BMA Mag 319 19 Feb 2009

THREE19 February 19.09

IMMERSE YOURSELF WITH

BLUE KING BROWN

IS ISSU TH

THE CAT EMPIRE

CSS

JOSH PYKE

E

INSIDE

February 27 – March 1

PLUS: RESIN DOGS BEN LEE MIA DYSON INDYFEST REV

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FREE STUFF Back for more, eh? You lovely cheapskates, you.

For your chance to win, send your answers to: editorial@bmamag.com and may the gods of thrift favour you.

Babe, I’m on Fire Another quality flick from the Coen Brothers canon, Burn After Reading concerns a disk containing the memoirs of an alcoholic and former CIA agent, Ozzie Cox (John Malkovich). When it is misplaced at a gym, two unscrupulous employees, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), seize the opportunity and attempt to sell it on. From there, an oversexed, fanatically fit, lactoseintolerant federal marshal, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), unexpectedly becomes entangled in the scheme and things get sticky.

It’s all very complex and interconnected, and really is better seen than explained. If you’d like to see it, courtesy of Universal, tell us what your demands would be in a potential blackmail scenario.

Rockefeller Skank Everyone seems to be losing it over Tina Fey’s masterful 30 Rock. And with good ‘cause. A show-within-a-show type scenario, 30 Rock stars Fey as TV writer Liz Lemon, Alec Baldwin as corporate executive Jack Donaghy, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski as Lemon’s unpredictable stars and Jack McBrayer as the naive NBC page. Co-workers and friends, they are all trying to balance work and life, with the inevitable result of failed relationships, disastrous parties, at-work drunkenness, hardcore coffee addiction, worldclass sandwich eating and occasional attempts to chop down Christmas trees. To relive the second Emmy Award-winning season in all its glory, thanks to Universal, just pitch us your idea for a show.

Yeah, booooooiiiii!

During the final days of World War II, the Nazis, in league with noted beard enthusiast Rasputin, attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies get wind of this and raid the ceremony, but not before an infant demon manages to slip through the dimensional portal. Hellboy, as he is named, is raised by the Allied forces, serving the cause of good rather than evil. Based on the comic character by Mike Mignola and directed

by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth), Hellboy II: The Golden Army sees Hellboy battling everyone from ravenous tooth fairies to the mythical golden army. The DVD release is literally jammed to the hilt with extras, and is well worth tracking down. To win a copy, send us a picture of a particularly impressive beard.

Back to the Futurama The fourth and final instalment of the Futurama four part DVD series lands into the lounge rooms of fans everywhere this month.

Into the Wild Green Yonder has not yet reached freeto-air, so the only way to view this animated mastery is to get your hands on the digital versatile disc. With the highly successful series no longer in production, this final release is packed of features including ‘fast facts’ and biographies of John DiMaggio and Billy West, who cover the voices of most characters. To get your hands on one of five copies, hit us with your favourite quote from the show.

I’m in the Future Now To paraphrase bad FM radio self-promo, this year’s Future Music Festival features the best of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Headlined by cross-over genre-bending duo N*E*R*D, the festival will explode on Randwick Racecourse on February 28 and Flemington Racecourse on March 8. While acts like Grandmaster Flash and Paul Oakenfold aren’t exactly ‘the future’, their addition to the line-up is more of a nod to their position as elder statesmen; influencers and door-openers who led the way for the fresher acts on the bill. Joined by Basement Jaxx, new upstarts CSS and a shedload more, the Future Music Festival is the perfect final hoorah for this summer’s festival circuit. To win one of three VIP double-passes, tell us who you think is the future of music.

Double-U Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Nixon, Any Given Sunday) is bringing the life of America’s 43rd president to the big screen as only he can. W takes viewers through Bush’s colourful career; his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to Bush’s decision to invade Iraq.

For the film, Stone has assembled a stellar cast, including Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) as Bush, plus James Cromwell (Six Feet Under, 24), Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream), Elizabeth Banks (The 40 Year Old Virgin), Toby Jones (Infamous), Thandie Newton (RocknRolla) and Jeffrey Wright (Quantum Of Solace).

To win one of 15 double-passes, recount your favourite Bush-ism.

W W W. D I AU R A S P I R I T U A LC E N T R E . CO M

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STRUTH BE TOLD In 2001 I was wandering around the Salvation Army at Fyshwick when I checked out the cassette section.

Amongst the usual plastic muesli of bad ‘90s pop and obscure classical was a large rectangular case holding 25 tapes. I lifted the lid to find a set of home recordings all labelled and catalogued. There were titles like Dad 1975, Maxine 1977 and one which really intrigued me, Social Life In The Psychiatric Unit. I bought the set for $10 and took them home.

Straight away I put on the Social Life tape. It was mesmerising. ‘Charles,’ the owner of the collection, was interviewing patients at the psychiatric hospital he had been admitted to, asking them if they knew any good jokes. The audio was surprisingly good. You could hear the television in the lounge room and nurses pushing trolleys up the corridors.

I listened to another tape. On this one Charles was “speaking a letter” to a friend. He was a young, eccentric British man of 21 talking of “cool droogs” and how “totally mad and superb” the holidays were going to be. He was so funny and likeable. He jumped from tales of trying to score “dishy birds” to asking if his friend had heard of The Sex Pistols.

The Maxine tape was a friend of Charles speaking him a letter. She had a husky half-French, half-British accent and spoke candidly of her holiday in Spain and going to art school. I instantly fell in love with her.

Nearly every tape in the collection had some magical quality to it.

Charles and his friends spoke with such fervour and character that you swore some of it was being directed by Wes Anderson. A highlight was a conversation between Charles and an older patient.

Woman: You may record my voice, but I’ll not do any jokes... my clown has left me... I only have tear drops. Do you want me to tell you a joke that isn’t funny?

Charles: Yeah.

Woman: I fancy you.

Charles: That isn’t a joke.

Woman: I told you it wasn’t funny.

Years went by and I didn’t think of the tapes much. When I began working on my second Bedroom Philosopher album I had the idea of sampling them on the album. While listening through to them again I heard Charles mention his family in New Zealand. Google searches had brought up nothing for Charles, but the cousin he mentioned did show up at a gallery in New Zealand. I took a punt and emailed her. She was the one! She informed me that the family had no idea about the tapes, and that Charles had died in 1980, when he was just twenty five. I told them about my intentions and they agreed to let me use the tapes as long as I sent them some copies on CD. I still hadn’t solved the puzzle as to how a collection of tapes from a young British man in 1975 ended up abandoned in a Canberra op shop in 2001.

I was awfully sad to hear that Charles had died. Perhaps I harboured the possibility of tracking him down. Listening to him on the tapes was such an intimate, joyous experience. It’s such a strange treat to hear someone speaking to you with the excitement and honesty normally reserved for a best friend. I know there’s a major art project in store that will truly do justice to this collection, but for now I’m just happy that these precious recordings and Charles’ memorable voice will live on. It makes me think about how our memories will live on once we die.

JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD www.bedroomphilosopher.com The Bedroom Philosopher’s new album Brown & Orange is out now. He plays The Front, Lyneham on Thursday February 19. $10 entry, from 8.30pm. bma magazine 7

NEWS GOING DOWNTOWN In a treat for the fan of the beat, two of Australia’s hip-hop acts are celebrating a huge 2008 by joining together for a massive beginning to 2009. Long-time west coast kings Downsyde will team up with Hottest 100 heavyweights Drapht and Pez for what will prove to be a tour of royal proportions, with both acts taking their current albums out on the road for a very extensive national jaunt. The City Brothers Tour will be the largest tour any of the acts has taken on for years, taking in 16 locations, including a look-see at the ANU Bar on Thursday March 19. Tickets are available from Oztix and Inthemix.

GOODNIGHT, BULL CREEK; HELLO, BOB EVANS You know you’ve made it when you’re better known by your pseudonym than your Christian name. And after the success of his second LP Suburban Songbook, Evans – Kevin who? – is back, not with the final instalment in his ‘Suburban’ trilogy, but with rock opus Goodnight, Bull Creek. “This is my rock album,” Evans announced. “I’m saying goodbye to the suburbs.” Providing the required rock muscle for Evans’ shows will be a crack new backing band comprising The Sleepy Jackson’s Malcolm Clark, End of Fashion’s Hugh Jennings, The Chemist’s Ben Witt and 67 Special’s Louis Macklin. Tickets to his Saturday May 16 ANU Bar show are on sale now. Ticketing details via www.bobevans.com.au or www.myspace.com/suburbankid .

HILLS HOIST Adam Hills (pictured above), the face, neck, shoulders and, indeed, upper torso of Australia’s answer to Never Mind the Buzzcocks, the ABC’s spectacularly popular Spicks and Specks, is back on the standup circuit. Honed in the dingiest comedy clubs of the UK - where he gigged in a London toilet with Robin Williams - Hills’ new show Inflatable promises an hour-and-a-bit of all new material and a good smattering of rampant spontaneity. Due to overwhelming demand, a fourth and final show has been added to the run. Inflatable plays

at The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre on Friday February 27 and Saturday February 28 at 7 and 9pm each night, with an Auslan sign interpreter at the 7pm Saturday show. Tickets are $38 through www. canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

HMMM, CURIOUS...

The quirky chanteuse with the operatic vocal cords, Ms Kate Miller Heidke, is back, playing the free pop ‘n’ rock spectacular Celebrate in the Park. With her new LP Curiouser sitting pretty in the charts, Kate is touting second single Caught In the Crowd with an extensive Australia tour. And aren’t we the luck ones? Not only is her Canberra show free, but she’ll be playing alongside Aus rock icons the Hoodoo Gurus. Celebrate in the Park is on Monday March 9 at Stage 88, with Kate hitting the stage at 6.30 pm.

GO IT ALONE Few punk bands in recent memory have inspired such devotion as Against Me! and Hot Water Music. And there’s a reason for that: honest, goodol’-fashioned songwriting, people. AM! mainman Tom Gabel and HWM frontman Chuck Ragen (left) are giving their respective bands a breather and heading out on a solo acoustic jaunt.

Canberrans come out laughing, as the intimate, barrier-less, stage-less Tuggeranong Youth Centre will no doubt prove the perfect setting for these road-hardened troubadours. The show’s on May 10, and tickets are on sale via Moshtix.

U R MOSHING Having spent the majority of last year abroad, the ludicrously-popular Australian hardcore behemoth Parkway Drive are heading back home to pummel the metal-starved provinces another round of pile-driving riffage. They’ll take to Southern Cross Woden Basketball Stadium - of all places - on Saturday March 7 with Newcastle’s Dropsaw and Byron Bay’s Crime Scene. Tickets, if they still remain, are available through Moshtix.

IT'S SHOWTIME! That fabled Canberra institution, the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Show, rolls ‘round again, commandeering Exhibition Park from February 27 to March 1. Featuring the splendors of the farmyard nursery, circus and acrobatics, Dr Harry Cooper, freestyle motocross, supertank fishing show, meet a Llama display, Toyota V6 Hilux Heroes, food, drinks, showbags and all that good stuff, pre-paid tickets are a mere $20 for adults, $15 concession, $10 for the kids or $50 for a family. For more info visit www.rncas.org.au .

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AND ANOTHER THING...

Recapitulation – don’t’cha just love it? Whaddya mean you don’t know what it is? Ok (takes deep breath)… recapitulation is when you go back over a subject, refamiliarising yourself with the salient facts and appraising any new facts that have come to hand since you last looked; and with this in mind, ladeez an gennelmen, I give you the Hell City Glamours.

I’m giving them to you because, though you might not know it, quite a lot has been going on in da Glamz camp of late and, when I got the chance to speak to guitarist Mo Mayhem – he of the Leonine locks, fast fingers and possessor of the soubriquet ‘one of the finest men ever to draw breath’ – I jumped at the chance. Señor Mayhem – how’s the album been received, looking back?

"The album’s done well; that is, it’s done well in that we’re an independent band, had no radio or TV airplay. I mean, the royalties paid for our airfares and we still have plenty of change, so-” Airfares? Are you leaving these shores?

"We were asked to play (uber-prestigious music festival) South By South West in Austin, Texas. We’re doing some shows in LA and New York too.”

I have to cut in. You see, BMA has been championing this band for God knows how long and, sluggards that they are, it finally looks like the rest of the world is catching up. So it’s worldwide interest, is it?

“Hehe, you knows it Mr Adams. After we come back from SXSW, we’ll hopefully be looking at offers from Europe for touring. Some soldiers in the HCG – no names, no pack drill – brought us to the attention of Classic Rock magazine in the UK, and they put us on their ‘Bands to Watch Out For in 2009’ CD.” Is that the same Classic Rock magazine that I used to write for?

“It is.”

Y’see? The power of BMA stretches worldwide – Sko literally has tentacles everywhere. But I’ve butted in.

“And the album’s got a lot of support in places like Belgium, Greece, Denmark and Germany where it’s been played on the radio and sold on import.”

Any other news?

“Well, apparently there’s a contract in the post which means people will be able to buy the album in Europe at non-import prices… But I’m not really sure what’s going on at the moment.”

This is marvellous news. Europe is apparently somewhat oddly in the grip of ‘Airbourne fever’ at the moment, so it comes as no surprise that record labels are looking to the Antipodes for other sources of hard rockin’ goodness, but even so, to my tired old ears, this news is oozing into them like some form of energising sonic elixir.

Of course, for we, the lucky ones, the album has been out for a while – are there any plans for the laying down of new riffage anytime soon?

“Like I said, we’ll see what comes from SXSW. But Oscar (McBlack, singer, songwriter, one of the finest… shit. We’ll just call him the ‘Renaissance Man’) and I have got a pretty big backlog of material. Oscar’s been writing some heavier stuff, I’ve been writing some stuff that sounds like Irish drinking music, some of the usual Stonesy/HCG blues stuff…”

Can I come down and put some handclaps on it?

“Haha! That’d be rad. Actually, we’d like you to do a spoken word intro, in your best cockney accent.”

And that, brothers and sisters, is an offer too splendid to turn down.

When it comes out, buy me a pint and I’ll sign your copy for you.

SCOTT ADAMS - thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

bma :: Issue319 www.bmamag.com "bma: sweatin' to the oldies" 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.

YOU PISSED ME OFF 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 GENUINE SPELLINGS. Unamed purveyours of fried chicken,yYou piss me off.... repeatedly. How many more times can you fuck up my order? If it’s not one thing it’s another. It’s a fucking shit lucky dip with your store I swear. Can you count how many pieces are in a two piece feed? C,mon count with me.....one......two.

Fuck sake I don’t even work there and I know what goes in your meals. Do you purposely go out and find the thickest, slowest and brainless gits you can to employ? And another thing....I ask for no scabby wing pieces cause I’m sick of being jipped off....especially when I go through drive thru. I call on all consumers in Canberra to INSIST they no longer get ripped off by these pricks and demand they get no fucking wings in their orders, oh and check your friggin orders at the counter - make them wait. Finally KFC Tuggeranong, you fuckers, when there are cars in the car park, and all your outside lights are

in full blaze, I expect to see the store open. How about this for an idea - at the end of the night TURN YOUR FUCKING LIGHTS OUT you dim witted morons.

Don’t just assume everyone knows when you shut you dickheads. Go shove a hot n spicy right up your clacker! You PISS ME RIGHT OFF. Mr Middle Finger lickin Good.

To the Canberra (and indeed Australian) gig Gods - why must you torture me so?!

Barren, seemingly endless weeks with hardly a decent gig to be found, then you go and double - triple, quadruple... - up on the one night! I know we're bottom of the list when it comes to tour intineraries, but there's no need to rub it in by clashing quite so much. It's always been the way in this town, but it never gets any easier to accept.

And I'm at it, fuck the noise restrictions being imposed on the few venues left in this town.

Seriously. Pissed off.

FROM THE BOSSMAN It’s not unusual in this country to see fire dominate the headlines, but the recent devastation has been unprecedented.

It seems bitterly ironic; the element that has created and generated so much human endeavour and life – from being hunched with Neanderthal brows over cave-warming flames to the steam-fuelled capitalist splendour of the industrial revolution – can take it all away so suddenly. Many of us can empathise; 2003 doesn’t seem that long ago to those whose houses, and lives, were ravaged by the Canberra bushfires.

And if life has taught us anything it’s that with great tragedy comes great resolve. As we have seen with the slew of generosity in the past weeks, people have been digging deep in an effort to support, and us ACTians are no different. There are four events you can attend to help the relief fund, whether it be with a slab of metal at The Basement, the banging breakbeat of Skool of Thought, the chin-stroking theatre antics of I Hate Hamlet’s opening night or good ol’ locals spinning up a storm at Transit Bar. We can support and help whilst celebrating and remembering the fragility of life.

ALLAN SKO

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 Peter Krbavac T: (02) 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Fahim Shahnoor : T: (02) 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Super Sub Editor Josh Brown Graphic Design Jenny Freeman Film Editor Mark Russell Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo/Nick Brightman/John Hatfield Issue 320 Out March 5 Editorial Deadline February 20 bma Advertising Deadline February 26magazine

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TIDBITS WHO ELENA PAPANIKOLAKIS WHAT OH EIGHT/OH NINE EXHIBITION WHERE CCAS, MANUKA WHEN thu fEB 26 onwards

CCAS Manuka will kick back into action for the year on the February 26 at 6pm, with vibrant local talent and an opening that is sure to make a splash. Elena Papanikolakis’ paintings are colourful and fun, playing skilfully with abstraction and its often not-so-abstract sources.

Lately, Elena has been using old photographs as a starting point for her work, but the process of painting leads to strikingly unpredictable results. Figurative subject matter meets vivid explorations of colour and brushstrokes, with something for anyone who enjoys looking at paintings. Elena is also interested in video, film and sound, and these interests are intriguingly evident in her work. oh eight/oh nine will be Elena’s first solo exhibition in town, after group exhibitions in Canberra and solo exhibitions in Melbourne. Everyone is welcome, so start going to exhibition openings at Manuka - every two weeks on a Thursday - and experiencing the art, the people, and the tempting spread of food and wine that is often supplied by Manuka artists and curators. Keep up to date at www.ccas.com.au . ANNIKA HARDING

WHO THE 'BERRA'S BEST NEW COMEDIANS WHAT raw comedy WHEre TILLEY'S, LYNEHAM WHEN SAT FEB 28

With nigh-on 60 gigs around Australia, Raw Comedy sorts the pretenders from the contenders, their judges ruthlessly grinding away, pestle-like, at the mortar of entrants until only the choicest gagsmiths remain. Past entrants who have come out unscathed include Peter Helliar, Adam Richard, Dave Callan, Adam Spencer, Tom Gleeson and Chris Lilley. Contestants present five minutes of new, original comedy material (stand-up, sketch, double and triple acts, musical comedy – everything goes!) with the hope of making it to the Melbourne finals and, potentially, all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe. So make sure you’re a part of Canberra’s contribution to Australia’s largest and most prestigious new talent comedy comp! Tickets to the Canberra heat - hosted by Fox Klein (pictured) at Tilley’s in Lyneham - are door sales only, so ensure you turn up before 7pm as the event always sells out. Fresh, exciting, hilarious and, frankly, slightly awkward for second and third placers. That’s Raw Comedy. www.rawcomedy.

WHO five likely young bands WHAT a melting pot of psych-rock, hardcore, rockabilly WHERE WODEN YOUTH CENTRE WHEN SAT FEB 21

All ages venues in Canberra have been dropping like flies. Over the past few months, several of Canberra’s most industrious AA venues - The Greenroom, The Venue, Jamison Inn, Weston Creek Hall et al - have closed their doors. But never fear! In a valiant attempt to revive the scene, the Woden Youth Centre are trialing three Saturday shows within the next couple of months. The success of these shows will guarantee a significant increase in the amount of gigs being held at the WYC. Your mission is to attend as many of these gigs as humanly possible. The first takes place on February 21, boasting energetic, psychedelic, psychosomatic Tool lovers Slovac; melodic hardcore heroes Vera; Astrochem, the psychedelic, space rock band (think Jack Black meets the Chili Peppers on Venus); local alternative rockabilly geniuses, Turbulence; and young Mercury making their debut with an explosion of psychedelic hard rock. Doors are at 6pm, entry is a pittance $5 and drugs and alcohol are not permitted. Do what you can to save the all ages scene - the mission is in your hands!

Monarch have set quite a pace for a band known for glacial-paced musical explorations.

Since forming in 2005, the four-piece have launched eight studies of doom in the long form WHO and have already drawn comparisons to seasoned masters of the genre such as Corrupted MONARCH and Noothgrush. Throughout their short yet storied career, the band have breached musical WHAT landscapes from sparse and atmospheric pieces that conjure harrowing isolation through REVERED FRENCH to the crushing singularity of the style’s heaviest acts. Fronted by the mesmerising vocal DOOM BAND presence of Eurogirl aka Emilie Bresson, who brings an almost Darkthrone-like vocal shriek to WHERE proceedings, she is joined by the very able Shiran (guitar), MicHell (bass) and Guilaume (drums), the basement seemingly syphoning a well of sorrow and darkness through their respective instruments. This WHEN is a highlight on the heavy music calendar and a must-see for any fans of considered heavy sat feb 21 musicianship. Melbourne’s sonic experimentalists Agonhymn tour with the band nationally, and 4Dead and Bowcaster will also provide aural delights to further compliment this fine bill.

Monarch play The Basement on Saturday February 21. JOSH NIXON Got a scratch only Sydney’s biggest indie club night could itch? Well, us poor Canberrans no WHO longer have to head ‘cross the Glebe Point Bridge – which, trivia buffs, doesn’t actually exist sydney's top – for a taste of Purple Sneakers. After a hyperactive, sweat-drenched Canberra debut, the indie djs infamous Sydney institution is returning to the Transit Bar for a second skirmish. This time WHAT purple sneakers ‘round, Purple Sneakers HQ are breaking in their new wave of DJs: The Flaming Hips, Ben WHERE Lucid and M.I.T will be commanding the wheels of steel, with Nugie, sticksman for Young and TRansiT bar Restless, and Talihina Shan defending the home front. So pop a personality pill, grab something WHEN red to swill and head along to Canberra’s sophomore instalment of Purple Sneakers. For more Fri fEB 27 details head to www.boundarysounds.com . From 8pm, free entry. PETER KRBAVAC

WHO roni size WHAT drum 'n' bass legend WHERE academy WHEN fri FEB 20

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Since delighting and surprising the drum ‘n’ bass and wider communities respectfully by scoring the highly coveted Mercury Music Award in 1997 for seminal release New Forms, Ryan “Roni Size” Williams has been positively equestrian in his workload, tirelessly firing out hundreds of releases under more pseudonyms than an Italian member of the waste management industry. One of the genre pioneers, Size – along with long time collaborators and friends Krust, Suv and Die – had the scene by its grimy chutzpahs at the millennium’s turn, captaining the notorious V record label vessel, on which he unleashed consecutive bombshell releases including the mighty Planet V compilation, and his own In the Mode (complete with collabs with Rage Against the Machine’s Zack De La Rocha and Method Man no less) and Touching Down LPs. Never without the freshest cuts, the rudest bass and the fattest beats, Size brings it in the live arena too, so expect a good ol’ fashioned night of jump-up jungle that’s sure to give Academy’s immaculate sound system the workout it sorely needs. Sure to be an engaging evening. ALLAN SKO

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ja'makin me GROOVE! Miranda O'Brien

When you’ve got the two magical Gs, grunt and groove, as well as politically biting lyrics, a firey female vocalist in a male dominated genre and a band as big as the Brady Bunch, you’re sure to turn some heads.

And BLUE KING BROWN have done just that. They’ve got swagger in their style, fresh music and a strong urge to do some good in the world. Although their music is very political, it’s evident that it’s not manufactured in that way, nor is it made to appeal to a certain type of audience. The music is merely reflective of what the band holds dear to their hearts, which just happens to be issues that are politically charged.

“There’s been a shift in consciousness. People are participating in the democratic system, putting their hands up and saying they’re not happy about things,” Natalie Pa’apa’a, aforementioned feisty female vocalist, explains when asked if she feels there’s more acceptance in the mainstream about the types of issues their music covers.

"I'm hardly going to marry a guy who labels himself a stalker!"

BKB’s soon to be released second album follows their hugely successful debut Stand Up. Unable to detect any angst about the often dreaded second album, Natalie was brimming with enthusiasm about recording in Jamaica. “It was wicked man, I loved it so much!” she says excitedly.

“We met some amazing people and were so lucky to jam with them. It’s a really lively scene and culturally they have a lot of passion for music.

Their sense of craft is so alive, it was wicked. You get such a great energy from people, they really sing every word. Jamaica was a big inspiration for the vocals - there’s some killer artists there! I felt it really gave us a lot more perspective,” Natalie enthuses.

It’s evident from their most recent single Moment Of Truth, released late last year, that although global influence can still be heard in their music, particularly the Latin and reggae vibe, their musical repertoire is continuing to expand. With some additional recording happening in Melbourne, Natalie explains the new album features “a lot more programmed beats and a lot of post-production.”

After a headline tour of the US - as well as support slots for Carlos Santana, who sang the band’s praises - BKB have moved from strength to strength. Many Aussie artists discuss how hard it is taking their music to the American market, however Natalie seems to have relished the challange. “I really enjoyed it – it takes you back to that level where you give out flyers on the street and you really try to do everything you can to get people to hear about your band. I love that sort of interaction,” says Nat. They truly do love being independent musicians.

Soon BKB will be coming to the ‘berra to frolick among the wildflowers and play some of their new tunes at Corinbank. “I’ve got a really good vibe about it. It’s near the Brindabellas, it’ll be in the forest amongst the wildflowers and trees and all the art. It’s not like the Big Day Out. I think I’ll like it ‘cause it’ll have more of that community feeling,” Nat says. She goes on to add that “I’ve been checking out the website and been getting really excited about it! They have a real environmental conscience which we really dig.”

Things tend to get pretty loose at festivals, particularly when you’ve got eight other bandmates to party with. But as far as weird festival experiences go, marriage proposals take the cake. “When we played at The Falls Festival last year, there was a guy who had a sign saying 'Marry me Natalie' and it went on to say 'I’m your Tassie stalker.' And I’m thinking I’m hardly going to marry a guy who labels himself a stalker!” she recalls.

Could the hot tip to Corinbank punters be to not label yourself as a stalker and you’ll be in with a chance? “Hah, nah man,” laughs Nat. With a Samoan mother and a Mexican father, Nat spent a lot of time growing up with indigenous communities. For the past five years, Nat and bandmate Carlo Santone have participated in the Music Outback program where they teach music in indigenous communities.“We like to do it every year ‘cause it’s important to keep that continuity,” she explains.“We’re in BKB 24/7 and this is one of the few things we do outside that. We’ve built up some really good relationships and the kids and adults get really excited. There’s some really amazing talent out there, it’s incredible. It’s not only us teaching them, they’ve taught us so much as well,” Nat says.

Their passion for equality and indigenous affairs has sparked their concern over the nuclear power industry in Australia, particularly uranium exploration in Arnhem Land. Natalie talked about her fear of how it could affect the culture of remote Indigenous communities and that it violates basic human rights. BKB have teamed up with activist/roots musicians such as Xavier Rudd and the John Butler trio to create a campaign website aiming to educate people about the issue. There are also free downloads on the site to encourage people to learn about the issue.

They’ve come a long way since making music video clips for $200, but “one of the best things about my journey so far,” Nat explains, “is being surrounded by good people and the energy that brings. John Butler has really paved the way for people in our genre, and Michael Franti is the type of person who is willing to do anything to help out. The good people have been the best thing.”

Witness Natalie and her Blue King Brown brothers groove up a storm in the forest at the Corinbank Festival, taking place between Friday February 27 and Sunday March 1. Also playing is Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Mat McHugh, Resin Dogs, Darren Hanlon, Crooked Fiddle Band, The Beez and many, many more. Tickets available from various hip retail outlets and the website itself. See www.corinbank.com for more details.

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old dogs NEW TRICKS Marianne Mettes DJ Katch, member of the long-standing Brisbane hip-hop group RESIN DOGS, spoke with a heavy voice when asked what the stand out moment in his long 13 year stint was. “Just the part where I lost my life?” DJ Katch responds, laughing a little sarcastically. “Just being in a band for so long, it’s oh…” he pauses, realising how negative he sounds.

“It’s a part of you. It’s more than a full-time job; it’s like a bad drug habit.”

But winning all those awards back in their day for ‘best live performance’ and the like and having so many bands, artists and fans over the years looking up to them - surely that can’t be all bad?

“Nah, no it’s pretty good; it’s just that it’s not a normal lifestyle. Being on stage is one part, but at the end of the day you’ve still got to get out the cheque book and do the accounts and stuff like that… the pain-in-thearse stuff, the mundane jobs to keep it all running and afloat.”

"[Being in a band is] a part of you. It’s more than a full-time job; it’s like a bad drug habit."

Throughout the interview, Katch seems to speak with solemn tones, especially when reflecting back on what his band has achieved over the years and how the changes in economy and technology over time also led to changes in the Resin Dogs, both positively and negatively - from how they perform live to how their record label Hydrofunk operates.

“We’ve changed the way we play over the years, from the way we stand on stage, triggering loops from two samplers and keyboards, to now being more formatted and having more of a band. We generally have three versions of how we can perform live. We can either go out with a DJ, drummer and MCs, or a three-piece band which we’ve been doing a lot lately. Then, when we do big festivals, when we can afford to, we like to bring a horn and a string section along with guitarists and more bass and that sort of thing. We used to do that a lot in the early stages of the band, like at Big Day Out we used to take this massive circus on the road, but it’s really expensive these days – with things like petrol, baggage, freight and weight.

So we’ve had to refine it down a little bit, but it’s still the same essence of the band, with everyone giving 110% and even more sometimes.”

Katch starts talking about Hydrofunk, which they initially created because no one would sign them. Soon after, however, they did get a deal, but they kept Hydrofunk going on the side. The label, along with the band, ended up becoming a major success and soon they were signing and helping many bands. The name Hydrofunk became a bit of an institution.

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But they’re not as busy now as they have been in the past, as Katch admits, touching on some of their hurdles. “I guess we’re not doing as much as we used to. We used to sign a bunch of different acts, but the whole industry has changed a bit. Now we basically just do our own records and a couple of other projects, like a little distro-deal here or there. But basically we just hook our friends up.” And some pretty cool friends they are too. In the last 10 plus years, Hydrofunk has had bands such as Afro Dizzi Act, Koolism, Good Buddah and Downsyde on their roster, just to name a few.

Katch explains that the biggest reason things slowed down for Hydrofunk was because of the changes in technology over the years, allowing computer-savvy musicians to record in their home studios, market their music online and so on. “Anyone can be the record label from home now, just via your computer. You don’t really need someone to fund you for CD pressing… You can get on the blog sites, upload your music to certain places and if you’re good enough you can even strike your own deal with iTunes.”

But some sparks did fly when asked what kept the Resin Dogs so strong for so long:“I guess it’s because the band is more of a collective and has seen different players come and go. But I guess, like James Brown, he gets the best players. Not saying we’re like James Brown or anything,” he laughs.

The collective has just released their fourth album More or Less, which is a tad different in that it takes some of their old songs and unused takes and recycles them into something new.

“Basically, we hit up a lot of the local producers around the country to do remixes and we’ve also added a couple of new songs that weren’t on the previous album. It does sound like a new record even though it’s a remix album, so I really enjoy it.”

Whatever hurdles come about, though, it is certain that even with a heavy heart and an addiction called the Resin Dogs, Katch will keep on keeping on.

The Resin Dogs will present their new takes on old tunes at the Corinbank Festival, taking place between Friday February 27 and Sunday March 1 at the Corin Forest Mountain Resort. Also playing is Blue King Brown, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Mat McHugh, Darren Hanlon, Crooked Fiddle Band, The Beez and many, many more. Weekend and day tickets available now - for online sales and a list of retailers, hit www.corinbank.com .

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ALL AGES Where did winter go? When I first moved to Canberra it was the middle of winter and all I did was complain of the cold, but now I desperately want it back.

I’m sweating like a mother bitch. I lift up my arm and it’s like that shitty ad on TV where the guy pisses sweat from his arm pits.

Unfortunately, a hot girl doesn’t chase me around with a can of deodorant in her hands. It’s pretty embarrassing when I go to hug someone and they find themselves drowning in my perspiration. I got an email from Kevin Rudd the other day – he told me I would be deported if I didn’t start to wear a bit more deodorant. Kevin told me that Julia Gillard didn’t appreciate the smell coming from my house and said they would send me to Africa if I couldn’t be a bit more thoughtful towards my fellow Australians. Of course none of that ever actually happened. I wish it had though... I love Kevin Rudd.

Anywho, you’re sure to sweat it up at some of the rad shows coming up in Canberra soon. First up, Slovac will be putting on a banging show at the Woden Youth Centre on Saturday February 21. Slovac formed in 2007 and have been partying ever since. These guys are hot stuff and have been building a steady fanbase for themselves, as word on the street is that they put on a wicked show. Also playing will be Vera, space-funksters Astrochem, Turbulence and Mercury. Tickets are $5 at the door, and it kicks off at 6pm.

God help us all, Short Stack are chucking a free meet-and-greet at Songland Records in Tuggeranong on February 22 at 12.30 pm. The lads will also be getting all stripped-back and intimate, treating the fans to a couple of acoustic songs. Fresh from sweating it up on stage with The Veronicas and Metro Station, you won’t want to miss this chance to get close with Australia’s favourite lady-boys. So if you missed out on seeing them at the Royal Theatre, jump on it.

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Moshing their way from Byron Bay, the one and only Parkway Drive have created themselves a reputation as being one of Australia’s most formidable hardcore bands. This charismatic and relentlessly touring five-piece have established a massive fan base and leave a wake of hysteria behind them wherever they play. Selling out national shows and scoring headlining slots at festivals such as Big Day Out and Homebake, these guys will not disappoint. With a unique brand of bone-crunching metalcore, it’s sure to elicit one of the best circle pits Canberra has seen in yonks. See the Parkway boys at the Southern Cross Woden Basketball Stadium on Saturday March 7, along with Dropsaw and Crime Scene. This show starts at 7pm and tickets are on sale now from moshtix for $20.

Anywho, I’m off to have a shower and buy a new can of deodorant; actually, I should probably get a case. I’m stinking it up at the moment, I think they can smell me all the way from Melbourne.

Catch ya, LIZ ROWLEY elizabeth_rowley@live.com.au

PARKWAY DRIVE

LOCALITY And just like that, he’s away…

It’s with deep regret that I inform you the tropical climes of Queensland, and to a lesser extent the public service, have stolen freshly minted local columnist Luke from us. No fear though - we’ve got a back-up in the cupboard, slightly disorientated (lack of oxygen…) but raring to go. For the moment though, here’s all the news that fits: Well, certainly the most pertinent news is local institution Indyfest, which is approaching at damn-near meteoric speed. Celebrating its 19th instalment, the fest is always a highlight of any committed punters’ gigging calendar. Pleasingly, the line-up boasts a lot of fresh faces, so I’ve not doubt many a local music enthusiast will be salivating, Pavlov’s Dog-style, at the prospect of sinking their teeth into some fresh sounds. That line-up in full is The Jaybirds, Astrochem, Waterford, The Glaciers, The Third Estate (Albury), Moots, Rubycon, Hoodlum Shouts and Scaramouche. The shebang will kick off at 2pm and carry on well into the next morn. Unfortunately for you young ‘uns, this year it’s strictly an adults-only affair - nothing sordid though, mind… Well nothing too sordid, anyway. So, pop a 20 in yer wallet, head on down to The Basement (Cohen St, Belconnen) on Saturday March 7, hand over yer hard-earned, receive a fiver back and slap that bad boy straight down on the bar. For more info on any of the bands, flick to the centre of this very magazine or jump on to www.indyfest.com .

They’ve been laying low for a while, two-timing us with that hussy Sydney, but Hancock Basement have re-emerged with a new bass player and a clutch of new tunes – a couple of which are currently doing the damage on triple j. We hear whispers of a double A-side 7” in the works too. I’ve always subscribed to the theory that you aren’t a

real band ‘til you cut a record - a real record - so props to those guys for keeping vinyl alive. They’ve also nabbed the Friday March 6 support slot for the Treetops/Exploders double bill at the ANU Bar. It would be remiss not to mention the sterling efforts local musicians and punters have been putting in to aid those affected by the bushfires in Victoria. Bands and fans alike dug deep at the Canberra Musician’s Club showcase - www.canberramusiciansclub.org.au - on February 9, held as part of the Fringe Festival. The bucket being passed around ended up with a cool $1,700 in spare change by the night’s end. Top job.

There are a few more benefits that have been thrown together, so check the gig guide and keep monitoring the internet.

While generally a joyous celebration of music, the arts and humanity in general, a few tears may also be shed at local ‘immersive’ festival Corinbank in a week’s time – February 27 to March 1, precisely. Y’see, it’ll be the night much-loved locals the Andi and George Band call it a day, leaving a gaping hole in the city’s music scene. Their relentless gigging schedule and ginormous local fanbase, not to mention their ever changing and expanding line-up, is the stuff of local legend. They will be missed. Count yourselves lucky we have their magnum-opus, Sun and Moon, to remember the group by.

Corinbank will also potentially see the last gig from local acousticpopsters The Cashews, with one half of the duo, Alison, heading interstate. Any band that champions the striped sunlight sound of The Go-Bees as they did deserves the upmost praise and respect. We tip our cap to them.

And that pretty much brings us up to speed. Send any nuggets on info you may have to editorial@bmamag.com and we’ll pass ‘em on to our flashy new columnist.

PETER KRBAVAC

DANCE: THE DROP Greetings disco fans and welcome to another sweaty edition of the 'So You Think You Can Dance Column.' The weekend has almost landed like an airbus into the Hudson river: all that exists now are glitzy bars full of dehydrated public servants and dolled up pre-drink parties, sonic bunkers booming with feet-friendly firepower and messy beds in which to ponder last night’s mistakes.

The life of a 24 hour soirée sergeant is not for the faint hearted, but I will do my best to provide the 5am crew with a party plan for the coming weeks - so you can start thinking of reasons to tell your boss you won’t be coming in to work on Monday.

With the cancellation of the O in the Park Festival (due to more red tape than a Sydney Swans grand final parade) being announced in the last issue, Friction and Lexington have kept their promise in providing separate shows for the headline artists. The first spin-off party clocks in on Saturday February 21 at Academy featuring electro superheroes Van She Tech, TV Rock and the Bag Raiders supported by Ashley Feraude. This mammoth line-up can be all yours for a paltry sum of $20 on the door.

For fans of broken beats and DNB, the mercury is rising on Northbourne Avenue as the Pure DJs present Breakout Lab featuring Operon at Mercury Bar on February 27. Supports include Tranvo, Sydney Girls Grammar, Briller and Stefan Stonker, and if you get there before 10pm it’s free!

The Holy Grail plays host to Snap! on Friday March 6 (alas, no - not the ‘90s supergroup featuring Turbo B) with popular Canberra deck wizard DJ Kaos headlining the DNB and dubstep event. The night features 12 of the best local DJs and will only set you back… well, nothing!

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Techno lovers will be chin-strokingly chuffed to learn that US legend John Selway is heading down to the porn capital for an intimate show at Transit Bar on Friday February 20. Also strapping themselves in for the epic journey are co-pilots Alex McLeod, Nick Smith, Biggie, Gabriel Gilmour, Black Samurai and Scottie Fischer.

Pang are proving that they are more than just the sound a rock makes hitting a tin roof, with several internationals appearing under their banner in the coming weeks, starting with UK fidget duo Stupid Fresh at Lot 33 on Friday February 27. The night also marks the debut of Team Wing and Cheese to the Pang support roster, with regulars Hubert, the Exposed DJs and James Marshall also putting their music discs into the player thingy.

The debauchery continues on Sunday March 8 at Minque with DJ Falcon (no, it’s not Mario Fenech - I checked) and the Funktrust DJs ensuring you start the week with a massive hangover and an empty wallet.

Finally, Hippo Bar are styling up Saturday nights with a fresh ‘beardo disco’ lounge party featuring retro hits and future classics, which those of you who enjoy their background beats shaken and not stirred should definately not miss.

Until next issue, just remember to always dance like someone’s watching, otherwise in todays world of camera phones and mobile internet, come Monday you might just end up as a motivational poster in your boss’ inbox.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

DJ KAOS

donkey VOTE “I think this album is a continuation of how we play on stage. For the first album, we weren’t playing those songs live, so we had to adapt those songs from the album to play on the stage. This time we wanted to do the opposite. But there was no conceptual planning about it beforehand, it was just a very natural process,” Rezende says.

David Butler Brazilian electro-poppers CSS (aka Cansei De Ser Sexy) are connoisseurs of the weird and wacky. Take their kitschy, trashy, DIY approach to songwriting for example, used to great effect on worldwide hits such as Let’s Make Love (and Listen to Death From Above) or Music is My Hot, Hot Sex. With this warped sense of electro-bubblegum fun, I figure it’s a good bet that guitarist Ana Rezende has fielded her fair share of strange interview questions in the past. As it turns out, she has.

“There was a guy who asked me if CSS was a colour, what colour would that be," Rezende says. "But most of the time it’s just people who have misconceptions about us. Like, ‘Is it true that you play shows naked?’ Of course not! Also, because we are a band full of girls, we get a lot of the sex side of things, as if it’s this weird thing to have a band full of girls. It’s not so bad now, but in the beginning we got that a lot.”

“When we were making the first album we were just experimenting.

We never thought that we’d tour the album and we never thought that we’d release the album outside Brazil. We did it on a computer with loads of electronic elements, and then we thought ‘now we have to do a show out of this album,’ so we had to sit down and decide how we were going to do that. This time, I think it sounds a lot cooler: the songs are much more rock, they’re much more energetic on stage. It’s really cool.”

"Is it true that you play shows naked?’

Of course not!"

Having toured Donkey across the globe over the past six months, the time has come for Australian fans to get their share of the buoyant CSS stage show, either as part of the Future Music Festival or at one of the band’s string of side-show dates.

“Huh?,” I ask, intelligently. “Why?”

“Now we get to play this album in Australia and we’re really excited.

We’re really proud of it, and it’s a transformation from what we’ve done before,” Rezende enthuses.

“Maybe because they’re not used to it. They should be; it’s not anything new. I have no idea. I don’t really know people like this, so I cannot tell a lie.”

So after two off-kilter albums of glitchy electro hits, are Rezende and her band mates ready to box themselves in to a final definition of their sound?

Stupid questions are all in the past now, as the band’s recent album Donkey has shown that CSS have the substance and attitude to back up their catchy beginnings. A tough, slick, groove-laden album, Donkey finds the band making music for the big stage.

“We do what we really like to do in terms of music, and we’re not trying to fit in. People will end up placing us into some genre anyway, like they invented nu-rave and things like that to put us into. We’re never really a part of that. We’re just a group of people trying to make music that we like.”

Rezende says that her band wanted to write the way they play: punchy and frenetic.

CSS play the Future Music Festival at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney on Saturday February 28 and The Metro, Sydney on Thursday March 5.

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indyfest FORM GUIDE

It’s that time of year when we flick the Vs at the outside world and concentrate on that which lurks in our proverbial backyards. That’s right, you lovable rogues; Indyfest, that bastion of all things local and musical, is back! Now in its impressively sophicated 19th year, Indyfest continues to stand as a pillar of the local music scene, providing a springboard for countless likely locals that have ascended to dizzying heights, and unearthing not-heard-before diamonds in the rough.

THE THIRD ESTATE Hailing from Albury, NSW, The Third Estate are truly a breath of fresh air. Sporting a mind-bending approach to both their musical compositions and their live shows, the band has been likened to everyone from progressive-rock heavyweights Fair to Midland and Coheed and Cambria through to punk rock mainstays Finch and Alexisonfire.

The band's sound encapsulates the free form musical spirit of progressive alternative rock with the raw emotion, energy and strong melody of contemporary alternative and punk music. TTE are not just another heavy rock band though; they expand on the above sound with sections of Latin flamenco, classic rock and acoustic rock. Each member of TTE displays a unique approach to their craft and together they create something that's very different but still very much listenable and melodic.

With the upcoming release of The Four Horsemen EP series (Chapter 1 Conquest out March), TTE are the Australian heavy rock band to watch in '09.

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This year, the festival shines the spotlight on a fresh crop of up-andcomers - the names that, in a few year’s time, you’ll be having tattooed on a part of your person you dare not show the grandmother. A motley assortment of local bands will make themselves at home in The Basement, Belconnen on Saturday March 7 for a prolonged stint of jam kicking, commencing at 2pm and raging late into the night. So, as some guy with a penchant for Akubras once said, “do yourself a favour…”

WATERFORD Waterford are an energising breath of florid air in the urban stink. An indie rockin’ pack of mongrel dogs furiously tearing at the heart of popular songcraft, they have been described as ‘loud’, ‘drunk’ and ‘quite good’ by various punters caught in exit polls after shows in a collection of Canberra’s finest venues. With a Spinal Tap-like approach to both drummers and stagecraft, Waterford have settled on a classic line-up, economical yet luxurious.

They drink your milkshake, but then offer to buy you another once they’ve realised their mistake. myspace.com/waterfordtherockband

HOODLUM SHOUTS

RUBYCON

Nature is Never Silent. Hoodlum Shouts bridge calculated awareness and concrete simplicity, determined to create an identity befitting its Australian bloodlines.

Budding from several bands within the nation’s capital, Hoodlum Shouts consolidates instrumental, punk and postrock pasts. The result mixes a tendency to brood with sustained urgency, in the genuine search for idyllic melody. A three-track demo has attracted airplay on Sydney’s FBI Radio and helped the band secure a spot on Canberra’s Indyfest ‘09.

For further information please contact hoodlumshouts@hotmail.com or www.myspace.com/hoodlumshouts

Rubycon are a young indie band from Canberra incorporating elements of post punk, garage rock revival and dancepunk. Rubycon’s sound is inspired by groups such as The Strokes, Arcade Fire, Kings Of Leon and LCD Soundsystem.

The band placed first at the National Campus Band Competition (NCBC) in October 2008. They were the runners-up the previous year, after playing for three months together. As part of the prize for winning the NCBC, Rubycon will be recording a demo at Sony BMG studios in the next few months... aka, for you.

SCARAMOUCHE

THE GLACIERS

Scaramouche began under a different name. That band evolved through time and with the process of natural selection the band members came and went. In its current form, Scaramouche are an incendiary mix of fusion, raw energy and hard rock. When the five men of Scaramouche emerged from the place of spells and fairies, they had one aim in mind - to rock your faces off! Join them on their hobo’s descent to the wasteland of The Drifter. Shrieking melodic vocals, dynamic and heart-racing riffs and drumming that hits you like a rock blizzard. So get ready to lose your shit: the time of Scaramouche has come!

The Glaciers are an exciting three-piece, high-energy indie/rock/pop band; the culmination of a melting pot of diverse musical influences. Recent winners of the Pot Belly Battle of the Bands, The Glaciers' weighty bass lines, dynamic pop/rock drumming and incredibly diverse melodies are cheekily delivered with passion and grunt! The Glaciers’ indecent obsession with producing adrenalinpumping live performances full of unyielding energy and lots of heart always leaves audiences captivated and unable to stay off their dancing shoes.

COMING SOON: FRI Mar 6th

THE EXPLODERS + TREETOPS SUN Mar 8th

THE FREEMASONS + CLUB JUNQUE

MOOTS

THU Mar 12th

SOMETHING WITH SUMBERS

Moots is a magnifying glass held just out of focus, a phrase snatched from the rumble of a crowd. The wildcard.

Fast, fucked-up and always unexpected.

A fixture of the Canberra live scene for some years now, Moots have branded themselves as an 'out-there' experimental rock act who always slam home a gritty, ball-breakin’ show.

THU Mar 19

DRAPHT + DOWNSYDE Jim Beam on campus pool comp every Tuesday - 5pm rego, 6pm start

Febuary/March ASTROCHEM When the Four Elements of Sound gathered in council, across the vast expanses of the cosmos, they fused their vast musical prowess to form a single consciousness. The pure soundwave energy released and gave birth to a universe. Thus, the Astro-Chemist was born. AstroWhat? ASTROCHEM! So who is this band of young, vivacious and quite dashing squires? What are they all about; whom iz dey? AstroChem is an imaginative mix of many eclectic styles, best described as psychedelic, progressive funk. They draw from many influences to create a unique and truly electrifying sound - this is then wildly, precariously, added to their explosive live show to create something beyond: AstroChem is an experience.

THE JAYBIRDS The Jaybirds formed mid-last year when their creative energies and collective appreciation for soft acoustic rock/pop music brought them together. The band consists of singer/songwriter Jacinta ‘J-Bird’ Le, bassist Chris ‘James’ Bainbridge, guitarist and backing vocalist Palimah ‘Jackass’ Panichit, and drummer Jack ‘Jack’ Rojahn.

Each member brings something different to the band, allowing their extensive individual experiences in all areas of music to challenge each other and come up with unique and raw sounds. The Jaybirds hope you enjoy their good time vibes, and they get you rockin’ in your sock-ins.

SHACKLES

SAT 21st FEB

$10 on the door

FRI 27th FEB

TONK + ESCAPE SYNDROME

SAT 28th FEB

CLOUD CONTROL, JACKSON MCLAREN

JOSH PYKE

Tix on sale now @ Ticketek $36.75*

THE BIG O feat

TUES 3rd MARCH

THE MUSIC, THE FRATELLIS, BEN LEE, BLUEJUICE, YVES KLEIN BLUE, CASSETTE KIDS Doors Open 6pm!!

Tix avail @ Ticketek & Landspeed Records $55.25*

*Tickets thru Ticketek. Transaction fees apply.

Pre-purchase tickets & guarantee entry!

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METALISE internationals starting with M, we have two of the finest exponents of their sub-genres hitting our shores in the coming weeks.

It appears the global economic crisis is not stopping the veritable invasion of international shows we’re being asked to fork out the hard-earned for. Not that I’m complaining. The Melvins were stunning in Sydney a few weeks back and in keeping with awesome

First off the French doom lords Monarch are at The Basement on Saturday February 21 with Melbourne’s Agonhymn, 4Dead and Bowcaster. Absolute crushing drone doom of the higest order, these Frenchies are going to knock your doom dick in the dirt - be you in possession of a pee pee or not. Emile, Shiran, MicHell and Stephane bring a take on the genre not dissimilar to bands like Moss, Corrupted

or Noothgrush. If you’re on the fence and wanna check ‘em out, check out the Dead Men Tell No Tales album or some of their tunes out on their myspace myspace.com/monarchuberalles Crushingly good times at The Basement.

The first and, thinking really hard, one of the ONLY classic extreme metal bands to tour Australia in their prime was the indomitable Morbid Angel.

Yes, at the ANU back in ‘92 with seminal local gods Armoured Angel, the gods of Florida death metal had us all involved in one

of the city’s all-time best circle moshes, worshipping at the altar of radness. Fast forward enough years had you been born that day to drive yourself to their show in Sydney on the 5th of June and they’re back. At the Metro Theatre, no less - this columnist’s favourite venue in Sydney - and with old spider fingers Trey on the shred and Dave Vincent hopefully less PVC-clad than in recent years.

Personally, I am hanging to see one of the double kicks' true masters, Pete Sandoval, back in action again. More news as the show approaches. Tickets through Ticketek.

If the doom explosion at The Basement isn’t your cup of tea, the ANU Bar have a big ol’ blast of brutal the same night, Saturday February 21, with everyone’s favourite metal/goth outfitters Raven Clothing presenting Queensland’s Vomitor alongside Shackles, Kill For Satan and the mysteriously named 308. The over -18s show is ten bucks at the door and the bar is open 'til 1 am for your drinking pleasure.

VOMITOR Melbourne grind slaughtersquad-with-a-smile Super Happy Fun Slide have FINALLY gotten out their album, The Undislodgable Nugget Scenario, on Bizarre Leprous Productions featuring 19 old-school blasts of the good stuff. www.bizarrelerous. cz is the site to order through, or perhaps Melbourne record store Missing Link’s mail order, if you’re very lucky. Also in grind news, Tasmaniacs Intense Hammer Rage are gearing up for another album and run of shows in the coming months.

New Pod People clip out in the next few weeks. Prepare for collide-a-scopic bruising of the eyeballs.

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com NP: Hooded Menace – Fulfill The Curse – The Eyeless Horde.

Good recommendation Geoff!

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we are SAILING Justin Hook The music business relies on the mythology of abandon, excess and palatable nihilism and it’s often forgotten that musicians commit themselves to a career in an industry. Just like car phone salesmen. Or rubber band distributors. And success in your chosen field comes at the feet of hard work, long hours, self-belief and abusive calls from your rubber band man in Thailand. Indeed, artists in general are blessed/ cursed with an unswerving self-belief or stubbornness and a need to express it to thousands of strangers on a daily basis. ARIA Award winner JOSH PYKE agrees wholeheartedly. “Oh, totally man. You pretty much have to have a retarded level of self-belief. There are millions of musicians out there that are objectively not very good but they would think that they have just as much chance of making it as anybody else.

That’s the right attitude or you’re not going to get anywhere.”

Pyke has been going plenty of places in the last five years. In addition to the aforementioned ARIA Award, he has also scored himself a J Award nomination for his highly-praised debut Memories & Dust, numerous placings in multiple triple j Hottest 100s and his most recent, again effusively lauded, album Chimney’s Afire – a tremendous collection of songs, with a distinct maritime bent and a keen classicist pop sensibility outside the market norm – sounds timeless. The Sydney-based singer agrees. “That’s kinda what I was going for. I like the idea that someone could listen to the record in 20 years and still feel it’s relevant. I didn’t want them to be able to say this record was made at a certain point.”

"If something’s not floating their boat they can flick to YouTube to watch a cat eating spaghetti" The aquatic theme of Chimney’s Afire delves into Pyke’s youth and family history.“The themes of the record are more of an imagined romantic notion of maritime history. We had relatives that were part of the crew that captured Napoleon and as a young kid it was very appealing, it made my suburban mundane childhood seem quite exciting.” And whilst the business of music is not quite up there with the tyrannical rule of Europe in the 1800s, similarities abound.“Every time I go on tour it feels like an adventure. You pack light and go out there with a mission” Pyke’s current tour is part adventure and part validation. “Being a musician is a very introspective thing,” he reveals. “The live performance is as close to being in the moment as you’re ever going to get” - and is also a crucial role in staying alive in the minds of the general public, particularly with the fracturing of the entertainment dollar. “It’s harder now. There’s so much noise. I go to MySpace and someone I have never heard of has a million hits… how am I going to be heard above all this? It’s so different.”

A concern the music industry has yet to successfully tackle, Pyke continues. “It’s fair to say this generation have a shorter attention span and higher expectations of being entertained. If something’s not floating their boat they just flick over to YouTube to watch a cat eating spaghetti and they’ll stick to that until it stops making them laugh. It’s harder to keep attention these days, but you just have to work hard at it.” And Josh Pyke works extremely hard for it. He has no back-up plan if it all falls apart and he has dedicated almost half of his young life to writing and performing music.

The work has paid off handsomely thus far. Now – about that spaghetti cat..

Josh Pyke plays the ANU Bar on Saturday February 28.

Tickets from Ticketek. Chimney's Afire out via Ivy League

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meet REV'S REGULARS Friday nights have been all the richer since Rev crashed onto the scene two-and-a-half years ago, providing Canberra’s alternative music masses with a sanctuary from the norm and a place to cut lose. However, in the hypnotic state caused by the lights, music and indie kids running amuck, some may have neglected to notice the fine looking, talented DJs responsible for bringing the ruckus each week. To get to know them a bit better, we assembled a selection of Rev’s regular proprietors of noise and hit them with the hard questions:

FIDEL MAESTRO & CHAIRMAN WOW 1. You’re about to go on a blind date with our readership - tell us three things about yourself: - We DJ. - There are two of us.

- Could get weird.

2. How did you get into DJing?

By accident. We started off just putting on records upstairs at Rev. We weren’t serious at the beginning; but it’s a slippery slope.

Once you start DJing, you only want to do it more and better.

3. Tune of the moment?

Friendly Fires’ Paris is great, and the Aeroplane remix arguably betters it.

4. Hit us with your guaranteed, sure-fire floorfiller?

We’ve yet to see people not completely lose their shit when the sax hits in Hearts on Fire, or when the bassline drops on the Soulwax remix of Kids, or not sing their hearts out to Last Nite. A floorfiller is easy to find and easy to spin. But we try not to use popular songs to score cheap points with the audience. You have to drop it at the right time.

5. The sun’s coming up and you’re buggered. What do you drop to give the last stragglers staggering around the dancefloor the hint that it’s time to call it a night?

Effective: Any Barry White or Marvin Gaye solo stuff. Tiny Dancer for a high hands-in-the-air factor.

6. What’s been your most memorable Rev experience?

Getting rid of the vending machine.

7. What's your musical prediction for ‘09?

Hitting it (reasonably) big: Passion Pit and the Golden Filter. Other headlines: Soulwax remix Animal Collective. Anyone remixes Animal Collective. We remix Animal Collective.

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TOMTOMS

DJ WILL___FOR MONEY

SHANNON C

1. Three things about yourself: - I prefer to sit next to (rather than opposite) my date at dinner.

- After dinner, I appreciate a cup of Russian Caravan tea, sweetened with strawberry jam.

- Then, we can go to my house, and we can feel each other up on the couch. Oh no. I don’t mind taking it slow-ho-ho, no-ho-ho, (yeah!).

1. Three things about yourself: Blind date? We blind people actually just call them dates... I find that offensive. Apart from being blind, I give good hugs, plus I’m actually a super-hero. Did I mention the blindness?

1. Three things about yourself: - I resisted for months, but caved last week and have now read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse.

Currently reading Breaking Dawn and loving it. Judge not.

- I’m superstitious about dumb things, i.e. broken mirrors, ladders, peacock feathers, having even numbers of things - within reason (two arms and legs are OK) - spilt salt, open umbrellas indoors, itchy palms etc.

- The first album I ever bought was S.C.I.E.N.C.E by Incubus when I was in grade four. That’s right! No Vengaboys for me!

2. How did you get into DJing?

Mikah Freeman (The Aston Shuffle) asked me if I wanted to DJ at “some indie night” that he couldn’t play because he was “too busy getting famous.” I’m still filling in for him two years on.

3. Tune of the moment?

I’ll tell you when I get there. But most recently it was a live mash of the music from Drop it Like it’s Hot and the a’capella of No Scrubs.

4. Floorfiller: Try Selleys No More Gaps or Selleys Woodfilling Putty. But remember to sand the floor or clean with sugar soap first.

5. Floorclearer: The Aphex Twin mix of David Bowie’s Heros. Dark, intense Phillip Glass strings and one of the strangest vocal takes ever recorded do not a floorfiller make.

6. Memorable Rev experience?

I once played an hour long DJ set with someone who I thought was Craig Nicholls from The Vines.

It wasn’t until several days later I found out he was actually the bass player. I also DJed with Katie Steele from Little Birdy. She really wanted to play Boston’s More Than a Feeling but I didn’t let her.

7. Musical prediction for ‘09: I predict that I won’t play Kings of Leon in 2009. Or any bands with the word “against” in their name.

2. How did you get into DJing?

Was drunk at Bar 32 back when Rev had just opened, someone pointed Alex out to me and said “He’s in charge.” Dutch courage being what it is, I sauntered up (more like stumbled up), slurred “I can do this” and pointed at the decks. Surprisingly Alex took me seriously and I’ve been having fun almost every Friday since.

3. Tune of the moment?

Living la Vida Loca - that Ricky Martin Guy is amazing! A close second and third would probably be any Does it Offend You, Yeah? at the moment, and my all-time favourite Black Wave by Arcade Fire.

4. Floorfiller?

Cut Copy’s Lights and Music off the back of their Paris is Burning remix usually goes down a treat.

5. Floorclearer: Depending on what kind of crowd is still hangin’ about, could be something hard like Antagonist, something poppy like Gorillaz, or something stupid like Britney.

That last one just brings Johny and Deb screaming back in though.

6. Memorable Rev experience?

Getting to know all the regulars is awesome, but for my money it has to be when the dancefloor broke back in the early days and all the cool looking people just went arse over tit everywhere. Ha! 7. Musical prediction for ’09: Heath Ledger will posthumously release an album and win the Grammy’s, ARIAS, and it will eventually become illegal to listen to anything else, eat non-Ledger branded food or indeed worship outside of the Church of LatterDay Heaths. It’ll happen!

2. How did you get into DJing?

I was a Rev regular for years and eventually Alex (aka Mr Rev) had enough of me heckling the DJs and turned it back on me.

3. Tune of the moment?

I’m all about the French electro group Anoraak at the moment.

Loving Whitest Boy Alive’s new stuff and The Kills. I’ve also just got back into The Smiths.

4. Floorfiller?

Crookers remix of Day n’ Nite or SebastiAn remix of Killing in the Name of. The masses love it.

5. Floorclearer: Too Young by Phoenix if the mood’s still fun or Wonderwall by Oasis to watch the tears roll.

6. Memorable Rev experience?

I was having a great set, everyone was dancing, I was feeling like the puppet master when the mirror ball came crashing down onto the decks, stopping the music mid ‘pick ‘em up’.

Musical prediction for ’09: Friendly Fires and Metronomy are going to keep gaining momentum.

Tame Impala are going to be the Aussie answer for psychedelic rock.

And without a doubt Girl Talk will bring the beats.

venus as A BOY Miranda O'Brien It’s spirituality packaged into a 13 track album, music you can bop along to, Barbie femininity sprinkled with sugar or “living in a world with too much fight and too little compassion,” explains BEN LEE. It’s his new album, The Rebirth Of Venus.

He’s still sporting his trademark positive gusto, brimming with hope and exploring new concepts. It’s clear the new album is Ben asserting himself in a new domain, thus it’s safe to assume the new album is heavily influenced by his recent marriage in India performed by his spiritual teacher, Sakthi Narayani Amma.

In Lee’s latest single, I Love Pop Music, he gets on the eco pop bandwagon and attempts to showcase his political prowess. The spoken word verses, however, which may be Ben’s realisation that his vocal range is pretty limited, are statements about the current state of the world we’re all already very aware of – global warming, the rising price of oil, the food crisis etc. Lee himself has dubbed the lyrics as his attempt to deal with big political issues with a song, yet when I asked him to clarify if the song really is overtly political he responds with: “I just think it’s a song. Like all songs, it deals with my feelings, thoughts and experiences at the moment I wrote it. I suppose it tackles concerns that you might call political.” The song explicitly states “politics you can romance to,” Mr Lee, what up?

It’s the perfect pop cliché of catchy hooks, boppy tempo and lyrics which lack substance. Really, it’s image positioning on Lee’s behalf, to help fit in with his theme of paying respects to Venus. At a previous ARIA awards ceremony Ben enthusiastically declared that pop music can change the world, and it surely can… if done well.

Over the trajectory of Ben’s career he’s copped a lot of criticism for various reasons, including his spirituality. He has a penchant for pop music but has he followed suit of venting frustration about media criticism in his songs? “Criticism hurts my feelings sometimes but there’s nothing I can really do. I don’t know if it affected my new album... maybe the first song, What’s So Bad (About Feeling Good)?, could be interpreted as a response to criticism,” Ben says.

The awkward, goofy musician hailing from Bondi has come a long way since being triple j’s sweetheart in the late ‘90s, but he may have always had a spiritual side. He recalls being 13 years old and having a calling from Nirvana (not the state of being but the band). The music’s message was: “you can do this, start a band!” Surely many teens felt a calling from Cobain and co, but not all fresh young things could turn it into a long spanning career as Mr Lee has.

Tying in with the major theme of the album which Ben describes as “individually and collectively feeling out of balance and trying to correct that,” the seemingly gender transition song I’m A Woman Too explores the balance between masculinity and femininity. It appears to be a social commentary on power relations, as Ben vaguely explains we’ve all been victims and bullies. At times it’s embarrassing to listen to the album while at times you move your feet with a grin.

leaving on a JET PLANE Cecilia Pattison-Levi MIA DYSON’s world is about to change. There will be new adventures, new relationships and new music. But, before she heads offshore to the new world, she is releasing a new single and touring the east coast of Australia.

Mia Dyson is known for her rootsy blues-rock. Her outstanding run of albums, Cold Water, Parking Lots and Struck Down, established her as one of country’s most popular blues and roots artists. Dyson’s gritty-voiced tales of love and loss have cemented her reputation in music circles.

Mia has decided to flex her talent and skills outside of her comfort zone – and her sights are set on the United States.

“Yep - I am planning to relocate to the USA on the 31st of March with my bass player, manager and boyfriend,” Mia confirms.“We are going to go over and see if we can get something happening by being based there, rather than just trying to make little attempts from over here. We are going to give it a go for a few years. I just have to find a drummer. My manager is already in LA and that will help me find a label. I’ve got a bit of interest happening, so I just need to get a record released. Maybe being in the US, I can record the album there and I hope it will be out by 2010.”

So, the new album is still a way off?

“Yes,” Mia says. “The new single just came out of nowhere, and I have songs written but they are more of a mixed bag. This time is I’ve written a lot of the songs on piano, not guitar. I’ve set myself a disciplined routine where I get up each day and write for a couple of hours and I’m finding the discipline really works. Over a week I get a lot done and I find myself with a bunch of songs.”

"I’ve set myself a disciplined routine where I get up each day and write for a couple of hours. Over a week I get a lot done" “The song You & Me seemed to have a life of its own,” Mia continues.

“The band and I just demoed new songs in November, and I wasn’t intending for this to happen, but it just came together really quickly. I guess the song is reflective of the changes I am going through and the excitement of those coming changes to my life. It was strange because the second time we played it, we recorded it and everyone knew it was a single. The band wanted to release it as a single even though we don’t have an album yet.”

A blasé, wanky, too cool for school attitude? Yes. But still producing good music from time to time? Yes. The man presents a dichotomy.

But before she heads overseas, Mia is embarking on an east coast tour with Liz Stringer and Jen Cloher and The Endless Sea. “It’s going to be a great tour and there is a great line-up,” says Mia. “I love playing in the big cities like Canberra, but we will also play smaller places like Milton Theatre on the South Coast. I guess Canberra people can catch us twice if they are on the coast. It will be terrific fun.”

Make up your own mind when Ben hits The Big O tour at ANU Bar on Tuesday March 3. Tickets from Ticketek. The Rebirth Of Venus is out now via Dew Process/Universal.

Mia will play her last local show for a while on Saturday March 7 at Top of the Cross, Woden Southern Cross Club. Tickets are $27/$67 with dinner, available on 6283 7288. You & Me is available through Black Door Records.

“Criticism hurts my feelings sometimes but there’s nothing I can really do"

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BLACKBOX

The ratings season kicked off in earnest last week, with the show everyone was waiting for – Underbelly (WIN, Mon, 8.30 pm) – starting proceedings on Monday night. Was it worth it? Is it living up to the hype? Will little Sally (Kate Ritchie) be a match for Roberta? Scared of the critics knowing too much, WIN

declined to provide preview disks and your erstwhile columnist was hoping to catch the first episode in Sydney Airport Lounge, while waiting for a flight to Helsinki.

Alas, through some ill-thought out move, it appears the Samsungsponsored screens at the airport also only show Prime. As such, your fearless columnist was forced to watch the first episodes of Desperate Housewives (Prime, Mon, 8.30pm) and Brothers and Sisters (Prime, Mon, 9.30pm), neither of which are recommended (although definitely take the latter over the former). This arrangement meant missing both the Underbelly opener and Dexter (SCTEN, Mon, 9.30pm) whose title character,

Michael C Hall – gossip alert – has in real life married Jennifer Carpenter who plays his sister, Debra, on the show. So the moral to the story - aside from installing a TV tuner card on your computer if you’re travelling - send in your opinions of Underbelly to share with fellow Blackbox readers.

During the aforementioned jaunt to (most of) Western Europe, the UK and Scandinavia, Blackbox will be reporting on the state of television from the region (while still letting you know about what to look out for at home. And no, Blackbox didn’t manage to convince BMA’s overlord to fund the trip for research purposes).

The first port of call is Finland and the first thing you notice (apart from how boring most of the Finnish programs seem) is the ads.

Scandinavia and Germany are the home of many of the ads that win awards and it’s not hard to see why.

Quirky ads with high production values, there’s no Lowes ads here – if the Finns saw them they would likely back away very slowly. Other than that, the Finns enjoy the same US shows we watch, such as CSI and Grey’s Anatomy with Finnish or Swedish subtitles. And the new 90210 is very popular.

With the blockbuster openers out of the way, it’s time for some of the smaller, less glitzy shows to emerge. The first of these is The Cut (ABC1, Feb 23, 9.35 pm) which stars gold Logie winner John Wood as a dodgy sports agent and Matt Passmore as his son, home from his UN job to help out with the family business after his dad suffers a heart attack. It’s not laugh-out-loud funny but it does have potential (and it’s not a cop drama). And yes, the folks at auntie were happy to provide a preview tape.

In another win for auntie (and the common good), our ABC has acquired the rights to series one and two of Torchwood, to screen on ABC2 on Friday nights at 10.30 pm from the start of June.

Look out for Lie to Me (Prime, Tue, 9.30 pm) which got lost amongst the blockbusters last week but on first eps, looks quite promising.

Sure, it’s still essentially a cop show but at least it’s not about forensics or special ops.

Media producers WBMC and the ololo art collective are working with auntie to challenge the way we look at street art. Aspiring artists are invited to upload their work on the Reface site – abc.net. au/reface. Under the collaborative project, artwork will be displayed as digital projections during the Perth International Festival at the end of February.

And finally, it’s nice to see a telethon on our screens again – well done if you were one of those who contributed to the $21 million raised to help the victims of the Victorian bushfires. I am sure a lot of donations came from Canberrans who remember the enormous help received in 2003.

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

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THEATRE COLUMN There are many characteristic reasons why the Theatre Column is perennially late: drunkenness, forgetfulness, impending academic doom, forgetfulness... In this issue, it’s a case of OH MY GOD THERE’S SO MUCH ON T.C. JUST CAN’T DECIDE WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT, compounded with conflict of interest viz-a-viz promoting one’s own business. Shall Theatre Column succumb to the seductive force of free publicity? Shall it ever!

Shameless Self-Promotion: The House of Bernarda Alba

circular segue, is called Simon Says. It’s about a cult of weight loss. And a pretty girl. IF SHE EATS SUGAR SHE WILL DIE. Theatre Column may be extrapolating wildly on that last point.

Simon Says by Bruce Hoogendorn, directed by PJ Williams. The Street Theatre, March 18 – 28 @ 7:30 pm. Matinee performances March 21 & 28 @ 2 pm. Tix $25/$15. To book phone the Street B.O. on 6247 1223.

Auditions: CYT Ensemble Yay Ensemble! For not-soyoungsters aged 18-25, CYT is right now (well, on the 23rd) holding auditions for its 2009 Actors

Ensemble. The Ensemble develops core skills in acting and theatre making, and in 2009 will focus on the development and performance of CYT’s major touring show, TANK

by Hadley. If you want to act, T.C. strongly advises you consider this.

For info on the Ensemble or on TANK call CYT on 6248 5057 or email pip@cytc.net . Applications to audition for the Ensemble close on February 23, so get in quick.

Reviews In A Nutshell 1. Free Rain’s Winnie The Pooh.

Yeah, it’s a panto so critique ain’t all that necessary, but I will say this: it didn’t make me want to pull my own eyeballs out, which is often my

reaction. Director Cara Irvine did a grand job of keeping my tiny-totplus-ones engaged and happy, and I thought the set was pretty. Glenn Brown’s Tigger and Bronwyn Hill’s Owl were delightful.

2. Boho’s Food for the Great Hungers. An interactive installation at Manning Clark House, asking participants to share in the responsibility of nation-building while simultaneously feeding them scones. Sweet as.

NAOMI MILTHORPE princessnaea@gmail.com

It’s been a while since I engaged with the theatrical world on a level higher than simple smarmy critique. But now I’m back, giving you the chance to badmouth me the way I do you, with moonlight’s first production in the 2009 season of Lorca’s play: The House of Bernarda Alba.

Federico Garcia Lorca is Spain’s national theatrical treasure; a poet and playwright of astonishing power whose murder by Franco’s fascist supporters just weeks after finishing Bernarda Alba highlights the play’s concern with tyrannical power. And fellas, check it: the play is all chicks, at least 90% of whom are, in this production, totally foxy. Aw yeah. moonlight productions presents Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba in a new version by David Hare. ANU Arts Centre Drama Lab, Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 Feb @ 8pm; Wednesday 4, Friday 6, Saturday 7 March @ 8pm. Matinee Saturday 7 March @ 2 pm. Tix $15/$12 at the door. Teatro Vivaldi dinner and how packages available: call 6257 2718.

The 39 Steps JUST GO SEE IT. IT’S ON AT THE CANBERRA THEATRE. IT’S MEANT TO BE AWESOME. Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps at The Playhouse, Wednesday 4 – Saturday 14 March @ 8 pm. Tix U27 $35/full $60. Call Canberra Ticketing on 6275 2700 to book.

Simon Says: Go To The Theatre Or I’m sure that’s what Simon would say, if Simon were Bruce Hoogendorn, and the theatre in question was The Street, and the play in question was Hoogendorn’s newest, which, in a thoroughly and irritatingly

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DISCOLOGY SINGLED OUT

WITH DAVE RUBY HOWE Appaloosa The Day (We Fell In Love) (Kitsuné) For all the cynicism I expel in this section (almost) every fortnight, I am, deep down, a bit of a sooky softy.

Take this. It’s an uncompromisingly doe-eyed ballad, built on a myriad of twinkling keys and wonky, Nico-channeling vocals. And I think it’s nothing less than phenomenal.

Eminem ft. 50 Cent & Dr. Dre Crack A Bottle (Universal) What’s retirement again? Last I heard it was a lot of golf, 3pm naps and felt hats. I guess nobody told Marshall Mathers that. Maybe they should’ve because Eminem still sounds burnt out on this one, with none of the usual swagger and bite you expect from him.

50 Cent is basically mumbling in his sleep and Dre is the only thing worth paying for here. You expect gold for this kind of thing, and you get, I don’t know, what’s the furthest thing from gold? A turd? Yeah, you get a turd.

Sébastien Tellier Kilometer (Record Makers/ Lucky Numbers) Tellier’s Sexuality LP continues to shoot forth single after single of impressive, languid electronic-pop. Kilometer is the latest gem off the disc and it’s a treasure trove of velveteen synth-stabs and female moans.

The All-American Rejects Gives You Hell (Universal) I can’t fault this much. And I can’t help but kinda like it. Sure the marching band bit is a bit superfluous, but last time I checked brash, chart-straddling ‘punk’ is all about overblown pomp.

Walter Meego Girls (Bandroom Records/Sony BMG) I find myself imagining that Walter Meego began as the result of some kind of half-baked Back To The Future experiment. Like Marty and the Doc went back to like 1958, but accidentally left some casios and vocoders there.

A couple of dudes found the instruments and went about creating some nifty tunes on these synths and toy-kit guitars. But then they buried the records in a time capsule. And then 50 years later the guys from Walter Meego found them and were like “ka-ching”.

And now we all love this wonderfully naive, futuristically retro music.

Elliott Brood Ambassador (Six Shooter Records) 'Ambassador' was the last thing that came to mind when I was blasting Elliott Brood’s debut album in my Corolla. The title

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may not suit the vibe of this album?

Although the country music I’m used to hearing is a lot less dark, and is definitely soft in comparison. Kudos to the EB crew for this immensely energetic CD! Pumping tempestuous country music in the car, however, does not get you as many chicks as you’d think. So try not to avoid booming Ambassador in your ride, because you’ll lose cool points, but if you are looking for a break from those dense pop tracks devastating your intelligence, Ambassador is definitely the way to go. This Canadian hardcore country group seem to have skills to pay the buffalo bills. Although the genre isn’t something I usually indulge in, Elliott Brood might be a group that breaks into my Corolla’s rotation.

FAZ NUR Black Mustang Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Plus 1 Records) What would a band sound like if their members included random zoo creatures and a sand monster?

Black Mustang?

Maybe. If you like your music excruciatingly boring and vein-throbbingly infuriating Da Mustang is for you. Their info sheet says they inspired by the Detroit underdround (sewers?), ‘70s glam (who the fuck? what the fuck? where the fuck?) and the ‘80s aussie pub rock (I just made a mouthful of avocado sandwich come out my nose). In all honesty, I haven’t got the nuts to listen to the whole record so there could be a gem at the end, but I doubt it very, very, very much. Do yourself a favour and stay away…

TIM BOCQUET Squarepusher Just a Souvenir (Warp/Inertia) OK, here it is, the conversation with Seb: Me: ...Squarepusher’s music is music that not even Squarepusher would like.

Seb: No, yeah, well, I think it’s great.

Me: Cool concept, bad follow up.

Seb: Coat Hanger’s fucking awesome.

Me: Yeah, but that’s about it, and even that is giving the guy a break.

Seb: But it’s intelligent electro Me: What?

Seb: It’s like intellectual techno. He came up with this album after a dream about seeing a band on stage in front of a giant fluorescent coat hanger. How cool is that?

Me:...?

Seb: And all the band had to kayak down an onstage river whilst all the drums swapped spots with each other.

Me: Sounds to me like old S.Push has gotten so pretentious he is now suffering hallucinations.

Seb: The album has mathematical rock, jack infusion, classical guitar and good old fasioned funk.

Me: Still pretty grating in spots.

Seb and I light cigarettes and open beer and listen to the album and talk of nothing much.

(So, as you can see the jury is still very much out on this album. Buy it if you like ‘intelligent electro’, don’t buy it if you like Black Mustang).

Spod Superfrenz (Valve Records/MGM) It’s a small miracle Spod’s second LP has seen the light of day. After the original was lost in a hard drive crash, he was ready to chuck it in, but luckily a group of his mates - the Superfenz of the title - rallied round the white-suited MC/producer and he rebuilt the album from scratch.

And thus we have another instalment of cheesy keys, 8-bit hip-hop beats, hair metal guitars and unhinged rhymes - delivered with tongue firmly in cheek. I hesitate to use the words ‘more mature’, but to some degree Superfrenz leaves behind the 2 Live Crew-esque sex rhymes of his debut Taste The Radness - though there’s still room for a synth-fuelled tribute the upper half of the female form in Norx. Another album highlight, the full throttle electro assault of Nitefallz, pits Atari Teenage Riot against Suicide in a battle to the death. There are, however, a few misfires; Cats! is built, predictably, around sampled ‘meows’ and while initially amusing quickly becomes tedious. Overall, it’s consummate dance floor fodder. Look no further for your summer club jamz.

PETER KRBAVAC Steven Heath The Crane Field (Independent) Steven Heath’s EP The Crane Field is an album that will remain in my memory for years to come – and not only because it made me fall asleep for ten consecutive mornings after trying to listen to it. Surprisingly, it isn’t even because some these tracks took me back to a darker time in my

life (thanks, Mr Heath, for making a grown man feel very vulnerable).

The thing I will actually remember the most is the album cover: the CD came in a sandwich bag, wrapped in a sandwich bag. Before I could even play the CD, all I could think of was… a sandwich! The record consisted of five songs, which frankly I thought was too much - the whole time I listened to the CD I felt depressed. The highlight of the whole catastrophe was track four, The Crane Field, which I thought to be well written and actually worth my time. But the rest of the EP was immensely saddening and way too sluggish. If you enjoy listening to monotonous - but well-written – music, my suggestion is STOP IT. If you don’t want to stop, then go pick up copy of this CD from your local music store (or borrow it from one of your boring friends). Directions: Take CD with 5 tablets (Codeine - 30mg) and a few beverages of your desire.

FAZ NUR Various Artists Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (Soul Jazz/Inertia) This monster double LP compilation from the Soul Jazz crew is an A to Z of dancehall’s finest moments. The 33 tracks across two CDs are a comprehensive retrospective of the musical monster that sprang forth from the dancehalls and soundsystems of JA. Opening with Bam Bam, the killer Yellow Man track from 1982, what follows are back-to-back floor-filling party classics by giants of the genre like Tenor Saw, Eek A Mouse, Gregory Isaacs, Sister Nancy, Lone Ranger, Frankie Paul, Sly & Robbie, Ini Kamoze, Super Cat and many more. Essential.

SIMON HOBBS

Various Don’t Press Your Luck: The In Sound of 60’s Connecticut (Sundazed) Compilations of 1960s garage punk like this one run into the many hundreds which makes one wonder whether Lenny Kaye had any idea what he was unleashing when he put together the original Nuggets comp in 1972. It is somewhat mind-boggling to consider the large number of bands in the garage golden years between 1964 and 1968 who picked up on the teen scream of 1950s rockabilly, early Beatles, Kinks and Rolling Stones, then carved a niche with a few gigs in whatever suburban scene happened to be around, maybe getting a placing on the local charts with a single funded by someone’s old man, but ultimately disappearing into the dustbin of history, only to be resurrected many years later by some obsessive collector who understood the preciousness of a single such as the Shags’ 1966 mini-pop masterpiece Too Many Lies. That one might not quite be up there with a major masterpiece like the Beatles’ Ticket to Ride, but nevertheless deserves accolades for its uninhibited outpouring of youthful energy which at other times from other bands also included liberal doses of fuzzed guitar, catchy organ and turbulent poetics. The Shags appear seven times on this 22 track compile of hormone raging rocknroll from the US environs of Connecticut in the mid 1960s which meets the usual high standards of the Sundazed label. In this case, the story is quite a good one. The liner notes tell us that somewhere along the way a bloke by the name of Thomas ‘Doc’ Cavalier got hooked on driving rocknroll and decided to give up a successful career as a dentist to run a Connecticut based studio which recorded all manner of garage rock fiends. I just gotta love the fuzz guitar that intrudes into the Ravens’ 1966 pop nugget Sleepless Nights, but also the enthusiastic organ embellishment on the Bram Rigg Set’s blistering cover of Them’s I Can Only Give you Everything and the poetic highlight, “your love is like a rusty nail, it digs into my heart,” which sets the downer tone of Fourth Ryke’s You’re Cutting Out. Whatever one’s preference, this stuff must be considered the top of the pops.

DAN BIGNA

i can has CAT EMPIRE? Marianne Mettes THE CAT EMPIRE will always get you dancing. No matter if you’ve had the worst day suffering heat stroke, your feet are covered in blisters and you haven’t slept a wink – the Cats will make you forget everything and leave you with a huge smile. After the release of four successful records, they’re back with a special live CD and DVD, titled Live on Earth, out February 21.

“I think the timing is good for it,” says Jumps, DJ and turntable guru of the ensemble, about their latest release. “We’ve done a number of studio recordings now and a lot of the fans have been asking for a live album to take home with them. It brings out a bit of the individual characters within the band with the songs that people have known for a while now. That’s what gives the live album that special feel. There’s certain moments [on this record] that will never happen again.”

If you’ve seen a Cat Empire show before, you’ll know that one of the things that make their performances so special, apart from the energy of the crowd and the band, is that each member of the band gets their own moment to shine. Jumps chuckles bashfully when explaining the feeling of having thousands of people hanging onto his every sound: “It’s a cool feeling. I try to think about that sort of stuff afterwards, because if I start concentrating about it before, I get a few nerves and I start thinking about it too much, rather than just letting go. But yes,” Jumps fesses up,“it’s a really cool thing. It’s about giving the band direction personally, but also just having a thousand ears listening to what you’re doing.”

"There's certain moments [on this record] that will never happen again" Stereotypically cast as a ‘party’ band that always seems to be having a blast, Jumps mentions that there are times when it can be hard to keep up the energy levels on stage.

“It happens a lot when we’re on the road and we’re doing four shows a week and that kind of thing. We arrive at the fourth show and people welcome you who are wanting to party and there is that sort of thing, that little bit of pressure… But for us we don’t really think of that pressure in terms of standing and delivering that party gig – we just focus on playing well and playing well together and the crowd will always enjoy it for what it is. But there’s always moments in the gigs that can change the whole outcome show, whether that comes from the band or the crowd, it can really pump either way.

“As we grow older and we mature a bit, we try to bring more dynamics. I guess the festival shows are kind of different, because it is all about the party atmosphere from start to finish. But with our gigs, I guess we try to give more dynamics to the crowd in terms of pace and emotion – but it is always fun.”

Concluding the interview, Jumps sums up what being a Cat is all about: “It’s to be able to do what I do and do it full-time and really commit every ounce of my energy towards it. I think many young people will start playing an instrument and get in a band and amongst their friends they’ll all share the same passion, but as you get older, some things don’t really go to plan and you have to back off from than creative side of yourself. So for us, I think it’s the luckiest thing to be able to do – to do what we love since we were kids and still be able to, and really embrace it and become better at our instruments and as a band.”

The Cat Empire play The Royal Theatre on Sunday March 1 with Paprika Balkanicus. Tickets from Ticketek. Live on Earth is out through Virgin Music.

bma magazine 29

Cell Out

With Mark Russell; he's into you. Like really into you...

He's outside now.

Genre films are like the pleasant but not-so-bright kid who sat next to you in primary school – you expect so little that if they can even string a story together you just want to give them a big cuddle. It’s 'cause genre so rarely stretches for something new. You hear teen slasher, espionage thriller or buddy comedy and immediately know basically what you’re in for. I guess we have to remember that great films spawned all of these genres in the first place, so maybe some will squeeze back out eventually. Either that or Hollywood will lower our movie IQ 'til we end up in cinema’s special class.

He’s Just Not That Into You Since I sported one of about seven ‘y’ chromosomes in the cinema, I must admit this film had me initially nervous.

Every time a male character acted ‘not that into her’ I flinched at the imagined animosity hurled in my general direction. But when in Rome, do as the romantic comedy buffs do. So I did my hair up in curlers, applied a malleable cleansing face mask, and readied Kleenex for the tear-jerker ending of what had to be a typical rom-com.

Suddenly, a big dollop of societal wisdom hurtled out of the screen and landed right in my cup of chamomile.

Then another. And again. I realised with a start that his was no ordinary paint-by-numbers chick flick. These

Ghost Town Ghost Town isn’t going to win any awards for originality. The premise has been done countless times before, the sentimentality is all too familiar, and the ending is hopelessly predictable - not to mention a calculated effort at yanking emotion out of an audience.

Plus, there are some terribly corny lines, and lame euphemisms such as ‘He’s finally made it home’ etc thrown in. All that said, Ghost Town is a wellintentioned and pleasant effort, and definitely full of good humour.

Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is a dentist living in New York, going about his life as usual – surly, lonely, and with very little interest in helping or interacting with others. One day, he realises that he can suddenly see ghosts – and there are a lot of them, all of

Ip Man Ip Man is one of those rare martial arts films with a strong story, good production values and competent acting. Your Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragons and Heros are excluded from Dragon this category – they’re called wuxia and are supposed to have these things.

We’re talking straight-up Hong Kong action: chop-socky with a brave and honourable master, arrogant gangster foes, and usually a fight scene using an umbrella. Minus the umbrella, Ip Man has these things in spades.

When we meet him, Ip (Donnie Yen) is a wealthy wing chun expert living in the city of Foshan in China. As Foshan’s

bma magazine 30

Alex (Justin Long): “I like you.”

Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin): “You do?”

Alex: “Well yeah, but don’t start doodling my name on your binder or anything. I like you like I like a basset hound.”

He’s Just Not That Into You

filmmakers knew men, women and relationships; and knew exactly why they didn’t work as a threesome.

He’s Just Not That Into You sings along as one of those rare films that entertains both females and males.

Sure, it’s skewiffed a long way towards the former, but the A-list ensemble cast is on stellar form and there’s plenty of stellar female forms to keep us watching. Justin Long is a particular highlight as the womanising bartender dealing brutal wisdom out to Ginnifer Goodwin’s hopelessly womanised character. The saddest moment of the film comes when he loses a little bit of this pith and succumbs to the necessary romantic elements.

On a scale of one star to The Godfather, He’s Just Not That Into You wouldn’t rate as a modern-day classic. But it still strides boldly into the frontier land of originality, rather than cooling its heels in a pool of predictability like the rest of the genre. And judging by the oohs, ahs, giggles and gasps of the audience I was in; it clearly hit its target market.

Three and a half stars would cover my own personal reaction to the film, but it clearly taps into something feminine.

And my male pride refuses to let me admit I don’t get it. As such…

whom need his help. One in particular, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), is very persistent and manages to enlist Pincus’ reluctant help in luring Herlihy’s widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) away from her ‘evil’ new fiancé. Surprisingly, what ensues is a very sweet, if utterly textbook, little story about important life lessons, losing loved ones and dealing with death.

Basically, Pincus is a grumpy and self-involved dick who doesn’t listen or care about anyone. Though he is often frustrating, Gervais does manage to feed enough depth into Pincus to get by, but mostly this is a vehicle for him to bumble around and play a slightly different version of himself. Leoni plays a very thinly written character, but her performance is very warm and she makes her character extremely sweet

and likable, not to mention believable, even though she’s not given much to work with. Kinnear proves again that he’s a fabulous supporting actor, shining in his role as Leoni’s douchebag of a deceased husband - although he does get some sappily-written scenes that soil an otherwise solid performance.

Overall, Ghost Town is quite a nice venture – a light-hearted film that’s easy to watch and entertaining. It definitely does play it a little too safe, is quite often very corny, and perhaps relies far too much on Gervais’ recognisable persona and comedic talent. But despite that, Ghost Town is heartfelt, interesting, and worth the time - even if it’s not a must-see.

premier fighter, he receives many challenges despite having an aversion to hurting people. When the Japanese invade, Ip uses his skills as a patriotic outlet in tournament-style matches against Japanese soldiers.

The film looks beautiful. The darker, grainy look and sweeping cinematography adds to the war scenes and lends a dramatic, epic feel to everything. The fight scenes are also very inventive. Wing chun as a style has less of the flashy moves common to kung-fu flicks, so action director Sammo Hung has chosen to keep the short fast jabs and chain punching, while adding some extra

flair and fluidity. These scenes also progress with the story. When Ip Man is simply demonstrating his skill to other martial artists we see flow and beauty in his friendly sparring. When things get real against the Japanese however, we get to see more of the elbows and fierce simplicity of wing chun’s street style fighting.

Ip Man is a good half-an-hour too long, but if you like your fighting in poses and your heroes in the splits, it’s a pretty good option.

MARK RUSSELL

MEGAN McKEOUGH

MARK RUSSELL

bma magazine 31

GIG REVIEWS ANI DIFRANCO

Ani DiFranco/Matt Kelly @ Canberra Theatre, Monday February 2 A usual Monday night for me is spent on the couch nursing my postweekend hangover with re-runs of Top Gear and room temperature takeaway. Tonight my week began with a new proclivity as I made my way to the Canberra Theatre to see alternative folk-rock legend Ani DiFranco perform.

To be honest, other than recognising her name I had never heard any of her music before. Yes, I was aware that she was a very popular artist, but without any real substance to my discernment I was not quite sure what to expect.

I walked in to the theatre to catch the start of support act Matt Kelly’s set which provided a deep and emotionally haunting array of impressive original material. His raw vocals mixed with the simple accompaniment of his guitar and percussion reminded me of a slightly rockier Thom Yorke delivering a campfire chorus.

After six or so songs, the packed house was reminded that Ani was to follow and after a short intermission she took the stage with her band to great applause.

What struck me immediately about her was an all-too-rare ability as a performer to interact with her audience on a pure and personal level. She exuded a calm confidence that contrasted her powerful, sometimes extremely political lyrics and passionate stage presence, delivering a satisfying mixture of new and old material including classics like Swim and the new (in her words) colossal work The Atom.

She had this amazing ability to have the audience hanging on her every word in a sense that was almost tactile, her effect obvious as, halfway through the seating only show, the front row transformed into an impromptu dance floor full of free-spirited expression.

The end of the performance was heralded by a full house standing ovation, from which the band returned to deliver a few more tunes to the appreciative crowd. I can now say that I know who Ani DiFranco is, and I can add with complete confidence that she is indeed the best at what she does.

TIM GALVIN Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist @ The Fringe Festival, Wednesday February 11 A highlight of this year’s Fringe was a gig by Aussie rock veteran Dave Graney and his band the Lurid Yellow Mist. The alternative types in the Fringe crowd made themselves comfortable on the marquee’s dance floor as Dave, in black leather, and his four-piece backing band took the stage. Welcoming his ‘comrades’ to the show, he kicked off with I’m in the Future Now. Dave’s style could be described as ‘cabaret rock’, due to the intimate atmosphere in which he weaves gritty stories about some of the seamier sides of life. The show was personal and, at times, confessional, as Dave told us about youths striving for social survival in a rural town in the autobiographical You Had to Be Drunk.

The feel is laid back but provocative at the same time. When unencumbered by guitar, he illustrated his stories with wild gestures, including the lurid behaviour of men at strip shows. Part song, part spoken-word, the chapters in the tales are interspersed with instrumental breaks in which the guitar, drums, keys and bass come together in a kind of jazz rock, with Dave playing his guitar in his favoured semi-crouching position.

Drummer Clare Moore, his long-time partner, and bassist Stuart Thomas also took lead duties on a song each, with Clare singing Alphonsis Will Get You about nuns whacking school kids with the cane.

The set list included tracks from his latest album with The Mist, We Wuz Curious, older tunes such as The Stars Baby, The Stars from his Coral Snakes days and the show ended with a cover of Boz Scaggs’ disco classic Lowdown. He may have been performing since 1980, but there’s plenty of fire in the Dave Graney belly yet!

RORY McCARTNEY

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FIRST CONTACT: Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 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.au Annie & the Armadillos Annette 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone singer/songwriter(guitar), sax & flute Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Kingswood Factory Sharon 0412 334 467 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Bastards Jamie 0424 857 282/ www.bastards.altpro.net Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au 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 Casual Projects Julian 0401 016 885 Catchpenny Nathan 0402 845 132 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 CD and Website Design Brendan 0404 042 574 Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/ stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cold Heart Projects Andrew 6294 5450 Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 087 833/colebennetts@gmail.com Colourful Racing Identities Josh 0410 135 605 Cool Weapon Luke 0410 983 450/ Josh 0412 863 019 Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Cumulonimbus Matt 0412 508 425 Dance With Amps Marcus 0421 691 332 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 DayTrippers, The Reidar 0414 808 677, daytrippers@grapevine.com.au (dp) New Media Artists Mal 0414 295 297 Dogact dog-act@hotmail.com, Paulie 0408 287 672.

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Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 Infra Retina Kyle 0437 137 775/Michael 0430 353 893/www.infra-retina.com 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 Jennifer Versatile singer looking for band; 0422 158 362 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/dj@ karismakatz.com Kurt's Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Lenders, The Tim 6247 2076 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Jules 0413 223 573 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 Malumba Dan 6253 5150 MC Kayo Marbilus 0405 648 288 kayo_101@hotmail.com Meatbee Ben 0417 492 560 Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907/hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 Murder Meal Combo Anthony 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com Myriad Kath 6253 8318 MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus Neptune's Necklace Mark 6253 1048 No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Para 0402 277 007 Petra Elliott Petra 0410 290 660 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 Queanbeyan Music & Electronics 6299 1020 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 Sara Vancea Sara 6247 9899 Sindablok Duncan 0424 642 156 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 Stalker and Liife Darren 0413 229 049 Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 Taboo Bamboo Greg 0439 990 455 That ‘80s Band Ty 0417 265 013 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/transmissionnowhere TRS tripstate@hotmail.com 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 Woden Youth Centre Jeremy 6282 3037 Zeitgeist www.zeitgeist.xwave Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

GIG GUIDE February 19 - 20 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19

ARTS _____________ I Hate Hamlet Opening Night Opening night Bushfire fundraiser, with all ticket takings going to charity. $27. Written by Paul Rudnick, directed by Rob de Fries. Runs until Mar 14 THEATRE 3, ELLEN CRES, ACTON Cube 3 A collaboration between CCAS and ANU with a vision to expose young artists and injecting art into daily life TEATRO VIVALDI, ANU, ACTON FyberMotion - Restless Habitat A kinetic textile installation exploring the concept of home through a fusion of nomadic culture and western surburbia ANCA GALLERY, DICKSON World Visions at CCAS Featuring the exhibitions Mouse

by Maurice, In (And Against) Time

by Izabela Pluta, and Tales from the Underworld by Tevita Havea.

Until March 14, Tuesdays-Fridays CCAS, GORMAN HOUSE AUtonomies An exhibition by Jessie Boylan and Emma King exploring the ways in which mainstream government and society affect and disregard concepts of land, culture, conflict and kinship.

Runs until Mar 8 HUW DAVIES GALLERY, MANUKA Eleven Prominent ACT-Based Photographers Each delivering one photo each.

Runs until Feb 26 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE Open Air: Portraits In The Landscape With evocative works from public and private collections across Australia, this exhibition invites visitors to reflect on what places mean to people, and on how our views of ourselves are shaped by place. Free. Runs until Mar 1 NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY KING EDWARD TERRACE, PARKES 2009 Actors Ensemble Acting courses for people aged 18-25. Develop core skills in acting, movement, voice, improvisation and performance making, and perform in Canberra Youth Theatre's major production Tank

by Hadley. Applications close Feb 23. Enquiries and enrolment call 6248 5057 or email pip@cytc.net CANBERRA YOUTH THEATRE

Charles Darwin Exhibition Includes his travels and research work and shows how they helped shape his publication: The Origin of the Species. Runs until Apr 12. Free entry NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA, LAWSON CRESCENT, ACTON PENINSULA Brutal, Tender, Human, Animal: Roger Ballen Photography

By South African photographer Roger Ballen (b.1950, New York).

Runs until Mar 29. Free entry NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA EXHIBITION GALLERY, PARKES PLACE Shell-Shocked: Australia After Armistice Follow journeys of repatriation and resettlement after WWI. The exhibition combines government records with personal stories. Runs until Apr 27. Free NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, KING EDWARD TERRACE Terra Vivia - A Changing World An exhibition of painting, photography, ceramics and drawing that explores the dynamics of our changing world.

Until Feb 27. Free BELCONNEN GALLERY, BELCONNEN COMM. CENTRE A Series of Actions An exhibition by Alicia Kane and Kaye Pemberton. Until March 14 CRAFT ACT GALLERY 2, CIVIC SQUARE Debra Boyd-Goggin: New Ceramic Work Debra Boyd-Goggin explores memory and emotion through clay. In this new body of work she reflects on living in Tapini, Papua New Guinea at an early age and her connection to family and different cultures.

Until March 14 CRUCIBLE SHOWCASE, CIVIC SQUARE Highlights

By Gilbert Riedelbauch. New technologies are an important part of Riedelbauch's practice forming the development process from sketching to making. Until March 14 CRAFT ACT GALLERY'S, CIVIC SQUARE

thursday FEBRUARY 19

friday FEBRUARY 20

DANCE _____________

DANCE _____________

O Class Thursday $3 drinks until 2am MOOSEHEADS, CIVIC Trash Thursdays $2 drinks until 2am and discounted cocktails. With DJs Adam and Esscue. 2 for 1 entry with Uni sticker ACADEMY, CIVIC Jemist KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Dommus Adultrus Regular live and local night. $7/$5 Canberra Musician Club members HIPPO, GAREMA PL, CIVIC Pang! Thursdays: King Unique (UK) TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

Roni Size (UK) The Bristol based drum 'n' bass legend drops by Canberra for the first time ever, with support from Escha and Kilojulz ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Official ANU Ball Afterparty MOOSEHEADS, CIVIC Llik Llik Llik Featuring John Selway (USA) TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Jemist KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE _____________ The Bridge Between & The Wedded Bliss FYSHWICK TAVERN Den Hanarahan HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON The Bedroom Philosopher BMA's own Justin Heazlewood straps on the guitar and loads up the comedy canon in support of his new Brown & Orange album. $10, from 8:30pm THE FRONT CAFE, LYNEHAM Charles Chaitain From 9pm-midnight KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Carry On Karaoke PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC Karaoke With Grant PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Karaoke From 9-11pm. Cash prizes and 2-4-1 basic spirits and tap beer CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC

LIVE ____________ Propaghandi The punk legends are finally here, with Bloody Humans and Outcome Unknown. Tix are probably sold out, but try yer luck at Landspeed, or www. bluemurder.com.au WESTON CREEK COMMUNITY CENTRE Jazz & Blues Session GOLD CREEK COUNTRY CLUB Undercover HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Bluestone From 10pm-2am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC Bushfire Benefit Gig With Lamexcuse, Monster Elephante, Mafia, System Addict, Toxicmen and Boundless. $15, 8pm, all proceeds go to charity THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Jazz Night With the Rafael Jerjen Quartet.

From 7pm, tickets $15/$12 for members ALLIANCE FRANCAISE, TURNER Rev Canberra’s weekly alternative club night with two levels of DJs playing rock/indie/dance/punk/pop BAR 32, SYDNEY BUILDING, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Impro ACT: The Church of Miscellaneous Belief Running tonight, Feb 21 and Feb 22. From 7:30pm. Featuring Daniel Cordeaux from Thank God You're Here. Tix $20 from 6247 1223 THE STREET THEATRE, ACTON

GIG GUIDE February 21 - March 4 saturday february 21

saturday february 21

ARTS _____________

Gorman House Markets GORMAN HOUSE Burley Griffin Antique Centre KINGSTON FORESHORE

Slovac With Vera, Astrochem, Turbulence and Mercury. All ages gig. Get involved and support the scene! $5 WODEN YOUTH CENTRE Monarch With 4 Dead, Bowcaster and Agonhymn. $10 THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Top Shelf HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON The O'Hooligans With The Woohoo Review TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Oscar From 10:30pm-2am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

DANCE _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

O in the Dark A big night o' dance featuring TV Rock, Van She Tech, Bag Raiders and Ashley Feraude. $25 from Landspeed, Parliament and inthemix.com.au ACADEMY, CIVIC Mark Dynamix With supports Trent Richardson, Tim Galvin and Btham MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC Candy Cube With DJs Peter Dorree and Matt Chavasse. From 10pm til 5am CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC The Omazing Night Touted by the venue themselves as Canberra's biggest Saturday night MOOSEHEADS, CIVIC Shunji KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE DJ Marty Faux & DJ Adam Miller From 9pm KREMLIN BAR, 65 NORTHBOURNE AVENUE, CIVIC Shakedown Indie/alt/dance with all your favourite spinners. Free entry before 10pm BAR 32, SYDNEY BUILDING, CIVIC

'80s Music With DJ Craig PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Fall Ball Featuring the Blamey St Big Band and swing dance performers, and free swing dance lessons from 7pm. Tickets $30, enquiries 0402 466 440/fallball@ jumptown.org ALBERT HALL, YARRALUMLA

ARC CInema: Robocop (R) Paul Verhoeven's '80s action classic, screening outdoors with a brand new print ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA, ACTON Move M16 studio tenants show, with opening speaker Virginia Haussegger. Free, runs til Mar 1 M16 ARTSPACE, 16 MILDURA ST, KINGSTON

DAY PLAY _____________

LIVE _____________ Wish For Wings With Bermuda and Gasma. From 6:30pm TUGGERANONG YOUTH CENTRE Los Chavos Free entry THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

sunday february 22

DAY PLAY _____________ Tuggeranong Homestead Markets TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD Cube Sunday From 9pm until late. With DJ Peter Dorree CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Irish Jam Session From 5pm KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

DANCE _____________ KarismaKatz DJ Gosper's funky four-piece THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP Cube Sunday With DJ Peter Dorree. From 9pm CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Short Stack In-Store Show In-store appearance in support of new single Princess. 12:30pm SONGLAND RECORDS, TUGGERANONG HYPERDOME

monday february 23

thursday febrUary 26

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

ARTS _____________

Tropfest Showing the finals of the long running short film comp STAGE 88, COMMONWEALTH PARK Trivia in the Trams at the Tradies From 7:15pm TRADIES CLUB, DICKSON

ARC CInema: Lorna's Silence (18+) A moving tale of redemption from the Belgian Dardenne brothers. Canberra premiere ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ACTON Oh Eight/Oh Nine Opening of a new exhibition by Elena Papanikolakis. From 6pm.

Fore more info hit the Tidbits section on page 10 CCAS, GORMAN HOUSE

tuesday february 24

DANCE _____________ Chuse Jazz Tuesdays (TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON

LIVE _____________ Musical Madness @ Filthy's With Pete Akhurst, Friendly Yen and Johnny Huckle. Free entry FILTHY McFADDEN'S, KINGSTON

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia From 7:30-10:30pm THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN Carry-On Karaoke TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Trivia Night PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Trivia Night HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Trivia Night THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC wednesday february 25

LIVE _____________ Live Entertainment Complete with Happy Hour PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Margaret Helen King With Like Foxes and The Middle East (QLD). $5 THE FRONT CAFE, LYNEHAM The Remains Free entry THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

DANCE _____________ Funkoars With local Ciecmate & Newsense releasing their debut cut A Tale of Two Cities. With Wax Lyrical and DJ Buick. Free entry TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Trash Thursdays $2 drinks until 2am and discounted cocktails. With DJs Adam and Esscue. Two for one entry with Uni sticker ACADEMY, CIVIC Ashley Feraude KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE _____________ Naked From 9pm-midnight KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC Dommus Adultrus Regular live and local night HIPPO, GAREMA PL, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Karaoke From 9-11pm. Cash prizes and 2-4-1 basic spirits and tap beer CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Karaoke With Grant PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG

friday february 27

saturday FEBRUARY 28

MONDay MARCH 2

ARTS _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

LIVE _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

Ocean to Outback Australian Landscape Paintings 1850-1950. This exhibition documents the most dynamic century of landscape painting from the colonial 1850s to the immediate period following WWII. Over this century, landscape painting was the "great" subject of Australian art, a theme that reflected the changing nature of a nation's identity.

Until May 17 CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY, LONDON CCT

Royal Canberra Show Celebrating its 80th year. Check out www.rncas.org.au for full details. Runs over the weekend EXHIBITION PARK Poetry Slam The first for the year. $3 THE FRONT, LYNEHAM

Separatist (TAS) With supports Anodomini and Aeon of Horus THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Heuristic From 10:30pm-2:30am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC Josh Pyke The mighty minstrel returns, with support from Cloud Control and Jackson McCLaren.

Tix $36.75 ANU BAR, ACTON Angels are Architects With Freja's Rain. Free entry THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

Hospitality Night Come and put your moves on a spunky hospitality employee TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Trivia in the Trams at the Tradies From 7:15pm TRADIES CLUB, DICKSON

friday february 27

DANCE _____________ Pure DJs Present: BreakOut Lab feat. Operon Playing atmosphereic D&B. 8:30pm start, free before 10pm, $5 until 2am MERCURY BAR, N'THBOURNE AVE Acadamy Fridays: Chris Fraser ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Frankie Madrid Madness KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Purple Sneakers DJs TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Corinbank Festival Taking place between Friday February 27 and Sunday March 1. Also playing is Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Mat McHugh, Resin Dogs, Darren Hanlon, Crooked Fiddle Band, The Beez and many, many more. Tickets available from various hip retail outlets and the website itself.

See www.corinbank.com for more details CORIN FOREST MOUNTAIN RESORT, CORIN FOREST Perpetual End CD Launch THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Rev 'berra’s weekly alternative club night with two levels of DJs playing rock/indie/dance/punk/pop BAR 32, SYDNEY BUILDING, CIVIC Special K From 10pm-2am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

saturday FEBRUARY 28

ARTS _____________ ARC CInema: A Hard Day's Night (G) The Beatles' first big-screen outing: an all-singing slapstick extravaganza!

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ACTON ARC CInema: Playtime (PG) Monsieur Hulot visits Paris in Jacques Tati's comic masterpiece, and the NFSA's final outdoor screening for the season ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA, ACTON

DANCE _____________ Academy Saturdays With Ashley Feraude, Pred, B-Tham vs Staky, with Michael O'Rourke in The Candybar ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC DJ Don Juan (Syd) With live keyboard, percussion and performances MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC Shakedown Indie/alt/dance with all your favourite spinners. Free entry before 10pm BAR 32, SYDNEY BUILDING, CIVIC Candy Cube With DJs Peter Dorree and Matt Chavasse. From 10pm til 5am CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Rather Large: Bushfire Fundraiser With Just-1, Buick and Smish.

Gold coin donation entry TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC DJ Marty Faux & DJ Adam Miller From 9pm KREMLIN BAR, 65 NORTHBOURNE AVENUE, CIVIC D'Opus KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Raw Comedy OPen mic comedy competition, with special guest MC Fox Klein (Melb). Doors 7pm, tix on door only, be early to avoid disappointment and lateness TILLEY'S, LYNEHAM '80s Music With DJ Craig PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG SUNDAY MARCH 1

DANCE _____________ Cube Sunday With DJ Peter Dorree. From 9pm CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC

DAY PLAY _____________ Tuggeranong Homestead Markets TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD Cube Sunday From 9pm until late. With DJ Peter Dorree CUBE NIGHTCLUB, CIVIC Irish Jam Session From 5pm KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ The Chris Harland Blues Band From 2-5pm. Free entry WEST BELCONNEN LEAGUES CLUB The Bridge Between ROSE COTTAGE The Cat Empire With gypsy whelps Paprika Balkanicus. Tix from Ticketek ROYAL THEATRE, CIVIC

TUESDAY MARCH 3

LIVE _____________ The Big O The nationwide fiesta stops by tha 'Berra, unleashing upon us the awesome might of The Music, The Fratellis, Bluejuice, Yves Klein Blue and Cassette Kids.

And Ben Lee. Tix $55 + bf from qjump.com.au or Landspeed ANU BAR AND REFECTORY, ACTON Musical Madness @ Filthy's With The Bridge Between and The Wedded Bliss. Free entry FILTHY McFADDEN'S, KINGSTON

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Carry-On Karaoke TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Fame Trivia THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Pot Belly Trivia POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN Trivia Night PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Trivia Night HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Trivia Night Free entry THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC WEDNESDAY MARCH 4

LIVE _____________ Tell Me Bluntly With Kim Churchill, Bongy and Love, Sage. Free entry THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC Carry-On Karaoke From 9:30pm. $1000 grand prize THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Karaoke Night HOLY GRAIL KINGSTON $5 Night TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

DVDEVOTEE

The Who At Kilburn 1977 (Image Entertainment DVD)

Paul Mooney Analyzing White America (Shout Factory)

Neil Diamond: The Thank You Australia Concert (Shock)

By 1977, The Who, in their original guise, were on their last legs – or so we know now. Within a year of this show, recorded for the The Kids are Alright movie, hyperactive drummer Keith Moon was dead (he overdosed on drugs prescribed to help him kick alcoholism) and the band embarked on a headlong journey into creative oblivion and final break up, before the inevitable two decade bout of one-off shows, farewell tours and deluxe box sets. So on this DVD you get to see, by and large, what all the fuss was about; for a start, frontman Roger Daltrey is in reasonable voice, a state of affairs that seems to have eluded him over the last 15 or so years, and so that alone makes this disc worth a watch, whilst Moon and fellow rhythm sectionist John Entwhistle (also now passed on to the great cocaine and hooker binge in the sky) are locked in telepathically on the likes of Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again. It’s not an electric performance – the band by now were something of a law unto themselves (the set is frequently stopped by Moon and/or guitarist Pete Townshend so that they may indulge in some unscripted ‘humour,’ delivered often in such a way as only they can hear what’s going on), and as a consequence the band’s delivery seems a little ‘unpolished’ by today’s highly veneered values. But this really is the band close to their best, performing pretty much every significant element of their canon.

As a bonus, there are some excellent sleeve notes and an as yet unseen performance from London’s Coliseum from 1969 which isn’t half bad either, if not the ‘rock discovery you’ll never forget’ promised on the back cover.

You may know him as Negrodamus. Or maybe you know him as ‘the dude from the Chappelle Show that talks about racism on the news all the time.’ For those who are oblivious to the comical tidal wave that is Paul Mooney, let your favourite chocolate brother give you the rundown. Apart from being one of the pioneers of African American stand-up, Paul Mooney is probably one of the most controversial figures in the history of comedy.

Some compare his style to that of Richard Pryor and Red Foxx. But what most people don’t know is that Paul Mooney is the genius behind the geniuses. His style of comedy is unparalleled due to the raw and uncensored nature of his jokes. Many find him offensive and overbearing; some have walked out on his performances (they clearly can’t handle the truth), but his true fans know this man to be knowledgeable, realistic and funny as hell!

Paul Mooney was one of the first comedians to speak out about race relations in America, and his views on society from an African American perspective spawned a new era of comedy. The DVD is Analysing White America; who better to do that than the ‘Secretary General of Race Relations’ himself. The DVD starts with Mooney playing psychiatrist with a United States Congressman. Just watching him convince the Congressman it’s easier to let out your racist thoughts rather than keep them all in will have you both confused and in stitches. We then progress into his stand-up routine where he addresses topics such as 9/11, the 'N word', chubby white women and skinny brothers (for some uncanny reason, this really is a very real occurrence), and let’s not forget the ‘once you go black...’ phenomenon.

Along the way he also plays psychiatrist with a chubby white woman and a young white teen, to hilarious effect. This is a riot - definitely one of the funniest stand up performances I have seen in years. Paul Mooney is a GENIUS. So get up, get out and cop this disc (or login and Ebay it).

For most of you, Neil Diamond is a dusty relic existing somewhere deep in the recesses of your parents vinyl collection. Or the cheapo bin at the Salvos. Lord knows I’ve thumbed through about 10 lifetimes worth of Hot August Night for every elusive Psychocandy first pressing. Back in the '70s he was mega.

Then Neil took a three-year break at the height of his popularity to figure out who/what he was. Other than an insanely rich guy with big hair. In 1976 Diamond picked Australia for his highly anticipated return to the stage and played to over 150,000 sartorially challenged fans in a few weeks. This show, filmed live at the Sydney Sports Ground, is the finale of that tour, billed as the “Thank You Australia Concert”. The event broke a bunch of records for live broadcasts and crowds or something, but it was the mid-'70s and colour TV had only been around for 12 months, so let’s not get too excited. By and large, the concert is a pleasant affair: thanks are effusive, trousers are hugging, shirts are garish, chords are strummed, hits are graciously received (Cacklin’ Rose, I Am, I Said, Sweet Caroline) and chocolate is thrown into the first few rows of the crowd as part of a bizarre on-stage promo for Cadburys – barely missing our cross-legged and awkward looking PM of the time, Gough Whitlam.

Elsewhere in the world in 1976, the Sex Pistols signed to EMI and the following bands formed: The Jam, The Clash, Madness, The Damned, Black Flag, Generation X, Wire and The Cure.

Here in Australia, an undemanding, schmaltzy singer songwriter who’s other hit album at that time was about a lonesome seagull. Says a lot really. I’d like to think this astonishing dichotomy has changed over the years, but I am yet to be convinced. We still hold outdated, mediocre artists defiantly close to our chest and afford them sold out shows where the rest of the world displays mild interest or outright hostility. Admittedly, in Neil’s case he did have a massive worldwide following so ultimately The Thank You Australia Concert is a charming time capsule from an era that doesn’t seem that distant at all.

SCOTT ADAMS

FAZ NUR

JUSTIN HOOK

parkway DRIVE elbow the ASTON SHUFFLE something WITH NUMBERS

out MARCH 5

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