The brag #486

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly

five things WITH

RAPH FROM TEENAGE MOTHERS

Growing Up My first concert was Mick 1.

Jagger solo, or perhaps Dire

a fan of M83 too, until he nastily kicked us off his tour this year.

of legislation. We play our songs, get noisy. It’s a fun way to lose money.

Straits on their blockbuster Brothers In Arms tour. I was about six years old – my memories consist of bright flashing lights and total incomprehension. My parents play instruments, but very rarely. I was encouraged to play guitar. As a ten-year-old, the first rock song I learnt was ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’

by The Stones. The lyrics are all about drugs and broken love. I didn’t understand them.

Your Crew We like playing with people of 3. questionable sanity, like Jack Mannix from

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene is so fragmented. Hype 5. doesn’t work anymore. Bands have to tour, they

Circle Pit. Sometimes we get Poon DJs at our gigs; they’re a skate crew, we skate with those guys a fair bit. Callum Paul plays the ‘Ning Nang Cows Go Bong’ song and Conna ‘Sandstorm’ Mallet plays ‘Sandstorm’ by Da Rude. Best gay techno song ever.

have to release multiple albums, and they have to be good, just to stick out from the deluge. The national yoof broadcaster has become more conservative. There’s a zillion bands trying to sound like Two Door Cinema Club and Vampire Weekend because they wanna win Unearthed.

We’re back in 2000 again, before The Strokes and The White Stripes broke. Back then, the buzzy bands were emotional bedwetters like Travis and Coldplay. Now it’s happened again with The Temper Trap and Florence – it’s all cyclical. HTRK and Factory Floor have started a mini-movement of minimalist electro-noise. I like the Bored Nothing album, Divorced, Dark Bells...

There’s always good stuff cracking through.

2.

guess its post-punk. We recorded our album with the producer Jim Sclavunos. He’s also the drummer in Grinderman and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Plus he was in Sonic Youth, The Cramps, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks – that gives you an idea of our influences.

We recorded the album at Birdland Studios in Melbourne, where Rowland S. Howard made his classic solo records. Our live show usually features JK getting sozzled, often giving out nitrous oxide to the crowd. That’s why we got kicked off that tour with M83. We don’t care.

It’s better than being boring. JK plays harp, does backflips, sometimes he talks about his economic and legal theories. He reads books

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Because Sydney post-punk, LCD Soundsystem-ish duo Nantes really enjoy screwing with you, they have announced their new tour by taking out advertisements with ‘Drones tour’ written everywhere so you get can a brief case of Liddiard-glee before realising it isn’t actually the band The Drones, upon which you will fall into a pit of rage and despair. Then you will read the details and realise it’s actually Nantes continuing their epic run of releases (two EPs in 2012, an album due out early next year) with their new single ‘Drones’ – and you’ll start getting excited by life again. They hit The Beresford on Saturday November 3.

BKC + DRIFFS

Bleeding Knees Club are launching ‘Let It Go’, the final single to be released from their scrappy, bratty debut record Nothing To Do, on November 23 at The Standard, and to

celebrate they have created a free mixtape featuring the various bands that will be supporting them around the country, including the Sydney supports Step-Panther and Driffs.

Download it from their Bandcamp (use your Google-machine to find it) and discover some new bands to fall for. There’s also ‘Let It Go’ on there, plus a previously unreleased remix of Bleeding Knees Club’s solipsistic track ‘I’.

TEX PERKINS

Tex Perkins has the swagger of a million Gallagher brothers, mixed with a wardrobe straight outta Dogs In Space and a voice that, to paraphrase Dave Grohl’s description of Cobain’s vocals, sounds like somebody gargling nails. It’s a powerful combination, and it’ll be in full force this Thursday November 1 at The Factory Theatre, when Tex Perkins And The Dark Horses launch their new album Everyone’s Alone. It comes out in stores the following day.

SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2013

Sydney Festival have unveiled their music program for 2013, and keeping with their strict ‘high-five-worthy acts only’ policy, they have delivered a belting lineup. Highlights include (quick, go get a pen): Lianne La Havas at The Spiegeltent on January 18 & 19; Dirty Projectors at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on January 21; Sharon Van Etten at The Spiegeltent on Jan 6, 8 & 9; yMusic (a quartet who’ve worked with Bon Iver and St. Vincent) at Spiegeltent on January 22 & 23; Perfume Genius at Spiegeltent on January 26 & 27; David Byrne & St Vincent at The State Theatre, January 17 & 18; and Dappled Cities plus orchestra and choir, baroque-ing up their ten-year-old back catalogue at Paradiso Bar, which we swear is the new festival bar inhabiting Town Hall in place of the old one at Hyde Park Barracks, and not just a trick to make you look for a bar that doesn’t exist. Anyways, let’s plan our calendars: sydneyfestival.org.au

THE HUNGRIEST KIDS

If at any point during the past week you were barrelling your way up and down the FM frequency like the radio-surfer you profess to be, and happened to stop in at triple j on your way to the Triple M “Rock 4 At 4” (we assume that’s a thing Triple M have), you would have heard Hungry Kids Of Hungary’s poptastic spring single ‘Sharp Shooter’. It’s all set to soundtrack your summer fling (oh, spoiler alert: you’re going to have a summer fling this year) and the first taste from their forthcoming second album You’re A Shadow. Help them launch the single at The Standard on Thursday November 1, with Gung Ho in tow.

Millions

MILLIONS AT MUM

When The Strokes started recording their second record with Nigel Godrich, they quickly realised that their ‘sound’ – that mix of New York swagger that drains Lou Reed through Warhol through Television – was achieved not by the sheer power of Julian’s cheekbones, but by their engineer Gordon Raphael and his singular take on mixing and recording.

Brisbane lads Millions have enlisted Raphael to mix their brand new four-song EP Cruel, and it was a masterstroke: if anyone can make garage pop pop, it’s Raphael. Come along to the launch Friday November 16 at Mum @ The World Bar and listen to how good garage pop can be when you chuck in a few hooks and mix it correctly.

Xxx

NANTES REVIVAL

Lianne La Havas

With: Kill City Creeps, Black Zeros, Bang Bang Rock ‘n Roll, live fashion photo shoots, interactive installations and loads more across five levels Where: Jesse Willesee’s Haunted Hotel @ The Kings Cross Hotel When: Wednesday October 31, from 7pm

Xxx photo by xxxx

Inspirations Sonic Youth, The Velvets, Rowland S. Howard, The Cramps, all the great Aussie bands from The Boys Next Door to These Immortal Souls to The Triffids, and most of the bands on 4AD back in the ‘80s. We’ve been lucky to work with some of those guys.

As for newer musicians, I get an inspirational kick in the bum from Bradford Cox and our friends like Lost Animal, Faris from The Horrors and Kirin J Callinan. I was

The Music You Make We play songs about frustration, broken 4. love, kicking against the pricks. I dunno, I

BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 13

rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

JACK FROM CITY CALM DOWN When one band ended, this band started up!

The Music You Make Our latest release, Movements, was 4. heavily influenced by the early ‘80s new-wave and post-punk scene. That being said, when producing the EP with Malcolm Besley, we were trying to generate a very tight sound for the rhythm instrumentation – similar to LCD Soundsystem perhaps. I think this comes across well in the final mix, and I guess it’s a nice contrast to the reverb-layered rhythm sounds that dominated the early ‘80s.

Music, Right Here, Right Now There seems to be continuing 5. controversy about venues opening and

Growing Up I would have been about six or seven 1. when my folks bought a new car that had a CD player installed. This was still somewhat novel in 1994/’95. Anyway, dad had purchased the two Van Morrison Greatest Hits compilations, and was giving them a spin one night on the way home. My little brother was trying to sing along (he would have been four), and I was telling him to shut up. Not sure what the significance of this is, but those two VM CDs were the first CDs I remember properly listening to.

I’m a big fan of The Doors and David 2. Inspirations

Bowie. Both artists manage to create a fantastic sonic cohesion between voice and instrumentation (that sounds nice and wanky…), and both Jim Morrison and Bowie are amazing vocalists. My more contemporary influences include Bloc Party, The Killers and Radiohead – all these groups write great melodic music.

Your Band There are four of us in the band at the 3. moment, but we’ve just picked up a new drummer after Michael left a few months ago. Sam (keyboards) and I were mates in high school, and Jez (bass guitar) and I had played in bands prior to City Calm Down.

Kirin J Callinan

JEN CLOHER AT VANGUARD

IT’S A SCREAM

Start cutting eye-holes in bed sheets, Sydney. In response to your ‘Make Sydney More Spooktacular’ campaign, Jesse Willesee has decked out Kings Cross Hotel as ‘Jesse Willesee’s Haunted Hotel’ for Halloween (October 31, for our Australian readers), and you can expect live fashion shoots, interactive band shoots, and interactive Halloween installations – a lot of interactivity in the haunted house, it would appear. There’ll be Kirin J Callinan’s Bargain Basement (a sureto-be-odd one-night performance/ listening session in the Dive Bar), and bands ahoy: Teenage Mothers (Melbourne, smug, shirtless, etc.)

Black Zeroes, Bang! Bang! Rock N Roll, and Kill City Creeps (Dan from Dolly Rocker, T-Rexing all over the joint). Hand Games are launching their awesome new mixtape, the third in a monthly series featuring tunes from your favourite Sydney acts like Collarbones, Bitch Prefect, Kill City Creeps, Teenage Mothers, Jeremy Neale and loads more. Oh, and did we mention there are prizes for best dressed, plus $4 Absolut and $3.50 Carlton? (Just checked back over, we didn’t mention it – soz.) $10 entry.

Turns out ‘Mount Beauty’ isn’t a new reality show where 12 male contestants hike up one of the world’s steepest mountains in order to win the heart of a lovely girl who lives in a cabin on top (and who learn a little about themselves along the way): it’s the title of ARIA nom’d Jen Cloher’s new single, which continues along the warm, live-to-tape folk path Cloher often walks. She walks it well, too – no stumbling over any of the clumsy metaphors that Paul Dempsey may have left there years earlier. She launches the single on Friday November 2 at The Vanguard, with Courtney Barnett and Packwood in support.

What: Movements EP is out on I Oh You Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Thursday November 8

BRAG HQ has been spinning a LOT of Melodie Nelson’s record the past week –To The Dollhouse is atmospheric, melodic and totally wonderful, and it’s being officially released on November 2, so the rest of you can wrap your ears around it then.

To celebrate, Nelson’s popping into The Raval on Friday November 16, bringing her trademark dark, synth-driven twist to a cocktail of pop hooks and ethereal aesthetics.

We’ve nabbed a double pass to the show – and seeing as music is best when shared, we want to offer it to one of our readers. To be in the running, tell us the name of your favourite Melodie Nelson song.

SEUN KUTI

Are you tired of all that brain-numbing pop music polluting the airwaves? Well Seun Kuti and 16-piece groove pioneers, Egypt 80, have the cure: they’re bringing their scorching rhythms and kinetic funk energy to Australian shores this November. As the son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti continues the family bandleading business, blazing a trail across the East Coast of Australia, stopping off on Saturday November 10 at The Metro Theatre for a night of good ol’ foot stompin’ and hip shakin’ Afrobeat, which will include tracks from 2011’s From Africa With Fury: Rise. Latino-tinged rockers Watussi – armed with strings and horns – are joining the shenanigans, and we’d like you to too. For your chance at a double pass, tell us the first name of another famous Kuti.

on December 8 at Petersham Bowling Club. They will tell tales, play songs from their (respective) bands and their solo catalogues, chuck in a bunch of covers and back each other musically (and spiritually, no doubt). These are metaphorical tiles, too – the Petersham Bowling Club is more of a carpeted affair, but don’t let that sway you from coming to this show.

that’s not the same. “All farewells should be sudden,” said Lord Bryon, but he was also sleeping with his half-sister so let’s not use his barometer for personal relationships.

Instead, let’s feel lucky Alexisonfire have, finally, decided to say goodbye to Sydney with a huge farewell show: December 11 at The Hordern Pavilion.

ALEXISONFIRE

Sydney five-piece party band Louis London are launching their debut EP, the excellentlytitled On Your Lips We Roared, and instead of getting the dancefloor pumping (sorry) just once, they are raising the roof (sorry) over four funtastic (yup!) nights: every Saturday in November (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th) at the Beresford Upstairs, with the awesome faces of Nantes, Civilians, Will & The People and more in support. Get there.

As with every great big break-up, when Canadian hardcore band Alexisonfire (sing the name in your head to the tune of ‘Sex On Fire’) split in a fiery mess of acoustic guitars and double-kick pedals, certain housekeeping was left undone, i’s were left undotted and, well… they didn’t really say goodbye properly.

Sure, co-frontman Dallas Green dropped by a few times with his acoustic guitar, but

LONDON CALLING

Foals

GOLDEN PLAINS

Golden Plains Lucky 7 have announced their lineup, and ticket ballots are open now at goldenplains.com.au, and it’s the only way to get tickets, so try your luck and if you don’t think you’ll be one of the lucky few to snare a ticket, maybe don’t read the following lineup – it’ll only make you angry: Cat Power, Dinosaur Jr., The Tallest Man On Earth, George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Redd Kross, Purity Ring, Flume, Moodymann, The Mark Of Cain, Toro Y Moi, Wild Nothing, Psarantonis, Naysayer And Gilsun, Six Ft. Hick, Mulatu Astatke, Julio Bashmore, Dick Diver and way more. Yikes. It happens at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre in Victoria from March 9-11. BYO too, which is always nice.

ON THE TILES

Mike Noga and Ben Salter have a lot in common: they are both members of foreverlauded bands (The Drones and The Gin Club, respectively); both released foreverlauded solo albums last year (The Balladeer Hunter and The Cat, respectively), and both are headlining A Night On the Tiles

FOALS AT OAF!

Surely by now, UK buzz-band-then-good-band-then-great-band Foals are big enough that they could comfortably fill The Enmore Theatre. Yet when they are out here next year for Big Day Out, their only club show in Australia will be at Oxford Art Factory on January 23, with tickets on sale this Tuesday. Needless to say, if you are reading this on Friday, you’ve probably already missed out. Sorry.

“She’s a moving violation from her conk down to her shoes. Well, it’s just an invitation to the blues” - TOM WAITS 14 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Xxx

DO THE A.T.O.M

When a Sydney band called Atom Bombs proudly declares themselves a surf-rock band, and releases an EP called Do The A.T.O.M which they promise mixes ‘60s surf, MiddleEastern psychedelia (sitars and that) and Spaghetti Western film scores – well, we get very interested. Especially when they launch it at Brighton Up Bar on Thursday November 8 with The Fabergettes and The Metal Babies, a group made up of members from Belles Will Ring, The Fabergettes and Sister Jane. This isn’t a hypothetical scenario: it’s a thing that is going down. Entry $5, EPs $5.

closing, and while it is always a shame to see a live music venue disappear, I think this is just the reality of commercial business. I think the internet is definitely a double-edged sword – it’s very difficult for bands (ourselves included) to not rush projects, and to think that just because you can release something tomorrow for free that you should. Maybe I’m just being over-cynical here, but I definitely think that back in the ‘old’ days bands were generally so well-developed by the time anyone heard about them because there were certain gateways one needed pass through.

MELODIE NELSON

NOVEMBER

F A C E B O O K . C O M /B E A C H R O A D H O T E L

Presents

SATUR DAYS

Sat 3

7TH

DANNYCLAYTON + PLUTO JONZE + INTHEMIX DJS

WINTER PEOPLE 14TH

Sat 10

DONNYBENET + SURECUT KIDS + LIZ BIRD

Sat 17

SOSUEME DJS + FURNACE&THE FUNDAMENTALS + THE MONEY GO ROUND 21ST

HOUSSE DE RACKET

+ FRAMES

Sat 24

THEFADERS

+ MRS BISHOP + LEWI MCKIRDY (triple j)

(KITSUNÉ FRANCE)

+ PHEBE STARR 28TH

+THE SLIPS BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 15

The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

FOUR NSW MANAGERS TAKE CONTROL

WANNA SHOWCASE AT ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE?

Four NSW artist managers are among 15 from around the country who have been accepted for the third CONTROL: The Business Of Music Management. Briese Abbott, Catherine Kirkpatrick, Blake Rayner and Meg Williams will be mentored by the likes of Cath Haridy and Andy Kelly, and will attend two residential workshops.

The first is in Terrigal near Sydney in late November, the second at the end of the program in May 2013. CONTROL is presented by the Australian Music Industry Network, supported by the Association of Artist Managers, and funded by the Australian Government.

Next month’s inaugural Electronic Music Conference has opened applications for the Emerging Artist Showcase on Tuesday November 27. You could be playing before reps from Totem Onelove, Stereosonic, Modular, EMI, Warner Music, Sony, ARIA, Future Entertainment, Ultra and Live Nation. To apply, email hello@electronicmusicconference.com with a short biography, contact details and a link to your music online. Deadline is Friday November 2.

ARMIN VAN BUUREN CROWNED TOP DJ Armin van Buuren was crowned the world’s #1 DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll Awards 2012. It is his fifth win; the Dutchman successfully grabbed the trophy back from last year’s winner David Guetta.

Van Buuren said 2012 was an “amazing” year for dance music, with the success of Avicii, Swedish House Mafia and Afrojack. The rest of the list were (2) Tiësto (3) Avicii (4) David Guetta (5) Deadmau5 (6) Hardwell (7) Dash Berlin (8) Above & Beyond (9) Afrojack and (10) Skrillex. The poll came from fans from 170 countries with America having the most votes, followed by the UK.

Lifelines Treated: British performer and producer Mark Ronson is seeking psychiatric help to deal with the “crippling anxiety” he suffers before going on stage.

In Court: Beyonce and Jay-Z lost a bid to trademark their daughter Blue Ivy’s name to start a line of baby products. A company in Boston called Blue Ivy Events protested they had the name first.

Suing: Prince took action against a collection agency, which took court-ordered payments of $105,949.14 and $10,278.94 from his bank account over a music production contract. But Prince says that the judge who made the order last October had since changed the judgement – there was no debt.

Suing: US video games company Ubisoft hit Black Eyed Peas in lost sales for taking a year to approve an iOS version of The Black Eyed Peas Experience for iPhone and iPad. They say it cost them $240,000 to develop.

Arrested: Former rapper and Public Enemy member turned reality television star Flavor Flav, on charges that he threatened to attack his fiancee’s teenage son with a knife during an argument.

He could face six years in jail.

THINGS WE HEAR * The heckler at the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards was Nic Warnock, of the R.I.P Society label who signed Royal Headache. Reviewing the night for Crawlspace, Warnock says his yelling “not independent!” as Lanie Lane collected her trophy was “a jovial, spur of the moment reaction” to the fact that he thought most of the night’s nominees were “bland” and “sound like music from tampon ads,” and that Lane’s label Ivy League does not “foster any type of collective/ counter culture.” His full report is at crawlspacemagazine.com * Red Hot Chili Peppers played a small gig the other day, in Flea’s back garden in the Los Feliz suburb of Los Angeles. It was to celebrate his 50th birthday and raise money for his music school. Rancid also played. * 17-year-old pop boyo Reece Mastin caused a stir when he rocked up at Brisbane radio station B105 for an interview, sporting a T-shirt that had cartoon multiimages on how to roll a joint. * Nova 969 had to whip off a picture of a banana committing suicide from its website, after a public backlash.

360 * On the first night of the 600 Sounds concert at the Gold Coast 600 race, 360 stopped his show before 7,000 punters when two men started a fight. Pointing to them he roared, “Fuck off out of here.

This is no moshpit shit. This isn’t death metal. This is hip hop, you cunts!” On the next night, which drew 13,000, The Living End blew headliners Good Charlotte off the stage. * The two Pussy Riot members who remain jailed are being sent to harsh remote

WANNA ATTEND ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONFERENCE? MusicNSW has a Quick Response Grant program to provide financial support for artists and managers attending the Electronic Music Conference. Applications open November 1–19.

You can only apply if you have a registered business name and a mailing address in NSW. Says MusicNSW executive officer Kirsty Brown, “MusicNSW has proudly supported many electronic musicians through this program to attend conferences, including Aston Shuffle, Flume, Oliver Tank, Siberia Records and more, and we look forward to sending more of you along to the amazing EMC!” See www.electronicmusicconference.com/grants

AUSSIE DEADLINE FOR SXSW LOOMING The deadline for Australian acts to apply to showcase at South By Southwest is November 7; go to www.sonicbids.com/sxsw for the March 12-17 event in Texas. This year 41 Australian acts performed, out of the 71 invited from 250 applications. Next year there will be a special panel moderated by Stuart Coupe on Aussie/ NZ music. Full details at sxsw.com

LAWSUIT OF THE WEEK A court case filed by a dude in Michigan claims Justin Bieber stole his credit card to pay for his penis enlargement and buy cocaine for him and Diddy. The man also says he paid for Bieber’s girlfriend Selena Gomez’s abortion (he claims that he's her father), and that Usher came to his house and stuck a firecracker up his arse while playing the Katy Perry song ‘Firework’.

MUSO’S GUIDE TO PUBLICITY & AIRPLAY Publicist Stacey Piggott has written a book called Blow Your Own Trumpet – A Musician’s Guide To Publicity & Airplay. With lots of advice, and dispelling a few myths, she says it’s a collection “of ideas, guidelines, philosophies and stories telling the many pathways one can choose to create a media presence.” She has also collated stories from musicians and industry folk. Henry Rollins’ advice: do every interview you can. Carlo Santone of Blue King Brown suggests you look at other bands’ media releases before you write your own. Illy reckons you should be in everyone’s face via the internet. And you can’t beat this from Gareth Liddiard of The Drones: “My advice to bands who are starting out: don’t be a shit band! That’s a good start.”

Blow Your Own Trumpet is out on November 12, and can be ordered from www.twofishoutofwater.com

VENUES #1: NEWTOWN SOCIAL CLUB ON OLD SANDO SITE? There is no official statement on this yet, but two weeks ago the company that runs The Corner Hotel and Northcote Social Club

venues in Melbourne let slip on social media it intended to open a Sydney venue called the Newtown Social Club. It must have been startled at the media interest, and went quiet.

Now with the news that the company bought the Sandringham Hotel in Newtown, it seems to make sense. The price tag is anywhere between $2.6 million to $3 million, but still less than the $3.6 million the Sando owed BankWest.

VENUES #2: NEWTOWN HOTEL RETURNS After a revamp, the Newtown Hotel (174 King Street) is back, with local acts, DJs and acoustic sets. The venue used to be a gay mecca before a management change in 2007.

Current management, The Keystone Group, operate Cargo Bar, theloft and Bungalow 8 among others. The exterior of the 130-yearold building was recently given the street art treatment by the collective Strangers.

WANNA WORK AT SOUNDS AUSTRALIA? Sounds Australia has a 12-month parental leave role as Associate Producer going, beginning in January. You will coordinate the Aussie music industry’s representation at key music markets around the world including South By Southwest, MIDEM, The Great Escape and Canadian Music Week, as well as liaising with local stakeholders. Apply to

We has internets!

www.thebrag.com Extra bits and moving bits without the papercuts 16 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Siberian prison camps to complete their sentences. * Kiss’ Gene Simmons claims that in 2009/10, a promoter gave him $320 million to talk Jimmy Page and Robert Plant into getting Led Zeppelin back together. * Australians scooped up 320,000 Pink tickets on the first day of sale; two new Sydney shows have been added for September 4 and 5 at Allphones Arena.

Meanwhile, Blink-182’s arena shows in Melbourne and Brisbane sold out in minutes. * Bluesman Jeff Lang will compose music for a six-part Australian TV series, which he’ll work on after his French tour next month.

And is Xavier Rudd doing a song for a Hollywood action thriller? * The Bangalow music community recently held a fundraiser concert for medical bills for local saxophonist David Ades, who was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.

Ades, who’s tried alternative treatments including drinking his own urine, also played to a packed house. * Port Macquarie’s Altitude nightclub was fined and put on the Three Strikes public register, for allowing a 30-year-old man to be drunk on the premises. * Half a million Guitar World readers named Eddie Van Halen the Greatest Guitarist Of All Time, followed by Queen’s Brian May. Guitar-makers Gibson named AC/DC‘s ‘Back In Black’ as the top riff of the 1980s, beating the Stones’ ‘Start Me Up’, followed by Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’, The Scorpions’ ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’, and Def Leppard’s ‘Photograph’.

kathryn@apra.com.au by Friday November 16; call (02) 9935 7913 for more info.

MGM STRIKES DEAL WITH THE HOLDING PATTERN MGM Distribution is placing its entire independent catalogue of 50,000 titles in the music store of new Australian-owned The Holding Pattern site. Nick Arnold, who set up the site for emerging artists to promote, license and sell their music, says the deal will increase traffic to the site, “making it the one-stop platform for independent and undiscovered acts from around the world to host, share and sell their music whilst retaining full control of their copyrights.” UK distributor Ditto Music will also put its indie catalogue of 80,000 on THP.

ANOTHER FESTIVAL FOR SYDNEY? Sydney could get another rock festival next year, this time for over-30s and with a bill of ‘classic rock’ acts. Promoters contacted organisers of a first-time festival held in Townsville this month called Not Too Old To Dance, saying that they liked the concept. It was set up in response to a 43-year-old music fan who was thrown out of a Cold Chisel concert for dancing in the aisle. The judge told him he was “too old to dance” and fined him $450. The Townsville show drew 1200 oldies to a 10-hour show featuring Choirboys and 1927.

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SARAH BLASKO

T

he recording of Sarah Blasko’s new album took her right across Europe, from Stockholm all the way to Sofia in Bulgaria, but the record began its life in a spooky house by the sea in Brighton, England. “I’d been living with some friends of mine in London and we all had to move out of the house, so I thought I could keep living [in the city] a bit longer, or move somewhere where there was a bit more space for me to do some writing,” the singer-songwriter recalls. “Brighton turned out to be the perfect place for that. I really set up camp there. I spent probably the first six months of last year writing the album. I did a few little tours and things, but yeah – I spent a lot of time in this house on my own with a piano, writing songs.”

I Awake has a spare and mournful sound, which was inspired, more than anything, by the mysterious quality of Brighton itself.

“The thing that struck me all the time was the really mournful sound of the seagulls there,” Blasko explains. “That sound is going to haunt me; I was literally right next to the sea. I feel like whenever I hear the music from the album, even though I recorded it in Sweden and Bulgaria, there’s always this feeling of that place in Brighton, and the seagulls.” The album is suffused with a sense of longing – the sort that comes when you’ve travelled for so long that you start to feel removed from the life you live back home, and the people who surrounded you. “I had a lot of time to indulge in those memories and those thoughts,” Blasko says. “I’d been travelling for a long time, and suddenly found myself alone in this spooky old house. The pace suddenly slowed, and I got a real sense of the empty space that surrounded me. It was a real time of stopping, just living in that little town with my thoughts.”

The album’s title track – a sparse, percussive song that sounds strikingly different from anything Blasko has recorded before – came to her one night during dinner in a restaurant. It hit her so suddenly that she had to make a furtive dash to the bathroom to sing the lyrics into her phone.

“I have no idea why, but the song just hit me at that point,” she says. “It came up again when I met up with the bass player and the drummer, when we were doing some demos for the record. We tried it in a totally different way from how we normally would, starting with the rhythm. There are some songs that can signal something new, that can just give off a feeling like they’re going to be important, and that song is really one of those. There’s another song on the album, ‘Bury This’, that has a similar feeling. When I wrote that, I really felt like it was leading in some new direction for the record.”

When the songs were written, Blasko felt the urge to travel again, and she decamped

to the indie-pop capital, Stockholm. She had been there previously to work with superstar producer Björn Yttling (Peter Bjorn & John, Lykke Li, Robyn), and the two had planned to collaborate again – although this time it didn’t quite work out. “We’d been talking about it for a long time and trying to make it work,” she says, “but then when I arrived, we just couldn’t manage to work out a time. I didn’t feel like I could wait very much longer, and he had quite a few projects going on, and it became a bit complicated…” She pauses. “It got to the point where we both just had to admit it wasn’t going to work, and that’s when I decided I was going to do it myself. I love the studio there, Atlantis Studios, and there are a few people that I played with on the last record who came back – the engineer came back – so it made sense to return there.”

Strings Attached

By Alasdair Duncan

track, and then he’d go away and work on it.

I’d give him a lot of ideas and references.” It was a full-on process, in the end. “We had to be super organised before we went to Bulgaria, because we only had two days to work with the orchestra, so everything had to be free of mistakes, any little problems had to be fixed,” Blasko laughs. “It was overwhelming, but super exciting at the same time. It wasn’t until we were halfway through recording the strings in Sofia that I realised how it could have all gone completely wrong, and what a big call it is, because you’re standing there in front of 60 people, and yeah…”

Hearing her songs performed by the orchestra was scary for Blasko, but also exhilarating. “It was amazing,” she says. “It sounded really beautiful in there, because it’s just a big old radio hall, just a really beautiful-sounding room.

There’s one song that I did in there that I sang live with the orchestra, and that was pretty magic.” As she stood in the concert hall listening to the musicians work their magic, all of the pieces started to come together, and the music of I Awake truly began to take shape in the way that she had imagined for so long. “The musicians themselves, in the orchestra, they’re amazing too, they have such a wild sound.

That’s the thing: you’ve been working on something for such a long time, visualising it for so long, and then you hear it for the first time. It’s really moving and special.”

What: I Awake is out now on Dew Process Who: Sarah Blasko with Orchestra Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Sunday February 17

Many of the songs on I Awake feature bold, dramatic orchestral parts. These were written and arranged by Blasko and her composer friend Nick Wales, and inspired, in part, by her love of Leonard Cohen’s classic Songs Of Love And Hate. “I love that album, particularly a song like ‘Avalanche’”, she tells me. “I like the idea of the orchestra coming in at a time when it will have maximum impact, rather than being this gentle thing that’s just there in the background.

You hear it in songs like the title track; when the orchestra comes in, it really bowls you over. When I first heard ‘Avalanche’, I found it really terrifying because of that moment where the strings come in, and I wanted to do something with that sort of intensity.

Nick and I talked about those kinds of things, making it really count when the orchestra came in, using it for its full strength.”

The strings were recorded in Sofia with the help of the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, and getting the parts right proved to be much more of a challenge than Blasko expected.

“Nick came over to Stockholm, and we’d meet up every day to work on it,” she says. “I’d sing him something that I thought might be the starting point for the strings on a particular

“My heart’s in the wind where the clouds are like headlines upon a new front page sky” - TOM WAITS 18 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Xxx photo by Xxx

“I found myself alone in this spooky old house. The pace suddenly slowed, and I got a real sense of the empty space that surrounded me. It was a real time of stopping, just living in that little town with my thoughts.”

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Bento Self-Discovery By Krissi Weiss

S

ilverchair stickman Ben Gillies has taken advantage of his band’s indefinite hiatus, and released a solo album, Diamond Days, under the moniker Bento.

With touches of The Who and The Church, and with both a little more grit and synth, Gillies’ debut solo album shakes off any cobwebs of his former band Tambalane, and shines bright enough to escape the shadow of Silverchair as well. “It just felt like I really needed to get them out of my system,” Gillies says. “Some of the songs are over eight years old, so that’s a long time to sit on things.

Some of the old ideas fell away naturally, but I feel there’s definitely a cohesion on the record. It’s been nice on this record too, because there are a lot of flavours on it and that gives me room to move, to hone the sound of Bento. I think it’s a good start.”

Bento could be seen as a way for Gillies to show off his skills as multi-instrumentalist and songwriter in his own right, freeing himself from “the Silverchair drummer” label that’s been pinned to him for decades – but when I ask him about it, his motives seem more humble and less acquisitive, not driven by any egotism. “It has been a bit of a frustration for me, but yet not entirely [because of] Silverchair,” he says. “It’s funny when I speak to someone and they suggest that a band is just all one person; I always pull people up. They’re crediting an entire band to one person and you can’t. That’s the magic of a band: it’s what they do when they come together, not the work of one person. It’s

Paul Banks The Bad In People By Alasdair Duncan

certainly not the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m doing it because I just love music and that outpouring of creation.”

From the outside, life for Gillies has appeared to be a breeze – discovered at 12 and a rock star ever since – so when he speaks about being an independent artist, it doesn’t evoke the same image of struggle as it does with others. Things are, however, never as they seem. “I know people pick up a New Weekly or a paper and take what they read as gospel,” he says. “But I’m not bitter about that, I don’t dwell on that at all. The only three people that know what it’s like to be in Silverchair are us. Those guys are my friends, and you can try and explain it away to as many people as you like, but no one will ever know.

I’m thankful for being lucky enough to have experienced everything we’ve experienced, and you just have to accept it all. If you try and fight it or get bitter you end up angry, and there’s just too much other fun stuff to do in this life.”

What: Diamond Days is out now through MGM

Good Heavens Holy Trinity By Sammy Preston

“G

ood Heavens came together as musicians before we knew each other as human beings,” lead singer Sarah Kelly tells me. The Sydney three-piece is made up of some of the city’s most talented artists: Sarah – formerly of Sydney’s theredsunband – as singer and guitarist, and a pair of ex-Wolfmothers: drummer Myles Heskett and keyboard/bassist Chris Ross.

When I caught up with Sarah, the band had just finished filming the clip for a track off Good Heavens’ debut album, Strange Dreams. ‘You Lose’ was shot by labelmate SPOD (aka Brent Griffin) in the middle of the night, in a three-storey mansion set amongst rolling hills somewhere just outside of Yass. The shoot involved 5am finishes, smoke machines in the attic, and a beautiful lace dress Sarah found at a second hand store on Crown Street; she’s understandably excited to see the end result, describing the mansion as “a piece of Australian pastoral history”.

P

aul Banks, the enigmatic lead singer of Interpol, is preparing for the release of his new solo record, and in an attempt to fit in with the times, he’s just joined Twitter.

Banks gives the impression of someone who would be most at home in a cloud of smoke at a Manhattan dive bar in the ‘70s – the thought of him tapping out 140-character missives on an iPhone seems somewhat incongruous, and indeed, he takes a pretty sardonic attitude to the whole process of promoting himself. “It still feels foreign to me,” Banks says. “It’s not something I’d be doing were I not gearing up to release a record; it’s an entirely promotional venture for me. The gist of it is that people can ask me anything.

It basically mirrors my experience after shows when I interact with fans – except, you know, in written form.”

The arrangements on Banks are spare and haunting, maybe more so than anything Interpol have recorded since Turn On The

Good Heavens came into being after the folding of popular Sydney trio theredsunband in 2009, when Sarah Kelly’s good friend Julia Wilson, who runs indie label Rice Is Nice, started pestering her to keep writing music. Sarah decided to direct her energies towards making demos, and by 2011 she was in need of some musos. At this point, Julia suggested Myles – he was reportedly “the nicest man in the world”, and probably not a bad musician considering his aforementioned acid rock credentials. Sarah and Myles gelled really well in rehearsals, and a little later down the track recognised the need for a bass player, which is where Chris Ross stepped in. Sarah says the trio “just worked really well” – both musically and as friends. “We originally liked the name Heavens, but there was already a band called Heavens,” Sarah explains, “[so we] just stuck a ‘Good’ in front!”

One year after coming together, Good Heavens released the single ‘It’s Not Easy Being Mean’, which was followed shortly by the group’s debut album Strange Dreams: ten tracks that equally reflect the three members’ particular fascinations with psychedelia. Strange Dreams is the perfect marriage of forces, with Sarah’s ethereal vocals in brilliant contrast to the garish distortion of the rhythm section surrounding her. There’s also an investigative quality to the album; you’re able to sense that the artists are in the process of figuring each other out musically. “I wrote the majority of the album’s songs prior to the band’s formation, and then we just kind of arranged them together in the rehearsal room,” Sarah explains. One exception, however, was the song for the video clip shot in Yass. “‘You Lose’ was more of a collaborative effort,” she says. It began with a few of Sarah’s ideas – a chord progression and some lyrics – before the three created the final song together; Sarah hopes Good Heavens’ songwriting will come from a more shared process like this in the future.

The themes in Good Heavens’ album range from extraordinary dreams to suicide. When I asked Sarah if any strange dreams had affected her while she was writing, she told me about her favourite recurring dream, which inspired the song ‘Are You Sick?’. In the dream Sarah is a leaf, floating across the ocean – she likes dreams where she becomes disembodied, or becomes a different person. “It was a really interesting feeling where I was a rotting leaf,” she says, “sort of decaying.” Dreams certainly make for good inspiration – especially the strange ones.

What: Strange Dreams is out now through Rice Is Nice Where: Brighton Up Bar When: Saturday November 3

Drum machine rhythms and other electronic sounds feature heavily on Banks; as the man himself tells it, they worked their way into the music and simply refused to go away. “Going into it, every drumbeat was electronic, whether it was a programmed beat or something I’d laid down from an electronic drum kit,” he says. “I had Sebastian from Trans AM come and play the beats on ‘No Mistakes’, but eventually we realised that the beats I’d programmed for it could not be emulated with an acoustic drum kit, so the finished version cuts between his performance and the original recording. In other instances, like ‘Arise, Awake’, I played the drum part, but then we messed with it to sound electronic – and with a song like ‘The Base’, we took an acoustic drum performance and then transcribed it back to something electronic.

The feel of those original demos suffused the whole record.”

What: Banks is out now through Remote Control Records

“His cold trousers were twisted, and the sirens high and shrill, and crumpled in his fist was a five-dollar bill” - TOM WAITS 20 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Paul Banks photo by Helena Christensen

If you’ve ever listened to any of the guy’s lyrics before, this aloof attitude may not come as much of a surprise. The songs on his new solo album, Banks, take kind of a dim view of humanity; the con man at the centre of ‘I’ll Sue You’ is typical of the shady characters who populate the record. When asked if he’s generally a cynic, though, Banks insists that he’s more of a detached observer. “I’d say I feel like human behaviour is quite predictable and quite base, although I don’t know if that’s news to anyone,” he says with a laugh. “I think people are beautiful and also deeply flawed, and I think it’s fun to highlight that flawed side sometimes. There’s enough feel-good music that highlights the positive tropes of the human experience, and I think you can learn more about the good in people by looking at the bad.”

Bright Lights. Banks tells me this shift is merely the result of a temporary break with the band. “I think if you’re going to go by comparison to the last Interpol album, that was really a case of Carlos and Daniel building up and orchestrating the songs before Sam and I stepped in to work on them,” he explains. “The songs on that album were really very lush. It’s very different, because I really didn’t write that music. I mean, relative to my first solo record [released under his old solo moniker, Julian Plenti], I would say this is more complicated and denser and the arrangements are more fleshed-out, but if you compare this one to Interpol’s fourth, I’d say that comes down to Carlos doing the arrangement, rather than me.”

Bento photo by Tony Mott

Recorded in true DIY fashion, with producer Eric J Dubowsky (Faker, Art vs Science) and Gillies tackling almost every part of the album save for a few guest spots from friends, the recording process was very different from the protective major label approach of the past.

“I’ve been so used to having all those people around us, and you do take it for granted that

if something’s not working right then someone else will take it over,” he admits. “I think the whole Bento process has been a huge challenge and a huge learning curve. There’s probably a few things I would have done differently now I look back, but that’s the whole thing: you learn from the experience and take that into the next session. I’ve never had to do this on my own. I’ve learned a stack, and to be honest I can’t wait to get back in there and do another one.”

Bombay Bicycle Club Riding High By Benjamin Cooper

J

amie MacColl is frequently caught off-guard by the success of his band. When we speak, the guitarist of English indie rockers Bombay Bicycle Club is wolfing down some local food in New Orleans, and he couldn’t be more amazed – or happier – with his present situation. “When we started out, we had no intentions or plans for anything, really; certainly nothing like this,” he says. “To be in America is pretty special, and then to be visiting the South again and staying in New Orleans is just great. We’re actually staying really near the venue [House Of Blues], which is in the old historic quarter of town.

There’s all these amazing buildings and shops that are off winding streets; the buildings and public spaces around are exactly the same as the image I’ve been carrying in my mind of the city for so long,” he enthuses. “It’s very different to travelling through the rest of America, and the sorts of experiences you have elsewhere. It’s really another place.”

The London band’s long road to America began in 2006, when the then high-school students won Channel 4’s Road To V competition. After a triumphant debut performance the same year at V Festival, they released their debut EP, The Boy I Used To Be, on their own label, Mmm...

Records in February 2007. This was followed six months later by their second EP, How We Are; their debut album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose came out in mid-2009, delayed by the band’s final exams. “It was a really interesting period for us, because it was the first time we’d had the support of a label [Island Records],” MacColl explains. “Before then we’d just done most things ourselves, but now there was this group of professionals who were engaged. The great thing is that means you can reach whole other groups of people, who might never have heard our music.”

“At Walmart, you can buy things that no one would have any reasonable use for. And then, of course, you can buy guns. Real guns, that kill people. We elected to buy some BB guns...”

set of challenges for MacColl and his band.

“On the one hand, if you’re doing a support show there’s no pressure, because all the pressure is on the headliners. But then we were playing with Elbow, and playing quite a lot of our own headline shows as well, [so] there was more pressure on us because there were more British bands and internationally touring bands that people were comparing against one another. So we had to up our game as well,” he explains. How do Bombay Bicycle Club plan to step it up once more on their upcoming tour? “The live shows are going to be fairly ambitious – and I’m definitely going to get a tan!”

What: A Different Kind Of Fix is out now With: The Paper Kites Where: The Enmore Theatre (all-ages) When: Monday January 7 More: Also playing Falls Festival 2012 in Lorne, Victoria (Dec 28-Jan 1) and Marion Bay, Tasmania (Dec 29-Jan 1), alongside The Flaming Lips, Best Coast, Django Django, Hot Chip, SBTRKT, The Hives, Beach House, Sharon Van Etten and loads more

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B L A S KO WITH THE SYDNEY I N T E R NAT I O NA L O R C H E S T R A

Xxx photo by JXxx Club photo by Jo McCaughey Bombay Bicycle

The label’s support of Bombay Bicycle Club bolstered the frequency of the band’s album cycle; their sophomore, the acoustic Flaws, dropped almost exactly one year after its predecessor, and their most recent album, the amped and lush A Different Kind Of Fix, arrived just twelve months later in August 2011, laden with singles including the recent cut ‘Beg’. It may all sound like a gargantuan load of work, but to MacColl and his band it’s just what comes naturally. “We love doing what we do, so writing songs and arguing about songs is a big part of daily life. Our albums are quite different, but they’re all ours. The label’s support has been massive, and it’s meant that we’re able to tour to Australia and America – and there’s no way that I would want to miss out on visiting Wal-Mart!” he laughs. Have the famously vast malls of suburban America inspired the band to greater artistic heights? “Oh, for sure,” he laughs. “The place is just incredible. I mean, you can actually buy anything in one of those stores. You can buy things that no one would have any reasonable use for, and there’s stuff hidden away that you won’t find anywhere else... And then, of course, you can buy guns. Real guns, that kill people.

We, however, elected to buy some BB guns, and have been having a lot of fun with them. So far no one has got too badly injured.”

A lack of serious injuries is heartening news for Australian fans, who are looking forward to the group’s upcoming appearances at the Falls Festivals and their sideshows. The tour comes almost a year after the band’s debut appearances in the country, supporting fellow Brits Elbow on a string of national dates and performing their own hugely successful headline shows on the side. It wasn’t MacColl’s first visit to our shores, though. “I did a rugby tour to Australia back in 2006, I think it was, and it was a lot of fun,” he says. “I’ve actually probably seen more of Australia from that tour [than from band tours], because we got to see different parts of Australia and experience the rural parts of the country. It was fascinating, and the people were great... but I did get the absolute shit kicked out of me when we were playing, which is fairly usual for smaller guys in the game. I definitely wasn’t destined for rugby greatness, and I didn’t get the shit kicked out me last time I was in Australia [with the band], so I thought I might keep it up with the music instead,” he laughs.

The tour with Elbow brought out the slowrockers’ most passionate fans – and a different

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BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 21

Perfume Genius Getting Better By Caitlin Welsh

P

erfume Genius’ Mike Hadreas had to postpone our interview. Somehow it had first been scheduled on the night of his 31st birthday, and he had a prior engagement: a trip to the casino with his mum and a group of friends. “I lost money, but my mom won. She snuck a little bit into my pocket earlier, which was nice,” he laughs. It was a night, he says, of pretty much all the best vices, except for one: Hadreas spent most of his 20s struggling with substance abuse issues, so skipped the birthday shots. “I think everyone who was there is a recovering alcoholic, so there was a lot of Diet Coke. And we hit the buffet pretty hard, and gambled. Pretty much everything we could, bar drinking!” It seems casinos are still fun if you’re sober. “I probably shouldn’t advertise it, really, but you get this thrilled, manic feeling like I used to get when I used to go out, when I used to drink. So it worked out. And hopefully without consequence…

Unless I go broke.”

Hadreas moved back in with his (apparently awesome) mother to get sober years ago, and started making music mainly for something to do, while also using it as a means to exorcise some issues. But contrary to the usual maxims about

musicians and addiction, he says it’s far from an inspiring state of mind. “I got sober, then I made my first album [Learning, 2010], then I went out again. Then I got sober, then I made my second album [this year’s Put Your Back N 2 It], then I went out again. I just hope I don’t have to repeat that to make a third album,” he says. “I’ve never been the sort of person who made things while I was using. I don’t think I made anything at all. It might work for some people, but not for me.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a profile of Hadreas that doesn’t mention how much younger than his real age he looks. He admits that, partly because he had those “lost” years, he doesn’t quite feel his own age either. “I don’t feel any different. And I still don’t really think of myself as being 31 – I’m older than Beyonce, and that really freaks me out,” he says wryly. “Or Lady Gaga. There’ll be some interview with her, and she’ll say she’s 24, and I’m like, ‘What the hell? How can I be seven years older than Lady Gaga?’

“Emotionally, I’m a lot younger. And psychologically, in a lot of ways. It’s a weird combination of feeling wise beyond your years in some ways, because of the things you’ve been through. But how you dealt with them pushed so many things down really far, and you never dealt with those. So it’s really strange. Sometimes you feel like a little kid. And when you finally decide to deal with your problems, after so much denial, you feel very childlike. And it’s scary.”

“I got sober, then I made my first album, then I went out again. Then I got sober, then I made my second album, then I went out again. I hope I don’t have to repeat that to make a third.”

The two Perfume Genius albums deal with personal weakness and emotional damage in an intensely intimate way, with lyrics about suicide, addiction, love and shame laid over trembling, haunted piano. Put Your Back N 2 It is a slightly less raw experience than Learning, and is less afraid of its own beauty, with gospel and hymnal inflections in its best songs. Having moved out of his mother’s house and into a city apartment with boyfriend (and bandmate) Alan Wyffels, Hadreas readily admits that pushing himself to deal with his issues has made a difference. “In a lot of ways I felt like the second album was happier,” he muses.

“It was important to me that it was, or at least had an element of hopefulness. Not teary, anyway.

But I’m always going to be crazy, so I’m not too worried about a shortage of ‘darkness’ to look at!

“I think that’s what a lot of getting better is,” he adds. “It’s not really that things more actively appeal, or I’m all of a sudden happy; it’s that I’m staying put, and I try to work through it and feel it all, so that it can eventually maybe fade a little bit instead of just running away.”

I mention to Hadreas that the current top comment on the controversial video of single ‘Hood’ – which features him embracing and playing dress-ups with burly porn star Arpad Miklos – is the hilarious understatement, “This is a little bit gay”. “There have been the most amazing comments on that video!” he says with a laugh. “Some of the things that people come up with – they’re trying to be mean, but they’re just hysterical to me.” There was some controversy with Google earlier this year, when a promotional image from the same shoot, featuring the two men embracing relatively chastely, clad in underwear, was deemed “adult content”, starkly illustrating online media’s oddly backward relationship to portrayals of GLBTIQ people. Hadreas is unfazed, though. “I just made one that, in my head, is about 20 times gayer than ‘Hood’,” he says gleefully. “And I had people say to me, ‘Well for this one, why don’t you try and reach a broader audience?’ This wasn’t suggested to me, but basically what they were saying is, ‘Make something less gay’. And I understand that – people are investing in me, and they want to make money. But I had this idea, and I decided to do it. And it involves me walking around in heels, so I was going to do it anyway.”

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What: Put Your Back N 2 It is out now Where: Sydney Festival 2013 @ The Famous Spiegeltent When: January 26 & 27, 5pm More: The full Sydney Festival lineup was announced last week; for more info visit sydneyfestival.org.au

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Seun Kuti All Rise By Benjamin Cooper

“How can I not be involved? Nigeria is my country, and it’s very hard not to be passionate about such a wonderful place. There is too much that is too important going on right now.” a number of local artists and producers in each location. Despite working in London with innovators like Brian Eno, it was the experience of working alongside musicians from Rio De Janeiro’s Cia dos Tecnicos Studios that held the most significance for Kuti. “I am always writing, and looking to record one or two tracks whenever I can,” he explains. “Some people don’t like to write [when touring], but I like to make the most of wherever I am, and I find that the road is always a good time. A lot of our last album was recorded in Brazil, which was wonderful because there are so many different styles going on there. It’s really very inspiring to be around that kind of spirit and life, and to be learning from it and contributing where we can.”

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I do miss my cats, but my dog is the greatest friend. He has a very sweet nature, and I trained him myself so I can see myself in him.

He’s started howling along when I’m working on instrumentals at home, which is fun. Sometimes we go outside and howl at the moon together.

We’re in a pack, howling under the stars.”

Egypt 80 make use of their time on the road and the opportunities it avails by connecting with the local communities. In 2011 the group recorded their album From Africa With Fury: Rise at various locations in Nigeria, Brazil and Great Britain, with Kuti collaborating with

Although the family has suffered great loss, they have maintained a notable social presence and continue to use music as an effective tool for protest. Seun actively participated in the Occupy Nigeria movement earlier this year, protesting against the fuel subsidy removal policy of President Goodluck Jonathan. It was a natural move for him to make. “How can I not be involved?” he asks. “This is my country,

“It’s an exciting time to be in Lagos making music, and excitement is important to me, because if I lose the excitement then I’m not interested anymore,” he continues. “I like each of my albums to be different from the last, but I also want them to be an improvement from the first one. I can’t have any of them sounding the same... Just because of my friends.” Are his friends his harshest critics? “No, no, no – it’s not that!” he laughs. “It’s just that when I go over to their houses – and this is not by my choosing – but sometimes they are playing my songs and it’s really annoying. I always say to them, ‘You know what we sound like live’, or ‘Wait until you hear our new songs!’ I really don’t like listening to my old songs, [because you can’t control a recording anymore]. When we do it live, it’s all about what we can control.

“There’s no limit to what we can do live,” he continues enthusiastically. “A lot of people can sing a few lines for a radio show, but what we do is a campaign. We’ll sing over and over and over again until we like what we’re doing and there can be no doubt that we’re doing it right.

We prove ourselves, without any radio or DJ helping us; every night and every show is a new experience. The people join with us in the moment, and it doesn’t matter how good we were ten years ago... All that matters is what happens right now.”

With: Watussi What: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday November 10

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leseun Anikulapo Kuti wants me to get off the phone so he can cuddle his puppy. The youngest son of Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti has been leading his father’s band, Egypt 80, since Fela died in 1997 when Seun was 14 years old, and when we speak he’s enjoying a brief period of respite at home in Lagos. There’s widespread demand for the dynamic progenitors of the genre, as festival favourites and guaranteed party starters, and Seun subsequently spends a huge amount of time on the road. “The perks of this life are amazing, but I do miss my dog all the time when I’m touring. I miss being in Lagos, and

The Kuti name is synonymous with contribution.

Throughout the 1970s, Fela Kuti waged a cultural war on the corruption that dominated the administrations of many African nations.

The battle was hardest at home in the Nigerian city of Lagos, where the President General Olusegun Obasanjo was determined to silence Kuti’s vocal attacks on his government’s policies.

In 1977, following the breakout international success of Egypt 80’s Zombie LP, a thousand soldiers descended on Kalakuta Republic, which was the commune and recording studio that housed them. Fela Kuti was beaten, but survived to bury his own mother who was killed in the same attack after being thrown from a window.

and it’s very hard not to be passionate about such a wonderful place. Believe me, I get bored very easily, but there is too much that is too important going on right now.

Hungry Kids Of Hungary Sharp Shooters By Krissi Weiss

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igging to friends, girlfriends and family members in Brisbane’s dingy beginnervenues seems like a world away for now-established four-piece Hungry Kids Of Hungary – but after quite a while off the scene, they’re happy to rebuild things nice and slowly. 2010’s debut album Escapades saw the band play heady festivals and high capacity venues, even getting some spins on commercial radio for their single ‘Scattered Diamonds’. But the night before I speak with frontman Dean McGrath, his band kicked off their current tour in their hometown of Brisbane by squeezing into The Zoo – one of the smaller venues in the city. “It’s funny this time around,” he says. “We started with those tiny gigs, playing to no one around Brisbane, and then with the last album everything just kept getting bigger and bigger. Now, coming back after a year away, in a lot of ways it’s a bit like going back to the start. We played The Zoo – that’s the first time we’ve played a venue that size in a while.”

Judging by the brutality of his hangover, the show was a success. “I’m in recovery mode,” he admits with a shaky voice. “The show was great, but it’s the worst day to be feeling like this, ‘cause it’s boiling hot. Everything is a real struggle.” Laughing off the notion that the band has had a break, McGrath recaps their last 12 months. “We’ve had a whole lot going on, but people here in Australia probably don’t realise it,” he explains. “We’d been huddled away making the new record and that’s all done now. We spent a fair bit of time overseas playing shows and festivals, so we by no means stopped working for a year. But when people aren’t hearing from you or seeing you, they seem to think you’ve dropped off the face of the earth a bit.

The album, You’re A Shadow, is ready for release, but will sit in suspension until around

“It’s also apparently difficult to release a record towards the end of the year,” he continues.

“It’s all of this record label suit stuff that you have to factor in, that I constantly have to have explained to me. The guys in the band are fairly passive, and if it was up to us we would’ve just put it out. We’ve got the first single out and there’s gonna be another one really soon, so we can gradually roll out a few songs before we dump the whole thing on people.”

Recorded at Alberts Studios with Wayne Connolly (Youth Group, The Vines, Silverchair), HKOH were shocked with the effortlessness of the process. “It was too easy in a way,” McGrath says. “For the first record, we were in and out of the studio over a six month period, going in and messing around with things. But this time around it was three sessions down in Sydney, and I think the total time was about a month. We were forced to limit ourselves and get it done right, quickly, without dwelling on things too much. We wanted to sound more organic and real, so there’s a lot of live takes of all of us in the room recording. We respond well to that environment.

“We’re very finicky people in a lot of ways but we were fortunate because we found the right studio and the right producer,” he continues.

“We don’t like studios that are too big and clinical. We’ve done some work before and

“We started with those tiny gigs, playing to no one around Brisbane, and then with the last album, everything just kept getting bigger and bigger.

Now, coming back after a year away, it’s a bit like going back to the start.” felt daunted by almost too much of a sense of professionalism, thinking, ‘Oh God, we’re in this studio with all this fancy gear and we’re paying through the nose – we’d better get this right!’ At Alberts it was a small room, we could all sit closely together, and the studio came part and parcel with the producer. Both of those things worked so perfectly in the end.”

What: ‘Sharp Shooter’ is out now through Stop Start/EMI With: Gung Ho Where: The Standard When: Thursday November 1

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“Because of the attention span of listeners, it feels to us like we’ve got a lot of work to do to get back up there,” he continues. “But we’ve been fortunate with this single, ‘Sharp Shooter’ – the response has been really good so far. We really want people to listen to this album, we’re really proud of it.”

March next year. There are plans to release a few singles between now and then but, as McGrath says, “the machine” has decided March is the time for release. “It’s all strategic, ya know?” he says, laughing a little. “I think if the album had been made a couple of years ago, we just would’ve put it out.” A big factor in the decision to hold it off is what the band are hoping to achieve internationally next year.

“Our hopes for this record are that we can release it here at home and tour the heck out of it, and then immediately follow-up overseas.

The first album was released in 2010 here, but was only released overseas this year, so we’re backtracking a little bit. We were making the record and then trekking off overseas playing all of the old songs!

arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...

five minutes WITH

BENNETT

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fter some time hibernating in the Higher Ground Studio alongside fellow artists Beastman, Ears, Mark Alsweiler, Max Berry, Numskull et al, Bennett is emerging this week with a swag of new paper and mixed-media works, expanding on his trademark use of found-objects and incorporating print artefacts and newer items picked up during his recent trip to Japan.

Where does your philosophy of recycling found-materials come from? I started using these types of items in my works more prominently a couple of years ago, but I have been collecting and sourcing them for around five to six years now. It all started from finding things on the street as I’m constantly looking down at the footpath and surrounding areas when I walk to the studio – and anywhere else for that matter. Now I instantly wonder what I could use these little scraps and knickknacks for, other than their original use. There’s something so empowering about using discarded things and giving them a new life or existence.

How did you wind up at Higher Ground? Higher Ground started originally (under another name) a few years ago. We all needed a new place to call HQ after Worlds End, the studio a number of us had previously been working out of, had to close.

Hot on the heels of a sell-out season on Broadway, Spiegelworld and Nine Live are bringing EMPIRE – their cocktail of improbable acrobatics, cabaret and neo-burlesque – to Sydney this summer. The 90-minute ‘theatrobatic’ experience will take place in the iconic, mirrored Spiegeltent (home to La Clique and Absinthe previously) and will feature clownMCs Oscar and Fanny, Lime Green Lady, Carrot Man, sexy acrobatic trio Gorilla Girls, and Big Mac Boy, among others. It kicks off Sydney’s epic summer of entertainment on Friday January 4 at Entertainment Quarter, and tickets are on sale from this Thursday, November 1. spiegelworld.com

I, ANIMAL

Adelaide theatre-provocateurs The Border Project (Vs. Macbeth) and Zoos Victoria have teamed up to produce a unique, adults-only daily tour-experience for Melbourne Zoo this summer, which unpacks its 150-year history and explores the secret experience of its inhabitants.

It's called I, Animal, and it's part multimedia

tour, part theatrics and part animal encounter.

Forget Siri, you'll find yourself on a provocative choose-your-own-adventure style tour (think R.L Stine’s Goosebumps meets The Jungle Book), led by Zoe – aka an iPod Touch. I, Animal runs nightly from November 23 – so circle a long weekend in your Leunig calendar and get your tickets from zoo.org.au/ianimal

MOVEMBER MOVIES

The Beresford are offering up mo’ movie this month, in celebration of the arrival of summer and Movember. As part of their weekly classic films program, this month they’ll be showcasing some of the best ‘staches on the big screen – from handlebars to pencils to the chevron (think Freddie Mercury) – every Monday night from 7pm, for free. The awesomeness kicks off November 5 with Richard Pryor in ‘80s comedy caper Brewster’s Millions; on November 12, it’s Richard Roundtree’s original black private-eye in Shaft; November 19 brings Jean Dujardin’s washed-up actor in Academy Award-winner The Artist; and on November 26, Robin Williams is in screaming queen mode in The Bird Cage.

2001: A Space Odyssey – now with 100% more orchestra

What’s the show about? This new series explores the importance of colour, composition and content, whilst thematically hinging on the appropriation of found material, giving new meanings and contexts to everyday objects and scenarios. The underlying tone is referencing the idea of questioning the norm and the way things are seen, used and viewed, and being open to new and alternative meanings and uses.

Ultimately these new works are designed to be both aesthetically exciting and challenging, asking the audience to look deeper into the works and the materials used. I'm exploring with curiosity the history of each element and its newfound purpose.

What: Don’t Shoot The Messenger Where: Soldiers Rd Gallery (Suite 405, 342 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills) When: Opens Thursday November 1, 6pm More: highergroundstudio.com.au

THE BURLESQUE HOUR

You know how they say “You haven’t seen burlesque until you’ve seen a Finucane and Smith burlesque?” True – but happily they’re bringing their provocative and genre-busting smash hit The Burlesque Hour: Glory Box Edition to Seymour Centre's Reginald Theatre from November 15. Saucier than a bag of hot chips, the show is a fusion of Parisian nightclub, outrageous cabaret, circus tricks and a dash of Bollywood, featuring a riot of international performers – including Empress of Provocative Variety Moira Finucane, vaudeville favourite Miss Toni Lamond, cabaret sensation Meow Meow, and local theatre goddess Pamela Rabe. For tickets and info hit up seymourcentre.com

To find out what you’re doing in January, head along to sydneyfestival.org.au to sift through the first program by incoming Festival Director Lieven Bertels (interviewed by us just over the page). Hot tickets include: Sydney Symphony Orchestra doing a live soundtrack for Kubrick’s frontier-busting 2001: A Space Odyssey; Vivienne Westwood’s Handel-catwalk mashup Semele Walk; the Nick Cave-inspired puppetdance-theatre Murder; the Circolombia urban-circus-theatre extravaganza Urban, straight from Broadway (and only in Parramatta, suckers!); the epic Spanish/OperaAustralia production of Verdi’s A Masked Ball; and a bristling, provocative show by acclaimed Kuwaiti writer-director Sulayman Al-Bassam, unpacking the Arab Spring in a theatrical montage. As usual, the program is epic, and this page is not – so get across it before it sells out.

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Academy Awardwinning director Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September and Touching The Void) interweaves stills photography, concert footage and rare interviews with Marley, with current interviews with his friends and family (including original ‘Wailer’ Neville ‘Bunny’ Livingston, longtime collaborator Neville Garrick, children Cedella and Ziggy, Bob’s widow Rita, and even a girlfriend or two), the film explains his popularity and appeal but also presents a portrait of who he was, as a man. And it has some bangin' tunes, remastered for your home cinema surround sound (aka headphones).

Marley is out now on DVD; to get your hands on one of FIVE copies, email us with your postal addy and the name of one song by Bob Marley.

This is Tom Gleeson

BROWN CLASS CINEMA

“F*#k Gold Class, these are the films you don’t normally get to see”. And with that sassy salute, Perth's Brown Class Cinema has landed in Sydney – bringing with it a new kind of festival that lets you stream films rarer than a ‘stache-less hipster or catch them IRL. Head to the AV Union (365 Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt) on Wednesday October 31 for the bizarro double-header of instructional crime caper/true story How To Sell A Banksy and fantastical Wonka-esque skateboarding tale Machotaildrop. On Friday November 2 at The Factory’s Fusebox theatre, catch anti-graffiti warriors in Vigilante Vigilante and independent wrestling study Fake It So Real; and then on November 3 it’s back to the AV Union for the Sugarhill Gang reunion I Want My Name Back, and Snow On Tha Bluff, a pseudo-doco following a drug dealer’s everyday life. Screening deets and tickets at brownclasscinema.com.au

DOWNTOWN DRIVE-IN

YOUR SUMMER: 2013

It’s time to wrap your brain and ears around Bob Marley – because if this new and definitive documentary tells us anything, it’s that he was far more than just a reggae superstar: besides being one of the most prolifically talented musicians of the 20th century, he was a spiritual leader, a tirelessly driven activist, and a fearsomely charismatic performer who channeled all the rejection of his youth into his career. He was often referred to in the ‘70s as a ‘third world superstar’.

The cool cats behind Downtown Drive-In have just announced Carriageworks as the location for their ‘Back Roads USA’ season.

They’ll be screening the new adaptation of Kerouac’s unfilmable beat-classic On The Road, sentimental favourite Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and forgotten classic Vanishing Point. Enjoy the films in a sweetas luxury ride from Audi, or BYO vehicle if you prefer; and there’ll be a special Americanastyle menu inspired by the films, whipped up by the folks at The Dip. The program runs over three nights from November 29 to December 1, and you can snap up tickets from downtowndrive.in

CALLING ALL ACTORS

Fancy yourself the next Aussie Oscar winner/ face-of-a-high-end-Japanese-skincare-brand?

The newly established International Screen Academy offers training in all areas of contemporary screen and broadcast media, and the latest production technology onsite.

GOOD ONE GLEESON

Stand-up master, TV comic extraordinaire and fast-bowling funnyman Tom Gleeson returns to the Comedy Store this week, and this time he’s bringing along a very special guest – Annette Gleeson (aka his Mum). A comedians’ comedian who counts Louis CK among his fans, Gleeson will be spinning tales of firsttime fatherhood and playing poker with the SAS, as well as commenting on the state of the nation and all the important things – from November 1-4. So start practicing your thisis-inappropriate-but-still-hilarious chuckle and get your tickets at thecomedystore.com.au

Boasting of a teaching staff made up of wellknown actors, film practitioners and industry experts (including Nicholas ‘Bad Boy Bubby’ Hope), Creative Director Tony Barclay says the academy’s main goal is to produce great actors who are ready to work across all mediums. Auditions will be held in the last two weeks of November, so dust off your tasteful prosthetic noses and start rehearsing. isasydney.com.au

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SPIEGELWORLD'S EMPIRE

How did the Japan trip affect your work? I got to explore and discover new surroundings and environments, meet new people and try different things. The many different types of paper stock and other unique stationary items that Japan had to offer were exciting to me artistically. Not to mention all of the amazing second-hand book shops! I brought home a whole variety of new and old print material and have subsequently used it to effect in a number of works for Don’t Shoot The Messenger.

MARLEY! DVD! WIN!

ARGO

Stranger Than Fiction By Alicia Malone

Ben Affleck directs and stars in Argo

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t’s the day after the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Argo, and instead of looking tired, director and star Ben Affleck is excited, buoyed by an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his latest film. “The standing ovation was wonderful. You don’t have screenings like that very often – I was really thrilled,” he admits. “But, you know, my tendency is to just go, ‘Maybe they just accidentally liked it and no one else will like it?’”

Affleck’s humility is the product of a career of both spectacular highs (winning an Oscar for Good Will Hunting; the critical praise for his previous directorial efforts Gone Baby Gone and The Town) and lows (remember Gigli and Daredevil?)

– and not just on screen. “I was definitely a target for tabloid press, that’s for sure,” he says wryly.

Of his career, Affleck says simply, “There are movies that worked; there are movies that didn’t work.

I am happy about the movies that worked. When they didn’t, I just thought: ‘I have to do better. I have to pull out of this dip.’ It’s a tricky business like that. You get evaluated

on your last five performances more than the movie that people come to see; you go to see an actor and you remember the last few things they’ve done. If they have been fabulous and amazing, you’re inclined to say ‘This person is a genius’ – even if really it’s not their best performance. And the converse is true. It’s hard to refashion that trajectory; I’ve been trying to do it.

I don’t have any regrets, because I know I committed everything that I had to all my movies.”

Argo marks a change in Affleck’s career, being the first film directed by him that is not set in his native Boston. “I felt like no one was going hire me to do anything outside of New England if I didn’t make a different movie,” he admits. “I wanted to change. I wanted to do something on an international scale.” The action-comedy is based on the incredible true story of six Americans who in 1979 escaped a US embassy siege in Iran and hid in the Canadian Ambassador’s house. CIA agent Tony Mendez (played here by Affleck) came up with a bizarre plan to sneak them out of Iran, enlisting a Hollywood

makeup artist (John Goodman) and producer (Alan Arkin) to help him fake a sci-fi movie, giving the six a cover as location scouters.

“It really is one of those things where you wouldn’t think it’s true unless it was true,” says the actordirector. “You would think it was absurd. One of the things I really responded to in the script was the theme about storytelling and the power of storytelling. It’s how we connect with one another; the camera is so much mightier than the gun. The film cuts back and forth between the political theatre that was happening in Iran, the propaganda – which really at its root is the same kind of storytelling as the fake science-fiction movie.

It’s also amazing that if you think about it, this story is more than 30 years old, and yet here we are, dealing with some of the very same issues today. Those tensions, those politics between the US and Iran, are still at play.”

The script, written by Chris Terrio, is both a political thriller and a hilarious satire on Hollywood.

It takes a deft directing hand to

balance the shift of tones, but Affleck is quick to redirect any praise toward his cast. “What I do is hire the right actors. I do nothing else. I sit back and watch Alan Arkin and people go, ‘Great movie!’ I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, Alan kind of just showed up and did it.’ Alan is great.

John Goodman is great. Bryan Cranston is great. The casting goes a long way. You can’t cast a movie unless you have a script that, for whatever reason, actors are attracted to. I guess I have an advantage, being an actor as a director; I have a better eye for the kind of thing that actors would want to do. You’ve got to have a good script that will attract good actors, and then you are literally 90% of the way there. If you have those things and the movie doesn’t work, you have screwed up as the director.”

Affleck can relax for now, however: as the credits rolled in Toronto, the words ‘Oscar nomination’ could be heard amongst the paying audience and film critics alike. “That’s nice,” says Affleck, “but really, my goal at this point is to open the movie.

I want to get people to see the movie – I don’t look past that goal.

As a filmmaker, the most important thing is you don’t want it to be a tree falling in the woods. I’ve had that, where you put in all this time and you put in all this energy and then nobody sees the movie.

“I’m going to get out there and do as much work as I can,” Affleck continues. “I’m going to a number of cities in the United States, I’m going to go to Europe – I’m going to really try to push for people to see the movie, because it doesn’t fit in neatly to any programmable slots. It’s not a serial-killer movie, a superhero movie, a robot movie. All these movies are wonderful and fun and make a lot of money in Hollywood, but they’re easy to tell the audience in a sentence what it is. People will say, What’s your movie about? I have to go, ‘In 1979, the American Embassy…’ That’s tough to sell. But it’s very rare in one’s career to have things come together in the way that this did. I really like this movie and I’m proud of it.”

What: Argo – Dir. Ben Affleck When: In cinemas October 25

COMPLIMENTARY MOVIES IN THE COURTYARD EVERY MONDAY AT SUNDOWN! NOV: MO MOVIE SEASON 5 Nov: Brewster's Millions • 12 Nov: Shaft 19 Nov: The Artist • 26 Nov: The Bird Cage

354 Bourke St Surry Hills Ph: 8313 5000

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Sydney Festival 2013 [FESTIVAL] Summer Lovin' By Steph Harmon Handel X Fashion in Semele Walk

person between an audience and an artist,” he says. One of his personal programming coups for 2013, however, is Semele Walk, featuring Vivienne Westwood. Premiering in Germany last year, the piece marries Handel’s opera Semele with exclusive Westwood couture.

“Vivienne had only agreed to do this once, she doesn’t need to do these kinds of things, and it was much more work for her studio than she’d originally thought it would be... For us to get it is a real win,” says the Festival Director.

Other highlights include La Fura dels Baus’ breathtaking production of Verdi’s A Masked Ball; Chinese classical operas The Peony Pavilion and The Jade Hairpin; a Nick Caveinspired gothic-noir from visual theatre magicians Erth; and In The Eruptive Mode, the world premiere of Kuwaiti theatremaker Sulayman Al-Bassam’s provocative piece on the Arab Spring. Meanwhile, Broadway dance-theatre hit Urban, by Circolombia, will be the crowning jewel of this year’s Paramatta program, and Carriageworks will host the About An Hour series of affordable short works, including new pieces by Die Roten Punkte, Legs On The Wall and Sleepwalk Collective.

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here’s funding cuts and a pared back program, but it was an uplifted, festive vibe at Sydney's Town Hall last Tuesday night, as Sydney Festival launched its 2013 lineup – with a literal feast to match its spread of theatre, dance, visual arts and live music.

Incoming Festival Director Lieven Bertels comes from a similar role at the famously diverse Holland Festival, and has been living in Sydney since December last year. “Like Amsterdam, Sydney is a very open-minded city, very artistically and creatively busy in all of the different arts industries,” he says. “The big difference is that Australia has a much more open-minded idea of what a festival can be.”

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With a more austere brand (no more of those balloon-over-rooftop illustrations), there’s also less room for contemporary music in this year’s program, and more for classical, world and avant-garde. The more popular acts on the program – St Vincent and David Byrne, Dirty Projectors, Lianne La Havas – are all genre-blurrers, and even Dappled Cities will re-imagine their catalogue in a baroque context, with an orchestra and choir. Bertels explains that where he’s from, ‘contemporary classical’ is pretty much mainstream. “A lot of people see it as difficult, but it can be really engaging or interesting – or even fun.”

Bertels calls himself “an expert at nothing”, paying tribute to the rest of his five-strong team of curators: “I see myself as just a liaison

Some favourites return – the Spiegeltent, the free Domain events, and, yes, the Ferrython – but there are some format changes. The Festival Bar is moving from Hyde Park Barracks to Town Hall, which is being re-branded after Amsterdam clubbing institution Paradiso and will feature late-night EDM acts like Nicolas Jaar and Norwegian DJ/producer Lindstrøm. And there will be no Festival First Night, with Bertels blaming funding cuts, safety issues, and an inability to beat last year’s success. Instead, we’ll have ‘Day One: An Opening In Three Acts’, with activities in Hyde Park in the morning, Darling Harbour in the afternoon, and The Domain at night. “Someone jokingly said to me that anything that happens more than once is called a tradition in this country,” says Bertels.

“So five years of Festival First Night, and the minute you look at it everybody tells you, ‘Don’t touch it! It’s not just a tradition – it’s an institution!’”

But our first taste of Sydney Festival will come in the form of a giant yellow rubber duck.

The Arrival was designed by Patrick Nolan and features work by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who together are transforming Darling Harbour into a bathtub on January 5.

“You can read a lot into the rubber duck, but it is what it is," Bertels says simply. "It’s a giant rubber duck, it’s playful and it’s fun. I think a festival should have that too.”

When: January 5 –– 27 Tickets: On sale at sydneyfestival.org.au

Dredd 3D [FILM] Urban Legend / Comic Book Hero By Benjamin Cooper

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ince it was first flagged in around 2010, comic and sci-fi fanboys have been eagerly anticipating Dredd 3D, the latest cinematic rendering of the judge, jury and executioner who first appeared in John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s panels of the iconic British journal 2000 AD in 1977, and was played

by Sylvester Stallone in the 1995 film Judge Dredd.

One of those fans is New Zealand-born actor Karl Urban, who was an avid reader of comics in his teen years, and particularly the adventures of futuristic lawman Judge Dredd.

“There’s something about him that sets him completely apart from other hero figures,” he explains. “An argument can definitely be made that he is an anti-hero, in some ways; but I also think it’s really interesting that his brand of heroism is defined by the fact that he goes into situations where everyone else has failed... where there is no hope.”

Urban, best known for his breakthrough roles in The Lord of The Rings, The Bourne Supremacy and JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, is filling the iconic superhero’s shoes in this latest film outing – and from the opening chase sequence it’s clear that this is a harder, more damaged Dredd than previous adaptations. The action commences as Urban’s helmet-and-visor-clad lawman is partnered with a psychic rookie Judge (played

by Olivia Thirlby). She suggests they investigate a triple homicide at Peach Trees, one of the more dangerous of the myriad colossal highrises that house the residents of the vast industrial sprawl known as Mega City One. Unbeknownst to the two Judges, Ma-Ma (Game Of Thrones’ Lena Headey) has seized control of the 200-storey block in her efforts to further control the distribution of the narcotic inhalant Slo-Mo she is manufacturing. She has also

demanded the murder of the two Judges. The ensuing war is a feast of visual wizardry and badass one-liners.

Writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) have been praised for embracing a back-to-basics approach by meshing a classic siege narrative with the famously dry humour of the titular character.

“Things get fairly wild in this film,” says Urban, “yet in this midst of this madness, Dredd retains this dry, quite laconic sense of humour."

On playing the role, the actor says, “It was important to humanise him, and not just play the icon in a helmet. He is a character that is so in control, and the challenge for me is to find those beats where his control is threatened. It might be because of a huge emotional loss or something else, but it’s finding those moments and maintaining the tone of the film that matters most.”

Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) has masterfully manipulated the 3D technology available to him, with his realisation of the narcotic Slo-Mo experience particularly effective. “Using 3D was definitely not some cynical move to cash in on extra revenue,” says Urban. “Anthony came up with a great visual representation of what the drug does to people, and it put his artistic stamp on the film – but it also is just an awesome technique. He’s taken the audio out of the film at that point, which leaves the audience completely in awe of the image, before they’re slammed back into the action. Dredd dares to do what a lot of films don’t, or won’t, and that’s really exciting for me.”

What: Dredd 3D When: In cinemas from October 25

The School For Wives [THEATRE] Old Story, New Tricks By Rebecca Saffir hypocrisy. In The School for Wives, Molière has a field day on the idea that in marriage, the man rules and the wife submits. Well, only last month the Church of England renewed the woman’s vow to “submit” as part of the marriage ceremony. So when the word pops up in our play, there is always a guffaw from our audience. We are tickling the same nerve. And recently our parliament has erupted in a spectacular display of gender warfare. It was funny then and it is funny now. Plus ça change, as they say…

A

fter a mammoth tour around the country, Bell Shakespeare’s The School for Wives finally touches down at the Sydney Opera House this week, under the helm of director Lee Lewis. In a new translation by Justin Fleming, Molière turns his biting, acerbic French wit to the story of Arnolde, who raises a woman in a convent to be his perfect wife. Nothing goes to plan – of course – and many feathers are ruffled along the way. We talked to Fleming about the man and the matter of translating his classic.

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Molière is often remembered as a writer of brilliant and enjoyable comedies, but he was also a fierce social critic and a bit of a renegade who was hardly popular with the establishment of his time, right?

Oh yes – he had one great stroke of luck: he made the King laugh. So Molière knew that if a comedy was to see the light of day, he had to persuade the King first. And after that, he was quite happy to upset everybody, because laughter is a great weapon against pomp and

Was the script finished before you went into rehearsals, or have you, Lee and the cast been playing around with it in the room?

Nothing is absolutely set in stone before the rehearsal. Actors have a habit of finding

You’ve translated Molière before – what keeps you coming back?

He is probably the best storyteller in the theatre.

The twists and turns, the hook of surprise, the hilariously unexpected development – they are all in his toolbox. Also, I have to admit to my endless enjoyment of Molière’s conviction about the mysterious power of love. To him, it is a force of nature, and the entire establishment – with all of its resources, its rules, its traditions, its army of conceits – cannot reverse this force of nature any more than they could reverse our orbit of the sun.

To Molière, the heart rules. I love that.

The show’s been on tour for four months; any interesting stories?

After every performance, we all receive a show report from the Stage Manager by email. One of my favourite show reports said: “The show ran overtime owing to unscheduled laughs.”

What: The School For Wives When: Until November 24 Where: Playhouse, Sydney Opera House More: sydneyoperahouse.com.au

Cockatoo Island image courtesy of Sydney Harbour Federation Trust

Meyne Wyatt and Harriet Dyer in Bell Shakespeare's The School For Wives

You’ve injected some Australian vernacular into the play, but also played around with Molière’s rhyming structure. Can you tell us a little about the process of undertaking this kind of project?

Molière’s text is conversation infused with attitude, so it is possible to find Australian equivalents for almost everything. But where there are references to more esoteric 17th century expressions, I find something as close as I can to our own. The original text is all rhyming couplets, but it’s easy to rhyme in French because of the stress being usually on the last syllable. In English, rhyming is much more complicated; we are not used to rhyme in our drama. But I believe that rhyme is part of the reason we enjoy Molière – so I use it, but I extend the line to a more conversational length.

discrepancies in their character which need to be addressed for the audience. When Lee had the ingenious idea to set it in 1920s Paris, I had to take out the Sarkozy jokes and a 'terribly witty' reference to an emissions trading scheme. But what we wind up with is so much better for that judicious surgery.

PARADISO AT TOWN HALL JANUARY 18 – 27 SYDNEY TOWN HALL

ROKIA TRAORÉ

PICNIC: DARSHAN JESRANI & DANIEL WANG

KASHMERE STAGE BAND

MELANIÉ PAIN AND NADÉAH

DAPPLED CITIES

NICOLAS JAAR

OSAKA MONAURAIL

ANTIPODEAN INTERPOLATIONS

FUTURE CLASSIC: LINDSTRØM RICHARD HAWLEY

TICKETS ON SALE NOW SYDNEYFESTIVAL.ORG.AU I 1300 668 812 SYDNEY FESTIVAL GUIDE FOR IPAD BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 29

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

At the heart of the arts Where you went last week...

Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

■ Comedy

■ Film

October 12-23 / Sydney Opera House

In cinemas from November 1

“They didn’t use rude words, did they?” asked my neighbour John when I told him I spent the weekend at Just For Laughs.

“They used all of them,” I said. In its second Sydney year, the world’s biggest comedy festival returned to Sydney Opera House. For maximum comedian-to-time ratio, I caught all four gala events, the solo outings of US firebrand Bill Burr and The Mighty Boosh’s Rich Fulcher; and The Nasty Show.

Housos vs Authority is atrocious and a complete success. It takes ethnic and cultural stereotyping so far that it could in fact be supremely clever social parody: a joyous roundhouse to the jaw of every farmers’-markets-frequenting latte-drinker who’s ever decreed that it’s racist to do accents. The political incorrectness is so over the top that you have to laugh – sometimes with it, sometimes at it, and occasionally in utter disbelief that it’s happening at all – after which you’ll embark on an inner struggle about whether the film is a forward or backwards step for Australia’s cultural maturity. My struggle ended with the conclusion that it’s both. Like doing the splits. Ouch.

sarah blasko i awake installation

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JUST FOR LAUGHS

The penultimate show of the festival was the International Comedy Gala, hosted and handpicked by Adam Hills. Pre-festival, Hills told The Brag that, “My plan is to get the people; you’re almost glad when they finish, 'cause you need a breather.” Mission accomplished, Mr. Hills. As his gala reached crescendo with back-to-back sets by two aldermen of world comedy, Dom Irrera and Mike Wilmot, much of the audience was doubled over, breathless and crying with laughter. As Irrera signed off (Hills himself wiping back tears of laughter), a collective sigh of relief and disbelief swept the room, a truly ecstatic atmosphere as Hills welcomed Wilmot, who kept up the breathtaking assault, speaking frankly about his mid-fifties sex life and the three times he’s soiled himself as an adult.

brainArt

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19:10:12 :: Verge Gallery :: Jane Foss Russell Plaza Sydney University

The Nasty Show crowd on Thursday night didn’t go with Wilmot quite as much. The formidable collection of the world’s best in downright dirty comedy was superbly funny, but not quite right for that audience on that night. All the same, I can’t fault the show. The lineup was a seriously virtuosic collection of comics, a blessing for those who like their comedy to cross some lines, with Wilmot, Irrera, Jeff Ross, Big Jay Oakerson, and Australia’s own Rhys Nicholson, plus a surprise Tom Gleeson in nasty mode.

a moveable feast: art & about closing night

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Elsewhere, Bostonian Bill Burr showed why he is one of the hottest rising stars in international comedy, with laid-back but thought-provoking un-informed logic.

Burr riffed on “nerd Jesus” Steve Jobs in a eulogistic hate appraisal, characterising Jobs as an overrated egotist lording mad power over Apple scientists (“he told other people what to invent”), the population crisis (“two thirds of you need to go down to the beach and walk into the water”), and describing the rise of nerds since the absence of bullying as ecosystem imbalance.

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For his own gala, Hollywood-star turned Price-Is-Right-host Drew Carey drew a Concert Hall capacity crowd who ultimately witnessed Carey’s more polished comedic counterparts outshine him. The Project host Charlie Pickering bucked the news cycle from within with a play-byplay parody of every news show ever, in a smashing set met with a rapturous reception, and Judith Lucy was as superb as ever. Britain’s Dave Gorman displayed his power as a seriously funny raconteur with two expertly chosen anecdotes.

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

SEXES Exhibition Until December 1 / CarriageWorks (Eveleigh)

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Liam Benson: Glitterface

The Mighty Boosh represented with a resplendent Noel Fielding hosting his own gala, with old material and a bit of new, and his legion of fans didn’t mind either way. Boosh co-star Rich Fulcher, in both solo-show mode and as part of this gala, was surreally brilliant and off-kilter.

Closing out the festival on Sunday night was the Rhys Darby & Friends Kiwi Gala, in which his friend Jarred Christmas was a highlight. The only thing lacking was more stage time from the manic and superbly off-the-cuff Darby.

Michael Brown

If you’re familiar with the eponymous SBS TV series, then you’ll know that the world of Housos is the fictional western Sydney suburb of Sunnyvale (a barely camouflaged Mount Druitt), where dolebludging Dazza (Jason “Jabba” Davis) has daily domestics with his bong-hitting de facto Shazza (Elle Dawe), while gang-banging ethnic Franky (writer/ director Paul Fenech) commits various crimes with Pacific Islander Kev (Kevin Taumata), who’s constantly bedding his hideous bogan girlfriend Vanessa (Vanessa Davis).

After a tight hour of set pieces in the local hood, the gang jump in a campervan to visit Shazza’s dying mother in Alice Springs, where a plethora of fish-out-of-water scenarios play out, such as Franky baiting emus and tagging Ayers Rock. It all gets a bit tiresome as the film searches in vain for a way to re-up the television format into something more cinematic... but then it wouldn’t be the first time a TV adaptation has hit that particular snag.

The accents are the strongest weapon in Fenech’s arsenal. They’re many and varied: the classic lilts of Wog, Lebbo and Coconut, the high-decibel screech of the housing estate bogan, the snarl of the malnutritioned junky, the drone of the nincompoop cop, and the ivory tower guff of the government minister. The voices blend together like bird calls in the rainforest – and just like in the rainforest, it’s both beautiful and frightening.

Actually, it’s just frightening. But it does prove that doing accents for comedic effect is fine if you do ALL OF THEM EQUALLY OUTRAGEOUSLY. Because if you take the piss out of everyone, it means you can satirise minority groups without being called a racist at the farmers’ markets. Now let’s get a latte and see something with subtitles by Cate Shortland.

Nikos Andronicos ■ Film

ARGO In cinemas October 25 For a decade or so, it was easy to forget that Ben Affleck had an Oscar. Some bad choices sent a wrecking ball through the, ahem, goodwill felt towards the handsome leading man with arthouse connections. Now he’s returned to the good books as the director of three extremely well-received films; the third, Argo, has much wider appeal than the darker Gone Baby Gone and The Town, because of its idiosyncratic blend of political thriller and old-fashioned caper.

After the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, six more US embassy workers had escaped and were being hidden by diplomats. In order to get them out of Iran without being caught by the anti-US authorities, CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez disguised them as a Canadian film crew location-scouting for a space-Western called Argo – a real script that would have required filming in the desert. Setting up a real production company to fool background checks,

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Liam Benson - Glitterface - 2010 - Courtesy of Artereal

As part of their SEXES Festival, Performance Space have collected the rowdiest, raunchiest collection of sexual revolutionaries from Sydney and around Australia, into one show exploring the nooks and crannies of modern sexuality and gender. Among the lineup are some of the usual suspects, both established and new – including indigenous performance/ photography artists Christian Thompson and Tracey Moffatt; gender-bending performance/ video-artists The Kingpins; local portraitmaker Liam Benson; and Queensland-born polymathic provocateur Eric Bridgeman. Then there’s the unexpected ones, like surrealist painter John Meade, performance-makers Parachutes For Ladies, and prankster Marley Dawson. AND HEAPS MORE. It’s pretty much the cream of the cream of thinking-peoples’ art-crushes, getting sexed in every medium possible – across CarriageWorks’ public spaces, throughout the festival. For more deets, see performancespace.com.au

Burr's show was a rare treat for Sydney from a natural comedian who I can only hope is back soon, and the same goes for fellow American Hannibal Buress. The 30 Rock writer displays the extreme clarity of comedic thought that, when wielded purely, is powerfully accessible. Buress’ strongest hand, in which he replays his first experience of dealing with having to shit on a plane by going through the five stages of grief, was sweet comedic relief.

HOUSOS VS AUTHORITY

Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

John Goodman and Alan Arkin tag-team in Argo

Mendez must teach six terrified office workers to go undercover long enough to get on a plane.

The gleefully sardonic double act of John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the wisecracking Hollywood team is a joy to watch, and the unfolding stages of the so-crazy-it-might-just-work plan owe much to classic heist movies (the WIRED article the film is based on, at one point, even compares Mendez to “a bank robber sizing up a heist”).

But the historical setting is fraught – a time where the Cold War overlapped significantly with the tensions between the US and the Middle East that continue today – and should something go wrong, the stakes are not some suave career criminal doing jail time, but half a dozen innocent people’s lives. The tension is ratcheted up far beyond Ocean’s 11 levels. That said,

while the plot is perfectly paced and the performances solid across the board, there are so many characters – and this is with numerous key players edited out for a more streamlined story – that none of them, not even Affleck’s taciturn Mendez, invite much emotional investment.

While valid concerns have been raised about choices made for the sake of a Hollywood narrative (despite the inherent irony of complaining about Hollywood artifice here), Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio have taken a great yarn and made an excellent film out of it. See the film first, to experience the thrill of getting one over on the bad guys, but read up on the real story later – it’s just that little bit more satisfying.

Caitlin Welsh

Street Level with Deborah Thomson

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his month, former country-gal and self-confessed late-starter Deborah Thomson will be baring her private bits – in a remount of her 2010 Sydney Fringe show My Private Parts, all about the ups and downs (and ins and outs?) of In Vitro Fertilisation, and based on her own experiences as a wannabe mum… Sound painful? Not likely – she’s promising laffs, live music, and (given that she’s the proprietor of a vintage clothing shop specialising in '40s and '50s frocks) luscious looks.

How did this show come to be? This is the first thing I’ve ever written; however, like other people who find themselves in a situation where they feel compelled to write about an extraordinary experience they have had, autobiographical stories can possibly be easier to write as a lot of the material comes from the experience itself. In this case, the material was gold and I would often write it down verbatim as I heard it.

It seems people put off babies for a long time nowadays. When did you start to get baby fever? Yes, people do put it off until later – and not just for careers, but I think more because it’s difficult to find the right person (as was my case). My husband and I were not that keen on having children at all when we met. I know this sounds rather clichéd but as soon as we got engaged, we got excited about the idea of having a little person that would somehow be symbolic of our love for each other.

Do you have kids now? No, we were not successful but we have two cats! We were not devastated by that, and are very happy. In fact, I think the strength of the show is that it doesn’t have an ideal happy ending but still sends out a very real, healthy and positive message.

How hard was it swapping sexy for science in the baby-making process?

Each IVF cycle only takes a month, so we just put up with it. We thought it was worth it if the outcome would be a baby. Mind you, we still had sexy moments! And we both saw the humour in it. Before we decided to do

IVF, I was working out when I was ovulating and we were having to have sex at certain times so as not to miss that little window of opportunity. That was actually worse, because sometimes we just didn’t feel like it but we had to do it. We called it ‘business sex’, and that has become the title of one of the songs in the show!

What are masturbation rooms really like? I didn’t ever see the inside of the masturbation room, but my husband got the third degree from me when he got out because I was so curious (and there is a scene in the show dedicated to this whole experience). So, there was a chair, dirty magazines, two channels of porn videos, a bar fridge with Coke in it and half a bottle of scotch. And the title of one of the videos was I Cream On Jeannie.

What: My Private Parts: An Inside View Of Fertilisation Where: Reginald Theatre @ Seymour Centre When: October 31 – November 17 More: seymourcentre.com BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 31

Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK BAT FOR LASHES The Haunted Man Parlophone/EMI

The Haunted Man brings out the most realised, confident and unique songwriting Bat For Lashes has exhibited so far.

Natasha Khan, creator and sole driving force behind Bat For Lashes, was “ripped to shreds” for her Pakistani heritage while living in middle-class England as a child, and her immersion into music since then saw her move through her own Cinderella fairy tale. Instead of a prince, there was her sublime musicianship and songwriting skill to release her from the shackles of an unforgiving culture of racism that permeates the Western world. In the late 2000s, things really turned around for Khan, with two Mercury Music Prize nominations (Fur And Gold, 2007; Two Suns, 2009), and hit single ‘Daniel’ winning the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.

Khan’s previous two albums were divisive; critically acclaimed from many angles, they were seen from others as

BEN FOLDS FIVE The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind Sony Ten years is time enough for high school students to finish degrees, pursue vocations and then feel super old when the hip vegan punk musicians to whom they once listened are spotted juggling a beef and gravy roll with a baby sling at Marrickville Metro. Yet on The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, the incongruously named alt-pop pioneer trio Ben Folds Five all but ignore the decade that’s passed since their last full-length album release, and do exactly what they’ve always done – albeit with less hair and significantly more paunch.

On this album, Folds continues to confirm he’s a masterful pianist with a flair for effective orchestration and poignant falsetto, and a penchant for writing melodies whose catchiness masks the often-cryptic lyrics they convey. Folds’ archetypal characters with which fans have become familiar are back as well: sardonically whimsical storyteller (‘Michael Praytor, Five Years Later’), angrily jilted ex (‘Erase Me’), crude schoolboy (‘Draw A Crowd’), wry humourist prone to bouts of rose-coloured nostalgia (‘The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind’), maudlin memoirist (‘Away When You Were Here’), romantic obscurest (‘Hold That Thought’) and sighing balladeer (‘Thank You For Breaking My Heart’).

shamelessly derivative. But her latest record, The Haunted Man, shapes a thoroughly realised Bat For Lashes sound.

Opening track, ‘Lilies’, reminds the listener exactly how powerfully emotive her voice is, and moving between guitardriven art rock and synth-heavy pop, there is an ever-present darkness to this album that combines beauty with tragedy.

‘Horses Of The Sun’, with its persistent syncopated rhythms, combines both ends of the aural spectrum of light and dark layered upon distant harmony reminiscent of VAST’s ‘Touched’. While Khan stays strong as the driving force behind The Haunted Man, outside contributions from music luminaries Beck, Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Anna Calvi), Portishead’s Adrian Utley and producer David Kosten (Faultline, who produced Khan’s previous two albums) combine to create a haunting and intensely orchestrated album that manages to remain organic despite such complex production.

Krissi Weiss

JOHN MURRY

THE DATSUNS

AC NEWMAN

The Graceless Age Spunk Records

Death Rattle Boogie Hellsquad Records

Shut Down The Streets Matador

John Murry received high praise for his collection of death ballads with Bob Frank, World Without End, and his first solo effort The Graceless Age should garner even more acclaim.

It’s a sprawling, haunting clutch of mournful ballads that expand and contract like the river in his native Mississippi.

‘The Ballad Of The Pajama Kid’ fades in with loopy fuzz, filled out with robust harmonies and simple piano, and ‘Calfornia’ pulses with a hypnotic rhythm as Murry’s “hanging-judge drawl” meanders through it. ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ has echoes of a more stripped-back Ron Sexsmith, and ‘Southern Sky’ sees the balladeer entreating the universe to give him a chance at love once more: “She knows my face, my broken body, but I still see it in her eyes.”

Murry’s experience in a fundamentalist rehab facility as a teenager has continued to inform his music, and he says of it, “I trafficked in righteous indignation when they let me out, but god damn it, it turned out they were right.”

Righteous indignation is an apt description of Murry’s songs; he doesn’t shy away from insulting and injuring, but he is also honest and vulnerable and makes us believe he has the right to be.

Importantly, returning to playing in a trio saves Folds from overindulging in his musical and lyrical idiosyncrasies – a fate from which his past solo work has suffered. As on previous BF5 albums, the subtle balance effected by fellow band members Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge prevents The Sound’s musical landscape from becoming too cheesy, and ensures the sentimentality Folds imbues in his lyrics isn’t too cloying or unpalatably twee.

‘Penny Nails’ ruminates on the compromises people make to escape loneliness – “This isn’t love but I need it just the same” – and ‘Photograph’ is a richly layered, gently harmonised exercise in nostalgia. John Murry has put together something special with this album, and while it is not always easy to hear, it’s important and necessary, and rewards those who stick with it.

More of the same will be good news for fans and no news for the everyone else.

The Graceless Age is anything but.

It is bitter, twisted, heartbroken and glorious.

Andrew Yorke

Natalie Amat

There was a time, back in the early ‘00s when the British press plastered a little known band from Cambridge, New Zealand all over the front covers of their music magazines. It came with the bold proclamation that rock was back, and here were our saviours: a bunch of ‘Motherfuckers From Hell’ called The Datsuns. Cut to 2012 and Death Rattle Boogie is album number five – which, to be completely frank, was a bit of a shock for yours truly (there was an album number three?!).

Death Rattle Boogie is a fine way to get reacquainted with the sounds of yore, but there isn’t too much in the heavy rock posturing and squalling solos that you won’t have heard before. Lead single ‘Gods Are Bored’ kicks off proceedings with a decidedly refreshed vigour; less prevalent this time around are Dolf de Borst’s madman caterwauls and impassioned howls – certainly a less-is-more approach reigned supreme here.

‘Gold Halo’ follows suit, packed with enough monstrous riffs and ostentatious guitar solos to make Jimmy Page nod along, while on ‘Shadow Looms Large’ there’s an interesting reference to Queens Of The Stone Age, with a deliciously bass-driven stomp. ‘Wander The Night’ takes it down a notch with a rather jazzy affair that still manages to drop in a floor-rattler of a chorus, just in case you were getting too comfortable in your soporific haze.

While Death Rattle Boogie is staunchly a heavy rock affair, The Datsuns are still flying the classic ‘70s flag high and proud.

The album may ramble on for that little bit too long, but there’s an air guitar solo waiting for you on almost every song.

Marissa Demetriou

Carl “AC” Newman is the ringleader of that exuberant democracy, The New Pornographers; he and Neko Case are the most recognisable voices of the troupe. His solo records bear a family resemblance to New Pornos material: his clear, plaintive voice and buoyant melodies are unmistakeable, Case features on backup vocal duty, and on tracks like the effervescent new single ‘Encyclopedia Of Classic Takedowns’ the distinction even feels a bit arbitrary.

But without the full force of the supergroup behind him his songwriting has a lighter touch, and an emotional candour that the Pornos often eschew in favour of wry hieroglyphs and opaque imagery.

Newman’s last two albums were wonderfully warm, watertight pop records with clear highlights and nothing that could be called filler, but they’re not as immediately arresting as Shut Down The Streets. With songs that seem inspired by the future life of his baby son (‘There’s Money In New Wave’) and the grief following his mother’s recent death (the title track, in which he imagines whole cities in the grip of cathartic ritual mourning), and production that occasionally nods at the recent direction of the Shins – ‘You Could Get Lost Out Here’ is very Mercer-esque, all gold dust melodies on a sea breeze – while maintaining the sunny clarity that is his trademark, Newman has found a highly promising, but subtle, new direction for his solo material. The first and best track, ‘I’m Not Talking’, revolves around an unabashedly sentimental flute and fiddle motif that serves as wordless punctuation for its chorus: “Until then / until there’s reason to think I have a shot at redemption / I’m not talking”."

AC Newman is a desperately underrated songwriter, wry and lucid and never afraid to sound sweet. Shut Down The Streets is his most mature and honest work yet.

Caitlin Welsh

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK KNIEVEL Emerald City Alberts/ Mushroom Wayne Connolly has been such an in-demand producer and engineer over the past decade (album credits include those for You Am I, The Vines and Undergound Lovers) that he has barely had time to pull out his own project, Knievel. The songs for their fifth album, Emerald City, were initially worked on in 2010, with Connolly putting lyrics and finishing touches on the tunes in the following 18 months.

32 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Ten years between outings hasn’t changed Knievel dramatically, with guitar interplay, tight harmonies, and an appreciation for an understated hook still being their weapons of choice. ‘Through The Rainbow Dark’ is what you're likely to get if you were to place Art Of Fighting and Fleetwood Mac in a blender with simple production and Connolly’s effortless pop voice.

There's the usual warm-hearted melancholy evident, particularly on ‘This Is The Time’, the tale of a couple in trouble, on which Lara Meyerratken, a longtime collaborator of Ben Lee, makes a stunning appearance. Knievel sing songs of the big smoke on Emerald City, with the late night tale of ‘New Light’ and the lazy melody of ‘The Time I Found My

Feet’ cementing Connolly’s reign over cerebral pop. For all of his obvious skills behind a production desk, it is a crying shame that he doesn’t get to step out behind a microphone often enough.

Like the man they are named after, Knievel have come back from the dead with Emerald City – and are better than ever.

EFTERKLANG Piramida 4AD/Inertia Scandinavian acts are often given a dud deal by critics, who tend to enjoy making sweeping generalisations about the 25 million people who live in an area roughly the size of South Australia.

It’s unfortunate, because they have so much more than just Björk, ABBA, Sigur Rós and a legion of metal bands that you should be devoting your time to.

‘Efterklang’ means ‘reverberation’ in Danish, which tells you a little bit about how they approach their music. There are sounds everywhere on this record: ghostly choirs, plinking percussion and swelling strings that rise and fall, drifting in and out of the songs. The whole album is put together a little like a classical composition (no surprise considering they wrote much of it for their appearance with the Sydney Symphony at this year’s Vivid festival), with motifs recurring throughout.

Perhaps because of its conception, the album works best as a whole.

There’s a fluency of movement from one song to another, and even within the songs, as quiet, intimate moments move effortlessly into grand, important moments. And it’s all framed by Casper Clausen’s voice, impassively cool and detatched from all the energy around him. It calls to mind Erlend Øye (Kings of Convenience, The Whitest Boy Alive), and like Øye, Clausen can stray from ‘detached’ to ‘dispassionate’, and sometimes slip right through to ‘dull’.

Piramida is so intricate and interwoven, and aims so high, that when it falls short it is with a resounding clunk. But when they get it right, like on the Bon Iver/ Gayngs-esque ‘Sedna’, it’s absolutely breathtaking.

An engrossing album packed with surprises and delights.

Hugh Robertson

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...

JACK WHITE - Blunderbuss BELLES WILL RING - Crystal Theatre LIANNE LA HAVAS - Is Your Love Big Enough

Chris Havercroft TAME IMPALA - Lonerism BIG & RICH - Hillbilly Jedi

snap sn ap

lee ranaldo

PICS :: PX

up all night out all week . . .

mum

PICS :: EO

20:10:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711

triple treat

PICS :: JA

19:10:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

sugar army

PICS :: AM

20:10:12 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William Street Kings Cross 9331 9900

18:10:12 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

Nantes – 'drones' tour It sounds like: The new single.

Who’s playing? Nantes Sell it to us: We’ve been busy recording our debut album, which comes out in the new year – so this is our first show in a while; we’ve written a whole bunch of new songs and we’ll be playing some for the first time, alongside our recent single ‘Unsatisfy’ and tracks from our EP, including ‘Fly’. Oh – and ‘Drones’, which is released on November 2. So come along and get immersed in the new vibe while we’re still exploring it (and before we move to, like, San Tropez or San Fran).

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Probably the whole set, but especially the noise-y bits where our guitarist lets loose under the thunderous drums and earth shaking basslines.

PICS :: PX

party profile

It’s called: The ‘Drones’ Tour

Crowd specs: Yep, probably.

last dinosaurs

Wallet damage: Minimal.

18:10:12 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

Where: Upstairs at The Beresford / 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills When: Saturday November 3 from 9pm

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IER :: XAV RO PED :: NS OWE ELKE :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS

BRAG :: 486:: 29:10:12 :: 33

snap sn ap

papa vs pretty

PICS :: PX

up all night out all week . . .

alt-j (Δ)

PICS :: AM

17:10:12 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322

18:10:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711

It’s called: F!ngert!p$ Halloween Jam It sounds like: If zombie Santigold ate the brains of all The Strokes members, you’d have Fingertips and friends on their tamest night out. Shit is about to get supernatural.

Who’s playing? Fingertips, Bluejuice DJs, Twincest DJs, Teen Spirit DJs, Cat Lyf and Tropical Vibes.

PICS :: AM

Sell it to us: As All Hallows’ Eve descends into darkness, DJ/MC Fingertips and friends take you on an ungodly journey through the supernatural veil.

grails

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: You won’t. We’ll have eaten your brains. Soz.

19:10:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711

Crowd specs: One big room full of bad bitchez.

Wallet damage: Free entry, punx!

Where: Brighton Up Bar / 77 Oxford Street When: Wednesday October 31 / 9pm ‘til the witching hour.

the rubens

PICS :: JA

party profile

f!ngert!p$ halloween jam

gomez

PICS :: AM

18:10:12 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

19:10:12 :: The Hi-Fi :: 122 Lang Road Moore Park 34 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IER :: XAV RO PED :: NS OWE ELKE :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS

live reviews What we've been to see...

THE BLACK KEYS, ROYAL HEADACHE

Sydney Entertainment Centre Monday October 22 You could write an essay on Independent Music In The Noughties just by studying the two bands playing tonight. For years, The Black Keys were the embodiment of the garage aesthetic: two dudes banging away, producing great but underappreciated music. Then they started selling serious records, licensing their songs for ads, and became pariahs for betraying some indefinable ideal. Sydney’s Royal Headache, on the other hand, have had an impact overseas despite doing almost everything in their power to avoid it, and you could tell that playing the Entertainment Centre made them deeply uncomfortable. Their songs are great, and as a unit their chemistry is undeniable – but it was pretty obvious they didn’t really want to be there. And at least one person in the audience felt slighted, posting on the band’s Facebook page that their behaviour was ‘the height of rudeness’, and ‘embarrassing’ for The Black Keys, and unwittingly spawning the ‘Rude Headache’ meme. (Search for the tumblr page. Just do it.)

The Black Keys arrived on stage as a four-piece, and immediately ripped into ‘Howlin’ For You’. It took a song or two for them to warm up, and momentum stalled a bit due to frontman Dan Auerbach’s apparent need to use a new guitar for each song. But their energy and musicianship was immense, and even the old fans, bitter at seeing Their Band ‘sell out’, couldn’t help singing and clapping along to new favourites like ‘Run Right Back’, ‘Gold On The Ceiling’ and ‘Dead And Gone’.

MUMFORD & SONS, EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, WILLY MASON Sydney Entertainment Centre Thursday October 18

A happy by-product of Mumford & Sons’ immense success – and their Gentlemen Of The Road travelling extravaganza, which has alternated between arenas and out-of-the-way paddocks around the world – is the calibre of support bands they’ve attracted. Willy Mason sings and looks older than his 27 years, his powerful tenor sending vibrations to the upper corners of the room. With coat and collar, Mason is polished for the occasion; Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros not so much, but in the entirely unpretentious and spontaneous manner that lends them heavy charm.

Alex Ebert deploys his only rock star cliché early on: before the first song has reached its bridge, he’s 20 rows back in the crowd, pulling in dancing partners. Ebert trusts his audience, and they return the gesture.

Even Marcus Mumford can’t resist the revelry, and soon enough he’s on stage for another ensemble blues ditty.

The meandering ‘Lovers’ Eyes’ is a strange choice to open with, but at ‘Roll Away Your Stone’ both the band and its disciples arise with a raucous and relentless enthusiasm.

The atmosphere all but overcomes the night’s softer routines, so it’s back to speed with a titanic ‘Little Lion Man’ and the longtime live staple, ‘Lover Of The Light’. ‘Dust Bowl Dance’ closes the main set and offers perhaps its most satisfying and genuine moment, building into a monstrous guitar coda.

But this is a band that hasn’t delivered any real surprises since we first heard that debut single. Keys man Ben Lovett unwittingly sums up Mumford’s modus operandi when he announces at the start of encores, “We don’t have much more to say to you than thank you, and we’re going to play some more songs.” Soon enough, Mumford will have to start surprising in order to remain relevant – but for now, you can’t fairly deny them the kind of audiences that their live act has always deserved.

Chris Martin

There’s no such spontaneity to be found in Mumford & Sons’ set. The allure of their live show was always that it felt like four of your mates standing atop the bar at the nearest pub, belting out folky standards to the midnight crowd. Their graduation to the big stage could have smothered this sentiment, but Mumford have skirted the problem by playing the same reliable show they’ve done since at least their last visit here, only with a few more songs and a larger audience.

But then the rest of the band left the stage, leaving the original duo of Auerbach and Patrick Carney to tear into the classics – ‘Thickfreakness’, ‘Your Touch’, ‘Girl Is On My Mind’ – with a ferocity that you don’t often see at arena shows. It was the perfect reminder of why we fell in love with them in the first place, and when the full band returned for the final stretch it was to build on strong foundations, not to compensate for weak ones.

‘Lonely Boy’ was an obvious crowdpleaser and a natural end to the main set, but it was the slow, sensual ‘Everlasting Light’, opening the encore, that was the unexpected highlight. A giant disco ball dropped, the band locked into a signature Black Keys groove, and Auerbach’s falsetto crooned sweetly as we all flung our arms around each other. There was just enough time for a final furious thrash to ‘I Got Mine’ before boogeying out into the night.

Hugh Robertson

LISA MITCHELL, ALPINE, DANCO The Metro Theatre Friday October 19

Dann Hume is the younger of the three brothers who make up Evermore, and he produced both Lisa Mitchell’s and Alpine’s records. Tonight, though, he was fronting Danco: four dudes with facial hair and snapbacks playing jangly geek rock à la Ben Folds Five. They’re a little green at performing together, but their set was great fun and sounded the most solid during the all-in, slightly crazy numbers. The entertainment factor’s definitely there, and with a little more polish on the songs they’ll be a great crew to catch live.

Melbourne quintet Alpine were next to take the stage, and it felt like a bit of a palate cleanser. The looped vocal duels were an interesting idea, but all their songs felt a little samey after a while. The band had great energy in their performance, which they called “Alpine Zumba”, and at one point lead looper Phoebe Baker exclaimed, “I’m going to sweat my face off...and it’s going to be beautiful!” Unfortunately that energy didn’t really translate to the songs – although ‘Villages’ was pretty rocking.

: PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Lisa Mitchell walked onto the darkened stage to a massive cheer and the strains Bless This Mess opener ‘Providence’. The live harmonies were spot-on, especially in the rollicking ‘Oh Hark’, which had the young crowd singing and swaying along.

‘Pirouette’ showcased Lisa’s stronger, more confident vocals, and for ‘Together’ she was joined by a chorus-line of Alpine and Danco in an amorphous sing-along.

As an encore she came back and played crowd favourite ‘Coin Laundry,’ followed by a pared-back duet interpretation of ‘Neopolitan Dreams’ to which Rob the drummer leant his vocals.

Last time I saw Mitchell play she was shyer as a performer, but there was also a little more spontaneity to the songs (and a great cover of ‘Like A Prayer’ with Lanie Lane and Andy Bull). This time around offered a more skilled, confident performance, but less departure from her recorded catalogue. She has enough great material to choose from now, she puts on a good show, and the audience were definitely appreciative (with more than enough cries of “We love you, Lisa!”), but I’d have preferred it if she hadn’t stuck quite so steadfastly to the script.

Natalie Amat

PSY

Marquee, The Star Thursday October 18 Sydney’s most ostentatious venue was priming itself for the world’s most ostentatious overnight supermegastar to appear, and to be honest, there was no better venue for what was about to go down. For those who’ve never been to Marquee: the ceiling is one giant mirror, the bathroom has gorgeous harbour views and a cocktail bar in it, there’s table service for the socialites, and there was an Edwardian bathtub in a feature room with candles and shit around it for no reason apart from ‘Why the fuck not?’. This was the perfect arena for the ludicrous horse-dancing Korean man that even my grandmother knows, to play the one song that has been watched over 500 million times in the past 12 weeks.

He strode on stage in his trademark shades amidst an absolute shitfight of yells and camera flashes and semi-racist accents, looking every bit the plasticine K-pop sensation he is. Flanked by two super-kawaii dancers, he launched into ‘Gangnam Style’ –and it was a note-perfect replica of the polished dance-focused performance we’ve all seen on various

morning shows (though I suppose you’d expect that from a guy who’s gone around the world performing one song for the past two months).

But it wasn’t so much his performance as it was the entire spectacle. The guy played one four-minute song, and allegedly was getting $70,000 for the performance. If we equate that to an hourly rate, he’s on just over $1 million an hour. The absurd notion of paying an astronomical ticket price just to catch a glimpse of this guy for less than five minutes was evidently not a deciding factor for anyone at this sold-out show.

Even more unbelievable was the amount of people in the audience NOT doing the ‘Gangnam Style’ dance – everyone in the room was too busy getting the best photo they could; standing on chairs and tables and thrusting their arms in the air for that premium angle. Without getting into an grumpy rant about how smartphones are ruining organic experiences, this was the most cameras per capita I’d ever seen at a gig – but rather than it ruining the experience, it reflected that this really was a moment in history for people: “Kids, this was the time I saw PSY.” Rach Seneviratne

BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 35

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week Hungry Kids Of Hungary

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Denniston Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 7pm Darren Bennet George IV Inn, Picton free 7.30pm Nick Van Breda, Zzounds Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Russell Neal Taverners Hill Hotel, Leichhardt free 7pm

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31 ROCK & POP

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1

The Standard, Darlinghurst

Hungry Kids of Hungary, Gung Ho, Light Giant $20 (+ bf) 8pm MONDAY OCTOBER 29 ROCK & POP

Broadway Unplugged The Vanguard, Newtown $10 (+ bf) Monday Jam: Danny G Felix The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 9pm

JAZZ

Allison Penney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Emma Franz 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Latin & Jazz Open Mic Jam Sessions The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm Sydney Jazz Orchestra featuring Andrew Worboys

Blue Beat, Double Beat $20 (+ bf) 6.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Russel Neal, Antia Lenzo Trio, Massimo Presti, Chris Brookes Kellys on King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY OCTOBER 30 ROCK & POP

Jurassic Lounge Halloween Special: Meem, Frankie Faux, Dear Bobby, Defy, Packwood, The Faults, DJ Ted Dancin’, DJ Touch Sensitive The Australian Museum, Sydney $14 5.30pm Kelly Joe Phelps (USA), Daniel Champagne

Blue Beat Bar & Grill, Double Bay $40 (+ bf) 8pm Mama Kin, Boy Outside Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $25-$30 7pm Matchbox Twenty (USA), INXS, Evermore (NZ) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $109.90– $159.90 8pm Moonshakes Halloween: Teenage Mothers, Bachelor Pad, Fox, Red Dirt, Bones Atlas The Flinders, Darlinghurst free 8pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10pm

JAZZ

Jazzgroove: Andy Gander Quartet, Casey Golden Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8 (conc)–$15 8.30pm John Watson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm

Belle & The Bone People, Castlecomer, Iluka, DJ Jimmy Beatz The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80–$52.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Co Pilot The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Deep Sea Arcade, Songs, Day Ravies, Pop Frenzy DJs Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Dereb The Ambassador Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Immortal Band Comp Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe 7pm Jon Stevens, Ollie Brown Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $62 8pm Kelly Joe Phelps (USA), Daniel Champagne Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $40 (+ bf) 7pm La Mancha Negra Tios Cerveceria, Surry Hills free 8pm Matchbox Twenty (USA), INXS, Evermore (NZ) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $109.90– $159.90 8pm Musos Jam Night Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm Oliver Tank FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 1pm One Wild Night Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 11pm Rj Chops, Katastrophy Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm The Widowbirds, Little Big Wolf The Green Room Lounge, Enmore free 8pm

JAZZ

Kylie Stephens Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Ray Beadle, Jill Barber The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf)–$79.80 (dinner & show) 7pm The Lighthouse Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $21 (conc)–$26 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Adrian O’Shea, Gavin Fitzgerald, John Chesher Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Brett Winterfold, Kodachrome The Newsagency $15 8pm Folk Club Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory free 8pm Greg Sita Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 7pm Helmut Uhlmann, Maaike Ouboter, Eva-Maria Hess, Angel Awake UTS Loft, Ultimo free 6.30pm Russell Neal Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 7.30pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1 ROCK & POP

Angus Stone Enmore Theatre $40 8pm Anni Pipers Blues Band Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $20 8pm At The Gates (SWE), Katabasis, As Silence Breaks Metro Theatre, Sydney $69.70 (+ bf) 8pm Bang! – Day of the Dead Party: Thumper, Pear Shape, King Colour Annandale Hotel free (early bird)–$10 7.30pm Bryan Estepa, Bree De Rome The Newsagency, Marrickville $15 8pm all-ages Dave White Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10pm Diesel Brass Monkey, Cronulla $40 (+ bf) 7pm Ellie Goulding (UK) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm End of Semester Party: Glenn B Trippin, Ra Bazaar, The Nectars, Velociraptor Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington free 3pm Fushia, Conrad Greenleaf Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm Gregory Page (USA) The Vanguard, Newtown $23.80–$58.80 (dinner & show) 8pm The H.P Coronados Harold Park Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Holy Balm, Boynoisez, Mob Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst 8pm Hot Damn!: Hand Of Mercy, Legions, The World In Cinematic, Cast To Stone Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15 (guestlist)–$20 8pm Hungry Kids of Hungary, Gung Ho, Light Giant The Standard, Darlinghurst $20 (+ bf) 8pm Jon Cleary (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $30 (+ bf)–$84.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Jon Stevens Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$112 (dinner & show) 8pm Jordan Millar, Achoo! Bless You, Larissa FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm Jova Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel 7pm Kate Martin, Iluka Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm The Model School, Black Lakes, Luchi Union Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Papa Pilko & The Binrats, Bonez, Bradley Cork & The Folklore Mantra Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Prince Alla (Jamaica), Mista Savona, Firehouse Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $26 (+ bf) 8pm The Sheens, The Dash, Fret, The Ivory Drips Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe 7pm Tex Perkins & the Dark Horses, Mike Noga The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 8pm The White Bros The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm

JAZZ

Chasing The Moon Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15 7pm The Colours Tribute Band, Brendan Clarke Quartet

505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (conc)–$15 8.30pm Emma Pask Blue Beat, Double Bay $20 (+ bf) 8pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Peter Head Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Joanne Hill Corrimal Hotel free 7.30pm Russell Neal, Patrick McCarthy Angelene Harris Forest Lodge Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Spencer MCCullum, Nick Domenicos Kogarah Hotel free 7pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2 ROCK & POP

The Beards, The Snowdroppers, Kim Churchill Metro Theatre, Sydney $22 8pm Bree De Rome, Bryan Estepa The Newsagency, Marrickville $15 8pm all-ages Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers Show The Ranch Hotel, Epping free 10pm Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (USA) The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49 (+ bf) 8pm Cogel, Bell Weather Department, Morgan Joanel, Hansom Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Diesel Brass Monkey, Cronulla $40 (+ bf) 7pm Driverside Airbag, The Scabs, Pants Optional, Matty Effin Morrison, Hellbound & Proud, The Disadvantaged, Leatherhand, Falling Down Stairs Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe $5 7pm Electric Empire, Lime Cordiale Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm Elizabeth Rose Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm Face Command, Battle Pope, Killsong at the Townie Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 9pm Fallon Bros Stacks Bar, Darling Harbour 5pm free Good Stuff Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10.30pm Hand Of Mercy YOYOs Youth Centre, Frenchs Forest 8pm all-ages The Intercontinental Playboys, The Escapes The Green Room Lounge, Enmore free 8pm Jen Cloher, Courtney Barnett, Packwood The Vanguard, Newtown $19.80–$54.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Jenny Morris (NZ) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $30 8pm King Tide, Darky Roots Blue Beat, Double Bay $15 (+ bf) 8pm Last Stand Cold Chisel Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Mike McClellan The Basement, Circular Quay $39 (+ bf)–$93.80 (dinner & show) 7pm

“I’d love to go drowning and to stay and to stay but the ocean doesn’t want me today” - TOM WAITS 36 :: BRAG :: 486 : 29:10:12

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Mining Boom, Beef Jerk, Adults, East River The Square, Haymarket $5 8pm Nikos Oikonomopoulos (Greece) Enmore Theatre $99-$129 8.15pm The Oceanics, The Salvadors, Tales in Space FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst 8pm Powderfinger Show Bull and Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hill free 10pm Roots: Evil Elvis (Canada), Casino Rumblers, Chickenstones, Dogsday Spectrum, Darlinghurst $5-$10 7pm Running In The Shadows: Fleetwood Mac Tribute Notes, Enmore $25.50 7pm Skyscraper Customs House Bar, Circular Quay free 7pm Sophie Hutchings Café Church Space, Glebe $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm Steel Assassins, Voyager, Megahera Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Sticky Fingers The Standard, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf) 8pm Swing From A Streetlight, Sons Of Alamo, Halfway Homebouy Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm Touche Amore (USA), Make Do And Mend (USA) Annandale Hotel $35 (+ bf) 8pm

JAZZ

Arrebato Ensemble The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15 (student)–$25 8.30pm

Chris Gudu (Zimbabwe) Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7.30pm Slowpoke Rodriguez, The Lindo Ladettes 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co.Cafe, Glebe free 8pm

COUNTRY

Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson York Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale 8pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3 ROCK & POP

Ash Grunwald Coogee Diggers 8pm Ashes, The Hungry Mile, Samra Divulgene, The Curse Of Mary Sue The Forbes Hotel, Sydney $10 (presale)–$12 7.30pm B-Massive, P.L. Williamson Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm The Bad & The Ugly Ruth Cracknell Room, Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay free 8pm British India, Super Best Friends, Bright Yellow The Standard, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm Charlie Horse, City Lights, Rushing Dolls The Factory Floor, The Factory Theatre, Enmore $10 (+ bf) 7.30pm Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (USA) The Vanguard, Newtown $42.80 8pm

Diesel’s Hits & Blues Round II Annandale Hotel $35.80 (+ bf) 8pm Gettin’ Some - Songs of Love Lust & Longing: Billie McMarthy, Ines Vas De Sousa, Nicolle Lane, Sally Stevens, DJ Mr Chad The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 7.30pm Good Heavens, Summer Flake, DJ Kate Wilson Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf) 7pm Hendrix & Heroes: A Salute to the 70s Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 7pm The Hollow Bones, Crash Through, The Dead Heads, Galleri Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm Icehouse Enmore Theatre sold out 8pm James Reyne, Charlie A’Court Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$112 (dinner & show) 8pm Jive Bombers St Marys Band Club free 8.30pm Karma County Notes Live, Enmore $23.50 Ken McArthur, Sarah & Margie, Daddy Long Legs & The Swamp Donkeys, Jac Yvonne Tramshed Community Arts Centre, Narrabeen $20 7.30pm Kittens: The Khanz, Fushia, Wartchief, Kittens DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 9pm Leb i Sol (MKD) The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $54.50 (+ bf) 8pm Nantes, Louis London, Kate Alexa, F.R.I.E.N.D/s

Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Red Fire Red, Blue River Saga, Edens March, Go With Colours, Mung The Square, Haymarket $15 7.30pm Remmos K, Blow Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $10–$10 8pm The Road Runners, Atomic High Tones Matraville RSL free 8pm Roy Orbison Reborn North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $30 (+ bf) 7.30pm Songs, Camperdown & Out, Day Ravies Chalk-Horse Gallery, Surry Hills free 5pm all-ages Stormcellar The Taverners Hill Hotel, Leichhardt free 8.30pm Sugar Sun Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe Swingshift Cold Chisel Show Kemps Creek Bowling Club free 8pm Texas Tea The Newsagency, Marrickville $15 8pm They Call Me Bruce Stacks Bar, Darling Harbour free 5pm Tijuana Cartel Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $30 (+ bf) 8pm Touche Amore (USA), Make Do And Mend (USA) Annandale Hotel $35 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages VIP Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10.30pm

JAZZ

Kafe Kool Supper Club, Fairfield RSL

Club free 7pm Monsieur Camembert Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $40 7.30pm Peter Head Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Victor Martinez, The Rosie Henshaw Band 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Waldo Fabian Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (student)–$20 8.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Connected Café & Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Peachy Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm

JAZZ

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4 ROCK & POP

The Basement, Circular Quay $45 (+ bf)–$99.80 (dinner & show) 7pm Mitchell Dimech Band, Shinay Spinelli, Bowtie Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe 12pm Nathan Foley Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $34 2pm Satellite V Marrickville Bowling Club free 4.30pm Sunday Blues Jam: Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm Suzie Stapleton, The Walk On By, Hailer, Bonez Annandale Hotel $12 6pm Voyager The Lucky Australian, North St Marys 8pm

3 Way Split Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm A Day of Bluegrass: Little Sadie Annandale Hotel free 12pm Emma Hamilton, Jordan C Thomas The Vanguard, Newtown $18.80–$53.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Harmonate Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 3pm Knox (Fiji), 2GT Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe 5pm Melissa Manchester (USA)

Monsieur Camembert Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $40 6.30pm Peter Head Trio Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm Sunday Arvo Jazz Harold Park Hotel, Glebe free 3pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Daniel Hopkins Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield 6pm free Jeremy Smith Oatley Hotel free 2pm Johnny G & the E Types Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 6pm Russell Neal Matraville Hotel 6pm Russell Neal, BlakHatz, Angelene Harris Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm

+ + + IN-TENSE HIGH PERFORMANCE TOURING PRESENTS + + +

‘An INTIMATE EVENING With’

MARTIN ATKINS ( ) U K

(X–P.I.L., MINISTRY, KILLING JOKE, NIN, PIGFACE)

wed

31 Oct

NOVEMBER

01 Nov

+ + + Saturday 24th Saturday 24th The Factory Floor The Factory Floor

02

2012

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

Nov

(5:00PM - 8:00PM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Martin will spin some of his exclusive mash-ups (Ministry vs Killing Joke and more), some unreleased tracks, stripped down glitchy dub and generally anything he feels like from the last 60 years.

sat

03 Nov

Also a spoken word/visual presentation on the socioeconomic backdrop to the punk rock revolution in the Uk—growing up in the Northeast of the UK —power cuts, strikes, Margaret Thatcher, the I.R.A. and, PUNK ...then moving to London to be in the thick of postpunk energy and join PiL with Johnny Lydon.

sun

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 1:30AM)

04 Nov

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

www.tstouring.com myspace.com/In-TenseTouring

+ + + TICKETS THRU MOSHTIX + + + BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 37

gig picks

up all night out all week...

Annandale Hotel free (early bird)–$10 7pm

Deep Sea Arcade

The Beards

Ellie Goulding (UK) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm Holy Balm, Boynoisez, Mob Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst 8pm Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses, Mike Noga The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2 The Beards, The Snowdroppers, Kim Churchill Metro Theatre, Sydney $22 8pm

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31 Belle & The Bone People, Castlecomer, Iluka, DJ Jimmy Beatz The Vanguard, Newtown $15– $52.80 (dinner & show) 7pm Deep Sea Arcade, Songs, Day Ravies, Pop Frenzy DJs Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1 Angus Stone Enmore Theatre $40 8pm

Angus Stone

38 :: BRAG :: 486 : 29:10:12

Bang! – Day of the Dead Party: Thumper, Pear Shape, King Colour

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (USA) The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49 (+ bf) 8pm Driverside Airbag, The Scabs, Pants Optional, Matty Effin Morrison, Hellbound & Proud, The Disadvantaged, Leatherhand, Falling Down Stairs Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe $5 7pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3

Electric Empire, Lime Cordiale Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm

British India, Super Best Friends, Bright Yellow The Standard, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm

Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson York Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $58.30 (+ bf) 8pm

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies (USA) The Vanguard, Newtown $42.80 8pm

The Oceanics, The Salvadors, Tales in Space FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8pm

Good Heavens, Summer Flake, DJ Kate Wilson Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf) 7pm

Nantes, Louis London, Kate Alexa, F.R.I.E.N.D/s Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Songs, Camperdown & Out, Day Ravies Chalk-Horse Gallery, Surry Hills free 5pm all-ages Texas Tea The Newsagency, Marrickville $15 8pm Tijuana Cartel Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $30 (+ bf) 8pm

Remedy

More Than The Cure Since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

THIN LIZZY

In a sudden bout of about-bloody-timeness, ‘Thin Lizzy’ – who feature only guitarist Scott Gorham from the outfit’s classic lineup and one-time Almighty frontman, Ricky Warwick on vocals (yeah, go figure…) – have announced that they will no longer be recording or touring under that honoured name. In a statement, Gorham said: “Out of respect to Phil Lynott and the legacy he created, we have decided that we should not release a new album under the Thin Lizzy name. It was a very difficult decision as we put a lot of time and effort into re-building the Thin Lizzy brand over recent years.”

BACK IN STYLE

The mighty Dropkick Murphys unleash album number eight, Signed And Sealed In Blood, on their Born & Bred label on January 7. In a statement, the band’s Ken Casey said: “Where Going Out In Style was a concept album – kind of intricate and difficult – this one is catchy, fun, and is gonna damage a lot of speakers.”

DOWN ON THE UP

We love Down, and the other greater southern land from which they hail and oh-so proudly represent; but to be honest, we’ve always had trouble moving beyond the awesomeness of their debut effort, Nola. They almost peaked too early, and have seemingly struggled since then to fully re-tap that same swampy, dopey metal magic. But the new six-track Down IV Part I – The Purple EP has restored our faith.

And better still, it’s just the beginning, as it’s the first of four similar formats that are on the way over the next 12 months.

Down are also part of the coming Maryland Deathfest, from May 23-26 in Baltimore, along with Melvins, The Obsessed, Converge, Carcass, Pelican, Pentagram, Sleep, Weedeater and stacks more.

CONVERGE

Speaking of Converge, there’s a superduper deluxe version available of their newie, All We Love We Leave Behind.

It’s limited to 2500 copies, and features “a hardcover, clothbound book with an embossed silver foil cover. That stark imagery of the cover is contrasted with 48 full-color (sic) pages featuring exclusive art that is easily the most vibrant art Jacob Bannon has ever created for Converge,

including a fold out 9”x14” insert that can be framed separately.” And it comes with three tracks that are not available on the straight version. Best of all, digesting album number eight from the Boston sluggers is not an exercise in grand endurance for the attention span-challenged (like us): it clocks in at under 40 minutes.

RAGE AGAIN(ST THE MACHINE)

It was only a few weeks ago that we were raving about our re-embrace of the almighty wallop of Rage Against The Machine – and not a moment too soon it seems. To mark the two-decade anniversary of their incendiary self-titled debut from 1992, four special editions are to be unleashed in late November, a grand production process that firmly underscores the chest-tightening contradiction of the band’s much-celebrated taking-it-to-the-man stance via a major corporation. Maybe it’s the irony that’s the key. Anyway, the deluxe box is two CDs (including B sides and demos), two DVDs (live at Finsbury Park, and their first-ever live show), and the original album on vinyl.

There’ll also be a twin CD and single DVD edition, a lone CD with bonus tracks, and 180-gram vinyl. The deluxe at least will have a new cover shot with a wider range view of the original highly dramatic photo of a self-immolating monk.

POISON IDEA

The excellent Southern Lord label continue to take the Poison Idea ball and run hard at the line. Following the reissue of the kings-of-punk’s Darby Crash Rides Again is the 45-track CD version of The Fatal Erection Years, titled after the band’s own early label, Fatal Erection. It brings together the 1983 debut, Pick Your King 7-inch, 1985’s Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes EP, and four compilation tracks from the era. In addition, there’s Live At The Met (a Portland gig from 1983) and a poster that doubles as liner notes, packed with photos and flyers. And there’s more where that came from, with Southern Lord also set to release Poison Idea’s War All The Time, Ian MacKaye (which no doubt will open up that sacred wound all over again), the mighty Feel The Darkness, We Must Burn and Latest Will & Testament. Hopefully, the much-ignored Blank Blackout Vacant will also get a fresh rerun.

Converge

ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is John Mayall’s Primal Solos album, which is all about the hired help rather than the man himself, who couldn’t sing or write for shit. It’s a rough-as-guts live document that highlights the blazing work of both Eric Clapton and soon-to-be-Stone Mick Taylor in the mid- to late-'60s. If, like us, you’ve ever thought that Clapton’s contribution to the Bluesbreakers wasn’t all that remarkable and this era generally was just too polite, this is the place to prove all of us dead wrong, baby.

In fact, maybe this is where the term ‘punk blues’ first began. And it’s bleedin’ obvious from Taylor’s efforts why Mick n’ Keef made a beeline for him in the wake of Brian Jones’ sign-off from The Stones.

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS While it was very sad to read the recent reports about The Vines’ Craig Nicholls, The Datsuns, one of the other one-time ‘saviours of rock’ acts who really coulda and shoulda been some sorta champ, are back with a new record – the snappily titled Death Rattle Boogie, which was steered by former Hellacopter Nicke Andersson. They’re bringing their re-energised wallop to The Annandale on December 16.

The Annandale has some other huge shows in December, with the return of Hot Snakes on December 6 and also our heroes, Earthless, on December 14.

On December 15, Psychotic Turnbuckles – with the ‘high energy’ Intercontinental Tag Team title lineup of Jesse The Intruder (vocals), Grand Wizard (guitar), El Sicodelico (guitar), The Psychedelic Unknown (bass) and Gorgeous Karl Domah (drums) – hit the Sando in Newtown, in their first show in 15 years.

It should be a hoot, with Bad Vibrations (ex-Booby Traps, Crusaders) and Cousin Betty (ex-Lime Spiders) in support.

We’re not sure who’s left in the band these days, but Dr Feelgood will be at The Factory Theatre on February 22.

Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays.

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 39

40 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

brag beats

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

five things WITH

Elizabeth Rose

HEDFLUX (UK) Inspirations It changes all the time, 2. but the last few years I’ve been

The Music You Make I like to describe my music 4. as psychedelic tech-funk or psy-

particularly inspired by a lot of music from Down Under: Opiuo, Grouch, Mr Bill, and a lot of the stuff on Enig’matik records, to name a few. More so than from any other country, I find Australian music to have an enviable amount of technique, attention to detail, and soulful expression.

Even though it’s not always the style I write in, there are so many musical ideas and influences present that it’s super inspiring.

breaks. Most of my set is around 135bpm, with groovy bass, breakbeats, and techy call-andresponse style phrases. Lately I’ve been dabbling in some glitch-hop-esque down-tempo, and dubby stuff as well.

Your Crew My original music is 3. released on Broken Robot

Growing Up When I was really young, I 1. was pretty obsessed with Michael Jackson – he was undoubtedly one of my biggest musical inspirations.

Around the age of 12-13, 1990-ish, I first heard rave music, and that kicked off a life long quest to seek out better and more refined forms of electronic music.

Records, which is run by Dom Smar aka Neurodriver. We have a great little family of supporting artists and friends, such as Bad Tango, Broken Eye, Monk3ylogic, Re:creation, OOOD, Snook, and new additions all the time. Lately we’ve been hosting label parties in the UK and Europe and the response has been phenomenal.

I’ve been full-time with music for over two and half years now; I also do sound design for Sample Magic, and host music production workshops and one-on-one Skype tutorials.

Gaslamp Killer

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

I think the biggest obstacles that new artists face are those within: self-limiting beliefs, doubts, impatience, expectations, conditioning and neurosis. Externally we have all the technology and resources we need to grow and be successful; the real challenge is finding your own true voice and expressing it with style and authenticity.

With: Grouch (NZ), Birds Of Paradise (USA), Dusty Fungus, Itsu, Kryptik; visuals and lasers

by Optic Soup and Perspective Productions Where: Fake Club @ 1a Roslyn Street, Potts Point When: Saturday November 3

GARDEN STAGE @ HARVEST FESTIVAL

The DJ program for The Garden Stage at the forthcoming Harvest Festival in Parramatta Park has been unveiled, with selectors set to provide an array of “funk, reggae, disco, electro, retro and exotica” served up with a “dash of dub and a slathering of soul”.

Scything through the awesome alliteration, the DJ lineup comprises the following: Health Club founders Mikie & Tyson will be spinning, DJs Robbie Buck and Jack Shit will present a special edition of Bob And Jackie’s Earthy Delights, while brother and sister duo Basslines, Mad Racket DJs, Goodgod Small Club regular Joey the Saint and one half of cult Sydney night Jingle Jangle, Smokey LaBeef, will all represent. Hit harvestfestival.com.au for full festival details, including tickets and lineup information – which, for anyone who missed it, features the likes of Chromatics, Sigur Ros, Beck and Santigold.

BOOM BOOM XMAS FT TERRENCE PARKER

HOLD TIGHT: DMZ, GASLAMP KILLER, RUSTIE, THEO PARRISH, SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER & MORE

Niche Productions has announced a massive Hold Tight, a three-room bass, house and future beats bash that will feature the likes of DMZ, Gaslamp Killer, Rustie, Theo Parrish, Space Dimension Controller, DJ Nu Mark, T Williams, Spencer (Nmbrs), Om Unit, Simon Caldwell, Kali and Wordlife. Phew, where does one begin? Digital Mystikz aka DMZ are recognised as pioneers of the dubstep movement, and Gaslamp Killer is the Los Angeles native who is still basking in the success of his album Breakthrough, released on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label. Rustie delivered an album on Warp last year called Glass Swords, while Space Dimension Controller has released records on Belgian techno institution R&S Records, before starting up his own record label Basic Rhythm.

Spencer is co-founder of the seminal Glasgow-based label and party series Numbers, and Detroit luminary Theo Parrish continues to remain on the cutting edge of ‘the scene’, releasing a swag of recent edits and remixes on labels like Ninja Tune and his own Sound Signature label. Hold Tight is slotted for The Metro Theatre on Saturday January 5, with tickets on sale from this Tuesday October 30.

Detroit’s Terrence Parker, who has been producing since the early ‘80s and is credited with pioneering an ‘uplifting’ sound that would later become known as gospel house, will perform at Boom Boom at an unannounced venue on Christmas Day, Tuesday December 25. Parker’s sonic CV includes hit cuts ‘Love’s Got Me High’ and ‘The Question’, and remixes of Kelly Rowland, Beyonce, Shakira and Kanye West. For those who enjoy quirky/ frivolous asides, Parker is also recognised for using an actual telephone handset as headphones, which is most probably the genesis of his nickname, Telephone Man. Also spinning will be James Fazzolari of the Bare Essential crew and Boom Boom DJs Karim and Daniel Lupica. Early bird tickets are online for $10, with final release tickets $25.

The party will take place at an “Underground CBD Oasis” (the venue will be announced closer to the date).

AGWA AFTERPARTY: SUBBAN & MIGUEL CAMPBELL For those who are born to be runners-up, Finely Tuned have announced an after-party for their sold-out boat party on Saturday

ELIZABETH ROSE

Diminutive Sydney artist Elizabeth Rose has just released her debut EP Crystallise, which features her collaboration with Sinden: ‘Again’.

This is but one of several musical projects Rose has been working on of late; she’s also collaborated with Flight Facilities, sung for Dr Don Don on his tune ‘Never Fear’, remixed Jinja Safari and toured with the likes of Rufus and Chairlift. Rose will play her own headline show at Goodgod Small Club this Friday November 2.

November 17 at The Burdekin, which means that people who missed out on tickets to the boat have a second chance at the cherry.

The twin headliners Subb-an and Miguel Campbell will again turn out for encore sets, and will be supported by the ‘two Bs’, Brohn and Bella (Sarris). One of the more promising producers to emerge in recent times, Subban is certainly a savvy booking to lure Down Under at this stage of his career, having released one of the better EPs Crosstown Rebels has put out over the past few years in Positive Expression. Meanwhile Miguel Campbell is the founder of Outcross Records, but has gained more exposure since being signed to Jamie Jones and Lee Foss’ Hot Creations stable back in 2010. Doors open 8pm, with entry $20 before 10pm.

BEN SIMS

UK techno stalwart Ben Sims will headline Chinese Laundry on Saturday November 17. Sims has put out roughly 50 singles and EPs since the late ‘90s, and today co-hosts London’s Machine party with Kirk Degiorgio.

But despite his prolific studio habits, Sims only released his debut LP, Smoke & Mirrors, last year on Adam Beyer’s Drumcode label. The album featured guest spots from Chicago’s Tyree Cooper and Detroit’s Blake Baxter, showcasing a mixture of “dubbedout and grainy” and “warm and jacking” soundscapes. In addition to his production output, Sims is the curator of the Theory label, an imprint celebrating its 40th release this year. As with all gigs at Chinese Laundry, the usual advice applies – entry is cheaper before 10pm, and early arrival is also a good way of avoiding the queue, which wary punters have dubbed the ‘Sussex Street Anaconda’...

BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 41

dance music news

free stuff

club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

On The Record WITH

BROHN progression from DJing... it’s like an addictive drug. My first recording was called ‘Stiff Neck’; it’s not released as of yet.

The Last Thing I Recorded: The last three tracks I’ve been working 4. on are pretty special. One was at Burning Man this year with Damian Lazarus and Jonny White; to be making music in the middle of the desert was pretty amazing. The vocals are of us trying to call for help on the radio, as our air conditioning broke down. I’m looking forward to finishing that – Damian played what we’d started on as an intro the next night! The two others are for an EP I’m working on at the moment, which I’m excited about releasing.

Sorry – it’s a secret who it’s with.

The Record That Changed My Life: ‘Mediate’ and ‘Need You Tonight’ by 5.

INXS – their music is very inspiring. No matter

1.

The First Record I Bought: The first album I owned was INXS’ Listen Like Thieves. It was a cassette my brother bought for me for my 10th birthday. He’s six years older, so he had a big influence on my music taste growing up. I should thank him for that. I listened to it everyday on my brick of a Walkman.

2.

The Last Record I Bought: I download music every week, but one producer that sticks out at the moment is Francesca Lombardo. She is signed with

Lindstrøm

Crosstown Rebels and her music is truly incredible, very inspiring. The last album I bought was Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking – I lost my original copy, hence the re-purchase. This album is one of my favourites. I grew up listening to Jane’s, they have to be the dopest acid rock band to ever crawl the earth! I just saw them in Reno after Burning Man. They blow my face off every time I see them.

First Thing I Recorded: Making music for me was a natural 3. The

SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2012

Sydney Festival last week announced their program for next year, and once again they’re serving up a smorgasbord of quality dance acts. The big change comes in the form of the Festival Bar moving from Hyde Park Barracks to Sydney Town Hall, which is being rebranded after Berlin’s infamous Paradiso Bar. The venue will be headlined by cult-favourite Lindstrøm, who’s being brought down on January 26 for a night curated by the good folk at Future Classic; the multiinstrumentalist, DJ and producer was one of the forerunners of the nu disco sound, alongside collaborators Prins Thomas and Todd Terje. The house/ disco impresarios at Picnic have been given the curatorial keys too, crafting a Paradiso night on January 19 featuring Darshan Jesrani (Metro Area) and Daniel Wang. New York via Santiago’s Nicolas Jaar is bringing his downtempo EDM to Paradiso on January 23, courtesy of FBi Radio; his debut solo LP Space Is Only Noise was hailed by many as one of last year’s best records.

Finally, one for the Kraftwerk-ites: Computer World, being performed by lo-fi songstress Nite Jewel and Stones Throw honcho, DJ and producer Peanut Butter Wolf, on January 27 at The Famous Spiegeltent. For the full program, hit up sydneyfestival.org.au

OUTSIDEIN FESTIVAL

The final round of acts for the inaugural OutsideIn Festival have been unveiled, with details of the Goodgod Small Club-curated outdoor area surfacing. Melbournian Michael Ozone will be spinning on the Goodgod stage, along with Pelvis, Levins, Jimmy Sing, Judgement, Ariane, DJ Shags, Future Classic DJs and Mary’s Basement. For anyone who missed the initial announcement, OutsideIn is a boutique festival that will be held over three stages of Sydney’s Factory Theatre on Saturday November 10, with confirmed headliners including London trio LV, Evenings, Smoke DZA, Oliver Tank, HTRK, Flume, Shigeto and Africa Hitech. Hit up outsideinfestival.com for further details and ticketing info.

RE-GEN FUNDRAISER FT ESKMO AND TIPPER

International drawcards Eskmo and Tipper will perform at a fundraiser for the Regrowth Festival at Sydney University’s Manning Bar on Saturday November 24. America producer Brendan Angelides, aka Eskmo, has honed a sound that incorporates hip hop, glitch, and 42 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

“knee-deep bass frequencies”, working with Amon Tobin as Eskamon and releasing his own tracks on Warp, Planet Mu and Ninja Tune. Dave Tipper is a highly respected British producer renowned globally for his intricate production, making music that spans bassfuelled electro-breaks, hip hop, intricately programmed down-tempo, dubstep and full orchestral compositions. Interstate favourites Spoonbill and Bumble will also be performing.

Regrowth is an environmentally conscious annual festival that features music, tree planting, workshops and assorted performances; hit www.re-gen.org.au for the full info.

TIGA MIXES NON STOP

Turbo Recordings boss, the flamboyant Canadian producer Tiga, will release a 28 track mix compilation entitled Non Stop in early November, his first official mix CD release since contributing to Australia’s own Inthemix series (a double CD that also featured a disc mixed by Ajax) way back in 2005. In the interim period, Tiga has released the albums Ciao and Party’s Over Earth, a collaboration with Zombie Nation as ZZT, in addition to a plethora of singles – the most recent of which, ‘The Picture’, doubled

how long it’s been since you’ve heard those tracks, it always takes you straight back to that memory. The first time I heard ‘Need You Tonight’ I was about 11 years old; I can still remember it like it was yesterday, I’m getting goosebumps. It was sad what happened to Michael Hutchence, but that’s rock’n’roll, I guess.

With: Jamie Jones, DJ W!LD, Margaret Dygas Where: Circoloco Halloween @ Greenwood Hotel When: Saturday November 3 as the 100th release on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels label. The tracklist for Non Stop includes an exclusive Tiga collaboration with Matthew Dear titled ‘Plush’ (which will get a supplementary single release in late November), and a new solo Tiga track called ‘Track City Bitch’. Cuts from Duke Dumont, Locked Groove, Marco Carola, Actress, Blawan and Adam Marshall also feature. As with all Tiga releases, Non Stop is accompanied by a press release laden with hyperbolic selfcongratulation, which claims the forthcoming mix “embodies the ethic of ‘Tempos Without Borders’, starting out around 108 BPM before ultimately arriving at 126, the mythical ‘Golden Rectangle’ of tempos.” Believe the hype.

BURSSS & KLUB KIDS: A VERY MERRY XMAS

BURSSS and Klub Kids are teaming for a 14-act showcase at Oxford Art Factory on Friday November 16 that will feature members from both stables. Label head-honcho Kid Kenobi, self-coined DnB wildcat Phetsta, Doctor Werewolf, Spenda C, The Mane Thing, Blaze Tripp, Emoh Instead, A-Tonez, Kyro & Bomber, Filth Collins, Northie, Athson and Deckhead will all represent, with MC Shureshock playing the role of master of ceremonies. $20 tickets are available online.

SONUNDA IN CAMPERDOWN All folks with a penchant for a free afternoon/ evening of wonky techno and a touch of bass music should head down to this Saturday’s Sonunda event, held in the beer garden of the New Hampshire Hotel in Camperdown.

Melbourne whizz kid Timmus, who memorably played back-to-back with Kompakt Records’ Tobias Thomas as the 2010 Subsonic Festival wound down, Kayros, Baerfrens, Kayros and Blacker will all be peddling tunes, as well as Sonunda regulars Oblongmonster, Trena, Azza Huasca and Jordan Zed.

ELECTRIC EMPIRE

Contemporary soul music is so hot right now – Adele, Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones have become households names – and Melbourne quartet Electric Empire are the latest to jump on the bandwagon, with their sites set on world domination.

Already building significant buzz in Britain, the group are hitting Australian highways this November in support of their second EP, Changin’, serenading crowds with their collection of rich, soulful tunes including the sultry falsetto-laden title track and lead single. They hit Oxford Art Factory on Friday November 2, supported by Sydney pop wizards Lime Cordiale, who are still riding high from this year’s Faceless Cat EP. To score a double pass, tell us the names of Electric Empire’s four members.

HORSE MEAT DISCO

Is your ideal Friday night spent sipping tea in your jimjams while talking to your cats and crying over old episodes of Breakers?

Well, when UK’s favourite queer DJ collective Horse Meat Disco return Down Under for Picnic this November, you should probably stay at home. But for those who enjoy a sweat-soaked Friday night dance party, we suggest you pull on your dancing shoes, bathe in some glitter, and head down to Goodgod Small Club on Friday November 2 to perform your best sprinkler and running man to some phat disco beats.

Marcus King, Steele Bonus and Andy Webb will be joining the party, and keeping the decks warm well into the morning.

We’ve nabbed two double passes to this night of debauchery, so for your chance to get your hands on one describe your ideal Friday night (keep it PG, you guys).

a show at The Hordern Pavilion on Sunday January 27. Above & Beyond will showcase material from their forthcoming Anjunabeats Volume 10 compilation, which follows on from last year’s album Group Therapy, which featured guest spots from Faithless and Bent vocalist Zöe Johnston and Richard Bedford. Support will come from Anjunabeats producers Andrew Bayer and Norin & Rad.

KENDRICK LAMAR

Californian MC Kendrick Lamar, whose major label debut is out this week, will make his first Australian appearance before the year is out, to play at The Metro Theatre on Friday December 14. A member of hip hop collective Black Hippy, along with fellow West Coast rappers and label mates Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, Lamar first gained major attention after the release of his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated, back in that sun-kissed spring of 2010. Last year he released his first independent album Section 80, before dropping the Just Blaze-produced ‘Compton’ and the Hit Boy produced ‘Backseat Freestyle’ in the lead up to the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city, which is out now via Interscope.

UFO CLUB & ENIG’MATIC: FT GROUCH AND HEDFLUX

This Saturday, the UFO Club and Enig’Matik Records team descend on Fake Club to host a party dedicated to “psychedelic bass music”.

The UK’s Hedflux, who pushes a sound that has been described as “psychedelic tech-funk,” New Zealand’s Grouch, Birds Of Paradise and Dusty Fungus will all be throwing down to create a sonic buffet featuring “glitch, psy-breaks and progressive psy-trance” sounds. Local support will be fronted by Itsu and Kryptik, with visuals and lasers by Optic Soup and Perspective Productions. $25 presale tickets are available online.

ABOVE & BEYOND

One of the UK’s most popular trance acts, Above & Beyond, are heading Down Under at the start of next year for a tour that includes

Kendrick Lamar

BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 43

Subb-An All Aboard By Benjamin Cooper

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ritish deep house impresario Subb-An is running low on time, and is wrestling with a choice between business and leisure ahead of his appearance aboard the Starship Sydney next month. “Just the other day I was thinking about this. How do you balance what you need to do?” he asks. “I mean, I’ve just gone record shopping. I probably should have spent those hours in the studio, but, well, I really wanted to buy records.”

Lucky for Subb-An, his record addiction doesn’t get in the way of his work too often, complementing his roles as both a DJ and a label owner; he runs One Records with fellow Birmingham local and DJ/producer Adam Shelton. “Adam does a lot with the label, and we’ve also taken on a label manager over the last three months, which helps with everything,” he explains. “One thing that I did this year was make sure I made as much music as I possibly could before the summer kicked off, so that I was sitting on a lot of new music before touring – [otherwise] I would have to make new music while touring intensely. Now I feel like I’ve got no pressure, and I’ve got music ready to release up until the middle of next year.”

There’s a hard-earned mythology surrounding Birmingham’s Below evenings, of which Subb-An is a mainstay. The club nights were started seven years ago by Shelton and fellow Englishman Lee McDonald, to offer an alternative to the mainstream electronic dance music offered up by the venues in their hometown. The night has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in a pub courtyard, and McDonald and Shelton have taken the project continental with their nights at Ibiza’s notorious party venue DC10, while continuing to expand the original concept at home. “When

I first started with Below it was being held at The Rainbow, which was just kind of an old Victorian pub that could hold about 300 people and had this really amazing raw vibe about it,” Subb-An explains. “[Since then] Lee and Adam have bought The Rainbow and started developing it, and now it has several more venues, including a warehouse and a cellar.

Now the actual pub and courtyard is a big time attraction in the UK – in the courtyard I’ve seen everyone from Temper Trap to Joss Stone to Crazy P.” But as always, there are risks involved in coming up from the underground. “Unfortunately they’ve had to build a roof over the courtyard to avoid sound complaints shutting the venue down. It has kind of changed it from that raw, industrial feel – but me and Adam are still going,” he explains. “The best part is that Adam had the chance a couple of years ago to take the night to another level, with more marketing and touring, [but] he made the decision to maintain it as a really good underground night, and as the best party in Birmingham.”

Keen Sydney fans looking for new Subb-An material will have to catch the man’s sets next month – the album, he says, won’t be out until next Summer: “But I’m really excited about it!” he exclaims. In the interim, he’ll be remixing and releasing with an almost frightening frequency. “I’m working on an EP for Visionquest [Juno Records], and I’ve actually just been working with Footprinzt [aka Addy Weitzman and Maurice Knecht] for the vocals. Seth [Troxler] and I have just done a really cool remix for Circus Company that comes out next month, too,” he says. “Maybe I will do a mix soon – a lot of people have been asking for it.”

The Next Level By Annabel Maclean

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aniel Stein is sitting in a hotel room doing a load of interviews in the midst of the Parklife tour, in which he recently showcased his new live show: FRESH/LIVE. Stein has been dropping some of the big hits from his third record Nextlevelism into his sets – but with the new live show, some of his tracks are being received differently by punters. “You get a totally different reaction to certain tracks [played live] than you do DJing those tracks,” he says. “It’s a very different thing, the live show, just the interactivity with the audience. I just love it because when you’re up on stage with a band, you feel like you’re part of the same party – it’s like we just happen to be the guys up on stage. We’re all in that zone together. It’s a very communal, positive energy.”

Calling himself a “music-maker” first and foremost, Stein admits that when it came to putting the live show together, he was a little rusty. “In the beginning, it was pretty nervewracking,” he admits. “I used to play the piano when I was a kid, and I’ve always done that, but never with an audience... The musicians we’re working with are all amazing – like, our guitarist is incredible. I remember when we first started together, it was slightly intimidating standing in front of him playing the keyboard.”

It’s always been Stein’s mission to help move drum’n’bass into the mainstream music realm, and with Nextlevelism he’s hit the nail on the head. “Basically there’s been this massive explosion in the UK because of bass music, and what we call pop music is kind of changing,” he says. “People associate the words ‘pop music’ with factory-made boy bands, major labels, and stuff that’s been made with little soul, just to make money. The great thing about this revolution that’s happening, particularly in the UK and also in parts of Europe, is that

this music that comes from a real place – that comes from young guys who are part of the bass music scene, sitting at home in the studio, making a track just because they want to make it – is becoming the basis of what’s exciting.”

The next challenge, he says, is to get bass music to “take over the world”. “What I’ve always wanted to [make] is song-based, mega-catchy hooks, to have people in massive commercial clubs dancing to drum’n’bass on a Saturday night.”

After having signed a six album deal with Ministry Of Sound, Columbia and signing his publishing to Universal Music, Stein is the priority electronic artist for the American label, which he says shows how the bass music revolution is starting to take effect. “There hasn’t been a drum’n’bass tune that’s got into the American charts ever, as far as I know. To see that an artist coming from the world that I come from can be taken that seriously by such a massive record label in America just goes to show how things are changing.” And hopefully by the time he returns Down Under for Future Music Festival next year, he’ll have an even better live show to boot. “We’ll be adding more of the new album tracks to the set, changing the technical setup slightly, and adding a lighting rig to our visual setup,” he says.

“Hopefully the next tour will be even better than the one we’ve [just done], in terms of the music we’re playing and the way we’re playing it.”

What: Nextlevelism is out now through Ministry Of Sound With: The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal, Psy, The Stone Roses, Azealia Banks and heaps more Where: Future Music @ Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 9

Rayzed Hoods Nuff Said By Alasdair Duncan

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oung Sydney hip hop duo Rayzed Hoodz made waves last year with the release of their debut mixtape, As We Were, but things are about to heat up even more for the pair when their album Nuff Said arrives next month. MCs Raskal and 316 met in high school, and formed an immediate musical bond. “I was new to the school and nobody knew I had a rapping background,” Raskal explains. “316 was battling someone for fun, and I decided to join in.” After this lyrical dust-up in the schoolyard, a fresh musical partnership began. “We started recording music in my garage with a slow laptop and a $10 mic,” explains 316. “It began like that, and I guess it evolved into a career.”

The Ripper on the album,” Raskal says. “We also have Nova Rockafeller and Sydney’s Nutkaze.” Along with these local talents, Nuff Said features some international guest spots, including The UK’s Kitty Cowell, Jaclyn Gee from Canada, and The Palmer Squares from the USA. I ask the pair who their fantasy collaborators would be, and they say that, while it would be cool to work with artists like Plan B and Madchild, Snak The Ripper was truly one of their dream artists.

“He’s a genius,” Raskal says, “and we are extremely excited and privileged that we got the opportunity to work with such a talent – twice!”

The album Nuff Said represents a whole new outlook on things for the pair. “With the As We Were mixtape we tried going down the more basic music route,” Raskal says.

“But now we’ve had a bit of exposure to the underground scene, we’ve started to make music with more of a gritty, dirty sound to it.”

316 adds that they simply wanted to make an album that represents everything they love about hip hop. “We started working on it about a year ago, from about three or four tracks we had at the time. Six producers, 19 tracks, and a whole lot of writing later, I think we put together something to really be proud of.”

Releasing music independently is a slog for any artist, but Rayzed Hoodz love the challenge. “Everything has to be worked out from scratch, from the moment you find the beat to writing the track, and then releasing it and making sure someone actually listens to it,” 316 says. “I think the hardest part has to be promoting the music – the love of making it will only get you so far if no one is listening to it.” Raskal takes a more philosophical perspective, saying that the only challenge, for him, is in writing the truth about what people see or go through in their lives: “I want every person who listens to our music to be able to relate to the tracks.”

The pair have assembled quite an array of guest stars for the album, including some of their own musical heroes. “We have Snak

With their debut album imminent, I ask Rayzed Hoods what their future plans might entail. “It’d be dope if we got to do a tour in support of this

44 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

album,” Raskal says. “Hopefully we can spread our music out to some venues and get some performing done, but mainly, we want to keep doing mixtapes, and writing and releasing new hip hop.”

“We’ve been invited to attend Sydney Juggalos 2012 Monster Ball, which we are

very excited about,” adds 316. “We’re willing and going to try and go everywhere just to promote this. We have put a lot of work into it – it would be a shame if no one got to hear it.”

With: Nuff Said is out on November 1

xxx photo by xxx

With: Miguel Campbell, Brohn, T-Boy, Sam Roberts, Co-Op DJs, Le Brond Where: AGWA Yacht Club 014 @ Starship Sydney When: Saturday November 17, from 3pm More: Also playing at Sounds On Sunday, on Sunday November 18 @ Greenwood Hotel

DJ Fresh

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Vladislav Delay

A

rarity in the modern age, a true electronic musician, Finland’s Sasu Ripatti will play his first ever show in Sydney at the Civic Underground on Friday November 16. A man of many monikers, Ripatti releases under the aliases Luomo, Vladislav Delay (think jazz-infused dubby minimalism), Uusitalo (choppy techno) and Sistol (remixed by Alva Noto, John Tejada and [a]pendics.shuffle.) – in addition to his output as The Vladislav Delay Quartet and one third of the Moritz Von Oswald Trio.

Ripatti was dubbed the “greatest shapeshifting producer of the past decade” by online magazine self-titled, and will make his Australian debut shortly before he releases his new Vladislav Delay album, Kuopio, on Raster-Noton on November 26. “I don’t produce music for the clubs,” Ripatti states. “It’s just a too homogenous and restricted formula with all the rules and expectations, for me it really kills the music… I don’t fully understand why it all has become so boring and uninspiring and why DJs wouldn’t play more interesting music. I believe it’s partly because of the audience that demands simple and fun stuff, and partly because DJs are a mainly business-oriented bunch who care for the pay check and don’t want to risk their bookings.” Indeed, why would you make generic club tracks when you have the abilities of Ripatti? While he’s proven he can churn out club cuts with the best of them through tracks such as ‘Tessio’, which was remixed by Stimming, Ripatti has ventured out into much vaster sonic territories, collaborating with vocalists such as Cassy, Robert Owens, the Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and his own girlfriend Antye Greie, throughout his accomplished body of work. For those wanting to witness a live performance from one of the most talented, diverse and prolific proponents of electronic music of the past 15 years, Ripatti’s longawaited Sydney debut is a must.

Innervisions main man Dixon – who also runs a bakery in Berlin, I’ll have you know – will return to Australia courtesy of Finely Tuned, and is slotted to perform in Sydney on Saturday February 23 next year. Dixon is a crowd favourite Down Under, having previously played Pulse Radio’s Australia Day boat cruise and turning out as the secret headliner in last year’s RA X bash alongside Robag Wruhme. The last we heard of Dixon as a DJ was in 2011, when he released what he touted as his last commercial mix compilation, Live At Robert

Dixon

Johnson Volume 8, which followed his much lauded efforts Temporary Secretary, The Grandfather Paradox and my personal favourite, Body Language Vol 4. On the production front, Dixon’s forthcoming remix of Ian Pooley’s ‘CompuRhythm’, due out in November on Innervisions, is a bonafide ripsnorter. I’d go as far as to say that it’s the best thing either Pooley or Dixon has put out in years, a melodic summer anthem that is sure to get a thorough rinsing between now and February, when Dixon will undoubtedly drop it himself to send Sydney punters into fits of heel-clicking exultation.

In addition to appearing at the Laneway Festival in early February, the muchvaunted Nicolas Jaar will perform at Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday January 23 for the FBi Radio night that is part of the Sydney Festival. The son of Chileanborn artist, architect, and filmmaker Alfredo Jaar – check him out if you aren’t aware of him – Nicolas is still only in his early 20s, but has quickly become one of the most in demand producers of his generation.

Jaar’s prodigious talents have led him to remix Azari & III and Kasper Bjørke and re-edit the likes of Nina Simone and Missy Elliott, while he commands respect among clubbing circles through his affiliation with the Wolf + Lamb label, through which he released his elegiac crossover hit ‘A Time For Us’, which was used by Seth Troxler to close his BoogyBytes compilation. All of this while finishing off his degree in Comparative Literature at Brown University – a basket-weaving subject if ever there was one. Reading a recent interview with Jaar, I was immediately won over when he managed to namecheck Pink Floyd, Tiga and Ricardo Villalobos within the space of two sentences. A ‘thinker’, he stands outside the predictable mores of so much popular music – something that he himself reflects on: “The world of electronic music is all about losing yourself… [but] everyone’s losing themselves in the same way, when it should be a personal process.

[With crowds] it can be so mechanical you know, it’s like [pumps his fist] for fucking ten hours, and you can’t do that when it’s slowed down. But in the end it’s not about tempos. I’m into creating a form of aesthetic that is elastic enough to have fast and slow music together.” It would seem the ‘kid’ can express himself as well as he makes music – Jaar and my man Sasu Ripatti have a fair bit in common. Deep Impression suggests you procure tickets to both.

LOOKING DEEPER FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16 Luomo (Vladislav Delay) The Civic Underground

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 Patrice Scott Phoenix Bar

SATURDAY DECEMBER 1 Kollektiv Turmstrasse One 22

TUESDAY JANUARY 1 Kollektiv Turmstrasse

Luke Slater The Abercrombie Hotel

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand.

Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 45

club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week Jamie Jones

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3

Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney

Circoloco Halloween Special Jamie Jones, DJ W!ld, Margaret Dygas $75 (+ bf) 12pm MONDAY OCTOBER 29 Scruffy Murphy’s Haymarket Mother Of A Monday DJ Smoking Joe free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Latin Jazz DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY OCTOBER 30 The Australian Museum, Sydney Jurassic Lounge Halloween Special Meem, Frankie Faux, Dear Bobby, Defy, Packwood, The Faults, DJ Ted Dancin’, DJ Touch Sensitive $14 5.30pm Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel Salsa DJ Willie Sabor free 7pm Scruffy Murphys, Haymarket Frat House DJs free 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday Halloween – One Hit Wonder DJs $10 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jam – Hands Down Halloween Special Albert Hunt, Astrix, Deli, Pablo Calamari, Nacho Vossler, Cotolette & Ali, Andy ‘n’ Mike free 8pm

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31 The Bank Hotel, Newtown Vogue #4: A Bit Goth Dark Cliché, Slow Dance, Del free

46 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

Epping Hotel DTF Resident DJs free 8pm Fringe Bar, Paddington Fright Night DJs free 7pm The Golden Sheaf, Double Bay Miller City Sessions John Moss (Norway) 9pm Ivy, Sydney Salsa At Ivy DJ Dwight ‘Chocolate’ Escobar free 7pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Wednesdays Mean Dartin, Camo, Ra Bazaar free 5pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont The Assembly Wednedays Halloween – Heaven & Hell Peking Duk, Trashbags, Redial, K-Note 8pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Liknuts (USA), Onyx (USA), The Havknotz $65 8pm The Ranch, Epping Halloween Party John Glover, Steve Frank free 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Cream Halloween Party DJ Dim Slm, Kane Kirby, DJ Wanted, Troy T, Eko free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Walloween Habstract (FRA), Doctor Werewolf, Hubble, Floth, Deckhead, Clockwerk, Tigerlily, Lights Out $5 9pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1 The Argyle, The Rocks DJ C’est Chic, DJ Georgia free 6pm Civic Underground, Sydney Shigeto (USA), Bon Chat Bon

Rat, Kyson, Astral DJs $17 (+ bf) 8pm The Cool Room, The Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill Halloween At The Brewery Starfuckers DJs, Big Will, Troy T 8pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Hi-Beams Resident DJs free 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Greenwood Thursdays Resident DJs free 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 9pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn Hot Damn DJs $15$20 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Rewind Resident DJs 8pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Naked Halloween Bash Absynth free 9pm Strike, Chatswood Spin Resident DJs 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Swag Thursdays Resident DJs $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2 169 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Warp Speed Halloween Masquerade Ball Bzurk, Gill 9pm Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway Totally Barry Bad Barry DJs free 9pm

The Argyle, The Rocks DJ Cadell, Liam Sampras, John ‘The Owl’ Devecchis free 6pm Candys Apartment & Whaat Club, Kings Cross Halloween Vengeance, Sherlock Bones, Digital T, Say Oh, Axslm, 2Busy 2Kiss, Hoodlmz, Stressless, Durtymindz, Acid Mouth, Homeslice, Audiotrash, Wrecks, Peeping Tom, Main Street, Amy Lee, Elliot Harper, Chuck Base, Oh Dear $10 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia State of Mind (NZ), Spenda C, Vertigo, Struz, Step Brothers, No Good Mischief, Capture, Billy Green 10pm Civic Underground, Sydney Volar Volar DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Gimme Five Shamus, DJ Ander Hitchcock free 8pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel DJ Tom Loud free 11.59pm Forbes Hotel, Sydney Spaces Martin Stace, Scott Kilpatrick, Leyla, Enki, AWOL $10 9pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Horse Meat Disco (UK), Marcus King, Steele Bonus, Andy Webb $20 (+ bf) 11pm Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington DJ Whemmy free 4pm Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington Nachtmahr (Austria), Shiv-R, Viral Millenium $33 (+ bf) 8pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Home Fridays Pee Wee Ferris, MC Suga Shane 8.30pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago, DJ Rain Julz free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross KK Fridays Resident DJs 9pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 8pm Omega Lounge, City Tattersalls Club, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm One22, Sydney Paradise City Farj, Hypercolour, Juzlo, Zerodub $10 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Friday I’m In Love Resident DJs 11.30pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Teen Spirit – Suck My Kiss Teen Spirit DJs $10 9pm The Red Ratller, Marrickville Ladies Choice – Dance Party for Women Identified People DJs $5 8pm Secret Warehouse, Sydney We’rehouse #02 Chaos In The CBD (NZ), Benny Green, Matttt, Statz, Benj, Waz $25 8pm Soho, Kings Cross Soho Fridays Nukewood, Daniel Wheeler, Skinny, Barfly, Pat Ward, Pablo Calamari 9pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Mars Monero, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 10pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross LIVE Fridays Presents Hotel of Horros Nemz, ToyBoy, Samrai, Willi, A Stylez, MC Deekay 9pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour

Bring On The Weekend! DJ Matt Robert free 5pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Vanity Fridays Resident DJs $20 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3 The Abercrombie, Broadway Destino Skulk, Opens, Raine Supreme, Drox, Salad Pants, Sammy Saga free 8pm The Argyle, The Rocks Phil Hudson, Liam Sampras, Elly K free 6pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Falcona Presents Danny Clayton, Pluto Jonze, Inthemix DJs 8pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Shake Shake Shake 2Busy 2Kiss, Bloodbath Bob, Chick Flick, Matty Bixx, Towers, Dostruction, Twissted $20 9pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf Kick On Resident DJs free 6pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Mark Fanciulli (UK), Kid Kenobi, A-Tonez & MC Kitch, Whitecat, Ben Ashton, U-Khan, Antoine Vice, About Jack, Fingers, Athson, King Lee $15-$25 9pm Club 77, Darlinghurst Starfuckers Starfuckers DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Yellow Sox DJ Mike Silver free 8pm The Factory Theatre, Enmore London Elektricity (UK), Dynamite MC (UK), Severity Zero, Royalston $50 (+ bf) 9pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Hands Up Staggman, Clockwerk free 11.30pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Purple Sneakers DJs, Olympic Ayres, Moonbase Commander, Tokyo Denmark Sweden $12 (+ bf) 8pm The Fringe Bar, Paddington Miller City Sessions John Moss (Norway) 8.30pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Nick Curly (GER), Johnny Gleeson, Matt Cahill, Ben Ashton, Reno, Sam Arellano $20 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Delano Smith (USA), Co-Op DJs $20 (+ bf) 11pm The Green Room Lounge, Enmore Vinyl Solution DJ Nic Dalton free 7pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Circoloco Halloween Special Jamie Jones, DJ W!ld, Margaret Dygas $75 (+ bf) 12pm Ivy, Sydney Ivy Saturdays The Only, Tom Piper, Ember, Matt Nugent $20 8pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Simon Laing, DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Resident DJs 9pm Live at the Brewhouse, King St Wharf, Sydney Midas Touch – A Salute To The ‘80s Funk Era The Kami’s, Mike Champion, Madam Parker, DJ Nasser T, DJ Sam Boutros $30-$55 7pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Genesis Gareth Emery

(UK), Thomas Knight, Nick Arbor, Krish Titan, Anotony Carpena, VLN $71 (+ bf) 9pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm One22, Sydney Neverend 2nd Edition Velkro (Brazil), Gabe (Brazil), Uone, Significant Others, U-Khan vs Marcotix, Fabeta, Caba vs Secchi, Tezzel vs Paulo M $15-$25 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Saturday I’m Pregnant Resident DJs 11.30pm The Rose Of Australia, Erskinville Derek Turner free 8.30pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Resident DJs 8pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Masif Saturdays Resident DJs 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Stereosonic Launch Party Murat Kilic, Carlos Zarate, Mat Weir, Dean Relf $20 10pm St James Hotel, Sydney SFX Halloween Monster Bash Party Bzurk, Absynth, Markm, Snowflake, Scotty Doesn’t Know Matticus 9pm Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe Black Magic Beat Theory, DJ Riley, Hometeam, BC, Nhostic, Izzy ‘n’ The Profit, Barbone, Stave Advanced, Curtis C 7pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Watershed Presents…

Skybar Saturdays Resident DJs $20 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Cakes DJs $15-$20 8pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Dan Baartz, Chaos in the CBD (NZ), Sam Arellano, Rickstar, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir $10 2pm The Argyle, The Rocks Random Soul free 4pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 3pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Sounds On Sunday Murat Kilic, Sandi Hotrod, Illya, J.A.C.E, Josh Night, Ember, Kyro & Bomber, Matt Ferreira, Brown Bear, Methodix, Mark Craven, MGS, Shepz, Edoardo Perlo, Humz, E-Cats, Deckhead, Pat Ward, Sami, Stacey Butler 12pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays Resident DJs 8pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Marco Polo Goldroom (USA) $20 1pm Oatley Hotel Sundays Sets DJ Tone free 7pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Daydreams Daydreams DJs 4.30am The Sly Fox, Enmore Track 6 S’Cada, Crooked Mouth free 7pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice After Hours Kali, Muray Kilic $20 4am The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Afternoon DJs DJ Matt Roberts free 2pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Soup Kitchen Soup Kitchen DJs 7pm

club picks up all night out all week...

Shigeto

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 1 Civic Underground, Sydney Shigeto (USA), Bon Chat Bon Rat, Kyson, Astral DJs $17 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia State Of Mind (NZ), Spenda C, Vertigo, Struz, Step Brothers, No Good Mischief, Capture, Billy Green 10pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Horse Meat Disco (UK), Marcus King, Steele Bonus, Andy Webb $20 (+ bf) 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Mars Monero, Pink Lloyd, DreamCATCHer $10 10pm

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31 Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Assembly Wednedays Halloween – Heaven & Hell Peking Duk, Trashbags, Redial, K-Note $20 10pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Liknuts (USA), Onyx (USA), The Havknotz $65 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Walloween Habstract (FRA), Doctor Werewolf, Hubble, Floth, Deckhead, Clockwerk, Tigerlily, Lights Out $5 9pm

Horse Meat Disco

Nick Curly

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 3 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Falcona Presents Danny Clayton, Pluto Jonze, Inthemix DJs 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Mark Fanciulli (UK), Kid Kenobi, A-Tonez & MC Kitch, Whitecat, Ben Ashton, U-Khan, Antoine Vice, About Jack, Fingers, Athson, King Lee $15-$25 9pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Purple Sneakers DJs, Olympic Ayres, Moonbase Commander, Tokyo Denmark Sweden $12 (+ bf) 8pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Nick Curly (GER), Johnny Gleeson,

Matt Cahill, Ben Ashton, Reno, Sam Arellano $20 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Delano Smith (USA), Co-Op DJs $20 (+ bf) 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Stereosonic Launch Party Murat Kilic, Carlos Zarate, Matt Weir, Dean Relf $20 10pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Dan Baartz, Chaos in the CBD (NZ), Sam Arellano, Rickstar, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir $10 2pm

FAKE CLUB - PRE-SALE TICKETS - WWW.STICKYTICKETS.COM.AU WWW.UFOCLUBSYDNEY.COM BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 47

snap

PICS :: DM

propaganda

the aston shuffle

PICS :: JA

up all night out all week . . .

20:10:12 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9331 3100

jimmy edgar

PICS :: TL

18:10:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

nina las vegas

PICS :: AM

19:10:12 :: Warehouse :: 8 Saywell St Marrickville

19:10:12 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

It’s called: Chinese Laundry Saturdays It sounds like: Heaven, if heaven was a dark nightclub with an awesome Nexo soundsytem and wicked DJs. Who’s spinning? Mark Fanciulli (UK), Kid Kenobi, U-Khan, A-Tonez & MC Kitch, Sneaky Simon, Whitecat, Ben Ashton, Antoine Vice, About Jack, Athson, Fingers, King Lee. Three songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘The Tide’ – Mark Fanciulli; ‘Freak Funk’ – Kid Kenobi; ‘Bass Drop’ – A-Tonez.

And one you definitely won’t: 'Gangnam Style'…

Sell it to us: Mark Fanciulli is on his first tour of Oz and has had a massive 12 months – so is highly anticipated; plus Kid Kenobi always kills it, and A-Tonez will be performing for the first time with MC Kitch, who is one of the most badass MC/ beatboxers you will ever hear, and the Bad Apple crew are hosting the cave… seriously nuts!

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Hopefully nothing and everything if that’s possible.

PICS :: AM

party profile

chinese laundry saturdays

Crowd specs: All are welcome.

charades

Wallet damage: $15 before 10pm / $25 after.

20:10:12 :: One22 :: 122 Pitt St Sydney

Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday November 3

48 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IER :: XAV RO PED :: NS OWE ELKE :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS

HAPPY HOUR MONDAY – THURSDAY 3PM – 7PM

$4 DRAUGHT BEER $5 BASIC SPIRITS FRONT BAR AT STRIKE KING STREET WHARF, DARLING HARBOUR CONDITIONS APPLY.

FIND US ON

‘Strange’ and ‘Shut it Down remix’

BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12 :: 49

snap

chris tietjen

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

sash sundays

PICS :: AM

20:10:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

lowbudget

PICS :: TL

21:10:12 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 2178

seth sentry

PICS :: TL

19:10:12 :: Spaceport One :: 12 Chalder St Marrickville

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IER XAV RO :: ELKE OWENS :: PED ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS

chinese laundry

PICS :: AM

19:10:12 :: Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville 9550 3666

19:10:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999 50 :: BRAG :: 486 :: 29:10:12

VIV LEES, MAX TV, SPA, FASTER LOUDER and RTR present

primal scream AUSTRALIAN TOUR DECEMBER 2012

with guests

the delta riggs

wed 5 dec enmore TICKETS ON SALE NOW ticktetek.com.au 132 849

Primal Scream ‘Screamadelica’ Remastered Edition available now through Sony Music Entertainment vivleespresents.com

primalscream.net