25.01.17 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
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Thu 2 Feb: 8pm Basement: Garage Punk Show with “Big Rat Stu” and many special guests; Fri 3 Feb: 8pm Basement: Foregndub presents: Wat A Ting #2 with Radikal Guru (Poland), supported by Foreigndub, RPK Crew, Dunj Crew; 10pm Level One: Elektrocute presents: The Kawaii Party, Bubblegum Pop/Thrashy Tunes/Industrila/Electro/Happy Hardcore/Melbcore/Psy Trance by DJs Ripper Gently, Danejer, Zac ATK, Vendetta 7, El Taco hosted by MC NightWizard; Sat 4 Feb: 8pm Basement: Purveyors Of Torment presents: “Laceration Mantra”, “Daemon Foetal Harvest”, “Burial Chamber”, “Drillsaw”, “Horrisonous”; 10pm Level One: DAY. and Dayones HQ presents Touching Road Tour feat: Carly, Dex, Boy Graduate and many special guests; Sun 29 Jan: DIY or DIE Punk Show with “GRIM”, “Legal Aliens”, “Curb Crawl”, “Crude Heat”, “John Howard”, “Bruce Jenner”, “Fit Bird”
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THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 5
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Speaking My Language
Now You Know
Jeff Lang
A quarter century in the biz and Jeff Lang continues to impress with details of a truly massive national tour from March to June to accompany his upcoming album, Alone In Bad Company.
Client Liaison
The Creases have revealed Everybody Knows, the latest single from their upcoming album, Tremolow. They have also announced a quick tour in February/March, where they’ll be joined by Good Boy.
Thundamentals
Liaisey Days Unpack the water coolers because Client Liaison are getting back on the road with the announcement the duo will tour the country in March and April with last year’s debut album, Diplomatic Immunity. Middle Kids
Hona Roll Sydney trio Middle Kids have confirmed two massive deals, signing with EMI Music Australia and Domino in North America. They have also announced an east coast April tour and dropped new single and video, Never Start.
6 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
/ Arts / L Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Credits
Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
That’s The Spirit
The Creases
Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast
Moon B
French post-black metal duo Alcest have announced they will return to Australian shores this April for a national tour. The will have their latest, Kodama, in tow, an expansive, conceptual album inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke.
National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Arts & Culture Editor Maxim Boon
Gig Guide Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au
Alcest
Contributing Editor Bryget Chrisfield
Editorial Assistants Brynn Davies, Sam Wall
Making Thunda As Thundamentals gear up to release Everyone We Know they’ve unveiled plans for an innovative touring art exhibition in February, tied in closely with the intricate and highly conceptual album cover art of Sydney’s April77 Creative.
Contributors Adam Wilding, Anthony Carew, Brendan Crabb, Carley Hall, Cate Summers, Chris Familton, Daniel Cribb, Chris Maric, Christopher H James, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Deborah Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Guido Farnell, Guy Davis, James d’Apice, Jonty Czuchwicki, Liz Guiffre, Mac McNaughton, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt MacMaster, Mitch Knox, Neil Griffiths, Mick Radojkovic, Rip Nicholson, Ross Clelland, Sam Baran, Samuel J Fell, Sarah Petchell, Sean Capel, Sean Maroney, Steve Bell, Tanya Bonnie Rae, Tim Finney, Tyler McLoughlan, Uppy Chatterjee, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan Photographers Angela Padovan, Cole Bennetts, Clare Hawley, Jared Leibowitz, Josh Groom, Kane Hibberd, Pete Dovgan, Peter Sharp, Rohan Anderson Advertising Dept Georgina Pengelly, Brad Edwards sales@themusic.com.au Art Dept Ben Nicol, Felicity Case-Mejia Admin & Accounts Ajaz Durrani, Meg Burnham, Emma Clarke accounts@themusic.com.au Distro distro@themusic.com.au Subscriptions store@themusic.com.au
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Hot Dub Time Machine
Back In Vine Ever-reliable party-starter Hot Dub Time Machine has announced the “Hot Dub Wine Machine” tour this March and April, a run of shows at gloriously shmick wineries in the Huon, Hunter, Yarra and Swan valleys.
The numbers of years it had been since new Gorillaz music, before they dropped new track Hallelujah Money on the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump.
— Sydney
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 7
Music Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
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Music To A Beat Yabun Festival, the annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, is on this Thursday at Victoria Park, with market stalls, panel discussions and performances from the likes of Kev Carmody, Marlene Cummins and Salt Lake Band.
Salt Lake Band
Night School
on the sixth day god saw that adam was lonely, and he took one of his ribs, and said “there you go hot shot, you can suck your own dick now” @mikefossey 8 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Lights On Later at MCA is giving the night owls the opportunity to enjoy tours, exhibitions, performances and workshops, like Kintsugi: The Art Of Mending with Brook Morgan on 1 Feb, in the evening hours every Wednesday night.
Kintsugi: The Art Of Mending
c / Arts / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Frontlash
Brightest Night
Twilight at Taronga’s summer concert series kicks off this Friday. First out the gate are undeniable Aussie icons Kev Carmody and Peter Garrett, with The Alter Egos in tow, for a massive co-headline performance.
I’ll Be Back
Apparently James Cameron is about to regain the rights to the Terminator franchise. Hopefully he can breathe some new life into it.
Twilight At Taronga. Pic by Peter Sharp.
Ngaiire
Aus Music The shortlists for APRA Song Of The Year and Australian Music Prize have reminded us watch a corking 12 months we’ve had in Australian music.
Mike Baird
If you’re looking to spend 26 Jan doing something a bit different to the usual backyard tinnies and snags (nothing wrong with that), Goat Island Sounds is packed with acts like Ngaiire, Nina Las Vegas and Basenji.
Lashes
Get Your Goat
Yes we can all rejoice in the fact he’s no longer Premier of NSW, but we still have to deal with his ‘legacy’, like the Lockout Laws, WestConnex and much more.
Mike Baird (pic via Facebook)
Backlash
Not Open All Hours Lunar Markets
A last minute Supreme Court order meant that the planned night time Keep Sydney Open Rally was called off. Thankfully another “bigger, louder and stronger” rally is planned in February.
Bourke St
It saddens us that one person can cause so much death and destruction.
Midnight Snack Ring in the Year of The Rooster Friday with free pop-up event Lunar Markets. Running for ten nights at Pyrmont Bay Park, the event mixes al fresco entertainment, outdoor bars and heaps of eats from Zagyoza, Chur Burger and more.
It’s Coming True We feared the worst, and already warning signs are starting to emerge from the early moments of Donald Trump’s presidency, like Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s first press conference where he challenged the claims about smaller crowds at the Inauguration to previous years, when the facts are right there. THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 9
R
Music
Cyclone discovers that Neo Jessica Joshua, better known as “wonky funk” pioneer NAO, “writes from the soul, from the heart,” and you can’t outsource that.
ising Brit star NAO (aka Neo Joshua) has charmed fans of both throwback and avant-R&B with her “wonky funk”. Joshua’s debut, For All We Know, made key ‘Best Albums Of 2016’ lists. She’s excitedly hitting Australia for the first time over (our) summer, heading to Laneway (and side shows) with her band. And, post-fest, Joshua plans to “hang out”. “I hope to stay [for] around two weeks or something, just chilling in Australia and driving around,” she enthuses. The Hackney singer/songwriter/producer speaks softly, apologising for her “sleepy brain” this morning. Despite her early reserve with the media, Joshua is chatty. She was raised in East London by a single mother - music a constant. “I have a big family,” Joshua says. “I’m the youngest of five. All my brothers and sisters loved music and they played music from night ‘til day.” Envisaging herself as a new Nina Simone, Joshua was accepted into the distinguished Guildhall School Of Music & Drama to study Jazz Voice. She joined The Boxettes - a modish all-girl ensemble fronted by champion beatboxer Bellatrix. They performed at London Jazz Festival, and visited India. “We were just college kids trying to make a bit of money,” Joshua says. “We put together an a cappella group to do some gigs with and it took on a life of its own - it kinda got this weird cult following.” The Boxettes amicably split in 2014. “It wasn’t what anyone really wanted to do as a full-time career.” Joshua also gigged as a backing vocalist, notably for Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp. Again, she downplays it. “I didn’t extensively tour with him, actually,” she corrects. “I think that was just one name that came up and then everyone ran with it!” Indeed, Joshua appeared at select “important” bookings including Pulp’s surprise Glastonbury show of 2011. Is Cocker aware of her solo success? “I’m not sure if he knows,” Joshua laughs. “I’m sure he does... Actually, I have no idea! I have no idea if he’s into the world that I’m in.” Meanwhile, she secured a day job as a music teacher. Ironically, when Joshua initially composed her own pop songs, that training proved a hindrance. “I had to unlearn a lot of things when I came out of music college. At the very beginning of my writing process, I was making things too complicated.” Joshua generated serious buzz as NAO in 2014 after uploading the single So Good on SoundCloud - she’d cut it with AK Paul, brother of the mysterious R&B prodigy Jai. Joshua was invited to open Little Dragon’s European tour dates on the back of her So Good EP. The next year, she performed at Glasto behind a second EP. In yet another coup, Joshua featured on Disclosure’s Caracal. The soulstress placed third in the BBC Music Sound Of 2016 poll.
Critics have compared Joshua to vintage Janet Jackson and Aaliyah, emphasising her roots in the R&B of the ‘80s and ‘90s. However, she holds that the NAO aesthetic is contemporary, hence her branding it “wonky funk”. “My music isn’t traditional R&B at all. It’s not as smooth as R&B was in its heyday - which was the ‘90s or early 2000s... It was smoother and it was a lot more wear-yourheart-on-the-sleeve and the lyrics were a lot more direct.” Nor does Joshua reference any one artist. “I just take influence from all the things that I absorbed as a little girl.” As such, while For All We Know borrows its title from a ‘30s jazz standard, Joshua is content for her synthesis to be classed as “indie R&B”. She is attuned to today’s R&B/hip hop, too. Still, her output has uniquely more bounce and boogie than most glitchy R&B. Joshua worked on For All We Know with predominantly underground producers - Brit DJ GRADES assisting on the singles Bad Blood and Girlfriend. But she also vibed with rare groove boffins Jungle (Get To Know Ya recalling Jam & Lewis) and reunited with the enigmatic Paul (the Prince-ly Trophy). The ‘90s urban music boom saw the producer elevated to superstar status and now industry-types routinely obsess over album credits. Joshua herself mentions the myriad names listed on a curated Rihanna or Drake record. Nonetheless, in presenting For All We Know, she was determined to assert her artistic agency. Coincidentally, female auteurs like Bjork are challenging perceptions that they play a passive role to male studio cohorts. “I think I took away how powerful I could be within my own music,” Joshua ponders. “I noticed that actually when the album came out: the industry were very quick to talk about the producers on the album, where I had to keep saying, like, I produced a lot of it, and most of it. I wrote all the songs, I came up with a lot of the production ideas,
and I’d go in with the producers after I’ve laid down the beats and the chords... I was instrumental to it. But they weren’t really hearing that, which I thought was kind of weird... So I found the power in just telling people how much this album is a part of me, how much I put into it, in writing all the songs. There’s only ever two people on a track: me and the producer. I found so many skills within that, which I’m really proud of. I’m not shy to talk about it, either.” For All We Know is deeply personal, even if it’s not “direct”. “I write from the soul, from the heart,” Joshua shares. “They always say that I’m quite private when it comes to interviews and stuff, but it’s all there in the music, really - all the stories, the heartbreaks, all the confusion, all the good moments, all the shit moments...” Between albums, Joshua is seeking opportunities for further creative exchange. “One way that I would like to learn is by collaborating with more people and stepping outside of my own world into other people’s worlds to learn from them and learn how they write - learn their thinking process when it comes to lyrics and how they make their music. So I will be doing a project called NAO X, which will be a collaboration EP, I imagine, which does that.” In fact, Joshua already has had “one thought” about her follow-up album. She wants the prep to be less solitary and less production-based. “I’d like to jam with my band and see what we come up with all together and try it that way, which is quite old school, I think: to get in the studio with your band and set up the drums and the bass and just seeing what happens. I’ve got to give that a go. If it works, then I’ll probably use that idea running through the next album.”
I found the power in just telling people how much this album is a part of me, how much I put into it, in writing all the songs.
When & Where: 1 Feb, Oxford Art Factory, 4 Feb, Laneway Festival, Sydney College Of The Arts
The 2017 Laneway roster is big on homegrown acts with exclusive appearances by Tame Impala and Nick Murphy (formerly Chet Faker). AB Original will be the festival’s hosts. Neo “NAO” Joshua is interested in Tame Impala - the band a cult fave in R&B circles, with Rihanna, Frank Ocean and Miguel down. But there are also buzz internationals - some, like NAO, making their Australian premieres. The must-sees? Precocious Norwegian singer/songwriter AURORA received glowing reviews for 2016’s debut All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend with its alternately euphoric and gothic electrofolk. Her stripped-down cover of Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy soundtracks the Alien: Covenant trailer. She’s touring with a band. New Jersey’s cloud rap pioneer Clams Casino (aka Michael Volpe) will perform a live tech show. Last year the onetime physical therapy student launched an expansive, experimental ‘artist’ album in 32 Levels - among its guests old ally Lil B and... Future Islands’ Samuel T Herring. Laneway’s most OMG headliner is a late addition being Atlanta (t)rapper Young Thug (Jeffery Williams), who cameoed on Jamie xx’s I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) alongside Popcaan. Thugger’s 2016 was huge, with contributions to Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo and Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book. Plus his mixtape Jeffery prompted memes and thinkpieces with its subversive cover art depicting him androgynously modelling a couture gown. THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 11
Music
Worlds Colliding A sliding doors moment played a pivotal role in young singer-songwriter Max Jury’s debut album. He tells Steve Bell how YouTube saved the day.
T
he recording of singer-songwriter Max Jury’s selftitled debut album was almost scuppered when a week into sessions at New York’s prestigious Electric Lady Studios a late-night accident, which saw candle wax spilling onto the famous console, found him ejected from the facility. The session had been productive to that point, especially his burgeoning partnership with hip-hop producer Inflo (whose influence Jury says was “pivotal in determining how the album would sound”). Now short on budget, Jury — who grew up in Des Moines, Iowa but these days resides in London — decided to continue
Country music is so not a part of London.
recording at his friend’s house in rural North Carolina, where he soon encountered another (less likely) figure who would also play a big role in the album’s genesis. “We’d started incorporating these sorta gospel elements to the tunes in New York and, when I went to my friend Stacy [TK]’s house in North Carolina, I didn’t want to give that up,” Jury recalls. “I was concerned because the people I’d worked with in New York were just super-talented and had this energy and this sound that I hadn’t been able to find in a place like Des Moines, or even London — there was a certain character to their voices, they just had a phenomenal groove and an understanding of music and putting soul into it — so then I was quite concerned that we wouldn’t be able to
12 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
capture this with the sounds we were doing at home. “Then we stumbled upon this guy Jackson Russell’s YouTube account: he was a choir director-slash-church leader-type dude based about 40 miles from where we were recording. His YouTube account had clips of him playing guitar and singing his own songs as well as old gospel standards and stuff, so we reached out to him to see if he wanted to be involved in the project. He seemed to like the music, or respond to it, and he agreed to help out. “He’s just this super-great multi-instrumentalist and he and his cousins sang on the record, and they really helped bridge the gap with what we were doing in New York and what we were trying to accomplish in North Carolina. He was a lovely guy, too, and I just find it really interesting that you have this guy who lives in the middle of nowhere and has some YouTube videos up with, like, 250 or 300 views and he’s maybe the best musician I’ve ever played with or encountered in my life — he’s just so talented — and it just makes you wonder why he’s hiding where he’s hiding.” Jury’s music is often described as “country-soul”, a tag that makes complete sense to the man himself. “When I sit down and write songs I just kinda think of them as pop songs,” he reflects. “But I grew up listening to old-school country — and to this day I listen to a lot of it — and I listen to a lot of old soul. So those are two musical genres that I’m naturally inclined to listen to and love, so I think that seeps into the music I make. It’s unavoidable. “I had some EPs out before the record that were a lot more country-sounding: on the album I shifted a little more to the pop-song world, not in a good way or a bad way, I don’t think; it’s just that the project got a little less country as time went on for some reason. But country totally comes through in my music, because whether it’s Townes Van Zandt or Willie Nelson it’s just the stuff that I worship and grew up on.” After traversing the Atlantic to pursue his career, Jury believes that where you’re based inevitably seeps into your music. “Growing up in Des Moines and writing from that perspective — and I don’t want to sound cliche or silly — but you’re driving down the highway a lot and you’re surrounded by a certain type of people, and you’re playing the country radio station,” he offers, “so just the imagery that’s around you is inclined to come out as more of a country song. “But in London it’s just so different. Country music is so not a part of London — unless you go out of your way to hear it you’d just never be exposed to it, and you can almost just forget about it, in a way. So I think location definitely plays into what my music sounds like, just because you have different experiences and different music is playing all the time.”
When & Where: 13 Apr, The Basement; 14 — 16 Apr, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
THE HO TH HOUR H O OF OF
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 13
APRA Song Of The Year Shortlist
Music
Long Haul
Last Year’s APRA Song Of The Year Winner Kevin Parker
The shortlist for the APRA Song Of The Year has been announced and here are the 20 songs that will be battling it out: 1955 – Hilltop Hoods FT Montaigne & Tom Thum 2 Black 2 Strong – AB Original Adore – Amy Shark Cheap Thrills – Sia Come Home Cardinal Pell – Tim Minchin Gamma Knife – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard It’s Not Too Late – Archie Roach January 26 – AB Original FT Dan Sultan Jungle – Tash Sultana Never Be Like You – Flume FT Kai Oh Canada – Missy Higgins Pool Party – Julia Jacklin Satan – DD Dumbo Say It – Flume Set In Stone – Guy Sebastian Skeleton Tree – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Sooth Lady Wine – Matt Corby Sound Of Silence – Dami Im To Think That I Once Loved You – The Drones Viceroy – Violent Soho 14 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
The Bats frontman and songwriter Robert Scott talks to Chris Familton about the creative process and how they’ve claimed the title of longest continuous line-up of any band in NZ”.
D
own the line from his home on the coast just outside Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand, Robert Scott is enjoying the tranquility punctuated by the visiting cruise ships that grow exponentially in number over the summer months. Things are also about to get busy for The Bats after a five-year gap since their last Free All Monsters album came out and, although it’s taken a while to see the light of day, The Deep Set emerged from the same creative process as most of their records. “I stockpile songs, I’m pretty much writing all the time,” explains Scott. “After a couple of years have gone by since the last album, we’ll decide if we actually want to do another one. Then I say I have a bunch of songs, do some rough demos and the others choose the ones they like before we narrow it down to around 15 for the album. Then we’ll start working on them together as a band. In the studio the songs will be about 90% done, but before we do the takes we might make a few changes. On the whole these have come out pretty much the way they were written though,” Scott reflects. After three decades together as a band, Scott reveals that their recording process is a simple and intuitive one that isn’t
influenced to any great extent by the studio or producer they use. “It’s more just concentrating on getting a great version of the song, that’s what we’ve found over the years makes our stuff work best — getting a good, flowing, natural-sounding take whether that’s urgent or laid-back; we’re attuned into that more than anything else.” Looking back at the legacy of the band, Scott proudly claims the mantle of having “the longest continuous line-up of any band in NZ” before revealing some of the key reasons why they’ve stayed together for so long. “Part of that might be down to having long breaks, there were nine years in the late ‘90s/early 2000s where we didn’t release any music. We pick and choose things we feel comfortable doing so we’re not putting ourselves in a position of too much pressure. We’re obviously very used to each other’s company so we’re aware of any weirdness that comes up and know how to deal with it. We’re all reasonably laid-back people as well so there aren’t any ego issues that you often get in bands.” The band will be launching The Deep Set as part of Sydney Festival and they’re bringing along the string players that appeared on the album. “It’s the first time we’ve taken a string section overseas,” Scott enthuses. “We thought we’d do that for a bit of a change, to spice things up and have a bit of fun. In Sydney we’ll probably do seven or eight songs from The Deep Set and then, because the 30th anniversary of Daddy’s Highway is coming up, we’ll be doing a set of mainly songs from that album too. The two ends of our career, which will be quite a different show for us!”
What: The Deep Set (Flying Nun) When & Where: 29 Jan, Sydney Festival, Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 15
Who’s the Hottest? In the lead up to the Hottest 100 Party at Parramatta Park on 26 Jan, we asked some of the artists performing on the day who they think will top the poll.
Music
Girl Power
Teeth & Tongue
Olympia Teeth & Tongue! The track Dianne. Great lyrics, great guitar licks, great jam – I feel so happy every time this song comes on!
Goldlink
VXV GoldLink – Unique (ft. Anderson .Paak); the two biggest game changers of hip hop and R&B on one song? LIT. FLAMES. FIRE.
Montaigne
FROYO Montaigne! Glorious Heights was among the best albums of 2016... and with her feature on 1955 by Hilltop Hoods, she’s got a solid shot.
16 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Americana artist Dori Freeman talks to Brynn Davies about the impact her three-year-old daughter has had on her life and the type of messages she wishes to communicate through her music.
“I
’m so sorry, can you give me a minute, she’s woken up!” Dori Freeman breaks off mid-sentence and runs to check on her three-year-old daughter then rushing back to the phone after a few minutes, full of apologies. “I’m really glad to be talkin’ to a woman rather than a man because I don’t think they woulda been quite so understanding. It’s ridiculous sometimes... People’ll say things like, ‘So, you’re just gonna go on tour for a week or two and just leave your daughter?’ Just things I feel wouldn’t be asked of a father if he were gonna go and do the same thing,” she drawls in her thick, southwest Virginian accent. Growing up surrounded by musicians — “My earliest memories are of watching my dad and my grandfather play music together... We did a fair bit of travel when I was real small to festivals and competitions,” — she hopes to give her daughter similar experiences: “As she gets older I really would love to bring her on tour.” Sitting somewhere between bluegrass, old-time country and contemporary folk, Dori Freeman’s self-titled LP brings a new appreciation of her Appalachian roots.
“Appalachian culture in particular seems to be still acceptable to make fun of in America,” she muses. “Typically what outsiders think is sorta that real hillbilly image: sittin’ out on the front porch with a shotgun in their hand, no front teeth, not educated and stuff like that. I just think it’s really unfortunate that it’s 2016 and people still think that and are afraid of that.” She hopes her music can provide “a more positive perspective and show that [Appalachians are] people of art, people of music and real authentic people”: “What I’d really like to do is to continue the evolution of this kinda music and put my own voice behind it, make it a bit more approachable.” Freeman takes a balanced approach to love throughout the tracks, oscillating between yearning for companionship and embracing individuality: “I like girls to feel like they don’t need to wait for anyone to come to their rescue, that they can be their own rescue and that’s probably why the song [You Say] is so important to me, especially having a daughter, and a young one at that.” In order to bring this message into the home, when it comes to movie time Freeman suggests, “It’s hard to navigate standard princess movies where it’s all about girls being domesticated or rescued by a man,” before adding that Mulan and Brave are among their favourites. “Honestly, for me, her birth was the thing that taught me how to stand up for myself and taught me how to go after what I really wanted, because there was a little person that really depended on me. So now I feel like I’m able to instil values in her... that she can do absolutely anything she wants to and her mother will be there to support her no matter what it is.”
When & Where: 28 Jan, Sydney Festival, St Stephen’s Uniting Church
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THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 17
Music
Wax History
Deep Drinks Mish Barber-Way can pin point each “heartbreak” and “which drugs I was abusing” in her records, the White Lung frontwoman tells Anthony Carew. The team behind Adelaide-based brewers Sparkke Change Beverage Co are using their range of boutique bevvies to share some big ideas. The cans of their various artisan brews are stamped with progressive messages covering topics including marriage equality, immigration, gender equality, the rights of First Nationers, and sexual consent, and more than that, 10% from the sales go towards the causes each can champions. Cheers!
18 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
“T
he other day I found some old White Lung 7”s and listened to them,” says Mish Barber-Way. When White Lung singer first moved to Los Angeles from Vancouver, two years ago, she couldn’t bring her record collection with her. Her husband finally hauled it over, in a trailer, in 2016, and she’s still going through the records, and the memories. “It took me back,” Barber-Way says. “I could remember exactly what was going on in my life: which boyfriend I was singing about, which heartbreak I was thinking about, which drugs I was abusing. I could remember the house I lived in, all that stuff. I love that about music. You can listen to a record that you listened to every day when you were 19, and it takes you back to that shitty job you went to every day. I used to do a column in Vice called Remembering The Dumb Moments Through Shaped Me Through Song, where I would take a song and write about the experience that happened with that song. Everything from giving a boyfriend a blowjob and having him film it on his flip-phone to your saddest birthday, or driving in my mom’s Astro van blasting Hole. Music has always done that for me. It’s just strange when you do that with your own songs.”
White Lung formed in 2006, and their early singles were fast, furious, thrashy lo-fi. But, with each of their last two LPs, 2014’s Deep Fantasy and 2016’s Paradise, they took a notable step forward, the latter having a pop-sheen. Barber-Way’s vocals are foregrounded, she and producer Lars Stalfors “made a pact” to “really make them the star”. “I grew up a dancer and a competitive figure skater,” Barber-Way offers. “So, I’m used to having a coach. I’m not one of those people who says, ‘Okay, everyone buzz off and leave me alone, I know what I’m doing.’ I need discipline, I need a coach, I need someone to push me to be better than I would be on my own. And Lars was an excellent, excellent coach.” The press release for Paradise found Barber-Way flagging this ambition in the face of punk orthodoxy — “words like ‘accessible’ scare rock musicians” — but her defiant words were born out of her insecurity about having “two radio singles”. “Everyone has their insecurities,” she shrugs. “When they come out depends on the day, the time, how much sleep you’ve had, how much liquor you’ve had, your period; what’s going on in your love-life, your friendships, your work life — it’s a rollercoaster.” Compared to Paradise, the early singles Barber-Way spun sound primitive, a sure reminder of how far the band has come. “When you’re starting out [as] a touring punk band, your job is just survival. You’re young, you’re green, you’re excited about sleeping on floors and making just enough money to get to the next town. But, things are just different now. This is our job, we have schedules. We’re not 20 and slutting it up on the road anymore.”
When & Where: 1 Feb, Rad Bar, Wollongong; 2 Feb, Newtown Social Club; 4 Feb, Laneway Festival, Sydney College Of The Arts
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
What is it? It might be easier to explain what Amber or Orange wine isn’t. Its production doesn’t involve any citrus at all, nor is its name making reference to the vineyards of Orange in NSW’s west. It gets its title, like it’s more established cousins, from its distinctive honeyed hue. Known as a “macerated wine”, it’s pressed with the skins of the grape left on for a more intense, full-bodied flavour, similar in depth to a light red. While not all natural or biodynamic wines are orange, most amber and orange wines are produced with organic thinking, without the use of certain common preservative methods, like the addition of sulphur or custom yeasts.
If you’ve ever been torn between knocking back a nice, rich glass of red or a crisp, refreshing glass of white, there’s a delicious drop that can satisfy both tastes (and it’s not rose). Amber wine (or orange wine as it’s sometimes confusingly called) is tantalising the taste buds of vinophiles the world over and Australia boasts some of the best bottles on the market.
Cullen Wines
Who makes it? A number of top Aussie wineries are turning out some top-shelf bottles of this amber nectar, including Cullen Wines in the Wilyabrup region of Western Australia on the Margaret River, Shobbrook Wines in South Australia, Born and Raised Wines on the eastern fringes of Melbourne in Plumpton and acclaimed winemaker Patrick Sullivan in the Yarra Valley, Victoria.
Why should we drink it? Amber wine is fast becoming the hot drop wine experts are raving about, but ironically, rather than being a new innovation in wine production, these orange-hued beauties are ancestral varieties, dating back more than 8000 years. The introduction of modern winemaking techniques has helped troubleshoot some of the issues with acidity and spoiling that caused amber wines to fall from favour. Now their popularity is most definitely on the up, with bottles available at most good boutique bottle-os. Among amber wines biggest fans is celebrity super-cook Nigella Lawson, and if it’s good enough for her... THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 19
Music
Small Change
Suicide SUCKS
Oh DC, when will you get it right? Despite the hype, the mega-budgets, the colourful cast, the A-list celebs, Suicide Squad was an unmitigated dumpster fire. Critics didn’t hold back in branding the turd unpolishable, which was eventually proven in the extended directors cut, that did exactly fuck-all to improve things. Now, even the film’s director has admitted it’s fair cop. David Ayer said on Twitter: “I know Squad has its flaws. Hell, the World knows it... Wish I had a time machine. I’d make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story.” Yup, you called it mate.
20 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Sydney outfit Shrapnel have landed clutching a wonderful opening statement, but frontman Sam Wilkinson tells Chris Stone that circumstances will never allow the album’s genesis to be repeated.
N
ew indie-rock outfit Shrapnel make music that sounds like it’s been plucked from the cosmos then forged in some dream-like fugue — merrily meandering from introspective and elegiac to anthemic and celebratory — but in reality it all harks back to Sydney’s Inner West and two mates’ schedules suddenly being in sync. Sam Wilkinson was playing guitar for esteemed indie-popsters Day Ravies but the songs he was penning just didn’t seem to fit that band’s aesthetic, and so while Shrapnel began initially as a bedroom synth project he was soon plotting with good friend Chris Yates (Weak Boys, Dollar Bar) to extrapolate that into a new band proper. “Yates and I had talked about starting a band for a while and he was like, ‘I really want to do it,’ so we sort of sent each other a few songs backwards and forwards,” Wilkinson remembers. “He was pretty tied up — pretty busy — but then some stuff freed up, like Weak Boys went on hiatus and [his son] Arlo was getting to an age where he had a little bit more time, and he sort of gave me the green light one day and said, ‘Let’s
do it!’ I think we’d played one show actually — we played one gig as a threepiece — and then Yates was pretty much on board soon after that.” Shrapnel’s debut album Tranceplanetsugarmouth sounds fundamentally unique, although there’s a traceable lineage back to ‘90s indie-rock mainstays such as Guided By Voices and Built To Spill. “Yeah there’s definitely that influence, but there’s not a huge plan — it’s just what we sound like when we’re together,” Wilkinson shrugs. “I’m sure the fact that we all like that music plays a big part in it, but it’s not planned or articulated to sound like that. “I definitely like [Tranceplanetsugarmouth] as the first representation of what we can do together, but I also feel that as a band we’re even pretty different since then, because we kind of just made the album straight away. As soon as we got together I had a few songs that I’d been sitting on a bit, so I was like, ‘Let’s just make an album right now! Let’s do it!’ That all happened while we were still figuring out who we were, and I think it’s cool in that regard because I doubt there will be another one that will sound like that.” The current five-piece line-up of Shrapnel has also become a formidable live concern. “It’s a bit more raw [live], and all of us finding these pockets to put these guitars in is a bit fun,” Wilkinson laughs. “It can be messy, but I like it. It’s definitely the funnest band I’ve ever been in — practice is just going to the pub almost, but anything that involves hanging out with your best buddies is inherently awesome.”
What: Tranceplanetsugarmouth (Coolin’ By Sound) When & Where: 28 Jan, Bad Day Out, Petersham Bowling Club
Music
Musical Chairs
Felix Buxton, one half of Basement Jaxx, tells Cyclone he wants “to write a musical”.
I
n the ‘90s, Brit eccentrics Basement Jaxx revived classic house by adding an urban flavour. They opened the way for Disclosure, Rudimental and Gorgon City. Now the duo are again in vogue. This month Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe will be headlining DJs at Electric Gardens Festival on their first Australian tour in four years. “We just play house music, generally — maybe some bits of orchestral music or maybe some didgeridoo... it doesn’t matter,” Buxton says. Basement Jaxx clicked as underground house DJs in Brixton, London. “It wasn’t fashionable when we started,” Buxton maintains. They impressed the music’s US originators with early productions on their own Atlantic Jaxx Recordings. The Jaxx began to write ‘songs’ — cue Fly Life (featuring Corrina Joseph). They signed to XL, debuting with 1999’s Remedy — home to Red Alert. On subsequent albums, Basement Jaxx experimented with hybridisation — like Diplo, championing subcultural musics — and solicited big-name vocalists. Indeed, they cut the punk-grime Cish Cash with Siouxsie Sioux for 2003’s Kish Kash — the album winning them a Grammy. Basement Jaxx brought a feted live show to Big Day Out. During a hiatus, they recorded a live orchestral project — thrilling Buxton, a classical music buff. In 2014 Basement Jaxx made a comeback with the independently released Junto (Spanish for ‘together’) — signalling a
return to the house of Remedy. Though Never Say Never was a US club hit, Junto was slept on. “It is what it is,” Buxton philosophises. “You can’t force anybody to like anything or to let them know that you think something is really good. It’s up to people to decide and, again, it’s to do with fashion and what they’re surrounded by. People get swept up in whatever people are talking about at that moment. As you get older, it’s very hard — unless you have a rebirth.” If once Basement Jaxx were pop stars, Buxton today speaks of them as outliers. While Buxton appreciates that music is cyclical, he pays no heed to (media) trends. “I’ve never followed new bands — it’s always bored me,” he says. “What the dance music culture is doing, I really don’t care.” Still, Buxton makes jabs at EDM as “marketed music” — with its “Instagram-based DJ”. “There seems to be a corporate mindset,” he laments. “Music seems to have been taken over by advertising people.” Instead, Buxton lauds those upholding “the original ethos” of house — and fostering its diversity, positivity and unity. He looks for “authenticity” and “depth” in music. The irony? Such sentiments are on-trend. Recently, Toolroom Records, run by fellow Electric Gardens DJ Mark Knight, issued Frenchman Erik Hagleton’s driving remix of the Remedy banger Jump N’ Shout. But, says Buxton, Basement Jaxx won’t present an eighth album “probably ‘til 2019”. His desire is to “explore other avenues” — some beyond dance. “I want to write a musical.” Wait — a musical? Buxton laughs, “It’s something that I shouldn’t be talking about, really — because I believe that we do too much talking, rather than actually doing.”
“Alternative Facts”
Kellyanne Conway
Yes indeed, the post-truth age has a new must-know phrase, courtesy of Prez Trump’s advisor and chief propaganda goblin Kellyanne Conway. In the spirit of this brave new world we offer you some Aussie-brand “alternative facts”. Pauline Hanson is one of the sweetest and most tolerant people around, and rarely has to have things explained to her. #ALTERNATIVEFACT Marriage equality will cause the world to hurtle off its axis and into the sun, cos God ‘n junk. #ALTERNATIVEFACT Tony Abbot was absolutely, definitely, totally quoted out of context when he remarked on a soldier’s death in Afghanistan with: “shit happens.” #ALTERNATIVEFACT Casino Mike will buy anyone a shot of black Sambuca at 3:01am because he’s a fully-sick-brah legit fucking party animal who just wants you to have a good time. #ALTERNATIVEFACT
When & Where: 28 Jan, Electric Gardens, Centennial Park
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 21
Theatre
Funny Forms If you think the state of Australian arts funding is no laughing matter, playwright Ross Mueller begs to differ in his biting new satire A Strategic Plan. Maxim Boon steps into his office.
W
hile those working in the arts industry will be fully versed in the complex ins and outs of the devastating rationing of much-needed cash from Government grants, it’s unlikely to be a familiar tale of woe for many. Playwright Ross Mueller is hoping to change that with his latest play, A Strategic Plan, receiving its premiere season at Sydney’s Griffin Theatre. Taking its inspiration from Australia’s arts funding crisis, this black comedy is a story of head versus heart, examining the difficult relationship between the rightbrained blue-sky thinking of creatives and the officious,
Art is the thing that survives. History tells us that’s probably going to be true, no matter what the funding landscape is.
knotty bureaucracy of grant applications, set against the familiar backdrop of an office. “I wanted to look at the tensions between our emotional and professional lives,” Mueller explains. “This play is set in a not-for-profit arts organisation, which is managed by volunteers — hobbyists essentially. These are people who have great intentions and a lot of goodwill, but sometimes their ideas just don’t tally with the realities. On the flipside, you have these administrators, whose job it is to follow these protocols to the letter, which is basically the opposite of creativity. They are professionals who are playing out their careers, the irony being that these rigid guidelines they adhere to don’t allow for creativity or innovation at all. It actually 22 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
encourages people to try and colour within the lines, rather than stepping outside of them.” Mueller’s take on the classic office comedy of manners, however, exploits a particular dynamic unique to arts organisations and other not-for-profit outfits: “Any office where you’ve got a group of individuals who’ve got competing agendas is fantastic for comedy, but when you involve the hobbyist with the professional, and in this case the hobbyists are actually employing the professionals, then it makes for an even riper field.” While Mueller’s quarry is quite specifically the turgid, exhausting rules and regulations of arts funding applications, A Strategic Plan’s depiction of office life will be familiar to most, he insists. “It’s a typical office of the 21st century. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a grant application or whether it’s working with the local council, the degree of paperwork inside the so-called ‘paperless office’ is just out of control. The degree of overregulation, the degree of evaluation and acquittal, the having to justify your own purpose for existence, seems to multiply each year.” While this laborious cycle of form-filling and boxticking is part and parcel of a modern day administrator’s job, it’s a side of the creative professions that few artists know intimately, Mueller observes. “We had an interesting moment in rehearsals. The characters are living in this administration-centric world, so they are comfortable talking about mission statements and value adding and all those kinds of cliched buzzwords,” he recalls. “One of the actors suggested that a section with a lot of this shop talk was overwritten. Chris Mead [the director] opened up his bag full of research and showed the actors that this was actually the reality — this is the level of absurd language that is in common parlance for the sole purpose of filling out forms. I think they were quite shocked by that.” It’s perhaps unsurprising that Griffin Theatre has chosen to make this production its 2017 season opener, given that it suffered slashed funding which resulted in a scaling down of this year’s program. Despite this financial blow, however, the company has remained true to its values, steadfastly committed to championing new work. Similarly, Mueller’s skewering of administration overload is an openly biting piece of satire. But like Griffin and many others in Australia’s arts community, who in the face of crippling hardship have shown resilience and resourcefulness, there is still a reassuring infusion of hope and integrity underpinning this text. “There’s a connection between two characters that go through this journey, which is really important to the message of this play,” Mueller shares. “They’re different generations, but they’re connected through their shared love of music. By the end of the story, there is hope in this connection that we didn’t expect in the first place, because art is the thing that survives. History tells us that’s probably going to be true, no matter what the funding landscape is. Art is still going to get made.”
What: A Strategic Plan When & Where: 27 Jan — 11 Mar, Griffin Theatre
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THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 23
Music
Trip Of A Lifetime
rare “sanctioned” Nirvana remix (of Lounge Act) for the video game Skate. Today the San Diego resident is LL Cool J’s tour DJ, having first invited the New York MC to perform with him at 2011’s SXSW. “The chemistry was so undeniable.” Sciacca’s coolest exchange? He was the music supervisor for Joe Manganiello’s subcultural La Bare — a documentary about male strippers at a Dallas club that the actor conceived while prepping his role in Magic Mike. The pair had met in Los Angeles, circa
Cyclone finds out about producer Z-Trip’s illustrious history and his stint as a celebrity wedding DJ.
Z
-Trip (aka Zach Sciacca) has a long association with Australia, joining 2009’s Big Day Out. The American touts his tour as “unorthodox” — the run “split” due to a mystery studio session at home. He was in the country at the end of last year for Perth’s Breakfest, with Sydney and Melbourne shows happening a month later. A futuristic turntablist, Sciacca broke out of Phoenix, Arizona in the late ‘90s. Initially he was pegged as a ‘mash-up’ pioneer because of his blending hip hop and rock. The “concept” was then “extremely revolutionary”, he says. But Sciacca is now wary of the
I try not to use [mash-up] much anymore... it sort of dates a certain time.
2000, when Manganiello randomly caught Sciacca DJing. Sciacca applied a mixtape approach to La Bare’s soundtrack. Screening at Sundance, Manganiello’s directorial effort intrigued the media. “I really was able to help take his movie to the next level — and it was great. We’ve been friends ever since. He asked me to DJ at his wedding [to Sofia Vergara], so I did that — I went on after Pitbull,” he laughs. “That was a fun one. But he’s a friend for life, he’s a homie forever, so any project that he ever reaches out to me on, I’m always gonna help out with. He’s got great taste. A lot of people think he’s just kind of the beefy, muscle guy, but he’s really a super-intelligent music guy. We’re always talking about music and figuring out different collaborations and how to expand on that. I know he’s got a couple of other projects he’s working on as well. But we’ve talked about doing some other stuff in the future, so we’ll see what happens.”
When & Where: 28 Jan, Factory Theatre
mash-up tag. “I try not to use that word much anymore ‘cause, for most people, they look at it and it sort of dates a certain time to them — a timeframe of when this style of mixing came on the scene.” For “the Rick Rubin of the DJ world”, the mashup is an ethos rather than a genre — transcending temporality. Nowadays music has fewer “boundaries,” yet Sciacca continues to “flip” tracks, subverting context. He might mix Major Lazer with Radiohead. Indeed, it’s the age of the curator. Sciacca has pursued a multi-faceted career as a DJ/producer. He received acclaim for 2005’s debut album, Shifting Gears (Chuck D guested). Sciacca cut a 24 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Ana Veira (Hurst), Tuka (Thundamentals), Allyson Montenegro (Froyo). Pic by Josh Groom.
Parramatta Park is once again hosting a massive Hottest 100 Party on Thursday, with live bands and DJs performing with the countdown streamed in between and after sets. Playing the Hottest 100 Party will be L-FRESH The LION, Olympia, VXV, Froyo, Kuren and Hurst. This is part of a greater Australia Day celebration with The Big BBQ, entertainment, rides and more also happening, alongside main stage performances from the likes of Thundamentals and Eskimo Joe.
In Focus Hottest 100 Par ty
@ Parramatta Park
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 25
Indie Indie
Woodlock
Selina’s
Beach Road Hotel
Single Focus
Have You Been To
Have You Been To
Answered by: Eze Walters
Answered by: Sarah O’Brien, Marketing
Answered by: Alex Smith — Brand Manager
Single title? Something Broke That Day
Address: 253 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee
Address: 71 Beach Road, Bondi
What’s the song about? A love triangle, in a moment of jealousy one accidentally kills another. This is about the aftermath of that moment.
Capacity: 1,750
Capacity: 1200
Why should punters visit you? Selina’s is one of Sydney’s most iconic live music venues, having played host to some of the world’s most well loved bands from the mid 1970s to today.
Why should punters visit you? We have something for everyone, whether you want to dance all night long, chill in the beer garden, watch the latest up-and-coming band or eat a tasty B L Burger.
What’s the best thing about the venue? It’s a huge venue that can be transformed according to the gig, from small intimate shows to huge crowds. It has seen some of the hottest acts worldwide grace the stage.
What’s the best thing about the venue? Entry is always free!
How long did it take to write/record? We had a couple of days in the studio with Lindsey Jackson to record The Only Ones but we finished it in one. So with the extra day we wrote this one. Is this track from a forthcoming release/ existing release? It’s from a forthcoming release. An album if everything goes to plan, which is very exciting for us as it will be our first. What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? A comic book called The Sandman. Musically we were inspired by a whole new area of electronic music, we really wanted to play around and see what kind of samples and flavours we could find. We’ll like this song if we like... Tash Sultana, Art Of Sleeping, Matt Corby. Do you play it differently live? We are still trying to figure that out! Because it uses samples and all that it really challenges us musically, which is great. It means we grow as musicians and performers. When and where is your launch/next gig? 2 Feb, Brass Monkey; 3 Feb Newtown Social Club. Website link for more info? woodlock.com.au
26 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
What is your venue doing to help the local music scene? Selina’s has always been about bringing good quality shows to the east. Now offering free music on Thursday nights, Selina’s is focused on supporting the best up and coming musicians from Sydney and beyond. What have been some of the highlights at the venue? Selina’s is a live music institution having featured acts from INXS to Nirvana to Cold Chisel. Everyone has a memory of Selina’s — come and create your own. What are the plans for the venue in the future? The venue will continue to prioritise bands — live and local. Plus bigger shows and other events and entertainment such as last year’s Skate Sessions which saw a mini ramp installed inside. Website link for more info: www.facebook.com/pg/selinascoogee
What is your venue doing to help the local music scene? We are always on the lookout for local up-and-coming acts to showcase! What have been some of the highlights at the venue? Most recent highlights have been The Rubens show and the Matt & Alex Farewell Rave! What are the plans for the venue in the future? To keep the live entertainment in Bondi thriving and throwing free parties! Website link for more info? beachroadbondi.com.au
dominorecordco.com
theMusic.com.au: breaking news, up-tothe-minute reviews and streaming new releases
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 27
OPINION Opinion
Blink-182
F
acebook is currently rife with people posting about the ten albums that influenced them the most in their teenage years. So, instead of posting on Facebook, here’s an insight into mine. It was about 1998 or 1999 when I started to become interested in punk and hardcore, which was the pinnacle of the Recovery era; that seminal Saturday morning music show on ABC we love to get nostalgic about. I had started listening to triple j and I was taping songs off the radio like Dammit by Blink-182, Alien by Pennywise and Hallways by Something For Kate. So that gives you a starting point for what my list looks like. I listened to a lot of Blink-182’s Dude Ranch and Enema Of The State — that went really well with my epic crush on Mark Hoppus. Those So-Cal skater boys, like a lot of other people my age, were my introduction to punk, along with Pennywise, The Offspring and Green Day.
Wa ke The Dea d Punk And Hardcore With Sarah Petchell
MASTER P
Get It To g et her
H
ow do you make commercially With James viable rap music? It’s the question that D’apice haunts the dreams of aspiring MCs everywhere. After all, if an up-and-coming rapper is going to commit his or her time and energy to wowing crowds and enthralling listeners there’s not always much space left for more traditional work. It is this tension that leads to the starving artist cliche and any number of hackneyed verses on the subject.
Hip Hop
28 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Implicit in the cliche is that once a starving artist has ‘made it’, then long-term security (if not wealth!) and some level of popularity will follow. It’s never certain, of course, and rarely is the point illustrated as brutally as it was for Master P. DJ Z, writing for djbooth.net, conducted a review of Master P’s label’s SoundCloud account and — reluctantly — reached the conclusion that the man who brought us Make ‘Em Say Ugh has paid for bots to artificially inflate his play count. The evidence is difficult to contradict. Perhaps most damning is the ratio of number of plays per track (high) to followers of the label’s account and number of comments per track (low). It’s a deception designed to make the songs look more popular than they are, and it’s a really bad look. DJ Z’s article is worth reading if you get the chance. In the meantime, any independent up-and-comers worried about how to spread the word about their music might take comfort from the fact that even a veteran, and label owner, who’s been around a couple of decades could potentially be so clueless.
Then there was the Big Day Out compilation that I listened to for a month straight, which featured Frenzal Rhomb’s You Can’t Move Into My House and saw the album from which it came, A Man’s Not A Camel, become one of the first albums I ever bought myself (much to my mother’s disgust). In the absence of older siblings, cool older cousins and friends that listened to this kind of stuff, it would be a few more years before a passing interest became an obsession. But there had to be a starting point and this was mine. It was the start of an indie kid moving into the punk world.
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Trailer Trash
B
eing in on the joke is not as easy as it Screens seems sometimes, especially when And Idiot Boxes it comes to loud, With Guy Davis ludicrous action movies. It may appear that ramping up the mayhem to ridiculous extremes, allowing the actors to deliver silly one-liners with a slight smirk, or just poking fun at the whole concept would
Dives Into Your
OPINION Opinion
work as a get-out-of-jail-free card, but it isn’t necessarily so. As with many things in life, it’s about getting the balance right. If a movie takes the mickey in one scene, it has its work cut out for it if it wants audiences concerned about the characters in the next one. One blockbuster series that has pulled off this balancing act quite nicely in recent years is the Fast & Furious franchise, releasing its eighth movie later this year. (It’s titled The Fate Of The Furious. Geddit, Fate? F8? Oh, do keep up.) Since 2011’s Fast Five, it has consistently hit the sweet spot between sublimely stupid and actually awesome. Musclebound mumbler Vin Diesel is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the Fast & Furious gearshift, and now it looks like he’s attempting a similar revival with the XXX franchise, which launched back in 2002. Fifteen years on, XXX: Return Of Xander Cage delivers pretty much what it promises in the title - Diesel’s anti-authority, extreme-sports secret agent has returned to save the world, armed only with a skateboard and a series of wisecracks that aren’t really all that wise. To its credit, this new XXX recognises that ‘go big or go home’ is a motto worth considering and throws everything at the screen to grab hold of the audience’s attention. So there are intense stunts, tongue-in-cheek gags, broad performances, flashy visuals and a technorock soundtrack that seems designed to pummel the audience into submission. For the first ten or 15 minutes, it’s kind of entertaining in its shamelessness. But it quickly gets repetitive, and then a touch obnoxious, with only the odd inventive bit of business (like a well-staged standoff involving a pair of hand grenades) to repique one’s interest. The story? Yeah, there’s the semblance of one, I suppose. A lethal high tech doodad nicknamed Pandora’s Box has been pinched from the powers that be by a gang of acrobatic villains led by cool crim Xiang (Rogue One’s Donnie Yen, once again stealing a movie from his co-stars). Slick intelligence bigwig Marke (Toni Collette yes, Muriel herself) twigs that it’s going to take a different kind of hero to track down these baddies, and tracks down Diesel’s Xander, who is keeping a fairly high profile for someone who supposedly faked his own
death a while back. Once he’s on board, Xander assembles his own cutting-edge crew of heroes, including Australia’s own Ruby Rose as a smartmouthed sniper (Rose can’t really act but she looks terrific toting a gun) and a dude whose only skill seems to be spinning music as a DJ. Yep, it’s that kind of movie - the cinematic equivalent of two hastily chugged cans of Red Bull.
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THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 29
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Japandroids Near To The Wild Heart Of Life Pod/Inertia
Two blokes, eight songs, just over 30 minutes of music. That’s some incredible economy from Japandroids. But what’s more incredible is the punch packed by Near To The Wild Heart Of Life. It never feels slight, rushed or in any way lacking. In this tight half hour of riffing guitars and thunderous drums, they find room for plenty of the Japandroids signature sweaty, break neck rock and roll in songs like the title track and No Known Drink Or Drug. They find room for soaring fist raisers like In A Body Like A Grave and the ode to their native Canada, North East South West. They even find room for a rare moment of more subdued introspection in the synth heavy, seven-and-a-half-minute epic Arc Of Bar, which somehow actually sustains its full seven and a half minutes. There’s more melody, more dynamics and more of a build to this latest batch of songs. This means less balls to the wall, machine gun attacks of unhinged rock, but Near To The Wild Heart Of Life lacks none of the immediacy or heart pounding energy of its predecessors. And while it sounds great coming out of earbuds and stereo speakers, the best part of this record is that it delivers eight more songs that are sure to destroy when played live — which is where Japandroids have always been at their best. Pete Laurie
★★★★
The Bats
Cloud Nothings
The Deep Set
Life Without Sound
Flying Nun
Stop Start/Inertia
★★★★
★★★½
Some bands change their sound like the planet changes seasons, whereas others choose to stay the course with their original style, dispatching new missives based on already familiar foundations. Christchurch-bred purveyors of the fabled Dunedin Sound are firmly in the latter camp: now into their third decade, the four-piece have racked up albums characterised by chugging chords, jangly guitars and the charming, simplistic worldview of guitarist/vocalist Robert Scott. This shared experience has gifted the foursome a clear simpatico and inherent indiepop smarts, and on The Deep Set Scott’s songs prove as effortlessly dreamy as ever. Scott’s innate sense of melody extends to both the arrangements and his
After a couple of years of wilful experimentation, indierockers Cloud Nothings’ fourth studio album proper finds them cleaning up their act sonically, alternating between their burgeoning power-pop leanings and the harder, posthardcore edge of their earlier lo-fi recordings. There’s plenty of familiarity still on offer: frontman Dylan Baldi once more packs plenty of emotional heft into his tales of 20-something angst and ennui, but alongside producer John Goodmanson (SleaterKinney, Death Cab For Cutie) he’s polished away their rougher edges, leaving a more measured and mature collection with less of the abandon that categorised earlier releases. Indeed, when Baldi gets really ruminative with his lyrics it all veers close to emo territory (in a Jimmy
30 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
bittersweet vocal delivery, the tunes augmented by shimmering harmonies and classy string accompaniment, while guitarist Kaye Woodward’s lead parts twist and meander, dripping with expression. The album opens with the melancholic Rooftops but quickly blossoms with the upbeat Looking For Sunshine and the luminous Rock And Pillars. Towards the back end Shut Your Eyes is darker and more foreboding, The Bats proving once again that simple, well-executed ideas and arrangements are entirely capable of triggering complex responses. Steve Bell
Eat World rather than Rites Of Spring construct). The breezy Internal World and poppy Modern Act make obvious singles — both rife with Baldi’s trademark hooks and earworm melodies — but the contemplative Things Are Right With You and the conversational Sight Unseen burn just as bright. Elsewhere, Enter Entirely is a fistpumping pit anthem in waiting and Realize My Fate closes on a burst of despairing dissonance, a strangely nihilistic finish to a collection of songs that for the most part aim to inspire rather than dishearten. Steve Bell
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Ty Segall
Delicate Steve
Horse Thief
Boris The Blade
Ty Segall
This Is Steve
Trials & Truths
Warpath
Spunk
Epitaph
Bella Union/[PIAS] Australia
Siege Records
★★★½
★★
★★★
★★★
On this album, multiinstrumentalist Ty Segall chose to record with a band rather than himself. The sentiment is nice but there’s no obvious difference in sound compared to previous records, which is a blessing for those who were hoping he’d stick to the well tried and tested formula, less so for those hoping for a departure from psychrock or doom-metal, a sound he and John Dwyer have been re-pioneering for over a decade now. Psych and doom are here in spades, but it’s again the quality of songwriting that lifts Segall above the rest. Less immediately accessible tracks, like a fine wine, get better with repeat plays and it’s a very welcome kickstart to 2017.
Beloved by such noiseniks as Yeasayer and Death Grips, Noo Joisey-ite (Delicate) Steve Marion remains defiantly selfsufficient for this third album. This Is Steve presents ten songs without vocals (don’t call them instrumentals) which allegedly introduces the artist as he sees himself. Guitars like a bumblebee with a blocked nose (Animals) or intercepting AC/ DC’s radio waves with splices of ZZ Top and a Pong game (Cartoon Rock) amuse fleetingly, but it seems more an exercise than a fully formed album. With almost every track running under three minutes, there’s simply not enough time offered to get to know him.
Oklahoma five-piece Horse Thief have let their grooves settle in somewhat since Fear In Bliss. The 2014 debut pipped the gents as a rollicking folkrock outfit in a similar vein to Midlake or Blitzen Trapper, with riffs even sunnier than Grizzly Bear’s. But Trials & Truths, while still beholden to some corking melodical beauty throughout, has taken more of an intimate turn and it’s not always for the better. Another Youth’s clangy, upbeat guitars and Drowsy and Empire’s more steady, understated vocal charms are solid openers, but the punch is lacking in the back end to maintain the same interest.
Surely the heaviest outfit to derive their moniker from Snatch, Boris The Blade are the soundtrack to your next broken nose. The Melbourne tech-death squad’s penchant for frenetic blast-a-thons remains but, although hardly revolutionary, even nondescript at times, eschewing a degree of breakneck speed for dark, brooding atmosphere pays dividends. Growler Daniel Sharp previously needed to exhibit more subtle delivery variations. He’s upped his game, boasting a more potent mid-range especially. Meanwhile, Thy Art Is Murder vocalist CJ McMahon lends another caustic edge to Misery. If Warpath’s mission statement was to pummel all and sundry one punishing groove at a time, consider said goal accomplished.
Carley Hall
Mac McNaughton
Adam Wilding
Brendan Crabb
More Reviews Online Kreator Gods Of Violence
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Sleater-Kinney Live In Paris
Listen to our This Week’s Releases playlist on
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 31
Live Re Live Reviews
Amanda Palmer @ Sydney Opera House. Pic: Simone Fisher
Amanda Palmer
Sydney Opera House 21 Jan
Amanda Palmer @ Sydney Opera House. Pic: Simone Fisher
PJ Harvey @ ICC Sydney Theatre. Pic: Peter Dovgan
PJ Harvey @ ICC Sydney Theatre. Pic: Peter Dovgan
Little Simz @ Oxford Art Factory. Pic: Simone Fisher
32 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Little Simz @ Oxford Art Factory. Pic: Simone Fisher
Amanda Fucking Palmer (with some help from local artist Brendan Fucking Maclean) was fantastic. Airing new and old tunes, the music helped with news of the day — Donald Fucking Trump as the American President. Oh, and there was also a giant handmade gold clitoris; sparkling, shiny and called “The Glitoris”. It was divine — and not just because we were a couple of frozen cocktails down from the pop-up Summer Bar outside beforehand. Maclean opened, then Palmer took over. Moving from uke to piano, she joyfully proclaimed, “I’m not promoting anything, we can do anything we want!” And she did. Moving through selections from Piano Is Evil (a remake of Theatre Is Evil), Palmer also played her Patreon-funded musicas-it-happens. Highlights included the gently chaotic ten-minute saga written after her baby was born, and a cover of Cat’s In The Cradle from a recent Melbourne show on motherhood with Missy Higgins. Palmer acknowledged that the cover shouldn’t really work but, when you stopped and broke it down, it was truly heartbreaking. Especially since, as she had discovered, it was actually singer Harry Chapin’s wife who wrote the song’s lyrics. After about an hour and a half, the orange politician in The White House finally took over focus. With Maclean back, Palmer led a new protest song written the night before for today’s Women’s March — and there was something so wonderful about being able to yell, “Fuck that!” in response and have it ring out through the concert hall. “It wouldn’t be an Amanda Palmer protest song if you weren’t really sure about whether or not you’re supposed to laugh, so, I understand,” she smiled. The pair also performed two magnificent covers — Regina Spektor’s Uh-Merica (also with
cathartic audience grunting) and then the remarkable Glacier by John Grant. The latter, introduced by Maclean with a shockingly recent and violent homophobic
There was something so wonderful about being able to yell, ‘Fuck that!’ in response and have it ring out through the concert hall. experience, was amazing and so very sad. The lyric, “This pain it is a glacier moving through you/ And carving out deep valleys/And creating spectacular landscapes”, was so bittersweet. When it finished we stood, clapped and sobbed — and were determined to take its message not to “become paralysed by fear”. And so, the music continued and got lower-fi and deliberately silly (finishing with Map Of Tasmania and Ukulele Anthem) — a masterful demonstration of light and shade. Liz Giuffre
PJ Harvey, Xylouris White ICC Sydney Theatre 22 Jan What PJ Harvey does now goes beyond mere rock’n’roll. Presenting records as wilfully ‘difficult’ as Let England Shake and the blunt reportage of The Hope Six Demolition Project live would be a fool’s errand to any lesser artist. But after negotiating the mysteries and metal detectors of the still-with-new-car-smell ICC, there was other challenging
eviews Live Reviews
music as warm up. The latter element of Xylouris White is Jim White of Dirty Three. His sometimes skittering/sometimes booming drumming ricocheted off George Xylouris’ Cretan lute. One moment it was a goatherder by a meandering stream, then a Zorba dance on a tank. Impressive and puzzling. More drums, this time through a hushed darkness, announced PJ Harvey’s arrival as the ten-piece band marched on — a black-clad second line at a hipster’s funeral. Chain Of Keys was an ominous welcome to the urban stories of The Hope Six Demolition Project, The Ministry Of Defence threatening, more disturbing as delivered by her soplaintive voice. These songs have a life now not entirely present on the record. There were sudden stops, sudden blackness — like you had to blink and look away from what she saw. A suite of Let England
Under Ether, becoming a fragile girl making the hardest decision. There was no between-song patter — that contact might somehow break the spell. Then back to The Hope Six Demolition Project for a troubled walk Near The Memorials To Vietnam And Lincoln, and the messed-up blues of The Ministry Of Social Affairs. The descent into madness of Down By The Water was a return to the familiar. Polly Jean Harvey dropped the mask(s) for a moment, to introduce a phenomenal band centred around long-time collaborators, John Parish and kinda-hometown-boy Mick Harvey. River Anacostia offered odd beauty, ebbing away on the ensemble’s voices alone. Of course that’s not all: her snarling take on Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited gave way to a final Is This Desire?. You filed out, exhausted from the emotions she had torn out of your chest. Extraordinary, again. Ross Clelland
There is no between-song patter — that contact might somehow break the spell.
Shake songs was almost relief — as if The Words That Maketh Murder is a cheery jig and reel comparatively. The tour for that album presented its sometimes blood-drenched songs as austere sepia-toned memories. Here, with a backdrop of a brutalist concrete wall, it was even darker. Harvey was drama on spindly legs. Throwing big shadowy shapes with a saxophone as prop, security blanket, weapon. She’s a hieroglyph, a banshee, maybe even death. Then she sighed the foggy regret of When
Bless Mary (a tribute song to her next door neighbour) set the tone for the night, while 2016 track Shotgun, off her latest album Stillness In Wonderland, was just what we needed to chill things down a notch. The Sydney folk lapped up what Simz put down. A couple of fans right near the front of the stage fanned the UK rapper with their hats at one point and she returned the love soon after by heading into the moshpit, albeit just for a quick visit. Simz also handed a few water bottles out into the crowd to keep us hydrated — she clearly knew what we needed. Simz’ set also included a
Sydney was sweltering again Tuesday so we knew things were going to get very sweaty up in Oxford Art Factory. Support act Wallace did her best to cool us down with her soulful voice — seriously, that voice is something special. An enchanting live presence, big things could be on the cards for the Sydney artist if this solid showing was anything to go by. Little Simz’ DJ came out on stage and quickly got OAF ready for action before the woman of the hour emerged. Looking comfy as hell in Adidas trackies, cap and a button-up shirt that was gonna get soooo drenched by the end of the night, Simz was at ease spitting out rhymes in her trademark rapid pace. Intervention, Devour and God
theMusic.com.au/ music/live-reviews
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ ICC Sydney Theatre
The Sydney folk are lapping up what Simz is putting down.
Jimmy Eat World @ Enmore Theatre Cameron Avery @ Newtown Social Club Alexisonfire @ Hordern Pavilion Mdou Moctar @ Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent
Little Simz, Wallace Oxford Art Factory 17 Jan
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bit of guitar playing on some of her mellower tunes, including Interlude (“This whiskey never lied to me, baby”), and played plenty more of her classics. Dead Body, probably her most well-known anthem, got the crowd absolutely bumpin’ — it’s such a tune. Bad To The Bone had a similar impact, while Wings was another highlight — the perfect song to capture her mellow, heartfelt hip-hop style. Our main event added to the heat in Sydney tonight, but also brought plenty of heart. Little Simz was genuinely grateful for the crowd’s love and we were equally grateful for her.
Refused @ Enmore Theatre We Lost The Sea @ Newtown Social Club Weyes Blood @ Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent
Sally-Anne Hurley
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 33
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
from any semblance of modern civilisation. Hope of survival was now dependent on his subjects, the Mayoruna, but asking for help is no easy matter when you share neither language nor cultural compatibility. A thrilling narrative to be sure, but delivered via conventional means, an audience would still be mere spectators to these events; passive voyeurs, comfortably at arm’s-length. This piece, however, is not by conventional theatremakers. Each seat comes equipped with a pair of headphones, tapping each audience member into a binaural, 360degree sonic safari. This churning soundscape not only surrounds us, it envelops us. The voices in our heads are no longer our own - our minds are hijacked by this technology, carrying us deep into the Amazon basin without having to move an inch. If this sounds like a gimmick, don’t be fooled. Apart from a binaural microphone (think of a crash-test dummy’s head, on a stick, with unnervingly realistic plastic ears), and a bunch of plastic water bottles, the stage is unadorned and stark. This Amazonian odyssey is purely aural, but the clarity with which each described scene is conjured borders on magical.Our guide through McIntyre’s brief but life-changing time with the Mayoruna is British actor Richard Katz, who is not only responsible for inhabiting a range of characters - McIntyre, a narrator, various tribespeople, and himself - but also in charge of relocating microphones, activating various effects with pedals, and using Foley props to recreate the sounds of the wilderness. But this show’s slick execution and technical whizzbang is not the reason it has scooped so many star-laden critiques. Beneath this wizardry is a message of deeply touching potency. It challenges the foundation of our identity as members of an apparently civilised society, enslaved by our materialism and our obsession with time and perhaps most poignantly of all, it suggests that every action and desire is a political act. This is no finger-wagging sermon. These currents of subconscious subtext flow strongly just below the surface tension of The Encounter, ready for an audience to dip a toe or jump in feet first to be swept away. The Encounter
The Encounter Theatre Sydney Opera House to 28 Jan
★★★★ The story at the core of The Encounter is both extraordinary and true, drawn from the pages of Petru Popescu’s non-fiction book, Amazon Beaming. Experienced photographer Loren McIntyre boasted more than 25 years experience working in the field when he arrived on the banks of the Amazon River in 1969. A well planned four-day expedition into the rainforest lay ahead of him, during which he would attempt to capture a glimpse of the Mayoruna tribespeople, an accomplishment that would surely earn him the cover of National Geographic. Within hours, he had achieved his goal, but had become dangerously lost, more than 400 miles in every direction
Maxim Boon
34 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
The Testament Of Mary
The Testament Of Mary Theatre Wharf 1 Theatre to 25 Feb
★★★★ This emotive one-woman show demystifies the iconography surrounding one of the world’s most pervading, yet enigmatic religious figures. It allows her to talk about her experiences intimately and personally - a complete characterisation rarely afforded to the women mentioned in the literature of Abrahamic religions. Some time after her son’s crucifixion, Mary is relentlessly hounded by visitors who implore her to validate their version of events, their version of the man they call a Messiah. But she will not coddle them. The insistence that her son’s suffering was to the benefit of mankind is little consolation for a grieving mother. She will tell her story on her own terms. The Sydney Theatre Company brings this bold production to the Australian stage following critical acclaim and polarising responses worldwide. The 2013 Broadway production was shut down two weeks into a scheduled 12-week run following protests that deemed it “blasphemous” and offensive. Helpmann Award-winning actor Alison Whyte exudes a commanding presence in the role of Mary, providing an empathetic take on Irish novelist Colm Toibin’s script. The design work from Elizabeth Gadsby borrows from classical religious imagery, the grand paintings and stained glass artworks that adorn cathedrals and art gallery walls. There are also elements of a makeshift shrine, reminiscent of the devotional alcoves common in Latin America. These themes are carried on in Whyte’s stripped-back performance, her movements taking cues from Catholic imagery and traditional Greek theatre, taking advantage of the ‘in the round’ staging set-up. This is a gripping demonstration of the power of monologue done right. It gives voice and agency to someone who was diminished as a person as they were raised up as an icon. It challenges these persisting fables and the result is deeply moving contemporary theatre. Alannah Maher
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
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Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 25
SOSUEME feat. Alex Dyson + Sons of East: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Russell Morris + Luke Escombe: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Rhiannon Giddens
Hunch + Scabz: Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington Glass Animals + Polographia: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
The Music Presents NAO: 1 Feb Oxford Art Factory Strangers: 3 Feb Metro Theatre Mother’s Cake: 11 Feb Factory Theatre; 12 Feb The Small Ballroom CW Stoneking & Nathaniel Rateliff: 7 Mar Enmore Theatre Holly Throsby: 9 Mar Clarendon Guest House Katoomba; 11 Mar Milton Theatre; 18 Mar Lizottes Newcastle; 19 March Newtown Social Club Twelve Foot Ninja: 9 Mar Uni Bar; 10 Mar Manning Bar; 11 Mar Cambridge Hotel The Waifs: 1 Apr Enmore Theatre Rhiannon Giddens: 8 Apr Factory Theatre Snarky Puppy: 10 Apr Enmore Theatre Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue: 10 Apr Metro Theatre Roy Ayers: 11 Apr The Basement
Tourist + The Range: Factory Theatre, Marrickville Carsick Cars + White+ + Mere Women + Flying Colors + Buried Feather: Factory Theatre (Factory Floor), Marrickville Jarrow Mayumi Mullins + Willowy + Slow Ships: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
New Dream
Puscifer: International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC), Sydney
Lo-fi indie popper Jarrow will be performing at Oxford Art Factory on Wednesday in support of none other than Bandcamp sensation Car Seat Headrest, who has made his debut trip Down Under for Laneway.
The Groovemeisters: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville Sydney Festival feat. Alice Terry: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney Aurora + Airling: Metro Theatre, Sydney James Reyne + Diesel + Boom Crash Opera: Mounties (Showroom), Mt Pritchard Mike Love + Bobby Alu: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Last Day of Freedom feat. DJ Isight + DJ Esi: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
Blake Wiggins + Benj Axwell + AJ Dyce: Observer Hotel, The Rocks
Thu 26
Australia Day with Ed & Astro + Gary Johns Trio + Tom Trelawny: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Reckless + Mark Travers: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
The Amity Affliction + Hellions + Ocean Grove + PLTS: Bar On The Hill, Callaghan
Car Seat Headrest + Jarrow: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Summer Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Gregory Porter: 12 Apr Enmore Theatre Grill
Laura Mvula: 12 Apr Metro Theatre
Australia Day feat. Diesel + Eden’s March + Jellybean Jam + The Lazy Eyes: Enmore Park, Marrickville
Bluesfest: 13 – 17 Apr, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
Glenn Esmond: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks
Max Jury: 13 Apr The Basement
Devil Electric + Comacozer + Psychic Sun: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
The Lumineers: 17 & 18 Apr Sydney Opera House Gallant: 18 Apr Oxford Art Factory
Goat Island Sounds feat. Ngaiire + Nina Las Vegas + Basenji + Kuren + Ariane + Adi Toohey: Goat Island, Sydney
The Record Company: 19 Apr Newtown Social Club
Zack Martin: Harbour View Hotel, Dawes Point
Jeff Lang: 13 May Hotel Gearin Katoomba; 18 May Lizottes Newcastle; 19 May Hardys Bay Club; 27 May The Basement; 16 Jun State Theatre Canberra
Midnight Juggernaughts
We Are Lesion After last year’s Scroungewave, Deaf To All But Metal are back with their new mini-fest, Lesion. Get over to Valve Bar Thursday to catch Grill, PurEnvy, Chud, Head In A Jar and plenty more.
The Roots & Riddim Club with +Errol Renaud Trio + DJ Dizar: Play Bar, Surry Hills Herobust + Ricky Remedy: Proud Mary’s, Erina Heads Of Charm + Custom Sluts + Grouse + Love Buzz: Rad Bar, Wollongong Marcus Decks + Sc@r + Scatterlie + Oky + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
36 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Hottest 100 Party feat.Eskimo Joe + Thundamentals + L-FRESH The LION + Olympia + VXV + Froyo + Kuren + Hurst + Jake Stone: Parramatta Park, Parramatta
The Vanns + Elwood Myre: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine), Manly Jack Greene: Jacksons on George, Sydney Dos Enos: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville Sydney Festival feat. Die Roten Punkte: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Sydney Festival presents: EuroSmash! with Otto & Astrid: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney
Jug on Beach Road Hotel have come up with the goods yet again for their free weekly Saturday night event, Yours. This time around Melbourne three-piece Midnight Juggernaughts are dropping in for a DJ set.
Larger Than Lions: Marble Bar, Sydney Sydney Festival feat. Eastern Empire: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney
Glenn Esmond: Peachtree Hotel, Penrith
Ricardo Steyer: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe
Celebrate Australia Day with Jack Jones + Gemma Stone Duo: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
The Ocean Party + Milk Teddy + Jordan Ireland + Hot Palms: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Boom Crash Opera: Rooty Hill RSL, Rooty Hill
Gigs / Live The Guide
Jack Colwell
Split Feed + Jacob + The Altais + Shysters: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West
EuroSmash! with Otto & Astrid: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney
Coda + Veronique Serret: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Brown Sugar: Marble Bar, Sydney
Unlocking The Doors - Doors Tribute Band: The Basement, Sydney
Glenn Esmond: Marlborough Hotel, Newtown
Boom Crash Opera: The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle
Sydney Festival feat. Los Tones: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney
DJ Alex Mac + JR Dynamite + Aimee: The Newport, Newport
Zomboy: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Jimmy Mann: The Push, The Rocks
Funk Engine: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe
Owen Rabbit: The Record Crate, Glebe
Jack Colwell + Elki + Okin Osan: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
The Urban Chiefs: The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield
Lloyd G & The Ambassadors: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville Glenn Esmond: Chatswood RSL, Chatswood
Carmody: Taronga Zoo, Mosman
Ted Nash: Clovelly Hotel, Clovelly
Wild Child Jack Colwell is celebrating his latest single Seek The Wild with a mini-tour. The second stop is at Newtown Social Club on Friday where the singer/songwriter/ multi-istumentalist will be joined by Okin Osan and Elki.
Summer Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store, Moore Park KLP + Third Floor: Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee Ted Nash: Coogee Bay Hotel (Beer Garden), Coogee
The Hard Aches
Passenger + The Paper Kites: Enmore Theatre, Newtown Clams Casino + Strict Face: Factory Theatre, Marrickville The Idea of North: Foundry 616, Sydney
Dean Michael Smith: Sackville Hotel, Rozelle The Front Bottoms + The Hard Aches + Revellers: The Basement, Belconnen Retrospective - Till Now feat. Vince Jones: The Basement, Sydney Rob Luckey & The Lucky Bastards: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle The Bamboos + Winston Surfshirt + DJ Meem + DJ Cool Hand Luke: The Newport, Newport Daphne Tse + Haitch + Bobby Parrs + Emanuel Lieberfreund: The Rhythm Hut, Gosford The Rocks Australia Day Festival feat. Tinpan Orange: The Rocks, The Rocks Sydney Festival presents Paris Groovescooter + Adi Toohey + CC:Disco! + Funkdafied DJs: The Star (Sky Terrace), Pyrmont Lesion Mini-Festival with Head In A Jar + PurEnvy + Grill + Chud + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
The Brutal Poodles + BB+Cam: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric + East Coast Low + Garry David: Grand Junction Hotel (The Junkyard), Maitland Panic! At The Disco: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park Betty & Oswald + Bin Juice: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine), Manly You’re A Melody feat. Floating Points + Red Greg: Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction Pezcobar + Bonnie Kay & The Bonafides: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville Sydney Festival feat. Die Roten Punkte: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Sydney Festival presents: Klub Koori with +Gawurra: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Sydney Festival presents:
A Good Hard Shache Adelaide indie-punk rockers The Hard Aches have been busy beavers this month as special guests on New Jersey outfit The Front Bottoms’ national tour. Catch their next stop Friday at Bald Faced Stag.
Espionage feat. Mr Carmack + Swindail: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Binalong Road: The Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard
Rare Finds feat. Mount Zamia + Scabz + Forest Hall: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
The Amity Affliction + Hellions + Ocean Grove + PLTS: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Waves), Towradgi
Airling Red Bull Sound Select feat. Kelsey Lu + Jack Grace + Bec Sandridge: Paddington Uniting Church, Paddington
Halcyon Reign + Reign On Mars: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Flipped Out Kicks + Resurrection Men + Mysterious Universe: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham
Fri 27 T-Pain: Academy, Canberra
Russ Dewbury + DJ Benny Hinn + more: Play Bar, Surry Hills
The Front Bottoms + The Hard Aches: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Courtyard Sessions feat. Jordie Lane: Seymour Centre (Courtyard), Darlington
Role Modelz: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Sydney Comedy Club feat. Mikey Robins + Sarah Levett + Darren Sanders: Big Top Sydney, Milsons Point Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson: Bowral Bowling Club, Bowral National Bowie Festival feat. Jeff Duff: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Prints Familiar + Matrick Jones + Sam Saint Jones: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst
Air & Light Airling is coming into 2017 strong as tour support for 19year-old Norwegian wunderkind Aurora, whose smash debut All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend dropped last year. Catch them at Metro Theatre, Wednesday.
Californication - Red Hot Chilli Peppers Show: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi Wat A Ting #1 with YT + DJ Foreigndub + Jah Thung + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo WavyLand feat. Various DJs: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo The Hunting Birds + Direwolf: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Australia Day feat. Paris Groovescooter + Adi Toohey + CC Disco: Sky Terrace, Pyrmont
Ryland Rose + Lostkeyz: World Bar, Potts Point
Soundproofed: St Marys Rugby League Club (Ironbark Terrace), St Marys
Sat 28
Sydney Festival presents Wafia: St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney
Gaby Moreno + Martha Marlow: 505, Surry Hills
Nigel Kennedy: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney
Jack Colwell + Julia Johnson + Oranges: Ainslie & Gorman Arts Centre, Braddon
Twilight At Taronga feat. Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos + Kev
THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 37
Comedy / G The Guide
The Amity Affliction + Hellions + Ocean Grove: ANU Bar, Canberra
Dean Michael Smith: Rocks Brewing Company, Alexandria
Sons Of The East
Sydney Festival presents CC:Disco! + Adi Toohey: Archibald Fountain (Roller Jam), Sydney
DJ Koby Justice: Rooty Hill RSL (Fred Chubb Lounge), Rooty Hill
AfterShock with Various Artists: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Finnland feat. Emma Pask + Darren Percival + Gerard Masters: Seymour Centre (Sound Lounge), Darlington
Yours feat. Midnight Juggernauts: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Dragon: Shoalhaven Heads Bowling & Recreation Club, Shoalhaven Heads
Ty Dolla $ign + Kent Jones: Big Top Sydney, Milsons Point
Cath & Him: St Georges Basin Country Club (Lounge), Sanctuary Point
Peter Northcote’s Drive + Mitch Anderson: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Sydney Festival presents Dori Freeman: St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney
Hviske + Autosuggest + Twinrova: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst
Nigel Kennedy: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney
Crawl File - Australian Crawl Show: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills
Twilight At Taronga feat. Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons + The Sports: Taronga Zoo, Mosman
AJ Dyce: Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown Beatworx: Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill Matt Gresham: Caves Beachside Hotel, Caves Beach
Strict Face
Face Time Adelaide grime producer Strict Face has been drafted for New Jersey producer Clams Casino’s two east coast Laneway sideshows. The pair’s first stop is at Factory Theatre on Friday night.
Sons & Dysons Sons Of The East and Alex Dyson are heading along to another huge Sosueme this Wednesday at Beach Road Hotel. They will be joined by Sons Of The East, Iffy, Sports, Yemisul and Bernie Dingo.
Boom Crash Opera: Central Hotel, Shellharbour City Centre Sydney Festival feat. Lubomyr Melnyk: City Recital Hall, Sydney The JP Project: Clovelly Hotel, Clovelly Brendon Burns: Comedy Store, Moore Park Summer Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store, Moore Park Like Royals + Brave Today: ECP Studios, Berkeley Vale Passenger + The Paper Kites: Enmore Theatre, Newtown Lawrence Baker: Entrance Leagues, Bateau Bay
38 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017
Stone Sovereign + Triple Kill + Saralisse + Beast Impalor: The Basement, Belconnen Lace & Whiskey + Cockbelch + Signs & Symbols: The Basement, Belconnen
Born Jovi: Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy
DJ Telefunken + DJ A-Tonez + DJ Mo Funk: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly
DJ Z-Trip + DJ Samrai + Shantan Wantan Ichiban + Frenzie: Factory Theatre, Marrickville
Soul Empire: Marble Bar, Sydney
Old Mate’s Block Party with The Lockhearts + The Stiffys + Borneo + The Persian Drugs + Twin Fires + Uptown Ace + Private Function + The Sweet Jelly Rolls + The Bitter Sweethearts + The Bottlers + Wolves In Fashion + Moon + Kvlts of Vice: Factory Theatre (Factory Floor), Marrickville
Sydney Festival feat. Los Tones: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney
DJ Soup + The Soul Predators + DJ Sam Wall + Billie McCarthy: The Newport, Newport
Nghtmre: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Geoff Davies: The Push, The Rocks
Social Dance feat. The Squeezebox Trio: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe
Kid Zr0: The Record Crate, Glebe
Nothing: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
The Front Bottoms + The Hard Aches + Yours Alone: The Small Ballroom, Islington
Lolo Lovina: Foundry 616, Sydney Heavenly Lights Quartet: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville Heads Of Charm: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington MMRS feat. Fistful of Steel: Hermanns Bar, Darlington Owen Rabbit: Lass O’Gowrie, Wickham Jan Valvewire: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Electric Gardens Festival: Centennial Park, Centennial Park
Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson: The Basement, Sydney
Joe Moore: Leadbelly (formerly The Vanguard), Newtown Russell Morris + Daniel March: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton Bob Allan: Long Jetty Hotel, Long Jetty Dave Anthony: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown Sydney Festival feat. Die Roten Punkte: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Sydney Festival presents The Comet Is Coming: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Sydney Festival presents: EuroSmash! with Otto & Astrid: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney The Headliners: Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale
T-Pain: Marquee, Pyrmont
Soundproofed: Oatley Hotel, Oatley Michael Fryar: Observer Hotel, The Rocks Songs On Stage feat. Lance Aligannis + Merilyn Steele: Orange Grove Hotel, Lilyfield
The Spit Roasting Bibbers: The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney Adrian Joseph: The Bourbon, Potts Point
The Hunted Crows: The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield Sydney Festival presents Funkdafied DJs: The Star (Sky Terrace), Pyrmont
Panorama + The White Bros + Various DJs: Orient Hotel, The Rocks The Wildbloods: Oxford Art Factory (Gallery Bar), Darlinghurst
The Stiffys
Zac Coombes: Panania Hotel, Panania Ted Nash: Peachtree Hotel, Penrith Soundbird + Geoff Power: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith Bad Day Out #4 feat. Straight Arrows + Spod + Death Bells + Shady Nasty + White Dog + Shrapnel + Imperial Broads + Body Type + Shearin’ + Georgia Mulligan + more: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham 73 ‘til Infinity with Inkswel + Various DJs: Play Bar, Surry Hills Michael Gorham: Red Cow Hotel, Penrith The Mandarin Band: Revesby Workers (Infinity Lounge), Revesby Sheena Wilbow + Motive + Black Diamond Hearts: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Maaaaate This Saturday Factory Theatre are hosting the second Old Mate’s Block Party to showcase Sydney’s best and brightest. There are more than ten acts, from The Stiffys to The Lockhearts to The Persian Drugs.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Sanctuary Club with DJ SHE + Various DJs: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo Famous T + Various DJs: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
The Tav’s Blues Party with Wards Xpress + 4 Kings + Nick Murray: Castle Hill Tavern, Castle Hill
Evie Dean: Northies Cronulla Hotel (Main Bar), Cronulla
Sarah Parkin: Oatley Hotel, Oatley
Kieran Wicks: Colonial Hotel (Beer Garden), Werrington
Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric + Gary David: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Vanessa Heinitz + Peter Gabrielides: Observer Hotel, The Rocks
Mick Hart: Entrance Leagues, Bateau Bay Matt Gresham: Old Manly Boatshed, Manly
Rufus + Lanks: Wests, New Lambton
Sun 29
Kissteria + Poison’us + Eightball Junkies: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney Mitch Power + Jemma Nicole + Tom Dockray: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Dave Tice + Ross Ward + Jim Finn: B.E.D. (Beats.Eats.Drinks), Glebe
Stephanie Lea: Greengate Hotel (Portico Room), Killara
Bryce Cohen + Paul Mason: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Jen Buxton: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington Animal Ventura: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine), Manly Jayden Clark + Freyja Garbett + Harry Birch + more: Janes Wollongong, North Wollongong Floyd Vincent: Kanpai Japanese Restuarant & Bar, Huskisson Brindley & The Rotators: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
The Paper Kites
Lazy Sunday Lunch with Russell Morris + Daniel March: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Outlier + U2 Elevation: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Paul Hayward & his Sidekicks: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham DJ Ivan Drago: Pittwater RSL (Terrace), Mona Vale Kid Zr0 + Kabargoya + Sam Allen: Rad Bar, Wollongong DJ Troy T + Suite Az: Rock Lily, Pyrmont Celebrating David Bowie feat. Bernard Fanning + Sarah Blasko + Paul Dempsey + Chris Cheney + more: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney Like Royals + Brave Today: The Basement, Belconnen Grayson: The Beach Hotel, Merewether
Double Stock
Chardonnay Show with The Bushwackers: Longyard Hotel, Hillvue
The Paper Kites are headed to Enmore Theatre to support Passenger on Saturday. The bad news is that the show has sold out. The good news is there has been a second date added on Friday.
Michael Gorham + Blake Wiggins: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown
DJ Alex Mac: The Deck, Milsons Point
Sydney Festival presents The Bats: Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney
Extra Pulp with Juno Mars + CC:Disco! + Dreems + Rimbombo + Simon Caldwell: The Kerrigan, Walsh Bay
Electric Gardens After Party feat. Mark Knight + Beth Yen + Binary Cadell + Rodd Richards: Cafe Del Mar, Sydney The Starr Sisters + Regent Street Big Band: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
DJ Oh?: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly
Mark Crotti: The Bellevue Hotel, Paddington Steve Crocker: The Bourbon, Potts Point
Simone Dee: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Sydney Festival feat. Cumbiamuffin: Meriton Festival Village, Sydney Subroom feat. Horowitz + Made In Paris + Blake Gilray: Metro Theatre (The Lair), Sydney
The Ocean Party are off to save America with their latest album Restless. Before they go, though, they are playing a farewell show at Newtown Social Club with Milk Teddy, Jordan Ireland and Hot Palms.
Sydney Festival presents Adi Toohey: The Star (Sky Terrace), Pyrmont The Led Zeppelin Show: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi Ride For Rain + Fit Bird + Viral Eyes + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo DJ Linda Jensen: Vic On The Park, Marrickville Stormcellar: Wickham Park Hotel, Islington
Mon 30
Daniel March: Leadbelly (formerly The Vanguard), Newtown
Little Georgia: Midnight Special, Newtown
John Maddox Duo: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe
Benj Axwell: Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville
Celebrating David Bowie with Bernard Fanning + Sarah Blasko + Paul Dempsey + Chris Cheney + more: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney
Blake Tailor: Northies Cronulla Hotel (Sports Bar), Cronulla
Paul Dempsey
Tue 31 Best Of
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Celebrating David Bowie’s legacy, the musicians who worked with the man himself are heading to Sydney Opera House Monday to play his greatest songs with Paul Dempsey, Bernard Fanning, Sarah Blasko and Chris Cheney.
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Farewell, Party
Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal + Kenneth D’Aran + Peter Gee + more: Kellys on King, Newtown
Nat James: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Nell Greco + Gadjo Guitars: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville
The Ocean Party
Dwayne Elix: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith
PO Box 190 St Peters NSW 2044
Unit 10, 2 Bishop St, St Peters NSW 2044
Michael Gorham: The Mill Hotel, Milperra Hayden James + Sable + DJ Frenzie + DJ Cool Hand Luke: The Newport, Newport JJ Hausia: The Push, The Rocks
Raw Comedy - Open Mic with Various Artists: Comedy Store, Moore Park Aaron Blakey: Foundry 616, Sydney Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal + Chris Brookes + Pauline Sparkle: Gladstone Hotel, Dulwich Hill Blues On The Water Cruise with Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson: Harbour Cruise, Sydney Songs On Stage feat. Stuart Jammin + Jenny Hume: Kellys on King, Newtown Citizens & Saints + Kings Kaleidoscope + The Sing Team: Metro Theatre, Sydney Cath & Him: Rooty Hill RSL (Waratah Room), Rooty Hill Carl Barron: The Art House, Wyong
Adam Scriven + The 5 Lands Band: The Rhythm Hut, Gosford THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017 • 39
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NEW CAMPUS - SAE SYDNEY. 39 REGENT STREET, CHIPPENDALE. SNEAK PEAK & INFO DAY. SAT 21 JAN 2017. 11:00AM - 1:00PM. REGISTER TO ATTEND sae.edu.au/events 40 • THE MUSIC • 25TH JANUARY 2017