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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Mina Kitsos and Rebecca Whitman
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five things WITH
DYLAN OLLIVIERRE FROM RAINY DAY WOMEN Growing Up There was always music 1. around at home. Mum and Dad
Dylan and music from later eras came in my late teens.
have pretty good taste in music (for the most part). Growing up, it was lots of Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne. After I went through my gangsta rap stage and my angst stage, I really started to appreciate those artists. My dad took me to RockIt Festival when I was 12. That made me really want to play at a festival one day.
Your Band I tend to write mostly by 3. myself. I usually have a clear
Inspirations Fleetwood Mac, Chili 2. Peppers, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Silverchair. I was absolutely obsessed with the Chilis as a kid and I still adore those albums today. I think when you’re a kid you just like something or you don’t like it. You don’t take into account why you like it. I just loved that band and I can’t remember why. My obsession with Mac and Bob
wish we lived in California in the ’60s and bumped around with The Beach Boys and co. I think Hungry Kids of Hungary are the closest contemporary band doing what I’m going for.
vision and want to stay as true to that vision as possible. Having said that, the idea of collaborating more is appealing to me now. I just had to test myself and be completely true to myself without letting too many other opinions sway me. I can defi nitely see the benefi ts or opportunities in collaborating but it’s just not what I’ve wanted to do with RDW in the past. The Music You Make Melody is the thing I pay 4. most attention to. People tend to refer to our music as sunny pop and I agree with that for the most part. I always try to make our music sound like it’s from the ’60s, but I guess because of the fact that we’re not in the ’60s it doesn’t sound exactly that way. I
Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. It’s pretty easy to be in a ‘band’ these days. Because of that there’s lots of great music out there as everyone’s giving it a shot, but there’s also a lot of not-so-good music. It’s really cool to see bands that really deserve recognition begin to gain momentum, like The Preatures for example. I think the biggest detriment of the music overload is that bands have to ‘sell’ who they are with one song. They need to try and sell all that they are about in three minutes. I’m all up for any band that’s giving it a good shot! Where: Upstairs Beresford When: Friday September 20
SURF CITY
EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS EDITOR: Lisa Omagari lisa@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss NEWS: Chris Honnery, Mina Kitsos, Rebecca Whitman, Victoria Shehadie ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Capital H AKA Henry Leung, Amath Magnan, Ashley Mar, Daniel Rouse ADVERTISING: Bianca Lockley - 0412 581 669 / (02) 9212 4322 bianca@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Rob Furst GENERAL MANAGER, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600, 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au (03) 9428 3600
Attention Australia: Here’s another Kiwi act to claim as our own before everyone else catches on. Surf City offer reverb-drenched pop with loops that boast an Animal Collective nostalgia, and fuzz that thrusts you into psychedelic dreamscapes. We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This sees the band mature into a lusher sound, with progressive lyricism making waves on tracks. Pitchfork is already on board, their writer admitting, “Surf City’s pleasure for pleasure’s sake approach already has me pining for more.” Grab your tickets to their show on Thursday November 21 at Goodgod before surf’s up.
ALICIA KEYS
This December will see Alicia Keys blaze through Australia with her Set The World On Fire tour, accompanied by her special guest John Legend. The Grammy Award-winning duo will perform alongside their full bands and blast out some soulful power pop favourites, such as Keys’ multi-platinum selling ‘Girl On Fire’. Snap up some tickets from 9am this Friday September 20 for the Allphones Arena show on Wednesday December 11 or Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley on Saturday December 14.
AWESOME INTERNS: Mina Kitsos, Rachel Eddie, Olivia Kadir, James Dunlop, Nick Timms, Helen Vienne, Lucy Smith, Rebecca Whitman
DON WALKER
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ben Cooper, Marissa Demetriou, Rachel Eddie, Christie Eliezer, Chris Honnery, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Jody Macgregor, Alicia Malone, Daniel Prior, Hugh Robertson, Jonno Seidler, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Alex Sutcliffe, Simon Topper, Rick Warner, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby, David Wild Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: 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). Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045. All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L/ Furst Media P/L 2003-2013 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get The BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600. PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204
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ESKIMO JOE
“Inuit! Inuit!” Yes, we knew it too. Your favourite band are back in town, so you’re probably going to have to touch up your black fingernails and refill your glass of red wine. Eskimo Joe have re-emerged from their metaphorical songwriting igloo with a new ice-breaking, synth-saturated sound. Wastelands sees the Perth three-piece pitching a more conversational tone, with drummer Joel Quartermain describing the lead single ‘Got What You Need’ as “the sound of having a D&M with your girlfriend at a crazy house party.” Frontman Kav Temperley’s signature falsetto underpins their eclectic voyage, with a spree of melodic cuts you’ll have no trouble singing along to at their Metro Theatre show on Friday October 25.
GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: James Dunlop, Olivia Kadir, Rebecca Whitman, Mina Kitsos, Helen Vienne - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)
EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of The BRAG.
Eskimo Joe
Rockwiz Cast
ROCKWIZ LIVE
RockWiz is back with another spell of live slots, this time to celebrate iconic Aussie songwriters Harry Vanda and George Young. Whip out your white flares and hair gel and brush up on the hits by these pub rock pioneers: ‘Friday On My Mind’, ‘Love Is In The Air’ and ‘Yesterday’s Hero’ are all sure-fire reprises. The Angels, Rose Tattoo, The Choirboys and AC/DC, all owe a chunk of their success to the songwriting and production mastery of the duo, and now you can bask in the reflected glory when the RockWiz Salutes Vanda & Young tour hits the Enmore Theatre on Friday December 6.
It’s common knowledge that a rhyming phrase instantly means something is more festive or creative than any plain old non-rhymeychimey (see: any nursery rhyme or classic lyric). Don Walker and his band The Suave Fucks have taken note – they’ve just released Hully Gully, a concoction of dark stories, hope and humour, and are touring the east coast to celebrate. Walker, who came to fame with Cold Chisel, brings a Vegemite-tinged rawness to the recordings, with this latest album touted as “musings on the lives of ordinary men; smokers, drinkers, optimists, cynics, a hopeless romantic, an afternoon playing pool.” Catch him on Saturday November 2 at the Camelot Lounge.
MORE BRAGG
Not to be mistaken for the world’s greatest music magazine (which you now clutch lovingly in your hands), folk rock veteran Billy Bragg is back on the scene for his first full band tour in five years. A career spanning 36 years, the paragon muso has just released his new album, Tooth & Nail, prompted by fresh inspiration and boasting a revitalised sound. In a collision of icons, the self-proclaimed ‘Sherpa of Heartbreak’ will bring his latest serenades to the Sydney Opera House. The new tracks have been produced by the same crew that spun together tunes for Bon Iver, Lana Del Ray and Regina Spektor, blending mellow blues with optimistic soul. Pen Sunday March 16 into your diaries.
Jack Johnson
JACK JOHNSON
Whether or not you’ve been sitting, waiting, wishing, Jack Johnson is touring the world with his new From Here To Now To You tour, kicking off this month with sold-out dates across Europe and the US, before returning to Australia this December. He’ll be joined by supports Paula Fuga and John Cruz, who’ll complement the ‘island style’ theme to the tour with some Hawaiian soul. As usual we can expect performances of some good old favourites as well as new material from Johnson’s sixth studio album. He plays the new Sydney Opera House Forecourt on Tuesday December 10, and 100 per cent of his tour profits go to charity.
thebrag.com
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VICTORIA
N E W S O U T H WA L E S
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Until
Until U ntil
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I N A L P H A B E T I CA L O R D E R
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the correspondents s hot 8 brass band hot dub time machine s late nite tuff guy s legs akimbo mountain mocha kilimanjaro s tom thum
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rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Mina Kitsos and Rebecca Whitman
five things WITH
Growing Up Both my father and mother wrote and 1. performed music; Dad was in a touring band
The Music You Make Neil Baldock from Roundhead Studios 4. in Auckland produced the new record Feed
called The Weight and both were a part of the folk music movement – jug bands around NZ. I have three older brothers who all play music also – Will played drums in my other band Motocade and Jol has his own band titled Mulholland. We have played together in a band called The Mots. We pretty much learned to play by ear, the emphasis on playing music growing up was to write your own songs, improvisation and jamming together. Music became a compulsion rather than a calling.
The Beast – he was awarded Engineer of the Year for 2012 in the NZ Music Awards. I’ve worked with Neil since the Motocade days. He has a passionate, intense approach to production and will work for as long as it takes. I recorded most of the parts myself at home and in the studio. The trick after recording is to figure out how the hell I’m gonna make it sound like that live. It generally involves triggering textures and samples on a traditional guitar/drums/vox/ bass framework.
role in my approach to composition. The work we create together and the music born from collaboration is such a rich source of inspiration. Working with dancers and directors challenges me to explore different writing practices and new ways to approach what I think could be a pop song.
3.
Your Band The core of the band is me and drummer Ricky Birmingham. We spent a few months playing as a duo. We now also have close friend Geordie McCallum (Motocade), a guitarist who adds another layer of complexity, gives us scope for a much bigger sound. I met Ricky B at a Mushroom writers’ evening; I was scoping for a drummer and one thing led to another.
While your ten-year-old self was fiddling with the input plugs on your 8-bit console and crying over your highly negligent tooth fairy, Joey Cape by that age had already begun sharpening his music chops and honing in on his craft. The past two decades have seen him lending his songwriting and six-string dexterity to a diverse range of acts, from Lagwagon to Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and more recently Scorpios, a project founded by Cape and the late Tony Sly of No Use For A Name. This October, The Caper will head down to Oz with fellow Scorpion Brian Wahlstrom for an eight-show tribute to their late bandmate. Their slick rock and acoustic flair will fill the Annandale Hotel on Thursday October 31.
BEACH FOSSILS
Following spring 2013’s heatwave-fuelled middle finger to the end of winter, many makeshift archaeologists have sifted through sandy coastal strips to find the highly coveted Beach Fossils. Someone should probably tell them that Beach Fossils are actually a band, and a hell of a discovery should they wish to
Peace
EDEN MULHOLLAND
Inspirations My choreographer friends, especially 2. my best friend Malia Johnston, play a huge
JOEY CAPE
email: freestuff@thebrag.com
Music, Right Here, Right Now The biggest obstacle is the challenge of 5. getting distracted. My favourite achievements so far are always the ones that totally absorbed me, that I had to work for and weren’t necessarily commercially successful. I figure if I’m totally into what I’m writing, then if someone else is too, it’s a real bonus. I saw Beirut play in Auckland. Best gig I’ve ever seen. They played their encore outside the venue, unamplified, standing on a park bench totally surrounded by an enraptured audience. It was almost a religious experience. With: Lanterns, Jol Mulholland Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday September 20
THE SNOWDROPPERS
“Shit fucken’ yeah!” The Snowdroppers are back on the road for another quick lap of the country to celebrate second LP Moving Out Of Eden before bunkering down into the studio for their next effort. They reinvented their sound after Too Late To Pray, but no fret – it was definitely for the better, showcasing some good old Aussie rock’n’roll sounds that will have you on your feet all night. You can catch this dirty and debaucherous foursome at the Annandale Hotel on Saturday September 21. We’ve got two double passes to the gig up for grabs – email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us what you’d take from Eden’s tree of temptation.
dig up some tastemaking tunes instead. Their visceral live shows and savvy new sounds will stir up The Standard on Friday September 20. Other upcoming acts include The Guppies, Busy Kingdom, Horegeous, Karl Marx, The Delta Riggs, The Break, Lightning Bolt and Mac DeMarco.
TWIN BEASTS
Formerly known as The Toot Toot Toots, the quintet from Melbourne now more snappily named Twin Beasts have carved out a busy past 12 months, playing big gigs such as Meredith Music Festival (plus a whole sold-out season at the Spiegeltent), and they’re ready to do it all again as they announce The Beast and West Coast Tour. Their catchy new single ‘Badlove’ is off the pending album (to be released in February 2014), which has been produced with ARIA nominated producer Burke Reid. The eighteendate tour commences early October and will cruise through Australia until December, stopping off at The Steyne in Manly on Thursday October 17 and The Commons in Newcastle on Friday November 1.
Tully On Tully
TULLY ON TULLY
Tully on Tully have been likened to the result of what would happen if “Kate Nash fronted Editors, but in a good way”. Lead vocalist Natalie Foster’s beautiful mellifluous (and slightly better pronounced than Kate Nash’s) vocals mix well with the four-piece band behind her – their sound is light while their style is adorably ’50s. Find them at FBi Social on Saturday September 19, and listen out for their newly independently released debut EP single Weightless, which is now available on iTunes.
GOOD OAK
Time to stop playing Good Oak, bad oak. Mainly because that isn’t actually a thing. The band Good Oak sold out their inaugural headline show at Black Bear Lodge, and continued that streak with all others selling out, just as we anticipated they wood. Jokes aside, they also supported The Cat Empire on the QLD leg of their Steal The Light World Tour. Sharing a love for roots music and Americana, Ryano, Gibbo and Buzz (as in Busby Marou’s Buzz) have combined their musical talents and thrown in some harp and honey-laden harmonies, proving that scruffy guys with beards are most definitely not confined to screamo outfits and indie fashion lines. Good Oak have already scored slots at River Sessions, Bleach Festival, Oxford St Party and Gympie Muster, and will hit FBi Social on Saturday September 28.
Little Bastard
LITTLE BASTARD
Good Oak
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Somehow managing to incorporate guitars, fiddles, bass, banjo, mandolin, percussion, plus a load of voices and a harmonica thrown in for good measure, “old-time punk jangle” band Little Bastard are a lively seven-piece band who’re actually pretty decent. Formed in Sydney in 2012, the boys have been causing quite a stir in the local music scene ever since. If you’re ready to get dishevelled and disorderly, head down to Brighton Up Bar on Friday November 8 where the Bastards are headlining the night.
thebrag.com
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Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR * He took his time getting here but US rapper The Game is the latest import wanting to buy a place in Sydney. “Sydney has been beautiful, love it,” he told Nova FM, adding he would have kangaroos on the property. * Arctic Monkeys, who are heading to Oz next year, could end up having the fastest-selling album of 2013 in the UK, chart compiler The Official Charts Company reckons. AM sold 97,000 copies in the first two days, which if that keeps up, could beat Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (which clocked up 165,000 in its first week and is currently the fastest-selling album of 2013). * Comments made on panels at BIGSOUND: “First time I was nude on
stage? …What kind of stage?” (Amanda Palmer). Commercial radio domestic quota is “far too low” and “should be more like triple j” (Michael Chugg), “triple j plays a minimum of 40 per cent Australian content, often up to 50 per cent (j’s Nick Findlay). “Don’t wait for a call from Simon Cowell. The only way to do it is to fucking do it!” (Billy Bragg). From the International panel, “Don’t suck!” (courtesy MusicSA). * FBi Turns 10 at Carriageworks, which drew 8,000, was so magical that some are insisting the station should run something like it every year. * Daryl Braithwaite is back at Sony Music, and releasing an eight-track mini album called Forever The Tourist on Friday October 4. * Machine Head singer Robb Flynn was not impressed when Avenged Sevenfold’s Hail To The
MUSICIANS PLAN INDUSTRY CAMPAIGN The newly formed Australian Freelance Musicians Alliance (AFMA) holds a public meeting at 6pm on Monday September 16 at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre, 37 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills. It will canvas opinions and ideas on what key issues face freelance musicians, and how to put together a plan of action. AFMA is an offshoot of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance which got into the fight to secure musicians’ fees after the Peats Ridge Festival went bellyup. An AFMA Facebook page has been set up at facebook.com/ozfreelancemusos.
JOB INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK A 21-year-old Welshman, Alan Bacon, was one of nine who got to the final job interview
King reached #1 in the UK and US. He congratulated them on their latest “covers album”, and added: “Who knew that re-recording Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Megadeth songs could be a worldwide hit? Ba-dap psssss!” * Former Annandale Hotel owners Matt and Dan Rule, whose Music, Booze & Stuff company continued to book the venue under new owners Oscar from last month, now also book Marrickville’s The Vic and Newtown’s Marly Bar. * The National added a second Sydney Opera House show. * In response to the Last Drinks At 12 organisation’s push to close Byron Bay venues by midnight, 23-year-old bartender Josh Latinovich set up a Save Our Night Lives Facebook page. It got 600 ‘likes’ in the first 24 hours.
at the Cardiff branch of UK retailer Currys. He studied up for a week on the company’s background and what he could offer the firm. He was astounded when told the final decision not to hire him was based on how he danced to Daft Punk’s ‘Around The World’ at an interviewer’s request. Currys later apologised and asked him to return. Bacon, umm, turned them down.
RISING O/S SALES FOR TAME IMPALA Tame Impala continue to attack the overseas markets. While the Lonerism album streaks towards platinum in Australia, it has gone gold in Europe (sales of 80,000) and silver in the UK (60,000) where it debuted at #14. In the US, where it had come in at #34, it won Record of the Year at the inaugural Record
Store Day Adapter Prize and the band placed in US Rolling Stone’s Greatest Live Acts In The World list. Lonerism has sold 285,000 copies worldwide.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS #1: SONY MUSIC RECORDING SESSIONS Four Sony Music recording sessions are up for grabs in health food maker Sanitarium’s Weet-Bix ‘Bix’ incentive program. The sessions allow aspiring acts the chance to record up to five tracks in a state-of-the-art studio with the help of Sony’s team who’ll also produce cover artwork for the resulting EPs. Go to weetbix.com.au/bix.
MILEY’S NAKED ‘WRECKING BALL’ VIDEO BREAKS RECORD To absolutely no-one’s surprise Miley Cyrus swung her way into the history books with her new ‘Wrecking Ball’ video – the one in which she appears nude. In 24 hours it wracked up 19.3 million views on Vevo. It stomped all over the previous champs, One Direction, whose ‘Best Song Ever’ racked up 12.3 million views in one day in July.
SUPPORT ACT HONOURS THE SAPPHIRES The Sapphires, the all-girl group of the ’60s who inspired the hit movie, are this year’s recipients of Support Act Ltd’s annual charity award. The Music in the House luncheon on Friday October 11, at NSW Parliament House, is to recognise their work in the indigenous community. After The Sapphires ended in the ’70s, Dr. Naomi Mayers OA (she got the Order of Australia in 1984) became CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Service for 30 years. Beverly Briggs and Laurel Robinson worked tirelessly by her side. Following a stint as Australia’s first Aboriginal model, Lois Peeler became the Executive Director of Worawa Aboriginal College, a secondary education facility for young Aboriginal women, and also headed Aboriginal Tourism Australia. Jessica Mauboy will perform at the luncheon honouring charitable work. Tickets are $165 a head or $1500 for a table of 10. Bookings at trybooking.com/59552 or download the booking form from supportact.com/events.
IHEARTRADIO APPS ARRIVE A month after launching free digital radio service iHeartRadio, the Australian Radio Network (ARN) introduced its app on iPhone and Android. The app allows customers access to 1,000 live stations from Australia, NZ and the US, the chance to create personalised stations from 16 million songs by 400,000 artists, and choose from thousands of curated stations based on their moods and activities. The app was downloaded 210 million times in the US.
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DEADLY WINNERS
Sep
Music winners at the Deadlys held at the Sydney Opera House last week were: Jessica Mauboy (female artist, single release), Archie Roach (best album, lifetime contribution for healing the Stolen Generations), Troy Cassar-Daley (male artist), Street Warriors (band) and Yung Warriors (hip hop act).
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St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has signed ticketing provider Moshtix as its ticketing partner this year, following on from Merivale Group and Oxford Art Factory. Moshtix, which is now owned by managing director Harley Evans, also renewed its partnership with Perth promoter and venue operator Boomtick.
CHANGES FOR BUTTERFLY EFFECT The Butterfly Effect appointed as their manager Tom Larkin of Homesurgery (Calling All Cars, Strangers, Cairo Knife Fight) and Wildfire Agency’s Mark Lackey as agent.
ARE YOU A FAN OF DAD (AND MUM) ROCK? Feel like vomiting when you hear Mum and Dad’s Pink Floyd, Status Quo and Engelbert Humperdinck records? Don’t worry, you’ll end up loving them! A study published in Psychological Science says that the songs you love when you’re in your early 20s have the greatest lasting impact. But it adds that twentysomethings will like the music they heard when they were growing up because they have an emotional attachment to it. Uh, one, uh, two, down down, deeper and down…
SELECT EXPANDS ROSTER Select Music has signed on NSW singersongwriter Dustin Tebbutt, Melbourne’s Eagle and the Worm and Apes, Brisbane duo Holy Holy, fast-rising Adelaide rapper Tkay Maidza and Perth electro trio Crooked Colours.
PLAYING FOR CHANGE DAY On Saturday September 21 musicians around Australia gather to perform and raise money for the Playing For Change Foundation – committed to creating positive change through music and arts education. In Sydney, three major events are planned. See playingforchange.org for details. After opening nine schools abroad, the PFC Foundation intends to set one up in Australia, in an indigenous community in NT or SA.
Lifelines Divorced: Ben Harper and actress Laura Dern. They got together in 2000, married five years later, and he filed for divorce in 2010. They tried to give it another try last year but will now share custody of son Ellery Walker, 12, and daughter Jaya, 8. Married: Brit rapper Professor Green and Made In Chelsea actress Millie Mackintosh. Hospitalised: Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres needed an emergency appendectomy in Mexico City, forcing them to reschedule four South American shows. Ill: record producer Jack Osbourne’s wife Lisa Stelly suffered a late-term miscarriage. Osbourne, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, was announced recently as a cast member of the US Dancing With The Stars. Sued: Nicki Minaj by reclusive US electronic producer Clive Tanaka who says that her seven-million selling ‘Starships’ (2012) was nicked from his ‘Neu Chicago’ (2010) which had 100,000 YouTube views and was used in two TV ads in Scandinavia. In Court: the Lady Gaga versus her former personal assistant Jennifer O’Neill case will be heard on November 4. O’Neill reckons she was underpaid. A jury will decide if the singer was “so demanding” that she was on call 24/7 and had no time for herself. O’Neill claims Gaga made her sleep in her room on tour so she could attend to all her demands, including waking her up once to change a DVD. She got paid US$50,000 for the first year, and $75,000 the second. In Court: Village People singer Victor Willis got back rights to 33 songs he wrote or co-wrote, including ‘Y.M.C.A’ and ‘In The Navy’. Under a copyright law from 1978, he’s exercised his termination rights, which allow creators to establish control over works they had signed away after a 35-year period. He was the first to do so successfully; Bob Dylan and Tom Petty have similar cases pending. In Court: Gold Coast nightclub Howl at the Moon was told by the Brisbane Supreme Court to pay almost $1.4 million in damages to a patron assaulted by a barman on December 8, 2006. Andrew Jon Lamble was attending a work Christmas party there when scuffles broke out between staff and his workmates. He was hit with a longhand metal dustpan, which left him a fractured jaw, vision impairment, ongoing headaches, neck and back pain, mental health problems and, he claims, loss of job and marriage. Died: Irish music journalist Linda Duff, of Smash Hits and Hot Press fame, 53, suddenly. She was instrumental in launching Take That, Westlife and Pet Shop Boys.
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rgentina-born Hernan Cattaneo began his love affair with house music in the late ’80s. He was just a kid, kicking around in his native Buenos Aires, when a friend brought back a collection of 12” records from Chicago. The sounds took hold in his imagination, and it wasn’t long before the young Cattaneo was spinning records around the city. A lot has changed since then – Cattaneo these days travels the world, routinely drawing crowds of thousands. Even with countless shows under his belt, though, Cattaneo hasn’t grown blasé about house music, and he still loves the groove above all. The first time I interviewed him, years ago, he made his feelings on the subject plain. “It’s always been the groove for me,” he said at the time. “You feel it or you don’t, and that makes the difference between tracks. When I first heard the Chicago house sound, I got locked into that rhythm, and never looked into anything else.” By his own estimation, Cattaneo spends roughly half of every year on the road, playing his signature brand of progressive house everywhere from Tokyo to Tel Aviv. That means a lot of time spent driving to and from hotels and sitting in airport departure lounges – but it’s all worth it, he says, for the rush he still feels at the beginning of every set. “That’s the best part, no doubt,” he said in that earlier interview. “I love arriving at the club or festival, feeling the anticipation, thinking what you are going to play and then delivering the music, watching the faces, the reactions.” He doesn’t just show up at venues and start playing – such is his level of dedication that he spends weeks meticulously planning his sets, thinking about exactly which tracks will work in each venue and in each country. It’s all in the service of the groove.
HERNAN CATTANEO FEEL THAT GROOVE BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN
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His passions remain the same today. As someone who has been in the business for many years and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best – Paul Oakenfold was an early mentor, and he has played alongside the likes of Sasha and Digweed – does Cattaneo reckon he has accumulated a great deal of DJ wisdom along the way? “I would say a lot of experience,” he replies simply, “as I’ve been around for [so] long and I’ve travelled the world nonstop for many years. That’s an immense privilege, and I could never be thankful enough for it. In many ways things have changed a lot since I started, but the fact that you are in front of a crowd trying to give them a good time by playing the music you like is the same as back then.” Indeed, the role of the DJ has changed a lot over the span of Cattaneo’s career. DJs have gone from relatively anonymous record spinners to superstars in their own right – many are now celebrated figures who command huge appearance fees and have loyal followings. Cattaneo is one of them. “I’m not going to complain about popularity as that was never my goal,” he says. “My passion has always been about sharing the music I like with other people so I have definitely been really lucky, being able to reach so many people globally over the years. I went from playing for my sisters and their friends at home to massive amounts of people and that was a huge change, but of course [nothing] happened overnight. It took me a long time from playing in my room to the big stages.” Last year, Cattaneo mixed a compilation in the ongoing Renaissance Masters series. In the digital age, when any music fan can mix and sequence their own compilation however they like, I ask Cattaneo if he worries about the changing marketplace for DJ mix albums – and indeed if he feels he has to work harder to keep people’s attention. “Not really,” he says. “The biggest difference now is the digital world
“MY PASSION HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT SHARING THE MUSIC I LIKE WITH OTHER PEOPLE SO I HAVE DEFINITELY BEEN REALLY LUCKY … I WENT FROM PLAYING FOR MY SISTERS AND THEIR FRIENDS AT HOME TO MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF PEOPLE”. as it makes your album heard by ten times more people that what selling CDs exposed you to, so you have more exposure than ever before. You must do something that is interesting to your followers and, if possible, that still will sound good in ten years’ time. My first Masters compilation is almost a decade old and still sounds just right, so I feel I did a good job.” Cattaneo’s most recent Masters mix was unique in that it featured quite a number of his own original tracks. Including so much of his own material was an unorthodox move, but it paid off with critics and fans alike. “The electronic music world is more hands-on than ever before,” Cattaneo explains. “You can still be playing other people’s tracks and that’s fine, but technology really gives you the tools to do a lot more – firstly, remixing and editing, and then producing your own stuff. That of course also gives me a good starting point to make a full-on artist album at some point. That’s not next on the cards for me, but hopefully soon.” Turning to the live setting, Cattaneo casts his mind back to recent shows. Is there one in particular that sticks out as the craziest or most memorable? “I just came from Burning Man … it was absolutely incredible,” he says. “I’ve been there before, a long time ago, but this one was definitely the most interesting event I’ve been at for ages. It’s a festival of arts, culture and music all together, and it brings people of all ages for the time of their lives.” It’s a truly amazing experience, he says, and something that any daring music fan should try at least once. “Since I left Argentina to live in Europe, I’ve done more than 1,500 international shows, and this is, without a doubt, one of the five most memorable ever.” Cattaneo is no stranger to our part of the world, having played Australia many times over the years. It may not quite be up there with Burning Man, but he’s still happy to be coming back. “I love Australia!” he exclaims. “I could live there as it’s a perfectly balanced place. As a DJ I have done great shows over the years. If I had to choose just one I would be in trouble, but I had some amazing moments in Melbourne and Sydney, and I must say that Brisbane is always really special as well. Most shows are great fun to play at, and once I even played a very small gig in Geelong ... and had a blast. Australian DJs are very good and play quality music so the result is that when you play there you find crowds that are really well educated and openminded, so you can go play six hours and the club is full from the beginning till the end.” What: Chinese Laundry Garden Party featuring Hernan Cattaneo and Stimming Where: The Ivy When: Saturday September 21
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Peace …Love & Unity By Krissi Weiss
B
ritish rock quartet Peace have had that much industry back-patting since releasing their debut album, In Love, their skin must be stinging. Among the heavyweights lining up to applaud the efforts of the youngsters is the tastemaking NME – but rather than jumping on a bandwagon, that particular publication was there from the beginning. “We played in a pub in London and the editor of NME had just gotten back from holiday and happened to be in there,” singer Harrison Koisser explains. “Her husband works at Columbia and that’s how we got signed; right place, right time. It was weird because we weren’t even gonna play the show and then decided to at the last minute.”
While Peace have proven they have every right to be the flavour of the month – delivering killer sets at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, T In The Park and Bestival along with support slots for The Vaccines and Mystery Jets – they do fall victim to the odd display of grandiosity. They’ve let off fireworks on stage, staggered their way through explosive gigs and Koisser has even donned the cheesy double neck guitar. But nothing can compare to the infamous message they posted to their hometown, Birmingham. While they were being courted by Columbia, Peace made one simple request: once signed, they wanted a billboard erected in the city with a picture of the band and the caption, “WHAT THE FCK BIRMINGHAM”. “There are lots of pictures of that and it’s totally true,” Koisser laughs. “It was both a celebration and a bit of a ‘fuck you’ as well; mainly
just to everyone who didn’t take us seriously. There were a lot of people in Birmingham who didn’t really give any respect and thought that we weren’t cool, or whatever – there wasn’t a lot of support.” Support is certainly no problem these days, as Koisser explains the band is enjoying “one long, consistent high” at the moment, and Glastonbury was an icing of sorts on that cake. “It was great and magical, almost spooky,” he says. “It is one of the big boxes to tick. I missed most of the bands I wanted to see but I had a lot of fun just with friends. I did the classic festival journey – miss all the bands you actually go to see and still have a great time.” But seriously, debuting the double neck guitar at Glastonbury seems like a fairly indulgent gesture. “Of course not – that was for everyone else [laughs]. It’s so damn hard to play. That was another box ticked off though. I bought that guitar because I’d just always seen Pete Townshend with one of them, and Jimmy Page, so I’d wanted it since I was a child. I guess I had to use it live once and yeah, that was probably it.” Peace’s cavalier attitude doesn’t mean they don’t care about what they do – they still work hard and Koisser is proud of how they’ve grown as a band – but if his sleepy and carefree tone is anything to go buy, the fun is paramount. “It’s been the little things really,” he says of the band’s improvement. “It’s probably unnoticeable to anyone else but I notice it. It’s all fairly natural and chilled though, apart from the fact I apparently always say ‘ooookay’ [onstage], but we don’t do that scripted thing. Or like, you know when band members
look at each other, into each other’s eyes and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah’? I can’t do that. I just can’t do it.” All a little too homoerotic? “Yeah, it’s like that isn’t it?” Koisser laughs. “It’s all about us and the audience. I would like to say that we’re not very self-indulgent on stage but in saying that we do usually play, like, ten-minute songs.” Now the band has the job of following up their ‘industry darlings’ tag with album number two, ensuring the investment made
in them by the powers that be doesn’t go to waste. “Album two is a confusing one,” says Koisser. “I’m gonna try and never think about it and yet think about it subconsciously the whole time we’re touring. I didn’t really write many songs before we got signed, I wrote them quite late, so I’m used to writing under pressure. I think I’ll be alright. I guess at first we had no idea what we were doing and now, I dunno, it’s all just been such a whirl. There wasn’t ever doubt but I don’t think we ever thought about
it. There might be some outside pressure for the next album but that doesn’t matter ’cause I quite want to do another album as soon as, because I really think we can do it. I think we can really pull it off.” With: Millions Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday September 21 And: In Love out now through Columbia/Sony Music Australia
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Kate Nash Grrrl Talk By Krissi Weiss
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ate Nash rode in on the same tide that brought Lily Allen and KT Tunstall onto the sandbank of saccharine yet acerbic pop. If you only know her from the Paul Epworth-stained singles ‘Foundations’ and ‘Bricks’ then you don’t really know Kate Nash. She has always been a contradiction – and while the cognoscenti thrust her upon a pedestal and demand she be as cutesy as possible, Nash has set fire to the idea with her latest album, Girl Talk. There are pop sensibilities still, but the album is drenched in the fuzzed-out echo of Kathleen Hanna, Mia Zapata and Janet Weiss. Self-funded and independently released after Nash’s label Fiction Records “broke up” with her, Girl Talk has been a long time in the making. The lyrics were written during an emotionally charged time in 2011 after the singer had a breakdown of sorts, and the album was recorded shortly thereafter. While some are going to find the outcome hard to swallow, it’s brutally honest and filled with an intensity that other talented artists probably find hard to convey from underneath the creative demands of their labels. “I was still on the label when I was recording the album,” Nash explains. “I was going through a really rough time and I was like, ‘Look, I wanna do this type of record, I hope you understand.’ I funded it all myself and went off and recorded it and then I got dropped from my label and I was like, ‘Oh crap.’” While it seems Fiction simply couldn’t handle the fact their artist wasn’t bending to their creative will, the real reason for the split is unknown to even Nash. “I assume [it was the album], they don’t really tell you,” she says. “They just tell you that your option hasn’t been picked up, that’s it. It’s really, really horrible. But I’m pretty determined and I think I’d started to kinda work independently anyway so it wasn’t all that difficult to do the switch from a practical perspective. It’s not as scary as what it used to be.” Crowdfunding played a big part in the album seeing the light of day and despite the fact it’s taken a while to do so (the Australian edition out this week follows a global release earlier in the year), Nash feels happier about playing these songs live – even two long years after writing them – than she ever has before. “I feel really happy that it’s coming out how it has,” she says. “I’m just glad that it’s out in Australia at any rate. I can’t wait to come out there and play the songs live, I feel like the live shows are the strongest they’ve ever thebrag.com
been. I just want to give it the best shot it can get.” With Nash choosing more and more to cut any middlemen out of her career, she is still more than aware of the disapproval many reviewers have expressed. They had appropriated their girl next door and were hardly ready for that girl to burn their house down. “I’m not surprised anymore by any way the media responds, because they can be very small-minded. It’s happened to me before and I understand that this [album] has shocked them. But you’ve got to not worry about it. If a fan is interested in me or this new album, then they’re not gonna pay any attention to what a review says. If they read something bad it’s not going to stop them from listening to this.” “I really think the fans are loyal and they’ve grown with me,” she adds. “When I look at great artists like David Bowie or Patti Smith or Madonna, they were always reinventing themselves. I’m thinking of my career in the long term rather than just the short term.” While her ex-label was asking for re-edits and a spit and polish on this collection of tracks, Nash was working hard to get them as raw and brutally honest as possible. This whole creative journey would’ve fallen apart if the album were overproduced. “The producer [Tom Biller] really kicked things along,” says Nash. “He knew how to tap into the energy and how to use it. I have never been able to be myself as much as in this recording. Sometimes when you go through a hard time, you have a kind of fearless attitude and that helps because you can say what you think. I’m just so glad I’ve met Tom and was able to work on this with him … I freaked out when I was in the recording studio because I was like, ‘Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m saying.’ When you’re so close to something you don’t know what you’re saying – I didn’t know what the lyrics meant and even now when I look back I can’t believe I wrote it.” The disbelief comes from a place of pride, not horror, though for Nash the album also fulfills a cathartic role. “It’s actually been really helpful for me emotionally,” she says. “On your second record you’re really trying to prove yourself, but I think by the time you get to your third record all that’s behind you – you’re here now and there’s a lot more freedom. I felt so much more comfortable; I’m a bit older and I guess if you haven’t got it by this point you should probably just give it up.” What: Girl Talk out Friday September 20 through Have 10P Records/INgrooves BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 15
The Drones Settling In By Lachlan Kanoniuk
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uitarist Dan Luscombe is sniffling down the line on a particularly frigid Melbourne morning (“It’s fucking horrible”). Up until earlier this year, Luscombe was the ‘new guy’ in The Drones, having joined Gaz Liddiard, Fiona Kitschin and Mike Noga back in 2007. Now the distinction goes to organist Steve Hesketh, who after making a few live appearances with the band over the years became a consolidated member with the release of I See Seaweed at the beginning of 2013. “It took seven, nearly eight years,” Luscombe laughs over his belated induction. “I know how Ronnie Wood felt. He had to wait 30 or something years before that guy that nobody can remember joined the band to replace Bill Wyman. Stevie’s been a huge contributor musically and personality-wise to the band. “He’s hilarious. We used to live together, Stevie and I, in our mid-20s. I remember he once gaffer taped a telephone to my head when I was talking to my mum. And I think he pulled my pants down. That’s the kind of guy Stevie is. It’s good to have him in the band, and I’m looking forward to getting my revenge now I’ve remembered it.” After briefly emerging in 2011 from what could be classified a hiatus to celebrate the launch of DVD compilation A Thousand Mistakes, The Drones are back this year with a reinvigorated focus – having released a long-awaited new album, curated the return of ATP to Australia, toured fairly extensively and appeared at Splendour In The Grass. However, the pace of their return is far more measured than previous touring cycles. “It feels more relaxed than it’s ever felt for us. It feels like we’ve got through a very difficult adolescence or something, now we can relax and be adults. When I joined the band it was pretty much immediately on the road for four or five years, and we didn’t really stop a lot during that time. The fact that we didn’t literally murder each other is
kind of a miracle.” “With that behind us, knowing we can come through something like that, it just solidified our relationship as people. It also made us very instinctive live players. We would be doing over 100 shows a year … [to] play that amount of shows in Australia isn’t easy, unless you want to disappear into regional touring for the rest of your life, or head overseas and keep busy over there.” “It was a very itinerate life for a few years,” Luscombe continues. “The benefits of [heavy touring] mean you should become a good band, but the downside is that you don’t have much of a life for a while. That’s why we took a really long break between this album and the last. It became obvious to everyone in the band that we needed to step away for a while and get some semblance of a normal life – to put your name on a bond for a change. “With all that behind us, then having a good time making this record, it was nice knowing the break served us well. It was also nice knowing that the worst of our behaviour was behind us. We’re not as volatile characters as we used to be, we don’t snap or argue with each other anymore. Just a bit more chilled out.” With that renewed focus, Luscombe can’t envision a need for The Drones to take another elongated break anytime soon. “The thing that’s going to stop us these days is people losing interest, because we’re not going to lose interest anytime soon. We’re really enjoying the music that we’re making now.”
With: Harmony Where: Metro Theatre When: Saturday September 28 And: I See Seaweed out now independently through MGM
Swervedriver Re-Raise By Jody Macgregor
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ith its chugging rhythms and songs that barrel from start to finish like they’ve come out of the final corner and hit the straight, Swervedriver’s Raise is the perfect driving album. I mean, it’s right there in the band’s name, as well as songs like ‘Son Of Mustang Ford’ and ‘Pile-Up’. There are only a couple of tracks on Raise that don’t refer to cars or driving in some way. So it’s a shock then to hear the band’s frontman Adam Franklin admit that he doesn’t really drive. It’s like when you learn that Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys never surfed. “I mean, I’ve never lived anywhere where I’ve really needed a car,” Franklin explains with a laugh. “Living in London or New York or here [his current home of Oxford], you don’t really need a car. I can drive but I’ve never owned a car.” Swervedriver are returning to Australia this year, their first time in the country since their break-up in 1998. Although they’d been discussing the idea of a hiatus for a while before that, it was during their run of shows supporting Powderfinger in Australia that they finally decided to call it quits. They played their last show at a brewery in Western Australia in December of that year. “I think the larger Perth show had been two days before or something,” says Franklin, “and the final one was like an open air show, kind of in wine country as far as I remember. I think most of the band knew it was the last gig. I remember we didn’t play ‘Mustang Ford’ that night, which I think we should have done. We had played it the previous night. I guess we were alternating ‘Raise Down’ and ‘Mustang Ford’ or something. It wasn’t a particularly auspicious gig or anything like that. It was kind of nice to get it over with really.” When they return it’ll be for an ATP-style album tour, playing Raise from beginning to end. That means they’ll be playing ‘Feels Surreal’, a song unperformed since the early 1990s. “That song dropped out of the set a long time ago but I do remember playing it at a show in London at the Youth Props venue and Anjali [Dutt], the girl who actually mixed the album, she came to that show and I do remember her saying, ‘It was a real surprise that you played that one.’ She said it was surprisingly rocking, so I guess we’ll see if we can get that one rocking again. It is quite interesting, that song has a lot of cool guitar sections. That should be a good challenge.”
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think it could be really cool and it’s good that it has that challenge, because a lot of the songs of course we always played. The ten-year break or whatever notwithstanding, a lot of the songs are almost printed in your arms as far as the moves that you make.” Digging back into Raise has also reminded Franklin of the difficulties Swervedriver had in deciding what songs to include on the album, with the band members not only disagreeing with each other but also their management and record label about which songs – and which versions of those songs – were the best. Raise could have been a very different album. Franklin says there were four versions of what’s become its defining song – and arguably the band’s as well – ‘Son Of Mustang Ford’. His preference was for one that’s never been released, recorded during the same sessions as the rest of the album. In the end though, the label made the case that the earlier version they’d already released as a single was what people would want to hear when they bought the album. There were also arguments around a song called ‘Over’, which has shown up on the reissue, and which Franklin had wanted on the original version. Band members Jimmy Hartridge and Adi Vines had sung on ‘Over’, but weren’t happy with how it sounded. “Jimmy and Adi used to do this kind of hardcore shouting vocal and then the second half of the song goes into this dreamier thing that I started doing in the studio. At the time, Jimmy and Adi, they weren’t comfortable doing that vocal so it became a big thing. To me that song was the centrepiece of the album.” It’s the original version of Raise that they’ll be performing on this tour though, which is an oddly comforting way to experience a rock show. You’ve got the map and you’re guaranteed not to get lost on the way. “It’s interesting because you get into a show and you know what’s coming next,” Franklin says. “It’s quite nice in a way. I mean, it’s quite a strange thing.” What: Swervedriver playing Raise With: Charlie Horse, Greta Mob Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday September 27
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Another challenge will be bringing out ‘Lead The Way You Dare’, a song Franklin says they haven’t played together since the day they recorded it – it’s a studio track that works perfectly as a climax to an album but wouldn’t fit any other context. There’s also a batch of songs they have played before but not for a long time, the album tracks that tend to get skipped over these days when the band is building a setlist out of four albums and seven EPs’ worth of songs. “A lot of these songs, they haven’t been played for 20-odd years and they’ve got us going, ‘What’s going on here?’ and ‘How are we gonna figure this out?’ But I
“A lot of these songs, they haven’t been played for 20-odd years and they’ve got us going, ‘What’s going on here?’”
Katchafire Burning Down The House By Liz Elleson
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or Logan Bell of NZ reggae stars Katchafire, and for many others around the world, a deep love for reggae culture is born from its alpha and omega, Bob Marley. Because of Marley, no matter how long you’ve enjoyed reggae, no matter how many reggae gigs you’ve been to, no matter how involved in the culture you are, there is one thing that puts a face to the entire reggae and Rastafarian scene that cannot be changed: dreadlocks. It’s not a topic up for argument. Dreadlocks are a physical representation of peace, poverty, sun, hardship, herbs and love; traits that have been lovingly embraced by reggae culture at large. Having a strong foundation within the reggae scene, dreadlocks included, Katchafire have always remained true to their roots, something very evident in their music. “We begun as a group of guys sitting around with a guitar, singing harmonies together,” says Bell. “What
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really bonded us was a love of reggae music.” Recognising their calling was a different prospect altogether. “In 2002, we released a single [‘Giddy Up’] that became the number one selling single of the year in NZ, so we took that to be a testament to us.” Since those early successes, Katchafire have shared stages with some reggae neo-royalty. “We’ve played with existing members from The Wailers a few times. On one particular occasion I think it was Al Anderson and Junior Marvin, and it was extra special because they were in Wellington so we were on our native land.” “They had some great memories of NZ from when they were on tour back in the day as Bob Marley and the Wailers. I remember being with them just sitting in our native meeting house absorbing the energy, and the feeling of the culture and the oldness of the building, you know. It was intense.”
Over the years, of course, Katchafire have stood in front of hundreds of thousands across the world, but a most recent highlight was Glastonbury. “Glastonbury is like no festival I’ve been to before. There are like seven different zones, and each zone is almost the size of a city,” Bell says. “I’ve been to a festival where there’s maybe 100,000 people coming and going, but this festival has, like, 250,000 people that just stay in one place for a whole week. “The only real way to tell how many people are actually there to see you is by how many people you can hear singing your songs in the crowd. From what I could tell there were quite a few people who knew us. I was happy with the turnout, well, more than happy with the turnout – it was packed right back to the bleachers.” Katchafire land in Byron Bay in early October to start the Australian leg of their Best So Far tour, and Bell’s excited to be sharing a tour
bus with Hawaiian group Common Kings. “We’ve toured with Common Kings a number of times in the States, it’s a great dynamic on the road – we’re family [laughs]. I think the boys are absolutely huge; next time they come out to Australia it will be without us and they’ll be headlining their own shows.” In the meantime, this tour follows the recent release of Katchafire’s Best So Far album, a selection of sweet tracks hand-picked by the boys themselves and primed for their audience across the ditch. “We just can’t wait to get to Australia – your waves are too good. You can’t keep us away, man. Bring it on.” What: Best So Far out now through Lion House Music/MGM With: Common Kings Where: Big Top, Luna Park When: Friday October 18
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Asking Alexandria A Communal Destiny By Augustus Welby
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sking Alexandria’s third album, From Death To Destiny, debuted in the ARIA Top 20 last month and is quickly becoming the UK metalcore outfit’s most successful release to date. The band’s guitarist and founding member Ben Bruce indicates that an utterly dedicated fan base are largely to thank for launching Asking Alexandria into a prominent position in the heavy music world. “We’ve come to realise over the years, three albums deep, that our core fan base is among the loyalest fan base I’ve seen any band gain in their time of touring, which is really awesome.” Last year Bruce told US chart website Billboard that From Death To Destiny would be far more “radio-friendly” than their previous work. His words offended some diehard fans, who interpreted them as a plan to take a soulless commercial path. As Bruce explains, the concerns were unfounded. “When I said ‘radio-friendly’, I meant we were writing songs that we wanted to go on the radio; the choruses were big enough to be on the radio but they’re still heavy. We wanted to prove to the world that heavy music does belong on the radio and you can get national and international radio play with heavy songs. There hasn’t really been a band to do that since Slipknot – we wanted to be the next”. Rather than looking to make a carbon copy of the predominantly safe and sterile music that dominates rock radio, Bruce says he always determined to deliver an aural onslaught to listeners. “When I was writing this album I did have in mind a certain style that would be acceptable for radio, but still scare most people that turn their radio on.” But writing music purely for the sake of landing on radio playlists, he adds, would massively compromise the band’s driving ethos. “The only reason we play music is because we love it and we enjoy it. As soon as you start writing music for reasons other than your own personal enjoyment, that’s
when it gets stale and boring and people no longer connect with it.” From Death To Destiny furthers the band’s proven penchant for placing fist-pumping vocal refrains in the midst of charging metal riffery. Bruce says their confidence to deploy strong melodic sequences has only grown since the early records. “Since day one of Asking Alexandria, we’ve always tried to have those anthemic choruses and those sing-along sections. In that respect it hasn’t changed that much, it’s just we’ve gotten better at writing what we like to call ‘stadium rock anthems’. Before, it would be big gang chants that got the crowds going, now we try to rely on the choruses to have people singing along.” Australian audiences will get the opportunity to sing in ferocious unison with Asking Alexandria when they’re here for Soundwave early next year. Bruce is perceptibly excited about taking part in the festival. “For a while everyone thought heavy music and rock was at a low point and maybe it dying out was a worry due to record sales not being what they once were, but festivals like Soundwave are further proof that the rock scene is a huge community. It’s a great thing to see, not just the amount of fans that come out and participate, but also the sheer amount of bands from all over the globe that come out. Everyone gets on, everyone has a good time and everyone’s just there to play some rock’n’roll, and it’s a really, really awesome thing.” What: Soundwave Festival 2014 With: Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, Rob Zombie, Megadeth, Placebo, Biffy Clyro, Newsted and more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Sunday February 23 And: From Death To Destiny out now through Sumerian Records
Man Man Don’t Have A Cow Cow By Augustus Welby
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ast we heard from Philadelphia’s Ryan Kattner (otherwise known as Honus Honus) he was playing in a band called Mister Heavenly alongside Islands main man Nicholas Thorburn and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer. Kattner’s chief creative outlet is actually the absurdist rock band Man Man, who return this week with their fifth LP, On Oni Pond. Despite dabbling in occasional side-streams, Kattner says the vast majority of his time and heart belongs to Man Man. “Man Man was the first band I ever had [and it’s] been kind of all-consuming with my life – now even more so with the new record coming out.” On stage, Man Man is a crew of five curiously named men playing a wide assortment of instruments and junkyard toys, but Kattner has always presided over the band’s compositions. He says the new record is the most collaborative of their career, although it was created by a downsized version of the band. “We boiled down the band to just me and my drummer Chris [Powell, AKA Pow Pow]. In the past some songs would come out of the group playing together, just basically musical structures, but never song songs. This time I only had Chris to bounce off and he brought some cool musical ideas to the table.” The diminutive incarnation of the band proved a profitable experiment and as Kattner explains, studio productivity was far more immediate compared to the recording of 2011’s Life Fantastic. “Our last record, we were in the studio for almost three months. The whole process, from the songwriting to recording, was just an arduous process. This time we only had three weeks, so we had to be on point with everything. But it was fine because with just three of us really bouncing ideas we also didn’t have to feel like we were hamstringing the process.” The third recording participant Kattner refers to is renowned Bright Eyes producer/ collaborator Mike Mogis. Kattner reports that
Mogis’ proven ability to magnify the band’s sonic vision (he also produced Life Fantastic) made him the obvious choice. “There will be holes in songs where it’s like, ‘Mike, this song needs a 20-second bitching guitar solo, like something you’d hear on the Dune soundtrack. I can’t play that – I know you can.’ I can’t speak in musical terms, I have to describe everything in sort of cinematic ways. Because Mike’s worked with me before he understands that and he doesn’t just give me a weird look.” Kattner evidently thrived collaborating with Powell and Mogis, however he indicates that the record is undeniably the product of his psyche. “My life and what’s going on in my life inform the music on every album. That might be an unhealthy confession but that’s just the way it is. I couldn’t have written a different record to Life Fantastic and the same goes for On Oni Pond.” Looking at the album title and considering this confession raises some questions. Onis are demonic creatures found in Japanese folklore, notable for posing a perilous threat to humans – therefore finding oneself ‘On Oni Pond’ is not a pleasant predicament. Kattner explains the paradoxical scenario that inspired the title. “I dialled out of living in Philadelphia city for about six months. I tried to go live in the woods. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. Just because you change environment doesn’t mean that any problems or demons you have don’t follow you. I was fascinated by that concept – I go some place that I think is going to be a change of scenery, and it is, but it’s not like I changed in my brain. It was trying to find a balance between the two: ‘OK, so here I am and here are all these little Onis, let’s enjoy this.’” What: On Oni Pond out now through ANTI-
Glasvegas Intuition and Instinct By Jody Macgregor
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lasvegas finished up their third album Later...When The TV Turns To Static in January this year, having spent the previous 12 months working on it. It then took until September for it to finally be released. But the band’s frontman James Allan hasn’t had time to sit around anticipating it. In those nine months between recording and release, Glasvegas have barely stopped touring, playing festivals as far afield from their native Scotland as South Korea, Romania and Spain. They’ve been able to start slipping songs from the new album into their sets during those festival shows – and Allan says, in his thick Scottish brogue, that the response to them so far has been “really cool”. The new songs are very much in the Glasvegas mould; ordinary stories blown up to larger-than-life proportions, kitchen-sink dramas turned into arena-filling epics. However, a couple of the songs on Later... When The TV Turns To Static are atypical. ‘Choices’ and ‘I’d Rather Be Dead (Than Be With You)’ are a little more low-key, both of them being piano-led ballads and the second featuring a spoken word interlude in which Allan sounds like he’s channelling Renton from Trainspotting. “Sometimes the songs just demand to be dressed up a certain way,”
he says of the more unusual decisions. “Sometimes if you try and take them in a certain direction they don’t listen to you – the songs, they just go their own way anyway and in the end a lot of the time I think they decide for themselves how they want to be. But I think that the nature of those two songs demanded quite a personal and intimate setting.” Brief departures aside, Glasvegas have maintained their specific sound. Often in bands there’s pull in different directions, as different members are inspired by different things, but Allan says his bandmates actually listen to quite similar music – though he adds, “I think our passion for certain things, for example my passion for, say, Elvis Presley, is stronger than the rest of the band’s passion is, but they all enjoy Elvis Presley.” You might not pick Allan for an Elvis fan, but he says over the years he’s gained an appreciation for the King, which seems to be a common experience. He describes seeing posters of Elvis alongside crucifixes on people’s walls when he was a kid and realising they were just as devoted to a rock star as a God. “He was almost a myth,” he says, “but only when I was getting a bit older did I scratch beneath the surface.”
Songwriting is an automatic and unconscious process for Allan, who describes his songs like guests who only show up when they’re not invited. “I’ve never tried to sit down and write, you know?” he says. “It’s always been that I’ve been just hoping that inspiration hits, and intuition and instinct lead the way.” So what does he do when inspiration hits but he’s not at home – is he scribbling down song lyrics on restaurant napkins, humming snatches of music into his phone in the street? “That’s exactly what I do, because my
memory is very bad. Some of the songs I’ve lost in my head have been probably quite good songs. And because I’ve got a bad memory, I need to write things down or whatever because a lot of the time when I write songs I don’t actually write with a guitar or a piano, sometimes I’m just messing around and that’s what happens. But most of the time it’s just when I’m walking down the street or something.” What: Later...When The TV Turns To Static out now through BMG Rights/Cooking Vinyl xxx
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arts frontline
free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com
arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Victoria Shehadie and Mina Kitsos
five minutes WITH MIKE
GOTTSCHE OF SLUTTERATI
caught up with Gottsche ahead of Slutterati’s opening night to get the inside scoop. Slutterati looks into contemporary society’s obsession with celebrity culture. What drew you to such subject matter? It all started when I gave myself the perverse challenge of creating a character that I’d have no natural sympathy for, but who had to be likeable. So I asked myself ‘who don’t I like?’ The first person that came to mind was an Australian swimmer. Then I doubled down and made that swimmer a B-list Sydney celebrity.
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While this foray into celebrity culture kind of began as a mental exercise, I started to become fascinated with this world. While some of these celebrities have talent or charisma, many of them clearly don’t. But I discovered what they all have, for all kinds of reasons, is momentum. Tell us about the character of Dan Paul Newman. Dan Paul
was a champion swimmer whose career peaked when he won a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games. After the Olympics, he went on to build a career in television, mostly hosting and reporting on light entertainment and lifestyle programs. Like all swimmers, Dan Paul spent most of his teen years and early 20s living a highly regimented existence, forgoing parties, recreational drugs and hanging out with mates. Now, in his 30s, he’s letting loose! Elaborate on the other cast members. Dan Paul’s world is clearly demarcated by those who exist in his private life and those in his public life. His public world is surrounded by vultures and sharks like the current affairs reporters, the spin-doctors, the ambitious starlets. There are very few people whom he lets enter into his private life because of the deep secrets that lie hidden within. What kind of commentary are you offering on the media industry?
I guess this is a commentary on the general public as much as it is on the media and how they make their judgments. I actually think it’s rare for the media or the public to be completely wrong about a person or an event. It’s messier than that. They get things half right or three quarters right; they’re either too damning or too forgiving. As an audience, what are we learning from the play? Slutterati is in part a satire about celebrity culture, but ultimately I want to bring some humanity to this world. It’s very easy to ridicule celebrities, especially the embarrassing world of B-list celebrities. It’s a bigger ask for us to care about someone in this particular world, and that’s what I’m hoping the audience will do.
Before The Walking Dead season 4 premieres on Sunday October 13, you best relive all the gorey goodness of season 3. In this hugely popular season, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his fellow survivors continue to seek refuge in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world before discovering there’s more to fear than just the walking dead. The Walking Dead season 3 is available on Blu-ray and DVD on Wednesday September 25 and is packed with extra featurettes, deleted scenes and audio commentaries. We’ve got 10 copies of this bad boy on DVD to give away! For your chance to win, just email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us the final cliff hanger line from the official season 4 trailer.
What: Slutterati by Michael Gottsche Where: New Theatre, Newtown When: September 19-23 More: newtheatre.org.au
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ichael Gottsche’s Slutterati tells the story of one man who is determined to remind Australia that he was once the world’s second best freestyle swimmer. Dan Paul Newman is a fictional B-list celebrity who will do anything to preserve his reputation and his career, but after a series of scandals he quickly discovers how quickly the media can turn. We
THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 3! DVD! WIN!
MICHAEL MCINTYRE TOUR
It’s time for some LOLs because one of the UK’s biggest comedians, Michael McIntyre, is heading Down Under for the very first time. The “certified comedy icon” has had two huge years on the international circuit; McIntyre had a tennight sell-out residency at London’s O2 Arena and his Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow series won the 2012 National TV Award for Best Entertainment Program. You can catch him in all major cities this November, but for us Sydneysiders the laughs are going down at the Entertainment Centre on Tuesday November 19. Tickets are already on sale through ticketek. com.au, so go! Now! For further details visit michaelmcintyre.co.uk.
Chris Lilley as Ja’mie King
Chris Lilley’s Ja’mie King is back and she’s bitchier than eva! After missing out on the Australian of the Year crown in 2005’s We Can Be Heroes and roughing it on the grounds of a random bin-infested public school in 2007’s Summer Heights High, the formal-coordinating pedigree is set to bring back the romp later this year in six-part series Ja’mie: Private School Girl. The spoilt brat is about to graduate and bid farewell to the manicured lawns of Hilford Girls’ Grammar School, but not before we get to witness her last few weeks of school and the series of events that change her life forever. The series will air later on ABC1 in Australia, HBO in the US and BBC 3 in the UK. And rumour has it our favourite breakdancing Tongan, Jonah Takalua, will join in on the action. Keep an eye on Facebook.com/jamieschoolgirl for further updates. Later, bitchaz.
Dane Lovett, Untitled Arrangement (Walker), 2013
SEPTEMBER AT GLOBAL
DANE LOVETT
So Many Days And Vases To Fill showing at Sullivan+Strumpf from Thursday September 12 through Saturday October 12 exhibits the recent work of artist Dane Lovett. A collection of still life paintings riff on imagery Lovett has collected from pottery journals and Sunset books on indoor gardening from the 1960s, the exhibition looks at past design movements such as British Studio pottery and Italian postmodernism. Through brightlycoloured, detailed paintings, Lovett assesses the historical border between art and design as well as the similarities between pottery and painting. For further details head to sullivanstrumpf.com
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“The unknown of an individual intrigues me,” says artist Ashlee Bucholtz. “It’s compelling what people carry that can’t be seen. This could be psychological, emotional or a simple disease that’s hidden beneath the surface.” It’s this curiosity-driven mantra that defines the work produced by Bucholtz, whose solventfree pieces centre on the notion of individual experiences. Specialising in a menagerie of mediums, from drawing in pastel, to inks and charcoal, the 26-year-old is set to unveil most recent body of work, The Underpinning, at Global Gallery in Paddington. With the Carol Duval Memorial Award for painting already under her belt, Bucholtz is one to watch. Sharing Global Gallery’s white walls will be John Moroney, whose work straddles the bridge between realism and abstraction. His exhibition, No Exit, is the result of the artist’s experience as a rigger working mines around the country; Moroney has channeled his energy into conveying the human experience recalling greats Francis Bacon and Edward Hopper. Thematically based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play of the same name, No Exit uses
the subway and billboards as a stage for humanity’s shallow pursuits. Both exhibitions open on Wednesday September 18 and run until Sunday September 29. For further details visit globalgallery.tumblr.com.
CHANCE
Regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation, Parisian Christian Boltanski – who considers himself a poet advocate for the dispossessed – has pretty much mastered every medium from sculpture, photography and painting through to film and installation. The luminary will visit Australia in January to present a site-specific installation at Carriageworks as part of Sydney Festival 2014. CHANCE will recreate an epic newspaper press comprising piping, scaffolding and computer screens. In keeping with Boltanski’s thematic focus on morality, the installation will enact the rhythm of birth and deaths across the globe through a moving filmstrip of real-time announcement from around the world that will culminate at midnight every evening in a tallied summary. Head to sydneyfestival.org.au for more details.
STUDIO SESSIONS
As part of this year’s Art & About program, Whitehouse Institute of Design (2 Short Street, Surry Hills) is hosting four wine and cheese studio sessions in life drawing, interior drawing, drape and drawing, and photography across Wednesdays September 25 and October 2,9 and 16. The sessions, called Escape Work Early on Wednesdays aim to offer a diverse range of creatives design experience in an encouraging environment. The best part? The workshops are free! To register for the Whitehouse Studio workshops, send an email to enquiries@whitehousedesign.edu.au. Head to whitehousedesign.edu.au for further information. Xxx
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THE BITCH IS BACK
BEAMS ARTS FESTIVAL
Installation art, live performance and music – DJs taking to the decks on balconies to be more precise – are about to snake around the backstreets of Chippendale for the second ever BEAMS Arts Festival on Saturday September 21 from 5-10pm. Think a civilised block party; galleries, artists, production houses, designers, academics, students and creative individuals unite with the common aim of reimagining our city through collaborative imagination. Program highlights include Todd Fuller and Carl Sciberras’ Flatline, a performance piece uniting dance and technology as well as Bravo Child’s wildly-animated performance work called, Tinker Trunk, wherein a myriad of characters – toy maker, shaman, alchemist, lantern maker and fortune teller – roam the streets to help punters conjure up alternative future realities. Music comes courtesy of Gang of Brothers, Alphamama, Milan, The Psyde Projects, Billie McCarthy and many more. And to keep your energy levels up there’s going to be a smorgasbord of food offerings to keep you kicking; Tsuru, ZIGI’s Art Wine Cheese Bar, Mission Restaurant, The Veggie Patch and Agape Organic will sort out the noms, while a slew of tipple stands will bring the booze. Head to beamsfestival.com.au for further information.
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SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY
The Modern Day Art Fair By Alex Sutcliffe
Caleb Shea, XTYO, 2012
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XTYO image courtesy of artist and Utopian Slumps
ydney Contemporary, our newest international art fair, is set to bring some seriously exciting visual arts romp when it descends upon Carriageworks this Thursday September 19. In an epic game of Tetris, 80 galleries will move into a patchwork of booths to represent the wealth of emerging, mid-career and established artists who, combined, personify the cultural gravitas of Australasia’s commercial circuit. The fair will join the 25-year-old strong Melbourne Art Fair on a biennial calendar to bring punters an all under one roof extravaganza in alternate cities each year. Fair Director, Barry Keldoulis, explains the program, the space and how Sydney Contemporary will reposition Australia as a bridge between the art worlds of the Americas and Asia. “Sydney Contemporary is going to be different, because we wanted it to be,” says Keldoulis, whose ambitious aim is to showcase the Sydney art scene in its ‘fullness’. “I used to think that art fairs were not the best way to see art,” he says, “but the best way to see a hell of a lot of art all at once.” However, with the rendering of art fairs as the go-to platform for showing contemporary art, Keldoulis admits that the game has changed. A flexible and approachable program will demonstrate a multitude of local and international art practices to not only reflect the ever-evolving creative landscape of Australia, but also echo the inventive precedence set by Carriageworks’ spectacularly overhauled interior. Sydney Contemporary creator Tim Etchells hired London architecture firm Stiff + Trevillion to bring the venue into a new league. “The space is fantastic, but a lot of people will have already been there,” says Keldoulis. “When
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people arrive, we want them to feel as though it’s a brand new experience. We’re working with the designers to make guests’ arrival and time there something altogether different.” Exhibitors will fall into three categories: Current Contemporary, for established spaces; Future Contemporary, strictly for work produced in the last two years; and Project Contemporary, a series of ten spaces allocated to new galleries that have never before participated in an Australian art fair. And lest Sydney Contemporary’s inclusion of artistrun initiatives (ARIs) be forgotten. Griffith University is bringing down a slew of Brisbane-based ARIs as part of the fair’s Queensland Artist-run Initiatives Project. Sydney Council will also facilitate the attendance of Perth and Hobart ARIs that rally for all things emerging. Sydney ARI veteran FirstDraft and newcomer Alaska Projects will also represent. Two curatorial partnerships, helmed by Aaron Seeto (4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art) and Mark Feary (Artspace), have also been added to the mix. Seeto will explore large-scale practice in Installation Contemporary where a part of Carriageworks’ space will be devoted to major sculptural and wall-based creations. “I was just on site this morning with a number of young artists and some not so young artists who are part of Installation Contemporary. We were looking at the rather grand spaces for them to do something with,” says Keldoulis. “There was a level of anticipation and excitement in their encounter with the space we’ve got that certainly rubbed off on me.” Feary on the other hand has produced an innovative lineup for Video Contemporary to foreground
analogue and digital work; popculture iconoclasts Soda_Jerk, Kate Mitchell (fresh from her appearance in this year’s Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Anne Landa Award) and Heath Franco (also representing in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Primavera 2013 exhibition) will all feature. Globally, Australia has one of the healthiest markets for video art; for Keldoulis, Video Contemporary is a particularly important part of the fair insofar as it speaks of the nearlimitless potential of the medium. To further pique visitors’ interest, Sydney Contemporary will present a program of talks and roundtable discussions to help contextualise the discussion of Australasia’s commercial art market in a contemporary setting. “We’ve developed the public programs to cover all bases,” says Keldoulis. “There are some elements of the program that’ll appeal to the cognoscenti and the art professional, and others that’ll have a much broader appeal for the general public.” Topics range from aesthetics in art and the ethics of buying locally, to the nature of creativity and crossindustry collaboration. Keldoulis’ pick from Sydney Contemporary’s public program? The keynote address from young Chilean curator Gonzalo Pedraza who spearheads a multidisciplinary space in Santiago, Matucana 100, that brings together art practices from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Slated for the afternoon of Friday September 20, Pedraza’s talk will lead to discussion about Australia and its place within the art community of the Pacific Rim. “We’re not at the end of the world, but at the centre of things if you look at it from a different perspective. In future iterations of
Christian Thompson, Howl Your Troubles, 2011, Native Instinct series, C-type photograph, edition of 10. the fair I’ll be looking to complete [representation of] the Pacific Rim circle and build on that with Australia as a bridge, if you like, between the Americas and Asia,” says Keldoulis. On the essence of Sydney Contemporary, says Keldoulis: “There’s something about the combination of cultural tourism and the excitement generated by a large aggregate event of quality. You can now see work from all over the world almost instantaneously on your computer, but a lot of good
art really needs to be seen in the flesh. At an art fair such as Sydney [Contemporary], you can see works not only from around your neighbourhood, city and country, but from all over the world and be able to see them in a context where you can compare them all at the one time.” What: Sydney Contemporary When: September 19-22 Where: Carriageworks More: sydneycontemporary.com. au BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 21
Penelope [THEATRE] Let The Games Begin By Haylie Pretorius faithfulness since Homer penned the mythical character into poetic dialect many, many years ago. The Ithacan Queen remains faithful as she waits 20 years for the return of King Odysseus from the Trojan War, while at the same time snubbing the advances of 108 male suitors begging for her hand in marriage. In Walsh’s Penelope, there are only four male suitors, or more precisely refugees, waiting in limbo in an empty swimming pool on their Ionian Queen’s estate.
Branden Christine as Penelope
Snailovation
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irector Kate Gaul of Siren Theatre Co is once again bringing to the stage a fusion of unbridled theatricality and poignant dialogue with her direction of Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s Penelope. A unique adaptation of the last chapter in Homer’s Odyssey, Penelope will see Gaul execute her unique ability to personify human tragedy, sensualities and desires through the medium of theatre. As far as Irish playwrights go, Walsh is not only considered one of the country’s best, but also the most bizarre, fearless and progressive. Who else would have the gall to take one of the oldest and most epic existing works from the Western Literary Canon and reinvent it for contemporary audiences? In Gaul’s words: “He’s totally and utterly the best playwright working in English at the minute in my book. He’s daring, brazen, vulgar, sensual, delicate and very, very smart.” The director is drawn to Walsh’s use of rich language and the vivid imagery it creates, his wit, and his commentary on real-life dilemmas brought to life by bizarre off-the-wall characters. Walsh explores the myth of Odysseus’s wife Penelope in Penelope. The name Penelope has been associated with marital
Laced with sensual, intimate and painstakingly visual dialogue, the tale of Penelope is an alluring tragicomedy gouged with contemporary musings. The four men – played by Thomas Campbell, Philip Dodd, Nicholas Hope and Arky Michael – are, in Gaul’s opinion, clowns. Their life’s work comes down to a desperate attempt to gain the love of an unreachable goddess, while stuck in said swimming pool wearing Speedos. Here, in a humorous vein, Gaul riffs on Walsh’s concern for life’s fragility; the human condition leads individuals to walk through the humdrum of life without noticing or enjoying the here and now. Penelope’s suitors represent the inability to look beyond our own comforts until the fi nal hour – they represent an existence within a neverending existential crisis. On the other hand, the character of Penelope played by Branden Christine, is victorious. Penelope is “the embodiment of their desires, dreams and ambitions”. The eternal deity is everything her suitors want and everything they want to be. They know, however, that winning her hand is a hopeless quest. So, what can we expect from Gaul’s direction? “Joy, adventure and possibility … interpreting this play is a huge challenge. We might have chosen to do something one way, while another team may do it differently. We have needed to call on immense invention and then be brave enough to throw it all away. [The play] is extremely intimate. A bit like sitting in the middle of a bomb. The energy will be outrageous. It will quite literally be a very alive event,” she says. What: Penelope When: September 12 – October 6 Where: Tap Gallery Upstairs Theatre More: sirentheatreco.com
Art & About [PUBLIC ART] Sydney’s Secret Places By Alasdair Duncan
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ow in its 12th year, the Art & About Festival is a unique Sydney creation – a celebration of public art, bringing exciting, eccentric and provocative works to people in the sorts of places they’d never expect to see them. The festival takes over parks, city squares, train stations and all sorts of other unexpected corners of Sydney, and runs on the spirit of curiosity. Gill Minervini has been Creative Director of the festival since its inception, a unique privilege for someone in the arts field. This year’s festival, she says, is all about projects that involve the audience. “We’ve been building towards that for a few years, and we’re very excited to have the audience involved in the projects, be it as they’re developed, or as they’re viewed. We don’t want people to be passive spectators – we want them to be able to engage with the artists and works in ways they never have before.” Each year, Art & About features a number of eye catching works. This year, the jewel in the festival’s crown is Snailovation, an ambitious project that sees giant, colourful gastropods taking over Sydney. “The work is by an Italian collective called the Cracking Art Group,” Minervini explains. “The snails first appeared at the Venice Biennale a few years ago, and it’s their first time in Australia. There will be 24 of them dotted throughout the city, so it’s all about the joy of discovering these two-metre, brightly-coloured snails around the city. We did a photo shoot with them the other day and the pictures are already going mad on social media. It’s a big, fun, accessible installation by a very experienced group of people, and it’s exquisitely made.” Also on the agenda is a stunning installation work called Field, which will sit in Hyde Park North for the duration of the festival. Put together by a New Zealand artist collective called Fresh, Field is a collection of 48 mirrored plinths, which act as a maze,
allowing people to wonder through and get a whole new view of their surroundings. At night, the plinths light up to add a further unique and special dimension. “The banners for this year’s Art & About are by an artist called Maya Barkai,” Minervini says. “The series is called Walking Men Worldwide. She’s collected the walking men symbols, from when you cross the road, from 99 cities around the world. They’ll be on 700 banners around the city, and they’re a really stunning collection, not to mention a timely one, since places like George Street are about to undergo a huge transformation for light rail.” Art & About kicks off on Friday September 20, with an opening night party set to turn Martin Place into an open-air cinema and concert venue. “We’ll be setting up deck chairs and showing Shaun Tan’s film The Arrival,” Minervini says. “It’s a beautiful film, and it’s about the theme of immigration, which is especially timely, given that the theme of this year’s festival is ‘Private Lives...Public Places.’ The film tells the private story of people moving to an unfamiliar land, but it plays out in a very public way, and it will be shown amid the buildings and the hustle and bustle of the inner city, which is beautiful.” The opening night party also features a performance by The Break, a surf rock band comprising Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes, as well as various members of Midnight Oil and Hunters & Collectors. “There’s a great mix of stuff,” Minervini says. “You can dip in and out of the film, have a drink, hear some great music. It’s going to be a really fun party.” What: Art & About Where: Various venues When: September 20 – October 20 More: artandabout.com.au
Super Discount [THEATRE] Finding Your Own Voice By Simon Binns
I
ronically for English theatre maker David Woods a lack of interest in his studies turned into a successful career. “I was studying English literature,” he says “and I got tired of reading all the books so I took all the theatre options I could because plays are much smaller.” This sparked Woods’ interest in performing arts, which led him into a drama school. His original intent was to be a director but after two years of solid acting training he ended up a performer with his own company, Ridiculusmus, which has toured the world for the last 21 years.
And Woods isn’t the only one who holds Back to Back in high esteem. The theatre ensemble, founded in Geelong in 1987 to create theatre with people who are perceived to have a 22 :: BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13
Super Discount uses the classic narrative of the hero fighting back from early setbacks to interrogate notions of representation and power, particularly in relation to disability. The play’s subject matter extends on themes explored in Ganesh explains Woods: “You know The Bourne Supremacy, and how Casino Royale going into Quantum Of Solace knicked the idea that the next film starts where the previous one finished? It [Super Discount] was a bit like Ganesh part two.” Super Discount centres on the moral and ethical responsibilities that come with playing a character with a disability. One of the stories that informed Woods’ thinking was that of Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance in the film My Left Foot. “He plays a character with Cerebral Palsy and he would get into the role privately,” says Woods. “I don’t know if this is apocryphal, but this is what
David Woods, Mark Deans and Brian Tilley in STC’s Super Discount I read. The crew would have to knock on his dressing room door and come and lift him out of his trailer – [he was] in character so he couldn’t do it.” This left Woods thinking about who can play what and at what point does something become offensive. With such contentious material it’d be tempting to throw the issues out there and let the audience decide whether or not ‘speaking’ on behalf of others via the means of acting is ethical or not. But Woods assures us that this question is
resolved in a transformative and empowering way. “Hopefully everyone will be able to see a pathway to their own voice and it might make those people who think they can speak for others question that assumption.” What: Super Discount Where: Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company When: September 20 – October 19 More: sydneytheatre.com.au thebrag.com
Super Discount photo by Jeff Busby
The company’s success caught the eye of several local directors and Woods found himself in a number of high profile Australian productions. He starred alongside Geoffrey Rush in Belvoir’s 2007 Exit The King and joined forces with Frank Woodley and Barry Otto in Malthouse’s Optimism in 2009. It was during the latter that Back to Back Theatre’s artistic director approached Woods with a proposition. “It wasn’t an issue of whether or not I would work for them,” says Woods, “I thought [Back to Back] produced the best work I’d seen in Australia and I definitely wanted to be involved.”
disability, has since toured the world garnering praise wherever it travels. One such example is the first work Woods was involved in, Ganesh Versus The Third Reich, which had its Melbourne debut in 2011 and will have toured to four continents by the end of this year; heavyweight The New York Times and the Victorian press heralded the play. But now it’s Sydney’s turn – for the first time, a new work from Back to Back will premiere at Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 1.
Arts Reviews What's hangin' on the white walls 'round town
■ Visual Art
SERVE THE PEOPLE Until February 2, 2014 White Rabbit Gallery’s Serve The People comprises four floors awash with creative outpourings of fear, anarchy and hope. In a far-reaching showcase of some of the most significant contemporary Chinese art, the exhibition opens our eyes to artworks of faux beauty, obsessive detail and the abject ethereal. ‘Serve The People’, a slogan from China’s Cultural Revolution, alludes to the pressures on artists operating in socialist society to make the ‘right’ kind of art. Curator Edmund Capon (former Art Gallery of New South Wales director) has amalgamated an impressive range of art objects to relay themes and styles from recent years. While not every artwork hits you over the head with
■ Visual Art
STRING THEORY
Jean Riely image courtesy of the artists and University of Wollongong Art Collection
Until October 27 Over the somewhat discordant didgeridoo recording that greets you upon entering the gallery, the first exhibit that’s likely to catch your eye are two white blocks adorned with a variety of cotton dolls. Varying in size and significance, from the life-like to the mythic, they’re creations from the Noongar Doll Makers. In their disparate forms the dolls suggest harmony through diversity, celebration through difference and are (like any large collection of dolls) almost certain to come to life and menace unsuspecting patrons once the lights go down. The principle of string theory is appropriated here to suggest a kind of universal connectedness. The exhibition, currently showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art seeks to demonstrate the potential of every piece of art to not
a political message, Serve The People’s resounding reference to the struggles experienced by civilians and artists under Mao’s oppressive reign can certainly be felt. The top floor of the exhibition, accessible only by lift, is the stand out. It’s haunted by Sun Furong’s Tomb Figures, a work made up of 100 Zhongshan tunics, or Mao suits, that have been repeatedly hacked. The composition of the work has a formal structure to it that mimics lines of soldiers awaiting battle. In contrast to this, Su Meng-Hung’s painting Album Of Immortal Blossoms In An Everlasting Spring – an imposing painting depicting a skull made from dripping plants and animals – grasps at a distorted message of hope. And don’t let the colourful, kitschy glamour found in many artworks fool you; these works are often as dark in theme as the more distressing pieces found in Serve
be confined to a single artform; baskets might become photographs, dollmaking a kind of dance, and each shares a common, if invisible, bond. A work of art is also a work of memory, of culture. I feel that while the exhibition only occasionally succeeds in demonstrating this, some of the work on display is certainly worth revisiting. string theory showcases thirty Aboriginal artists and artist groups, and although you quickly realise there are really only so many baskets you can admire before you start questioning just how much you actually care about the baskets in your life to begin with, there are several outstanding sculptures that are guaranteed to impress. The Tjanpi Desert Weavers have what are arguably the most arresting pieces on display in great sculptures documenting the transformation of seven sisters into grotesque hybrids of tree and flesh. Vicki West’s plamtenner/
Su Meng-Hung, The Album Of Immortal Blossoms in an Everlasting Spring, 2002 The People. Wu Yuren’s A Sentence is a collection of brightly-coloured symbols designed to comment on the need to hide criticism of authority from the public eye – the artist created an encrypted language to visually voice his frustrations after he was imprisoned for one year without charge.
Harriet McInerney
gathering is a piece made from kelp that is both beautiful and oddly threatening. And the unnerving mutations from the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists are all splendid creations. Though string theory’s theme itself seems a tad arbitrary, the artwork itself is colourful, engaging and worth your visit. Adam Norris
JAE LAFFER
(THE PANICS) Jean Riely, recycled clothing, knitting, cotton.
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Arts Exposed
GEORGIA FAIR KARL SMITH
(SODASTREAM)
What's in our diary...
Inside Out
WHEN THE IRON GLOWS RED-TOUR
New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown September 21-22 Integrated dance performance Inside Out, produced by Marlene Palmeiro, is presenting at New Theatre in Newtown in association with the Sydney Fringe Festival 2013. Four young performers with Down Syndrome – Emma Brodie, James Penny, Josh Gray and Joanna Rix – pair with dancers who don’t have a disability – Athelyna Swee, Jess King and Fênix Icatu – to express the power of movement in an exploration of what we mask and what we’re able to reveal about ourselves. In conjunction with two live performances on Saturday September 21 and Sunday September 22, Inside Out will provide further insight into the creative process with a documentary that catalogues rehearsals and the everyday lives of the young, hip entertainers and what it’s like to be an artist who lives with a disability. Tickets available via 2013.sydneyfringe.com.
FRI 8th NOVEMBER
OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au JAE LAFFER NEW ALBUM ‘WHEN THE IRON GLOWS RED’ Follow
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Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK JOHNNY CASINO
last year that Johnny hooked up with a bunch of Spanish friends for a week of gigs, as well as arranging for some studio time in Australia six months later.
One day some bright economic spark will work out a way of incorporating the value of Australian rock’n’roll into the national accounts; and once that’s done, it’s a short accounting step to recognising the export value of Australian artists, especially in light of the popular attention paid to everyone from The Drones to James McCann each time they set foot in continental Europe.
The result of that entrepreneurial spirit is Johnny Casino, Live At The Hanging Tree. Recorded live at Hanging Tree Recording Studios in Sydney, the record largely comprises material from Johnny’s excellent catalogue of rock’n’roll. ‘Take Me Down To The River’ pounds like a motherfucker; ‘Brother Grahame Says’ is even more the riffperfect good time rock’n’roll pop tune. There’s a bruising edge to ‘Nothing Left To Hide’ that leaves you bearing the honourable scars of an encounter with the dirty side of rock; ‘Can’t Be Who You Want Me To Be’ evolves into the quintessential marriage of Chuck Berry and The Celibate Rifles. There’s a couple of quieter moments – a truncated
Live At The Hanging Tree Off The Hip
Xxxx Many people claim solidarity with the rock’n’roll cause, but few can lay claim to Johnny Casino’s empathy and passion.
Walk into a Spanish rock’n’roll venue, and it’s a reasonable bet they’ll know the name Johnny Casino, and the potency of his rock’n’roll attack – more so, in fact, than would be the case in Johnny’s home town of Sydney. It was in Spain
version of Jimmy Webb’s ‘Galveston’, and the reflective ‘This Christmas Time’ – but for the most part, Johnny and his band are firing on all eight cylinders. Somebody make this guy an ambassador for Australian rock’n’roll. Patrick Emery
KATE NASH
JAMES IHA
DEAF HAVANA
GROUPLOVE
MARK LANEGAN
Girl Talk Have 10P Records/ INgrooves
Look To The Sky Stop Start/Inertia
Old Souls Liberator Music/BMG
Spreading Rumours Atlantic/Canvasback
Imitations Heavenly Recordings
When you first pop in this record, you will probably do a double take – is this the same band that released Meet Me Halfway, At Least? You wouldn’t describe the difference as a softer sound, more like a completely different genre.
Grouplove shot to prominence on the back of their 2011 debut, Never Trust A Happy Song, which was all bare feet, summer air and nostalgia. Fastforward two years and we’ve arrived at Spreading Rumours – and Grouplove have unzipped a whole new bag of tricks for album number two. Although Spreading Rumours is ostensibly full of the indie pop glory that first put Grouplove on the map, things have taken a slightly darker detour here and some of the kinks that had appeared on Never Trust A Happy Song have been largely ironed out – Christian Zucconi’s caterwauling howls and screeches have been thankfully pared back and if tracks like ‘Schoolboy’ are among the weaker links, things for Grouplove are only on the up.
Made Of Bricks, My Best Friend Is You, Girl Talk: one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong. Yep, the once indie pop diva is no more as Kate Nash takes a detour toward something nostalgic of ’90s punk feminism. While the crowdfunded album mightn’t meet the calibre of the old riot grrrls in either skill or philosophy, it’s heartening and totally fucking awesome for it to be attempted in the mainstream. She reps the feminist attitude without a care (take that Katy Perry!) and the song ‘All Talk’ is proof of her new-found attitude: “I’m a feminist / And if that offends you / Then fuck you!” It’s almost unimaginable to place the old Nash in this persona, but once you learn the Brit girl’s been hanging with JD Samson of Le Tigre it suddenly all makes sense. And Samson must have made something of an impression, ’cause the punk/garage rock stylings seem to have rubbed off in tracks ‘FriEnd?’ and ‘Sister’, which see Nash sounding almost like the reincarnation of Kathleen Hanna herself. But though she might be channelling Bikini Kill, Hole, Garbage, Magic Dirt and The Runaways, you needn’t be a punk princess to enjoy this one; Girl Talk hasn’t lost the pop harmonies for which we know the old Nash. Despite this record dipping its fingers into a number of pies – sometimes sounding like Kimya Dawson, other times rapping (really) – most of her long-time fans should still dig it. Unfortunately, the new Australian release of this album goes on for a few songs too many, and while Nash mightn’t have fully mastered her fresh identity, it’ll be cool to see what comes from her next. And if you ask me (and you are), she sure as shit deserves some kudos for giving it a shot. Rachel Eddie
Turns out former Smashing Pumpkins bassist James Iha, all hushed and scowling, gained a lot of muso friends. Not hometown stars. Headline-sized names. Names worthy of dropping: Television’s Tom Verlaine, Karen O, and Sara Quin, one half of Tegan & Sara. They’re all on Iha’s valentine to dream pop and stargazing alt rock, Look To The Sky. Listening to the record, Iha is calling in some favours. Big damn favours. “You rush in with stars in your hair / Cast your spell and fl oat through the air,” Iha warily sings on plinky-plonky acoustic opener ‘Make Believe’. First mistake? Not even close. Lyrically, Iha plucks the first rhyme entering his head and commits it to tape. Beatshuffled ‘Till Next Tuesday’ is littered with criminal sentences. He cheerily saunters along with childish glee, actually singing “Wake me up next Tuesday / Don’t wake me up till it’s news day!” No, seriously, he actually sings that. So at pains to divorce himself from a chequered Smashing Pumpkins past, he’s thrown subtlety, depth and substance out his Brooklyn cottage window. What the hell happened, James? Verlaine’s licks are lost underneath stomping bass and fist-bashes of piano on ‘Appetite’, summed up with “A bitter cup / Fill it up”. Strings breeze in a languidly strummed ‘Dream Tonight’, giving pause to wonder – “Is this the Smashing Pumpkins guy? Really?” All might’ve been forgiven if his music roared with thunder and passion. The entire record is presumably intent on capturing life’s innocent years, finger-painting and running through meadows. Fair enough. Too bad it’s got nothing more profound to say than, “When’s playtime?”
Not only that, but as the piece launches into ‘Boston Square’, you may think this is going to be one of those feel-good records, perfect for summer day drives. The combination of guitar and brief trumpet undertones (‘Everybody’s Dancing And I Want To Die’) certainly gives that illusion at first. But the mood gets more serious and sombre as you listen on. The track ‘Speeding Cars’ really hits the nail on the head in describing the record as whole. With its emotional lyrics and sombre feel to start, it then launches back into an upbeat mood. Yet, while the music changes, the lyrics stay with the emotional mood that was set earlier. Even the lyrics themselves are quite contradicting, as James Veck-Gilodi talks about having “a bad few weeks” and wanting things to get better, but then keeps backtracking to negativity in describing how things are always going downhill. And then there are some jolly trumpets mixed in? It creates a quite confusing and unbalanced track. Ending on two live acoustic tracks, it is definitely a record of mixed emotions that may just be a bit too back-and-forth to earn listeners’ love. Amy Theodore
Tom Valcanis
Lead single ‘Ways To Go’ keeps the whimsical, happy-go-lucky vibes strong. Blending punchy pop with fuzzed-out, warm synths and with the magical chemistry from Zucconi and Hannah Hooper’s vocal play, it is a fine return to form indeed. Regardless, Spreading Rumours hits some serious strong points elsewhere too; ‘Hippy Hill’ is delightfully tonguein-cheek – “I’d rather be a hippy than a hipster” sings Zucconi, swathed in a background of soft, smooth hums, handclaps and an acoustic guitar – until the chorus kicks the door wide open. Before you know it, in comes a heavy electro breakdown that’s gone before you’ve even recovered from the sudden aural assault. Similarly, ‘Shark Attack’ sees Grouplove playing with textures and sounds outside of their usual repertoire and it yields brilliant results – it packs a decent wallop compared to the likes of ‘Raspberry’, which is pedestrian at best.
Dirty Pop Fantasy Valve Records/MGM About fifteen years ago, satirical news source The Onion warned we may be running out of past to recycle. With artists like Lana Del Rey and Mumford & Sons in the mainstream today, The Onion was right. What’s offered is oh-so-serious rehash, seemingly forgoing fun when exalting kitsch. Regurgitator didn’t forget. This record is Ben Ely and Quan Yeomans’ wild laboratory of pop music that almost was, unconstrained by coked-up label execs or
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A&R fluffers. What if Kraftwerk and Billy Idol made cyber love on a chaise lounge? The result is ‘Made To Break’. Ever wanted to combine Weezery indie and sensual Britpop to sell out the Manchester Hacienda? Go for your life on ‘Mountains’. If Def Leppard suffered a psychotic breakdown and locked themselves in a room to cry like The Replacements, you’d feel ‘Home Alone Stoned’. ‘Bongzilla’ packs freewheeling stoner jams and piledriving riffs into four minutes or less. ‘Can’t Stop’ fulfils dreams of prancing in an All-American boy band, all fat R&B-tinged electro hooks and shoehorned-in hip hop breakdown. A squirrely ‘Fucking Up’ fuzzes up footstomping garage rock, reimagining the
With a few relatively recent covers thrown in, Lanegan transforms songs from crooners such as Frank and Nancy Sinatra, Andy Williams and underground icon John Cale with his typically brooding vocals. Moving so far out of his comfort zone on Imitations is a bold move by Lanegan, and occasionally it doesn’t pay off. A handful of covers – especially Vern Gosdin’s ‘She’s Gone’ and Williams’ ‘Autumn Leaves’ – make for odd choices, as Lanegan’s vocals get buried by the orchestral nature of the songs. But these few are the exceptions as Lanegan keeps things simple on most tracks, with the sparse instrumentals allowing plenty of space to showcase the depth and range of his voice. Album opener ‘Flatlands’ – originally by Chelsea Wolfe – is a highlight, a haunting acoustic ballad in which Lanegan’s voice floats over a hazy string section. His excellent rendition of ‘Mack The Knife’ strips the song back to its bare bones, as his most gravelly vocal contribution of the album is supported only by an almost playful acoustic guitar. Nancy Sinatra’s ‘You Only Live Twice’ is another highlight, proving that Lanegan can tackle just about anything and still have the capacity to surprise.
Spreading Rumours is an exciting leap forward from Grouplove’s debut offering; it’s always rewarding to hear a band pushing forward rather than resting on their laurels.
A curious collection of covers that works best when classic songs are stripped back to showcase Lanegan’s hauntingly powerful voice.
Marissa Demetriou
Keiron Costello
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK REGURGITATOR
For a singer most regularly associated with grunge act Screaming Trees and the desert rock of Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan’s solo recordings and collaborations of the last decade have seen him wandering all over the musical landscape, lending his unique voice to everything from electronica to folk. With Imitations, Lanegan again strides out into unfamiliar territory as he covers the ’60s and early ’70s pop of his parents’ record collection.
early 2000s revival of tousled-hair cool. They run the distortion at Marshall stack strength, before flicking it off to hold you close and whisper. Dirty Pop Fantasy soaks up forty years of pop from Austin to Zurich, wringing out familiar tunes strained of cliché. They’re winking at you going, “Your kiss like a Caramel Twix / Sweeter than a Kinder Surprise”. The ’Gurge’s Dirty Pop Fantasy isn’t simply a label – it’s their bony fists banging like a gavel, demanding your ear. The nature of their fantasy is irrepressible.
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... FATBOY SLIM - You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby GRIMES - Visions THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead
ATOMS FOR PEACE - Amok ASH - 1977
Tom Valcanis
thebrag.com
live review What we've been out to see...
FBI TURNS TEN Carriageworks Sunday September 8 Some time a little over ten years ago, FBi Radio was borne out of an idea conceived in an inner city bedroom. Much of its audience can probably say the same. This festival is a mutual celebration of the anniversary, and because everyone present is here for the right reasons, it works perfectly. Carriageworks is a snug fit for the day’s and night’s events: here is a venue with the arts in its DNA, and the live painters and interactive installations dotted around the festival site make it a delightful Sunday oasis just off the edge of central Sydney. The bands? Yeah, they’re great too. Oliver Tank and Deep Sea Arcade are the early highlights, but it’s The Preatures who draw the first big crowd of the day to the outdoor stage. The attention around these guys is swarming, and their performance abilities are keeping up. Isabella Manfredi offers an opportune “Fuck Abbott!” – and this time it can’t be Photoshopped away. Seekae follow them, delivering some glitchy but often directionless indulgences, so it’s over to a dimly lit Thundamentals, who are spitting fast and fair in one of the three indoor set-ups. Tuka, Jeswon and Morgs are joined by Ev Jones, and close with ‘Paint The Town Red’. We’re on it, fellas.
Midnight Juggernauts construct a cacophony of noise before a willing crowd; their live display unpredictable in the best possible manner – there’s more than one (male) nip slip during their set, and instructions are barked from stage with a megaphone. Hermitude carry on in much the same manner. Far less garish is Sarah Blasko, who by eight o’clock is probably playing to a crowd lubricated beyond the ideal, and because she’s accompanied only by piano her songs feel under-energised. Still, Blasko pays a touching tribute to the station that “played my music from the start” by performing her set in chronological order, which means it’s a generous mix of old and new.
THE PREATURES, CHELA, THE JONES RIVAL Oxford Art Factory Friday September 6 “You can get undressed too, if you like!” Isabella Manfredi is every bit the lead lady that we’ve all aspired to be. Tonight, the real deal is decked out in a cheeky smirk, whitedistressed denim and a shirt free of political commentary, because the only votes that matter tonight are the audience’s... for a sold-out show. The Jones Rival were first up, bouncing drum grooves and surf rock beats around the walls of Oxford Arts. Husky and animated vocals were interchanged, woven into rich harmonies. Call-and-response with the infectious guitar licks provided maximum foot-tappability. Also, props to having a tambourinist – it gives musical muggles hope.
Cloud Control, billed as a secret guest, close proceedings on the Bay 25 stage with new material of their own – another strong performance from yet another local favourite. Outside it’s The Presets, but the real boilover atmosphere is steaming up indoors with Urthboy. Tim Levinson and his crew, featuring the ever-present and impressive Jane Tyrrell, are high on energy to extremes. ‘Knee Length Socks’ includes a fitting slice of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ and Levinson dedicates ‘No Other’ to our gracious hosts. Here’s hoping FBi return to the festival landscape someday soon – because as birthday celebrations go, this one gets ten out of ten.
Next, Chela. Not to be confused with Hellyeah, which is what everyone was thinking. Flanked by a synth-soaking keyboardist and a guitarist with a foot planted on reverb, the pop gem shrugged off overused electro tendencies with a strapping dance-inducing set of ditties that nodded to Grimes and fist-pumped with M.I.A. Flirting with inflections of punk and psychedelia, she collided sample beats with a light, organic vocal.
Chris Martin
PHOTOGRAPHER :: TIM LEVY
“If you own the night, I’m gonna get you”. This sharp warning in opener ‘Manic Baby’ was the superglue to the title of ‘golden band’ that has been hovering over The Preatures since their new EP Is This How You Feel? had the world finally catch on. Manfredi’s raw vocal pierced the crowd as she stood, feet planted and eyes vacant, pouring out melodic treasures with the tenderness of Stevie Nicks and the grunge of an ’80s garage band. Tracks from the five-piece’s debut EP Shaking Hands showcased the soul-heavy vocals of Gideon Bensen. Darting between slower numbers with muted percussive riffs, and faster songs, they finally whipped out the Pitchfork-endorsed ‘Is This How You Feel?’, the hook meeting the audience like a defibrillator and sending all into a frenzy. It’s fair to say any remaining dance dignity was lost, with gyrating and hip-swaying liberal across the floor. This slow burn towards the hit single appeared triumphant... right until the band made an unexpected return (hadn’t they just ended the suspense?) for two encore songs; the last, ‘Pale Rider’, pitted with several decrescendos that closed proceedings on a downer. Manfredi’s frustrated “Come on guys!” was a reminder that even the most relished slow burner recipes can leave a bitter burnt taste if left on the stove for too long. Mina Kitsos
THE GROWL, PETER BIBBY & HIS BOTTLES OF CONFIDENCE, MELODIE NELSON Goodgod Small Club Wednesday September 4
PHOTOGRAPHER :: TIM LEVY
Walking into the Danceteria at the back of Goodgod Small Club is like walking into a late ’80s vision of a post-apocalyptic future: there’s a lot of flashing lights, a smoke machine that’s been set to ‘emphysema’, an awesome soundtrack, and a solitary disco ball somehow still hanging from the ceiling. This was the setting that Melodie Nelson’s dreamy sounds opened the show to. Playing a strong set; including ‘Martha’, ‘Carry Me’ and ‘Take Me For A Ride’, the five-piece were very enjoyable, even if it took a little while for the crowd to get into them, as their slow melodic sound isn’t the kind of music that gets people fired up. Possessing one of the best band names ever, Peter Bibby & His Bottles Of Confidence took their places onstage, the crowd swelled, and we were treated to the biggest surprise of the night. With a sound that a crowd member described as “the delinquent love child of Courtney Barnett and Dick Diver”, the threesome performed a lively and intoxicating set, possessing some of the funniest lyrics I’ve
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heard for quite a while (such as a song about drinking goon in the park with a friend and debating about getting rich and famous or staying poor and keeping on drinking goon). Backed up by members of The Growl playing along on the double bass and drums, Bibby was the standout act of the night. The Growl opened with an acoustic version of ‘Fee Fi Fo Fum’, grabbing the crowd with a heavy stomp and vocals that were as smooth as butter and harsh as whisky. They played several new songs, however the new sound was fairly different to the songs from What Would Christ Do??, swapping the hungry crunch prevalent throughout that album for a softer touch. They eventually dived back into their current catalogue and played crowd-pleasers like ‘Liarbird’, ‘Cleaver Lever’ and a clap-andsing-along version of ‘John The Revelator’. The crowd ate it all up and cried out for more after the show, which resulted in Cam Avery coming back onstage and laughingly berating everyone for not letting him go outside for a cigarette. All in all, a great set from Melodie, an enjoyable performance from The Growl, but Peter Bibby is the one to be looking out for. Daniel Prior
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snap sn ap
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up all night out all week . . .
tigertown
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06:09:13 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322
tonight alive
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harriet whiskey club 05:09:13 :: The Hi-Fi :: Entertainment Quarter 122 Lang Rd Moore Park 8683 2301 26 :: BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13
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05:09:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711
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snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .
THE GANGSTERS’ BALL Metro Theatre Saturday September 7
As with most Golden Ages of a bygone era, the 1920s are still alive and kicking thanks to pop culture. However, as much as we like to glorify the past, we shouldn’t forget that it wasn’t all parties and mint juleps. The hunt for communists was beginning to rival baseball as America’s favourite pastime; a young, overzealous German named Adolf entered politics; and with alcohol outlawed, some gangsters decided to start selling booze at hugely inflated prices. While most of these historical events are hard to relive with a costume party, The Gangsters’ Ball does its best to reflect the financial gouging that took place back in the day. For a ridiculously overpriced $80 entry ($135 for a VIP ticket), you too can dress up in a fine suit or swanky dress and live out your Gatsby fantasy.
machine gun kelly
Another annoying observation, though, was that – aside from a grand chandelier hanging above the entry stairs – there were next to no decorations of any kind. Nothing. Disappointing when you consider that such a simple touch could enhance the experience and prolong the fantasy tenfold. Most people love a costume party and decide that they are going to spoil themselves for the night. This is understandable but unnecessary, as thanks to the reinvigoration the 1920s are currently getting all over town due to The Great Gatsby remake. Daniel Prior
PICS :: AM
A certain desperation runs through the crowd, as if people feel forced to enjoy
themselves. This does result in much more crowd participation than usual; getting people dancing to the swing DJ and enjoying the fake gambling in the secondary theatre, and much more involved with the various performers on the main stage, from magicians to acrobatic violinists.
dead letter circus
PICS :: HL
anberlin 04:09:13 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 thebrag.com
PICS :: HL
06:09:13 :: Manning Bar :: UoS Manning Rd Camperdown 9563 6000
07:09:13 :: The Hi-Fi :: Entertainment Quarter 122 Lang Rd Moore Park 8683 2301 S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR ::
:: HENRY LEUNG :: AMATH
BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 27
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22
Hump Wednesdays - feat: The Petting Zoo The Little Guy, Glebe. 7pm. free. Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Matt McMahon Trio & Greg Coffin Trio Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $10. World Music Wednesdays feat: El Orquestron The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $5.
ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
Chris Stretton Stamford Grand, North Ryde. 5:45pm. free. Pulp Kitchen And Folk Club - feat: Live Rotating Folk Bands Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Songs On Stage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann + Huntley Mitchell & Brittany Sheahan The Loft (UTS Loft), Ultimo. 6pm. free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Calexico
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Calexico + Tiny Ruins 8pm. $39. MONDAY SEPTEMBER 16 ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
Songs On Stage - feat: Carolyn Woodorth + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti Kelly’s On King, Newtown. 7pm. free.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Latin & Jazz Open Mic World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free. Mariachi Mondays - feat: Victor Valdes And Friends 28 :: BRAG :: 530 : 16:09:13
The Basement, Circular Quay. 5pm. free. Motown Mondays - feat: Soultrane The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney. 10pm. free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free. Martha Marlow Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $10.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
Oliver Goss Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free. The Cope Street Parade Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 8pm. $15.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Big Band Tuesdays - feat: Sirens Big Band The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $5.
Kirrakamere & Aaron Culligan The Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $10. Lunchbreak With Olafur Arnalds FBi Social, Kings Cross. 1pm. free. Mary Gunn - feat: Vanadium + Spooky Land + Eddie Boyd & The Phataphillars Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $5. OKA + Declan Kelly And The Rising Sun The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $5. Tug Dumbly And The Hellsong Gospel Choir Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 8pm. free. Uni Bar100 Bar100, The Rocks. 9pm. free. Watsup Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free.
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Aamazing EntertainmentKaraoke Royal Hotel, Bondi. 8pm. free. Juke Baritone & The Swamp Dogs Hotel Steyne, Manly. 9pm. free. Organ Groove - feat: Dave Goodman + Darren Heinrich + Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20
ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC
Big Blind Ray + Girl Most Likely Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7pm. $20. Lanie Lane The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $28.80. Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Songs On Stage - feat: Olivia And Gus & Andrew Denniston Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Anthems Of Oz Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Bob Evans Lizotte’s, Dee Why. 9:30pm.
Bandaluzia Flamenco feat: Special Guests Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $20. International Playing For Change Day 2013 feat: Eric Renaud And Caribbean Soul + The Protestors And DJ Meare Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 7pm. $25. Kye Brown Customs House Bar, Sydney. 7pm. free. Souled Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10:30pm. free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
AM 2 PM North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free.
Andy Mammers Cronulla RSL, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Ange The Village Hotel, Mt Druitt Village. 8pm. free. Beach Fossils The Standard, Surry Hills. 8pm. $38. Bob Evans Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 9:30pm. $20. Brad Johns Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 10:30pm. free. Brendan Deehan O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Craig Thommo Duo Parramatta Leagues - The Firehouse, 8pm. free. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Fattura Della Morte - feat: Black Coffee + Oily Boys + Hygiene + Collared The Square, Haymarket. 8pm. $10. For The Fallen Dreams + The Plot In You + Storm The Sky + Fit For A King The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $36.50. Gary Johns Trio Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. Geoff Rana Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free. Glenn Whitehall Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Hanball Deathmatch feat: My Name Is Jack + Nerdlinger + Stacy Gray + Kids Of Yesterday + No Further Questions + Toponovil + Steel City Allstars Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10. Hornsby Hotshots - feat: 8 Live Bands Rocking Out! Ku-ring-gai PCYC Performing Art Centre, Hornsby. 7pm. $15. Jinja Safari The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West. 8pm. free. JJ Duo Kurnell Rec Club, Kurnell. 7:30pm. free. Jump On Board: The Kylie Minogue And Robbie Williams Double Club Engadine, Engadine. 8:30pm. free. Klay Ambarvale Tavern, Ambarvale. 8pm. free. Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt. 9:30pm. free. Mandi Jarry Novotel, Darling Harbour. 5:30pm. free. Mark Da Costa Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10pm. free. Marty Stewart The Crown Hotel, Camden. 9pm. free. Muddy Feet Seven Hills Toongabbie RSL Club, Seven Hills. 8:30pm. free. Nicky Kurta Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 5pm. free. Party Central Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Raven Black - feat: Hazmat + Atomesquad + Cerebral Contortion Penshurst RSL, Penshurst. 7:30pm. $10. Recoil Vor Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichardt. 8pm. free. Reels On Fire PJ Gallagher’s, Sydney. 9pm. free. Rihanna Show Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 9:30pm. free. Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free.
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pick of the week
$25. Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Civilians Launch “We Were Wrens” - feat: New Brutalists & Ollie Brown Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Greg Agar Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Heath Burdell Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 10pm. free. Jim Moginie & Neil Murray Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 8pm. $25. Mandi Jarry Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville. 7:30pm. free. Overnight Rental - feat: Emerald Scar + Fat Chance + Compass + Calibur + The Cupcake Conspiracy Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $10. Restless Leg - feat: The Dave Fletcher Band + Will Chittick The Union Hotel, Newtown. 10am. free. Royal Chant - feat: Bigger Cages + A Bear In A Man Suit Terrace Bar, Newcastle. 8pm. $5. The Green Mohair Suits + Keppie Coutts Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 8pm. $15. The Holidays Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $17.40. Tully On Tully + March Of The Real Fly + Zana Rose & The Floral Chaos + Little Fox FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Vanity Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free. Wildcatz Three Wise Monkeys Pub, Sydney. 10pm. free.
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
Jinja Safari
Ryan Thomas General Gordon Hotel, Sydenham. 4pm. free. Skyzthelimit Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 8pm. free. Stephanie Jansen & Party Central Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. $5. The Deep Courthouse Hotel, 10pm. free. The John Steel Singers + Baptism Of Uzi + The Fabergettes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $14. The Snowdroppers + Gay Paris The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8pm. $23.50. Three Borrowed Minds Tour - feat: Jordan Millar + Morgan Joanel & Dave Di Marco FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Tony Williams Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 6:30pm. free. Tony Williams Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Triple Grip Windsor Leagues Club, 9:30pm. free. Way Of The Eagle (featuring Dan Sultan, Daniel Meriweather, Owl Eyes And More) + Tim Nelson And The Infadels + Rainy Day Women + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free. Zoltan Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9:30pm. free.
ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
Acoustic Dave Commercial Hotel, Parramatta. 6:30pm. free. Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Tommy Pickett Cock N’ Bull, Bondi Junction. 7pm. free.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Armandito & Trovason Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $25. Bandaluzia Flamenco feat: Special Guests Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $20.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
AM 2 PM Panania East Hills RSL Club, Panania. 8pm. free. thebrag.com
Armchair Travellers Duo Brighton RSL, Brighton Le Sands. 8pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay. 9pm. free. Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers Show Picton Hotel, Picton. 9pm. free. Caravana Sun Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Celtic Woman Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour. 7:30pm. $100. Craig Thommo Berowra Village Tavern, Berowra Heights. 8:30pm. free. Dan Lawrence Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 10pm. free. Dave White Experience Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10pm. free. David Agius Band Cronulla RSL, Cronulla. 8pm. free. Destroy The Valve Bar 2 Festival - feat: The Seraphim Vale + Whoretopsy + New Blood + Animistic + Exekute + Yanomamo + Infested Entrails + Hematic + Squawk! + Kunvuk + Cryptic Scorn + Trollgasm + Gutter Tactic + Dead-Life + Zombie Lolocaust + To Engineer An Exorcist Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 12pm. $20. Diviney Metro Theatre, Sydney. 5pm. $28. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Electric Anthems Trio Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Elevate Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville. 9:30pm. free. Endless Summer Beach Party The Orient, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Gary Johns The Orient, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Gerard Masters Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. Greg Agar Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Ignition Epping Hotel, Epping. 10pm. free. Iron Lion Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free. Jinja Safari + Cub Sport + Okenyo Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $25.70. JJ Duo Courthouse Hotel, Newtown. 10pm. free. Klay Cookies Bar, North Strathfield. 8pm. free. Lamb Of God + Meshuggah UNSW Roundhouse,
Kensington. 7:30pm. $79.20. Luke O’Shea & Medicine Wheel + Lachlan Bryan The Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $20. Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Macson Parramatta Leagues - The Firehouse, 8pm. free. Marty Simpson Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 6:30pm. free. Nova Tone North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 9:30pm. free. Party Central R.G. McGees, Richmond. 9pm. free. Peace + Millions Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $37.40. Playing For Change Day Bondi Beach Growers Market, Bondi Beach. 10am. free. Rapture Sutherland United Services Club, Sutherland. 7:30pm. free. Raven Black Night Barbarian Winter CD Launch - feat: Avarian + Metrya + Hang Man Haymarket Hotel, Haymarket. 8pm. $10. Rock Solid Duo The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Rocknroll Revolt! (Ramones Addition) - feat: Vee Bees + The Turps + The Heapsgoods + Special Patrol Group Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Sarah Paton O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Saturday Live Band - feat: Live Tonight Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8:30pm. free. Smooth Criminals – The Michael Jackson Show Blacktown RSL, Blacktown. 9pm. free. The Anthill Mob Cronulla Bowling And Recreation Club, Cronulla. 8:30pm. free. The Beatels Blacktown Workers Club, Blacktown. 8pm. free. The Deep Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 10pm. free. The Lonely Boys The Mercantile Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. The Mangrove Boogie Kings - feat: 50 Million Beers Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 8pm. $12. The Snowdroppers + Kira Puru & The Bruise The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8pm. $23.50. Tori Darke Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 5:30pm. free. Tour De Force Club Central Hurstville, Hurstville. 8:30pm. free. Trilogy Crossroads Hotel, Casula. 9pm. free. Triple Grip Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction. 8:30pm. free. Uncovered Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10:30pm. free. Venom Club Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10. Wildcatz Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 9pm. free.
Acoustic Dave Surfies Cronulla, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Paul Hayward & Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 3pm. free.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Sydney Sacred Music Festival - feat: Into Silence Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $25. VTribe Hotel Steyne, Manly. 7pm. free.
INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS
$10. Marty Simpson Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 2pm. free. Mojo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8pm. free. Sounds Of The Suburbs Festival - feat: Bleeding Knees Club + Chance Waters + The Griswolds + Goons Of Doom + Mind Over Matter + The Lazys + Bloods + Black Zeros + Marlin Zando + Dumb Blondes +Your Favorite Enemies + Harmony Hart + Letters To Lions + D’Luna Space 44, Cronulla. 11am. $55. The Road Runners Marrickville Bowls Club, Marrickville. 4:30pm. free. Three Wise Men
Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Victoria Avenue Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free.
ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
Acoustic Sets - feat: Steve & Jill Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 2pm. free. Finn Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free. Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free. Little Sundays - feat: Stephanie Grace The Little Guy, Glebe. 7pm. free. Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free.
Diviney
Alex Hopkins Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction. 3pm. free. Calexico + Tiny Ruins Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $39. Daybreak Showcase - feat: Panachae + Jody + Lyon Estate + The Runaway House + Deathsleds + Van Cooper + Monmouth Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 12pm. $10. Heath Burdell Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free. Jones The Cat - feat: Cicada + Copper Tongue + Montagu + Baby Doll Arms Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 6pm.
tue
17 Sep
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
wed
18 Sep
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
19 Sep
(9:30PM - 12:30AM)
fri
20 Sep
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(9:30PM - 1:30AM)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
sat
21
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
SATURDAY NIGHT
Sep
(9:30PM - 12:30AM)
sun
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
Sep
SUNDAY NIGHT
22
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK
BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 29
gig picks up all night out all week...
Way Of The Eagle (Featuring Dan Sultan, Daniel Meriweather, Owl Eyes And More) + Tim Nelson And The Infadels + Rainy Day Women + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.
Beach Fossils
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Lunchbreak With Olafur Arnalds FBi Social, Kings Cross. 1pm. Free.
International Playing For Change Day 2013 - Feat: Eric Renaud And Caribbean Soul + The Protestors And Dj Meare Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 7pm. $25. Beach Fossils The Standard, Surry Hills. 8pm. $38. For The Fallen Dreams + The Plot In You + Storm The Sky + Fit For A King The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $36.50. The John Steel Singers + Baptism Of Uzi + The Fabergettes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $14. The Snowdroppers + Gay Paris The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8pm. $23.50. Three Borrowed Minds Tour Feat: Jordan Millar + Morgan Joanel & Dave Di Marco Fbi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19 Lanie Lane The Vanguard, Newtown. 8pm. $28.80. Bob Evans Lizotte’s, Dee Why. 9:30pm. $25. The Green Mohair Suits + Keppie Coutts Eliza’s Juke Joint, Newtown. 8pm. $15. The Holidays Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $17.40. Tully On Tully + March Of The Real Fly + Zana Rose & The Floral Chaos + Little Fox FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.
Diviney Metro Theatre, Sydney. 5pm. $28. Jinja Safari + Cub Sport + Okenyo Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $25.70. Lamb Of God + Meshuggah UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 7:30pm. $79.20. Peace + Millions Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $37.40. The Snowdroppers + Kira Puru & The Bruise The Annandale Hotel, Annandale. 8pm. $23.50.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22 Sounds Of The Suburbs Festival - Feat: Bleeding Knees Club + Chance Waters + The Griswolds + Goons Of Doom + Mind Over Matter + The Lazys + Bloods + Black Zeros + Marlin Zando + Dumb Blondes +Your Favorite Enemies + Harmony Hart + Letters To Lions + D’luna Space 44, Cronulla. 11am. $55. The Snowdroppers
THU 19th SEPTEMBER WED 18th SEPTEMBER
LUNCH BREAK: ÓLAFUR ARNALDS (INVITE ONLY & BROADCAST ON FBI) 1PM // FREE
TULLY ON TULLY (VIC) + MARCH OF THE REAL FLY + ZANA ROSE & THE FLORAL CHAOS + LITTLE FOX 8PM // $10
FRI 20th SEPTEMBER WED 18th SEPTEMBER
THE LAUGH STAND: FBI 10TH BIRTHDAY EDITION WITH PETER BERNER + ALICE FRASER + GENEVIEVE FRICKER + ZOE COOMBS MAR + NINA OYAMA + DANE HISER + CAMERON JAMES 8PM // $10 + A MAGNERS FOR SUPPORTORS & STUDENTS / $15 + A MAGNERS FOR GENERAL ADMISSION
3 BORROWED MINDS TOUR: JORDAN MILLAR + MORGAN JOANEL + DAVE DI MARCO 8PM // $10
SAT 21th SEPTEMBER
HANDS UP!
DJ CLOCKWERK + SPECIAL FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS 11:30PM // FREE
www.fbisocial.com 30 :: BRAG :: 530 : 16:09:13
level 2, kings cross hotel thebrag.com
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BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief...with Chris Honnery
five things WITH
BIG FELLA AND PASOBIONIC FROM AUDEGO
Kenny Larkin
KENNY LARKIN
Detroit veteran Kenny Larkin headlines the Goldfish this Saturday September 21. Larkin has released on labels like Submerge, Planet E, Peacefrog, and Rush Hour since dropping his memorable debut album Azimuth, which is commonly regarded as one of the better dance albums of the late 20th century. In more recent times, Larkin has collaborated with Shlomi Aber, delivered a mix compilation for Cadenza and churned out rollicking remixes of Inner City, Anonym and Radioslave, confirming he’s lost none of his prowess for moving a dancefloor.
SPICE AFLOAT 2014
Growing Up Big Fella: My first 1. musical memory was
Inspirations BF: Otis Redding is my 2. favourite singer. I love broken
playing a little keyboard with an attached mic at my fi fth birthday. I gathered my family around to hear a song I made and completely blanked. I became really nervous and started crying and my brothers started laughing at me. Everyone left and went back to watching TV and I felt so defl ated. After that I only sang under the blanket at night when noone was around until I was a teenager.
voices that sound like they hurt to sing, like Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin. I’m a sucker for a sad song.
PasoBionic: As a kid I remember driving around with my parents listening to old Bollywood soundtracks. The songs were always so sad. As I got older they turned more religious and stopped listening to music so much. My elder sisters listened to Top 40 pop on the radio: Prince, MJ. Then rap happened. I was shocked and entranced when I first heard Public Enemy. It was raw energy, nothing like anything I’d heard. I was hooked.
Your Band BF: We met 5 years 3. ago when I approached
PB: Key inspirations of my early musical life were Public Enemy – avant-garde sample collages; DJ Shadow – you don’t need a vocalist to take you on a journey; Mr. Bungle (specifically Disco Volante) – there are no rules, sound as art. Now I’m inspired as much by books, movies, paintings and architecture.
Paso to remix one of my songs. We share a love of darker shades and decaying textures. It’s a very easy working relationship. The Music You Make: We describe our music 4. as ‘future-noir’. We released our debut LP Abominable Galaxy in 2012, a split EP I Know We’ve Only Been Going Out For Three Days But It Feels Like Forever
LOST DISCO NYD Lost Disco will host a New Year’s Day party within the opulent confines of Ivy Pool Club on the first day of 2014, with a headline triple bill comprised of US duos Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb alongside Simple Records main man Will Saul. Boston DJ and production duo Soul Clap dropped their debut album, EFUNK, through the Future Classic label at the start of last year, following on from their contribution to the DJ Kicks canon (a joint effort with Wolf + Lamb) after first making their name through their vinyl-only edits and DJ sets. Meanwhile, Wolf + Lamb is the duo of Zev Eisenberg and thebrag.com
with Friendships [this year], and we have our sophomore album Beneath The Static And The Low dropping Friday September 20.
Details of the ninth Spice Afloat New Year’s Day morning sunrise boat party have been revealed, with Audiojack, Kyle Hall and Lovebirds all set to perform. Audiojack is the UK duo of James Rial and Richard Burkinshaw, who are well acquainted with Sydney dancers through previous performances Down Under. Kyle Hall is a talented young next
gen producer from the Motor City who has garnered accolades from Detroit deities such as Omar-S and Theo Parrish and released on labels like Hyperdub and Carl Craig’s Planet E imprint. Lovebirds is the solo project of Hamburg’s Sebastian Doering, who has chalked up EPs on Freerange, Buzzin Fly and OM Records. Spice’s Murat Kilic will also be spinning, with first release tickets on sale now.
Spit Syndicate
We’re husband and wife, which actually makes writing songs easy. There’s a studio set up in our house, so it’s – chop the onions, record the vocals, clean the dishes, make the beats. Music is part of our daily routine. Usually vocals and harmonies are recorded a cappella and then beats are constructed around them. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. There is an amazing, inspiring music scene in Melbourne. Just check out RRR/PBS playlists. Of course the main obstacle is getting heard amidst all that. We recently played with Sietta and Hailey Cramer, both of those acts were amazing. As far as Sydney’s live music scene goes, I think FBi Social has the best gigs in town. What: Beneath The Static And The Low out Friday September 20 through Remote Control
Gadi Mizrahi who are behind all aspects of the outfit’s numerous operations: production team, DJ duo and record label. The pair has released a couple of full-length albums in Versus and their 2010 debut, Love Someone, which featured collaborations with Voices Of Black, Night Plane, PillowTalk, No Regular Play’s Greg Paulus and Rap Lisa. Rounding off the headlining triumvirate, Saul is a tastemaker who formerly worked for Sony International and has remixed the likes of Chicken Lips, Scuba and Juan Maclean, as well as releasing a compilation for the Balance series.
SPIT SYNDICATE HEADLINE INDENT
Following on from last year’s Indent tour headlined by jungle-pop quintet Jinja Safari, Music NSW’s all-ages project Indent has announced that Sydney hip hop duo Spit Syndicate will be headlining their regional tour this year. Now in its fourth year, the forthcoming Indent Tour will be visiting Maitland, Taree, Wagga Wagga, Jindabyne and Albury from November 22 through December 1. The headliners are still basking in the success of their ARIA-charting Sunday Gentlemen album, which featured guest spots from RIA award winner Styalz Fuego, Horrorshow’s Adit, M-Phazes and Raph Dixon. Head to indent.net.au for full details.
BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 31
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief...with Chris Honnery
email: freestuff@thebrag.com
five things WITH
Freddie Gibbs
TRUS’ME FROM PRIME NUMBERS to What’s Going On back-toback on cassette. I knew then that music was a future career path, something that was hiding in me all of a sudden came to the light. Your Crew Growing up in Madchester 3. (Manchester), it was inevitable I was going to grow to love music. From indie to house and techno, we really were the birth of the global club and it still lives strong in the city, and me, to this day. I run a label, I produce music, DJ and throw events which can also be unique concept showcases. Music is my life, job and hobby. The Music You Make Musically, my mindset has 4. always been across the board,
1.
Growing Up I grew up with football, tennis and sport in general. Music wasn’t something I came to love until an older age. I mean, I played instruments like the clarinet, but it wasn’t really feeling it the way I love jazz, soul and electronic music now. When I was younger I tended to enjoy my own company
– you can see this in the way I enjoy making music today, me myself and I. Inspirations I admire musicians that push 2. their boundaries – David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Kenny Dixon. I admire innovators. I will never forget when I first listened
SILENCER FT JOHN ELLIOTT
Silencer will host John Elliott, AKA Outer Space, at the Red Rattler on Sunday October 6 (a long weekend). Elliott is the curator of the celebrated Spectrum Spools record label and is renowned for his projects Outer Space, Imaginary Softwoods and MIST and his work with the band Emerald. An analogue synthesiser fiend, Elliott channels the likes of German pioneers Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler with his experimental output, which has been released on labels such as Editions Mego, Amethyst Sunset, Arbor, Blast First Petite and Spectrum Spools. Elliott has collaborated with Aaron Dilloway, Atom TM, Drew McDowall and Bee Mask, and closed the infamous Labyrinth Festival in 2012 to rave reviews. He will return to Australia this year on the back of another Labyrinth performance and will be playing a live set and a DJ set. His support cast features
so house and techno feel the same to me both as a producer or a DJ. I chose to come out with the ideas I had in my head at the time, which back then was mainly soul, jazz and discobased. Later with In The Red I was looking to push myself as a producer, working with live musicians and more song-based production. Once you have been
through this process you learn many skills that I then used to surround myself with machines. [Latest album] Treat Me Right you could say is a byproduct of most shows that were played during peak time to the masses. With this LP I wanted to make tracks I could play and incorporate in my set but that also sat musically well at home with my label, Prime Numbers. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. There are more records being sold now than at any time in the history of this scene. Our little scene is healthy and here to stay. We just need to keep innovating and concerning ourselves more with the future than with now and the past. I dig deep, so right now I’m hunting music that sounds like now, but is from way back when. Who: Trus’me Where: S*A*S*H at the Abercrombie When: Sunday September 22 And: Treat Me Right out now through Prime Numbers
Pimmon, Asger Jorn, Gareth Psaltis, James Walsh and Daniel Gottlieb.
Germany’s Rampa will headline the Burdekin Hotel on Saturday September 28. Rampa cut his teeth through Keinemusik, his label and crew of likeminded DJs that includes producers such as &ME, Adam Port and David Mayer. Rampa has produced an album with Nomi of Hercules & Love Affair and Jessica 6 fame, and has since released singles such as ‘Everything’ on the Defected label, a club anthem that attracted a remix from Mark Fanciulli. Support will come from Gemma Van D, Shepz, Anthony Matthews and Dave Stuart, who recently returned from spinning in Berlin.
MADE FOR MUSIC COMP
Budweiser and the Australian Independent Music Awards have launched a nationwide search for Australia’s next pin-up producer/ DJ, and are calling on anyone who fancies themselves (musically speaking) to submit their best tracks. The winner will be given their own tour of the USA to play at Marquee Las Vegas and Marquee New York, plus homecoming gigs at Australian clubs such as Marquee Sydney (you see the pattern developing here). There will be other perks, including winning the Pioneer DDJ-SX 4-channel Serato DJ controller. Track submissions close at midnight on Monday September 30, head to BudweiserMadeforMusic.com.au for full details.
END OF THE LINE
Niko Schwind
STIL VOR TALENT LABEL NIGHT
German label Stil vor Talent is hosting its fourth label showcase at the Spice Cellar on Saturday September 28. Featuring on the night from the label will be Niko Schwind and Melbourne’s Uone. Schwind released his second album with SVT, collaborating with artists like Fran, Channel X, Patrick Blasa and label head honcho Oliver Koletzki. The other headliner Uone is a regular DJ interstate, having previously performed at Subsonic and Spice events. Mike Witcombe will be spinning in support, with doors opening at 10pm.
STRANGE SIGNALS
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Subsonic’s End Of The Line long weekend subbrand returns to the Abercrombie on Monday October 7 for a headlining performance from a pioneering German producer whose identity is yet to be revealed – yep, the old ‘secret international headliner’ trick. The secret guest will be flanked by a selection of highly touted locals, including precocious Melbourne producer Timmus, Disconnected’s Pete Coyle who is recently back from Berlin and Strange Fruit main man Jordan Deck, with the action sprawling across two floors inside and outside of the venue. $10 first release presale tickets are available online.
GOODGOD TURNS THREE
Goodgod Small Club will celebrate its third birthday over the Labour Day long weekend with back-to-back parties on Saturday October 5 and Sunday October 6. Saturday’s lineup, subtitled ‘Goodgod Smash Hits’, comprises Montero, Standish/Carlyon, The Murlocs, Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Alex Cameron, Mining Boom, Four Door, Major Napier, Black Vanilla, Yo Grito! and DJ Principal Blackman. The following night it’s the turn of the Goodgod All-Stars: Zanzibar Chanel, Nina Las Vegas vs Levins, Mike Who vs Jimmy Sing, Slow Blow, Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Pelvis, Ben Fester, Ariane, Marcus King and the iconic Goodgod House Band. Early bird tickets are available for $12.
Eric Cloutier
All the way from New York City, Eric Cloutier will headline Strange Signals this Saturday September 21 at a secret location. Mentored by the legendary Dan Bell, Cloutier started spinning records in ’96, and has cemented his status by DJing all across Europe and at Japan’s renowned Labyrinth Festival, while releasing his own material on the Studio R label. Presale tickets are available online, and with the capacity of the venue limited to 150 people dancers are advised to ensure their entry by buying tickets in advance.
Cut Copy photo by Asger Carlsen
Melbourne synth-pop band Cut Copy will release their next album, Free Your Mind, in early November on their longtime base, Modular Recordings, which has released all three of their previous albums. Recorded in Cut Copy’s hometown, Free Your Mind was mixed by Dave Fridmann, who’s previously worked with Tame Impala and MGMT. The album is self-described by the band as “a fantasy of the next youth revolution”. Frontman Dan Whitford elaborated, “The concept of freedom is one that’s universally positive and timeless, and whatever each person’s version of that freedom is, it’s a good thing to be reminding ourselves to be free.” Right on.
It’s time for a good day out – or should that be OutsideIn? The festival is back for another year and it’s looking meaty indeed. Brought to you by Astral People and Yes Please, it features the likes of Freddie Gibbs (USA), BadBadNotGood (Canada), Objekt (Germany), plus our own Hermitude and many more. This blockbuster day in will take place on Saturday September 21 at the Factory Theatre. For your chance to win one of two double passes, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us why you like hanging indoors better than out.
RAMPA
Cut Copy
NEW CUT COPY ALBUM
OUTSIDEIN
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Just Blaze Roll The Tape By Adam Black
B
efore the internet and MTV turned hip hop into the dominant cultural force it is today, a kid from Paterson, New Jersey named Justin Smith stayed up late by his radio recording hip hop mix shows, finger paused above the record button. That kid would go on to become Just Blaze – one of the most renowned and prolific producers in hip hop, producing hit records for an array of artists that reads like a roll call of rap luminaries throughout the last 15 years – Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., Cam’ron, Kendrick Lamar… “Back in the early-to-mid-’80s in New York you didn’t hear [hip hop] records on the radio in the day, the only time you could really hear it was on the radio on Friday and Saturday nights,” says Blaze. “The first time I heard, for example, Run-D.M.C. or Salt-n-Pepa or Public Enemy or a lot of these records was during the mix show segments. And I would stay up all night on Friday and Saturday nights and record the music and play it all week on my cassette, and then the following week tape over last week’s show with this week’s show. That was really my earliest exposure. It was through listening to a lot of these mix shows that I became interested and eventually obsessed with what DJing was and everything that came along with that culture. And it pretty much all started there.” Blaze committed himself to learning the art of DJing and sample-based production and secured an internship at The Cutting Room recording studios in New York during his third year at Rutgers University. “My plan was to hopefully maybe meet some people, learn how to make records, just witness the process and maybe learn a couple of things,” he says. “Within a year of working there I was making records. I remember saying to myself that it would be really cool if I could do this one day for real. And two weeks later I was in a studio with Mase and Puff Daddy, or Diddy or whatever you wanna call him.” Blaze credits Puff Daddy (or Diddy or whatever you wanna call him) as an unlikely pioneer in making the rap industry less rapper-centric, and giving producers their fair share of the spotlight. “Once Puff became
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ubiquitous and became popular the question started, ‘Well who is this guy? Aside from the fact that he dances in videos and talks on records?’ ‘Well, oh, he’s the producer.’ And he’s a producer in the sense of a lot of hip hop people in that he’s not actually making beats, he’s the producer who puts the records together. And that became a marketable angle. So, it got to a point where the producers became just as popular and prominent as the artist.” Dancing in videos and talking over records is not the calm and considered Blaze style. His main calling card is the indelible watermark of someone hollering “Just Blaze!” on the intro to some of his tracks. That catch cry has become a signifier of quality, triggering a Pavlovian response in hip hop fans that says, ‘Prepare to nod your head’. Blaze’s trademark style, exemplified on tracks like Cam’ron’s ‘Oh Boy’, Kanye’s ‘Touch The Sky’ and Jay-Z’s ‘Girls Girls Girls’, is a lush but streetwise mix of evocative soul loops, augmented by live instrumentation, infectious vocal hooks and hypnotic beats. The crossover appeal of his production – polished enough for the club, hard enough for the car – means he’s constantly in high demand. He seeks a good working dynamic when deciding whom from the multitude to collaborate with. “To be honest, I don’t really go by how talented the person is, I kind of just go by whether or not we vibe well,” says Blaze. “You can both be very talented but not really vibe well. So for me it’s more about the connection, the musical connection you may have, the personal connection you may have, and I’ve done a pretty good job of aligning myself with artists and people where the collaboration has worked out well.” Blaze’s favourite rap groups are still early trailblazers like EPMD, Public Enemy, X Clan and the Wu-Tang Clan, but unlike some of his contemporaries, he doesn’t despair for the state of hip hop nowadays. “I think hip hop today’s in a great state, y’know – a lot of people from my age group may dispute that for one reason or another, but if you look back historically we’ve always had good music,
we’ve always had cheesy music, we’ve always had a little bit of everything. For every Tribe Called Quest record we got we also got an MC Hammer record or a Vanilla Ice record or some other random pop rapper who was selling millions of records. I actually feel like in the last two or three years we’ve seen some of the best alternative hip hop that we’ve seen in a very long time from young and new artists.” Currently Blaze is working on a new Slaughterhouse record (a Shady Records supergroup comprised of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Royce Da 5’9”) and says he’s, “Pretty much on the road constantly … The thing about doing the DJ thing is balancing your stage time with your studio time, that can be pretty tough.” And the hardworking beatsmith won’t be stepping down anytime soon. “If I had the ability to see what the future held, I’d bottle it and sell it. I have no idea. I’ve never really had a plan, I’ve always gone where the wind might take me or where God might take me, and it’s worked out so far, so I’m not gonna really try and change that.”
“I actually feel like in the last two or three years we’ve seen some of the best alternative hip hop we’ve seen in a very long time...”
What: Listen Out Festival With: Disclosure, Azealia Banks, TNGHT, Duke Dumont, AlunaGeorge, RüFüS, Hayden James, Laura Jones, Softwar and more Where: Centennial Park When: Saturday September 28
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Claptone Soul Sounds By Tom Kitson
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he masked, crusading beatmaker that is Claptone hits Sydney this weekend with the intention of bringing people to the far corners of the emotional spectrum through his unique sounds. The mysterious German producer who released the critically acclaimed Cream last year on Berlin-based label Exploited is instantly recognisable with his golden bird-like mask. He’s been imprinting his blend of house-influenced and bass-heavy music in clubs and on stages globally with the aim of having a significant impact on the listening and dancing experience of people who come to his shows. “I love to make the people curious, scared, excited, amused, anxious, euphoric, sad and happy,” he says. “I don’t produce dance music, I create sound. Sound that reaches into your soul and touches your body.” Claptone has a deep and spiritual take on music, saying he exists to express himself through sound and a unique performance experience. “I exist because I express myself; I cannot be otherwise. There is so much sonic unrest in me which needs manifestation, and as long as I am, I must communicate through sound so there will be Claptone.” Giving little away on the contents of his upcoming set at Chinese Laundry, Claptone says you have to listen closely to his music in order to get an understanding of the man and the driving force behind him. “If you listen very closely to the sound of Claptone you might get a glimpse into my whole universe full of secrets,” he says. “Let those secrets thrill you, allow them to fascinate you and enjoy the excitement they create within you, but accept them as what they are: secrets!”
Asked why he doesn’t show his face while performing, he philosophically describes wearing a mask as a common thing we all do in life’s different roles. “All people take in interaction with others on a daily basis; a lot of different roles. One could describe these roles as masks,” he says. “It is a tangible outward identity description, yet also identity [in itself].” Claptone explains that his success has come from his soul, as he is honoured to play music that brings out a physical and emotional response in his audience. “My biggest influence is certainly the soul, for the soul is always the main ingredient in the sonic soup,” he says. “But Claptone is also a creation of the people; only those who come to my gigs and listen to my music make me Claptone.” “Music casts a spell upon people, evoking their emotional response in many ways. It is a great honour to be able to touch people with my music and very rewarding to see them being swept away by the love and heartache, the ecstasy and melancholy that I bring onto them.” Every show he plays is enjoyable and fulfilling, he says, with each set taking on it’s own special energy. “Of course Warung in Brazil, Revolver in Melbourne, Creamfields in the UK or Watergate in Berlin are amazing, but I had great nights in Romania, Beirut, Montreal, Shanghai, Bordeaux, you name it,” he says. “But I dare say that almost every Claptone night is memorable for everybody involved.” Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday September 21
“I exist because I express myself; I cannot be otherwise. There is so much sonic unrest in me which needs manifestation, and as long as I am, I must communicate through sound...”
The Bloody Beetroots Hard To Believe By Krissi Weiss
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astermind of The Bloody Beetroots, Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (that name will never stop being hilarious), is bringing his latest album, HIDE, out of the woodwork and into sweating clubs and dance parties around the globe. With an infectious determination, Rifo has created a whole new tapestry of Italian dance/punk earworms that will be brought to life onstage by The Bloody Beetroots v.4.0. The live arrangement has been fleshed out once again into a threepiece (as debuted in Australia in January), essential for bringing to life the collaborative influences on the album. Somehow, the madman Rifo enlisted rock royalty in the form of Sir Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee, Theophilus London and Peter Frampton to help out on HIDE. Yep, no-one else can really believe it either, but it’s all true. Rifo took a few moments to speak with the BRAG ahead of this week’s release date. What are you up to at the moment? I am about to leave the hotel and go to the video shoot of my new single ‘All The Girls (Around The World)’ featuring Theophilus London in Los Angeles. Collaborating with Paul McCartney – is it as amazing as we’d all expect it to be? Working with Paul McCartney really was a dream come true, after all it is Paul McCartney. He’s such an iconic figure. How did that collaboration come together? I was in the studio with Youth and he basically helped make it happen. He asked me who I would like to collaborate with on my new album and I told him Sir Paul McCartney – he actually had an old song from Paul, one thing led to another and ‘Out Of Sight’ was created not long after. What is influencing your latest releases? Is it an energy, an emotion, a response to the past successes of The Bloody Beetroots
or something more personal? My influences come from a very wide palette. I love music and I never even think to classify it. Classical, contemporary, electronic and punk are all part of my musical spectrum. I’ve been inspired [by] everything from The Clash and Massive Attack to Bach. There are no boundaries. The Bloody Beetroots ‘Live’ that you brought out here in January – is that lineup still going strong and doing more shows? Absolutely. The whole ‘Live’ show is brand new and always evolving. The structure of the show hasn’t changed that much but the energy has. It’s going to be ‘Live 2.0’. Tell me a bit about the social media platform you’ve begun and why you felt it was needed? What holes does it fill? The Real Church Of Noise is an evolving framework, created by myself, where activists can share and [create] content with each other in complete autonomy. In fact, I actually worked with the team behind Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters platform. It’s an open door into The Bloody Beetroots universe. What are your plans for the rest of the year as far as touring is concerned? Touring. Touring. Touring. [There are] more shows being added all the time. What: Stereosonic 2013 With: David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Boys Noize, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and more Where: Sydney Showground When: Saturday November 30 / Sunday December 1 And: HIDE is out Friday September 20 through Hussle Recordings/Ministry Of Sound Australia
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Deep Impressions
up all night out all week . . .
Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery
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Coma
07:09:13 :: Marquee :: Star City Sydney 9657 7737
London DJ/producer Oliver Ho, AKA Raudive, will release a new album entitled A System Of Objects in November on Finn Johannsen and Stefan Goldmann’s Macro label. A diverse producer who has explored many different styles throughout his discography, from hard-edged techno to more experimental and minimal sounds, Ho is one of the most engaging producers of the underground because of his willingness to take risks and try different things with each release. His previous album on Macro, Chamber Music, was one of my favourite albums of 2010, melding minimal techno and
house with classical and tribal tinges, with the pulsating ‘Brittle’ a particularly memorable highlight. While some of the tracks on A System Of Objects aren’t entirely removed from the mood of Chamber Music in their murky layering of sounds, from initial listens Ho has opted for a rawer, more experimental tone for his forthcoming album. As Ho has said of his output previously, “Even though I make stuff that is supposedly for DJs to play, a lot of my stuff isn’t very ‘dance-y’. It’s more dance music put through a filter.” Whether you end up dancing to it or not, A System Of Objects is definitely recommended as one to play on a pristine system and immerse yourself in. Some of Sydney’s finest selectors will regularly represent a new weekly party, Goodgod Congress, which is open for business from Friday September 27 and will continue every Friday thereafter at Goodgod Small Club. Resident DJs include Simon Caldwell, Magda Bytnerowicz, Ken Cloud, D&D, Ben Fester, Andy Webb and James Walsh, with the party offering free entry before midnight. The concept behind Goodgod Congress is for resident DJs to move from the shadows of ‘support act’ to commander of the dancefloor. There’s a lot to like about this – between them, the residents have brought the likes of Vakula, Steffi and Kenny Larkin to Australia in recent times, and are all highly regarded DJs in their own right. This party will see the roster of respected locals playing records under the loose umbrella of house and techno. If you’re looking for a regular fix of quality electronica, this is the place you should be starting your weekends.
LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 Eric Cloutier Venue tba
Kenny Larkin The Goldfish
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27 Goodgod Congress Goodgod Small Club
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Peter Van Hoesen The Abercrombie
ministry of sound
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ologne-based duo Georg Conrad and Marius Bubat, who produce under the moniker of Coma, will make their Australian debut next month when they headline a special Strange Fruit bash at the Abercrombie on Saturday October 26. Coma have been bubbling under since that acid-washed spring of ’09, when they released their serene cut ‘Raindrops’, a ten-minute epic which sampled Erlend Oye’s cover of ‘Fine Day’, one of many memorable interludes on Erlend’s classic DJ Kicks compilation. (I’ve commented previously in Deep Impressions that Tiga’s contribution to the DJ Kicks series set a lofty benchmark, but Erlend’s certainly comes close to topping it.) It wasn’t until earlier this year that Coma released their debut album In Technicolor through Kompakt Records. With its playful take on a variety of sounds, which are recontextualised for the dancefloor, In Technicolor showcased many of the characteristics that have made Kompakt such an endearing label for the past 20 years. Traversing an array of different influences, from pop and Italo disco to more dancefloor-oriented genres, In Technicolor featured guest vocals from Ada and Roosevelt, while the majestic leadoff single ‘My Orbit’ was given an advance airing by Kompakt kingpin Michael Mayer in his Resident Advisor podcast from the end of last year. “In a club I always have the best time when the DJ catches people with emotional tracks,” Bubat said when discussing the pair’s musical approach. “That’s also the kind of music we like to do”. The German pair is performing as part of a two-room, inside/outside party that kicks off in the afternoon at 2pm and runs through till 6am, crowning a lineup laden with quality. Alphatown will also be performing a live set, alongside some of Australia’s finest veteran DJs in Ant J Steep and Phil Smart. Additionally, the likes of Matt Aubusson, Trinity, Jordan Deck and Jamie Lloyd will be throwing down in an outing that is a must for any dancers with a penchant for melodic – and of course ‘emotional’ – club sounds.
07:09:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com thebrag.com
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club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
Hernan Catteneo
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21
HIP HOP & R&B
Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney
Garden Party Hernan Cattaneo + Stimming + Robbie Lowe + Jeff Drake + Rodskeez + LeOCH 12pm. $55. TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17 CLUB NIGHTS
Chu - feat: Various World Bar, Kings Cross. 7:30pm. $5. Coyote Tuesday - feat: Resident DJs Trademark Hotel, Potts Point. 9pm. free. I Love Goon - feat: Resident DJs Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. free. Rumba Motel Salsa - feat: DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney. 8pm. free.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18 HIP HOP & R&B
The Wall - feat: Resident DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.
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COMEDY
The Laugh Stand (FBi Turns 10 Edition) - feat: Peter Berner + Dan Ilic + Alice Fraser + Genevieve Fricker + Zoe Coombs Marr + Nina Oyama + Dane Hiser & Cameron James FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.
CLUB NIGHTS
Beats And Electronica feat: Mamal + Skycrane + Ben Kinsman + Yonderkid + Papertoy + More Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $15. Garbage 90s Night - feat: Garbage DJs Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham. 7pm. free. Kit Wednesdays - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Le’ Humpdaze - feat: Jaykay Mistery + Paulux Orion + Cheatz + STFP & Special Guests Le’ Cartel, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free. Salsa - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 8pm. free.
The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. The Wall - feat: Various World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. free. Whip It Wednesdays - feat: DJs Camo + Snillum + Jaimie Lyn Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19 COMEDY
Waiting For The Next Apocalypse: Seaton KaySmith The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8:15pm. $12.
CLUB NIGHTS
Balmain Blitz - feat: Various Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 7pm. free. Chakra Thursdays - feat: Robust + Brizz Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 9:30pm. free. Dip Hop - feat: Levins And
Horrorshow + Home Brew + Jimblah Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $28.70. Low The Argyle, The Rocks, Sydney. 12am. free. Sketch The Rhyme Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $25.
CLUB NIGHTS
$5 @ 5 On Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Jacksons On George, Sydney. 5pm. free. A-Tonez, Ocean & Front To Back Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10. Anthony Naples + Webb + Fletcher + McInnes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. $10. Cave Hosted By Jl Presents - feat: Opious + Samrai + Adam Zae + Joe Barrs + Karo Vs Ricky Hunter Vs Padlock + Kilo G Vs Boomstah + Donald Crump + Dutchies Vs Hooligans + Epique + Daly Vs Kyle O’Brien Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $25. El’Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $109. Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Mashed Fridays - feat: DJ Ric C Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8pm. free. Mum - feat: Mum DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Soft & Slow - feat: Contemporary Scarecrow + Steven Sullivan + Pink Lloyd & Dreamcatcher The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $10. Soho Fridays - feat: Kronic + Skinny + Zannon Rocco + Fingers + Pat Ward Soho Bar & Lounge, Potts Point. 9pm. free. Something Wicked - feat: \ + Audio Trash + Harper + Robustt + Aydos + Oh Dear
Candy’s Apartment, Potts Point. 8pm. free. Tgif - feat: Resident DJs Trademark Hotel, Potts Point. 10pm. free. The Guestlist - feat: Various Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $15. Twist & Shout - 60s Dance Party - feat: Twist & Shout DJs Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst, Sydney. 11pm. $5. Unwind Fridays - feat: DJ Greg Summerfield Omega Lounge, Sydney. 5:30pm. free.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 HIP HOP & R&B
Dutch - feat: Safia + Lisa Crawley + Friends DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 9:30pm. free.
CLUB NIGHTS
After Dark - feat: Resident DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15. Argyle Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks, Sydney. 5pm. free. Claptone - feat: Ember + A-Tonez + Katie Valentine + Whitecat Vs U-Khan + Space Junk + About Jack + Antoine Vice + Front To Back + Fingers + Gg Magree + King Lee Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $30. Fbi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefits Fbi Social, Kings Cross. 11:30pm. free. Garden Party - feat: Hernan Cattaneo + Stimming + Robbie Lowe + Jeff Drake + Rodskeez + LeOCH Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $55. Homemade Saturdays feat: Resident DJs Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $25. Jacksons Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Jacksons On George, Sydney. 9pm. free. Kenny Larkin - feat: Ben Ashton + Matt Cahill & Johnny Gleeson Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. $15. Masif Saturdays Space , Sydney. 10pm. Objekt + Laurel Halo + Jam City Civic Underground, Sydney. 11pm. $15. OutsideIn Festival - feat: Freddie Gibbs + Since I Left You (Avalanches Tribute) + Badbadnotgood + Jam City + Objekt + Laurel Halo + Mark Pritchard + Cosmo’s Midnight + Oisima + Rainbow Chan The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 2pm. $65.
Pacha Sydney W/ Goodwill And Minx Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 8:30pm. $38.20. Skybar Saturdays - feat: Resident DJ The Watershed Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. $20. Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Spice 21.09 - feat: Spice Troopers + Gabby + Rodean + Le Brond + Steven Sullivan + Robbie Lowe & Marc Jarvin The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $20. The Suite - feat: Resident DJs Sapphire Lounge, Potts Point. 8pm. free.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22 CLUB NIGHTS
Le’Humpdaze - feat: feat. Jaykay Mistery + Paulux Orion + Cheatz + Stfp + Special Guests Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 6pm. free. Balade Sundays - feat: Jaykay Mistery + Paulux Orion + Stfp + Cheatz & Special Guests Le’ Cartel, Darlinghurst. 3pm. free. Beresford Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 3pm. free. Easy Sundays - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Freddie Gibbs + BadBadNotGood + Snakehips Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $25. Random Soul - feat: Yogi & Husky The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free. S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Trus’me + Dylan Griffin + Zeus + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace The Abercrombie, Broadway. 2pm. $10. Soup Kitchen - feat: The Soup Kitchen DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free. Spice After Hours - feat: Robbie Lowe The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 4am. $20. Sunday @ Gay Bar - feat: Resident DJ The Gay Bar, Darlinghurst. 3pm. free. Sunday Sessions - feat: DJ Tone Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 7pm. free. Sunday Sessions - feat: DJ Mashed Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 7pm. free. Rainbow Chan
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club pick of the week
Guests Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. free. Hot Damn - feat: Hot Damn DJs The Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $15. Kit & Kaboodle - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Matt Nukewood & Keesh Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10. Miami Nights - feat: Jay-J + Husky + Liam Sampras + Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm. free. Moby (DJ Set) Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $55. Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free. Propaganda - feat: Gillex + DJ Moody World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $10. Rewind - feat: Resident DJs Sapphire Lounge, Potts Point. 9pm. free. Take Over Thursday - feat: Resident DJs Trademark Hotel, Potts Point. 9pm. $10.
club picks p send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21
The Laugh Stand (Fbi Turns 10 Edition) - Feat: Peter Berner + Dan Ilic + Alice Fraser + Genevieve Fricker + Zoe Coombs Marr + Nina Oyama + Dane Hiser & Cameron James Fbi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $15.
Claptone - Feat: Ember + A-Tonez + Katie Valentine + Whitecat Vs U-Khan + Space Junk + About Jack + Antoine Vice + Front To Back + Fingers + Gg Magree + King Lee Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 10pm. $30.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19 Matt Nukewood & Keesh Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10. Moby (DJ Set) Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 8pm. $55.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20 Horrorshow + Home Brew + Jimblah Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $28.70.
Cave Hosted By Jl Presents - Feat: Opious + Samrai + Adam Zae + Joe Barrs + Karo Vs Ricky Hunter Vs Padlock + Kilo G Vs Boomstah + Donald Crump + Dutchies Vs Hooligans + Epique + Daly Vs Kyle O’brien Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $25. Twist & Shout - 60s Dance Party Feat: Twist & Shout Djs Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst, Sydney. 11pm. $5.
OutsideIn Festival - Feat: Freddie Gibbs + Since I Left You (Avalanches Tribute) + Badbadnotgood + Jam City + Objekt + Laurel Halo + Mark Pritchard + Cosmo’s Midnight + Oisima + Rainbow Chan The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 2pm. $65. Pacha Sydney W/ Goodwill And Minx Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 8:30pm. $38.20. Spice 21.09 - Feat: Spice Troopers + Gabby + Rodean + Le Brond + Steven Sullivan + Robbie Lowe & Marc Jarvin The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $20.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22 Freddie Gibbs + Badbadnotgood + Snakehips Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $25. S.A.S.H Sundays - Feat: Trus’me + Dylan Griffin + Zeus + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace The Abercrombie, Broadway. 2pm. $10.
snap
sosueme djs
PICS :: DR
up all night out all week . . .
04:09:13 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247
06:09:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999 D HONCHO) :: HENRY LEUNG ::
S : TIM LEVY (HEA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ID ROUSE :: MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR :: DAV thebrag.com
AMATH
the game
PICS :: TL
the mane event
PICS :: AM
Xxx
Anthony Naples + Webb + Fletcher + Mcinnes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. $10.
Kenny Larkin - Feat: Ben Ashton + Matt Cahill & Johnny Gleeson Goldfi sh, Kings Cross. 9pm. $15.
06:09:13 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13 :: 37
snap
alison wonderland
PICS :: HL
up all night out all week . . .
mo kolours
PICS :: HL
07:09:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711
naysayer & gilsun
PICS :: HL
05:09:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
s.a.s.h
08:09:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486 PICS :: TL
the chrown jewels
06:09:13 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9331 3100 38 :: BRAG :: 530 :: 16:09:13
PICS :: AM
07:09:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
D HONCHO) :: HENRY LEUNG ::
S : TIM LEVY (HEA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ID ROUSE :: MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR :: DAV
AMATH
thebrag.com
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