BMA Mag 363 Jan 19 2011

www.bmamag.com

Sound Out #363 JAN19

GRINDERMAN Twisted humour

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

Billy talks back

SOUNDOUT FESTIVAL The start of something

PA U L Y L L E K R U O T Z O T E A

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and s ia to zoe ta s a n a m f ro n g in b et w ee e v eryth in

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Australia Day Jam

“...not since Thorpe Vs Van den Hoogenband will we have witnessed two Freestylers battle it out with as much gusto.” Ha! Turn to page 30 to read the rest.

# 3 6 3 J A N 1 9 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko T: 02 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Super Sub Editor Josh Brown Graphic Design Natalie Runko Exhibitionist Editor Yolande Norris E: exhibitionist@bmamag.com Film Editor Melissa Wellham Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo Nick Brightman NEXT ISSUE 364 OUT FEB 2 EDITORIAL DEADLINE JAN 24 ADVERTISING DEADLINE JAN 27 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA is independently owned and published.

Opinions expressed in BMA are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

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Australia Day Jam at Commonwealth Park will see psychedelic space funk masters AstroChem, merchants of madness Fun Machine, and jangly pop rockers Rubycon bust a groove for a solid few hours from 3pm on Wednesday Jan 26. There’ll also be demonstrations by skaters and BMX riders from The Shed, the biggest indoor skate park in the southern hemisphere. Leave your eskies at home though kiddos as it’s an all ages alcohol free event.

Big Day Out App Gone are the days of scrunched up bits of paper or dodgy DIY screen printed shirts. The first Big Day Out app had landed.

Check out who’s playing, on what stage and at what time and then create your own personalised schedule for the day. It’s loaded with features including the latest news and tweets, line-up info, artist bios, vids and photos, plus BDO’s personal fav, the animated virtual lighter. To celebrate the release of the first ever BDO app they’re giving you and a mate the chance to win a trip to Lollapalooza 2011 in Chicago.

Head to www.bigdayout.com for all the info.

Flix in the Stix is coming to Canberra for the first time and will feature one of Australia’s most acclaimed singersongwriters, Mark Seymour.

The Canberra Flix event will be staged at the National Botanic Gardens on Saturday February 26 and will feature short films from Australia and abroad.

Seymour will play two live sets in between the short films. “It’s the way movies and music were meant to be enjoyed – dining out under the stars with friends and family,” says promoter Simon Rollin. Head to www. flixinthestix.com.au/canberra for more info. Tix can be bought through Moshtix.

Hell and High Water Saturday February 5 sees the Greenroom team punch out a 12-hour music blitz of live and local entertainment all in the name of raising funds for the Queensland Flood Relief. 23 mixed acts should be enough to entice you down to The Maram at noon for a marathon of mayhem and tunes. If that’s not enough, there will be giveaways, bar tabs and excellent happy hour deals both over the bar and bistro. Entry is a mere $15 with 100% of the door donated along with 10% of the bar takings. More info on the acts and set times etc. can be found at www.themaram.com.au .

Cast Iron Piñata Two ACT Dates

Kasha and Axxonn at Transit Bar

Geelong rockers Cast Iron Piñata will be making their way to Canberra for two dates as part of their Insanity tour and in support of their new EP What A Coincidence You Are Insane. You can catch them at The Maram on Friday Jan 28 and Phoenix on Saturday Jan 29. Expect to see an energetic show combining rockin’ riffs, funky fusion and catchy lyrics. They’ll be touring with Melbourne’s Cloudmouth and USA/ Germany’s sex rock kings Lord Bishop Rocks.

Following on from their memorable 7” launch last November, Kasha return to

Transit on Saturday Jan 29 for another free gig. This release saw the young Canberra quartet rework the traditional notion of rock music, approaching tension and repetition with dissonance and metric imbalance. Axxonn’s aim is to traverse a number of genres, picking, choosing and using their favourite facets of black metal, doom metal, ambiance, electro and pop to “create a cacophony of sound that feels like a rainbow sawing through your cranium (in a good way)”. It kicks off at 8.

LOS CAPS AT LIQUIDFEST When last conversing with Los Capitanes frontman Tim Kent at a Canberra Music Industry Forum last August, he suggested the Caps may be on the verge of splitting due to the financial pitfalls of touring. Fortunately this does not seem to be the case, with the hard working local larrikins delighting all and sundry with a new album, the fittingly titled Rest For the Wicked. And it’s rather good, as you can read all about in this ‘ere rag on page 36 where it made our Album of the Issue. The sextet are set to headline this year’s all ages Liquidfest pool party at the Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre on Saturday February 5 alongside Corporate Takedown, The Whole Shebang and more, but at time of writing the event is in jeopardy due to a funding issue. As yet, nothing is set in stone, so stay tuned to our www.bmamag.com website or @bmamag Twitter account for updates, kidlets.

Los Capitanes

Flix in the Stix

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YOU PISSED ME OFF!

FROM THE BOSSMAN Hey everyone! How’re you doing! Did you have a good Christmas break! Crazy about these floods, eh!

Phew… I must apologise about that outburst of exclamation marks. I am on a potent cocktail of adrenaline, no sleep and cute overload. You see, me and the dear lady wife got ourselves a Smooch-o-matic 5000 over the festive season. That is to say that we (or more accurately the wife) gave birth to our beautiful bouncing baby girl, Isla Sophia Sko. And there’s just something about a newborn that fills your life with superfluous exclamation marks!!!!!! And as a regular editorial assassinator of superfluous exclamation marks, this is saying something.

Over the past month Isla has filled our days with laughter, joy, and various bodily fluids, teaching us that there are in fact many, many colours in the brown rainbow. I am pleased to report that many of the major milestones for newly minted parents have been reached – I have been violently farted on. I have completed numerous night changes and gleefully pranced through the day only to discover – usually in the middle of a meeting with an important client – there is a small amount of congealed poo on my arm that was previously concealed by the cover of darkness. I have baggage underneath my eyes that reads International Luggage.

Human babies are generally considered to be among the most helpless in the animal kingdom. Certainly when you compare our parenting to that of, say, the giant turtle (dig hole in sand, shit eggs in hole, cover hole, down to the turtle equivalent of the pub) that seems to be the case. However, I am here to gleefully beg to differ. The skill set of an infant is nothing short of remarkable.

She can spear a foot in daddy’s groin with the alacrity and accuracy of an overweight British darts player. Despite a minimal understanding of military tactical warfare (and, frankly speaking, an inability to properly control her arms), with a Patton-esque precision she can lay the perfect trap with her toys, ensuring that the softest part of Daddy’s naked foot is forcibly introduced to a toy’s sharpest point (usually when Daddy is juggling two plates of hot food and a drink wedged under the armpit). She could also hold her own in a pub setting. Many a time have I stared lovingly into her angelic face, with little Isla staring back – doe-eyed, as pure as the driven snow – before unleashing the kind of loud, extended bottom noise that would make a French sailor blush.

Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance.

And for the love of God, keep it brief! [All entries contain original spellings] To the silly slag that pissed me of last Friday at the primary school Christmas presentation evening. What the fuck where you thinking when you interrupted a group of Kindy kids whom were trying to perform there end of year performance in front of there friends and family.

Oh that’s right Kindy kids……

Did you even stop to think that this is probably the first time they have ever performed in front of people you selfish D#*K HEAD. I’m not to sure if you even realized that it was there performance and not your time to try and boost your lack of self confidence?? Did your pea size brain even realize that it was a skit. Oh and to try and get the sympathy look by dragging your extremely over size headed child up with you….what the fuck?

Are you fucking retarded or just so self absorbed that you felt the need to promote your lack of insecurity in front of 200 plus people? I really think you should go and smoke a bag of dicks you retarded S#*T BRAIN!!!

YOU PISSED ME OFF…..

Indeed, the gay abandon of babies is a joy to behold. Let’s take the aforementioned act. Where many an adult in a public setting (although not all) would choose to send any offending gas on a destructive 180 swathe through the internal organs, a newborn takes to the pristine nature of a new nappy with the same exuberance and enthusiasm that a spray-can-wielding teenager does to a big white wall.

The first month of looking after a baby leaves you sleepy, battered, forgetful, delirious, bruised, confused, tired, coated, caked, not to mention forgetful. The wife recently changed her Facebook status to: “You know you’re a Mum when you spend the morning scraping crumbs from the congealed amalgam of milk and spew from under your breast”.

Which of course is all a precursor to the inevitable statement – “It is all completely, utterly, 200% worth it.” Yes, new parents go on about their bubs ad nauseum, often drooling more than their bubbling progeny. But it’s not without reason, and furthermore Yyvysvuysqbuiwdfikd Huh, what? O sorry, must have drifted off onto the keyboard there. That happens. Worth it.

ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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and

another thing…

Hello, good evening and welcome to And Another Thing’s 2011 programme of directionless ‘vintage rants,’ pointless reminiscence that interests no one and the self regarding nonsense so hated of the column’s correspondents, both of whom I can see girding themselves for another year of scintillating pseudonymic abuse on the BMA website even as I type. But first let me take this opportunity to remind you about the upcoming Capital City Punkfest, taking place at Erindale’s Maram just days from now. As the event was seemingly dead in the water after putative headliners – American gothic punk icons The Misfits – pulled their tour, it’s refreshing to be able to help spruik any event at all. But enough of my jocular old man burbling. Here’s Craig from event promoters Ruff n Ready to let you in on some hard facts: “To be honest after the tour promoters canning the Misfits tour it’s great to get such support for the show that is going ahead.

“I remember growing up and having endless amounts of gigs to go to – gigs at the unis, youth centres, heaps of all ages venues. Things seem to be drying up more and more these days so a while ago I decided to put together a little 16 band show called Punkfest (held, as you’ll remember, at The Basement a couple of years back). It was quite a success and a second instalment has been well overdue for sometime. The opportunity to have The Misfits headline was too good to refuse. The main point of this festival is to put Canberra on the map as far as the punk scene goes, not only to bring some quality interstate and international bands through but showcase some of the hard working local punk bands that are often not given the respect they deserve. When we received the news that the tour promoters were cancelling the Misfits tour we didn’t hesitate and pushed forward, on with the show. The way we look at it is the line-up is massive! A lot of variety, many different styles of punk and rock so Misfits or no Misfits it’s still going to be a damn good day! We have bands playing from Wollongong, Sydney and Melbourne, so it really is a quality showcase of the Aussie punk scene today. Keep your eye out for the next instalment of Punkfest… I won’t say too much at this stage but we will be seeing an international headliner.”

Here’s hoping. And whilst the no show of The Misfits is disappointing for sure, it has opened up proceedings for a most welcome headlining performance from NSW psychobilly princes The Casino Rumblers, who have very kindly presented me with this, their ‘recipe for rock’ (serves all).

INGREDIENTS 1 Double Bass, 1 Saxophone, 1 Trombone, 2 Guitars, 2 Marshalls, 5 Drums, 4 Cymbals, 16 Strings, 6 Men. METHOD Add one hard slapping, rockabilly double bass to pan, allow to simmer. Add two hard rock guitars. Mix liberally with Slayer-inspired trombone. Add screaming saxophone to taste. Pour mixture through punk rock blender and allow to cook on high heat for a couple of years over tours with The Misfits, Tiger Army, Reel Big Fish, The Meteors and mix in one full length album, two EPs and another album in the oven for future consumption. You should be able to tell when it’s ready because it should taste like hard, fast Aussie rock ‘n’ roll with the distinct smell of rock ‘n’ roll, punk rock, soul and metal.

Serve with booze. scott adams thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

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WHO: THe Beards, duB duB GOOse, JOe OppenHeimer Band WHaT: BusHy Ballads WHen: saT FeB 5 WHere: TransiT Bar

The Bearded Year of 2011 begins with the Shotgun Tour of NSW and the ACT to celebrate all that is bearded and beautiful. 2010 was a stellar year for The Beards; they received air play on triple j and reached number 26 in Brisbane’s 4ZzZ’s Hot 100, while the video for If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums gained in excess of 100,000 views on Youtube. They’re notorious for their ripsnorting shows, and will be ably supported by Canberra’s premier dub collective Dub Dub Goose and the electric Joe Oppenheimer Band. Beard up Canberra, you’re in for a bushy one. $12.

WHO: yOu, yOu sexy BeasT WHaT: BeauTy and THe Bass WHen: Fri FeB 18, 7pm-3am WHere: Hellenic cluB, WOden

Hair? Perfect. Frock? Smoking hot! Amped? You bet your sweet bippy. Now step out onto the red carpet and pout for the paparazzi, you’re at Beauty and the Bass baby! Beauty and the Bass is a red carpet dance music ball featuring DJs Goodwill, Beni, Nik Fish and more. The entry price includes unlimited drinks until midnight as well as professional red carpet photos which will be available for download after the event, and plans for an official after party are in the works. The charitable organisers have also just announced profits will go to the Queensland flood appeal. Head to www. beautyandthebass.com.au for all the info.

WHO: BenJalu, suppOrTed

By James FaHy WHaT: rOOTs FusiOn WHen: THurs Jan 20 WHere: THe FrOnT

Benjalu is a band that prides itself on the old school, grassroots approach to touring to promote their music and in 2008/09, travelling the dirt roads and highways of Oz they clocked well over 400 shows together. Having had numerous opportunities to hone their craft, Benjalu masterfully mix rock grooves with warm bass lines and catchy melodies, infusing genres such as blues and roots, jazz, contemporary rock and hints of reggae to maintain their fresh sound. They’ll be supported by the inimitable James Fahy, still riding the high of his sensational Ash Grunwald support slot.

7.30pm, $10.

WHO: cern (nZ) WHaT: d&B/duBsTep WHere: mercury Bar WHen: Fri Jan 28

New Zealand’s Cern has become a global entity in the drum ’n’ bass world, having released tracks on many of the scene’s leading labels. With the impending arrival of his much-anticipated LP Terminus, Canberra plays host to this D&B master. Banging it out at Mercury Bar on Friday January 28, expect a range of rolling basslines and epic drums. Supports include Canberra’s own bad-boi-selekta Centaspike along with Dred, Djc, Kinetik, Tidy and Delux mixing the finest D&B, dubstep and jungle. So charge up your proton pack and don’t miss the last chance to catch Cern before he relocates to Europe. www.actdnb.com .

WHO: JOe rOBinsOn WHaT: VirTuOsO GuiTarisT WHen: Fri Jan 28, 7pm and 9pm WHere: THe sTreeT THeaTre

Straight from the horse’s mouth: “Hey, Joe Robinson here. I’m touring right now with an amazing new show featuring two of my favourite musicians from the USA. We’ve played about 50 shows all over Europe and the US over the last three months, and last night involved me soloing away on my back for a bunch of chanting hippies in Byron Bay. Can’t wait to bring it to you all, Canberra!” Robinson is known for his solo acoustic tour de force instrumental prowess, and was recently voted Best New Talent in Guitar Player magazine’s annual reader’s poll. Tickets are $20/$15.

WHO: alTiyan cHilds WHaT: x FacTOr Winner WHen: Fri FeB 4 WHere: sOuTHern crOss BluB, WOden

Following on from his X Factor win, Altiyan Childs’ debut album features re-recorded studio tracks of some of his performances on The X Factor including Livin’ On A Prayer, Never Tear Us Apart, Hey Soul Sister and Lady In Red, as well as recordings of his standout performance of Summer of 69 and his winning single, Somewhere in the World. He’ll be supported by fellow X Factor stars Luke and Joel. The dinner and show package is $74 and kicks off at 6.30pm, while show only tickets are $40. For bookings call 6283 7288.

TransiT

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m o n grel m u si c julia winterflood On November 20 last year, Leonard Cohen skipped, bowed and waltzed his way through an unforgettable three hour performance at Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges. Before the MC announced the third and final support, he told the 12,000 strong sold out crowd he’d thought long and hard about how to introduce him, about what words would be worthy. In the end he decided he needed only two: PAUL KELLY. After 32 years in the biz, more than 20 albums and soundtracks and around 300 songs, Kelly now has How to make gravy, his 549 page ‘mongrel memoir’, to add to the list. It’s a brick of a book; a motley collection of stories, diary entries, essays, memories, family history, lists, poems and quizzes. It follows the A to Z of 100 songs he’s currently performing around the country on a 36 date tour with nephew Dan Kelly, playing four shows in each town and city, 25 songs a night. Laughs Paul, “Dan knows some of my old songs better than I do so he’s the perfect companion for the A to Z shows. It’s special when family sings together, there’s just something special about it, the way their voices wobble together, it just sort of tends to work.”

The first A to Z show was held at the Spiegeltent, that magical travelling house of stained glass and mirrors, in Melbourne in ‘04.

It was supposed be a one off. Naturally, it wasn’t. Admits Paul, “Everything about this whole A to Z thing has been like a slowly unfolding accident. I never quite knew what I was doing until I was sort of in the middle of it. I thought it would be a one off show of A to Z and then it turned into a series and then that lead to the idea of putting out recordings of those shows and then the book grew out of that. I didn’t plan the whole thing at once. It was a simple little idea; it certainly didn’t contain the things that followed. It certainly was the last thing on my mind to write a book. That took me by surprise.”

Everything about this whole A to Z thing has been like a slow unfolding accident

How to make gravy is an extraordinary memoir, a magnum opus in the true sense of the term. From essays on the great lyricists and songwriters of the golden age of American songwriting and the origins of bluegrass and jazz, to odes to Frank Sinatra and Skip James, to vignettes of Melbourne’s rock music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s, to erudite discussions of theology, the collection is the work of a humble, highly intelligent, well read, worldly man with a gift for making the written word sing.

“The alphabet’s such a rigid structure so you have to follow it but within that, paradoxically, you have all this freedom. You know the book’s got a sturdy structure, so within that I could mix up various styles of writing. I worked through it alphabetically. I just started at A and kept going, and then I thought I’d just see if I could keep going. I just thought I’d see what happens.”

To accompany How to make gravy, Universal released The A to Z recordings, an eight CD set packaged in hardcover almost identical to the book, with a booklet of photos, paintings, illustrations, Renaissance and biblical art, record covers, gig and film posters.

It’s a fascinating and eclectic collage, testament to the diversity of tales Kelly tells. In it he explains “The idea was to present the songs

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undressed, in many cases close to how they sounded when they were first written, before being arranged with a band.” When you’re familiar with the orchestrated versions, listening to the stripped back recordings – just Paul and his acoustic and Dan oft on harmonies and electric – makes you feel like it’s just you and them in the room. It’s beautiful and surreal.

Says Kelly, “I wanted the book to work for people who do know the songs, but I also wanted the book to work for people who didn’t know the songs at all; that’s one reason to have the recordings if people choose to go there. But I also wanted the prose, even though it’s standing next to the lyrics, I wanted to make the prose – the chapters – be able to stand alone. So if someone enjoys the writing, they might think ‘Oh, well, I might actually want to go and hear that song’. That was the way I approached it.”

A How to make gravy app has also been released. “The app is actually the closest thing to my original conception of the book... in my mind [the book and the music] were always connected. That’s why the cover of The A to Z recordings is so similar. But the app is actually closest to my original vision.” This vision is pretty remarkable, considering Kelly admits in gravy, “I was the second last of my family to get online, and am famous for the remark ‘What do I need the internet for? If I want to look something up I can just go to the library.’”

A widely acclaimed memoir already in its second pressing after only being on the shelves for a few months, not to mention a 32 year career that’s brought tears of joy to countless Australians, yet still our best loved singer-songwriter remains incredibly humble. This shows in his reflections on triple j’s Before Too Long tribute, held in ‘09 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his career. “It’s very nice, but it was also a bit awkward. People making a fuss over you, that’s always hard isn’t it? It’s like going to a party someone’s thrown just for you. It helped that I did know a lot of the artists and I like a lot of their work – The Panics, Megan Washington, Paul Dempsey, Adalita – I love Adalita – so it was a great crew. Good people to hang out with. And I’ve always loved to hear other people sing my songs, so it’s nearly all plus, but sometimes it feels like you’ve died and you’re just a ghost at your own funeral.” I only hope in reality that’s a bloody long way off.

The A to Z tour stops by The Playhouse from Thursday January 27 to Sunday January 30. Call the Canberra Theatre Centre box office on 6275 2700 – tickets range from $66.25 for one night to $285 for the full four nights.

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ALL AGES Happy new year! The last few seconds of each year, counting down from ten, anticipating the clean slate that awaits us all, is a universally unifying moment. It is the moment where everything stops and the masses unite for at least a booming “Three, two, one, happy new year!”

But what crazy adventures did I embark on? I arrived sober in the city at 11pm with a migraine so paralysing that it can only be described using one reference: the head drilling scene in The Loved Ones.

Half an hour was spent finding and drinking a bottle of water and waiting desperately in the line for the porta-loos. Still with a sharp toothed woodland critter viciously attacking my brain to the ticktocking intro of Warp 1.9 by The Bloody Beetroots, the countdown finally happened. And not ten minutes later I was driving home to immediately fall asleep. Yup, I’ve got a ballsy new year’s story under my belt this year *concentrated sarcasm*.

Now, what you all want to hear: what’s lined up for you this January.

On Saturday January 22 our favourite rising local act Drawing North are finally, after months of anticipation, readying themselves for the launch of Vision in Valour, their anxiously awaited debut album. With a spectacular line-up of our city’s finest playing in support of this momentous occasion, you’ll have a chance to see Atlantis Awaits, Built on Secrets and Hands like Houses. Tickets can be bought for just $10 at the door of Albert Hall when it opens to the masses at 6.30pm.

Alternative four-piece Astrochem will be playing a free Australia Day gig on Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park where you’ll also be able to catch local alternative indie rockers Rubycon and Fun Machine. With a lengthy one hour set each, you’ve got all the time you need to get your groove on. The music starts at 3pm. Sick of pushing your way through the masses at the usual Commonwealth Place celebrations?

Spend Wednesday January 26 differently this year!

On Saturday January 29, The Maram will be a Licensed AA venue for Capital City Punk Fest 2. Lead by psychobilly punk rock band Casino Rumblers, you are in for a spectacular night featuring Australia’s finest punk rock acts, including The VeeBees, Rumjacks, 4Dead, Spoil, Australian Kingswood Factory, RUST and Topnovil.

Tickets can be bought from Moshtix for only $10 (+bf). Doors open at 1.30pm.

We have yet another gig at Commonwealth Park to get us out and into the fresh summer air. Queensland-based quad Marathon are headlining a show with local metal boys Vera, hardcore punk band Eye Gouge and punk rockers Jerkstore. This hardcore/punk/ metal spectacular will be presented to you from the Amphitheatre in Commonwealth Park on Saturday January 22. Tickets can be purchased upon entry between 6pm and 9pm for a mere $5.

But don’t fret; this is not it for the summer. I’ve got plenty more lined up for your entertainment in February.

NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

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LOCALITY

On the first day of the year, curled up on the couch at my Dad’s house in Alice Springs, I scribbled down 27 new year’s resolutions while a thunderstorm raged and ripped branches from trees. Yep, you read right: 27. Ambitious and perhaps somewhat ridiculous, I know, but believe it or not I’ve actually been doing reasonably well. They’re just little ones after all, like keep in contact with your bro, write some fiction, don’t go anywhere without a notebook. Resolution #11, dear readers, is to catch more local bands. Despite being in this big black leather chair for two years now and considering myself relatively on the pulse of Canberra’s live scene, I ruefully must admit there are still swags of bands I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing.

The perfect opportunity to rectify this will present itself at Phoenix on February 12-13. The refreshingly titled festival Hey Dad, can you pick me up from Josh’s, otherwise it’s like two buses features 16 local acts, 11 of which I’ve never seen. This excites me just as much as seeing seeds sprouting (resolution #19: grow some veggies). The fest will also feature the work of 17 local visual artists, with more to be announced. The mind boggles at how they’re going to festoon Phoenix with even more art, but if anyone’s capable of doing so, it’s up and coming Canberra creatives. I couldn’t think of many better ways to while away a weekend in C-Town. The vertiginous line-up is testament to the innovation and unorthodoxy of young Canberrans, who are constantly smashing genres and defying classification.

I’ll be chatting to curator Travis H Heinrich in the next ish. In the meantime you can read about one of the bands on the line-up, Mornings, on the page opposite, while also in the next ish, out Feb 2, you can read about Saturday night headliners, Party Bus. Finally, because Locality wouldn’t be Locality without a rant, I’d like to draw your attention to the latest oversight of the ACT Government and Chief Minister Stanhope. On Jan 11 I received a press release titled Slow Take Up of Nightrider Service, in which Stanhope deems the number of people using the Civic/Manuka/ Kingston loop, which runs from 1 to 5am on Fridays and Saturdays for a flat $10 fee, “disappointing”. 936 people have used the service in its first month of operation. 197 used it in its first three weekends, which worked out to be an average of $326 per customer (the service costs $10,700 per night, according to Stanhope).

Now I will admit that’s a hefty sum, but what he’s failed to realise is using a service like Nightrider requires significant behavioural change. Who’s going to wait 90 minutes for a bus at 3am when one can jump in a cab? These behavioural patterns don’t shift immediately; they take planning and forethought on the part of the punter, which isn’t going to happen within a month. So chin up, Stanhope, and stick it out. Nightrider won’t be a hit overnight, but in time I’m certain people will come to the party (bus).

JULIA WINTERFLOOD - julia@bmamag.com

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PURE MORNINGS

POPPING THE CORGAN

leon twardy

Matt Petherbridge

Oh crap what? MORNINGS? Another damn band that I haven’t heard of? And they’re doing the improvised textures of noise and harmonies I love?

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman BILLY CORGAN is a strong advocate of using modern technology to interact with fans worldwide – including releasing the first ever downloadable album MACHINA II in 2000 and blogging his semi-autobiographical Confessions... in 2005. In December 2010, Corgan had a brief dalliance communicating with fans via a personal Facebook page, where he invited fans to quiz him about the latest Pumpkins album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, a 44 song concept album up for release one song at a time for free download on SmashingPumpkins.com .

WHY DON’T I KNOW ABOUT THINGS? I thought this would be a reasonable start to an interview with Alejandro Alczar and Jordan Rodger, Morning’s bass player and guitarist respectively. “Because you’re not as underground as you think you are,” was Alejandro’s dry reply. “Also, you ask really weird questions.” Good points Alex, but for the next three paragraphs consider yourself censored. Jordan politely pointed out that the band had “only started playing for a few months, even though the basics of some of the songs were written years ago.” He refers to the songs’ basics as Mornings Sometimes embrace improvisation in just the Alejandro will way I like.

press a button.

I don’t think he always knows what it will do

“We improvise a lot – the idea that there’s a sense of danger to improvisation makes sense to me. It’s a bit more exciting, things can go wrong, things happen that I don’t expect.” With a mix of jazz school background and CIT dropout, Mornings are a band of movement and texture, with a sense of relaxed confidence and sonic playfulness. “Yeah, sometimes Alejandro will press a button. I don’t think he always knows what it will do, but that’s good. We’re all about listening to each other, if, say, the drummer does something different that changes the song.”

But rather than getting indulgent this band comes across live as almost egoless, allowing the band to “try and use different time signatures and technical things to sort of try and play tricks on each other” without being pretentiously academic.

Take Jordan’s response to why he plays as an example. “I don’t know.

I get a good feeling after playing live. I kind of suffered when we didn’t play any shows for a long time.” Alejandro’s reply is similar.

“I really like it. Music is the only thing I have where I don’t feel like quitting or I get bored with. I don’t like to make sense of everything.

I like the fact that my eight-year-old sister will like something and when asked why, she’ll simply say ‘because I like it’.”

Now I put Alex in a bit of a negative light earlier, so let me put this straight: he’s a rad sound-art man. “I like the sound the chain on my bike makes. The sound of dry mouth. I like sounds that people make during sex or when they get hurt or when the tone in their voice changes when they get excited or sad or stoned.”

Put together, this band to me is part of the talent explosion that’s been happening over the last few years which has seen the idea that venues should put on quiet folk acts as a safe bet shot in the face.

See what Leon is talking about at Hey Dad, can you pick me up from Josh’s, otherwise it’s like two buses which will be showcasing Mornings along with another 17 outstanding local bands over Saturday-Sunday February 12-13.

The event will be held at The Phoenix and is free.

Regular BMA contributor and huge Smashing Pumpkins fan Matt Petherbridge got the shock of his life when a question he posted on Billy Corgan’s official Facebook page was answered. This was not an official interview and Corgan has since deactivated his Facebook page, which makes this a very rare opportunity for a fan to communicate with the Grand Pumpkin himself.

How rewarding have you found the creation and recording of the first phase of your latest album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope and the subsequent discovery of a great combination with Nicole (Fiorentino, bass/vocals), Mike (Byrne, drums) and Jeff (Schroeder, guitar) in the latest incarnation of The Smashing Pumpkins?

I have found the process of recording Teargarden By Kaleidyscope to be a strange journey. The first thing I have found, which surprised me, is that over the course of recording TBK, I have lost a lot of my passion for spending so many long hours in the studio. I mean, I’m used to it, but all those years of working alone a lot perhaps have finally fried me out, so the beauty of the situation with Jeff, Nicole and Mike is that since they are playing their own parts, my work time (or heavy focus time) is somewhat reduced.

What I would like fans to understand about Jeff, Mike and Nicole is that they have restored my faith about even being in a band! I would see this as a pretty big deal. You can talk about old Smashing Pumpkins all you want, but they helped to destroy my faith in the band construct, and Zwan only obliterated whatever hope/faith was left.

So yes, I never again thought The Smashing Pumpkins would be a ‘band’ in the literal sense of the word. I was approaching it as more of a collective, hence bringing in friends like Mark Tulin or even Dave Navarro [in the acoustic supergroup Spirits In The Sky, which simultaneously paid tribute to the late Sky Saxon of The Seeds fame and road tested an early batch of songs touted for Teargarden

By Kaleidyscope] to give me feedback.

I’m very proud of what we have accomplished so far. Comparing old Smashing Pumpkins and new Smashing Pumpkins is inevitable but ultimately misguided. Would you feel more comfortable if I called it ‘The Inevitable Bananas’? And do you think we would be any less compared? That is just naïve if you think we wouldn’t be, especially if [we] would be making Smashing Pumpkins style music.

The full answer can be viewed on the BMA website www.bmamag.com .

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Ramingining Artists The Aboriginal Memorial 1987–88

Right from the art-star-studded opening we all knew this was something special, and CMAG asserted itself as a serious rival in curatorial prowess to the big-name institutions.

Outside of CMAG it was the publicly funded art spaces who hosted the best of the rest throughout the year. TJ Phillipson, Leah Bullen and Jessica Herrington held standout solo exhibitions at CCAS Manuka, while the old M16 Artspace programmed a cracker year including unforgettable group exhibitions Musk and A Little Bit Precious. ANCA gallery in Dickson also benefited from excellent programming with a solid line-up of group and solo shows.

Looking Forward, Looking Back yolande norris

Another event to ambush the visual art community in 2010 was This Way Up – a symposium and exhibition series on contemporary abstract painting. Dreamed up and executed by students, alumni and staff from the ANU Painting workshop, This Way Up was a joyous meeting of likeminded folk, giving the ACT painting community a chance to nerd out over three intensive days of discussion, while providing an opportunity to flex the power and might of the ANU’s abstract painting tradition.

The last 12 months in the Canberra arts scene were punishing, boasting more events than anyone could reasonably be expected to attend, more often than not all on the same nights. But for those who put in the effort and forewent any chance of a balanced lifestyle the rewards were many and varied.

2010 will also go down as the year a number of big promises were delivered upon, including the National Gallery of Australia finally unveiling the first stage of its redevelopment, four years after its announcement.

2010 may be remembered as the start of some major changes to Canberra arts as a whole, thanks to the ACT Government’s commission of an independent inquiry into the sector. Known as the Loxton Report, the inquiry thrust the entire arts community into the bureaucratic spotlight, whether they wanted to be there or not.

While attendance to the public hearings was dismal to say the least, the consultants took on board the ever-present issues for all art forms surrounding a lack of venues for exhibitions, performances and artist studios.

In dance it was the Canberra expats doing the city proud. A powerhouse group of performers, including dancers Laura Boynes and Dean Cross, returned to town and their old stomping ground of QL2 with their new operation Autumnal Collective.

The visual arts held its cards close to its chest at the start of the year, with little looming on the horizon. It very quickly became apparent that 2010 would be a year of surprises, with a number of excellent exhibitions popping up early in the piece.

The hands-down standout was one we never saw coming: Something In The Air: Collage and Assemblage in Canberra Region Art at Canberra Museum and Gallery was a landmark exhibition assembling over 40 contemporary art heavies in a show packed to the helm with gorgeous artworks.

Also bringing itself into the twenty-first century was M16 Artspace, leaving the industrial chic of its shed in Fyshwick and relocating all studio tenants to a new studio and gallery complex in Griffith.

It’s not quite dance, not quite art or theatre, but by throwing aside the labels and conventions Autumnal managed to hypnotise their audiences and inhabit an entire spectrum of emotion with their debut work Exciting A Blush at QL2 in August.

Another victorious return was that of Daniel Riley McKinley, also to have emerged from QL2 as a youngster. McKinley presented his debut choreographic effort for Bangarra Dance Theatre in September with the aptly titled Riley, as part of the double bill Of Earth and Sky at The Playhouse.

While McKinley is somewhat of a performing arts success story the Loxton Report highlighted a struggle within both the dance and Continued on page 22

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theatre communities to reconcile the relationship between amateur and professional companies and productions.

Interesting, then, that 2010 was a strong year for theatre works falling under that ‘amateur’ heading – a positive, homegrown energy that was dampened only by the sudden and distressing downsizing of the ANU’s drama department as part of a wider humanities ‘overhaul’.

For the Exhibitionist team it was Boho Interactive’s True Logic of the Future that ticked all the boxes for contemporary theatre in 2010, being an interactive steampunk science-fiction work based on the 19th century economist, meteorologist, logician, musician, programmer, 3D photographer, philosopher and cloud-maker, William Stanley Jevons.

Devised by David Finnigan, Jack Lloyd and Michael Bailey and directed by barb barnett the production was a meeting of masterminds boasting engrossing ideas and sophisticated use of interactivity that made it a must-see.

Another standout for Exhibitionist’s theatre writers was Everyman’s The Laramie Project at the Courtyard Theatre, delivering a gripping and highly charged performance well above and beyond the amateur label. The story of a vicious hate crime was told by eight of Canberra’s finest actors (Fiona Atkin, Micki Beckett, Jessica Brent, Duncan Driver, Dave Evans, Duncan Ley, Steph Roberts, and Tony Turner) portraying more than 60 characters.

All in all, 2011 has big shoes to fill. There are already a number of major productions to watch for, including BIGhART’s Namatjira at Canberra Theatre, and the highly anticipated second National Indigenous Triennial at the National Gallery of Australia.

If last year is anything to go by however you can be assured there’s a mountain of smaller independent productions waiting in the wings to ambush the unsuspecting punter. Stick with us at Exhibitionist and you won’t miss out!

ON THE ROAD JEMIMA FORT YIWARRA KUJU: THE CANNING STOCK ROUTE, currently on display at the National Museum of Australia, is a vibrant collection of Indigenous art expressing the intrinsic cultural significance of land and country. The exhibition arranges contemporary Indigenous art geographically, focussing on the Canning Stock Route and the regions that surround it. It’s a fitting context, given that it expresses a culture intrinsically interwoven with the land itself.

Yiwarra Kuju comprises (almost exclusively) a collection of work developed as part of the Perth-based cultural organisation FORM’s Canning Stock Route Project, acquired by the NMA in 2008.

Instigated in 2006, the project combines the art of over 80 Indigenous artists, represented by nine cultural centres, located in the regions covered by the Canning Stock Route. There is a range of media: from the ‘traditional’ and familiar acrylic paintings of country and Dreaming to costume, weaving, new-media art, and video recordings of ceremonial activities.

The Canning Stock Route was first surveyed in 1906 by a government team, led by Alfred Canning. Intended as a means of moving cattle across this part of the country, it runs nearly 2,000 kilometres down the west of Australia. Not surprisingly, this course intersects with the homelands of several Indigenous groups. Canning’s attitude towards these groups - approving of abuse, enslavement and dispossession was a cruel reflection of his time.

Nonetheless, Yiwarra Kuju displays a vibrant culture, the strength of which overshadows the ghost of its challenging past. It makes no attempt to revise the history of the land, rather to reclaim the land for the future. As John Carty, one of the exhibition’s curators, describes: “Yiwarra Kuju is not about art. It’s about what that art is about. These paintings, photos and films are not about ‘history’; they’re concerned with the Aboriginal story of country in Australia – the country that history happened in.”

Laramie Project

This is the most successful exhibition to date at the National Museum of Australia, its strength being in its attention to the needs and interests of its audience. Spot-lit paintings, set back into the walls, allow for direct, personal encounter; while text panels and documentary videos describe the history, cultural meaning and significance that put this in context. The innovative One Road multimedia installation provides a fun, interactive experience through which visitors may explore an exciting archive of text, video and imagery. These diverse elements combine to create an engaging environment in which visitors familiarise themselves with Indigenous art, not simply as a genre, but as an integral element of culture.

Yiwarra Kuju: the Canning Stock Route is on display at the National Museum of Australia until Wednesday January 26, after which it will tour select venues across the country.

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Kiriwirri Yulparija Artists, National Museum of Australia

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Altered States Canberra Museum and Gallery Until Sunday February 27 Major exhibitions at Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) have largely been art focused in recent years, but for Altered States the CMAG team have truly taken on the ‘museum’ mantle, delving into their holdings of heritage objects and images to mount this social history exhibition. Altered States looks at the at times uneasy relationship Canberra has with its past and the meandering journey it has taken in forming its identity as the capital of a nation. The focus of the exhibition is on Canberra buildings that have been lost, salvaged and repurposed over the course of the last 100 years.

Many have been demolished, while a lucky few remain as distinctive and much-loved architectural features.

Visitors to the exhibition are given the opportunity to not only learn about how and by whom these landmark structures came to be built but also to gain an indication of the soul of these places – what it felt like to be there in another time. Of particular interest is the iconic Albert Hall, these days the distinguished host to many an antique fair or market day. Altered States reveals the Hall as its dashing younger self – packed to the rafters during wartime socials. A stunning evening gown is on display, as worn by one bright young thing to an Albert Hall dance, shown alongside examples of handwritten invitations. The impression of an era of properness, pomp and ceremony is belied only by the cheeky glint in the eyes of the youngsters in the 1942 photograph.

The Yarralumla Brickworks is another curious old beast, built in 1913 and currently being sized up for future redevelopment. Saved from being demolished in 1976 by builder Alan Marr, the gorgeous stone

building went on to house weekend markets and artists studios in the early 1990s. Also around this time came the hilarious notion that the imposing structure would make a great locale for an adult magazine photo editorial, in true Vaselined lens soft focus fashion.

The resulting spread is displayed in the exhibition to prove it.

Particularly stirring my nostalgia is the Griffin Centre, demolished in 2005 to clear way for the new ATO building in Civic. Although you could never call it pretty, the photographs of the old Centre bring to mind carefree days of gigs at the Youth Centre, or hours spent loitering at the old 2xx radio studio.

We all recognise that Canberra has a love affair with the wrecking ball, having little patience for the tides of time or regard for its own short history as a city. What Altered States reveals however is the fact this isn’t an altogether recent state of affairs. A well-timed look at the way we were and the way we are, for Canberra lovers and history geeks alike.

YOLANDE NORRIS Yarralumla Brickworks 1928 NAA 3560

IN REVIEW

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What do you do? I’m a pharmacy assistant. I’m 27 and I live with my parents and my niece. I write, make plays, produce festivals and the women eating pasta at the table opposite me are looking at me with narrowed eyes.

When did you get into it? January 2001 and now I can’t get out of it.

When we graduated from College, myself, Jack Lloyd, Mick Bailey, Muttley Shaw and Nicky Johnson formed a theatre company called Bohemian Productions and started producing plays - a mixture of absurdist works by writers like Harold Pinter and our own scripts.

Turns out if you pursue your dreams too hard you end up incapable of pursuing anything else. Like Mickey B said, never have a plan B.

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What makes you laugh? How important is it that I visit YouTube and search for dcTalk’s 1992 hit Jesus Is Just Alright? Nothing could be more critical at this point in history.

What pisses you off? It’s okay.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? I am a creation of the local scene. In every meaningful sense, I have grown out of Canberra’s independent/fringe theatre community. My skills, my aesthetics, my understanding of the art form; these are all completely the result of collaborating with fellow Canberran theatre-makers over the last ten years. So objectively it might be good or bad, but personally, the local scene is the reason I’m still making theatre.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Too hard. The biggest project was co-directing (with Gillian Schwab) the Crack Theatre Festival, a national festival and forum for theatre and performing artists as part of This Is Not Art in Newcastle. Gills and I founded the festival, directed it for its first two years (2009-10) and recently handed it over to a new batch of co-directors to take into the future. Applications for the 2011 festival should be open soon check out cracktheatrefestival.com if you’re interested.

What are your upcoming projects? I’m touring a new solo show This Is Patient Zero: A Christian Guide To Intimate Sexuality, directed by barb barnett, to the Adelaide Fringe Festival as part of a doublebill with Hadley entitled HOW TO SEX. Following that, I’m curating and producing a new arts festival in Canberra in March.

(Watch this space!

– Ed.)

What are your plans for the future? Is it true that your mentors include Christian hip-hop legend Kevin Max of pioneering holy hip-hop trio dcTalk? It is completely true. He is my rogue Unitarian Mentor.

Contact info: I am curled up online at www.blinddragonfly.com .

Who or what influences you as an artist? Ever make anyone’s life measurably better or worse? Yes. That happened.

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Image: Pling and Gillian Schwab

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UN I N H I B I T E D I do love a new year, laid out like the promising pages of a blank sketchbook, the inherent possibilities of a just-sharpened pencil or a fresh tub of margarine, when you first peel off the weird little plastic sheet to reveal a smooth glossy surface free from Vegemite crumbs.

When I look back to 2010 - gazing into the distance for effect - at all the incredible things I got to see and do, it seems beyond belief that I should get to do it all again in 2011. Another 12 months fat with exhibitions, performances, plays, gigs and festivals, boasting a whole new crop of talent scattered among my longstanding favourites.

As you all emerge blinking into the sun like hibernating bears, albeit sweaty ones with new and unusual swimsuit tans, I thought I would feign power and wisdom by presenting you with my hot tips for artists to watch in 2011.

Stella Rae Zelnik Graduating from the ANU School of Art’s Photomedia department, the prolific Zelnik spent 2010 hurtling from strength to strength.

Her timeless eye borrows from Australian photography masters Carol Jerrems and Rennie Ellis, while boasting a distinctive and irrepressible spirit. It’s tried and true methods made contemporary and everyone wants a piece. An excellent and frequently updated tumblr proves this is a girl who never stops and nor would we want her to. If you don’t know her work by now you surely will soon.

Lee Grant While she has been busily completing her Master of Visual Arts at the ANU School of Art, Grant’s photographs have been popping up in publications, exhibitions and art websites everywhere. Though you may have yet to hear of her Grant is no Janey-come-lately, having spent the better part of a decade perfecting what from all outward appearances seems to come incredibly naturally. Her ability to capture people in their places is one of the best in the business, and among other travels Grant portrays Canberra with love, bemusement and squirm-inducing realness. Belco Pride, a body of work completed in 2010, is still on the up and up, permeating the psyche of photo fiends everywhere and planting Canberra firmly on the nation’s art map.

Jon Webster Of all visual artists, Webster belongs to that rare and wonderful breed who don’t just make art but have it flooding through their veins to a point where it becomes a compulsive part of everything they do. Though he studied painting there is no media that Webster denies when it comes to creating his diminutive yet breathtakingly beautiful works from paper, paint, pencil, glitter, clay and sometimes alphabet spaghetti. Though small and subtle, there is an inherent poetry and rawness to his pieces that cuts through art wank crap and hits you right where it hurts. Not long before he gets under all of our skins, as he’ll be popping up in plenty of shows around the city in 2011.

And then there’s all the artists we have yet to meet. yolande norris exhibitionist@bmamag.com

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WHO: Bright Young Things WHAT: Sculpture Bar WHEN: Every Friday, 5pm ‘til late WHERE: National Gallery of Australia Sculpture Garden

bit PARTS WHO: Old School movie tragics WHAT: Summer Outdoor Cinema WHEN: Saturday evenings throughout Jan/Feb WHERE: National Film & Sound Archive courtyard We’ve all heard of ARC cinema at the NFSA. Haven’t we? Yes? Good. Well over summer it all gets even sweeter, with the Summer Outdoor Cinema. Deckchairs are provided and drinks are on hand for this series of screenings under the stars in the lovely NFSA courtyard. More exciting is the fact this years summer cinema has a particularly ‘80s slant: Karate Kid, Ghostbusters and Raiders of the Lost Ark all feature in the stellar line-up of movies on the lawn.

Check www.nfsa.gov.au, or follow ARC on twitter or Facebook to keep tabs on what’s playing, but be sure to book early because the sessions WILL sell out. Tix are $15 or $12.50 concession.

If you work somewhere in the parliamentary triangle, and going back to work after the summer break really got you down, then this should be a little light at the end of the working week tunnel.

Throughout these warmer months the National Gallery of Australia presents Sculpture Bar, every Friday night from 5. Presented in association with Veuve Clicquot (delicious!) the bar is nestled in the NGA’s luscious sculpture garden, making it a perfect spot for chilling of a balmy evening, soaking up some culture and some beverages.

There’s even a dedicated website with plenty of social pics and Sculpture bar news: www.sculpturebar.com.au .

WHO: Vintage trawlers WHAT: April’s Caravan WHEN: Another 18 days WHERE: The Front While there’s a lull in The Front’s hectic exhibition schedule the enterprising lass behind April’s Caravan vintage has repurposed the gallery space as a temporary shop. Up ‘til now April’s Caravan has been an occasional vintage treasure trove based out of a Lyneham house, but for now you can freely peruse the gorgeous girls and guys clothes, shoes and accessories anytime you like (well, nearly).

As if you needed any more excuses to wile away the hours at this legendary Lyneham haunt. If you have a penchant for beautiful things then perhaps it would be safer to leave your wallet at home.

But what would be the fun in that? Check out April’s Caravan on Facebook, or drop a note to aprilscaravan@gmail.com .

WHO: You perhaps?

WHAT: Call for writers!

WHEN: Now WHERE: Right here in Exhibitionist

WHO: John Sharman, Richard Siemens, Susan Sutton and James Willebrant WHAT: Exhibition Coast Watch WHEN: Until Sunday January 30 WHERE: Paintbox Fine Art, Braddon Paintbox Fine Art in Braddon have gone coastal for their January exhibition Coast Watch, featuring John Sharman, Richard Siemens, Susan Sutton and James Willebrant. Sharman paints on location, mostly depicting NSW south coast landscapes and seascapes in oil, While Siemens’ work belongs to the ‘ultra-realist’ school of painting.

Sutton’s works depict coastal scenes along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, and also jumping on board the beachy theme is Willebrant, a senior Australian artist whose iconic style has seen him present more than 50 solo shows. So if you didn’t get to the beach this year, or if you did and too much is never enough, call into Paintbox until January 30. All that’s missing are the fish and chips!

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It’s another year and the times are a’changin. If you’ve ever flipped through the pages of Exhibitionist and thought you’d like to have a crack at this whole arts writing caper, or you’ve thought ‘what is this dribble and who do these people think they are’, then now is your chance to get amongst it. We’re looking for wordsy folk to contribute articles and reviews, so if this sounds like you (or someone you know), then drop us a line at exhibitionist@bmamag. com. There’s no money, but plenty of kudos and free tix, as well as the chance to chat to curators, directors, artists and all manner of interesting personalities, while also getting to see your name in lights, er, print.

WHO: Jeff Green WHAT: Comedy WHEN: Wednesday January 19 WHERE: Civic Pub A rare opportunity to see Jeff Green perform in Canberra, as he makes a rare appearance before carrying on to the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. Green takes the stage at the Civic Pub in Braddon, a venue rapidly becoming the home of Canberra comedy, on January 19 from 8pm. Tickets are available for $15 now from www.comedyact.com.au, but if you’ve read this all too late then be sure to check the site for more awesome Civic Pub comedy coming up.

alive and kicking JOSH BROWN Let me start this off with a short disclaimer: I love Nick Cave. In my eyes, this deity of Australian culture can do no wrong. So if you can’t handle a bit of personal bias, it’s probably best to shuffle along now.

The man is an undisputable legend, boasting an extraordinary artistic career which spans the best part of the last three decades. You may know him as the hot-headed howler who fronted post-punk pioneers The Birthday Party, though his most well known (and loved) work has come via his stalwart group Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. When not fronting rock bands, Cave also moonlights as a published novelist and regularly collaborates with his multi-instrumentalist muse Warren Ellis to create gripping film soundtracks.

Phew! With a resume like that, the 53-year-old could be forgiven for taking it easy.

But age has not wearied him; if anything, Cave is more focussed and prolific than ever.

The latest project he’s thrown himself into is a demented and devilishly perverse offshoot of The Bad Seeds. It’s called GRINDERMAN and the group is just about to tour the country with the Big Day Out on the back of their highly acclaimed sophomore effort, Grinderman 2. I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak with Jim Sclavunos, the American who drums for both bands and has been a part of Cave’s inner circle since the mid-‘90s.

This’ll be the first time The Bad Seeds exist as a wholly different band than they were when they started

“The origins of Grinderman were actually in this ‘Nick Cave solo’ thing that we were doing,” Sclavunos explains. “It never really had a proper name. Nick and Warren had started that at one point and it was a way for Nick to be able to play live more frequently because The Bad Seeds are such a complicated operation to take on the road.

Everybody was for the most part living in Australia, so he wanted a little operation that could do some of the smaller cities, some of the smaller venues, and eventually Marty [P. Casey, bass] and I got pulled into the ranks.”

One notable musical aspect that has set apart Grinderman from its predecessor is its brazen and unashamedly sleazy lyrics. No Pussy Blues was the group’s first big single; a sordid tale in which Cave, try as he might, is unable to convince the object of his affection to reciprocate his advances (and that’s putting it quite politely).

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humour continues on Grinderman 2. Take Worm Tamer for example: “Well my baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster / Two great big humps and then I’m gone.” Sclavunos believes this kind of humour has always been present in Cave’s words, though it might not have always been so prominent. “[The lyrical humour has] often been so dark or subtle that people just didn’t pick up on it,” he says. “For years now there’s been sort of a sense of The Bad Seeds being a serious band, which is quite often totally belied by... take Murder Ballads for example.

There’s an incredible amount of downright funny stuff on it. It’s always been there; we wear it a bit more on our sleeves because it seems appropriate to the kind of general attitude of Grinderman.”

Though humorous lyrics seem to have been one constant in Cave’s output, other aspects of his life have changed drastically over the course of his career. Long gone are the wild days of alcohol and drug abuse; Cave is a family man now and approaches songwriting with a business-like attitude. Sclavunos reckons he’s much better for it.

“His life got quite a bit more stable and part of that was getting clean, raising a new family with a new wife and reaching a certain age where your attitude just sort of changes.” He continues, “he’s been madly prolific in the past few years. I have to take that as quite a positive thing and a noticeable change.”

Prolific is an understatement. In the last four years Cave has blessed us with both Grinderman albums, 2008’s stellar Bad Seeds release Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and has promised in recent interviews that 2011 will herald the arrival of the group’s as yet untitled 15th album. “We’re quite excited about the new Bad Seeds album,” Sclavunos admits. “It’s going to be quite an adventure because this’ll be the first time The Bad Seeds exist as a wholly different band than they were when they started. Nick’s the only remaining person from the original line-up; it’s been moving and evolving for years and when Mick [Harvey] left a couple of years ago, that was the last tie with the past.”

I query as to whether the current pattern of taking it in turns to release an album from each group will continue to be the norm.

“Remains to be seen,” ponders Sclavunos. “That’s been the plan by default, if you could call it a plan, for the past couple of years. As long as both bands feel relevant to the people involved, then why not?” Go for it, I say. Switching gears and stepping into Grinderman mode has invigorated The Bad Seeds, with everyone – the band members and listeners alike – benefitting from the outcome.

Grinderman are headlining Big Day Out. Canberra’s closest leg is either of the Sydney shows, January 26-27. Some limited tickets are still available through the BDO website.

DANCE THE DROP I’m not going to drink as much, I want to get more sleep, I’m going to save more money, I will do more things outside on the weekends, I want to be fresher at work. Unfortunately I can’t help you with any of those new year’s resolutions; in fact, I am the evil voice in your other ear that whispers “it’s okay to spend all of your paycheck this weekend.” So next time a guy in women’s track pants and a ripped free promotional t-shirt comes up to you at the bus interchange asking for money, don’t go for your wallet, go for a high five instead because he probably just had a cracker of a weekend.

People keep asking me “is Dickson the new Kingston?” to which I respond “not until I’ve been woken up there in the gutter by police

myspace.com/pangnight

wearing only jeans and a Guns N Roses singlet.” However you may choose to quantify the emergence of a new local bar district, you have to acknowledge the return of Trinity Bar as one of the major players in the local scene. Next up on their agenda is Atlanta-based Stripper Disco champion Treasure Fingers on Saturday January 22.

For those who don’t know, he was 50% responsible for the biggest hit of 2010 Coma Cat so this is a show you will probably tell your kids about… if you sober up enough to have any.

You trust me, right? After a few years doing this column I feel like we have some kind of mutual musical certitude going on, so you can feel safe taking the next piece of advice as gospel. The Stanton Warriors are up there with the best and most entertaining dance music acts on the planet. Dom B and Mark Yardley are returning to our city for a massive headline show at Academy on Friday January 28. For those of you on the water and sleep diet, this is definitely the one to break your ill fated 2011 detox for.

Things just keep getting better and better for our snappy dressing local heroes The Aston Shuffle. Vance’s beard has him being compared to a young George Michael and Mikah looks as if he could bench press Kim Beasley. Physical attributes aside, their achievements are also piling up in the studio as the duo have just completed initial work on their long awaited artist album, a feat you can help them celebrate at the InTheMix Sounds of Summer Party at Academy on Friday February 4.

Bass lovers unite! Lot 33 has a freshly tuned sound system which has the potential to release your dinner early – that’s right, fear the brown noise, people. Be sure to pack a fresh pair of knickers for upcoming nights featuring ex pats Archie (Saturday January 22) and Jono Fernandez (Saturday January 29) and for my favourite Merimbula road trip, Stage Fright, which is coming to the dark red room on Saturday February 5 featuring sexual outlaws Team Wing.

We’re here, it’s a new year, welcome back to club land.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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Festivals stress me the fuck out with their habit of squeezing an overflow of bands into a proportionately miniscule amount of time.

O, how cruel the twist of fate can be when you discover an amazing new act that, just a short few weeks or months earlier at festival time, you tragically neglected to see out of sheer musical ignorance.

So, until all those scientists and engineers start putting their skills to good use and figure out a way to take Hermione’s Time Turner out of the Harry Potter world and into the real one so that you never have to miss a single set again, one must keep one’s eyes and ears open for great new acts to circle on their festival timetable.

When the Armed Tender’s bow crashed into the golden sand of Botany Bay on the 18th of January 1788, a new tradition was born.

The first fleet not only heralded the birth of Australia but also the yearly migration of Englishmen wishing to exchange the bleakness of their dire winter for a pint of lager on our pristine beaches. Over 200 years later not much has changed; as the first rays of sun emerge, so they carry with them the descendants of our forefathers, most of whom have swapped their cattle and seed for Samsonite luggage and UDG record bags, well at least that’s true for Aston Harvey and Matt Cantor who you know as the FREESTYLERS.

Here’s a heads up – if you haven’t already done so, grab yourself a highlighter and make a big fat smudge around the name CANYONS. Canyons, if you need convincing other than the value of my good word, boast the most impressive of musical CVs and possess all the ingredients to become – in the words of the cliché that never grows tired – the next big thing. I chatted to one half of the band, Ryan Grieve, who told me how he and bandmate Leo Thomson “want to push what there’s not a lot of out there.”

Unlucky for them, they dropped anchor on the ‘Sunshine’ Coast (I use the term loosely), where sunburn and topless models have been replaced by chaotic flooding and debris. “[We’ve] just arrived in Brisbane, on our way down to Byron Bay for a week.

Been told the weather is going to be shit, so not a good start, oh well, apart from that the tour has been going fantastic, some really great shows. Think Breakfest has been the highlight so far.”

Emerging from the nether regions of Western Australia, Canyons have tackled, and successfully so at that, just about every musical frontier there is to be had. The pair first came together to form their own record label, Hole in the Sky, before submitting to fate and joining musical forces. The product of their union can’t be explained by a single genre – it’s definitely a bit electronic, but there’s rock, pop and even folk elements, too. Basically, as Grieve puts it, Canyons’ sound is like “setting a cat amongst the pigeons and seeing what happens.”

In a period where the tired broken beat genre has been reintroduced as dubstep and drumstep, the last 12 months have been especially productive for the Brits, who are almost ready to drop their fifth studio album. “We’re working towards a new album, but in the meantime we’ve been releasing quite a few tunes, the biggest one being Cracks. We’ve just upgraded our studio in London with a seriously loaded up Mac, so looking forward to going back and getting my head round it all,” says Cantor. “Also every two months we’ve been releasing DJ mixes on our SoundCloud which have been great fun to do and have been going down a storm with our fans.”

When we take on a remix we have to believe that we can add something

But Canyons weren’t alone beyond the black stump in Perth – in fact, Grieve kept company with none other than Kevin Parker, aka Mr Tame Impala, modestly explaining “we were just friends basically, shooting music and hanging out.” Nevertheless, Canyons would go on to remix a variety of Tame Impala songs and between that and their own DJ work, shortly found themselves signed to the very happening Modular Records, where they would also come to mix artists including Ladyhawke and !!!. Grieve explains that as DJs, the remix process is a considered one, stating “when we take on a remix we have to believe that we can add something, take the song and put it in another context.”

To cap it all off, before even finishing their debut album, Canyons have secured a place at the upcoming Laneway Festival and Canberra’s own Summer Rhythm Festival. So this festival season, be sure to save your vom or power nap until after Canyons’ set – because if you don’t, there’s a pretty decent chance you’ll hate yourself for it later.

Catch Canyons at the Summer Rhythm Festival at Goolabri on SaturdaySunday February 20-21. Tickets available through Oztix.

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We’ve been releasing DJ mixes on our SoundCloud which have been going down a storm with our fans

For those of you old enough to have followed the perennial party starters through their entire career, you will know how well renowned Harvey and Cantor are for their rocking live shows, something which has now been boosted with the addition of a new visual element. With this new technology, not since Thorpe Vs Van den Hoogenband will we have witnessed two Freestylers battle it out with as much gusto.

“A friend of mine in New Zealand did it for us. Looks great! It’s the first time we’ve ever had visuals, so be good to see how we can it develop it now. It’s just a plain simple DVD that’s been crafted with a load of random madness.”

Our viral international tourism campaign promised them sun, but even without our big yellow melanoma lamp in the sky, the lads will endeavour to deliver a bottom heavy smack down to the genre of breaks. “It needs a kick up its arse. I think all the boundaries are very blurred these days, so it makes for an interesting mix of music!”

Catch the Freestylers live at Trinity Bar in Dickson on Sunday January 23.

Free entry!

31

OUTSTANDING SOUNDS

HOMECOMING

holly orkin

dave ruby howe

Jazz tends to elicit an image of either wild unpredictability or soothing brass notes; it rarely conjures a picture of a man playing music from inside a piano. This year’s SOUNDOUT FESTIVAL at The Street Theatre is going to include just that, as well as a large array of international improvisational musicians from achingly cool places like Norway, Sweden and Germany.

Having caused all sorts of commotion with their strawberry poppin’, Baby-makin’ and Luke Steele resurrectin’ third album, Pnau, Australian electronic legends PNAU did the sensible thing and disappeared for a little while so as not to wear out their welcome with dance fans across the country (here’s looking at you, Sneaky Sound System).

Didn’t realise there was such a thing as an improvisational music festival? Richard Johnson, the bearded, penis-gourd – yes, penis-gourd – playing director of this noisy venture describes it as “a festival based around the idea of free improvisation. I’ve always been interested in jazz and it’s progressed from avant-garde jazz to improvised music, sound art and all of those kinds of things.”

This type of music is about exploration, it’s about change

It’s not just jazz though. The Thing, a free jazz trio, also plays covers of The White Stripes, Sonic Youth and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There are also some rather interesting music/sound mixes from musicians such as Yan Jun from China who uses feedback and percussion to form sound experiments ripe for human eardrums. As mentioned before there is also some piano-belly strumming in the form of Cor Fuhler (Norway) who is known for his electro-acoustic improvisation which includes spinning disks and turntables.

What’s particularly great about SoundOut is the level of support that Johnson has received in the form of funding, which has meant he can actually get the musicians he wants and give them a travel allowance.

Though they’re all staying at his place, meaning “there will be a party there afterwards, whether I like it or not.” Those groovy Norwegians are sending a bunch of artists and have chipped in to bring them here; of particular note is Kim Myhr who is, according to Norway’s official website, one of Norway’s “finest young improvisers” and wields a guitar like it’s nobody’s business.

SoundOut is an emerging festival, only in its second year and as Canberra has seen the demise of various artistic endeavours in recent years, Johnson is hoping his musically unpredictable baby will fill a need in the nation’s capital. “How long has it been since there has been anything different and of interest in this town? The Multicultural Festival is really just about booze and food now isn’t it, but I can say ‘HEY, here are some award winning international artists coming to play at The Street!’ People will really enjoy it, they just don’t know about it. This type of music is about exploration, it’s about change.”

Still not really sure what this is all about? Do you now have strange images of talking pianos and the fjords of Norway? Johnson says it’s best left unexplained and better just heard. The festival is from the 29th until the 30th of January and just might be the start of something (or at least you might find out what exactly a penis-gourd is).

The SoundOut Festival is being held at The Street Theatre over SaturdaySunday January 29-30. Tickets are $35, $25 for concessions and $20 for students, all available direct from the venue’s box office.

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To remove themselves from the Elton took us under his wing a spotlight, the band’s two creative couple of years heads Peter Mayes and Nick ago. He’s just a Littlemore retreated into studio hibernation on the other side of the legend

world. But while their London base has been a boon for the band, when I get the enigmatic Mayes on the line for our interview the Pnau mastermind confesses that the pair have become seriously homesick. “I’ve really been missing home, especially right now since it’s winter over here,” Mayes says while probably wearing a woolly turtleneck. “It’s actually snowing here, believe it or not! It’s like frosted candy and everything here. I’ve never seen it snow here before so it’s pretty amazing.”

As well as discovering the delights of the Tube and having a decent test cricket team, in England the duo found a legendary mentor figure to help guide them through the making of their fourth album.

Who am I talking about? Well, none other than Elton John. I shit you not. “Elton’s become a very important part of our lives since we’ve been here. He took us under his wing a couple of years ago and really encouraged us to expand our horizons and to make this album as good as it is,” he says of the band’s relationship with their Rocket Man guru. “He was always there for us throughout the process to give us good advice or encourage us when we were ready to die. He’s just a legend. It’s really amazing to have someone like that in your corner all the way.”

If you’re playing at home that’s both the chilly surrounds of London and motherflipping Elton John as influences on the new Pnau record… which all sounds pretty insane and something that only they could do. The first chance fans will get to taste this new record will be on the Big Day Out festival tour that’s about to wind around the country. That festival is already sacred ground for the band, who made their big fuzzy-suited comeback there in 2008 so Pnau seem naturally excited to unleash their new gems in 2011.

“Doing that festival definitely has a very large place in our hearts and I know it’s going to be a big homecoming for us,” Mayes offers.

“This record is going to be very energetic and I think it’ll be best experienced live. We realised after the last album and after all the shows we did touring it that what we really loved was putting on a show for people. I want lots of people to hear it and really feel it together with us. It’s got that kind of big, open stadium feel to it.

There’s a lot of intense energy.”

Canberra’s closest BDO leg is either of the Sydney shows, held on Wednesday-Thursday January 26-27. Some limited tickets are still available. You can read the full article at bmamag.com .

THE REALNESS Welcome to 2011. I trust you had a dope, safe and enjoyable holiday season. Well, with another year of potentially life-altering and mindbending music ahead of us, let’s get straight into it.

I’ve been a big fan of Melbourne’s Raven since his criminally slept on Humble Beginnings album from 2008. Thankfully he’s back with the long awaited follow up Ravenous 20Ten on Crate Cartel. A member of the Hungry Humans and Crate Cartel crews, Raven is a highly respected artist in the local hip-hop scene and this second album seems certain to further cement his talent. Raveneous 20Ten is both personal and political, created as a concept album of sorts where Raven juxtaposes his own personal observations of the world against those of the society around him. The album consistently engages the listener across a multitude of styles and themes – a self-confessed album full of stories of “parties, protests and procrastination.” The record features production from Cam Bluff, Geko, WIK and more, as well as guest slots from Fluent Form, Maundzz, Vents and Fatty Phew.

Hyperdub had an incredible 2010 with amazing releases from Darkstar, Ikonika, Terror Danjah and more. This year the label’s head honcho Kode9 is once again teaming up with vocalist The Spaceape for their sophomore LP Black Sun due for release in April. Expect Kode9 to further push the bass music boundaries and Spaceape to up his intergalactic chatter. Collaborations on the record include Cha Cha and Flying Lotus! Yes! Show-wise, coming up Melbourne’s Raven is due in town on Saturday March 19 at the newly refurbished ANU Bar with Sydney’s That’s Them in support. Optamus (Downsyde) is rocking his solo thing at Transit Bar on Thursday January 27 and the Blue Mountains’ Thundamentals also touch down at Transit Bar on Thurs February 3.

To hear music from all the above artists and more, tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM every Tuesday night from 9.30pm.

ROSHAMBO roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

Finally, the long awaited solo album from Lyrical Commission’s Trem is nearly upon us!

Representing the ‘quality over quantity’ motto, Trem has spent the last few years meticulously putting together his For The Term Of His Natural Life solo LP, and the first single Omega Man has just surfaced. Omega Man is vintage Trem – razor sharp multi-syllabic lyrics over sparse Prowla production. The video for Omega Man is up now on YouTube (executed by Heata & Discourse).

The album will also feature production from Beat Butcha and Trem himself. You can grab the single right now from the Unkut Recordings website.

Dazed & Flawlezz have just kindly offered up their latest EP release Land Of The Savages as a free digital release on www. dazedflawlezz.com. The formerly Sydney-based duo now represent both Queanbeyan and Melbourne.

The new EP marks a shift in tone for the fellas and features production from Geko, Ciecmate, Mizari and Dazed himself. Make sure you support them and jump online to grab a copy for the amazing price of nil.

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METALISE Happy n’yeah and all that.

The deluge of this ‘summer’ is being matched in the ever flowing stream of bands and sideshows from the big festivals that just keep coming and coming. Aside from more tangible dates being announced, I had a good chat with Robert McManus, promoter/ musician and label owner at the recent Earthless show at The Basement (which was utterly stunning by the way). Robert was suggesting that tours from Goatsnake, Corrosion of Conformity and Electric Wizard were all in his sights for the year, though one rumour that had made it as far as gig guides in some of the other capital streetpresses was put to rest in the form of the early February tour from Japan’s venerable Corrupted. Reason being one member, former YOB bass player Isamu Sato, was recently imprisoned in Japan on drugs charges and founding member Hevi has left the band.

Soundwave starts in a bit over a month and the raft of ‘sidewaves’ have started being announced. Primus and The Melvins are at The Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Monday February 28 and Thursday March 3 at The Palais Theatre in Melbourne. Queens of the Stone Age are playing The Enmore on Wednesday March 2 and The Palace in Melbourne on Thursday March 3. High On Fire, Trash Talk and Kylesa are playing on Thursday March 3 at The Gershwin Room in Melbourne also, no Sydney date as yet, but the horrible floods in Brisbane may see Sydney get the show they have lined up on Wednesday March 2 at The Hi Fi in the West End area of the city.

Devildriver, Ill Niño, All That Remains and Nonpoint at The Forum on Wednesday March 2 is yet another sidewave and of course headliners Iron Maiden are at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney on Thursday February 24. It’s freakin’ nuts I say.

The Soundwave promotion folks are also bringing out Kyuss Lives!

Now at the Luna Park Big Top, the gig is now all ages and plenty of tickets are left so those who want to relive the ‘90s greatest stoner rock experience can at least get an idea of what the fuss was all about. Also on the promoter’s list is the return of Suicidal Tendencies for a licensed all ages show at The Metro Theatre in Sydney on Saturday May 14.

More welcome news for one of the all time greatest death metal bands is the two date tour from Florida’s Morbid Angel. The band are wrapping up post production on the new record they began working on in June last year at Mana Studios with Eric Rutan on the engineering duties – hopefully it will be out in time for the May show at the Manning Bar on Saturday May 28. You can buy tickets for this show right now from Oztix. They’re also in Melbourne on Friday May 27 at The Hi Fi Bar, a show that will likely have better support acts.

Next ish I will have a full rundown of the next few months on the local front, see you at the pub!

Josh NP: A Year In Suffering – Cough – Ritual Abuse JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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POLAR OPPOSITES naomi frost DRAWING NORTH are one of Canberra’s fastest growing pop rock bands. Since abandoning their old sound as Retraspec, the boys have accumulated a loyal and ever expanding fan base. I had the delight of a face to face interview with drummer and founding member of the band Drew, bassist Jake and guitarists Chad and Ethan. Unfortunately vocalist Michael was absent on this humid and rainy morning.

What with their quickly approaching debut EP launch, spirits were high in the prac room that has seen the boys through the past two years, leading them to this exciting and crucial moment in their musical careers. “It’s going to be the most fun gig that we’ve played in a very long time,” Jake tells me excitedly. The time, effort, money and practice that they have poured into their EP launch showed me exactly how committed these five boys are to making Drawing North exactly what they want it to be. “Our EP launch is like our little baby,” Jake claims. “We’re trying not to drop it out a window,” Chad jests.

We call him Splinter, because he’s like Splinter from Nina Turtles

They recorded their EP Vision in Valour in Sydney with producer Rohan Kumar. “We call him Splinter, because he’s like Splinter from Nina Turtles,” Jake laughs. “He just lives in a cave with a giant beard and just sits there and writes music. He’s a guru.” The boys even say that they want to take him to the US to help on their next record.

“We’re very lucky and thankful to have had him on the project,” Chad compliments. “As a collective it was an experience to do it together and we’ve learned a lot from it,” he concludes.

All very satisfied with the changes made to the band, they easily admit to what they feel were their faults as Retraspec. “We didn’t know really how to start out, we just wanted to play music and get a fan base,” claims Drew. “When I came on board,” adds Chad, “we kinda went ‘what do we want to achieve? And what are we going to do to make it happen?’ After talking about it for so long, Drawing North just had such a positive spin on it and so many different aspects of the band; pushing further forward, always aspiring to be better than we were and pushing towards positive goals, and the name Drawing North just seems to embody that.”

The boys cannot stress enough the importance of commitment in a band and having common goals and aspirations. “We all have the same vision, and we all have the same drive to get there,” says Drew.

Ethan then continues, “we want to go as far as we can, putting all our efforts and resources into the band.” Jumping at the opportunity to say some final words, Chad wants to encourage everyone to go to the launch by promising that “we won’t disappoint.”

Catch Drawing North, along with supports Atlantis Awaits, Built On Secrets and Hands Like Houses, at Albert Hall on Saturday January 22. Doors open at 6.30pm and tickets are $10 + bf via Moshtix or $10 on the door.

35

the word

on albums

album of the issue Los Capitanes Rest For The Wicked [Sound System]

Los Caps... that hardworking ska punk band that played every underage gig possible when we were 15, making us all swoon, skank, and snog in equal measure... I *fondly* remember you, Los Capitanes.

For their new album, the band have decided to wear all their influences on their hoodie sleeves and put out a record that smashes from ska punk to hair metal to hip-hop to reggae to pop emo to post hardcore to Harry Connic Jr style schmalz, all in the space of three songs.

It’s enthralling. They are the Girl Talk of ska punk bands.

They’re potty-mouthed and sometimes write a few too many words than actually fit, but it doesn’t matter as soon enough a doomy metal sequence will break out in some flamenco guitar and the singer will deride your friends for all listening to indie.

This is the best experience I’ve had with an album in ages, and whilst I don’t love all of it, it’s more ambitious than Kanye West’s latest, and so much more fun. I was expecting another Pokers inspired hornblow (and would have been happily satisfied), and instead got a magnum opus.

Darcy Wigram

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Cake Showroom of Compassion [Upbeat Records]

Diamond Dogs The Grit and the Very Soul [Smilodon]

Welcome to one of the larger blips on the proverbial record radar for 2011. It should have been welcomed with open arms; in fact, it almost presents itself like an estranged cousin, bringing warm nostalgic gifts of tepidly intellectual dwellings with that ol’ bounce in their step.

Like family, even the slightest changes are noticeable; in fact, even the healthy dollop of reverb is a welcome new accessory to their oft gravelcrunching pseudo funk rhythms.

However, their strength is often in the understatement, which is admittedly hard to find in the first-run through. Or the second.

Or the third. For loyalty’s sake though, it should be noted that cursory consumptions of Cake are rarely rewarded, as they have proven themselves time and time again.

Sweden’s Diamond Dogs are fantastic. I can’t put it in simpler terms than that, so don’t ask me to. However, by way of explanation, if you like your rock classic in vein (think Faces, Stones and The Kinks, filtered through Oasis but with the swagger and vibe of The Black Crowes and Hanoi Rocks) yet smattered with the sort of soulful inflections only Van Morrison or, slightly more obtusely, primetime Dexys Midnight Runners can provide, then this will be for you. There’s even a Smiths cover thrown in (a suitably world weary run-through of Please, Please, Please Let me Get What I Want); but that is merely the cherry on a cake that elsewhere features an absolutely riveting collection of heartfelt, hair-raising rock ‘n’ roll.

Chronic Sprechgesang sufferer John McCrea almost shovels bucket-loads of wistful finality over the band’s idiosyncratic groundwork, dropping some ‘we’ve-totally-come-fullcircle’ hints about his band’s development (Showroom of Compassion to Motorcade of Generosity is one example. We really don’t need NCIS for this.

Or for anything, really.)

The band have stripped down their sound considerably since the days when their more basic hard rock sound was juiced up with a bit of brass; there are large portions of TGATVS that would even appeal to fans of the likes of Mumford and Sons or Angus & Julia Stone, whilst When the Morning Comes to Get Me is the sort of country blues Keef used to peel off in the days when he could still pen a tune; its lazy, ragged swagger in the end merely providing the perfect vehicle for a marvellous sax solo and a compelling vocal from Sulo Karlsson, whose peerless singing takes this album from something merely excellent to the frankly astounding. A great album.

Despite defiantly declaring to survive in the yonder days, Cake only manages to emerge battered and bruised, with beats that inspire to nod-off rather than nod-to. I never thought it was possible to say this – but I think I’ve outgrown Cake. Now, normally Cake is sweet, but this one comes off a bit stale and half-baked.

Palimah Panichit

Scott Adams

Duran Duran All You Need Is Now [Tapemodern] The opening salvo of Duran Duran’s 13th studio album, all sliding and discordant synths sitting atop mild hip-hop beats didn’t give cause for hope. Even in their early ‘80s prime they were a patchy, extravagant dada-esque joke concocted

by The Face magazine about fashion-obsessed overconsumption more than an actual band; seek out the bonkers clip for Rio if in doubt.

By 1986 Phase I was all but over – the joke wore thin. 1991 brought unexpected success via Ordinary World, a syrupy MTVready hit. Soon enough Phase II was over. So here we are in 2011 and it seems Duarn Duran might pull it off again. Don’t call it a comeback though; they’ve been slogging away for years.

So getting back to those synths; wouldn’t you know it within a minute they soon give way to a glorious blast of what made Duran Duran so great in the first place – blinding synthpop.

It’s the closest they have come to replicating Rio or Seven and the Ragged Tiger in years. Not bettering but getting close to that elusive vibe. Decedent, freewheeling and joyous. Maybe a looming 30th anniversary forced the band to refocus after a series of aimless releases.

Maybe it’s Mark Ronson on production duties – he certainly seems attentive to the band’s legacy and is playful (The Man Whole Stole a Leopard is essentially The Chauffer in different skin) without being overly sycophantic. Or maybe they just decided to knuckle down and write some cracking tunes. Whatever it is – it works. justin hook

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

My Chemical Romance Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys [Reprise] After firing drummer Bob Briar and disbanding their alter-ego band The Black Parade, nobody could have picked how wacky and confusing My Chemical Romance would become on their latest album. That’s not a backhanded compliment either. First single Na Na Na is chop-socky punk rocky at its finest. Despite vocalist Gerard Way’s assertions against another concept album after The Black Parade, Danger Days is thematically rich as MCR double as the cartoonish biker gang The Fabulous Killjoys, fighting against the evil, megalomaniacal corporation Better Living Industries (aptly named, BL/ind) for control of Battery City.

For an album that was touted as a “return to punk rock” for MCR, the album is a weird mutation of jittery road trip summer love pop plus meat and potatoes punk rock, such as the uncontrollable Party Poison and the Elvis Costello-esque banger Vampire Money. We’ve never heard MCR more melodic than now, as Gerard Way’s voice sounds stronger than ever on The Only Hope For Me Is You and the angular desert-garage RAWK of Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back. Summertime is the most beautiful pop moment on the record, however, it really could have done without pilfering 70% of its sonic elements from The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1979.

However, Danger Days rises above its own imperfections as a strong album, and is sure to become a 2011 summer favourite. matt petherbridge

Shihad Ignite [Roadrunner]

Daft Punk Tron: Legacy [Walt Disney Records]

There are few bands around with a reputation for possessing as much sheer rock grunt as Shihad. They’re so good that there’s an ongoing fight between Australia and New Zealand as to who can claim ownership of them, and this CD will only serve to feed this trans-Tasman rivalry. Ignite, the band’s eighth album, brings with it a change of label and a flirtation with self-production which has seen the band gain more ownership of the end sound. The final mix includes the influences on selected songs of Dave Sardy, whose impressive credits include Nine Inch Nails, Oasis and Slayer.

People be warned, the Daft Punk that we all know has not made this album. Rather, a new Daft Punk has been born, one that uses the natural and organic sounds of an 85-piece orchestra and crosses it with computers to make a soundtrack for a film that uses exactly the same ideas for its plot line. We are of course talking Tron: Legacy, the Joseph Kosinski directed sequel to the late ‘80s original, a film in which humanity enters The Grid or to be more precise Jeff ‘The Dude’ Bridges and his son enter a computer. Sounds complicated, maybe it is, but it has nothing on its soundtrack.

After 22 years and several albums, most bands who have stayed that incredible distance are sounding stale, their creative spark having faded or died. Not so with Shihad, who have the talent to still be fresh and exciting. They achieve this while staying true to their signature sound, combining great melodies, ruthless riffage and the awesome vocals of frontman Jon Toogood. The epic, six minute opening track is a cracker, beginning with low, slowly grinding guitars combined with emphatic sighs from the backing vocals. It then builds up to form overwhelming concussive waves of sound. In a collection full of goodies, Lead or Follow is a fine choice for the single. But my favourites are the opener The Final Year of the Universe, and Sleepeater and Cold Heart, both of which showcase great vocal arrangements.

From the overture onwards Daft Punk use all their know how, talent and symphony orchestra musicians at their disposal to create a soundtrack that even Phillip Glass could be jealous of. Although each track has been given a different title the entire record should, I believe, be seen as a whole (as you would a movie – without dissections); apart from the title track which is the only song that sounds like the Daft Punk that we have previously known, and my fav, The Grid with Jeff Bridges telling us about finding his way into the computer. As the music, texture and continuity are so well written one almost need not see the actual film, but you should, because it’s not bad, however I feel that its soundtrack will have a much longer life. All in all a great ride and a sure highlight of an amazing career.

RORY McCARTNEY

Tim Bocquet

Adalita Hot Air [Liberation] For someone who seemed to be the poster girl for overly energetic Aussie rawkers, Magic Dirt’s main squeeze Adalita seems real bored these days. Six minutes of laconic noodling and the occasional wave of fuzz does not a song make, and that’s not even starting on Adalita’s sleepy tones.

Britney Spears Hold It Against Me [Sony] The funniest part of this new Britney single is not Max Martin and Dr Luke having a poke at dubstep but rather that some Hollywood songwriter wrote a whole song out of that prehistoric pick up line. Other than that it scrapes a pass mark for being unflinchingly outrageous.

Bruno Mars Grenade [Warner] You know what the worst thing about pop music is? No, it’s not still having nightmares about Anastasia to this very day but rather it’s the ballads. Ballads.

Who thought of this shit?

Cloying, overwrought and crass, Grenade sucks the life out of you in a slow and painfully boring way. No surprise, it’s a big fucking hit.

Kanye West & Jay-Z H.A.M. [Universal] Hard As A Motherfucker is about right with this. Sure it’s not the most palatable joint following Kanye’s beloved new LP but it’s a grandiose exercise in stunting with both ‘Ye and Jay doing just about whatever they want. And I’m pretty happy to follow them as they do that.

37

the word

on films

WITH MARK RUSSELL

A new year, a nervous new film editor. It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to 2010, which gave us so many amazing films – who could forget classics such as Piranha 3D? But 2011 looks set to deliver, with some promising releases for January. There’s Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, which will blend insanity, sexual rivalry, and ballet. Of course. Soon after comes the latest Coen brothers flick True Grit. Will any of these films meet my ridiculously high expectations? Follow these humble film pages, and find out.

quote of the issue

“I am not saying the word ‘fluffy’.”

Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), Morning Glory

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Love and Other Drugs

Tron: Legacy

Morning Glory

Love and Other Drugs is marketing itself as a smart and sexy romantic comedy for the intelligent 20-something. Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal have been near-to-naked on every piece of promotional material, and they’re both relatively respected actors.

Smart and sexy this film may be in moderation, but it’s also exceedingly sentimental.

Jamie (Gyllenhaal) is an underachieving, overly charismatic ladies man who falls into pharmaceutical sales – and finds success when his company begins selling Viagra.

At the same time he enters into a complicated relationship with the commitment-phobic Maggie (Hathaway), who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Tron’s visuals are excellent: a near-seamless symbiosis of CGI and rotoscoped live action, presented in artful 3D. This is no mere post-processing glam or gimmick; the third dimension takes things up a few notches without stealing too much thunder. Daft Punk’s score drives the film, with fat synths and distorted kicks underscoring the triumphal, rising chords of an 85-piece symphonic orchestra. The main theme is a masterpiece; like the 3D graphics, it fits seamlessly into the film. Legacy isn’t going to be remembered for its acting, but a mention must go to Bridges’ twin performances.

Flynn, 28 years on, is a forgotten messiah under house-arrest in his dreamworld-turneddystopia. CLU, the program he created in his image, is the manifestation of his ideals: ruthless pursuit of perfection, executed with binary precision.

The bright and optimistic Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) becomes the new executive producer of ailing morning television show Daybreak. What follows is a comedy of mishaps and missteps as she must placate her warring co-hosts – Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) and Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) – handle her fledgling relationship with nice-guy Adam (Patrick Wilson), and save the show from plummeting ratings.

It’s thanks to the talented cast that such a trite plot can avoid becoming tedious.

Love and Other Drugs is braver than most rom-coms, in trying to deal with a serious disease.

It’s also more interesting than most, peripherally commenting on the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry in America. But for every instance when the film tries to make an intelligent point, or show a relationship that isn’t excessively saccharine, there is a formulaic or feeble moment: the awful score playing under every romantic scene, an example of incongruous slapstick humour, or a lame ‘redemption through love’ diatribe. Of course, watching Hathaway/Gyllenhaal onscreen is still infinitely preferable to witnessing the horror of, say, a Heigl/Kutcher film – and it has a genuinely witty script. Love and Other Drugs isn’t bad; it’s just that it could’ve very easily been better. A disappointment, in need of visual Viagra.

MELISSA WELLHAM

Why is Legacy so great?

Because, above all, it’s a film of our time. It captivates our attention for the same reasons the Wikileaks saga did: it was complex, far-reaching, and new; because the issues it raised were relevant and fresh.

Legacy touches on freedom of information, open-source systems, software monopolies and that’s just in the first 20 minutes.

The film has its flaws; overdone fight scenes, clumsy fatherson moments and product placement. But the good shines through. Look past the surface imperfections, into the idea at its core - and you’ll find the pure, immutable essence of Tron.

HERMAN MELCHIOR

Rachel McAdams is incredibly likeable in everything she stars in, despite her oftenquestionable choices of script – The Notebook? The Time Traveler’s Wife? – and in Morning Glory she manages to steal scenes from veteran actors Keaton and Ford. Though Morning Glory does give an indication of what type of curmudgeonly roles Ford will be seen in, now that his Han Solo/ Indiana Jones days are firmly behind him.

Morning Glory is a fun, feelgood film – and I mean that without the condescension such a phrase can imply. Yes, there are mostly meaningless montage sequences to Natasha Bedingfield songs. Yes, there’s an unnecessary romantic subplot. Yes, everything miraculously turns out all right in the end. The film is clichéd, slightly chaotic, and doesn’t really have a satisfying climax – but, like the title implies, it ultimately rises to the occasion, thanks to its likeable cast.

It’s not a glorious film, but it’s certainly good.

MELISSA WELLHAM

the word on dvds

Great Migrations [Madman] There used to be a time when it was enough for a nature doco to have David Attenborough poke a badger with a stick and then explain that poking badgers with sticks makes them quite irritable. Now in the age of high-def and microengineering, quaint badger abuse doesn’t quite cut it. The BBC’s Natural History Unit is generally considered the gold standard of nature and science broadcasting with over 50 years in the field and a swag of accolades and awards to match.

So it’s somewhat strange to consider that National Geographic – an organisation over a century old – could be considered the newcomer.

But it is and Great Migrations is their blast across the bow – higher degrees of technical wizardry, bigger budgets, closer close ups and more complicated set ups.

Taking over three years to shoot in native HD, this miniseries is a stunning accomplishment.

Take for example the monarch butterfly that traverses the North American continent before making its return at twice the pace. Butterflies are small and somewhat boring – but here they blossom into monoliths that fly right next to you in 1080i glory. But it’s not all beer and skittles. Nature docos like to remind us death is just around the corner, that life is fragile. Great Migrations is no different, often violently so. Is there anything cuter than a seal rolling around in a pool of mud? Of course not.

Is there anything more tragic than witnessing a playful seal savagely ripped apart by a great white shark? Yikes. Narration

by Alec Baldwin is occasionally distracting and smarmy but is solid. Sadly Stephen Fry’s allegedly superior narration track isn’t an option. Editing is another concern; non-linear and disjointed, it fails to settle into a supple groove like its competitors. However, this is Blu Ray brilliance.

JUSTIN HOOK

The Inbetweeners – Season 3 [Bwark Productions] If you’ve never seen the E4 comedy The Inbetweeners, insults like “briefcase wanker” and “you bumder” will go over your head. If you have seen it however, you’ll be chuckling to yourself right now… and looking a little bit special. Following the lives of four high school students ,The Inbetweeners is an irreverent and hilarious comedy which offers a scary insight into the life and mind of an English teenage misfit. It is full of quick one-liners, sharp comebacks and original insults.

The third season follows the first two nicely, and while there weren’t as many ‘spray water from your mouth in laughter’ moments, there were still some memorable scenes.

In season three, the boys are in their final year of high school and spend their time trying to look cool and impress the opposite sex. They manage neither, but do manage to get themselves into many awkward and cringe-worthy situations which make for genuinely funny viewing. Throughout the six episodes, the boys struggle through a wardrobe malfunction at a fashion show, have their first experience with drugs at a gig, learn how not to break up with a girl, spend a romantic weekend away together, terrorise the neighbourhood and discover the wonders of camping. All while insulting each other and trying to get girls to sleep with them.

Season three also has a great soundtrack, with songs from artists like The Wombats, Kate Nash, Belle and Sebastian, Gorillaz and Hot Chip.

Unfortunately the production company has vetoed the idea of a fourth season, but keep an eye out for a movie and two single episode specials to tie up the series.

Clare Butterfield

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind [Madman] Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have spent 25 years defining that line between childlike and childish. The former retains and celebrates a joyous but inquisitive wonderment with the world.

The latter dwells on the juvenile, ignoring the intelligence of the audience and relying on formulaic, monochromatic character storylines.

Sure, Pixar has turned the perception of animation on its head but it was Ghibli that redefined the genre.

And Nausicaä... is where the big screen story begins - its Japanese box office success in 1984 paved the way for the creation of Studio Ghibli a year later. Since then Academy Awards (Spirited Away) and a respected cult following ensued, such that when Hollywood comes calling Miyazake has the power to enforce a strict no re-edit policy. Indeed it was Nausicaä’s disastrous mid-‘80s US distro deal that dumbed down and retitled this film that led to Miyazake’s stance.

So how does the re-voiced, re-released Nausicaä hold up?

Alarmingly well. As with most Ghibli output it’s a captivating plot from the outset – Earth has been all but destroyed by a devastating war 1,000 years previous. A small community, one of the few left, survives in the valley on the edge of a forest infected by the toxins of previous generations. A plucky young proto-feminist (Princess Nausicaä) finds herself in the last line of defence.

Monstrous, mechanised outsiders (Tolmekians) are out to eliminate and enslave... wait, Avatar anyone? Huh. In the end Nausicaä packs a monumental emotional punch, presaging the dire warnings of environmental mismanagement that are still largely ignored. This film is years ahead of its time, in every possible way. Essential.

JUSTIN HOOK

39

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

Gran Turismo 5 Developer: Polyphony Digital Platform: PS3 Length: 10 + hours Rating: Worth a borrow Here’s the thing: when you decide to take close to a decade to make a bloody game, it better be freaking spectacular. However, not only is GT5 a sizeable disappointment, it’s insulting.

At no stage does it seem like Polyphony is actually in touch with their players. Whether it’s because they’re just riding on their past glories or because they’re surrounded by a wealth of yes men and fan-boys, the game is full of so many obvious flaws it just makes you wonder what’s going on. Is this game just a pet project for Kazunori Yamauchi, the game’s designer? Judging by how many unnecessary, eccentric features there are packed in, like the underwhelming track editor, the overly lavish 3D menu backgrounds, or even the B-Spec mode for that matter, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s frustrating alone, just thinking about how long such features would pushed the development time back.

Reassuringly, the actual racing, or more importantly the handling, in GT5 is still top notch and arguably still the best out there. However it’s amazing how little time you’ll actually spend competing in competitive matches. Instead you’ll probably spend more time navigating the endless tirade of badly organised menus just so you can find an appropriate car. Once you finally do start racing, chances are your car will be underpowered, at which point you upgrade it and subsequently smash the competition. In either case, it doesn’t exactly make for a gripping race and unfortunately, swapping to some of the preset races doesn’t necessarily improve the situation. The first race you’ll try on the Top Gear track (Top Gear for god’s sake!) hits the very pinnacle of boring. Even once the races do start heating up, the old issues start to come out again. The AI cars still act like mindless idiots, such as when they choose to spin you out on a straight. Likewise, the collisions and physics still play almost no role in the racing. Indeed, using your opponent as cushion to take that particularly tight corner is still one of the more effective ways to drive – just remember to wash yourself afterwards. Of course technically the game is impressive, but given much of the content has been ported from GT4, don’t expect it to look amazing all the time.

Having said all this, it’s probably still all in vein, as chances are most people interested in the franchise probably already own the game and have the steering wheel and the die-cast collectable sitting above their TV. However, if there are still a few of you out there undecided, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince your mate to lend this title to you for a while.

TORBEN SKO

The launch of SCTEN’s new digital channel, 11, on January 11 (not at 11pm, because that wouldn’t really give you bang for your buck), should have been the biggest news. But it isn’t. Like most of the other networks, SCTEN is yet to decide which of its myriad of new programs will go to air, on which channels and when. There are of course a few exceptions, with TEN stable favourites such as Californication (11, Tue, 10.05pm), Dexter (11, Mon, 9.30pm) and 90210 (11, Fri, 7.30pm) making the move to 11.

It seems that, just like over on Go!, there are theme nights.

Wednesday is animation night with Futurama (11, Wed, 8pm), The Simpsons (11, Wed, 8.30pm), The Cleveland Show (11, Wed, 8pm) resurrected from the SKIP bin, Bob’s Burgers (11, Wed, 8pm) – a new animation from Loren Bouchard (Dr Katz) fast-tracked from the US and King of the Hill (11, Wed, 10pm). No sign of Daria on any of the networks yet but fans will be happy to know that a DVD is available on import from the US (and pretty cheaply at the moment too – thanks to the inexplicable forces that decide the exchange rate).

Thursday is sci-fi night on 11, which goes a little bit retro, back to when CGI budgets were huge and TV budgets were not – Star Trek Next Generation (11, Thu, 9.30pm) whose storylines and characters loomed larger than its special effects, follows the already discontinued Stargate Universe (11, Thu, 8.30pm), with the Scottish bravado of Robert Carlisle.

The big news though is over at Aunty – starting with the awesome Generation Kill (ABC2, Mon, 9.30pm), a Rolling Stone reporter’s tale of the first Gulf War from the team behind The Wire and starring everybody’s fave vampire Alexander Skarsgård. As much a war drama as The Wire was a cop show. There’s also the much lauded The Tudors (ABC2, Fri, 9.30pm) and Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention (ABC1, Sun, 6.30pm) in which our favourite clay characters explore the history of inventions (AWESOME! - Ed.).

If you a) didn’t get a Big Day Out ticket, b) are avoiding misdirected bogan pride or c) need a break from the triple j Hottest 100 on Australia Day, chuck a ‘shrimp’ on the barby, grab a cold beer and watch Barry Humphries’ Flashbacks (7TWO, Wed Jan 26, 2pm), Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon (SBS1, Wed Jan 26, 8.30pm) which follows the Aussie journo who became the queen of infamous NY club Max’s Kansas City, Salute (ABC2, Wed Jan 26, 9.30pm) which chronicles Australian Peter Norman’s involvement in the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and for some fun there’s The Wiggles Australia Day Concert (ABC2, Wed Jan 26, 10am), Australia Celebrates (ABC1, Tue Jan 25, 8.30pm) if you can’t be bothered going to Commonwealth Place and Spicks and Specks Australiana Special (ABC1, Wed Jan 26, 9.30pm).

Elsewhere the Chaser’s CNNNN (7mate, Mon Jan 31, 10.30pm) makes its way onto commercial TV, Xena – Warrior Princess (7mate, Thu Feb 3, 3pm) makes a comeback, there’s a new season of Big Love (SBS1, Wed Feb 2, 8.30pm), Retouches (SBS1, Sat Feb 1, 2.20pm) which is a Canadian animation, Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (SCTEN, Wed Jan 19 – Fri Jan 21, 7.30pm), 6PM with George Negus (SCTEN, Mon Jan 24, 6pm).

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

40

41

GIG GUIDE Jan 19 - Jan 27 wednesday january 19

Benjalu

Arts

Warm bass lines infused with blues and roots. Supported by James Fahy.

7.30pm, $10.

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

Shane Pacey Trio

7.30pm, free.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Comedy Jeff Green

His amiable style and quick wit have seen him labelled as “the funniest stand up in Britain” (The Sun).

CIVIC PUB

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

When blues is in danger of being swallowed by roots, this trio shines through. 7pm.

8pm, free.

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Duck!

A smooth horn and voice so sweet they’ll rot your teeth. 7.30pm.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Hippo Live

HIPPO LOUNGE

The Blonde Sessions 7pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Friday january 21 dance Rev

Your weekly indie/alt dance party. $5.

BAR 32

Cheese (‘80s/Retro)

Canberra’s premier night of all things tacky and awesome.

dance Open Decks 8pm.

LOT 33

Around The World With Mario Gordon.

HIPPO LOUNGE

Faux Real

Low end... zounds!

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live The Bridge Between in Residence 6-9pm.

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Annie and Michael

Lounge music from 7-10pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Puta Madre Brothers (Melb)

LOT 33

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Sculpture Bar

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

live Charles Chatain 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Aeon of Horus

With Alarum, The Schoenberg Automation, Mytile Vey Lorth. Tix through Moshtix.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Special K

10pm-2am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Touch of Soul

With the Amosa Brothers.

HIPPO LOUNGE

Something Different Canberra Music Workshop 7pm, free.

DEAKIN FOOTBALL CLUB

saturday january 22 Arts Arc: Outdoor Screenings

‘80s cinema under the stars! The Karate Kid (PG). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start.

ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA

Dance

Open Mic Night

LOT 33

POT BELLY BAR

With B-tham, Team Wing, HartAttack. $10 at 10pm.

Treasure Fingers (USA)

Presented by Party By Jake. 8pm, free.

TRINITY BAR

42

Tiger Choir

Plus special guests. $5 on the door.

TRANSIT BAR

Marathon

With Vera, Eye Gouge and Jerkstore. $5, 6pm.

COMMONWEALTH PARK

Oscar

10.30pm-2.30am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Archie

9pm, free.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Cilla Jane

Three white men wish they were brown.

Tix on the door.

TRANSIT BAR

Classic hits from 1-3pm.

4Sound Sessions: Deep.Techno.

House

Ease into 2011 with the taste of Veuve Cliquot and the funky sounds of DJ Rush. 5pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Fame Trivia

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC TRANSIT BAR

TRANSIT BAR

Fame Trivia / $5 Night

The definitive documentary on Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

7pm.

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm.

Something Different

Fred Pilcher

Put your hands up.

Arc: Lemmy (MA15+)

Urban Playground

Chicago Charles

D’Opus

Arts

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

THE PHOENIX PUB

Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Trivia every Wednesday and Monday at 6pm.

thursday january 20

Portrait of the artist as an ill DJ.

Live

Fame Trivia

TRANSIT BAR

Faux Real

Jonathan Fisher, Greg Carlin, Aerobi, The Muddy Turds. 8pm, free.

On the deck. 8pm.

Open Mic

Something Different

Round up your smartest friends and show them off with Fame Trivia every Wed night.

HIPPO LOUNGE

The Bootleg Sessions

Trivia every Wednesday and Monday at 6pm.

Burnie Mac, Alex Cleary, LYLT, B-tham. $10 at 10pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

With Mario Gordon.

MONKEY BAR

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, BARTON

Live Rock Nation Unplugged

One Love

Folk guitar, enchanting vocals and cello create a captivating sound. 8pm, $5.

Summer Sounds

With Key Grip. 6-7.30pm, by donation.

EUCALYPT LAWNS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Drawing North CD Launch

With Atlantis Awaits, Hands Like Houses. 6.30pm. Tix $10 at the door.

ALBERT HALL

Something Different Carry On Karaoke

Warm up your vocal cords and get ready to sing from 9pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Aquaculture

6pm, normal admission fees.

DICKSON POOL

sunday january 23

tuesday january 25 live Australia Day Live

Feat. Little Red, The Wiggles, Justic Crew, Thirsty Merc and more. Free.

PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

Infinite Decimals

Homebrewed laptop patches controlled by a DIY keyboard footpedal. A special treat. 7.30pm, $6.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Tuesday Blues

DJ Gosper. 7.30pm, free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Something Different Karaoke Love

Come. Sing. Win. Be Awesome.

TRANSIT BAR

Mooseheads Beach Party

Dress up and party on the Mooseheads beach. For more info check Facebook.

MOOSEHEADS PUB

wednesday january 26 Arts Arc: Australia Day Free Screening

Young Einstein (PG). 2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

dance

Live

Freestylers (UK)

Rock Nation Unplugged

TRINITY BAR

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

2pm, free.

monday january 24 live Sunday Best 5-7pm, free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

The Bridge Between 3-6pm.

ALL BAR NUN

Summer Sounds

With Annie and The Armadillos.

6-7.30pm, by donation.

EUCALYPT LAWNS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Irish Jam Session

Come and have a fiddle from 9 ‘til midnight.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Hello Satellites

Ecstatic flashes of pop reverie amongst stunning quieter moments. 8pm, $10.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Sunday Sessions On The Deck Begg Borrow Steal. 2pm, free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

8pm, free.

Australia Day at The George Live music, stand up comedy, face painting.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Australia Day Jam

AstroChem, Fun Machine and Rubycon, plus skateboarding and BMX demonstrations. 3pm.

STAGE 88

A Day On The Green

INXS, Train, Baby Animals and Sean Kelly (from Models).

CENTENNIAL VINEYARDS, BOWRAL

Something Different Fame Trivia / $5 Night

Round up your smartest friends and show them off with Fame Trivia every Wed night.

TRANSIT BAR

thursday january 27 dance Skywalker

HIPPO LOUNGE

43

GIG GUIDE Jan 27 - Jan 29 thursday january 27 dance

Open Mic

Live

Offtapia

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Lord Bishop Rocks (USA/GER)

TRINITY BAR

On the deck. 8pm.

friday january 28

Timber

Love like elocution.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Open Decks 8pm.

dance Rev

LOT 33

Your weekly indie/alt dance party. $5.

Live

Lot Fridays

The Bridge Between in Residence

LOT 33

6-9pm.

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

BAR 32

Team Wing, B-tham, Kimosabi, Pedro. $10 at 10pm.

Cern

Lounge music from 7-10pm.

D&B and dubstep, with Centaspike, Kinetik, Delux, Dred, Tidy and more. $20 on the door.

Optamus (Downsyde)

Purple Sneakers DJs

Ariel

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

The Downsyde frontman from WA brings his brand new solo show to Transit. With Alike Minds. $15.

TRANSIT BAR

MONKEY BAR

The dancefloor fillers with fly kicks at Transit for their first ACT outing of 2011.

TRANSIT BAR

Open Mic Night

Reset (Italy)

POT BELLY BAR

TRINITY BAR

9pm, free.

Cora James and John Hill

She has a voice like whisky, honey and cigarettes. He has a soulful one. 7pm.

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, BARTON

Paul Kelly: The A To Z Shows

100 songs in alphabetical order over four nights. Tickets on sale now through the venue.

THE PLAYHOUSE

44

8pm, free.

With Cast Iron Pinata and Cloudmouth. $5, 8pm.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Aaron & Jacinta 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Paul Kelly: The A To Z Shows

100 songs in alphabetical order over four nights. Tickets on sale now through the venue.

THE PLAYHOUSE

saturday january 29 Arts Arc: Outdoor Screenings

‘80s cinema under the stars!

Ghostbusters (PG). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start.

ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA

Arc: Outdoor Screenings

Ghostbusters (PG). 7pm for a sunset start.

ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA

8pm, free.

The Derty Rascals HIPPO LOUNGE

Frankie

Shake ‘em hips.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Urban Playground

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm.

MONKEY BAR

Live Summer Sounds

With Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens.

6-7.30pm, by donation.

EUCALYPT LAWNS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Annie and the Armadillos Classic hits from 1-3pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Casino Rumblers

With Rumjacks, Veebees, Topnovil, AKF, Rust Bedford Decision. Tix through Moshtix.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Kasha and Axxonn (Bris)

DJ Rush

HIPPO LOUNGE

Dance

Jemist

Jono Fernandez

One of Canberra’s most loved bands return with the mighty Axxonn in support. Free entry.

LOT 33

SoundOut 2011

Soft, like woman.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Sculpture Bar

Ease into 2011 with the taste of Veuve Cliquot and the funky sounds of DJ Rush. 5pm.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

B-tham, Oli Y, DJ LYLT. $10 at 10pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Hard Dance Canberra

Festival of free improvisation, free jazz and experimental music. 2 days, 4 sessions.

Ultra Dimensions. Feat. HSB, Nomad and DJ the Saint, and many more. cassiebear@raverbaby.co.uk .

ROSE COTTAGE

THE STREET THEATRE

GIG GUIDE Jan 29 - Feb 06 saturday january 29

Something Different Jumptown Swing

live Capital City Punkfest 2

Casino Rumblers, Veebees, Rumjacks, Rust, 4Dead, Spoil and more. Tix through Moshtix.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Paul Kelly: The A To Z Shows

100 songs in alphabetical order over four nights. Tickets on sale now through the venue.

Swing dancing at the markets, just for fun! 12-12.30.

KINGSTON MARKETS

monday january 31 live The Bootleg Sessions 8pm, free.

THE PLAYHOUSE

THE PHOENIX PUB

Lord Bishop Rocks (USA/ Germany)

Something Different

With Cloudmouth (Vic) and Cast Iron Pinata (Vic).

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Aquaculture

Fame Trivia

Trivia every Wednesday and Monday at 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

tuesday february 01

6pm, normal admission fees.

DICKSON POOL

Carry On Karaoke

Warm up your vocal cords and get ready to sing from 9pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

sunday january 30 dance Djedjotronic (France)

2pm, free.

TRINITY BAR

Live Sunday Best 5-7pm, free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Summer Sounds

With Vertical. 6-7.30pm, by donation.

EUCALYPT LAWNS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

live

Rock Nation Unplugged

Paul Kelly: The A To Z Shows

Something Different

THE PLAYHOUSE

8pm, free.

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Fame Trivia / $5 Night

The Beards

They of bushy ballads return, with supports Joe Oppenheimer and Dub Dub Goose. $12.

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

TRANSIT BAR

POT BELLY BAR

saturday february 06

friday february 04

Arts Arc: Lemmy (MA 15+)

The definitive documentary on Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

4.30pm.

Something... Smells Funny tour.

Bookings: theq.net.au .

UC

THE PHOENIX PUB

QUEANBEYAN POOL

UC

Trivia Night

Festival of free improvisation, free jazz and experimental music. 2 days, 4 sessions.

100 songs in alphabetical order over four nights. Tickets on sale now through the venue.

Feat. Eagle and the Worm, The Frowning Clouds and Hancock Basement.

TRANSIT BAR

THE PHOENIX PUB

Los Capitanes, Corporate Takedown, The Whole Shebang, Steady The Fall and more. AA. $10.

O Yeah!

rUCkus Featuring The Aston Shuffle

Free!

Liquidfest

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Dance

Captain, My Captain

THE STREET THEATRE

Come be part of the live audience.

7pm, free.

Karaoke Love

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

SoundOut 2011

Fire On The Hill

Sunchaser Film Clip Recording

Something Different

live

The Wedded Bliss. Free.

Live

THE PHOENIX PUB

With Voss and Waterford. Free.

QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Sunday Sessions On The Deck

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Slow Waves (syd)

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

wednesday february 02

Something... Smells Funny tour. Tix through the venue.

Live

Jimeoin

THE PHOENIX PUB

Jimeoin

LOT 33

Tuesday Blues

Every Tuesday!

COURTYARD STUDIO, CTC

8pm.

comedy

Come. Sing. Win. Be Awesome.

A Work In Progress. Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au .

Open Decks

The punk folk queen plays the capital of the nation she loves so much. Tix through Ticketek.

Chris Harland Blues Band. 7.30pm, free.

Charlie Pickering

dance

Amanda Palmer

JAMES O FAIRFAX THEATRE

Comedy

thursday february 03

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Live TV Colours

With Assassins 88. Free.

With Pang! and Party By Jake DJs.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Sculpture Bar

Enjoy the smooth sounds of Frank Madrid and Jonty Hall with some Veuve Clicquot on the side. 5pm.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

saturday february 05 Arts Arc: Outdoor Screenings

‘80s cinema under the stars! Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start.

ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA

Round up your smartest friends and show them off with Fame Trivia every Wed night.

TRANSIT BAR

OUT feb 02

summer rhythm festival the necks the beards iron and wine ...and more!

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FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA band profile

DARK HORSE Where did your band name come from? More of a vibe than a reference – it’s all about the mystery.

Group members: Bayard Condon (sequencing and vocals) and Louis Capezio (guitar and vocals).

Describe your sound: Electronic, psychedelic, audiobook.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Louis – Kraftwerk, Harmonia, Amon Duul, Ultimate Spinach, Lee Perry, King Tubby, Ron Tree, Brian Eno. Bayard – King Crimson, Can, Hawkwind, Tipper, Anthony Rother, Kelpe, Love.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? At Chaingang we actually traded bodies with each other for two songs in the middle of the set – played the guitar for a bit – then traded back to scratch up some samples. High times.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Recording ten tracks in three days in our caravan studio in the rainforest down the south coast. Little Smoke – Big Smoke EP coming soon…

What are your plans for the future? Slowly but surely we will disengage from the crumbling system – start growing a lot of food and some weed out bush. We’ll make music and play gigs while it lasts and then do a big bail whenever the oil runs out and shit inevitably hits the fan. In the desolate future of mankind music, art and agriculture will keep us alive. Heavy... that’s what you get for asking about the future.

What pisses you off? Shit bands on the radio, violence, no funding for scientific research into psychedelics and people worldwide going to jail for smoking herb.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? The music scene in Canberra right now is stronger than we’ve ever seen it.

It feels good. Great shows happening, good crowds, good vibes. Everyone has got to just stay cool, be themselves, and not fall over the edge into the abyss of generic hipster bogan bullshit.

What are your upcoming gigs? Hey Dad, can you pick me up from Josh’s, otherwise it’s like two buses @ Phoenix, Saturday February 12 - Sunday February 13.

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Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Activate Jetpack activatejetpack@ hotmail.com Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Bill Quinn Overheard Productions bill@overheard.com.au, Ph: 0413 000 086 Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 982 662 /colebennetts.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Groovalicious Corporate/Weddings/ Private functions 0448 995 158 groovalicious@y7mail.com Guy The Sound Guy live & studio sound engineer, 0400 585 369, guy@ guythesoundguy.com HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650 Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884 Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 JDY Clothing 0405 648 288/ www.jdyclothing.com Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408 287 672, paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/ dj@karismakatz.com Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Andy 0401 572 150 los.chavos@yahoo.com.au Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Mario Brujo Gordon world/latin/ reggae/percussionist and DJ. 0405 820 895 Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Words for You: writer/publicity/events Megan ph 6154 0927, megan@wordsforyou.com.au Mercury Switch Lab Studios mercuryswitch@internode.on.net Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Rafe Morris 0416 322 763 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Roger Bone Band Andy 0413 483 758 Rob Mac Project, The Melinda 0400 405 537 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Solid Gold Peter 0421 131 887/ solid.gold@live.com.au Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tiger Bones & The Ferabul-Zers Danny feralbul@aapt.net.au Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/ transmissionnowhere Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

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