BMA Mag 371 May 11 2011

www.bmamag.com

Spiritualized Floating into Vivid Live

k Musa, Hau, Lesson & Koda Make a stand for multiculturalism

#371MAY11

JEBEDIAH On the big rock and roll candy mountain

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ice n VOout!!

Daw d l So

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Nick and Liesl at The Phoenix

Well I’ll be bumswizzled! # 3 7 1 M A Y 1 1 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Advertising Manager Paul Foley T: 6257 4360 E: sales@bmamag.com Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Super Sub-Editor Zoya Patel Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Graphic Design Cole Bennetts Exhibitionist Editor Julia Winterflood Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 372 OUT MAY 25 EDITORIAL DEADLINE MAY 16 ADVERTISING DEADLINE MAY 19 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA is independently owned and published.

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

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After spending months last year cooped up in their home studio on the NSW Central Coast, completing the album only days before hitting the road on their fourth adventurefilled European Tour, Nick and Liesl are very excited to be bringing it home with their long-awaited debut album Feather. Nick and Liesl are as natural a combination as sun and sand, and watching them perform is both delightful and inspiring. See them at Phoenix on Thursday May 12.

Mikelangelo and Saint Clare at The Front Mikelangelo of course is no stranger to Canberra audiences, performing in many guises over the years in his old hometown.

The twosome will perform their fabulous original tunes alongside classic songs by Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Hank Williams and Leonard Cohen. It will be a heart warming and soul stirring show for those who dare to venture out on a chilly Sunday night in Canberra. Doors at 7.30pm.

Daniel Lee Kendall at ANU Bar As was quite astutely predicted on release of Daniel Lee Kendall’s debut EP Lost in the Moment, the young artist has been busy melting hearts the

country over. The past 12 months yielded vast strides for Daniel. There have been some truly memorable live performances (Coaster Festival, Peat’s Ridge Festival, Playground Weekender) in addition to strong triple j and community radio support for the endearing single Lost in the Moment. He’ll be at ANU Bar on Thursday May 20 supporting Hungry Kids of Hungary.

A French Butler Called Smith at Transit Bar Gold Coast based world music band A French Butler called Smith have been performing their high energy Latin, funk, instrumental fusion over a three year period to ever increasing audiences across Oz. The initial creators behind this all organic dance music sound were acoustic guitar aficionado Scott French, bass maestro Jake ‘the Butler’ Martin and respected world percussion artist Brennan Smith. These original members have now been joined by esteemed musicians Mark ‘Gibbo’ Gibson on saxophone and Liam ‘Rasta’ Dorney on trumpet and it has invariably lifted the energy of the band and their multi-layered sounds to ecstatically captivating levels. They’ll be ably supported

by Dub

Dub Goose and James Fahy at Transit on Thursday May 26. $10 at the door.

The Wedded Bliss launch third album After ten years and countless incarnations, The Wedded Bliss are set to launch their third album Tailor Made Heartache. Says the band itself: “We wanted to do something different to the last two albums, so we took a more live approach, and tracked vocals and instruments at the same time. The new album is closer to what we sound like live, built around our harmony singing and instrumental playing. We were also able to add in a few extra touches like banjo-guitar, mandolin, and pedal steel.” Sounds divine.

(Read more on page 17). With Kristabell & The Southern Jubilee Ringers in support, the launch is set to be a swinging soiree down at the wonderfully quaint Turner Bowls Club on Friday May 13. Tickets are $17 full, $14 concession. You can download the new album at theweddedbliss. bandcamp.com .

FROM THE BOSSMAN My dear lady wife has improved my life immeasurably in many ways since she snuggled her way into my purview. These colourful things called vegetables now sit aside my usual oilsoaked portion of chips. I no longer smoke (she never nagged me to quit, she just gave me the sad panda eyes enough times…

That there’s some powerful shit). I now also possess the semblance of a fashion sense.

During my teen years, I didn’t have much luck with the ladies and, like so many horny emotionally forlorn dribbly poetry-writing teenage boys before me, I could never figure out why. O sure, I had women queuing up to be my bestie, but as soon as the prospect of something further was awkwardly hinted at, I was met with a cartoon-style dust silhouette of their frame.

Hindsight is a magnificent thing, and looking back has highlighted to me one of the major components missing from any selfrespecting young buck’s sexual arsenal. The fact I had teeth that could open pickle jars, huge National Health Service glasses that looked as though they could pick up TV channels on Mars and (during one particularly dark chapter of the Sko Visage) a bowl haircut certainly didn’t help, but all this was second to my fashion sense, or complete lack thereof. The seeds were sown early on, when my brother (who will hate me for revealing this) and I used to dress exactly the same. I mean exactly the same. Mum thought it was cute (it was, which was precisely the problem) and our friends at the time were too polite to give us the jolly good thrashing we deserved.

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 original spellings] To the stupid effing lady who blocked the entrance to the short-stay carpark in Woden... YOU PISSED ME RIGHT OFF! Not only did I have to beep at you twice to indicate that you were holding up traffic, I also had to drive my car up onto the curb to go around you when you wouldn’t move your fat arse of a station wagon. Quite frankly, you’re a bitch who has issues. I don’t care if you couldn’t find a park anywhere like you tried to explain through aggressive mime out the window, NOT MY PROBLEM!!

What could have been an easily resolved situation by you simply driving forward two metres actually turned into a full-blown incident of road-rage that ruined my morning and made me late for class! Not only that but there was an emergency vehicle behind you! Sure it didn’t have its lights or siren on but, come on, do I really have to explain?? Did you have a brain bypass?? And if so, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DRIVING A CAR?? God, this happened 2 weeks ago you’ve managed to get me in a rage again!

I don’t really hate anyone but I really really don’t like you you horrible selfish carpark-blocking cow

This set up a ‘clothes for functionality, not for aesthetics’ mindset where the rules of colour matching, layering, or indeed simply having more than one item of clothing were gaily cast out of the closet, and replaced with an increasingly moth-eaten off-green jumper, just enough underpants to get through the week without having to turn them inside out and… No, actually that was about all.

If it kept me warm, it was a good piece of fashion, which needless to say to you fashionistas reading this is a dangerous mindset.

Regardless of how funny, charming and downright lovely you are, no one wants to date someone who looks like Worzel Gummidge.

I wasn’t strutting the catwalk, I was lurching along the crapwalk.

I was dressed less like a sartorialist and more like a terrorist. I was… Well you get the idea.

Now, thanks to the apple of my eye, I have a bulging suitcase of finery that would put The Mighty Boosh’s Vince Noir to shame.

Accessories and belts are no longer things that only gay people wear. Now people are happy to be seen out with me, rather than adopting that ‘I’ve farted and may have just followed through’ scrunched up face of embarrassment that they used to wear.

And overall, the confidence levels are up.

So I implore you kids, and indeed wayward adults, to either get yourself a fashion sense, or find a partner who will get one for you. Your friends will hang out with you in public places more often, you’ll feel better, and you might get laid before the age of 35. Bonus.

ALLAN “JACOBIAN RUFF” SKO allan@bmamag.com

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another thing…

“Nice little kip, boss?” I enquire as he grins sheepishly in greeting.

“Not too bad Micky, no. What’s the time?”

“Quarter to five. Hungry?”

“No, not really. I’m a bit thirsty to tell you the truth.”

This last part is said as a request as much as an answer. I hold the keys to the drinks cabinet, and it’s customary after an afternoon on the beer for Bobby to finish the job off with spirits, as he’s very cognisant of the fact that he “needs to look after the old figure, heheh”. I nod my ascent and lead the way indoors, watching him to make sure he shuts the door of the Range Rover properly. Once we are in the bar, I ask the question. “Any idea where your passport is Bobby?” He’s smiling at me nervously, as if he hasn’t quite understood what I’ve said but not quite able to bring himself to ignore the question. I ask it again, staying just the right side of the master/servant divide but with enough menace in my voice to let him know that I’m not fucking about. He continues to smile weakly, but screws up his face and shakes his head almost imperceptibly.

“It’s just that we’re off to Denmark tomorrow morning, remember?”

He’s nodding now, but the face is still looking pained. “And you really, really need your passport to get on the plane. It’s not in your room or in the safe. Any ideas?”

Bobby is shifting his weight from foot to foot, looking at the floor.

From beneath the fringe, also pointing floorwards, I’m sure I hear him say “I’ve lost it.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not my fault Micky. When we went to town last week and when you went to do some grocery shopping, I went to the bank. I wanted to try to open an account, you know, just for bits…”. He stops talking, eyes moving away from mine and into the middle distance as he remembers this brush with the real world.

“Just a little bit of pocket money. It’s not been the same since Rhona took over. I’m always skint. Anyway, there was too much paperwork to do. I couldn’t hack it so I went and had a pint. I got talking to this bird in the Feathers, and time just flew. I realised I had to meet you, so I legged it out but I left the sheepskin in the pub. I went back and got it. When we got home the passport was gone.”

“She nicked it?”

“Why would she? I don’t think she knew who I was. Nothing else was missing from my coat.”

“Did you ring the pub?” Silence. I’ll take that as a no. Bobby is now sitting, ashen faced at the bar fiddling with the ice cubes in his already-drained glass of bourbon. There’s nothing for it. Despite the fact the next call I make could put me out of a job, I bite the bullet and get on the phone to the big boss woman. “Hello Rhona?”

“Micky? What’s wrong?” ‘Til now it’s been a good little arrangement.

Sometimes we go for a month without speaking to Rhona. She knows the score…

“Oh, nothing much, Bobby’s fine…”

Next time: A dual identity… scott adams - thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

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WHO: Effigy WHAT: Kollektiv Turmstrasse Live (GER) and Child (Tribal Vision) (MEL) WHEN: Sat May 21 WHERE: Hippo Bar

In what looks set to be another defining night for live electronic music in the capital, Effigy welcome German heavyweights Kollektiv Turmstrasse to Hippo Bar. Having drawn numerous parallels with Trentemoeller and the like, the Kollektiv experience will take you on a deep and progressive musical journey like no other. With an attention to energy and melody that is hard to find from even the biggest names on the international DJ circuit today, this is a truly one of a kind musical experience. This will be the last Effigy Hippo gig until summer so don’t miss this intimate show.

Doors at 8pm, $10 before 10.

WHO: Scissor Lock, Orbits, The Brother Gozu WHAT: Peking Spring WHEN: Fri May 13 WHERE: Smiths Alternative Bookshop

hellosQuare’s wonderful festival of sound Peking Spring wraps up this weekend with a few more performances including Scissor Lock (aka Marcus Whale). You might know him better these days as one half of Collarbones, the terrific cut-up pop r’n’b duo making waves with their new album Iconography, but for his Peking performance he’ll be in rare solo mode to present his new album Broken English.

The night will also see the return of recent Melbourne transplant Orbits for one night only and the wild noises of The Brother Gozu, so pop along to Smiths at 8pm, entry $8 at the door.

WHO: Young UN Women Canberra Committee WHAT: Latin Beats WHEN: Sat May 17 WHERE: Monkey Bar

Young UN Women Canberra Committee is excited to announce it will be hosting Latin Beats at Monkey Bar in Civic. The event will help raise funds and awareness for important UN Women projects in developing countries that foster women’s empowerment and gender equality. Latin Beats will feature performances by DJ Trent Richardson and The Rock Steady plus two fantastic dance performances by Subsdance. UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The night kicks off at 7.30pm.

WHO: Jamie Hutchings WHAT: Bluebottle Kiss singer WHEN: Fri May 13, 8pm WHERE: The Front

“If you like things barren and not too squeaky clean, a bit of clatter and prettiness bedded together beneath some melodic ranting, then there’re a couple of fine reasons to come see me play. If you’re a fan of either me on my lonesome or Bluebottle Kiss you may also be aware that we haven’t honoured Canberra with a visit for a few years. You’ll be able to hear live renditions of tracks off my new album Avalon Cassettes. Two sets of old and new material with a line-up of twin percussion, piano, bass and me.”

WHO: Gay Paris WHAT: Ironic sex appeal and an ugly frontman WHEN: Thurs May 19 WHERE: The Phoenix

From vocalist Luke ‘Wailin H’ Monks: “Roll up, roll up! Imagine the best party you’ve never been to. This will be better. Do you like ironic sex appeal? Ugly frontmen that you still kind of want to take home? What about men with beards and tight jeans, sweet shoes and hips that just won’t stop shaking? Gay Paris bring all that and more. Voted ‘sleaziest bastards in rock’ by themselves, they are intent on keeping that title when they hit Canberra and will do most anything to achieve this.” Right on, Wailin H, right on.

WHO: The Delta Riggs supported by james fahy WHAT: Flair, grace, sleaze, grit WHEN: Thurs May 19 WHERE: Transit Bar

“We are The Delta Riggs. We, unlike many others, are not advocates for mediocrity and we strive to be the best we can possibly be, all the while entertaining the (insert number of) people that we are currently playing to. Each night is a different affair of flair, grace, sleaze, grit, dynamics, alcoholism and anything else that springs to mind. Like a snowflake no one show is ever replicated, each one being different from the last and the next. We record live because that’s how we are best represented.

That’s how we survive. So do yourself a favour and come down to the next show; you won’t be disappointed.”

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G N I B M I CL KO Z S U I C S O K

Matt Petherbridge

JEBEDIAH frontman Kevin Mitchell has certainly missed his

gang. After 2004’s Braxton Hicks, Mitchell decided to branch out, releasing music under the guise of Bob Evans and as a part of country-folk supergroup Basement Birds (starring Josh Pyke, Eskimo Joe’s Kav Temperly and his songwriting collaborator, solo artist Steve Parkin). At last, Jebediah have made their monumental return with fifth album Kosciuszko. Sonically, the band isn’t quite what you’d remember. They’ve delved into a deeper level of experimentation, toying with synthesizers, vocoders and drum machines – counterpointed by a melodic richness that Mitchell’s vocals had not previously seen on a Jebs album.

“We’ve got to strike a balance between including these extra sounds into the live set and embracing technology a little bit more.

But we don’t ever want to play to click tracks or ever have Brett drumming with headphones with a laptop on stage; we bloody don’t want to get into that,” he laughs. It’s important to Jebediah to retain the essence of their live performances of old, but at the same time, he admits, “We’re going to have to expand to make these new songs come alive.”

“We’re at a stage in our career where people wouldn’t have expected us to do anything more – I always felt that we had another record in us. It feels like an accomplishment in so many ways,” says Mitchell. “There’re so many examples of things, as a band, we thought we had to do a certain way, and getting rid of all that baggage was how we came up with this record.”

The expansion of the way of life in Jebediah is an extension of his experiences as Bob Evans and as one-fourth of Basement Birds.

“Bob Evans in particular has offered me all kinds of experiences and opportunities that I wouldn’t have had with Jebediah in terms of the types of gigs I’ve played, people I’ve recorded with. It gives you all types of tools to work with,” Mitchell muses.

The band built Kosciuszko from the ground up, jamming in the studio and then using Pro Tools to peel back the layers on the songs, pick out the most all That’s not unusual at interesting for bands not to get on parts and build them into really well. But at the completely new ds ban t, ugh tho I time, songs. “The a re we We gs! were gan track Oxygen little gang! We still are! had a Teenage Fanclub vibe and I really liked the melody but as we were recording it, I don’t know... It just wasn’t working for us. So we scrapped everything except for the drum track and we started all over again. We got rid of all the boring bits that we’d done because we thought, as a rock band, that’s what we should do. The song turned out completely different to how it was originally recorded,” says Mitchell.

“It’s a very easy thing to keep kicking around doing the same thing, relying on the same old tricks, especially when you get to thirty years old. I’ve been playing music since I was a teenager and I think it’s really important that you have to keep challenging yourself, to keep pushing yourself to learn new things and I think working with different people is one of the ways. You learn from other people, they throw you out of your comfort zone from time to time.”

They’ve embraced technology, a move sure to piss off fans still aligned with Jebediah’s former punk-rock ethos. “That’s the other thing though, when we were making this record – we didn’t give a shit about whether we could play this record live or not,” he laughs.

“We decided we weren’t even going to think of live performances until the album was done. It was only until over a month ago, that we went into the studio and started figuring out how we’re going to do everything live.”

Mitchell believes it’s a big challenge to “put a little care and a little thought” into their upcoming tour. “We’re looking at bringing in some samplers to trigger some of the effects that are on Kosciuszko. We’re investigating all that kind of stuff right now. It’s a brave new world for us.”

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Despite all of this talk about growing old and gaining new experiences, Mitchell is excited to be back in his gang. “I’m looking forward to revisiting that feeling of being on the road with my band,” he says, pointing to a huge experience from the band’s past, where Jebediah supported the biggest band in the world circa 1998, The Smashing Pumpkins, on their Australian tour.

“It was an interesting experience, y’know? We were ‘90s teenagers and Siamese Dream was a really important record. When we got the chance to tour with them, they’d become quite a different band from those first couple of records, but we were still really excited to tour with them.

“I remember walking down a hallway and seeing Billy Corgan’s name on it, I could hear him warming up inside and there’s D’arcy [Wretzy, original bassist]’s room and further on down James [Iha, original guitarist]’s room. They all had separate dressing rooms and it struck me as very strange. We had just released Slightly Odway; I was a bit naive about the whole thing. Now of course, I realise, that’s not unusual at all for bands not to get on really well.

But at the time, I thought, bands were gangs! We were a little gang!

We still are!”

Jebediah are hitting up ANU Bar as part of their Kosciuszko tour on Thursday May 26. Tickets are through Ticketek for $30.65.

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ALL AGES Increasingly popular Sydney based powerpop band The Never Ever are setting out on their Hey KT tour, celebrating the successful release of their single and debut music video. The girls and boys can be caught in Canberra on Saturday May 14, when they hit the stage at the Woden Youth Centre with a spectacular line-up of special guests, including Daylight Hours and Dan Sweeto from Melbourne, Canberra’s very own Beyond December (Formerly known as The Blaqk Year), Sydney based Wake The Giants and local act Psychic Asylum. Tickets cost $12 at the door and $12 (+bf) from Moshtix.

On Friday May 20 the Woden Youth Centre will host Band Aid, a band comp that gives local bands the opportunity to kick start their musical careers with prizes including a photo shoot, a music video, website design and management advice. There will also be a number of guitars up for auction at the event. So far the line-up will feature local bands Black Squire, Makeshift, Dramatic Effect, Little Saturn, West of the Sun, Immersion, No Assumption and Soheyla. But Band Aid does not only aid bands, tickets cost $5 at the door and all proceeds will go to the Magic Medicine Program, which provides those in hospitals and nursing homes access to music and free entertainment. Doors open at 5pm and the action won’t stop until late. Be part of a great cause for a great price.

Make the most of a luxury that many have not the pleasure of.

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Deathcore five-piece Emmure, all the way from Queens, New York, after the release of their fourth full-length studio album Speaker of the Dead are stopping by Canberra to shatter the walls of the Tuggeranong Youth Centre with special guests from Sydney, Shinto Katana, on Wednesday June 15. Tickets are $27 (+bf) from Moshtix, doors open to hungry fans at 6pm.

The multi-award winning and ever so delightful Brit James Blunt is once again bringing his unique brand of indie/pop-rock into venues all over the country, and of course selling out most of them.

Melbourne band The Verses will accompany Blunt for the entirety of the Some Kind of Trouble Australian tour. On Wednesday May 18 you have your chance to see both acclaimed acts at The Royal Theatre. Tickets cost between $89.45 and $99.10 depending on seating from any Ticketek outlet. Snatch those tickets up quick!

It is good to see that we still have a lot to look forward to on the music front for the time being, so make the most of it! The Canberran winter is already living up to its icy reputation, in Autumn, as a matter of fact! So enjoy the warmth of a crowd, the sweat on your brow from the warm stage lights and just the simple pleasure of having something fun to do indoors!

NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

There are a few Canberra bands who’ve been ‘round for years and gig almost every second day, but somehow I’ve managed to miss them.

The Wedded Bliss are one of those bands. On hearing the news of the release of their third album, Tailor Made Heartache, I thought the time was ripe to get to know them.

How and when did The Wedded Bliss form? The Wedded Bliss have been going for nearly ten years now, rising out of the ashes of Blair’s old band Crumpet. In that time over 20 people have come and gone from the band; it’s been musical therapy for people who wanted to come and share our deep love of country music, even if only for a little while. The current line-up of Blair, Lachy and Matt have been playing in the trio format for about two years now and we’re loving it – the three of us singing and playing together is really great fun.

What is the origin of the band’s name? Some think it’s a sarcastic reference to the potential for happiness in matrimony; we like how it captures the bittersweet nature of romance, and also we see the parallels of marriage to being in a band.

Can you tell us a bit about Tailor Made Heartache? We recorded it over three days as more of a loose, live affair centred around the trio and its vocal harmony-based live sound. We had the opportunity to overdub a few dashes of colour like mandolin, banjo-guitar, pedal steel and the like, but it’s more of a representation of the band’s live sound, as opposed to the previous records which are more studio-based productions (in the traditional sense) with great flourishes like horn sections, keys, etc, and a raft of guest players.

Can you tell us about your relationship with Canberra town and your ups and downs within it? We all agree that Canberra is a great place for music. It’s easy to get around, and there’re plenty of gigs – we’ve played at blue collar bars, weddings, caravan parks, national institutions; to give you an idea of the breadth of stuff that’s out there.

And some gigs have been good, some have been shithouse, but that’s music. More importantly, because of all the gigs, we’ve been able to really work on and develop a sound over the long term. The scene ebbs and flows like everything, and people come and go, but if you wanna do something in Canberra, there is a lot of opportunity.

And finally a little spiel about the launch. Sounds like the launch of Swingin’ Arms Hotel was a truly magic night. What’ve you got in store for the next? The launch gig is going to be about family, friends, and some good music. It’ll be a pretty relaxed affair, no half time fireworks display or giant inflatable dolls etc. You can probably expect a few mournful tunes, and some toe tappers – songs from across all three albums. The night starts about 7.30, and our support band is the wonderful Kristabell & The Southern Jubilee Ringers, so come on down and say gidday!

JULIA WINTERFLOOD julia@bmamag.com

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DANCE THE DROP

Time flies when you’re having fun. No one can blame us for wiling away the first half of 2011 in dimly lit clubs with duck faced strangers and a wallet full of beer money, for if the Mayans were right, we only have 18 months left before the earth turns into a steaming pile of melted Macintosh products. If a theoretically prophesised apocalypse is not enough to force you into full on party mode, well then I just don’t know what will!

Academy has been powering up your Saturday nights with a host of local talent in recent weeks, and the month of May is sure to be no different! Saturday May 14 see’s the ‘Sergeant of Singlet’ Jared De Veer take the helm, Saturday May 21 brings one half of the Ping Pong DJs, Matt Nukewood to the main stage while Saturday May 28 welcomes house music guru Pred back to a headline slot.

Canberra definitely has some very amazing venues to choose from and one which has been extremely underused over the years is The Deck at Regatta point. With spectacular views of many of our quintessential landmarks, the terrace is a novel place to get your swagger on with a bunch of well rugged up friends. Lucky for us, 4Sound have locked in another club event at the lakeside venue, which has been penciled in for Saturday June 4. The line-up and confirmed details are to be advised so stay tuned!

For those of you who attended the recent Warehouse music festival, you may have seen some of the media publicity that followed the event the next day. For starters, our city struggles to maintain a healthy dance music scene at the best of times, but to ambiguously demonise an entire culture because of a handful of overzealous revelers and a couple of empty coin bags was a tad ambitious in my eyes. A simple ‘Drugs are bad, mmm-kay’ would have been sufficient thank you. The festival itself was a great success and the turnout of over 5,000 people was impressive for an event that, for most, was followed by a torturously red-eyed day at work. The standouts for me were definitely Gabriel & Dresden who played an epic closing set on the outdoor stage; a notable mention also has to go to the very impressive two hour warm up by local lad Peekz!

With so much incredible music being released every day, I thought I might finish with a rundown on some of the best new records coming through my inbox. April was a great month for local artists including Canberra disco don Magnifik, whose latest single Behaving Badly has just debuted at No. 44 on the Aria dance chart; check out the killer Team Wing remix for some proper main room weaponry. Other releases firing up into May include The Immigrant - Summer of Love (Angger Dimas Mix), TV Rock - Beatboxer, Lowkiss - Monster (Bombs Away Mix) and Michael Woods - No Access. Enjoy!

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

facebook.com/ trinitybarcanberra

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KEEPING IT NATURAL

BRASSY BROTHERS

baz ruddick

PALIMAH PANICHIT

Australia doesn’t have many resident reggae/dub grime rappers. In fact, only one. This is what makes UK born producer-turned-rapper, LOTEK, (a.k.a Wayne Bennet) a pioneer. Lotek shares with me an anecdote on hip-hop’s birth on the streets of New York. Born in Jamaica, D.J Kool Herc gave birth to both MCing and block parties when he “packed up his records, packed up his new sound system, moved to New York and plugged it into a lamp post.” It was that simple. Lotek’s journey as a pioneer adding to the diversity of our local music scene is not unlike D.J Kool Herc’s homage to the hi-fi system on the streets of New York. It’s unique and natural.

The tale of the HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE is one so heartwarming that it should have its own Disney hip-hopera, with Morgan Freeman starring in there somewhere. Or maybe something less doe-eyed, because while they have come far from their salad days performing on subway platforms - their story is one of hard work.

Working with the likes of Roots Manuva and Speech Debelle, Lotek used inside knowledge as a producer to accomplish as a solo artist. “I think what has added to my success is that a lot of other people around me were on the same path - I knew what I needed to do to get where they’re going.” Whilst it is far more common for artists to leave Australia than to emigrate to it, Lotek “kind of just ended up where it felt natural.”

Nine-yearolds from east London were rapping about stabbing someone over beating them at Playstation!

Lotek’s music stands illustrative of the evolutionary nature of hip-hop today. Ten years go the UK hip-hop genre was reinvented by a “bunch of 12 and 13-year-olds with the influence of dub step and drum and bass, and finally people ceased calling it UK rap and started calling it grime. Nine-year-olds from east London were rapping about stabbing someone over beating them at Playstation!”

Like his eventual journey to Australia, Lotek’s maturation as an artist followed a similar ‘keeping it natural’ type philosophy. “It’s hard when you’re a young kid to actually see the diasporas of reggae music in English music and be able to see the past so clearly when you’re actually at the destination already.”

Lotek manages to encompass elements of contemporary grime yet remain deeply rooted in reminiscence of the ‘80s dub/ska scene that emerged from UK-Jamaican musicians of the time.

“I know that a certain reggae lyric or a certain reggae riff in one of my songs, when played in London, will go nuts because they will recognise it. A couple of the bass lines from my album are from famous reggae tunes. I haven’t done it in any sort of artistic way. I’ve done it in a sort of reggae way... a beat rip-off.”

A Lotek gig promises to be straight up organic energy with horns, a ‘live dub engineer’ and Wayne himself jumping about orchestrating the party on stage. Surely, something not to be missed.

Lotek will be playing his sweet tunes at Transit Bar on Saturday May 21.

Hypnotic is made up of eight brothers born from a family that has hit a rich musical vein; their father is Phil Cochran, a former golden-era trumpeter in Sun Ra’s Arkestra. It was no surprise to Saiph Graves, Hypnotic’s dynamic trombonist, that they would be later mentioned in the same breath as names like Damon Albarn and Erykah Badu and be shutting down stages like Times Square.

Australia is like Planet Earth’s home of the party.

They are definitely different to American audiences

“We put in and we get [it] back, you know what I’m saying? We’re not taking this for granted and we work for it. When we play, people automatically respond.

We know that if we put forward that straight Hypnotic energy, that contribution of eight of our spiritual creativity; we can just turn it on.”

Saiph is insistent on Hypnotic primarily being a live band. “Our live show is a gift to our fans, I’d say. It’s all about our fans. A lot of artists do their shows about their CDs, but for us we know what they want to hear, and we party. We do our slow songs real cosmic. You’re going to be sweating and dancing and smiling, and maybe filled up with an energy you never knew you had.” On the live note, Saiph rhapsodised about Australia.

“Australia is like Planet Earth’s home of the party. They are definitely different to American audiences. A lot of people there are very musically focused. We’re used to playing places where people just want to have a good time and party, but people there just pay a little bit more attention. They know the history of things.”

Hypnotic have been taking a short break from their recent four-year long world tour, but are ready to hit the road again, with dates in Australia coming up. Saiph warns previous listeners to expect something new, as Hypnotic have been recording a new EP and are bringing new material to the stage, saying: “It’s a fuller sound.

There’s a whole lot more going on, and there’s an energy to it. There’s electric bass in there and extra percussion. We just got a whole lot of knowledge to apply after a four-year tour.

“Originally a lot of people would think of how awesome it would be.

But it’s just as great as it is a headache. Your brothers know what buttons to push! Sometimes we have to find our own corners after a sound-check. But we take all of that emotion and energy to the stage. We know our weaknesses and our strengths. We know what we can do.”

Prepare to be hypnotised by The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble at the Vivid Festival, taking place in Sydney from Friday May 27 to Monday June 13. For more information check out www.vividsydney.com .

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MAKING A STAND glen martin For some of us, the fact that there is such a thing as a multiculturalism ‘debate’ is odd. What’s to debate? We come together from different places. We butt heads a little, trying to figure the whys and hows of our cultural differences. Then we eat each other’s food, drink each other’s preferred tipple and get on with it, enriched by the presence of those other than us. Queanbeyan boy OMAR MUSA doesn’t get it either. “I think it seems to be an argument that seems to linger. In Australia there’s always this debate, and it seems to come from a small minded fearfulness that pervades Australian society, and I’m not sure why that is - but it keeps coming up.”

Musa, fast emerging as one of the nation’s finer MCs and poetry slammers, was collared by the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) to provide a quick response to recent grassfires lit by conservative politicos and commentators. “I was asked by FECCA to respond to this article by (journalist at The Australian) Greg Sheridan about the failure of multiculturalism... but they didn’t want to do something that was too academic or just another opinion piece in the paper. They wanted me to do a spoken word response but I thought I could do something a bit cooler, more dynamic.

“We didn’t want to make an academic response that refutes points and knocks argument down methodically, we just wanted make a proud and dignified statement as people from non English speaking backgrounds, and do it through hip-hop because that’s what we know best.”

Sheridan’s article, titled How I Lost Faith in Multiculturalism, is a long and carefully weighted dismantling of the idea of multiculturalism in Australia, working its way toward a denouncement of the Muslim populations of areas in Sydney’s west. Musa calls it a “fairly thinly veiled attack on Muslims.” It provided a catalyst for a creative response, and gave Musa an opportunity to collaborate with some friends, including a legend of Australian hip-hop.

“I flinched at having my own personal individual opinion being the only one, because there are so many other approaches. I was lucky to have Hau (of Koolism) in town, both of us back in Queanbeyan. So I’ve known all the guys for a long time, and with someone like Hau I’ve looked up to him for a long time as well.”

The response is a video featuring Musa, Hau, Lesson MC and the beat-boxing skills of Kodak the Moment. It is neither a track, a clip

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or a piece of agit-prop people’s politics, but a combo of all three.

More than that, it’s an effortless and intelligent response to those who suggest that multiculturalism is a dirty word. And the balance and maturity of the arguments are exactly what the right wing commentariet wouldn’t expect.

“I was trying to break it down analytically I guess. Hau’s is more of a personal take, and Lesson’s is bit more fiery, a bit more on the attack. I wanted it to be very calm and personal, so that it wasn’t fighting fire with fire, or being defensive, or going on the attack.

It was our statement of our right to live as people of immigrant backgrounds... though we all are, really.”

Balance with this project was key. Musa doesn’t recoil from difficult areas within the assessment of migrant communities, but what he does attempt is to avoid the culture of bloodletting and spite that rests near the surface of the issue, and look for a positive outcome.

“I think it’s really important, because the thing with these debates is that they often descend into a really poisonous blame game, where people are trying to gain the moral high ground. It’s important not to be too holier-than-thou when it comes to this stuff, because... I know from my experience growing up in ethnic communities, just how prejudiced they can be against other immigrants. It’s important for me as an artist to analyse, to look at our own flaws and our own prejudices and see how we play a role in this as well. It’s way more complex. And it shouldn’t be this one way discourse that’s always against us, or against them, because what is achieved?”

The results of the collaboration display Musa’s skill in balancing complicated, hot political topics (which, when paired with a beat, morph into a fine piece of hip-hop), but Musa is no natural polemicist. “I‘ve always found (balancing music and politics) a pretty difficult balance. Because, no matter what I do, it can’t help but be political, just because of who I am. I’m Omar Musa, Malaysian Australian guy with a Muslim background... so no matter what I say, even if I’m writing a love song, or a club song, it is inherently political, because it’s being seen through that lens.

“I’ve always shied away from making political comments - just because of who I am doesn’t mean I have to constantly talk about social issues, or my heritage. I want to be able to write whatever.

But in the last two years I’ve realised that there are times where you need to stand up and be counted, especially when you see something poisonous and divisive. There comes a time where the party songs are well and good, but you’ve got to make a stand.”

The video, specially recorded for FECCA, can be viewed at youtube.com/ watch?v=X_h9arg2j3g .

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members from the show I was doing. We crept across and we kept our petticoats and corsets on and sang for the late night crowd and I just kind of caught the buzz.”

For the past few years now she’s been performing in her own live late night shows while leading a double musical life and maintaining her opera career. In fact, she’ll be in Canberra twice this month to perform with The Merry Widow and to promote her newest successful endeavour. Recently she set out to record an album, Jazz Cigarette. She said of the CD, “They are the songs that made me want to sing… I decided to go back to the source, to go back to the songs that inspired me to begin with.” After adding a few more classics of a different kind like Britney’s Oops I did it again and Sweet Dreams by Eurhythmics, Jazz Cigarette began to take shape.

CIGARETTES AND SYMPHONIES Lauren Bicknell Covering artists as diverse as Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Tom Waits and even Britney Spears – literally anything ALI MCGREGOR touches turns to a sassy shade of gold. A combination between jazz, cabaret, vaudeville and with roots in opera, Ali’s smooth vocals melt hearts and her unique performances stay with people long after they’ve left the room. The idea for her show was born in London’s East End. Ali had heard of chorus girls from the opera in Covent Garden who used to “…take off their outer-clothes, keep their corsets and petticoats on and then get a carriage to the east end to this old music hall and sing all their arias for the vaudeville public… and I just thought this idea was really very cool.”

So naturally when the Spiegeltent opened in Melbourne near where Ali was performing in an opera, she couldn’t resist. “I got four chorus

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And what a shape! Launched earlier this month, Ali said she received overwhelming reviews from the public, colleagues and friends alike. “They said it was really nice to see me singing with such freedom and with such honesty… I think it is the most free I’ve ever felt singing this repertoire.” The tour shows will be different from her others where there’s more dialogue, interaction and guest performers. But with so many of the songs tied so closely to her heart, the night will still involve some storytelling.

One such story is from when she lived in England in her early 20s.

She sang Bewitched for Dame Cleo Lane in a master class, “…and afterwards, she said, you know that’s lovely but I’m just wanting to ask if you’ve ever been in love before and I said ‘No, no, I don’t think I have’ and she said well what you need to do is, go out and fall in love with the wrong man and then come back to this song… and I did.”

Ali McGregor will be serenading audiences at The Street Theatre on Friday May 20. Tickets are $30/$28 concession, and are available through www. thestreet.org.au .

Charlotte’s travails form the centre of the piece, but she is not the only character Jarman plays. Indeed, over the course of two acts, Jarman plays almost 40 supporting roles, flicking between each role with the extraordinary skill critics and full houses have gone mad for.

“It’s a huge task,” he says of the effort required to play such a suite of characters. “But I guess the best way I can describe the process is by approaching it as an evening of story telling. Certainly I play this whole host of different characters, but each of them has their own story to tell.”

MASTER OF DISGUISE glen martin When I speak with actor Robert Jarman he’s pulled into the town of Coolac, one of the many regional centres he and the Tasmanian Theatre Company are touring with their production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play I AM MY OWN WIFE. “It has gotten to the point where it has become very confusing - what town you’re actually in at any given moment,” he says with a weary chuckle.

Such are the breaks for a performer who has crafted a performance critics have called “one of the great solo performances in recent history” and an example of “acting mastery”. I Am My Own Wife deals primarily with the true story of Charlotte von Marlsdorf, who survives the horror of Nazi Germany - a feat made more extraordinary by the fact that Charlotte was a he - a transvestite and central figure in Berlin’s underground performance community.

Quizzed on the physical mechanics of telling all those multiple stories, Jarman is practical. “The level of emotional commitment is the trickiest thing. To be playing one character, dealing with their emotional state, and literally bounce to a completely different character, and then bounce back again is suitably tough. In a weird way, this play is such a big ask that you have to be in the moment.

You can’t think ahead.”

Jarman’s position as the lead in a critically and commercially adored piece of theatre which was born from a regional company away from the glare of Australian theatre’s big cities, gives him an interesting platform to view the health of Australian theatre more generally.

“Audiences everywhere want to be treated like adults - they want serious, challenging theatre,” he says. “I think it’s fair to say that regional theatre isn’t undervalued in terms of funding or notice generally, but I do feel every now and then we come up with some exceptional products, and one does feel that one is the voice crying in the wilderness.” For the moment, Jarman is being heard, and loudly appreciated. “We’re looking forward to reaching Canberra,” he says, before treading the Coolac stage. “It means that we have two whole weeks in the one place!”

I Am My Own Wife is showing at The Street Theatre from Wednesday May 18 to Saturday May 28. Tickets are $29/$25 concession, and are available through thestreet.org.au .

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ARTISTPROFILE: Catherine Hagarty

What do you do? I’m an actress and an improviser in Canberra. I also work as a Captain Starlight at the Canberra Hospital by day and as a Duty Manager at The Street Theatre by night, when I’m not performing.

When did you get into it? When I was about five, my siblings and I would make up stories and performances for my family. Since then I’ve been constantly involved in theatre although I started to make a proper go of it when I took a break from teaching. After four years as a high school teacher I had hit a wall. I felt incapable of teaching these young people to live their dreams when I hadn’t even given mine a go. Needless to say I never went back.

Who or what influences you as an artist? Some of the great Australian improvisers; Patti Styles, Rama Nicholas, Cale Bain, Tim Redmond, Bec de Unamuno for their passion about creating beautiful pieces of theatre by constantly producing honest, committed and truthful play in improvisation. Also there are loads of Canberra actors and actresses that inspire me; Hanna Cormick, Cameron Thomas and Jordan Best just to name a few.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far?

Committing to acting full time was a big achievement and I was proud that I had the guts to step out there away from the comfort of a regular 9-5 job.

What are your plans for the future? To learn more and more and more. I have recently joined The Hive program with The Street

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Theatre as a Dramaturg. The training I am receiving from Peter Matheson is invaluable to my own work. So I hope to continue with this.

What makes you laugh? I giggle with my husband a lot. The everyday follies of my friends. The wild and wacky places that improvised theatre takes you. It’s never what you expect.

What pisses you off? When someone is unnecessarily unkind and mean but no one ever pulls them up on it.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? Through The Street Theatre I have seen a lot of local work and I have really enjoyed watching the development of the work. I think we’re telling good stories and getting the right assistance to create these. Certainly Impro is getting bigger and better as we embark on our 2nd Improvention in the lead up to 2013.

What are your upcoming projects?

Theatresports North vs South at The Street Theatre in May and June and then Improvention in July.

Contact info: chagarty3@yahoo. com.au

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IN REVIEW

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer The Street Theatre Tuesday April 14 A packed house squeezed itself into the cosy Street 2 on a cool Canberra evening to witness a tale of love, tragedy and triumph.

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik : Deep Sea Explorer, created and performed by Tim Watts, was a bittersweet story about Alvin’s search for his lost love and, incidentally, a means of saving humanity from its global warming follies. The end is nigh folks! The oceans have risen so high that the only habitations left are a few shacks perched atop mountains and tall buildings. In one shack, Alvin’s wife dies and her soul descends into the sea. He swims after her but the depths are too great. Then he hears of a search for heroes who will seek to save the remnants of humanity by finding a new world at the bottom of the sea. Alvin succeeds, but dies in the attempt and his soul is reunited with his wife. Ahhhhhh! A lot was packed into 45 minutes.

the whole show revolved around a circular screen less than a metre and a half across. Alvin appeared in a number of different sizes, from life size at the start to a tiny diver being chased by a luminous whale.

Mostly, he was the size of a hand, with an oversized helmet. A white glove was used ingeniously to portray the dynamic body of Alvin in his diving suit as he shivered, danced and sighed his way through the drama.

Simplicity and a brilliant imagination combined to give us an evening’s entertainment of great beauty, brought to us by Weeping Spoon, a Perth based theatre company well known for presenting outstanding shows. rory mccartney

The marketing hinted at a humorous tale, and while there were plenty of giggles, it was also quite sad in places. The biggest laughs came from Alvin’s boogying encounter with a disco ball, which had people in fits.

This one man show has deservedly earned a number of awards, as it uses a brilliant combination of puppets, song, music, animated computer graphics and other effects to cast a spell over the audience. The precise timing of the transitions between animated and puppet figures were amazing. Props were very simple but were employed ingeniously (eg a plastic bag turning into a jellyfish) and

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IN REVIEW Geese The Courtyard Studio Saturday April 30

Patrons attending a performance of Geese were drawn in from the quiet streets of Civic and injected into a surreal, alternate world of jagged emotion and unsettling questions about the meaning of life. Geese was produced by Canberra’s own Shadow House PITS experimental dance theatre, which seeks to use old and new media in exciting ways to explore the human condition. The production drew on the work of French writer Antonin Artaud, the originator of the theatre of cruelty, renowned for its bizarre and emotionally demanding stage techniques. The plot centred on Simon Rodez, a disturbed man killed in a railway station accident which was witnessed by a young girl. Dressed in a plain white garment, painted white and hairless, the tragi-hero Simon could represent any one of us. His movements are affected by spasms as if he is driven by life forces over which he has no control.

The drama examines the effects on his relations with the three most significant women in his life, his mother and lovers, in scenes that flash before us in the split second before his death. In doing so, it dissects primal aspects of modern culture, seeking to discover what makes us tick, what turns us on and what scares or obsesses us. God equals war, sex equals revolution. Both Christianity and Judaism are examined under a harsh spotlight. The intent is to draw us down to a cultural zero, devoid of the standard behavioural norms. The production cleverly combines music, dance and drama in a multi-textured performance. Jarring sound is used to jolt the audience, literally making us jump in our seats. It is sometimes hard to concentrate on the spoken words as there is so much going on, especially when Braiden Dunn, as the randy Goose, goes on to ravish one of the characters off centre stage. In addition, throughout the play, The Painter continues to illustrate aspects of Simon’s life in a mural at the back of the stage. Amongst the angst, there is a moment of light relief in a brief Balinese dance. Geese stands as another achievement of Shadow House PITS in its mission to stimulate and challenge Canberra’s theatre goers.

RORY McCARTNEY

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Vale Helen Brajkovic

bit PARTS WHO: The Black Arm Band WHAT: Murundak – Songs of Freedom (2011, M) WHEN: Sat May 14, 7pm WHERE: Arc Cinema, NFSA The Black Arm Band is an Indigenous Australian super group, bringing together an extraordinary company of leading singing and performing talents from Black Australia that has at times included Archie Roach, Jimmy Little, Bart Willoughby and the late Ruby Hunter. This new documentary follows this ensemble – as well as friends such as Shane Howard and Paul Kelly – as they toured their award-winning performance/theatre work in 2006. Murundak – Songs of Freedom gives us access to 30 years of Aboriginal history and political activism in song – a musical tradition in the making, with its blending of country and western, traditional Aboriginal sounds, hard Australian pub rock and passionate social statement. Head to the website for more info.

Early this month the Canberra arts community were shocked and saddened by the sudden, tragic loss of one of its most vibrant members. Helen Brajkovic and her husband Peter both died in a road accident in Gunning, just days before Helen – a dedicated member of the team at artsACT and a gifted theatre actress – was set to appear in Centrepiece’s production of Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid at The Courtyard Studio. Helen Brajkovic was a strong, passionate actress and a true team player, willing to put her all into helping create art in Canberra, whether through facilitation as an arts administrator, or through the performance of gutsy, dignified theatrical characters. Both Helen and her husband Peter will be truly missed. Our condolences are extended to their families at this time.

WHO: Impro ACT WHAT: Theatresports™ - North v South WHEN: Sun May 22, Sun May 29, Sun June 5 WHERE: The Street Theatre In 2011, lines will be drawn and the record will finally be set straight.

Since Lake Burley Griffin was officially completed in ‘64, Canberrans have asked the question, which side of the lake is the best? For three Sundays The Street Theatre will play host to competitive improvised theatre that the whole family can enjoy. Theatresports™ is a fast and fun-filled theatre ride which combines wit, comedy, drama and fearless public performance. Given that Canberra houses some of the country’s quickest thinkers who are capable of providing extremely creative answers to the curliest of queries it is appropriate that Theatresports™ is used to settle Canberra’s most important question. thestreet.org.au .

WHO: Canberra Short Film Festival WHAT: Call for entries WHEN: Now! WHERE: www.csff.com.au

WHO: Anyone with a story to tell WHAT: Now Hear This!

WHEN: Entries open now WHERE: abc.net.au/canberra Have you got a great story to tell? Now Hear This! is an entertaining evening created by 666 ABC Canberra and The Street Theatre as an opportunity for Canberrans to share their personal stories.

Your story can be funny, sad, embarrassing, uplifting, strange, risqué, bawdy, extraordinary or simple – as long as it’s a true story from your life and matches the theme of Love is a Four Letter Word. There are a couple of rules for your ten minute story: it’s not stand up comedy, it’s not a confessional, it’s not a raging diatribe and storytellers won’t be relying on anything but their memory.

As part of this experience they are also offering a workshop for the storytellers selected, which will be presented by 2007 UK Storyteller of the Year, Rachel Rose Reid. Visit abc.net.au/canberra for more details.

The 16th annual Canberra Short Film Festival is one of Australia’s premier film competitions and the meeting place for our hottest short filmmakers. Two years ago, one of our Official Selection films, Miracle Fish, netted several international awards and an Academy Award nomination. This year’s Festival will run at Dendy Cinemas over three glittering nights during Floriade from Friday September 16 - Sunday September 18. Cash prizes up to $1,500 will be awarded in four categories – National Schools, Grass – Roots, Emerging and Practising. There is also a People’s Choice award in each category.

Entries close on Saturday June 25. For all the info head to www.csff.com.au .

WHO: ANCA Gallery Tenants WHAT: Solar exhibition WHEN: Wed May 11 ‘til Sun May 22 WHERE: ANCA Gallery Solar will combine art and action on climate change in the ACT. It celebrates the Australian National Capital Artists (ANCA) Gallery’s installation of a substantial solar panel system on the roof of its Dickson studios. The exhibition will include art works considering the themes of the sun and the elements, heat and light, the ACT landscape, environmentalism and alternative power. The opening will see local community environment groups SEE-Change and Canberra Loves 40%, expert Dr Richard Denniss and ANCA artists celebrating the meeting between art and action. Art has a vital role to play in addressing social change. ANCA hopes to strengthen these connections within the ACT community, and be part of creating the momentum in support of a sustainable Canberra.

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JUSTIN HOOK This ‘playing the whole album live’ thing is getting out of hand.

What started as a neat gimmick to reward fans has spiralled way out of control, rapidly turned into a cynical marketing manoeuvre deployed by long forgotten bands to relive their moment of glory.

It’s great that Sonic Youth have performed Daydream Nation and GZA’s Liquid Swords probably demands the treatment but was it really necessary for Cheap Trick to play The Beatles’ iconic Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band with the Sgt Pepper Symphony Orchestra? In Las Vegas? That’s just confusing.

Central Victoria is a long way from Vegas, but it was high up in the Victorian Alps whilst playing All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2009 that Jason Pierce was strong armed into bringing SPIRITUALIZED’s beloved 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space to the stage. “I was pushed towards the decision to do that album on top of Mt Buller, so if anything else I can always say I was affected by altitude.”

In the late 2000’s – only a few years after he was hospitalised with a bout of double pneumonia that also flooded his lungs and took him significantly closer to death – reviving an album well over a decade old was the furthest thing from Pierce’s mind. As could be expected, he was looking to the future and cagey about the ‘whole album’ thing. “I’m still as wary but sometimes when you’re on the inside it feels a bit different.

I’m more wary of people’s motivations for reforming old bands.

It seems to be either financial or reliving past glories. Just assembling the people you were with when you were 21 and saying ‘Hey, we can do that again’. It’s slightly suspect.”

Our music isn’t full of talent, it’s just considered. Like a heartbeat. Like simple mathematics that finds electricity

Not that Pierce hasn’t indulged. “Yeah, I’ve seen some amazing shows. The Stooges doing Raw Power… that was unique and

special.” As if to underline his reticence, the band has only performed Ladies And Gentlemen… live a handful of times this way. “We haven’t really been touring. We’ve done five shows and I thought we were done. But then I was asked to do the Sydney Opera House and a little bit of me wanted to say no but I couldn’t turn it down. I just had to take that show to that venue.”

Like Cheap Trick there will be an orchestra involved. Unlike Cheap Trick it won’t be tosh. “It’s such a glorious feeling to play with a 45-piece band that’s on the edge. You see, we haven’t rehearsed for weeks in a studio leaning parts. It’s more about teaching people the vocabulary of these shows and the songs and then letting them fly, releasing it. There is something unbelievable about being able to do that. We’re only bringing six people over. It’s not a cabaret.”

Ladies and Gentlemen… was a strange album at the arse end of Britpop; gospel crashing into sax-driven glam pop (Come Together), hazy harmonica flecked motorik dream pop (I Think I’m In Love), trippy ballads (Broken Heart) and 17-minute plus Miles Davis inspired no-wave wig out (Cop Shoot Cop). It famously beat OK Computer and Urban Hymns as NME’s Album of the Year in 1997. Fans should be forewarned, don’t expect a facsimile of your favourite record. Pierce has something else altogether in mind, as he explains, “We’ve always approached this thing (Ladies and Gentlemen… live) like we were going to get inside of it. We were never going to perform a piece of music form 14 years ago and had no intention of playing it as if we were reliving how it was then.

You can play that record before the show and it won’t be the same as what we play in that hall. It’s not about replicating it. We want to find the power and glory and raggedness and all the things that made it special.”

Part of the album’s longevity is a certain transcendence of specifics; it’s difficult to peg it to an explicit time or place. It certainly doesn’t ‘feel’ like an album released in the aftermath of Cool Britannia. Nor has it aged in the slightest, feeling just as chaotic, vibrant and otherworldly as it did over a decade ago. For Pierce, there’s an easy explanation. “I’ve always said time is the enemy of records, meaning that fashions and music trends often change before an album hits the market. I’ve never been interested in that. If you allow yourself the time to be able to focus on the ideas you can achieve anything, it’s not beyond your means. Our music isn’t full of talent, it’s just considered. Like a heartbeat. Like simple mathematics that finds electricity.”

The majority of Ladies and Gentlemen… went on to form the bulk of a stunning double live album recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which captured the savage glory and intense raggedness that Pierce enthuses about. Almost 14 years to the very day (October 11, 2011) the band are due to play Albert Hall again. News of the synchronicity captures Pierce by surprise. “Huh, really? Wow. I didn’t think about that. If I had thought about it I would have tried to hit the date exactly. So I was one day off, sounds about right for me. Are we early or late?” Late, I confirm. “Yeah – that figures. Our 10th anniversary for Ladies and Gentlemen…. was three years late, so I guess were getting better.”

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Spiritualized perform Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space on Friday May 27 and Saturday May 28 at the Sydney Opera House. For more info head to the Vivid Sydney site, vividsydney.com .

tries to keep performance pieces under 15 minutes to keep things varied.

A HIGHER DECIBEL Lauren Bicknell Dark images of someone rocking back and forth while they eat their own hair and mumble quietly to themself can somehow find a way of creeping into your mind when listening to experimental music but Cat Hope from DECIBEL explained there’s more to it than may first meet an unprepared ear. The mind behind the group from WA said experimental music can be defined as testing boundaries. “For me, experimental music is music that’s adventurous, trying things out… this idea about music that it doesn’t feel like it has to behave in any certain way but comes out freely.”

Decibel’s boundary testing music uses dissonance, a lot of reverb and is often without the familiarity of tonal structure, which is why people sometimes don’t know how to react to it.

“When you go to a concert, I think its really important the way it’s programmed so that… when something gets too nasty or too hard or [people] don’t get it or don’t like it then it’s not too long before the next thing that might offer something different.” She said Decibel

The abstract beauty of darkness really interests me

Their pieces can conjure up a myriad of feelings from darkness to sensuality to peace but Cat says with Decibel’s music, emotional expression is often a coincidence. “Art is, for me, something quite abstract… the abstract beauty of darkness really interests me or I find that those kind of sounds and atmospheres are really beautiful or rewarding or appealing and that’s why I create them in my music.”

With plans in the near future to collaborate with artists from all over the world as well as record and perform regularly, Cat says Decibel will keep on truckin’ despite little funding. “I guess I take the approach to just play concerts, make recordings and take as many opportunities as you can to get your stuff out there.”

Decibel will be testing Canberra’s boundaries soon with four pieces that are sure to engage and entrance audiences. A fascinating feature of the night will be their infinity machine. They had it built just last year by two West Australian sound artists.

“It’s this quite odd machine made of wires that have currents running through them and as the current intensifies, they get softer and little magnets are used to control the sound of these wires as they become increasingly sensitive. A musician or two will play with the infinity machine and the changes in air pressure change the way the machine reacts or the way it sounds.” Another, more traditional, feature of the show will be guest musician, James Larson, a Canberra based Cellist.

You can catch Decibel with The Pollen Trio at The Street on Saturday May 14 as part of the Peking Spring festival. Tickets are $12.concession, $18 adult, and are available through thestreet.org.au .

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Putting It Bluntly TIM GALVIN

I have never used a pick up line in my life, well maybe once, and whenever you do something ‘just once’ it has to be perfect, it has to be memorable and it has to indirectly involve an internationally renowned superstar recording artist. It just so happens that my particular muse was UK bred modern day troubadour JAMES BLUNT. Those in the know understand that the entertainment business is an incalculable mistress and as I may never get the chance to talk to Blunt again, I thought, why not share my charmingly putrid conversation starter with the man himself?

“What the hell is that?” he laughs down the phone from his US hotel room, fresh from an appearance on the Conan O’Brien show.

Well now I just have to tell him. I take a deep breath and continue, “Excuse me, I don’t mean to be Blunt but ‘you’re beautiful, you’re beautiful’.” Luckily this is followed instantly by laughter and then, “I don’t think I’ll be using that one myself thanks.”

It is clear at this point that James Blunt doesn’t need any help in the charm department; he’s a very polite and beguiling character. It is no surprise then that he was recently rumored to be performing the previously alluded to hit song at the recent royal wedding at Buckingham Palace.

“I actually started that one myself,” says Blunt. “I was just being asked a lot about it and eventually you just give them what they want so I said ‘Sure I’m just playing the church organ’. Then I changed my Wikipedia page to say ‘classically trained organ player’ and something like four and a half thousand websites published it so it got a bit out of hand!”

I might be seen as a star but while I’m busy talking about myself there is a doctor out there saving somebody’s life

The past few months in Bluntville have been spent living out of a tour bus. “It’s not as glamorous as you might think when you are all still looking for a shower in the morning,” he adds.

Blunt is currently crisscrossing North America to promote his latest studio album Some Kind of Trouble, a more uplifting foil to his previous ballad rich long-players Back to Bedlam and All the lost souls.

“I was writing [this one] for myself, which is kind of selfish in hindsight and I’m just having fun,” says Blunt. “I’ve just set out to do stuff that I’d enjoy, so I’m writing all the songs I have always wanted to write and that’s why this [album] is really upbeat and energetic.”

Buying a ticket to a James Blunt show is now more than just a way to please your girlfriend. His recent live performances have been heralded for their raw energy and audience interaction, something which Blunt explains has been enhanced with his new material.

“To go onstage and play has been amazing, it’s been really funny to see the various reactions to the new songs. Like, Stay The Night has that kind of football chant on top of it and you hit the first chord and everybody starts singing, it just takes you by surprise.”

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As most of his fans will know, before he was a world famous recording artist, Blunt served as an officer with the British army as part of the NATO operation in the Balkans, an experience which served to empower the artist to become an ambassador for charity organisations such as Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), something which he promotes all over the world.

“Just from my experience in Kosovo, we were doing a tough job but every day they would be saving civilians’ lives and just under the security and protection that they gave us, it just amazed me. Now, fortunately I am in a position where I can give something back,” he says. “I might be seen as a star but while I’m busy talking about myself there is a doctor out there saving somebody’s life.”

But don’t assume that Blunt is all poetry and rock skimming, no sir, this is a man who can take apart an Enfield SA-80 assault rifle in less than a minute, probably while necking a pint of warm beer.

“I think to a degree you are probably right with that; people will perceive people who they read about or hear music from in a certain way depending on which songs they know them for, particularly which singles they know them for,” says Blunt. “People always say ‘Hey, you must be romantic’, but I don’t carry around flowers with me or anything and if you asked me how I was feeling about anything I would say ‘fuck off mate, why don’t we have a drink!’ People ask me about relationship advice too and most of my songs are about failed relationships so there is definitely some irony in there,” he laughs.

While his reputation is for music that is mostly contemporary pop and wedding songs, Blunt assures his fans that he has a little more up his satin sleeve this time around.

“I do divorces too, I have a song for every moment, single people as well and everything in between,” says Blunt. “I’m really excited about coming back to Australia, the people have such an amazing sense of humour and a great sense of life, so I don’t have to work too hard and I can just relax and have a laugh!”

James Blunt will be inspiring audiences at the National Convention Centre on Wednesday May 18. Tickets are available through Ticketek for $99.10.

like the rest of us, but there are no big mishaps nor are there and big problems.

“We simply get along quite well,” Sean confesses. “Playing with these boys is effortless, and it’s something we all enjoy.”

AN APPETITE FOR FUN JAMIE AZZOPARDI With their frantic tour schedule, I was lucky enough to chat with Sean from HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY about their upcoming shows in support of their album Escapades and what they are up to next both musically and personally. I also snuck in a few sneak questions for you Canberra fans, to see just what you can expect from their upcoming ANU gig.

The shows are crazy, and for some reason we seem to take control at some early point, and the crowd follows us, which counts for an amazing journey

The band is looking forward to the handful of upcoming gigs in support of their current album, but are also looking forward to getting to work on their forthcoming album. While he wasn’t saying too much about what the new album would be about, I did manage to get out of Sean that the new album would be a lot different in many ways. Look forward to a new side to the HKOH being shown, and make sure you check out their amazing live gig - if it’s anything like what you see at festivals they are a band you are going to want to see now, before you lose the chance!

The Hungry Kids of Hungary will be providing an aural feast for punters at the ANU bar on Friday May 20. Tickets are through Ticketek for $21.90.

The Brisbane band made up of Ben, Kane, Remy, Ryan and Sean ironically is not hungry, at least not until after a gig, nor are they from Hungary or of Hungarian descent. Although there is often some confusion about the band’s name, one thing that is evidently clear is that good music is in no shortage when you’re around the Full Men of Brissy.

Escapades was released in October 2010, and for the past few months the band, who are slowly taking over Australia, have toured in support of it. “So far the tour has been a lot of fun, manic energy that the crowd really seems to enjoy,” says Sean. “The shows are crazy, and for some reason we seem to take control at some early point, and the crowd follows us, which counts for an amazing journey both for the band and the fan.”

The band rarely get to play Canberra, so they’re looking forward to hitting up the Nation’s Capital. “Melbourne, Sydney and even Brisbane get booked quite frequently, but we like playing in remote and smaller places as it is good to get away from the big cities sometimes. The Canberra show will be a lot of fun, and we get to play in a room we haven’t previously,” tells Sean.

I like to get the goss about what’s happening on tour whilst bands are away, and usually there are some stories of band members mysteriously disappearing or accidently doing something they shouldn’t but according to Sean the boys are fairly well behaved.

Sure, they go out and party, just

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THE REALNESS First up, it’s only right that we say RIP to Gerard Smith from the phenomenal TV On The Radio. Gerard has sadly succumbed to his battle with cancer after only very recently being diagnosed. He will surely be missed. TV On The Radio have just released another brilliant album, Nine Types of Light. I recommend picking it up and honouring Smith’s legend.

After a stellar debut record on the always-reliable Stones Throw, MED has returned with a new album Bang Ya Head 3: Special Edition.

Unsure of the significance of the title, or why he is no longer on Stones Throw (anyone know?), but the producer line-up is enough to keep me hyped. Waajeed, Exile, J-Rocc, Madlib, Oddisee, The Alchemist and Diabiase all contribute productions.

Also on the hip-hop tip, Atmosphere, Del and Blu have all just released brand new albums to the world, further proving that they are three of the hardest working names in hip-hop. Del has generously included two previously unreleased or hard to find albums along with his brand newy, so you get three for the price of one!

Hot on the heels of Hotflush who recently dropped the awesome Back & 4th double disc compilation which showcased brand new tunes alongside previously released classics, the equally dope Hessle Audio label has announced their debut compilation 116 & Rising. The label run and curated by the dream team of Ben UFO, Ramadanman

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and Pangaea have their finger on the pulse of bass music and have assembled a ridiculously dope line-up for the new tune disc with the likes of Elgato, Untold, Blawan, Addison Groove, Randomer, Cosmin TRG, D1 and Joe all appearing alongside Pearson Sound and Pangaea themselves. The compilation is out Monday May 16.

Bristol label Immerse has released some quality music of late and are keeping the run hot with the next release for Russian producer Kontext. His upcoming two disc collection collates a number of his older works for Immerse alongside brand new tunes and remixes.

Should be a great introduction to his sound for all those who are unfamiliar with his work. The release is out Monday May 16.

I’ve been a fan of Deadbeat for a while now but without having any of his full length releases (they are always out of stock when I go looking for them!). Thankfully, he’s got a new record entitled Drawn & Quartered due out on his own label Blkrtz in June. Having always flirted with more experimental dub and bass music, Deadbeat has of late moved towards more main room vibes with a few singles and remixes, but the album will apparently have him back in his comfort zone of deep atmospherics and heavy subs.

Finally this month we move to Flying Lotus’ ever-prolific Brainfeeder label which seems to be dropping an EP new release every couple of weeks these days from the jazz excursions of Austin Peralta (yes, Stacey’s son!) to the heavy sonics of Mono/Poly. Following up the latest album on the label from Mathewdavid is the new album from LA based producer Samiyam. He’ll deliver Sam Baker’s Album in June, which will continue to showcase his trademark sluggish hip-hop psychedelia. To hear music from all these releases and much much more, tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM every Tues night from 9:30pm or stream at 2xxfm.org.au .

ROSHAMBO roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

At The Disco have been announced. Probably more exciting for metal fans is the confirmation of Sweden’s Watain and France’s Gojira.

METALISE There’s a great night coming up on Saturday May 21 for In Malice’s Wake’s album launch. For a mere 15 bucks you can catch the Victorian thrash assault launching their album, suitably entitled The Thrashening, with a wealth of local and interstate talent. Their Oceanic Assault tour takes in 15 shows in Australia and New Zealand and the Canberra bill has one of the strongest line-ups of the whole tour. Along for the bangfest is Kill For Satan, Hellbringer, Desecrator, Teratornis and Immorium and the doors open at 6pm for appropriate lubrication at the south side’s home of metal.

Morbid Angel are touring at the end of the month with their Saturday May 28 show in Sydney at the Manning Bar. The supports have now been announced and The Amenta and Ouroboros have been given the honour of sharing the stage with Florida’s supreme death lords.

It seems like yesterday Morbid Angel were playing ANU Bar with Armoured Angel…sigh. Tickets through Moshtix, Oztix or direct from The Manning Bar. Soundwave Revolution continues to ‘tweet-feed’ the line-up into circulation, though as many tweets seem to be devoted to who ISN’T coming. No, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne or Rage Against The Machine are NOT playing. This has not stomped rampant speculation flying around like buggery. Since last issue, The Cro Mags, Street Dogs, Hatebreed, Dashboard Confessional, All Time Low and Panic!

Evil Invaders Fest is up to its third instalment and the two days of brutality up at The Wall on Parramatta Road (also known as the Bald Faced Stag) features a staggering line-up of Australian goodness. Not only can you see Queensland’s Portal playing their only 2011 domestic show, but Raven Black, The Corps, d.USK (featuring ex-members and the songs of dISEMBOWELMENT), Taipan, Impetuous Ritual, Witchrist, Grave Upheaval, Erebus Dethroned, Assaulter, Black Jesus, Innsmouth, Trench Hell, Hellbringer and Ignivomous.

Nevermore announced a pretty monumental split recently, with guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams bowing out of the band. Suffice to say that the June tour promoted by Red Ant has been canned and any of you with tickets should be able to get a refund at the point of purchase. Also in break-up mode is Sydney melodic death metal band Daysend who after eight odd years following forming from the ashes of Psi Kore, have called it a day. There’s no bad blood or any reason for calling it quits other than an inability to “continue as a band any longer”. Farewell.

A whole bunch of Aussie bands in the process of releasing new music this year including Blood Duster, The Kill, I Exist, Summonus, Looking Glass, Pod People and more. Expect a bumper spring harvest this year, The Kill’s album should be out first of this lot and what a faceshredding piece of grind it is.

Unkle K’s band of the week: Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – German ambient and avant garde jazz meets Sabbathy doom with lashings of Autopsy. myspace.com/bohrenundderclubofgoreofficial JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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the word

on albums

album of the issue The Middle East I Want That You Are Always Happy [Spunk]

The Middle East’s debut is a thrilling collection of dramatic contrasts between light and shadow. The extreme range of themes, leaping between darkness and frivolousness, is well portrayed by the cover; the grim reaper, arm in arm with a clothed banana. Opener Black Death 1349 achieves its ghostly atmosphere, as the music fades in and out of intensity like a plastic bag rising and falling on wind gusts. The similarly eerie My Grandma Was Pearl Hall, with a Tom Waits style stagger in the vocals, processes haltingly against a low tone that hovers menacingly in the background.

Its lingering finish features tip toeing piano, its notes falling like tears into a bath.

The album then shifts up three gears into more up tempo folk, from the toe tapping playfulness of Jesus Came to My Birthday Party to the hand clapper Months. The deep, bluesy Mount Morgan portrays the band’s love of the experimental, exploring the limits of the folk genre.

The Middle East’s music has a fragile quality, which can be almost overwhelmed by the background chatter at gigs, but this production has captured the full depth and richness of their sound.

RORY MCCARTNEY

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Bill Callahan Apocalypse [Spunk]

Jebediah kosciuszko [Dew Process]

Snowman Absence [Dot Dash Records]

Bill Callahan, under his own name or the retired Smog moniker, has been delivering off kilter songs bout love, obsession, death, horses, captivity and confusion for over twenty years. Apparently he stopped using Smog because he didn’t like the way the ‘mog’ part looked on album covers.

He could be bullshiting – it’s hard to tell. His dry wit and straight delivery often makes it hard to figure what’s going on in that fractured mind. But he does seem to be moving away from cryptic lyricism to a more personal narrative.

They’re a bit more experimental this time around but the hard-rocking renaissance of Jebediah with their latest record Kosciuszko is hard to fault. Opener Lost My Nerve is dark and angry (in other words, pure grunge), complete with thrashy guitars and warbling synth basslines that create a chaotic ending.

Enigmatic experimental electro band Snowman had an unusual genesis, consisting of Europeans and an Indonesian who grew up in Perth. They won the Next Big Thing competition in ‘04 and a, ‘05 WAMI. Further awards, tours with big name bands and two albums followed before they relocated to London in ‘08. Now they’ve called it a day, but not before releasing their third CD Absence. Snowman create music like broad canvases, with the colours running together, rather than precise portraits.

The opening track Snakes and Ladders features finger snapping percussion and hazy lyrics that drift in an amorphous cloud. Individual melodies appear and vanish, rising and falling rapidly just like the song title in this acoustic game.

Hyena kicks off with a welter of clanging instruments in a percussive frenzy similar to that employed by Shearwater.

The primitive chant “Hyena, hyena” stands out clearly above other vocals that are lost in a maze of echoes. White Wall uses a simple mesmerising melody, which morphs slowly into tribal drums. Séance dazzles with its screeching jungle sounds, ghostly lyrics backed by a rising operatic siren’s call, and gongs similar to the Gamelan orchestra employed by Mike Oldfield in Incantations. Absence is a deliberately mysterious, atmospheric maze of chamber filling sound. However, its allure is reduced by the similarly in song formats that dulls the listener’s attention.

Take America! for example – a terse pulsating number that is neither a sideswipe at his native country nor tongue-incheek satire, but something approaching straight up historical analysis in song form.

Albeit one with occasional burst of squalid atonal jugular riffing amongst acres of sparse repetitive grooves. And if anyone does sparse repetition well – it’s Callahan. Throbbing tightly coiled fingerpicked nylon stringed repetition. On Universal Applicant he makes a break and layers on jaunty North African-esque guitar flicks and rhythms before dropping in a delicate prog-folk coda. Stunning and unexpected.

Throughout it all that sonorous honey-soaked voice remains front and centre, floating above instrumentation with elegant effortlessness. But Callahan is getting dangerously close to diminishing returns and Apocalypse is only a faltering victory for Admiral Chugginton.

JUSTIN HOOK

There’s something really irrepressible about first single She’s Like a Comet, and further highlights include the offbeat drum accents of The Lash and the oddly Melbourne-esque To Your Door puts harmonies against a boppy blues rock beat, along with my favourite, the uptempo Control – with a fast paced acoustic guitar that moves into a Dinosaur Jr-esque rocker with sweet and glorious lead breaks, as frontman Kevin Mitchell muses “Where did I go wrong? I don’t want to be in control again.”

Drum machines and vocoders pop up here and there, on songs like the urgently bombastic Under Your Bed and the eerily serene Oxygen, but who cares? Why should Jebediah or any other rock band take themselves so seriously that they have to be strictly tied to drums-bass-guitar?

Kosciuszko boasts a mutated but hypnotic mix of musical elements, all within a fast-paced rock album brimming with excitement, experimentation and sometimes near brilliance.

Three words – Must Have.

Kosciuszko. Now! Oh wait...

MATT PETHERBRIDGE

RORY McCARTNEY

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

Warrant Rockaholic [Frontiers/Riot] Warrant: archetypal one hit hair metal wonders or serious hard rockin’ legacy pedlars?

Their new album Rockaholic does absolutely nothing to decide this most important of questions, but if you’re a fan of brainless, big-chorused gonzo hysteria then you’ll do worse than waste an hour listening to this whilst pretending to get to the bottom of the conundrum.

The worst thing that Rockaholic has going for it is that vocalist and main songwriter Jani Lane flew the coop years ago, so there’s absolutely nothing here in the league of a Big Talk, an Uncle Tom’s Cabin or, of course, the ubiquitous Cherry Pie. What there is, is some general issue stackheeled strut that at times sounds like none other than Canberra’s very own Tonk, thanks to a fleeting vocal resemblance between new Warrant throatsmith Robert Mason and the man Jinx. The rockers are of course mixed in with some big production number ballads, the best of which, Home, is almost up there with the band’s best efforts in the field.

There’s too much filler mid album – bands still feel the need to fill a CD even if they ain’t gotst the material to do the job – and after the excellent latterday Jovi pop rock of What Love Can Do the album drifts until a couple of corkers at the end let the album go out on a high and leave you feeling good about the whole thing. Not perfect, but pretty good nonetheless.

Scott Adams

X Ray Spex Live @The Roundhouse London 2008 [Year Zero] One night in 2008 punk legends XRS took up the cudgels again for a performance at London’s equally legendary Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, the results of which are offered up here for both your listening AND viewing pleasure – and surprisingly dandy they are too. Star of the show is obviously vocalist (and lone survivor from the band’s halcyon days) Poly Styrene, whose dementoid-on-theedge-of hysteria (imagine an even angrier female version of John Lydon) banshee wail is amazingly sounding stronger than ever, especially on material from the band’s seminal debut, Germ Free Adolescents, almost all of which is given a pipeopening run here. Award for best supporting saxophonist goes to the enigmatically named Flash, whose driving horn tootling really adds drive to every song, lifting them out of the three-chords-and-thetruth quagmire they might otherwise have become bogged down in. Highlights are the ever ferocious Oh Bondage Up Yours! (which appears twice, once as set opener and once as well deserved encore), a steamrollering version of their magnificent blank generation anthem Identity and the title track of that storied debut, though there’s something to like wherever you drop the needle if you’re so minded. A great album for fans old and new alike, and a fitting epitaph to Ms Styrene who sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago. Raise a glass when you listen.

Nambucco ‘I Am a Cliche’ Deliria

Yuck Yuck [Fat Possum] Surely we’re due a ‘90s revival any day now. In fact, the proliferation of flannel around town might suggest it’s already begun. Either way, when it does hit and the kids start trading in their synthesisers for Jazzmasters, London’s Yuck are well poised to spearhead the revolt. Borne from the holy trinity of Dinosaur Jr’s You’re Living All Over Me, Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, Yuck began as guitarists Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom: childhood friends who, in their mid-teens, formed and later defected from hotly-tipped British indie-popsters Cajun Dance Party.

Yuck’s self-titled debut stands as a testament to the band’s strong songwriting, as it was recorded on the most meagre of set-ups: a couple of mics into a Tascam Portastudio – which sell for under 200 bucks on ebay – and all of it mixed in Garageband. Of course, songs like The Wall and the Yo La Tengo-esque Georgia would sound great recorded through a hearing aid in a rusty milk pail. While the wonderfully daft lyrics of the latter – “tryin’ to make it through the wall/you can see me if you’re tall/looking over” – reveal little, they serve to support some infectious vocal melodies. Though much of the album revels in walls of guitars that at turns buzz, snarl, squeal and swirl, almost an equal part is made up of more restrained, plaintive fare. From here, it’ll be interesting to see where Yuck head next.

PETER KRBAVAC

Beastie Boys Make Some Noise [EMI] For a bunch of 40+ dudes, Make Some Noise is a staggeringly energetic exercise in funky rap.

Over that incessant keyboard riff, the Beasties show they’re still packing heat with plenty of goofy, white boy swagger and banging production.

Ian Carey Last Night ft. Snoop Dogg & Bobby Anthony [UMA] Bobby Anthony must have naughty pics of everyone involved in this junk as he is beyond terrible as the autotuned narrator of Last Night.

The less said about him the better. So let’s focus on Snoop, who doesn’t really need to do this kinda shit any more. As with most of his features these days, Snoop’s on auto-pilot, casually strolling through his requisite bars with corked teeth.

Justice Crew Dance With Me ft. Flo Rida [Sony BMG] Perhaps even more whorish than the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg, Flo Rida would feature on pretty much anything. So of course he’s up for shovelling the shit with Justice Crew. This dude would guest on your voicemail if the money’s right.

Lady Gaga Judas [UMA] In the space of two years Lady Gaga has somehow become the Muse of chart pop; she’s got her head stuck tight up her own arse searching for an artificial message and couldn’t be bothered being fun any more.

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the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Sometimes, a great film will have the ability to change the way you look at the world. An Inconvenient Truth startled viewers into taking climate change seriously. Many of those who entered the film Food Inc. left the cinema as vegetarians. And now there’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

You will enter the cinema convinced that Bieber is a talentless hack, auto-tuned within an inch of his life. You will leave gushing about the small man-child’s charisma and talent. Well, if you’re a susceptible chump you will.

Guilty as charged.

quote of the issue

“Baby, baby, baby, ohhh! I was like baby, baby, baby, ohhh!” Justin Bieber, Never Say Never

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never I went into Justin Bieber: Never Say Never feeling very pleased with myself. This film was going to be so appalling, and I was going to feel so self-satisfied once I’d written a scathing review revealing to the world what everyone presumably already knew: that a 12-year-old this pretty didn’t have enough of a life to deserve to be the subject of a documentary.

How wrong I was. For one thing, Justin Bieber is actually 17-years-old. For another, he is, as it turns out, kind of talented.

And thirdly, even if he weren’t, this documentary is actually well made.

Showing the ten-day lead-up to Bieber’s sold-out concert in Madison Square Garden – a landmark performance area, which has staged greats such as The Spice Girls and Metallica – the film covers Beibz’s rise from small-town Canadian kid to worldwide tween superstar.

With interviews from Bieber’s friends and family, his manager, his security guard, his fashion director – and every single other person in his tour troupe – the film also manages to capture the importance of social media to Bieber’s success. Bieber got his start through YouTube, and his millions of twitter fans love the young star, in part, because he seems so accessible. It’s fascinating to see behind-thescenes of pre-packaged pop superstardom. Not that the kid doesn’t have talent. Yes, I am officially a Belieber. (Al says you’re fired - winky face - Ed.).

Melissa Wellham

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Thor

Fast and Furious 5

I really enjoyed Thor. And not just for the rippling-abs factor – I personally preferred the hot manipulative brother, but let’s not get into that. Thor was just straight-up enjoyable, and that’s what you want in a superhero film, no? I wasn’t expecting much, even though I love what Marvel Studios is doing with their superhero franchises (Linkage! End-credit scenes!

THE AVENGERS!). Honestly, I thought it would be a bit naff – Thor (Chris Hemsworth), an arrogant and war-hungry kingto-be, gets himself banished from Asgard and lands on Earth, only to meet a human woman, Jane (Natalie Portman), and learn a whole lot of lessons about what it means to really be a hero. Derisive snort, right?

Fast and Furious 5 is unashamedly dumb and disastrous. The cars are fast, the women lose their clothes faster, and the dialogue is definitely not fast-paced. But it’s still relatively fun.

Wrong. Happily, Thor is surprisingly humorous, has a great vibe, and delivers an interesting storyline. While Portman hardly delivers her best work, the supporting characters are solid and Hemsworth is charismatic.

The relationship between Thor and his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is particularly intriguing, and makes up for the cold fish love story between Thor and Jane. I’ve seen more believable romantic storylines in car commercials, but luckily it doesn’t drag the film down too much. Throw in some sneaky Iron Man refs and I’m pretty much in a frenzy of nerd-excitement. Overall, Thor definitely has its flaws (Hemsworth screaming into the sky makes you laugh more than cry), but it’s a decent few hours of popcorn escapism that’s worth catching.

MEGAN McKEOUGH

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are back, reprising their roles as an ex-con and an ex-cop, now both working for the same side: ‘bad guy with a heart of gold.’ Along with these two is a selection of characters from the previous four films. Much like the individual characters themselves matter very little, the plot is equally unimportant.

People speed, people break road rules, people perform unrealistic stunts; you know the drill.

The only important plot point is that Dwayne Johnson (the artist formerly known as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and even more formerly as just “The Rock”) stars as a bad-ass cop out to catch the good-bad guys. The sight of Vin Diesel and The Rock in a stand-off makes one feel that two universes have collided, and there is about to be a rip in the spacetime continuum. Luckily, the filmmakers have given Johnson a goatee, so it’s possible to tell the two characters apart.

Most of the enjoyment this reviewer gained from watching the film came from whispering snide comments to her fellow cinema-goers and snickering loudly whenever there was a particularly poorly-written line of dialogue (read: every line of dialogue). But that might speak in Fast 5’s favour: there’s something for everyone.

MELISSA WELLHAM

the word on dvds

The Office – S5 [Universal]

Parks and Recreation S2 [Universal]

30 Rock – S4 [Universal]

The seventh season of The Office, about to finish in the US, will culminate in the departure of Steve Carrell as Michael Scott, the wise-cracking, buffoon boss unable to judge audience or situation. In many ways Scott is cut from the same cloth as Ricky Gervais’ original idiot boss, David Brent. But whereas the latter had a vicious streak forever on the wrong side of awkward, the former grew to be a well-meaning fool, given power well above his capabilities.

Of all the shows on NBC’s Comedy Night, this had the most to lose. Announced as a spin-off of The Office, it took two of that show’s best writers/ producers (Greg Daniels and Michael Schur). Expectations were high. But it wasn’t a spin-off at all, rather a similarly themed mocu-comedy set in chambers of a local government in Pawnee, Middle America.

You know that theory about a frog that’s being slowly boiled alive will fail to jump out of the pot, slowly dying. But a frog will jump out of a pot of hot water. Well scientists think it’s bunkum, but as a metaphor for failing to recognise gradual change, it lives on. Unlike that metaphorical dead frog. By the time the fourth season of 30 Rock aired, there was the general acceptance that we had all come to accept this brilliant, witty show as the new normal.

Emmys, Globes and Peabodys amassed behind the show, which week-in/week-out was still funnier, cleverer and more Baldwin-y than almost anything else on TV. But the consensus held that 30 Rock had grown stale. Not that it was recycling gags, but that it was coasting.

After a few years break from the show, watching this DVD well and truly shoots that theory down.

Still, we’re ahead of ourselves.

But as a context setter, it’s valuable. Because the US version was originally seen as a sub-par knock off. An epic folly misjudging the relationship between British comedy and American comedy that would fall flat on its face. It hasn’t because it’s a completely different beast. Maybe better.

This is the season where the ship righted itself after a shaky run. There’s only so far you can run with a boss who fails to do his job properly. There has to be some sort of cost to Scott’s ineptitude; someone eventually has to pay. To this end, the writers took a small gamble. Charles Miner (Idris Elba/Stringer Bell!) is tasked

by HQ to sort out Scott, who quits in disgust and starts his own paper company in the same building. In the middle of this season, The Office delivered some of the best plot devices and funniest set ups ever. It was a master class in how to breathe life into a TV show on the wane. The only quibble is not taking the concept far enough. Nevermind, in the end Scott outmanoeuvres his new nemesis, to the surprise of many and in doing so reminds us why this show has legs – there is always something beneath the surface. If you’ve left this show to the side, this is the season to renew acquaintances.

JUSTIN HOOK

A truncated first season made an ambivalent case for renewal, largely on the back of an outstanding performance

by Amy Poehler as Lesley Knopes. As the rote Michael Scott clone, the imbecilic boss prone to self-empowering management catchphrases and awkward pauses, Knopes and her collection of office misfits led by the moustache-touting everyman hero Ron Swanson seemed a little too obvious and misfired regularly. The follow up season is a revelation. Why? Firstly, Poelher started playing Knopes not as a buffoon, but a high achieving meddler struggling to differentiate that line between private and public; she lacked a thought filter, but her insane heart was in the right place. And to Knopes’ rising star, a suitable foil was found in Swanson played with ineffable no-nonsense precision by the tree-like Nick Offerman. That cabal of office loons eventually outgrow mere character descriptions (April/Aubrey Plaza as the sour hipster, Andy/ Chris Pratt as the hopeless romantic) and become people who do things for reasons. The internal logic of the show finds a powerful equilibrium, such that star cameos by Megan Mullaley (Offerman’s wife both here and in reality), Rob Lowe and Adam Scott are certainly scene-stealing but not overly distracting. The addition of the latter two as full time cast members bodes extremely well for a show described as the nicest on TV. Funniest would also suit.

JUSTIN HOOK

Head writer and co-creator Tina Fey has carved an enviable career out of making a jackass of herself, but 30 Rock solidifies her reputation as one of the sharpest gag writers in the business. The sheer exuberance and flight of fancy on display far exceeds the jokes that fall inevitably flat. The ratio is astonishing – and greater than any other network comedy.

There is only one totally dud episode this season; the trip to Boston was both ill judged and non-delivering. Likewise Julianne Moore’s Boston accent could be either the biggest meta-joke the show has produced or an utter embarrassment. Smart money on the second one. She heads up an impressive roll call of guests; Michael Sheen, Matt Damon in a recurring role as Carol – Liz Lemon’s new love interest, John Hamm (again) and...um, Buzz Aldrin. As usual each episode demands repeat viewings to capture every joke.

How many other shows can you say that about?

JUSTIN HOOK

37

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

Portal 2 Developer: Valve Length: 5 - 12hrs Platform: PC, OSX, S3, 360 Rating: Worth purchasing In addition to creating silent heroes and devising wacky advertising campaigns, there are two things that Valve can be said to do well and that’s delivering on sequels and creating funky openings.

Much like 2004’s Half-Life 2, Portal 2 follows in the footsteps of a classic, meaning the expectations are high. In response, Valve have upped the stakes, opting this time for more lavish settings, a wider breath of features and even a few star voices. Stephen Merchant, better known as Ricky Gervais’ right-hand man in shows such as Extras, lends his talents to the voice of Wheatley - a robot who decides to help you out. The result is not only one of the funnier openings in gaming, but it’ is also testament to the importance of not cheapening your talent, nor just resorting to Nolan North - if you’re a gamer you would have heard that guy at least once (he’s even in Portal 2 as a defective turret).

With regards to the functionality, the main new addition is the co-op play, which allows you and a mate to take on roughly 50 portal based puzzles (assuming you’re not playing on a PS3, what with the recent network outages and stolen user details fiasco - yay Sony!). Whilst I feared this mode would primarily be a source of frustration, the puzzles are generally manageable enough that you should be able to push through at a pretty reasonable rate. The same can also be said for the single player too. That’s other than when you decide to play drunk that is, which in hindsight probably isn’t such a bad idea given that it makes up for how easy the game is.

The final boss fight is particularly underwhelming, not just with regards to the difficultly, but also originality and grandeur (or lack thereof). That said, without being a Valve tester I couldn’t actually confidently say whether making the game harder would make it anymore enjoyable, however, I can confidently say that adding more variety would. Whilst Portal 2 does feature more environmental elements to play around with than the original, including the addition of light walkways, liquids and forcefields, the game is still inevitably repetitive. Even the quirky one-liners, delivered by the likes of J.K. Simmons of Spiderman and Juno fame, begin to become tiresome by the end.

For me Portal 2 is everything the optimistic me expected it to be, it’s just not everything I hoped it would be. That said, for the latter to come true, Gordon Freeman would need to burst in, break his legendary silence by declaring that some shit is about to get fucked up, before proceeding to unload a few shells into GLaDOS’ nearest access panel. Now that’s an ending.

TORBEN SKO

38

It’s a reality TV bonanza (and regular readers would know at Chez Blackbox that means pulling out the old school series yet to make it to 11 or Go! – Twin Peaks is the newest re-obsession).

For those reality-inclined (and the psychology students watching for ‘research’) there’s new Masterchef (SCTEN, Sun-Fri 7.30pm) and Dancing with the [B-Grade] Stars (Prime, Sun 6.30pm). The Australian version of The Amazing Race, Blackbox’s one reality weakness is due to start soon. In the meantime, adventurers should check out Wild Rides (ABC2, Fri, 8pm), and re-runs of Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round (One, Wed 7.30pm) Jersey Shore (7Mate, Wed May 18, 8.30pm) is coming to free-to-air!

The observational doco that even the US president was talking about is here. TMZ addicts would be somewhat familiar with the hijinks of Snooki and the Situation.

Sci-fi fantasy Riese (ABC2, Fri May 20, 9.15pm) is worth staying in for. A luscious production that’s a bit Mad Max crossed with Xena, it started its life as a web production before being picked up on the SyFy channel in the states.

Other new offerings include The Kennedys (ABC1, Sun May 22, 8.35pm) starring Greg Kinnear and Mrs Cruise (Katie Holmes), Come Fly With Me (WIN, Mon May 16, 8pm) the airport themed new offering from the Little Britain boys, No Ordinary Family (Prime, Mon 7.30pm) is about an ordinary family that get superpowers after a freak accident, My Big Friggin’ Wedding (Prime, Mon 10.30pm), a new season of Sanctuary (ABC2, Fri May 20, 8.30pm), Chris Lilley’s newie Angry Boys (ABC1, Wed May 11, 8pm), reruns of The Six Million Dollar Man (7Mate, Tue May 10, 3am), new Offspring (SCTEN, Mon May 16, 8.30pm), and of course Sons of Anarchy (One, Wed 9.30pm).

Just in case you wake up confused, ABC News Breakfast (ABC1, Mon-Fri, 6am) has moved to ABC1 and the kids programs are airing on ABC2, including the new fully animated Bananas in Pyjamas (ABC2, daily 8am, 1.30pm). BMA interviewed the Bananas when they turned ten. Now they’re a very grown up 19.

Unfortunately, like its HBO stable mate True Blood, medieval fantasy Game of Thrones, described as a medieval Sopranos (7Mate, Wed-Fri, 12am), will air on pay TV here. For those willing to shell out, it’s expected on Showcase in July.

Don’t miss TalHotBlond (ABC2, Wed May 18, 8.30pm), the true story of a cyber vixen whose online fantasy escalated to a real life murder.

Other docos to check out include Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth (ABC1, Wed May 18, 9.30pm) looks at the phenomenon of people of other cultural backgrounds having surgery to make them look more European, Jennifer Byrne Presents: The Future of the Book (ABC1, Tue May 17, 10pm), Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (SBS, Tue May 24, 8.30pm), and Men Who Swim (ABC2, Wed May 24, 8.30pm) which follows a male synchronised swimming team in Stockholm.

Movie highlights include Marlon Brando classic The Wild One (ABC2, Sat May 21 8.30pm), Escape from New York (7Mate, Sun May 15, 8.30pm) and Our Man in Marrakesh (7TWO, Sat May 14, 12am).

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

the word

on gigs

Waterford, Hoodlum Shouts, Voss Braidwood Hotel, Braidwood NSW Saturday April 16 In our limited world view, there are three kinds of gigs: 1) Those by artists you’ve idolised for eternity, but who are a colossal disappointment (i.e Justice and DJ Shadow); 2) Those by artists who actually live up to your ridiculous amounts of veneration (Björk, Rage Against the Machine, Jane’s Addiction); and 3) Those by artists you’d never heard of before but who can in one night change your life.

The latter of the three categories was in store for us on a typically snappy mid-April evening in Braidwood. The crumbling and/or semibuilt Braidwood Hotel was abuzz, nay packed, with fresh non-local faces for Canberra five-piece Voss’ last shows before disbandment.

Their bombastic, loping juggernaut of a drummer Jed Stone and his old school pal of similar stature Fergus Mcraken (Big Sound Sytems), two Mongarlowe-bred boys, had organised an aural feast down at the more charming, if perpetually incomplete, of the two pubs in the historic gold rush town (the other boozery being frequented almost exclusively by flanno-wearers of the un-ironic kind).

First on the bill was the Franz Ferdinand/Strokes-esque Waterford, who cruised through a tight set that got feet tapping and beer gulping.

Despite a few vocal feedback problems, they managed to firmly pack out the front bar, which was sadly lacking in any kind of mood/ stage lighting.

A few schooners and one unscrewed light bulb later, it was Hoodlum Shouts that proved to be the real stars of the evening. The intense energy of frontman Sam Leyshon captivated audiences as he channeled elements of Freddie Mercury (or maybe it was just the impressive ‘tache) over a swaying, throbbing Drones-like march of very original sounding, very Australian songs. In full chorus, the increasingly wobbly crowd chanted to a slew of anthemic ballads, a scene not witnessed here since the last horde of drunken cowboys slurred along to Khe San around the jukebox. But it was Happy Birthday that was the most vociferously and repeatedly sung tune, hurled endearingly at birthday boy Sam. In a blurry, post-show crap-on with Hoodlum, we were informed that Hoodlum Shouts has been recording material for an up coming release. If it captures even half the magic of the live show, we’re in for a treat.

Meanwhile, as the bar staff struggled to keep up with the heavily bearded customers, Voss too were mired in sound trouble with not enough foldback to hear a slightly off-key violin, played by the classically trained and classically cute Elyane DeFontenay. After a somewhat rusty start, much chanting of “JED! JED! JED!” from jolly locals, and the replacing of the aforementioned light bulb, the headliners managed to warm up and deliver a rock-driven, folk-laced performance with much jumping around by lead singer Owen Carroll.

For what is usually a barren wasteland of live music, Braidwoodians have been spoilt in recent weeks with a veritable bain-marie of live music from the likes of Dave Graney, The Stiff Gins and said Canberra trio of bands. And if you believe the hype, we are also soon to be treated to Australian rock royalty, with upcoming shows booked for The Saints, The Church and The Break (the dudes from Midnight Oil and The Violent Femmes), all at the newly refurbished National Theatre decked out with 30 Gs worth of live sound gear.

PHOTOS: Matthew o’rourke mattorourke81@hotmail.com

But what was so life changing about this particular evening was meeting some very likeable, yet disaffected musicians from the ‘Bra that say fuck you to ‘making it’. In this topsy-turvy down world where over-achievers thrive, it was like a breath of fresh alt-country air.

The Karunas

39

the word

National Folk Festival Exhibition Park, Canberra Saturday April 21 – Wednesday April 25

on gigs

Picture yourself stepping out into the moonlight, past some sleepy tents and over a low fence. You are wearing a poncho you never knew you needed and eating a plate of tiny Dutch pancakes whilst hurrying to cross the oval with a group of friends you don’t remember meeting but love. Through the clear cold night you hear the sound of bells and stiffen. Everyone knows Morris dancers are kind of creepy and must be watched at all times. But you can’t seem to see any… It is true that they rarely move in packs after nightfall. You locate the sound and breathe a sigh of relief. False alarm. It’s just some belly dancers who are probably jingling their way to the same place as you and your new found friends. You are off to a massive circus tent to wildly dance away the wintery chill to a travelling gypsy band. Later you will surely find yourself singing to diddly fiddle music in the Session Bar, eating banana and blood orange ice cream and listening to mystical-sounding music or dancing on the street to busking drummers. It’s Saturday night at the National Folk Festival and anything can (and probably will) happen.

It is hard to describe the National Folk Festival as a stand-alone event.

Once you have been to a few of them they begin to meld into one collective set of memories and impressions. Every Easter, Exhibition Park in Canberra transforms into a contained and bustling village filled with music, dance, storytelling, circus performers, workshops, stalls, fantastic food and friendly festival folk. The air smells like woodsmoke and mulled wine, and colourful flags fly in the trees.

Time moves differently at the festival, measured only by music and food, anticipation and delight. It’s always freezing. This year was no different. By the end of the long, long weekend it is difficult to imagine ever returning to the outside world.

This year was the 45th National Folk Festival. The feature state was Victoria and the theme of the festival was an invitation to “explore your own folklore” over the course of the weekend. This year also saw the advent of several new themed venues (making a total of 15), some changes in the layout of the festival site, the new Action supported Busk Stops and extensive collaboration with national institutions – in the creation of program ‘specials’, outside events and sponsorship of creative projects. There is a sense of the festival becoming more of an institution with satellite events, fellowship programs and more active involvement from sponsors in the festival. The Folk Fringe Festival enjoyed continued popularity in its second year and its main venue, The Majestic, was host to a number of local acts.

Just as there is not enough time to actually see everything at the festival or to taste all the food, there is not enough space here to review all the amazing acts I did get the privilege of seeing. I am also limiting this review to music performances, this being my main area of interest. For me, international highlights of the program included The Good Lovelies from Canada, and Riccardo Tesi and Banditaliana from Italy. National highlights included Eric Bogle, Kavisha Mazella, Barons of Tang, Flap!, Lucy Wise, Totally Gourdgeous and George Kamikawa and Noriko Tadano (pictured top left). Local highlights included Hashemoto, The Transylvaniacs, Rafe and the Well Dressed, The Ellis Collective, and Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens. And highlights of some performers not on the program included Mr Fibby and a band called DHK. Now for some more specific details: PHOTOS: COLE BENNETTS

40

The Good Lovelies were both good and lovely. They are three women, multi-instrumentalists who play largely originals with some arrangements of traditional and pop songs. They are fantastic performers. None of them is the leader and they regularly switch

instruments on stage. Their music is gentle, brimming with beautiful three part harmonies that leave you feeling full of hope and cheer.

Melbourne-based Kavisha Mazella (pictured second down on the right) is a stalwart of the folk music scene in Australia. She plays guitar and sings original songs. Her voice and guitar-playing style are both incredibly distinctive and beautiful. The subjects of her songs are far-reaching and she has a large audience internationally as well as in Australia. Seeing her perform this year was an incredible experience as she gently coaxed the audience to laugh, sing and feel with her. The performance felt intimate despite being in a venue with more than a few hundred people in it.

the word

on gigs

Other acts from Victoria included The Barons of Tang, a seven-piece gypsy pop band who couldn’t stop dancing on stage. They play fast paced original music with excellent instrumentation, making use of alto sax, trombone, bass clarinet, clarinet, double bass, accordion, guitar, drum kit, percussion and vocals. The crowd couldn’t help dancing and singing along with them.

Totally Gourdgeous (Mal Webb pictured top left) are a four-piece who play a variety of instruments made out of gourds. This includes a gourd guitar, gourd drums, gourd bass, gourd violin and gourd ukulele.

They play original songs that are upbeat and often silly, written by all four members who take turns at leading. Their set was uplifting and hilarious.

George Kamikawa and Noriko Tadano are a duo who played an amazing fusion of blues, country and Japanese traditional music. George wore a flannel shirt and Akubra, and moved between playing slide guitar, harmonica and singing to playing a traditional Japanese drum. Noriko wore a Japanese style dress, sang and played a shamisen, which they described as “Japanese banjo”. They were the winners of the Infinite Rocky Horror Picture Show competition, playing an incredible rendition of Sweet Transvestite. They were high-energy performers who drank their way through every set. They taught the audience to yell “Kampai’” the Japanese version of ‘cheers’ making their show interactive as well.

Local group Hashemoto perform acoustically. They are a three-piece with guitar, double bass, three voices and a piano that they take with them to every gig. Their performance in The Majestic on Friday night was candle-lit and magical. They play original music that addresses a complexity of emotion through the use of straightforward harmonies.

The Transylvaniacs play authentic Eastern European folk music using instruments such as the cimbalom, violins, bass, vocals and a variety of other traditional stringed instruments. Their set provided the audience with an opportunity to hear truly unfamiliar sounds, something that I believe should happen more at the Folk Festival.

Towards the end of their set some dancers came on stage to perform in traditional costume.

My personal favourite performance from the festival this year was a group called DHK performing in the Gypsy Caravan on the oval on Saturday night. They were an all-female four piece who played accordion, double bass, clarinet and violin and sang in intricate harmonies. They played Eastern European music and some pieces from the Middle East as well.

The highest praise I can give this festival is that I truly believe that as long as they continue to celebrate such a large variety of living performance traditions, every person who goes there will have at least one such moment. If you’re lucky, the moment could last the entire five days.

Luciana Harrison

PHOTOS: COLE BENNETTS

41

GIG GUIDE May 11 - May 13 wednesday may 11

Flamenco Dance

Arts

For information contact info@ theflamencocentre.com.au or 0408 299 747.

Paul Selwood – Perspective Cut Outs

Kokoloco Dance Studio, Latin Style classes

Paul Selwood is one of Australia’s finest sculptors. Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Drink!

An exhibition which explores the functions and cultural significance of the humble cup.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Zumba Gold, Ladies Reggaeton, Zumba, Salsa Beginners, www. kokoloco.com.au.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Fame Trivia

Call up your very smartest friends and enlist them to ensure Wed trivia triumph.

TRANSIT BAR

thursday may 12

Exploring key moments of connection between psychology and portraiture in Australia.

Arts

Live

Paul Selwood – Perspective Cut Outs

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

ANU Jazz

Monthly jazz night showcasing School of Music jazz students.

ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC

CIMF Dawn Voices

William Barton and Calvin Bowman, 7am.

RED HILL LOOKOUT

Ben Folds

Lonely Avenue Australian Tour. Tix through Ticketek.

ROYAL THEATRE

CIMF Fourth Estate

4 duelling pianos, 6.30pm.

KING’S HALL, OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Fir Croi

5pm – 7.30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Graveyard Train & Brothers Grimm Doors 7.30pm.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Gigmund Freud hosted by hellosQuare

Ft Scattered Order, Cleptocleptics, Savages & Andrew Fedorovitch. 8pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Fame Trivia

Free entry fantastic prizes, bookings are essential. 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Bollywood Dancing

Bollywood Zumba Adults Modern Bollywood. Term - 10 May–29 June (8 weeks).

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

42

Paul Selwood is one of Australia’s finest sculptors. Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Drink!

An exhibition which explores the functions and cultural significance of the humble cup.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Inner Worlds: Portraits & Psychology

Special K

Comedy

Blue King Brown

Akmal

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Worldwize album launch tour. With Diafrix. Tix through Ticketek.

The Life of Akmal. Plus special guest Joel Ozborn. Tix through the venue.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Something Different

Dance

Bollywood Dancing

REV

Bollywood Zumba Adults Modern Bollywood. Term - 10 May–29 June (8 weeks).

Canberra’s weekly Indie/Alt/Dance Party every Friday.

Karaoke

Your one stop shop for proper house, disco and techno vibes. Free Entry.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

8.30pm till 11pm followed by DJ Kiz till 5am.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Zumba Fitness Dance Class by Salsabor

BAR 32

Llik Llik Llik TRANSIT BAR

One Night in Brazil

Samba, Batucada show.

MONKEY BAR

Zumba Latin Fitness. Term - 3 May–5 July (10 weeks).

Academy Fridays

Flamenco Dance

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

For information contact info@ theflamencocentre.com.au or 0408 299 747.

Peking duK predents Young Blood featuring Northie.

Live

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

New Era Fridays

Kokoloco Dance Studio, Latin Style classes

TRINITY BAR

Zumba Gold, Ladies Reggaeton, Zumba, Salsa Beginners, www. kokoloco.com.au.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Sketch Club

Every Thursday 10:00am–1:00pm and it’s FREE! BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

friday may 13

Kid Kenobi (Syd), Free entry before 10pm, $15 after.

Charles Chatain

Free live music with one of Canberra’s best. 8.30 pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

CIMF Sounding The High Court Synergy Percussion and DRUMatiX Percussion group, 12pm.

HIGH COURT

Jamie Hutchings

See the lead singer from Bluebottle Kiss perform in an intimate setting.

Exploring key moments of connection between psychology and portraiture in Australia.

Arts

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Arc: Murundak - Songs of Freedom (M)

Paul Selwood – Perspective Cut Outs

5pm – 7.30pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Live

Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Exclusive screenings of the new music doco on The Black Arm Band and 30 years of Aboriginal history.

Lowrider - Hold On Tour 2011

W/ Joelistics (TZU) & D’Opus & Roshambo, $12 + BF through Moshtix.

TRANSIT BAR

The Bridge Between Duo

Blues and roots at its finest. Awesome harmonies, sensational guitar. 6-10pm.

BELGIUM BEER CAFE

Nick and Liesl (NSW) W/Pete Akhurst, 9pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Fir Croi

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Paul Selwood is one of Australia’s finest sculptors. Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5pm.

The Wedded Bliss Album Launch

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan

THE MERRY MUSE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The Edge

An exhibition of sculptural works by 12 emerging and established Canberra region artists.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

W/ Kristabell and the Southern Jubilee Ringers.

Friday Night Acoustic series

Featuring ‘Lucie Thorne’ (NSW), 8pm, FREE entry. www.luciethorne.com.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Heuristic

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Young Blood

(Presented by Peking duK) featuring Northie.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Scissor Lock + Orbits + The Brother Gozu 8pm, entry $8.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

43

GIG GUIDE May 13 - May 20 friday may 13 something different Bollywood Dancing

Bollywood Zumba Adults Modern Bollywood. Term - 10 May–29 June (8 weeks).

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Flamenco Dance

For information contact info@ theflamencocentre.com.au or 0408 299 747.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Kokoloco Dance Studio, Latin Style classes Zumba Gold, Ladies Reggaeton, Zumba, Salsa Beginners, www. kokoloco.com.au.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Saturday may 14 arts The Last Emperor

An exquisite ballet from the Liaoning Ballet Company. 4 performances only.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The Edge

An exhibition of sculptural works by 12 emerging and established Canberra region artists.

Glittering Frost

The Australian Chamber Orchestra plays Mozart’s most popular piece, Eine kleine Nachtmusik and more.

LLEWELLYN HALL

Dave Carr’s Fabulous Contraption (Syd) 9.30pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Decibel + Pollen Trio

8pm, $18/$12 concession. Bookings – www.thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

The Life of Akmal. Plus special guest Joel Ozborn. Tix through the venue.

THE QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Annual fetival of new Indigenous fillmaking. Films by Beck Cole (G).

10am.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Amazing Spaces Series

TRANSIT BAR

One, Two, Many

Parlour Wine Room’s third birthday. Four hours of indulgent tapas, beverages and entertainment.

PARLOUR WINE ROOM

Not Just Pencils

Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The Edge

I Am My Own Wife

10:00am–5:00pm. More Information: info@belconnenartscentre.com.au or 02 6173 3300 BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

sunday may 15

Annual fetival of new Indigenous fillmaking. Here I Am (PG). 4.30pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

The Last Emperor

Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds A night of music and mayhem for the weekend worker. Monday is the new Friday.

TRANSIT BAR

Live Plugged In – Semi-Finals

Ft. MetroGnome, Critical Monkee, Venom Inside and Ameliah Brown. 8pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

10pm till late with DJ TJ. Free entry, free pool & discounted drinks.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Zumba Gold, Ladies Reggaeton, Zumba, Salsa Beginners, www. kokoloco.com.au.

Fame Trivia

Free entry fantastic prizes, bookings are essential. 6pm.

Children’s Bollywood Dancing

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

tuesday may 17

W/ Mitzi (Brisbane), free entry.

Something Different

TRINITY BAR

Fir Croi

5pm – 7.30pm.

Karaoke Love

Academy Saturdays with Jared de Veer

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Come over ad enjoy Karaoke with some special good fun times.

Something Different

Trivia Night

TRINITY BAR

Flamenco Dance

The Trip return to Canberra for their EP launch. Free Entry.

For information contact info@ theflamencocentre.com.au or 0408 299 747.

Bumface vs Bacon Cakes

Phoenix Flea Market

ALPINE HOTEL COOMA

44

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

A bizarre bazaar of bric-a-brac and bits and bobs. It’s a garage sale in a pub!

Free set up. 12-5.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Arc: Murundak - Songs of Freedom (M)

Exclusive screenings of the new music doco on The Black Arm Band and 30 years of Aboriginal history.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

The Delta Riggs

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

THE STREET THEATRE

Something Different

An exquisite ballet from the Liaoning Ballet Company. 4 performances only.

Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

Live

Kokoloco Dance Studio, Latin Style classes

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

THE STREET THEATRE

MOOSEHEADS PUB

Gtronic (Dim Mak, Belgium), $15 on the door.

Blues and roots at its finest. Awesome harmonies, sensational guitar. 9-12am.

Ali McGregor - Jazz Cigarette

Dance

Solid Saturdays

The Bridge Between Duo

arts

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Live Sundays

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

thursday may 19

Creative drypoint etching with Jo Hollier

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Urban Playground (RnB)

Canberra’s wildest one man bands will play against each other! 8pm, free.

Flick brain power on. Test knowledge.

Impress friends.

“Her velvet vocals transport the audience to a smokey 1940s jazz bar.”

8.30pm.

Live

TRANSIT BAR

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

An exhibition of sculptural works by 12 emerging and established Canberra region artists.

3-6 yrs, & 7+yrs. Term - 13 May–1 July (8 weeks). www.canberrabollywood. com.au.

The Trip - EP Volume 1 Launch

Free entry fantastic prizes, bookings are essential. 6pm.

Drawing for 8+ years with Claire Elliot, Saturdays from 10am-12pm.

Hospitality Sundays

Live

Something Different

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan

Cube Saturdays

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

An exquisite ballet from the Liaoning Ballet Company. 4 performances only.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

MONKEY BAR

7.30pm, $10.

Fame Trivia

All your sing along favourites and current chart hits available for you.

10pm.

Dance

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Marshall and The Fro

The Last Emperor

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Dance 10pm till 5am with DJ’s Matt & Pete.

Two for one drinks & free entry until 11pm.

ROYAL THEATRE

Carry on Karaoke

2011 Message Sticks

Akmal

2011 Message Sticks

Some King of Trouble tour. Tix through Ticketek.

Something Different

arts

Comedy

James Blunt

arts

Fame Trivia

Arc: Murundak - Songs of Freedom (M)

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Live

The 17th Canberra International Music Festival. 5pm, Tickets $44, $39 members.

THE STREET THEATRE

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Exclusive screenings of the new music doco on The Black Arm Band and 30 years of Aboriginal history.

monday may 16

TRANSIT BAR

THE PHOENIX PUB

Blues credentials and a big band pedigree with The Delta Riggs. Free Entry.

TRANSIT BAR

The Bridge Between Duo

Blues and roots at its finest. Awesome harmonies, sensational guitar. 6-10pm.

BELGIUM BEER CAFE

Deni Hines

Dinner and show $65 - 6.30pm. Show only $30 - 8.30pm.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB

Gay Paris (Syd)

W/ Super Best Friends, Rumjacks (Syd).

9pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Karaoke

8.30pm till 11pm followed by DJ Kiz till 5am.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Sketch Club

Every Thursday 10:00am–1:00pm and it’s FREE! BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

friday may 20

wednesday may 18 arts I Am My Own Wife

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

arts I Am My Own Wife

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

GIG GUIDE May 20 - May 25 Dance Alliance @ Academy presents Ministry of Sound

Sounds of Dubstep Tour with Will Styles.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

REV

Canberra’s weekly Indie/Alt/Dance Party every Friday.

BAR 32

Homo High

9pm till 5am with DJ Pete and drag show. Free entry if dressed in theme + prizes for best costumes.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Cheese (80s/Retro)

Come and unleash your inner 80s love and work that dancefloor to all the embarrassing classics.

TRANSIT BAR

I Am My Own Wife

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

Dance Cube Saturdays

10pm till 5am with DJ’s Matt & Pete.

Two for one drinks & free entry until 11pm.

New Era Fridays

Hook n Sling (Syd), free entry before 10pm, $15 after.

Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds

I Am My Own Wife

TRANSIT BAR

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

Live

Hospitality Sundays

Benjalu return to The Front bringing their brand new EP; Shadows in The Sun. 8pm, $10.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

More reggae, dancehall, ska and hiphop realness from the Capital Dub crew.

TRANSIT BAR

The Bridge Between Duo

Weekend workers unite and join forces to rock the Monday night party at Transit Bar.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Dance

Benjalu

Dance

The director of the Belconnen Arts Centre, Hannah Semler, talks on the state of sculpture.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Capital Dub Styles feat. Lotek

Live

Meet the Director: Hannah Semler

Something Different Fame Trivia

Free entry fantastic prizes, bookings are essential. 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

10pm till late with DJ TJ. Free entry, free pool & discounted drinks.

tuesday may 24

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

arts

Live Matt Collyer and the Company (Mel) W/ James Fahy Band. 8pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Propagandhi

With Stolen Youth and I Exist. Tix through Ticketek.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Something Different

Blues and roots at its finest. Awesome harmonies, sensational guitar. 8-11pm.

Something Different

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Catherine Britt & Luke Austen

11-4pm

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Jim Conway’s Big Wheel

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB

Phoenix Flea Market

Croon the classics! Impress your friends! Showcase your skills to pay the bills.

TRINITY BAR

Aaron & Jacinta

Free live music, 8.30pm.

An all-star line up of musicians who share a passion for Blues, Jump and Swing. 8pm, $20.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

ORIENTAL HOTEL

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Dubba Rukki

A bizarre bazaar of bric-a-brac and bits and bobs. It’s a garage sale in a pub!

Free set up. 12-5.

THE PHOENIX PUB

5pm – 7.30pm.

Academy Saturdays with Matt Nukewood

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

The Bridge Between Duo

Something Different

ORIENTAL HOTEL

Carry on Karaoke

Fir Croi

Blues and roots at its finest. Awesome harmonies, sensational guitar. 8-11pm.

Brian Cadd & Russell Morris Dinner and show $72 - 6.30pm.

Shwoonly $39 - 8.30pm.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB

Friday Night Acoustic series

Featuring ‘Geoffro & Bones’ (Geoff Cartwright/Sydney). 8pm, FREE entry.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Ministry of Sound

Sounds of Dubstep Tour featuring Will Styles.

All your sing along favourites and current chart hits available for you.

10pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

The Dynamic Nude with John James

10:00am–5:00pm. Information & enrolments > johnjamesart@hotmail. com or 0423 403 140 BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

sunday may 22

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

saturday may 21 arts 2011 Message Sticks

Annual fetival of new Indigenous fillmaking. New short films (18+). 2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Karaoke Love

Book now at cscc.com.au .

9.30pm.

arts Brave New World

2.30pm, single tickets $48, $38 members/concession, through canberraticketing.com.au.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Comedy Night 7.30pm.

Burlesque Bazaar

THE PHOENIX PUB

TRANSIT BAR

Trivia Night

THE PHOENIX PUB

monday may 23

wednesday may 25

arts

arts

The Edge

An exhibition of sculptural works by 12 emerging and established Canberra region artists.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

I Am My Own Wife

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

Paul Selwood – Perspective Cut Outs

Paul Selwood is one of Australia’s finest sculptors. Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5pm.

Live

I Am My Own Wife

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

“One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre written in the last few decades.”

THE STREET THEATRE

Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islan Varilaku brings together the finest traditional arts from the Solomons.

Pegz

Bombs Away tour. Tix through Moshtix.

Something Different Fame Trivia

Register at the bar by 6pm Wednesdays!

TRANSIT BAR

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Meet The Artists: The Edge 2pm, Main Gallery.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

OUT may25

Ro & D’O joan as police woman karnivool owl eyes ...and more!

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FIRST CONTACT

SIDE A: BMA band profile

Andrew Fedorovitch Group members? I play regularly with a quite a few different Canberra and exCanberra people mostly from the jazz and experimental spheres, ie. Shoeb Ahmad, Jono Lake, Evan Dorrian, Shane Spellman, Austin Buckett, John Wilton, Alec Coulson, Max Williams, Warwick Lynch and Luke Keenan-Brown to name a few.

Describe your sound: My take of everything I’ve heard; all played on the alto saxophone.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Mostly the people I play with.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? Playing a gig with Lakeside Circus at a retirement home.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Doing my first solo performance supporting Blip, just last month at Smiths Alternative Bookshop.

What are your plans for the future? To keep exploring my musicality and making music with more people. Here, and hopefully in Europe, with my girlfriend.

What makes you laugh? Friends and family.

What pisses you off? People being inconsiderate. Including myself.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? It’s great. Lots of people working hard maintaining and getting things up and running. Organisers and performers are making the effort but the audiences don’t always reciprocate… The other thing is, if you want people to come to your gigs, you have to go to their gigs.

What are your upcoming gigs? At The Phoenix Bar on Wednesday May 11, a duo with John Wilton for the Peking Spring Festival.

Contact info: andrewfedorovitch@gmail.com www.myspace.com/fedorovitchandrew www.myspace.com/pictureofmysound

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Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Activate Jetpack activatejetpack@ hotmail.com Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 982 662 /colebennetts.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Groovalicious Corporate/Weddings/ Private functions 0448 995 158 groovalicious@y7mail.com Guy The Sound Guy live & studio sound engineer, 0400 585 369, guy@ guythesoundguy.com HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650

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

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