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HILLTOP HOODS
“ T H E R E I S A B I G B O G A N FA C T O R AT TA C H E D T O H I P H O P I N AU S T R A L I A”
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2 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
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4 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
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THIS WEEK
interview WE CHAT WITH SAM TWYFORD-MOORE ON BRINGING THE EWF ROADSHOW TO SYDNEY. GET YOUR SUMMER SOCIAL CALENDAR UP TO DATE WITH OUR FESTIVALS TAB.
FIND OUT WHO’S MAKING WAVES ON THE LOCAL CHARTS WITH OUR MIDWEEK FIGURES REPORT.
exclusive RIPTIDE HIT-MAKER VANCE JOY BLOGS FROM HIS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR. 6 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
TUE OCT
21 WED OCT
22 THU OCT
TRIVA
Front Bar 7:30pm
MUSOS’ NIGHT Rockin’ Weekly Blues Jam Front Bar 8pm
COMEBACK KID - LIC/AA
23
+ Rotting + Relentless + Civil War + Mood Swing 6:30pm
FRI OCT
COMEBACK KID - 18+
24 SAT OCT
25 SUN OCT
26
+ Rotting + Relentless + Primitive Blast 7:30pm
ANTONAMASIA
+ The World In Cinematic + Before Ciada + Emergency Syndrome 8pm
THE SWEET APES - LIC/AA
LAST SHOW EVER! + Far Away Stables + Elegist + Breakaway + Conscious Alive 2pm
FREE ENTRY
FREE ENTRY
WED 22ND 8PM THUR 23RD 8PM
BASEMENT
PRE $38 $45 DOOR
FRI 24TH 8PM
PRE $38 $45 DOOR
LEVEL ONE
PRE $15 $15 DOOR
PRE $10 $15 DOOR
FRI 24TH 9PM BASEMENT
SAT 25TH 1PM
“THE FALLEN GENTRY”
INDIE SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM SPECIAL GUESTS
“BLACK T-SHIRTS”
ROCK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM “BLACK MONDAY” , “MEGASAUR” , “STONE RELEASE”
BULLRUSH ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS:
“DOMINO”
ROCK SHOW SUPPORTED BY: “GUTTER TACTIC” , “THE SHADOW EMBRACE” , “SYRAESCOPE” , “SIMPLE STONE” , “PASSIVE RESISTANCE” , “ROOM 13”
THE SOUND UNSOUND PRESENTS:
“FORENSICS”
EXPERIMENTAL SHOW SUPPORTED BY: “DEFEKTRO” , “AXIS TRIO” , “LOUIS BURDETT”
BASEMENT
SAT 25TH 7PM
LEVEL ONE
SAT 25TH 8PM
BASEMENT SUN 26TH 5PM
HIP HOP JAM
FEAT: IZZY & THE PROFIT AND MANY MORE
STIGMATA PROMOTIONS PRESENTS:
“HADAL MAW “
DEATH METAL SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM: “THE SHOENBERG AUTOMATION” , “DAEMON PYRE” , “GRIM DEMISE” , “AUTOLYSIS”
“OUR MOMENT AS GODS”
INDIE ROCK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM: “ONCE REMAINED” , “PRETTY ROSCA” , “FREESECKS” AND GUESTS
CREEPSHOW PROMOTIONS PRESENTS:
“DEADLY VISIONS”
HARDCORE PUNK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM: “SOUTHPAW” , “STREET WAR” , “TWO FACED” , “ALIGNMENTS” , “STAUNCH” , “WILFUL DAMAGE” , “BROWN PAPER BAG”
COMING UP
Wed 29 Oct: Indie Show with “Coast And Ocean” , “Tinsmith” , “Spirit Bear” , “Kidjoy” and many special guests; Thu 30 Oct: 8pm Basement: Halloween Show The Night Of The Stripping Dead feat: Kerry X, Bunny Lambada, Defy, Bullseye Billy, Slu Taris, Christopher Hawkins , Ripper Gently, Shatzi Sunrise & Disaster Boy, Memphis Mae, Venus Vamp, Pixie Lust, Bonnie Bat, Bloodied Bryce and many more; Fri 31 Oct: Basement 8pm: Elements Of Tech And Bass presents Halloween Special feat: Thierry D, Commit, Mark Bionic , Reload, Aggravator, Fabs and many more; Level One 9pm: Vent@Valve Halloween Edition; Hip Hop Monthly hosted by Izzy and DJ Maniak feat many special guests; Sat 1st November: Basement 7pm: Slapdash Records presents “COFFIN” and many special guests ; Level One 8pm: Rock’n’Roll Show with: “The Bitter Sweethearts” , “Angry Little Gods” , “Shot In Chicago” and many more; Sun 2 Nov: 3pm Basement: Indie Rock Show with: “Thrash Jacket” , “Flacid Mohawk” , “Fourkicks” and many more
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 7
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
NATIONAL EDITOR MAGAZINES Mark Neilsen
ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Story
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi
MUSO EDITOR Michael Smith
GIG GUIDE EDITOR Justine Lynch nsw.gigs@themusic.com.au
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bryget Chrisfield, Steve Bell
CONTRIBUTORS Adam Wilding, Andrew McDonald, Anthony Carew, Bailey Lions, Ben Meyer, Benny Doyle, Ben Preece, Brendan Crabb, Brendan Telford, Cam Findlay, Cameron Cooper, Cameron Warner, Carley Hall, Cate Summers, Chris Familton, Chris Maric, Christopher H James, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Deborah Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Guido Farnell, Guy Davis, Helen Lear, James d’Apice, Justine Keating, Kristy Wandmaker, Liz Giuff re, Lukas Murphy, Mac McNaughton, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt MacMaster, Paul Ransom, Rip Nicholson, Ross Clelland, Sam Hilton, Sam Murphy, Sarah Braybrooke, Sarah Petchell, Scott Fitzsimons, Sebastian Skeet, Sevana Ohandjanian, Simon Eales, Tim Finney, Tom Hersey, Tyler McLoughlan, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan
PHOTOGRAPHERS Angela Padovan, Cole Bennetts, Clare Hawley, Cybele Malinowski, Jared Leibowitz, Jodie Downie, Josh Groom, Kane Hibberd, Peter Sharp, Rohan Anderson
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THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 22 OCT - 28 OCT 2014
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Garage Sale Trail is a national event promoting the reduction of landfill and the reselling of unwanted goods. On Saturday sellers nationwide will peddle all kinds of trinkets and treasures to an online audience of around 2.1 million people. Over the past four years Garage Sale Trail has become the biggest community and sustainability event in Australia, with 100 local councils getting onboard and over 7000 knick-knacks sold!
From a research project by University of Sydney’s contemporary art school comes Curating Feminism, an experimental exhibition which delves into how feminist insights and methods inform the curation of contemporary art. There’ll also be a conference program featuring speeches from pre-eminent international curators Michael Birchall and Maura Reilly. The exhibition opens Thursday at Sydney College of the Arts.
James Seeney, James Redshaw sales@themusic.com.au
ART DIRECTOR Brendon Wellwood
ART DEPT David Di Cristoforo, Eamon Stewart, Julian De Bono
ADMIN & ACCOUNTS Loretta Zoppos, Niall McCabe, Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson accounts@themusic.com.au
DISTRO Anita D’Angelo distro@themusic.com.au
SUBSCRIPTIONS store@themusic.com.au
CONTACT US PO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Level 1/142 Chalmers St Surry Hills NSW Phone (02) 9331 7077 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au
From Bondi to Tamarama, Sydney’s beaches will be covered by two kilometres of artworks beginning Thursday. The vision of Founding Director David Handley the exhibition has transformed from a small affair in Perth in 1997 into a government -subsidised, awardwinning showcase of local artists. Over 100 displays will be featured, the creations of artists from Australia and all over the world. SCULPTURE BY THE SEA. PIC: PETER SHARP
SYDNEY
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THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 9
national news news@themusic.com.au SAN CISCO
EDDIE IZZARD
READY TO RUN
FORCE IZZARD
Eddie Izzard seems to have been everywhere of late, at least on TV: from tracking his ancestry back 10,000 years via his DNA to guest starring roles in Hannibal and United States Of Tara. Meanwhile, he’s been getting back to his other roots, stand-up comedy, with his Force Majeure world tour, which kicked off in March 2013 and finally reaches Australia in January. The British comedian appears 28 Jan, Sydney Opera House; 2 Feb, Brisbane Convention Centre; 4 Feb, Riverside Theatre, Perth; 7 Feb Llewellyn Hall, Canberra; and 9 Feb, Hamer Hall, Melbourne.
THE STUFF OF DREAMS
With his debut album Dream Your Life Away out last week, Vance Joy will no doubt be sending his hordes of fans into a frenzy with the announcement of a national tour in March, supporting the new record. The tour travels from 6 Mar, The Tivoli, Brisbane; 13 Mar, Palais Theatre, Melbourne; 20 Mar, Astor Theatre, Perth; 27 Mar, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, plus more dates can be found at theMusic.com.au.
IT’S A NICE DAY
Punk icon Billy Idol has announced his first Australian tour in over a decade, with the rocker set to visit our shores this coming March. See him at A Day On The Green (or Evening On The Green in WA): 14 Mar, Kings Park & Botanic Gardens, Perth; 21 Mar, Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley; 28 Mar, Bimbadgen Winery, Hunter Valley; 29 Mar, Sirromet Winery, Mount Cotton. Idol also plays arena shows: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 18 Mar; Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney, 19 Mar; and Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, 24 Mar. American rock veterans Cheap Trick will be main support.
GLASGOW POP REVISITS Led by charismatic singer Stuart Murdoch, Glaswegian indie-popsters Belle & Sebastian break the four-year drought and return to Australia to enjoy our summer and take fans on a leisurely stroll through the back catalogue as well as preview a few tunes from their forthcoming album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance, due for release mid-Jan. Their tour kicks off 28 Jan at The Tivoli in Brisbane, then they play 29 Jan at Enmore Theatre in Sydney, 1 Feb at Palais Theatre in Melbourne and 3 Feb at Astor Theatre in Perth.
INTO THE WOODS
Woodford Folk Festival will return in 2015 with arguably its biggest line-up to date, having landed the talents of US icons Violent Femmes. Bertie Blackman, The Cat Empire, Sticky Fingers and around 400 other artists from all over the world will take part in Australia’s largest gathering of artists and musicians, with 1556 shows being played in 35 venues spread out over six days from 27 Dec – 1 Jan.
BILLY CONNOLLY
PEN IT IN
Irish pop-rock outfit The Script have confirmed a 2015 headline tour of Australia and the band will be bringing English artist Labrinth along with them. The Script recently unveiled album No Sound Without Silence and Labrinth is currently putting the finishing touches on his second album Take Me To The Truth. They stop by 24 Apr, Perth Area; 29 Apr, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne; 1 May, Allphones Arena, Sydney; and 2 May, Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
“LET’S BE REAL JUICE CLEANSES ARE JUST EXPENSIVE LOWKEY VAMPIRE LARPING”
YOU GET WAY MORE NUTRIENTS FROM ACTUAL SOLID FRUIT ANYWAY, HUH @EMILYYOSHIDA? 10 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
While 2012/2013 saw San Cisco going nutty all over the world on the back of their debut full-length record San Cisco and collecting hordes of fans along the way, 2014 has thus far seen them shifting their focus towards putting new tracks together. They’re finally ready to prove to us that the wait for their return to the touring circuit has been worth it, with a ten-date national tour in support of their new single, Run. They kick things off from 15 & 16 Nov, Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle; 21 Nov, The Zoo, Brisbane; 23 Nov, The Northern, Byron Bay; 27 Nov, Metro Theatre, Sydney; and 29 Nov, Corner Hotel, Melbourne. Proudly presented by The Music, with more dates at theMusic.com.au.
BILLY RIDES AGAIN
Despite his own recent explorations into his potentially imminent mortality and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, nothing is going to stop the irrepressible Billy Connolly from riding into your town on his High Horse Tour. The perpetually irreverent star of stand-up, film and television comes to Geelong Performing Arts Centre, 27 Jan; Hamer Hall, Melbourne, 28 & 30 Jan; Sydney Opera House, 6 & 7 Feb; WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, 18 Feb; Royal Theatre, Canberra, 19 Feb; Newcastle Entertainment Centre, 22 Feb; QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane, 24 & 25 Feb; Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, 2 Mar; and Perth Arena, 10 Mar.
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 11
local news
FRONTLASH FOO FIGHTERS
The first taste of new material drops and we’re already feeling the love for it.
THE BANDROOM The Kings Cross Hotel will continue live music with the establishment of The Bandroom, taking over what was known as FBi Social. Glad to see a live music venue didn’t shut up shop completely.
COMEDY AHOY Some big comedy tours announced this past week including Billy Connolly and Eddie Izzard. Plenty of laughs coming.
nsw.news@themusic.com.au
STEP TO IT
LOCAL LOVIN’
Lost Paradise – taking place in Glenworth Valley from 30 Dec to 1 Jan – has now added a host of local collectives to bring the total number of acts to a whopping 89. Among the talent is Little Fritter, Phil Smart, Gabby, Murat, Robbie Lowe, Ant J Steep, Softwar, COOP, Kali, Matt Weir, Kerry Wallace, and heaps more. For more line-up and ticketing info, head to lostparadise. com.au.
BY THE FIRE FBI SOCIAL
BACKLASH THE DOCTOR IS OUT
Shame to see The Doctor hang up his microphone on triple j. We will miss his dulcet tones, but look forward to him focusing on music again.
FBI SOCIAL Will be sad to see the old girl go in this form, but venues evolve all the time.
MOS DEF Was a no show at Soulfest. For once, we’d love all acts on a hip hop festival to turn up as planned.
ZAC BROWN BAND
Step-Panther have dropped the film clip for It Came From The Heart, from their second album Strange But Nice. They’re launching it with a co-headline tour with Bearhug, who have just released their album So Gone. The fun will come to Goodgod Small Club, 21 Nov and Scarborough Wombarra Bowling Club, 7 Dec.
The Hunter Valley’s newest festival has revealed its first line-up of acts with the John Butler Trio, Lee Kernaghan and Kasey Chambers to headline Campfire Festival. Taking place on Hope Estate, the festival has arisen following CMC Rocks’ decision to move to Queensland; this is the replacement event. Taking place 13 – 15 Mar, Ash Grunwald, Beccy Cole, The McClymonts, Wendy Matthews and We Two Thieves and more will also perform.
JURY RETURN
Rather than crowdfunding, Philadelphia Grand Jury are hitting the road to raise the readies to record at Berkfinger’s Berlin studio. Philadelphia Grand Jury’s Return In November Tour sees them play 12 Nov at the Beach Road Hotel, Bondi and 13 Nov at Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle.
REMOTE ROOTS
Big Sky Blues And Roots have announced an impressive line-up for the 2015 two-day festival. With three time Grammy winners Zac Brown Band, Michael Franti, Spearhead, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Mavis Staple and many more. Pack up your tents and head to Deniliquin 4 & 5 Apr.
SUGAR ON THE SIDE
Seattle electronica duo Odesza are currently touring North America, but January, they bring their second album, In Return, to Australian stages, playing 17 Jan at Oxford Art Factory befpre heading to Sugar Mountain festival in Melbourne.
EXTRA EXTRA
There’ll be a second Sarah McLachlan show at City Recital Hall, 8 Feb. Asgeir plays another show at Sydney Opera House, 7 Jan at 6.30pm, prior to the 9pm show. Suzi Quatro will play a second concert on 14 Feb at Enmore Theatre.
DREAD REDEMPTION
Rising Jamaican artist Chronixx, touted as the next Bob Marley, is bringing his band, Zincfence Redemption and their energetic brand of conscious, Jah-inspired reggae to Factory Theatre, 12 Dec, as part of his Dread & Terrible World Tour.
TRAIN TIMETABLES
Dates for the upcoming headline tour from Train have been changed, due to alterations to the band’s international travel arrangements. Their Sydney Opera House show, originally slated for 5 Apr, will now take place on 1 Apr.
BEATS 4 BREAST CANCER
Marking the 20th anniversary of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Beats 4 Breast Cancer is a concert happening 10 Dec at the Qantas Credit Union Arena to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. Performing are Justice Crew, Dami Im, Leo Sayer, Morgan Evans, Anthony Callea, L-FRESH The Lion, The Soorleys, Amber Lawrence, C Major and Diana Rouvas. 12 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
BLOODS
WORKING OUT
Sydney pop punk trio Bloods finally have copies of their debut album, Work It Out, in their collective mitts and so it’s time to take it to the masses right around the nation. They’ll be hitting The Small Ballroom, Newcastle, 26 Nov; Rad Bar, Wollongong, 27 Nov; and Goodgod Small Club, 28 Nov.
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 13
local news nsw.news@themusic.com.au THE POP GROUP
THE FOX AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
FOR FREEDOM
Carriageworks is set to host The Fox And The Freedom Fighters. The new theatre work follows the story of Aboriginal activist Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon, told from the perspective of his daughter Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor and granddaughter Nadeena Dixon. The deeply personal recollection of an iconic figure runs from 12 – 22 Nov.
JUST FOLKIN’
The National Folk Festival, which takes place from 2 – 6 Apr at Exhibition Park, Canberra, has announced its first line-up. It features Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Californian cellist Natalie Haas, alt. folk singer-songwriter Mark Moldre, Canberra’s fave son Fred Smith, Canada’s Gordie MacKeenan & His Rhythm Boys, Aussie folk duo Chloe & Jason Roweth and UK’s Dark Horses.
SEMINAL POP
Fusing elements of funk, free jazz, dub and protest songs back in 1977, The Pop Group proved one of the seminal bands to come out of the UK punk scene. Reforming in 2010, The Pop Group have proven as vital as in their heyday, and 6 Mar, they play their first ever Sydney show at Factory Theatre.
I WANT TO PLAY
EMC Play hosts an inaugural two-night showcase of emerging artists on the EDM scene. Australia’s leading electronic music labels, media, brands and booking agencies will be in attendance. The event will be held throughout Kings Cross entertainment precinct, 3 & 4 Dec.
FRONT HEAVY
Sydney rock stalwarts Front End Loader have announced a Greater Sydney World Tour, after the success of their Brisbane World Tour 12 months ago. They hit up Corrimal Hotel, 7 Nov; Valve Bar, 8 Nov; and Baker Street, Gosford, 9 Nov, with support from punk rockers Headbutt.
IS BARRY SPURR WORSE THAN FAMILY FEUD? WE FIND OUT BY THROWING THEM BOTH IN A POLAR BEAR ENCLOSURE, NEXT ON THE PROJECT
BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS
@BENPOBJIE WRAPS UP THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF EMBARRASSING THINGS IN AUSTRALIA.
BEN FOR BLUESFEST
The 26th annual Bluesfest, running 2 – 6 Apr at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, will feature the first major international reunion performance by Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, as announced in the second round of acts booked in to play the event over the 2015 Easter long weekend. Also announced in this second release are Paolo Nutini, David Gray, Ben Howard, Counting Crows, Gary Clark Jr, plus heaps more. Bluesfest is presented by The Music.
QUITE THE MOUTHFUL
American rock outfit Spoon have confirmed an Australian tour for February. They will perform three headline shows, allowing Aussie fans to witness Spoon deliver some new material in a live setting, with the band releasing their eighth studio album They Want My Soul in August. They stop at Metro Theatre, 14 Feb. 14 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
WATERED DOWN
The Ocean Party have announced their Soft Focus Tour (named after their recently-released fourth album), ahead of their first ever US shows. Head along and wish ‘em luck: Front Gallery, Canberra, 7 Nov; Croatian Wickham Sports Club, Newcastle, 8 Nov; Scarborough Wombarra Bowling Club, 9 Nov; Landsdowne Hotel, 28 Nov.
GETTIN’ BUSY
Grammy Award winning dancehall superstar Sean Paul is coming back over here for his Full Frequency Tour, named after his latest sixth album released this year. As well as his full band and dancers joining him, Mya will also appear as special guest. Get dutty with the pair at Hordern Pavilion, 13 Nov.
PREACH
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bon Scott joining AC/DC, Choirboys are paying homage by performing AC/DC’s High Voltage and Highway To Hell, in their entirety. Plus, they’ll play a Choirboys set for good measure. The show comes to The Basement, 21 (High Voltage) & 22 (Highway To Hell) Nov.
OZ DAY DROP
After a day enjoying the harbour in all its Australia Day 26 Jan holiday glory, what better way to see out the evening that in the Concert Hall of Sydney Opera House to the sounds of New Zealand’s finest, Fat Freddy’s Drop, showcasing new single, Slings & Arrows?
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 15
music
DOING THEIR THING “He didn’t like it at first ‘cause it was too personal for him.” Hilltop Hoods’ MC Pressure aka Daniel Smith speaks to Stephanie Liew about how people react to songs that are about them, and why he’s hoping hip hop in Australia is shifting away from “the stereotype of bogan rap”. Cover and feature pics by Cole Bennetts.
“W
e just make songs about whatever we’re feeling at the time and if the song is working then it makes the album, and the album is a collective of our lives in the last two years so it kinda is what it is,” says one third of Hilltop Hoods, MC Pressure aka Daniel Smith, about the group’s seventh album, Walking Under Stars.
“He didn’t like it at first ‘cause it was too personal for him and it made it hard to listen to it. I know, right? It’s heartbreaking!” Smith lets out a little chuckle. “But after he heard it a few more times he was like, ‘Nah, it’s a great track’. He’s ten now, so he’s got all his own opinions and personal tastes in music and that and knows everything there is about everything in the world. The first time he heard [the track] I think it probably pulled back a lot of very hard to deal with memories. He’s in full remission, has been for over a year, so he’s doing great.” With Hilltop Hoods having just returned
like, ‘Ah, you’re doing a love song?’ but fuck, why not? I’m comfortable with it. And that’s some real life shit that you have to deal with. It’s about difficulties of being a touring artist or being away for so long and trying to maintain a relationship with someone you love – and that’s real life and that’s what we’re about. “It’s a bit easier in Australia because you get to come home for a few nights here and there between the weekends which you don’t get to do, obviously, when you’re overseas. But you know, it’s something that you have to work on always, forever, any relationship is – whether that’s with someone of the opposite sex, a friendship, your parents, your children, whatever – relationships need constant work.” At least Smith’s partner’s reaction to Won’t Let You Down was better than his son’s reaction to Through The Dark – well, sort of. “She loved it, then she looked at me like, ‘So what are you apologising for, exactly?’ – like I’d done something she didn’t know about!” laughs Smith. Although some of the songs on Walking Under Stars tackle heavier topics, it’s by no means a negative album; rather, an overall mood of optimism shines through. On top of that, it’s a distinctly personal album – not in that every track is autobiographical, but in that the personalities of the Hilltop Hoods guys permeate the
“THERE IS A BIG BOGAN FACTOR ATTACHED TO HIP HOP IN AUSTRALIA, WHICH, I MEAN, WE TRY AND AVOID AS BEST POSSIBLE.”
Among the light-hearted offerings on Walking Under Stars – such as Cosby Sweater (which Hilltop Hoods’ current tour is named after) and The Art Of The Handshake (the writing of which involved researching different cultural meanings of handshakes and getting a guy from Vancouver to record informative voice-overs) – are songs about greed (Pyramid Building), Smith watching his son battle leukaemia (Through The Dark), and maintaining relationships while away on tour (Won’t Let You Down). “The last album is definitely darker. It’s more brooding and more personal, I think, in general – not all of the songs but there’s definitely some very personal songs like [Through The Dark and Won’t Let You Down] and it’s been a bit more soulful than the last record as well,” says Smith. “A lot of that came from my son’s illness. I spent six months in hospital with him, and a better part of the year helping him deal with his illness. That definitely changed the record and kind of made it that more dark, personal, brooding album that it is... When your son has cancer it doesn’t just affect him, or you – it affects a lot of people kind of in your very close personal circles, which [fellow Hilltop Hoods members] Suffa and Debris are, and it ended up affecting the album, I think.” For many artists, the person who inspires a piece of work might not respond to that work in the way the artist hopes. That happened when Smith’s son, Liam, initially heard Through The Dark. 16 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
from a 35-date, monthlong tour in the States – performing in Europe for a month and New Zealand for two weeks prior to that, as part of their world tour – and now getting stuck into the Cosby Sweater Tour, which kicked off in Alice Springs and concludes in early December in Perth, no doubt Smith’s feeling the weight of being away from his partner and two kids. The poignancy of Won’t Let You Down seems relatable to any touring artists who have to leave loved ones for long stretches of time as part of their job. “We’re talking about our fiancees, partners or wives, and straight up, it gets no realer than that. Sometimes in hip hop people are
record: what they stand for and what they do and don’t believe in. As all music diversifies, so too have we seen hip hop in Australia spiralling every which way – yet Hilltop Hoods have long solidified their presence within the scene without specialising in any certain areas (political and social issues, for example) or gimmicks, embodying a uniquely Australian sound while also keeping away from ‘Aussie hip hop’ stereotypes. It seems that racist and sexist content in music is criticised more widely than ever, with the internet providing a platform for more voices to speak out against such things. “If you look for these things, you’ll find them in most genres of music – let’s start by saying that,” begins Smith. “Hip hop is an easy target because of the clichés that already exist; people are looking for it more. Having said that, these things do exist within it, but they’re not across the board. There’s so many different artists; it’s such a massive genre. It’s not like Australian hip hop is a genre of music – it’s not. I don’t even like the term ‘Australian hip hop’; it’s just hip hop. It’s from Australia but that doesn’t matter, it’s no different to the hip hop made in Britain or the US or any other Western, English-speaking countries in the world. There’s many different sub-genres and different personalities and things going on within our scene and other people’s scenes. A lot of people look at the American scene and go, ‘It’s misogynistic gangsta crap’ and yeah, some of it is, but not all of it... A lot of people don’t realise that
the quality underground core exists and there’s a lot more good than there is bad, and it’s the same here.” In the current landscape, it would be inaccurate to say that hip hop in Australia (and indeed, our country’s most successful/respected hip hop artists) consists of mostly white, 20-something, middle-class dudes rapping about partying and girls with varying degrees of offensiveness when artists like Briggs, Remi, Citizen Kay, Tkay Maidza, Jimblah (2007 recipient of the Hilltop Hoods/APRA Initiative) and Joelistics are all at the forefront of modern hip hop in Australia. But Smith thinks we’re not yet completely free of ‘bogan rap’ connotations. “There is a massive bogan stigma attached to the term ‘Aussie hip hop’. And it used to get called ‘skip hop’, and that’s even worse – I mean, that’s a racial slur. Why would you call a genre of music that? And there is a big bogan factor attached to hip hop in Australia, which, I mean, we try and avoid as best possible. Some people make that lad hip hop, and that’s cool, if they wanna make that and they do it in good taste, good on ‘em. Some of ‘em do, some of ‘em don’t. But there’s so many other types of hip hop in Australia. You got hardcore dudes, you got commercial
stuff, you got backpacker stuff – it’s not one genre, there’s so much going on in different scenes. “Hopefully people are shifting away from the stereotype of bogan rap. And they are. There’s a lot of people mixing genres, there’s a lot of people playing a bit of electronic, a bit of dance, dudes doing more soulful stuff... There’s guys doing like political sort of hip hop. There’s so many good positive things going on it’s unfortunate that sometimes some [negative] things pop up in the media and the attention gets put on them.”
WHEN & WHERE: 24 Oct, Hordern Pavilion; 30 Oct,
JUST COS’ Smith would love it if fans wore Cosby sweaters (the thick, woolly jumpers in clashing patterns and colours, popularised by Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show) to their shows on the Cosby Sweater Tour, but it might be a bit warm. “I’m hoping people will rock up in Cosby sweaters. I don’t wanna wear the Cosby sweater myself. Have you seen how ugly those things are?” Smith laughs. “The whole idea behind the song was this really famous photo of Notorious BIG wearing a Cosby sweater after he released Ready To Die; I think it was like ‘94 when Cosby sweaters were in fashion. He was the king of hip hop in the world – it’s such a juxtaposition of such a notorious hardcore rapper and such a fluorescent flamboyant jumper and it’s just the greatest photo ever. We just made a song dedicated to pretty much that photo because we wanted to do a track with a whole lotta fun. But I won’t be wearing one on stage – I sweat a lot and those things are hot. I do own one, though! Suffa is the main advocate of the Cos’; he’s been trying to bring it back, actually wearing it in public. I’m like, ‘Okay... you’re doing that for real?’”
AIS Arena, Canberra; 31 Oct, Newcastle Entertainment Centre THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 17
circus
STAYING IN THE HOOP
Cirque du Soleil returns to Oz this summer with another spectacular; this time on the theme of evolution. One of the stars of Totem tells Paul Ransom about Native American hoop dances and dropping out of college to tour the world.
I
f you were ever going to consider dropping out of college to run away with the circus, you could hardly choose a better big top than the famous, globe-trotting blue and yellow grand chapiteau of Quebec’s Cirque du Soleil. Thus it was for a young Californian-born sociology student named Eric Hernandez. One day studying hard, the next packing his bags to tour the world with Cirque’s
latest juggernaut – the Robert Lepage-directed spectacle Totem. However, rather than being a straightforward ‘plucked from obscurity’ story, Hernandez’s 2011 switch from undergrad to circus performer came via a curious collision of the ancient and the modern. Cirque casting had seen Hernandez on YouTube performing a traditional Lumbee Indian hoop dance. Three years and more than 750 shows later, he and 44 other acrobats, dancers and singers have landed in Australia for yet another Cirque summer down under. For Hernandez though, the real beauty of the
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story isn’t so much his own trajectory as the hoop dance and the Lumbee culture that underscores it. For though born in Covina, California, Hernandez’s ancestry traces back to the North Carolina-based Lumbee tribe. “I learned the dance from my uncle when I was about ten years old and I’ve been doing it since then,” he explains. “It tells a story about the different plants and animals and how they relate to humans, and that kind of ties it in with the theme of Totem.” Created by legendary Canadian film and theatre director Robert Lepage, Totem is ostensibly about evolution. It tracks human life from the primordial ponds to the sky and places our journey within the broader context of nature. Much like Ovo (which toured Australia last summer) and their much touted Avatar tie-in, The hoop dance itself is a traditional wedding ceremony. According to Hernandez, “The hoop represents the wedding band. In the show it appears right before the roller skaters, who are in a wedding scene, so for me it’s cool that the dance has retained its true spirit in the show.” Indeed, Cirque has not only revived the circus but helped to weld together the disciplines of dance, music and acrobatics in a way that satisfies not simply the aesthetics of the family friendly arena but the genuinely artistic and philosophical ambitions of creatives like Totem’s director Robert Lepage. For one time sociology student and proud Lumbee descendant Eric Hernandez, it has also been a ticket to the world. As he explains it, “We get to perform for thousands of people every night and I can get to share this dance and this culture that I’ve been doing since I was a kid with the whole world.” WHAT: Totem WHEN & WHERE: 28 Oct, Under The Big Top, EQ
THE SOLO BAG
Returning to tour his second solo album, Gomez’s Ben Ottewell talks to Brendan Telford about looking his audience in the eye.
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o Australian audiences Ben Ottewell is the baritone crooner in much-loved English band Gomez, who over the course of their 17-year history has found a strong affinity with audiences Down Under. Coming back again in solo guise with second album Rattlebag in tow, Ottewell admits that the connection his music has made here has always made touring Australia a priority. “There is a real affinity there, people are receptive and I always have a great time,” Ottewell asserts. “There is never that internal wince when travelling to Australia; it’s been one of the audiences that have always enjoyed being part of the show. With Gomez in particular there is always this essence of fun, and unless you are a genius like (Tom) Waits where it’s all about them, they are the spotlight, they are the act – the audience should be involved. That is what a gig should be.” With Gomez on an indefinite hiatus, Ottewell has launched himself into his own material. Rattlebag was created in a more linear fashion than his debut Shapes And Shadows, and this immediacy coupled with his writing collaboration with Sam Genders (Tuung) has revitalised the songwriting process. “It’s definitely different [from Gomez], but the essential writing process is the same. I still sit around with an acoustic guitar and write a riff where everything then grows from. There isn’t the eclecticism of Gomez where there are four voices and ideas informing the songs though. With Rattlebag there’s a lot more focus and it’s more chronological; on Shapes And
18 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
Shadows there were songs that were six, seven years old. Patience & Rosaries is the kind of song I’ve always been writing, it was the prototype. Get Miles was like that, Blackbird was like that – it defined the songs for that album. Once I nailed that song I knew where I was going. Working with Sam, the great thing about it is he is so open to it. I always work best through collaboration, and Sam is like a mirror; it’s a collaboration in the sense that at its basest level he will ask me, ‘What’s this about?’ and I will have to stop and think, ‘Shit, was is this all about?’” With Rattlebag, Ottewell has crafted a suite of songs that flourish and evolve depending on the atmosphere
of the night, which again puts the onus on him as a solo performer. “There was a bluesier focus on Rattlebag that can be brought out. I did a tour of the States as a trio with the guys I recorded with, and we were pretty fucking rocking! The idea for the record was somewhere between JJ Cale and Led Zeppelin III, so that tells you where it can go.” The intimate nature of this run of shows – Ottewell will be on his own – gives audiences a rare chance to get up close and personal, which Ottewell relishes. “I get to see people a lot more,” he laughs. “I get to look them in the eye. Or maybe I’ll close my eyes. It’s an odd thing to get used to.” WHAT: Rattlebag (Cooking Vinyl) WHEN & WHERE: 29 Oct, Newtown Social Club; 30 Oct, Brass Monkey; 1 Nov, Coogee Diggers; 2 Nov, Heritage Hotel, Bulli
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 19
music
SHAKE A FIST Fuelled by an “angry hippie”, the godfather of metal and social inequality, Shihad have unleashed their heaviest album in eons. Frontman Jon Toogood tells Brendan Crabb about the benefits of battling, and traffic.
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ne of the only places that I actually listen to music is in a car,” Shihad main man Jon Toogood enthuses from Melbourne, apologising for being slightly late for our scheduled interview due to being held up in transit. “I don’t mind being stuck in traffic; it’s a good chance to listen to records!” Such affability is typical of the vocalist/guitarist. However, said joviality also belies the seemingly bleak world view (although Toogood’s quick to underline that “It’s a really hopeful record for us”) evident throughout the Kiwi outfit’s new album FVEY (pronounced ‘five eyes’). The new material echoes Shihad’s formative, industrialised rock leanings, bristling with a pseudo-conspiracy lyrical bent. “I walk out of my hotel down the road to the studio. I passed this queue of people, thinking it must be for Rolling Stones tickets,” he laughs while explaining the album’s genesis. “Then I got closer – it was a queue that went down the street, middle of Auckland, then around the corner. It was actually people lining up for food. It was the Auckland City Mission. I couldn’t believe it; I had never in 42 years on this planet seen anything like that in New Zealand. So this is the other side of free market capitalism, without any constraints. It works if you’re already fucking sorted, but if you’re not, fuck you, you are fucking history. I don’t want to live in that world, and I think that informed what we’re talking about.” Recent significant life events also infiltrated the record; the death of Toogood’s father and getting married in Sudan, where he witnessed “some real fucking poverty”. On the musical front there were vital landmarks. One was rekindling their working union with Killing Joke’s shamanistic Jaz Coleman, who produced 1993 debut Churn but had long since fallen out with the respective band members. FVEY was all laid down live, Toogood revealing they were “hammered” into making “brutal music” by their once-estranged collaborator. “It was actually like a lovers’
tiff that lasted for about 15 years, with a mate that you didn’t speak to for 15 years, but as soon as you see them it’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s all good.’ The big difference was he’s not drinking anymore, so it’s not so… mean-spirited,” the singer chuckles. “He’s always
to write about: injustice, inequality, divide between the rich and the poor, greed. He just went, ‘Great. Have you seen this book? Do you know what the fuck the New Zealand government’s doing with this? Do you know what the Australian government is doing with that?’ And would just feed me shit, so that was his way of throwing the cat amongst the pigeons. He’s still got that edgy thing about him, but because he’s straight it’s more considered and he’s more present. It was good having him push us. We need to be pushed, man.” Affording additional inspiration was another connection to their origins – opening for Black Sabbath last year, more than two decades after covering Ozzy and co on their first EP. Toogood readily admits these shows played a significant role in FVEY’s more abrasive tone, while subsequently reaffirming career decisions. “Not only did we design a set which was basically all our heavy shit, because we were supporting Sabbath. But it was also because we had just toured our greatest hits and realised that was the music we liked more than anything else, stuff off Churn, [1995’s] Killjoy
“WE NEED TO BE PUSHED, MAN.” intense: really passionate, really intelligent, fucking genius musically. But he likes to throw a cat amongst the pigeons; he likes to stir things up. In the past when he was drinking, he’d do that internally in the band and do it personally with other people, and it could be really nasty. “But with this one, he’s still like an angry hippie, and where he was throwing the cat amongst the pigeons was, he saw early on that I’d written down what I wanted
and [1999’s] The General Electric. So doing that every night we reminded ourselves about how good it felt to be inside that really tight, rhythmic rock. “On top of that, we would finish and we would watch this band play, and it was like… ‘Wow, I love heavy music,’” he laughs. “‘Listen to that fucking riff.’ On top of it you’ve got [Sabbath guitarist] Tony Iommi coming in three hours before every show and warming up, because he’s fucking Tony Iommi, he plays in Black Sabbath and he’s got a reputation to uphold. I love that, ‘cause he’s 20 years older than me. It’s the thing I’ve chosen to do with my life, and I take that fucking seriously. I loved seeing the fact that he still took that seriously. So it was like, ‘Ok, let’s write a record.’” WHAT: FVEY (Warner) WHEN & WHERE: 25 Oct, Metro Theatre; 12 Dec, Festival Of The Sun, Port Macquarie
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THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 21
music
SPACE COWBOYS
always trying to label what you do, and to me our music should be hippie baroque.”
Life is pretty down home but also a little cosmic in the world of Chris Robinson Brotherhood, as Michael Smith discovers chatting to the man himself, Chris Robinson.
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lassic swampy Southern blues-rock meets Doobie country rock meets ‘60s sci-fi synth wibblywobblyness is probably as close as you’ll get in describing the sound of Chris Robinson Brotherhood. Frontman Chris Robinson has always been a bit out there, as anyone who knows his work in his previous band with brother Rich, The Black Crowes. The oddcollides-with-the-familiar quotient is upped again on the Brotherhood’s third album, Phosphorescent Harvest. Turns out Robinson has a name for that ‘collision’. “I mean, that was our thing,” Robinson explains from his home in Santa Monica, California. “Adam (MacDougall,
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keyboards, ex-Black Crowes) and I were really in this before anyone else came on board, and we were kind of discussing a visualisation if you will of a covered wagon, but Herbie Hancock in the [1971 album] Mwandishi era in the back of the covered wagon playing, like, all his synthesisers and shit. So, cool – our band’s a covered wagon but it has a warp drive. I think, again, that’s where we all are as musicians. There’s the roots side of us – we’re equally happy listening to George Jones records or Buck Owens records or Jimmy Driftwood – and then we listen to mid-century avantgarde electronic stuff; I mean, where does it all come from? People are
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood came together the year after The Black Crowes went into their second “hiatus” in 2010, and released two albums, Big Moon Ritual and its companion, The Magic Door, within four months of each other in 2012. Phosphorescent Harvest is the first to feature songs Robinson has written in collaboration with Brotherhood guitarist Neal Casal. “What a unique opportunity, for any time in your life, to have that kind of wellspring of creativity, but especially in the big cosmic scheme of things. Neal and I had met a while back and we were always into the same stuff and I always loved his guitar playing. So this opportunity came and we both jumped right in there, and I think that’s part of the allure for us, as well as our commitment to this. We’ve stumbled upon some little musical alchemy that just we like, and if we dig it maybe other people will, you know what I mean? Now the next thing is to get everybody else equally involved, ‘cause Adam I think has a lot of things to say with his composition that you’ll start to see, and hopefully that’s the progression you’ll hear in the next few cycles. “We’re just trying to make, I think, something that we feel is beautiful and something that could blossom at any moment. We can take something super folkie and earthy and turn it around into something really atmospheric and spatial. And if you can do that and keep it melodic and have the poetic imagery be something that people can hang their own feelings on, then good.” WHAT: Phosphorescent Harvest (Silver Arrow) WHEN & WHERE: 6 Apr, Metro Theatre; 2 – 6 Apr, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay
WORLD WHERE YOU LIVE When Bryget Chrisfield sits down with Husky’s frontman Husky Gawenda and keyboardist Gideon Preiss, signing autographs, stalking Neil Finn and working with Phil Ek over the World Wide Web are discussed.
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eated at the Mushroom HQ, Husky cousins/ bandmates/producers – frontman Husky Gawenda and keyboardist Gideon Preiss – have been busily signing CD slicks, which are now spread out all over the boardroom table to dry. If the pen doesn’t work properly and smudges appear, do the boys feel bad for the fan who will wind up with that one? “Yeah!” they reply in unison. Preiss reveals he has “such insecurities around [his] signature” because it’s been around since he opened up his first “Dollarmite” bank account. They’ve perfected the casually thrown together look – sporting garments that could easily be hand knitted – and both have long, unruly (but shiny clean) hair. Although the band gave themselves deadlines when working towards album number two, Gawenda commends, “The label was much more about, ‘Do what you need to do to make it good’.” Preiss adds, “It’s always worth a bit of extra time to get it right.” Husky worked with number one on their mixer wishlist, Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, The Shins, Band Of Horses) for Ruckers Hill. Preiss confirms this collaboration was made possible courtesy of “the World Wide Web” and Gawenda shares, “‘Cause we were on tour some of the time, depending where we were it was five or six in the morning when he’d finish a mix. So he’d send me a text message to wake me up – I had it on a particular 22 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
ring that was really loud and long. And so we’d wake up and spend two or three hours listening, going back and forth, and tweaking things... But the mixes always came back very close anyway. So it wasn’t a difficult process.” Minutes into the album’s opening title track, Husky’s harmonies evoke the Finn brothers. “I take that as a big compliment,” Gawenda acknowledges. “Growing up, my sister loved Crowded House. Actually, Neil Finn lived around the corner from us.” Preiss queries, “In East St Kilda?” Gawenda confirms. “I’m not sure if it’s still his house, but it was this beautiful big old rambling mansion with these gorgeous overgrown
gardens. You couldn’t get in, you could sort of peer over the fence and, as a kid, like, me and my sister used to go down there and sort of try and see if we could see ‘im.” Unfortunately this resulted in “not a single sighting”. “My sister played those [Crowded House] records so they were always around – those songs were always floating down the hallways and I just think they wrote some of the great Australian songs.” WHAT: Ruckers Hill (Liberation) WHEN & WHERE: 26 Oct, Craft Beer Week, Carriageworks; 13 Nov, Oxford Art Factory; 14 Nov, The Small Ballroom, Newcastle; 15 Nov, Transit Bar, Canberra; 16 Nov, Brass Monkey; 23 Nov, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby To read the full interview head to theMusic.com.au
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 23
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DIRTY DEEDS
The Peep Tempel’s frontman and songwriter Blake Scott takes Steve Bell on a stroll through the sleazy underbelly of society inhabiting their second long-player, Tales.
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hese days Aussie rock’n’roll doesn’t come much more dirty and debauched than the music of Melbourne trio The Peep Tempel. And it’s not just the raucous yet somehow groovy music – their twisted narratives are full of lowlife characters caught in seedy situations, and distinctly Australian in nature (although not in the way that fills you with national pride). Starting out life as a duo utilising just guitar and drums, they soon found this format so restrictive that – having brought in a ringer to play bass on their eponymous 2012 debut album – they got bassist Stewart Rayner to join the ranks, and their new second
dance
long-player Tales is their first long-player with this settled line-up. It’s still dark and gritty and strange, but the ideas seem more fully realised, making it an excellent progression in both ambition and delivery. “With Tales we were looking to have a little bit more dynamic – we still have that live, loose feel to it, but the first album is pretty much red-lined all the way through in terms of pace and that sort of thing, so we just wanted to have a little bit more dynamic to this record and a little more space in the music,” frontman Blake Scott explains. “When we first started Steve [Carter – drums] and I
were actually quite deliberately trying to write almost disco music. It was, like, ‘Let’s write these punk songs and you put a disco beat on it!’ We thought we were the funniest people on earth, but even though it’s not the most original idea it seems to have stayed.” And those relentlessly squalid narratives with the cavalcades of sleazy characters are also in for the long haul. “It’s all pretty seedy,” Scott chuckles. “To us you build a soundscape or a musical bed, and from that you build a character. The characters that are built for these songs are not meant to be anyone in particular – they’re just like a faceless character and an amalgamation of different experiences and different people. I guess some of it’s lowlevel crim and that sorta thing – I suppose in an Australian sense you can look at David Wenham’s character in [2003 crime flick] Gettin’ Square, there’s a lot of those sorta dudes in our songs. There’s a lot of parachute jacket-wearing guys. “We try to keep a bit of humour without being derogatory or offensive, and that’s why there’s never any references to any actual person in any of the songs – we just build these characters that have something to do with this place called The Peep Tempel, which originally was a strip club in Vienna which had the symbol of a naked lady with skulls and crossbones underneath it. I don’t even know what the fuck that means but it conjures up the image of some pretty seedy and likely characters, so we just wanted to have a bit of fun with the lyrics. A bit of a gag and some larrikinism.” WHEN & WHERE: 24 Oct, Landsdowne Hotel
LIFE INTERFACE Back from a weekend in Bundanoon making flora and fauna digitally dance, David Clarkson talks to Dave Drayton about the role of technology in physical theatre.
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ver two decades ago David Clarkson co-founded physical theatre company Stalker Theatre with Rachael Swain and seemingly bade farewell to the scientific pursuits of his tertiary education. Then came a collaboration with his nephew (and multi-awardwinning video game and interactive film designer) Sam Clarkson, which utilises, among other things, infra-red tracking, photogrammetry, digital instillations and virtual costumes, all in conjunction with the more traditional tools of physical theatre – namely, the human body. The work that emerged from that collaboration is Encoded.
Premiering at Carriageworks in 2012, Encoded last year toured Korea and the Netherlands. Along the way, Clarkson has had the opportunity to further investigate the new body of work his experimentation with technology is spawning. “Maybe as I get older and am probably slightly less physical myself... as my approach to physicality has changed and as I’ve matured as an artist, I’m going back to a long time ago, re-exploring my interest in science and genetics and cosmology, ideas of space and coding. I’ve been taking that science interest and looked for ways to apply it in a theatrical context.” While touring Encoded in Korea, Clarkson and part of the team collaborated with Korean artists for a new work to present at the Gwacheon Festival and Hi Seoul Festivals, Pixel Mountain adding a new cultural perspective to the 24 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
marriage of soul and technology with which Clarkson works. “Within a generation or two you’ve gone from Korea being at the bottom of the OECD for technology to being at the top of that OECD, so you’ve had a huge cultural shift,” Clarkson explains. “They are a very digitised culture, but they still refer to themselves as ‘mountain people’... so it was a very interesting culture to move into with the set of ideas that are behind Encoded and look at the cultural implications of a technologised society. Pixel Mountain refers to, very literally, the fact that they are a digitised ‘mountain people,’ and in Korean that translated as ‘the mountain of fragments’.”
Clarkson has been fragmenting another mountain recently, or, at least, a hill. On the top of it is Bundanoon Homestead and at the recent annual Siteworks, an event organised by the Bundanoon Trust that brings together scientists, artists and community voices, Clarkson and company digitised images of the local flora and fauna, built graphics from them and fed those graphics into physics engines in order to manipulate the formation of each object. “You watch this cloud of particles appear, and they form into various creatures that come and go, and then a dancer comes into the space to dance these various creatures.” Creature is a partway point between Clarkson’s current and future work, collaborating with Dr Daniel Catchpoole – a cancer geneticist at Westmead’s Children’s Hospital – and drawing on breakthroughs in genetic sequencing and coding to shape visual and choreographic performance concepts and dance sequences. WHAT: Encoded WHEN & WHERE: 23 – 25 Oct, Riverside Theatre
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 25
★★★★ ½
album/ep reviews
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
ROWLAND S. HOWARD Six Strings That Drew Blood
I’m In Your Mind Fuzz
Liberation
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Flightless/Remote Control The fear of diminishing returns hasn’t fazed prolific garagepsychers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, as their new album comes only six months after the release of Oddments, marking their fifth record in two years. Despite the disappointment of Oddments as an overall album, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz shows a growing sense of cohesion among the band members that is starting to catch up to their fervent creativity. The album kicks off with a motorik dream grind in I’m In Your Mind, a fuzz-blown wailer with brilliant harmonica and guitar solos with potential to spiral out ad infinitum – a brilliant opener. The sense of fun continues with next track I’m Not In Your Mind, a trailing instrumental that eats its own tail. Cellophane is a hypercolour wet dream,
and the title track completes a sweat-inducing four-peat suite of breakneck ecstasy. The paisley pop of Empty gratefully slows things some; Hot Water manages to both whisper and raise the heart rate with that metronomic Krautbeat they master so well; Am I In Heaven? spreads out over eight minutes, a somnambulist’s glorious nightmare. Things are still weird – Satan Speeds Up and Her And I (Slow Jam 2) play out like a lysergic Cream – but it all makes absurd sense. I’m In Your Mind Fuzz is a behemoth of warp and fizz that blows the speakers and the mind. More of this please. Brendan Telford
★★★★ ½
★★★★
It’s a name often referenced but likely not listened to as much as that suggests. For Rowland S. (“the S. is shorthand for ‘The Sweet Smell of Success’,” he would drily explain), was the classic cult hero – much as he’d hate to be considered such. In his sometimes-vicious serrated guitar noise and laconic vocals are elements countless bands of serious young things have tried – and mostly failed – to match. This double-disc overview of his work is necessary, even if going for the ‘RSH for Idiots’ approach of opening with the misunderstood glory of Shivers, written – at around age 16 – as a sneer at his peers’ melodrama, but made an anthem by the very black-clad he targeted, and still celebrated 35 years on. It’s then into The Boys Next Door and the nascent Birthday Party as Nick Cave’s main
★★★★ musical foil, bailing when they “forgot where the artifice stopped and we began.” He left classics like The Friend Catcher and an extraordinary duet with punk goddess Lydia Lunch of Lee Hazlewood’s Some Velvet Morning – the hangover replaced by the opiate haze of something stronger. Six Strings goes on to run through his bands that perhaps never got their full due – Crime And The City Solution and Those Immortal Souls – and on to his late-life career resurrection with the quite remarkable Pop Crimes album, before his earlier excesses took their final toll. He was a beautiful wraith, and this a document to his singular talent. Ross Clelland
★★★★
★★★½
FLIGHT FACILITIES
BORED NOTHING
BEN HOWARD
LANIE LANE
Down To Earth
Some Songs
I Forget Where We Were
Night Shade
Future Classic
Spunk
Island/Universal
Ivy League
Flight Facilities soar above their contemporaries on debut album, Down To Earth. The Sydney duo have left all traces of their disco leanings from their early string of singles behind, save the lithe funk of Sunshine, featuring the vocally dexterous and ever soulful Reggie Watts. Instead, the duo has gone for a gently pulsing house sound on Hold Me Down and Heart Attack. A variety of interlude tracks segue nicely into the vocal material, lending this collection of aerodynamic songs the feeling of a mixtape rather than an album.
Bored Nothing is Sydneysider Fergus Miller, his second album more cohesive than the bedroom indie of his excellent eponymous 2012 debut but no less fascinating. It’s more refined but still raw in places, the lo-fi slacker tropes expanded into Sparklehorse and even Elliott Smith terrain in places, with lazy hooks meandering into your psyche, then digging in to stay. There are reverbed vocals, strummed guitars and neat loops, with smooth, slinky single, IceCream Dreams, the bright, bouncy Where Would I Begin and the willfully contrasting Ultra-Lites and Ultra-Lites II standing out. Gentle and engrossingly beguiling.
Howard follows his peppy 2011 debut, Every Kingdom, with the decidedly darker and electrified tones of The Burgh Island EP on his second longplayer. The joyful, sing-along highs of Only Love and Keep Your Head Up are replaced with the deeper, exploratory thrills of a title track ode to new love and the profoundly personal and raw punctuation of End Of The Affair. Skilled at connecting in an understated manner through a gravelly voice suited to low/high register layering and heart-tugging melody, I Forget Where We Were celebrates the second coming of Howard.
It’s to her credit that Lane wouldn’t be rushed to follow up her often sparkling debut, To The Horses. Night Shade is a more considered thing, not least as she’s perhaps considering herself growing up in public. There’s still a country speckling, but the cowgirl cabaret that sometimes seemed a bit forced has gone, replaced with layers and space that belie the album’s largely hand-hewn nature. There’s a jazzy languor to songs like I See You or Olympia, contrasted nicely with the brassy swing of the happily wanton You Show Me How I Should Like It.
Roshan Clerke
Steve Bell
26 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
Tyler McLoughlan
Ross Clelland
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 27
album/ep reviews
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★
THE COATHANGERS
THE BUDOS BAND
VARIOUS
AT THE GATES
Suck My Shirt
Burnt Offering
At War With Reality
Smack Face Records
Daptone
(When The Sun Sets Over) Carlton
Atlanta garage-punk trio The Coathangers’ fourth opens powerfully with Follow Me, as cool as having Mastodon in drag in its film clip suggests. The album sounds lean and taut, having dropped the keys of yore, and drips with attitude, snottily dismissive tales of love gone wrong (the surfy Shut Up; Love ‘Em And Leave ‘Em’s Western swing) countered by barely concealed pop hooks (Springfield Cannonball, Zombie, Drive). Swapping vocals for different moods, at times they shift into overdrive to great effect. What started as a joke is now so much more.
So far The Budos Band has delivered three albums of astonishingly tight funk, dancefloor workouts that charmed as they brought together Afrobeat and Latin soul into feel-good but decidedly retro tunes. Returning after a four-year absence, the big band from New York deliver an album that sounds a lot like James Brown dealing some heavy psychedelic grooves as he and his band get acquainted with the proto-metal back catalogue from the early ‘70s. A welcome change of direction, The Budos Band’s newlydiscovered heavy funk grind is dark and compellingly powerful.
Steve Bell
Guido Farnell
Warner The depth and breadth of Melbourne’s ‘70s innersuburban counter-culture, when live music reigned and gentrification remained a distant proposition, proves quite staggering in hindsight. This two-disc time capsule mixes the well-known with the relatively obscure; nascent Paul Kelly (both The Dots and High Rise Bombers), Skyhooks, The Sports, Jo Jo Zep and Mondo Rock nestle comfortably alongside lesser-known lights like Bleeding Hearts and The Relaxed Mechanics. A loose unified aesthetic prevails but plenty of individuality shines through. A great document.
Century Media It’s funny how things change. When Slaughter Of The Soul was released in 1995 it was received warmly but if truth be told, it was just another competent slab of Iron Maiden-influenced Swedeath. In 2014 the album is “legendary” thanks to the fact that an army of metalcore bands decided to nick its riffs and add them to shitty breakdowns. At War With Reality will please devotees of the overrated Slaughter…. All the elements are there: scything melodic riffage, Lindberg’s distinctive shriek, a clutch of creepy intros and catchy yet pummelling rhythms. Mark Hebblewhite
Steve Bell
MORE REVIEWS
themusic.com.au/music/album-reviews
★★★
★★★
★★★
SPANDAU BALLET
THE SPORTS
AMARANTHE
The Story – The Very Best Of Spandau Ballet
Reckless
Massive Addictive
Festival/Warner
Spinefarm/Caroline
Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
Reckless is the product of a band not quite settled on what it wants to be – the purist twang of Ed Bates’ guitar increasingly a bit out of place as the pop sense was beginning to take over. Highlights like Mailed It To Your Sister still have some retro flavour to them. However, The Sports’ first mainstream single, Boys! (What Did The Detective Say?) is a bit more Elvis Costello than Eddie Cochran. Conversely, many of the bonus tracks of this reissue are live shows from early in the evolution, and are often blistering.
Amaranthe market themselves as “EDM meets melodic metal”, which doesn’t quite hit the mark. The band features three vocalists: one growler and two pop singers who come across as redundant. Musically, the band isn’t enthralling; Massive Addictive is full of predictable structures and average solos. So, what makes the album work? It’s a lot of fun! Drop Dead Cynical is a bouncy nod to ‘80s pop, while Digital World is as good a gateway-to-metal song as any. This is perfect to spin at a party with mates who don’t quite dig the heavy as much as you do.
TI - Paperwork
Warner Music It’s easy to forget Spandau Ballet had a career outside of overemotive ballads, considering their two best-known songs are True and Gold. This expansive collection is a fun reminder of their very ‘80s-centric style – big horns, big synths and big hair. Tony Hadley’s voice is as smooth as memory serves and fans will love following the band’s sound through transformations from To Cut A Long Story Short to Raw. There’s a lot to discover; proof they were a lot more than the hits that have become their legacy. Sevana Ohandjanian
Ross Clelland
Cameron Cooper
28 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
The Ting Tings - Super Critical Pianos Become The Teeth Keep You Museum Of Love - Museum Of Love Ausmuteants - Order Of Operation Bass Drum Of Death - Rip This Frank Yamma - Uncle
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 29
live reviews
SOULFEST Victoria Park 18 Oct The gorgeous Sydney sun shone down on music lovers ready to embrace the first ever Soulfest event and you could instantly feel the happiness and love seeping through your skin. This was not your average festival – there were considerably fewer dickheads (can we get an AMEN?!) in the crowd and people seemed to generally be here for the music as opposed to just walking around with their shirts off looking for attention. Meatheads were at a minimum. And there were pregnant ladies everywhere – good for you mamas-to-be, good for you! The amazing Angie Stone was quite the presence when she took
ANGIE STONE @ SOULFEST. PIC: JOSH GROOM
the stage and she was clearly a crowd favourite – many moved away from the food and drink stalls to head back over to the main area to watch her perform. The familiar tunes of I Wanna Thank Ya, Brotha and No More Rain were winners (we swear we saw footage of one of the security guards dancing on the big screen) and she finished with a funky-arse version of Wish I Didn’t Miss You. Angie is queen! Musiq Soulchild’s set didn’t get off to the best start with sound problems affecting the first two songs, but once that cleared up he effortlessly rolled through a number of his slow jams, including Teachme. Closer, B.U.D.D.Y., got the crowd bumpin’ and grindin’ and ready for the next act. It was announced that the next artist scheduled to perform – Mos Def – would not be appearing, 30 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
which was a bit of a Debbie downer. So it was up to Sydney MC Miracle and his DJ to keep the crowd entertained and interested. You couldn’t help but notice the vibe levels of punters did dim during the set, although Miracle did a great job considering the situation. The biggest surprise of the day is Aloe Blacc. He’s probably the only artist on the bill who’s ever had considerable radio play and commercial success in Australia, which is why he seemed a little out of place on the line-up considering the other Soulfest names. But he is a brilliant live performer and had some very, very smooth moves. Wife and Aus hip hop veteran Maya Jupiter joined him towards the end of I Need A Dollar and he won everyone over with his latest hits The Man and Avicii collaboration Wake Me Up!.
recognisable Lady appeared to put those issues behind us – his voice is still the sex, by the way – but an erratic rendition of She’s Always In My Hair saw the troubles return and before we knew it, D’Angelo gave thanks to the crowd and was off. No Untitled, no Brown Sugar. Six songs from undoubtedly the drawcard Soulfest artist was just not good enough. Sally-Anne Hurley
SAY ANYTHING, CERES, DRAWING NORTH Manning Bar
The man who almost everyone was anticipating, D’Angelo, was unfortunately also the man behind the biggest set disappointment of the night. His band, as ridiculously talented as they are, drowned the singer out and the sound issues that had popped up consistently throughout the day seemed to affect – and frustrate – D’Angelo the most. An extended version of One Mo’ Gin and the instantly
Though new album, Hebrews, is yet to be released in Australia, songs such as Six Six Six got just as enthusiastic a response as crowd favourites I Can Get Sexual Too and Every Man Has A Molly. Danielle O’Donohue
18 Oct First band up, Drawing North seemed a rather odd fit for a Say Anything support. Thanks to choruses that aren’t as anthemic
MAXWELL @ SOULFEST. PIC: JOSH GROOM
We made our way back to the main area for one of hip hop’s most intelligent artists, Common. His energy levels were insane, as were his head-sweat levels and he probably enjoyed the biggest crowd response of the day. He lost his shit during Testify and took it out on an innocent stool but it was all part of the song’s message, while a Sydney-focused freestyle and incredible few minutes from his DJs proved Common and his crew were just plain showing off.
out over the crowd as he did standing on stage alongside his band mates. His awkward dance moves seeming to compensate for his slightly subdued voice, but when your crowd is singing every word back at you, you can probably get away with a little jet lag and a cold.
SAY ANYTHING @ MANNING BAR. PIC: BRANDON VOIGHT
and meaningful as the band seems to sincerely believe they are, Drawing North’s sound seems better suited to a So Fresh compilation. Luckily, Ceres were on hand to set things right. A Melbourne melodic rock outfit that just shimmer and crunch in all the right places, their sound seemed as effortless as their relaxed and just-outof-the-garage stage style. With the addition of Saves The Day frontman Chris Conley into the Say Anything line-up, the band’s onstage chemistry sizzled with exuberance. And it wasn’t just Conley’s chuffed smile that seared his presence onto the line-up. On songs such as Surgically Removing The Tracking Device, Conley’s guitar work really beefed up the sound. Frontman Max Bemis spent almost as much time leaning
MORE REVIEWS
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MILEY CYRUS @ ALLPHONES ARENA. PIC: ROHAN ANDERSON
Richard In Your Mind @ Lansdowne Hotel Jimmy Barnes @ Enmore Theatre Smudge @ Newtown Social Club
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 31
arts reviews
REGGIE WATTS
REGGIE WATTS: HELLO HUMANS Comedy
Sydney Opera House
★★★★ Opener Genevieve Fricker made the most of her ten minutes, earning big laughs with songs about ex-boyfriends and that “Marge, the rains are ‘ere” advertisement from years ago. Reggie Watts came out wearing a shirt with ‘Chaotic, Good’ written on it,
32 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
two perfectly fitting adjectives for the night that ensued.
on a wavelength all of his own, and should not be missed.
He began in an Australian accent and shifted between accents without explanation all night. Watts creates a new brand of comedy unlike anyone else at the moment; he seems to physically follow every thought that enters his mind and turn it into laughs. At one stage Watts walked up into the crowd and spent five minutes circling the room, reciting made up poetry about everything and nothing in an upper class British accent, and incorporating the crowd into the bit. His musical bits are just as unpredictable; after ridiculous twirling of knobs and pre-song warm-up routines he creates impressive beats with vocal loops and shows off some serious piano skill while singing songs about how Type 2 diabetics are cool because of their poor eating choices. Other songs didn’t need lyrics to be funny – he makes up his own language and generates laughs by going between countless characters, male and female, rappers and divas, singing in this fictional tongue. Watts is
Cameron Warner
KILL THE PM Theatre
Old 505 Theatre to 26 Oct
★★½ Fregmonto Stokes’ Kill The PM is a darkly comic political thriller, cold-blooded, just not in the way you’d expect. In the abandoned building we occupy Peter (Michael McStay) peers anxiously onto the street below from behind closed curtains. In less than an hour the Prime Minister’s motorcade will drive past and Peter – or one of the small crew he has assembled – will shoot to kill from on high. In blocked colours, combat boots and glasses (Dylan James Tonkin’s costumes and drop-sheet-draped set are great) Pete looks every bit the student revolutionary, slippery and hard to read with an almost infallible confidence. With motives presented as vague rhetoric there’s a disconnect between what we see on stage and
what is, apparently, driving this drastic action. Both Naomi (Lily Newbury-Freeman) and Flick (Zoe Jensen) feel underdeveloped – as a result Flick’s transformation from quiet hippie seems without precedent, while Naomi is in danger of only upping a potential body count that feels inevitable. Nicholas Hiatt steals the show as wild-card Rowan, the idiosyncratic clichés heaped on fringe-dwellers, on the politically dissatisfied, are blown marvellously out of proportion in him, but Naomi manages to keep it from being simply farce. The play is at its best when seen through his eyes. Dave Drayton
KILL THE PM. PIC: LUCY PARAKHINA
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 33
34 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
the guide
Answered by: Blake from Dave Eastgate’s Boner Contention Best thing about playing at Frankie’s: The insane vibe that Frankie’s has built into its foundations. And the pussy that comes with it. Favourite pizza: Hungry Pussy. Whether you’re going strong, having a dry spell or asexual, it’s guaranteed to increase the libido of its consumer.
FRANKENSTEIN’S PIZZA HALLOWEEN
Ultimate Halloween costume: A great big purple eggplant suit. Nutritious and easy to consume, good for the skin. When and where is the show? 30 Oct at Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice.
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 1
eat/drink
SHRUBS
TO SERVE • Fill a tall glass with ice. • Add the shrub and top with alcohol and/or mixer.
A mixture of fruit, sugar and vinegar, created during the Colonial Era to preserve fruit, drinking vinegar or ‘shrubs’ are making their way back into style. Words Evan Young. Illustration Sophie Blackhall-Cain.
N
ot anywhere near as gross as it sounds, drinking this thirst-quenching, sweet and tart concoction is a great way to treat your taste buds. You can make it with any fruit you want, add any herbs, spices or sweetener you want, and mix it with whatever type of spirit or sparkling drink you want. You have the power.
INGREDIENTS • Fruit • Sugar/honey or other sweetener • Vinegar (white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar and sherry vinegar are delicious)
METHOD • Put chopped fruit in a large bowl, add an equal part of sweetener, and toss together. • Cover the bowl and chuck it in the fridge for at least several hours, but you can leave it for a day or two. • You’ll now have some syrupy goodness, which you should
36 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
strain into another container before adding vinegar to it. Whisk to dissolve any sugar. • If using other flavorings, add them now. • Pour into clean bottles, seal ‘em and put them back into the fridge for at least a week, but the flavour mellows with time. It’ll keep for six months. • Check on it periodically and give it a little shake if you see sugar settling; the vinegar and fruit acids should eventually dissolve it all. Taste to see if it’s to your liking!
• Garnish if needed. DRINK UP!
COMBO SUGGESTIONS Blood Orange & Cinnamon / Raspberry & Gin / Blackberry, Lemon & Thyme / Peach & Bourbon / Orange & Cinnamon / Strawberry & Mint Vodka Tonic / Fennel, Apple & Rhubarb / Berry and Peach Schnapps / Blueberry Malibu / Cherry Balsamic / Lemon & Ginger Tonic / Vanilla Mint / Carrot, Pear & Ginger
the guide nsw.live@themusic.com.au
LIVE THIS WEEK
CHART WRAP
DEEP FAITH
YOUNG AT HEART
JEPPIN’ OUT
Fans of The Church, keep your faith as they announce their 25th studio album Further/ Deeper. The Church tour ANU Bar, Canberra, Friday and Oxford Art Factory, Saturday.
Harry Heart has already toured the nation, Europe and the UK in three different bands, yet he’s still only 21. Now he fronts The Harry Heart Chrysalis, who are launching new single, Vex, Friday, World Bar.
You may have heard ‘em on Double J lately; their single was added to the playlist at the beginning of the month. It’s Jep & Dep, who play Django Bar on Thursday.
LIFT THE VEIL
GETTING PHILOSOPHICAL
HARPING ON
The Veil are joined by Bain Wolfkind and Skull & Dagger to launch their new record Impermanence; another record chock full of the dynamic, atmospheric metal they’ve become known for. Catch them at Hermanns Bar, Friday.
VanderAa will play The Small Ballroom, Newcastle, Friday, in support of their new single Breaking Hearts, an acoustic anthem that references Plato’s Symposium. If you’re into acoustic stuff, or Greek mythology, then head on down.
Harper brings his Michiganbased band Midwest Kind to Towradgi Beach Hotel, Sunday. He’s performed with BB King, Van Morrison and for the Queen of England and now he adds you to his list.
GREAT GORDI
HEY YOU
HIGH HOPES
Sydney singer Gordi’s new single Nothing’s As It Seems has just been released. She plays a string of shows including Goodgod Small Club, Wednesday; Station Bar, Katoomba, Friday and Carriageworks, Saturday & Sunday.
Newcastle-based alt.-rock duo Hey Lady! manage to mash their opposing influences into something harmonious. They celebrate the release of their new single My Head, My Heart with a show at Captain Cook Hotel, Friday.
Local dream-pop troupe Lowtide have been building momentum since the release of their self-titled debut record in July. They hope to continue the trend with their Wedding Ring single launch, happening Saturday, Lansdowne Hotel.
RESURRECTION
DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION
EXPRESS
Buried In Verona bring their metalcore party tunes to Afterlife, a resurgence for the alternative club scene out west. Head to Collector Hotel, Parramatta on Saturday for some tunes, cheap drinks and no lock outs.
Tour De Dance stops off at Manning Bar Saturday. Students and teachers alike come together for a passionate showcase of dance styles from all around the world. Sambafrog and Hoop Empire will be the special guests.
Ward’s Xpress are coming right at you on Friday at Lewisham Hotel. They’ve played pretty much every blues festival in the country and they’re ready to play you some tunes from their 2012 record Five Lanes.
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Sydney-bred roots veterans The Beautiful Girls have snagged the highest debut of the week on the Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts, with their ebullient fifth studio album, Dancehall Days, securing them the fifth-highest placing on the Albums ladder. It’s not enough to dethrone incumbent respective topfour full-lengths: Oz (Missy Higgins), Walking Under Stars (Hilltop Hoods, up one spot from last week), 30:30 Hindsight (Jimmy Barnes, dropping a place) and Dream Your Life Away (the rock-solid Vance Joy). That said, The Beautiful Girls step out into a particularly strong field — not a single album currently placing on the charts (with the exception of The Wiggles’ Hot Potatoes!) has peaked below a top-five spot. It was a similarly glacial week for the Singles Chart, with the top seven releases only experiencing the most minor of shuffles (between Hilltop Hoods’ fourthplacing Cosby Sweater, up a spot, and Vance Joy’s Mess Is Mine, also up one rung to #5, with Riptide down two to #6) —Timmy Trumpet’s Freaks sits atop the pile for another week, still chased Sheppard, with Geronimo at #2, and Sia, whose Chandelier is still placing strongly, at #3. As on the long-player ladder, there’s only the one new entry for the week — Melburnian indie-folk luminaries Husky step into the top 20 with I’m Not Coming Back, which slides in just behind Illy’s One For The City (featuring Thomas Jules) to claim #17. Interestingly, in the airplay stakes, the sole debut also came in at #17, and from a Victorian band — King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Cellophane. THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 37
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LIVE THIS WEEK
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… BORED NOTHING Some Songs Spunk BEN OTTEWELL Rattlebag Cooking Vinyl FLIGHT FACILITIES Down To Earth Glassnote/Future Classic LANIE LANE Night Shade Ivy League/Liberation 38 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
INSEPARABLE
MORE SORROWS
TRUE COLOURS
After meeting at a screening of the INXS mini-series Never Tear Us Apart, Lepers & Crooks and Barefoot Alley decided to go out on tour, Wednesday, Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice and Thursday, La De Da Restaurant & Bar.
Featuring Joe Camilleri, Aussie legends The Black Sorrows will be playing a show on Froday at Coogee Diggers; hear all the classic hits and some tracks from their new album, Certified Blue. Elle Harris supports.
Capricious is the first single off the forthcoming second EP from 2014 Laneway Festival winners Crooked Colours. Catch them playing it live (and more, of course) on Friday at Oxford Art Factory.
GUN SHOW
BE CONFIDENT
WALK ON
A Girl’s A Gun is a Sydneybased rock band that sound a little bit like the Stones and a little bit like The Black Crowes – according to them, anyway. Verify this yourself at Fitzroy Hotel, Friday.
With Confidence are an alternative pop-rock band from Sydney. They recently released the single I Will Never Wait, citing their influences as Kings Of Leon and Blink-182. They play Tattersalls Hotel, Friday.
San Francisco’s legendary bluesman Joe Louis Walker, known for his blend of older music and playing styles is coming Down Under to play some intimate shows, head down to The Basement Friday, or, Lizottes, Newcastle Sunday.
PLAY IT AGAIN
PONDER THIS
CAITLIN TRANSIT
Melbourne folk five-piece Playwrite have been banging out their eclectic wall of sound for a few years now and they have a new single, Whittaker. They’ll be playing it Friday at Easy Tiger.
To coincide with the release of their fourth long-player, Ponderosa, Sydney psych masters Richard In Your Mind are hitting the east coast to launch their collection of joyous and bizarre tunes: Transit Bar, Canberra, Thursday.
Lifting the first single, Hunt For The Young, from her second album, The Sleeper, Caitlin Park is putting in one last home show before she heads off overseas. Catch her Saturday at the Newtown Social Club.
BLACKLISTED
COMIN’ BACK
DAPPLED IN LIGHT
Mark Da Costa and his band The Black List return to Rock Lily at The Star, this Saturday. If you’re in the mood for some classic rocks covers, spanning ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s rock hits, this four-piece has you covered.
Comeback Kid hit up Bald Faced Stag for two shows: Thursday for an all-ages audience and Friday for over-18s. They’re bringing with them Rotting Out and Relentless, for what should be a big, heavy night.
Dappled Cities are bringing their compilation LP Many Roads, released early this year, to Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday (tonight). The indierock five-piece are supported by Samrai and The Vanns.
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THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014 • 39
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ALBUM FOCUS
HAVE YOU HEARD what would it be? Let’s go with Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly. A supremely ‘Ricky’ experience that brings together some of the best elements of the golden era of jazz, slick ‘80s reggae, eccentric funk... pure class...
the album. Not to mention mixing it with my friend Ian Pritchett.
THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS Answered by: Matthew McHugh Album title? Dancehall Days Where did the title of your new album come from? It’s named after one of the songs on the album. I thought it was reflective of the general mood of the music contained within. How many releases do you have now? Six albums under the name The Beautiful Girls and two under the name Mat McHugh. How long did it take to write/ record? The album was crowdfunded so I had a threemonth period to write, produce and play all the instruments on
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The crowdfunding gave me a sense of responsibility to the people who had invested their trust in me. I was inspired to take their good faith and make an album that hopefully surpasses their expectations. What’s your favourite song on it? I could never answer that question and don’t see any reason why I should. Will you do anything differently next time? I will experiment with different ways of releasing it. I also will try to do the music different to anything that I’ve done before. That’s the whole point right?
SEX ON TOAST Answered by: Angus Leslie How did you get together? We all met in an Arabic bath house in downtown New Jersey and it was at that point that we all stared into each other’s eyes and realised that it was love. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Ricky, Tonay, Fngn, Caleb.
When and where is your launch/ next gig? We are currently on the Dancehall Days album release tour. It includes shows all over the country.
If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? Gee, for this tour let’s go with Steely Dan. I’d also really like to poach their horn section...
Website link for more info? matmchughmusic.com
You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album –
HAVE YOU HEARD
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Let’s just say a certain band member is somewhat adept at both playing excellent solos, holding down exceptional grooves, doing the odd spin and texting beautiful women at the same time. Why should people come and see your band? Come see Sex On Toast because energetically it’s a live show you’ll never forget... Also we are very hungry. Help. When and where for your next gig? The Vanguard, 22 Oct. Website link for more info? sexontoastmusic.com
HAVE YOU HEARD
David Bowie, Kings Of Leon! You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album – what would it be? Revolver by The Beatles!
JEFFERSON Answered by: Geoff Rana How did you get together? I met our bass player travelling through Europe busking. Then we randomly met again in the Halls at Music College, we decided that fate was telling us something and Jefferson was hatched! Sum up your musical sound in four words? Ridiculously good looking sound. If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? The Doors, Zepplin, The Beatles, Stereophonics, U2, Oasis, Coldplay, Radiohead, Johnny Cash, Cream, Temper Trap, 1 • THEE M MUSIC U • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? While showcasing in Texas at SXSW we had a night off so we ventured out to see Queens Of The Stone Age. I randomly walked past security via the back entrance into Queens doing private interviews with MTV etc... Why should people come and see your band? Good music played by 4 guys who know how to play their instruments and put on a good show! When and where for your next gig? Tattersalls Hotel, Penrith, 24 Oct; Raby Tavern, 25 Oct; Cruelty Free Festival, Australian Technology Park, 26 Oct; The Vanguard 29 Oct (single launch). Website link for more info? thejeffersonband.com S U P P O R T I N G
FRANK SULTANA & THE SINISTER KIDS Answered by: Frank Sultana How did you get together? We met through friends and at each other’s shows. The current line-up came together during 2011. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Sex for the ears. If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? The Rolling Stones, circa 1970. You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album – what would it be? Anything by The Black Keys, Dylan, I N D E P E N D E N T
The Stones and Coltrane, into a barrel and pick one out. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Probably opening for Gary Clarke Jr at a sold Factory Theatre. Why should people come and see your band? You’ll dance and sweat and get lucky with that someone that you eyed off at the start of the night. When and where for your next gig? The Vanguard, 24 Oct. We’re recording and filming, to release a live album and DVD in early 2015. Website link for more info? facebook.com/ franksultanaandthesinisterkids A U S S I E
M U S I C
ALBUM FOCUS months producing/composing the album at my Bernstein Studios.
JEP & DEP Answered by: Darren Cross Album title? Word Got Out Where did the title of your new album come from? The title comes from one of the new songs on the record Not Holding On. “Word got out around this town/So grab your stuff and don’t hang around.” How many releases do you have now? Two. Through The Night EP and now our debut album Word Got Out. How long did it take to write/ record? We recorded most of the album, live to tape – two vocals and an acoustic guitar – in oneand-a-half hours then I spent five
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Playing our songs at shows to all different types of people really enjoying them, learning how to record the performance and emotions live on the album, and loving the process and end result was inspiring. What’s your favourite song on it? You Can’t Hide Your Tears In The Rain. Tender, dark and romantic; best to listen to in an electrical storm. Will you do anything differently next time? Get Warren Ellis to play violin on our new compositions/songs! When and where is your launch/ next gig? Our Sydney album launch for Word Got Out is at the Django Bar on the 23 Oct. Supports are Demay and Peter Fenton and Jamie Hutchings. Website link for more info? jepanddep.com S U P P O R T I N G
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER ERR 20 22014 014 • 2
M U S I C
opinion MODERATELY HIGHBROW ARTS, CULTURE AND THE INBETWEEN WITH DAVE DRAYTON
THE HEAVY SHIT
OG FLAVAS
METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC
URBAN AND R&B NEWS WITH CYCLONE
In which navel-gazing turns to a contemplation of the artistic merits of the lint found there in, and Canadian artist Tonya Corkey offers an actualised vision of those merits. A couple of weeks ago an all-tooshort video of Dr Karl dancing at the Kanye West concert appeared – it was a glorious moment that was crowned by my discovery that all his awesome zany shirts are made by his wife; what a couple. While watching this video for the umpteenth time and continuing my omphaloskepsis I thought of Dr Karl’s experiment investigating belly button fluff in 2000. As a hirsute man, the study fascinated me. The act also fascinated my fellow omphaloscopist Graham Barker, who began harvesting his belly button lint in 1984, at a youth hostel in Brisbane. After 26 years, the complete collection weighed in at 22.1 grams (and earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records). With a little arithmetic Barker averaged the production of the material out to around 3.03 milligrams of fluff each day. 22.1 grams of naval fluff isn’t a whole heap, especially when you hear what I’ve got in mind. In 2009 chemist Dr Georg Steinhauser, after extensive research, discovered the make up of belly button fluff – cotton, flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust. A quick aside: Tonya Corkey makes art using lint from clothes dryers. The result is shadowy canvases of blue and grey with a striking materiality. The plan: a lifetime’s generation of my own navel fluff, used to create (in the style of Corkey) a genetic self-portrait.
TONYA CORKEY ART
42 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014
METAL HAMMER
About three years ago I moved house and one of the last things out of the old place was a massive box of my beloved metal mags, a literal history of metal from my first issue of Hot Metal (#6) up to the present day. Every Hot Metal, Loudmouth, Metal Hammer, Terrorizer and a few others were packed into a box probably weighing over 50 kilos. Unfortunately I timed my move with a deluge of rain and the mags suffered water damage; all I could salvage was a random pile about ten inches high. Devastation! Luckily, about a year before, I’d begun to go through them in reverse chronological order just checking them out, reliving some interviews and laughing at now massive bands being featuring in the Fresh Flesh section: ‘This band Tool are onto something, one to watch,’ haha. So I had a good old trip down memory lane one last time before they turned to pulp. One of the survivors was a 1999 issue of the UK’s Metal Hammer with Slipknot on the cover and a ten-page spread on just how scary and “bad-ass” they apparently were and it was hilarious. It was funny to me at the time too ‘cause it was totally ridiculous, although I did get swept up in the whole black metal premise a few years before, so I can’t laugh too hard. Anyway, the mood at the time was very interesting. Album of the month was NIN’s The Fragile, along with Live and Creed, Coal Chamber headlined a gig over Machine Head, Slipknot and Amen at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC, Mortiis played his first (and prob last) ever London show, CD mail order ads filled the back of the mag and Dani Filth was writing a monthly column.
What struck me most was an interview with Alice In Chains drummer Sean Kinney. The band was three years beyond their last release, the absolutely brilliant MTV Unplugged, and three years away from Layne Staley’s sad yet unsurprising death. I’m a serious AIC nutter to the point most of my HSC year in ‘94 was spent smoking in the dark in my bedroom getting lost in Layne’s lyrics and Jerry’s harmonies, so re-reading this article struck a big chord. It’s amazing how many lost years the band had. By ‘99 they were over and had been for a long time, the world waiting for Layne to get his shit together, which unfortunately never happened, and in the meantime Jerry recorded a solo album with fellow AIC members Mike Inez and Sean which pretty much made it an Alice album in all but name and sans Layne, which meant that it certainly didn’t have that same spark at all. In the interview, Sean just sounds so sad at what might’ve been, and what could be. They predated Nirvana and had a gold record before Nevermind even appeared, and Dirt went three times platinum in the US, a fact lost on commercial radio here which never embraced them but got into every other band of the era with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana becoming staples of their playlists – why not Alice? Sadly I think Sean knew what was to come, anticipating that inevitable day in 2002 of Layne’s passing. I saw them play the Hordern in ‘93 with Suicidal Tendencies and it was sublime. Both recent appearances here for Soundwave as a resurrected band show their fanbase is not lost and even saw the Ms give some spins to new songs.
Illwave-soul is now a dominant sound and aesthetic. This year’s Laneway bill has two key artists in FKA Twigs (her debut, LP1, is the fave for the Mercury Prize this year) and BANKS. Australia’s alt-R&B scene is booming, with Movement, Oscar Key Sung and Banoffee. Even Timomatic (!) has gone illwave with his beguiling single Delilah – featuring ex-Clipse member Pusha T, and produced by US newcomer Glass John. Following Sietta’s sterling album, The Invisible River, Elefant Traks has unveiled Jane Tyrrell’s solo debut, Echoes In The Aviary. You’ll know the Melbournebased Tyrrell as The Herd’s soulstress with her earthy Anita Baker-like vocals. While The Herd’s last offering was 2011’s avant Future Shade, Tyrrell’s Echoes In The Aviary is more experimental and cinematic. It’s ombré soul, indie and electronica. Electro-soul risks being atmospheric, rather than melodic, yet Tyrrell has translatable songs. She also values dramatic tension, her music closer to James Blake than the understated Chet Faker. Tyrrell has worked with allrounder Dustin McLean, TZU’s Pip Norman (aka Countbounce) and unexpectedly, Sydney mathrockers PVT. The early single Wild Waters is minimalistic with piano, synths, guitar and clattering beats that The Acid would envy. On The Rush and Ships Tyrrell summons new wave’s gothic heroines, like Siouxsie Sioux and Lene Lovich. The album’s apex is Among The Bells, which has overtones of Anna Calvi in Morricone-esque flight, but which is still soulful. Oh, and there’s an utterly unrecognisable piano-led cover of Paul Kelly’s Stolen Apples Taste The Sweetest.
JANE TYRRELL
the guide nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au Ward’s Xpress: Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham
THE MUSIC PRESENTS
Steely Dan & The Best of the West Coast feat. The Kites: Lizottes Central Coast, Kincumber Rick Price: Lizottes Newcastle, New Lambton Jack Vidgen + Kelly Isackson: Lizottes Sydney, Dee Why BLVD + Chardy + Johnny Gleeson + I Am Wolfpac + Troy T: Marquee, Pyrmont
GIG OF THE WEEK THE BLURST OF TIMES FT DZ DEATHRAYS: 25 OCT FACTORY THEATRE JACK CARTY: 13 DEC VENUE 505 The Pierce Brothers: 23 Oct Moonshine Bar; 6 Nov Newtown Social Club The Blurst Of Times: 25 Oct Factory Theatre Radio Birdman: 31 Oct Cambridge Hotel Newcastle; 1 Nov Manning Bar Ouija Beats: 31 Oct Big Top Luna Park Steve Smyth: 31 Oct Newtown Social Club; 7 Nov Smith’s Alternative Bookshop; 8 Royal Hotel Springwood; 9 Grand Junction Maitland; 6 Dec Coogee Diggers
The Delta Riggs: 20 Nov Newtown Social Club Rock The Gate: 23 Nov Enmore Theatre San Cisco: 27 Nov Metro Theatre Daniel Lee Kendall: 29 Nov Loo Loo’s Warehouse Kincumber; 5 Dec Brighton Up Bar Festival Of The Sun: 12 & 13 Dec Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park Port Macquarie Chronixx: 12 Dec Factory Theatre
THU 23
Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless: Bald Faced Stag (All Ages), Leichhardt Bluejuice + Special Guests: Bar On The Hill, Newcastle The Black Sorrows + Guests: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Bin Juice: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills Briggs + Hau Latukefu: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West Symbols + Cure Motel + Scruffamudda + more: Candys Apartment, Potts Point
Buck 65 + Ellesquire: The Basement, Circular Quay Kristy Apps and The Shotgun Shirleys + Emma Wall + The Grahams: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham
GTS: Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci
FRI 24
The Church: ANU Bar, Acton
The Red Rattlers: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor Sex On Toast: Heritage Hotel, Bulli
Diesel + Guests: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Davey Lane: 7 Nov Cambridge Hotel Newcastle; 8 Newtown Social Club
Jack Carty: 13 Dec Venue 505
Sydney Blues & Roots Festival: Hollands Paddock & Various Venues, Windsor
Hey Lady!: Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington
CW Stoneking: 13 Nov The Small Ballroom Newcastle; 14 Metro Theatre
Dead Letter Circus: 19 Dec Metro Theatre; 21 Towradgi Beach Wollongong
Gorguts: 15 Nov Newtown Social Club
London Grammar: 12 Mar Hordern Pavilion
Mullum Music Festival: 20 – 23 Nov Mullumbimby
Bluesfest: 2 – 6 Apr Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Byron Bay
WED 22
Evie Dean: Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill
Alex Stuart Quintet: 505, Surry Hills
Dom Breen: La De Da Restaurant & Bar, Mona Vale
Dappled Cities + Samrai + The Vanns: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
The Groovemeisters: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Prepared Like A Bride + Graves + Purity + Autumn: Belconnen Magpies (All Ages), Belconnen
The Kin + Guests: Newtown Social Club, Newtown Mark Travers: Orient Hotel, Sydney
Letters To Lions + Bexley De Lion + Jaguar Club + The Grahams: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
The Social Jam with Gang Of Brothers + Oscar Jimenez: Spring Street Social, Bondi Junction
The Cat Empire + Madre Monte: Club Forster, Forster
Spenda C: The Argyle House, Newcastle
Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra: Coopers Hotel, Newtown
JD Samson: The Bearded Tit, Redfern
Brad Garrett: Enmore Theatre, Enmore Gadjo Guitars: Foundry 616, Ultimo Lepers & Crooks: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney Gordi: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney
Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless: The Small Ballroom, Newcastle Sex On Toast + Beaten Bodies + Bad Bitch Choir: The Vanguard, Newtown The Fallen Gentry: Valve Bar, Ultimo Thirsty Merc: Wests (Starlight Room), New Lambton
Lepers & Crooks + Barefoot Alley: La De Da Restaurant & Bar, Mona Vale Shatter Brain + Totally Wild + Bon Voyage + Iceage: Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Rick Price: Lizottes Central Coast, Kincumber Joe Louis Walker + Jesse Belle: Lizottes Newcastle, New Lambton JD Samson: Marlborough Hotel, Newtown The Business: Newport Arms Hotel (Terrace Bar), Newport Robert Ellis + Jonny Fritz + James Thomson: Newtown Social Club, Newtown Melody Rhymes: Northies, Cronulla Dave White Duo: Orient Hotel, Sydney The Cat Empire + Madre Monte: Panthers, Port Macquarie The Chosen Few: Pendle Inn, Pendle Hill Latham’s Grip + Calypso Toad + Royal Tennyson + T-Rex Radio: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong
Darren Johnstone: Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill Bassic + UV Boi + more: Chinese Laundry, Sydney The Tribe: Colonial Hotel, Werrington
The Grahams: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong Laura Jean + Jack Ladder + The Singing Skies: Red Rattler, Marrickville Black Diamond Hearts + Emile Nelson Duo + DJ Urby + DJ Cool Jerk: Rock Lily, Pyrmont The Gin Mill Social feat. Greg Poppleton & The Bakelite Broadcasters: Slide Darlinghurst, Darlinghurst Jon Stevens: South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford Big Blind Ray + The Good Time Rhythm n Blues Band: Spring Street Social, Bondi Junction Bjorn Again: State Theatre, Sydney Gordi: Station Bar, Katoomba
The Black Sorrows + Elle Harris: Coogee Diggers, Coogee Kickstar: Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst Evil Elvis: Factory Theatre, Marrickville Sam Newton: Family Hotel, Tamworth Emma Pask: Foundry 616, Ultimo Vinai: Fusion Night Club, Cronulla The Rebirth of Fresh: Songs In The Key of Life with Jeremy Gregory: Gingers, Darlinghurst
Pat Metheny Unity Group: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney Frank Sultana & the Sinister Kids: The Vanguard, Newtown Axel P + Imogen Clark: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain Richard In Your Mind: Transit Bar, Canberra Domino + Gutter Tactic + The Shadow Embrace + Simple Stone + more: Valve Bar (Basement / 8pm), Ultimo
SAT 25
Bands On Stage feat. Red Shift + Average Height Band + Volky: Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale
Siskin River: 107 Projects, Redfern
Sydney Blues & Roots Festival: Hollands Paddock & Various Venues, Windsor
Antonamasia + Before Ciada + Emergency Syndrome: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Hilltop Hoods: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
Diesel + Guests: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Winston Surfshirt: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine Rum & Cider Bar), Manly
Spectrum + Hey Gringo : Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Tim Wheatley: Howlin’ Wolf Bar, Wollongong
Clash of the Bands Heat #6: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Evie Dean: Jacksons on George (PJ Gallagher’s), Sydney
The Jac: Smiths Alternative Bookshop, Canberra
Kidgeeridge Music Festival 2014: Kidgeeridge Farm, Ulladulla
Rodriguez: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
The Peep Tempel: Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Blue Eyes Cry: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
S U P P O R T I N G
Reckless + Jonathan Jones: Orient Hotel, Sydney
Black T-Shirts + Black Monday + Megasaur + Stone Release: Valve Bar, Ultimo
The War On Drugs: 13 & 15 Dec Metro Theatre
Pierce Brothers + Bad Feeling Woman: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar), Manly
All Our Exes Live In Texas + Martha Marlow + The Maple Trail: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Crooked Colours + Paces + Stoney Roads DJs: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Wagons: 7 Nov Newtown Social Club
Thy Art Is Murder: 19 Dec Manning Bar
Steve Frank + Joey Kaz + DLE + Chris Coast: New Brighton Hotel, Manly
Songwriters In The Round feat. Dave Mason (The Reels) + more: The Vanguard, Newtown
Comeback Kid + Rotting Out + Relentless: Bald Faced Stag (18+), Leichhardt
Gyroscope: 12 Dec Oxford Art Factory
Bluejuice + Special Guests: Metro Theatre, Sydney
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
Roy Orbison & Del Shannon In Concert - A Tribute with Dean Bourne + Fallon: Canberra Theatre (Playhouse Theatre), Canberra Acaddamy + Robbie Glass: Cargo Bar, Sydney Dave Clarke + more: Chinese Laundry, Sydney Spenda C: Clarendon Tavern, Clarendon
M U S I C
the guide nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au Afterlife feat. Buried In Verona + more: Collector Hotel, Parramatta
Spice 10th Birthday: The Spice Cellar, Sydney
Andrew Dice Clay: The Concourse, Chatswood
Mihalis Hatzigiannis: Enmore Theatre, Enmore
Paul Hayward + Little Jim + Loll: Town & Country Hotel, St Peters
The Blurst Of Times Festival: Factory Theatre, Marrickville
DJ LT: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain
All Our Exes Live In Texas + Kristabelle & the Southern Jubilee Ringers: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham
Briggs + Hau Latukefu: Transit Bar, Canberra
Joce Moen + Chris Cody: Foundry 616, Ultimo
Hip Hop Jam feat. Izzy n The Profit + more: Valve Bar (Basement / 1pm), Ultimo
Pure Gold Live feat. Dragon + Eurogliders + more: Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
SUN 26
One Night Stand with Canyons: Imperial Hotel, Erskineville All Our Exes Live In Texas + The Grahams + Marcus Blacke: Katoomba RSL, Katoomba Kidgeeridge Music Festival 2014: Kidgeeridge Farm, Ulladulla Blues Brothers Rebooted: Lizottes Newcastle, New Lambton Rick Price: Lizottes Sydney, Dee Why Lil Jon: Marquee, Pyrmont Kite + Ash Wanders: Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta Chromefest feat. Steve Edmonds: Memorial Park, The Entrance Shihad + High Tension + Cairo Knife Fight: Metro Theatre, Sydney Ziggy McNeill: Newport Arms Hotel (Terrace Bar), Newport Caitlin Park: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
The Sweet Apes + Far Away Stables: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
ELBOW: 25 & 25 OCT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE The Church: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Blake Tailor: Penrith Panthers, Penrith Outlier: Penrith RSL, Penrith Mark Da Costa & The Black List + more: Rock Lily, Pyrmont Imogen Clark: Rooty Hill RSL (Menu 33), Rooty Hill Mainline: Royal Exchange Hotel, Windsor Satellite V: Shady Pines Saloon, Darlinghurst Elbow + Playwrite: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Illy + Special Guests: The Area Hotel, Griffith
Annual Birthday Show with Peter Northcote: The Basement, Circular Quay Rock Through The Ages: The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle Tim Wheatley: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham Non Profit + Paul Hayward + Little Jim: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville Underground Spring Sydney: The Hi-Fi, Moore Park Pacha feat. WE R SCNDL + Zac Waters + more: The Ivy, Sydney The Wildbloods: The Small Ballroom, Newcastle
S U P P O R T I N G
Floyd Vincent & The Temple Dogs: Grand Junction Hotel (The Junkyard), Maitland Sydney Blues & Roots Festival: Hollands Paddock & Various Venues, Windsor The Living Room feat. Ollie Brown + Laura Zarb: Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham
The Grahams + The Morrisons + Marcus Blacke: The Vanguard, Newtown Brendan Gallagher: The Waterhouse, Huskisson Deadly Visions + Southpaw + Street War + more: Valve Bar (Basement / 5pm), Ultimo
MON 27
Light The Night with Jan van de Stool + more: City Recital Hall, Sydney Andrew Dice Clay: Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Alex Stuart Quintet: Street Theatre, Canberra City West Sex On Toast: The Phoenix, Civic
Lazy Blues Lunch with Joe Louis Walker + Jesse Belle: Lizottes Central Coast, Kincumber Bluejuice + Special Guests: Metro Theatre, Sydney Rudely Interrupted: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Elbow + Playwrite: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
I N D E P E N D E N T
TUE 28
Tuesday Songwriter Sessions with Karl Broadie: Coogee Diggers, Coogee Blues Tuesdays with The Blues Preachers: Spring Street Social, Bondi Junction Chu: World Bar, Kings Cross
A U S S I E
M U S I C
www.thebasement.com.au
BVS 6][S ]T :WdS ;caWQ AW\QS '%! SATURDAY 8 JUNE WED 29 OCTOBER
COMIN UP G COMEDY AT THE BASEMENT FEAT. MATT OKINE
COMEDY AT THE BASEMENT CONTINUES TO SERVE UP AN IRRESISTABLE MIX OF SOME OF THE TOP NAMES IN AUSTRALIAN STAND UP, AND STARS IN THE MAKING. THE HEADLINE ACT IS HOST OF BREAKFAST WITH MATT AND ALEX ON TRIPLE J, MATT OKINE, WITH MC CAMERON KNIGHT AND SUPPORT FROM ERIC HUTTON, ALICE FRASER AND JEN CARNOVALE. DON’T MISS THIS!
NEWS FROM THE BASEMENT JUST ANNOUNCED…
THU 06 NOV ROSIE AND THE BEES ALBUM LISTENING PARTY + SPECIAL GUESTS SAT 29 NOV FROM AFRICA TO BRAZIL: AFRO MOSES O’JAH VRS RHYTHM BRAZIL THU 11 DEC IAN COLLARD (COLLARD GREENS & GRAVY) + SPECIAL GUESTS
FOLLOW US: ON FACEBOOK @ THE BASEMENT & ON TWITTER @
#BASEMENTSYD RESTUARANT OPENS AT 11AM, SERVING FOOD ALL DAY
THE IDEA OF NORTH
WED 22 OCT
BUCK 65(CANADA) + ELLESQUIRE
THU 23 OCT
JOE LOUIS WALKER BAND(US)
+ MAL EASTICK
FRI 24 OCT
PETER NORTHCOTE’S ANNUAL BIRTHDAY SHOW
SAT 25 OCT
SWINGTIME TUESDAYS WK 5
TUE 28 OCT
THE FRENCH REVUE
THU 30 OCT
ALL THE KINGS MEN: A TRIBUTE TO
FRI 31 OCT
B.B, ALBERT, FREDDIE AND EARL
SUN
26 OCT
SUN
5 OCT
SYDNEY BLUES SOCIETY 7:00
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backstage/classies classies.themusic.com.au EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION
BASS PLAYER WANTED!
FOR SALE
MUSICIANS WANTED
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BEATLE MAGIC
Looking for a bass player to join a rock band (drummer & two guitarists/singers) with songs ready to gig and record. Have a listen to our demo and send us your details if interested in a jam/meet-up. Must be available for weekly weekend rehearsals in the inner west of Sydney and up for weekend gigs. music demo link: https://soundcloud.com/the-jezail-bullets email: thejezailbullets@gmail.com
We require a left handed bass player for the roll of Paul McCartney. Must have professional attitude be dedicated. Vocal ability to cover Macca’s high range. All gear and costumes are provided. Must have current pass port and be available at times for touring and cruises. Will train a willing prospect. for more info contact Bill Croft on 0402 627 934 or 029610 -7197 or email bill@beatlemagic.com.au or visit our website www.beatlemagic.com.au
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VOCALIST AVAILABLE - MALE Seeking experienced rock band. For vocal reference visit www.facebook.com/delsantomusic Contact: steveshifter@ hotmail.com
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METAL MUSICIANS AVAILABLE Death Metal vocalist and guitarist seek band. 31yo with influences being Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Gorguts etc. Contact Ryan 0404 946 168 or Mitch 0401 620 221.
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48 • THE MUSIC • 22ND OCTOBER 2014