06.07.16 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Issue
146
Melbourne / Free / Incorporating
INSIDE: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TOP ALBUMS OF THE YEAR SO FAR
SET TO BE THIS YEAR’S BREAKOUT SPLENDOUR STAR
2 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
THE RETURN OF SUGAR MAN
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
ARCHIE ROACH*
SAT 12 NOV • BRISBANE, CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE TUE 15 NOV • SYDNEY, STATE THEATRE XAVIER RUDD, ARCHIE ROACH, SAT 19 NOV • HUNTER VALLEY, BIMBADGEN RUSSELL MORRIS & MARK WILKINSON MON 21 NOV • HOBART, DERWENT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE FRI 25 NOV • MELBOURNE, PLENARY TUE 29 NOV • ADELAIDE, THEBARTON THEATRE SAT 10 DEC • PERTH, KINGS PARK & BOTANIC GARDEN PLUS
*ARCHIE ROACH NOT APPEARING
ON SALE THURSDAY 14 JULY FOR EXCLUSIVE PRE-SALE INFO GO TO FRONTIERTOURING.COM
RODRIGUEZ-MUSIC.COM
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 3
4 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 5
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Internal Grace
Canberra outfit SAFIA are gearing up for the long-awaited release of their debut album Internal, and to celebrate the trio have announced an expansive tour of Australia September and October.
Safia
70 The age AC/DC singer Bon Scott would have been had he still been alive, with his birthday on 9 Jul. Good Boy
Walk The Line Brisbane indie-rockers Good Boy have released the new video clip for Poverty Line, and to coincide with its release the three-piece have also unveiled a massive east coast tour throughout October. 6 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Panic! At The Disco
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Credits
Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
Last Call
Yellowcard
DMA’S
Pop punk icons Yellowcard have announced their final world tour after news of their disbandment earlier this week. The quartet’s last Australian leg will kick off next February for five dates, and one last album to say goodbye is due out this September.
Gavin James
Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast
National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Editor Bryget Chrisfield Arts Editor Hannah Story
Gig Guide Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au Editorial Assistants Brynn Davies, Sam Wall Senior Contributor Jeff Jenkins
Contributors Bradley Armstrong, Annelise Ball, Paul Barbieri, Sophie Blackhall-Cain, Emma Breheny, Sean Capel, Luke Carter, Anthony Carew, Uppy Chatterjee, Daniel Cribb, Cyclone, Guy Davis, Dave Drayton, Guido Farnell, Tim Finney, Bob Baker Fish, Cameron Grace, Neil Griffiths, Kate Kingsmill, Tim Kroenert, Pete Laurie, Chris Maric, Fred Negro, Danielle O’Donohue, Obliveus, Paz, Sarah Petchell, Michael Prebeg, Paul Ransom, Dylan Stewart
Havin’ Gavin
No Time To Lay Down Capping off a massive year, Sydney Britpop revivalists DMA’S have announced they’ll be hitting the road again for a four-date national tour. They’ll visit Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane with support from Bad//Dreams.
Irish singersongwriter Gavin James has been causing a commotion in the UK of late and is heading to Australia for the first time to showcase his tunes. James will bring his debut album Bitter Pill along for the ride to play four shows throughout September.
Senior Photographer Kane Hibberd Photographers Andrew Briscoe, Jay Hynes, Lucinda Goodwin
Rodriguez. Pic: Josh Groom
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Keep Calm And Panic! Panic! At The Disco have announced an Australian tour in January to celebrate their fifth studio album Death Of A Bachelor and the ten-year anniversary of their debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.
Lay On The Rod Rodriguez, the Sugarman himself, has announced his return to Australia. The singer-songwriter will visit our shores in November and December and will be joined by our own living legend Archie Roach at each show.
Level 1, 221 Kerr St, Fitzroy VIC 3065 Locked Bag 2001, Clifton Hill VIC 3068
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 7
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Tomorrow’s News
Melbourne quartet Flyying Colours have released the first single, It’s Tomorrow Now, from their upcoming debut album. They’ll also be following their Wintersteady Festival appearance with headline Melbourne and Sydney shows in early August.
Flyying Colours
Barracuda
Rachel Maria Cox Rachel Maria Cox is launching their second EP I Just Have A Lot Of Feelings at the end of July, and celebrating with a tour through NSW and VIC over July and August.
Ooooooo~! ABC’s new four-part drama series Barracuda is set to premiere this Sunday. Set in ’96, the golden age of Aussie swimming, the show revolves around 16-yearold Danny Kelly’s quest for Olympic gold. Yeo
Yeow! Melburnian songwriter and producer Yeo has penciled in his final headline gigs for the year. With his new single Got No Game, Yeo will embark on short east coast tour throughout September. 8 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 9
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Snow Show
Snowtunes Music Festival returns to the pristine shores of Lake Jindabyne this September with What So Not, Hot Dub Time Machine and Ball Park Music as well as a heap of triple j Unearthed artists.
Hot Dub Time Machine
Joel Creasey
4 Orlando Led by Joel Creasey and Chrissie Swan, a massive comedy line-up including Julia Morris, Judith Lucy and Aunty Donna will Stand [Up] 4 Orlando this Saturday in support of the victims the horrifying attack on LGBTQI venue Pulse Nightclub.
Pull The Other Leg Following the announcement that US comic Natasha Leggero will be heading over for this year’s Sydney Just For Laughs, the comedian has revealed she’ll be heading south for a Melbourne show, 8 Sep.
David Bowie: The Man Who Stole The World
Starman David Bowie: The Man Who Stole The World is being released on 6 Jul. Previously unavailable in Australia, the documentary explores Bowie’s world-changing career through exclusive footage and interviews. 10 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Love Some, Lose Some
Tim Rogers
Head to Arts Centre Melbourne in August for Last Night When We Were Young: Tim Rogers Sings Songs Of Love And Loss. Tim Rogers will tackle classic torch songs with Clio Renner and Xani Kolac.
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 11
Music
Despite natural comparisons to James Blake and Ed Sheeran, Jack Garratt tells Cyclone he feels “the new Stevie Wonder” is more appropriate.
J
ack Garratt is the UK’s new electro-soul everyman. But, while the hirsute singer, songwriter, musician and producer is depicted as a more versatile Ed Sheeran, modish James Bay and poppy James Blake, he’s determined to establish his own identity. Garratt, whom The Guardian has hailed as “the figurehead of all modern hipster music,” auspiciously won both the 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice Award and the BBC Music Sound Of... poll — as did the mega Adele and Sam Smith before him. Earlier this year his debut album Phase, containing the breakout single Weathered, reached #3 in the UK and, with triple j’s support, Top 10 here. Now on the back of sold out transatlantic shows he’s bound for Splendour In The Grass on his inaugural Australian tour. Even those international music critics suss on Garratt’s polished bluestronica — and hype, period — concede that he’s riveting live. Like Sheeran, Garratt performs as a one-man band, but he juggles multiple instruments. Garratt rehearsed with other musos but decided that autonomy mattered more to him than camaraderie. “It’s me giving myself the opportunity to just do a lot of things — and I like doing a lot of things,” Garratt explains. “Some people say it’s because I’m a control freak — I’m not sure if that’s the right word for it, but I think there’s probably some truth in that. I like to know what’s going on... But me doing the show in the way that I do it live just always seemed to make sense. I’ve only ever known how to make music and produce music and perform music on my own. I’ve been in bands before, but I’ve only ever really truthfully known how do it by myself. It made sense for me to continue that when I was building the live set. So I walk up on stage with a couple of keyboards and a big drum kit and I try to play it all at the same time!” Garratt, based in London, is genial and earnest. However, he reveals an ambitious streak, often talking about “the bigger picture”. He’s an artist who manages to be focussed and exacting while freely following his muse. Garratt is sensitive. Not unreasonably, his (trademark) beard, hair and cap are no-go interview topics. Garratt is already a veteran at 24. Raised in the sleepy English village of Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, he had childhood piano lessons, his mother a music teacher. The precocious Garratt taught himself guitar and anything else that took his fancy. In his early teens, Garratt competed to be the UK’s entrant in 2005’s Junior Eurovision, his number The Girl ignominiously coming last . Subsequently, Garratt gigged in bands. In 2011 the now-troubadour readied an acoustic folk and blues project, Nickel & Dime, only to abandon it — lately telling Q that it was “shitty”. Garratt, who’d intended to teach music like Mum, dropped out of uni. He experienced a crisis of confidence. Music saved him. Fascinated by Frank Ocean, and the surging post-dubstep soul, Garratt experimented with a fresh hybrid. “I grew, I think. I grew up in a way as well,” he ponders of the transition. “I didn’t fall out of love with the music [acoustic fare] — it just didn’t make sense to me anymore. Something about me had changed and
12 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
A MUSIC NERD
clicked and I suddenly realised I wasn’t happy with the music I was making and that I felt like I needed to change something, and that’s kinda where the new sound that I’m still trying to figure out started to come from.” As Garratt sees it, legacy artists such as the late David Bowie and Prince naturally diverged stylistically. “I’m inspired by musicians who never gave themselves any kind of obvious boundaries — like one of my favourite Stevie Wonder records is [1980’s] Hotter Than July, which has everything from gospel ballads to upbeat funk songs to country songs on it.” Garratt turned to the BBC Introducing platform to expose his material. In 2014 he self-issued his first EP, Remnants. A deal with Island Records ensued. Then, after being declared 2015’s BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year, Garratt scooped the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award and BBC Music Sound Of... For Garratt, the wins were
That’s why I get compared to Ed Sheeran a lot — because I’m white and I play the guitar and I have ginger on me somewhere. It’s nothing to do with the music.
“incredibly humbling”. But there was latent apprehension. “I was very aware that, ‘Okay, things are going well, but I’ve gotta be careful. I’ve gotta still work hard’. I was given these awards and I haven’t even released an album yet, so what does that mean? Do the awards mean anything?” Garratt is routinely likened to other acts — Sheeran, Bay, Smith, Blake. “I always felt really cringe-y if someone compared me as being the ‘new version’ of something that was still current,” he says, bemused. “That just really weirds me out. I understand getting compared to someone like James Blake, because I’m a huge fan of his — and I don’t hide that. I take influence from his music and I instinctively, without consciously thinking about it, put it into my own music. But no one’s calling me ‘the new Stevie Wonder’, even though I do the exact same thing with Stevie. No one’s calling me ‘the new Justin Timberlake’ — even though Justin Timberlake is a bigger influence on me than both Stevie Wonder and James Blake are. Ultimately, it’s down to easy targets. That’s why I get compared to Ed Sheeran a lot — because I’m white and I play the guitar and I have ginger on me somewhere. It’s nothing to do with the music.” Many of the songs on Phase emanated from Garratt’s existential episode, his most caustic lyrically Chemical. Yet presently Garratt is less sad lad than sanguine star. “Everything’s going very well,” he admits with a laugh. “But I’m still as intensively self-deprecating as I ever have been and terrified of failure and terrified of not being good enough for other people. Play-by-play, I’m an insecure person — I am! But I love music way too much. I love it. It’s been the most consistent form of therapy that I’ve had my entire life. I wrote about that [self-doubt] a lot on the last record. I’m probably gonna keep writing about that because I doubt that that fear will ever go away. I kinda also hope it doesn’t. It makes me feel alive, it makes me feel real. In this industry, especially in the pop side of an industry like this, you’re expected to be ‘on’ all of the time and smiling and happy and great and ‘Isn’t everything fantastic?’ As true as that is, as happy as I am with everything that’s going on, I still bleed like other people do, I still have a heart and a brain and a body — and I’m a person. I have insecurities and issues. I like that I do — it makes me human.”
Jack Garratt is a music nerd. He actively follows contemporary acts — even extolling Beyonce’s risktaking with Lemonade. “People have gone crazy about it because it’s Beyonce!,” Garratt proclaims. The Brit is anticipating catching many a buzz act at 2016’s Splendour In The Grass, including Bey’s pal James Blake. Garratt has lately been performing on the same circuit as Lapsley. Liverpool’s avant ‘n’ b star is touring behind her debut Long Way Home. “Lapsley will be amazing,” Garratt recommends. “I think she’s absolutely incredible.” He also hopes to see The Internet, Sydney Bennett’s neo-soul combo returning to Australia after Laneway last summer. “I’ve been a huge fan of theirs for a really, really long time.” Garratt is into his Australian music, citing Hiatus Kaiyote in past interviews. The name of another domestic fave jumps out on the SITG bill as he scrolls through. “Oh, Matt Corby’s playing!,” Garratt enthuses. “I’d love to see Matt Corby ‘cause I’ve not seen his new show — apparently he plays the flute in it and I’m very excited about that.” Garratt has a connection with Phoenix, Arizona model-cumsinger Kacy Hill — who in 2015 premiered on Kanye West’s GOOD Music with the Bloo EP. Garratt collaborated with Hill on the BANKS-like single Foreign Fields, Rick Rubin himself introducing them. Hill joined Garratt on US dates in February — and she’ll be “special guest” at his Australian side-shows. “She’s incredible,” Garratt promises.
When & Where: 20 Jul, 170 Russell; 22 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 13
Film
Balance Goldstone director Ivan Sen tells Anthony Carew how he took a genre we’re all used to and gave it “a dose of social, cultural complication”.
T
hree years ago, Ivan Sen opened the 2013 Sydney Film Festival with Mystery Road, a policier that used the murder investigation genre to explore sociological issues. Its dead girl was Indigenous, its script a broadside against the treatment of Aboriginals by police, inspired by the fact that cases involving missing or murdered Aboriginal women - including two distant cousins of the filmmaker - are rarely pursued with much zeal. Its lead detective, Jay Swan, was played by Aaron Pedersen, this not-quite-hero a mixed-race ‘turncoat’ - a modern-day tracker too black for the local police force, too white for the local aboriginal community. Being caught
Goldstone
Even if you’re making a genre movie, it has to have a deeper meaning. I’m taking stepping stones towards trying to redefine what genre means.
between two worlds is a feeling both the filmmaker and his star know well from their own lives, which inspired Sen to keep exploring the same character. Now, Goldstone will open this year’s SFF, bringing things back full circle. “That first screening [of Mystery Road] in Sydney,” Sen recounts, “the audience reacted really well, and I was just standing up the back, and I just felt like there was something missing from this idea of this Indigenous detective in this desert landscape, trying to achieve this dream of universal justice in this small town, where he’s up against the establishment, as well as his own community. I felt like it was missing this emotion, this... feeling, that’s not something that I can totally articulate. So, right after the first screening I felt that I wanted to do another one. But I didn’t really pursue it until Aaron Pedersen called me 14 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
up and encouraged me to write another film. He was just as keen to keep exploring Jay Swan and his world.” In Goldstone, Sen explores the lead character in a deeper fashion, describing the film as a “spiritual journey” in which its central cop “reclaims his identity, his culture, his past”. Again, these sociological ideas, which have deep resonance in Australian culture, are explored through the prism of genre. With another impressive cast - including Alex Russell, David Gulpilil, David Wenham, Jacki Weaver, Kate Beahan, and Michael Dorman - on side, Sen sought to go beyond what he did last time. “Goldstone takes things further: it takes in more cultural perspective, but there’s also more generic thriller elements, there’s much more tension and a faster pace than Mystery Road,” Sen says. Goldstone also takes things further in terms of its location. It was shot in Maryworth, “deep into Western Queensland,” three hours west of Winton, where Mystery Road was shot. It’s an area that, Sen says, has “never been filmed before”. How come? “Because there’s literally nothing there,” he laughs. “That’s why people haven’t filmed there. There’s no power, there’s no water; there’s one pub that runs on a generator. We basically had to build a town there, which took most of the budget for the film. It was the most intense, emotional shoot I’ve ever had. The whole crew got so close. The land is very, very strong there. It’s strikingly beautiful, an area that is naturally treeless plains, it’s never had trees, so there’s something beautiful about its sparseness. We were all stuck out there together, and everyone connected with what we were doing, and with the land.” Though he’s made fiction features about wayward Aboriginal youth (2002’s Beneath Clouds, 2011’s Toomelah), documentaries about ‘lost’ black women (2004’s Who Was Evelyn Orcher?, 2007’s A Sister’s Love), and even experimental essay-movies about Area 51 (2009’s Dreamland), Sen believes he’s now found his calling: making genre movies shot through with social themes. “When you make a film like Mystery Road, it’s interesting,” he says. “Some people are just there for the gun battle. Which is fine. But then, hopefully, they take on board that cultural perception that underpins the fabric of the action. Then you’ve got people who are interested in Indigenous films, but who might not normally go to genre movies. The trick is, then, balancing that so you don’t [alienate] either audience. I pushed myself way more with [Goldstone] than I pushed myself in the past, to try and make sure that I do connect with a wider audience with this one. “Even if you’re making a genre movie, it has to have a deeper meaning. I’m taking stepping stones towards trying to redefine what genre means. By putting this Indigenous perspective, this conflicted Indigenous perspective, in the middle of something that is a Western, that is a thriller. It’s taking a genre that we’re all used to and giving it a dose of social, cultural complication. It’s pumping it full of this real-life meaning, which has come from my life, and Aaron Pedersen’s life, and the life of a lot of people in this country.”
What: Goldstone
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 15
Theatre
Frontlash Waste Not Want Not
All About The Bass
Pencil shavings art. So purty!
Dolly Did It
Lashes
A Doll World After All (@adollworldafterall) is back on the Insty! Rejoice!
Tiny Dancers
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’ video clip for Wake Up The Sun will make you smile, well up and ponder life’s mysteries all at once. It’s filmed in Moldova and features an adorable pintsized dancing duo – can’t stop watching!
Tiny Dancers
Backlash Malcolm’s Mess
Thanks Turnbull, your needless election has led to a Senate with Pauline Hanson AND Derryn Hinch. Ye reap what ye sow and sow.
Bite Me
Buffering. Any other Apple TV users noticing ridiculous loading times for shows already purchased?
Cuts Like A Knife Dem long voting forms, though. Anyone else get a paper cut?
16 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
New York dancer Anna Bass explains to Danielle O’Donohue why she’s performing with This American Life radio show host, Ira Glass.
A
merican radio host Ira Glass has spent the last 20 years sharing with his audience all kinds of anecdotes, confessions and insights into the lives of ordinary people on his show This American Life. Broadcast weekly in the US on public radio and globally as a podcast, This American Life’s popularity has provided Glass with a rapt and enthusiastic Australian audience. Cue Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a show Glass has been performing around the US and is bringing to Australia to be performed in Sydney and Melbourne in July. While the show will feature Glass talking about the colourful and compelling characters and stories that he spins into radio gold each week, the show will also feature two New York dancers, Monica Barnes and Anna Bass. Bass and Barnes may not tell their stories in quite the same way as This American Life’s radio show, but their unique way of presenting contemporary dance make the pair a good fit for Glass’s unique theatre show. “I’ve been a long-time listener,” Bass says. “Monica and I are both huge fans. I started listening in college. “It’s been a part of our lives for a really long time. It’s kind of mind-blowing to think about how much a part of my life the show
actually is now but we still listen on a weekly basis. It’s very funny. We still listen to Ira in our homes. Then we see him on stage. It’s been such a pleasure to perform this show. Neither one of us has ever had an experience like this.” Bass and Barnes have worked together for over a decade, so spending weekends hitting the road for the last two years to take this show around most of the United States has provided the pair with more inspiration for their other dance work. “We are constantly talking about the creative process,” Bass explains. “I think for Monica and Ira, they make work in a very similar way. It’s been really inspiring to have ongoing conversations about making work. We’ve been so inspired by how he makes his radio shows.” Based in New York, Bass laughs when asked if her 13 years working alongside Barnes has given them a sixth sense around each other. “We have a constant thread where we can read each other’s minds and we’re really breathing at the same pace sometimes. It’s pretty remarkable. I try and be as fearless as possible with her. I think that’s the only way to be.” But it’s not just her creative partner that pushes Bass to be fearless. The dancer says the city of New York is as much a creative force as anything else she draws on. “There’s something about the way this city can fight you back. There’s kind of a battle to live and breathe and survive and succeed here. It takes a certain amount of grit which feeds into the real sense of humanness and individual-ness that make their way into every piece we make.”
What: Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host When & Where: 14 & 15 Jul, State Theatre, Arts Centre
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 17
Music
Letting The Led Out
Led Zeppelin V Here are five of Vince Contarino’s favourite Led Zeppelin tracks to perform live.
Black Dog I just feel like… if the universe allows me to keep singing that until I’m 90, I’ll be feeling like the sexiest bloke in the world.
Rain Song I absolutely adore this one because – and it’s probably one I’d say play this at my funeral – it just goes through all the movements. From this beautiful, delicate ballad start, changing through the seasons and then it gets hard, but never really rocky, just intense.
No Quarter This one does something to me, it’s that mystery, that magic, I can almost feel the frostbite on my feet, that medieval thing.
Since I’ve Been Loving You The beautiful thing about that song is, they came from a blues background where they ripped off many, many blues artists, but this one is them. Totally them, and it’s the best blues tune they do.
Rock And Roll We open up with that song when we do the band set, and the crowd… you can see the smiles, this is all about good time fun, Led Zeppelin.
18 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Vince Contarino of The Zep Boys talks to Samuel J Fell about three decades emulating one of history’s most legendary bands ahead of Stairway To Heaven Led — Zeppelin Masters.
T
here aren’t many of us out there who haven’t, at some stage in our lives, wished we were our musical heroes. We’ve all played air guitar to Hendrix, drummed on a desk with two pencils listening to a Dave Lombardo solo, sung into a hairbrush to David Bowie. None of us have made it a career however, unlike Vince Contarino. The larger than life frontman for Adelaide band The Zep Boys has, since 1986, made a living as an Australian Robert Plant, the Boys being the longest running Zeppelin tribute act in the country. So long running in fact, they’ve been around for almost three times longer than the band they’ve made a career covering. “Yeah, that’s right,” Contarino laughs over the phone from the Gold Coast, where he’s currently involved in mentoring young singers. “I always think if they ever forget something, they can give me a call and I’ll help them out!” Contarino’s love of Led Zeppelin began, as with most of us, in his youth, listening to the records his older brother brought home. The love grew, and so in 1986 The Zep Boys were formed, and they’ve not looked back since. Over the course of three decades though, one needs to mix it up somewhat,
and so a few years ago, the band began thinking outside the box. Sometime in the mid-2000s they linked together with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to offer something different stemming from this timehonoured music. “We thought it’d be great to do with an orchestra, because the songwriting is, it’s not lollipop stuff, it’s quite sophisticated songwriting, [we thought] it’d lend really well to orchestration, and so we [hooked up] with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to start with,” he explains. It’s a concept which has really taken off, and so every now and then, since around 2005, the Boys have recreated this concept, most recently in Sydney at two sold out shows at the Opera House in January, and they’ll do so again in early July in Melbourne and Brisbane. “These shows, Stairway To Heaven — Led Zeppelin Masters, are different arrangements,” Contarino says. “The conductor, Nicholas Buc... he’s an amazing conductor and arranger. He took on the challenge to re-write all the charts, because the charts we’d used in the past were centred on the symphony orchestra, very lush and symphonic.” “So we wanted this [show] a little bit edgier, so he’s written charts that are absolutely leaning towards the song, regardless of band or orchestra,” he goes on enthusiastically. “He’s fantastic, these songs just come alive... when it’s sweet and delicious, it’s delicate and soft, all the composition rises to the surface, they’re lovely big shows.”
When & Where: 8 Jul, Hamer Hall
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 19
Music
Eyes On The Prize
Entries close on Monday for the Melbourne Prize For Music, so if you haven’t already entered, here’s Executive Director and founder of the Melbourne Prize Trust Simon Warrender to outline three reasons why you should enter: 1. The Prize is one of the most valuable music competitions in Australia and includes a public exhibition of finalists. 2. Entering gives musicians a chance to win significant financial rewards and recognition in the music sector. 3. The Prize and Awards are offered to all music genres so opportunities can be made available to all Victorian musicians.
20 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Hands Off The Honey Pot
Wild Honey frontman Thom Moore fills Brynn Davies in on the challenges of being an up-and-coming band: from line-up changes to small audiences.
T
hom Moore from Sydney’s Wild Honey talks easily about the multitude of line-up changes to the group since their inception early last summer, when he and Julian Sudek worked in Moore’s bedroom to produce their breezy self-titled debut EP. Sudek left the group to work on his duo World Champion. Moore, suddenly solo, picked up their current guitarist Adam Della-Grotta when he “saw him at a party and he was really snappily dressed. He looked like what I envisaged the ideal Wild Honey audience member to look like”. The process that led to the final line-up of five is something Moore calls “a fluid project”. “We initially had [Thom Eagleton] playing keyboards, playing organ, and now he plays drums which is his main instrument... [Previously] we had another drummer who was like a session drummer,” Moore explains. Their original bass player “who isn’t in the band anymore, thought [Eagleton] was a bit slow, like, not the right vibe on the kit”, when the band “went to audition new drummers just before [the other drummer] joined”. Once the bass player “was out of the picture” and the session drummer became unavailable for a few dates, Moore passed the role on to Eagleton.
“The drummer was definitely hard... because he wanted to stay in the band but he wanted to be paid per show... And we basically got to the stage where everyone in the band wasn’t taking any money — everyone was pulling that in to pay for things like petrol, to pay for things like photo shoots and video clips and things like that. But every show we were paying him, and that was adding up. We asked him if he wanted to join and the reality of paying $350 rent in Sydney meant that he couldn’t afford to be working one or two nights a week with the band and not being paid for it... The reality of the situation was that he couldn’t make the sacrifices that all of us were making.” As a new Sydney act Wild Honey were getting paid “$150 to do a show. And there will be five of you. And so if you go and then pay a drummer sort of $50, then you’re left with $100”. With Sydney’s current lack of venues in comparison to Melbourne — a move the band contemplated — it was a tough decision to make. “It’s a very hard thing to make work, so you kinda have to all take your hands out of the honey pot,” he laughs. “In order for there to be opportunities [for new bands] there needs to be audiences as well. And I feel like it’s an interesting one with all those protests and things like that — I saw so many people when we went down [to the Keep Sydney Open rally] and I wish I saw that many people at the gigs I go to! Not just ours, but other bands starting off that you go around to and they’re having trouble getting 150 people to a gig. “We really do work hard at it and, you know, a lot of the time you’re kinda hitting your head up against a wall trying to make opportunities present themselves.”
When & Where: 8 Jul, Penny Black
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THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 21
In Focus Tiny Little Houses
22 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Throughout July, The Gasometer Hotel invites you to experience Tiny Little Houses who will perform for their hometown each Wednesday night along with a variety of talented supports. It’s a great opportunity to catch
them in an intimate environment while they showcase some tunes from the new EP they have just recorded with Steven Schram (Paul Kelly, Eagle & The Worm). See you at the bar.
Music
Haunted House
Big White’s Jack Wotton tells Brynn Davies about the ghost story he lives every day.
G
hosts are something rarely seen. For Jack Wotton, the spirits that haunt the house he shares with his fellow Big White band members exist as a “feeling” rather than a physical entity. “There are energies in the house, like, if the air has stayed still for too long and no one’s moved through it, and then when you do go through your house it’s quite close to solid and a bit icy. When I first moved in... there hadn’t been anyone living in the back house for a month. I remember the first night walking in, it was dark, which didn’t help, and there was a strange energy. I’ve noticed it since. You don’t really wanna be on one side of the house alone. It’s a bit etch,” Wotton describes with a shiver. The sharehouse has a history that could be attributed to such paranormal energies - beginning as a surgery, it was subsequently transformed into a brothel, a boarding house, a “houso” block and “now it’s a sharehouse for hopeless people in their early to mid 20s. It’s a bit of a madhouse, it’s falling to bits”. Living with five bandmates sounds like a recipe for trouble - how many bands have fallen apart from rising tension in the confined space of a tour bus over the years? But Big White are “kind of like a - for the lack of a better cliche - a family I suppose”, he says bashfully. “I was in London recently and we ran into our mates from Hockey Dad, and their manager was like ‘So you’ve been on tour for a while now, are you guys
still friends?’” he laughs. “And I was like, ‘I wouldn’t say we’re more than friends, I’d say we’re beyond friends.’ We already love each other, but I guess we kind of learnt to get along. When you’re cleaning up after someone or they’re cleaning up after you... you kind of learn to be civil.” They must have it down pat - even splitting the songs evenly between their three singers for live gigs sounds like it’s done without protest. It’s outsiders that’s the problem. “Every, I’d say, two out of the three reviews that we get have said ‘Nicholas Griffith’s singing on Teenage Dream blah blah...’ and they always muck it up, every time. And how do you know? You gotta look at a picture of someone and go ‘He looks like he has a deep voice/he looks like he yelps like a puppy.’ Everyone’s got their favourites... You don’t wanna get caught on the Ringo side of things, that’s for sure!” After covering “9,200 miles” of touring in America, and multiple dates across Europe, Big White have become a little more worldly. Wotton reckons that “rock’n’roll is still alive” in the USA, observing bands like their own “constantly touring... They link up all these circuits, it’s crazy. There’s an optimism”. As for Europe, “There’s a lot more venues [than Sydney]. And Europe is completely different - the way you get treated as an artist. I was just saying to a friend: you get fed you, get watered, you get bedded, you get paid well. Europe’s next level in that sense, they’re really organised. Europe is like ‘wow’, a bit of gratitude.”
FRONT BOT TOMS DROP HOMAGE
TO ICONIC MOVIES The Front Bottoms released a new video for their track Ginger. Did you spy the references to the following films in there? Back To The Future – there’s Doc, Marty and the Delorian The Breakfast Club – running amok in the hallway by a Judd Nelson-esque character Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – it wasn’t Twist And Shout, but there was singing on the back of a truck Say Anything – holding that boombox aloft Risky Business – sliding around in one’s tighty whities ET – a blink and you’ll miss it hooded figure riding a bike with a basket A Clockwork Orange – the white outfits, the eyeliner, cane and hat all make an appearance
When & Where: 9 Jul, Yah Yah’s; 10 Jul, Karova Lounge, Ballarat
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 23
Music
FESTIVAL O F M A NY V O I C E S
Crafting Her Own Happiness
Keep One Eye On The Stranger at Festival Of Voices finds five emerging Tasmanian artists heading on a songwriting retreat with Abbe May, before performing at Hobart City Hall on 7 July. Here’s some fun facts about the ladies on the bill.
Maddy Jane Jane is influenced by the likes of Paul Kelly, Little Birdy and Courtney Barnett. Maddy Jane
Abbe May doesn’t give a shit about the music industry. What she does care about is making music. She tells Annabel Maclean about her near-death seizure.
“T Chloe Wilson Wilson has, as one half of Sumner with Jack McLaine, supported The Smith Street Band, and played Falls and Party In The Paddock.
Hayley Couper Couper has transitioned since 2014 from live band shows to more electronic solo shows, using loops drum machines and samples.
Claire Jansen Jansen features in bands Heart Beach and Catsuit.
Victoria Geale At 20 years of age, Geale has been playing guitar and singing for six years. She records her covers in her bathroom in Launceston. 24 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
he industry of music is not easy,” Abbe May begins, speaking of the pressures which ultimately led to her seizure in 2013. “At times it can be likened to being an elderly man with a Zimmer frame carrying eight bags of groceries with an old, fat dog in a wagon on wheels tethered to that Zimmer frame and attempting to push all of that uphill.” Having had great success with her 2013 record Kiss My Apocalypse, being nominated for Best Female Artist at the ARIA Awards, taking home several WAMi Awards among others, and trying to tour as an independent artist with no manager and limited financial backing, the pressure mounted. “All that bullshit commercial stuff, that started to get to me,” she says. “I was also coordinating logistics of the touring, I was racing around like a mad woman, and it stressed me out so much that I had a seizure. And I think what happened really was I just had to stop. “The trouble with stress is that it builds and builds and builds and you become used to it,” she says. “Really, a year before the seizure the levels of stress I was under were unacceptable and I didn’t know it... When I finally did have the seizure, it wasn’t like — ‘seizure, everything is done and now I can get back to work’. It took two years to actually re-train my body to not freak out at anything. My adrenals were completely shot.
My serotonin levels were massively diminished. I had massive depression to work through. All the colour in my life had gone. I think in many ways it was a huge blessing... because it removed me from the industry treadmill which was so ultimately devastating. “And it returned me to the point of ‘make music because you love making music’ rather than ‘make music because you have to and there’s a deadline’ and ‘what if the radio plays it or doesn’t play it’. I decided to just fuck off all of that because I reckon what’s cool is making awesome music, not actually getting involved in the industry. You have to employ other people to do that stuff. Now I just make music and I let my amazing team take care of the rest.” Pulling her focus back into the creative music making realm, May has found her work is no longer dark. “It’s fun,” she says. “The themes are definitely dark... but ultimately I’m a very, very happy and content person. Also just focusing on the music has made me much more open to collaborations and I’m absolutely loving the influence that Matt Gio [producer] is having on the music. You may have come to my shows before and you may expect to have a very moody experience but I think you’re just going to dance now. It’s a real party atmosphere.” May embarks on her first national tour in three years next month, kicking off in Sydney. “It’s a pretty exciting live show to be a part of,” May continues. “We’re playing a lot of the songs from the forthcoming record Bitchcraft but we are also playing the singles from Design Desire and Kiss My Apocalypse. So if you’ve been following the band for a while, you’re going to get everything you want.”
When & Where: 8 Jul, Northcote Social Club; 7 Jul, Festival Of Voices, Hobart; 26 Nov, Queenscliff Music Festival
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 25
LEAPS AND BOUNDS FESTIVAL THREE ESSENTIAL FITZROY SOUL RECORDS 30/70 – Cold Radish Coma Another band that has come up in funky Fitzroy and spent a lot of time sharing their music, and what a beautifully crafted album this one is too. So many different colours played out in the music. This is a great musical family that will be exciting to watch. These guys WILL hit the bigger worldwide stage very soon. I have enjoyed seeing them come up.
1 – 17 JULY
In the lead-up to the Brunswick Street Soul Fiesta – featuring live soul, funk, hip hop and jazz in over 30 venues along and around Brunswick St on 9 Jul – here’s Chris Gill from Northside Records with three essential Fitzroy soul records. Archie Roach – Charcoal Lane What that man put on wax is his heart and soul. He laid it down for the white man to see what had been done. He started a conversation with a nation. Took The Children Away, when performed in Northside Records last year to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this record written in Gertrude Street, went down in local folklore history. Not a dry eye in the house. This is Fitzroy soul.
DARE TO DREAM This year’s Smith Street Dreaming MC Shiralee Hood tells Bryget Chrisfield about the Collingwood area’s “massive history” and her desire to get “the whole street blocked off” for future events. Although this is Shiralee Hood’s first year as MC, 2016 marks the fourth Smith Street Dreaming - an Indigenous music festival that celebrates the First Nations footprint in Collingwood and Fitzroy. “There is a massive history in Fitzroy and Smith Street,” Hood observes. “[The] Collingwood area with the [Smith Street] Parkies [the history] goes right back, because that was the fringe that the Aboriginal people were pushed to live when the city was developed.” Smith Street Dreaming’s aim is to foster understanding and respect between the Smith Street community, workers and visitors and Hood points out, “Where the people sit out front of the Woolworths there, that’s an actual cultural site”. Hood got her start in stand-up comedy as the national winner of the 2009 Deadly Funny competition, which she praises as a “brilliant initiative”. “Aboriginal people are just so funny, we always had a lotta laughs in our family,” she shares. When asked to share some of her proudest achievements, Hood remembers Essendon Football Club getting in touch hoping to book her act. “I thought it was one of my mates playing [a prank]... I was really
26 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
pleased to find out it was fair dinkum,” she reveals. “So that was a dream come true.” Smith Street Dreaming only utilises a corner of Collingwood at the moment, but Hood would love to see it grow down the track. “I think we should work towards having the whole street blocked off,” she enthuses. Other artists featuring on Smith Street Dreaming’s line-up this year include Yirrmal Marika, Lady Lash, Indigenous Hip Hop Projects and Stray Blacks.
When & Where: 16 Jul, Leaps And Bounds, Cnr Stanley & Smith Streets
Hiatus Kaiyote – Tawk Tomahawk Born out of playing the music in FITZROY for a long time. They worked up a wild vibe about people participating in soul music – combine that with the exciting feel of this band as they came up led to a great buzz. They played many gigs at The Evelyn, a venue that provides a home for this sort of music, and in fact, many forms of music. This ended up in becoming the first EVER Australian band to be nominated for an R&B Grammy.
Indie Indie
Canverse
T
he next generation of Aussie artists are used to the digital realm being the dominant platform for their music. Logan Tilbury is releasing his self-titled EP Canverse in a “special limited edition hard copy” format for 15 bucks. Yep, CDs sound pretty much dead and buried. Tilbury is all about moving forward — each step in his journey as a hip hop artist is a learning curve, and he’s honest about the stumbles. “I found myself spitting rhymes at school during lunch in Year 11. At this stage I really sucked, [and I’ve] just been grinding to better myself since then,” he explains. “When I find myself struggling with recording or writing I try to just better myself as an artist
The High Learys
W
hen it comes to quick success in the rock scene, The High Learys know where it’s at. Based in Perth and formed in 2011, the band have toured internationally twice through Germany, France, Italy, Spain and England, had their single Clear My Mind chart at number one in the AMRAP charts in 2014, signed an endorsement with Vox Amplification Australia, featured in Timothy Gassen’s garage rock publication The Knights Of Fuzz and worked with Rob Grant [Tame Impala, Miley Cyrus, Lenny Kravitz]. “[I] formed the band back in 2011 with myself, my cousin Matt [Williams] and our high school friend Mike [Nutt]. We recently
in other ways — from working on production, networking, getting merch designs, artwork, I am just always trying to keep moving forward. I don’t think you can afford to be a stagnant artist,” he muses. Canverse spans five years of writing and was recorded with Gully Chaps [Allday, Milwuakee Banks]. “I was trying to show my diversity on the EP: the songs really give listeners an insight in to what I’m about and I try to really get the message of being yourself across, not getting sucked in to a lot of the bullshit that goes on around us. “I’m always inspired... Seeing so many talented artists around me making dope stuff was a real push for me to keep upping my game.”
What: Canverse (Independent)
Narly
Have You Heard Answered by: Johnny Polhe. When did you start making music and why? In 2013, mainly just for fun, it made me feel good. I also used it as an escape, especially writing. I’ve only really taken it more serious as of late though. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Narly, wavey, kinda chill. If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Sticky Fingers — Caress Your Soul. Everything about it is just musically beautiful. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Freestyling on stage with Dylan Joel at The Workers Club last year was pretty cool.
recruited our new drummer Mitch [Benson] and since have been writing and recording a lot of new material,” said bassist and lead singer Jamie Turner. “I think we all really enjoyed touring Europe and playing shows back in 2013 and again in 2014. Getting to travel to so many great pockets of the world was an amazing experience. We got to meet some amazing people over there and the crowds were insane!” They’re already working on new music but aren’t sure “if it’s going to be an Album or an EP yet,” hints Turner. He voices his support for Australia’s music scene, saying “I think Australia in general has some incredible talent to offer. I’m always finding bands around at the moment who are writing great songs and who can really put on a good live show!” Jun 24, The Odd Fellow “I think Australia in general has some incredible talent to offer.”
Why should people come and see your band? It will be pretty special, it’s my very first headline shows. When and where for your next gig? 10 Jul, Wrangler Studios Website link for more info? narlytunes.com
When & Where: 7 Jul, The Workers Club, Geelong; 8 Jul, Korova Lounge, Ballarat; 9 Jul, Ding Dong Lounge; 23 Jul, Music man Megastore, Bendigo THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 27
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
Salted Choc Slice Twisted Faves
Choc Pineapple Tim Tams
Toffee Apple Tim Tams
Uppy: Some actual salt flakes would be delicious, but the texture of the salted choc cream is nice. Hannah: That was amazing. Brynn: Leave the hard biscuit - give me the salted choc cream. Mark: The salt needs to cut through something sweeter than just chocolate. Leaves a salt aftertaste. Sammy: It was just the flavour of salt, it wasn’t actual salt. I need some actual flakes in there. Georgie: Needs more salt. Neil: It’s a nice taste, but it felt like a bag of salt dumped in my mouth.
Neil: Dislike times three. It’s like someone left my Tim Tam in a jar of cordial for an hour. Sammy: Smells like shampoo. The biscuit overpowers the pineapple. Brynn: Crunchy pineapple snack. Mark: Leaves a sickly sweet aftertaste. Georgie: It tastes like a weird pina colada. Hannah: This tastes bad and Arnott’s should feel bad. Uppy: Fucking gross.
Uppy: The fake toffee apple is overpowering. Brynn: More like poison apple. Hannah: Why? Neil: Weird aftertaste. Georgie: It’s yum. Mark: Spot on interpretation of toffee apple flavour, but doesn’t work in a Tim Tam. Sammy: I could just taste toffee, I couldn’t taste much apple.
The verdict: Stick to the originals. Double Coat Tim Tams will never betray you.
We’r ’r ex ’re xpe pert snack ck kers he he e at Th here T he Music,, and Arnott Musi Mu tt’s ’s hav ve ne ew bi bis scuit sc flavou ou urs s (Toffee ffee App pple e, Sa alt lted d Cho oc, c, Choc oc Pin ine eapp eap pple le). ). To be e fra ank k we’re e’re e hun hu ngry pre ngry etty tty much alll of th the tim me so we thought we’ we e’d d give ve e ‘‘em m a trial al tas aste. A ta tast stte tes st if yo st you wiill ll..
28 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
OUT NOW
AVAILABLE ON CD, VINYL AND DIGITAL
FEAT. “BORED TO DEATH”
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 29
The Essential Albums of 2016 So Far The Music team attempt to pinpoint what albums so far this year have been reverberating in our minds, and on replay on our stereos, and why.
I
t’s a close contest – there’s almost too many to choose from, with debuts, follow-ups and surprise drops from some of our favourites and standout albums from some artists we hadn’t heard of before. Let’s get started. Beyonc e – L em on ade
Beyonce reinvented pop music when she dropped visual album Lemonade – at least that’s what Garbage’s Shirley Manson reckons: “Suddenly we saw the barrier shift and the glass ceiling break a little.” The list of collaborators sums the record up pretty well: from Kendrick Lamar to James Blake to Jack White. It’s a list of artists at their peak in 2016, only to be trumped by Queen Bey, who, in this cross-genre exploration of infidelity, takes on so much more: Black female identity, friendship and police brutality. L adyha wke – W i ld Th i n gs Pip Brown’s eclectic debut seemed inescapable in 2008, nailing a synth-pop sound that felt fresh and classic all at once. Then Anxiety ditched the synths and rode a fuzzed out guitar into pop-rock territory. Brown has since opened up about the less than stellar place her mental health was during the period, struggling with expectation, self-medication and the public eye. It’s something she has addressed in the interim and from the first joyous note.
Radiohe ad – A M o on S h aped P oo l First Radiohead removed themselves from the interwebs. Then they released that weird claymation bird .GIF. Then they dropped two singles: Burn The Witch, the source of aforementioned .GIF, and the Paul Thomas Andersondirected Daydreaming. Since then we’ve been bestowed a record that continues to push at the boundaries of alternative music, especially in terms of its distribution: a special edition of the record even comes with a piece of the original master tape from their recording sessions.
Dra ke – V iews Our sensitive hero Drake may not be rewriting the rap songbook with his fourth studio record, but he’s certainly having a bit of fun – see One Dance and last year’s unmissable Hotline Bling. With the rest of Views Drake continues with what he first nailed on Nothing Was The Same, and mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late: searing one-liners dripping with feeling and personal stories that make you want to hug him, all drawn together by his rapped/sung melodies. 30 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
F l u m e – Ski n Breaking away from What So Not at the end of 2015 evidently served Flume well, chucking banger after banger onto his LP Skin with a marching band of feature artists and collaborators, who weave their individual flavours into the Sydney wunderkid’s euphoric hooks and spacey synths. The likes of Tove Lo, Vic Mensa, Kai, KUCKA, Vince Staples, Allan Kingdom, Raekwon, Little Dragon… *pauses to catch breath* … MNDR, Beck pushed the 16-track epic to the top slot on the ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums in June. Ngaiire — Blastoma All hail Ngaiire. The Papua New Guinean is on her way to becoming Australia’s answer to Queen Bey – powerful, sensual, soulful and heartfelt on Blastoma – named for her childhood battle with cancer. It’s a form of memorial to the trials that shaped her. She pushes all the boundaries – of neo-soul, of introspection – cracking open any protective mechanisms to allow us to observe her past pains and recent heartbreak. It’s both a show of personal strength and of her musical prowess. She drifts effortlessly between electro-pop overtones and minimalist tracks, with every number vying as an incomparable favourite. Sa v a g e s – A d o r e L i f e Savages killed it with their debut album. Then The Answer – our first taste of the band’s follow-up long-player, Adore Life – dropped last October, all menacing riffs and stalker chorus vocals (“If you don’t me/Don’t love anybody”), and we salivated. Second single Adore and Mechanics tame Savages ever so slightly while showcasing Jehnny Beth’s soaring vocals (see TIWYG to experience the polar opposite). We’re still licking our wounds from their recent tour cancellation and ache to hear these album tracks as they were made to be experienced: live.
Paul Dempsey – Strange Loop Paul Dempsey is one of the foremost artists on the Australian musical landscape, and has been for more than 20 years. The man is a creative machine, looming large (tall and lanky) on our stages or hiding away (behind his fringe) in the studio, capturing a particularly Australian sense of malaise, but also of hope, this time armed not with the firepower of his electric guitar, but with gentle acoustic guitar lines and his inimitable voice. Strange Loop builds on the catchy pop hooks of Everything Is True to make a record
that is at once more complex, more moving, and more true than what’s come before. Vi o l e n t So h o – Wa c o Brisbane’s Luke Boerdam, James Tidswell, Luke Henery and Michael Richards are the undisputed kings of the Australian music scene, selling out huge theatres across the country, and debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts with Waco. First single Like Soda reminded us how expertly crafted the heavy riffs and Boerdam’s snarling vocals are, confirming just why this band have cultivated a rabid fan base, especially since second record Hungry Ghost. And the lawn bowling video clip is priceless. This record is both high energy and nuanced, Boerdam carefully deliberating more over the songwriting, to create a more mature sound – without sacrificing any of the fun. Ja c k G a r r a t t — P h a s e Jack Garratt moved through his straight blues project and came out the other side with Phase.
King Gizzard & The Li zard Wi zard – Non ago n In fi ni t y The fact that Nonagon Infinity runs in a continuous loop is reason enough to leave King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s eighth album in the car stereo playing over and over and doing its thing. From the very first Robot Stop kick drum, you’ll be hooked. Those crazy synths, thwacking drums and mantra vocals make Mr Beat irresistible. They’ve been at it for six years now, but the septet’s trademark unhinged tempos and unconventional melodies remain. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have already programmed rage and the whole planet is now taking notice. D avid Bow ie – Bla c k s tar The master of dropping albums out of thin air (The Next Day, 2013), Bowie released what producer Tony Visconti described as the late legend’s “parting gift” for fans – his 25th and final studio album Blackstar – on 8 Jan (Bowie’s 69th birthday). Bowie’s death two days later shocked the world. The macabre imagery (see: Lazarus’ film clip) and lyrical references to death make for a harrowing listening experience since the album was recorded while Bowie was battling liver cancer: “Something happened on the day he died...” (Blackstar). The Je zabels – Synt h i a In an interview with The Music Hayley Mary said, “I think what we’ve tried to do is make a face for the music… sometimes I think of lyrics and words as the face to the body as the music.” And what an amazingly expressive face and physicality Synthia has. It’s completely unwavering, in its sexuality and frustration, its aural exploration and sweeping melodies. Every step from the synth and pitch-warped spoken word opening minutes of Stand And Deliver to closer Stamina’s rare “lightness of touch and sentimentality” puts them leagues ahead of the pack.
There are slips, but more tepid cuts like Far Cry are more than saved by the mind-melting Synesthesia Pt III and the bouncing Breathe Life. These moments see Garratt putting his best foot far down the path to something fresh and chimeric, some blues-electronic hybrid with soul stitching. If this loop-driven, “self-written, self-performed, selfrecorded, and largely self-produced debut album from the Buckinghamshire native” doesn’t make your top lists on its own merits, and it should, then it should at least have you itching to see what Garratt is going to do next. Anohni – Hopelessness Right from those first echoing keys, before the arrhythmic drum starts beating and Anohni’s signature warble pleas to be drone bombed “into the sea”, you’re engulfed in Hopelessness. Ominous but catchy electronica from producers Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke layered over humanity’s manifold crimes makes for a deadly strike at the political zeitgeist. Acidic lines like Crisis’ childishly repetitive apologies (“If I filled up your mass graves… I’m sorry”) burn with anger and thumping beats quickly start to resemble measured artillery fire. Lou Reed said when he heard Anohni he knew he was in the presence of an angel and she has shown herself again in 2016 to be a divine messenger bearing ugly truths.
To read the full list head to theMusic.com.au. THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 31
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
BadBadNotGood IV
Pod/Inertia
★★★★½
Album OF THE Week
BADBAGNOTGOOD’s IV opens with an air of mystery; the slowmoving And That, Too introduces the record’s heightened focus on the brass section and demonstrates that the instrumental jazz group have opened up to modernised production styles, with the end product sounding much more of a hybrid than the pure band mix that was founded in their debut. The keys sound closer to synthesisers here as Speaking Gently mixes gentle melodies with a fun and choppy drum beat as an explosive sax solo cuts in midway. Time Moves Slow (ft. Sam Herring) is a beautifully soulful and tear-jerking track. Herring’s voice evokes that of Bobby Womack’s contributions to Gorillaz on their Plastic Beach album, singing “Running away is easy, it’s the leaving that’s hard. Loving you was easy, it was you leaving that scarred.” The vulnerability is touching. Confessions Pt II (ft Colin Stetson) is a delightfully challenging freeform explosion of wailing saxophone that dials into a swaggering ‘70s funk bridge. Lavender (ft Kaytranada) is a brilliantly dirty and heavy bass-driven track built from a subtle tambourine line that sits right at the back of the mix. The title track features fast-paced drumming, a recurring hook and pervading sax that are met with a retro keyboard bridge in the middle. Quite a few babies will probably be conceived to Mick Jenkins’ verse on Hyssop Of Love, if not this entire record. Jonty Czuchwicki
The John Steel Singers
The Avalanches
Midnight At The Plutonium
Modular
Wildflower
★★★½
Create Control
★★★½
The triple j darlings and Aussie music festival stalwarts are back with their third LP, a follow-up to 2013’s Everything’s A Thread. The beginnings of the Zappa-esque funk hinted at on the aforementioned album are unleashed in full, glorious force on this latest record, which is heavily influenced by ‘80s psychedelic disco and early 2000s house party tunes. The Daft Punk-influenced Weekend Lover ends with that sweet, electric synth spazz-out and could have been the B-side track to Homework. Then there is the runner-up opening theme to Beverly Hills Cop that is Midnight At The Plutonium, featuring one of the best bass lines released this year. Can You Feel The Future - the third standout apparently started life as a guitar 32 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
loop about six years ago and turned into what guitarist Tim Morrissey has described as the best song the band have ever put to tape, and, after a few listens he may actually be right. All the tales are told with the same classic John Steel Singers irony and humour and with none of the hype or expectation from eight years ago - the confidence in writing and production is obvious. It definitely sounds like the group had lots of fun making this and at only eight songs it’s short, sweet and something to get excited about when they inevitably tour it. Adam Wilding
Are you so relieved The Avalanches are finally releasing their 16-years-in-the-making second album that you’ve already given it a five-star rating before pressing play or can you not move past Wildflower’s gestation period? When the tuba-enhanced voodoo magic of Frankie Sinatra (ft Danny Brown and MF Doom) dropped, it caused a reaction akin to jumping into the tub of the phosphorescent ice cream featured in the song’s inspired music video. Sadly, nothing else on this album reaches that song’s zenith. Since Since I Left You landed in 2000, Gorillaz, 2manyDJs, mash-ups and shortening attention spans have made us accustomed to schizophrenic sounds. And Wildflower’s Biz Markie-featuring The Noisy Eater certainly evokes Superfast
Jellyfish by Gorillaz. More sonic art piece than album, we always knew Wildflower would incorporate a feast of samples and encourage us to further explore the snippets we dig. There’s also live instrumentation — bowed saw, mellotron, Warren Ellis playing violin (Stepkids) — vinyl pops and crackles, computer game sound effects, traffic noise and vibrant sounds of life happening. Street recordings allow us to eavesdrop snatches of conversation; the listener becomes flaneur. If you took heaps of acid and thought you could ‘hear’ a kaleidoscope, it would sound a lot like Wildflower. Bryget Chrisfield
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Canary
Sample Answer
Roisin Murphy
I Am Lion
Good Boy EP
Take Her Up To Monto Hit Reset
Independent
Create/Control
[PIAS] Australia
Hardly Art/Inertia
★★★½
★½
★★★½
★★★
Canary’s Matthew Kenneally sounds like a broken man on their second long-player. The Geelong native staggers from busking solemnly on a street corner in Burning Man to his bed where he’ll ruminate on his “cigarettes and dwindling flame” in Hide & Seek. When Chameleon’s aggressive rhythms are followed by a tempestuous Smile, it’s impossible not to be put into a Radiohead space. “This is not a cry for help,” Kenneally assures timidly in Disappointed. Perhaps not. But I Am Lion will likely give comfort to others struggling to lick their wounds.
Approachable, inoffensive, accessible — there’s a reason these words sound like criticisms. To make something interesting, even pop music, is to make something challenging. It’s a lesson Sample Answer has yet to learn. The EP’s title track is a dispiriting by-the-numbers affair that starts with that classic failure of imagination: a whistle. Proud is watery wouldbe white rap. Textile Baby has a bit of swing and snap but is, at heart, pedestrian. Art needn’t be offensive or brutal or oblique, but to be of any value it needs to issue a challenge to what has come before. Sample Answer’s great failure is the choice to play it safe.
Much like Neneh Cherry’s recent comeback album, Take Her Up To Monto has Roisin Murphy toying with a rather adult take on contemporary pop that, while a little rough around the edges, relies less on hooks that hang off traditional verse and chorus. This somewhat angular album contemplates modern life in the big city through acute lyrical observation. Murphy’s synths deliver sophisticated disco vibes, a light bossa and experimental jazz-inflected cabaret, and across all the genre shifts Murphy manages to be her delightfully quirky self.
The raucous nature of Hit Reset is a cacophony of sound. The Julie Ruin is for those who recognise the occasional requirement of a blast of volume into their earholes, when the concept of melody is replaced by straight-up energy. Kathleen Hanna is the woman behind The Julie Ruin, and has been rocking a similar sound in Le Tigre and Bikini Kill (as well as a solo version of Julie Ruin in the late ‘90s), and brings the passion and bluntness that everybody needs to hear once in a while.
Mac McNaughton
The Julie Ruin
Dylan Stewart
Guido Farnell
James d’Apice
More Reviews Online Emarosa 131
theMusic.com.au
Aphex Twin Cheetah EP
Sunny Hawkings Sheets Of Life
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 33
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Eric Copeland
Stillwater Giants
Biffy Clyro
Kylie Auldist
Black Bubblegum
Munich
Ellipsis
Waste Of Time
DFA/[PIAS] Australia
Independent
Warner
Freestyle Records
★★½
★★★
★★★
★★★½
Probably still better known as one half of New York noise shredders Black Dice, Eric Copeland has amassed a large, strange pile of solo material since 2007. But nothing in it matches this grimy lo-fi take on bubblegum-pop for sheer oddness. If a garage band broke all the amplifiers, they might just sound like Radio Weapons or Get My Own, while Rip It could pass for crusty vagabond reggae. Black Bubblegum has a freaky flavour alright, more acrid than sweet. Let’s call it something of an acquired taste.
If you’re onto a good thing, stick with it. Clearly Perth four-piece Stillwater Giants didn’t read the memo. Having delivered two of the best local EPs you’re ever likely to hear in 2011 and 2012 respectively, they’ve toned down pretty much everything for debut album Munich. Fortunately they did retain their gift for melody and the first five tracks here especially, Help You Out and Secret Agent are gorgeous little power pop moments. But the explosive, chiming guitars that made these guys really special are now seriously reigned in and quite low in the mix and after a four-year wait to unveil their debut, this represents a serious lost opportunity for greatness.
Coming off 2013’s epic double album Opposites, Scottish threepiece Biffy Clyro have knuckled down for a sharper burst of tunes, but the results remain mixed for this inconsistent band. Opener Wolves Of Winter is a cracker, laying out massive riffs and a stadium-ready chorus. But the boys roll out their best song first and while propulsive single Animal Style has good moments, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Too many other tracks, though, are mired with cringe-worthy ‘90s-style vocals, dated guitar lines or are just overproduced. The exception is powerful ballad Medicine, which demonstrates just how good these guys can be once they forego the production tricks and just focus on a tune.
Paul Barbieri
Paul Barbieri
Kylie Auldist’s sultry soul-funk vocals are unmistakeable wherever they pop up - as a long-time collaborator with The Bamboos, on Kung’s remix of This Girl and in her own solo forays. In this short but sweet fivetrack wonder Auldist lets loose to dabble in disco, electro-funk and new boogie, and all with those forceful pipes that couldn’t sound more at home than they do here. While some tracks like the funk-driven Sensational and the ‘80s-rooted Good Time Girl lack something in their structure to make them more memorable, Auldist’s dynamic, playful, formidable form across all songs is supreme and unbeatable on the title track and Family Tree.
Christopher H James
Carley Hall
More Reviews Online The Goods The Goods
34 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
theMusic.com.au
The Avett Brothers True Sadness
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 35
OPINION Opinion
Fragmented Frequencies
Overtone Ensemble
Other Music From The Other Side With Bob Baker Fish
The Saints
Wa ke The Dead Punk And
Y
ou don’t need musical instruments to make music. Possibly the most startling example of this is Alan Lamb, who recorded the sounds of wind on decommissioned power lines in outback WA, capturing the savagery and beauty of a giant Aeolian harp played by mother nature. He put out a couple of albums in the early ‘90s, Night Passage and Primal Image/Beauty on the sadly defunct Dorobo label - there’s even a remix album featuring Ryoji Ikeda and Lustmord. More recently Melbourne experimental artist Tim Catlin has been working with aluminium rods. He’s created an instrument he calls the Vibrissa. These (12) rods are vertically mounted and then stroked using gloves and rosin. Sure it’s a little phallic, but it creates curious pitches and a harmonic complexity, as the tones just sustain and hang in the air - singing if you will. In 2012 he formed The Overtone Ensemble with Atticus Bastow, Philip Brophy and David Brown, and this month they’ll release their debut album on Massachusetts’
I
n a time when Hardcore there is talk about the decline of With Sarah triple j, everyone is forgetting Petchell about how purely awesome Double J is. Particularly when they dedicate an entire month to the history of punk in Australia, capping it off with the release of a CD that covers the 40 years of the genre celebrated during that month.
36 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
1976 was when all the noise started, with The Ramones and Blondie, the Sex Pistols and The Saints, The Cramps and The Clash all making debuts of one kind or another. Of this list, The Saints are the most important to the Australian context - arguably they were the first Australian punk band. This is the type of history that Double J covered in their month-long celebration. If you’re a younger fan of the music (and this could just be the massive music nerd in me talking), I encourage you to head to the Double J website and trawl through the playlists and the articles and learn about where the music we love so much came from, beyond those bands like the Sex Pistols or The Clash which dominate discussions on the origins of punk. Who knows - you might find your new favourite band. Or a new idol to look up to. These kinds of programs were the way that I discovered punk and hardcore when I was a teenager and helped to shape my worldview. If you’re comfortable with your punk identity, use it to show a friend or a younger sibling or cousin why this music is important to you.
Important Records (Pauline Oliveros, Acid Mothers Temple, Morton Feldman). The album is a remarkable suite of electronicsounding acoustica, with massed handbells, quartertone bells, e-bowed acoustic guitars, re-tuned glockenspiels, wineglasses and long wire instruments. It’s a whole new world and a feast for the ears. I don’t know anything about Seymour-based Tackle, other than his Benzedrine EP is incredible. It’s released on Australian/Berlin label Another Dark Age, and between motorik percussion, hissing snares, dark rumbles and forward-pushing momentum, it’s bleakness you can dance to.
The Get Down
Trailer Trash
R
ather than be long-winded about one Screens thing in this edition of Trailer Trash, And Idiot Boxes as is usually the With Guy Davis case, I thought I’d be medium-winded about three cool things, two of which are on the horizon and one of which is actually right up in your grill, as the kids no longer say. Let’s start with what’s further away from us: Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Netflix series
Dives Into Your
OPINION Opinion
The Get Down, a coming of age story set against the birth of the hip hop movement in the New York City of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. I must admit, I was initially lukewarm on this one, not because of disinterest in the subject matter but because Luhrmann’s work has been so consistently hit and miss. There are moments in every film he’s made that have worked wonders, but every film he had made has also been ultimately been disappointing. To me, at least. And The Get Down may continue that tradition — you can’t expect every minute of a 13 episode series to be flawless... OR CAN YOU? — but based on the appropriately titled ‘sizzle’ trailer that’s currently circulating around your internet, ol’ mate Baz may have tapped into something good. Of course, trailers are custombuilt to generate anticipation, so mission accomplished in this case, but the mix of energetic music and electrifying visuals (there’s a zoom-in on Dope star Shameik Moore at the 47-second mark that’s a hero shot worthy of John Woo) are working for me. The Get Down premieres 12 August on Netflix. Get on it, I say. A little closer and a lot different is the DVD/Blu-ray release of season two of Rick & Morty, one of my favourite animated comedies of recent times, and also all times. I’m pretty sure I have already belted out plenty of praise for this twisted tale of an alcoholic, misanthropic scientific genius and his awkward, maladjusted and, well, horny grandson who embark on strange adventures through time, space and different dimensions, usually wreaking all manner of havoc along the way and very occasionally learning something about themselves and each other (and it’s invariably the kind of self-awareness stuff that helps you grow as a person but also sort of sucks to realise, like that your recurring behaviour is contributing to your loneliness or that you may have more unacknowledged inner rage than you initially thought). Despite that depth — or maybe because of it — it’s also funny as fuck, with a dark, antisocial streak that also manages to display a humanism that is resonant and quite touching. It’s out 6 July from your friends at Madman, and I recommend you check it out. And now for something that is available for you to enjoy right this second/soon:
The Fits, the debut feature from US director Anna Rose Holmer. I wasn’t 100% sure what to expect when I caught this one recently, and now that I’ve seen I’m still not completely sure I got it, but Holmer’s confidence and capability when it comes to the composition of shots and expressiveness of tone is kinda spellbinding, as is the central performance by a young actress with the wonderful (and apt!) name of Royalty Hightower. Melbourne types can catch it at ACMI until 10 July, and Sydneysiders at Golden Age Cinema And Bar 4 to 17 August. Do so.
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 37
Live Re Live Reviews
The Goon Sax @ National Gallery Of Victoria. Pic: NGV Photographic Services
The Goon Sax
National Gallery of Victoria 1 Jul
The Goon Sax @ National Gallery Of Victoria. Pic: NGV Photographic Services
The Goon Sax @ National Gallery Of Victoria. Pic: NGV Photographic Services
Alex Lahey @ Penny Black. Pic: Joshua Braybrook
Alex Lahey @ Penny Black. Pic: Joshua Braybrook
38 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Alex Lahey @ Penny Black. Pic: Joshua Braybrook
Friday nights at National Gallery of Victoria are quickly transitioning from subdued cultural gatherings to trendy hotspots — which is surprisingly perfect. A sea of faces rolls in and out of Degas — A New Vision, as the 19th century artist is being exhibited for Friday Nights at NGV. Parents, children, young and old are all equally enthralled by the pieces so astounding and controversial of their time. Degas experimented with planned and staged pieces and, as the exhibition informs, claimed himself that “No art was ever less spontaneous than mine.” In many ways this is indicative of the night itself, as the Great Hall fill ups for the night’s headliners — The Goon Sax. Shadowed by a revolving backdrop of Degas’ most impressive pieces, The Goon Sax take to the stage and immediately get the crowd moving. The stage presence of main vocalist Louis Forster is somewhat stilted and reserved at first, as if he is being overly respectful of the context of the performance. However, when he and bassist John Harrison swap roles throughout the evening, Forster loosens up and gives a fresh scope of energy and enthusiasm. Watching the Brisbane trio effortlessly jam out the oozy cool Telephone is a prime example of this, as Forster takes the opportunity to step back and enjoy the experience with his crowd. The semi-aloofness of The Goon Sax’s performance unfortunately lends itself easily to external distractions. Some obvious mixing issues in the Great Hall results in tracks like Sweaty Hands becoming
eviews Live Reviews
unbalanced and bass-heavy, but the unfazed three-piece regain full attention with faultless harmonies and incredibly wellrounded musicianship. Listening to Forster expertly sprawl out Home Haircuts and Boyfriend, it is hard not to be reminded of his Go-Betweens father, Robert. Both have such control over their lyrics and vocal styles, and even without the family connection, a comparison is
It is not a spontaneous or perhaps even surprising performance, but is a beautiful one nonetheless. almost unavoidable. Even Harrison conjures up images of The Go-Betweens, with his earnest lyricism and care to detail in tracks like Icecream (On My Own) and Sometimes Accidentally. The trio have nailed the sounds of ‘80s jangle nostalgia, while still having a hold on their own unique indie roots. The Goon Sax are in no way typical to what may be expected of NGV, but their acoustic pop sounds echo through the gallery in a perfect juxtaposition to the classical works. It is not a spontaneous or perhaps even surprising performance, but is a beautiful one nonetheless. Joe Dolan
Alex Lahey, The Outdoor Type, Frances Fox Penny Black 1 Jul
There’s no better way to welcome the weekend than with a free gig and plenty of spiced rum samples. Frances Fox kick off the bill as lead singer Greer Clemens shares her light-hearted indiepop tunes to invoke a nostalgic daydream. Clemens puts her cherished Taylor Swift pick to her guitar strings and lets her sweet melodic vocals flow out to quickly warm up the audience who pack in from the outside cold. The Outdoor Type bring their bright and happy indierock inside to charm the pants off us as they lift our spirits up with their infectious upbeat tunes. They share deep and meaningful lyrics on their current single On My Mind as they reflect on the bittersweet feelings in life by sharing raw and honest thoughts. They bravely introduce a harmonica and jangly guitars during Are You Happy, which adds a country folk layer to the enthralling set. Tonight is certainly all about Alex Lahey as she officially launches her new single Let’s Go Out. And there’s no surprise it was the most played track on triple j in recent weeks. The catchy tune is all about going out and having a good time, a rite of passage that many are embracing tonight. Lahey shares an accurate description of her life 18 months ago, through a song reflecting on her higher education. She dedicates it to all the undergrad arts students who just like her may have been left feeling it was useless and tough to find a job. Since then it’s been complete whirlwind
A night of ‘sensory overload’ for Lahey.
for Lahey as she focused on her music and continuing to capture attention in the industry. We’re lucky enough to hear some new songs played live for the first time tonight before her debut EP is released. It’s a real treat to see her rocking out with impressive guitar moves as she imparts advice from her parents about taking risks. Lahey is down-to-earth and not afraid to speak her mind. Her honest and refreshing lyrics about selfreflection and relationships that no longer exist are all things we can all relate to and connect with. You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me is the perfect anthem to celebrate her artistry and putting her in clear sight as one to watch in 2016. Despite feeling like a broken record, she keeps thanking us all night as she describes her surprised emotion as a “sensory overload”. The last month left her particularly speechless, having being added to the Splendour In The Grass lineup, where her band have their sights set on stealing a beer off The Strokes to celebrate a birthday and their rapidly rising success.
More Reviews Online theMusic.com.au/ music/live-reviews
Lurch & Chief @ Corner Hotel Mere Women @ Evelyn Hotel Hits @ The Tote, Jaala @ Coburg RSL Kangaroo Skull @ Shadow Electric
Michael Prebeg
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 39
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
Romeo And Juliet. Pic: Jeff Busby
Goldstone
Film In cinemas 7 Jul
★★½
Romeo And Juliet Dance State Theatre, Arts Centre to 9 Jul
★★★½ Houston Ballet’s Romeo And Juliet is choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director, former leading soloist/ resident choreographer with The Australian Ballet and son of ballet royalty Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch: Stanton Welch. For this production’s elaborate staging, Italian designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno drew inspiration from Renaissance art, and her Verona features opulent palaces and vibrant marketplaces. A lot of props (including fruit) fly around in the fight scene; swordplay is impressively choreographed so that each unison clash lands rhythmically on the beat of Prokofiev’s striking score. Houston Ballet showcase impressive pirouettes and impressive acting skills throughout. Humorous sections (particularly those featuring Romeo’s sozzled pals) allow the audience some release from all the tragedy. At the close of Act Two, a red curtain drops to the stage to dramatically accentuate bloodshed. Incorporating a lot of scenes, Act Three feels rushed and Juliet ‘awakening’ to find a not-yet-dead Romeo is an interesting choice. But tonight really belongs to principal artists Connor Walsh and Karina Gonzalez in the title roles. Welch’s choreography incorporates some jaw-dropping pas de deux lifts (the most spectacular occurs during the bedroom scene when Walsh lifts Gonzalez above his head from a kneeling position before rising to his feet).
Indigenous Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen is the definition of an auteur. As a writer, director, cinematographer, editor and composer, he imbues his films with a personal touch. Goldstone is his new film, a sequel to his his well received 2013 crime thriller Mystery Road. Unhinged following Mystery Road, Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) is on a missing persons case, leading him to the small town of Goldstone. Crossing paths with local cop
Goldstone
Josh (Alex Russell), his investigations soon reveal a deeper thread of corruption. Like its predecessor, Goldstone is extremely slow burn. After a promising start, it slows down to a languid pace, which lacks engagement. There are excellent parts, with effective exploration of the landscape which Sen captures in expansive beauty, and the climax is expertly directed. Furthermore the themes he explores are strong, such as corporate greed/corruption, racism and Indigenous mythology. However, it doesn’t save the film from immense monotony. The cast features some of the best Australian talent, with Jacki Weaver, David Wenham and David Gulpilil bring their (underused) best. Aaron Pedersen uncovers greater depths to Detective Swan in an overall grittier performance. It’s a shame the film also rests on Alex Russell, who gives an expressionless performance. Goldstone is an acquired taste, which should impress Mystery Road fans, but overall proves a slog to watch. Sean Capel
Bryget Chrisfield
WED 06 JUL 7:30PM
GHOST WORLD + VALLEY GIRL 40 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
THU 07 JUL 7:30PM
DRUGSTORE COWBOY + MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO
FRI 08 JUL 7:30PM
FIRST BLOOD
ANYWHERE TOUR ALL AGES
MELBOURNE E
T SOLD OU WRANGLER STUDIOS S JULY 10
STAGE S T 1
SYDNEY
THE LAIR METRO M THEATRE JULY 17 T TICKETS
NARLYTUNES.COM
12–23 JULY ARTSCENTREMELBOURNE.COM.AU THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 41
OPINION Opinion
Howzat!
Local Music By Jeff Jenkins Pop Scott Popboomerang Records has been an extraordinary indie label. Essentially a one-man band, run by Melbourne music enthusiast Scotty “Pop” Thurling, the label has had 107 releases since 2002, including some of Howzat!’s favourite albums from Skipping Girl Vinegar, D Rogers and Georgia Fields. But completists will note that the catalogue number PB:076 is missing. It’s the ghost release. Scotty reserved that number for one of his favourite artists, Tim Reid. It was to be the follow-up to PB:004, Tim’s debut album, Any Given Day, but Tim’s second album has become Popboomerang’s Chinese Democracy. “At 12 years between albums for Tim, it is getting very close to Guns N’ Roses territory,” Scotty laughs. “He seems to be a perfectionist like Lee Mavers [The La’s], where he can’t sign off or let go of this record. Though at least Tim has not nearly bankrupted me Happy Mondays/My Bloody Valentine-style.” The next Popboomerang release is a compilation album, The Melbourne Divide, featuring tracks from artists playing at the label’s Leaps & Bounds
42 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
showcase at the Yarra Hotel on Saturday 9 July, including Tim Reid, Oscarlima, Michael Carpenter, Jericho and Central Rain. The first 50 payers will get a copy of the CD, which will be deleted the day after the gig. Saturday’s show will also be the Melbourne launch for Bryan Estepa’s new album, Every Little Thing, as well as a reunion for the much-loved Jericho, fronted by Danny McDonald. Scotty is a big fan, stating: “Jericho have a punchy power-pop sound and their songs are drenched in a sunniness similar to their heroes the Sunnyboys. Danny has been a dream artist to work with no drama, ego or arrogance.” Popboomerang released a Jericho retrospective in 2003. “We’ve found 25 copies in the garage, which will be available for sale on the night.” Coming soon for Popboomerang is the long
Jericho
awaited anthology from The Earthmen and then, finally, the Tim Reid album. “Tim’s album looks like being the final ever Popboomerang release,” Scotty predicts. But never say never. We’re sure that Scotty’s passion for pop will never die and that this Popboomerang will always come back.
Great Scott We remember the legend Bon Scott who was born 70 years ago on 9 July.
Hot Line “Remember that time that we slept together and we just slept and your girlfriend dumped you anyway?” - Alex Lahey, Let’s Go Out.
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 43
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 06
Tiprats
Glass Animals + KLLO: 170 Russell, Melbourne
Fight Club + Wayfinders: 303, Northcote
Gig For Westy feat. Tiprats + On Diamond + Teamwork: Bar Open, Fitzroy sleepmakeswaves
The Music Presents The High Learys: 8 Jul Korova Lounge, 9 Jul Ding Dong Lounge Jack The Stripper: 16 Jul The Workers Club, 17 Jul Wrangler Studios Jack Garratt: 20 Jul 170 Russell Mark Lanegan Band: 22 Jul The Croxton Beach Slang & Spring King: 24 Jul Corner Hotel James Blake: 27 Jul Margaret Court Arena sleepmakewaves: 6 Aug Max Watt’s, 7 Aug Corner Hotel Bob Evens: 13 Aug Howler
Jane Monheit + Nicholas Payton Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Rebecca & Billy’s Singalong Society: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Muddys Blues Roulette: Catfish, Fitzroy Fifth Friend + Sharrow + The Ivory Elephant: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Dave Thornton: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Mrs Smith’s Trivia: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Leaps And Bounds feat. Coda Chroma + Special Guests: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Class Acts feat. Feet Teeth + D.A. Calf + VLF: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Emma Russack + Exotic Snake: Howler, Brunswick Jurassic Nark + Gonzo + Gangz: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Dead Letter Circus: 19 Aug 170 Russell
Tequila Mockingbyrd: Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar (previously The Public Bar), Melbourne
Liz Stringer: 17 Sep Howler, 18 Sep Beechworth Town Hall, 21 Sep Ararat Live, 22 Sep Sooki Lounge, 25 Sep Caravan Music Club
Mitch Power + Joseph Paola & The Strains + Phisha: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Sami Yusuf: Monash University, Clayton
Gregory Porter: 30 Sep The Croxton
West Tip Story This Wednesday Tiprats, who’ve just dropped LP Eagle Up To Yourself, On Diamond and Teamwork lead the charge Wednesday at Bar Open to raise funds for Westy — a solid gold Melbourne music regular who was recently robbed. Tiny Little Houses + Good Morning + Full Flower Moon Band: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Leaps And Bounds feat. Latreenagers + Strip Fisher: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Sixty40 + Xhambo + Jeff Tynan + Oliver Jach + more: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Spike Fuck + Cyanide Teeth + Romy Vager + Callan: The Tote, Collingwood Mondegreen + Sunnyside + Nako: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Ferla + Jealous Husband: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood
HIStory - Michael Jackson Tribute: Frankston Arts Centre, Frankston Phantastic Ferniture + Good Morning + Betty & Oswald: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room), Collingwood Sienna Wild + Dreamcoat + Until Home: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood Benny James & The Blue Flames: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
Abbe May
Alice D + Sleepy Dreamers + The Football Club: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Trivia: Wesley Anne, Northcote I Am Duckeye
Brunny’s Big Day The Brunswick Hotel turns seven this Sunday and they’re throwing a massive party with all their local favourites to celebrate. I Am Duckeye, Three Quarter Beast and Strawberry Fist Cake will headline the night.
Open Mic Night: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford Dzia: Mr Boogie Man Bar (9pm), Abbotsford Girls On Key: Open Studio, Northcote Jemma Rowlands & Sean McMahon: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Ross Wilson & The Peaceniks: Satellite Lounge, Wheelers Hill
44 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Thu 07 Kickin The B at 303 feat. King Cake: 303, Northcote Papachango + Manny Fox: Bar Open, Fitzroy Jane Monheit + Nicholas Payton Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Matt Borg Trio: Catfish, Fitzroy Music Jamboree: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick Lady Voodoo & The Rituals: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Dave Thornton: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne
Abbe Road Abbe May is back after a twoyear hiatus and taking over the Northcote Social Club this Friday to launch her single Are We Flirting Yet? Joining the sassy songstress is Bec Sandridge and Jack Stirling.
Trivia: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East Max Fotheringham: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
Bunyip + Forklift Assassins + Renegade Joe: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford
Leaps & Bounds Festival - Skate Rock feat. High Tension + Horrible People + Folkie & The Punk: Fitzroy Victoria Bowls Club, Fitzroy North
The Creases: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Dr Hernandez: Open Studio, Northcote
Gigs / Live The Guide
Leaps & Bounds - Acid Country Live Broadcast with Chris Russell + Duncan Phillips & The Long Stand + Small Town Romance: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
I, Valiance + Gravemind + Uncle Geezer + Initiate Jericho + Our Anchored Hearts: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray Open Mic Night: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray Kevin Over: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran
The High Learys: The Workers Club Geelong, Geelong
The Music Of James Taylor with Sun On The Moon: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
The Ahern Brothers: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
7th Birthday Party feat. The Deloraines + Flocks + Jo Vertigo + Dozeys + The Rollercanes + Great Places + Wizard Oz + Hideous Towns + Penguins + Maureen + more: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room & Basement), Collingwood
Belove: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
Fri 08
Neil Murray + Damien Neil: Grandview Hotel, Fairfield
Seth Sentry + Remi + Nico Ghost: 170 Russell, Melbourne
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin Masters feat. Various Artists: Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Jarabi: 303, Northcote
Thick As Thieves & Revolver Fridays present Kevin Over: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran
Hard Ons: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave Bareback Titty Squad: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Trick Dog Syndicate: The B.East, Brunswick East
Tillerman Pete + Sforzando + Beware Black Holes + Jared Brentnall: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Tracy McNeil & The Good Life: Baha Tacos, Rye Ungus Ungus Ungus + 8 Foot Felix + The Chief: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Seth Sentry
Bill Jackson: Basement Discs (In Store/12.45pm), Melbourne Contrast
Purple Haze Get down to the Corner Hotel this Sunday for Tonal Shift, an exploration of Melbourne shoegaze, psychedelic and garage community with Contrast, Lowtide, Hideous Towns, headliners Love Of Diagrams and many more.
Barb Waters & The Mothers of Pearl: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North
The Finishing School: Bella Union, Carlton South Walkin’ The Line - Johnny Cash Tribute Show: Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne Jane Monheit + Nicholas Payton Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Untitled #4 with Mail Grab + Rudolph C: Boney, Melbourne Jules Boult: Catfish, Fitzroy Napier + Heloise + The Shakes: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Dave Thornton: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Ed & Elijah: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East Daryl Braithwaite + James Franklin + Johnny Rollins: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Comedy Comes To The Hills with Charlie Pickering + Claire Hooper: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave The Music of James Taylor performed by Sun On The Moon: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Moustache Ant + Amaros + Snakeskin Alley + Three Storey Goat + He Who Seeks Vengeance: The Bendigo, Collingwood Duncan Phillips & The Long Stand + Steve Boyd’s Rum Reverie: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Col Elliott: The Grand Hotel, Mornington Leaps And Bounds feat. The Only Boys + Swank + Trout + Product: The Old Bar, Fitzroy What So Not + A-Trak + Rome Fortune: The Prince, St Kilda Reece Lawlor + Lucinda + Sam O’Connell + Tami C + Hannah Kate: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Midnight Express with DJ Prequel & Edd Fisher: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne Bad Ambulance + Virgin + Dark Room + Ni Ni: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood Seth Sentry + Canverse: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island Kings At Heart + Set The Score + Eat Your Heart Out + Better Half: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Trail Blazing Australia’s favourite rapper Seth Sentry will be throwing down this Friday at 170 Russell. His 1969 Campaign Trial Tour is bringing hip hop to the public, joined by Remi and Nico Ghost.
Sol Nation + Tumbarumba + Ras Jahknow: Howler, Brunswick
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: The Croxton, Thornbury
The High Learys + Wesley Fuller + Electric Mud: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
BV + Shouse + Lossless: The Curtin, Carlton
Green Tin: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Rat & Co + Kaia + Albrecht La’Brooy + Worng: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Max Teacle + The Harmaniax: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Abbe May
David Bowie Celebration with Electric + Wild Violet: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford
Ball Brakers
Friday Nights at NGV feat. The Grates: National Gallery of Victoria, Southbank
Saturday night The Dukes Of Deliciousness, Australian Kingswood Factory, Archaic Revival and Pegbucket will swamp The Brunswick Hotel with brain rattling riffs to help The Balls launch their debut album.
Abbe May + Bec Sandridge + Jack Stirling: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Palace Of The King: Eddies Poolroom & Bar, Moorabbin Georgia State Line: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Jules Sheldon: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Beer Garden), Brunswick
Vanishing Shapes + The Bean Project: Open Studio, Northcote
The Pretty Littles + Guerilla Funk + The Kite Machine: The Grand Hotel, Mornington Greenthief + Doctor And The Apologies + Lemonbait: The Loft, Warrnambool Leaps And Bounds feat. Horsehunter + Hobo Magic + Fried Goods + Derailment: The Old Bar, Fitzroy The Angels + Mi-Sex: The Palms at Crown, Southbank
Wild Honey: Penny Black, Brunswick
What So Not + A-Trak + Rome Fortune: The Prince, St Kilda
Old Mates feat. Juan Du Sol: Platform One, Melbourne
Ed Hawke: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda
La Dance Macabre with Brunswick Massive: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Sleazy Listening with Arks + Richard Kelly + Hysteric + K. Hoop: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne
The Murderballs + Australian Kingswood Factory + DJ Adalita: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Poprocks At The Toff with Dr Phil Smith: The Toff In Town (Toff Ballroom), Melbourne
Rad Island + Slim Jeffries + The Braves + The Black Alleys + Late Nights: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray
Thug Mills + Root Rat + Bitumen + Hospital Pass: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Pat Powell + DJ Steve Montgomery: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray
Fractures + Special Guests: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 45
Comedy / G The Guide
Zoe Ryan: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Wild Honey: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island
Hard-Ons
Thom Lion & the Tamers + Grim Fawkner + Mickey Cooper: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Spencer Street Soul + Brand New Bag + Strong Dose: The Workers Club (Afternoon), Fitzroy
Golden Vessel + Abraham Tilbury + Seywood + Elkkle: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Brother James + Go Get Mum + Third Earth: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Sat 09
Alice Ivy: The Workers Club Geelong, Geelong
Sam Boon Soul Sessions with Brunswick Street Soul Fiesta: Bar Open (Front Bar), Fitzroy
The Boys: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Primitive Calculators presents Little Bands #35: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Kyle Taylor: Wesley Anne, Northcote Seth Sentry + Remi + Nico Ghost: Wool Exchange, Geelong
Jane Monheit + Nicholas Payton Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Big White: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Lost Weekend feat. Byron The Aquarius: Boney, Melbourne Tom Dockray & The Dockledoodledoos: Catfish, Fitzroy
Totes Overdue
Leaps And Bounds feat. Tim Reid + The Wellingtons + Adrian Whitehead + The Michael Carpenter Two + Central Rain + Oscarlima + Jericho Band: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Penny Bohan: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick
Two heavyweights of Sydney’s punk and rock’n’roll scene join forces for one huge Saturday night at The Tote. The Celibate Rifles and Hard-Ons share the stage for the first time since ’92.
Sun 10
Vanishing Shapes + Disco Puppets + May Eve Scream: Gin Lane, Belgrave
Greta Stanley + Darcy Fox: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Transylvanian Gypsy Kings + Vardos: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Customer + Brat Farrar + Hi Tec Emotions + The Only Boys + Shrimpwitch + Cable Ties + more: Grace Darling Hotel (Band Room & Basement), Collingwood
Tim Burton Appreciation Party with Discotronic: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Matt Dwyer & Magnatones: Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne
Taberah + Electrik Dynamite + Damnation’s Day + Hidden Intent + Requiem: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Jane Monheit + Nicholas Payton Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Amyl & The Sniffers + Roast Tattoo + Velvet Elevator: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Neil Murray + Damien Neil: Grandview Hotel, Fairfield Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin Masters feat. Various Artists: Hamer Hall, Melbourne
The Balls + The Dukes of Deliciousness + Australian Kingswood Factory + Archaic Revival + Pegbucket: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick
Working Pieces
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival: Howler, Brunswick
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: The Croxton, Thornbury
Singer-songwriter Fractures is taking over The Workers Club this Friday. Fractures and his band are showing off fresh material to tide fans over until the release of debut album at the end of the year.
Karate Boogaloo: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Scott & Charlene’s Wedding + Jeffers Limit + Foreign Fatigue: The Curtin (Afternoon), Carlton
Fractures
Honeydrippers: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Woof Doof + Various DJs: Loop, Melbourne Jack Howard Pres. + Epic Brass: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda Gayle Cavanagh & The Mixed Company Band: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford Stonefield + Verge Collection + Pop Cult: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
4 Orlando with Joel Creasey + Julia Morris + Judith Lucy + Em Rusciano + Jeff Green + Aunty Donna + Trevor Ashley + Hugh Sheridan + Nazeem Hussain + Peter Helliar: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne Dave Thornton: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Amina Hughes: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
Matt Malone: The Eastern, Ballarat East
Blue Eyes Cry: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Phil Para: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda
Aberact + Annhilist + Fall & Resist + Moustache Ant + Behold the Defiant + Anient + Atherial: Reverence Hotel (Band Room), Footscray
Saatsuma + Ocdantar + Eilish Gilligan: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
The High Learys: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne
Joe Cocker & Friend Tribute: Rockstar Bar, Frankston
DJ Erney Dee: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
Matt Gresham: Shebeen Bandroom, Melbourne
Bon Scotts 70th Birthday Bash with Live & Dangerous: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
Electro Swing Party feat. Ungus Ungus Ungus + The Chief + more: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Leaps & Bounds Presents: Tonal Shift with Love Of Diagrams + Lowtide + The Alex Jarvis Band + Contrast + Hideous Towns + Parading + Fierce Mild + Willow Darling + The Citadels + Mosziac: Corner Hotel, Richmond Leaps And Bounds feat. Asylum Sisters + Kollaps + Hospital: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Melbourne Documentary Film Festival: Howler, Brunswick
Sol Nation
Phil Manning + The Goldsmith Watt Band: The Loft, Warrnambool
Mahvel + New MTN + Archangel: Penny Black, Brunswick
DJ Brendan Hitchens: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray
Doggeral + Slim Belly: Catfish, Fitzroy
Luis CL + Shouse + Darcy Baylis: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Leaps & Bounds Festival - Heroes with Emily Ulman + Emma Donovan + Jemma Rowlands + Stella Angelico + The Heroes House Band + Cassandra Kiely: The Melba Spiegeltent, Collingwood
Slim Dime: Oscar’s Ale House, Belgrave
Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes + Sand Pebbles + The Ancients: Corner Hotel, Richmond
46 • THE MUSIC • 6TH JULY 2016
Waz E James: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
4Tress + Never The Empress + Kat O: 303, Northcote
The House deFrost with Andee Frost: The Toff In Town (Toff Ballroom), Melbourne In The Carriage with DJ JNett + Nigel Last + Jimmy James: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne The Celibate Rifles + HardOns + Cosmic Kahuna: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood The Others + Mood Swing + Imprisoned + Broken: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Howlin’ Sol Dust off your dancing shoes ‘cause Sol Nation are bringing the reggae-funk to Howler this Friday. Weaving together a wealth of international music culture the six-piece guarantee a colourful and infectious performance.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Big White: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Hypno Sex Ray: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Brent Parlane + Monica & The Mindreaders: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
Elwood Blues Club All Stars: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival: Howler, Brunswick
The Thin White Ukes + Special Guests: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy
Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda
Paper House: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
Monday Night Mass with The Galaxy Folk + Premium Fantasy + Spike Fuck: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Victoria Geale
Vincent Cross: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick
Mitch Power
Show & Tell For Grown Ups with Tony Wilson + Damian Callinan: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Call It In with Instant Peterson + Dylan Michel + DJ Cza: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne Parks Department + Dominique Gerrard + King Cnut & The Waves + Jamatar: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Mickey Cooper + G-Pop + Sarah Occhino: 303, Northcote Joey Defrancesco Trio: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Leaps And Bounds feat. Glasfrosch + Lacuna + Gamer: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Power Play
Trivia: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick
Local troubadour Mitch Power is set to play own style of alternative country and folk at Lomond Hotel this Wednesday. He will be joined on the night by Joseph Paola & The Strains and Phisha.
Kool Change: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford Unplugged Live feat. Ali Barter: National Gallery of Victoria (Ian Potter Centre), Southbank LDRU + Manilla Killa + Dugong Jr + Barney Cool DJs: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Jesse Valach & Blues Mountain Trio: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy The Bean Project + Louis Donnarumma: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Jules Sheldon + Tammy Haider + Drew James Harrison: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Geoff Achison : Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North Vintage Roots: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: The Croxton, Thornbury Alex Burns: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Leaps & Bounds Festival - Deborah Conway Living Legend feat. Clare Bowditch + Vika & Linda Bull + Rebecca Barnard + Suzannah Espie + Emily Lubitz + Richard Pleasance + Pete Farnan + Casey Bennetto + Caroline Kennedy + Ali Barter + more: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Leaps And Bounds feat. Joe Guiton + David Grimson + Vic Meehan + Pete Akhurst: The Old Bar (3pm), Fitzroy Ben Salter: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
The Sunday Set with Andy Black + Haggis: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne
Open Mic Night: Tago Mago, Thornbury Songs & Stories - Songwriters in the Round: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Now Hear This with Esese + Nasty Mars + WVRBVBY + more: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Carriage 252 feat. Chris Ackroyd: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne
Down The Rabbit Hole with Nigel Last: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room), Melbourne
Hoopers Cresent + Jules Sheldon + The Only Boys: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Strongfest feat. Trainwreck + Hallower + Party Vibez + Staunch + Rust Proof + Ganbaru + Overpower + Overlord + Crooked Path + Plead4Mercy + Levias: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood
HIStory - Michael Jackson Tribute: Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
Tracy McNeil & The Good Life: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island Rent Party with Continental Robert + Chris Wilson + Peter Baylor + Lisa Miller + more: Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury Forever Son: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Pat Powell + The Ska Vendors + Lady Voodoo & The Rituals + Mohair Slim + Dusty Stylus + more: Williamstown RSL, Williamstown Narly + Dex + Zac Slater + Julz: Wrangler Studios, West Footscray
Mon 11 Damian Piecrust Trio: 303, Northcote Bird’s Big Band + Jasmine Nelson: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Quick Bites Comedy: Boney, Melbourne Cherry Jam: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Georgia State Line
Walk The Line Georgia State Line will be performing with her country-folk act in duo this and every Friday in July at Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Entry is free, so head down for some wine and old time country innocence.
When did you start making music and why? I began writing music in grade eight with my high school band, for Battle Of The Bands. I haven’t written many songs since grade 12 and hope to start writing a few more.
Indie
Tue 12
Have You Heard
Sum up your musical sound in four words? Alternative, acoustic, folk, pop
If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Coldplay — Viva La Vida. It’s such a catchy and well written album. I love how they write their albums so the songs flow onto one another and you feel a certain vibe throughout the album. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? My band won the state rock challenge in grade 11 and received the opportunity to play at Breath Of Life (Launceston music festival), which was a pretty cool experience.
Why should people come and see you? I’d like to think I write catchy songs that people can easily sing along to and possibly relate to. When and where for your next gig? 7 Jul, Keep One Eye on the Stranger @ Festival Of Voices, The Voicebox.
Leaps And Bounds feat. Frida + Plastic + Jeffers Limit + more: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Broods: Forum Theatre, Melbourne
THE MUSIC 6TH JULY 2016 • 47
Australian Institute of Music
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