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4 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
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Credits Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Editor Mitch Knox Arts & Culture Editor Maxim Boon Gig Guide Editor Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au Contributing Editor Bryget Chrisfield Editorial Assistant Brynn Davies, Sam Wall Senior Contributor Steve Bell
Music Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Tap In
The OA
Sick of waiting for the next Stranger Things season? Netflix might have something to tide you over. They’ve just launched sci-fi Brit Marling vehicle, The OA, which is already drawing positive comparisons.
Clairy Browne
Contributors Anthony Carew, Ben Preece, Benny Doyle, Brendan Crabb, Caitlin Low, Carley Hall, Chris Familton, Clare Armstrong, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Dave Drayton, Dylan Stewart, Georgia Cope, Guy Davis, Jake Sun, Joel Lohman, Liz Giuffre, Mark Hebblewhite, Neil Griffiths, Paul Mulkearns, Rip Nicholson, Roshan Clerke, Sam Hobson, Samuel J Fell, Sean Capel, Sean Hourigan, Tom Hersey, Tom Peasley, Tyler McLoughlan, Uppy Chatterjee Photographers Barry Schipplock, Bec Taylor, Bobby Rein, Cole Bennetts, Dave Kan, Freya Lamont, John Stubbs, Kane Hibberd, Markus Ravik, Stephen Booth, Terry Soo Sales Nicole Ferguson sales@themusic.com.au Art Dept Ben Nicol, Felicity Case-Mejia Admin & Accounts Meg Burnham, Ajaz Durrani, Emma Clarke accounts@themusic.com.au Distro distro@themusic.com.au Subscriptions store@themusic.com.au Contact Us Phone: (07) 3252 9666 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au Street: The Foundry, 228 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Postal: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
Disco Revival It was about this time last year that Melbourne rockers My Disco were touring their latest LP, and now they have unveiled plans to tour a follow-up remix EP, Severe Remixes, starting next January.
My Disco
— Brisbane
Violent Soho cover pic: Peter Dovgan; The Cure cover pic: Markus Ravik
Welcome To The Jungle
The Man In The High Castle
8 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
It has been revealed that TV streaming service Amazon Prime Video has launched Down Under, bringing content including Transparent, Mozart In The Jungle and The Man In The High Castle.
c / Arts / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Shout Out
PLTS
Byron Bay favourites PLTS have dropped their new single, Call Me Out, along with an accompanying video. The four-piece hit the road in January to support The Amity Affliction before starting the single tour in February.
Browne Under For the first time in over two years, Clairy Browne will be headlining an Australian tour. She’ll kick things off in Melbourne on 25 Jan, before heading around the nation finishing up at Grampians Music Festival.
Winterbourne
Bourne Again Central Coast duo Winterbourne wrapped up their biggest tour to date this winter and are taking to the asphalt once more this summer in their beloved ‘89 Volkswagen named Randal for the entire month of February.
1 Number reached by Michael Gudinski, Executive Director of Mushroom Group, who topped this year’s Australasian Music Industry Directory’s Power 50 list.
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 7
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Where and when? For more gig details go to theMusic.com.au
ASTA
Shine On Effervescent Tassie muso Asta has announced plans to drop her long-awaited debut EP Shine on 17 Feb. The 22year-old will start a massive national tour the same day in Perth, which will conclude in mid-March.
Frightened Rabbit
Just saw an air freshener so big they had to tie it on top of the car @shutupmikeginn
Rabbit Run Frightened Rabbit recently released their fifth full-length, Painting Of A Panic Attack, and the album cycle wouldn’t be complete without a round of shows in Australia. The Scottish indie-rock sons head our way in March.
8 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Double Doom
Windhand & Cough
Virginia doom-metal icons and Relapse Records label mates, Windhand and Cough, will hit Aussie shores next year to unleash everything they’ve got during a double-header. Their coheadline tour starts in April.
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Strange Days Melbourne rock outfit Strangers have just finished touring with Birds Of Tokyo and now they have announced their own headline run for their second album, Mirrorland, which is set for release 5 May.
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Take The Cake Aussie psychedelic-prog outfit Mother’s Cake have announced the No Rhyme No Reason tour for their highly anticipated album of the same name. The trio take off in February for a six-date run of the country.
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THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 9
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Main Line
Grammy-nominated party-starters Hot 8 Brass Band have announced an Australian tour next year, hot on the heels of newest record, On The Spot. The five-date tour kicks off 1 Mar.
Hot 8 Brass Band
Hello, Hello
Brisbane fans of Canadian duo Tegan & Sara may have felt a bit neglected after their second Aus tour announcement in 12 months skipped the city, but the indiepop favourites have remedied that with a March date.
1.25 MILLION Violent Femmes
Femme Again
The amount of CDs that the biggest selling artist has sold in 2016, which belongs to… Mozart, courtesy of a 225 CD box set.
10 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Having spent much of 2016 touring Australia’s finest festivals including WOMADelaide, and Golden Plains, US rock sons Violent Femmes have also unveiled plans for their biggest Aussie tour since 2005 in March and April.
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
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Tegan & Sara
Mountain Rat
Brisbane’s The Mountain Goat Valley Crawl is set to return for its second year in 2017 and have announced a mammoth line-up for the event including Mallrat, Moses Gunn Collective and hip hop legends Butteringers.
Mallrat
Holly Throsby
Fifth Time ‘Round Sydney songwriter and author Holly Throsby has announced a huge tour today, in line with her upcoming fifth record, After A Time, due out next February. The tour kicks off in March. THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 11
MOST READ
ALBUM REVIEWS
Album Of The Year
1 Deftones, Gore
Tunes. 2016 had plenty of great ones, and when all piled together on an album, you want to read about them. So here were the most read album reviews on theMusic.com.au in 2016:
Deftones – Gore “Menacing, ragged, aggressive, tender, emotive and soothing.” Tyler McLoughlan Drowning Pool – Hellelujah “The band have delivered an album of uncompromising heaviness.” Cameron Cooper King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity “Don’t be surprised if this is the one they’re remembered for.” Christopher H James Paul Dempsey – Strange Loop “It is a weapon sure to strike at the heart of any listener.” Dylan Stewart Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Infinity Drips “Far more experimental than any album by the project so far.” Jonty Czuchwicki
12 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
BLACKSTAR DAVID BOWIE
A
rtists with considerable back catalogues dominated our Album Of The Year in 2016 with late legend David Bowie’s 27th and final studio set Blackstar shining brightest and topping the poll. Blackstar was released worldwide on 8 Jan, coinciding with Bowie’s 69th birthday. And then the world was shocked by Bowie’s death two days later. This means our Starman was creating this album, which producer Tony Visconti described as Bowie’s “parting gift”, under the looming shadow of terminal cancer. Suddenly the opening lyrics from the album’s second single, Lazarus (“Look up here, I’m in heaven/ I’ve got scars that can’t be seen”), made us shiver. It’s remarkable that Bowie’s illness wasn’t make public until he died, especially considering he’d lived with liver cancer for 18 months.
orchestrated his departure from this mortal coil, leaving us with a collection of songs that simultaneously dazzle and devastate.
Recording sessions for Blackstar took place in secret. Bowie recruited the Donny McCaslin-led New York jazz combo as his backing band, which resulted in jazz leanings throughout (McCaslin’s sorrowful saxophone prevalent). Bowie perfectly
This list’s second-most prolific artist Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ended up at #4 for their 16th studio album Skeleton Tree and our tear ducts still haven’t recovered from the accompanying documentary One More Time With Feeling (which was filmed in the aftermath of Cave’s 15-year-old son Arthur’s tragic death). Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo is only 24-years-old, but his albums already number in double digits, and the latest Teens Of Denial shares tenth position in our poll, not bad for what’s been described as his first real studio album with an actual band. Kanye West’s Yeezus topped this annual poll in 2013, but The Life Of Pablo (his seventh studio album) didn’t quite get to the top, only making it to eight (and one of mulitple hip hop albums featuring in the top ten). But there’s always an exception to the ryle, eh? Our very own Camp Cope’s selftitled debut longplayer landed in sixth place amongst all the long-established acts.
The Top Ten
Past Winners
1. 2. 3. 4.
2015: Tame Impala – Currents 2014: Chet Faker – Built On Glass 2013: Kanye West – Yeezus 2012: Tame Impala – Lonerism 2011: Bon Iver – Bon Iver
David Bowie – Blackstar Beyonce – Lemonade Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool Nick Cave & The Bade Seeds – Skeleton Tree 5. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service 6. Camp Cope – Camp Cope 7. Violent Soho – WACO 8. Kanye West – The Life Of Pablo 9. Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book 10. Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Denial; Childish Gambino – Awaken, My Love!
Album Of The Year
“A dark, torturous romp across seven jazzy and avant-garde tracks.”
“Lemonade gives us an experimental,
Cameron Cooper
cinematic masterpiece.”
thought-provoking, invigorating, Tanya Bonnie Rae
David Bowie – Blackstar
Beyonce – Lemonade
“These songs are lovely... Fuck, they’re lovely.”
“It sounds like rays of sunshine reaching down through the clouds to fetch the fallen.”
Liz Giuffre
Bryget Chrisfield Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
“Rather than reheated leftovers, it’s a risky, forward-looking experiment.”
“Vivid insights and observations arising from being down-but-not-out in Melbourne’s inner west.”
James d’Apice A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
“The slightly reined-in recording sounds well-drilled and precise without sacrificing character or spark.”
Tim Kroenert Camp Cope – Camp Cope
“The Life Of Pablo lets us love Kanye the greatest way we can.” James d’Apice
Steve Bell Violent Soho – WACO
Kanye West – The Life Of Pablo
“42 seconds into the release itself is the delivery I feel like I’ve been waiting years for.”
“Horns, soaring guitar riffs and gloriously angsty harmonies accompany maudlin, frenzied, sentimental and even humorous twists.”
James d’Apice Chance The Rapper – Coloring Book
Tyler McLoughlan Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Denial
“This is not just some of Gambino’s best work, but some of the best out there.” Nic Addenbrooke Childish Gambino – Awaken, My Love!
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 13
MOST READ
NEWS STORIES
Song Of The Year
1 Kasey Taylor
There was plenty of news to sink your teeth into this year, from drugs, racism, financial troubles, pirating to big tour announcements. Here are the top ten stories you clicked on theMusic.com.au in 2016: Aussie Dance Legend Arrested At Airport; Accused Of Smuggling Ketamine Into Country. Aussie dance legend Kasey Taylor and nightclub figure Robert Oung arrested at Melbourne airport for attempting to bring a kilo of Ketamine into Australia. ‘Arrogant & Disgraceful’: Police, Officials & Fellow Promoters Blast Maitreya Festival. Victorian police came out lambasting the lack of care and respect from the Maitreya Festival organisers and patrons before its cancellation. Sticky Fingers Deny Singer Made Racist Taunts At Sydney Gig. Frontman Dylan Frost allegedly made offensive remarks towards Dispossessed guitarist Birrugan Dunn-Velasco. Stereosonic Is Definitely Cancelled, But Not Really Because Of Drug Deaths The dance festival paused in 2016 in the wake of a number of drug related deaths at events around the country.
14 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
FORMATION BEYONCE
T
here were few other songs this year as powerful as Formation. A tribute to Beyonce’s Southern roots: the lyrics are laced with references to African American Southern culture and the video itself is a beautiful, politically charged and sometimes haunting paean to the American South. It is no longer possible to discuss Beyonce’s music without reference to the visual element. Since her self-titled visual album in 2013, she has melded visuals with music in a way unsurpassed by other mainstream musicians.
But the political is rendered deeply personal here as well. Beyonce observes: “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros”. This is an expression of mother love, but also a reference to the cruel media discussion of her daughter’s natural hair. Formation draws from seemingly disparate elements — an odd trap beat from Mike WiLL Made-it, samples from Messy Mya and gay New Orleans bounce icon Big Freedia, an almost atonal chorus, and exquisitely breathy and lilting talk-singing — and deftly melds them. It’s a love song to black culture underpinned by simmering rage. It is a statement of empowerment, “I go hard, get what’s mine... Cos I slay”, that embraces female sexuality, “When he fuck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster”, while celebrating black queer culture.
It opens with a sample from a murdered young African American: Messy Mya, a New Orleans YouTube star popular with the queer community. He asks: “What happened at the New Wi’lins [New Orleans]?” as we see Beyonce, crouched on a New Orleans police cruiser as it slowly sinks underwater — raising the spectre of the racism exposed by the response to Hurricane Katrina. Later, a little boy dances before a line of police officers in riot gear who slowly raise their hands in surrender. The camera scans to graffiti on a wall: “Stop shooting us”, a visual tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Kanye West swings to take both #2 and #3 with tracks off The Life Of Pablo. In the second spot Ty Dolla $ign gives voice to Yeezy’s lost and broken connections in the remorseful Real Friends. Choral, drum-driven exploration of faith, Ultralight Beam, follows on the list.
The Top Ten
Past Winners:
1. 2.
2015: Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta 2014: FKA twigs – Two Weeks 2013: Daft Punk ft Pharrell Williams – Get Lucky 2012: Tame Impala – Elephant 2011: Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know
Beyonce – Formation Kanye West ft Ty Dolla $ign – Real Friends 3. Kanye West – Ultralight Beam 4. Radiohead – Burn The Witch 5. David Bowie – Blackstar 6. Dope Lemon – Uptown Folks 7. A Tribe Called Quest – We The People… 8. Beyonce – Hold Up 9. Violent Soho – Viceroy 10. Tired Lion – Not My Friends
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 15
MOST READ
NEWS STORIES
Artist Of The Year
1 Richie Sambora & Orianthi
Aussie Man Offers HBO $10 Per ‘Game Of Thrones’ Episode He Pirates Hobart man John Hyslop went viral after taking to Facebook to offer compensation for his illegal downloads. It’s Finally Official: Guns N’ Roses Are Coming To Australia AND It’s The Line-Up We All Want To See After nearly 25 years of waiting for the holy triumvirate, Guns N’ Roses announced their return to Australia in 2017. The Mother Of All R&B Reunions: Nelly, Blackstreet, Mya & More Unite For Tour. R&B Fridays Live came to Australia in November for a huge tour of ‘90s throwback jams and funky good ol’ times. “This is BULLSHIT!” Fans Are Fuming After Richie Sambora & Orianthi’s Melb Show Fans in Melbourne were less than impressed with what the duo had to offer. Brian Johnson Didn’t Quit AC/DC; Friend Claims He Was Dumped Comedian Jim Breuer claimed that the AC/DC vocalist was unfairly dismissed from the group following reports of Johnson’s severe hearing loss. Police Slam Bush Rave Organisers For Not Shutting Event Down Following Death Omega Festival was criticised by local police for not cooperating with authorities following the death of a 24-year-old at the event.
16 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
DAVID BOWIE
W
ho else?
If anything has defined 2016 artistically it has been the unceremonious reaping of our creative titans. A trendsetter till the end, David Robert Jones’ passing was the first and, arguably, the most devastating sucker punch of the colossal emotional beat down 2016 was winding up to lay down on us. When David Bowie parted the veil we as a species should have gone into hibernation. The weather had clearly turned. However, though there was much gnashing of teeth and smoting of breasts, 2016 wasn’t just a cause for grief, but also for celebration. It’s been a year of reflection on the loss, but also the achievements of some truly fantastic people. Specifically the astounding contributions of the Brixton lad with the off-colour eyes, from Ziggy’s rise and fall to the Goblin King’s tights. (Bowie’s music swept music charts clean worldwide just days after his death, Blackstar becoming The Thin White Duke’s first ever US #1.)
decades of weight rupturing the landscape irreparably. Bowie is The Music’s Artist Of The Year for Blackstar — swansong, “parting gift” and ripper album — but also the history that it represents as the last word from a man whose hand has shaped music, art and fashion since the ‘60s. Vale Bowie. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are our second most voted for artists, the traumatic beauty of One More Time With Feeling and Skeleton Tree proving impossible to ignore. Below that we have Kanye West at #3, who also managed to take the second and third spots on our Song Of The Year poll with Real Friends and Ultralight Beam. Rap and hip hop artists have made their strongest showing in any year, with Hilltop Hoods, Chance The Rapper and Young Thug all taking positions in the top ten with Yeezy.
Bowie died only ten days into 2016, but his influence this year was geological,
Surprisingly the deck had a total reshuffle and there’s zero overlap between 2015’s and 2016’s picks. It’s the first time in two years we haven’t seen T-Swift break into the ranks, dashing her hopes for a hat trick. Last year’s winner Courtney Barnett is absent for the first time since she stepped comfortably into the # 4 spot way back in 2013.
The Top Ten
Past Winners:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
2015: Courtney Barnett 2014: FKA twigs 2013: Lorde 2012: Tame Impala/Frank Ocean 2011: Gotye
David Bowie Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Kanye West Beyonce Hilltop Hoods Flume Leonard Cohen Chance The Rapper Violent Soho The Hard Aches, Young Thug
r food fros 20t%icokfeft holde until able up e Redee7mpmigonnigthht g
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MOST READ
LIVE REVIEWS
International Live Artist Of The Year
The Cure. Pic: Markus Ravik
1 Funeral For A Friend @ The Brightside. pic: Benny Doyle
Every week we’re bringing you the action from massive stadium shows to small pub gigs. Here are the most read live reviews on theMusic. com.au of Brisbane gigs in 2016:
Funeral For A Friend, The Brightside, 11 Feb “The room has transformed into a meat sauna, and we’re all baking in our own juices.” Benny Doyle Paul Dempsey, The Triffid, 12 Aug “We get the privilege of riding musical waves generated by one of Australia’s great songwriters.” Benny Doyle Madonna, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 16 Mar “It’s wonderful to be in her presence and see a show that, overall, is astonishingly good and thankfully propped up by a lengthy and remarkable performance.” Ben Preece Radio Birdman, The Triffid, 4 Jun “It’s originals like More Fun, Iskender Time and Anglo Girl Desire which really get the place jumping.” Steve Bell
18 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
THE CURE
A
fter double-dipping during the 2016 The Cure tour (Splendour and sideshow) we can testify that, when it comes to Robert Smith and co, it’s Never Enough. Adult nappies were definitely required during these all-killer-nofiller three-hour sets as well, with The Cure transporting us back to slumber parties where we’d practice pashing on pillows and write secret love letters using lemon juice in lieu of ink (just us?). Black Sabbath’s founding members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler plus drummer Tommy Clufetos made arena foundations around the nation rumble during The End shows — billed as the band’s farewell tour — and were rewarded with runner-up status. Sole hip hop representative Kendrick Lamar (#3) sounded even better live than on record and made us bounce and discredited all the naysayers who thought he didn’t deserve a spot on Bluesfest. Deftones (#4) and Iron Maiden (#5) ensured heavy, “legacy-type people” (Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson’s words) dominated this poll in 2016, taking three out of the top five spots.
The Top Ten 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The Cure Black Sabbath Kendrick Lamar Deftones Iron Maiden Prince Sufjan Stevens Gillian Welch Leon Bridges Sigur Ros
Coming in at #6 was what wound up being Prince’s farewell tour; we were not expecting to have to include a Prince obituary in our pages just a couple of months after his intensely personal Piano & A Microphone shows. Prince’s oftendistraught performances followed the news that his former lover/protege Vanity had passed and that rendition of Purple Rain is now permanently etched in our stillbroken hearts. Voted #7, Sufjan Stevens clearly brought the mass swoons during his theatre tour early on in the year. Gillian Welch came in at #8 with many enchanted punters rolling up to catch, during which Welch and co drove close to 7000km around our Great Southern Land. Relative newcomer Leon Bridges (touring off the back of his debut Coming Home set) also thrilled with his fancy footwork and dapper attire, scoring #9 in our annual poll. US bands dominated, producing six of this year’s Best International Live Acts. Three of the acts are English and Sigur Ros (#10) put Iceland on the map in this category with their Splendour-exclusive set.
Past Winners: 2015: Blur 2014: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band 2013: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band 2012: Radiohead
International Live Artist Of The Year
The Cure. Pic: Markus Ravik
“An unmistakable voice that evoked a spread of emotions after guiding many in the room through highs and lows.” Daniel Cribb The Cure, Perth Arena, 31 Jul
Kendrick Lamar. Pic: Josh Groom
“There’s something about Lamar’s performance to this packed arena crowd that feels so raw and intimate.” Stephanie Liew Kendrick Lamar, Rod Laver Arena, 21 Mar
Black Sabbath Pic: Ross Halfin
“One minute you’d be comparing Ozzy Osbourne to a drunk yet endearingly harmless uncle and the next his demonic eyes and hellraiser persona would break on through.” Hayley Casey Black Sabbath, Qudos Bank Arena, 23 Apr
Deftones. Pic: Clare Hawley
“Pounding heaviness and sublime melodicism – the cerebral and the visceral – few modern heavy bands harness this with as much aplomb as Deftones.” Brendan Crabb Deftones, Hordern Pavilion, 12 Nov
Iron Maiden. Pic: Ash Westood
“Iron Maiden can afford to be a bit cheesy; it’s part and parcel of metal theatrics in an arena this size and boy do they sound epic!” Bryget Chrisfield Iron Maiden, Rod Laver Arena, 9 May THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 19
MOST READ
FESTIVAL REVIEWS
Australian Live Artist Of The Year
Violent Soho. PIc: Peter Dovgan
1 Dream On Dream @ UNIFY. Pic by Neal Walters
Who doesn’t love a good festival story? Here’s what you looked at with the most read festival reviews of 2016 on theMusic.com.au:
Unify 2016, Tarwin Meadows, Vic “Parkway Drive crush it on stage, the lighting and smoke mesmerises, the pit runs wild, glow sticks and tinnies fly left, right and centre.” Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands, NSW (day one) “The Strokes are why every teenage boy wants to join a band and a perfect wrap to an epic day one.” Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands, NSW (day three) “The entire performance from [Melbourne Ska Orchestra] is an exercise in consummate showmanship, prodigious musicianship, and next-level audience interaction.” Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands, NSW (day two) “This music [The Cure] is by far the most beautiful of the festival up to this point.”
20 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
VIOLENT SOHO l hail repeat winners in this category, mighty Brisbane four-piece Violent Soho, who also topped this poll in 2014! They included a cover of Nirvana’s Breed in their Splendour In The Grass set so you can just imagine the mayhem that ensued. Violent Soho gigs are always hairy, sweaty affairs (on and off stage) and onstage headstands by band members have been captured on film. Moshpits at Violent Soho gigs typically stretch from the photography barrier aaaaall the way to the back wall and, of course, surf’s always up for crowd-surfing. Our very own in-house photographer Kane Hibberd took an aerial shot during one of the band’s sold-out shows on their WACO tour at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre that made the internet froth. They’ve been around for 13 years, which equals oodles of live gigging experience. Violent Soho are our ninth favourite artist of 2016, their song Viceroy was deemed our tied ninth Best Song Of 2016 and the band’s WACO album, for which they collected the Best Rock Album ARIA this year (also picking up 2016’s Best Group ARIA!), came in at #8 in our Album Of The Year poll - talk about winning!
l
Another band that conjures a continuous swell for the unofficial Crowdsurfing Olympics is our runner-up Australian Live Artist Of The Year King Gizzard , who held fourth position in this category last year and have been repping both overseas and at home throughout 2016. The septet even hosts their own festival, Gizzfest, which enjoyed its second year in 2016. Gold Class owned our third spot last year and this year they’re back in at #8. Elder statesmen The Drones (#4) and Regurgitator (#9) showed us they’ve still got it. But 2016 was also a stellar year for emerging talent. Ngaiire, Camp Cope and Alex Lahey seemed to be gigging every other week and their hard work’s definitely paid off (they came in at #3, #5 and #6 respectively). Young rapper/singer Tkay Maidza continues to impress (#7) and our poll rounds out with a rockin’ three-way tie in tenth spot (Birds Of Tokyo, Caligula’s Horse, The Hard Aches).
The Top Ten
Past Winners
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
2015: Courtney Barnett 2014: Violent Soho 2013: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 2012: Dirty Three 2011: Grinderman
Violent Soho King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Ngaiire The Drones Camp Cope Alex Lahey Tkay Maidza Gold Class Regurgitator Birds Of Tokyo, Caligula’s Horse, The Hard Aches
Australian Live Artist Of The Year
Violent Soho. PIc: Peter Dovgan
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. PIc: Markus Ravik
“Their music holds up to scrutiny, capturing a nuanced kind of fierce aggression, skittering between the quiet melodies and angsty outbursts.”
“The sea of people now starts to seethe and froth as the group launch into their trademark, hard-out, unrelenting live show.”
Hannah Story Violent Soho, Enmore Theatre, 27 May
Xavier Fennell King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Coburg Velodrome, 26 Nov
Ngaiire. Pic: Joshua Braybrook
“Novacaine... goes on to showcase Ngaiire’s rich, soulful voice as she moves between golden and raspy, majestic throughout.” Joey Davy Ngaiire, Northcote Social Club, 23 Jun
The Drones. Pic: Stephen BOoth
“Frontman Gareth Liddiard seems deadly serious as he spits bile all over its oblique beat.” Joel Lohman The Drones, The Triffid, 6 May
Camp Cope. PIc: Elliot Oakes
“A balance of both emotional fragility and angst creates the modern punk sound that is Camp Cope.” Lucy Retger Camp Cope, Crown & Anchor, 14 May THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 21
MOST READ
FILM CAREW
Film Of The Year
1
Here are the five most read Film Carew pieces on theMusic.com.au in 2016, the column of our resident film reviewer Anthony Carew. Suicide Squad, 3 Aug “This is a two-hour chore, an utter bore, a slog to sit through.” Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie, 10 Nov “In the face of his unassailable Englishness, the various Americans he crosses paths with come across as aggressive.” Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, 23 Mar “A big, dumb, loud film that gets bigger, dumber, and louder as it goes.” Ghostbusters, 12 Jul “The notion that a film this frivolous and fun could be controversial would sound so absurd as to be delightful.” Underworld: Blood Wars, 3 Dec “This is a franchise that seems to exist solely as a source manual for Goth cosplay.”
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DEADPOOL
B
etween Marvel and DC and their respective attempts to corner the superhero movie market, there has been more additions to the genre this year than you could shake Thor’s hammer at. Deadpool was the first superhero blockbuster of the year to hit the silver screen, but despite all the various super powered additions to the X-Men, Justice League and Avengers sagas that followed it, Ryan Reynolds’ pitch-perfect portrayal of Marvel’s indestructible antihero has remained untouched by the competition. What’s particularly impressive about this accomplishment is that in many ways Deadpool was a comparative underdog.
unashamedly, side-splittingly hilarious. Ryan Reynolds clearly had a blast making this film, but he’s also an ardent fan of the character and as such, his account is as authentically reverent of its source material as a superhero film has ever been.
Lacking the sky-high budgets and wallto-wall CGI of many of its better financed cousins, this first cinematic outing for the gun toting, wise-cracking Wade Wilson, giving zero fucks on his kamikaze mission to fix his messed-up face, had an altogether more indie vibe. The simple, standalone narrative spent far more time luxuriating in the offbeat toilet humour of Deadpool, than navigating a convoluted, overcrowded plot. Perhaps most importantly, it is genuinely,
An honourable mention must go to the bronze medallist in this year’s top ten: Arrival. Amy Adams’ Oscar-worthy turn as the quietly heroic linguist, Louise Banks, proved that the alien invasion genre needn’t be a testosterone-drenched shoot-em-up. This softly cerebral story, directed by Denis Villeneuve, replaces the exploding cities and laser beams with quiet, considered intelligence. Lord knows, we need more of that in the world.
The Top Ten
Previous Winners
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
2015: Mad Max: Fury Road 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel 2013: Gravity 2012: The Dark Knight Rises 2011: Drive
Deadpool Hunt For The Wilderpeople Arrival Room The Hateful Eight The Nice Guys The Revenant Sausage Party Anomalisa Nocturnal Animals
A close second in this year’s Writers’ Poll is an altogether different beast. Hunt For The Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi and starring Sam Neill and newcomer Julian Dennison, is a giant-hearted comedydrama that masterfully manipulates the heartstrings with its unvarnished tale of unlikely, cross-generational mateship in the New Zealand bush.
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THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 23
MOST READ
ARTS REVIEWS
TV Show Of The Year
1 The Art Of Banksy
Following another big year in the arts, here are the most read arts reviews on Music.com.au, The Art Of Banksy, Federation Square, Melbourne “The greatest betrayal of this toothless exhibition is how brazenly it’s geared towards wringing-out as many dollars as possible.” Maxim Boon, 6 Oct Othello (Bell Shakespeare), Arts Centre, Melbourne “Truly great. [Ray] Chong Nee brings nuanced emotion and exquisite enunciation to Othello.” Cyclone, 14 Jul Antigone (Sport For Jove), Seymour Centre, Sydney “Simultaneously agonising and life-affirming, an important exploration of the interminable.” Shaun Colnan, 9 Oct Wit (Artisan Collective), FortyFiveDownstairs, Melbourne “It is a tour de force of accomplished acting.” Maxim Boon, 2 Sep LadyCake (Three Birds Theatre), Trades Hall, Melbourne “Streamlined, unselfconscious, quietly clever and visually slick.” Maxim Boon, 17 Nov
24 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
STRANGER THINGS
I
t was around Halloween that it became clear that Stranger Things was going to win this year’s TV Show Of The Year by a landslide. A single vote was yet to be cast in our annual survey of the year’s best telly, but with just about every costume party in the land inundated by people dressed as Joyce Byers (complete with half-smoked cigarette and bundled-up Christmas lights), Eleven (complete with box of Eggo waffles), Mike Wheeler (complete with adorable misfit besties) and, in mind-boggling volumes, Barb, it was already clear that the Netflix original series was pop culture catnip. If someone were to ask, “What makes Stranger Things so successful?” the quick answer would be, “Everything”. Its ‘80s kitsch and synth-driven soundtrack offered nostalgia to those who grew up with The Goonies, Flight Of The Navigator and ET, while managing to imprint some hipster cool vibes onto Millennials who weren’t around to experience it first-hand. Its masterful pacing, twisting plot and miraculous performances, especially from its younger cast members (Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven is unquestionably the breakout performance of the year), had viewers on the edge of their
seats, while its beautifully pure message of friendship and acceptance delivered an avalanche of warm, fuzzy feels. The battle for second place in this year’s poll was a closer run race. Pipping 2015’s winner Game Of Thrones to the runner-up spot, the third series of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian anthology Black Mirror tempered its trademark cynicism with moments of surprising optimism and wry humour. Game Of Thrones’ presence in the top three of the year is perhaps unsurprising, but no less deserved. Season Six not only revealed some crucial plot points (new to everyone, now that it had passed where we left off in the books), drawing in the various narrative threads from across the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Our list also reflects the growing trend towards streaming as a form of viewing television. Specifically Netflix. Aside from the aforementioned Stranger Things and Black Mirrors, there were also props for Narcos, Bojack Horseman and Luke Cage in the top ten. The best performing free-to-air titles were courtesy of Aunty, Cleverman and Please Like Me.
The Top Ten
Previous Winners
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
2015: Game Of Thrones 2014: True Detective 2013: Breaking Bad 2012: Breaking Bad 2011: Breaking Bad
Stranger Things Black Mirror Game Of Thrones Westworld Narcos Bojack Horseman, Luke Cage, Cleverman 9. Please Like Me 10. The Get Down
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 25
MOST READ
COMEDY REVIEWS
Comedy Act Of The Year
1 Aaron Gocs
Are you having a laugh? Well according to our most read comedy reviews on theMusic.com.au, you certainly were. Here are the top ones from 2016:
Aaron Gocs, Yeronga Bowls Club, Brisbane “Gocsy shows the raw cut of Australia’s next breed of comic” Rip Nicholson, 16 Jul
Peter & Bambi Heaven, Roxanne Parlour, Melbourne “Complete commitment to these absurdly loveable characters” Fiona Spitzkowsky, 27 Mar
Susie Youssef, Melbourne Town Hall “A perfect mixture of anecdotal monologues and improvised comedy” Penelope Wilson, 30 Mar
Comedy Bang! Bang!, Metro Theatre, Sydney “A spattering of Aussie-specific jokes that’ll have you in peals of laughter.” Uppy Chatterjee, 28 Aug
Jim Jefferies, Enmore Theatre Sydney “This is a man that has a very clever head on his shoulders.” Mick Radojkovic, 17 Apr
26 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
HANNIBAL BURESS
F
or a long time in Australia, US comic Hannibal Buress was known as “that guy from Broad City” with a list of other support roles attached but, as soon as he takes the stage, an entirely new persona is on show; one that will see him take over the world and Aussie venues at least twice the size during his next visit. He’s claimed the top place in The Music’s 2016 Writers’ Poll for his diverse skill set and unique brand of humour that delves into controversy while still keeping things light-hearted and relatable. Aussie favourites Sam Simmons and Wil Anderson came in second and third respectively and perhaps it’s to do with their presence on TV and constant international touring that sees their material ever-evolving and always engaging. New York’s queen of ribald comedy, alt. cabaret and physical theatre, there’s never a dull moment when it comes to Bridget Everett’s (Girls/Inside Amy Schumer) live show — she’s loud, silly and left an impression on punters after her uninhibited, unapologetic and in-your-face east coast stint earlier this year.
The Top Ten 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Hannibal Buress Sam Simmons Wil Anderson Bridget Everett Nick Offerman Margaret Cho Matt Okine Julian Clary Tom Ballard Steve Hughes
There’s no one quite like Parks & Rec grump Nick Offerman. While some actors or comedians might not like the idea of being typecast or pigeonholed after a role, it almost seems like the character of Ron Swanson was based on Offerman’s life, as he sung of beards and woodwork while playing a homemade ukulele during his Aussie visit. Racists, bigots, misogynists and abusers of power were in the firing line when US comedian/actor Margaret Cho’s The PsyCHO Tour rolled through town. She’s also one of few to nail the Aussie accent (unlike our number one, who butchered it to hell). Cho’s another comic who’s mastered balance and tone, ensuring the heavier content is offset by easy-going obsessional humour. And last — but certainly not least — nowformer triple j breakfast star Matt Okine, who might find his way higher up this list in 2017 as his comedy career takes priority. Okine’s stand-up has evolved tenfold on previous years as he opens up the darkest points of his personal life for analysis. It’s a brave move that not a lot of others take on or master, but Okine’s new direction is exciting and promises big things.
soundlounge
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 27
MOST READ
INTERVIEWS
Website Of The Year
1 Holly Marie Combs
Check out the top interviews that piqued your interest throughout 2016 on theMusic.com.au:
Holly Marie Combs “It’s still astounding to me that the show still means so much to people,” Social Media May Be Bringing Back Charmed Mitch Knox, 16 Jun Nina Las Vegas “I’ve survived in a really exciting scene for ten years and I love it.” Why Nina Las Vegas Can Finally Speak Out Cyclone, 14 Jan Fat White Family “Yeah and [there are] some laxatives in it.” Fat White Family’s Saul On Crystal Meth In England Bryget Chrisfield, 28 Jun Frenzal Rhomb “I think we’re all going to buy houses after this.” A Lesson On Australian Values With Frenzal Rhomb Daniel Cribb, 16 Aug
Frank Iero “If you compliment yourself, you’re an asshole” Frank Iero Contemplates Mortality Uppy Chatterjee, 26 Oct
28 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
THEMUSIC.COM.AU Well, would you look at that? For the fourth year in a row, theMusic.com.au have topped the Website Of The Year list. Hey now - let us have a moment to bask in this glory... and let’s ignore the fact that our writers may have a slight bias.
2016’s been rough in terms of saying goodbye to legendary musicians, and as much as we don’t wanna brag about this, we were one of the first to report on Prince’s death, thanks in part to a Digital Editor who couldn’t sleep. We brought you coverage of the passing of David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Sharon Jones and followed the lawsuits of Kesha, Azealia Banks and the Sydney lockouts, bringing you regular updates.
For real, though, we’ve had a great year of delivering you news, reviews and in-depth coverage of some of Australia’s most beloved festivals and events. From the ARIA Awards red carpet to Splendour In The Grass, Bluesfest, Face The Music, Barunga Festival and BIGSOUND, we’ve had people on-ground to eavesdrop report on the hot gossip, announce signings and management deals and help give new artists the boost they need to crack the market. We also brought you a metric fuckton of music video premieres and single streams from bands like The Hard Aches and Camp Cope, an amazing opinion piece from Clairy Browne about misogyny in the music industry and controversial gig reviews from the likes of Richie Sambora, Madonna and Unwritten Law.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though - our writers also spent a helluva lotta time on Netflix (it came in second. Well, there was a lot of Stranger Things - our #1 TV Show - and Gilmore Girls to get through after all), and social media giants Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, in that order. Bandcamp also made an appearance - let’s boil that down to our awesome new music discovery column, This One Time, On Bandcamp - and so did Reddit and Wikipedia. Thanks for stickin’ by us, guys! We promise to bring you more rad content next year.
The Top Ten
Past Winners
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
2015: theMusic.com.au 2014: theMusic.com.au 2013: theMusic.com.au 2012: Twitter 2011: Facebook
theMusic.com.au Netflix Facebook Twitter Instagram Google Reddit Wikipedia Bandcamp Cracked
The Music oďŹƒces are closed for the festive season and will re-open on Wednesday 4 Jan. The ďŹ rst issue of The Music hits the streets on Wednesday 11 Jan. From all of us here at The Music, compliments of the season to you.
In Memoriam
Daddy Cool, Ross Hannaford & Warne Duncan centre
Daddy Cool tragically lost two members this year, with guitarist Ross Hannaford passing in March of cancer, and bass player Wayne Duncan leaving us just nine months later. The Eagle Rock-ers were hugely significant parts of Daddy Cool and greater ‘70s Aus-rock scene.
Bored Nothing
David Bowie
IN MEMORIAM There have been way too many untimely losses in the world of music this year. Here are just some of the many brilliant artists gone but certainly not forgotten in 2016.
The Thin White Duke, The Goblin King, Aladdin Sane – when we lost David Bowie in January we truly lost a thousand personalities in one. Bowie hid his cancer diagnosis from the public, passing just days after his 69th birthday, but left a truly brilliant parting gift in his final release, Blackstar.
Hugh McDonald
Folk musician and Redgum member Hugh McDonald left us in November, the staple of Aus folk passing after a long battle with cancer. He is survived, amongst others, by his daughter and Camp Cope member, Georgia.
30 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Leonard Cohen. Pic: Josh Groom
Canadian poet, singer, songwriter and visionary, Leonard Cohen capped off the list when he passed away in early November. Cohen passed peacefully in his sleep just two and-a-half weeks after releasing what became his final album, You Want It Darker.
In Memoriam
The Australian music scene mourned the heartbreaking loss of one of their own this year, when Fergus Miller, aka Bored Nothing, took his own life in early October. The singer/ songwriter took his own life at 26, after a prolonged battle with depression.
Adrian Slattery
Frontman of Melbourne altcountry rock outfit Big Smoke, Adrian Slattery was a friend to many of Melbourne’s alternative musos and a talented enigma of the local scene. Slattery passed in May after being diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
Sharon Jones @ Sydney Town Hall. Pic: Rohan Anderson
If you need help dealing with depression or want to talk to someone, call BeyondBlue on 1300 224 636 or head to beyondblue.org.au.
The brilliant Sharon Jones tragically lost her long battle with cancer in November this year. The soul singer found fame with The Dap-Kings. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, news broke in April that the legendary Prince had suddenly passed, aged 57, following an accidental overdose.
Phife Dawg
The hip hop world suffered immensely this year when A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg died in March. The band had just finished recording their first album in 18 years, and We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service became one of the group’s most critically acclaimed releases.
Prince
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 31
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
Ono Hawaiian Foods
No journey would be complete without getting a taste of the local fare and the best place to do that in Waikiki is Ono Hawaiian Foods — Ono means delicious and they aren’t being boastful. Grab the combo plate for a taste of everything and if you let them know this is your first rodeo the chef will come out and give you a run down on the food. For starters and sides there is pipikaula, a kind of spiced beef jerky, lomi salmon, essentially salsa with salmon in, and poi — a vivid purple goo made from the taro plant that is surprisingly delicious. The main event though is the Kalua and laulau pig. The first is buried in a pit oven, somewhat like a hangi, while the second is wrapped in taro leaves (“like spinach, but better”) and steamed. Both are soft and rich enough to run for president.
Paradise Cove Luau A luau is a party as much as meal, something Paradise Cove communicates by putting a Mai Tai in your hand the moment you step through the leafy entrance and onto the beach. Wandering down to the shore there’s a ‘Hawaiian Village’ with different island themed ceremonies, from the Shower of Flowers and the Hukilau, and games to work up your appetite, like ‘island bowling’ or a spot of chucking sharp sticks around on the spear range. Once you’ve proved that you’re a danger to yourself and others, dig into the island fish with Macadamia nut creme sauce, Kalua pig and poi (and maybe a couple more Mai Tais) while watching some absolutely spectacular hula dancers and fire twirlers. It’s as touristy as it gets, but hey, you’re a tourist. Get involved.
When you’re hanging out in an island paradise you’re eventually going to run into a big problem — you’re going to need some food to soak up all the booze (eating the pineapple your Pina Colada came in only gets you so far). The people of Hawaii figured this out some time ago, and they’ve got some pretty amazing eats to keep your strength up
Izakaya Tako-No-Ki One of the biggest surprises straight off the plane is the massive Japanese community in Hawaii — one of the largest in America — which means visiting the islands includes taking advantage of some of the amazing Japanese food on offer. We suggest you head to Izakaya Tako-No-Ki and can grab a seat at the bamboo bar where you can watch the two chefs fry up okonomiyaki while you wait. The horumon yaki (grilled beef intestine) comes highly recommended, but unless you’re feeling adventurous (it’s delicious but has the texture of a fatty inner tube), you might want to grab a mix of teppanyaki plates and some Sho Chiku Bai (warm saki) to wash it down.
32 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Music
Naked Heart Ahead of her upcoming tour, Amanda Palmer chats to Cyclone about making music with her dad and staying true to herself in the process.
A
manda Palmer, punk cabaret provocateur, is one of those artists other artists namecheck. The Motels’ frontwoman Martha Davis praised her grunge cover of Total Control – a fluke new wave hit for the Californians in Australia – which Palmer performed with former Bad Seed Hugo Race on RocKwiz. “It’s a great song!” Palmer enthuses. The Bostonian is heading to Australia for three months of gigs, starting with her inaugural Woodford Folk Festival. Palmer will then return to the Sydney Opera House, and also hold a residency at The Gasometer in Melbourne. Palmer has promised spontaneous solo shows, with her singing, playing piano and ukulele, and bringing the cray. Palmer has “a real affinity” with Australians. She busked here ignominiously (as a living statue) even before touring with her fabled band The Dresden Dolls. However, another reason for this extended run is her desire to avoid the winter, with its “cold air”, Stateside. “I really like to be able to walk around naked all the time,” Palmer admits. “I don’t like having to put on clothes.” Palmer will miss Trump’s Presidential inauguration, something she feels guilty about. “I really wish that I could transport myself back for January 20th, because so many of my friends and fellow artists and musicians are all gonna be marching on Washington. I feel like I’m abandoning my comrades.” Coming up through a performing arts counterculture, “Amanda Fucking Palmer” found success in the 2000s with Brian Viglione as The Dresden Dolls – introducing dark cabaret to the indie scene. She went solo with 2008’s Who Killed Amanda Palmer. Yet Palmer realised that she was too subversively eccentric for labeldom. Indeed, she cut a set of Radiohead covers on ukulele. Determined to be autonomous, Palmer turned to Kickstarter to fund 2012’s Theatre Is Evil with her Grand
They’ve had to deal with [me]... literally naked on stage, pulling my heart out of my chest and going, look, look, look, look...
Theft Orchestra, generating US$1.2 million. She wrote of exploring this new arts economy in her New York Times bestseller The Art Of Asking, itself based on a TED Talk. Palmer has since embraced Patreon, a crowdfunding subscription platform fostering rapport between creatives and fans, for her “weird projects”. “I’ve just been making music as I want.” She’s grateful. The communal Palmer is more prolific than ever. In 2016 she released an album with her father Jack, You Got Me Singing – “a bunch of sweet, easy folk covers”. Palmer refers to it as “the dad record”. The pair toured together, too. Says Palmer, “It was a wonderful experience.” The media has made much of the pair’s previous distance, but Palmer is anxious to correct any misapprehensions. “It actually bugs me that the press keeps saying that my dad and I were estranged, that’s just not true. It’s closer to say that we just didn’t have a close relationship when I was a kid, because my parents were divorced... But there was no battle. That being said, not being close with your dad is traumatic in itself... almost even worse than being estranged (laughs). It was like we had no relationship to estrange.” Palmer began building a relationship with her father as an adult. Jack is a singer/guitarist and she “semijoked” about their teaming for an album. He was “keen”. You Got Me Singing was “liberating” – and restorative. The singer can now empathise more with her parents. “My life has not been easy for them to understand. They’ve had to deal with the daughter who, from the time she was 24, was singing openly about her pain and agony and angst and abortions and relationships - you know, literally naked on stage, pulling my heart out of my chest and going, look, look, look, look...” Next for Palmer is an album, I Can Spin A Rainbow, completed in London with Edward Ka-Spel – mastermind of cult ‘80s outfit The Legendary Pink Dots. He was her “teenage idol”. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever written. I absolutely love it because it really merges my songwriting voice with Edward’s. Edward’s ability to loop and produce electronic music and my very organic human piano sound are threaded together really beautifully. I’m incredibly proud of the record.”
When & Where: 30 & 31 Dec, Woodford Folk Festival; 3 & 4 Feb, Melt Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 33
2016’s Biggest Food Trends
These tasty trends kept Aussie tastebuds satisfied this year. Tuck in.
Home Delivery 2016 saw the rise and rise of food delivery, elevating the humble take away to gourmet heights. Services like Deliveroo, Foodora and UberEATS opened up the delivery market to fine dining joints and grass roots tech start-ups like Tipple brought booze into the mix.
Food Trucks Boutique eats hit the road this year, with a surge in vehicular cooking leading to who food fests dedicated to four-wheeled kitchens. The benefits aren’t just for the stomach rumbling public. Going mobile lowers overheads and opens up new markets. Winner winner chicken dinner.
Smashed Avo on Toast 2016’s biggest food story came courtesy of natural enemies: curmudgeonly baby boomers vs spendthrift millennials. A column in The Australian by Bernard Salt chastised the youth of today for splashing too much cash at brunch. The result: retaliatory Smashed Avo boom across the nation.
34 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Music
with the way that information has become so globalised, the fans are always there,” he observes. “It’s not like we have to go there and win everyone over from square one; they have access to our videos and our records and our Instagram feed and things like that, so the timing is right for us now.” Illustrating that point further is the fact that once they broke the ice on coming to Australia in 2014, they are heading back again within two years, playing a whole bunch of festival dates and club shows across late December and into January. “We couldn’t be more excited,” Olsen enthuses. “The last time we toured Australia, it was the first time we’d ever been down there, it was just an absolute blast. First of all we couldn’t believe the weather — in the middle of our winter when we’re usually freezing our asses off. We couldn’t believe the people, we couldn’t believe the food, the coffee — the whole nine yards. It was a great time.” Olson has a message for the Aussie fans, especially those who will be experiencing Lake Street Dive for the first time: come prepared to cast off your inhibitions, shake your booty and have a good time, because the band only feed off that kind of energy. “We try to have a lot of fun playing the music,” he explains, “and we hope that that translates to our audience, and we hope that they have fun too. Ideally we’ll see a lot of people dancing, because when we see people dancing, that’s the quickest way for us to know we are reaching you. When that feedback comes, the shows get better and better; the crazier the crowd becomes.”
The Long Game
Rod Whitfield chats to Lake Street Dive’s Mike Olson about why it took the Boston band so long to come to Australia, and why he wants to see you shake it at their shows.
B
oston-based soul/jazz/pop fourpiece Lake Street Dive have been around for 12 years and, although their singer Rachael Price was originally from Perth, it still took them a decade to get out to tour Australia for the first time. Multi-instrumentalist and co-founding member Mike Olson attributes this to the practicalities of bringing a band to Australia from the States and also to the fact that the band’s career so far has been more of a slow burn than an overnight explosion. “Well, you’re extremely far away, there is that!” he laughs from his home in Charleston, South Carolina. “But it took us a long time to get basically anywhere outside the northeast of the States. We spent years touring around that area in our drummer’s Subaru Forester. But you know what? That’s how you do it. A lot of artists who may be of the mainstream pop persuasion, they blow up and go viral, they attain a lot of fame in a very short time. That’s not how it worked for us.” He feels that that slow build-up, plus the fact that the internet puts a band in touch with an audience much more quickly and easily than the way it used to be, strongly contributed to their ability to tour internationally now. “It’s cool, too, because
When & Where: 28 — 30 Dec, Woodford Folk Festival; 31 Dec, Soul Street New Year’s Eve, Byron Bay
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Music
To A Tee Let these picture-perfect photo blogs renew your faith in the beauty of the world.
@SpencerNotSpencer The life of fashion photographer Byron Spencer is a technicolour wonder.
@GoPro The mini-cam masters show off their products snazziest snaps.
@HappyMundane Jonathan Lo finds the beauty in the everyday — vibrant colours and swish angles.
@TheScranLine Pastry chef Nick Makrides turns cupcakes into masterpieces. Mouth-watering doubletaps.
36 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
“Golf is sort of like my heroin and thank heavens I don’t need that,” Lloyd Cole tells Bryget Chrisfield of the only thing capable of pushing music out of his brain.
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ollected Recordings 1983 — 1989 by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions — a box set containing five CDs, one DVD and a book — was released halfway through 2015 and we wonder how listening back to this material makes Cole feel these days. “Sometimes I’m sort of in awe of the music we made and — not very often — other times I just think, ‘What? What? What? Why didn’t I have somebody — was I surrounded by yes men? That’s rubbish!’” On whether his opinions on certain songs he’s written have changed over time, Cole says, “I can’t really remember what it was like to be 23-year-old me. I remember some of the motivations, but some of the thought processes that I had?... The only things I can remember about songs are interesting anecdotes about where I wrote them, but why I wrote them? Gosh, I just wanted to be a pop star!” Remarkably, Cole wrote his band’s first two hits “over a weekend” using a portastudio. “We used to take turns taking the portastudio home at the weekend to record ideas, and I recorded Perfect Skin and Forest Fire the same weekend. And I remember taking the rough tracks back to the band and going, ‘I’m pretty sure we’re onto something now’,” he laughs.
Cole speaks to us from the attic of his home in Western Massachusetts. “I came over here in 1988 for six months and ended up staying for half my life,” he tells. Initially based in New York, Cole recalls “probably the most public” band feud (“when Blur and Oasis were both popular, and they both hated each other”) when describing the London music scene from which he fled. After moving to New York, Cole observes, “My life was comfortable again. It’d been a little bit difficult... in the UK, you know, when you go shopping you eventually have a train of people following you around [laughs].” While considering other factors that may have contributed to British band wars in the UK, Cole posits, “I remember growing up with people like [Echo & The Bunnymen’s] Ian McCulloch as heroes and McCulloch spent all his time slagging everybody else off. So I think we sort of thought that’s what you were supposed to do and it was quite nice to get away from that. In fact, I think if I’d stayed in the UK I’d have retired from music a long time ago. I think I’d have just been worn out with it.” Fortunately for us, then, Cole relocated. “Or not, depending on your point of view,” Cole quips with a chuckle. Cole finds it hard to switch off, confessing, “Half the time I wish I could stop writing.” So does he suffer from insomnia? “Not just insomnia, it’s during the day as well when you’re trying to just sit around and watch sports or something and a new bloody song is kicking around in your head... Golf has been one of the very few things that allows me to focus my brain on something that pushes music and everything else out. And I suppose golf is sort of like my heroin and thank heavens I don’t need that.”
When & Where: 10 Jan, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC)
Drug Alert kits use the same technology as that found in professional screening laboratories, without the need to send them away to obtain result.
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 37
Film
Keeping It Real Director Justin Kurzel screen adaptation of computer game franchise Assassin’s Creed, starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, is surprisingly sparing of CGI. Hannah Story discovers why live action trumps digital.
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ichael Fassbender is the first to walk through the door on this bright October afternoon to the Assassin’s Creed press junket. He makes steady eye contact with his questioners. He uses his hands when he’s speaking, trying to articulate a point, sometimes looking down while taking sips from his coffee cup. Director Justin Kurzel is next, known for Snowtown and Macbeth, which also stars Fassbender and Cotillard. He sits down and is immediately bursting with friendly Australian energy. Then Marion Cotillard strides into the room, the most upfront and no-nonsense of the lot. She’s funny and wry, pausing at length to think before answering.
I think players are gonna love it, and also people who don’t know the game at all, because you really don’t need to know the game to appreciate the movie.
The three have been brought together by the film adaptation of cult video game Assassin’s Creed, a project Fassbender also co-produced. He plays Cal, a criminal in the present-day, made by the Templars to partake in the Animus Project where he relives the memories of his ancestors. He also plays Aguilar, Cal’s Assassin predecessor. Cotillard plays present-day Templar Sophie, the leading scientist on the project. Fassbender, captivated by the idea of DNA or genetic memory, recruited Kurzel, who says he was “completely taken” by “the idea of a central character understanding and learning who he is through his blood, 38 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
and through the ancestry of his past, and the experience of his ancestors”. Fassbender, Kurzel and Cotillard pay compliments to each other quickly and brightly. Cotillard says, while working on Macbeth, Fassbender “calmed” her: “I saw through his eyes how giving a vision of the world by this media of cinema was important.” Fassbender describes Kurzel’s filmmaking as “visceral”, saying the realism of his work lent itself to filming action pieces “old school”, using as little green screen as possible - Fassbender’s stunt double actually took a 125-foot “leap of faith” jump. “The real life action sequences are taking place in real locations, with real people. There’s not a huge amount of CGI.” The decision to limit the amount of digital manipulation is one part of trying to make the film engaging to a lay audience, while paying respect to hardcore fans. “One of the hardest parts about making a film out of the Assassin’s universe is there’s so much there,” says Fassbender. “With any of these things, it’s a healthy dose of respect and disrespect - we came up with new characters that don’t exist in the game; we came up with our original regression, the Spanish Inquisition; we took things that are obviously very important to the game, the Animus, things like the bleeding effect, the artifact.” There are, however, some deviations from computer game’s canon. Assassin’s Creed the film has dramatically reimagined the Animus (a narratively pivotal piece of advanced technology), so it involves more physical movement: “At the same time that’s a video game, this is a film, so to just sort of infuse what we know from working in films, and that’s the element of disrespect... We take what’s there and try and make it visually more stimulating.” The three have had varying degrees of engagement with the game itself - Fassbender says he played the game a bit to get a feel for it: “I played the game to basically get a physicality, especially for Aguilar.” Kurzel played against one of the champions of Assassin’s Creed: “He brought me in to take me through it, it was quite embarrassing how poor I was.” Meanwhile, Cotillard says she didn’t play the game at all: “They let me not do it... I didn’t feel that I needed to play... I think players are gonna love it, and also people who don’t know the game at all, because you really don’t need to know the game to appreciate the movie.” Assassin’s Creed was scored by Kurzel’s brother, Jed. Justin Kurzel says that in terms of the music it’s been quite different from other large genre films, almost “like working on an independent film”, doing “really interesting stuff” like using an unreleased Massive Attack song at the end. Entrance Song by The Black Angels underscores one of the first scenes in the film: “They just seemed to really hit that spot perfectly”.
What: Assassin’s Creed When: In theatres 25 Dec
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 39
Music
2016’s Best Twitter Accounts
Fuck Trump, these are the Twitter feeds that made this year worth living
@WhoresOfYore Described as “A catalogue of jilts, cracks, prostitutes, night-walkers, she-friends, kind women & others of the linenlifting tribe”, this subversive, post-slutshaming, NSFW feed is our favourite source for historically informed female empowerment.
@VancityReynolds Deadpool topped this year’s Film Of The Year Poll, but anyone who follows old mate Rey Rey’s Twitter account will know that the studly Hollywood hunk is basically playing himself in the film: ballbusting wise-cracking dawn ‘til dusk.
@dog_rates We Rate Dogs is the most amazing antidote to this terrible headfuck world we live in, because DOGS Y’ALL! Five minutes on this feed and you’ll be cured of all that ails ya, we promise.
40 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
people if you go too far.” In-keeping with his ‘rule’, he worked alongside two German electronic artists The Yum Yum’s in Berlin’s Riverside Studios to reimagine Pocket Full Of Shells and High Up from Waves. Further work on the project he’s planning to roll out under the moniker Seaside Highlife. But spreading himself thin over the last year came at a price. “It’s pretty weird, I can tell you but I dunno if you’ll believe me,” he intrigues. “About a year ago I had this crazy dream that I was pulling this black, mini dog slash dragon shaped skeleton out of my mouth... and when it came out, it felt in my dream like I was completely contented, I just felt like the stress was gone. It must have been minutes after that when I woke up and I couldn’t move my arm. Couldn’t turn my neck... The crack in my vertebrae [from a past motorbike injury] had opened up and the disk had just exploded overnight, in bed. And it had pressed on my spinal chord so it was like a mini paralysis.” Threatened with the permanent loss of the use of his right arm, he ignored the advice of specialists and forewent surgery for mediation and holistic treatment. “I felt like my brain and my way of being had caused this to happen. I felt in that moment I became free, my body became broken. And I thought ‘If my body did it, then I can undo it’... now i’m 99 percent normal.” Rather than looking to past projects, he will continue to move forward artistically, “leaving Mat McHugh alone” and closing the door on The Beautiful Girls: “It exists in a particular time and place for me. For me to go ‘I’ll make a record that sounds like we did in 2003’ is disingenuous. I don’t think I could make a recorded that sounded like that again.”
Split Personality
Brynn Davies spoke to Mat McHugh about closing the door on The Beautiful Girls, getting boxed in as an acoustic artist and how he shattered his vertebrae in his sleep.
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at McHugh refuses to box himself in. Yet he’s conscious of his audience who, in 2016, sees him predominantly as an acoustic musician. “I know a lot of guys who I get lumped in with, they play guitar and they sing amazingly but that’s all they do. I’m not really ever that guy,” he says decidedly. His rule is simple: “If you’re going to do something over to the left and a bit strange, label it something else.” This is what has taken him from The Beautiful Girls at the turn of the millennium, through his solo work and now into the realms of digital dancehall, dub and hip hop. You can hear him stretching the limits of his solo identity on 2015’s Waves, but that’s “me being wary of not going too far. It could go way further out than that,” he laughs. “But I always am conscious that there’s a point that once you go over it ceases to become anything people will recognise or associate with. “I love [acoustic]. I wouldn’t play any music or song if I didn’t actually like it... But I also think if you’re in the music business and it’s your career there’s almost a responsibility to communicate with people on a certain level... If you create an image based on having a couple of records that come from a particular place, maybe it’ll be jarring for
When & Where: 6 Jan, Soundlounge; 8 Jan, Solbar;
All gig and music news at your fingertips.
Search for ‘The Music App’ on THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 41
Music
Safety First Co-frontman Jake Ewald tells Mitch Knox about Modern Baseball’s commitment to making gigs a safe space for fans — by supplying a hotline to report inappropriate crowd behaviour — and their band romance with Camp Cope.
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ew young bands have seen the kind of meteoric ascension that has been enjoyed by Philadelphia indie-punk darlings Modern Baseball. Rocketing from revered cult favourites to bankable international headline drawcards in the lead-up to, and wake of, their acclaimed third album Holy Ghost, released earlier this year, the band have carved out a reputation as one of the hardest-working, most earnest and downright likeable ensembles of our era. Indeed, they packed out raved-about shows on their maiden trip to Australia in April, a feat they’ll no doubt replicate when they touch
Before we left the first time, we were like, ‘We have to come back soon, and we have to do more shows with Camp Cope’.
down at the end of the year for Falls Festival and some affiliated sideshow appearances. Part and parcel of their growing renown as performers is undoubtedly their commitment to making their gigs a safe space for their fans; over the course of their tours for Holy Ghost, MoBo implemented a way for their audience to let them know if they were feeling uncomfortable by providing a public phone number for their manager, Eric Osman, to field calls in real time from people in the crowd having a bad one. According to vocalist/guitarist Jake Ewald, the band experienced a little bit of trepidation prior to pushing ahead with the initiative but, along with guidance from influential peers Speedy Ortiz, decided to go with it 42 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
and, he says, it was probably one of the best calls they’ve made. “It’s been great; the first big push for it was on that headline tour we did a couple months ago, and... it was a little bit freaky before we did it, because we just had no idea how it was going to go,” Ewald explains. “We got the idea from this band called Speedy Ortiz, in the States, and they had done it once or twice before, so we just kind of got the lowdown from them on how it would work in a perfect world. So then we just hooked it up to a phone number and put up a video to announce it, and we pinned a tweet on our Twitter so you could always see what the number is. “We got on the tour, and the response was really good. It got used maybe, like, once a show, couple times a show, depending on where we were, and it felt really helpful. People were really glad that we had it there; we just got a lot of people, even people who weren’t using it, just tweeting at us or messaging us and saying, ‘Hey, it’s so cool that you have this, this makes me feel better about being at your show,’ and also I think you could kinda see a new respectfulness in the crowd after a certain amount of time, because people, knowing about the hotline when they came to the show — they knew what they were getting into: this isn’t going to be like a hardcore show, where everybody jumps on everybody else and beats each other up; this is going to be — we’re going to watch music and listen to music and, like, jump up and down and have a great time.” Presumably the plan will be in effect for their headline shows over the next few weeks, especially given MoBo’s desire to pick up where they left off with new friends and fellow safe-space activists Camp Cope, with whom they bonded deeply on their previous visit. In fact, they may be the reason that we’re getting to see these guys again so soon in the first place. “I think we were planning the second trip before we left the first time, because we were just like, ‘This is crazy, we have to come back here — why do all these people so far away like our band? We should come bac back,’” Ewald laughs. “So we’re stoked to play some new plac places, stoked to do a festival over there — that’ll be nea neat — we just started doing more of that kind of thing in the States, so it feels really cool to be able to do it over ther there too. “And we’re all really excited to play with Camp Cope aga again. Before we left the first time, we were like, ‘We have to come back soon, and we have to do more shows with Camp Cope,’ so it was pretty quickly decided.”
When & Where: 1 Jan, Falls Festival, North Byron Parklands
Theatre
Basil Fawlty & Hamlet
Fawlty Towers Live
John Cleese
Could Basil Fawlty be considered akin to Hamlet? John Cleese thinks so in a semi-humourous way. He talks to Mark Neilsen about Fawlty Towers Live.
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early 41 years since it first premiered on television, the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers makes its official theatrical debut. Adapted for the stage by original writer and actor of the iconic character Basil Fawlty, John Cleese, its world premiere is in Australia. Bringing Fawlty Towers to the stage is no easy task. For one, the episodes — written by Cleese and Connie Booth — were quite intricate and multifaceted. “The plots are very, very hard to cut. I mean they were complex plots,” Cleese states. “You can’t just take a bit out because then there’s a bit missing. You can’t do it. They tried to do it in America to cut it down to a commercial half hour (for an American TV adaptation of Fawlty Towers) and they said it can’t be done.” In the end it was decided that the core of the stage adaptation would be three episodes of the TV show, which ended up being Communication Problems (where the staff deal with a guest that is hard of hearing), The Germans (where a group of Germans are staying at the hotel and Basil can’t help insulting them) and The Hotel Inspectors (where Basil gets wind of hotel inspectors in the area and tries to appease them). And rather than play out separately, Cleese says they will be “bringing all the endings together as one huge finale”. “I have to say, one of the nice things about working around it is to realise how funny it is,” Cleese mentions of adapting the show for the stage. “Because I don’t sit around watching my old programs, I forget the dialogue. When you come to it for the first time it’s really funny.” Even today, the material is timeless (“It doesn’t date,” Cleese asserts) and the characters are classic. Set in the English seaside town of Torquay, the show follows hapless hotel proprietor Basil Fawlty, who runs the establishment with his wife Sybil. The staff include street smart chambermaid Polly and eager-to-learn but not very competent Spanish waiter Manuel. Despite such iconic characters in the TV show, Cleese wasn’t looking for carbon copies when casting the
I don’t want it to be a rip off. I want it to be really good on its own terms.
theatrical version. “No, very much not. People are curious about that, but I do point out to them in a sort of semihumorous way that Hamlet has been played by a rather large number of actors and everyone does it differently,” he says. With particular reference to the character of Basil Fawlty, “There will be some echo of my performance, and there will be the intrinsic character on the paper and then he will bring something and it will be different. And it’s very strange how different people make parts work in different ways if they’re good.” Playing the four principal characters in the theatrical version will be Stephen Hall (Basil), Blazey Best (Sybil), Aimee Horne (Polly) and Syd Brisbane (Manuel). And Cleese won’t be sad to see someone else play his character. “No, that would never occur to me,” Cleese begins. “The only thing I wanted is that it’s important to me that it’s as good as possible. Because I asked one friend at one point if he wanted to direct and he said it just feels too much like a rip off. And I said ‘well, I don’t want it to be a rip off. I want it to be really good on its own terms.’” As for how the audience will react, Cleese points out that the main problem will be that “in an audience in the theatre, you have to keep waiting for the laughs”. “So the problem is pacing it right in the theatre, because you’ve got to listen so carefully to the audience. But that’s something that actors learn to do.” However waiting for the audience is not something you have to worry about with visual gags, which featured in Fawlty Towers prominently, as there is no line for the audience to hear. “So you can build visual gags and I’m sure that will happen as the guys play it. But it will probably be 20 percent funnier after 50 performances because people learn how to make things work. And you have to learn that in front of an audience, particularly physical comedy,” Cleese outlines. “If you have a funny line, you just have to time it right. But if it’s a bit of physical comedy, you can sometimes find ways of expanding it and tweaking it and you can make something that should last 15 seconds last 30 seconds.”
What: Fawlty Towers Live When & Where: 28 Dec — 22 Jan, Playhouse Theatre, QPAC
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 43
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 21
Galaxy Girls
Resin Moon + Edward Francis + Grim Tilla: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
12 Hours of 24Hundred Pop Up Store with Columbus: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Twelve Foot Ninja
Star WarsTrivia: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Gian: El Capitano, Noosa Heads
The Music Presents Parcels: 22 Dec Black Bear Lodge The Golden Age Of Ballooning: 30 Dec Bloodhound Corner Bar Strangers: 4 Feb Crowbar Twelve Foot Ninja: 16 Feb Miami Tavern; 17 Feb Villa Noosa Hotel Noosaville; 18 Feb The Zoo CW Stoneking & Nathaniel Rateliff: 8 Mar The Tivoli The Jerry Cans: 22 Mar, The Northern Byron Bay; 23 Mar, SolBar; 24 Mar, Black Bear Lodge
A Very Very Kransky Christmas with The Kransky Sisters: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Cremorne Theatre),South Brisbane Mark Sheils: Runcorn Tavern, Runcorn Triffid Acoustics with Aine Tyrrell: The Triffid, Newstead
Thu 22
Out Of This World
Parcels: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Strap on your space boots and get ready to go intergalactic with the brilliant Galaxy Girls. The female rock-cadets are heading to The Northern on 6 Jan for a free show with Drunk Mums and Draggs.
Ladies in Mercedes with Jan Gillies & Carole Marcos: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Touch: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Wes Anderson Trivia: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
The Twine + Benny D Williams: Night Quarter, Helensvale
John Kennedy: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Kirkland: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
The Duke + Jordan Merrick + Jamie Lashmar: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Weightless In Orbit + The Stranger + Red in Tooth + He Danced Ivy: The Triffid, Newstead
A Very Very Kransky Christmas with The Kransky Sisters: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Cremorne Theatre),South Brisbane
Darren Hanlon + Chad Morgan: Old Museum, Fortitude Valley
Wildlife feat. +The Seefelds + Whalehouse: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Bluesfest: 13 – 17 Apr, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
Worse For Wear + Deluso: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Laura Mvula: 15 Apr The Triffid
Xmas Party with The Massive Fergusons: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Dream Thieves + Buck Dean & the Green Lips: Solbar, Maroochydore
Fri 23 Kylie Auldist The Men About Town: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ Troy: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads Toxic Garden Gnomes + Goldstool + The New Fools + Bazooka Fist: Chardons Corner Hotel (Back Room),Annerley Shackles + Siberian Hell Hounds + Descent + Shitgrinder + Perpetrator + The Endless: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Berlin Thrillogy
Ian Moss + Boom Crash Opera: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Bowie In Berlin, a night encompassing the Starman’s Berlin trilogy — Low, Heroes and Lodger — is coming to The Triffid, 6 Jan. There’ll be performances from Kylie Auldist, Dave Graney, Ron Peno and more.
Example + DJ Wire + Benibee + Jakey J + more: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Twilight Music Festival feat. Some Jerks + The Stress Of Leisure + Scraps + Splat Acrobat + The Double Happiness + Sarah Engstrom Band: Hilder Road State School, The Gap A Very Ben Salter Xmas Show with Ben Salter: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Ian Moss
Gather Some Moss One of Australia’s most iconic musicians, Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) is heading for Eatons Hill Hotel to knock one of the worst years in recent memory on its arse with a massive 2016capping show.
Fingered + The Wrath + Knights Like These + Blind Girls: Kirra Sports Club, Coolangatta A Very Very Kransky Christmas with The Kransky Sisters: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Cremorne Theatre),South Brisbane
Family Affair: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
Terence Boyd Thallon: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
Wandering Eyes: Miami Marketta, Miami
Town: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
The Wet Fish: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Rise of the Riff feat. Hobo Magic + Grim Rhythm + Narla + The Royal Artillery: The Bearded Lady, West End 66mas! Stateside with A Somerset Parade: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
44 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Gigs / Live The Guide
Dave Is A Spy
Large Garage Espionage It’s going to be a massive party at Woolly Mammoth on 07 Jan, as Dave Is A Spy help out at the launch of Concrete Lips’ debut EP. Also appearing are Friendlyfire, Guava Lava and more.
Woodford Folk Festival feat. Bullhorn + The Lachy Doley Group + Dubarray + God God Dammit Dammit + Guyy & The Fox + Hailey Calvert + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Highlife + James T. + Justin Bernasconi + Lagoon Hill Zydeco + Mat Brooker + Matt Stillert + Rob Longstaff + The Francis Wolves + The Longjohns + The New Buzz + Adalita + Yirrmal + Ainslie Wills + Mansionair + Methyl Ethel + Oh Pep! + The Hot Potato Band + The Little Stevies + AlfanAnt + Brendan McLean + Desert Child + Essie Thomas + Gold Member + Jackie Marshall + Jordie Lane & The Sleepers + Marvell + Parcels + Silver Sircus + Stu Larsen + The Fergies + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford
Thu 29
DJ Set with Chris & Maz (WAAX): Crowbar (Crowbar Black), Fortitude Valley
Chris Flaskas: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads
CKNU: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Ryan Delaney: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
One Sound: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central
Carl Craig: Capulet, Fortitude Valley
Indian Summer: Magnums Hotel, Airlie Beach
Chase City
WED 28 SoLar: El Capitano, Noosa Heads Mark Sheils: Runcorn Tavern, Runcorn The Gooch Palms The Scrapes + Primitive Motion + Glam Fail: The Bearded Lady, West End Songs You Know & Love with Pete Cullen: The Triffid (Beer Garden),Newstead
Bless feat. Crown Ruler + Tako + Izabel + Winters: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley Cesqeaux: The Met, Fortitude Valley
Chase The New Year
Jessica Sarah + Maja + Sophia Koop: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
New Year’s Eve at The Northern is going to be a great place to ring in 2017. Chase City are set to kick things into gear, 31 Dec, along with the likes of The Ruminaters, Ivy and many, many more.
Sat 24 Lefty’s Xmas Sing-a-Long with Andy McDonnell: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane Black Satin: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central Fat Picnic: Miami Marketta, Miami Michael Buble Christmas Crooners Tribute: Night Quarter, Helensvale The Robertson Brothers + Frazer Goodman: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Brodie Graham: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore The Brightside Christmas Party with +Various DJs: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Sam Leslie + Phoebe Sinclair: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Mon 26 Mason Hope: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore Boxing Day Party with Deadlights + Vaela + Daybreakers: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Tue 27 Ham: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Village
Come Gooch Some It is going to be a big fat New Year’s Eve indeed down at Crowbar this 31 Dec. Heading the festivities are Newy sensations The Gooch Palms, supported by Walken, Concrete Surfers and Muddy Chanter.
Woodford Folk Festival feat. Adam Scriven + Asa Broomhall + Dubarray + Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers + God God Dammit Dammit + Guyy & The Fox + Hailey Calvert + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Highlife + Huge Magnet + James T. + Justin Bernasconi + Karl S Williams + Lagoon Hill Zydeco + Lake Street Dive + Mat Brooker + Rob Longstaff + Swamp Thing + The Francis Wolves + The Lachy Doley Group + The New Buzz + Tullara + Adalita + Half Moon Run + Tash Sultana + Thelma Plum + Urthboy + Ainslie Wills + Oh Pep! + The Hot Potato Band + Desert Child + Gold Member + Jackie Marshall + Linsey Pollack + Lizzie O’Keefe + Mark Moroney + Marvell + Parcels + The Fergies + The Little Stevies + Tobias + Dubioza Kolektiv + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford
Skypilot: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore Port Royal + Hooch + Hey Baby: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Rory J Dawson + Cam Bower: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane AC Slater: Wharf Tavern (The Helm),Mooloolaba Woodford Folk Festival feat. Blue King Brown + The Bamboos + Lake Street Dive + Asa Broomhall + Bullhorn + Dubarray + Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers + Guyy & The Fox + Hailey Calvert + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Highlife + Huge Magnet + James T. + Karl S Williams + Lagoon Hill Zydeco + Mat Brooker + Matt Stillert + Rob Longstaff + Swamp Thing + The Francis Wolves + The Longjohns + The New Buzz + Tullara + Half Moon Run + Tash Sultana + Ainslie Wills + Steve Poltz + Oh Pep! + The Hot Potato Band + Gold Member + Jackie Marshall + Jimmy Davis + Linsey Pollack + Lizzie O’Keefe + Parcels + Stu Larsen + The Little Stevies + Dubioza Kolektiv + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford Dubioza Kolektiv: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Fri 30 The Jimmy Watts Band: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads
The Wet Fish: Miami Marketta, Miami Stork: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar),Miami Sovereign: Night Quarter, Helensvale Fiona Boyes: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Nothin But Wax with Various DJs: Solbar, Maroochydore Jason Daniels: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore Tim Steward: The Bearded Lady, West End Woodford Folk Festival feat. Amanda Palmer + Gang Of Youths + Highlife + Little May + Lake Street Dive + Parcels + The Bamboos + Adam Scriven + Asa Broomhall + Dubarray + Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers + God God Dammit Dammit + Guyy & The Fox + Hailey Calvert + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Huge Magnet + Jerron ‘Blind Boy’ Paxton + Karl S Williams + Lagoon Hill Zydeco + Matt Stillert + Rob Longstaff + Swamp Thing + The Francis Wolves + The Lachy Doley Group + The Longjohns + The New Buzz + Tullara + Steve Poltz + The Hot Potato Band + Brendan McLean + Essie Thomas + Gold Member + Jackie Marshall + Jimmy Davis + Linsey Pollack + Lizzie O’Keefe + Marvell + Silver Sircus + Stu Larsen + The Fergies + The Little Stevies + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford
The Golden Age of Ballooning: Bloodhound Corner Bar, Fortitude Valley T Roy: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 45
Comedy / G The Guide
NYE Mega-Party! With We May Fall + Granola Boy: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Dubioza Kolektiv
New Years Eve Party with Birdman Randy + Friends: The Flying Cock, Fortitude Valley Common People with DJ D Black + Sullivan + DJ Elka Von Schmoot + Various DJs: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Timmy Trumpet
Indie
Parp-y Time Album Focus
Answered by: Vedran Mujagic Album title? Happy Machine
Where did the title of your new album come from? It is named after traditional Balkan moonshining device used to distill everybody’s favourite alcoholic beverage - Rakija. Detailed schematics of how to assemble DIY “Happy Machine” is on CD cover.
How many releases do you have now? Seven. How long did it take to write/ record? This album developed over the course of two years.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We find inspiration in events and stories happening around us and we try to react and comment on them hoping that music can inspire people and make them think about issues they would otherwise ignore. What’s your favourite song on it? Free.mp3 (The Pirate Bay Song) Will you do anything differently next time? Probably not. Recording was really rewarding and fulfilling experience and we learned a lot from people we worked with on it. When and where is your launch/ next gig? 24 Dec, Factory Theatre; 28 Dec, Woodford Folk Festival; 29 Dec, Woolly Mammoth. Website link for more info? dubioza.org
46 • THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016
Get your horns out on New Year’s Day, because Timmy Trumpet is heading to Eatons Hill Hotel for the 1 Jan celebrations. The massive foam party will feature Will Sparks, LDRU and a whole lot more.
New Years Eve with Feelsclub + House Hounds + Ella Metherell: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Woodford Folk Festival feat. Amanda Palmer + Bullhorn + Adam Scriven + Dubarray + Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers + God God Dammit Dammit + Guyy & The Fox + Hailey Calvert + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Highlife + Jerron ‘Blind Boy’ Paxton + Justin Bernasconi + Karl S Williams + Mat Brooker + Matt Stillert + Rob Longstaff + The Lachy
Simi Lacroix
Willy Joy: The Biscuit Factory, Fortitude Valley
The Biscuit Factory New Years Day Party 2017 feat. Chase & Status + Skism + Must Die! + Habstrakt + Tha Trickaz + EPROM + Willy Joy + Noy: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley 4ZZZ Hot 100 Party with Various DJs: The Triffid, Newstead
Woodford Folk Festival feat. Jerron ‘Blind Boy’ Paxton + Adam Scriven + Dubarray + Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers + God God Dammit Dammit + Guyy & The Fox + Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson + Highlife + Justin Bernasconi + Karl S Williams + Lagoon Hill Zydeco + Mat Brooker + Rob Longstaff + Suzannah Espie + The Lachy Doley Group + Tullara + Steve Poltz + The Hot Potato Band + AlfanAnt + Desert Child + Essie Thomas + Jackie Marshall + Jimmy Davis + Marvell + Silver Sircus + The Fergies + The Little Stevies + Tobias + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford
Mon 02
Sat 31
DJ Troy: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
New Years Eve with ITES: Black Bunny Kitchen, Alexandra Heads
Tue 03
New Years Eve with Calibre Cats: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Wallis Bird: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Afro Dizzi Act + DJ Massroom + DJ Nato + more: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
DJ Ben Meerman + DJ Massroom: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
New Years Eve with The Gooch Palms + Walken + Concrete Surfers + Muddy Chanter + DJ Kristoff Wilde: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley New Years Eve Glow Party with DJ Courtney Mills + B3rn + Migs + Hynzey: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill NYE 70’s Celebration feat. Killer Queen: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton
Simi More This 6 Jan The Foundry is where to be in order to check out the excellent Simi Lacroix. The energetic singer is supporting dream poppers FeelsClub along with the always-enjoyable Stevie.
White Heat NYE Party with Som De Calcada: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End Seductive Soul: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central New Years Eve with The Lyrical + DJ Freddy Flyfingaz + Zambabem: Miami Marketta, Miami Friendly Fire + Freakshow Nightmare + Kham + Snakebite Whiskey + ROO + Captain Cake: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley NYE Midnight Trip feat. The Delta Riggs + Sahara Beck + Yes Sir Noceur + Lotus Ship + Aquila Young + Keelan Mak + Peach Fur + The Vanns: Night Quarter, Helensvale The Wet Fish: Queen Street Mall, Brisbane New Years Eve with DJ Total Eclipse: Solbar, Maroochydore Brodie Graham: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
Shannon Sol + OJ Newcomb + DJ Troy: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads Vieux Farka Toure: Solbar, Maroochydore Hello Tut Tut + Greshka + Zvonsky: The Bearded Lady, West End
Thu 05
Ash Grunwald: Imperial Hotel, Eumundi New Years Eve with The Empresarios + Silk n Oak + Two River Blues: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane
Wed 04
Doley Group + The New Buzz + Tullara + Steve Poltz + The Hot Potato Band + Ben Walsh + Brendan McLean + Desert Child + AlfanAnt + Essie Thomas + Gold Member + Jackie Marshall + Jimmy Davis + Mark Maroney + Marvell + The Fergies + The Little Stevies + Tobias + Wallis Bird + more: Woodfordia, Woodford
So You Think You Can Blast? Heat #1: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Shake N Bake feat. Boo Seeka + Lyall Moloney + Gold Member + Shaker DJs: Solbar, Maroochydore
The Royal Parks
One Last Dance: NYE Day Party with Various DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Sun 01 New Years Day Madness with Dragonsmead + Decapitated Mum + Shadow Realm + Lustration + Asylum + Beast Machine + Dirty Brew + Wisdoms Realm + Pig Mouth + Goatzilla + Mergatroyd + Harvey Djent: Chardons Corner Hotel (Back Room),Annerley New Years Day 2017 - Foam Party with AC Slater + Various DJs: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Khan: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
Garden The Castle Triffid Acoustics continues in 2017, with Melbourne darlings The Royal Parks hitting the stage for the free event. Check them out on 11 Jan.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Adam Scriven: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
Feelsclub + Simi Lacroix + Stevie: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Lunice: TBC Club (The Bowler Club), Fortitude Valley
Rocky Horror Trivia: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Bowie In Berlin: Selected Works 77 to 79 from Low, Heroes & Lodger feat. Kylie Auldist + Dave Graney + Ron S Peno + Kim Salmon + Max Sharam: The Triffid, Newstead
Drunk Mums: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Faux Bandit + Ornifex + Alastyn + Euphony: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Nice Biscuit: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Fri 06 Caxton Street Jazz Band: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point I Met The Maker + Particles In Motion + I, The Divide + Uncle Buck: Chardons Corner Hotel (Back Room),Annerley Awaken I Am: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Connor Brooker + Alex Stewart: Crowbar (Crowbar Black),Fortitude Valley
Boo Seeka + Lyall Moloney + Gold Member + Shaker DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Sat 07 Dan Bolton: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Lizzard Wizzard + Deafcult + Hobo Magic + Hurricane Death: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Di Nero: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
Lyall Moloney
The Desert Sea: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Songs You Know & Love with Pete Cullen: The Triffid (Beer Garden), Newstead Rude Boy/Rude Girl Dance Club feat. The Sunny Coast Rude Boys + Alla Spina + DJ Dave Slater: The Triffid, Newstead Willy Joy: Wharf Tavern (The Helm),Mooloolaba
Just A Mo’
Concrete Lips + Fooligans + Friendlyfire + Dave Is A Spy + Trigger Warning + Guava Lava: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Shake ’N’ Bake 2017 is shaking up to be a hell of a good time, with Lyall Moloney ready to party. Check it out at Solbar, 5 Jan, Woolly Mammoth, 6 Jan, and The Northern, 7 Jan.
Sun 08 Brisbane Big Band: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Pink Matter: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End Mat McHugh: Solbar, Maroochydore Khan: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore All Ages Show with Every Time I Die + Letlive + Counterparts: The Lab, Brisbane Americana Sessions with Heartworn Highway: The Triffid, Newstead
Tue 10 Eagle St Quartet: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End Lloyd Cole: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Concert Hall), South Brisbane Moose Blood: The Lab, Brisbane
Mon 09 Ane Brun: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Concert Hall), South Brisbane Parcels
Every Time I Die + Letlive + Counterparts + Deadlights: The Triffid, Newstead
Special Delivery Parcels are back in town for a string of very special hometown shows. The Berlin-based boogie machines are heading to Black Bear Lodge on 21 Dec, to show their Aussie fans just what a bit of Euro love can do.
Pierce Brothers
Sue Ray + Jillian Linklater + Beth Brown: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Katie Who + Jax Haze + Ondre Davis: Miami Marketta, Miami
Accomplice Collective: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
The Wet Fish: Mooloolaba Yacht Club, Mooloolaba
Pierce Your Ears
Bearfoot: Miami Marketta, Miami
Mammoth: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
After a hugely successful run supporting Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Pierce Brothers are heading to The Foundry for a headline show, 20 Jan. Support will come in the form of Little Georgia.
Sharon Shannon Band: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Pete Allan: Night Quarter, Helensvale Grainne Duffy: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna The Brains Trust + The Moon Sets: Solbar, Maroochydore Bri Green: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore Mat McHugh: Soundlounge, Currumbin Summer Hedonism feat. Deez Nuts + Trash Talk + Grips & Tonic + She Cries Wolf + Stepson + Time Crisis + more: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Ministry of Sound - The Reunion Tour feat. John Course + Mark Dynamix + Kid Kenobi + Stafford Brothers: Night Quarter, Helensvale FOMO 2017 feat. Flosstradamus + Empire Of The Sun + Peking Duk + JME + Goldlink + Metro Boomin + Hannah Wants + Slumberjack + George Maple + Feki + Maribelle + Lastlings + Desiigner + more: Riverstage, Brisbane Pop Cult: Solbar, Maroochydore AlfanAnt: Solbar (Lounge Bar),Maroochydore
THE MUSIC • 21ST DECEMBER 2016 • 47
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