The Brag #491

DEC 5TT H 5 5TH

SIDESHOW. Y WEDNESDA

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

five things WITH

BEN FROM BEN WELLS AND THE MIDDLE NAMES Growing Up I learnt to sing going to church 1. every Sunday, and my dad taught me

really interesting ideas to our group, which is helping define our style.

guitar – he still writes and records a lot today. One of my fondest memories is recording music with my dad, bouncing ideas off each other for each other’s songs.

The Music You Make We started out playing folk pop, 4. but now it’s more of an indie/rock/pop

Inspirations The first gig I ever went to was 2. a Darren Hanlon gig, when I was 12.

My parents were good friends with the drummer and I got a song dedicated to me. That show was one of the reasons I wanted to do music for a living, and he’s still one of my favourite musicians. At the moment I’m reading Neil Young’s biography, which is really inspiring too.

3.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene in Tassie is 5. really starting to thrive. There’s a musician in Hobart, Seth Henderson, whose work continues to inspire me – he’s an amazing songwriter. I think the hardest thing about being a Tasmanian band or muso is touring; getting over to the mainland for a few shows can be expensive!

With: The Guppies, Found At Sea Where: Kittens @ Spectrum When: Saturday December 8 xxx

Your Band We’ve been together for about three years with various members, but it all started with myself and Nick Probin, who plays lead guitar. He’s an amazing guitarist, and comes up with a lot of the musical ideas in the band, and now his sister Ali has joined too.

Jordan is a new member as well; he used to be in my favourite punk bands growing up, so he’s brought some

sound – similar to Cloud Nothings or some of British India’s stuff. We’ve released one EP, House, Come Home, which we recorded in Hobart and produced ourselves with the help of a gentleman named Al Campbell.

We wanted to record something we could replicate live, because we pride ourselves on our live show: energetic but personal.

TIM ROGERS + BAMBOOS

PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 02 9552 6333 ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Benjamin Cooper, Krissi Weiss, Caitlin Welsh NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery

So, we put the collective music of Tim Rogers and The Bamboos into a blender, grinded it together, then poured it into a tour name generator, and it spat out a piece of age-stained paper embossed with the words ‘The Rock ‘n’ Soul Medicine Show’. We’re not suggesting this is how the two named their incredible upcoming collaborative tour – which will hit The Hi-Fi on March 7 – but it’s a fairly big coincidence. Tickets are on sale now.

Devo

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mary-Jane Caswell, Bree Corvell, Livia Giacomini, Ashley Mar, George Popov, Pedro Xavier COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant ADVERTISING: Ross Eldridge - 0422 659 425 / (02) 9690 0806 ross@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 8394 9027 les@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Conrad Richters - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) ONLINE & SOCIAL MEDIA: Tanydd Jaquet INTERNS: Natalie Amat, Katie Davern, Tanydd Jaquet, Mina Kitsos

Q: ARE WE NOT MEN?

Devo, the only band in history to pose a question to themselves and then answer it all in the space of one album title, are the obvious and awesome choice for the latest in 2SER’s live, free Q&A series, In Conversation. It happens this Thursday December 6 at the Green Room in Enmore, and considering Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh wrote the Rugrats theme song (you know, the one going through your head right now), you should secure your place in the audience by emailing inconversation@2ser.com so you can ask him all about it (probably pop in some Devo questions, too).

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Benjamin Cooper, Alasdair Duncan, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Andrew Geeves, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Anna Kennedy, Chris Martin, Sheridan Morley, Jenny Noyes, Hugh Robertson, Rebecca Saffir, Romi Scodellaro, Jonno Seidler, Rach Seneviratne, Roland K Smith, Laurence Rosier Staines, Luke Telford, Rick Warner, Alex Sol Watts, Krissi Weiss, Caitlin Welsh

BRING ME THE HORIZON + PIERCE THE VEIL

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 8a Marlborough Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of The BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Thursday 12pm (no extensions).

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Melodie Nelson

BROKEN STONE XMAS

Broken Stone Records are planning to rub in your faces how good a 2012 they had by hosting a Christmas show on December 8 at St. Stephens United Church (visiting a church during Christmas? Seems unorthodox, but okaaay…). The show will feature new signing Melodie Nelson as well as their entire roster: Sister Jane, The Maple Trail, Caitlin Park, Magnetic Heads, Kelly Dance and The Killing Words.

It starts at 4:30 in the arvo, kids get in free, and old people cost $15 presale or $20 on the door – and best of all, all that aforementioned stuff! All of it.

In the grand tradition of Soundwave Festival announcing all of the most earth-shatteringly loud and awesome sidewaves this year, they’ve announced another earth-shatteringly loud and awesome sidewave. British metalcore tattoo merchants Bring Me The Horizon are being joined by San Diego’s post-hardcore Pierce The Veil, who’ll be bringing along their brand new LP, Sempiternal. It’s a massive all-ages show at The Hi-Fi on 26 February, 2013; tickets on sale this Thursday December 6; Soundwave still set for a sold-out Sunday February 24 at Olympic Park.

HEAVENLY JULIA

Julia Stone will be sweetly swaying and whispering shy thankyous between songs during a brass-heavy set next Valentine’s Day at St. Stephen’s Uniting Church. It’s part of the ever-impressive Heavenly Sounds series, which has brought breathtaking sets from the likes of Sarah Blasko and Lisa Mitchell to churches across the country. Tickets go on sale this December 5 – and if you get caught sneaking in wine, claim it started as water!

EVEN MORE BLUESFEST

“I wanna be Bob Dylan” sang Counting Crows’ lead singer Adam Duritz in their breakthrough hit

‘Mr. Jones’, and it’s a lofty goal you can quiz him on when the band come out for Bluesfest.

They are heading up the latest lineup of incredible acts added to the Easter Long Weekend bill, which also features Ben Harper (in solo mode), The Lumineers, Taj Mahal, Shuggie Otis, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Ben Howard, Tav Falco & The Panther Burns, JD McPherson, Soja, Damien Dempsey and more. They join Paul Simon, Robert Plant, Ben Harper, Santana, Iggy & The Stooges and a whole bunch of others, who’ll be hitting up Byron Bay between March 28 and April 1 next year. Not Dylan though, which is a good thing – it coulda gotten competitive... Tickets are still available, somehow.

DJANGO DJANGO SUPPORTS ANNOUNCED

Django Django (named after the sound a bucket of Lego makes when tipped onto a tiled surface) have announced the supports for their Friday January 11 show at The Metro Theatre, which they are slotting in between various Laneway Festival awesomeness. And guess what? The supports are Palms (one half of Red Riders – remember how much you loved Red Riders?) and Twinsy, who recently supported Last Dinosaurs, during their controversial Triassic period. Tickets still available through Ticketek.

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rock music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

LOGITECH UE

JOHN FROM SIDETRACKED FIASCO Inspirations For me it would have to be 2.

Rancid, Bad Brains, Snot and Infectious Grooves. They all have that punk energy/mentality, but aren’t afraid to mix it up and try new things.

All I know is we like to dress up like a bunch of extreme fetishists and do the best impersonations of a crab you’ve ever seen. You can expect to hear elements of funk, hip hop, punk, reggae, ska, metal and good ol’ fashioned balls-to-the-wall rock and/or roll.

Your Band The SideTracked Fiasco 3.

Music, Right Here, story goes back about six years, Right Now 5. when I met Ryan through an ad I think it’s going strong – there

Growing Up I grew up in a pretty musical 1. household. I didn’t get sung nursery rhymes to sleep – it was Chuck Berry, Little Richard

and The Beatles. So music was always there. Then in my first year of high school I heard punk, and after that I didn’t have a chance.

in the local streetpress. He had a bunch of raps that needed to get funkified, and I had a bunch of songs that needed vox over them. The lineup we have is: The rubber duck-skirt wearing, hula-shaking, rapping red demon, Ryan, on vocals; the snakeskinbashing, moustache-shaving creature that emerged from the swamp of despair, Seb, on drums; the death-growling, fretboardflying nun, who by all accounts says ‘noodle’ like we say ‘noodle’, Miles, on guitar; and I inhabit the form known only as The Voodoo Tickler.

The Music You Make We play funkcore, baby…

4.

What is funkcore? Good question.

are heaps of bands and venues pumping out quality tunes. Sure, there are some douchebags who are completely out for themselves and have their heads up their own arses – you know, the type who rock up 15 minutes before their set, load out while the next band is playing, and then expect you to give them a national tour. But that’s always been the case. I think you get out what you put in. If we want the scene to stay strong, we’ve got to put the effort in.

Where: Valve Bar, Tempe / The Patch, Wollongong When: Saturday December 8 / Saturday December 15

TURBONEGRO

Apocalypse Dudes is the best name of an album ever. We can all agree on that, right?

No? What if we told you the album comes from Turbonegro, a band of anti-PC deathpunks from Norway, who started out in ‘89 as a parody act with more looks than Tom Haverford – their leather phase, their denimand-moustache phase, ‘The Al Jolson Schtick’ (yep, black face) – but ended up with a cult following. They manage to be both hilarious and awe-inspiring, and they’re bringing it to The Hi-Fi this Thursday December 6.

Summer, you guys! Summer!! That great time of year where Beer O’Clock hits just after midday, and you can sit on that old couch out the front of your place with your housemates, bare feet and music blaring.

That last part is where Logitech come in. They’ve launched a new affordable piece of awesome called the Logitech UE Mobile Boombox – only 10x7x6cm, but with huge sound and a rechargeable battery – which connects to smartphones that can control what’s blaring from 50 feet away. (What’s better, you can connect it to two at once – perfect for lazy backand-forth tune-battles.) To celebrate this feat of engineering and design, Logitech are throwing a few free mini-gigs: vocalist Ashley Moacedo and guitarist Mark Chivas at The Grounds in Alexandria on Friday December 7; singer-songwriter John Vella at Central Station on Thursday December 13; and OCBLVD’s lead singer Ed Worland between 4-6pm on Friday December 14 at Belmore Park.

And to celebrate even more, they’ve given us a Mobile Boombox to give to you, worth $99.95. For your chance at it, tell us in 20 words or less what you love about summer, and why.

A VERY HANLON XMAS

Here are the things Darren Hanlon did in 2012: ran a speakeasy-style venue in a bookshop in Melbourne; lived in a bread truck in Portland (with the ghost of Elliott Smith, we assume); toured Europe with just a six-string (and a basket full of dreams, we assume). The one thing we can rely on for normality is his annual Christmas show – acoustic, solo and catalogue-spanning. He is playing Saturday December 22 at St. Stephens Church, with special guests to be announced. There’s also a December 8 show at Old Dubbo Gaol – we kinda wanna make the trip for that one…

The Tallest Man On Earth

Birdy

Toro y Moi

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH

There’s this scene in Big Fish where the misunderstood giant Karl cannot fit down a pathway he and our plucky protagonist Edward Bloom are planning to travel on, and when Edward suggests they split up and meet back, the giant says “you’re just going to run off on me”, and his big, dumb, sad, giant face looks so damn heartbroken. The memory of that expression has completely marred the music and broken-English-poetry of genius Swedish songwriter Kristian Matsson just because of his moniker, The Tallest Man On Earth – and it adds an extra level of sadness to a batch of already quite bittersweet (in an unguarded Dylan kind of way) tunes. He is touring his latest record There’s No Leaving Now, playing Sydney Opera House on March 5. Tickets on sale now.

A VERY RADIANT XMAS

BIRDY TOUR

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Radio, because Christmas is a time for giving.

(It’s also a time for forgiving, so you’d be well served by squeezing in all your indiscretions pretty soon…)

THE DATSUNS TREATMENT

The Datsuns were one of only 20 or 30 Australian acts to be declared the “future of rock” by hyperbolic UK rag NME in the early noughties, but hyperbolic UK rags aside, they are genuinely one of the best live experiences to come out of New Zealand since Once Were Warriors: The Musical. As Andy Dwyer once said, “It’s rock and roll, my friend. Fast, smooth, handsome rock.” They are heading here to launch their fifth record Death Rattle Boogie, and it’s perfectly named – as you’ll hear on Sunday December 16 when they play The Annandale Hotel, with support from The Treatment (who sport members from You Am I, Straight Arrows and Cabins). Tickets from the venue; beers from the bar.

TORO Y MOI

Toro y Moi’s album Anything In Return (out January 18) has 4/4 beats and sampled ‘yeahs’ and all that stuff, but it still sounds dreamy and Californian – he moved there recently, and it seems the salty, warm breeze carries onto tape.

It’s a genre we are dubbing Dancefloor Xanax, and he’s bringing it to Australia in March for Golden Plains, stopping in at The Standard on March 7 with the world-beating producer/songwriter/ twirligigging Jonti in support. Tickets are on sale now via Moshtix.

Birdy photography by Michelle Tan

Even since Birdy fixed that Bon Iver song ‘Skinny Love’ for him (she must have taken all the Auto-whinge off…), she’s been a household name in this fair land, hitting #1 on the ARIA Albums chart and sitting at #2 on the Singles chart at the same time. Last week she accidentally recorded a cover of John Butler Trio’s ‘What You Want’, and now she’s announced she’ll be playing Sydney Opera House on April 12 – it’s an all-ages show, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to get in. Tickets on sale Wednesday December 12.

This holiday season, instead of watching the Olsen twins’ seasonal classic To Grandma’s House We Go on a continuous loop, watch it three, maybe four times, then watch Home Alone a bunch (“Bud, your girlfriend? Woof!”), and then get along to A Very Radiant Christmas on Saturday December 15 at FBi Social. Presented by Radiant, one of the greatest shows on FBi Radio, the night will feature seasonal classics sung by Sarah Kelly (Good Heavens/ ex-theredsunband), Melodie Nelson, Marcus Whale (Collarbones/Scissor Lock/ Black Vanilla), Glenn Thompson (Custard) and Wintah Thompson (Little Lovers), Loene Carmen and Peter Head, Matt Banham (No Through Road, general hilarity), Daniele Marando (The Maladies) and Joseph Leonard (MachineMachine), backed by the brilliant The Holy Soul. Tickets are just $12 on the door, and all proceeds will go to FBi

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

UPLOAD YOUR MUSIC NOW Australia’s Brand New Independent Music Platform www.holdingpattern.com

Drawing

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The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

* Tame Impala’s Lonerism won the NME Album Of The Year, beating the likes of Jack White and Frank Ocean. It’s #14 on the UK charts. Spotify reveals Gotye’s ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ was the most streamed track in 2012. * ARIA is launching its new streaming charts on December 9. * The jailed members of Pussy Riot have been nominated for Time magazine’s influential Person Of The Year Award, for “(paying) a particularly steep price for provocative political expression.” 38 are nominated, including Barack Obama, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Fifty Shades Of Grey author EL James, Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Higgs Boson particle, Jay-Z and Psy. * Brisbane music fan Kristen Famularo, 23, was all set to see The Temper Trap open for Coldplay at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, but needed emergency heart surgery just before. Famularo asked if the Tempers would send a care package to the hospital: they decided to bring it to her personally.

MELBOURNE DOMINATES ARIAS

Melbourne’s reputation as the music capital of Australia was underscored when its acts took the major wins for the ARIAs. Gotye won four, accompanied each time by eloquent and humble acceptance speeches. He got Best Live Act (“I’m genuinely surprised”), Best Pop Release (he felt “weird” about mass success – “but I grew up listening to pop”), Best Male Performer (for the second consecutive year), and Album Of The Year. “It’s cool that the last award of the night is for an album,” he said, given albums are considered uncool these days. “I still love albums, so keep listening to records, keep buying records.” He also urged fans to discover the great music coming out of the Australian underground. Other Melbourne wins were The Temper Trap (Best Group, Best Rock Album), Kimbra (Best Female Performer), Missy Higgins (Adult Contemporary), 360 (Breakthrough Album), Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl feat. Georgi Kay

* Two nanoseconds after KFC announced that Good Charlotte are fronting their new campaign in Oz, social media was letting everyone know of the Madden brudders’ distant past as vegans and anti-KFC activists. * The Australian Financial Review estimates that music downloads will rise 30% this year, overtaking CD sales in Australia in 2013 – similar to what happened in the US this January and in the UK in May. * Boyzone manager Louis Walsh called Ronan Keating “talentless” and “spoiled”, and so struck by fame he thinks he is a great songwriter. * Sydney’s Parades called it a day, with drummer/vocalist Jonathan Boulet set to focus more on his solo career. * Black Sabbath is the most important British hard rock act of all time, according to a poll carried out by the BPI of more than 3,600 hard rock/metal fans, in conjunction with Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. Sabbaff grabbed 45% of the votes, with Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin coming in at #2. It seems 75% of voters reckon Britain is the home of metal.

(Dance) and Natasha Pincus (Video). Other winners were Matt Corby (Song Of The Year), Hilltop Hoods (Urban; they thanked Keith Urban for lending his name), The Jezabels (Independent Release), DZ Deathrays (Rock/ Metal), The McClymonts (Country), The Wiggles (Children), Buddy Goode (Comedy), Jeff Lang (Blues & Roots) and One Direction (International).

Inevitably, the imports Taylor Swift, Russell Brand (who brought his mum) and Nicki Minaj provided the glamour for the telecast.

But there were also memorable live sets from The ‘Trap, Hilltops (with brass section and lady singers), Missy Higgins, a theatrical Kimbra channeling Björk, The Jezabels (who’d flown back from Amsterdam the night before), 360 & Gossling, and Guy Sebastian & Lupe Fiasco. In the gossip section, Joel Madden revealed that Ricky Martin is the new mentor for The Voice, Molly Meldrum accidentally

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This Week

E HIFI 1300 TH O C M.AU

Turbonegro (NOR) Thu 6 Dec

THEHIFI.

Mayday Parade (USA) Fri 7 Dec

Ensiferum (FIN)

Bring Me The Horizon (UK)

Tim Rogers & The Bamboos

Tue 26 Feb

Thu 7 Mar

65daysofstatic (UK)

Maximo Park (UK)

Wed 2 Jan

Thu 3 Jan

Paul Kalkbrenner (GER) Sat 15 Dec

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Fri 15 Mar

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Coming Soon

O 11 N S DE ALE C

O N 6 SA DE L C E

Sat 22 Dec

MTV GIVING BIG DAY OUT GLOBAL EXPOSURE

MTV is filming the Sydney show of Big Day Out, for a two-hour special to air on its global World Stage program on January 18. MTV’s Sydney GM Rebecca Batties said, “Big Day Out deserves a global platform, and MTV World Stage is going to show music fans everywhere that Australians can do a music festival like no one else.” BDO’s Ken West added, “To be able to show what the Big Day Out experience is really about to music fans all over the world is a dream come true. Great audiences, great music, Australian summer – what’s not to like! BDO and MTV – two icons working together – this will go off. Can’t wait.”

EMC RETURNING

Last week’s inaugural Electronic Music Conference in Sydney was successful enough that founder Neil Ackland confirmed it will return next year, on Tuesday December 3 and Wednesday December 4. “So often we feel as though we need to look to the US and Europe for inspiration and networking opportunities in the music industry. What EMC has proven is that you don’t need to jump on a plane for 24 hours to find that; it’s right here in Australia.”

Video and audio of the panels will be posted on EMC’s website. Data provided by EMI Worldwide’s David Boyle revealed that electronic music is now the third most popular genre in the US with 13-34 year olds, with nine million new dance fans emerging in the US over the last 12 months. DJ Tiësto agreed that Las Vegas is the new Ibiza; US promoter Gary Richards confirmed dance festivals and EDM artists are big business there. The Sound Of The Underground panel discussed how boutique festivals in Australia are feeling the heat from licensing costs, stricter alcohol regulations, super clubs and stadium-sized festivals. Underground artists have problems getting airplay, with triple j singled out for playing tracks that Nova would. The idea of an official dance music industry body was mooted. One artist panel got awkwardly heated when Diplo and Russian DJ Nina Kraviz debated whether the DJ’s role is to entertain or educate the crowd.

APRA ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

Just Announced

Kid Ink (USA)

called Guy Sebastian Gay Sebastian, 360 got a “motherfucker” through in the telecast, Hilltops’ Suffa lost a $1000 bet with their manager Dylan Liddy over their win, and one of The McClymonts was expecting her baby that night. The emotional high was when Paul Kelly, Peter Garrett, Jessica Mauboy, Gurrumul, Andrew Farriss and Dan Sultan joined Yothu Yindi for ‘Treaty’, before Garrett and Kelly inducted them into the Hall of Fame, to a resounding standing ovation. An ailing Mandawuy Yunupingu urged Australia to support the recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution, “come together for a better tomorrow”, and close the gap when it came to the Indigenous community’s battle with kidney disease and diabetes.

Blood Red Shoes (UK) Fri 4 Jan

APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association)’s bi-annual Professional Development Awards are back in 2013. They offer eight winners $30,000 each worth of songwriting support, including cash, airlines, publicity, mentoring, distribution deals and instruments, as well as one-on-one sessions.

See www.apra-amcos.com.au/pda for full details. Of past recipients, Gotye went on to write a hit album, Laura Jean studied songwriting in Spain, Caitlin Yeo attended a film and TV scoring workshop in Hollywood, and Sean Foran excelled at Berklee College Of Music in Boston.

INERTIA + PLEDGEMUSIC

Thu 17 Jan

Sat 26 Jan

Kerser

From The Jam (UK)

Gin Blossoms (USA)

Sat 2 Feb

Sun 3 Feb

Sat 9 Feb

An Evening with The Hoff (USA)

ALLANS BILLY HYDE LIVES ON WITH NEW OWNER…

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The Boys Of Summer Tour 2013 Sun 13 Jan

Crystal Castles(CAN) Dub FX

Sat 12 Jan

In a first for Australia, indie label Inertia has joined with direct-to-fan platform PledgeMusic to become a retail and fundraising channel for its local artists. Inertia’s managing director Colin Daniels explained, “In addition to valuable retail and digital channels, direct-tofan platforms have become an important part of the commerce strategy for many artists.

Partnering with PledgeMusic enables our Australian artists to engage global fan support early in their release plans.”

Marduk (SWE)

Fri 15 Feb

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (USA)

FA ST SE LL IN G

SE LL IN G

FA ST

Mutemath

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (USA) Sat 9 Mar

Dinosaur Jr + Redd Kross (USA) Sat 16 Mar

(USA)

Sun 24 Mar SELLING FAST

Otep (USA) Thu 25 Apr

Fri 8 Mar ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

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The Allans Billy Hyde instruments chain has had a last minute reprieve. Rival retailer Con Gallin, managing director of Australian Musical Imports (AMI) and Musician’s Pro Shop retail stores, bought the business from receivers Ferrier Hodgson. The deal includes the trading names Allans Music and Billy Hyde, Australian Music Group, Musiclink and Intermusic, together with their associated

domain names and websites. Gallin, a guitarist who got his first part-time job at Allans while at school, says most of the staff will retain their jobs. The news was applauded by instrument makers like Gibson and Roland. The current liquidation sale taking place in the Allans Billy Hyde stores will continue, with AMI/Gallin’s adding extra stock from their warehouse and suppliers to give consumers additional discounted items for Christmas.

…BUT SONG OVER FOR JACKSONS RARE GUITARS

Jacksons Rare Guitars on Parramatta Rd, Camperdown, and owner Boutique Music Wholesale, went into voluntary administration.

Stock was confiscated and this column got panicky calls from musos as many rare valuable instruments were bought on consignment.

Administrator Deloitte claims that those with proof of purchase will have no problems claiming their guitars.

TAMWORTH WINS GOLD AWARD

The Tamworth Country Music Festival was acclaimed as the NSW festival that did the most to generate money for the state economy and generate international media coverage. At the NSW Tourism Awards in Sydney, it took the Gold gong in the Major Festivals And Events category. Bluesfest in Byron Bay won Silver, and the Sydney Royal Easter Show got Bronze.

BRIDGE HOTEL, KENSINGTON NIGHTCLUB, FOR SALE

Live music venue the Bridge Hotel, in Rozelle, is up for sale, after 30 years in the hands of the Keough family. Up in Newcastle, the building that housed the Kensington nightclub is also on the market. Its owners had for eight years spent $4 million trying to get the club running. It was twice refused a liquor license, and when it tried to sneak in via a catering license last year, the NSW government changed the law. Recently, it was a no-booze venue for teens.

Lifelines Engaged: English rapper Example and MTV Australia’s Erin McNaught, after being together for a year.

Engaged: Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and longtime girlfriend, model Courtney Bingham.

Reunited: Katy Perry and John Mayer back together and house hunting in L.A. Hospitalised: Björk underwent laser surgery to remove a vocal cord polyp, which she’d tried to get rid of with diet and exercise. She wrote: “Surgery rocks! ... It’s been very satisfying to sing all them clear notes again.”

Recovered: Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton reveals he is now cancerfree.

Investigated: Neither Drake nor Chris Brown will face charges over their roles in a huge New York nightclub brawl in June. Investigators found video footage blurred and witness statements weak.

In Court: The Black Keys have settled copyright infringement lawsuits against Pizza Hut and The Home Depot. In June they sued the two companies, alleging that ‘Lonely Boy’ was used in ads to sell power tools, and ‘Gold On The Ceiling’ to sell pizza. Both firms denied the charges.

Died: Chris Stamp, 70, from cancer.

He co-managed The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the ‘60s and set up Track Records, which also signed The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Golden Earring and Labelle.

Died: US booking agent who revolutionised the American concert business, Frank Barsalona, 78, from Alzheimer’s disease. He set up Premier Talent in New York, which represented U2, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Tom Petty and Van Halen.

He changed the rules so that artists got more money from gigs, and upgraded concerts to create a better live experience for fans.

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CATZ ‘N DOGZ Pet Sounds By Rick Warner

smooth sailing. “Everything took a while,” Voitek groans. Many an hour was spent searching for music rights holders who had long since disappeared. “We got refused [on the licensing of music], because some of the labels were completely out of business,” Greg says, clearly nonplussed. Even when they managed to contact the rights holders of some of the more obscure music they wanted for the mix, the master tapes were often long gone. “We had to buy it on Discogs and rip it at home,” laughs Greg. “[But] in the digital world, that makes it special.

Before, when you’d go to the shop to find a record, if you didn’t buy it you couldn’t play it because it was limited to a few hundred copies.”

In a year of firsts for Catz ‘n Dogs, they will also finally get down to Australia for a string of DJ gigs in December. Meant to visit our shores a couple of times previously, the scheduling finally came together. “We’re excited,” Greg says. “We have a lot of friends there. We’ve heard the parties are good, and of course the weather will be awesome.

Here [in Europe] it’s going to be winter.” The sun is clearly a major drawcard, because Voitek chimes in about it too: “We’re really excited for the weather. [In Berlin] it’s been foggy for five days. There’s no sun.

I feel like I never wake up.” With the days growing colder over in Europe, it’s no wonder Voitek feels a little beaten. The wear-and-tear of the touring DJ life has most definitely reared its head. “This year is the busiest year we’ve ever had,” says Voitek, and Greg continues: “[This summer], we played three times in Ibiza. We played Space, DC-10 and Zoo Project. We played a lot of summer openers in Germany and also the US tour was amazing. We had a lot of gigs.”

But it’s not just the DJing that’s kept them busy. This summer, the production duo finally decided it was time to live in the same city again. For the last couple of years, Voitek called Berlin home while Greg continued to live in Poland. The suitcase life of a touring DJ made the separation a little easier, but now that they’re back within close proximity, it’s time to get back to what they love most: making music, and putting on parties. Their Vitamin/ Pet Recordings label party at the famed Berlin club Watergate has proved a monthly success, recently playing host to the likes of Ellen Allien and 2012 posterboy Eats Everything. And now Catz ‘n Dogz are reunited, they can get started on that third album they owe VonStroke...

Probably. “We were supposed to do it for May 2012, but I guess we’re going to do it for the year after,” Voitek shrugs.

“D

o you want to make us scared?” Grzegorz Demiañczuk laughs.

“I just woke up!”

Wojciech Tarañczuk groans. The pair are clearly not enthused about the perils of the Australian bush, about which I feel it’s my Australian duty to inform them.

Within a week or two, Polish electronic music duo Catz ‘n Dogz (we can call them Greg and Voitek) will be boarding a plane from Europe, heading Down Under for the first time to play the Subsonic Music Festival, a few hours north of Sydney in the Barrington Tops National Park.

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The pair have always kept their production work pretty exclusive, only releasing music on three labels: Dirtybird/Mothership, Get Physical Music, and their own

Pet Recordings label. “Somehow it works – it’s kind of enough,” Voitek explains. “If we were with someone else, it’d be too much.

With Pets, we can do whatever we want. Get Physical is where our agency is; Phillip from M.A.N.D.Y. [Get Physical label boss] is our really good friend. The Dirtybird guys? It’s always a good output for us. It’s different – a more crazy sound. If we were signed to just Get Physical or just Dirtybird, it’d be too boring for us.”

Catz ‘n Dogz’ latest project for Get Physical was the September release Volume 12, their mix for the storied Body Language compilation series. Joining the likes of DJ Hell, Modeselektor and Matthew Dear, who’ve each mixed a volume, Catz ’n Dogz were thrilled to be a part of it – moreso considering this was their first ever commercial mix release. As to why

it took so long, the guys seem slightly bemused. “I don’t know. We didn’t get an offer before!” Greg laughs. “Of course it was always our dream, so we’re really happy that it finally happened… We really wanted to do it special, so it [took] a lot of time.”

For Body Language Vol. 12, Greg and Voitek called in some favours; littered throughout the mix are exclusive tracks and remixes from friends as well as ones-to-watch from the Pet Recordings roster, like Squarehead and Trikk. “Right now, everybody’s doing mixes,” says Voitek. “With SoundCloud and all that, it makes sense to sell [the mix CD]. People can get those tracks from other places, so if your tracks aren’t exclusive to the mix, they won’t want to listen.”

The experience of putting together their first mix CD wasn’t exactly

What: Body Language Vol. 12 is out now With: Christian Martin, Africa Hitech, DJ Kentaro, Acid Pauli, Opiuo, Blue King Brown, Worthy, Adultnapper, Svelt and more Where: Subsonic Music Festival @ Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops When: Friday December 7 – Monday December 10 More: Also playing at The Spice Cellar on Saturday December 15

San Cisco photo by xxx

From Szczecin, a city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland (inadvertent dog reference, right there), the pair began in 2003, putting on parties and hosting down-tempo electronica radio shows. As so often happens, it

wasn’t long until the two friends found themselves making music.

Their studio life began under the moniker 3 Channels, but after a bunch of releases on heavyweight labels like Trapez and Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels, they shied away from the name after becoming increasingly pigeonholed as “minimal house”. A call from Dirtybird/Mothership label head honcho Claude VonStroke saw Greg and Voitek embrace their new identity; as Catz ‘n Dogz, they explored a more eclectic sound palette – from deeper, latenight fodder to quirky electronica and big-room energetic housers – and released their first two albums on Mothership.

The pair are grateful that when they make it down to Subsonic Music Festival, they’ll be playing alongside two of their Dirtybird label mates: Worthy and Christian Martin. “When you travel with friends, you hang out, go play your gig, and then make fun of everything. When you go alone, it’s like going to work.” As for whether that makes for more drunken tour shenanigans, Greg plays his cards close to his chest. “It depends on the jetlag – I don’t know. I’ve heard some strange stories about the jetlag from Europe to Australia.

We’ll see how it affects us…”

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FA C E B O O K . C O M / B E A C H R O A D H O T E L BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 19

The Saints Still Stranded Bob Gordon

“I learnt a long time ago not to take [our profile] seriously. In defence of The Saints, we’ve always been notoriously shithouse at PR.” and rather obscure sense of humour. And whilst I take my work – and music – incredibly seriously, I would hope to not be pompous...

I don’t know what put it there but ‘Over The Rainbow’ popped into my head, not when I was writing the song, but when I was doing the vocal.

It’s a fine line between corniness and actually pulling it off, because the song is actually quite a sad little wistful afterthought to quite a dark album. If you’re taken through some dark places, it’s nice to be shown a bit of light at the end, if you follow me. And, watermelon is one of my favourite fruits.”

C

hris Bailey has surely done this to death and back, but with a new Saints LP, King Of The Sun, out there in the world, it seems he regards the process as one of life’s great treasures. “I still feel quite humbled by the fact that I am allowed the privilege of spending a couple of months in a recording studio; it’s a gift,” he says down the line from Amsterdam.

He’s still stranded far from home, but now it is his home. “The songwriting process is such a lovely, solitary thing. It’s a bit like wanking – you do it by yourself,” he says with a laugh. “And that’s rather dull, but making records is a very fine, collaborative process. I like it.”

Strangely, Bailey and The Saints’ drummer Peter Wilkinson spent the last two years prior to this album as the rhythm section for French singer Renaud Brustlein. “It was kind of like starting again or something,” Bailey says. “I’m kind of used to being the frontman of the band, or a folk singer. I realised what I’d been

missing out on all these years, because I think drummers and bass players really have the best gig in the band!” Playing bass may have seemed a lessened workload for Bailey, but given how King Of The Sun swings, it seems quite plausible that the stint influenced the new album. “I s’pose anything you do adds to your canon,” he says. “One thing about being in a rhythm section, you certainly learn about economy. Given that I’ve got a tendency to be a little bit Phil Spector in my spare time, I can overdo things. I think the simplicity lesson was probably very beneficial.”

Even so, there’s a grandeur on this album that’s been present since The Saints’ post‘punk’ years. Especially so in ‘Adventures In The Dark Arts Of Watermelonery’, which firstly has a brilliant title, and secondly references Judy Garland’s ‘Over The Rainbow’. “Look, I think it’s always admirable to aim high,” Bailey laughs.

“I’ve been accused of having an awfully obtuse

It’s a lighthearted approach that goes way back to the upbeat horn section in the otherwise sneering 1978 single, ‘Know Your Product’.

Bailey’s been described as being both punk and pompous, but there’s been wry smiles the whole way. “Pretty much,” he agrees. “The bottom line is that I’m not really overly fond of showbusiness. I don’t mind kind of poncing about onstage, but the reason I do this, after all these years, is that I just really love the process of writing and making albums. All the rest is kind of peripheral.

“I don’t want to sound too pretentious or like I’m into prog or something, but if you’re going to do rock’n’roll it’s a pretty simple form, and it’s probably all been done to death. And I’ve always thought, ‘That may well be the case, but it’s not been done by me’. So I’ve always liked to have an open mind and a fresh approach,” he continues. “I guess that’s one of the beauties of the constantly changing lineup of The Saints: it constantly feels like going back to start all over again. I think that’s been a very healthy thing.”

The original band that formed in Brisbane in 1974, teaming Bailey with guitarist and fellow Australian alt-rock icon Ed Kuepper, split amid acrimony in the late ‘70s. Bailey has recorded solo albums in his own name and other various releases, but The Saints is his mainstay, with

many members left downstream. Like Billy Corgan with Smashing Pumpkins, for Bailey The Saints is the name that he feels most free and easy to create music under. “Thank you for saying that, because I’ve often struggled as to how to express my affection, and my steadfast refusal to never cease with The Saints,” he says. “That is precisely how I feel. When the teenage band imploded, I thought, ‘I’m not going to put up with this, that’s ridiculous’. But I also noticed that the old-fashioned Beatles rock band, all-the-lads-together-in-a-mini-bus, was kind of a fiction. I just wanted to be the lead singer of that band, and I’ve managed to be able to maintain that.”

While his music since the mid-’80s could be more closely described as folkish, The Saints seem forever aligned with ‘70s punk rock.

1977’s ‘(I’m) Stranded’ is regarded by many as the bona fide first punk rock single – but Bailey remains bemused. “I learnt a long time ago not to take that shit seriously,” he says. “In defence of The Saints, we’ve always been notoriously shithouse at PR. EMI still owns the early catalogue, they’re still rehashing and re-releasing it, so it’s not surprising it has a profile. I don’t want to denigrate it. It’s fine; it’s part of the story. So be it. I feel we’re lucky enough in some substantial areas to transcend that.

“I sit down and have a nice glass of wine and tell myself, ‘It’s all showbusiness, therefore it’s all bollocks,’ and that, ‘You’re only as good as the last song you write’. If that’s my maxim, then I think that’s a healthier attitude to have.”

What: King Of The Sun is out now With: Tim Rogers, Blondie, Tame Impala, Hilltop Hoods, Kimbra, Birds Of Tokyo and more Where: Homebake Festival @ The Domain When: Saturday December 8

David Byrne & St. Vincent Love These Giants By Alasdair Duncan

M

eeting your heroes can be a daunting experience; knowing that they’re in the room watching you, even more so. This was the case with St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, when she learned David Byrne, of art rock legends Talking Heads, was in attendance at one of her early shows. “I was playing at Bowery Ballroom, on tour for my first album, Marry Me,” she explains. “It was probably the biggest show that I’d played at that time, and a friend came running up the stairs to tell me that David Byrne was in attendance. I kind of wish she’d waited until after the show,” Clark laughs. “I was super nervous the whole time.” Though it would be a while until the pair officially met, Byrne clearly recognised a musical kindred spirit. Thus, the wheels were set in motion for the pair’s bizarre and brilliant collaborative album, this year’s Love This Giant.

The whole thing happened very fast – so fast that Clark didn’t even have time to be nervous. “When we were approached to do the

The pair worked so well together that a one-off show hardly seemed like enough, so before long, there was talk of an album. Collaborative songwriting was something wholly new for Clark, and she ventured into it with great care.

“When it comes to songwriting, it’s about trust,” she says. “You have to trust that whatever idea they’re sending you, they mean it sincerely, so you have to treat it with respect and elaborate on it in that spirit.” Over time, Clark became comfortable tracing ideas about arrangements and instrumental parts with Byrne – his words, however, were the one area she didn’t dare venture into. “Neither one of us messed with the other’s lyrics,” she explains. “You don’t know where the words are coming from, and you really don’t want to say, ‘Why don’t we change that line?’, because it might turn out that the line is about their mother or something. That’s a very precious area.”

The cover art for Love This Giant is based around the theme of Beauty & The Beast, but with the roles subverted – beautiful young Clark is transformed into a beast, while silver-haired Byrne is the beauty. Putting the

“When it comes to songwriting, it’s about trust. You have to trust that whatever idea they’re sending you, they mean it sincerely, so you have to treat it with respect.”

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bizarre shot together required a physical transformation for the pair. “We got in touch with this guy Gabe Bartalos, who did all the prosthetics for the Matthew Barney films [The Cremaster Cycle],” Clark says. “He did moulds of our faces and then made the prosthetics from that.” The facial prosthetics, especially hers, look rather pointy and uncomfortable.

“Yeah, they don’t quite move like real flesh moves, so they are a little bit awkward,” she agrees. “David actually went to a dinner right after the photo shoot, and nobody noticed – or at least nobody said anything…”

Byrne and Clark will bring their live show to our part of the world in January, as part of Sydney Festival 2013, and I ask what exactly we can expect. “Well, our show’s totally choreographed,” she explains. “We worked with Annie-B Parson, who David’s worked with

before. She did a brilliant job of choreography.

It doesn’t necessarily take any dance skills on our part, or on the part of the horn players … it’s about moving, expressing the drama of the show through these subtle, marching bandesque formations.” The horn section adds a certain heft to the show, and Clark is excited as always to be touring with them. “I think, ultimately, it’s more powerful because of the scope of it,” she says. “It’s really confronting just how many horns are on stage, and they really do act like a monolithic presence.”

What: Love This Giant is out now Who: David Byrne & St. Vincent Where: Sydney Festival @ The State Theatre When: Thursday January 17, 8pm & Friday January 18, 8pm

David Byrne & St Vincent photo by Andreas Laszlo Konrath

The collaboration began to truly take shape after a show at New York’s famous Housing Works Bookstore. They were there to see Björk performing with Brooklyn band Dirty Projectors, and when one of the concert’s organisers saw them together, he suggested that they might do the same. “When ideas for the show were first discussed, we figured we were going to be doing about 30 minutes of new music,” Clark says.

“We knew we’d be performing it in a bookstore space, and that we wouldn’t really have a PA, so I suggested that, due to the limitations of that, we use mostly acoustic instruments.” When considering what kinds of acoustic instruments might work best, Clark hit upon a horn section.

“I’d never worked with one before, and David was really excited by the idea of writing songs with one, so we ventured forward with that premise.”

collaboration, I agreed without even thinking about it!” she laughs. “The idea that I would get to make a record with David Byrne only really started to sink in during the weeks after that, and that was when I started to think, ‘Oh my god, how do I do that?’” Fortunately, the pair hit upon a good way of working together: over email. Somebody would send an idea, and the other would elaborate on it and send it back. “It was sort of a game of musical tennis,” Clark says. “We were never actually in the same room when we wrote the songs, and I’d say that took some of the pressure off. You could be discerning about what you’d send to the other person.”

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Kutcha Edwards The Storyteller By Benjamin Cooper

K

utcha Edwards is busily packing his car for a journey out to Rubicon in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges. Hailing from the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in NSW, the singer

Edwards has been combining activism and songwriting prolifically since 1991, when he joined Koori group Watbalimba and began the remarkable journey that has taken him from the tiny Riverina town of Balranald to tours around Australia and the world. It is his experience as a member of the Stolen Generations, and his proud Mutti Mutti heritage, that has shaped his diverse creative output in groups like Blackfire and Black Arm Band. At the same time, he’s been able to

forge a successful solo career combining the blues with traditional songs of people and country, beginning in 2002, when his friends Paul Kelly and Paul Hester (Crowded House) took production duties on the album Cooinda.

Edwards speaks in a quietly measured tone as we discuss his music, and his latest album.

Recorded at Craig Pilkington’s Audrey Studios (Gurrumul, Even), Blak & Blu features a host of Australian blues and roots talent including Dan Sultan, Rebecca Barnard and Jeff Lang.

“This album has just given me a new energy,” he says. “I think that sometimes this industry can take you to places you don’t want to go, so it’s nice to be able to come back to the basics of conceptualising music along songlines in the traditional way. It feels strange to be saying this on a mobile phone in Northcote, but I’m constantly trying to understand this old connection to language and what it is I actually am, as a Mutti Mutti man and as a storyteller.

“I’m really no different to that old uncle or auntie that sits down in Papunya [Northern Territory] and paints their country,” he continues. “I’m doing the same thing: I am singing of country, but I’m doing it in a

language that most people can understand.

Of course, it’s also important for me to sing in my own language sometimes,” he clarifies.

“I remember going to see Gurrumul at the Dreaming Festival up at Woodford a few years back, and as I was standing up the back of the tent watching him and his family doing the actions of the songs and singing in their language, I realised I was crying. I wasn’t actually crying externally, but I was yearning to do the same thing with my music.

“A little while after that I was playing a show here in Melbourne with Black Arm Band and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and a niece of mine came up to me afterwards to ask, ‘Uncle Kutcha, all these other people tonight have been singing in their language, but where’s our language?’” So as you see, I’m not just writing for myself! I have that desire to keep connecting with my own language and country, and it keeps sending me further on the journey.”

What: Blak & Blu is out now through MGM Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Friday December 7

Kutcha Edwards photo by Mardi Thorpe

and songwriter is heading north – but not to perform his signature soulful and bluesinspired tunes. Instead, the local Indigenous community have asked him to speak with their men’s group about his experiences and struggles. “I get asked to speak with people occasionally, and it’s a responsibility I take very seriously,” he tells me. “I’m 15 years into sobriety, and if I can pass on some of that information, then all the better. I’ve made bad decisions, some of them terrible ones ... but I’m lucky because I’m in a place where I can understand why it is that I did those things.

I can help with making a better tomorrow for some people, so I’m going to do everything within my power.”

Tokyo Denmark Sweden Xmas With Select By Krissi Weiss

Joining forces in 2011 with a combined love of all things pop, electro and glitch, the trio have moved forward in impressive leaps and bounds.

Although singer Amy Pes admits she misses “her own bed and her dog” while touring, the group have followed up the release of their self-titled EP with a frenetic gigging schedule. Indie tastemakers like triple j, FBi, Triple R and 4ZZZ have been championing Tokyo Denmark Sweden from the beginning, and the international blogosphere has begun to join the chatter. “There is nothing more effective when trying to get your name out there than having a strong online presence,” Pes explains. “We’ve had some pretty cool blogs overseas reviewing our tracks and EP and giving us great write-ups, and every now and then we see someone from Turkey or Denmark like us on Facebook!”

Pes lists, as current inspirations, the vocal gusto of Karen O, Alisa Xayalith and Santi White, but the pop undertones of TDS can be attributed to her first musical love: ‘90s pop. “Ace Of Base, The Spice Girls, George Michael and Craig David were among my most adored artists when I was younger,” she says. “I guess they’ve all impacted upon my appreciation for music...

When I was about nine years old I wrote a very out-of-key song on a banjo I found in our house; it was very reminiscent of Ace Of Base’s ‘I Saw The Sign’.”

Although they were most at home on the club circuit when they started out, that’s all been

changed by recent additions to the TDS live lineup. “A month or two ago I would have said hands down [we prefer] a dark, dingy club somewhere with a good strobe,” she says. “But we’ve recently started using a live drummer, which just adds another dimension – and although it’s still completely danceable, our set has a great summer festival vibe. So let’s meet halfway and say we’d be ideal for the Big Day Out Boiler Room,” she laughs. “Ken West, I’m winking at ya!”

With festival gigs on the cards, Pes hits back at the stereotype that, while festivals are a blast, the crowd can make or break the atmosphere. “I think it’s kinda unfair that the music scene in general is often affiliated heavily with drugs and alcohol,” she begins. “It also sucks that some of the crowds at music festivals these days are more concerned about looking good and getting wrecked than actually turning up to support the music. But there’s always going to be someone who’s not in it for the right reasons, and I think those who are have just gotta keep doing what they do and ignore the bullshit.”

The TDS live set is entering into a new phase, with Pes promising a dynamic musical journey for the audience. “[Our live set] is all about being dark and vibey; kind of like a Crystal Castles set, but more dreamy and less manic,” she says. “[With the live drummer], already our songs take on new life and energy while still maintaining the dance vibe.

We’re in the process of finalising some new tracks that we’ll be sneaking into our sets shortly, too!”

What: Don’t Stay Home Alone! – Select Music’s Christmas Party Who: Live – Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Nantes, The Preatures, Step-Panther, Andy Bull, The Walking Who, Toucan; DJs – Jake Stone (Bluejuice), Hungry Kids Of Hungary, Rüfüs, DZ Deathrays, Elizabeth Rose and more Where: MUM @ The World Bar When: Friday December 7

The Holding Pattern Forward Thinking By Krissi Weiss

I

n an attempt to combat music piracy and illegal downloading, streaming services arrived belatedly and, despite the best of intentions, they seem to have created even more problems: no one’s being paid enough, and the further down the music food chain you are, the worse it is. The Holding Pattern, an Australian-owned site launched in January of this year, looks like a promising solution.

Managing Director Nick Arnold (a seasoned independent artist in his own right) has spent a number of years putting together the new online platform, where independent artists can digitally sell their music while also collecting licensing revenue– and there are opportunities for other creatives to connect with each other, too.

“The devaluation of music has already happened,” Arnold says frankly. “People just want stuff for free, which sucks, so what I’m trying to do is get investors on board, utilising the current investor market to take music into a different sphere. I want to use music as a way for people to communicate with each other, not simply for it to be the end transaction that gets lost in someone’s digital player. Streaming services are a great idea, but you just have to ensure that payment to the artists is transparent.”

With MGM Distribution throwing their weight behind the project, as well as the UK’s Ditto Music, Arnold is confident he’s creating a space for independent artists to obtain an actual income and, most importantly, retain control over their music. “Independent artists are struggling to get any pay at all these days,” he says. “The key is to create really innovative and unique tools [through which] fans can follow artists and create their own packages.”

The interface of The Holding Pattern and its overall useability is essential to its success.

Arnold is more than aware that the project is still at a very early stage, despite predictions it will host over 250,000 tracks by the end of

22 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

this year. “We still have so much to work to do; we’re in the beta phase, so the useability as well as the visual appeal is pivotal to creating a genre-based and mood-based experience for the user,” he says. “You’re not only changing the way people buy music, but also how people use music as a currency to communicate.” So how will THP stand out from an already crowded market? “I think the key is to personalise it for the user,” Arnold answers. “You don’t force-feed them and tell them what they like – music fans are intelligent enough to know what they want – but you need to personalise the entire interaction so that it enhances their options, without it being noisy.”

In amongst this end user concept is the notion that people involved in every step of creating and using a musical product – graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers, and more – will have a space within which to communicate and trade. “All of the artists that help bring an album to life with merchandise and the like; we want them to be able to be steered toward the musicians,” Arnold enthuses. “We want to build a community where you can go, ‘Oh, well that CD cover didn’t get used on that album, but I like their stuff, so maybe we can pay them to do ours’.”

Finding these artists and sifting through a growing base of music is a challenge that Arnold wants to tackle head-on. With SEO (search engine optimisation) corrupting internet search engines to the point where the answer to any Google question is a major corporation, porn or cancer, he is determined to be innovative with the technology they offer. “For us, the search engines and their function are the superheroes of what finding new music is all about. We want people to enjoy every part of the discovery, whether they’re consumers or artists.”

Head to www.theholdingpattern.com to check it out for yourself.

Nick Arnold of The Holding Pattern

W

ith the Select Music agency comprising such an impressive roster of artists, it seems only right for them to celebrate the Yuletide with a showcase-style party featuring live and DJ sets from some of their finest – including The Preatures, Step-Panther, Andy Bull, the ARIA-winning (!) DZ Deathrays, Elizabeth Rose and loads more. One band not to miss is Tokyo Denmark Sweden, who’ll be bringing their hypnotic and playful dance tunes to The World Bar floor as well.

Two Door Cinema Club After The Storm By Rach Seneviratne

“O

ne day I’m complaining to our manager, saying, ‘Fuck this, I wanna have a week off, my girlfriend’s gonna kill me’ and shit like that, and then five minutes later I’m looking at the calendar and saying, ‘Well, there’s five days free here – why aren’t we going to Colombia?’” With Two Door Cinema Club’s bassist Kevin Baird nursing a cough and a strong hangover on a bleary Sunday morning, the effects of being on the road since he was 18 (he’s now 23) are more evident than ever.

After forming in 2007 and earning a legion of fans through the (now archaic, but then groundbreaking) MySpace music platform, the band released Tourist History on the Parisian tastemaking fashion/music label Kitsuné. The album was a half-hour injection of irresistible indie dance that propelled them into the world spotlight, and Two Door toured relentlessly, almost flogging it for all it was worth. For Baird, it got to a point where he felt the band really needed to move on to the next chapter. “We felt exhausted. We’d started touring around six months prior [to Tourist History’s release], and then we toured it for over a year and a half after it came out – so we’d been on the road for a long time. We still loved the album, but we wanted to play something new, and wanted to write something now.” Given the success of their debut, one would assume that backing it up would be a daunting prospect, but sophomore syndrome didn’t cross Baird’s mind. “We never really said, ‘Oh shit, we’d better do something good now’,” he says. “[In the past] few years we had stopped exercising that muscle of writing a song, and it felt kinda weird – we used to do it all the time. Writing together after so long … we were just really excited. We stopped touring and it became fun again, the whole creative process.”

my head, the real definition of selling out is when you’re ripping yourself off because you know that it’s easy. You know that song from your first album got on the radio and people liked it and it was successful, and you just rip yourself off again ‘cos that format works.”

The band has found itself a comfy niche in both camp indie and camp dance, meaning they can fit perfectly on the bill at Glastonbury or Coachella, but also at something much more dance musicoriented, like Sydney’s Field Day. But this hasn’t been some carefully thought-out business manoeuvre; contrarily, Baird sees premeditation as the antithesis to creative progress. “We never really talk about it, y’know? We never said to each other what kinda band we are, like, ‘This is our genre and this is what we stick to’. Trying not to calculate it is the secret, I think.”

What: Beacon is out now Where: Hordern Pavilion (licenced, all-ages) When: Thursday January 3 More: Also playing Field Day on New Year’s Day at The Domain, alongside Hot Chip, Mark Ronson, Django Django, T.E.E.D and more

CH [V], Fasterlouder & Street Press Australia presents

Beacon was always going to be a different album to Tourist History. Their debut was written with the uncultivated chutzpah and naivety of a band who, at the time, had no success, no touring experience, no scrutiny. Sitting down to write the newer one though, things had changed. “We were a couple years older and we had done a lot, seen a lot,” Baird says, sounding every bit the tour-weary young man he is. “The first album was [filled with] the optimism of what we thought or hoped was gonna happen; the excitement of it. Not that we don’t have fun on the road now or anything, but there was a lot that happened between the first and second album… Suddenly, [touring] took up all of our lives, for the next two and a half years.”

“The real definition of selling out is when you’re ripping yourself off because you know that it’s easy... Trying not to calculate it is the secret, I think.”

The overarching loneliness that Beacon exudes is reflective not only of their life on the road, but also of the band having worked on it to the beat of their own drum; it’s not another happygo-lucky party album in the vein of Tourist History. The band felt the need to show a certain vulnerability and sombreness on the record, rather than pandering to the demands of fans and stakeholders. “We didn’t have some horrible, overbearing producer with a creepy moustache or anything like that. We worked independently of labels; independently of everything. Everyone just let us go off and do our own thing.”

Their ‘own thing’ is a more refined, empathic sound than the ‘What You Know’s and ‘Undercover Martyn’s of their debut. The reason the band was on what seemed like every summer festival lineup around the world was that their music yielded to a live setting; almost as if envisaging the live performance played a key role the writing process. “We thought about things a lot more in that aspect [with the first album] because we would write a song, and then a week later we would play a show in Belfast or something. But with [Beacon] there was no touring while we were writing it, so it was harder to imagine. We started writing things without thinking about how it would sound live,” Baird says. “You’re [writing] in a basement, you’re freezing and you’re wearing three jumpers, and you’re just sitting there with your instrument.

When we’re all piecing the song together like that, it’s hard to imagine playing that to people.”

The

Tour with special guests

K INGSWOOD

& EMPEROR S

Fri 15-Mar-13 ~ Tivoli, Brisbane QLD Sat 16-Mar-13 ~ Metro, Sydney NSW Thu 21-Mar-13 ~ The Gov, Adelaide SA Fri 22-Mar-13 ~ The HiFi , Melbourne VIC Fri 05-Apr-13 ~ Prince of Wales, Bunbur y WA Sat 06-Apr-13 ~ Capitol, Perth WA Thu 11-Apr-13 ~ Waves, Wollong ong NSW Fri 12-Apr-13 ~ Capital, Wag g a Wag g a NSW Sat 13-Apr-13 ~ ANU Bar, Canberra ACT Sun 14-Apr-13 ~ New Albur y Hotel, Albur y NSW Wed 17-Apr-13 ~ Entrance Leag ues, Entrance NSW Thu 18-Apr-13 ~ Panthers, Newcastle NSW Fri 19-Apr-13 ~ Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour NSW Sat 20-Apr-13 ~ The Big Pineapple Music Festival, Woombye QLD Sun 21-Apr-13 ~ Cooly, Gold Coast QLD Wed 24-Apr-13 ~ Bended Elbow, Geelong VIC Thu 25-Apr-13 ~ Pier Live, Frankston VIC Fri 26-Apr-13 ~ Inferno, Traralg on VIC Sat 27-Apr-13 ~ Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully VIC

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NEW ALBUM BL ACK R ABBITS OUT NOW

While this may seem like a risk, Baird claims that playing to your crowds and indulging in their expectations breeds a stagnant creative mindset.

“A lot of people talk about bands ‘selling out’, and people attribute that to many different things. In BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 23

arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

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

five minutes WITH

KATE JINX

Tell us about your education and past career-lives: A fortune teller in Crows Nest once told me that I was a witch burned at the stake in a past life but managed to free myself and snuff the flames by rolling in the snow. Hence, according to him, my “love of winter.” In this life I have a Degree in Design but mostly spend my time watching films and talking about them and drawing pictures for record covers.

Did you actually get up to any witchy business in high school? In around year 9, I harnessed my powers of entrepreneurialism and made some lunch money by “interpreting” the dreams of some girls in my year. Spent a few nervous years after that fearing bad karma but so far, so good.

W

hen she's not hosting FBi Radio’s film show Too Much or appearing at various talky events about town (including Life Lines at The Wall @ World Bar on Wednesday December 5), Kate’s probably thinking about cats, witches or her rabbit Sandra Bernhard. This month, she’s been invited to give a performance lecture (about teen witch films!) at the MCA as part of Cinemania, a series for cinephiles curated by Brown Council’s Diana Smith. Kate’s lecture, Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board, is a follow-up of sorts to her popular performance lecture Familiars, which debuted at Surry Hills Late Night Library last year, and explored cats on screen.

Mona Lisa mashed by Shannon Crees

What are they the key characteristics of the teen-witch-as-film-trope? I think most teenagers go through a phase of not wanting to be photographed, which is why teen vampires are able to go through adolescence without being suspected. Teen witches, however, not only appear in frame but they’re completely unable to hide their scowling, choker-wearing, sarcastic loner demeanour (and then there’s Janeane Garofalo). The trope exists to give angsty, misanthropic, poetry-writing teen girls a sense of power when they’re picked on. They’re not just burning their bras, they’re burning sacred offerings too.

If you had to pick just three witch films, which would they be? Bell, Book & final on January 17 – with the winner being sent to Dubai by Tiger Beer, to compete at the global art, design and music showcase Tiger Translate. Artists lined up for this round of Art Battles include graphic and tattoo guy Ruben Alvarez, Paddo legend Jamie Spunk, and the manga-on-acid of Aurelia. They make art happen live, and that’s always great to watch – even more so when there’s beers and DJs involved. artbattles.com.au

OH DANNY BHOY

RINSE & REPEAT

Old dogs learn new tricks at aMBUSH this week, when a lineup of Australia’s best illustrators and street and lowbrow artists offer up their twists on minor classics like Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ and Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ and seminal artists such as Miro and Caravaggio, in one massive group show. The 12-strong lineup features locals Phibs, Shannon Crees, Teazer, Cam Wall and Teem; London-via-Sydney artist Bridge Stehli; Melbourne AWOL Crew’s Adnate, Deams and Slicer; and Brisbane’s Carl Steffan, Fintan Magee and Guido van Helten. Swirl around in a gallery, pour over Absolut Vodka, rinse with Apple Thief cider, swallow. Repeat. Rinse & Repeat opens Thursday December 6 from 6pm at aMBUSH (4a James Street, Waterloo) and runs 'til December 9.

Everybody’s written a letter that they’re never going to actually send. The hatemail for the ex-girlfriend, the love letter to the co-worker, and the string of expletives addressed to the telemarketing company who still hasn’t taken you off its list after seven long years of Asking Very Nicely. It’s a cathartic process, and in the right hands, a hilarious one. Enter Danny Bhoy. The Scottish comedian is touring Oz (where he now officially has residency) with his new show Dear Epson, centred around bitter letters written to well-known companies. There’s something about the Scottish accent that makes everything it’s wrapped in a little bit funnier; couple that with witty derision attacking faceless corporations, and you’ve got an instant win. It happens at The State Theatre on Tuesday April 23; tickets are on sale now.

Are you into fighting, drinking and art? Art Battles are back. Name This Bar (197 Oxford St) is hosting the 27th instalment of their legendary series, where Sydney’s best artists are pitted against each other in a live battle-ofthe-brush (and marker pen, spray paint, and other non-alliterative mediums). The weekly tournament had its first round last Thursday but will be happening every week until the grand 24 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

Candle for its take on beatnik beelzebabes, Rosemary’s Baby for “all of them witches” and Suspiria for the stylish art nouveau hellraising.

What supernatural power would you like to possess? The ability to stop uploading photos of my pet rabbit Sandra Bernhard wearing hats to the internet.

Light As A Feather is a performance lecture; what does this mean? In Familiars I attempted to turn myself into a black cat using a spell from the Queen of the Scottish witches, circa 1662. It didn’t quite work out at Surry Hills Library or Performance Space but when I did it at Craft Victoria... let’s just say there were a lot of sequins involved. Part of the fun of doing Cinemania is that as well as getting to take our obsessions to an audience, we get to interact with scenes from films we choose to screen. For Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board there will be opportunities for us all to access some practical magic.

What: Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board When: Thursday December 20, 7-8pm

It’s a fact of life that some of the worst films show in the biggest and the most cinemas, and some of the best barely get a release.

So make some time this week to get to Dendy Newtown for a screening of this indie gem by New Zealandvia-Germany filmmaker Florian Habicht.

The director stars as himself, and takes as his launching point an encounter on a train with a girl carrying a piece of cake (model and actress Masha Yakovenko). He follows her and tries to get a date, and what happens next is part documentary, part storytelling experiment, part drama (and you won’t always be sure which is which) through the streets and spaces of New York. Critically acclaimed, it’s also funny, romantic, unexpected, and wildly interesting.

Love Story opens December 6 at Dendy Newtown and Hoyts Cinema Paris.

Thanks to Sharmill Films, we have ten in-season double passes to see it at Dendy; to get your hands on one, tell us the most extravagant thing you’ve ever done for love (and your postal address).

Where: Veolia Lecture Theatre @ Museum of Contemporary Art...

Florian and Masha

More: Cinemania runs Thursdays December 6/13/20, and features local artists Dara Gill (Dec 13), Sebastian Goldspink (Dec 20) and Todd McMillan (Dec 6), funny lady Zoe Coombs Marr (Dec 13), and triple j’s Angus Truskett (Dec 6). More info at mca.com.au/ events/cinemania

variety show; and the Melbourne power-trio Varietyville. Apparently there’s also Flaming Lips, Django Django, Best Coast and Hot Chip, so that’s a thing. Falls Marion Bay runs December 29 – January 1, tickets and full lineup at 2012.fallsfestival.com.au

PEATS ARTS

Peats Ridge dropped its annual arts bomb last week, with a holyfuck large lineup of visual, performance, sculpture and interactive arts scheduled to take over Glenworth Valley from Dec 29 – Jan 1. The big news is The Night Odditorium – a festival within a festival (within a tent, possibly), curated by The Pork Collective; we’re also impressed by the idea of the festival’s new inflatable arts/music venue, The Future Bubble; the promise of a giant trapeze; the concept of a light installation activating by noise; and Diego Bonnetto’s foraging tours. Regulars like the Deep Sea Astronauts (with the Surface Tension Quintet and their massive illuminated land-eel) and Punk Monk Propaganda (with

15MB of Fame and their own hub) also return, and (obviously) there's a poetry slam. Full lineup at peatsridgefestival.com.au

HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS

Visions sublime, surreal, minimalist and lurid will comingle this week in a group show of local artists that spans from Vivian Cooper Smith’s cut, crumpled, coloured and contorted photographic images, to the photorealist natureportraits of Craig Bender; the stick sculptures of Vicky Browne and gravity-struck balloon sculptures of former fashion-designer Todd Robinson; the large-scale gnarled totemsculptures of Michael Moran, and Charles Dennington’s lo-fi sculpture in polyurethane foam. Expect colour, expect the gentle popping sensation of your mind being toyed with, and the fizz of imagination uncapped. Heaven Or Las Vegas opens Thursday December 6 from 6pm at Galerie Pompom (2/39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale), but runs from December 4 – 22. galeriepompom.com

MARDI GRARTS

When we heard Megan Mullally was coming for next year’s Mardi Gras, we peed our pants a bit. The Parks & Rec star is bringing her comedy and musical stylings in an evening of classic Broadway tunes (no doubt interspersed with sassy commentary) on February 22 and 23 at Sydney Theatre (tix on sale December 14). Besides this, we’re excited about New York alt-cabaret fixture Justin Vivian Bond (aka the Kiki part of Kiki & Herb) doing a one-off show at Carriageworks; the 20th anniversary production of British queer theatre classic Beautiful Thing; a solo show by veteran costuming duo extraordinaire Ron Muncaster and Craig Craig, entitled Blinged out Fabulous, or How to Get Noticed in a Crowd; and Thank You For Being A Friend, in which The Golden Girls, get the Jim Henson treatment. The festival takes place February 10 – March 3; for the full program, including ‘music’, see mardigras.org.au

FALLS FESTIVAL ARTS

SUMMER ART BATTLES

LOVE STORY

Lorne tickets are all sold out (sad face, sozburgers), but you can still catch the Marion Bay instalment, which is 100% more Tasmanian, and features, besides the music: laffs by Felicity Ward, Matt Okine, Ronny Chieng and Sammy J & Randy; exercise by 10 Minute Pedal Powered Dance Parties; circus via award-winning Adelaide troupe Gravity & Other Myths; sideshow courtesy of the clairvoyant Mona Povey, Melbourne entertainer Daniel Oldaker doing his new solo show, and comedian Tim Logan and his Danger Academy

KYLE MONTGOMERY @ CHINA HEIGHTS

People who make art should not be boring; they should believe in aliens, they should believe in the Virgin Birth, and where possible, they should embrace ideas such as the Virgin Mary being a powerful entity from outer space. They should fill sculptures of her with LED galaxies, and shards of quartz. They should cut up second-hand atlases and old travel books, and spend hours, even days, making collages that reassemble the symbols of past and present, mythology and reality, local and foreign, into new constellations. They should be Kyle Montgomery – a Sydney-based prophet who opens a new show at China Heights on Friday December 7. It’s called Consciousness, it’ll blow your mind/eyeballs, and be cheaper and more feasible than time or space travel. Chinaheights.com

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BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 25

Trouble With The Curve

Clint’s Right-Hand Man Steps Up To The Plate

By Alicia Malone

T

he name Robert Lorenz may not be instantly familiar, but the many films he’s been involved with most definitely are. That’s because for the past 20 years he’s been working side by side with the great Clint Eastwood, as producer and assistant director on Eastwood’s loyal production team. And during those 20 years he’s been watching, learning, and quietly waiting for his chance to step up as director.

That opportunity finally came in the form of a baseball movie, Trouble With The Curve.

“Observing Clint was a great school,” Lorenz acknowledges. “I had intended to direct sooner but Clint kept coming up with more and more great projects, and it was hard to walk away from them. But then this script came in and it appealed to me. I thought it was a simple but unique story, manageable as a first project, and that it had great roles and characters that could attract a good cast. It just seemed like the ideal thing to start with.” And, it turns out, an ideal role for Eastwood, who liked the script so much he wanted to star in it.

Since switching from music to acting, Timberlake has accumulated an impressive variety of films, from Shrek The Third to Academy Award-winner The Social Network.

It was during the Oscar campaign for that film that he met Adams, who was doing the rounds for The Fighter. “I met Justin at different events, and thought he had such an excitement and passion for acting,” Adams says. “This is so dumb and I hate to even say it, but it’s a compliment to Justin: when you’re above someone on a call sheet, sometimes men have a hard time with that. Justin didn’t. To have that much passion, energy and talent join our film, I was so excited.”

Timberlake was so keen to get the role that he auditioned via tape. “I have no problem telling you that I taped myself to audition for this movie,” he says. “And when I first read the script I immediately called Rob and said, ‘Hey I think Clint and Amy’s characters are really fleshed out and I don’t know that Johnny is yet, and I have some ideas on how to inject humour and add colloquial things to ground the character.’ On paper, he was charming and funny but could also come across as a little crass. That was a characteristic I wanted to extract.”

For three-time Oscar-nominee Adams (with a possible fourth coming for The Master), the character of Mickey presented a unique challenge with its simplicity. “What drew me to this role was that Mickey felt really contemporary and like someone I would be friends with, someone that I have a lot in common with. A lot of times I’ve played characters that are based in the past, and though I love that, this was the first time a very contemporary character had been presented to me so I was really excited.

“I really think that women deserve to see themselves reflected in a lot of different ways on film,” the actress continues. “I haven’t seen a father-daughter relationship explored very often, and that’s surprising because almost every girl I know has some daddy issues…”

Experience Film International Film School Sydney

Apply Now for Feb 2013 26 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

Eastwood plays Gus with every ounce of gruff he can summon – but Timberlake and Adams say he is nothing like his curmudgeonly image. “Clint is actually really funny,” says Timberlake, “The thing I loved the most about him is how he is still so youthful about the work. He’s excited to be doing it. He loves it. He lives, breathes and eats it. It’s his passion. If you can continue to have that, that’s the reason to do it.”

Adams adds, “Through Clint you can see what loyalty brings you. The generosity you give out comes back at you. You can see that exchange of committed passion from the company that he works with, including Rob.” “Directing Clint was a little daunting at first,” admits Lorenz, “considering his reputation and career. But he’s also my friend. I know how much he enjoys being on a movie set.

He’s a movie star and likes being the centre of attention. I don’t think that ever grows old.

The most challenging aspect for him was being on set and having everybody come up to me. Sometimes he was sitting alone in the chair, [going] ‘Why isn’t anybody asking me?’

I think he’s going to stick with directing from here on out!”

What: Trouble With The Curve When: In cinemas from December 6 xxxx

In a variation of his Gran Torino role, Eastwood stars as baseball scout Gus, who is slowly losing his sight and his edge in his job. Gus doesn’t have a good relationship with his daughter Mickey (played by Amy Adams), but grudgingly accepts her help on his latest scouting mission, not wanting to be overtaken by young guns like Johnny (Justin Timberlake).

Trouble With The Curve features an impressive lineup of actors for a first-time director, but Lorenz freely admits that it probably didn’t have a lot to do with him. “Amy, Justin, John Goodman and the rest… they didn’t do this movie because [I’m] directing it; they did it because Clint Eastwood was starring. But I was willing to take full advantage of that. Before I cast somebody, I ran it by Clint because I wanted him to be comfortable with whomever he was acting with. For the role of Johnny, somebody at the studio mentioned Justin Timberlake, and I thought wow, why didn’t I think of that sooner.

He’s so likable, so charming, and that’s what the role called for. When I told Clint, he loved the idea right from the get-go. Clint’s a big fan of Saturday Night Live and Justin’s comedy.”

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The school is run like a working professional community with what we call a holistic approach to teaching, delivered through the Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media where students can focus on either Screenwriting, Directing and Producing OR Cinematography.

Apply Now at ifss.edu.au T: 02 9663 3789 E: info@ifss.edu.au W: www.ifss.edu.au L: 27 Rosebery Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018

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Russell Brand [COMEDY] Ride The Walrus By Tyson Wray

E

ccentricity and excess is Russell Brand’s mantra. The globally revered comedian, actor and author may be infamous for his loopy and in past-times drug-addled behaviour, but in 2012 he is on a natural high; he’s just performed at the Olympic Closing Ceremony and embarked on a world tour – including stadium-sized shows around Australia.

Florian and Masha: possibly in love, definitely in the bath

Love Story [FILM] New York: City Of Love By Benjamin Cooper

F

lorian Habicht is the first to admit his latest film is a strange beast. Love Story is the result of the New Zealand filmmaker’s relocation to New York City in 2009, following a string of critically acclaimed shorts, features and documentary films over the previous decade (including the twisted fairytale Woodenhead and the docudrama Rubbings From A Live Man). More specifically, his latest film is also a reaction to an extended period of writer's block while he was living in New York.

moment, but it’s hard to believe it’s not a performance.

“Oh mate,” the German-born Kiwi laughs down the phone from London, “it was all pretty interesting and confronting initially, when I got to New York. My creative levels were quite low after the last film [2009's Land Of The Long White Cloud], but then things just started happening, after a while. I definitely felt very free, [and] the city helped me make the film I’ve been wanting to make; it felt like once we’d started, everything just came together.”

“The responses that people give in the film are just so passionate, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with that enthusiasm,” says Habicht. “I have quite a natural drive as a filmmaker, but sometimes as an independent filmmaker that can get curbed depending on how successful you are in terms of finding an audience... and with Love Story, I gotta be honest, we were able to have a great time creatively and really push ourselves without worrying about any of the other stuff.”

Love Story segues between reality and art as it tracks Habicht’s artistic and romantic liaison with Russian actress and model Masha Yakovenko. It’s after a seemingly chance encounter on a train with a plate-of-cakebearing Yakovenko that Habicht decides to approach her, and she tells him to catch the next train to the next stop on the line, get off, and walk back towards her. “And if we see each other, I have the entire day,” she offers, playfully.

Accepting this challenge, Habicht embarks on a journey through the city; along the way, he asks the people he meets what direction the pursuit/relationship should take next (“What does it mean when a woman is carrying a plate of cake?” he asks several passersby).

All the while, the line between reality and drama is murky for the viewer; when an older gent on a daytime street corner effusively recounts his experiences with cross-dressing lovers, for example, it seems like a candid

Inspiration for the free-spirited and roaming film came from two very different sources.

“I always loved the Pippy Longstocking series that was on television when I was a young kid, mostly because I wanted to have an imaginary girlfriend who was the coolest chick ever,” says Habicht. “I’m also a huge fan of Fellini’s 8½: I really relate to Guido, and I like the fact that he eventually has his moment; he’s a bit lost creatively, and even has to pretend he knows what he’s doing, and after all his struggles he makes a masterpiece. So,” he laughs, realising the comparison he’s just made, “I guess we’ll just see what happens next!”

Luckily for Habicht, New Yorkers are only too happy to get involved in the ‘game’ he has created, suggesting an array of weird and wonderful plot twists, including death by taxi and a Crying Game-style reveal. Their enthusiastic participation, combined with the giddy variety of locations and shots around New York, have the effect of making the city itself a character in the film.

What: Love Story – Dir. Florian Habicht When: In cinemas from December 6 Where: Hoyts Cinema Paris (EQ, Moore Park), Dendy Newtown

When I speak with Brand ahead of his Australian tour, President Barack Obama has just been announced the victor of the 2012 US election. This stirs a thought, and I ask the comedian what the world would be like if he were in charge? “We put all resources back into one centralised global government body and make sure that all resources reach the people that need them most,” he notes carefully. “We use the existing global technology to ensure that everyone has access to the Internet and television.

We implement an electronic democracy where everyone can vote on relevant issues to their principality. The use of fossil fuels becomes immediately banned. The continuing harvest of rainforests is immediately banned. Vegetarianism becomes immediately mandatory. The working week is redefined as no more than 20 hours; and all religion, national creed and money is banned.”

Scrolling through Brand’s seemingly endless Facebook fans – and comments that range from the loving to the inane and the downright disturbing – I ask the comedian how he perceives his followers. “I’m never really creeped out over that sort of stuff. I try to see it as always being done with good intentions,” he remarks, with humility. “There’s never been anything that has made me too worried. If someone knows a lot of details about your life then it’s quite flattering really. The whole phenomenon of being well known is peculiar. My mind isn’t charged by negativity, however.”

Returning to Australia for his first-ever national tour, Brand says he feels a great sense of adoration for our country. “One of the reasons I’m coming to

Australia is [to do] sexual missionary work,” he laughs playfully. “I find it to be a very exciting, positive and optimistic place to be. I think it’s got all of the best aspects of English and American culture; it’s got the ‘Yeah, you can do what you like’ aspect of America, and the comedic sensitivity of English culture. It’s a fantastic country. Everyone seems to be very good looking, the food seems to taste good, people are healthy. So much of it is uninhabited and unexplored. I’m really looking forward to getting out and visiting some of the nature and Indigenous culture.”

Entitled I Am A Walrus, Brand’s latest show is something even he has trouble describing.

“It’s about the build up of when I performed at the Olympics,” he says. “It’s condensed into a couple of weeks before I performed and a couple of minutes before I performed and all of the things that went on. This entails celebrity death rumours, the nature of sexuality, [and the question] ‘was the Olympics a secret satanic ritual run by an Illuminati sect?’.

There’s stories of my trousers being torn, wanting to shout out crazy stuff to the Queen, meeting the Dalai Lama… It’s a very broad and all-encompassing show.”

As our time comes to an end, we remark on the peculiarity that in all likelihood our paths will never cross again.

Suddenly, Brand quizzes me on how I’d like to leave this world. As the interviewer and not the interviewee, I stumble, and turn the question around.

If Brand could write his own eulogy, what would he say?

“This funeral is fake.

Russell is fine,” he laughs.

“In fact, look over in the trees – that’s him now.

Oh Russell, put some clothes on for God’s sake.”

What: Russell Brand (live) – I Am A Walrus When: Saturday December 8 Where: Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour Tickets: ticketmaster.com.au

Mariage Blanc [THEATRE] Weird Day For A White Wedding By Alasdair Duncan t’s difficult to sum up the essence of Mariage Blanc, a strange and surreal work of theatre, telling the story of two very different sisters and their sexual awakening. It questions conventional wisdom of the world and the moral codes by which we live – asking what it means to be a woman, or for that matter, to be a man – and has the tone and feeling of a dream wrapped in a fairytale.

I

It is the work of legendary Polish playwright Tadeusz Rózewicz, who originally put it on in 1975. When she read it in translation last year, director Sarah Giles was immediately drawn in by Bianca and Pauline, the two mysterious sisters at the play’s heart. “I found it really interesting, this idea of two young girls who’ve grown up together and are going down very different paths,” she says. “You see a lot of tortured young men on stage, but you don’t see a lot of tortured young women, and the journey these two take through a sexually-repressed world is really fascinating.”

xxx photo by xxx

The version of the play that Giles is putting on with Sydney Theatre Company is a brand new translation, by her colleague and old friend, Melissa Bubnic. “The original translation of the play was knee-deep in stage directions,” says the director. “Reading it, you got the sense that it drew on a very specific production. I thought it would be really useful to get a writer in to blow the dust off that translation, to make it a bit more

concise. I went to Melissa and essentially said ‘Here’s this bonkers ‘70s Polish play, let me know what you think’, and she was able to bring her own unique comic voice to it.”

Giles is quick to stress that while there are a good many comic elements in Mariage Blanc, it’s not a conventional comedy. “There’s a lot of crossover between Melissa’s sense of humour and mine,” she says, “and we spend a lot of time laughing together – but this play isn’t just a straight farce.

It’s far more surreal and intriguing and enchanting than that.”

The sisters at the heart of the story share a seemingly unbreakable bond, until Bianca’s betrothal and imminent marriage throws her and Pauline’s world into confusion. “In their world, everyone is sexually repressed,” Giles says.

“Everyone is confused, and they’re all held back by their bodies, to an extent. Bianca and Pauline are an interesting pair,” she continues, “because they have completely different ideas about what being a woman is, about what sex is, and about what bodies are for. That plays out in their scenes together [and] their different takes on the things they’re discovering together. There’s a discussion going on there about the dichotomy between virgin and whore; there’s this idea that you have to be in one world or the other, and as the sisters grow up and learn about the world, they’re faced with that.”

Katie McDonald and Paige Gardiner star as twisted sisters in Mariage Blanc Mariage Blanc is a daring play to stage, but Giles is excited about presenting a truly unique piece of theatre. “People won’t have seen anything like it,” she says. “While it was written in the 1970s and is set in the 1890s, it’s a really useful prism to interrogate our ideas about gender and body and sexuality today. There are certain things in society that are absolutely taboo, and Mariage Blanc explores a lot of them. I mean, we’re really funny about sex,” she continues. “We assume that you’re only a sexual being between the ages of 16 and 60, and as soon as you come out of that, you don’t have any desire anymore; but here you have the grandfather,

this moving and sad character who still feels all kinds of desire. From his granddaughters’ perspective, he’s this wrinkly old guy on the brink of death, but on the inside, he still feels like he’s 14. I think it’s really interesting. We’re still asking the same kinds of questions about sex and the body that we were back then.”

What: Mariage Blanc by Tadeusz Rózewicz, transl. by Melissa Bubnic; Dir. Sarah Giles When: Until Sunday December 16 Where: Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company More: sydneytheatre.com.au

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 27

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.

■ Film

Hollywood Ending - Briallen Clarke, Blake Erickson and Terry Serio

In cinemas from December 6

what destroys what

PICS :: TL

Welcome to the end of the ride. Please alight from The Man With The Iron Fists and walk away quickly. DO NOT LOOK BACK. Unless you want to be sucked into a postmodern vortex and never seen again.

21:11:12 :: Firstdraft Gallery :: 116-118 Chalmers St Surry Hills

This is not a bad film. The visuals are great, the fight scenes well-choreographed, and the caricatures outrageous. But do we really need another homage of an homage?

Another po-mo pastiche that references references? Another trope-fest?

No, we don’t.

I’m sorry, writer/director RZA and producer Eli Roth, but you’re both talented enough to come up with something a little...newer.

The B-grade Chinese martial arts schtick has been done. I know 1970s kung-fu films are awesome. I don’t need to keep watching clever people re-make them.

the laugh stand

PICS :: TL

There isn’t one original thought, image, line, idea or insight here. It’s a cinematic version of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), set in an 18th century Chinese village, with a corrupt warlord (Byron Mann), a scheming brothel madam (Lucy Liu), a son avenging his father’s death (Rick Yune) and an innocent blacksmith who makes awesome weapons (the RZA himself). The seminal 1993 album informs just about every detail: the main antagonist fights “tiger style”, the hero learns to hit the 36 deadly pressure points, the soundtrack is full of ODB, Raekwon and Method Man, and the production design has the same vivid, cartoonish quality as the video clip for ‘Gravel Pit’.

22:11:12 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 244-248 William St Kings Cross

Yes, 36 Chambers is a perfect album – but it’s already an homage. To the 1978 film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Torrent it.

And who else has done homages to martial arts films? Oh yeah, Tarantino. But Kill Bill wasn’t just straight homage: sure, it traded in references, but underneath there was something that felt like it mattered now. And this is where The Man With The Iron Fists fails. There’s no X Factor. No plot surprises.

The characters fulfil their expected destinies exactly as predicted. And in those ways, it’s as bad as Avatar. If there were a few more gags, it might have gotten away with being a good ol’ time, but there aren’t. This has definitely not been played for laughs.

kings cross affair

PICS :: TL

No review of this film would be complete without mentioning that Russell Crowe plays a bizarre British nobleman who spends most of his time having orgies. I can’t work out if it’s awesome or terrible.

Maybe see it just for that.

22:11:12 :: Alaska Projects :: L2 9A Elizabeth Bay Rd Kings Cross

What's in our diary...

FIELD TRIP 2012 Friday December 7 from 9am-6pm / York Theatre, Seymour Centre If you like watching interesting people do interesting things, set this Friday aside for the inaugural Sydney instalment of Field Trip: a creative conference where you get to watch some of our most talented creative types not only talk the talk but walk the walk – while you watch and learn and just generally gasp in amazement/envy.

Australian Infront and The Jacky Winter Group talent agency have teamed up to create this event, which features the following champs doing 45-minute presentations followed by Q&As: typographic artist Gemma O’Brien, papersmith Benja Harney, crafty design duo Maricor/Maricar (pictured), CGI and 3D-illustration gurus Forge & Morrow, retro-tastic illustrator Nigel Buchanan, technical illustrator Anthony Calvert, and boutique animation and motion graphics house Flutter. Tickets come in the $75 (student), $99 (general) and $150 (VIP) varieties, with group discounts. thefieldtrip.com.au 28 :: BRAG :: 491:: 03:12:12

We’re invited to consider the difference (and perhaps the moral grey areas) between the freedom to produce silly porn movies (a slew of punny titles ensues, like ‘In Diana Jones’ and ‘Saturday Night Beaver’), whether they be innocuous or abominable, and the freedom to produce perhaps equally silly but violence- and sex-laced films of the Laurence of Arabia-meets-Bad Lieutenant ilk, which range from insensitive to perhaps hateful, and perhaps even inciting towards violence.

All this is neatly tucked in what is a theatrically simple but comically clever production, with Tim Roseman’s direction keeping the pace quick and the stakes high for Don, who is torn between his daughter’s (Caroline Craig) more ‘civilised’ concern about the film’s intentions, and the manipulations of the media-for-Jesus producer (Briallen Clarke), who tantalises him with the prospect of a ‘real film’, something he’ll be “remembered for”.

Justin Wolfers ■ Theatre

BEAUTIFUL ONE DAY Until December 23 / Belvoir St Seriously worthy without being well-executed – it’s the quickest summation of this ambitious collaboration between verbatim theatre purveyors version 1.0 (The Tender Age; The Table Of Knowledge), Belvoir and Rachael Maza’s Ilbijerri theatre company.

What happens when a washed-up porn director is offered a chance – and a budget – to make a ‘real film’? This is the starting point of CJ Johnson’s Hollywood Ending, which was written and rehearsed in a speedy eight weeks as part of Griffin Theatre Company’s Rapid Write program, in response to the controversial viral video Innocence of Muslims, which sparked violent protests worldwide this September.

Purporting to tackle the media coverage of the death in custody of Palm Island resident Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004, this production seems to have expanded as it progressed, to take in a potted history of the island and its colourful personalities. The narrative framework that contains all this is the story of the project itself: we see Rachael and Paul (Dwyer – version 1.0) arrive on Palm Island for the first reconnaissance trip, and are witness to their first impressions of the Island and to Rachael’s unearthing of her own family roots (bearing in mind that as the daughter of pioneering Aboriginal activist Bob Maza, she’s a bit like royalty in parts of Australia). Later, we see subsequent trips and conversations between Rachael, Paul and Jane Phegan (version 1.0) and the Palm Island members of the project: the younger Kylie Doomadgee (niece of the deceased, and a charismatic stage presence) and Harry Ruben, and the older Magdalena Blackley – conversations about the death of Mulrunji, about the prevalent issues on the island, and about friends and family past and present.

Taking as its premise the fact that the video was indeed directed by a former soft-core porn director – who turned out subsequently to have had little-to-no idea of the subtext of his film – Johnson’s clever script imagines how the scenario unfolded, reimagining this director in the larger-than-life character of Don (played here by Terry Serio). The play is fast-paced and ridiculous, and because of its jovial tone is able to ask poignant questions without seeming contrived. The scenes are snappy and punchline-driven, aided by the camped-up demeanours of Don’s two colleagues, the bigoted screenwriter Randy (Blake Erikson) – think Buster from Arrested Development, only more gun-hungry – and Jerry (Tony Llewellyn Jones), who is so

The play segues between these contemporary episodes and re-enacting as ‘documentary theatre’ the community reactions to Mulrunji’s death, the police perspective during the riots that immediately followed, and the court case against the Constable accused of bludgeoning the young Aboriginal man to death in his cell. Throughout the production, there’s a threadingthrough of video footage (talking heads and documentary from the time) and photographic stills, which keeps the real people who are the subject of this play at the front and centre of the audience’s minds. Some of the best parts are the interviews with older Island residents,

Nikos Andronicos ■ Theatre

HOLLYWOOD ENDING Until December 15 / SBW Stables

Arts Exposed

upbeat and dandy that he makes a life spent in the porn industry seem somehow endearing. But past this, the play focuses on Don’s compromised artistic vision, with a cursory exploration of censorship and vilification issues.

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Hollywood Ending photo byPatrick Boland Xxx

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

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

in which they recount tough times with humour, insight and wisdom.

reservoirs of vulnerability) might as well be milked for all it's worth.

As a whole, however, the production feels like a patchwork of disparate episodes, times and moods, stretched far too thin over two-and-a-half hours. Much of it is confusing (the family tree on the wall, for instance, which accompanies a too-rapid whip through Palm Island history), and too much of it is unintelligible, due to rushed or muffed lines delivered by both the seasoned performers and the non-actors, from a script that was being (deliberately) re-written constantly during rehearsals and right up ‘til opening night. The resulting verbal gaffes disrupt the flow of concentration from a production that demands close attention.

The particulars of the film’s premise couldn’t be more interchangeable – Eastwood plays Gus, a baseball scout on the verge of retirement (“the interweb”, Eastwood complains), who unites with his estranged, workaholic daughter (Amy Adams) for one last recruitment trip, where old wounds are reopened and amends are made. Justin Timberlake also appears, as a scout for a rival team and a romantic interest for Adams (leading to cinema’s zillionth iteration of the night-swim-by-moonlight scene).

What does emerge, however, is a sense of how we outsiders and strangers to Palm Island might communicate with its residents about issues past and present, outside of the media – and the production made me want nothing so much as to visit this beautiful, if troubled, paradise.

Dee Jefferson ■ Film

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE In Cinemas December 6 Trouble with the Curve introduces Clint Eastwood as he struggles to pee in his bathroom, muttering old-timey cuss words to himself under his breath, accompanied by forlorn guitar twangs on the soundtrack.

The message couldn’t be clearer: it’s 2012, and the iconic actor/director – recently seen arguing with an invisible Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention – won’t be around much longer, so the twilight-years Eastwood persona (senile, ailing-health, grizzled, with

Trouble with the Curve is proudly mediocre filmmaking, all the way to its climactic explication of the title’s baseball metaphor.

But it’s at least a quintessential star vehicle for Eastwood, who redeems the film’s mawkishness and corny humour.

The director is Robert Lorenz, who has served as producer and assistant director for Eastwood’s directorial efforts over the last ten years, and who obviously knows his star’s strengths and limitations.

Very few contemporary signifiers are present (a Kardashians reference aside), which suggests an earlier script draft written up to 20 years ago; it’s the kind of film where a fat kid, upon being teased on the field, silences his opposing-team bullies with a ‘your mom’ joke. This might explain the bizarre absence of antagonistic frisson between Eastwood and the weedy-voiced, unmistakably contemporary Timberlake.

The latter has appealing chemistry with the always-radiant Adams, in a romantic subplot that feels tacked on in the name of ‘something for everyone’ criteria-fulfilment, but this should’ve been the Clint vs. JT show. In that regard, this amiable but disposable film manages to be a missed opportunity.

Ian Barr

Y

Sheridan Harbridge photo by Dario Gardiman

How did you discover Marie D, and what drew you to her story? I discovered her when a drama teacher told me about a courtesan who purportedly wore a white camellia for 25 days of the month, and a red camellia for the other 5 days. I was horrified at the idea of this ‘shops open/ shops closed’ blatancy. I never forgot the idea, and started picking around to find the woman.

Is there a little Marie D in you?

I wrote this Marie to be all the parts of me that I can barely contain, the screamer and the

BLACKBYRD

NRG

RELIGION

SHERIDAN HARBRIDGE

ou haven’t partied 'til you’ve partied like Marie Duplessis – the richest and most infamous courtesan in mid19th-century Paris, and the kind of woman who, even on her deathbed, rallies herself to pop a bottle of champagne. You can see how it’s done this week at Old Fitz, where Sheridan is incarnating the 23-year-old party-starter in Songs For The Fallen (which she also wrote). Sheridan’s another earlybloomer: she started writing and creating theatre at 14, graduating to a musical theatre degree and then acting at NIDA.

MAGALI PASCAL

HOUSE OF THE GODS NAKED APE

Street Level WITH

AZTEC ROSE

shouter, the girl who laughs too loud, the girl who wakes up sad, the girl who occasionally wants to run into oncoming traffic, the girl who wants to eat men for breakfast.

How would you describe Songs For The Fallen? The show is a mad, fun romp with a touch of sexy, a touch of absurd, and loads of electro-mad music.

You have a pretty kickarse team working on this one – are they people you've worked with before? I worked with Basil [Hogios – sound/music] on Andy X, an online film about Andy Warhol directed by Jim Sharman (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), and we’ve been collaborating ever since. Ben Gerrard and Garth Holcombe were in my year at NIDA, so I’ve seen everything and anything they can do, and have written the show to completely and utterly exploit all their awesome silliness; to put on stage what they never get to do anywhere else.

When you’re not on stage, what do you do? When I’m not on stage, I drink too much coffee and take my dog Tabasco to Redfern Park to listen to all the crazies and nutters who play there.

OSCAR THE THIRD

LOLITTA

THURSDAY 13th Dec - 10 am - 7 pm FRIDAY 14th Dec - 9:30 am - 5:30 pm SATURDAY 15th Dec - 9:30 am - 5:30 pm SUNDAY 16th Dec - 10 am - 4 pm

What: Songs For The Fallen When: Until December 15 Where: The Old Fitzroy Theatre / Cnr Cathedral and Dowling Sts, Woolloomooloo More: rocksurfers.org Sheridan-as-Marie

3/904 BOURKE ST, WATERLOO, NSW, 2017 www.krites.com/warehouse PH: 02 8339 8777 PARKING AVAILABLE ON SITE BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 29

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK an eight track… in a single take… inside Bird’s barn in western Illinois) made rawer still on Hands: two tracks recorded in a church; six tracks recorded in Bird’s barn – around a single microphone this time.

Given Andrew Bird’s track record as an innovative violinist and fiddle player, insightful lyricist, engaging live performer and looping fanatic, it’s convenient to describe the whistling Chicagoan as possessing a bow of many strings. Hands Of Glory confirms this description as accurate, with the lanky alt-heartthrob demonstrating yet again that musical versatility and consistent quality needn’t be mutually exclusive.

On Hands, Bird executes a move known in country music as ‘doing an Emmylou [Harris]’: most songs are oddly familiar because you’ve heard them before, albeit in very different guises. Bird treats the standout track, Townes Van Zandt’s ‘If I Needed You’, with the tenderness and subtly it deserves. Light vocals and instrumentation bring into palatable Americana pop light the sinister bluesy grunt of Handsome Family’s ‘When That Helicopter Comes’; upbeat ‘Spirograph’ is different entirely from the grungy original recorded by Minneapolis rockers Alpha Consumer; and, for balance, ‘Orpheo’ is a slower, sparser, more reflective take on ‘Orpheus Looks Back’ – a track penned

by Bird that we last heard on Break It Yourself.

Hands Of Glory Spunk

While likely to be loved most by the whiskey and swing-dancing set, Hands Of Glory also holds broader appeal.

Hands Of Glory’s eight tracks are cheekily billed as a “full-length companion piece” to Bird’s 14-track, proper full-length album released earlier this year, Break It Yourself. Semantic qualms aside, Hands is a satisfactory postscript, with the stripped-back, DIY aesthetic that permeated Break (on which all songs were recorded onto

THE WEEKND

SOUNDGARDEN

Trilogy Republic Records

If you’ve been anywhere near the internet in the last year or so, chances are you’ve heard at least one track from The Weeknd – aka Toronto dude Abel Tesfaye. Tesfaye managed to release three albums worth of mixtapes in a single year that got everyone from Pitchfork to Tumblr seriously frothing. Trilogy, a well-presented collation of all three (which comes just in time for Christmas), is a pretty intense trip – but is the music worth the hype?

The short answer is yes, if you’re willing to immerse yourself in the hazy world of sex, drugs and regret that the down tempo songs invoke.

Part one is a remastering of the sensational House Of Balloons, which plays out like the hedonism and promise of the beginning of a party, with opening track ‘High For This’ pretty much summing it all up. It’s difficult to single out notable tracks from this, The Weeknd’s first mixtape, as they all ebb and pulse into each other with barely a filler to be found.

Thursday is part two, and descends into the dark frustration of the fun when it turns a corner into co-dependency; the biting ‘Life Of The Party’ is a throbbing tumble of echoing riffs and wailing falsetto that begs a post-midnight spin.

Echoes Of Silence brings things to a close, and it’s as close to respite as you’re going to get – sort of like the morning after, when you feel like shit but have to carry on with work, life and the rest.

Trilogy is ambitious, but not without cause. It is sweeping and intoxicating, and by the end you feel as though you’ve just had one of the craziest nights of your life.

Natalie Amat

There have been many recent reformations of bands who came from that era when undercuts and flannel shirts ruled the earth – but unlike RATM or Faith No More, Soundgarden wasted no time in returning to the studio as well as to the stage.

When Soundgarden split they left a solid catalogue, never sliding into the mediocrity that often plagues rock bands after the raw energy, urgency and angst has been exorcised. King Animal, their first new album in 16 years, is a mix of trademark downtuned, fuzzed-out riffs, experimental Eastern-style stirrings, drifting dynamics and unapologetic pop hooks, which somehow continues the band’s evolution without missing a step.

Produced by Grammy-winning Adam Kasper (Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Pearl Jam), King Animal is a showcase of choppy time changes, conflicting arrangements, and contrasting stylistic approaches that somehow join into a working, churning flow. Tracks like ‘A Thousand Days Before’ and ‘By Crooked Steps’ bring Soundgarden’s quirky, off-kilter creativity and sheer musicianship to the fore, while catchy openers ‘Been Away Too Long’ and ‘Non-State Actor’ will keep the radio waves humming. Ultimately, though, it's on chunky neck-roller ‘Blood On The Valley Floor’ and later tracks like ‘Worse Dreams’ and ‘Eyelid’s Mouth’ that Soundgarden’s full depth is realised.

Slower songs such as ‘Bones Of Birds’, ‘Black Saturday’ and ‘Halfway There’ dip into Cornell’s sometimes over-indulgent solo territory, and consequently King Animal is too soft in parts. Largely though, the layered guitars and rhythms are warm, dense and dirty.

King Animal feels fresh yet strangely familiar, and represents a fitting progression of Soundgarden’s catalogue. Long live the King!

James Ridley

Andrew Yorke

CLINIC

King Animal Universal

Despite knocking around for over 15 years, post-punk outfit Clinic have managed to maintain a low profile relative to many of their peers from their Liverpool hometown. The closest they came to mainstream notoriety was when their song ‘The Second Line’ was picked to flog Levi’s jeans in 2000 – a sure-fire way to a hit (just ask Shaggy or Mr Oizo and that yellow puppet).

After trying for wider appeal with a more melodic sound on the knowingly-titled 2010 LP Bubblegum, Clinic have revisited the disconcerting psychedelia of previous albums, albeit with a more open mind and more ambitious soundscapes.

The unsettling organ of slow-building opener ‘Misty’ doesn’t so much excite as intrigue, before giving way to the excellent ‘Seesaw’, a more direct slice of menace. The odd combination of clarinet and garage rock guitar sits surprisingly well under vocalist Ade Blackburn’s spitting, snarling refrain of “I see you”.

Yet despite the project’s experimentalist ideals, things start to suffer from familiarity soon after.

The clarinet reappears (not for the only time) on ‘Cosmic Radiation’, a haunting acid-jazz jam session – and although clocking in at just 2’55”, the song meanders along aimlessly. And while the woozy lilt of ballad ‘For The Season’ is a welcome break from the monochromatic rhythms elsewhere, it just makes you want to search out something superior by Spiritualized.

At its most successful, Free Reign is as hypnotic as looking deep into the vortex of disconnected triangles on its cover art. The highlights grab you and demand a trance-like attention, but there are too many occasions when the listener can too simply tune out.

Dave Wild

Songs Of The Third And Fifth Feel Presents/Fuse The Mark Of Cain have been missing (presumed moody) since their 2001 release, This Is This.

Over ten years later, they’ve crawled out of their foxhole with their fifth LP in tow.

The Adelaide band’s charm springs from their ability to make emotional introspection sound legitimate, while still managing to come off as tough as a pair of King Gees. On Songs Of The Third And Fifth, the result is the grim, seething 30 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

wall of groove and grunt we’ve come to expect, but their sound has matured in the intervening years. After some trouble filling the drum stool, the permanent inclusion of John Stanier (from mathjam supermen Battles, among other luminaries) has added a metronomic backbone to the harsh rolling groove that the Scott brothers bleed out up front.

As with much of the band’s back catalogue, the military theme is in full flight here: a nerve-wracked soldier’s narrative is spun in first person over downcast riffs. The low-slung vocals tell the story of the disillusioned man making the journey back from a wearying war. It’s The Mark Of Cain as you remember them – perhaps with

Unapologetic Def Jam Records

Strapped Pod/Inertia

The United States may be in the throes of winter, but their record engines still manage to pump out heatwave-honouring tunes to placate our side of the globe. One such release is Strapped, the latest from The Soft Pack – suited for any listeners out there pining for open-up-the-sunroof surf rock elements that allay bassengined, gravel-humming electropica.

The album opens with a track that could also be the name of a peninsula on The Pacific: ‘Saratoga’. It bursts open with plenty of vibe on the dials – swelling reverb, crunchy electric guitar lines, and long delay suspending the vocal phrases. This track sets a benchmark for the record in a lot of ways, steeped in The Soft Pack's thematic use of step-wise hooks and lyrical mantras: we got screwed over, and we’re moanin’ about it.

The band land on solid turf with lead single ‘Bobby Brown’, a track at once aloof and astute (a la Julian Casablanca). It features wahs-up guitar lines, synth call-and-responses, and harmonics that bolster a constant four-chord cycle. ‘Everything I Know’ also studs the record as a stand-out chamber-rock track, juiced from the likes of INXS and The Church.

Unapologetic is Rihanna’s seventh collection of songs in as many years – calling it an album feels like a stretch: that word implies some kind of unifying sound or theme, and it never comes close to that level of consistency. The style shifts constantly and awkwardly, with grimy dubstep tracks next to weepy piano ballads and David Guetta-ified synth bangers.

The whole thing sounds pretty throwntogether, and seems to exist for no other reason than Rihanna always releases an album this time of year.

Yet the news isn’t all bad – Unapologetic contains at least two tracks that sit among Rihanna’s finest. The first of these is the single ‘Diamonds’. A sensual, piano-led slow jam, its lyrics suggest feeling the lurve while in a chemically-altered state, and it features one of Rihanna’s more full-throated vocal performances so far.

The second, and probably the best, is ‘No Love Allowed’. On an album where the beats jostle for attention and the production often overwhelms the singing, this reggae-inspired track strips things right back. In the right setting, Rihanna’s deadpan vocal delivery can take on sinister, murderous overtones, and ‘No Love Allowed’ hits just the same sweet spot as Loud’s ‘Man Down’.

But on mid-section tracks like ‘Tallboy’ and ‘Chinatown’, lead vocalist Matt Lamkin flatlines with a distinct lack of contrast between the margin of verseto-chorus in his phrasing. On a record that hinges on repetitive movements in its rhythm section and clamant chord changes, he lacks the kind of vocal scope that helps lift the tracks at crucial points. Thankfully, the album retains interest instrumentally, with the pitchbended horn section providing a warm frontal resonance against the backdrop of jangle-and-jive.

For the most part, however, Unapologetic seems a little rote. ‘Right Now’ is the token Guetta floor-filler, although it lacks the urgency and excitement of Rihanna singles past.

‘Numb’ features a pretty listless guest verse from Eminem, while ‘Stay’, a Justin Parker-penned ballad, suggests that he’s saving his best material for Lana Del Rey. The much talked-about Chris Brown collaboration ‘Nobody’s Business’ is so slight it wouldn’t rate a mention were it not for his presence.

Strapped is a tepid – yet at times adventurous – summer-salving effort from The Soft Pack.

Rihanna may be unapologetic, but on this album she’s also uneven and uninspired.

Elle Kennard

Alasdair Duncan

some of the sharper edges ground back, but they’re a heavy implement all the same.

In some ways, The Mark Of Cain are living the album’s story; they’re arriving back to a world they barely remember.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is that Australian rock punters can still smell a rat a mile away – and The Mark Of Cain always have been, and will continue to be, the real deal.

It’s Joy Division meets Godflesh at Steve Albini’s house. A kickarse comeback from a band that thoroughly deserves one.

Rob Wilson

RIHANNA

THE SOFT PACK

Free Reign Domino

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE MARK OF CAIN

Xxxx photo by xxx

ANDREW BIRD

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

WYE OAK - Civilian NICKI MINAJ - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Re-Up KYU - 2

STACKRIDGE - Mr. Mick TAME IMPALA - Lonerism

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 31

Remedy

More Than The Cure Since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

Mogwai

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

ND MUSIC GREAT FOOD A

Calling ts all artisand e iv L r fo Locals!

Contact: es. ott n eve ts@liz com.au

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With 2014 being Remedy’s 25th anniversary (which probably makes it one of the longest running music columns in the country, if not the known world), we had plenty of celebrations planned – fireworks, unveilings, commemorative plates... – but highest on the list was limited-edition T-shirts, most likely with the slogan ‘I read Remedy and I vote’.

But apparently The Black Crowes have beaten us to it, with their own 'Remedy' shirt. Damn cool it is, too.

STONES SHOW

14

STLE A C W E N ’S E T T O LIZ Entertainment Restaurant in Australia”

“Awarded Best

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DEC DEC DEC Diesel 14 15 16

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

BAD SEEDS

a wait since their the last effort, what with Grinderman, soundtrack work and Dirty Three, we fear that Mr Cave is in danger of losing his mystic pull simply due to over-exposure. There are few more powerful live acts on the planet than The Bad Seeds, but their public profile should be more mysterious to match that. You know, like Led Zeppelin were at their peak.

Just sayin’.

A TANGENT

Parramatta Leagues Club was one of the great beer barns of the ‘80s, and hosted that night (when The Scientists caused a near-riot, after offending the faithful while opening for The Angels); so it was kinda surprising that when the Fabulous Thunderbirds played there, Stevie Ray Vaughan (of seminal blues revival act Double Trouble) stood coolly and totally unnoticed in the crowd, watching big brother Jimmy rip it up. We told you that story so we could tell you this one: Double Trouble’s Texas Flood is getting the deluxe double-disc touch up in January. While it didn’t have the mass impact of Couldn’t Stand The Weather, it sure got the ball rolling.

ANNANDALE ROCKS

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

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Chuck D

Chuck N

Tweet of the week goes to Public Enemy’s Chuck D (@MrChuckD): Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night always doPE. I Met him once cats always a superstar...

ON THE TURNTABLE

DEC ental As Anythin 08 M DEC ragon 09 D

When we heard that Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor were to join The Stones at their 50th anniversary shows in London, man were we excited: the real Stones would be back, with Bill loping basslines and Taylor’s guitar sting (which was always far more important and central to their sound than anything Ronnie Wood has subsequently done, love him though we do). Having Jeff Beck at the first show kinda diminished that vibe a tad, but roping in Mary J Blige killed it. The intro to the show was apparently pretty cool though, with a video salute to the Stones by the likes of Angus Young and Iggy Pop.

The Bad Seeds have a new album out in February, called Push The Sky Away, which is great news – but while it’s been

DEC

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

WWW. LIZOT TES.COM.AU 32 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

REMEDY T

Mogwai are doing the soundtrack to a French television series about zombies, called Les Revenants. But rather than a series of harrowing ‘Like Herod’-type affairs, the sounds are said to be quite soothing. A taster will be available in January via a 10-inch vinyl format, with the full thing out the following month.

07

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

He was always a walking talkshow, and now he has his own: we speaketh of Diamond David Lee Roth, who has just posted episode five of the The Roth Show on YouTube.

MOGWAI ZOMBIES

Cannan 06 Israel ing DEC Mental As Anyth DEC

DEC DEC Ian Moss 15 16

MR SHOW

On the Remedy turntable is Bruce Hornsby’s stunning live set, Bride Of The Noisemakers. With his background as a pianoman-driven Springsteenwannabe in the ‘80s, Hornsby drew plenty of whatthefuck looks when he joined The Grateful Dead in the early ‘90s. But he had the last laugh, with The Dead turning in some of their most majestic performances in an otherwise middling period during his service. This live set is a long way from his big ‘80s hit ‘The Way It Is’ in some ways. It’s sparkling, largely piano-led stuff that contains big ballads, soaring improvisation, jazz, and such wildly opposing covers as John Fogerty’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’. And it all works a treat. Also spinning is the New Bomb Turks’ Scared Straight, with its killer guitar sound and a wonderful roaring, rolling swing feel.

You even forget that their lead singer is a school teacher.

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

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 33

snap sn ap

bleeding knees club

23:11:12 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9331 3100

PICS :: PX

kora

sosueme.@beach road It’s called: SOSUEME. launch Beach Road Wednesdays It sounds like: A 99% genre-free festival of fun, all under one roof, on a school night…with no parents – whoo!

Who’s playing? The Beards (live), Alison Wonderland, The Griswolds (live), Joyride (DJ set), Devola and more.

Sell it to us: Two power-houses of the Australian music scene finally come together to create a monumentally epic mid-week party option for Sydney. As the famous song by 1927 goes, “If I could do anything at all, I’d take you to Sosueme”. Poignant, works on so many levels. Huge weekly live and DJ lineups, SO-SLURP-ME cocktails, popcorn, fairy floss…oh and IT'S FREE! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: “Okay, well, last night was the best night of my life; I’m going to have to wait exactly seven days to experience something like that again.”

Crowd specs: Genetically, audibly and socially blessed party professionals.

Wallet damage: FREE Where: Beach Road Hotel / 71 Beach Rd, Bondi When: Wednesday December 5 (get in early, this shit gowna be cray!)

PICS :: AM

party profile

23:11:12 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

rick astley

PICS :: PX

up all night out all week . . .

green thief

PICS :: PX

25:11:12 :: The Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

the pierces

PICS :: AM

24:11:12 :: Spectrum:: 34-44 Oxford St Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 3100

:: MARYJANE CASWELL :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MAS PEACHY :: GEORGE THO :: ER LIST MCA :: AMANDA KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR POPOV :: PEDRO XAVIER ::

34 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

missy higgins

PICS :: AM

20:11:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711

22:11:12 :: The State Theatre :: 49 Market St Sydney 9373 6655

R A E Y W E N E H RO C K I N T AT

R O T A T I G R REGU as

monday 31 D

W IT H

EC

it h er s & se a b m s j d Lt U C P O + P h e bl ackl ist t & a t s o c a d + M a rk

FREE entry

In the meantime check out

THIS WEEK’S LINEUP! Wednesday 5 DECEMBER

SATURDAY 8 DECEMBER

GANG OF BROTHERS

KINGSWELL + DJ URBY

THURSDAY 6 DECEMBER

SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER

THE DREY ROLLAN BAND + COOP DE VILLE + DJ SINEAD

BLUES FROM 3:30PM

FRIDAY 7 DECEMBER

OUTLIER + CONRAD GREENLEAF

NO cover charge

OLIVER THORPE EVENINGS FROM 9.30PM

SUITE AZ + SPECIAL GUEST CHEYENNE CAVANA + DJ KITSCH78

WED-SUN 5pm til late

LEVEL 1 - THE STAR, 80 PYRMONT ST, SYDNEY - 1800 700 700 facebook.com/rocklily.live - STAR.COM.AU The Star Pty Limited ABN 25 060 510 410. Think! About your choices.

Call Gambling Help 1800 858 858 www.gamblinghelp.nsw.gov.au.

The Star practises the responsible service of alcohol. Guests must be aged 18 years or over to enter the Casino.

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 35

snap sn ap + live live up all night out all week . . .

THE LIVING END, AREA-7 The Hi-Fi Tuesday November 27 How things change, how things stay the same. Area-7 and The Living End were touring buddies through the late ’90s, so it’s fitting that the ska rockers open up this final Sydney night on their mates’ Retrospective Tour. Perhaps the one difference is that horn sections have gone out of fashion, but to these sharply-dressed Melburnian party-starters, that doesn’t matter for a moment – nor does the irony of everyone in the room putting on their broadest Aussie accents to sing ‘Nobody Likes A Bogan’.

A touching video feature precedes The Living End’s set, covering the worldchanging events of 1997: the death of Princess Di; the Thredbo landslide; Oasis’ Be Here Now. And then there was the release of ‘Second Solution’/‘Prisoner of Society’, the double A-side that changed Australian music. After that, in 1998, came The Living End, an unforgettable debut album – and the feature of tonight’s show.

indie shuffle

Because The Living End evokes a new message now: the undertones of the burgeoning yet hurried maturity around which Cheney, Scott Owen and Travis Demsey (now Andy Strachan) riffed in 1998 have been turned on their head. ‘Growing Up (Falling Down)’ is no longer a song for the present tense – we’ve grown, we’ve fallen, we remain imprisoned wherever society wishes to contain us, and yet The Living End themselves are a finished product, all grown up and undisputed masters of their realm. This writer didn’t see The Living End in those early years playing their songs the first thousand times around, but it’s impossible to imagine any of the material being in better hands than it is today.

Chris Martin

PICS :: PX

“We don’t refer to the past/When showing what we’ve done,” sings Chris Cheney over the opener, ‘Prisoner of Society’,

and contradictory though the idea may seem tonight, it actually defines the scene perfectly – because this isn’t an event confined to wistful nostalgia. “This record never gets old, man,” says Cheney between tracks. “We are; the record isn’t.”

And he’s right. A song like ‘West End Riot’ could have been written yesterday, as the saying goes – and if it’s rewritten tomorrow, you can bet the Oz music community will immediately fall to its knees. Again.

fishing

PICS :: KC

24:11:12 :: FBi Social :: 244-248 William St Kings Cross 9331 9900

fantine

PICS :: PX

22:11:12 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322

mum

PICS :: AM

24:11:12 :: Upstairs Beresford :: Lvl 1/354 Bourke St Surry Hills 8313 5000

:: MARYJANE CASWELL :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: AMANDA MCALISTER :: THOMAS PEACHY :: GEORGE KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR POPOV :: PEDRO XAVIER ::

36 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

hiatus kaiyote

PICS :: KC

23:11:12 :: The World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

22:11:12 :: FBi Social :: 244-248 William St Kings Cross 9331 9900

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BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 37

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week Blondie

MONDAY DECEMBER 3 ROCK & POP

John Reilly & Friends (USA), Steve Smyth The Factory Theatre, Enmore $50 7pm John Hill Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm

JAZZ

The Date Bros 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Darren Bennett, Samantha Johnson, Black Diamond Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West free 7pm Russell Neal, Anita Lenzo Trio, Chris Brookes, Massimo Presti Kellys on King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY DECEMBER 4

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8

The Domain, Sydney

Homebake:

Blondie (USA), Hilltop Hoods, Tim Minchin, Tame Impala, Kimbra, Angus Stone, Julia Stone, Birds of Tokyo, Seth Sentry, Parachute Youth, Hermitude, Last Dinosaurs, Hey Geronimo, Underlights, The Griswolds, Lime Cordiale, Battleships, Sticky Fingers, Daniel Merriweather, Sam Sparro, The Saints, Something For Kate, Sonicanimation, Shapeshifter (NZ), Six60 (NZ), Jinja Safari, The Bamboos, Tim Rogers, San Cisco, Emma Louise, Pond, Ball Park Music, Seekae, DZ Deathrays, Diafrix, Husky, Full Tote Odds $99 (+ bf) 12pm 38 :: BRAG :: 491 : 03:12:12

ROCK & POP

Jo Elms Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm JP Trio Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Open Mic, Champagne Jam Dundas Sports Club free 7.30pm Moonshakes: East River, Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse, Through The Forest Door, Buzz Kull, Eating Flowers, Moonshakes DJs Flinders Bar, Darlinghurst free 8pm

JAZZ

Christian Howes (USA), Simon Kinny-Lewis Band Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7pm Jazzgroove: James Ryan’s Trial By Fire, Mark Lockett Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8-$15 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Carolyn Woodorth, Dr Walrus and the Bushchooks, Eva-Maria Hess, Yetti, Collin Gosper, The Mad Pride, Brian Manning Taverners Hill Hotel, Leichhardt free 7pm Darren Bennett, Black Diamond George IV Inn, Picton free 7.30pm Handasyd Williams, Mark Lucas Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Russell Neal, Angelene Harris, Monica & the Explosion (SWE) Off Broadway, Ultimo free

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5 ROCK & POP

Adam Gorecki Coogee Bay Hotel, Beach Bar free 9pm Back To Black: Dylan & Co, Evil J & Saint Celia, Georgia & Becca Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 7pm The Beards, The Griswolds, Alison Wonderland, Joyride, Devola Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm

Cartoon, Courage For Casper Blue Beat, Double Bay $15 (+ bf) 7pm Dave Seaside Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Elevate Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Eric Lewis Duo Club Rivers, Riverwood free 12pm Immortal Band Competition Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe free 7pm Jackson McLaren Arcadia Liquors, Redfern free 8pm The Khanz FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 1pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm The Pretty Things Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $68–$110 (dinner & show) 8pm Primal Scream (UK), The Delta Riggs Enmore Theatre $84.10 7pm Watsup The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Will And The People The Loft, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo free (guestlist) 12.30pm Winters End, Viktoria Bolonina, TJ Bowden The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80 8pm

JAZZ

Carl Dewhurst Trio, Dave Ades Group 505 Club, Surry Hills $10-$15 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Denniston, Rod Robinson Royal Hotel, Springwood free 8pm Andy Golledge, Katastrophy, Sando Locals Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Greg Sita, Angelene Harris, Will Teague Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 7.30pm Russell Neal, Monica & the Explosion (SWE) Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 7pm TAOS, John Chesher, Gavin Fitzgerald Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6 ROCK & POP

Abby Dobson Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $30 7pm Aimee Francis Band, Rattlesnake, Carousel The Valve, Tempe free 8pm Anton Franc, Wheat Fields, Mammals, Gnome FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Ben Finn Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 7pm Blondie (USA), The Stranglers (UK), Machinations Enmore Theatre $125 6.30pm Bonney Read, Laura Zarb, Cletus Kasady Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm The Church, Regular John The Factory Theatre, Enmore $45 (+ bf) 8pm The Cleanskins Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe 7pm Community Radio, The Eliza Band, Charles Buddy Daaboul Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $10 8pm

Dave White Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm The Drey Rollan Band, Coop De Ville, DJ Sinead Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm The Goldhearted, Mezzanine, Columbia Buffet, Aether Beach The Imperial Hotel, Erskinville 8pm Hot Damn!: Hands Like Houses, Sound Of Seasons, The Sweet Apes, We Saved The Party, Breakaway, Hot Damn DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15$20 8pm Hot Snakes (USA), 6 Ft Hick, Dead Farmers Annandale Hotel $42 8pm Joanna Melas Bankstown Sports Club free 8pm Johnny G & The E-Types Stax Soul Christmas Party The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 8pm Katrina Burgoyne Dee Why Hotel free 7pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Mandi Jarry Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany free 6pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Mental As Anything, Richard Perso Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $49–$107 (dinner & show) 8pm Michael McGlynn Greengate Hotel, Killara free 8pm Mr Scot Finnie Woollahra Hotel free 7pm Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Nicky Kurta Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Omar Souleyman (Syria), Richard In Your Mind (Duo), Honky Kong DJ Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm Owen Campbell The Workers, Balmain free 8pm Sam & Jamie Trio Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Sons Of Sun – The Sam Phillips Story Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 7pm Steve Tonge The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Sydney Sound Big Band Rockdale RSL Club free 8pm Tony Williams Pritchard’s Pub, Mount Pritchard free 12pm Turbonegro (NOR), Bugdust The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $50 (+ bf) 8pm The White Bros The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm World’s End Press, Collarbones, Polographia Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm

JAZZ

Doug Williams Presents Nat ‘King’ Cole Blue Beat, Double Bay $20 (+ bf) 7.30pm Joseph Tawadros Trio The Red Rattler, Marrickville $20 (conc)-$25 8pm The New Shieks, The Finer Cuts, Pugsley Buzzard 505 Club, Surry Hills $15-$20 8.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Carolyn Woodorth, Monica & the Explosion (SWE) Olympic Hotel, Paddington free 7.30pm

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Joanne Hill Corrimal Hotel free 7.30pm Nick Andrew Jones, Patrick McCartht, Angelene The Newsagency, Enmore $15 8pm Riz Hallowes Manly Leagues Club free 6pm Russell Neal Forest Lodge Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm TAOS, Nick Domenicos, Spencer McCullum, Anita Lenzo, Peter Phelps, Laura & Susie, Richard Murphy, Spencer & Nick Duo Kogarah Hotel free 7pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 ROCK & POP

031 Rockshow Cabbage Tree Hotel, Fairy Meadow free 8.30pm Alex Cannings The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 6.30pm Altitude Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Andy Mammers Cronulla RSL free 7.30pm Arbori Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Archaic Revival, The Heavies The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm The Bandits Duo Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Ben Finn Trio Narrabeen Sands Hotel 7pm Big Radio Dynamite Bankstown Sports Club free 10pm

Birds Of Tokyo, Hayden Calnin Annandale Hotel $44.90 8pm Boukabou, Doug Williams The Old Manly Boatshed 8.30pm Cambo Parramatta RSL free 5pm Charles Jenkins & The Zhivagos, Jo Meares & The Honeyriders, Sean McMahon’s Western Union Notes Live, Enmore $17.85 7pm Coveleski, Epics, Ted Danson With Wolves, Karlmarx, Oslow The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 8pm Daniel March, Daddy Longlegs & The Swamp Monkeys, Gail Page Band The Manly Fig $12 (student)–$15 7.30pm Danielle Todd Dee Why Hotel free 7pm David Agius Cronulla Sharks free 7pm Diesel, Lyn Smith Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$124 (dinner & show) 8pm Dragon Brass Monkey, Cronulla $46.95 7pm Epics, Coveleski, Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym, Karl Marks, Oslow The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 8pm Evie Dean The Grand Hotel, Rockdale free 5.30pm Fallon Bros The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Finn, Bonez Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $10 8pm The Flaming Stars Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm

Flux Dee Why Hotel free 10pm Fundraiser for Cancer Awareness: Michele Madden, DJ Lady K, DJ Miistmak3r Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Geoff Rana Mona Vale Hotel free 6.30pm Golden Fear, Edwin Montgomery, Juniper The Newsagency, Enmore $15 8pm Greg Byrne Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 5pm The Hadron Colliders, Jules Backman, The Relics, Black Matches Sydney Livehouse @ Lewisham Hotel $12 8pm Happy Hippies Castle Hill Tavern free 6pm Heath Burdell Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst free 7pm Hit Selection Duo Coogee Bay Hotel free 10pm Hue Williams Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy free 7.30pm Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show Feat Steve Edmonds Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 10.30pm Koppen Terrace Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8.30pm Kutcha Edwards, Munkimuk Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm La Vista Petersham RSL Club free 8.30pm Laura Jackson 5 Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Leadfinger, Den Hanrahan, The Dark Clouds Dicey Riley’s Hotel, Wollongong free 9pm

Mad Season MB20 Show Pioneer Tavern, Penrith free 9pm Mandi Jarry PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 10pm Mark Travers Castle Hill RSL Club free 9pm Matt Price Duo Crows Nest Hotel free 6.30pm Mayday Parade (USA), We Are The In Crowd (USA), Heroes For Hire The Hi-Fi, Moore Park sold out 7.30pm all-ages Michael & Lucas Duo Kirribilli Hotel free 8pm MUM – Don’t Stay Home Alone! Select Music Christmas Party 2012: Nantes, Andy Bull, The Preatures, Step-Panther, Toucan, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, The Walking Who, DJ Jake Stone, Hungary Kids Of Hungary DJs, The Holidays DJs, Rufus DJs, DZ Deathrays DJs, DJ Elizabeth Rose The World Bar, Kings Cross $10 (guestlist)-$15 8pm Neill Bourke O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 8pm Nickelback Show The Ranch Hotel, Eastwood free 10pm Nicky Kurta Croydon Park Hotel free 8pm Nite Field, Day Ravies, No Art, Buzz Kull Black Wire Records, Annandale $10 8pm Parachute Youth, Clubfeet Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bvf) 8pm Perch Creek Family Jug Band Coogee Diggers free 8pm The Pretty Things (UK) The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49 (+ bf) 7pm

Replika Huskisson Hotel free 8pm Rob Henry Northies, Cronulla free 9pm Rock For Dollo: The Original Faux Pas Manning Bar University of Sydney, Camperdown $50 (+ bf) 7.30pm Ron Ashton Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 2pm Roots Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Sabotage Club: No Illuminati, Buchanan, Daniel Allars The Forbes Hotel, Sydney 9pm Sam Sparro The Standard, Darlinghurst $36.30 (+ bf) 8pm SheShe Winston Hills Hotel free 8.30pm Simple Minds (UK), Devo (USA), The Church Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $99-$199 (+ bf) 7.15pm Slick 46, Eager 13, Rust, Dark Horse, Hivemind Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe free 7pm Sons of Mercury Crows Nest Hotel free 10pm Springbreak Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Sub Atari Knives, Demons To Diamonds, Itsu The Factory Floor, The Factory Theatre, Enmore $15 7.30pm Swingshift Cold Chisel Show Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9.30pm Thunderstruck – The ACDC Tribute Show Colyton Hotel free 9pm

Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, The Faults, Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids, We Are The Brave, Tired Lion The Red Rattler, Marrickville $10 8pm Tony Cini’s Blue Explosion, Tom Richardson Project, Ashleigh Mannix, Kane Dennelly The Vanguard, Newtown $26.80 8pm The Velvet Cave: The Demon Parade, Sister Jane, Velvet Gallagher, Ken Blements, Macap Zack, Alison Hobbes Club 77, Darlinghurst $10 9pm Waiting For Guinness Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7.30pm

JAZZ

The Catholics The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15 (student)–$25 8.30pm The Conscious Pilots, John Vella Blue Beat, Double Bay $15-$25 (+ bf) 8pm Gang Of Brothers Unplugged 505 Club, Surry Hills $15-$20 8.30pm Greg Poppleton & His Bakelite Broadcaster Courtyard Sessions, Seymour Centre, Chippendale free 6.30pm James Morrison, Konrad Paszkudzki (USA), Jeff Clayton (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 8pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Connected Cafe, Glebe free 8pm

tue

04

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

Dec

wed

05 Dec

(9:00PM - 1:00AM)

thu

06 Dec

fri

(9:00PM - 1:00AM) (5:00PM - 8:00PM)

07 Dec

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sat

08 Dec

sun

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

09 Dec

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT (8:30PM - 12:00AM)

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 39

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Kurt Williams Chatswood RSL free 5pm Will Teague Bargo Hotel free 8.30pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 ROCK & POP

031 Rockshow Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm 80s Rock Revival Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 9.30pm Alkebulan: Afro Nomad, Gervais Koffi & The African Dispora, Yannick, DJ Kwame, Daddy The Factory Theatre, Enmore $20 9pm Andy Mammers PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 9.30pm Angie Dean Castle Hill RSL Club free 6.30pm The Australian Pink Show Guildford Leagues Club free 9pm Back To The ‘80s Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9.30pm The Beatels Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 8.30pm Bec & Ben FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Ben Finn Castle Hill RSL Club free 9pm Brendan Maclean’s Annual Birthday Musical: Miss Little, Eirwen Skye, Andrew Bennett The Newsagency, Enmore $20 7.30pm

40 :: BRAG :: 491 : 03:12:12

Broken Stone Records Family Xmas: Melodie Nelson, Sister Jane, The Maple Trail, Caitlin Park, Magnetic Heads, Kelly Dance, The Killing Words St Stephen’s Church Hall, Newtown $15 4.30pm Christie Lamb Northies, Cronulla free 9pm The Crawford Brothers Ruth Cracknell Room, Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay free 8pm Darren Percival Smithfield RSL $25 8pm Dave White Experience Crows Nest Hotel free 10pm David Agius Duo Penrith Panthers free 9pm The Demon Parade Old Manly Boatshed 8pm Diana Rouvas Blue Beat, Double Bay $25 (+ bf) 8pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$124 (dinner & show) 8pm Dollshay Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill 6pm Elevation U2 Tribute Stockton RSL Club free 8pm Emergency Syndrome Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe free 12pm Fallon Bros Narrabeen Sands Hotel free 8pm Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Springwood free 9.15pm Four Tet (UK), Jonti, Albatross Metro Theatre, Sydney $44 8pm Free Party: Cogel, The Mountains, The Cadres, DJ devola, DJ Shantan The Standard, Surry Hills free 8pm Goodnight Dynamite O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 10pm

Granite Revolution Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Greg Agar Kirribilli Hotel free 8pm Heath Burdell Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany free 7pm Highways, The Monster Goes Rawrr James Squire Brewhouse, Sydney 8pm Homebake: Blondie (USA), Hilltop Hoods, Tim Minchin, Tame Impala, Kimbra, Angus Stone, Julia Stone, Birds of Tokyo, Seth Sentry, Parachute Youth, Hermitude, Last Dinosaurs, Hey Geronimo, Underlights, The Griswolds, Lime Cordiale, Battleships, Sticky Fingers, Daniel Merriweather, Sam Sparro, The Saints, Something For Kate, Sonicanimation, Shapeshifter (NZ), Six60 (NZ), Jinja Safari, The Bamboos, Tim Rogers, San Cisco, Emma Louise, Pond, Ball Park Music, Seekae, DZ Deathrays, Diafrix, Husky, Full Tote Odds The Domain, Sydney $99 (+ bf) 12pm Hotel California – A Tribute To The Eagles Brass Monkey, Cronulla $28.60 7pm Joseph Liddy And The Skeleton Horse, Wentworth Avenue Breeze-Out, Black Zeros Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $12 8pm Jukebox Jive Campbelltown RSL free 9pm The Khanz, Fairchild Republic, Tales In Space Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Kill Appeal, Kasandra, The Poet and the Thief, Kaato, Stanley’s End, Thrush

The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm King Tide, Sea Legs, Buhananan, DJ Joyride Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Kittens: The Guppies, Ben Wells & The Middle Names, Found At Sea, Kittens DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 9pm Latin Vibes Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8.30pm Matt Jones Cronulla Sharks free 7pm Matt Price & Jess Dunbar Town Hall Hotel, Balmain free 10pm Mick Aquilina Regents Park Sporting & Community Club free 6.30pm Mr James Bankstown Sports Club free 9pm Original Sin INXS Show Oatley RSL free 8pm Pel Mel Organisation, Swami Binton, The Limp, Leather Feather The Terrace Bar, Newcastle free 8pm Pop Fiction Penrith Panthers free 10pm Pour Habit (USA), High Time, Totally Unicorn Annandale Hotel $29 8pm The Pretty Things (UK), Straight Arrows, Dull City Destroyers, Daniel Darling, Yo Grito DJs Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $30 (+ bf) 8pm Ray Beadle The Basement, Circular Quay $23 (+ bf) 7.30pm Reece Mastin, Justice Crew, The Janoskians Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $72 7pm all-ages Regina Spektor (USA), Only Son

Enmore Theatre $100.60 6.45pm Replika Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park free 8pm Ricky Bloomfield, The Mountains, Andy Golledge, Gypsies Gift The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm The Rockin’ Eddie Band Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm S.A.L.T. Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Sidetracked Fiasco, Cosmic King, Cloud Four, Ninth of May Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe free 7pm Sonic Systems Laboratory: Cor Fuhler, Chris Abrahams Old Darlington School, Maze Crescent, Darlington $10-$20 3.30pm Stormcellar Colonial Hotel, Werrington free 8pm Suite AZ Castle Hill RSL Club free 10.30pm Twin Set Petersham RSL Club free 8.30pm

JAZZ

Greg Poppleton & His Bakelite Broadcaster Square Waffle, Leumeah free 7pm Kafe Kool Supper Club, Fairfield RSL Club free 7.30pm Mike Nock Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (student)–$20 8.30pm

Miriam Lieberman 505 Club, Surry Hills $15-$20 8.30pm Mucho Mambo Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20-$25 7.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Connected Café & Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Darren Bennett, Samantha Johnson Chippendale Creative Arts Centre free 11am Harbour Master Picton Hotel free 8pm Kirk Burgess Newport Arms Hotel free 6.30pm Matt Toms Bexley RSL free 7.30pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 9 ROCK & POP

Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm Antoine O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 5pm Byron & Steve Centennial Hotel Helensburgh free 5pm Cambo, Rob Henry, Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm Dave White Duo Northies, Cronulla free 4pm David Agius Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 1pm

g g guide g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$124 (dinner & show) 8pm Duan Kaka Harbord Beach Hotel free 5pm Finn Bald Rock Hotel, Rozelle free 6.30pm Franky Valentyn Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 4pm Hands Like Houses Masonic Hall, Blacktown 8pm all-ages Harmonate Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 3.30pm Hue Williams Overlander Hotel, Cambridge Park free 3pm Jess Dunbar Mona Vale Hotel free 1.30pm Mandi Jarry Kirribilli Hotel free 2pm Mic Conway & Robbie Long, Gleny Rae Virus & Her Playboys Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15-$25 6.30pm Mick Aquilina Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 2pm Nicky Kurta Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction free 3pm Pour Habit (USA), Totally Unicorn, Hightime, Epics, Batfoot Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe 12pm The Rock N Roll Soul Review: Chris E Thomas, Wards Express Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 7pm School of Rock Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe free 5pm Shindig Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free

12pm Watussi, Kingtide Annandale Hotel $20 4pm Zoltan Northies, Cronulla free 6pm

JAZZ

Delilah Dove & Olive, Surry Hills free 6pm Peter Head Trio Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm

COUNTRY

Nadine Landry & Sammy Lind, The Foghorn String Band, The Butcher Boys Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $15 (conc)–$20 5pm Perch Creek Family Jug Band, Rusty Spring Syncopators, Ukes Of Today The Newsagency, Enmore $15 6.30pm Satellite V Marrickville Bowling Club free 4.30pm The Slowdowns, DJ Tombob Arcadia Liquors, Redfern free 5pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Aimee Francis Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm Dane and Aaron, Sanitys Collision, Monica & the Explosion (SWE) Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 8pm Handsome Young Strangers, Barely Legal Botany View Hotel free 6pm Kickstar Oatley Hotel free 2pm Rachel Eldon Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 2pm

gig picks up all night out all week...

MONDAY DECEMBER 3

Broken Stone Records Family Xmas: Melodie Nelson, Sister Jane, The Maple Trail, Caitlin Park, Magnetic Heads, Kelly Dance, The Killing Words St Stephen’s Church Hall, Newtown $15 4.30pm

John C. Reilly & Friends (USA), Steve Smyth The Factory Theatre, Enmore $50 7pm

Kittens: The Guppies, Ben Wells & The Middle Names, Found At Sea, Kittens DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 9pm

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5 The Beards, The Griswolds, Alison Wonderland, Joyride, Devola Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Primal Scream (UK), The Delta Riggs Enmore Theatre $84.10 7pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6 Blondie (USA), The Stranglers (UK), Machinations Enmore Theatre $125 6.30pm The Church, Regular John The Factory Theatre, Enmore $45 (+ bf) 8pm Hot Snakes (USA), 6 Ft Hick, Dead Farmers Annandale Hotel $42 8pm Omar Souleyman (Syria), Richard In Your Mind (Duo), Honky Kong DJ Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm Turbonegro (NOR),

Turbonegro Bugdust The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $50 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 Birds Of Tokyo, Hayden Calnin Annandale Hotel sold out 8pm Kutcha Edwards, Munkimuk Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm MUM – Don’t Stay Home Alone! Select Music Christmas Party 2012: Nantes, Andy Bull, The Preatures, Step-Panther, Toucan, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, The Walking Who, DJs: Jake Stone, Hungry Kids Of Hungary, The Holidays, Rufus, DZ Deathrays, Elizabeth Rose The World Bar, Kings Cross $10 (guestlist)-$15 8pm

Sam Sparro The Standard, Darlinghurst $36.30 (+ bf) 8pm Simple Minds (UK), Devo (USA), The Church Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $99-$199 (+ bf) 7.15pm The Velvet Cave: The Demon Parade, Sister Jane, Velvet Gallagher, Ken Blements, Macap Zack, Alison Hobbes Club 77, Darlinghurst $10 9pm

Pour Habit (USA), High Time, Totally Unicorn Annandale Hotel $29 8pm The Pretty Things (UK), Straight Arrows, Dull City Destroyers, Daniel Darling, Yo Grito DJs Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $30 (+ bf) 8pm Regina Spektor (USA), Only Son Enmore Theatre $100.60 6.45pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 Brendan Maclean’s Annual Birthday Musical: Miss Little, Eirwen Skye, Andrew Bennett The Newsagency, Enmore $20 7.30pm

Regina Spektor

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 41

42 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

BRAGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

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+ illy

+ adrian lux

als + club o: + club guide sn + week aps colum ly n

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five things WITH

Sam Sparro

SOSUEME DJS

xxx photo by xxx

1.

Growing Up It was all about cartoon theme songs: Ducktales, Rugrats, Animaniacs, Captain Planet, Marsupilami, Samurai Pizza Cats.

Anything from Saturday Morning Disney, Agro’s Cartoon Connection or Cheez TV was the bomb – fairy bread in one hand and a Zooper Dooper in the other.

2.

Inspirations We’re lucky enough to have cool parents, and we’re thankful for them forcing Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Eric Clapton into our ears at an early age. It really opened us up to amazing music – thanks, mum!

HALF TIME @ THE STANDARD

Some of Sydney’s foremost proponents of experimental beats descend on The Standard for Half Time on Saturday December 15, including Guerre, Moon Holiday, Gnome and Lanterns. Guerre has had a busy year, supporting the Toro Y Moi, Washed Out and Bonobo, collaborating with Collarbones on their recent ‘Hypothermia’, and releasing his new single ‘Rashad (Loose Pace)’ only a month ago. Moon Holiday is the solo electronic project of Alex Ward, winner of FBi’s Northern Lights competition, who’s spent the last couple of years honing her moody electronic sound, which draws on her experiences growing up in China; she’s collaborated with Future Classic’s Flume, and performed with Karen O from The Yeah Yeah Yeahs at this year’s Vivid LIVE. Meanwhile, Lanterns is an alias of Ross James of Young Romantics, who released his debut EP earlier this year and is also a past winner of Northern Lights. Rounding off the bill is the sibling duo of Gnome, comprised of Freya Berkhout, formerly one half of Sydney experimental pop outfit kyü, and her brother Elias. Gnome won the Sydney Festival Soundtrack competition for 2013, and are gearing up to release their debut EP, See In Walk. Doors open at 8pm; $10 entry.

Moon Holiday

3.

Your Crew We’re a three-person force: Kristy Lee is our babein’ sex-on-legs femme fatale, who gives all the dudes in the crowd raging stiffys; then there’s Hayden, who’s been DJing since he could walk, and is also in a band called Catalina (big things coming from them soon!); and rounding it out with Pat, who’s a photographer by day for Hobogestapo.

The Music You Make Our set comprises 100% edits all done 4. by us. We don’t stick to one genre – we’ll go from some dark French techno all the way up to some ‘90s pop. As long as it makes people move and isn’t Justin Bieber, we got it covered.

FIRSTDRAFT DEPOT XMAS PARTY

Firstdraft Depot is holding its inaugural Christmas party on Friday December 14 in the form of a night of ‘tactile’ electronic music, performance, and danceable tunes curated by Tom Smith, who produces as Thomas William and was a recent finalist in FBi Radio’s Northern Lights competition.

The Xmas bash will celebrate experimental music via performances from Michael Ozone, Matthew Brown, Lucy Cliche, Pettigrew and Mob. Ozone is a Melbourne producer who recently released his debut 12-inch on ESP Institute and pushes a “brand of chewed-up ‘80s VHS nostalgia”, while Brown is a Tasmanian synthesist and producer, a co-founder of the Norwegian pirate radio station Radio Free Dale, and a member of the group Zond; he’s worked with the likes of Lou Reed, DJ Hell and The Orb. The Christmas party will be held at 13-17 Riley St, Woolloomooloo, with doors open from 7pm and entry $5.

5.

Music, Right Here, Right Now Summer is upon us, everything is getting a bit crazier, the clubs are getting a lot sweatier, but we love it. There’s some amazing talent coming out of Australia right now, it’s like 2007 all over again (let’s leave fluro behind though, yeah?). Very exciting times!

With: Illy, Jackie Onassis, Stillwater Giants, Joyride (DJ set) Where: Sosueme Wednesdays @ Beach Road Bondi When: Wednesday December 12 More: Also playing at Field Day, held on Tuesday January 1 at The Domain

BIG VILLAGE XMAS PARTY

The Big Village Christmas block party is slotted for Goodgod Small Club on Saturday December 22. Throughout 2012, the Big Village hip hop label/collective dropped records like Tuka’s Feedback Loop, Daily Meds’ Happy Daze and the Big Things Volume Two compilation album, which was FBi Sunsets’ Album Of The Week. Those

SAM SPARRO

With an immaculate moustache and a penchant for suits, it’s no surprise Sam Sparro recently took out the title of GQ’s Man Of Style. But the disco-infused tracks on Return To Paradise and its digital repackage, Re-Return To Paradise, tell a more sombre story of heartache and lost love for the dashing new king of electrodance. The Sydney-born Sparro will be dressed to impress his hometown fans at Homebake at The Domain on Saturday December 8, with a special set at The Standard on Friday December 7. To win one of the two double passes we’ve got to the sideshow, tell us which Sam Sparro track you can’t wait to see live. who are unfamiliar with Big Village may well be aware of some of the acts signed to the label – Daily Meds, Loose Change and True Vibenation – all of whom will be throwing down at the Xmas bash, alongside Mute & Kit Complete, Suburban Dark, Tenth Dan and Grub, plus DJs Klue, Roleo and Migz. $20 entry on the door, with the beats raging from 9pm till late.

Mathew Jonson

SYDNEY MARDI GRAS 2013

Details of the 2013 Sydney Mardi Gras festival, which will run from February 8 to March 3 (with the parade itself taking place on March 2), have been unveiled. House icon David Morales, who has remixed tunes from Janet Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston (RIP), will headline a harbour party on Saturday February 23. Other high profile dance acts slotted to perform for Mardi Gras festivities include Australian electro pairing The Presets, Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters performing in his new DJ side project Crystal Pepsi, DJ Wayne G, Bimbo Jones, Garçon Garçon, DJ duo Stereogamous, Hercules And Love Affair frontman Shaun J. Wright, and international drag performer Mitzi Macintosh. For all ticket sales and further details, head to their website: www.mardigras.org.au

TODD TERJE

44 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

SPACE IBIZA NYD

Canada’s Mathew Jonson will join the likes of Carl Craig, Pig & Dan, Franck Roger and New Jersey producer Kerri Chandler at The Greenwood on January 1, for Space Ibiza NYD. Jonson is a co-founder of the Wagon Repair label, and is renowned for classic cuts like ‘Decompression’ and ‘Marionette’, in addition to his work as part of Cobblestone Jazz. With a career that includes collaborations with Luciano and The Mole, and remixes for everyone from The Chemical Brothers and Moby to Nelly Furtado(!), Jonson is rightly regarded as one of dance music’s elite, an untamed sonic force who continues to push diverse and unpredictable sounds wherever he plays. Tickets to Space Ibiza NYD are available through spaceibizafestival.com.au Xxxx

Norwegian disco champion Todd Terje is back in town to headline Adult Disco at The Civic Underground this Saturday December 8. Terje has released on labels such as Permanent Vacation, Kompakt, Get Physical and Playhouse, and fuses disco, pop and house influences in his DJ sets (which he facetiously describes as “silly and effective”).

The Terje has remixed the likes of Hot Chip, Paul Simon, Bryan Ferry and even Robbie Williams, though perhaps his most memorable rework is of Shit Robot‘s ‘Work It Out’. He’s also proved himself to be an adept producer in his own right, releasing a couple of singles on Prins Thomas’ Full Pupp label – ‘Mjøndalen Diskoklubb’ and ‘Eurodans’ – prior to crashing through 2011 with the immense ‘Ragysh’, and following it up with ‘Inspector Norse’ earlier this year. Presale tickets are available online.

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 45

dance music news

free stuff

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

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OFFICIAL – OZ HIP HOP

on the record WITH

DISMANTLE The Last Record I Bought: The very last purchase I 2. made was a recent one. Baz Luhrmann – ‘Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)’. Not something I would usually buy, but I remember it from when I was younger. I heard it again the other day, and basically it’s just some American guy reading a speech about things in life over a beat. It’s so inspiring, and a great track. Whenever you need a reality check or when things aren’t going great, listen to that!

The First Thing I Recorded: I got a copy of Reason when I was 14, and started from there.

I never really recorded stuff until recently; I’ve started working with vocalists for my new projects. I always listen back to old beats I’ve made, it’s quite nostalgic – although I’ve lost quite a few over the years, which is a shame.

The Last Thing I Recorded: The last thing I recorded was for a track I’m working on at

3.

The First Record I Bought: The first CD I remember 1. buying, which has relevance to what I'm doing today, was called Back To The Old Skool Drum’n’Bass. It was full of old jungle tracks. There was an

advert on TV for it around 2002, when I was ten. I remember buying it in HMV to the amazement of the guy serving me. I couldn’t even see over the counter! From that day onwards I was in love with drum’n’bass.

4.

the moment. Again, I’ve only recently got into recording vocals, with the help of Breakage and other members of the Digital Soundboy team.

I usually just make club music, but working with vocalists and recording is definitely something I’m very excited about doing more often.

The Record That Changed My Life: Prodigy – ‘Out Of Space’. I remember hearing it when I was like eight or nine, in a shop, and I used to always hear it on the radio. I fell in love with it – I just loved the rave-type riffs, although I didn’t have a clue about electronic music back then. I couldn’t find it for ages; the internet and radio websites weren’t anywhere near as advanced as they are now. I still play it in my sets sometimes!

5.

With: Gran Calevera, Brown Bear, Blackmale and more Where: The Wall @ The World Bar When: Wednesday December 5

In the space of a decade, the Aussie hip hop scene has grown from being CD rack dividers, to pumping out #1 albums, festival headliners, and sell-out national tours, with Gold, Platinum and double Platinum titles adding to the bling. To celebrate, our buddies at Warner have put together Official – The Best of Australian Hip-Hop Vol 1, a compilation that showcases the cream of our Aussie crop. The disc features a swag of your favourite hip hop artists, including Hilltop Hoods, 360, Bliss N Eso, Drapht, Illy, Pez and Seth Sentry, and is the perfect place to start if you’re feeling like you’ve missed the homegrown beats boat.

We’ve got five to give away; just tell us what your hip hop moniker would be...

RAHZEL + DJ JS-1

Not to be mistaken for a four-piece band, beat-boxing prodigy Rahzel has stunned audiences internationally with his ability to recreate entire songs on his own. That is, the instrumentation. And the melody. And the beats. Virtually any sound that will win you three Grammys. AT THE SAME TIME. Nicknamed ‘The Godfather Of Noyze’ (and multi-tasking), the former Roots member’s debut in 1999 saw his tribute to the late Aaliyah cemented as a cult classic. Working alongside artists like Björk and Erykah Badu, the genre-transcending virtuoso is now set to return to our shores for the Meredith Music Festival, squeezing in a few East Coast sideshows while he’s here. He’s bringing his producer/graf artist/also-unfairly-talented bestie DJ JS-1 of the Rock Steady crew to The Annandale Hotel on Wednesday December 5; if you want one of our two double passes, let us know what you wish your special talent was.

FBI SOCIAL(S)

This Saturday December 8, Grey Ghost, Big Dumb Kid and Rapaport will all be representing at FBi Social @ King’s Cross Hotel. Rising from the ashes of Melbourne beat experimentalists The Melodics, Grey Ghost has cultivated a post-rap sound and ideology with tracks that have been described as “rock music you can dance to, mixed with dance music that rocks.” The following Friday December 14, the venue will host Elizabeth Rose, fresh off the back of collaborating with Sinden and releasing her debut EP, Crystallise. Joining her will be Parklife festival tour attendees Softwar, plus Olympic Ayres, Jubilants, Debonair and Antoine Vice.

Flume

PICNIC FT PSYCHEMAGIK

Dasha Rush

SUBSONIC THIS WEEKEND

The final round of international and local artists for this weekend’s annual Subsonic Music Festival, which will take place in the idyllic Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort from Friday December 7– Monday December 10, have been announced. One of the most versatile and prolific acts in electronic music, Dasha Rush – who’s had success in contemporary dance, theatre and film alike – has been added to the lengthy lineup, along with Hypnotech, Mark Pritchard, Shamik, Pena, Emok, Antix, Anna Leevia, D-Sens, The Bastards, Simon Caldwell and U-One. They’re joining our cover stars Catz ‘n Dogz, Blue King Brown, Afrika Hitech, DJ Kentaro and loads more at the BYO boutique festival, which is held in a world heritage site on the banks of a river 2.5 hours north of Sydney. And for anyone planning on just rocking up, that is cool, man – you can purchase tickets at the festival gates.

MARQUEE BLOCK PARTY

The monthly Block Party at Marquee, The Star will return this Friday December 7 with live band/DJ combo Martini Club performing.

In addition to the sassy stylings of the Martini Club collective, which includes vocalists Muma Megs, Andre Kaman, Michelle Martinez, Cavan Te and Adam Katz, attendees will be privy to wine sampling, live graffiti art, and a free balcony BBQ on offer in the terrace. Martini Club are musical favourites in the corporate world, with clients of theirs including Virgin, Ella Bache, Clarins, Vodafone and FHM – most notably, they were invited to perform at an exclusive event in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in 2008.

ONE NIGHT ONLY...

Having hosted the likes of Danny Tenaglia and Claude Von Stroke in the past, Future Entertainment will continue their series of ‘One Night Only’ events on Friday January 4. Who’s playing? Well, uh, I don’t know. As the press release says, “Who Knows! You will have to wait until the 1st of January when all will be revealed.” So, save the date, and that’s it for now. Anticlimax? I’m sorry.

FUTURE CLASSIC AT LANEWAY

Laneway Festival have announced a stage presented by Future Classic, the Sydneybased collective responsible for numerous electronica-based projects and bringing the likes of The Whitest Boy Alive and DJ Koze to Australia. The Future Classic record label has also launched the careers of artists like Flight Facilities, New Navy, Panama, Mitzi, and current ‘it boy’ Flume, who debuted at #2 on the ARIA Album Chart last week with his self-titled debut. With the preamble out of the way, let’s cut to the present/future: Nicolas Jaar, Holy Other, Flume, Shlohmo, Jessie Ware, Julia Holter and Nite Jewel will all be appearing on the Future Classic Stage at Laneway, held on Saturday February 2 at SCA.

KARIZMA

Baltimore’s Karizma will headline an inner city fiesta at an as-yet-unknown inner city venue this Friday, the details of which will be released on www.houseyoursoul.com in the days approaching the party. Karizma initially forged a career with partner Spen collaborating on tracks by Mary J. Blige, Kim English and Kenny Bobien, while doing remixes for the likes of Everything But The Girl, Lenny Kravitz, Roy Ayers and Bob Sinclair. With Karizma and Spen going

their separate ways in the early noughties, Karizma continued to churn out productions on some of the world’s most respected house labels, including his ‘Ride’ EP for Defected in ’04, and ‘4 The Love’ for Spen’s Code Red imprint. Karizma also mixed a Coast2Coast compilation, which collated cuts from Manuel Tur, Wahoo and Dennis Ferrer. Mr-X, Mike Kon and George Kristopher will all be spinning in support of the Baltimore main act; $20 presale tickets can be purchased through the aforementioned website.

Xxx

46 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

UK duo Psychemagik, who are best known for their disco and psychedelic edits, vast record collections and transcendent mixtape journeys, will headline Picnic at the boutique floating venue The Island on Sydney Harbour on Saturday January 5. Psychemagik crashed through on the back of an edit of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’, which found its way into the record bags of veterans like Tom Middleton and Greg Wilson, and instantly cemented their place in the disco milieu.

The pair have since released a string of highly acclaimed edits, original productions and remixes, whilst their ‘After The Void’ compilation for Light Sounds Dark received props from Todd Terje, 2manydjs and Lexx.

Support will come from Picnic regulars Steele Bonus, Kali and Andy Webb, with punters to be picked up from Rose Bay Wharf at 3pm – otherwise you can catch a water taxi.

First release $45 tickets are available through Resident Advisor.

Nick Warren Global Underground By Richie Meldrum

I

f you wanted to put a face to underground dance music, then DJ, producer and label owner Nick Warren’s would surely be it. Starting his career in the fertile grounds of Bristol’s illustrious music scene, as the tail end of the UK’s rave culture coiled up, Warren was at the helm of a new and exciting genre of dance music that would go on to define him as an artist. The term ‘progressive house’ gave name to an emerging sound that bound together a select group of DJs, bands and producers: a fusion of house, trance and elements of techno, stripped-down and sparing in its structure; melodic and uplifting yet hard, fierce and driving.

While Warren’s music has changed over the years, depth and melody have remained hallmarks of his sound, which today spans everything from spacey, ambient electronics to club-focused dubby techno. From outer eastern Russia to central China and northern most Scandinavia to the depths of South America, Warren has worked hard to build his intercontinental appeal, pushed further by the acclaimed Global Underground compilation mix series – he’s been behind seven instalments.

exciting about it. I just think it’s more interesting; people are taking more risks with that [down tempo/ambient genre],” he explains. “With that sort of bass-heavy, deep house, old-school ‘90s house vibe, it’s all very similar at the moment and it’s harder for people to take more risks. Whereas with the more eclectic side of electronic music, you can basically do anything you want.”

As one of the longest-serving DJs out there, and with no sign of slowing down, Warren sees no end to his busy touring schedule – so it’s no surprise that he’s had to make some adjustments to his lifestyle. “I don’t go to after-parties anymore,” he laughs. “I think these days it’s seen as a much more professional job than it was in the early days, when we all just sort of fell into it kind of by accident, and ended up flying round the world, playing in clubs and having a great time. It’s still great fun to do it – getting to travel around, going to all these amazing countries, meeting great people and playing in great clubs.”

With: Henry Saiz Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday December 8

One of the more off-the-beaten-track places that Warren visits regularly is Tel Aviv. With the recent developments in the Israel-Gaza conflict, I ask if it’s strange for him to see reports of bombings and violence happening in a city where he’s spent most of his time playing music to happy clubbers. “It is weird,” he ponders. “But I’d say all of the best parties, or lots of the best parties, have always been in areas of conflict. Northern Ireland back in the day during The Troubles – the club scene was always really strong. Tel Aviv has always had a good scene, and I’d say even better is Beirut. Beirut has got a fantastic club scene, really cool clubs, nice underground people, really stylish, and even with the recent downturn in the economy – when people have got no money, they still want to go out, don’t they? They’ll go without food and not pay their bills, but they still want to go out on the weekend and enjoy themselves, and maybe forget what’s going on around them. So yeah, areas where there is conflict going on always seem to have great scenes.”

“Lots of the best parties have always been in areas of conflict.

Northern Ireland during The Troubles... Tel Aviv has always had a good scene, and even better is Beirut.”

It’s hard to say exactly why Warren is so popular in lands so far from his, although according to the man himself, differing musical tastes come down to different musical educations. “My favourite crowds are in Argentina,” he says. “In the early days, and to a certain extent now, the DJs that visited there were kind of controlled by a guy called Martin Gontad, who is Hernan Cattaneo’s manager – he also runs a big radio station in Argentina which plays great underground music. So the crowds there have kind of been educated in a deeper underground sound, and that’s what they love. If you go to China for instance, where there isn’t that history of underground radio or coolness, then the more commercial Afrojack/David Guetta sound is going to be the big thing, because that’s all they get on the radio and TV. It’s like all things in life, it’s education really: it’s what you get to hear in your formative years that kind of moulds you into what kind of stuff you’re into,” he says. “But obviously the big change now has been internet radio which is broadcast around the world, so local radio isn’t as important for focusing people [on an artist or sound].”

Internet radio is something that Warren can speak on with authority. For the last two years, he’s been broadcasting his Soundgarden show on online radio station Frisky, regularly attracting large audiences who tune in or download the show from wherever they are in the world. “A number of stations had been after me to do a show,” he explains, of his first foray into this new platform. “I looked at it and I thought well, pretty much all the shows out there are the same: it’s just a DJ playing club music for an hour or two.

So I specifically wanted to do something that was in the first hour really eclectic and almost like an unmixed thing … of just amazing records, whether it’s sort of ambient or down tempo, and then concentrate on the more club-based stuff for the second hour.” He says it’s been one of the most popular shows on Frisky since the start.

“I think the first hour is definitely what people find BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 47

Illy

Adrian Lux

The Outlaw By Chris Martin

Super Swede By Alasdair Duncan

S

weden has a reputation for producing outstanding pop music, and youthful production maestro Adrian Lux is a proud part of that tradition. Anyone who’s heard one of his tracks, from the sublime ‘Teenage Crime’ through to bangers like ‘Can’t Sleep’ and ‘Weekend Heroes’, knows his skill for combining club-ready synth hooks with stick-in-your-head melodies. His self-titled debut album, released earlier this year, was a concentrated burst of just such musical goodness. It’s already spawned six singles, and there could easily be more – it’s the kind of album where you could pick a track at random and it would be a hit somewhere.

But Lux insists that he didn’t have radio or club play in mind when he made the album. “I like all the tracks, and I guess when I was making them I wasn’t thinking about them being singles so much as I was trying to make sure they all sounded unique and distinct from one another,” he says. “I wanted them all to stand out. And since I’ve been spending so much time on the road, I’ve been seeing the different ways that people react to all of them. Seeing those reactions has been the most fun. My favourite track from the album is ‘Wild Heart’, but every time someone comes up to me, they say that they like something different.

That’s what I was hoping for, and that makes me really happy.”

Around these parts, ‘Teenage Crime’ may be Lux’s signature track. The song combines a shimmering synth hook with lyrics about youthful abandon; I ask Lux if it draws on his own experiences as a youngster. “Yeah, it’s definitely based on things that happened to me,” he says. “I wanted to write something that kind of summed up a lot of my young years, how my friends and I would go out and feel like we were invincible, like we owned the night and we never wanted it to end… The song says something about my life, but someone else can come to it and hear some element of their own teenage years in it.”

Though he may be in demand, Lux is hardly what you’d call aloof; he’s constantly on Twitter and Tumblr, rattling off stories about shows, posting snippets of new material (with just a laptop, Logic and a small set of speakers, he’s able to write a lot on the road) and interacting with fans. “It’s fun to connect with the world,” he says. “I like to make my sets as personal as possible, and I guess I like the idea of having a lot of personal interactions with fans, too. I’m on there all the time – I get on Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr pretty much every day, posting new stuff that I’m working on, new remixes, and getting people to go to the shows. If someone posts something about how they liked a show, it’s cool to be able to give them a shout-out and say thank you – I mean, why wouldn’t you?”

With: Two Door Cinema Club, Hot Chip, SBTRKT (live), Mark Ronson (DJ set), Erol Alkan, T.E.E.D and loads more Where: Field Day @ The Domain When: Tuesday January 1, 2013

But look again – because as of this year, Illy himself is a law school graduate. He completed his studies in 2011, but missed graduation at the time because he was on tour. But there are no plans, at least for the foreseeable future, to swap music for a career in the legal sector. “It’s definitely a back-up at the moment,” Illy says, from his home in Melbourne. “At some point in the future I’d probably like to put [the degree] to use – it took a lot of time, effort and money to get the thing – but at the moment I’m really happy doing what I’m doing, and I wouldn’t trade music for a law career at all.

Ever, if I had a choice.”

Illy laughs off the prospect of translating his rapping skills into the kind of snappy work that barristers perform before the courts – “They’re a lot slicker than I am with my words!” – but it might just be that the adrenaline hit of live musical performance is too addictive to leave behind.

Then again, Illy spends much of his time off-stage doing the same thing as anyone else of his generation: chatting on Facebook.

The difference is the amount of friends he has to communicate with, and the painstaking vigour with which he reaches out to them – it’s hard to find a post on Illy’s fan page to which he hasn’t personally replied.

“I like it,” says Illy, of his social networking habit. “It’s very simple, easy, and not very time demanding, but it’s just a good way of keeping in touch with the people who support you. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do and have the life that I live if it wasn’t for these people coming to shows or buying music, and to be able to spend 10 or 15 minutes a day just speaking directly [to them] … I don’t think it’s that big a deal. I don’t know why more [artists] don’t do it, to be honest, because it doesn’t require much and it’s really appreciated. Their loss, I guess.”

It’s the almost excessively familiar relationship Illy maintains with his fans that assures him a solid following wherever he goes in Australia, and which helped his latest album, Bring It Back, outdo even its precursor, The Chase, in the national album charts. Illy says Bring It Back is “a lot more like the sound I grew up listening to – the typical, sort of traditional Australian hip

hop sound.” Next up is a direct sequel to The Chase, for which Illy has “probably three songs” ready to go so far.

Until then, it’s another summer dotted with shows around the country – a long way from the university graduation hall where Illy collected his law degree. But he did enjoy wearing the academic hat... “I sure did, yeah. I didn’t get to throw it up in the air, but I got to wear it and walk on stage and feel like a bit of an idiot.” An idiot? Graduating with a law degree?

Impossible. But Illy describes the scene without a hint of irony – to him, there’s only one stage on which he really feels like himself.

What: Bring It Back out now Obese Records With: SOSUEME DJs, Jackie Onassis (live), Stillwater Giants (live), Joyride (DJ set) Where: Sosueme Wednesdays @ Beach Road Hotel, Bondi When: Wednesday December 12 More: Also playing Pyramid Rock Festival on Phillip Island, from December 29-January 1

Rahzel Godfather Of Noyze By Benjamin Cooper f there’s one thing I’ve learnt through all of this, it’s that we all become complacent. The best thing we can do in life is prepare.” Rahzel M. Brown, human beatbox and hip hop artist, is helping his community in New York slowly put themselves back together following the filth and destruction of Hurricane Sandy. He’s standing in his mother’s front yard in Queens, watching neighbours walk back and forth between houses with supplies, as he continues: “I’ve totally re-prioritised my life and pushed a whole lot of stuff to the back of my mind. Right now, for me, it’s about home.”

“I

perform were in an outdoor field and a tiny club – Rahzel offers a refreshingly straightforward reply: “I’m just doing my thing, and the beauty of my thing is that I can do it anywhere. Of course, if I’m performing at a festival it gets a little more complicated because there are issues with competing sounds coming from other stages, but there are things I can do to rectify that. I can alter things, change the emphasis for a larger arena, and none of it’s really a problem. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again,” he says. “The beauty of what I do is that I might be forced to go further with my performance, but I can go a long way. A real long way.”

The one-time member of The Roots and Ben Harper’s Innocent Criminals, and a solo artist in his own right, Rahzel had thankfully just returned to his family from a European tour when Sandy rolled into town. It was a lucky coincidence, too; demand for his particular range of vocal skills, both as a collaborative artist in the studio and on the festival circuit, has been so consistent over the last two decades that he’s rarely at home. “It’s funny, but I don’t think I’ve ever been as glad to be back in the neighbourhood [as now],” he explains. “We definitely were not prepared enough – we didn’t have more than two flashlights for the whole place – [but] I still feel lucky that I was here, with my family, for the storm. When you go without power for a while, it kinda gives you an insight into things... Like, ‘Hey, water isn’t so bad. I wish I had some of that!’” he laughs. “You realise exactly what it is that you’ve got. It makes you thankful.”

His tour this December will take in more intimate spaces, meaning that fans will be able to get even closer to the sublime vocaleffects wizardry of the man nicknamed The Godfather Of Noyze. The Australian shows are also taking place at a time of year that the well-travelled Mr Brown knows is likely to be entirely free from the threat of hurricanes.

“From what I understand it’s your summer, which is going to be nice to fly into,” he says. “I like to mix it up in Australia, and I always make sure I’m pushing myself. That’s the beauty of improvisation, really: the audience has no idea what is gonna happen in the room, but I’ve got all these tools to make and modify sound. It’s a great job – can’t beat it.”

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The New Yorker’s time at home comes just before his visit to Australia, where he’ll play shows alongside fellow Rock Steady Crew member DJ JS-1. The two old-schoolers were last in Australia 18 months ago for a triumphant

performance as The Magnificents alongside fellow veteran MC Supernatural at the Platform Hip Hop Festival at Carriageworks. When I remark on the success of this gig – and the fact that the last two places I’d seen him

Who: Rahzel & DJ JS1 Where: The Annandale Hotel When: Wednesday December 5

xxx photo by xxx

Adrian Lux has visited Australia several times over the last year or so, and has always played to rapt crowds. “The club and festival shows I played were all massive, and the crowds were getting into it,” he says. “I loved it. I think it’s a really cool country, and I feel really lucky to be able to go on tour to places like that.” He’s soon to return for next year’s Field Day, and I ask what exactly we can expect. “I’m hoping to premiere some new songs and new material, to try out some of the new stuff I’ve written,” he says. “I like to play a lot of my own stuff, so you’ll be hearing some exclusives and material you’ve never heard before, and I also like to play a lot of stuff by my friends. You have to come to the show to experience it for yourself!”

O

n first impressions, there isn’t much in common between Illy and, say, your average law school graduate. One is a golden boy of the Aussie hip hop scene, a flat cap-clad rapper whose singles have patiently knocked down any of the genre’s remaining barriers to mainstream radio airplay, yet whose sharp tongue has rarely succumbed to censure.

The other is a well-to-do private education type who favours lattes, golf and a good Windsor knot.

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Derrick May

H

aving made his Australian debut at a Deep Impressions party a few weeks back, Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti has dropped a new album, Kuopio, under his Vladislav Delay moniker, on Berlin label Raster-Noton. While Ripatti has made his name with a slew of different sonic personas, including Uusitalo, Luomo and Sistol, his work as Vladislav Delay is characterised by its subtle use of rhythms amid layers of dubby ambient soundscapes. Though it requires patience to appreciate the ‘VD charm’, listeners who persist are ultimately absorbed in the immersive soundscapes that Ripatti creates in the secluded environs of his home studio. Kuopio represents a further attempt to respond and channel the isolated charms of the Finnish landscape, with Ripatti using understated electronic manipulations, crisp snippets of percussion, and even the odd – shock horror! – chord change to create another interesting instalment in the Vladislav Delay cannon. While VD's work has been described as an experimental and unique take on shoegaze, I think ‘inward gaze’ is more apt – although seeing Vladislav work his synthesisers live demonstrated that his music should be appreciated on more than just a cerebral level. The layers of depth apparent on each track of Kuopio, and the interplay between music, noise and samples on the album, ensures it is a release that demands a bit of contemplation, and rewards listeners who do so. Seek it out.

Underrated Detroit producer Terrence Dixon recently released the sequel to his 2000 album, From The Far Future, entitled – wait for it – From The Far Future Part 2.

Described in some quarters as a “weird-ass record” (in the context of warped praise, mind you), Dixon himself said that the LP was “a statement album… a variety of tracks from a minimal point of view”. Both descriptions convey what the cognoscenti already know about Dixon: he is certainly a chap who mines his own (sonic) field. The release of From The Far Future Part 2 has prompted a re-release/reinterpretation of some of Dixon’s early EPs, namely 1995’s Minimalism Part 1, which has been remixed on the forthcoming Minimalism Re:Vision EP that includes reworks from Mike Huckaby, Silent Servant and DVS1. As the final release on Claude

Young’s influential but short-lived Utensil Records, the original understated record was one of Dixon’s first few releases, and remains a certified classic of Detroit minimal techno.

Huckaby’s remix possesses an upfront, drum machine-fuelled aggression, while Silent Servant’s rework introduces a powerful bassline of his own invention underneath the brooding atmosphere of the original.

DVS1’s interpretation juxtaposes seemingly endless percussion fills against dub chords for a result that would sound spectacular on a proper club system – or under a set of noisecancelling headphones.

On the subject of Detroit luminaries, Derrick ‘Strings Of Life’ May has announced a new double-disc mix CD, Beyond The Dance: Transmat 4, which is inexplicably only set for a Japan release at this stage. The tracklisting for the compilation features DVS1, Rennie Foster, Kenny Larkin and Greg Gow, and looks the goods – although there are no guarantees that it will receive an Australian release. May was quite upfront in praising the Japanese scene – and implicitly taking a swipe at the rest of us – when discussing his latest mix with Resident Advisor. After describing Japan as “the only place in the world that appreciates the music,” May elaborated that “there is nowhere in the world right now where people are actually being consumers. In Japan, you can still sell 10,000-15,000 records, be it vinyl, CD – whatever the format, you can sell product.”

May then wound up by asserting that in Japan, “there’s still just a touch of honor and respect left for the artist” – the subtext being that May gets treated like the deity he thinks himself to be when he is in that part of the world. Never mind the fact that he hasn’t done anything on the production front since the early Triassic period to endear himself to the next generation of clubbers… though, to be fair, he is still a formidable DJ. Anyhow, in light of May playing favourites with Japan for his forthcoming release, I’d recommend getting in touch with your friend living in Tokyo that you haven’t spoken to in 15 months, and asking them to send you over a copy of Beyond The Dance: Transmat 4 for Christmas. Heck, you deserve that much, don’t you?

LOOKING DEEPER LADA

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7-10 Subsonic Music Festival Barrington Tops

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7

LADA (Lars Hemmerling & Dasha Rush) Phoenix Bar

Four Tet The Metro Theatre

TUESDAY JANUARY 1 Luke Slater The Abercrombie

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com

Can you take photos?

Love the Inner West?

Join The Brag!!!

We are after one more dedicated, keen and reliable social photographer to join the team and help us capture the essence of the Sydney’s Inner West on our Snap pages.

You MUST: ■ Be available most evenings ■ Own camera & gear ■ Have a car ■ Be over 18 years of age (we’ll check!)

Photo by Sam Whiteside

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8

SOCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS WANTED inner west

Please send your application to: timphotodoco@gmail.com BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 49

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

club pick of the week Africa Hitech

The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Assembly Wednesdays Cadell, Softwar $10 8pm The Ranch Hotel, Eastwood Hump Presents Beach Party Stafford Brothers, Troy T, Chris Coast 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Cream Resident DJs free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Dismantle (UK), Gran Calavera, Brown v Black, Deckhead, Pablo Calamari, Clockwerk, Lights Out, Brothers Grimm, Taylor v Singha $5 9pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6

Y 10 FRIDAY 7–MONDA DECEMBER Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops

Subsonic Music Festival 2012 Blue King Brown, Africa Hitech, DJ Kentaro (JPN), Acid Pauli (GER), Adultnapper (USA), Worthy (USA), Christian Martin (USA), Catz ‘n Dogz, Opiuo (POL), Secret Cinema (NED), SQL (NED), The Bird, Red Bantoo, OKA, True Vibenation, Svelt, Shamik (CAN), Ryan Davis (GER), Nico Davis, Nico Stojan (GER), Eprom (USA), Parker (UK), AnTen-Nae (USA), Nu (GER), Dov (USA), Afro Nomad, Anna Leevia (BRA), Markey (GER), Hypnotech (USA), Pena (POR), Felix DaCat (GER), Dasha Rush (RUS), Mike Who, Murat Kilic, Gabby, Nic Scali, Morgan, Chris Honnery, Defined By Rhythm, DJ Tricky, Jordan Deck, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir, Mike Whitcombe, Phil Smart, Robbie Lowe, Simon Caldwell, YokoO and more $150 (+ bf) MONDAY DECEMBER 3 Scruffy Murphys, Haymarket Mother Of A Monday DJ Smokin Joe free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Latin Jazz Resident DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY DECEMBER 4 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel Salsa DJ Willie 50 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

Sabor free 8pm Scruffy Murphys, Haymarket Frat House DJs free 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday – Peats Ridge Pre-Party Resident DJs $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jam Jam DJs free 8pm

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5 Annandale Hotel Rahzel (USA), DJ JS-1 (USA), Def Wish Cast, Soul

Benefits, Party Crashers, Raine Supreme $40 8pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Sosueme The Beards, The Griswolds, Alison Wonderland, DJ Joyride, Devola free 8pm Epping Hotel DTF Resident DJs free 8pm Ivy, Sydney Salsa At Ivy DJ Dwight ‘Chocolate’ Escobar free 7pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway Frat House Wednesdays Mean Dartin, Camo, Ra Bazaar free 5pm The Lewisham Hotel Garbage 90s Nights Resident DJs free 7pm

The Abercrombie, Broadway Hologram Hologram DJs free 9pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi FBi Sunset DJs free 8pm The Cool Room, Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursdays Resident DJs 8pm The Flinders, Darlinghurst Bananas Resident DJs free 8pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Hi-Beams Resident DJs free 8pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney World’s End Press, Collarbones, Polographia $12 (+ bf) 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Greenwood Thursdays Resident DJs free 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Omar Souleyman (Syria), Richard In Your Mind (Duo), Honky Kong DJ $35 (+ bf) 8pm Oxford Art Factory - Gallery Bar, Darlinghurst Allday, Seven & Mr Hill, Ruthless $10 (+ bf) 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Swag Resident DJs $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Propaganda DJs free (student)–$5 8pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 The Abercrombie, Broadway Totally Barry Bad Barry DJs free 9pm Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Sucker Punch Nightmare, Hoodlmz, Towers, Rymz, M9, Real Talk, Cal French, Shaven Pus $10 9pm Cherry, The Star, Pyrmont Ajax free 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia Glovecats, Kyro & Bomber, Taylor Wolf, Detektives, Big Deal Gillespe, Jwell, Chickflick $15-$25 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Gimme Five Fridays Shamus, DJ Mike Silver free 5pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Acid Stag Presents XXXMas Elizabeth Rose, Softwar, Olympic Ayres, Jubilants DJs, Antoine Vice, Debonair $25 8pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Pelvis $5 11pm Inner City Venue, Sydney House Your Soul Presents Karizma (USA), Mr-X, George Kristopher, MikeKon $30 9pm

Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Strut The Streets Afterparty Bluejuice 12pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago, DJ Rain Julz free 9pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont HookNSling 8pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays - Mashed Bongo Liro free 8pm Omega Lounge, City Tattersalls Club, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Parachute Youth, Clubfeet $18 (+ bf) 8pm Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst LADA Live Dasha Rush & Lars Hemmerling (GER), Daragh Byrne, Gareth, Jordan Peters $25 (+ bf) 10pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Teen Spirit - Stress Less/ Dress Less Summer Party Teen Spirit DJs $10 9pm Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops Subsonic Music Festival 2012 Blue King Brown, Africa Hitech, DJ Kentaro (JPN), Acid Pauli (GER), Adultnapper (USA), Worthy (USA), Christian Martin (USA), Catz ‘n Dogz, Opiuo (POL), Secret Cinema (NED), SQL (NED), The Bird, Red Bantoo, OKA, True Vibenation, Svelt, Shamik (CAN), Ryan Davis (GER), Nico Davis, Nico Stojan (GER), Eprom (USA), Parker (UK), An-Ten-Nae (USA), Nu (GER), Dov (USA), Afro Nomad, Anna Leevia (BRA), Markey (GER), Hypnotech (USA), Pena (POR), Felix DaCat (GER), Dasha Rush (RUS), Lo-Ki, Bentley, Coco Varma, Mike Who, Murat Kilic, Gabby, Nic Scali, Morgan, Adam Swain, Adi B, Afro Galaktik, Alan Thomas, Azza Huasca, Bass Bin Laden, Ben Drayton, Bumble, Chris Honnery, Daniel Crocetti, Dave Stuart, Defined

By Rhythm, DJ Tricky, Dylan Griffin, Eegor, Foreigndubm, Franchi Bros, Garage Pressure, Gemma Van D, Ghettafunkt, Hypercolour, Jay Smalls, JML, Jordan Deck, Kerry Wallace, Kid Fiction, Kimba, Kodiak Kid, Kyson, Lewba, Luko Fiasco, Matt Weir, Max Gosford, Meare, Mesan, Mike Whitcombe, Muska, Peret Mako, Phil Smart, Ricky Gallagher, Robbie Lowe, Robohan, Scruffy Goat, Shades Of Gray, Simon Caldwell, Sofie Loizou, Steve Sonius, Suspekt, Tahl, The Cook, Timmus, Trenta, U-One, Volta, Wodger, YokoO $150 (+ bf) Space Nightclub, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm The Wolf Bar, Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Digital Therapy Matt Bowdidge (UK), Big J, Rossco, Moody Bay, Taras $10-$15 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM: Don’t Stay Home Alone! Select Music Christmas Party 2012 Nants, Andy Bull, The Preatures, Step-Panther, Toucan, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, The Walking Who, DJ Jake Stone, Hungary Kids Of Hungary DJs, The Holidays DJs, Rufus DJs, DZ Deathrays DJs, DJ Elizabeth Rose $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8

SUNDAY JUNE 24

Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Sampology (DJ Set), Devola, Silver Age, Maia free 8pm

Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst Deathstarrs, Johnny Utah, Deadbeat & Hazy, Sammy G $10 9pm Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Disco Disco Sherlock Bones, Ray Von, Stalker, Dirty Little Secrets, Front To Back, Double Dunk Disco, Grizzly, Prolifix, Acid Mouth $20 9pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf Kick On Resident DJs free 6pm Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Todd Terje (NOR), Future Classic DJs, Ze $25 (+ bf) 10pm Club 77, Darlinghurst Starfuckers Starfuckers DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Yellow Sox DJ Toby Neal free 8pm Establishment, Sydney Sienna Saturdays Def Rok, Troy T, Lilo, Regz, Joey Kaz 8pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Hands Up! Staggman free 11.30pm Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale &Co Mark N, LSDJ, Naughty Noise, Victim, Harper, Highly Dubious, Truaba, Retali8, James Daak $7 12pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Goldfish 4th Birthday Chuck Lowe, Illya, Matt Roberts, Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly, Mars Monero, 2Phat Jackin DJs $20 (+ bf) 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney We Sell Soul! Yo Grito! DJs $5 11.59pm Ivy, Sydney Pacha Sneaky Sound System, Denzal Park, Black Angus, Mo’Funk, Chris Fraser, Matt Nugent, Devola, Cassette, Marc Jarvin, Sam Roberts, Murray Lake, James Fazzolari, Trent Rackus, GMOD $35 8pm Ivy Bar, Sydney Chinese Laundry Garden Party Nick Warren (UK), Henry Saiz (ESP), Bella Sarris, Raulll, Rodskeez $45 (+ bf) 12pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney She’s 8th Birthday Party Oh Glam, Robbie Santiago, Hannah Gibbs, Cameron Cooper, Recess, Chivalry $25 12pm Jacksons On George, Sydney Lunacy DJ Michael Stewart, DJ Simon Laing free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Resident DJs 9pm The Lady Rose, Aquarium Wharf, Darling Harbour High Tide Hot Since 82 (UK), Hal Incandenza (ESP), Softwar, Whitecat, Antoine Vice, About Jack, Space Junk, Mattrad, Soup Kitchen DJs, Passions, Dan Baartz, James Cripps $50 (+ bf) 12pm Marrickville Location As If Murray Lake, Fabric Samples, Tom Oliver, Salt DJs $15 8pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Mind Electric 8pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Four Tet (UK), Jonti, Albatross $44 8pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm One22, Sydney Charades Christmas Party Shivers, Ditto (NZ), Hannah Gibbs, Pharley, U-Khan vs Sam Watkins, Lad Man 6 $10-$15 10pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst 808 Hot Pink Delorean (USA), V & Z, Karma Coma, Nat Noize vs Fiktion, Coven DJs, Everto $30 (+ bf) 9pm

club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com Penrith Hotel Relentless Deadbeat DJs, 3 Bit DJs, Front To Back, Miss K. Cee, Jack Savage $5-$10 10pm Phoneix Bar, Darlinghurst Up Dayclub Resident DJs $15 5am PJ’s Irish Pub, Parramatta Miller City Sessions Pete Gooding (UK) $10 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Resident DJs 8pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Masif Saturdays Resident DJs 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Gabby, Murat Kilic, Kali $20 10pm Sydney Olympic Park Bass Control 2012 Gunz For Hire (NL), Paul Elstak (NL), Mad Dog (IT), Endymion (NL), Da Tweekaz (NL), Ran – D (NL), Adaro (NL), Hixxy (UK), Paul Elstak (NL), Brisk (UK), Dark By Design (UK), Nitrouz, Hard Dance Alliance, S Dee, Nik Fish, Kid Finley, Arbee, Steve Hill, Suae, Pulsar, Xdream, Hsb, Matrix, Nomad,

Nasty, Kamikaze, Dillytek, Nik Import, VLN, Astral, Forenzic, Husband, MC Napsta, S3rl, Cotts, Weaver, JTS, Ravine, Analog, Erase MC, MC D, MC Losty $59– $99 1pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Trademark Saturdays Resident DJs 9pm 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 DECEMBER 9 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays S.A.S.H DJs 2pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills

Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 3pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Marco Polo Doctor Dru (GER), Adana Twins $20 1pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Gay Sydney Reunited - The T’Dance DJ Brent Nicholla, DJ Lexie Bradfield $64 4pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sets DJ Tone free 7pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst DJ Kentaro (JPN), Mike Who, Typhonic, Frenzie, Bentley $25 (+ bf) 8pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Daydreams Daydreams DJs 4.30am The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice After Hours Kali, Murat Kilic $20 4am The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Afternoon DJs Candidate free 2pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Soup Kitchen Soup Kitchen DJs free 8pm

club picks up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5 Annandale Hotel Rahzel (USA), DJ JS-1 (USA), Def Wish Cast, Soul Benefits, Party Crashers, Raine Supreme $40 (+ bf) 8pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Assembly Wednesdays Cadell, Softwar $10 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Dismantle (UK), Gran Calavera, Brown v Black, Deckhead, Pablo Calamari, Clockwerk, Lights Out, Brothers Grimm, Taylor v Singha $5 9pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6 Goodgod Small Club, Sydney World’s End Press, Collarbones, Polographia $12 (+ bf) 8pm Oxford Art Factory – Gallery Bar, Darlinghurst Allday, Seven & Mr Hill, Ruthless $10 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia Glovecats, Kyro & Bomber, Taylor Wolf, Detektives, Big Deal Gillespe, Jwell, Chickflick $15-$25 10pm

Park, Black Angus, Mo’Funk, Chris Fraser, Matt Nugent, Devola, Cassette, Marc Jarvin, Sam Roberts, Murray Lake, James Fazzolari and more $35-$40 8pm Ivy Bar, Sydney Chinese Laundry Garden Party Nick Warren (UK), Henry Saiz (ESP), Bella Sarris, Raulll, Rodskeez $45 (+ bf) 12pm The Lady Rose, boarding from Aquarium Wharf, Darling Harbour High Tide Hot Since 82 (UK), Hal Incandenza (ESP), Softwar, Whitecat, Antoine Vice, About Jack, Space Junk, Mattrad, Soup Kitchen DJs, Passions, Dan Baartz, James Cripps $50 (+ bf) 12pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Four Tet (UK), Jonti, Albatross $44 8.30pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst 808 Hot Pink Delorean (USA), V & Z, Karma Coma, Nat Noize vs Fiktion, Coven DJs, Everto $30 (+ bf) 9pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Gabby, Murat Kilic, Kali $20 10pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 9 Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst DJ Kentaro (JPN), Mike Who, Typhonic, Frenzie, Bentley $25 (+ bf) 8pm Sampology

FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Acid Stag Presents XXXMas Elizabeth Rose, Softwar, Olympic Ayres, Jubilants DJs, Antoine Vice, Debonair $25 8pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Parachute Youth, Clubfeet $18 (+ bf) 8pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Sampology (DJ Set), Devola, Silver Age, Maia free 8pm Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Todd Terje (NOR), Future Classic DJs, Ze $25 (+ bf) 10pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Goldfish 4th B'day Chuck Love, Illya, Matt Roberts, Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly, Mars Monero, 2Phat Jackin DJs $20 (+ bf) 6pm Ivy, Sydney Pacha Sneaky Sound System, Denzal

BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 51

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tuka

PICS :: MC

up all night out all week . . .

land of the giants

24:11:12 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

It’s called: acid stag presents: XXXMAS It sounds like: Disco on acid.

Who’s playing? Elizabeth Rose, Softwar, Olymp ic Ayres, Debonair, Antoine Vice (Moonchild) and Jubilants DJs. Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Elizab eth Rose – ‘Again (ft. Sinden)'; Softwar – ‘This Time Around'; Olympic Ayres – ‘The View’.

And one you definitely won’t: Skrillex – ‘Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites’.

Sell it to us: Local music blog acid stag is ending the year with a bang, by throwing the ultimate Christmas disco at Sydney’s home of great music, FBi Social. XXXMAS will see some of Sydney’s best beat-makers take the stage to throw down grindinducing grooves. Headlining the night will be globally recognised producer and siren Elizabeth Rose, fresh off the back of collab orating with Sinden and releasing debut EP, Crystallise.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The stag dancer…

Crowd specs: Indie, electro and disco junkie s.

Wallet damage: $25 (+ bf) Where: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel When: Friday December 7

melbourne deepcast

PICS :: AM

party profile

xxxmas

PICS :: TL

03:11:12 :: Annandale Hotel :: 17 Paramatta Rd Annandale 9550 1078

stereosonic after party 24:11:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

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bass mafia

23:11:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

52 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

PICS :: AM

23:11:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

:: MARYJANE CASWELL :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: AMANDA MCALISTER :: THOMAS PEACHY :: GEORGE KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR POPOV :: PEDRO XAVIER ::

H.O.S.H TIGER & WOODS DIYNAMIC, DE

SOFT WAR FUTURE CLASSIC

ITA

SLOWBLOW MODULAR

MURAT KILIC SPICE

NEW YEARS MORNING SUNRISE CRUISE 4AM-10AM ( BOARDING 3:30AM )

TUES 01.01.13 : RECKLESSREPUBLIC.COM BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12 :: 53

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23:11:12 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

hold tight!

PICS :: PX

slowblow 3rd birthday

PICS :: PX

up all night out all week . . .

propaganda

PICS :: GP

23:11:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

hi-beams

PICS :: KC

brother ali

PICS :: MC

22:11:12 :: The World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

radioslave

PICS :: PX

22:11:12 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

24:11:12 :: The Goldfish :: 111 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross 8354 6630 :: MARYJANE CASWELL :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MAS PEACHY :: GEORGE THO :: ER LIST MCA :: AMANDA KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR POPOV :: PEDRO XAVIER ::

54 :: BRAG :: 491 :: 03:12:12

22:11:12 :: The Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville 9550 3666

DRINK INTELLIGENTLY The SMIRNOFF ICE and DOUBLE BLACK words and associated logos are trademarks. © The Smirnoff Co. 2012.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE PRESENTS

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3-13 JAN / TICKETS $45* Armed with tattered wisdom, cheap whiskey and unlicensed firearms, Australia’s favourite musical comedy trio say they’ve grown up and become men. See for yourself in this longawaited Sydney premiere!

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