan Thompson

“IN A LOT OF WAYS, A LOT OF THE SONGS MAKE MORE SENSE NOW THAN THEY DID IN 2006.”

“I’ll be playing solo, which is what I’ve mostly done for years,” Andersen says. “This year I also did a band tour, wandering around with a four-piece, and it was great to reproduce the sounds we had on the album. It kind of takes all the pressure off having to carry the whole show by yourself. But it’s also fun to see these songs stand on their own. Usually it’s just me and a guitar, so it’s fun to see these songs take on a different world, you know? I like the challenge of making them work with the full band, but at the same time I also like the challenge of finding how to bring those band songs to just me and that guitar.”

back to their unadorned core is an enticing one. Andersen has long been a journeyman of reinvention, as evidenced by his history of energetic covers: ‘I’m On Fire’, Take Me Home, Country Roads’, the ubiquitous ‘Wagon Wheel’ – each a classic he endeavours not to mimic, but honour.

Avoiding Catastrophe By David James Young

“THERE ARE CERTAINLY ELEMENTS OF THE RECORD THERE, BUT IT’S SOMETHING THAT BECOMES A LOT MORE VIBRANT AND LIVELY WHEN YOU’RE SEEING IT LIVE.”

“Those three in the middle were the songs where we were at our bleakest, because we had lost the war in Iraq, and Barack Obama became President and that seemed very exciting, but we took a rest.

People felt, ‘Oh, we’ve won,’ so they took a break … For us, it put us in this really strange place, where we wanted to talk about wealth inequality, we wanted to talk about police murder, we wanted to talk about drone strikes, and all of these things that were happening under Obama’s watch, but we felt really alone on all of those things, and so they’re a bit darker.”

As a result, though the American election and ensuing Trump victory has depressed Barker as much as it has depressed much of the world, he has gained a strange sense of purpose from all the bile that has brewed up. “To be honest, we all do much better with an enemy.

So, as frustrating as it is to be in that predicament where we have an enemy, it means we’re more focused, and it allows us to channel our creativity and energy into challenging something to be better.”

With: Scott Reynolds Where: Factory Theatre When: Thursday December 8

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the encouragement to break from routines is key.

Matt Andersen photo by by Good Noise Photography

“Oh, absolutely. It’s something I’ve really come to appreciate in writing and working with other people. It’s where you can really start to feel free. I know if I’m working on my own too much I’ll start to rip off the same ideas. And you can hear that in certain artists. When things start to sound the same, it’s going to be boring for the artist, and I’m sure it is for the audience, too. You want to hear something new.

“I find I do my best work when I’m challenged, and so working with a producer on this last album certainly pushed me in a direction I wouldn’t have gone on my own.

It got me out of my comfort zone a bit. I think it’s easy that, before you know it, you’ve gotten lazy, so it’s nice to get out of that. Your best work is when you’re challenged and you find yourself putting more effort into it.”

It’s a fine lesson for artists of every calibre, but it also suggests quite a clear connection with the past.

Andersen is a man in demand these days, but at the risk of sounding trite, you need to feel quite secure of the shape of your past if you want to tread new ground in the future.

To that end, Andersen still keeps one ear on his past recordings – but even then, if there is any revisiting to be done, it’s with a mind for change.

“You know, there is a conscious effort to avoid [repetition]. You don’t want to do what you’ve already done before. I think I want to do a live recording like I did with Coal Mining Blues and bring in a lot of different musicians and have a completely different-sounding

album than when I went in the first time. I’m singing and playing different than I did then, I have a new approach now. I like to think I’ve improved as a singer and performer and all of that, so it’s kinda cool to see that progression.

“There’s nothing wrong with getting better at what you know. As long as it is getting better,” he laughs. “You listen to someone like Tom Petty, who continues to be great every album. There’s never any drastic changes to his sound, but it’s always amazing. I’d like to do that.”

What: Honest Man out now through Stubbyfingers With: Shaun Kirk Where: Brass Monkey / The Basement When: Thursday December 1 / Saturday December 3

AND SO WORKING WITH A PRODUCER ON THIS LAST ALBUM CERTAINLY PUSHED ME IN A DIRECTION I WOULDN’T HAVE GONE ON MY OWN.”

T

Tortoise photo by Andrew Paynter

here’s a lot of history to Chicago’s genre-defiant Tortoise. On the verge of their 27th year as a band, the Midwestern multi-instrumentalists have traversed the world as softly spoken innovators, blending jazz, prog, electronica and post-rock into their versatile and impeccably detailed compositions.

Even with so much history to take in, however, the quintet aren’t particularly interested in their past. For instance, it’s put to John Herndon – one of the band’s two drummers and a founding member – that 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of Tortoise’s second studio album, Millions Now Living Will Never Die. It was a landmark release for the group, almost insurmountable in its critical acclaim, and is now considered by many to be a pioneering record of the post-rock sound. Most artists would celebrate that fact – perhaps even play a show or two in celebration of it – but that’s not the case with Tortoise.

“I don’t ever, ever listen to our records,” says Herndon. “So whenever I’m asked about stuff we’ve put out, I honestly don’t really know how to answer it. As much as possible, I try to be in the present and focus on the here and now – to deal with what’s happening now. I will say that if we’re playing songs from that record, we approach it the same way that we approach any of the material when we’re playing it live. That’s meant insofar as it being different – there are certainly elements of the record there, but it’s something that becomes a lot more vibrant and lively when you’re seeing it live.”

Instead of revelling in any kind of nostalgia, Tortoise have instead spent the calendar year doing just as Herndon says – living in the now and taking full advantage

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of the gift that is the present. In January, Tortoise released The Catastrophist, their seventh studio album. It was a considerable change of pace for the band, not only the first Tortoise record to incorporate guest vocalists such as Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley and U.S. Maple’s Todd Rittmann, but also featuring their first recorded cover in the unexpected form of David Essex’s ‘Rock On’. Still, people have responded positively to the album, and the band has spent the better part of the year touring in support of it.

“We’ve done a lot this year,” says Herndon. “I loved being in Barcelona and playing at Primavera Sound – that was super fun. We did a really great show in Chicago at Millennium Park. London was really special, too. It’s been really awesome to be out here in support of this record – we’ve been trying to play as much as we can from across our catalogue, from the very first record [1994’s Tortoise] right up to the new one.”

Tortoise certainly pride themselves on their live show – it’s more or less an extension of what they do on record, delving deeper and further into their compositions and developing new energies through the element of live performance.

With no two sets being exactly the same, the band is always finding new ways to remain a cohesive unit.

“Just the other night, I had a guy come up to us after the show who wanted a record signed,” says Herndon. “We got to talking, and he actually asked me if Tortoise would ever consider putting out a live album. He felt that the live experience was a different animal to hearing us recorded – and I can’t quite explain why that is, but I certainly understood where he was coming from. There’s just something that we collectively get out of

projecting this music that we’ve made in the live setting. The sound of the band onstage is very different from the recorded versions. It’s not impossible to tell if it’s the same song or not, but you definitely notice the changes. I don’t know… it’s just something that we do, and people seem to respond to it.”

Herndon and his bandmates will be seeing out the year with a visit to the Supernatural Amphitheatre as part of Meredith Music Festival alongside the likes of Japandroids, Baroness, Peaches and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, among many more. Tortoise will also be performing a handful of key headlining dates while they’re in the country.

“It’s been a while since we were last there,” says Herndon, whose previous visit came in 2010 for a Tortoise tour alongside the duo of saxophonist Seth Misterka and Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase.

“We actually have a strange sort of connection with Australia,” he adds. “Our first live sound engineer, Casey [Rice], lives in Melbourne now. He met a woman from Australia while he was on tour there with us, and she ended up coming back to Chicago with him. They got married and then moved back to Australia. Whenever we’re in town, we always make a point of going to see him – as delighted as we was for him, we miss having him on tour a lot. It’s going to be so wonderful to get to see him again – you forget how much you miss people until they start living a million miles away.”

What: The Catastrophist out now through Thrill Jockey Where: Manning Bar When: Wednesday December 7

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Laura Mvula Dreaming Of Down Under By Benjamin Potter

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eaching the age of 30 can come with its challenges.

It’s a time to refl ect on your younger years, either to yearn for the golden days of youth, or to slowly ease into maturity. For British soul vocalist Laura Mvula, that maturity seems to have struck at the right time, inspiring her critically acclaimed new album The Dreaming Room – a pop abstraction that was originally born out of frustration with a tag that the singer now intends to shed with all her might.

“I guess I just wanted to make a bigger sound with this album,” she says. “I got pretty pissed off doing tours and feeling like I was the ‘quiet’ act when everyone else was making more noise than me, so I was determined to make a record that wherever I was going to play, everyone was going to hear me, no matter what.”

It was a bold move by Mvula, whose artistic and musical style has prompted accolades and awards across the industry since her 2013 debut, Sing To The Moon. But Mvula says the highest of honours came from the late Prince, who despite never sharing a conversation with Mvula, became aware of her attentiondemanding presence through a TV performance that spawned a legendary story.

“I was so sad to hear Prince passed away earlier this year – I actually wanted to do my next album with him,” she says. “I was told that he saw me on Jools

Holland, and walked to HMV to get my record and actually had a go at the shopkeeper because they didn’t have my record there.

Stuff like that is just surreal and I freaked out when I was told that.”

The Dreaming Room is Mvula’s confessional, an album that soaks up its surroundings and looks to the skies with a new attitude refl ected in its instrumentation and production. Mvula attributes much of this change to not only her coming of age as a musician, but the combined collaborative efforts of some musical legends who had no second thoughts on lending their talents – namely jazz-rock guitar icon John Scofi eld and eclectic record producer Nile Rodgers, who features on lead single ‘Overcome’.

“I really wanted to come outside of my comfort zone when it came to the writing,” she says. “I feel like writing for the instruments and the album was much more natural this time around, because I always grew up writing for classical instruments. But in terms of using synthesizers, I’d never wrote for that before, so it was kind of a challenge that motivated me all the time.

“I wanted to get the best I could for this one, so we called up John Scofi eld. It was one of those things where you decide where you wanna record – ‘Where do you want to record, New York?

OK, let’s go to Electric Lady. Who do you want to play guitar?’ ‘John Scofi eld.’ ‘OK, let’s call up John.’

“He was more than happy to do it. Nile was a bit different – he actually came to me, which was shocking. He quite literally phoned me up and told me he really liked my music, and he wanted to know what the biggest songs on this record were. At that time it was ‘Overcome’, and it was actually fi nished to me. But he asked to let him jump over it, and a few days later he transformed it totally into something magical. I probably listen to that song at least once every two days; it’s incredible.”

Mvula’s persistence as an artist has paved the way for other opportunities that she never thought possible, and she admits that disbelief sometimes gets the better of her in these situations, including at Glastonbury earlier this year where she performed alongside the likes of Coldplay, Tame Impala and Sigur Rós.

“There’s something about that experience that is a bit too surreal for me,” she says. “I couldn’t really get into the moment. I’d like to think if I get more opportunities to play at that magnitude that I’d want to be able to feel how I feel when I do my own shows, which is a much more tangible [thing]. Glastonbury is so huge, you know, it’s like a whole culture. I feel very privileged, but it’s terrifying because it’s such a huge scale.

“Sometimes I’m overly intimidated by things like that, rather than just being able to share music as I would do at my own shows, which is what I enjoy doing the most. I

“I WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE A RECORD THAT WHEREVER I WAS GOING TO PLAY, EVERYONE WAS GOING TO HEAR ME, NO MATTER WHAT.”

Moses Sumney Tears For Fears By Benjamin Potter

I

n years gone by, it seemed as if an artist would periodically come out of obscurity to shake up any preconceived notions of normality.

They’d be someone who would experiment maniacally, shaping an original sound into their own form of musical expression that would end up being revered. But it’s 2016 now, and with an abundance of music available online, artists like Moses Sumney – the live-looping, falsetto-smashing all-round good guy – are leveraging their online presence to sell out shows all over the world, quicker than most of their predecessors ever could. It’s something Sumney says is surreal, but flattering and life-affirming all the same.

“I think life in general these days is just surreal for me,” the Californian laughs. “Floating through the earth, realising that I have a body and flesh and bone – it’s incredibly strange and alienating. But every time something excitable happens, it just kind of blends into this larger dream of being alive.”

Sumney’s emphasis on live performance is one of his biggest drawcards. He plays with only a guitar and a collection of effects and loop pedals, and the outcome is nothing short of incredible. Sumney says being a solo artist places him at an advantage musically, allowing him to form an important emotional connection with the audience that he couldn’t achieve with an ensemble.

“I don’t use a full band because of this thing called money that I don’t have enough of,” he laughs. “But really, the primary reason is because I find it most engaging to perform as a soloist, especially when people are seeing me for the first time. I

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think that often solo artists make the mistake of feeling like their music is inadequate, and that’s just not true.

I like presenting the music to people in its rawest state, and that’s why I use the loop pedal – I can do it all by myself instead of doing rehearsals. I mean, I’ve played with a band many times and it’s rewarding, but it’s just a real struggle for me.”

While vintage soul music can seem kind of old-fashioned these days, Sumney is one of those taking the reigns and reinventing the genre sonically yet respectfully. His talents have scored him a support slot on tour with James Blake, the chance to perform at the renowned Radio City Music Hall in New York, and collaborations with an impressive list of established artists like Solange, Beck, Local Natives, and most recently the Brainfeeder legend Thundercat. The result of the latter partnership – the single ‘Lonely World’ – sets a lofty precedent for anyone with whom Sumney might work in the future.

“FLOATING THROUGH THE EARTH, REALISING THAT I HAVE A BODY AND FLESH AND BONE – IT’S INCREDIBLY STRANGE AND ALIENATING.”

“I opened for Thundercat three years ago in LA, and somehow I just conned him into being down to play music with me,” Sumney says. “I’m still not even sure how it happened – I kind of just texted him and asked him to play on something, and he said yes. You always think people who are so much more brilliant than you are going to say no, but he just came in and smashed it – the entire intro on ‘Lonely World’ is literally just him improvising. Incredible.

“There’s a lot of people I’d like to work with eventually, but I’m always afraid to say, because what if they read this and think I’m lame? Haxan Cloak, Unknown Mortal Orchestra…

Kimbra and I have always wanted to do something together but it’s just never happened. I’m really terrified of all of them.”

“I only partially grew up in America so there’s a bunch of cultural things that I missed – Radio City in New York where I played with James is one of them. It’s probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever performed in.

But while his collaborations have entitled Sumney to a degree of respect from artists worldwide, it is his original material that’s made for his strongest work yet. His recently released Lamentations EP is a lush,

heartbreaking and captivating journey into the inner workings of his mind.

The songs are not only meant to be motivating but introspective, with their themes of alienation, self-worth and lost love. As for the potential arrival of a full-length album, Sumney remains enigmatic.

was a bit rushed, and we announced it before it was even finished. I ended up finishing it in two-and-a-half weeks, and it seemed quite bizarre at the time, but now I think it’s great.

It worked out for the better I guess …

For an album, I’m almost done. But I would just say stay tuned.”

“[Lamentations is] basically just a collection of songs that I took from my upcoming album I had been working on,” he says. “I kind of just decided abruptly that I would put it out – three of the songs on there weren’t even recorded [at the time]. In all honesty, it

Australia is the next stop on Sumney’s busy calendar. He will be travelling here over the summer for a range of shows, including a spot at Sydney Festival, and he says the emphasis will be on the emotion – and not just his own overwhelming excitement at

thebrag.com

imagine as I get older it will get easier for me.”

Mvula will have to set aside her anxieties sooner rather than later. On her first visit to Australia next year, she will be heading north to Byron Bay to play on the monumental Bluesfest lineup alongside soul greats like Roy Ayers and Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb. Mvula says the nerves have kicked in, but she has never been so intrigued about travelling somewhere to perform.

“It’s going to be such a huge experience for me,” she says.

“All I really know of Australia is when my dad went for work when I was only fi ve or six years old – he came back a genuinely changed human being. He was raving on about everything, from the food to the people to just the general vibe. I’ve always been very intrigued. The beauty of the place is endless. But there’s always that natural nervousness because it is the first time I’m going. I hope it’s the beginning of a long relationship. I think it’s long overdue.”

“I LIKE CANDLELIGHT DINNERS, LONG WALKS ON THE BEACH, PUPPIES, CUDDLING, GOOD CONVERSATION … IF YOU BELIEVE ANY OF THIS, I’LL SELL YOU A BRIDGE IN NEW JERSEY.”

What: Bluesfest 2017 With: Barry Gibb, Santana, Zac Brown Band, Patti Smith, Mary J Blige and many more Where: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm When: Thursday April 13 – Monday April 17 And: Also appearing at the Metro Theatre on Wednesday April 12 More: The Dreaming Room out now through RCA/Sony

The Dead Daisies For Those About To Rock By Joseph Earp

T

he Dead Daisies are the very definition of an international band. The group’s members are scattered across the globe, and though they are often called an ‘Australian-American’ rock outfit, the truth is a little more muddied.

Past members have lived on pretty much every continent on Earth, and the band’s current lead singer John Corabi – he of Mötley Crüe fame – has called a range of countries home.

performing in a city that is high on the list for many of his peers.

“Hopefully everyone expects to cry, because I love giving people an emotional experience,” he says. “I mean, I’m going to cry. I’m definitely over the moon and extremely excited.”

What: Lamentations out now independently Where: St. Stephen’s Uniting Church / Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent When: Saturday January 14 / Sunday January 15

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And yet despite the difficulties often associated with operating a band that’s separated by the seas, Corabi says the maturity of those who make up The Dead Daisies contributes to their relative creative ease. “We’re all a bit older and wiser now, so we’ve figured out how to communicate much better with each other when it comes to writing, performances and the overall nature of things,” he says.

“We’re also much more focused as musicians when it comes to writing and recording the records.

Now we understand the nuances of schedules and the finances it takes to do a record, so we’re all extremely focused on getting shit done on time.

[Those are] things we didn’t really think about in our wild youth!”

Corabi ain’t kidding when he calls it ‘wild’, either. The Dead Daisies are a supergroup of sorts, led by heir to the Westfield shopping empire

David Lowy, and each member has lived a long and storied life outside the band. Indeed, Corabi’s own hard-living history is well known, and when asked to reveal something he’s never said in an interview before, he’s unafraid to make mention of his own myth as a maniacal ladies’ man.

“I like candlelight dinners, long walks on the beach, puppies, cuddling, good conversation, a nice bottle of wine with a little Barry Manilow playing softly in the background, and then slow, meaningful sex until the woman orgasms first,” he says. “And, if you believe any of this, I’ll sell you a bridge in New Jersey.”

Lies or otherwise, sex, excess and an excess of sex are the key to the band’s thematic concerns. Not to imply that The Dead Daisies are one-trick ponies, however. Every now and again they release a straightup ballad, case in point being the new single ‘Song And A Prayer’, an emotive tune ready-made to be performed in front of a lighter-waving audience.

As Corabi tells it, the song was written quickly, in a manner so free from restraints that it proved almost improvisational. “Because we live so far from each other, we’re a bit geographically challenged,” he says.

“So the last two records, Revolución and Make Some Noise, were done relatively quickly.

“We really didn’t have any ideas for Make Some Noise, so we got together at Marti Frederiksen’s studio and started the writing process.

Everyone sat down with an acoustic guitar and threw ideas into the pot.

After about ten days of writing we had about 22 ideas, and then Marti and the band whittled it down to 14. We all wrote and tracked everything together as a band, as we always do.”

Such a writing style relies on an inherent sense of trust between the band members. As far as Corabi is concerned, The Dead Daisies succeed because they all have a deep sense of respect for one another, and though they all relish their private time, they understand the importance of staying in touch.

“We’re always sending emails to each other, whether it be a joke, a sports score, or just saying hello,” he says. “For me personally, after spending as much time together with the band as we do, when we go home, it’s home for me. That’s when I relax and turn my attention to my wife, my writing and my solo band. We all have families, so we all kind of go in separate directions, and then right before a tour we’ll get together, rehearse a few full days, hang and have a few cocktails, then get right back into a groove like we never stopped. That doesn’t work for everybody, but it seems to work for us.”

Implying that The Dead Daisies’ formula merely ‘works’ might even be an understatement. The band is experiencing a boom time of sorts, having just returned from a massive tour with the iconic KISS. “Touring with KISS has been nothing short of amazing,” says Corabi. “They’ve been one of our biggest supporters and incredibly hospitable to us. It’s awesome to be able to go on tour with one of the bands that you stood in line to buy a ticket for as a kid – to be able to sit and chat with the guys over dinner or in the hallways is pretty surreal.”

And yet, all that glitz and glamour aside, there is one factor motivating everything The Dead Daisies embark upon: their fans. They’re not a band chasing money or fame. Rather, they are a group of musicians who simply wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they couldn’t play music, and Corabi speaks of his audiences with unabashed affection.

“I dig all our fans,” he says. “Our fans are all pretty amazing …

They’ve been incredibly welcoming to us, and the word is spreading at such a fast rate it’s pretty awesome.

So, if you’re reading this, The Dead Daisies’ fans rock!”

What: ‘Song And A Prayer’ out now through Spitfire/SPV

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Glitoris Shining The Spotlight By Augustus Welby

C

anberra punk/glam outfit Glitoris have a keenly developed sense of identity.

It’s clear to see in their name, provocative artwork, glitter-soaked visual style and challenging lyrics.

Their debut EP, The Disgrace, dropped last month, and ahead of its Sydney launch show, the BRAG speaks with these four socially conscious women to get a deeper understanding of their driving motives.

“The reason it’s such a cohesive identity is because we’re singing the truth – most of our lyrics come from our real-world experiences,” says guitarist/vocalist Keven 007. “We also have some incredible artist friends who completely understand what it is we’re trying to achieve.

Julia Johnson [Yellow Pony] and Martin Ollman have taken care of our artwork and photography respectively and they’re brilliant at what they do.”

“YOU DON’T LIKE US? THEN JOG ON, THERE’S PLENTY OF BANDS WHO SOUND LIKE THEY WET THE BED – THEY’RE PROBABLY THE ONES FOR YOU.”

us? Great, welcome to the Gliterati, you are one of us. You don’t like us?

Then jog on, there’s plenty of bands who sound like they wet the bed – they’re probably the ones for you.’”

While Glitoris are a relatively new project, the band members aren’t newcomers to the Australian music scene. 007 and her bandmates – known mononymously as Tony (drums), Malcolm (bass) and Andrew (guitar) – have each previously played in a variety of bands, covering everything from punk rock to folkpop. With this project, however, they’re hitting their stride.

The members of Glitoris happily embrace the term ‘punk rock’, and the band’s identity is closely aligned with feminism. They don’t, however, feel allegiance to any specific music scene or subculture.

“The identity is an authentic representation of who we are: loud, bold, in-your-face and utterly uncompromising,” says Tony. “The reason it’s such a powerful aesthetic is because it is 100 per cent secure.

‘This is who we are. Do you like

“Our influences are diverse and evolving,” Malcolm says. “You can hear it in our music. There’s obvious stuff like Rage Against The Machine, who are one of our biggest influences, but there’s stuff that’s more subtle, like Scissor Sisters

and Dolly Parton – little harmonies and riffs that are drawn from a deep love, attachment and understanding of music.”

Accordingly, the band’s music is quite varied – some songs contain glam rock elements and pop melodicism, while others are angsty and high-speed. “Punk is not simply a musical style,” says 007. “It’s an aesthetic, a way of life, which is simultaneously a complex politics and a big ‘fuck off’ to everything.

It’s about not accepting the status quo. Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols distilled all that into a musical aesthetic, but it’s long evolved from that. So we’re a 21st century punk band.”

Beyond their musical influences, Glitoris’ output is a response to the multitude of negative elements that exist in the contemporary world – things like capitalist alienation, exploitation and gender inequality.

“We’re just so sick of sitting back and seeing so much unacceptable shit,” says Andrew. “On a local level, that’s Manus Island and Nauru, the horrendous treatment of indigenous Australians, the hounding of a female Prime Minister, the fact that more Australian women have died at the hands of a violent male partner than Australians have at the hands of terrorists. On a global level, we’re sick of the white, wealthy and entitled hyper-masculinity that grabs

James Kenyon

so unflinchingly at everything it can get for itself and doesn’t care who it exploits or kills in the process.

“Our music is an expression of anger towards the sorts of injustices we’ve mentioned, but it’s also optimistic. It retains a sense of hope. It’s possible to turn this shit around if we stop ignoring it in our Facebook feeds and stop treating it like sound bite entertainment and actually stand up and say, ‘No. This is unacceptable.

We won’t stand for it.’”

What: The Disgrace out now through Buttercup Where: The Bearded Tit When: Saturday December 3

“THE FEW TIMES I HAVEN’T GOTTEN NERVOUS, I’VE PLAYED PRETTY BADLY. SO NOW WHEN I DON’T GET NERVOUS, I GET NERVOUS ABOUT NOT BEING NERVOUS.”

Live Through Song By Joseph Earp

Despite all the inner anxiety that might be going through his mind as he stands in front of the audience, Kenyon’s shows are noteworthy for the calm they inspire. He projects a kind of sonic ease – so much so that after he conquers his jitters, he often finds himself sinking deep into the tune.

“When I’m playing a song, I’m really living it, and thinking about the lyrics.

I’m in the performance. That’s when I’m best. Often in a song I’ll just drift out. I’ll either be thinking about the next song, or focusing on the crowd, or if someone’s talking really loudly I’ll maybe notice them. I’ll be trying to stay in the song as much as possible, but that’s sometimes a bit of a battle.”

J

ames Kenyon is a man of honest pleasures. He doesn’t seek out extravagant meals or expensive trips overseas, or harbour any interest in climbing the corporate ladder. He makes and plays music, plain and simple.

“I like playing,” he says, with all the quiet pride of a man who has discovered his life’s work. “I get a real energy from it. I often forget how much I enjoy it before I start touring. It’s like, when I’m on the road again, I go, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right – I love this.’”

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Although his genuine love of writing and performing is apparent across all his work, it’s particularly striking on his new release Imagine You Are Driving. Described as a “soundtrack to an as-yet-unmade great Australian road movie”, the record emanates genuine warmth, along with a distinctly Australian brand of everso-gentle humour. Tracks like ‘The Motorbike Song’ beg to be played live, and truly benefit from being belted out in front of a crowd.

But it wasn’t always so easy for Kenyon to make his art, and he has learnt a lot over the course of a career

that has seen him enjoy both ecstatic highs as well as his fair share of lows. “I think early on when I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was bumping into a lot of unforeseen problems and learning the ropes,” he says. “But now I’ve done enough touring and playing to know how to do it.”

Part of that learning curve has involved Kenyon fully embracing his stage fright. Though he used to battle performative jitters, he now takes them in his stride, ensuring they aid and inform his playing style. “Oh, I’m always nervous when playing. The

few times I haven’t gotten nervous, I’ve played pretty badly. So now when I don’t get nervous, I get nervous about not being nervous,” he laughs.

“I think nerves kind of put you on edge and they kinda get you alert and your reflexes are good. You just play with more of an edge, and you just function at a slightly higher level when you’re nervous. I mean, the few times I’ve played without nerves I’ve done stupid things like just forgot lyrics, and my hands don’t do what they’re supposed to do. It’s a funny thing, because you also don’t want to appear highly strung.”

Ultimately, it’s strikingly evident that Kenyon is someone who lives and breathes his art. He’s not a musician who is too precious about his work, or treats it like a trinket to be occasionally taken out. Everything inspires his songs, even chatting away with the BRAG. “Doing an interview was actually a really good way to start the day,” he says as the conversation wraps up. “I’m going to go off and write a song now.”

What: Imagine You Are Driving through Little Lake/MGM With: Emma Anglesey Where: Gasoline Pony When: Wednesday December 7

thebrag.com

arts in focus

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Harriet Flitcroft, David Burley and Ariana Norton

five minutes WITH

NICHOLAS BROWN FROM LIGHTEN UP

T

ell us about the concept behind Lighten Up and your character, John.

I conceptualised Lighten Up with the hope to shift racial perceptions in Australia. My character John Green is a brown Aussie struggling to define himself. He has dreams of being an actor but first must find a way through the racial and social dislocation that permeates his world.

Champions photo by Heidrun Löhr

It’s a real case of art imitating life – how have your experiences in acting mirrored John’s?

The play is semiautobiographical. John’s main dilemma with his family is based on an identity crisis I went through with my own. It’s quite a strange feeling exploring a crisis on the rehearsal room floor that is very close to your own heart. My adventures and misadventures as an actor in Australia and India have certainly influenced the

script. My assimilating parents have been channelled into the mother character, Bronwyn.

Most of the characters are based on real people. Their struggles and desires are based on real events. Despite being a larger-than-life magical realism comedy, I hope that the characters are all coming from a truthful place.

How did you come to collaborate with Sam McCool?

I’d seen Sam on Australia’s Got Talent and thought he was hilarious. A few days later I was writing in a cafe and saw a poster for his show at the Opera House and thought it was a sign. I immediately wrote to his agent, Sam got back to me and the rest is history. Synchronicity brought us together.

You’ve also starred in Bollywood. Is it everything you expected?

I had no expectations when I

first moved to Mumbai. I had no idea what to expect. I went there with an open mind and heart and I was rewarded with work and lifelong friendships.

India has a marvellous way of pushing you to your limits, and if you stick around after ‘jumping off the cliff’ you are rewarded. I’ve been fortunate enough to do big-budget Bollywood films and indie ones – it’s a very different world to the Aussie film industry. As much as the chaos drives me mad, I do adore it.

CHAMPIONS

What do you think it means to be Australian in 2016?

To acknowledge the colonial wrongs of our past and to work together to move forward celebrating equality, diversity and respect for the land.

FORM Dance Projects will be performing its new show Champions as part of Sydney Festival 2017. The show sees an all-female team of 11, choreographed by Martin del Amo, celebrate the talents of elite performers and harness the energy and enthusiasm of sport fans. The dancers have been working with Western Sydney Wanderers’ W-League team and other coaches and athletes to combine the power of both dance and football. Champions aims to question long-held expectations of who qualifies as dance/sports ‘champions’ in a culture that underpays and generally underappreciates the achievements of female performers, both in sport and in the arts. Champions plays at Carriageworks from Tuesday January 17 – Sunday January 22.

What: Lighten Up Where: SBW Stables Theatre When: Wednesday November 30 – Saturday December 17

If Champions sounds like it will get your heart racing, you might just be in luck. We have three double passes to give away for the Tuesday January 17 performance. Enter at thebrag.com/freeshit.

TAKING COMFORT

After three years, Sydney artist Drewfunk is back with a new exhibition called Comfort In Tears. While dealing with depression, Drewfunk was able to find new hope in the artworks he created through the juxtaposition of melancholic scenes with bold and bright colours. The show is being presented by Ambush Gallery and Central Park Mall.

Screen prints are available to buy at the gallery and ten per cent of the profits will be donated to beyondblue. The exhibit is on show now.

The Axis Of Awesome

Sydney’s Mardi Gras celebrations are getting even bigger, with a week of laughs scheduled to take place during February and March next year. The inaugural Mardi Gras Comedy Festival is set to be a massive showcase of talent from all around the world in celebration of the LGBTQI community. It will begin on Tuesday February 28 with a huge gala lineup of guests including Dixie Longate, Panti Bliss, Hannah Gadsby, Tom Ballard, The Axis Of Awesome and Neel Kolhatkar. Headline shows will also be featured from the likes of Bliss, Bridget Everett, Longate, Em Rusciano, and a Gaymes Night with Rhys Nicholson and Joel Creasey. The 2017 Mardi Gras Comedy Festival runs from Tuesday February 28 – Thursday March 2.

THREE IS BETTER THAN ONE

Leigh Johnson by Stephen Wesley Gorton

Velvet photo © Tony Virgo

GORTON ON DISPLAY

Balmain’s Breathing Colours Gallery is set to host an exhibition of works by the late expressionist artist and former Paddington Art School director Stephen Wesley Gorton. Gorton was recognised for his use of bold, vibrant colours and his reputation for challenging students to lose their inhibitions in their art. He directed and taught life drawing at Paddington Art School from 1981-2001 and was an Archibald Prize finalist in 1990 as well as being commissioned to paint in Spain. He also wrote two books and has had his work shown in Europe and America as well as at home in Australia. The exhibition will be curated

by Gorton’s son Aaron Matheson. It will be held from Thursday December 15 – Saturday January 14.

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MARDI GRAS BRINGS THE LAUGHS

Tri-Beckett

Embrace the entirely strange, completely absurd and somewhat baffling world of classic absurdist theatre as Ninefold and Glorious Thing Theatre Co present Tri-Beckett:Three Short Plays By Samuel Beckett at the historic Don Bank Museum in North Sydney. All three short performances are sure to set minds ticking as the simple becomes ever more complicated. In Footfalls, a lone figure paces back and forth endlessly conversing with a memory of her mother. Act Without Words II draws on perfectly timed dark humour as two tragic figures are goaded out of old sacks to stumble through their pointless existence. Finally, Not I will leave audiences reeling as a woman who has been mute for most of her life unleashes a fierce stream of consciousness, with only her mouth illuminated. Ninefold is Sydney’s only contemporary theatre ensemble that works exclusively with the Suzuki method of actor training to create performances that are intense, physically precise and rich. Tri-Beckett will play from Tuesday December 6 – Saturday December 10.

ARTSPACE IN COLOUR

Artspace’s new exhibit Superposition Of Three Types will feature works by living Australian contemporary artists. An interdisciplinary and contemporary venue and champion for local artists, Artspace will continue to foster experimental artworks with this new exhibition, which will feature 13 artists across a range of generations and mediums.

A number of artists will work in situ to create works. These include Rebecca Baumann, who will paint every wall a different colour, and Huseyin Sami presenting a live painting performance using bespoke, hyper-extended paintbrushes. Another layer to the exhibition will come in the form of three artists who will work with movement, sound and spokenword at different points within the exhibition.

VELVET RETURNS TO SYDNEY

The tantalising and dazzling cabaret show Velvet has announced its return to Sydney next year in all its electrifying glory. By popular demand, the ARIA-nominated performance will return to town with two seasons at the Roslyn Packer Theatre and Riverside Theatres as part of a national tour. A sell-out success at the Adelaide Fringe, Brisbane Festival and Edinburgh Fringe, Velvet is keeping the momentum going, featuring as it does a sparkling international combination of acrobats, aerialists, circus performers, cabaret and musical talent, headlined by Marcia Hines. The 2017 Sydney season commences Wednesday July 26, following by a Riverside season from Saturday October 21.

Performances such as the dancing of Shelley Lasica aim to create an evolving and active space for viewers. Superposition Of Three Types will show Friday February 10 – Monday April 17 at Artspace in Woolloomooloo.

MONDAY NIGHT FUNNIES

The Unicorn Hotel has announced who will be onstage for its next two Happy Endings comedy nights. Rhys Nicholson, the celebrated LGBTQI comedian who wed his lesbian comedian friend Zoe Coombs Marr earlier this year to raise awareness about marriage equality, is the headliner for Monday December 5. Nicholson won the Time Out award for Best Comedy Newcomer at the 2012 Sydney Comedy Festival. He also starred in the ABC documentary Gaycrashers with Joel

Marcia Hines in Velvet Creasey in 2014. Joining Nicholson will be Becky Lucas and Emma Zammit. Monday December 12 will see Chris Radburn, the Aussie larrikin and Footy Show star, take the top billing. He has appeared on Joker Poker, Stand Up Australia and on radio stations from triple j to Triple M. Support will come from Luke Heggie and Cameron James. Book at happyendingscomedyclub.com.au.

BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 19

arts in focus FEATURE

FEATURE

Dilruk Jayasinha [COMEDY] The King Of Clubs By David James Young

A

t just over six feet tall and around 130 kilos, Melbourne-via-Sri Lanka comedian Dilruk Jayasinha is not one to shy away from talking about his size – he even once titled a festival show with the punningly brilliant name Kind Of A Big Dil. So when the former accountant is ribbed and roasted about his love of ribs and roasts – particularly by other comics – he knows exactly how to take it in his stride.

“There’s a running joke where I get called a ‘disgusting fat fuck’,” Jayasinha explains.

“What a lot of people don’t remember or know, though, is that I was the one that came up with that phrase. I originally used it on [fellow comedian] Ben Lomas, and it started going back and forth between the two of us before it caught on with others.

I’ve got to be honest, it’s pretty amazing to see your own creation fl ying about. People have had a lot of fun with it. There was even one random guy that bought the domain name disgustingfatfuck.com, and set it up so that when you [went] to that page, it directly [linked] to my Twitter account.

“There may come a saturation point at some stage, but even then I think that comedians are so blessed to be able to take what would normally be embarrassing things about themselves and just own them as comedians.”

Jayasinha has been performing stand-up comedy since 2010, honing his skills across dozens of open mic nights in Melbourne, where he has lived as long as he has been in Australia. He gained a considerable spike in fans thanks to his multiple appearances on Australian comedy podcast The Little Dum Dum Club, and even picked up the gong for Comic of the Year from Spleen, a comedy night held in his city every Monday.

Jayasinha has made good on this momentum with another pun-laden show title, Sri Wanka, which will receive its fi nal run at the Sydney Comedy Store this week.

“It started as a work in progress at the Melbourne Fringe last year,” Jayasinha explains. “It ended up becoming me taking a look at the stories in my life that I’m most embarrassed about. I wanted to see if I could put them all together and not want to go into the corner crying. I started developing a through line, where the stories connected to one another, but it wasn’t done. Between the last time I performed it at Fringe and the first time I performed the show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March, I went over to Perth, and this fairly big incident happened there. That ended up changing the course of the show entirely – it became centred around what happened in Perth, with these other stories weaved around it. It wound up with a surprise ending – the kind

that you really have to thank the comedy gods for.”

Through his many appearances on The Little Dum Dum Club, Jayasinha has gone toe-totoe and joke-for-joke with some of the biggest names in Australian comedy, including Greg Fleet, Nazeem Hussain and Hamish & Andy – the latter of whom Jayasinha used to listen to on the radio every day during his time as an accountant. Perhaps his most interesting match-up, however, came last month in the form of Tiffiny Hall, a personal trainer best known for being one of the coaches on reality show The Biggest Loser. What could have been a bizarre clash of personalities ended up being one of the great team-ups in the podcast’s history.

“Above everything else, talking with Tiffiny was just so informative,” says Jayasinha.

“It’s one of my favourite appearances on the show, absolutely. She gave some genuinely great health tips – many of which I’ve started incorporating in the way that I eat. She was really funny, too – for someone not from the world of comedy, the episode really did end up being a pretty big barrel of laughs for all of us. And even after all of that talk of eating and living healthy, we still got Ed [Kavalee, Hall’s husband] in to share stories of him smashing a buffet. I’m glad so many people enjoyed it.”

After closing the curtain on Sri Wanka, Jayasinha looks to 2017 with a new show, more touring and hopefully some fresh international jaunts – at the time of this interview, he has just performed in Malaysia, and is greatly enthusiastic about his run of dates there. For now, however, the bighearted comic with the kookaburra laugh is just happy to keep on living out what was once a fantasy of his.

“I can remember being 11 years old and watching [Eddie Murphy’s comedy special] Raw,” he says. “I thought it looked like the coolest thing in the world – standing in front of people and telling jokes, telling stories. I think that there’s a part of me that has wanted to do it ever since that moment. It was such a faraway dream – it was completely removed from my reality as a kid in Sri Lanka. The fact that I am doing it in any capacity now, as an adult, completely blows my mind.

“I still love the absolute shit out of it, too.

I’ve been doing it for six years, and I’m still chuffed that anyone watches me, or that anyone laughs at stories I have to share.”

What: Sri Wanka Where: The Comedy Store When: Friday December 2

“I’VE GOT TO BE HONEST, IT’S PRETTY AMAZING TO SEE YOUR OWN CREATION FLYING ABOUT.”

“WHEN YOU’RE A TEENAGER, THERE’S ALL SORTS OF SHIT GOING ON. IT’S BIG DRAMA, BUT IT TENDS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY BE SMALL-SCALE.”

Girl Asleep [THEATRE] A Rude Awakening By Adam Norris

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hough they might seem invisible, we’ve all seen them. Ghosting away down school corridors, hiding behind shields of books, tablets or phones. Some of us have even been there, and remember the terrain.

Adolescence can be a raw and unsettling time, but as Girl Asleep’s playwright Matthew Whittet suggests, it can also be a period of intense creative growth and speculation. The challenge of writing about a time of such upheaval from an adult perspective notwithstanding, the surreal story of a girl named Greta on the cusp of

her 15th birthday was one Whittet couldn’t ignore.

“For some reason I find it quite a natural fit for my brain to think back to that period,” he says. “It’s like you have the chance to mash up the real and the not real, and that’s a world I understand.

It becomes about memory, what it is to be a kid, and the way imaginations work as a kid. From that perspective, I find it a really interesting place to tell stories from.

“It’s such a great period of time in a person’s life, character-wise, to set drama, because when you’re a teenager, there’s all sorts of shit going on,” he laughs.

“It’s big drama, but it tends to simultaneously be smallscale. You get to deal with some really interesting and fun issues. To enter into storytelling with people who are ridiculously excited or scared, that as adults, you look back and say, ‘Oh, come on, let’s not get too carried away here.’ But as a prism to tell stories through, it’s a bit of a favourite.”

“I used Sleeping Beauty as a kind of very rough starting point, and picked apart what we found interesting there,” says Whittet. “We started to talk about this period in a lot of teenagers’ lives, especially the introverted ones, where they kind of just disappear.

They’ll spend a lot of time 20 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

And what an imagination that is. With its otherworldly characters and striking set design and costumes, Girl Asleep resembles an Anthony Neilson play as interpreted by Guillermo del Toro.

“I’ve always liked writing these big ideas,” Whittet says.

“For instance, Greta goes into a frozen cave with this ice queen who kind of represents her mother, and she almost freezes to death. And at the end of the scene she realises to reach the next level of her quest inside this dream, she has to go and find a goblin, and the only way to get to the goblin is through this queen’s mouth. And you travel through her spit and phlegm to find the goblin – it’s just ridiculous. But the team just relish that. They find a way in which the set can now start to tell a story as well as everything else.

“I don’t always try to solve things through dialogue. I try to keep ideas open enough that everyone from each department can try and find a different way of solving that problem or telling that part of the story.”

What: Girl Asleep Where: Belvoir St Theatre When: Friday December 2 – Saturday December 24 thebrag.com

Girl Asleep photo by Brett Boardman

Of course, it’s not just the high drama of adolescence that proves such fertile soil for storytelling. The reclusive teen who withdraws from the world, who sequesters themselves away in bedrooms and libraries – it is this troubled soul who arguably has some of the more curious dramatic qualities.

in their bedrooms, you ask them how they are and it’s like they’ve gone to sleep.

So we thought, ‘How do you take that somnambulistic idea and turn that into drama?’

What I wanted to explore was that on the outside, maybe she’s looking reserved and doesn’t want anything to do with anyone, but on the inside there’s an imaginative world which is bursting at the seams.”

arts in focus FEATURE

iD photo by Valerie Remise

“EVERYONE IN THE CAST GETS INVOLVED IN THE WHOLE PRODUCTION, AND YOU SEE WE ARE REAL PEOPLE HAVING REAL FUN – WE ARE NOT MAKE-BELIEVE.”

Cirque Éloize [CIRCUS] The Wheel Life Anna Wilson

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life of adventure, adrenaline and risk is not one actively sought by many, but for trial bike artist Thibaut Philippe, it’s one he cannot live without. The French-born performer stages a dazzling and exhilarating show as part of the Cirque Éloize troupe, living the daredevil existence and quite literally running away with the circus every day.

But how does one begin on such a unique career path in the first place? “It’s because of my brother,” explains Philippe. “He started to climb small steps and walls [on his bicycle] – I followed him, it looked nice and I did it. We did some shows on weekends in France as a side job together, but he went to do another type of job. But me? I kept going, I loved it.”

Canada’s Cirque Éloize is an innovative group, presenting a range of multidisciplinary talents.

Its performers are innovative forerunners who combine theatricality and humanity in their productions. iD, Éloize’s high-energy new show, blends traditional circus acts with urban dance, and features more than 100 individual acrobats, aerialists, hip hop dancers and breakdancers in an exhilarating display that melds traditional and modern identities.

It’s definitely not all elephants and clowns in the case of Cirque Éloize – but through his thick accent, Philippe is surprisingly reserved as he explains the thrilling act he brings to the stage.

Stephan Gyory photo by Warren Rivas Photography

“I am climbing obstacles with a bicycle,” he says. “It is like a mix of technique and a lot of perversion with a bike. We have a huge set, a trampoline and a wall where we practise with what we call a ‘Trampowall’. I interact with hip hop dancers and in the second half, the audience.”

As a member of the company for seven years, Philippe’s long tenure makes him something of an expert on the differences between Cirque Éloize and its competition. “If we’re going to compare to, say, Cirque Du Soleil, they are like an imaginary world, creating fairy tales.

We’re more realistic – we can have 15 people onstage at one time, a small stage. We don’t have big costumes or lots of make-up on the face, so people can see us as we are in real life.

“A lot of people do two specific things. I do two acts; juggling and the Trampowall. Everyone in the cast gets involved in the whole production, and you see we are real people having real fun – we are not make-believe.”

Philippe may now be a Cirque Éloize stalwart, but his arrival at the company came about due to a mix of good fortune and timing. “A friend of mine decided against performing, and of course I said yes when I was offered,” he says. thebrag.com

“Seven years [later] and I have done 1,000 shows to date. It was my goal to reach that and now I’m going to the next level, see what’s next.

“The act itself hasn’t changed so much, but because the cast has changed with the times, they bring their own spirit and soul to the life of the show.”

Indeed, with changing times come changing faces, and those changing faces are always changing places. “The vibe changes, so does the vibe of the city,” says Philippe.

“Everywhere we go the audience reacts differently, which makes it interesting.”

What’s also particularly interesting about Philippe’s line of work is the luck he’s had – trial bike stunts with the circus are fastpaced, high-risk, loud and crowded, and yet he’s never had a serious accident onstage.

Philippe even seems a little amused by the prospect of misfortune.

“Sometimes we do have accidents, but never big things going on, because safety is a priority and we do everything to support each other and make sure each other is OK. We are a real family.”

As you can imagine, Philippe lives and breathes trial bikes, and touring with Cirque Éloize has afforded him opportunities to interact and play with adrenaline freaks the world over. “I visit the countries we’re in and get to know people in the same field,” he says, “It’s a small community. It’s easy to reach people and see how trial biking is like in a certain country and see their take on the sport.”

With iD set to hit Australian shores in January as part of Sydney Festival 2017, we’ll get a taste of the excitement of Cirque Éloize – one that can only be matched by Philippe’s own anticipation for the visit.

“My first big trip just before joining the circus, I came [to Australia] for eight months and travelled all around,” he says.

“It was my dream to come back and I’m happy to come seven years later with things to share with the people. I want to be inspiring – we usually get a nice reaction because it’s not something people see often. I’m sure Australian people are going to love [it] because they too don’t see this often.”

What: iD as part of Sydney Festival 2017 Where: Riverside Theatres When: Friday January 13 – Sunday January 22

five minutes WITH

STEPHAN GYORY FROM DODARLO

The Darlinghurst Business Partnership is bringing DoDarlo back for Christmas 2016. How does DoDarlo work?

DoDarlo basically morphs each time we do one. For the first one we gave out small grants, getting local businesses and creatives to do cool stuff/events/projects together. This Christmas, we got local artist Lister to do the art for an Xmas gift label sticker sheet. This sounds kinda naff when you say it, but they’re actually really cool and highly useful little buggers, ’cause it means you don’t have to buy Xmas cards, you can just slap one of our labels on your prezzie.

So for once, you’re not limited to snowmen and reindeer. Our group, the Darlinghurst Business Partnership, is all about getting locals to engage with each other, because this is what makes the area interesting to travellers and visitors, so DoDarlo is quite a cool call to action.

Why is Lister such a great fit for DoDarlo?

Well, for one, he’s a local; his studio is in the area. I was already acquainted with Lister because the walls of my business, The Record Store, are DA-approved for street art and Lister has painted them a few times. We reached out to Lister and he was more than keen to do it.

What makes Darlinghurst such a vibrant place at this time of year?

All the crazy people! Seriously, in a city full of suit-wearing bankers and people talking real estate, the crazy artists’ hobo-chic that is Darlo is a welcome relief.

How important is it to the local economy that we do our Christmas shopping with neighbourhood businesses?

It’s really important that people shop local.

Yes, things can be cheaper and easier online, but people really need to think about what kind of city they want to live in. People often complain of not being able to affect change in the world, but they fail to realise that every single time they choose to spend money they are making big waves. Every dollar that goes to an online drop-shipper is a dollar that robs local high streets of their vibrancy, it’s a dollar that doesn’t employ a local, it’s a dollar that leaves the community.

The problem is, in a world where people have less money than they would like, they often go for the cheapest option because the longer-term repercussions are not as stark as an empty wallet. But if you look as shopping local as a long-term investment in your hood, then maybe the satisfaction that brings is worth more than saving a few bucks.

What have you asked Santa to bring you this Christmas?

Santa knows to bring Stephan big Aussie reds and cognac.

What: DoDarlo Xmas 2016 Where: Various businesses in Darlinghurst When: Saturday December 3 – Saturday December 24 More: dbp.org.au BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 21

arts in focus

arts reviews

game on

■ Theatre

A LIFE IN THE THEATRE

Gaming news and reviews with Adam Guetti

DEC

2016

With the peak release mania now over, it’s time to wrap up the year with a slow trickle of titles designed to keep you gaming.

First up on Friday December 2 is Steep (PS4, XBO, PC) – Ubisoft’s open-world snow-based sports title. Whether you choose to ski, snowboard or paraglide, you can do it all in an attempt to master the virtual recreations of popular mountains.

The next day, on Saturday December 3, things get a lot more portable with not one but two games for 3DS owners. First is Super Mario Maker 3DS – the small-screen adaptation of its Wii U big brother, where you’ll be able to craft dastardly designs aplenty. Alternatively, if your brain needs a workout, why not check out Picross 3D Round 2? The sequel will allow blocks to be painted with two colours and include more than 300 puzzles.

Meanwhile, Tuesday December 6 is the day you’ll be able to reacquaint yourself with the walking dead via Dead Rising 4. 16 years after the events of the original game, photojournalist Frank West is back in the lead amid the holiday season in Colorado after a mysterious outbreak takes over. The game will be available for both Xbox One and PC. Wrapping things up just in time for Christmas is the long-awaited The Last Guardian for PS4.

Over a decade in the making, hopefully the adventure is able to live up to the hype. It’s out Wednesday December 7.

You Game Bro? Drinks Night

Hosted by the fine folk at Spawn Point Small Bar on Clarence Street, this marks the second You Game Bro? event. For those unaware of the popular local podcast, You Game Bro? features some of the country’s most influential people inside the games industry, including both Twitch streamers and YouTube personalities.

WHAT’S ON

New Releases

Playing at Eternity Playhouse until Sunday December 4

Kicking off from 5pm on Saturday December 17, this is your perfect opportunity to swing past, share a drink with the crew and pick their brains about past shows, future shows and potential guests. Plus, show the bar staff that you like You Game Bro? on Facebook and you’ll even receive a discount on your drink purchases. For more information, check out You Game Bro? and Spawn Point Small Bar’s respective Facebook pages.

Sydney Game Development And Unity Workshop

If you’ve always been interested in the games industry and are considering getting amongst it, then maybe take a look at the Sydney Game Development and Unity Workshop. Taking place across two days (Monday December 19 and Tuesday December 20) in Ultimo, the course will help you learn how to use the most popular software in the business for budding game developers. By the end of the two days you’ll also have two projects that you’ll be able to take home to show friends and family. Tickets are on the slightly pricier side at $350 each, so for more information visit eventbrite.com.au.

Darlinghurst Theatre Company closes out its season with a gentle love letter to the theatre; a delight that stokes the passion of those who consider the stage their home while reminding us of their strange existential position and the prospect of going forever unappreciated.

John (Akos Armont) and Robert (John Gaden) are at opposite ends of their acting careers, but inexorably bound by a cycle of plays performed together. For John, Robert is a source of inspiration and frustration; for Robert, his young companion offers a potential heir to his performative legacy.

As a David Mamet play, A Life In The Theatre is replete with every Mamet-ism you’ve come to know and love – misogyny, repetition and swearing (though fortunately the first is in short supply). His texts have a dictatorial level of pacing written in, frustrating the possibility for adaptation and interpretation.

Should one continue to be surprised at Sydney’s constant restaging of bygone ages, purely for the subscriber base? This is not to say that director Helen Dallimore and her team have not done an admirable job, but to question the contemporary value of staging so dated (and American) a play. Still, relevance is found in the intergenerational relationship between Armont and Gaden, who wonderfully capture the shifting dynamics in their professional and personal relationship.

Dallimore’s staging invites the audience backstage to watch her actors preen, posture and (in Gaden’s case) ponder their life choices.

Gaden is a delight, capturing the pomposity and fragility of an aged and vulnerable performer, simultaneously proud and desirous of appreciation for his many years of service. Armont is more halting in delivery, but shines given the opportunity to hurl himself into the play’s delirious, disastrous performances.

This is where the production company really has some fun – as John and Robert stumble through one cringeworthy public blunder after another, the team goes allout in treating every amateurish element of semi-professionalism as a slapstick weapon. Assistant stage manager Sunil Chandra may as well be listed as a cast member, given his charming and constant presence onstage, though his fellow SMs are invisibly working overtime.

Despite their efforts, however, there are simply too many elements onstage. The production is an embarrassment of riches, with not quite as many costumes as New Theatre’s gauche production of The Women, but nearing it. The decision to have the actors change in low-light transitions robs the comedy of much valuable pacing, as their costumes are full replicas where elements would have sufficed.

Though an odd choice of play, A Life In The Theatre is an entertaining and touching insight into the world behind the curtain, told with great candour and warmth by a team that is sure to remember it fondly as part of its own legacy in the theatre.

David Molloy

Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (PS4, XBO, PC)

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hen it was first released in 2011, Skyrim was kind of a big deal. The open-world wonder went on to wow gamers and take home countless awards for its efforts. This special edition is no different – a welcome remaster that includes all of the original game’s downloadable content.

At the end of the day, though, those who have already sunk in a lifetime of game time are unlikely to do so again.

Thanks to improved visuals, this is definitely the best way to experience Skyrim on a console – especially for newcomers. For everyone else, it’ll feel like a severe case of déjà vu.

■ Film

MORGAN In cinemas now

Review: Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4, XBO, PC)

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all Of Duty is facing a lot more competition nowadays – especially as Titanfall tries to own the futuristic shooter, while Battlefi eld has gone back to its historic roots.

That leaves Infinite Warfare to take a stab at the final frontier: space.

Thankfully, it’s not just a gimmick, with each single-player mission feeling decidedly different from the last. Whether you’re causing chaos on the ground or taking flight in your Jackal space fighter, it’s easy to tell that a lot of care has been placed into this campaign, helping make it one of the series’ best in years. If there’s one sour note throughout the experience, it’s sadly Game Of Thrones’ own Kit Harington, who unfortunately isn’t always capable of convincingly embracing his villainous role.

Outside of the campaign, both the zombies and multiplayer modes help bolster this year’s rather strong offering. Though neither reinvent the wheel, each feels more refined.

Zombies, for example, is even more ridiculous than the last offering – teleporting you an ’80s theme park, Spaceland, which has of course become overrun with the dead.

Gameplay is laughable as always, but there’s something strangely satisfying about forcing a zombie horde into a dance routine before finally introducing them to their maker.

It’s an offering that is representative of Infinite Warfare as a whole: experimental yet enjoyable.

22 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

Kate Mara plays Lee Weathers, the stern risk assessment consultant who takes on a mutant science project created by scientists at the specialist research company she works for, after an incident at the research facility leaves company directors concerned. Mara greets viewers looking like a small child playing dress-ups in her mother’s clothes, making it hard to take her pursed-lipped character seriously. She softens up, however, when the team of scientists are introduced and their story takes over.

The first half of the film sees this motley crew of scientists plead the humanity of their ‘baby’ Morgan, played by Anya

Taylor-Joy – she’s the five-year-old L9 model of a weaponised hybrid with advanced growth and cognitive skills, though she has the appearance of a teenager.

It’s a slow start – you have to anticipate this is a film with political, emotional and humanist points to make. Morgan is one of those films where once you’ve seen it – unless you become emotionally invested in a particular aspect – you won’t feel an urge to see it again.

However, certain scenes are particularly memorable.

Paul Giamatti and Toby Jones work wonders with a sparse and predictable script in emotionally driven

sequences, while British actor Rose Leslie opens a somewhat convincing turn as maniacal behaviourist Dr. Amy Menser, only for her energy to dissipate as weak action sequences wash out an otherwise strong performance.

With the exception of the escalated ending and predictable twists, Morgan is well written, well cast and well thought out, but ultimately Luke Scott’s directorial debut doesn’t cut through the superficial sci-fi barrier, preferring to lean on good ideas over action, and still failing to execute those ideas to their full potential.

Anna Wilson

thebrag.com

A Life In The Theatre photo by Helen White

Meanwhile, the level of customisation in multiplayer continues to impress, as does the sheer amount of modes tailored to everybody’s needs. Those looking for a change of pace needn’t look further than Defender – a sports-inspired mode where a spherical drone/ball must be kept away from the opposing team – while anybody worried about sporadic spawning can try Frontline, which has fixed spawn locations.

The ambitious sci-fi thriller Morgan addresses the humanity to be found in artificial creation, the relationships possible between the creator and their experiments, and the strains those relationships bring with them.

out & about Queer(ish) matters with Arca Bayburt

The Transgender Day Of Remembrance

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unday November 20 was the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Trans Sydney Pride (TSP) held Sydney’s first candlelight vigil to remember and honour transgender people from communities all over the world. The march drew around 250-300 people, and I suspect – and hope – that in the coming years, this number will grow.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance honours the memory of those who have been cruelly murdered in transphobic assaults, and is an attempt to raise the collective consciousness of wider society about these events. Almost all murdered trans people are trans women. Many of them are women of colour, many of them are sex workers, and almost all of them get no justice.

The Sydney vigil and remembrance events began at Harmony Park in Surry Hills. Something that surprised me (in a good way) was when the NSW Police unveiled a plaque dedicated to the trans community – it read, “Stand proud, the NSW Police Force stands with you.”

Some might look at this as a bizarre statement on behalf of the police force, considering the historically turbulent relationship between police and trans people. One of the many criticisms often levelled at police is that they simply don’t have empathy for trans people, which allows so many crimes against them to go unreported, underreported or unpunished.

I’m inclined to believe that the gesture of goodwill from the NSW Police signals an intention to really protect trans people – not just bow to social pressure with the minimum

of lip service required for appeasement. While the antipathy between marginalised groups and the police can’t be divorced from present-day relations, that doesn’t mean that history will necessarily be doomed to forever repeat itself. I feel like this plaque, however ineffectual or symbolic it might seem, will at least provide some sort of insurance we can hold on to.

Moreover, I’m a big believer in police education. So many of our communities are justifiably afraid of the police. They aren’t being paranoid or precious – they have been repeatedly victimised or dismissed by police and have no reason to trust them.

Police should not inspire fear. They need to work with our communities, not against them. They

need to show up, and they need to not protect the ignoramuses and bigots within their ranks from public criticism.

A similarly important part of the Day of Remembrance event in Sydney was the living library. It encouraged visitors to chat to trans people to promote understanding.

It’s easy to argue that the marginalised do not have to be responsible for the ignorance of others and that the onus of education is not on them. When it comes to entire institutions, however, this rings hollow.

We need to educate our police, we need to educate our politicians, we need our institutions to have empathy and intelligence.

And to get there, we need to do a little bit of selfeducation too.

Transgender Day Of Remembrance photo by Cec Busby/Gay News Network

this week…

On Friday December 2, WoofClub presents Bunker, an exclusive leather and denim party in the deep dark basement of the Beauchamp Hotel, featuring resident DJ George Roussos and more special guests to be announced. The dress code is “leather/ army/boots/rubber/latex/ harness/sports kit/brickie’s shorts/old jeans/anything durty n’ ruff!” There’s also a smell code – cologne is strictly forbidden. Tickets are available now.

On Saturday December 3, head over to The Shift Club for the Hombre launch party. DJs Dan Slater, Chip and Dirty Nelly will spin uplifting, hands-in-the-air beats.

The venue will be decked out with custom

thebrag.com

Jilamaruwi designed visuals, lighting installations and dark themes. Tickets are going fast.

And for the diary on Friday December 9, Hermann’s Bar at the University of Sydney is hosting a fundraiser – Jilamaruwi: Party The Tiwi Sistagirls To Sydney’s Mardi Gras. The Tiwi Sistagirls of Bathurst Island (80 kilometres north of Darwin) are coming to Sydney for Mardi Gras in March

2017, and they are asking for support with funds to cover flights, accommodation and to put together their float for the night. Donating their time and huge talents for your dancing (and fundraising) pleasure are PassionPop, The Real Housewife Of Sydney, HipHopHoe, Slé, Koco Carey, Yung Brujo, Marlene Cummins, VJ Icki Sweet and The Dreamtime Divas with more to be announced closer to the date.

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CHRISTMAS MARKETS C

hristmas in Australia is a time of sun, family, holidays and gifts. While buying presents can be stressful, it doesn’t have to be, and you can definitely do better than the dime-a-dozen stocking-fillers at the local department store. A bunch of Christmas-themed markets are happening all over Sydney in December – the perfect place to find a unique gift for that special family member or friend, or even to treat yourself.

We invited some of our favourite markets to tell us all about what they’ve got to offer.

L O C A L LY M A D E Speciality: Making your Christmas shopping easy and fun, Locally Made will showcase 65 emerging makers, artists and designers. You’ll find everything from night and loungewear from Natalija to unique jewellery from local silversmith Hoodooloulou and avant-garde wearables from Zuku. There’s lots to see, but there’s also lots to do! Three of our stallholders will be running ticketed workshops on the day, teaching you everything from polymer clay jewellery to making your own organic skincare products (very limited spots left!). There will also be a stage with bands and DJs, some great food stalls, macarons from MakMak and a Young Henrys bar.

JINGLE BELL

The crowd: Whether you’re looking for a unique Christmas gift, or just want to have a beer to a DJ set by The Delta Riggs, there’s something for everyone. We’ve even got the little ones covered, with handmade booties from Rikalu and “Inner Westie” kids’ tees from Well Spotted. Bring your kids, your dog, your best mate and your grandma.

The perfect gift: Japanese ceramicist Mukumono’s stunning range of plates, tumblers and pots make excellent Christmas presents. We also think Waja Creations are worth a visit; their concrete planters and industrial wares make fantastic gifts for the man in your life. If we only had $10, we’d get a koala print from The White Pad or a pair of Pantone-coloured stud earrings from Dean and Nadine. Then we’d head to Forget Cake’s gift wrapping station, with their range of hand-printed and risograph papers to choose from.

offering enough entertainment for an entire day out. The food and beverage section will offer Sydney’s fi nest bites, with delicious Venezuelan corn pockets from Arepa and mouth-watering Egyptian vegan fare from Koshari Korner. We’ve got beer from Young Henrys and coffee from St Peters locals The Little Marionette.

However, you can apply for future markets on our website.

What’s the fuel?

Locally Made will feature fi ve distinct areas,

Stallholder info: Unfortunately we’re all full up this month!

More: thecommune.co/locallymade

Where: 901 Bourke St, Waterloo When: Sunday December 4, 10am-5pm. The markets happens occasionally – follow us on social media for updates.

Speciality: Jingle Bell Rock Christmas Fair is an exciting new festive event that puts the fun back into Christmas shopping. This retro Christmas shopping and entertainment extravaganza features a carefully curated array of vintage, retro, festive and rock’n’roll stalls selling quality fashion, accessories, homewares, collectables, gifts, music, festive goods and more. It’s an all-day Christmas party too and a great place to catch some of Sydney’s swingingest retro and rockabilly acts.

The crowd: This family-friendly event caters to all who are seeking seriously cool and unique goods. Apart from the fantastic entertainment lineup mentioned above, swing and rock’n’roll dance lessons are also on offer for

BLACKTOWN Speciality: Our capacity is 240 stalls and we hit that most weeks. There’s loads of recycled and new threads, bric-à-brac, vintage wares, man cave collectables, garage sales, trash ’n’ treasure, farm fresh fruit, veg and produce, hardware, homewares, cut fl owers and much more.

The crowd: We attract a lot of families, as well as couples and groups of friends. You’ll see plenty of collectors and bargain hunters from the local area and as far afi eld as Bondi in the east or the Blue Mountains in the west.

The perfect gift: KreatioNZ sell jade jewellery from New Zealand.

Nungidewa for alternative fashion and the Fisherman’s Friend for fishing and outdoors gear. The secondhand stalls are always happy to barter and will be more than happy to give you some free banter while you haggle.

What’s the fuel?

We have around a dozen food stalls. Some are with us every week and some ‘pop up’ on a casual basis.

Mate Burger fuses Filipino

24 :: BRAG :: 690 :: 30:11:16

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NORTHSIDE PRODUCE MARKET

R O C K C H R I S T M A S FA I R adults and kids. The kids can even dress in their best Christmas outfit for our kids’ best dressed competition at 11:30am each day. They will also be enthralled by BennyO’s amazing balloon Christmas tree and balloon-twisting creations. Presented in association with Sydney Rock ‘N’ Roll & Alternative Market, we expect a rocking crowd.

The perfect gift: A treasure trove of fantastic goods are on offer for all budgets. Great buys are to be had from all of our fabulous stallholders.

What’s the fuel?

Fabulous international food traders feature at the market plus a Young Henrys bar and of course great coffee.

MARKETS and American flavours from a food truck at our market once a month. Every week you can find The Juicy Hut making all kinds of juices on site, as well as homemade soups and dumplings. Souvlaki Street Grill serve very generous portions of Greek fare and old-school service.

Stallholder info: On our website is your best bet. Depending on the time of year, we can book out weeks in advance, so it pays to be prepared.

Where: The Blacktown Drive-In, 33 Cricketers Arms Rd, Prospect When: 7am-2pm, every Sunday since 1994 More: blacktownmarkets. com

Stallholder info: Contact Tiffany Palmer: rocknrollmarket@iinet.net. au Where: The Concourse, Civic Pavilion and outdoor terraces, 409 Victoria Ave, Chatswood When: This one-off special event will be held on Saturday December 10, 10am-7pm and Sunday December 11, 10am-5pm More: theconcourse.com. au

Speciality: There are 60 to 70 stalls every market on the first and third Saturday of each month, from Flat Rock Brew Café, who have have created a Northside Produce Market Ale, to hand-crafted reindeer for your mum. There’s also local wine from Mosman

by Tom Munro and Second Mouse Cheese all the way from Orange.

The crowd: Come along to the park where you’ll see everyone from nought to naughty, from babies to baby boomers and the foodie to the muso. We have live music, free market tours (with samples), beers to berries and everything in between, including kids’ activities.

The perfect gift: Expect Christmas trees

from the local scouts, puddings from The Pudding Lady, reindeer decorations from Bruce Gibson, garlic plaits by Gilles Bonin and watermelon cake from Black Star Pastry. The fresh produce lasts for ages – that’s a bargain in itself! If you have $10 in your pocket, pick up a coffee, something sweet or savoury and enjoy the live music.

What’s the fuel?

From classic egg and bacon rolls to freshly made Moroccan crumpets, scrambled eggs with smoked trout to delicious vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free delights and great gelato. Drinks range from roasted coffee to freshly made juices and smoothies, plus beer, wine and ale tasting. There are plenty of seats in the park to relax or BYO picnic rug.

Stallholder info: northsydneycentre.com.au/ assets/files/nscc_produce_ market.pdf

When: The first and third Saturday of each month (except January, third Saturday only), 8am-12pm

Where: Civic Park, 220 Miller St, North Sydney

More: northsydneycentre. com.au

T H E B R E W E R Y YA R D M A R K E T S Speciality: The Brewery Yard Markets is a premium, inner-city market held on the first and third Sunday of every month at Central Park, Chippendale (opposite UTS). Featuring over 50 hand-selected stalls, live music, art demonstrations and more, the Brewery Yard is a hub for delicious ready-to-eat food, unique food products, designer fashion and artisan wares.

The crowd: Everyone! We carefully select our stallholders and musicians, and work with them closely to provide an offering loved by young families, working professionals, bohemians, students, Sydney residents and international travellers alike.

The perfect gift: A friendly chat and a smile will get you far, marketgoer. For Christmas we recommend handpoured soy wax candles, forged steel jewellery, garish vintage Christmas jumpers and premium fruit preserves.

What’s the fuel?

We’re known for delicious, delicious eats at the Brewery Yard. With over 15 food stalls to choose from, you can chow down on authentic New York-style bagels, Asian bao buns, fusion paella, fried chicken pancakes, Filipino sausage rolls and cold-pressed smoothies with your best buds while soaking up the sun in our summer deckchairs.

Stallholder info: Anyone can apply to us via breweryyardmarkets. com.au/apply. It takes just a few minutes to fill out, and once received we’ll get back to you ASAP. Where: Find us on the greens at Central Park, located on the corner of Chippendale Way and Central Park Ave, Chippendale (opposite UTS).

When: We run from 10am-4pm on the first and third Sunday of every month.

More: breweryyardmarkets.com.au

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BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 25

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK DEVILSKIN Be Like The River Rocket

Glory be to the gods of metal: it would appear that New Zealanders know how to rock it. Underground metallers Devilskin capture everything great about the genre in their second studio release – sultry vocals, bittersweet lyrics of the dark variety, and everything else you’d expect from a band of this ilk.

Devilskin have a goth rock style suited to fans of Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation and Nightwish. And with such an impressive grasp on songwriting, these Kiwis are no doubt set to grab Aussie fans by the throat.

Anna Wilson

xxx

One of New Zealand’s hottest metal bands looks set to storm Australian shores.

Only there’s something different about them – they’re shockingly addictive. The structure of their songs is like a drug, giving you the best of highs for a short rush before dropping off abruptly to leave you wanting more.

Fortunately, at 13 tracks long, Be Like The River rumbles out enough music to keep you satisfied.

Opener ‘In Black’ sets the pace for the entire record – it pounds in with some pretty generic lyrics and standard riffs, but there’s a hook to their sound that is undeniably impressive. Frontwoman Jennie Skulander has a deep and captivating tone, simply penetrating your very being. Through ‘Voices’, ‘Bury Me’ and ‘Animal’, her range is on full display, supported by some great bass work and simple, catchy riffs.

ILLY

LITTLE MURDERS

NAPIER

JUSTICE

BABES IN TOYLAND

Illy certainly seems to have a firm grip on the steering wheel of a successful pop career. You may even be reminded of the Katy Perrys and Justin Biebers of the world with the likes of ‘Oh My’ or ‘You Say When’ on his new album Two Degrees – and if he can emulate even a fraction of their success, he’ll have the music biz under his thumb.

In a Tokyo rock’n’roll bar recently, a middle-aged, tattooed German punk rocker told me about a mod revival happening in Indonesia.

The image of Indonesian youths wearing heavy green parkas decorated with Union Jacks and riding Vespas on the smog- and humidity-laden streets of Denpasar was too fascinating to ignore.

Surely this is globalisation in its ideal subcultural form?

Napier describe themselves as a “raunchy rock’n’roll” band and they certainly do rock the roll, channelling some old-school vibes with each guitar-driven track they have to offer. And they’re getting some pretty great reviews for their live shows as well.

In a world where paint-by-numbers electropop dominates the charts, it’s easy to lose sight of the pioneering electronic acts of decades past, and just how much more this broad genre has to offer beyond soaring choruses and club-friendly beats.

With incendiary US all-girl punk combo Babes In Toyland kicking out the jams live and loud again, it seems only fitting that this wall-shaking compilation of deeply satisfying, rough-hewn gems from 1990-95 should be blasting from your stereo.

Looking back at the previous decade, French duo Justice come to mind among the cream of the crop of the indie dance world. Now, nine years later, the pair have returned with their third album, Woman.

Kat Bjelland’s wonderfully unhinged and disorientating vocals whip up an authentic emotional maelstrom on searing tracks like ‘Ripe’ and ‘Right Now’, while she sounds quite possibly possessed during the skull-crushing ‘Handsome & Gretel’.

Two Degrees Onetwo/Warner

Sure enough, Illy has retained a little of his Aussie hip hop twang, but somehow the edges have been smoothed over, like someone’s taken an emery board and buffed most of the ocker out. It leaves us with an internationally accessible collection of songs. The intentions are clear: Illy has made an album filled with catchy grooves that commercial radio will feast upon.

Illy started out in hip hop, but who’s to say he can’t deviate from that course? To reach a broader audience, he’s decided to stifle some of the awkward beauty of his earlier sound, and he achieves this seamlessly throughout Two Degrees.

There’s plenty to dance about on this album, and there are a few interesting collaborations to boot. Throw in a little AutoTune and you have a whole stack of foot-tapping beats for your summer listening pleasure.

Asha Collins

Hi-Fab! Independent

Little Murders started out during the original mod revival back in the late 1970s. Singer and guitarist Rob Griffiths isn’t the young mod of yore, but he still writes songs with a melodic spring and rhythmic bounce. ‘24 Hours From London’, ‘All The Money In The World’ and ‘Merry Go Round’ are sprightly and infectious. ‘Whenever I Look At You’ is a love song with passion and attitude; ‘I Love The Chemicals’ might be an old mod looking back whimsically on the pill-popping days, or a dude realising the natural chemicals of romance are better than any purple hearts produced in an illicit warehouse. ‘So Bad’ is earnest and plaintive, while ‘God, It’s Been So Long’ is straight from the heart.

According to clichéd suburban sporting commentary, you can’t buy experience. And you can’t buy pop sensibility, either. Little Murders have got it in spades.

Patrick Emery

Sundance Romance Independent

I don’t know if it’s due to the title of their EP, Sundance Romance, or my first experience of it being on a stanky hot day, or because it really does conjure up the image of sitting in a beer garden for a Sunday session – but Napier might just become part of 2016’s summer soundtrack.

While the EP opens with a cheery tune and title track dedicated to summer lovin’, it closes with the melancholy ‘She Don’t Love Me’ (just in case you forgot that life ain’t all unicorns and sparkles, man). At least there are a few toe-tappers, including ‘Shake! Shake! Shake!’, which will make you get up and “shake what your mama gave you”, as per their instructions.

There are some funk elements to the song ‘Howlin’’, which comes complete with its very own saxophone solo, reminiscent of everyone’s guilty pleasure, Kenny G. So crack open a stubby and get around Sundance Romance.

Asha Collins

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK Lower Plenty make a statement right from the opener of their new album, Sister Sister. ‘Bondi’s Dead’ sees Al Montfort contribute an effortlessly ebullient number – the music is so approachable that the lyrics shine, and as oblique as they are, they tend to linger long after they’re uttered.

LOWER PLENTY

Sister Sister Bedroom Suck/Omnian

Guitarist/vocalist Jensen Tjhung deals in heavy romanticism – ‘Glory Rats’ sounds like rural American melodrama, in the best sense. A proclivity for crooning betrays a wounded yearning, and the words roll out with hazy imagery, partly psychedelic and partly pastoral.

Sarah Heyward leads ‘So It Goes’, an amazingly executed Eastern-

26 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

inflected song that’s both hooky and freewheeling. The unique tone of Heyward’s voice and the direction of its melody is instantly arresting.

A counterpoint is created by the ragged droning of the sarangi, a bowed instrument Montfort acquired in India. Combined with Daniel Twomey’s perfectly measured percussion, the song takes on an earthy, natural characteristic that’s rare to come by and hard to explain.

These songs can be singled out for the fact that together they exemplify the unbound approach of Lower Plenty, and what they can place within their blurry confines of pop music.

Woman Because/Warner

The record is slow-building and subtle yet powerful, with a perfect ensemble of elements flowing and meshing together across the ten tracks. It won’t take long before you find yourself nodding along to a funky bassline or singing one of the looping choruses. Soaring strings and the signature Justice choir bellowings are interspersed among the high-energy drums and synths of ‘Alakazam!’ and blissful pop of ‘Randy’ and ‘Love S.O.S.’ However, the album starts to falter in its second half, with the tedious ‘Chorus’ clocking in at over seven minutes. ‘Heavy Metal’ also misses the mark, sounding like a gothic supernatural theme tune on steroids.

Redeux Blank

When Bjelland sings, she never comes across as if she’s play-acting or going through the motions. There is something visceral and refreshingly real being manifested in every one of her cathartic vocal contortions.

Highlights of this exciting collection include the suitably bruising rhythmic intensity that underpins the pummelling yet phenomenally catchy ‘Bruise Violet’, the air of seething menace that inflames ‘Bluebell’, and the swinging rhythm, infectious melody and mischievous cowbell that make ‘Sweet ‘69’ sound as fresh as it did when it was released.

Despite a couple of lows, Woman sees Justice return to their glory days of the mid-2000s.

After blowing the roof off the house with these 18 molten tracks, it’s clear that Redeux is essential listening for anyone who hungers for a healthy dose of emotional authenticity with their rock’n’roll.

Kelsey Berry

Graham Blackley

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

MODEST MOUSE - Strangers To Ourselves MORRISSEY - Bona Drag CROWDED HOUSE - Woodface

MOSES SUMNEY - Lamentations JOHN FARNHAM - Whispering Jack

Lee Parker

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live reviews

snap sn ap

What we’ve been out to see...

up all night out all week . . .

BAND OF SKULLS, FLOWERTRUCK

indie rock has veered decidedly towards the garage side of their aesthetic.

Band Of Skulls are one of those ubiquitous acts who have managed to earn a deeply loyal following. At their Oxford Art Factory gig to support new album By Default, their crowd of super fans was jumping, singing and clambering towards the stage.

Russell Marsden delivered all his guitar solos with blistering precision and kept the crowd excited for the duration of the set.

‘You’re Not Pretty But You Got It Goin’ On’ was a particular highlight, as was ‘Brothers And Sisters’. Bassist and backing vocalist Emma Richardson was exceptionally cool throughout.

Oxford Art Factory Sunday November 27

Flowertruck, hailing from Sydney’s Inner West, kicked things off nicely. Their brand of indie is a little dreamy, but always anchored with a kick drum and ’80s-style spoken lyrics. Frontman Charles Rushforth managed to smile widely and perform at once – which is perhaps appropriate with song titles like ‘Sunshower’.

Band Of Skulls took the stage with scuzzy new track ‘In Love By Default’. It’s a slightly unexpected change in direction for the Brits, who have previously had tracks featured in everything from Gossip Girl to The Jinx. While their new album hasn’t reached the same heights of popularity as 2014’s Himalayan, it is in many ways a nod to Band Of Skulls’ roots, and their bluesy

That’s not to forget drummer Matt Hayward, who does not shy away from a showstopping solo. He came to the fore in ‘I Know What I Am’, and by this stage the fans towards the front of the stage were moshing – not an easy feat in a busy OAF. Band Of Skulls write the kind of rock designed to be played live. Perhaps it’s the blues influence that offers them such spontaneity, or the fact their tracks are complex and layered pieces. Seeing each of the three members bring something extra to the stage is perhaps the most rewarding part, and solidifies their reputation as a band worth watching next time you get the chance.

Emily Meller

Sydney Opera House Friday November 25

Somehow it feels like Crowded House have never gone away. Perhaps it’s the ubiquity of their songs, which have been the foundation of rock and adult contemporary radio in this country for decades now.

Perhaps it’s the fact Neil Finn has kept churning out verses and choruses like a one-man hitmaking machine since his most famous project bid farewell on the steps of the Sydney Opera House some 20 years ago. And yes, there were reunion shows from 2007 onwards. But amid all this, there’s a sense Crowded House have been due for a homecoming; a real occasion to show they aren’t just everywhere at once, they are here and now. And the Opera House provides the backdrop once again.

This is one of four sold-out shows on the shoreline of Sydney Harbour, and as much a gathering for the fans as it is for the current Crowded House lineup. Individuals in the audience seem to each be here for a different song that means something to them in a different way: some bellow along to the call-and-response of ‘World Where You Live’, others gently mouth the harmonies to ‘Whispers And Moans’.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Oxford Circus Thursday November 24

Live, Bree Tranter’s vocals are just as bruised and woozy as on record. She exudes a beaten air, delicate but dense, with an often elusive whisper that blurs words at the edges. Soft, trawling guitar riffs or slow-moving keyboard chords are usually at the centre of her songs. In some places they are all there is, but then echoes open up boundless spaces around her, other instruments waft in and her voice multiples itself. The music is both intimate and telling – Tranter writes what she knows and allows enough room for those around to see, yet she reserves the most important and contemplative parts for herself.

As the lights dimmed at the sold-out and cosy confines of Oxford Circus, openers Alby and friends emerged. Their funky basslines were a constant, with tinges of ’70s-era slow R&B licking at the heels of smooth, sultry blues. The collective oozed with soul, completely in sync and at ease.

A cream-coloured tapestry hung from the ceiling as monochromatic water visuals washed over the drapes, creating a textural space to inhabit. Eyes closed, Tranter

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CROWDED HOUSE

BREE TRANTER, ALBY

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

therein approached the mic. A weaving flute line hovered over a scant of soft synth. Overcoming a minor technical issue, Tranter stepped out of the shadows to ease into ‘The Dancer (Drunken Monster)’ and ‘Deja-Vu’. Each song followed a similar structure, starting low and lax, progressing slowly into a subliminal swelling of bass and percussive notes before retreating abruptly.

Tranter’s backing band included Matt Corby and Rohin Jones (The Middle East), and they carried the music to new levels. In the most impressive moments, the songs reached great heights, with emphasis on dynamics and the juxtaposition of the powerful with the soft, making each tone of every track stand out.

‘Tuesday Fresh Cuts’ had the crowd truly grooving over its dreamlike quality, while crooner ‘Under The Sun’ sounded like it was smeared with Tranter’s own tears.

Indeed, Tranter was at her minimal best at the bleakest end of the spectrum. ‘Another Night On Earth’ saw her lament loss and pain – and rather than slumping over a glass of whisky, a song like this one allows for fresh wounds to breathe.

Kiera Thanos

It can make for a segmented set when an

JULIEN BAKER, EMMA RUSSACK, ELIZABETH HUGHES Newtown Social Club Monday November 21

Filing into the dimly lit Newtown Social Club is always a pleasure. The place is easily one of the best venues in Sydney, and provides an intimacy that is hard to match at any of the bigger rooms. Young singersongwriter Elizabeth Hughes set the tone immediately, opting for the amplified clean guitar mix that seems to be quite popular lately. She delivered a set that was focused more on storytelling than instrumentation, but that’s no bad thing. Crooning to and joking with the audience all at once via her anecdotes about life and her folk-inspired melancholy rhymes, it was clear that Hughes is one to watch out for.

Emma Russack came next, and had the crowd captivated. She too offered the audience stories that inspired her music, but were indeed more raunchy, or as she herself put it so elegantly, “scandalous”.

Between tales about threesomes and dating a B-grade celebrity who she confessed was more than double her

artist offers so many things to so many people, but the frontman Finn binds everyone together. He conducts a partby-part singalong to ‘Fall At Your Feet’, and pokes fun at the local residents of the ‘Toaster’ building, who’ve made a habit of complaining about noise from live concerts taking place at the world’s most recognisable concert venue (go figure).

There are no such complaints about the fireworks above the Harbour Bridge during a slower section of the setlist, though the band is clearly as surprised as the audience. There are surprises onstage, too, as Tim Finn emerges for ‘It’s Only Natural’, and ends up leading the band himself on ‘Chocolate Cake’. Truly, seeing the Finn brothers coordinate an Angus Young goosestep with their acoustic guitars is a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

The last part of the show features a parade of Neil Finn masterpieces – ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’, ‘Distant Sun’, ‘Weather With You’ and the climactic ‘Better Be Home Soon’ – and while the location is breathtaking, it’s these songs that have proven life-giving.

“Thank you for keeping them alive,” Finn says. “For letting them accompany your sad moments, your happy moments. I couldn’t ask for more.” No, Neil, the pleasure has been ours.

Chris Martin

age at the time, Russack pulled the onlookers in and kept them there for the whole performance. She even claimed she wouldn’t be bound by contractual obligations that stopped her from playing certain songs (most notably that one about dating a B-grade celebrity). Awesome.

If Julien Baker’s set was the quietest gig of the year, then the crowd was the loudest by comparison. The Memphis singersongwriter walked onstage to a round of cheers that she evidently did not expect upon playing her first night in Sydney. Her guitar seemed extremely soft at first, but Baker assured us this was all part of the show, and launched into choice cuts from her debut release Sprained Ankle.

Keeping things minimal while providing a complicated songwriting palette that draws on themes of depression and self-worth, Baker more than deserved the ravenous applause that greeted the end of every song. Hoping for an encore, but left wanting, the crowd exited hungry for more. Elusive to the end, this was but a first taste of what Julien Baker can do.

Benjamin Potter

BRAG :: 691 :: 23:11:16 :: 27

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

snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

thebrag.com/snaps PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

THE CULT

Enmore Theatre Friday November 25 I still remember the summer of ’89, sitting in my short shorts in front of the TV and grooving on the bad boy vibes as the ‘Fire Woman’ video from The Cult’s arenatroubling Sonic Temple LP blazed neon and leather across the screen. “Twisting like a cat on a hot tin shack!” I yelled gleefully as I practised jumping off the couch and landing on my knees. At that moment, my mother tilted her head and paused her vacuuming to remark on how nice Ian Astbury’s hair was. Buzz killed.

chosen beginning and the air is thick with an excitement that crackles. This is fucking fun. The Cult are dumb rock par excellence, Guns N’ Roses by way of Jim Morrison – big guitars and bogus spirituality, snakehipped and wildly intoxicating.

Billy Duffy’s guitar sound is huge, transforming the paisley-hued jingle jangle of ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ into a roaring wail and chunk. And it works. John Tempesta’s drums are a boot-stamp blueprint as ‘Fire Woman’, ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ and ‘Li’l Devil’ possess everyone’s legs and the Enmore bops wildly.

Nearly 30 years later, that moment strikes me as I wander into the Enmore Theatre to catch The Cult’s latest jaunt on their Hidden City tour. No strangers to these shores, this is the band’s third visit in recent years and yet the venue is still packed. I guess you’ll never go bankrupt when appealing to the electricity god.

There are a few missteps – clunky ballad ‘Birds Of Paradise’ shoots for the profound but falls flat with wings clipped, and an undignified rant over a recent bad review reveals a strangely thin-skinned streak, but other recent cuts ‘Hinterland’ and ‘Deeply Ordered Chaos’ fare better, proving The Cult still have something potent in the tank that prevents them from being a strictly nostalgic act.

Although somewhat less leonine than in the glory days, Astbury is no less the archetypal frontman, all dishevelled grace and tambourine-bruised hip. Ten minutes in and my face is sore ’cause I’ve just been hit in the chops with an opening salvo of ‘Wildflower’ and ‘Rain’. It’s a perfectly

The lights come up briefly, but we know they’ll be back with ‘Love Removal Machine’ in their back pocket. Salt shaker! Soul stealer! It’s rock’n’roll. Pump your fists. The Cult hit hard on summer nights.

Andi Lennon

26:11:16 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 28 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

aria awards 2016

PICS :: AM

british india

PICS :: AM

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

23:11:16 :: The Star Event Centre :: Pyrmont thebrag.com

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

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Halfway Homebuoy Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Julio Iglesias The Star Event Centre, Pyrmont.

7:30pm. $111.

Karaoke Wednesdays Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm.

Free.

The Temper Trap Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $74.83.

Underfoot Records And Friends The Hideaway Bar, Enmore. 4pm. Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Folkswagon - feat: Candice McLeod + Alister Turrill + Lazy Colts

Cafe Lounge Bar, Surry Hills. 7pm. Free.

Jim Finn Ruby L’otel, Rozelle.

7:30pm. Free.

Manouche Wednesday - feat.

Gadjo Guitars Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Son Little Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $28.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Energetic Zen Quartet Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $10.

Salsa Wednesdays feat: DJ Miro The Argyle, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.

The Gypsy Art Club Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $10.

Wailing Wednesdays - feat: Live Reggae Acoustic Rosie Campbell’s, Surry Hills. 7pm. Free.

THURSDAY DECEMEBER 1 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Ultimate Collaborate - feat: End Of Year Jam Session Party + Various Acts Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 5pm. $15.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Anthony Charlton Australian Arms Hotel, Penrith. 7pm.

Free.

Balmain Blitz Band Comp Bridge Hotel, Rozelle.

7pm. $15.

Big Rat Stu + Vaporised + Grim + Bright + The Sinics + Legal Aliens Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Caravãna Sun + Colin Jones And

The Delta Revue Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 7pm.

Free.

Jukebox Thursdays - feat: Miki Dean Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 10pm. Free.

Live Band Karaoke Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9pm. Free.

Matt Andersen + Shaun Kirk Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $20.

Ne Obliviscaris + Gods Of Eden Manning Bar, Camperdown. 6pm. $40.30.

Sheer Mag + Tyrannamen + Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $30.

Smoking Martha Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Take Me As I Am (An Evening Of Joni Mitchell) - feat: Rainee Lyleson Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $22.90.

Upstairs Live The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY,

pick of the week Chairlift

SUNDAY D EC E M B E R 4

five things WITH

Metro Theatre

Chairlift

AFRO MOSES

Growing Up I was influenced by 1. gospel spiritual music from

my mother and father, who were both musical – my mum was a singer and my dad sang and played accordion.

My great-grandfather was a chief in my village; when I was five years old they saw potential in me for music and they taught me African drum calls to bring all the chief elders together to the chiefs’ palace back home in Ghana.

8pm. $55.70.

BLUES & FOLK

Inspirations First was my parents, 2. then there was a band in Ghana called K.K.’s No. 2 Band, and also Koo Nimo.

My other influences were listening to Bob Marley and James Brown. Marley inspired me so much with how his music brought different races together – especially his song ‘One Love’. Then James Brown with the song ‘Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud’.

Your Band My band consists 3. of musicians of multiple

nationalities based here in Sydney and Newcastle. My band members inspire me a lot with their love for African rhythms and Afrobeat, and also singing in my native Ghanaian language, we play many different rhythms from 4/4 to 6/8, et cetera. It’s an honour to teach my band the African Afrobeat styling. I’ve been working with a couple of producers in Australia including Richard Tognetti, and also Lucky Dube’s bass player Tio Moliantoa – they are both currently producing my new album.

The Music You Make My music is a mixture 4. of traditional to modern Afrobeat and reggae rhythms. My latest album was recorded live, straight thebrag.com

from the mixer to CD. The album is called Afro Dance Pop. People can expect from my live show to feel happy and inspired with spiritual messages of motivation, as in my new song titled ‘Black Is Beautiful, White Is Wonderful’.

lockout laws making gigs finish earlier and less venues having live bands like back in the day. A lot of sacrificing goes into being a full-time musician like touring and living out of a suitcase, but I guess I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene is forever turning and changing, with new artists and also bringing back old styles into new versions. I think the main obstacles musos have to face these days in the Sydney music scene is definitely the

What: Gala Concert of African & Aussie All-Stars With: Gervais Koffi, Sibo Bangoura, Chris Gudu, Pape Mbaye and more Where: The Basement When: Thursday December 8

5.

Anthony Charlton Australian Arms Hotel, Penrith.

8:30pm. Free.

Folk At The Lodge - feat: John Vella + Leroy Lee + Friends Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7pm.

Free.

Jim Finn Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free.

Live & Original @ The Louis feat: Swedish Sensibilities + Bowen & Clare + Daniel Tomalaris Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham. 7:30pm.

Free.

Peta & The Wolf The Temperance Society, Summer Hill.

7pm. Free.

Sugar Bowl Hokum Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

8:30pm. Free.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Jim Finn + Band Of Mercane Crown Hotel, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Basement Fridays feat: DJ Matt Sav The Eastern, Bondi Junction. 9pm. $10.

Bedroom Heroes (The One Night Stand) - feat: Tinsmith + Maia Marsh + Yours Truly Aurora Motel Pleb City Studios, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $10.

Botany Idol Karaoke Competition Botany Bay Hotel, Banksmeadow.

9:30pm. Free.

Chaos Divine + Genetics + Three Wise Monkeys + Dyssidia Factory Floor, Marrickville. 8pm. $15.

Darkc3ll + Noveaux + Demonatrix + Kvlts Of Vice The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt.

8pm. $15.

Dr Farquhar Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi.

9:30pm. Free.

Exhibitors + Snake Pit + Hollow Heart + Easy Life Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

Factory Fridays feat: The Syphons

Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. Free.

Fridays - feat: New Horizons Band + M7 & DJ Marty Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7pm.

Free.

Jack River Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 7:30pm. $13.80.

Raised Fist Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $53.40.

The Peep Tempel Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $22.

The Used Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:50pm. $61.30.

Waax + Born Joy Dead + Train Robbers Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $5.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Andrew Dickeson Quartet + DJ Till Late Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $15.

Keyim Ba Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $22.90.

Ngaiire + Woodes + Wallace Factory Theatre,

Marrickville. 7:30pm. $25.

The Blue Mabels + Liam Gerner Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $15.

The Protesters Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 9pm. $15.40.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Get Folked - feat: Medusa’s Wake + The Bottlers + Scarlets Revenge + The Habanerbros + Mournwillow + Jonno Read + Billy Punton + Whiskey Jeff + Josh Arentz + Antonia Susan + A-Rock Newman + Angus & Julia Stoned + Yvette Vials + Luke Holmeslice + Smug Young Dads + Mac & Cheese + Brendan Kennedy + Avobandito + DJs Till Late Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 12pm. $15.

Mick Reid + John Mackie

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

Smoking Martha

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Dan Barnett Big Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 4pm. Free.

The Squares Moya’s Juniper Lounge, Redfern.

6pm. Free.

V-Tribe Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly.

7pm. Free.

Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Glebe.

10am. Free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Bootleg Rascal Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $18.90.

Kriola Collective Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 9pm. $22.90.

The Catholics + Chris Cody Foundry616, Ultimo.

8pm. $25.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bell X1 Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $40.

Castlecomer Manning Bar, Camperdown. 8pm. $15.

Dallas Frasca Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $20.

Free Metal - feat: Fenrir + Lethal Vendetta + Reaver + Snow Leopard Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm.

Free.

Funeral Moon + Wardaemonic + Mar Mortuum + Graveir + Golgothan Remains The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt.

8pm. $15.

Geoff Yule Smith The Bar Sir Stamford Hotel, Sydney. 6pm.

Free.

Glitoris The Bearded Tit, Redfern. 4pm. Free.

Imperial Broads + Richard Cuthbert + Shearin’ Union Hotel, Newtown. 8pm. Free.

Matt Andersen + Shaun Kirk

The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $24.30.

Ramshackle Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $25.

Seafarer Fables The Newsagency, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $11.50.

The Used Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:50pm. $61.30.

Wasted Ones + Los Romeos Oxidados + DJs Vegas & Memphis Star Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville.

8pm. $15.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bad Moon Rising Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi.

3:30pm. Free.

Chairlift Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $55.70.

Don Fernando Town Hall Hotel, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

Loose Shreds + Daughter’s Agenda + Accidental President + Portent Oracle Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Matt Andersen + Shaun Kirk

Lizotte’s, Dee Why. 6:30pm. $20.

The Happening Sing Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6pm. $12.90.

The Mal Eastick Band The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt.

6pm. $22.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Acoustic Sessions Buena Vista Hotel, Mosman. 2pm. Free.

Dog The Duke Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $10.

Heath Burdell Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 3pm. Free.

The Spooky Men’s Chorale Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $30.

MONDAY DECEMBER 5 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Latin & Jazz Open Mic Night The World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. Free.

West Juliet

wed

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

John Maddox Duo Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Angel Olsen + Jack Ladder Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 9pm. $59.

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

Rodriguez Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $101.85.

The Monday Jam The Basement, Circular Quay.

8:30pm. $6.

The Tallest Man On Earth Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 7pm. $49.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 6 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY,

BLUES & FOLK

Ryan Adams Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $108.70.

That Red Head Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $10.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Live & Original @ Mr Falcon’s - feat: Matt Bednarsky Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7:30pm. Free.

Ollie McGill Trio Foundry616, Ultimo.

8pm. $13.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Angel Olsen + Jack Ladder Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $49.

Bucket Lounge Presents – Live & Originals Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Cass McCombs + Ela Stiles Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. $49.

Karaoke Party Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7:30pm.

Free.

thu

30 Nov

Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $10.

01 (9:00PM - 12:00AM)

Dec

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

02 Dec

(10:00PM - 1:40AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sat

sun

03

5:45PM  8:45PM

Dec

04 Dec

3:30PM  6:30PM (8:30PM - 11:30PM)

(10:00PM - 1:15AM)

mon

tue

05 Dec

06 Dec (8:30PM - 11:30PM)

(8:30PM - 11:30PM)

EVERY SATURDAY

Party DJs GROUND FLOOR - AFTER BANDS

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g g picks gig p up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 Julio Iglesias The Star Event Centre, Pyrmont. 7:30pm. $111.

The Temper Trap Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $74.83.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Caravãna Sun + Colin

Jones And The Delta Revue Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 7pm. Free.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2

Ne Obliviscaris + Gods Of Eden Manning Bar, Camperdown.

6pm. $40.30.

Chaos Divine + Genetics + Three Wise Monkeys + Dyssidia Factory Floor, Marrickville.

8pm. $15.

Sheer Mag + Tyrannamen + Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $30.

Darkc3ll + Noveaux + Demonatrix + Kvlts Of Vice The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 8pm. $15.

Smoking Martha Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Jack River Hudson Ballroom, Sydney.

7:30pm. $13.80.

Angel Olsen

The Tallest Man On Earth

Keyim Ba Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $22.90.

Ngaiire + Woodes + Wallace Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

7:30pm. $25.

Raised Fist Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $53.40.

The Peep Tempel Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $22.

The Used Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:50pm. $61.30.

The Vanns + The Dinlows Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 5pm. Free.

Waax + Born Joy Dead + Train Robbers Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $5

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3

Union Hotel, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

Bootleg Rascal Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $18.90.

Matt Andersen + Shaun Kirk The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $24.30.

Castlecomer Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $15.

Ramshackle Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $25.

Dallas Frasca Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $20.

Glitoris The Bearded Tit, Redfern.

4pm. Free.

Imperial Broads + Richard Cuthbert + Shearin’

MONDAY DECEMBER 5 Angel Olsen + Jack Ladder Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 9pm. $59.

Rodriguez Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $101.85.

The Tallest Man On Earth Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point. 7pm. $49.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 6 Cass McCombs + Ela Stiles Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30. $49.

Ryan Adams Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:30pm. $108.70.

ON TOU

: 3 0 PM 7 @ C 8 D E @ 7: 0 0 P M U H T – N T E R AT 1 0TH D EC 7: 0 0 PM U H & G STA H OT E L – S 1 1TH D EC @ E L T S N E W CAU L L I H E R I TAG E H OT E L – S U N u a . m A B o D N c . ial MIRA c A o D s N g A R n MI w. k i TH

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brag beats

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

on the pulse club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Martin, Harriet Flitcroft and Ariana Norton

ELECTRIC GARDENS GOES BIG

five things WITH

LANKS music and disposition I have also grown a lot. I couldn’t possibly name all the other people – the list would go on forever. But Andrei Eremin, the co-producer, mixer and masterer of the EP, deserves a special mention. He’s become a great friend.

The Music You Make And Play 4.

I have a very diverse

love of music, and it’s reflected in my output.

My EP is full of piano ballads, chilled grooves and hip hop beatinfluenced bangers.

I also make acoustic music at home and various odds and ends of things. I think as Lanks I am aiming for things like Mura Masa, D.D Dumbo and Mø.

1.

Growing Up I grew up learning and playing music with my sister, Lou, who now manages me.

As kids we had The Beatles slamming on the stereo, and we started learning to play jazz and improvise at a pretty young age. At ten and 11 we were playing small jazz gigs and that continued through our high school days until we both went and did a degree in music at the Victorian College of the Arts. Grandma is a visual artist and Dad is also pretty handy at illustration, so we always had people encouraging us in our creative pursuits.

They taught us that art is fun before we learned about the more disciplined skill-building side of it, and that was integral to my approach developing in the right way.

Inspirations My biggest 2. inspiration is

Radiohead, and I will always remember

the first time I started getting into them, and consequently my favourite album, Amnesiac. My uncle introduced me to their music and straight away I was hooked.

I was busy teaching myself to play the piano parts from ‘Pyramid Song’ and ‘You And Whose Army?’, and those sounds are so implanted in my brain.

Your Crew I am surrounded 3. by amazingly talented and beautiful people.

Music has brought me together with people I might never have crossed paths with from all walks of life, and I’m very grateful for that. My housemates are graphic designers, editors, writers and musicians and they have influenced my growth as a human as well as an artist. I have also become friends with the Pieater crew, who helped record parts of my Viet Rose EP, and through their

HE LUKES A MILLION BUCKS

Luke Million has locked in his first headline dates for 12 months. The Live Journey tour represents a rethink of his stage show, capitalising on his viral remix for the theme tune to Netflix hit Stranger Things. His summer festival schedule – including sets at Southbound, Beyond The Valley, Ozfest and Lost Paradise – has now been beefed up with some of his own parties, including a top billing at the Ivy on Sunday January 1.

Music, Right Here, Right

5.

Now The Australian scene is full of talented and amazing people and I’ve felt so much love and support from a lot of them. The industry can be a lonely place sometimes – I think especially for independent artists, as we’re part of smaller teams – but there are so many amazing musicians out there who just want to make great music and hear great music. I also love Vera Blue. She is an incredibly honest songwriter and her singing is better than you can ever imagine.

Trust me, I’ve seen her show 18 times now.

What: Viet Rose out now independently With: Hein Cooper Where: The Basement / Miranda Hotel When: Thursday December 1 / Friday December 2

Australia Day weekend dance festival Electric Gardens has announced an expanded lineup. Joining the already announced Eric Prydz on the Mixmag main stage will be UK house heavyweight Mark Knight, who can not only boast of being a Grammy nominee, but has also played residencies in legendary clubs such as Space Ibiza and Amnesia.

Headlining the Code stage will be Jamie Jones, the Welsh-born techno DJ who was crowned the best in the world by Resident Advisor in 2012. Germany’s &Me will return to Sydney after his whirlwind tour earlier this year, while Brazilian-born, Berlin-based Anna will also play the stage. Over on the Digital Therapy stage, the Grammy-nominated Sasha will fill the top spot, bringing his genre-defying sounds to the festival. In what promises to be an intense and incredible experience, Hernan Cattaneo will go back-toback with Guy J; a moment not to be missed by festivalgoers. Special guests Basement Jaxx have also joined the lineup for a DJ set on what promises to be a cracking day out.

Electric Gardens 2017 is on Saturday January 28 at Centennial Park.

MLIVE FULL LINEUP

MLIVE, the live series from Majestic Casual, is coming to Sydney this week with an exciting lineup. Joining the previously announced French producer FKJ are Sydney twins Cosmo’s Midnight, plus Kilter, Buoy and Cabu. The show is part of a series of events that have previously taken place in Paris, Berlin, London, Los Angeles and New York. Majestic Casual started in 2011 as an audiovisual music blog on YouTube. Since then it has had a huge influence within the electronic, hip hop, pop and indie communities.

Tickets for the show are on sale now, and it’s set to take place on Friday December 2 at Max Watt’s.

Varhat

MANTRA COLLECTIVE TURNS FOUR

Mantra Collective is celebrating its fourth birthday en Français with a set from French producer Varhat. He’ll be joined by Londoner Shai Spooner and Sydney local Marley Sherman as well as Mantra Collective themselves (Aboutjack, Space Junk and White Cat going ‘B3B’). Varhat co-owns a record store,Yoyaku, in Paris and has launched several projects and a record label. He has no limits when it comes to music and is always taking on new challenges, pushing boundaries and building on his eclectic catalogue. Mantra Collective’s fourth birthday celebration is on at Civic Underground on Saturday December 17.

OH WILLY? YES WILLY

The signature sound of Chicago bass is floating across the seas in Sydney’s direction this summer. It’s all thanks to Willy Joy, a festival favourite in his native US and a choice remixer for big names like Major Lazer, Flosstradamus and A-Trak. His sevendate tour of Australia will see him travel the country from Perth to the Sunshine Coast, and he’ll stop in along the way at The World Bar on Wednesday

January 4. Deep and meaningful.

HIP HOP ON THE SLY

This week’s instalment of Slyfox’s regular Live At The Sly night features a triple threat of hip hop. New faces Sagrada Familiar will headline, joined by the folk-inflected mash-ups of Papaya Tree and soul hoppers Jackie Brown Jr. Entry is free, drinks are cheap and beats are flowing. Lock it in this Thursday December 1.

SUMMER DANCE RETURNS

Sydney party crew Astral People are set to deliver their third series of Summer Dance events, with the first lineup for January 2017 now revealed.

The outdoor parties take place across several Sundays each summer at the National Art School in Darlinghurst.

They’re a mighty fine getaway from the hustle and bustle of a busy city, and time after time the lineups feature some prime international and local guests. Summer Dance returns on Sunday January 22, and the maiden lineup for the year includes the UK’s Palm Trax, Melbourne’s Roland Tings, Sweden’s Kornél Kovács, and locals Andy Garvey and Lauren Hansom. Grab your tix at summerdance.com.au.

Luke Million Set Mo

UNDR CTRL LETS LOOSE

Let’s face it, traditional Christmas merriment ain’t everyone’s thing – so if you fancy yourself more of a party animal, Undr Ctrl has got this, well, under control. It’ll be turning its Xmas All-Dayer event this year into an official Keep Sydney Open fundraiser. Undr Ctrl will host two very special intimate events in one this December, featuring artists including Set Mo, Total Giovanni, World Champion, Jensen Interceptor, Motorik Vibe Council, Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Luen, Ariane and Kato as well as Undr Ctrl’s very own resident DJs. The daylight section of the party will take over the Captain Cook Hotel rooftop, and then head to Freda’s for the night. Merry Christmas, y’all!

The Xmas All-Dayer is on Saturday December 17. xxx

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

club pick of the week FKJ

FRIDAY D EC E M B E R 2 Max Watt’s

MLIVE FKJ + Cosmo’s Midnight + Kilter + Buoy + Cabu 9pm. $56.10.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30

Ricardo Villalobos photo by Jos Kottman

CLUB NIGHTS

EMC Play Hub feat: Tashka + Golden Vessel + Lastlings + Alice Ivy + Paces + The Tapes + Kuren + Tobacco Rat + Nutrition + Siniq + Goldielocks + Oshan + Swindail + Harseloyde + Dena Amy + Fvturistic + Varcity + Hey Sam Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $38.50.

EMC Play Audiopaxx x Kosher x Pilerats x Sidechains Showcase - feat: Sayya + Alex Bassweight FKA Trumpdisco + Tina Says + Colour Castle + Audiopaxx & Kosher DJs + Grasps + Pilerats & Sidechains DJs + James Crooks + Fresh Hex + Hi Life + Amastro + Lower Spectrum + Tigerilla + Lolo Bx + Ribongia + Oski Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 8pm. $38.50.

EMC Play Nuff Said x Etcetc x Eighty Six Showcase feat: Friendless vs Kormak + Avon Stringer + Made In Paris + Stace

thebrag.com

Cadet + Airwolf + Klue + Poolclvb + Sippy + Blanke + Eighty Sixers + I-Dee + Jade Le Flay + Surprise Guests + Set Mo + Lo’99 + Odd Mob + Ian Munro + Tdy The World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $38.50.

EMC Play Undr Ctrl x Purple Sneakers Showcase - feat: Elsz + Aeora + Annie Bass + Mezko + CkDJ + Mimi + Nap Girls DJs + Sports x Jennifer Jennifer + Val York + Natnoiz + Ellie D x Jaman (Sideboob) + Human Movement + Muto + Third Floor + Wrld + Undr Ctrl x Purple Sneakers DJs Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 6pm. $38.80.

Machinedrum + Jnr + Hyrule Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $33.

SBW Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Wet Wednesdays Scary Canary, Sydney. 9:30pm.

Free.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 CLUB NIGHTS Countdown To FOMO - feat:

Slumberjack + Feki + Tonik + Non Applicable DJs + Sanchoe + Basslisk + K-Time + Jonny Boy + Anfi nity Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill.

8pm. $25.

Femme Fetale The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Get Some Goodbar, Paddington. 6pm.

Free.

House Keeping Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Just A Gent Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 8pm. $16.90.

Lanks + Hein Cooper + Rin McArdle The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $24.30.

Throwback Thursdays Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

Yo/ Da Fu/ Nk - feat: Resident Funk DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm.

Free.

HIP HOP & R&B

Argyle Thursdays - feat: Mike Champion + Moto + Nino Brown + Tubz + A-Game The Argyle, The Rocks. 12pm. Free.

Live At The Sly - feat: Sagrada Familiar + Papaya

Tree + Jackie Brown Jr Slyfox, Enmore.

8pm. Free.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 HIP HOP & R&B

Fatback Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Role Modelz Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

CLUB NIGHTS Argyle Fridays The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

DJ Hype + Annix Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.90.

DJs Cafe Lounge Bar, Surry Hills. 8pm.

Free.

Friday Frothers Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Friday Night Dance Off - feat: Modern History + DJ Lou Lou Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 6pm.

Free.

G-Wizard Marquee, Pyrmont.

8pm. $12.30.

Lady Grey’s Sunday Best - feat: Solee Zoo Project, Potts Point. 10pm. $21.49.

Lanks + Hein Cooper + Ruby

Phillips Miranda Hotel, Miranda. 7pm. $24.30.

MLIVE - feat: FKJ + Cosmo’s Midnight + Kilter + Buoy + Cabu Max Watt’s, Moore Park. 9pm. $56.10.

Old Skool Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park. 8pm.

Free.

OPM Marquee, Pyrmont.

8:30pm. Free.

Peoples Club Weekly - feat: Raji Rags + Daniel Lupica B2B Boogie Monster + Charlie Pitt + Stable Manners + Connor Mackenzie + Florida Dad + Rupert B Goodbar, Paddington. 8pm. $15.

Somatik Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 11am. Free.

Subsonic Music Festival 2016 feat: Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor + Ben UFO + Machinedrum + Dro Carey + Josh Wink + Jimmy Edgar + Archie Hamilton + Alexkid + Peak & Swift + Wookie + Sonja Moonear + Dana Ruh + DJ Bone + Madmotormiquel + Grouch + Claire Morgan + Bedermann + Dahlmann + Honey Dijon + Trinity + Gambirra Mob + Bakoomba + Seth Troxler + The Mole + Lawrence + The Correspondents + King Tide + Rainbow Chan + Deadbeat + Tikiman + Horrorshow + Jackie Onassis + Spit Syndicate + True Vibenation + Goldie + Matt Weir + Mantra Collective + Shapeshifter + Murat Kilic + Muska + Buoy + Pepperpot Riverwood Downs, Barrington Tops.

12pm. $285.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 HIP HOP & R&B

Bentley Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

8:30pm. Free.

CLUB NIGHTS Argyle Saturdays - feat: Tass + TapTap + Minx + Crazy Caz The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Basshunter + Luciana + Groove Coverage + Ian Van Dahl + Flip & Fill With Karen Parry + Lasgo + Guru Project + Boogie Pimps + Dht feat.

Edmée + Fonzerelli + Sylver Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7:30pm. $94.

Clique Sydney Cruise Bar, Sydney.

8:30pm. $20.

DJs Cafe Lounge Bar, Surry Hills. 8pm.

Free.

Fatman Scoop Marquee, Pyrmont.

8pm. $26.60.

Frat Saturdays Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Hard Australia 2016 - feat: Destructo + Zeds Dead + Gta + Ghastly + Rezz + Chris Lorenzo Royal Randwick Racecourse, Randwick. 5:55pm. $109.95.

Josh Wink + Groove Terminator Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.90.

Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor Metro Theatre, Sydney. 9pm. $30.

Moonshine Saturdays - feat: DJs Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly.

8pm. Free.

Pacha - feat: Special International Guests Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $27.70.

Precious Cargo feat: Special Guest DJs Cargo Lounge, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

Record Affair Bi-Monthly Fair - feat: Milkcrate Jones + Piero Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

12pm. Free.

Sangria Latin Saturdays St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park. 9pm.

Free.

Scuba Goodbar, Paddington. 10pm.

Free.

Selecta Saturdays feat: Cool Jerk DJs + Special Guests Rosie Campbell’s, Surry Hills. 8:45pm.

Free.

Soda Saturdays feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

Stuart Balfour + Raye Antonelli Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 11am. Free.

Subsonic Music Festival 2016 feat: Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor + Ben UFO + Machinedrum + Dro Carey + Josh Wink + Jimmy Edgar + Archie Hamilton + Alexkid + Peak & Swift + Wookie + Sonja Moonear + Dana Ruh + DJ Bone + Madmotormiquel + Grouch + Claire Morgan + Bedermann + Dahlmann + Honey Dijon + Trinity + Gambirra Mob + Bakoomba + Seth Troxler + The Mole + Lawrence + The Correspondents + King Tide + Rainbow Chan + Deadbeat + Tikiman + Horrorshow + Jackie Onassis +

Spit Syndicate + True Vibenation + Goldie + Matt Weir + Mantra Collective + Shapeshifter + Murat Kilic + Muska + Buoy + Pepperpot Riverwood Downs, Barrington Tops.

12pm. $285.

The Sweet Escape - feat: Stereogamous Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 9pm.

Free.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 HIP HOP & R&B

Rooftop Sundays Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

Tyne James Organ + Dylan Joel + James Crooks The Lair @ Metro Theatre, Sydney.

4:45pm. $24.40.

CLUB NIGHTS Marco Polo Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 1pm. $22.90.

S.A.S.H By Day feat: The Mole Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 2pm. $15.

S.A.S.H By Night - feat: Sonja Moonear Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour.

10pm. $20.

Shady Sunday feat: Retro DJs Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 4pm.

Free.

Sin Sundays The Argyle, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.

Somatik + Alex Mac Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 11am. Free.

Subsonic Music Festival 2016 feat: Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor + Ben UFO + Machinedrum + Dro Carey + Josh Wink + Jimmy Edgar + Archie Hamilton + Alexkid + Peak & Swift + Wookie + Sonja Moonear + Dana Ruh + DJ Bone + Madmotormiquel + Grouch +

Claire Morgan + Bedermann + Dahlmann + Honey Dijon + Trinity + Gambirra Mob + Bakoomba + Seth Troxler + The Mole + Lawrence + The Correspondents + King Tide + Rainbow Chan + Deadbeat + Tikiman + Horrorshow + Jackie Onassis + Spit Syndicate + True Vibenation + Goldie + Matt Weir + Mantra Collective + Shapeshifter + Murat Kilic + Muska + Buoy + Pepperpot Riverwood Downs, Barrington Tops.

12pm. $285.

Sunday Sounds feat: Jack McCord The Deck, Sydney.

4pm. Free.

Sunday Sundown feat: Client Liaison + Confidence Man The Newport, Newport. 12pm.

Free.

Tell No Tales - feat: Ricardo Villalobos + Pan-Pot + Audion AKA Matthew Dear + Agents Of Time Royal Randwick Racecourse, Randwick. 12pm. $89.95.

Tropical Sundae The World Bar, Kings Cross. 5pm.

Free.

MONDAY DECEMBER 5 CLUB NIGHTS I Love Mondays Side Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 6 CLUB NIGHTS Coyote Tuesdays The World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm.

Free.

Propaganda Tuesday Scary Canary, Sydney. 9:30pm.

Free.

Side Bar Tuesdays Side Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Ricardo Villalobos BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16 :: 33

club picks p

Off The Record

up all night out all week...

Dance and Electronica with Alex Chetverikov Machinedrum

Nina Kraviz

Just A Gent Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 8pm. $16.90 Nina Kraviz photo by Paola Kudacki

Lanks + Hein Cooper + Rin McArdle The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $24.30.

Live At The Sly - Feat: Sagrada Familiar + Papaya Tree + Jackie Brown Jr Slyfox, Enmore. 8pm. Free.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Fatback Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Subsonic Music Festival 2016 Feat: Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor + Ben UFO + Machinedrum + Dro Carey + Josh Wink + more Riverwood Downs, Barrington Tops.

12pm. $285.

Tashka

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 EMC Play Hub - Feat: Tashka + Golden Vessel + Lastlings + Alice Ivy + Paces + more Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $38.50 EMC Play Audiopaxx x Kosher x Pilerats x Sidechains Showcase Feat: Sayya + Alex Bassweight + Tina Says + Colour Castle + more Hudson Ballroom, Sydney. 8pm. $38.50.

EMC Play Nuff Said x Etcetc x Eighty Six Showcase - Feat: Friendless vs Kormak + Avon Stringer + Made In Paris + Stace Cadet + Airwolf + Klue + Poolclvb + Sippy + Blanke + Eighty Sixers + I-Dee + Jade Le Flay + Surprise Guests + Set Mo + Lo’99 + Odd Mob + Ian Munro + Tdy The World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $38.50.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 Basshunter + Luciana + Groove Coverage + Ian Van Dahl + Flip & Fill with Karen Parry + Lasgo + Guru Project + Boogie Pimps + Dht Feat.

Edmée + Fonzerelli + Sylver Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7:30pm. $94.

Fatman Scoop Marquee, Pyrmont. 8pm. $26.60.

Hard Australia 2016 - Feat: Destructo + Zeds Dead + GTA + Ghastly + Rezz + Chris Lorenzo Royal Randwick Racecourse, Randwick.

5:55pm. $109.95.

Josh Wink + Groove Terminator Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.90 Lee Scratch Perry Meets Mad Professor Metro Theatre, Sydney. 9pm. $30.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4

Machinedrum + Jnr + Hyrule Civic Underground, Sydney. 9pm. $33.

Sunday Sundown - Feat: Client Liaison + Confidence Man The Newport, Newport. 12pm. Free.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Countdown to FOMO - Feat: Slumberjack + Feki + Tonik + Non Applicable DJs + Sanchoe + Basslisk + K-Time + Jonny Boy + Anfinity Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 8pm. $25.

34 :: BRAG :: 691 :: 30:11:16

S.A.S.H By Day - Feat: The Mole Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 2pm. $15.

Somatik + Alex Mac Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 11am. Free.

Tell No Tales – Feat: Ricardo Villalobos + Pan-Pot + Audion + Agents Of Time Royal Randwick Racecourse, Randwick.

12pm. $89.95.

Tyne James Organ + Dylan Joel + James Crooks The Lair @ Metro Theatre, Sydney.

4:45pm. $24.40.

The event, which saw a number of patrons loudly and unsubtly complain about ‘not getting what they paid for’ (blithering, relentless lines of techno for purists, one might assume), raises some interesting questions about what exactly it is people should – or do – expect from a DJ. At which point, if any, do expectation and creative expression meet? What are you paying for? Are there any valid expectations in play?

While some take any opportunity to quite deliberately undermine it – and by extension appeal to base novelty (one heiress springs to mind) – DJing is a craft.

It involves countless hours of practice and refining the ability to not only read a crowd, but to make adjustments to the music on the fly. Not to mention, many people simply

do not have the time, will or energy to sift through hundreds or thousands of records and files, itself a proverbial labour of love.

DJing is a creative avenue. But if any performer, let alone a well-known one, deviates from a well-trodden path, they run the risk of alienating purists or those resistant to change, as seems to have happened with Kraviz. In her case, she can afford to lose a few fans along the way, but it’s no less disappointing to see people question her right to express herself.

Kraviz is no stranger to crossing boundaries in her mixing; to assail her for one’s own rigid marginalization is much more a reflection on that party than the artist, especially with the weight of evidence of her past performances proving she’s prone to occasional unpredictability. While it’s not unreasonable to court some expectation in attending any sort of musical event, much of the pleasure is in the unknown quantities. By paying the cover, we are knowingly accepting this.

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST:

There are a couple of brilliant mixes/compilations brimming with funk to hear this week.

Check out Frequency 7 (AKA Ben Sims & Surgeon) with an amazing funky techno set at Split, London in 2008 (available to stream/download on SoundCloud). Kenny Dope’s Strange Games & Funky Things III is an expertly curated and mixed selection of soul, funk/P-Funk/jazz-funk – perfectly smooth vibes. Plus, try out the rare disco, funk and soul from crate-diggers Kon & Amir on their famed Off Track Volume One: The Bronx collection.

RECOMMENDED THURSDAY DECEMBER 1

Deadbeat feat.

Tikiman El Topo Basement

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Solee Zoo Project

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4

Royal Randwick Racecourse

FRIDAY DECEMBER 9

Silicone Soul Slyfox

SATURDAY DECEMBER 10

Kim Ann Foxman Factory Theatre

P L T F R M feat.

Tell No Tales feat.

FBi Dance Class Ricardo Villalobos, 2016 Graduates Pan-Pot, Audion Freda’s

SATURDAY JANUARY 14

Clams Casino

Ulf Eriksson, TM-404 Civic Underground

SUNDAY JANUARY 22

Summer Dance feat. Palms Trax, Roland Tings, Kornél Kovács National Art School

FRIDAY JANUARY 27

Clams Casino Factory Theatre

thebrag.com

Clams Casino photo by Timothy Saccenti

EMC Play Undr Ctrl x Purple Sneakers Showcase - Feat: Elsz + Aeora + Annie Bass + Mezko + Ckdj + Mimi + Nap Girls DJs + Sports x Jennifer Jennifer + Val York + Natnoiz + Ellie D x Jaman (Sideboob) + Human Movement + Muto + Third Floor + Wrld + Undr Ctrl x Purple Sneakers DJs Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 6pm. $38.80.

T

here’s been much ado lately about a Melbourne set by Russian DJ and producer Nina Kraviz. Throughout the course of the night, Kraviz inflected her mix with a variety of genres and sounds, as well we might expect her to.

LY N O EIR IAN H T IN AL R E T AUS ARANC E APP

5 - 8 JANUARY EXHIBITION PARK CANBERRA TICKETS AT SUMMERNATS.COM.AU SHANNONS

SN30 -BRAG- 09

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