03.05.17 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Issue
187
Melbourne / Free / Incorporating
Busby Marou F R O M
R O C K H A M P T O N
T O
T H E
T O P
O F
T H E
C H A R T S
release
KASABIAN film
HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL tour
AT THE DAKOTA
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INFO NIGHT. MELBOURNE CAMPUS. TUES 2 MAY 6PM – 8PM. 2 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
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#1 ALBUM OUT NOW THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 3
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE PRESENTS
Celebrating the storytelling of indigenous Australians. Wed 10 May 6pm+
Kulin Tide Strings
Tigerlilly
Spirit of Things: The Sound of Objects
Featuring songs written for Tanderrum: Melbourne Festival’s opening ceremony, Kulin Tide Strings is a unique collaboration between composer James Henry and Silo String Quartet, that brings together timeless sounds from opposite sides of the world. With Emma Donovan and John Wayne Parsons.
In an intimate performance, folk-pop storytelling duo Tigerlilly, singer-songwriters Lydia Fairhall and Kali Blunt, presents a selection of their exceptional musicality through their gentle, earth-loving songs packed with grit and a tiny bit of grunt.
A moving sonic response to indigenous objects and artefacts held in museum collections globally, Spirit of Things is a new music-based performance work which will awaken these objects, unlocking them to reconnect with their communities and creators once more.
FREE
$25 ($15 CONC)
$45
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4 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
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THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 5
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Ten Years Of Romance
Mayday Parade
Pop-punk outfit Mayday Parade are returning to tour Australia in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of their debut album A Lesson In Romantics. Catch the Florida faves in October.
Borneo
Give Us More-neo Sydney outfit Borneo have announced they are embarking on an east coast tour in May and June to help spread the word about their 12 May due EP Alert!
I know we always talk about how much worse music is nowadays, but like, half the songs from the 70s are just about seeing rain. @robfee 6 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Reclink Community Cup. Pic by Clare Hawley
Cup Runneth Over Reclink Community Cup has announced its 2017 tour dates, travelling ‘round the country from June through September. Each state will showcase performances, starting with Spiderbait, The Peep Tempel and more in Melbourne.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Credits
Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
Anathema
Anathema Again
After their stripped-down acoustic tour in 2015, British post-progressive rockers Anathema are returning with all the bells and whistles for their full electric The Optimist tour this December.
Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast
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Take A Bowen NSW-born singersongwriter and actor Clare Bowen will take a break from her Nashville filming commitments this July for an Aussie headline tour.
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On-Kilter Sydney electronic artist Kilter has announced a new album and national tour with dates in June and July. THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 7
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Home And Away
Where and when? For more gig details go to theMusic.com.au
Michael Gow’s emotionally epic play Away is opening Wednesday at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre. The story of three families moving to the coast to try to move on in their lives is a powerful and dramatic work.
Away
$232.2 MILLION
The net first half loss reported by Network Ten in its halfyearly results that “may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern” according to the director’s report. Movers And Bakers Tennessee artist Julien Baker has announced Australian tour dates to follow her performance at Splendour In The Grass. Audiences in NSW, TAS and VIC will have the opportunity to see her in July.
8 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Max Meg Mac As we eagerly wait to hear more new material from Meg Mac, the ARIA-nominated Melburnian has locked in a July elease date for her debut album, Low Blows, as well as a couple of headline shows in September.
Julien Baker
Slotface
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
[ Formerly The Hi- Fi Bar ]
THU 04 MAY
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Comedy
THU 11 MAY
NYC comedy legends Bridget Everett and Murray Hill are teaming up for a comedy and cabaret supershow in June. The pair are returning together after the successes of their riotously funny individual Australian shows.
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TA A POD
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FRI 14 JUL
ROOM39
Leah Senior
Trying And Failing
The Senior Special
Defiant Norwegian pop-rockers Slotface have announced Australian tour dates in September. It comes after confirmation of the band’s debut album Try Not To Freak Out being released the same month.
Melbourne folk singer Leah Senior has announced an album, a tour and new single Pretty Faces. Fans will be able to catch her tour during May, June and July.
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THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 9
Music
The Buzz Thomas Busby - one half of Rockhampton duo Busby Marou - chats to Brynn Davies about the real life Shell House, messages of reconciliation and being a festival parent.
H
ave you ever seen those absolutely legendary parents at music festivals? The ones who get down and boogie with their offspring strapped to their chests, wearing oversized steampunk-style headphones and looking completely unperturbed by the crowd (the bubs, not the parents!) Well, Thomas Busby (the Busby half of Busby Marou) is one such dad. With the excitement surrounding the release of their third acclaimed LP Postcards From The Shell House and a second supporting tour about to kick off, Busby admits that juggling music and a young family is hard. “Last album I was actually single with no kids; that’s how long it’s been between drinks. This time ‘round I’m married with two children and the youngest, Goldy Marigold - was born the day the single was released,” he gushes. “It was just a tricky time, the album was either going to be released before the baby, or we’d try’n do it after the baby. “[The kids] have been to so many live concerts with their headphones, and festivals - Blues, Splendour - you just take the headphones and strap ‘em onto the front and make sure that they love their lifestyle as well. I didn’t get to see that growing up. My parents were pretty normal, but this is our life, we can’t really go changing because of the way we were brought up, so I do love that people aren’t afraid to leave the house because they’ve got kids.” Busby describes himself and bandmate Jeremy Marou as “Rocky boys”, both growing up in the Queensland city of Rockhampton in “real big families - Jeremy has about eight in his family and I have about ten in mine,” he laughs. “My mother and father have 32 grandchildren. There’s been kids around ever since I can remember - I was an uncle at ten - everyone’s really in each other’s lives and everyone’s best mates.
Now it’s run down, the resort is completely fenced off, it looks like a scene from Lost. So spooky, but you’re on the most beautiful island on the world.
10 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
“Being away for quite a while, particularly being a young single fella and coming home at Christmas, it takes two or three days to adjust to the noise! I feel very sorry for any of the in-laws when they first come in especially my wife, she had to go lay down after the first three hours!” After Busby returned home from university in the big Sydney smog, he began playing “little love song originals at my mate’s pubs”, as well as singing in a friend’s cover band. It was here that he and Marou crossed paths. “[Marou was] this gun guitarist with all his brothers,” Busby remembers. “I always thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be handy to have someone like him?’ In time we ended up being that little duo that played everywhere in Rocky that everyone came to watch who was looking for acoustic music, because before that, it was just a couple of old blokes with drum machines behind them singing Lover Lover and all kinds of weird stuff.” The duo recorded their debut EP The Blue Road with Aussie icon Pete Murray at his home studio in late 2007, and by 2009 became one of five successful applicants for the government’s Breakthrough initiative, supporting Indigenous contemporary artists. This helped them to produce their debut selftitled album in August 2010, which hit #4 on the Australian Independent Music Charts by December. They took out the Deadly Award for Most Promising New Talent In Music and a Q Song Award for Paint My Cup that same year. Their version of Crowded House’s Better Be Home Soon even featured on He Will Have His Way, the Finn brother’s tribute album. By the time they inked a deal with Warner and toured to Nashville to record their second record, Busby realised that despite chasing success, he needed the comforts of home more than ever. “We were just more comfortable hanging out at home. For the second album we had more expectation, we thought we should go somewhere big and Nashville was it. The record company sent us over and, look, it was an awesome experience... But things happened while we were over there back home and we were home sick and uncomfortable and... when you record an album, it should be fun and you should be comfortable,” he muses. So it’s fitting that their first #1 ARIA album Postcards From The Shell House was recorded in Busby and Marou’s “favourite place” back on home soil. “Great Keppel Island and The Shell House,” Busby says wistfully. “Everyone from central Queensland used to go to Keppel, that was the holiday destination growing up. The Shell House back then was this little museum owned by this old couple - your parents would go for a cup of tea and some scones and look at
Yo, Rocky “We’re Rocky boys, and people think Rocky can be redneck at times, but in [my] relationships I’ve never had that. I’ve had black and white friends my whole life and I think, ‘What’s the big issue?’” Proudly identifying as “Rocky boys” when it comes to music is something Busby speaks passionately about. “When we were growing up, and even when we brought out the first album, you couldn’t say you were from Rocky - we did - but most bands felt they couldn’t say they were a band from the scrub,” he explains. “You got this intimidation that everyone from Sydney would think you weren’t cool enough - you gotta wear tight jeans and you gotta do exactly like everyone else. shells and we’d run around the island until they’d finished. Then the island changed: it went through the resort stage, then the boutique stage; it’s gone through all the stages. Now it’s run down, the resort is completely fenced off, it looks like a scene from Lost. So spooky, but you’re on the most beautiful island in the world.” Befriending the current owners, the two “pretty much just go there and party, sit around a campfire and test our new songs if the songs weren’t written there they were tested out there. We wrote a few songs on a boat, on the island, and recorded in The Shell House.” With ANZAC day just gone, the release of an incredible video clip for Paint This Land couldn’t be more pertinent. Co-directed by Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Redfern Now and Cleverman) and Kate Halpin, as well as Blair’s father, Bob Blair, a Vietnam War veteran and the first Aboriginal Regimental Sergeant Major in Australia, it sends a timely and important national message without as Busby insists - being overtly political or controversial. “The song itself, it’s really about - I say the Australian spirit - but there’s messages in there about closing the gap
and reconciliation and little things too: the beauty of the land, how lucky we are growing up travelling. And bringing the ANZAC spirit into it made sense, in particular acknowledging Indigenous ANZAC support was something we really wanted to get across. “We didn’t want to create controversy or issue... For me and Jeremy, [acceptance] is simple, we’ve never really gone on about it. We’re Rocky boys, and people think Rocky can be redneck at times, but in [my] relationships I’ve never had that. I’ve had black and white friends my whole life and I think, ‘What’s the big issue?’ is what Jeremy and I have always said. He’s black and I’m white. So I suppose that’s as far as we go politically, reconciliation I suppose. “It’s not something we do consciously - we don’t hide from it, and we definitely don’t ignore it, but we’ve always gone by ‘actions are louder than words’... As I said, regional towns can get a bad wrap because of their views... to be totally honest, white and black kids grow up together in those towns, their mates from an early age, and it’s kinda hard to accuse them of anything.”
What: Postcards From The Shell House (Warner) When & Where: 16 Jun, Corner Hotel; 17 Jun, The Workers Club, Geelong; 18 Jun, Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
“When we started making a scene and we kept saying we were from Rocky, we didn’t hide from that because we weren’t ashamed. At the same time The Medics were saying they’re from Cairns, The Middle East were saying they were from Townsville, Emma Louise was saying she was from Cairns... but no one is afraid to say that now. “It’s really important for Australian music - your home town defines your sound... You look at America, there’s a West Coast sound, a New York sound, a Nashville sound, a New Orleans sound, and it just creates diversity. Otherwise, we’re all gonna sound like hipster Sydney bands and that gets boring after a while!”
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 11
Music
Good Feeling Songwriter/guitarist Serge Pizzorno tells Bryget Chrisfield when it comes to Kasabian he follows his instincts and punters are still alnog for the ride. To read the full interview head to theMusic.com.au
A
t the time of our chat, Kasabian had just played back-to-back shows at Sydney Opera House and the band’s songwriter/guitarist Serge Pizzorno is clearly still buzzing. “Oh, it was monumen’al,” he gushes. “We didn’t know what to expect from the venue, ‘cause it’s obviously, you know, one of the Wonders Of The World and people can be very, I dunno, like, intimidated by such a building, but there was none of that. I mean, it was just chaos from the get-go; it was, like, absolute pandemonium.” As for the iconic building’s interior, Pizzorno chuckles, “It’s well ‘70s inside.”
Even when instincts have taken us in odd directions, people are like, That’s great!’
Those shows were performed in the round and Pizzorno assesses, “It was nice to experiment, ‘cause we’ve considered it... It was great. I really like bein’ surrounded.” The band (except perhaps maybe drummer Ian Matthews - not really possible for him - certainly interacted with the punters in the seats behind the band and, when asked whether he reckons these limited-view seats would’ve been cheaper, Pizzorno cheekily considers, “They probably were, yeah. Mind you, you do get to see our arses so maybe they were more expensive?” Just wait ‘til you hear album number six from the band, For Crying Out Loud. According to Pizzorno, it contains “proper, real tunes”. “I was well into the ‘70s makin’ it, you know?” he points out. “I’ve got a really good
12 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
feeling about this album... A lot of people that’ve heard it already have been real positive about it and, you know, I think that’s great! To be on the sixth album and for people to still be interested - d’ya know what I mean? “For me, like, transcending decades is a big thing... that’s kind of when you can truly say that things have gone well is if you jump from one decade to another and sort of carry on and, you know, everyone’s sort of going, ‘Yeah, great! We’re excited to hear what you’ve still got to do’.” And Pizzorno admits he tries to create something completely different for Kasabian with each album. “I can’t try and make people happy, if you know wha’ I mean,” he posits. “Like, ‘Oh, you know, I gotta write a hit!’ I dunno what that means. I sort of follow my instincts, wherever my instincts take me that’s where I’ll go. We’ve been lucky enough that people have come with us on the way, ‘cause a lot of bands have started to mess with their sound and people are goin’, ‘Oh, what’s goin’ on!?’ [laughs] So we’ve been really lucky; people have gone with it, you know. And even when instincts have taken us in odd directions, people are like, ‘Well, that’s great!’ And we wanna do something new and different - that’s the point of the band.” You would’ve heard You’re In Love With A Psycho, the first official single from Kasabian’s upcoming set, by now (and be sure to Google the hilarious, star-studded accompanying music video that even required the lads to learn some Bollywood choreography). On choosing this song as a single, Pizzorno opines, “It resets whatever you thought [you knew about Kasabian]. I just think it will surprise people.” You’re In Love With A Psycho also boasts a “sort of tongue-in-cheek chorus... where you’re looking at your most loved one and, you know, you’re tryin’a figure out which one it is that’s the psycho outta the two of you, d’you know wha’ I mean?” Pizzorno laughs. Although Pizzorno believes Kasabian’s success and longevity “was always gonna happen” (“I would neve never have let it not”), he allows, “I had no clue what that mea meant. Like, just releasing an album and, like, playin’, you know, Brixton Academy - well, that would’ve been it, yo you know? Not that we didn’t think big, but it was just, like, in reality for, you know, a sort of weird little psyc psychedelic-rock [band]... So obviously to play the Opera Hou House was unbelievable! I mean, it will sorta live with me forever. And you do get those moments where you sorta go, ‘Wow! I mean, yeah! This is actually pretty insane!’... You genuinely touch people in this really positive way, you know, if people come to the shows to release, like, to escape, then you can see that in the crowd; you can see faces and people just, you know, whatever they’re goin’ through, they’re there in some mad sort of, you know, communal dance, some ritual. It’s a sort of primal thing and then you sort of do go, ‘Wow! Whatever we’ve done has left a mark,’ you know? And that’s as good as it gets, really.”
What: For Crying Out Loud (Sony)
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PLUS HE A PS MORE AT W W W.NORTHCOTESOCI A LCLUB.COM THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 13
Film
Follow What Unfolds What started as a film exploring Papua New Guinea’s conflicted politics became a five-year study of a community under threat. Documentary filmmaker Hollie Fifer tells Guy Davis the story behind The Opposition.
H
ollie Fifer thought she was too late. Arriving in Papua New Guinea in 2012 to research the country’s constitutional crisis that saw two prime ministers vying for power and position - “one had the Supreme Court behind him, the other had the army” - the Australian documentary filmmaker felt too much time had passed for her to do justice to the story. However, Dame Carol Kidu, who had essentially “saved the democracy of the country” by forming a one-person opposition party, was active in standing up against an international development company looking
As a documentary filmmaker, you have to be comfortable with the unknown.
The Opposition
to build a five-star resort on Paga Hill, the location of a shanty-town community that was home to 3000 people. “And then the whole film turned and became about that,” says Fifer. That may have been how Fifer’s documentary The Opposition started, but how it progressed from there is one of those stranger-than-fiction scenarios. Fifer was present for the PNG police’s demolition of the Paga Hill settlement, which escalated into gunfire, catching the event as it unfolded on film. “I just thought it was chaos,” she recalls. “It was not happening in any orderly fashion, and I thought there was no way for them to get away with this.”
14 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
The situation soon got more surreal, however, when Dame Carol - who had been an active and outspoken champion of the Paga Hill community - retired from politics, formed her own consultancy company and began working with the development company behind the resort. “That was dizzying,” says Fifer. “I wanted to film her telling the community [about her decision], and she wouldn’t allow me to do that. She wanted me to turn the camera off, which I did very reluctantly. There was an attitudinal change within her, which was the most confusing. All of us involved in the making of the film have been trying to assess it for years and none of us can understand it.” Dame Carol’s about-face also disrupted the progress of The Opposition - she demanded that any footage of her in the film be removed, forcing Fifer to recut the film before its premiere screening in Toronto, replace any footage of Dame Carol with a black screen and narration by Australian actor Sarah Snook outlining the situation. However, the Supreme Court last year lifted an injunction against the edits, and The Opposition will now be seen as it was originally intended at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, beginning this week in Melbourne and subsequently travelling to other capital cities around the country in the coming months. (Visit hraff.org.au for further information.) As fascinating and inexplicable as Dame Carol’s motives and actions are, the true focus of The Opposition is Paga Hill community leader Joe Moses, who spea spearheaded the community’s legal campaign against the development company who sought to displace them. Arre Arrested without a warrant in 2014 and in hiding for year afterwards, Moses is currently in the UK, studying years hum rights law. “For Joe to be safe, and to continue human his w work as a human rights defender, is a massive ach achievement,” says Fifer. The backstory of this documentary, which began as a political study before evolving into a work of complex, human drama, reveals the extraordinary challenges that face filmmakers working in this genre, as well as the tenacity and stamina that goes into creating such a film. “It has been my major project for five years,” Fifer says of The Opposition. “On the 12th of May, it will have been five years. I didn’t expect that but I’m up for it - the willingness to leap off a cliff. As a documentary filmmaker, you have to be comfortable with the unknown. And follow what unfolds.”
What: Human Rights Film Festival When & Where: 4 - 18 May, ACMI
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THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 15
Music
When Size Matters At The Dakota weren’t using their heads when they stuck the lead singer’s girlfriend in a cow costume during Darwin’s hottest month. Paul Brandis tells Brynn Davies about being a budding band in a tiny city, and about their EP Melt (P.S. it’s not named for the heat).
A
t The Dakota hail from the steamy NT capital Darwin. As locals, you’d think they’d be smart enough to film an outdoor video clip away from the hottest time of the year, right? Wrong. “The hottest time in Darwin is October-November when it’s sorta not raining too much and it’s really, really humid, and that was when we decided to do it,” keys player Paul Brandis laughs. “It was raining on the way out and it started off cool, but because we were in
the bush and it had been raining it just got ridiculously hot and humid. You’ve probs been to Bali or Thailand right? Like, real thick humidity.” The lead singer’s girlfriend was pressured into the toughest job — wearing a full-coverage cow costume and acting as the runaway protagonist who steals the band’s beer. “We pressured her into it, I’m not sure how happy she was. You can imagine it would have been hard to do anywhere in Australia, let alone up in the Darwin heat, it was pretty chaotic. “So we’re running around in the bush and every time the camera’s not rolling everyone just ripped everything off. I think Dylan [Podsiadly] put the suit on
16 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
at the end of the day and he lasted about five seconds before he tripped over. “It’s a bloody miracle that we didn’t injure ourselves. I got the closest — there’s a shot where I’m jumping over a log but I failed to actually make it over. I face planted real bad. It was one of those funny cartoon moments where you land but you know you’re gonna fall over — I think I stumbled about four steps before I ended up just accepting it and falling over,” he laughs. Formed from a number of Darwinian bands, At The Dakota have continued on after losing their co-founder Steve Lees — “he followed his heart down to Sydney with his soon-to-be-wife” — to release their EP Melt, “based on the idea of your brain melting due to stress,” he explains, “not the heat!” “It’s a bit of a dark record to be honest, about mental health issues and all that... It goes from the point of [Dylan] leaving his last relationship and dropping out of love to feeling lost, and then to the end of that journey finding the girl he’s with now.”
The only problem with Darwin is that because it’s so small, if you’re playing a gig every weekend, you’re trying to draw the same crowd in and they’re gonna get sick of ya. While the music scene in Darwin is tight-knit, the lack of venues is an issue. “There’s not a huge amount of venues, probably only got about three, so it does make it hard... I think everyone keeps an eye out and makes sure they try not to book at the same time if it’s too similar with the same crowd. “Getting out of Darwin into the rest of the country is crucial in terms of taking it further as a band. The only problem with Darwin is that because it’s so small, if you’re playing a gig every weekend, you’re trying to draw the same crowd in and they’re gonna get sick of ya. We try to space our gigs out every few months to make sure we give people a chance to miss us, I suppose.”
What: Melt (Independent) When & Where: 5 May, The Golden Vine, Bendigo; 7 May, The Workers Club
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store.themusic.com.au THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 17
Music
The Anarchist Songbook With multiple Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe wins to his name, Hans Zimmer is undoubtedly one of the most prominent composers of our time. He tells Neil Griffiths the secret to writing a film-winning score.
“I
t depends entirely on the story,” the 59-year-old says down the phone from his LA office. “Why are you doing what you’re doing? You’re doing it because hopefully you get told a different story every day. That keeps you fresh.” He recalls three years ago when rapper Pharrell Williams (one of the many big names he nonchalantly drops into conversation) came to him with the idea of this year’s Academy Award-nominated film, Hidden Figures. “He said, ‘I’ve got this idea. I’ve heard this story. It’s a period piece, it’s African American, it’s three women and it’s about mathematics. What do you
Like everything I do, there’s a bit of anarchy involved.
think?’ And I said, ‘Hang on that sounds about the most uncommercial proposition ever!’ He goes, ‘Yeah but it’s NASA and it’s space.’ And I go, ‘Oh yeah, that’s great!’ So that becomes exciting. Or Steve McQueen coming over and showing me 12 Years A Slave without any warning at 9am in the morning. There wasn’t a lot he had to say after that.” Late last year, the German-born musician launched his very first online masterclass, in which he claims despite his continued success, he has no idea what kind of score he can write for a film without knowing what the story is. “[2014 sci-fi] Interstellar is a good example,” he says, before quickly correcting himself, “Actually, no. 18 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Interstellar is a terrible example, because [director Chris Nolan] didn’t tell me the story! We ran into each other and he said if he were to write one page of something and wouldn’t tell me what the movie is about, but just write one page, would I write something that inspired me from this one page. So I did that... Chris came over on a Sunday night and I played him this really fragile little piece and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good.’ And then he said, ‘I suppose I should make the movie now.’ And I said, ‘So what is the movie?’ and he started talking about space and epic stuff and I’m going, ‘I just wrote you this little fragile thing.’ And he said, ‘Yeah but now I know where the heart of the movie is.’” Such is the power of Hans Zimmer’s work. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you would have heard Zimmer’s work in at least one of your favourite movies. Maybe it was in one of the films in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. Maybe it was The Lion King. Or Gladiator. Or perhaps it was even in The Holiday (ya know, the rom-com starring Jack Black and Kate Winslet). But with a catalogue as extensive as his, Zimmer says it is nearimpossible to pick out a personal highlight. “The ones that are close to my heart are weirdly to do with my kids,” he explains. “The Lion King was written for my oldest daughter, Interstellar was written for my son. I have four kids. One of the things I loved was taking them to see the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies.” Zimmer says what ultimately does stay with you is the experience. “I’ll give you an Australian [example],” he begins on what we presume is a tale from his last local visit while working on Mission: Impossible 2. “The flights from LA arrive in Sydney at some ungodly hour, like really early. So, I was on the Fox’s lot, I think, at 7am and nobody else was there and I thought I would just hang out and wait until everybody shows up, when suddenly I got a tune in my head. It was a really good tune and luckily I knew people in Sydney. So I phoned them and got them out of bed and said, ‘Listen, I’ve got this tune and I have to record it now, otherwise it’ll be gone!’ I dragged some mates out of bed, recorded the tune. By the time I got back to the lot for the meeting at 10am, I actually had a theme. It’s stuff like that that you remember.” Zimmer will make his long-awaited return to Australia this month in support of his Hans Zimmer Revealed tour, where he will perform arena concerts around the country for the very first time. “As usual, I’m winging it a bit,” he says casually. “Like everything I do, there’s a bit of anarchy involved. A bit of bad behaviour goes into the set list as well.”
When & Where: 4 May, Rod Laver Arena
MULTICULTURAL ARTS VICTORIA PRESENTS
MULTI FUTURISM UTURISM
THE GASOMETER HOTEL FRIDAY MAY 5TH
FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY Cool Out Sun feat. Lamine Sonko + Nfa Jones + Sensible J + Nui Moon // Mojo Juju + The Pacific Island Choir of Victoria // Haiku Hands + Muma Doesa + Jonathon Homsey + Madfox // Amin Payne + Hari Sivanesan // The Temporary Autonomous Zone // DJ Astronauts Choice
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 19
Music
Frontlash We’ll Take Your Crumbs
Seven-Year Drought
If you have not yet watched the batshit crazy US mystic drama The Leftovers now is the time to start. Episodes filmed in and around Melbourne are airing on Foxtel now.
Ja Fooled As the utter dumpster fire that was Fyre Fest descended into the ninth layer of hell it was impossible not to feel a smidge of schadenfreude #FirtsWorldProblems
Lashes
In Styles
Any measure to combat scalping is welcome, so we’ll see if some of the procedures set up for 1Ds Harry Styles actually pay off.
The Leftovers
Backlash Ja Fool
Really, though, WTF Billy McFarland? Ja Rule? As if unpaid labourers and artists, people stranded without food or infrastructure and bullshit apologies weren’t enough they’re already talking about next year.
Rain Dog
Apparently Tom Waits auditioned for Reservoir Dogs. How did that not pan out? Not that we would’ve given anyone else the hoof but couldn’t Tarantino have written in a Mr Puce or something?
Got milk? Jeers to the Chinese dairy company that allegedly aped Tame Impala’s The Less I Know The Better for one of their ads. As if regional tensions weren’t high enough. 20 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Nashville Pussy’s Ruyter Suys regales Rod Whitfield with some of her fondest memories in Australia and the secret to a long a happy flight.
I
n over 20 years of existence, Atlanta, Georgia-based heavy rock’n’rollers Nashville Pussy have only made it out to Australian shores twice, and not for around seven years. When asked why this might be the case, relentlessly affable lead guitarist Ruyter Suys, speaking from on tour in Seattle, has a typically blunt, goodnatured response. “Fucked if I know!” she laughs. “Rock’n’roll is a mystery my friend, I have no idea. Wanting and doing are always two completely different things when it comes to music.” The situation is soon to change, however, as the band are finally bringing their raunchy, strutting, swaggering live show Down Under again in early May, and Suys could not be happier about that situation. “Oh man, are you kidding me? We are dying for it,” she emphasises, “we’ve been wanting to go again, since we left the last time. We had such a good time there last time, we promised we’d be back before seven years, but that’s what it’s taken us. “Thank God the gods have conspired to get us back there, it’s about fuckin’ time. We will apologise for rock’n’roll, and make it up to you.” The ridiculously long flight from LA to Melbourne or Sydney is undoubtedly a
major factor in the rarity of their Aussie appearances, and she has a very specific strategy for getting through those type of longhaul flights. “Xanax and whiskey, man,” she laughs, “that’s how I get through.” Suys has some crazy memories of previous Australian tours, and she is happy to relate one particular standout one. “I remember partying at this transvestite bar until the sun rose,” she recalls, “we were at this bar full of ladyboys, and these women were definitely more feminine than I was. I remember going to the bathroom and seeing all the seats in the stalls up, so it was like ‘yeah, they are all dudes!’” So prior to that, what were your conceptions of Aussie blokes? “Chopper and Mad Max!” She laughs again. As stated, the band have been around for more than two decades, and during that time they have released six full-length studio albums. They are determined to bring a crowd-pleasing setlist with them this time, especially since it’s been so long. “Yeah, I think we’re going to do a little ‘from the beginning to the end’ thing for you guys,” she reveals, “we’re definitely going to do some of the newer songs that you haven’t heard us play live before.” And they may even throw in a special new treat or two specifically for Aussie audiences. “We’re working on a new album,” she states, “and we should be going into the studio in September, so we’ll probably trying out some weird shit on stage that even we’ve never heard before. “We tend to make a lot of shit up on the spot. If you’ve ever been to a Nashville Pussy show, you know it’s not exactly rocket science!”
When & Where: 6 May, Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong; 7 May, Cherry Bar; 10 May, Northcote Social Club
Indie Indie
Joshua Batten
Hemingway
Single Focus
J
oshua Batten has played music most of his life, working as a solo artist over the past five years before putting together a band to record his debut album Searching For Answers. “Blues singer/songwriter Mike Elrington reached out to me via Facebook and offered to produce the record with his friend Sean O’Sullivan at Highway 9 Studios,” explains Batten. “As both Mike and Sean had real faith in the material, it seemed like a perfect match. The entire recording experience was new to me, so that in itself was pretty inspirational. Wearing the songs come to life in the studio was a dream come true... I am a perfectionist by nature, so I really wanted to make sure the songs sounded perfect. “The songs on the album don’t follow a unified concept, but there is a very personal aspect to the lyrics. They reflect my unique perspective on topics such as social interaction and the changing landscape in which we communicate. Nobody Understands Me is a personal highlight for me, as it’s the most autobiographical of all the songs, and I was particularly amazed with how well I was able to transfer the arrangement from a loop-heavy acoustic tune to a thumping band jam.”
Answered by: Tim Tamas Single title? Mystic Kingdom Pt 1 What’s the song about? It’s a journey about self-discovery and finding that happy place! Whatever and where ever that is or could be. How long did it take to write/record? The overall process took a couple of weeks! The track has changed a LOT since we were first jamming the skeletons. Now we think it’s a cosmic goddess. What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? There were a few
Pigs Of The Roman Empire
We’ll like this song if we like... Space exploration. Reggae, psych, dub with twists. A roller coaster for space cadets. Faux fur jackets. Ringtail possums. Good vibes. Do you play it differently live? We just added a four-minute Halo theme song-inspired intro for Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival. Aside from that we reproduce all elements on stage. Harry The Highnapple also joins us. When and where is your launch/ next gigs? 4 May, The Loft, Warrnambool; 5 May, Baha Tacos, Rye; 6 May, Bar Open; 7 May, Sooki Lounge. Plus a bunch more interstate gigs as part of the single tour! See you at one?
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Cutting my hand open mid-performance and bleeding all over two guitars and a microphone. In the daylight, they looked like murder weapons. Why should people come and see your band? Our set evolves and pivots from fast and loose to slow and sombre. Like a cheese grater on the soul.
Have You Heard When & Where: 6 May, Revolver Bandroom
shit vibes happening... Negative emotion motivated the writing process for this track. Once in the jam room, it produced a positive experience. Music is our emotional Panadol. The end result, good vibes.
Answered by: Troy Keith
When and where are your next gigs? 3 May, Bar Open
When did you start making music and why? We all started playing in high school, full of angst and teenage hormones. We’re still angry now, but it’s sharper. More refined. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Quiet/loud post-rock tension. If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Slint’s Spiderland. It’s like a guided tour of the wide open spaces in your mind. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll float away.
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 21
Music
Creativity In Aisle Five Orange Is The New Hack
Forget Hilary’s emails. Forget Russian election tampering. Forget WikiLeaks. Cyber terrorism is finally fucking with the important stuff! This week, a hacker known by the not at all lame handle TheDarkOverlord breached Netflix security and stole the upcoming season of hit show Orange Is The New Black, threatening to release the series on pirating sites if the streaming TV juggernaut failed to pay a ransom. But more the fool him - Netflix does not negotiate with terrorists. Thus, the world has been gifted the latest series a full month early. And that’s not all. The production vendor hacked by TheDarkOverLord also handles content by FOX, National Geographic and ABC, which he’s also threatened to release. But download at your own peril. Netflix is understandably pissed, and has announced its lawyers will be chasing down illegal downloaders. You have been warned!
22 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Haiku Hands’ Beatrice Lewis chats on the phone to Cyclone about everything from her multiple projects to the significance behind her art... all while she shops at Kmart.
T
he festive electro posse Haiku Hands will join an eclectic curated ensemble of local vocalists, musicians and dancers at Multi Futurism — its mission to finally vanquish outmoded notions of ‘world music’. The party is the first in a series backed by Multicultural Arts Victoria, with various artists performing with each other to manifest new hybrid cultural experiences. Haiku Hands’ Beatrice Lewis admits that she’s only given preliminary thought to their mash-up set with MC/singer/DJ Muma Doesa, plus street dancers Jonathan Homsey and Madfox. Right now Lewis — vocalist, instrumentalist and producer — is in Alice Springs preparing for the Wide Open Spaces Festival, where she’ll accompany the group Kardajala Kirri-darra (The Sand Hill Women) and Hiatus Kaiyote. Well, kind of. “I’m actually in Kmart in Alice Springs, which is even more exciting,” Lewis laughs. “I’m in a band with some ladies from Marlinja — it’s halfway between Alice and Darwin. They love Kmart, so we literally drive ten hours and then go to Kmart. It’s the best.” Lewis has many roles (“I’m a lunatic!”). She’s a workshop facilitator — passionately fostering Indigenous women’s music. Lewis also has a burgeoning solo music career, which saw her participate in the 2016 Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) in Montreal.
She has DJed for TZU MC Joelistics. And then she’s a member of Haiku Hands, along with the Sydney-based Claire Nakazawa and Mataya Young. Nakazawa’s sister, Mie, is involved as a visual artist. “Joelistics had to do a thing at triple j, Beat The Drum — they had a 40th anniversary. Joel got up with You Am I. He needed four backing singers to get up. He got Claire to gather four women — so they got up in front of 50,000 people... Joel was like, ‘This vibe is awesome,’ — the world needs super-vibing, bangin’ female groups. So he just started mentoring all of us and got us all together.” Haiku Hands have developed what Lewis describes as a “genreless” aesthetic — spanning pop, electro, trap and everything between. The band’s music is socially conscious, but they avoid the “didactic”. “Haiku Hands is very much about creating an energy and lyrical context that is tonguein-cheek and entertaining, but also exploring really deep messages and political ideas.” The quartet have been accumulating material for release — a single imminent. At Multi Futurism, Haiku Hands will perform for the first time with the seasoned Muma Doesa, who draws on her South African heritage. “She’s amazing,” Lewis extols, “she’s got truth and she’s not afraid to say it.” Mixing it up even more will be Homsey and Madfox, both practitioners of waacking — a street dance style that has its origins in Los Angeles’ queer subculture and is today huge across Asia. On her return from Alice Springs, Lewis will start rehearsals. “We’re all gonna get together for three days and create something really interesting,” she promises. “It’s gonna be an amalgamation of voice and beats and movement. We’re really looking at good use of colour and staging costumes and things like that.”
When & Where: 5 May, Multi Futurism, The Gasometer Hotel
In Focus Cool
Out Sun Pic: Tania Bahr-Vollrath
Multicultural Arts Victoria are bringing Multi Futurism to The Gasometer Hotel this 5 May to help break down the stereotypes of ‘world music’, mixing the mainstream and the underground in a night of unique and unexpected collaborations. A night with such an exceptional premise needs a headliner to match, and Afro percussive act Cool Out Sun fit the bill to a T. Comprised of Sensible J (Remi), Lamine Sonko (The African Intelligence), Nui Moon (Public Opinion Afro Orchestra) and N’fa Jones (House of Beige), they’re going to fire up the D-floor and cook your preconceptions.
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 23
Music
New Beginnings Ahead of new solo album Rock N Roll Consciousness, iconic guitarist Thurston Moore tells Steve Bell that these days he’s making music for all the right reasons.
S
ince his uber-influential art-rock outfit Sonic Youth pulled up stumps in 2011, legendary guitarist and songwriter Thurston Moore has had no problem keeping busy. Moving primarily in underground noise rock and improvisational circles, in the intervening years he’s worked on numerous projects and collaborated with countless musicians, but it’s only now that he’s revisiting more commercial realms with his new solo album Rock N Roll Consciousness. “We recorded it I guess in late 2015, I did the mixing in early 2016 and then all last year I worked on how I wanted to present it, with the artwork and how the
That’s what I tell people: ‘Take this record, put it on your boombox and just blast it at the Trump Tower
sequence was going to flow. I sort of didn’t want the record to come out in a year of political campaigning in the USA, because it was so contentious. It was so heinous that I was like, ‘I don’t even want to be active in a culture that’s just overwhelmed by this inanity.’ As it is I feel really happy that it’s coming out in the springtime of 2017, in a way it works because the songs are very beatific and it works as like an elixir to the reality of what has happened with the USA being so poisoned. “To me, it’s a token of promise and springtime and awakening and new energy, like, ‘Let’s get up there and gather our amplifiers and surround Trump Tower and blast them as loud as we can with noise and stuff until it crumbles into the fake gold dust that it is.’ That’s kind of
24 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
the idea,” Moore deadpans before dissolving into peals of laughter. “That’s what I tell people: ‘Take this record, put it on your boombox and just blast it at the Trump Tower.’” For his fifth proper solo album, Moore regathered The Thurston Moore Band who worked on his previous solo album The Best Day (2014) - Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe and guitarist James Sedwards - and recorded it at The Church in London (where Moore now lives). At the helm was pop producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & The Machine), but for that experimental edge the album was mixed in Seattle with Randall Dunn (Boris, Sunn O))), Earth) resulting in a nice balance of the accessible and avant-garde. “[The Best Day] was made just finding out what people sounded like, and there were some songs on the record that were just me playing acoustic guitars and everything on the track, so it’s a bit of a pastiche that record,” Moore reflects. “Then we released it on Matador and ended up doing shows without announcing who we were, so people would end up coming to see the shows to some degree thinking, ‘It’s Thurston, so he’s either going to play some noise guitar or some acoustic guitar, or he’s going to be juggling chainsaws’ - they didn’t know what I was going to do then. Then they would look at the band come out and go, ‘Oh it’s Steve Shelly! Wow, it’s Deb Googe!’ I still think people thought that maybe it would be some transitional thing, but we realised as we were touring that we were really happy as a group. “We’ve all for the most part been through the wars together as far as being in groups that were high profile during the late ‘80s and into the ‘90s, so we feel at this point that we kind of did that and we’re not really looking to replicate that, or wave our hands in the air and try to draw attention to ourselves. We just felt like we’re kind of liberated to just enjoy being creative, and people kind of know who we are. For this record I wanted to focus on the group as I know how they can play, because I don’t think that on The Best Day I was able to let them breathe so m much, it was just, ‘Here’s the song, let’s play it.’ “Now it’s like I wrote these songs knowing who the mus musicians were, that’s why the songs are so lengthy bec because I really wanted these players to play. I really wan wanted James Sedwards to just shred on guitar, so I wou would allow these sections on there for him to go out and do that, and also for Deb and Steve to really get thei their feet wet. That was kind of on my mind doing the songwriting, knowing who this group is and wanting them to sort of have their say, and it’s really cool right now because we’ve established ourselves as a working group and it’s not just some dalliance.”
What: Rock N Roll Consciousness (Ecstatic Peace/Caroline)
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 25
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
TASTE THE FUTURE
Ever since cavemen first figured out how to cook up some Woolly Mammoth steaks, human beings have steadily come up with bigger and better ways to make the most of meal times. We’ve come a long way in the millennia since our cavedwelling forebears huddled around the fire. Today, big-brained boffins have applied their superpowered synapses to the task of inventing the kitchen tech of tomorrow. Move over microwave — these gadgets are the future of food.
Moley Robotic Kitchen Ok, we have to confess, the rest of this article may be a little redundant considering someone has gone Jetson’s level sci-fi and created a fully functioning robot kitchen. With two fully articulated robotic arms, the Moley Robot Kitchen can produce just about any cuisine you can imagine, from Cordon Bleu to Sushi, using traditional techniques. Looks like dinner’s sorted, at least till Skynet takes over.
Hello Egg If Wall-E and Eve had a baby, it would probably look like this cutie. This 21st-century kitchen assistant does it all — devises menus, creates shopping lists and even orders the groceries for delivery, and displays
Bacon Express For those of you questioning whether there’s any hope left for the human race in 2017, this awesome gadget should restore your faith in humanity. Because someone’s only gone and invented a toaster just for bacon! Using a vertical grill, the Bacon Express creates perfectly cooked, drool-inducingly crisp rashers, from fridge to face in just a few minutes. 26 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
how-to recipe videos to keep your cooking on the straight and narrow. Short of actually making the food for you, this handy sidekick will make sure your meal times are always a slam-dunk.
Smarter FridgeCam It’s estimated that roughly 50% of fresh food purchased in Australia ends up on the rubbish heap instead of the plate, but thanks to this wireless webcam, that could soon be a statistic of the past. The FridgeCam tracks sell-by dates on your food stored to alerts you to use perishables before they turn. It also allows you to see what you’ve got in while you’re on the go, to prevent you from over-stocking your larder.
THE ANECDOTE ALBUM LAUNCH &DUYHG XSRQ WKH DLU Featuring special guests Mandy Connell (Stray Hens) ‘Remembering Iceland: An Introspective’ (Anita Quayle & Shannon Bourne) Sat April 29 Doors open 8pm Wesley Anne High St, Northcote Entry $15 ‘$ FDSWLYDWLQJ YLUWXRVLF DQG Ä UH VSLULWHG DFRXVWLF WULR IHDWXULQJ FHOOR WUXPSHW SHUFXVVLRQ DQG VRDULQJ YRFDOVĂš
www.theanecdote.net www.facebook.com/theanecdote
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 27
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Pond
The Weather EMI
★★★★
The world must be in a chronic state if happy-go-lucky stargazers Pond are embracing the end of it. “30,000 megatons is just what we deserve,” they declare convincingly over gargantuan synth tones that vibrate like the rocket boosters of a departing space craft on The Weather’s opener. Accredited space cadets, Pond may have seemed like one of the last bands to develop socially conscious leanings, but on Edge Of The World and elsewhere, they do it in their own surreal way — not so much offering solutions, but more letting their stream of consciousness approach become an outlet for fear and confusion at the global pandemic of tragedy and upheaval. Despite this, there are several moments of pure pop genius. It’s said that nine months after a natural disaster the birth rate shoots up, and the impending apocalypse seems to have ignited the band’s collective libido on the breathlessly romantic Sweep Me Off My Feet. It’s a fine example of a new twinkling, retro-futuristic vision midwifed by producer and long time associate Kevin Parker that’s so fresh, it’s revitalising. Maybe political crises and the scaly coils of doom should encircle our beleaguered planet more often if albums this good are going to come of it. Christopher H James
At The Drive-In
San Cisco
in • ter a • li • a
The Water
Rise Records
Island City Records
★★★½
★★★½
Not supposedly a band you’d expect to flog a nostalgia ticket given their uncompromising work, At The Drive-In have gradually rekindled that flame and rediscovered making music with each other again. Finally, after 17 years, their follow-up to Relationship Of Command is here, and it’s a visionary album of unhinged aggression. The essential formula that made At The Drive-In a force to be reckoned with remains intact; specifically Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s electrified vocals running riot over a near-suffocating assault of guitar and drums. The missing ingredient is longtime guitarist Jim Ward, however Keeley Davis and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez give such a competent performance that his absence is barely felt. There’s some surprisingly candid material, such as Incurably
The Water, the third full-length album from Fremantle’s San Cisco, is another solid collection of catchy, jangly indie-pop. Album opener Kids Are Cool has a real funk influence with rhythmic, percussive guitar and Nick Gardner’s bass line brought to the foreground. Funk, soul, ‘80s pop and even disco continue to be heavy influences on the band. Sunrise features lush harmonies and an instantly memorable hook, while SloMo appropriates the riff from Nena’s 99 Luftballons with a fun, danceable take on the ‘90s pop classic. Like a lot of the album’s tracks, catchy synthpop song The Distance explores the dynamics of a relationship, this time with frontman Jordi Davieson’s smooth vocals asking, “If I change for you, then will you change too?”
28 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Innocent, which is in BixlerZavala’s words “a song about sexual abuse and being able to finally speak out”. What’s hardly a surprise though is the uninterrupted stream of energy and volcanic rage, particularly on the US election-inspired Governed By Contagions. While Inter Alia isn’t quite as poised on the bleeding edge as Relationship Of Command was, it’s nonetheless a febrile statement for our volatile times. Christopher H James
Waiting For The Weekend and The Water feature some more unusual synth sounds while Hey, Did I Do You Wrong? and That Boy prove they haven’t moved too far from the brand of indie-pop heard on their first two albums. Did You Get What You Came For is the true highlight of The Water, with a memorable riff from guitarist Josh Biondillo combined with Scarlett Stevens’ tight, driving drums. The Water is a refinement of San Cisco’s sound. Their music has matured and evolved while retaining the fun and catchy nature that made their first two albums so successful. Madelyn Tait
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Blondie
Perfume Genius
Pollinator
No Shape
BMG/Liberator
Matador/Remote Control
Underground Lovers
2 Inch Tape
Staring At You Staring At Me
Independent
Control
Rubber Records
★★★
★★★½
★★★★
★★½
Albums with new material by legacy bands can be a worry — how could any new track stand alongside a back catalogue like Blondie’s? However, their history and standing mean when they put out a call for songs, names like Charli XCX and Johnny Marr offered up some more than serviceable tunes for this. Allowing that Deborah Harry’s voice obviously isn’t the thrilling trill of 1979, craftsman-built work like the The Strokes’ Nick Valensi and Sia co-write Best Day Ever — and particularly Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes’ very shiny Long Time, with its almost Heart Of Glass-ish synth tumble — means that while Pollinator is hardly imperative, the brand name isn’t embarrassed.
Filled with hope and optimism, Perfume Genius’s latest rather sweetly offers carefree romantic adventure. Mike Hadreas is no longer the angsty young man of albums past. Slip Away feels like liberation from everything that has previously weighed down the perfumed genius down. As the album progresses Perfume Genius seemingly grows wings and sails through joyous flights of fancy like Just Like Love or saccharine serenades like Every Night. The low-slung Die 4 You suggests that cupid has well and truly had his way with Perfume Genius, who goes on to drop an ode to his boyfriend Alan. Love wins and perhaps marriage awaits.
Still one of the leading lights of the Australian strand of guitarstrummed, literate indie pop-rock, Underground Lovers have influenced the sound of many local bands over the years, from The Sleepy Jackson to Blank Realm and on to Shining Bird. They’ll no doubt continue to hold that sphere of influence with their latest and one of their best albums. It’s a multi-dimensional collection of songs, stretching from the experimental clatter and propulsive dirge of Glamnesia to the alt-rock swagger of Every Sign, The Rerun’s cold synth (reminiscent of their exceptional 1998 single Cold Feeling) and on to the glorious indie-rock melancholia of The Conde Nast Trap. They don’t put a foot wrong and they continue to produce effortless and richly melodic music.
Melbourne eight-piece 2 Inch Tape have created something that is not only genre-illusive but almost completely defies comprehension. Simon Rigoni’s gravelly - though tonally rich vocals are so lyrically repetitive and laconic that opener Our Love can only be described as claustrophobic - “Our love is richer than gold... Our love is made of trust... Our love is so pure.” No Control is an unnerving mix of violins, sirens and radio white noise under what is evidently supposed to be a spoken word poem, often reduced to nothing but strings of rhyming words: “Share/ care/ dare/ pain/ gain/ sustain.” They would greatly benefit from more considered lyricism and a honed sonic direction. Maybe a case of too many cooks?
Chris Familton
Brynn Davies
Ross Clelland
Guido Farnell
More Reviews Online Strangers Mirrorland
theMusic.com.au
Dappled Cities IIIII
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 29
Live Re Live Reviews
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: TEG LIve
The Tea Party with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Hamer Hall 28 May
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: TEG LIve
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: Les O’Rourke
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: TEG LIve
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: Les O’Rourke
The Tea Party @ Hamer Hall. Pic: TEG LIve
30 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Ever since Deep Purple released Concerto For Group And Orchestra way back in the late ‘60s, the soundscapes of heavy and orchestral music have gone together like a hand in a perfectly tailored glove. And this show adds another chapter to that marriage made in music heaven. It is a show that promises so much: one of the all-time great progressive rock acts together with a world-renowned symphony orchestra in a room designed with perfect acoustics in mind, and to enhance the aural experience of the audience. Does it deliver on that promise? The answer is yes, it delivers. And then goes above and beyond. From scintillating opener Temptation, right through to a very popular encore of Winter Solstice and Sister Awake, by way of a plethora of The Tea Party classics such as Transmission, Walking Wounded, Heaven Coming Down and the fabulous title track of their most recent album called The Ocean At The End (which, believe it or not, is just about the highlight of the first set), this show is a powerful two-hour-plus journey across the illustrious history of the legendary Canadian rock act. With seamless and majestic accompaniment from the wondrous Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO), who, as always, are in fine fettle. Along the way, the very lucky audience in attendance gets a couple of appearances from the ethereal Canadian opera singer Christine Williams, whose stunning vocals soar to the very heavens; beautiful covers of Daniel Lanois’ The Messenger and Leonard
A transcendent experience that will stay with those who were fortunate enough to be there for a long, long time.
Cohen’s Hallelujah (which would surely have to be one of the most covered songs in history?); digs at a luckless roadie and the hapless Donald Trump; references to the classic kid’s cartoon The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show; a poignant dedication of the song Oceans to a recently passed friend of the band’s and much, much more. Enigmatic and entertaining frontman Jeff Martin truly puts his all into Oceans, and the pain and emotion veritably drip from the stage. It is obviously still raw. The Tea Party’s live rock show alone is legendary. When you add the MSO and all of these other amazing elements, it becomes a transcendent experience that will stay with those who were fortunate enough to be there for a long, long time. Rod Whitfield
Wolfmother, Davey Lane, Immigrant Union The Croxton 30 Apr Immigrant Union, a home-grown band from Preston, wander out as the lights fall dark. It’s a slow start, though the five guys, Brent DeBoer, Bob Harrow, Peter Lubulwa, Ben Street and Paddy McGrath-Lester, do fill the stage with confidence
eviews Live Reviews
and experience. Their sound is a unique combination of psychedelic rock and alternative folky/country vibes. They don’t interact much with the crowd, which leaves us all fairly still but nodding along with the late ‘80s reminiscent tracks. Their last song, I Can’t Return closes out their set with a bang, and the crowd doesn’t sound disappointed. A messy sound check introduces Davey Lane, but he and his band quickly recover when they start their set. Lane’s is a classic sound pulled straight from the definition of ‘90s nostalgia. It’s upbeat rock with just an essence of pop, and yet his vocal tone has a punchy punk sound to it that he executes with confidence, pandering to the crowd by leaning into the front row punters for each intricate guitar solo. If there was any space left on the bandroom floor, there isn’t now that we can hear the mumbles of another sound check. The anticipation is unbelievable. Wolfmother explode onto the stage in a blur of big hair and an even bigger sound — and they look like a ‘70s dream, flared pants and all. New Moon Rising is the set opener, which aptly smacks
The 21st century has rarely seen such raw talent. the audience in the face. The trio, Andrew Stockdale, Ian Peres and Vin Steele, are as artistically skilled ever. For Where Eagles Have Been, Peres is the picture of rock’n’roll, thrashing on his bass guitar and lifting his keyboard up and vertical — the 21st century has rarely seen such raw talent. A
staff member sneaks out and sets up a third microphone on centre stage, a teasing little sign that something big’s coming. Darren Middleton of Powderfinger joins the guys on stage — glass of red wine in hand — for an exquisitely slow ballad-style rendition of Mind’s Eye. Middleton and Stockdale share vocals and the collaboration is as hauntingly beautiful as the original, still just as intense when slowed down. Colossal is a strong and steady track that showcases the talents of all three members, particularly the wild yet controlled rhythm of the newest member, drummer Steele. Later the third microphone is snuck out again, this time for Spiderbait’s Mark “Kram” Maher. “We wrote this a really long time ago, when we got pretty fucked up,” Maher recalls before launching into Gypsy Caravan — and it’s another explosion of great Australian rock. “Are you ready to go another dimension, Melbourne?” The roar of the crowd eggs on an unrestrained performance of Dimension. The trio extend the instrumental break and fall into some classic white noise. Then, with a wave goodbye, they are gone. It’s not like a Melbourne crowd to go that easily, and we still haven’t heard one particular song. “Joker & The Thief” chants ring out across the room, and after an agonisingly long wait, the band are back for a proper send-off. Bree Chapman
Confidence Man, Broadway Sounds, Evan Klar Corner Hotel 26 Apr
The sound of bongos fills our eardrums as a double drum kit ignites a heavy percussion throughout the room. We tap along to Evan Klar’s latest single Barefoot, with a welcome addition of some jovial tambourines thrown in the mix. Klar’s raspy and commanding vocals lure us into his undeniably likeable structure of musical compositions.
The remaining champers gets passed to the front row and is chugged straight from the bottle. Broadway Sounds give us a DJ set that’s perfect to get the party started and ignite our dancing shoes with some serious disco vibes. It seems as if most of the room fills up just moments before Confidence Man hits the stage and before we know it the place is heaving. The mysterious Reggie Goodchild and Clarence McGuffie conceal themselves underneath dark, veiled disguises as they bust out a funky keyboard and drum instrumental that makes us bounce off the walls. The stars of the show, Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, step out into the limelight and begin to sing. They come alive with a routine that encourages us to dance however the hell we feel. A voiceover shouts, “It’s confidence, it’s confidence —
just move your legs!” We follow suit and flail our limbs around to the groove-inducing music for a non-stop boogie. We can tell that they mean business as they maintain a serious gaze, all while they do the mashed potato and the twist. The voiceover continues to give some tips, “Wave your hands, it gives you that confidence feeling!” In no time at all, the entire room turns into one giant flashmob as we take note of Planet and Bones’ energetic moves. Their outfits are just as eye-catching. From speedo shorts and Chucks, to black boots and fishnet stockings for miles, we simply cannot take our eyes off the confident pair. They lean from left to right with their microphone stands in a synchronised motion during their latest single Bubblegum and fluorescent pink light engulfs the stage. Planet and Bones crack open a bottle of champagne and pour each other a glass to toast the celebration of this third and final sold-out show tonight. The remaining champers gets passed to the front row and is chugged straight from the bottle. Mysterious dancers in full-body suits appear on stage for a rave and things get real loose. “Who the hell has control of that damn smoke machine!” the voiceover shouts. “Guys, this is our last song, unless you applaud for an encore, then we’ll do it if you want us to,” Planet teases. They continue with Boyfriend (Repeat) and we all get down really low on the floor before jumping up for the final chorus. The applause inevitably erupts to bring them back so we can use every bit of energy in the tank and dance until our bodies are just about ready to collapse. Michael Prebeg
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 31
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
This Is Eden
Theatre Until 7 May, Fortyfive downstairs
★★★½ In this seething new solo, by playwrightperformer Emily Goddard and director Susie Dee, the connections between the brutal punishments of the past and today’s refugees imprisoned for seeking asylum, are drawn thick and heavy. Before heading through to the seating, Jane, in a bonnet and period dress, introduces herself as our guide and gives us a slightly ditzy Sovereign Hill-style induction. Writer and sole performer Goddard plays up the role, taking selfies, getting stuck in a spiked prop collar and genially chatting with audience members. We follow her through to our seats and Jane’s levity already feels
uncomfortable in front of Romanie Harper’s set design. Behind Goddard, a raised platform of iron grates makes up the floor of a wallless cell, in which lays a frayed length of rope, a naked bed frame, two buckets and a bible. The roof is a corroded halo of girders suspended from above. It’s an ugly scene, but then that’s the whole point; despite its imposing presence, most people are more than happy to ignore a barbaric truth, snarling in the corner. We meet Mary down there in the dark and all those uneasy feelings are immediately justified. Jane leaves us and dull amber lights reveal a woman, filthy, beaten and pregnant, clinging to the phrase “My name is Mary Ford.” Mary’s story is unveiled through manic impersonations of the people who put her in this hell; the jealous Governess who sent her to the Female Factory, the lecherous Reverend, full of brimstone, condemning the women even as he preys on them, and the spineless Super Intendant that punishes them for protecting themselves. Gina Gascoigne’s lighting dims and brightens indiscernibly so that our eyes are never quite allowed to adjust. Despairing in the gloom, Goddard’s physicality is also in constant flux, bringing each of Mary’s mad parodies their own unique ticks and grotesque inflections. Goddard is gunning for trickier game than closet or clear-cut xenophobes. “You don’t know, but that’s not your fault, it’s nobody’s fault,” we’re assured by Jane at the start — a sentiment bristling with jagged-edged sarcasm. Another common saying is that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, and this play is aimed directly at good-hearted men and women that believe it has nothing to do with them. People unwilling to recognise the past and its place in our present. This Is Eden can be extremely heavy-handed in places, but in times when all manner of atrocities fail to cause the outrage they deserve, maybe there’s no such thing as a heavyhanded message. This Is Eden
Sam Wall
32 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Three Little Words
Three Little Words Theatre Until 26 May, Southbank Theatre
★★★ Three Little Words is Joanna Murray-Smith at her Joanna Murray-Smith-iest. In a nicely furnished living room, four friends are enjoying some wine after a dinner party to celebrate the 20th wedding anniversary of Tess (Catherine McClements) and Curtis (Peter Houghton). They are joined at this low-key soiree by their two closest friends, Annie and Bonnie (Kate Atkinson and Katherine Tonkin), also a couple. During this pleasant get-together, Tess and Curtis drop a bombshell: they are splitting up. While their daughter, and presumably other friends and relatives, common in their absence from the stage, are ok with this paradigm shift, Annie and Bonnie are not. Tess and Curtis were the shining examples of devoted monogamy that they aspired to, and despite their friends’ apparent ease with the idea of breaking up their marriage, they cannot condone the laissez-faire abandonment of two decades of wedded bliss. Tess and Curtis hash out an increasingly acrimonious, but oh so obvious schism that becomes so wrapped up in bourgeois, materialist spite that it is robbed of any humanist sophistication it might have tapped. There are nasty tussles over a whisky tantalus (whatever that is) - an idee fixe that becomes almost laughably regurgitated. There’s the disappointingly trite introduction of a younger woman, complete with all the inevitable sourness. And as the coup de theatre, a bit of domestic violence that quickly devolves into Benny Hill-level slapstick. There’s plenty of wit, as we’ve come to expect from Murray-Smith, and armed with these nifty zingers, director Sarah Goodes leverages some pleasing performances from the cast. By and large, none of the characters are granted any moments of significant vulnerability or discovery, but then again, this play never makes any overtures to profound gravitas or excoriating truth. Three Little Words is, by design, theatre that avoids complication, and for many theatregoers, that’s exactly how they like it. Maxim Boon
OPINION Opinion
Howzat!
Local Music By Jeff Jenkins A Perfect Circle “I never do nothin’ by minute degrees,” Nigel Wearne sings at the start of his fourth album, Drawing Circles. Indeed, in the five months after the double album was released, Nigel drove 16,372 km, doing gigs, house concerts and festivals all over Australia. Drawing Circles has been Howzat!’s constant companion this year - and we’ve been nowhere. Meanwhile, Nigel has played living rooms, rainforests, rooftops and riverboats. An old school troubadour, Nigel even makes his own guitars. Drawing Circles is a glorious cinematic journey, harnessing life’s irregular swells, filled with poetic questions - “What can we hope to find in love?” - and sudden mood changes. “Take it from me,” Nigel explains in the title track, “that you won’t know when the barometer drops.” It sounds like the soundtrack to a movie where all is not as it seems. “It’d be a soundtrack to a film about an eccentric creative type who burrows into a world of manic creativity,” Nigel says, picking up the thread. “Set on the rugged coastline of South West Victoria, it would veer between reality and meditative dream sequences. The ghosts of the past, the
importance of finding solace in nature, the splinters of love and the circles of our existence. Quoting from my song A Word Is A Breath, the film would explore the notion, ‘For a poet to be reborn/It must surely die/ And it will many times.’ Not at all autobiographical ...” Nigel, who reminds Howzat! of Neil Murray and Jeff Lang, grew up on a farm in Ellerslie in Victoria’s Western District, going to a primary school with just 12 students. “When I was about 10 and first understood the song Singing The Spirit Home by Eric Bogle, a seed was planted. From that point, I knew there were words and stories deep inside.” “I search within,” he sings in I Hear The Dust. “I disappear.” Right now, Nigel lives with his partner, Amy, in Woodford, about ten minutes out of Warrnambool. “But we’re saving money to build a motorhome or tiny house. Who
Nigel Wearne
knows where the road will take us next?” As he sings, “Birds fly, and I have no regrets.”
Finding You The Go-Betweens released their final album, Oceans Apart, 12 years ago this week. One year later, Grant McLennan died of a heart attack, aged 48.
Unchained Tina Arena’s Chains entered the US charts 21 years ago this week. It peaked at #38.
Hot Line “I’m here to live and love and not to fear”Nigel Wearne, Autumn Tempest.
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 33
OPINION Opinion
Fragmented Frequencies
n 1966 Alice Coltrane replaced McCoy Tyner in her husband John’s band, appearing on seminal albums like Live At The Village Vanguard Again!. When he passed she carried the flame Alice Coltrane – World Spirituality as bandleader on incendiary albums with Classics Volume 1: The Ecstatic Music Of fellow band members such as Pharoah Alice Coltrane Turyasangitananda Sanders and Rashied Ali, though during this time she was also clearly suffering Other Music from the trauma of losing her husband and the responsibility of raising four children alone. From Introduced to Swami Satchidananda, her healing and spiritual enlightenment began, and her musical style evolved, exploring The Other Side deeply spiritual music on 1971’s extraordinary world music-tinged With Bob Baker Journey In Satchidananda. While her early music as bandleader was about free music, her four albums on Warner Brothers from Fish 1973-78 are a remarkable evolution into a whole new form where free jazz meets devotional music. It was her own unique vision and less in the shadow of her late husband. 1975’s string and organ workout Eternity in particular is jaw dropping. By 1983 she was a spiritual leader in a Californian Ashram she founded, only performing
I
Jawbreaker
Wa ke The Dead Punk And
W
hile it has been Hardcore rumbled about for a little With Sarah while, it has now been confirmed that Petchell Jawbreaker have reunited and will be playing this year’s Riot Fest in Chicago. Back in May 2016, Pitchfork ran an article detailing how drummer Adam Pfahler stated in a talk he gave at a gallery that the band had not only talked about getting back 34 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
together, but had gone so far as to get in a room and play a couple of songs “...Just to see if we could still do it”. Then quiet. But now, with the Riot Fest line-up dumped upon us it’s clear that this wasn’t just talk. This wasn’t just three dudes in a room together seeing if they could still play the songs they wrote almost 20 years before. It was real life. Not fantasy. My favourite band from the ‘90s emo era are playing shows again. And yet this is still a situation full of trepidation and fear. There is excitement, but it is overshadowed by a slight sense of cynicism. What if it ends up like all the other bands who have reunited? Will there be a tour that will blow my mind, only to be followed a year or two later by a reunion album that is completely underwhelming? (Yes, I’m looking at you Refused, even if you still put on one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen...) But it also makes me ask, why do bands want to revisit the experiences of 20 years prior? Is it a sense of nostalgia?
and distributing cassettes to her followers. These tapes continued her remarkable development, experimenting with her own vocals (for the first time), synthesisers, harp, a 24-piece vocal choir and eastern percussion. Seriously, there is nothing else in existence like this music. Luaka Bop are releasing a compilation of her Ashram tapes, entitled World Spirituality Classics Volume 1: The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda on 5 May and it’s nothing short of the sound of transcendence.
Jonathan Demme
Trailer Trash
A
s time passes, and more and Screens more of the artistic icons of my era And Idiot Boxes die, I find myself With Guy Davis increasingly mindful that I don’t want to turn Trailer Trash into a fortnightly obituary column. It’s a drag for me, and I dare say it’s a drag for you also. I believe we should continue to look forward with hope and high
Dives Into Your
OPINION Opinion
expectations rather than dwell on the past, although it can be comforting and reassuring to bask in the warm glow of nostalgia. These are uncertain and unsettling times in so many ways, and looking back not only reminds us of when life may have been less complicated but also that any difficulties we may have faced in the past were overcome or just not as difficult as we may have imagined them to be. Whew, that was deep, huh? Anyway, the reason I found myself pondering all this was the death last week of American filmmaker Jonathan Demme at the age of 73. By conventional standards of show business success, Demme did well - he worked consistently over the course of several decades, never seeming to sell out or compromise, and even picked up a trophy or two, most notably the Best Director Oscar for The Silence Of The Lambs. He may not have been a name brand but if you said to your buddies who aren’t film buffs that he made The Silence Of The Lambs or the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense or maybe even a goofy comedy like Married To The Mob there’d certainly be some flicker of recognition. Checking out social media upon hearing of Demme’s death last week, though, I was both saddened and heartened by the tributes that were posted by people who appeared to embrace the whole of Demme’s eclectic, idiosyncratic body of work - a wonderfully varied array of genres and formats that nevertheless all had that particularly Demme quality, by which I mean a rich and healthy curiosity about the cultures of
the world and the people whose personalities and energies breathed life into them. Watching a Jonathan Demme picture was the best kind of education - it could open you up, maybe only briefly, to a new way of seeing or hearing or experiencing. And if it stuck, it tended to stick with you for good. There’s a lot of Demme that has stuck with me over the years but what has lingered the most is how he could show you the world - all of it, the glorious and the grubby, the cool and the crazy, the desperate and the dangerous - when he started the camera rolling. Many filmmakers take you along a prescribed path, occasionally pointing out the sights along the way but generally sticking to the direction that has been marked out. Demme wasn’t afraid to take the odd detour - sometimes it was only for a few steps (and you’d get a glimpse into a whole other story running parallel to the one you’d signed up for), sometimes it was a major change in course. But you had a good-hearted, knowledgeable and trustworthy guide in Demme, and taking the road less travelled in his company made all the difference. I guess what I’m saying is, track down and watch Something Wild tonight. And thank your deity of choice Jonathan Demme was making movies for a while.
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THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 35
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 03
Camp Cope
The Darkness: 170 Russell, Melbourne
Ronny Ferella’s Fight Club: 303, Northcote Dowser + Pigs of the Roman Empire + Sectape + Primm: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Mick Thomas
Avery Sunshine: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Bill Evans Band + Dean Brown: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
The Music Presents
MellowDias Thump: Boney, Melbourne
At The Dakota: 5 May The Golden Vine; 7 May The Workers Club
Two Headed Dog + The Devourers + Super Saloon: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
Mick Thomas & Roving Commisission: 19 May Thornbury Theatre; 20 May Suttons House of Music Ballarat; 21 May The Capital, Bendigo Performing Arts Centre; 17 Jun Caravan Music Club
Tankcsapda + Red Sea: Corner Hotel, Richmond
The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack: 25 May Howler Horrorshow: 9 Jun Chelsea Heights Hotel Aspendale Gardens; 10 Jun Barwon Club Hotel South Geelong; 11 Jun 170 Russell
Alysha Joy: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Wombats: Festival Hall, West Melbourne Lee Kernaghan + The Wolfe Brothers + Christie Lamb: Frankston Arts Centre, Frankston Chelsea Bleach + Swim Team + Tali: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Orsome Welles: 11 Jun The Loft Warnambool; 8 Jul Evelyn Hotel
Ali Barter + IV League: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Luca Brasi: 23 & 25 Jun 170 Russell
Edna Kenny + Robbie Grieg + Heartwood: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
The Lemon Twigs: 25 Jul The Curtin Two Door Cinema Club: 25 Jul Festival Hall Sigur Ros: 27 Jul Margaret Court Arena
Girls On Key with Saaro Umar + Zee: Open Studio, Northcote Wine Whiskey Women Feat. Jemma Nicole + Gretta Ziller: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne
Coping Mechanisms The legendary and wonderful women of Camp Cope are hitting the Melbourne scene again as the support for American rock band Against Me!. Sing and dance away the Monday blues at Max Watt’s from 8pm.
The Prince, St Kilda The Ians + Puffer + The Miyagis + Bloody Aztec: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Customer + Tim Guy + Qwerty: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood Two Steps on the Water + Palm Springs + Kurdaitcha: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood Harry Permezel + What Happened To Mum: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Abbey Howlett
Lee Kernaghan + The Wolfe Brothers + Christie Lamb: Kay St, Traralgon Van Walker + Andrew Bailey: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy Milky Chance + Amy Shark: Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne Ciaran Boyle + Taylor Smith + Josh Forner: Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbotsford Ali Barter + IV League: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Trivia: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Thu 04
Lupa J
Paul Williamson’s Hammond Combo: 303, Northcote Tapestry - The Songs of Carole King with Vika Bull + Debra Byrne: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne
Howzatt Bringing in a unique mix of Jazz and hip hop is none other than Abbey Howlett. Her hypnotic melodies are coming to Edinburg Castle Hotel this Saturday night, so grab a special friend and settle in for a night of pure bliss.
Edit the Empire + The Cigarellos + The Story Model: Bar Open, Fitzroy Avery Sunshine: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Lupa Troopa
Death Disco feat. Resident Kiti: Boney, Melbourne
In support of Californian songstress K Flay on her Groovin The Moo sideshows, Lupa J is bringing her diverse and invigorating live show to Howler this Thursday night. With these two powerhouses together it’s sure to be one wild night.
Steph Brett: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick Sweethearts + Vince Peach + DJ Pierre Baroni: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Sunnyside: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Mick Turner + Jumpsuit Girl: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
The Northern Folk: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud #5 with Way Dynamic + Pembo + Psycho: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Architects + Ocean Grove:
36 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Hits At The Ev with DJ Frankie Hollywood + DJ Disco Lemonade + DJ Rudy Mah: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Shiny Coin + The Belafontes + Vimm + Boy Parts: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood K Flay + Lupa J: Howler, Brunswick
The Bellows: Open Studio, Northcote Hans Zimmer + Lebo M + Lisa Gerrard: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Gigs / Live The Guide
At The Dakota
Wombatuque + Samba & Forro: Bar Open, Fitzroy
Society of Beggars + City at Midnight + Mild Child + Sorrow Nation: Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong
In Store with Mick Thomas & Roving Commission: Basement Discs, Melbourne William Crighton: Bella Union, Carlton South Avery Sunshine: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne
Dakota Be Kidding Me
Pest Kontrol with Scotty Pesticide: Boney, Melbourne
From the top of the mainland to the bottom, Darwin-based indie group At The Dakota are bringing their Melt EP launch tour to The Workers Club. Finish off your weekend with their groovy, cool and super chilled vibes this Sunday night.
Lucha Fantastica with Various DJs: Brown Alley, Melbourne
Plastic + Hollow Everdaze + Eilish Gilligan: The Curtin, Carlton Sewercide + Tombsealer + Faceless Burial + Nocturnal Graves + Atomic Death Squad: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood
The Mansions + Ben Birchall + The Wellingtons: Catfish, Fitzroy
‘Are You Experienced’ 50th Anniversary with Shannon Bourne: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
Architects + Ocean Grove: Arrow On Swanston, Carlton Tapestry - The Songs of Carole King with Vika Bull + Debra Byrne: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Hemingway + Rambutan Jam Band: Baha Tacos, Rye
City Slickers After five years of torturing fans, indie-pop group Dappled Cities are gifting the world with the release of IIIII (Five). Experience the tasty tunes of the dreamy, synth-pop album when they grace the stage of Howler Friday night.
Tobias + Karin Page: Montara Grampians Wines, Ararat
Rowena Wise: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
Sansonas + Bitter Fruit + Dr Sinha?s Jazz Lobotomy: 303, Northcote
Hobo Magic + Horsehunter + Mother Slug + The Badlands + Grim Rhythm + Fluff: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Dappled Cities
Against Me! + Camp Cope + The Football Club: Max Watt’s, Melbourne
Gena Rose Bruce: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy
The Darkness: 170 Russell, Melbourne
Dela Caye: The B.East, Brunswick East
Red Sea
Sarah Mary Chadwick + Sweet Whirl: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Fri 05
Max Teakle & his Honky-Tonky Friends + Prayer Babies: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
The Weeping Willows: Suttons House of Music, Ballarat
Phantom Panda Power Wizard Master Smasher: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne
Architects + Ocean Grove: The Prince, St Kilda
Department + The Dorks + Latreenagers + Golden Helmet: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood
The Mae Trio + Pollyphonics Choir: Kyneton Town Hall, Kyneton
Lachlan Bryan & The Weeping Willows: Suttons House of Music, Ballarat
Loyle Carner + Ryland Rose: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Anthony Young + La Hazel + Next Man: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Zuzu: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote
The Velvet Addiction + Witches Child + The Rowletts: Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Supersonic: A Celebration of Britpop with Various DJs: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Trio Agogo: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
Hemingway: The Loft, Warrnambool
We Are Citizens + Amber Isles: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
The Murlocs + Amyl & The Sniffers + Parsnip: Howler, Brunswick
The Virgin Bride with Effie: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Angie McMahon: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick
A Brother Scratch: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Mid Ayr + Slowcoaching + Daggy Man: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood
Datson & Hughes: Saint Martins Place, St Kilda
Chris Wilson + Mooners + Kelompok Penerbang Roket + Devil Electric + Sabrina Lawrie & The Hunting Party: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
The Interrupters + Luke Yeoward & the Half Way: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Capital Gains + Moody Beach + Hammock District: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
Hotel, Bendigo
Seaing Red Who better to join Hungarian heavyweights Tankcsapda than Sydney’s very own Red Sea? Get out your studded belts and and limber up for a brutal night of punk rock at Corner Hotel Wednesday night.
Diesel: Gateway Hotel, Corio Mothers Ruin feat. Terry + Rhonda: Gin Lane, Belgrave Davidson Brothers: Goldmines
Subterranean Ideals feat. Kasey Taylor + Heath Myers + Matt Radovich + DVS + Miyagi + Mish’Chief + Harry Blotter + A.M. Adam + Jesse D + Dom Impiom + Ultrafunktion + Merk Elliott + Grandmas Boy + Antialias: My Aeon, Brunswick NGV Friday Nights feat. Toby Martin: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank Ali Barter + IV League + Hollie Joyce: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Moreland City Soul Revue: Open Studio, Northcote
The Dwarves + Power + Birdcage + Private Function + The Out Of Towners: The Curtin, Carlton Joe Terror: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Death By Stereo: The Eastern, Ballarat East Multi Futurism feat. Lamine Sonko + Sensible J + N’Fa Jones + Nui Moon + Mojo Juju + more: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood I’m Listening 2 with DJ Cooper + Gino Pozzi + WuaS + Olly D + Miranda Warning: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood At The Dakota + Jack & The Kids + Special Guests: The Golden Vine, Bendigo
The Attics: Penny Black, Brunswick
The Harlots + Sons of Rico + Ferla + DJ FLASHGORDON: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
La Dance Macabre with Brunswick Massive: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Harrison Craig: The Palms at Crown, Southbank
The Avenue Project + Supa Suplex + Wolves Among the Hallow + Terra + Terrarium: Rockstar Bar, Frankston
Dag + The Pits: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Green Day + The Interrupters: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Peking Duk + Ivan Ooze + Mallrat: The Setts, Mildura
THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017 • 37
Comedy / G The Guide
Powerage 39th Anniversary with The Audacity + Flour + Shepparton Airplane + Green Tin + Sweet Cheeks: The Tote (Band Room), Collingwood
Green Day + The Interrupters: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Ocean Grove
Purple Revolution - A Tribute to Prince with Andrew De Silva: Satellite Lounge, Wheelers Hill
Bitumen + Lost Talk + Synthetics + Overtime: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood
Diesel: Suttons House of Music, Ballarat
Wax Lyrical + The Elliotts + North: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Kalacoma + The Safety Word + Disco Computer + Leipzig Lab + Sticky Voltz + Phoenix Manson + Ben Willis + Catherine Meeson: Tago Mago, Thornbury
Airwolf: UNO Danceclub, Geelong Samassin: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote
My Left Boot + Fluff: The B.East, Brunswick East
Co-Ground Folk Show with The Bean Project + Susy Blue + Charm of Finches + Khristian Mizzi + Someday June: Wesley Anne, Northcote
18+ Show with Death By Stereo + Foxtrot + Daybreak + The Ramshackle Army: The Bendigo, Collingwood
Yeah Don’t Care + Tony Dork + Moonlover: Woody’s Bar, Collingwood The Rebelles + The Strays: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy The Interceptors + Trauma Boys + The Hybernators: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Sat 06 Human Rights + Fortress of Narzod + Seance Mystere: 303, Northcote
DJ Beni Chill: The Bird, Northbridge
Ocean Grove are on an insane upward trajectory since releasing their debut album The Rhapsody Tapes. Now they’re flying even higher supporting the legendary Architects as they rip apart The Prince this Wednesday and Thursday night. Soul A-Go-Go feat. Various DJs: Bella Union, Carlton South
Avery Sunshine: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Mal Webb + Kylie Morrigan: Bluestone Theatre, Kyneton
You Bretta Believe It Thursday nights at Charles Weston just got groovier. Taking inspiration from western swing, Italian romantics and old country blues, this perfect fusion takes form in singersongwriter Steph Brett.
Matinee: Tapestry - The Songs of Carole King with Vika Bull + Debra Byrne: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Tapestry - The Songs of Carole King with Vika Bull + Debra Byrne: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Sacred Blue Records Label Launch with Kelompok Penerbang Roket + Mooners + Zombitches + The Slugg + The Grogans + Grunden Jam Band: Baha Tacos, Rye Hemingway + Rambutan Jam Band + Twisted Willows: Bar Open, Fitzroy Negative Waves Festival feat. Brant Bjork + Nashville Pussy + The Peep Tempel + Hits + Power + The Badlands + more: Barwon Club Hotel, South Geelong
38 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017
Stephen Kennedy + Danny Walsh Banned: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Stranger in Paradise with Chiara Kickdrum + DJ Kiti + Awesome Wales + Paradise DJs: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Mike Noga + Baby Blue + Hollie Joyce: The Old Bar, Fitzroy
William Crighton: Bella Union, Carlton South
Steph Brett
Harrison Craig: The Capital, Bendigo Performing Arts Centre, Bendigo
Motion Of The Ocean
Lachlan Bryan + The Weeping Willows + Freya Josephine Hollick: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Khristian Mizzi + Megan Bernard: Charles Weston Hotel, Brunswick
&The Troubled Waters: Gin Lane, Belgrave Grampians Grape Escape 2017 feat. Quarry Mountain Dead Rats + Karl S Williams + Shag Rock + Chris Wilson + Vanderlay: Grampians National Park, Halls Gap Dappled Cities + Red Riders + Darling James: Howler, Brunswick Set Mo: Karova Lounge, Ballarat SCNDL: Kay St, Traralgon The Wellingtons: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy John Dowler’s Vanity Project: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
Alex Watts + Mares: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Glamouratz + Dormir + Gregor: The Tote, Collingwood Crystal Ignite + Acolyte + Rival Fire + Verona Lights + Brad Marr: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Matinee Show with The Attention Seekers + Late Nights + Black Bats + Postcodes: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Cold Irons Bound + The Prayerbabies: Union Hotel, Brunswick
Totally Unicorn + Destrends + DJ Mary M: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
$uicideBoy$: Max Watt’s, Melbourne
The Hula Hands + Alfred Harua: Wesley Anne, Northcote
Calamari Girls + The Pits + Bus Money + Cakefight + Frostcock: Coburg RSL, Coburg
The Bryan Ferry Show: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda
Donor Mate Charity Gig with The Megahertz: Wesley Anne, Northcote
The Virgin Bride with Effie: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Flyying Colours + Baptism Of Uzi + Kodiak Galaxy: Northcote Social Club, Northcote
Jungle Bird: Compass Pizza Bar, Brunswick East
Maja Puseljic: Open Studio, Northcote
Cash Savage + Jacky Winter + Jade Imagine: Corner Hotel, Richmond
Mayfield: Penny Black, Brunswick
Tramfest! (an ASRC Fundraiser) feat. Red Spencer + Uncle Bobby + The Tiny Giants + Eddy Dillon + Tram Cops + Blyolk + Georgia Smith + more: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Groovin’ The Moo feat. Against Me! + Allday + Amy Shark + Architects + The Darkness + Dillon Francis + George Maple + Hayden James + The Jungle Giants + K Flay + L-FRESH The LION + Loyle Carner + Methyl Ethel + Milky Chance + Montaigne + Northeast Party House + PNAU + Slumberjack + The Smith Street Band + Snakehips + Tash Sultana + Thundamentals + Violent Soho + The Wombats + CC:Disco! + Kinder + Liz Cambage + Luen + MzRizk + Alex Lahey + Birdz + Lanks + Slum Sociable + Tusk + Groovin The Moo: Prince Of Wales Showground, North Bendigo
The Ruby Rogers Experience: Farouk’s Olive, Thornbury
The Dandy Jonestown Massacre: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy
Into The Mystic ? The Music of Van Morrison: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick
Renegade + Depression + Vicious Circle: Reverence Hotel, Footscray
Mothers Ruin feat. Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood + Victor Cripes + Jess Parker
Joshua Batten + Batten Down + The Retrospects: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran
That Red Head + The Strays: Dogs Bar, St Kilda Abby Howlet: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick DYLANesque: Esso BHP Billiton Wellington Entertainment Centre, Sale
Two Steps On The Water
Shower Power Punk trio Two Steps On The Water are kicking off their fiveweek residency to help celebrate the release of latest single A Very Hot Shower. Get nice and toasty this Wednesday night at The Tote.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Suzanne Kite: West Space, Melbourne
Pilgrims: Labour In Vain, Fitzroy
Bottlecap + Bala + CHILD: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy
Marty Kelly: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
Violet Crumble + Lava Lakes + Madeline Leman & The Desert Swells: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Rebels Without A Clue: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East
Joshua Tree performed by The U2 Show - Achtung Baby: Yarraville Club, Yarraville
Sun 07 Tullara: 303, Northcote The Jackrabbits + Sabrina Lawrie + Rambo Fox: 303, Northcote Matinee: Tapestry - The Songs of Carole King with Vika Bull + Debra Byrne: Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Resonant with Marlene Claudiene Radice + Rosaline Yuen + Urban
Afternoon Show with Secret Native + Aldous Tria Quartet: Open Studio, Northcote The Slipdixies: Open Studio, Northcote Andrea Marr Band: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy That Red Head + The Jumpstarters: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick Sidney Charles: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran The Houndlings: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North Hemingway: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave
Tobias + Karin Page : The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy
Pappy + Crop Top + The Tropes: The Tote, Collingwood At The Dakota + Jack & The Kids + Skyways Are Highways: The Workers Club, Fitzroy
Matinee Show with Spencer Street Soul + Strong Dose + TRiP: The Workers Club, Fitzroy AcoustiKISS: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy Andre Warhurst + The Band Who Knew Too Much: Union Hotel, Brunswick Boadz: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Sal Wonder + Lava Lakes + Madeline Leman & The Desert Swells: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Mon 08 Rowena Wise
Flyying Colours
Saffire Rose + Christian Bizzarri + Chris Alcoma: 303, Northcote
Flyy Away With Me Flyying Colours are launching their new single 1987 from their debut album Mindfullness at Northcote Social Club on Saturday. This will be the last time to catch the psych-rock four-piece before they flyy back overseas.
The Oh Balters: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Against Me! + Camp Cope + Claws & Organs: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Eaglemont + Karlos O’Conner + Emily Chen: Open Studio, Northcote Cult Juice + Rose & Githmi: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Cakefight + Tight Knit + Vimm: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford
Tue 09 Make It Up Club feat. Octave Pussy +
Wisely Anne
Avery Sunshine: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne CherryRock 017 feat. Shihad + The Dwarves + Nashville Pussy + Bala + Bottlecaps + Totally Unicorn + Child Mooner + Amyl & The Sniffers + Zombitches + Stiff Richards + Brant Bjork + more: Cherry Bar, Melbourne The Virgin Bride with Effie: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne Off The Leash: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Puffer + The Ians + The Miyagis + AMPon: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Grampians Grape Escape 2017 feat. William Crighton + Deline Briscoe + Freya Josephine Hollick + Demi Louise + Nick Charles: Grampians National Park, Halls Gap James Thomson & the Strange
Irish Session: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Tui Mamaki: Open Studio, Northcote Tuesday Tribute: Bruce Springsteen Feat. Mitch Power: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Harry Jakamarra + Baby Blue: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Harmony Byrne: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Niine + Dog Rose: The Toff In Town, Melbourne
For two nights only, be captivated and emerged in Rowena Wise’s serenade as she takes over Thursday nights at Wesley Anne. Now’s your chance to hear some brand new songs as she begins her mini residency this Thursday night.
Spaceman: Bar Open, Fitzroy
The Vacant Smiles + Osaka + Slim Pickens: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy
Twisted Willows
The Thin White Ukes: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick The Daily Chase: The Band Booth, Dandenong All Ages Matinee Show with Death By Stereo: The Bendigo, Collingwood Waz E James + Knott Family band: The Drunken Poet, West Melbourne Andy Kentler Trio: The Gasometer Hotel (Front Bar), Collingwood Greenthief + Hurlin’ + The Burbs: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Planet Slayer + Bake Beans + Bananagun + Floyd Cox: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Rhysics + Gonzo + Hexdebt: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Dan Lethbridge + Shane O’Mara: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Far Away Tree Straight from touring latest EP Float Away, the eclectic reggae fusion outfit Twisted Willows are at it again. Joining Brisbane’s Hemmingway on their Aussie tour, experience all the psychedelic rock you can stand at Bar Open this Saturday night.
UTI + Chaos Magnet: Bar Open, Fitzroy Radiosuccessi: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne Chasing Ghosts: Cherry Bar, Melbourne
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40 • THE MUSIC • 3RD MAY 2017