Brag#553

23 MAY – 1 JUNE

SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM / VIVIDLIVE

M A J O R E V E NT PA RTN E R S

S Y D N E Y O P E R A H O U S E PA RT N E R S P R I N C I PA L PA RT N E R

PA RT N E R S

MEDIA PA RT N E R S

MEDIA S U P P O RT E R S

MUSIC AT THE HOUSE

NEXT WEEK!

NEIL FINN 18 MAR - SELLING FAST 21 & 22 MAR - SOLD OUT TIX FROM $79.90*

-Tone Deaf

GLEN HANSARD ST . P A T R I C K ’ S D A Y

17 MARCH T IX FROM $49*

*TRANSACTION FEE OF $5 - $8.50 APPLIES TO ALL BOOKINGS EXCEPT INSIDERS.

‘The power in his voice is soul-shattering’

BOOK NOW SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM/MUSIC 0 2 9 2 5 0 7 7 7 7 . M O B I L E A P P. FOLLOW US

#MUSICATTHEHOUSE

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 3

rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Emily Meller and Callum Wylie

follow us:

like us:

@TheBrag

THE BRAG

five things WITH

PHILIP JAMIESON FROM CASPIAN and feeling like they had the answer to something. There was so much presence in the song and the way it resonated with me. My childhood was very colourful and gave me a massive sense of nostalgia, from which I draw extremely heavily when composing music. I am always trying to recover simpler times with music.

2.

Inspirations I picked up a guitar because of Jimmy Page. I was, and to some degree still remain, an extremely shy person. There was a girl I had a crush on when I was very young, and I remember feeling like if I could pick up a guitar and play it like him, I would have a better chance at talking to her. Little things like that… When I started exploring the instrument it felt like an extension of myself and the most effective way to communicate how I was feeling.

Growing Up The first record I ever bought 1. was Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti.

I remember seeing some kids in my high school parking lot driving around in a truck, blasting ‘Kashmir’

Your Band We started jamming together 3. in 2003 and played our first show in

TRIXIE WHITLEY

EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS + ONLINE EDITOR: Hannah Warren hannah@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Chris Honnery, Emily Meller, Callum Wylie, Andy Huang, Sarah Corridon ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry PHOTOGRAPHERS: Liam Cameron, Katrina Clarke, Beau Corvell, Ashley Mar, Amath Magnan

Trixie Whitley has burst onto the scene with her debut album, Fourth Corner, delving deeply into four human emotions: love, rage, happiness and loneliness. The Belgium/US singersongwriter says, “It’s those elements of life I keep coming back to... both as a person and musically.” Whitley will be making her Australian debut with two sets at Bluesfest and a sideshow at The Basement on Saturday April 19.

Brissy thrash metal dudes DZ Deathrays have announced a national album launch tour that will close in Sydney. Their second album Black Rat is due to drop on Friday May 2, but really they’re a band that demands seeing live. Bloodstreams, their 2012 record, won them an ARIA Award in the hard rock/heavy metal category and helped ingratiate the duo to audiences around the country. They’ll play the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday May 31.

Lorde

GOOD LORDE

It’s starting to feel like Lorde’s been around forever. That is, at least, until you remember that the 17-year-old Kiwi is actually younger than everything. She was born after the Nintendo 64 came out. She’s probably never heard Ringo Starr narrate Thomas The Tank Engine, and can’t remember Robbie Williams leaving Take That. Still, when you’ve ruled the charts with a song like ‘Royals’, you’ve seen more of the world than most 80-year-olds. Lorde will come back our way for a national tour which drops in at the Hordern Pavilion on Friday May 2. Tickets are on sale to the general public at 9am Friday March 21 through Ticketek, but a Frontier Touring presale begins at 2pm this Thursday March 13.

THE DELTA RIGGS

Bursting out of Melbourne via the Gold Coast, The Delta Riggs have been taking the country by storm with their abrasive and unique brand of bluesy punk. Having released one EP followed by the AMP-nominated album Hex.Lover.Killer last year, the band is bringing the showmanship back to rock’n’roll. Their latest single ‘Supersonic Casualties’ offers the first taste of their upcoming album, Dipz Zebazios. Accompanying the single release is an east coast tour featuring two Sydney shows – Thursday April 17 at The Roller Den and Thursday April 24 at Moonshine Bar.

WHEN GIANTS SLEEP

Having garnered a reputation for their highenergy live performances and melodically driven post-hardcore sound, When Giants Sleep are a force to be reckoned with. After supporting some heavy rock heavyweights around the country, including Northlane, Buried In Verona and Sienna Skies, the band will soon be putting out its third

release, Lucidity. When Giants Sleep are due to release a film clip for the track ‘New Days’ on Monday March 17 with the EP being released on Wednesday March 26, and they will be following it all up with a national tour. The Sydney leg is at Valve Bar on Friday April 25, alongside Emecia.

RAISING HELLIONS

Heavy five-piece Hellions are set to play their first gig since June last year. The Sydney-based rockers have been likened to Stray From The Path, Defeater and Rage Against The Machine, building up quite the reputation for themselves in a short amount of time. This tour will celebrate the Die Young album’s success and also bring the cycle to a close before the boys go into lockdown recording their follow-up album. See Hellions at the Masonic Hall in Blacktown on Sunday May 4 and the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle on Wednesday May 7.

THE SPIRIT

With a strong taste of that Laurel Canyon sound made famous in the ’70s by the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young among countless others, Melbourne four-piece The Spirit are a gorgeous mix of the old and new. Their piano-driven single ‘Forever Gone’ is a catchy, upbeat track addressing that age-old dilemma made famous by Joni Mitchell in ‘Big Yellow Taxi’: you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. With support from Steve Smyth and Hot Spoke, The Spirit’s debut gig will be a great chance to catch the band in close quarters before word gets out that they’re the real deal. Get down to Goodgod Small Club this Saturday March 15. thebrag.com

Xxxx photo by xxx

4 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

Pixies

DZ DEATHRAYS

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227

PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204

What: Waking Season out now through Hobbledehoy/MGM With: Meniscus, We Lost The Sea Where: The Bald Faced Stag When: Wednesday March 19

Legendary alternative rockers Pixies will feature at the Sydney Opera House as part of the 2014 Vivid LIVE program, playing four Concert Hall shows exclusive to our city. It’ll be the first visit to our shores for Black Francis and co. (whoever ‘and co.’ might comprise by the time they get here) since 2010, when they toured the Doolittle record. They’ll play nightly from Friday May 23 – Monday May 26. Also announced on the Vivid LIVE schedule at the Opera House are the Australian Chamber Orchestra in collaboration with The Presets (Sunday May 25 and Thursday May 29) and EDM pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who’ll make his Australian debut on Sunday June 1. The rest of the program will be announced on Monday March 24.

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Rachel Eddie, Christie Eliezer, Chris Honnery, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Pamela Lee, Alicia Malone, Adam Norris, Daniel Prior, Kate Robertson, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, David Wild, Harry Windsor, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600.

always end up meeting people that are extremely passionate about what they’re doing, and that is a beautiful and inspiring thing every time. When it comes to this genre of post-rock, I feel like things are always changing but firmly rooted in the emotional context that is seemingly so central to all of this.

VIVID LIVE 2014: PIXIES, PRESETS, GIORGIO MORODER

AWESOME INTERNS: Callum Wylie, Julienne Gilet, Thea Carley, Andy Huang, Sarah Corridon, Emily Meller

DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions).

Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045.

All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L/ Furst Media P/L 2003-2013

over the years we’ve come to accept that and be fine with it. We have always preferred being just a simple rock band with orchestral tendencies when it comes to composing, but are happy with being defined however people want. We recorded our first three records in Boston with our friend Ethan Dussault. For Waking Season, we wanted to step things

Music, Right Here, Right Now We dip in and out of music 5. scenes wherever we are on tour and

Misery Signals are adding another feather to their heavy metal cap with an Australian tour of their latest album, Absent Light. The fivepiece from Wisconsin will be teaming up with Sydney’s Northern Beaches kids, Stories. See them at The Hi-Fi on Friday May 16.

GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Sarah Corridon, Julienne Gilet, Andy Huang, Callum Wylie - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@ thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121

The Music You Make It’s easiest to describe our 4. music as ‘instrumental post-rock’, and

up a notch and work with a fresh ear and Matt Bayles offered his services.

Our live show is full of energy and is extremely immersive. A lot of people who have never seen us before end up telling us that they weren’t expecting the kind of intensity we deliver onstage.

MISERY SIGNALS

ADVERTISING: Georgina Pengelly - 0416 972 081 / (02) 9212 4322 georgina@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Rob Furst MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr - patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 / 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

August of 2004. We didn’t have any grand ambitions to tour or record or anything that we are doing now – just to play music in a practice space that we liked together. We started with zero professional expectations, and touring and visiting places all over the planet seemed so remote and impossible that we didn’t entertain those thoughts. Immediately after our first show we realised this was something we needed to fully explore and have been doing it ever since then.

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 5

rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Emily Meller and Callum Wylie

five things WITH

Inspirations I’ve always been inspired by the greats 2. from the past. When I saw Chuck Berry on TV as a child, doing the duckwalk and playing guitar, I said, “That’s what I want to do.” I’ve always loved those 1950s badasses, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Howlin’ Wolf to Link Wray to Bo Diddley. To me, even though I love music from the 1920s until the present, those people will always be my chief inspiration.

What else inspires me? Freedom. Creativity.

Flying by the seat of my pants. You know, the best music was made by guys who wanted to get out of working in the fields, so they didn’t have to have that damn day job anymore.

That’s what inspires me.

Growing Up My family was musical in generations 1. past; they were hillbillies who lived in southwestern Virginia, not too far away from where the Carter Family were from. They all played in string bands. My parents were the

JAM TAP TAKEOVER

DEKE DICKERSON

generation that moved out of the hills and they didn’t play music. When I discovered music and wanted to play guitar my parents said, “Oh no, that’s why we moved out of the hills.” Later, growing up in Missouri in a college town, I was very lucky to see all kinds of music that came through town, from Bill Monroe to The Ramones to John Lee Hooker.

It was a great musical education.

3.

Your Band I’ve been very lucky to play with very, very good musicians my entire life. Part of that is by choice, and part is just luck. The roots music scene is pretty small, and I’ve gotten to know pretty much all the guys

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

who are great musicians playing the music around the world. Australia has some great musicians! I’m happy to be playing with some of my friends from Down Under on this tour.

The Music You Make I love so much music! My iPod 4. on random shuffle is a schizophrenic’s nightmare. I guess my own albums have all been like that – a hodge-podge of rockabilly, vintage country, rhythm and blues, surf, ’60s garage, a little bit of punk thrown in for good measure.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene is surprisingly strong 5. considering what a low priority live music is for most people compared to the pre-internet days. Bands that start out now have a hard road to hoe – there are so many bands trying to do something, and so few opportunities.

I’m quite cynical, living in Los Angeles, because you see so much plastic crap all the time. Every now and then, though, a new band comes along that makes you have faith in the young generation.

What: Echosonic Eldorado out now through Major Label With: West Texas Crude, The Western Distributors Where: Manning Bar When: Friday March 14

One beer, one beard. It’s nigh on the key to happiness – or so they tell us; the BRAG office isn’t a particularly beardy one. Everybody likes a good brew, though, and Bondi’s Jam Gallery and its neighbouring venue the Spring Street Social are the places to sink one come Friday March 21. It’s the Jam Tap Takeover, where every tap at the bar will be taken over by ten of Australia’s finest microbreweries including Young Henrys, 4 Pines Brewing Company, Stone & Wood Brewing and Mountain Goat Beer. So where do the beards come in? Via The Beards, of course, who’ll headline the live music lineup with their slew of hits like ‘If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard You’ve Got Two Mums’ and ‘You Should Consider Having Sex With A Bearded Man’. Support comes from Greta Mob and Jimmy Swouse & The Angry Darts. The BRAG has a double pass to the festivities, with a free beer on arrival for you and a guest – to be in the running, visit thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us why beards are the bomb.

The Beards

BORIS THE BLADE

Do you like to punish/break/blast your earholes?

Then you’ll be very happy with Melbourne deathcore outfit Boris The Blade’s news. The band is set to release The Human Hive locally on Monday May 19 through Faction/Sony, but before that they’ll be coming to a venue near you, with a solid pre-release tour lined up too. Young or old (no judgement), head on over to Wasted Years at the Exchange Hotel, where Boris The Blade will be playing on Saturday April 5.

BRING BACK THE BIFF

Biffy Clyro will be returning to Australia in September for a new run of shows. Coming off the back of their Soundwave success and sold-out headline gigs in Sydney and Melbourne, the Scottish rockers will hit up the Enmore Theatre on Friday September 5.

Biffy Clyro

Brant Bjork

Oscar Key Sung

OSCAR KEY SUNG

Highly regarded young talent Oscar Key Sung is gearing up to release his debut EP, Holograms, with a national tour. Last year, Key Sung supported Ghostpoet on dates around the country.

Our reviewer at the Sydney show said Key Sung “built up fragile musical monuments onstage with deceptively simple layers of vocal loops, reverb and delay.” See him at Goodgod Small Club on Thursday April 24.

GLORYHAMMER

Describing their style as “heroic, fantasy power metal,” Gloryhammer are showstoppers to say the least. The band was founded by Christopher Bowes of Alestorm fame, with the aim of exploring a different side of metal, and a greater focus on creating epic narratives within its songs.

Gloryhammer’s debut release from March last year was the concept album Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife, which tells the story of an alternate history in medieval Scotland where magic and dark sorcery are commonplace. The album was received incredibly well across the globe, and as a result they’re coming to our shores for The Unicorn Invasion of Australia tour.

Why not? Joining them for 12 dates across the country are our own pirate rockers, Lagerstein.

The madness descends on The Bald Faced Stag on Friday April 25 and the Cambridge Hotel on Saturday April 26.

SLUMBERHAZE

Last year, Slumberhaze kicked off a mini-series of EP launches. Part 2 of the Rhyme, Rhythm And Romance trilogy will be released on Friday March 21 and performed on Saturday March 22 at the Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar. The Sydney-based band has described their sound as “unpredictable”, bouncing around soulful, expressive vocals and dark and eerie instrumentals.

6 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

BRANT BJORK ADDED TO CHERRYROCK

After eight years of hosting its street festival in Melbourne’s iconic AC/ DC Lane, Cherry Bar is bringing CherryRock to Sydney this year, and stoner rock legend Brant Bjork has been added to co-headline alongside cult heroes Meat Puppets. Bjork is famous for his drumming with bands such as Kyuss and Fu Manchu but has since moved centre stage, taking on guitar and vocal duties with his solo project. CherryRock014 hits the Factory Theatre on Saturday May 31, presented by the BRAG.

Gang Of Brothers

GANG OF BROTHERS

Groove along to Gang Of Brothers for some funky, phat sounds. Having toured with the likes of Michael Franti, Julio Iglesias and The Beach Boys, it is no wonder the Martinez brothers are in high demand. Be prepared for a night of seriously original genre-busting music and get ready to jump to your feet and dance. They’re playing at the Jam Gallery on Saturday March 22.

thebrag.com

PRESENTS

ON S NOWALE

THE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE SENSATION | DIRECT FROM THE USA AN ENCHANTING TALE OF ILLUSION & DANCE

“Bodies become imagery, & one image merges into another, optically, inexplicably”THE NEW YORK TIMES

STATE THEATRE | 17 - 20 JUNE BOOK AT TICKETMASTER.COM.AU OR 136 100 GROUPS 12+ 1300 889 278 OR GROUPS@TICKETMASTER.COM.AU PREMIUM TICKETS & PACKAGES VISIT SHOWBIZ.COM.AU

SHADOWLANDLIVE.COM BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 7

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * Sydney’s 5 Seconds of Summer sold out a ten-date US tour in five minutes. * Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun told a paper that the mood of each show is determined by “a word I wait for from God about what the show is about.� * It was an Idol-type reunion when Casey Donovan launched her book Big, Beautiful & Sexy at The Clock in Surry Hills. In the crowd were Damien Leith, Paulini, Amali Ward and Hayley Jensen. * In America, Metallica’s Black Album is near 16 million sales while AC/DC’s Back In Black took a 49% rise in weekly sales to reach 7.1 million. * Dew Process’ latest international signing is Liverpool’s Circa Waves.

* A new season of RocKwiz will launch on Monday March 24 with a special episode saluting Australian songwriters Harry Vanda and George Young. * Usually the music press announces tours, but in Tina Arena’s case, it was the Australian Financial Review after it poked through ASIC database and found she’s registered a new company Tina Arena Reset Tour 2014 Pty Ltd. She’s promoting it herself rather than paying promoters, to get a larger cut. * The story that a former roommate of Nirvana founder Kurt Cobain is selling off his items (including skis, a phone and a video game) is a hoax. * UK music magazine The Fly has closed after 15 years.

THE BRAG JOINS SYDNEY LATE NIGHT ALLIANCE The BRAG is among the latest organisations to join the Sydney Late Night Culture Alliance.

It was formed in response to legislation that forced city venues to enforce a lockout at 1:30 am, and cease serving alcohol at 3 am. Initial members included MusicNSW, FBi Radio, SLAM, Oxford Art Factory, Goodgod Small Club, The Music.com.au, The Music Network and inthemix. Also joining are Astral People, Australian Freelance Musicians Alliance, Australian Independent Musicians Association, Black Wire Records, Blunt Magazine, Frankies Pizza, Fuzzy, Kings Cross Hotel, Mad Racket, Modular People, Niche Productions, Pennydrop, Polaroids of Androids, Popfrenzy Records, Positive Feedback Publicity, RIP Society Records, Select Music, Shrug, Siberia

* Former Mars Volta member Omar RodriguezLopez and ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante have formed a band, Kimono Kult. * Bruce Springsteen fans at his stadium show in Auckland apparently drank two nights’ worth of wine in one, and the caterer ran out! * The NSW Government is closing a loophole where patrons in CBD venues can order four drinks each before the 3am shut off. Lawyers are also concerned that current laws allow police to press assault charges because someone “looks� intoxicated.

Meanwhile, a new law to base licensing fees on riskbased assessments won’t start until next year.

Records, Spark & Opus, Spice Cellar, The AU Review, The Basement, The Cliff Dive, The Lyceum, The Square and World Bar. Their petition has over 16,000 signatures. Sign at communityrun.org/petitions/fight-barry-ofarrell-s-cbd-legislation.

A&R CHANGES AT PARLOPHONE Parlophone Label Group Australia announced James Roberts as Head of A&R – Parlophone, effective March 24. He was Senior A&R Manager at RCA UK in London and counts Newton Faulkner and Australia’s Lisa Mitchell among his signings. Loretta Bogard is head of Creative Liaison and A&R Manager.

Mark Wilson remains in Melbourne as A&R for Parlophone and Atlantic. He recently signed The Kite String Tangle, Jones Jnr and Oscar Key Sung.

E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

THEHIFI.C

Coming Soon

Just Announced

Tankard (GER)

DJ Premier & Pete Rock (USA)

Fri 11 Jul

Sat 3 May

Bobby Keys & The Suffering Bastards

Melb Ska Orchestra

Mon 24 Mar

Fri 28 Mar

SYDNEY NAMES IN AUSTRALIA COUNCIL GRANTS

FESTIVALS #1: BDO, SOUNDWAVE TO DROP WA

Among contemporary music acts from Sydney who got grants from the Australia Council to make new records were Daniel Holdsworth ($20,000), Laurence Pike ($19,154), PVT ($18,200), The Drones ($15,000), Marcus Whale ($13,000), Mike Nock ($12,816), Peter Blamey ($11,300), Elena Kats Chernin ($10,000) and Cye Wood ($10,000). Getting a helping hand to tour abroad via the International Pathways category were Kirin J Callinan ($18,686), Eleven: A Music Company ($17,975) for singer-songwriter Dustin Tebbutt, and sleepmakeswaves ($17,500). In the Presentation & Promotion category, Neil Gooding Productions got $23,000 for the Truth Beauty And A Picture Of You musical theatre production based on Whitlams songs. Seymour Theatre Centre received $22,000 for Vivid Music to showcase seven events. Tyalgum Music Festival got $18,000.

Promoter AJ Maddah has confirmed that Big Day Out and Soundwave will not return to WA. He says it’s a mixture of government hurdles, slow ticket sales and high logistical costs (twice as much for electrics; three times as much to set up a stage as in Sydney and Melbourne).

Maddah reckons the era of outdoor concerts is over in WA.

MORE VENUES FOR SALE

Anyone who attended Splendour In The Grass five times or more qualifies for the Splendour Members Club. Members are guaranteed presale tickets, and can purchase up to four at once. See their website for how to apply – the deadline is Friday March 14.

Following our announcement last week that the three Lizotte clubs are up for sale, more venues that showcase live entertainment are on the market. In Sydney, these include the Bat & Ball in Redfern, and live pub theatre the Old Fitzroy in Woolloomooloo.

In Brisbane, The Plough Inn Tavern is also looking for a new owner. Meanwhile, a consortium of hoteliers who bought Newcastle’s Queens Wharf Brewery installed Ben Dawson as licensee.

P!NK RE-SIGNS RECORD DEAL P!nk signed a multi-album worldwide deal with her overseas label RCA Records (Sony Music in Australia). She has sold 15.9 million albums in the US alone. “We work really well together and they care in a way that artists don’t get to see very often anymore,� P!nk said, while RCA CEO Peter Edge called her a “one-of-a-kind artist�. P!nk’s Australian tour last year generated US$77 million as part of a world tour in which she played 142 shows in 13 countries.

DEADLINE FOR RED BULL ACADEMY The deadline for entries to the Red Bull Music Academy, held in Tokyo in October and November this year, is Tuesday March 18.

Producers, DJs, singers and instrumentalists from Australia are encouraged to apply. 60 acts from around the world will be chosen for two weeks of learning and collaboration by day and live shows and recording by night.

See redbullmusicacademy.com for more info.

400,000 VIEWER VOTES FOR CMC MUSIC AWARDS 400,000 viewers voted over eight weeks for the CMC Country Music Awards, reported Country Music Channel (CMC). They will be held this Friday March 14 at Hope Estate Winery in the Hunter Valley, which will also launch the CMC Rocks The Hunter festival.

Adam Brand and Morgan Evans lead the nominations with three apiece, followed by O’Shea, Jasmine Rae, Lee Kernaghan and Amber Lawrence with two each. Up for CMC Oz Artist Of The Year are Brand, O’Shea, Lawrence, Evans and McAlister Kemp. A 30-minute special on the awards premieres on CMC on Monday March 31 at 8pm.

MTV AUSTRALIA EXPANDS TO ONLINE TICKETING

Dark Tranquillity (SWE)

Darkside

Kylesa (USA)

Wed 02 Apr

Thu 3 Apr

Monster Magnet (USA) Fri 4 Apr

Sat 29 Mar

MTV Australia is expanding its brand by moving into online ticketing for events and concerts. MTVTIX.com.au offers waitlists, secure preferred seating and premium packages of merch, hotels, car transfers and MTV-hosted afterparties and backstage experiences. MTV’s Sydney staff will market and promote the site, while digital services company Pinpoint will operate it.

SPOTIFY LAUNCHES ‘EMERGE’ IN AUSTRALIA Diva Fever feat.

Deborah Cox

Toxic Holocaust & Skeletonwitch

Skid Row & Ugly Kid Joe

Sat 19 Apr

Sat 26 Apr

Sun 27 Apr

Jonny Craig (USA)

Kingswood

Sat 10 May: All Ages

Fri 30 May

John Newman Thu 1 May

Rebel Souljahz (USA) Sat 27 Sep

Children of Bodom Fri 9 May

Misery Signals (USA)

Band of Skulls (USA)

Fri 16 May

Fri 20 Jun

The Crimson ProjeKCt Fri 27 Jun

Spotify’s two-year-old Emerge program has been introduced in Australia and NZ to find and promote new local acts. Based on data from streaming and sharing, Spotify has deemed ten local “next big things�. They are The Aston Shuffle, MT, Gang Of Youths, Gossling, Max & Bianca, Miracle, Chance Waters and The Acid, and NZ’s Tom Lark and Smashproof. The ten will be whittled down to a winner (announced Sunday April 27) based on listens, likes and shares. The winning prize package includes a Spotify recording session, a promo pack and $5,000 worth of technology from computer electronics HP. Emerge helped find Lorde, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Alt-J.

FESTIVALS #2: SCORCHER MORE ARTIST-FRIENDLY This year’s Scorcher festival (Saturday March 29 to Friday April 18) is giving original acts more of an opportunity. It has removed the cost to bands for the tickets, backlines, engineers, online profile and festival infrastructure. Online tickets are also now buy one, get one free to help bands with their marketing.

FESTIVALS #3: SPLENDOUR MEMBERS CLUB

WANNA PLAY MANLY JAZZ? The 37th Manly Jazz festival (Wednesday October 1 to Monday October 6) is inviting jazz players of all styles to apply to perform.

Celebrating music and beach culture, it runs over 15 indoor and outdoor venues. Deadline is Monday June 30, go to manlyjazz.com.au.

Lifelines Injured: Mistee Royal, 27, of Newcastle hip hop group Royal Dance Force ended up with a fractured nose after being bashed by two women due to a longrunning dispute. Two women in their 20s will appear in court.

Injured: guitarist Elliot Goard of Brisbane band Fox & Fowl took a beating to the forehead from a cardboard drum kit courtesy of an overexuberant drummer while shooting a video on a giant jumping castle for their track ‘The Pilot’. The band, which formed in Canberra while studying, launched a Pozible campaign for their April-due EP, which raised $1,600 in the first 24 hours.

In Court: AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was acquitted by a New Zealand court of charges he was lying when he renewed his helicopter pilot’s application without declaring he’d been convicted in 2010 of possessing cannabis. Rudd explained the charge, after drugs were found on his boat, had been overturned on appeal a year later when he convinced a judge he needed to tour and a conviction wouldn’t allow him into US, Canada and Japan.

In Court: Jeffrey Hubbard, the Atlanta man who caused the death of Usher’s 11-year-old stepson Kile Glover when he lost control of his jet ski, was jailed for four years.

In Court: Rickey Charles Goodrich, the former chief financial officer at Pearl Jam’s management company, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for stealing $380,000 from the band over a fouryear period.

In Court: a stalker who claimed he was married to Taylor Swift and sent her 735 disturbing tweets in a year, has been ordered to stay 100 yards away from her and three of her family members.

In Court: one-time Steely Dan singer David Palmer is suing main men Donald Fagan and Walter Becker for unpaid royalties for his work on their 1972 debut album Can’t Buy A Thrill.

Died: Promoter Laurence J. Richards, who ran some of Melbourne’s best-known clubs including the Seaview Ballroom, Tiger Lounge and Jump Club.

ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

8 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 9

ERYKAH BADU THINKING BIG

BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN

E

rykah Badu’s live shows are the stuff of legend. The singer is known for her powerful soul voice and crack live band, but also for the versatility of her setlist, which can change at a moment’s notice depending on the night, the crowd and the vibe. She does old songs, she does new songs, and she creates entirely fresh musical moments onstage.

the same set in both places. “I’m kind of mutable, you might say – I feel what’s going on in each place, I watch how people behave, and I change my show to fit in with that.

The most important thing to me is that I connect with the audience.”

Given that Badu will soon return to Australia, I ask about her experiences with crowds in this part of the world, and how her shows here generally go down. “I’m not saying this just because I’m coming to Australia,” she replies, “but I really love it down there. The air there is clean, the people are beautiful, and it feels very, very good to play there.”

In fact, Badu’s last trip to Australia was the source of one of her most cherished memories. “I felt so good the last time I was there. I had a set of turntables in my hotel room, I had the windows open and all of my favourite tunes, and I was just watching people walk on the street below me while I played songs.

When I want to picture a time that I felt really great, I close my eyes and think back to the time I spent in Australia. I felt very free.”

“If I could, I’d do every song I’ve ever written in the live show, but there’s just not time,” Badu says with a gentle laugh. “My band and I have been performing together for a really long time, long enough that they know everything, so we’re able to have a lot of versatility in the show.

Things can just flow,” she says.

“The energy is always different, the atmosphere is different, and so we always create the show in the moment. Playing a live show is the opposite of recording. Playing live is about creating a moment; recording is about perfecting a moment. You have to make everything perfect when you record, but playing live is more about taking chances.”

10 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

“Well, when I was trying to think of something for the ‘Window Seat’ video, I really wanted to do something more special than I had done before, because I always feel like I’m in competition with myself.

I thought back to artists like Nina Simone and Josephine Baker, people whose music goes beyond performance, who used their music to spread a message.”

That message was one about the dangers of conformity. “I became interested in this term, ‘groupthink’,” Badu explains. “I hadn’t ever heard of it before, but it defines a group of people who are afraid to go out of the thought patterns of their group, of their community or church, say, because they’re afraid that being an individual will cause them to be ostracised, singled out for attack. This term was coined by a sociologist called Irving Janis, and a lot of sociologists and writers have played around with it, but his take on it is the first. I started really thinking on this idea, and what it means in a present-day sense.”

The job of an artist, Badu says, is to create a a dialogue, and reflecting upon the concept of groupthink, she saw the idea of getting naked in the street as a way to both rebel and liberate. “Public nudity is not in fashion,” she laughs, “so I expected

there tthe re to be b a big dialogue around it, and there was.” location was also The video’s vide cance to Badu, of great signifi s who holds hold JFK in very high esteem. “He’s a very important for the nation and for me figure, fo personally,” she says. “People personal sensationalise the idea of really se Camelot, but if you look at the Camelot behind that, he was not afraid man beh policy decisions. to make tough t That’s the th kind of person I wanted to pay tribute to. As I walked down tri street and started stripping off the stree clothes, I was very nervous. my clothe I mean, it i was just me and a walking this busy street, camera w and I was petrified at the start of the video, video but once I’d gotten out of the ca car and started walking, I knew it w was something I had to through with, because it would go throug liberating experience. As I be a libe took each eac piece of clothing off, I felt like I was shedding a fear, a judgement, a belief system, and judgeme I focused on those thoughts as I took each ea step, so I wouldn’t be distracted by anything else. distra demonstration, it was It was a d conversation, and it was an a conver exercise.” exercise.

In a recent rece feature for Interview magazine, Badu spoke to young magazine gun Kend Kendrick Lamar, and one of her first q questions was about what he hopes to achieve in his career.

It was an interesting question to pose to the t new kid, and I wonder: if someone had asked Badu the same thing at tthe beginning of her career when her 1997 Baduizm album was just coming comi out, what would she have told them? The singer, who has been in the game for nearly decades at this point, takes a two deca moment to reflect on this.

“If someone someo had asked me that when my first album was coming out, I’d ha have told them that I would like to gather a collection of autobiographical memories to give autobiog children,” she says. “That would my childr aim, so they might listen to be my aim my words and think on me, and then one day ffeel compelled to create something for their children.” somethin With: H Hiatus Kaiyote Where: The Star Event Centre When: Thursday T April 17 And: Also Als appearing alongside John Mayer, Ma Dave Matthews Band, Devendra D Banhart, India.

Joss Stone, Jake Bugg, Arie, Jos Passenger and many more at Passeng Byron Bay B Bluesfest, Thursday April 17 – Monday April 21

thebrag.com

Erykah Badu photo by Phil Knott

Years of touring have taught Badu that different places in the world have different needs, and her show each night is a response to an intangible something in the air. “When we’re in America, in a place like Denver, the air and the water there are really clean, so everybody’s going to be relaxed and having a good time,” she explains.

“When “Wh hen I’m performing in a place like Detroit or Baltimore, though, it’s a different show. The water is not as clean there. Those cities are plagued with a lot of crime, and even if you’re living a decent life there, you feel the vibrations of those who aren’t.” She can’t perform

There’s one subject that hasn’t come up in our interview so far, but there’s no way I can let Badu go without asking about ‘Window Seat’. The video takes place the same street in Dallas where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and is presented in one continuous shot, with Badu gradually stripping naked as she walks. What was the initial inspiration for such a bold idea?

“PLAYING A LIVE SHOW IS THE OPPOSITE OF RECORDING. PLAYING LIVE IS ABOUT CREATING A MOMENT; RECORDING IS ABOUT PERFECTING A MOMENT. PLAYING LIVE IS MORE ABOUT TAKING CHANCES.”

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 11

Glen Hansard Spare Change By Nick Mason the plectrum is like this little plastic chisel. It’s got more to do with me not playing well than anything, but also, when you’re a busker, you’re hitting the guitar quite hard because you want to be heard.”

Busking holds special significance in Hansard’s life. Prior to forming rock outfit The Frames, Hansard and his Horse could be heard on the streets of Dublin, drawing in passers-by. “[Busking] is the foundation for all I do,” he says. “If you think about standing on the Melbourne Recital Centre stage, it’s not really that different. The only difference is the crowd have decided to be with you for that couple of hours. But they’re still going to walk on their way to and from the show and they’re going to carry on with their lives.

“Really, the best compliment you can get is when someone stops and listens to you,” Hansard continues. “That’s the beginning of your career right there – much more than someone throwing you a couple of quid and saying, ‘Nice one,’ and walking on. When they walk on, you’ve not really made any impact. But when someone stops and listens to you, before you know it, you’re sitting in a bar with these people and you’re travelling, you’re visiting their countries. Suddenly the world is opening up to you.

The guitar is like a big key. It’s a fascinating thing.”

I

t might never be mentioned in the same breath as Brian May’s Red Special or Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat, but Glen Hansard’s trusty six-string, the Horse, has certainly served the Irish musician

well. “I bought the guitar new in 1992 out of the money I got from The Commitments, because it was a good, decent guitar,” he recalls. “It’s certainly had the life knocked out of it a bit. It’s got a gaping wound…

THE BASEMENT ENMORE T U O D SUN THEATRE SOL12 APR ON SALE MON 13 APR NOW! WED 23 APR

ALSO TOURING: 12 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

The 2007 film Once, directed by John Carney, opened up a world of new opportunities for Hansard, who had ultimately become restless in spite of The Frames’ accomplishments. “When I was about 34, I just remember thinking, ‘This really is a long road.’ I was

having a great time, we were in a band and the band was playing to people – all the things you would hope. People were listening to our records and getting something from them. What is the success of an album? That it gets listened to.

“But at about 34, I remember getting a little angry that things were taking so fucking long. Then my friend John was like, ‘I’m making this film and I would love for you to be part of it.’ It gave me some hope; I don’t know why. There was something about making this music film with Markéta [Irglová] and John, it just gave me a shot in the arm.”

Once, a film that “took three weeks to make” and “cost nothing”, became a hit. Its stars, Hansard and Irglová, had also composed and performed the soundtrack, scooping an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Hansard went on to perform with Irglová as The Swell Season before embarking upon a solo career. Recently, he’s enjoyed playing alongside some iconic names including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

“It’s quite a magical thing if you get into it. As a kid, if you love someone like Dylan or Leonard Cohen, how miraculous that you end up actually getting to spend time with these people.”

There’s a sense that Hansard has newfound contentment in his career.

“You don’t want to give it too much talk but it really just shows that, if you focus on something, every part of your body sets sail for that destination. Every breath of wind that blows in that direction, you’re using and utilising. I think human beings are tapping into only a tiny bit of their manifesting power. Without

THE METRO THU 17 APR SELLING FAST!

wanting to sound new-agey, we literally invent the road before us.”

Hansard already has his immediate future mapped out. Having toured tirelessly, spoiling fans with the release of not only a debut album (Rhythm And Repose) but a followup EP (Drive All Night), his plans for the short term come as no surprise. “What’s next for me is the spring, and most of the summer, in my house in Dublin – planting vegetables, making furniture. Being a son, being a brother, being a friend – an available friend. The next few months of my life, I’m not even thinking about music. If I make music, great. If I don’t, great. I’m putting no pressure on it. Sometime in the autumn, I’ll get serious about making a record, but I absolutely need to not think about it until then.

“I’m dedicated to this life and the life of music and songwriting, but you need to respect it. If you work hard in any field, there comes a point where you burn out and lose your way a bit. You have to be careful of that. If you go into that state, you can find yourself spinning out for years and not being creative for years. So out of respect for my work, I’m going to let whatever field it is that I mine, as a songwriter, rest.”

Ironically, when Hansard last set aside time to relax, inspiration for Rhythm And Repose took hold.

“The muse holds no appointment with anyone,” he concedes. “It just comes when it comes.”

With: Lisa O’Neill When: Monday March 17, Thursday March 20 Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

THE FACTORY SUN 20 APR SELLING FAST!

ENMORE THEATRE THU 24 APR

ALLEN STONE JAMES COTTON BOOKER T JONES w/ VALERIE JUNE ROBBEN FORD SETH LAKEMAN GREGG ALLMAN w/ GOV’T MULE, DEVON ALLMAN OZOMATLI THE SOUL REBELS BUDDY GUY w/ CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE JIMMIE VAUGHAN & THE TILT A WHIRL BAND w/ NIKKI HILL STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES w/ KASEY CHAMBERS thebrag.com

Orphaned Land This Land Is Your Land By David James Young

E

very metalhead can most likely remember the exact moment they discovered their one true genre love. Kobi Farhi is no different – although the circumstances in which he discovered what would eventually become his greatest passion are significantly different to his Western peers, having grown up in Jaffa, a port city in the north west of Israel.

Orphaned Land photo by Ami Bornstein

“In the newspaper, there was this article where folks were concerned that people were killing themselves because of this ‘mystic’ music,” he explains. “I remember that I was thrilled by the idea, the definition of music being ‘mystic’. In the article, they had the album cover of [Iron Maiden’s] Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. I immediately went to the record store and I bought the cassette tape.

It was a life-changing moment for me – the lyrics, the cover, the sound, the power that was in the music. I was changing my skin in that very moment – heavy metal became a religion to me.”

It was this teenage obsession that led Farhi to start his first band, Resurrection, in 1991. A year later, the name was changed to Orphaned Land – and the rest, as they say, is history. Orphaned Land have become one of the most notable acts to ever emerge from the Middle East, with their distinct brand of ‘oriental metal’ serving as an influence to countless acts, both native and from the other side of the globe. Their sound was not always this distinctive, however: Farhi admits the band’s initial approach was simply to mimic their heroes like Iron Maiden.

“When we first started, we thought to make very traditional metal music,” he says. “We realised quickly that we will contribute nothing if we just imitate American or European bands. We have a great advantage, coming from a different place with different stories, a different climate. We should combine motives from this place into metal music – we will make the metal scene bigger, we will make it wider. We will take people on a journey through the Middle East.

I’m sure it’s the same thing in Australia, too – you can take bits and pieces from other cultures, but music is all about bringing something from your own environment.”

In their 20-plus years as a band, Orphaned Land have performed shows and festivals in 39 countries.

Farhi enthusiastically notes that the Australian tour, due to begin in a matter of weeks, will mark the 40th country that the band visits. The extent to which Orphaned Land’s fan base spreads is something that is not lost on them – and certainly not something that anyone in the band would dare take for granted.

“I don’t care if we go somewhere and play to 50 people or to 500 people,” says Farhi. “The fact that people – people anywhere – would leave their homes just to see Orphaned Land… that’s something that gets me every time. The most amazing part is the fact that, despite the fact that we are Israelis, we have dozens of Arab fans in places like Syria and Lebanon and Egypt. Even Iran.”

“A metal band is succeeding more at creating peace in the Middle East than any politician.”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the ArabIsraeli conflict,” he continues, providing some context to what their support means. “Each side of the conflict is raised and educated to hate one another. There are Arabs living in countries that are nowhere near what you and I would call a democracy. Metalheads are targeted, they are hunted down. If you have long hair and black t-shirts, you could get tortured for even that. So, the fact that these people would be a fan of and support an Israeli band – it’s simply an outstanding thing to do. We have been all over the news in Israel for being the most popular Israelis among Arabs. When I think back to when I first started listening to heavy metal, there was so much stigma surrounding it – that listening to it meant you were a Satanist, a cat

slaughterer, things like that. And here we are – a metal band is succeeding more at creating peace in the Middle East than any politician.”

The band is eagerly anticipating its maiden voyage to our shores, which will see Orphaned Land performing a lightning-quick run of east coast dates in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. They are looking forward to experiencing what Australian metalheads have to offer them.

“Coming from Israel, a place of conflict and disagreement, it will be interesting to come to a place where one of the most-used phrases is ‘no worries’,” says Farhi with a laugh. “A land of positive people expressing themselves, going to concerts and having fun, just living their lives.

That is something that I would love to see and I would love to learn from. I would also like for Australian audiences to give us a chance – we are bringing something very different from a very interesting region. We are bringing the story of Utopia from a very disharmonic area. This is going to be a very interesting meeting, and I look forward to it. I want to try traditional dishes, meet Australian music fans, hear Australian music, meet Australian musicians. I have not anticipated a visit to a country this much in a very long time.”

What: All Is One out now through Century Media With: Voyager, Orsome Welles Where: Factory Theatre When: Thursday March 20

PRESENTS

METRO THEATRE THE BASEMENT WED 16 APR SAT 19 APR

THE FACTORY SAT 26 APR

THE BASEMENT SAT 26 APR SELLING FAST!

LIZOTTES, NEWCASTLE - WED 23 APR LIZOTTES, C.COAST - THU 24 APR SELLING FAST! LIZOTTES, DEE WHY - FRI 25 APR

THE MAGIC BAND w/ GRANDMOTHERS OF INVENTION NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80 THE WAILERS w/ SLY & ROBBIE & THE TAXI GANG w/ BITTY MCLEAN KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND w/ WAR CHALI2NA NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE AARON NEVILLE w/ DR JOHN & THE NITE TRIPPERS LARRY GRAHAM & GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION thebrag.com

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 13

Martha Davis And The Motels Old-School New Wave By Paul McBride

N

ew Wave legend Martha Davis is in a surprisingly positive mood considering the catastrophe that’s just occurred.

“I’ve just realised that my basement has completely flooded,” she says.

“It’s pretty much a nightmare; I’ve just moved my studio down there and all these rugs and things are ruined. It’s not even raining; we had a lot of snow in the last week and I’m pretty sure I’ll be drying out rugs until the day we fly to Australia. But everything works out in the end, doesn’t it?”

formed in California in 1975 looks to bring back The Motels’ sound of old on an upcoming Australian tour.

“I’ll be coming with my ‘new’ band, which has really been my band for

The 63-year-old singer has reason to be upbeat, as the new lineup of a band that

ten years; longer than the original Motels were together,” she says.

“These boys are amazing; they’re younger, very cute and way-ass talented. I’m also bringing along Mr. Martin Jourard, who was the original sax and keyboard player for The Motels. He and the guys love each other and we have so much fun, and it’s such a joy to have the saxophone back. We’ll be playing a lot of the old favourites and a couple of new ones; we’ve gone back into the catalogue and dusted off a couple of songs we haven’t done in a while, so we’re going to bring Australia some very luscious sets.”

Martha and The Motels scored an Australian number four hit with ‘Total Control’ in 1980 before going through multiple lineup changes, but Davis is clear about what she wants for the band from now on.

Recalling her last visit to Australia in 1988, Davis says, “Our last Australian tour was a crazy-ass tour.

I should really pull out that itinerary because we played everywhere from Darwin to Tasmania. We played places that most Australians haven’t been to. I think we were there for 50 days and we played constantly; the drummer ended up in hospital in the end. It was nonstop and we went to every nook and cranny, but it was hilarious.

Everything I do is hilarious. It’s a funny job and you can’t get around that. I always say to people that you should watch Spinal Tap and then realise that everything in there is true. But it was a long and fun tour, although we were a very different band then; more jazzy. This tour is going to recall the first album more and be true to the record.”

While there will be an element of nostalgia in the upcoming shows, it’s not something Davis is happy to depend upon.

“Me and the boys spent some time in the studio before it flooded,” she says. “We just wrote three new tracks which are really wonderful; these guys are such great players.

I’ve always got songs lying around so there’s always stuff to be used.

Once we get in the same place it comes together pretty quickly. We’re preparing for Australia more than we are for the album right now, but there will be new songs coming out soon.”

Where: The Basement When: Monday March 17

Xxx photo by Xxx

“People really missed the saxophone when it wasn’t there.

Clint [Walsh], my guitar player, has been doing solos and he’s absolutely stunning, but there’s something about when that saxophone kicks in that really

makes people go wild. Then there’s Marty’s antics onstage – he’s always been a crazy guy and his keyboard stuff is wonderful.

Sometimes I think it’s more a Marty show than a Martha show! The saxophone is so evocative and has a really precise emotion – for me it sums up a wet street or alleyway and is so noir-ish in a way. I love that imagery and the lonely saxophone sound. Is it lonely, or is it just me? That’s probably why I’m a band girl rather than a solo girl. I love how the harmonies and sounds of different things layer to make an atmosphere as opposed to just having a song.”

Joan As Police Woman Instant Classic By Augustus Welby

“That’s just something that has been a constant in my life,” Wasser says.

“If something’s done, move on to the next thing. There’s always stuff to do, more music to be created, more people to collaborate with. Once it’s done, ‘Bye – see you later.’ I think certain ex-boyfriends of mine are rather horrified at that.”

The record’s lead single ‘Holy City’ is an uplifting Motown number, which gains additional firepower from Reggie Watts’ scat-singing outro.

Watts shows up again on the doowopping title track, while elsewhere The Classic showcases instrumental

improvisation and horns aplenty.

Wasser has no trouble introducing new facets of her personality with each release, but it isn’t a closely controlled progression.

“I’d love to say that I had a grand plan, but guess what? That wouldn’t be true,” she says. “I just keep going and I write. Clearly certain influences or feelings are revealed on each record, because of the place I’m in – that’s for sure – but I don’t plot it out.”

There are some sustaining characteristics that unite all of the Joan As Police Woman records; namely, Wasser’s timeless vocal style, lyrics that jump from sassy to sincere, and the authentic invocation of soul music. Yet Wasser isn’t inclined to revisit a formula that’s previously served her well.

“When I made [Real Life] I was very obsessed with remaking I’m Still In Love With You by Al Green. I wanted the songs to be very concise and simple and clean. That record

Joan As Police Woman photo by Shervin Lainez

“I

’ve been on the ride before, it never stops at all,” sang Joan Wasser on her 2006 debut LP Real Life, and it’s a sentiment that rings true on new album The Classic.

Wasser has updated her sonic template for each Joan As Police Woman record and The Classic, her fourth LP, is no different – gleefully grabbing from Motown and ’70s soul music, it’s the New York songwriter’s most buoyant set of songs thus far.

sounds quite polished… I really like that sound, but I did it already.

Soul music and Motown, that’s the music that’s been near and dear to my heart, so I think that just came out naturally on some of these [new] songs.”

In addition to being livelier, The Classic features the longest compositions in Wasser’s catalogue.

A chief example of this is ‘Good Together’ – a darkened sevenminute journey through emotions and textures that culminates in a guitar-screeching jam.

“In the past, when the lyrical content was done, shortly after I would fade it out,” Wasser says. “This time I was like, ‘I would want to hear that myself, the band keep playing, so why am I not giving my listeners credit enough to want to hear that stuff?’ It did feel like a chance I was taking, to allow the songs to really go, travel and not stop for a while.

People have given me really good feedback about that, so I feel glad that I took that chance.”

Speaking of taking chances, naming an album The Classic is a rather bold move. The term alludes to highbrow ideals, time-acknowledged quality and an artist’s crowning achievement. So how should it be interpreted in regards to Wasser’s new record?

“I just think that [it’s] funny. I know that some people do; probably some people don’t, but that’s OK.

There’s a song on the record called ‘The Classic’ and it’s about an ultimate lover. I say, ‘You’re the archetype, you’re the classic’; it’s very bombastic and grandiose and kind of over the top. And I feel like there’s elements of that on this record.”

What: The Classic out now through [PIAS]

Elbow Only A Northern Song By Keats Mulligan

E

lbow are icons of their genre. They’re recognised globally for their contribution to modern alternative rock, but especially so in the UK where their often sombre tones serve a steady and perfect soundtrack to the bleakness of northern England. So as I sit here listening to their new release The Take Off And Landing Of Everything and await a call from keyboardist and producer Craig Potter, I’m starting to worry that I’m a little out of my depth.

When the phone fi nally does ring he tells me I’ve caught him right after doing the dishes or packing the children’s lunches or some other similarly mundane domestic duty. I’d feel a little more comfortable talking to someone else who doesn’t know how to properly tie a bin bag than I would an icon of British music, but Potter seems like he ticks both boxes.

The Take Off And Landing Of Everything is Elbow’s sixth studio

14 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

release in their 20-year career and marks a shift in the band’s approach to songwriting. “We have tried to split the group dynamic up a little bit,” says Potter from his home in north Manchester. “We had one member take a day off on a different day each week, which meant that different groups work together that may not have done so [before]. We specifi cally wanted to mix it up in that way. We’ve also been working a lot more from home – there’s a song on the album that I wrote almost all of the music to and the same goes for Pete [Turner, bass] on another song and Mark [Potter, guitar] on another song, which is something we wouldn’t ordinarily do.”

The Take Off And Landing Of Everything seems to be such an appropriate album for Elbow to release at this point in time – not because of the nature of the contemporary musical landscape, but for themselves as individuals and as a band. It’s rather sparse and mature in its sound. Potter

explains that it’s at least in part to do with growing older.

“It definitely changes the older you get, with respect to lyrical content and subject matter. A lot of it’s linked to approaching 40. This age is sort of about looking forward and looking back at the same time”.

Despite their growth, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything remains unmistakably Elbow. It’s epic at

points but quite hollow and loose at others. The arrangement of sound is almost orchestral in certain instances on the record, and it’s all fronted by lyrics full of substance and full of worry, as fans have come to expect from the band. Few bands can mimic real life so well in their sound. And though the subject matter of Elbow’s music changes as they’ve aged, Potter says the band isn’t concerned with keeping up with musical fashion or style.

“I think if you worry too much about being relevant then you tend to go down some wrong roads. It’s got to be sincere and it’s got to be all about the sound. We don’t think that if we’re hearing a lot of a particular sound then we should go for that. I think it’s a risky way to work.”

What: The Take Off And Landing Of Everything out now through Fiction/Universal

thebrag.com

John Newman Facing Up By Dan Watt

“We have worked very, very hard at building up my identity because I was a bit of a faceless character at fi rst.”

T

here is so much to like about British singer/producer John Newman. What we know already is his voice is like no other – powerful, yet vulnerable and emotional, with his music uplifting, compelling and the perfect marriage of classic grooves and future pop.

However, in a 15-minute interview, the BRAG found out that there is so much more to the 23-year-old lad from the small English town of Settle, Yorkshire. Newman reveals the strategy behind his transformation from ‘the voice on those Rudimental songs’ to be known in his own right; the highly personal story behind Rudimental’s ‘Not Giving In’; and that he will be letting fans inside his head at his Hi-Fi performance on Thursday May 1.

The name John Newman first entered the global music scene’s vocabulary when British production crew Rudimental released the song ‘Feel The Love’ in 2012. It went to number one on the UK singles chart and number three here in Australia. Newman’s collaborations with Rudimental also included their other UK Top 20 single, ‘Not Giving In’. However, Rudimental’s success came at the cost of Newman’s identity as a solo artist.

“We have worked very, very hard at building up my identity because I was a bit of a faceless character at first,” says Newman. “There was a little bit of an identity crisis with us all because no-one really knew who it was making this music that everyone was listening to. For Rudimental’s team around them, their management and their label, it was really important that I wasn’t sitting in their interviews, so people quite quickly worked out who they were. So to my management and team it was very clear that we needed to be doing a lot of in-person interviews to get my face out there.”

Despite the efforts by Newman’s and Rudimental’s representatives to separate the identities of the two acts, the reality is that Newman and the London production quartet shared a much more organic relationship.

“For ‘Not Giving In’, me and Piers [Agget] wrote it in Piers’ bedroom when I was living at his house,” Newman says. “It is about a really close friend of ours that was going through a really tough time and we wanted to write a song about him, and that was ‘Not Giving In’. I fully wrote the lyrics.”

Eventually, Newman emerged as more than just an extremely talented vocalist for Rudimental to lay over their heavy bass-rooted production.

A DJ and producer in his own right, Newman discovered music during his childhood in Settle (population 2,421). He got into DJing at the age of nine and was sampling his own vocals, guitar thebrag.com

and piano over the top of established dance tracks by the time he was 13.

“I had a little set-up in my mum’s house and I was sampling my own stuff. How I became a producer was that when I spoke about how I used to DJ [and] play house records, all the young lads in the town were doing the same thing – it was the new thing to do. So the way that I wanted to be different to everybody else was by making interludes and remixes of tracks and intros, and that’s how I began producing.

I would spend many man hours in front of a computer screen, tweaking and integrating my own recordings.”

Ultimately, though, Newman knows that a good song is about more than executing all the tricks of production.

“I think nowadays people cover up too many things with what they can buy from a music shop, and forget that there is a really important thing in making music – that songs have to be well crafted. You have to be able to perform a song on a piano and still sound good. It can be fun to add in all these cool effects and synths, but the thing is, when you start adding so much electronic stuff you lose the charm of what music can be; that is, the charm of the swing of a musician or how a musician sits back off the beat. To use musicians is the way forward, man, and obviously that doesn’t cater for synths.”

If Newman thinks effect-based music is a fad, what about the dubstep-like breakdown during ‘Love Me Again’, his mammoth single of 2013?

“Yeah man,” he laughs, “the middle eight of ‘Love Me Again’ was on the half-time dubstep thing because that is what I felt like at the time. I will do anything if it feels right at the time.”

Anyone who’s seen the film clip for ‘Love Me Again’, or who witnessed Newman’s performance on Australia’s version of The Voice (he was a guest at the series final) will know that his stage performance is impassioned and theatrical. This bodes well for fans looking forward to his tour.

“Live shows are so, so important to me. I don’t understand how people can’t put their all into every gig. The thing about the live show is that my stage set is related to the album artwork design that I was involved in. The lighting is really important, so I keep a close eye on that. You walk into the gig and it is basically the inside of my head.”

What: Tribute out now through Island/ Universal Where: The Hi-Fi When: Thursday May 1

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 15

arts frontline

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Hannah Warren and Andy Huang

five minutes WITH

CHRIS KEELY

Chris Keely

S

ecret Cinema is back for its first event of 2014. We took five with General Manager Chris Keely who told us

Candid portrait of a woman on a street corner

FROM

SECRET CINEMA

absolutely nothing about what to expect this time but piqued our interest with a couple of hints.

held a World Movies Secret Cinema in Melbourne where we screened Holy Motors in an aircraft hangar.

What is the concept behind World Movies Secret Cinema?

World Movies Secret Cinema is an immersive film experience that takes the audience out of the traditional movie theatre and transports them to another world. Audiences purchase a ticket to a mystery film in a top secret location, and are sent SMS clues in the lead up to the event. A meeting point is finally revealed on the day of the event, and audiences are whisked away into a world that is unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Everything is themed, from food and drink to lighting and sound. Be prepared, anything could happen…

Can you tell us what film you’re showing this time?

Sadly, I cannot. Details are so top-secret our staff doesn’t even know.

Tell us about previous Secret Cinema experiences.

Our last World Movies Secret Cinema in Sydney was held on Goat Island. The audience was given maps, survival packs and weapons, and made their way over to the island where they were thrown into a world of chaos and confusion, before watching the directors-cut version of the cult-classic Battle Royale. We also recently

ART(EXPRESS) AFTER HOURS

Get ready for the teenage takeover as the ever-popular ARTEXPRESS returns to the Art Gallery Of NSW on Wednesday March 12. To celebrate the next gen of Australia’s creative talent, the AGNSW’s Art After Hours program will present an exciting mix of events from pop-up performances to live music and dance.

On opening night, Gretel Killeen will be in conversation with exhibiting artists, followed by beautiful folk music by Sam Buckingham and Kent Eastwood. The following two Wednesdays – March 19 and 26 – promise more, with an appearance from triple j’s Tom Tilley. For the full program, visit artgallery. nsw.gov.au.

PACT ENSEMBLE

Creatives seeking professional development and collaborative opportunities, look no further. Registrations are now open for PACT Ensemble, a program packed with masterclasses and opportunities for

Can you tell us where it is?

Everything is highly confidential, but I can reveal that this year’s location is by far our best venue to date.

Okay, how about a hint?

This year’s location has never before been seen or used by anyone, and remains untouched – a hidden gem right here in Sydney that people don’t even know exists.

Fine. Where can we get our tickets?

Through oztix.com.au from Wednesday March 12.

What: World Movies Secret Cinema When: Friday April 11, 7pm; Saturday April 12, 12.30pm and 7pm; Sunday April 13, 12:30pm and 7pm.

More: worldmoviessecretcinema.oztix.com.au.

interdisciplinary artists to create works, build on their skills and make lasting connections.

Incorporated into a one-week live-in residency at Bundanon and a one-month intensive at PACT, the ideas developed during this process to be showcased in a final three-night platform.

Registration closes Monday March 17 More information about the program and how to register at pact.net.au.

PASS THE BECHDEL TEST

Based on the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl – oh, come on; don’t pretend you don’t know the one! – Matilda The Musical is confirmed to make its Australian premiere at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, August 2015.

Written by Dennis Hopper, with music and lyrics by comedian-minstrel Tim Minchin, the multiaward-winning musical is currently running in London’s West End and on Broadway in New York, so it’s going to be quite some a while before Matilda reaches our fine shores. In the meantime, maybe get yourself a glass of water and stare at it until you can make it move?

16 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

Step back in time and enjoy the classic romance of those teen lovebirds Romeo and Juliet on the big screen in the latest iteration of the Bard’s tale directed by Carlo Carlei, in cinemas March 27. Then, because we’re feeling generous, go even further back in time to the ancient Roman Empire, to the city of Pompeii in the days before the explosion in the new film by Paul W. S. Anderson, in cinemas March 20.

Thanks to Icon Films, we have five ticket packs of double passes to the very limited releases of Romeo And Juliet and Pompeii to give away. To win, get yo’self to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us when you would go if you had a time machine.

One Year Performance 1980-1981

The 10th annual Sydney Comedy Festival, from Tuesday April 22 to Saturday May 17, has announced its full program and tickets are now on sale for all shows. Since 2005, when it hosted 22 shows, the Sydney Comedy Fest has grown to include more than 160 shows, and an expected 110,000 attendees. The long list of international comedy stars includes David O’Doherty (IRE), Kevin Bridges (SCO), Julian Clary (UK), Stephen K Amos (UK), Paul Foot (UK), Urzila Carlson (SA/NZ), Milton Jones (UK), Daniel Sloss (SCO), and US performers Jeff Dunham, Mike Epps, Reginald D Hunter, Bob Saget, Wil Sylvince, Eddie Ifft and Dom Irrera. Homegrown talent includes Sam Simmons, Housos, The Axis of Awesome, Lawrence Mooney, Fiona O’Loughlin, Raymond Crowe, Luke McGregor, David Quirk, Greg Fleet, Jackie Loeb, Gretel Killeen, Joel Creasey, Mel Buttle, Michael Workman, Sarah Kendall and Tom Ballard. With the return of the FRESH Program, festival-goers can check out some of the nation’s lesser known but most promising comedy stars including Alex Wasiel, Amos Gill, Cameron James & Jared Jekyll, Justine Rogers, Marty Bright, Mug & Kettle, Penny Greenhalgh, Rodney Todd, Susie Youssef and William Erimya for the bargain price of $15. Rounding out the smashing 2014 program will be a range of special events like The Gala at the Sydney Opera House, Cracker Night, the Beached Az Film Festival, Frocking Hilarious, and the Secret Shows. Head to sydneycomedyfest.com.au for the full, delicious line up, and tickets to the LOLs.

TEHCHING HSIEH AT CARRIAGEWORKS

Since the late 1970s, TaiwaneseAmerican artist Tehching Hsieh has made an incredible series of works: five separate one-year-long performances that involved moving from a year of solitary confinement without any communication, to a year spent punching a time clock hourly in his apartment, to a year spent without any shelter on the streets of New York, to a year in which he was tied to artist Linda Montano without ever touching. His final work revolved around a declaration that he would make art and not show it in thirteen years. Now, having honoured that promise, Hsieh is free to exhibit his works, and will be presenting the second of his One Year Performances, in which he punched in a time clock in his studio every hour for an entire year. One Year Performance 1980-1981 (commonly known as the Time Clock Piece) is happening at Carriageworks from April 29 to July 6.

JOHN FRIES MEMORIAL PRIZE

Entries are now open to all emerging artists of all ages and disciplines in Australia and New Zealand for the John Fries Memorial Prize. The annual award carries a value of $10,000, which last year went to Jess Olivieri and Hayley Forward for their collaborative video work, Harlequins Vs Visitors. Sebastian Goldspink (Alaska Projects and Art Month) will once again guest curate the event, which, for the first time, will be held at new venue partner, Galleries UNSW, COFA. Entries close Monday May 5. To submit an entry, go to viscopy.org.au/jfa.

CREAM OF THE CROP

In Cream, a series of recent art graduates have been sourced from a number of art institutions around Sydney and brought together to showcase the diverse talent of up and comers across various disciplines at Gallery Red in Glebe. The exhibition is open from Friday March 21 to Tuesday April 8. thebrag.com

xxx photo by xxx

Half of the world is made up of women.

What we see on screen does not reflect this. Something needs to be done and that something is Pass The Bechdel Test, a campaign launched by Australian filmmaker Sarah Steel, which aims to improve representation of women in film. What started out as a joke, the Bechdel Test is now an indication of the bare minimum of female participation in a movie. It has three simple criteria: 1) [film] has to have two females in it 2) Who have a conversation with each other 3) About something besides a man.

Along with a voluntary charter that calls for filmmakers to always aim for making films that broaden female representation, there is a petition the public can sign to show their support for more and better female characters in movies. To see if your favourite film passes the test, or to join in the effort, head to passthebechdeltest.com.

Stephen K Amos

COMEDY FEST IS GO

FILM! DOUBLE DOUBLE PASSES! WIN!

MATILDA THE MUSICAL

TRENT PARKE, THE CAMERA IS GOD

Fresh from premiering in the 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, multi-award-winning photographer Trent Parke will be exhibiting The Camera is God (Street Portrait Series). Parke, whose fascination with the everyday is well known, continues to break new ground with the medium and the street in this latest series, which feature photographs of anonymous people standing in street corners. If ever there was anyone to capture the mundane and make it powerful and moving, it’d be Parke.

See The Camera is God at Stills Gallery in Paddington from March 26 to May 3.

Kit Harrington in Pompeii

A Repertory Season at the

SEYMOUR CENTRE MARCH 27TH – APRIL 12TH SPORT FOR JOVE celebrates

Shakespeare’s

SPORT FOR JOVE THE AT R E C OM PAN Y

C

Do you

use

dr ug s w h e n

yo u’re out ?

VISIT WWW.SPORTFORJOVE.COM.AU FOR MORE INFORMATION

Researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre would like to speak people who use drugs when they go out.

Face to face interviews will be conducted between April and May. The interview takes around one hour and is held at a convenient location for you. Interviews are anonymous and confidential. You will be reimbursed $40 for your time.

ROCK WITH LAUGHTER

COMEDY NIGHT HOST: MIKEY ROBINS

THU 27 MAR

AT ROCK LILY

BLUEJUICE + PLUTO JONZE

Contact Gavin on (02) 9385 0161, email nswedrs@unsw.edu.au or SMS details to 0450 090 156 (you do not have to use your real name).

THU 17 APR

AT ROCK LILY EASTER SUNDAY

SAMANTHA JADE

SUN 20 APR

AT ROCK LILY

ALSO AT THE STAR

MARQUEE : GRANT SMILLIE 15 MARCH HAVANA BROWN 22 MARCH EVENT CENTRE : ERYKAH BADU 17 APRIL WAYNE BRADY 11 JULY ROCK LILY : TABITHA & THE CLIQUE 16 MARCH SUITE AZ 23 MARCH

80 PYRMONT ST, PYRMONT

STAR.COM.AU

/TheStar

@TheStarSydney

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

Think! About your choices. Call Gambling Help 1800 858 858 www.gamblinghelp.nsw.gov.au

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 17

Sport For Jove

Francesca Savige as Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well

[THEATRE] Birthday Bard By Harry Windsor

T

his year marks an important anniversary – the birth of William Shakespeare 450 years ago. In the next month, you won’t be able to throw a stick without hitting Shakespeare.

John Bell’s The Winter’s Tale is playing at the Opera House, and the Seymour centre will soon host Sport For Jove’s repertory season comprising All’s Well That Ends Well (from March 27) and Twelfth Night (April 1), both directed by Damien Ryan.

As well as being refreshingly contrasting, Twelfth Night and All’s Well share a few traits, not least that they are both plays powered by women.

“They both view sexuality and the sexual act from the female perspective, unusual in

Ryan and leading lady Francesca Savige have their work cut out with All’s Well though.

After all, its central character, Helena, is pretty unlikeable. Ryan rejects the idea that likeability is key, and detects in our insistence on it a whiff of double standard. “Helena is manipulative indeed, but we so revere the male manipulators in Shakespeare … This play places the shoe on the other foot. It has a cattle call of men forced into an arranged marriage! This is traditionally the fate of young women in Shakespeare and we accept it without blinking – it is all very typical that Hermia or Ophelia will be told what to do – but it shocks us when a women lines up a group of men and chooses the one she wants.”

On top of that, it’s wildly implausible, even for Shakespeare. “It is a far-fetched plot in a couple of moments, but so are Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth – it’s been a while since I saw bearded witches on the way home. Shakespeare took myths and humanised them, without losing their cosmic dimension. All’s Well is exploring choices and frailties that are very human and universal,” says Ryan.

Another trait the plays share is that both are comedies flecked with tragedy. Ryan plans to juggle the gags and pathos by playing it straight. “It’s a tricky process of recognising where the comedy can be most effective to solve a moment or where that comedy can cheapen or sell short the moment. Generally you realise, especially with comedy, that the truth is always the best answer. Not to play them as caricatures or clowns and cartoon characters, but as real fully dimensional people – when the actors really achieve that the tone tends to take care of itself.” If so, there’s little cause for concern. There’s rarely a duff performance in Sport for Jove’s shows.

If anybody can pull off the balancing act of this repertory season, this bunch can.

What: Sport For Jove’s Repertory Season When: All’s Well That Ends Well from March 27 and Twelfth Night from April 1.

Where: Seymour Centre More: sportforjove.com.au

Trend Watch

All’s Well That Ends Well photo by Seiya Taguchi

Twelfth Night is a crowd-pleaser, still wildly popular, so why the pairing with one of the most irregularly revived of Shakespeare’s plays, All’s Well That Ends Well? For Ryan, the relative obscurity of All’s Well is a nice contrast with the well-worn story of Twelfth Night. “In months of discussions with actors and friends, only one has ever read All’s Well, and only two have ever seen it. To most it is a complete mystery and surprise.

An audience will largely not know what happens next, which is a rare treat in Shakespeare.”

Shakespeare. He often deals in desperate male desire or obsession with the enigmatic female, famously in plays such as Hamlet or Othello or Measure for Measure, but rarely does he look at it powerfully from the woman’s standpoint ...

Both plays centre on obsessive unrequited love that pushes people to extreme acts, both explore vanity and its necessary punishments, deception and duplicity, and both are lead by young women with extraordinary eloquence and intelligence who stop at nothing to achieve their goals.”

[VISUAL ART] Watch Out By Pamela Lee Collector’s Space

The discussion promises to be informative and engaging for first time buyers and established collectors alike. “The landscape of contemporary art and collecting has changed,” says GlassKantor. “The past 20 years have seen an increase in confidence in collecting and there is an incredible level of curiosity and ambition.”

T

he official theme of Art Month Sydney 2014 is ‘Intersections And Parallels’, but ‘collecting’ is a hot topic for this year’s event and the cornerstone for one of the month’s highlight exhibitions. Collector’s Spaces is an

Contemporary art has expanded into the realms of cross-disciplinary, multimedia, sitespecific and performance work. Glass-Kantor sees this development as “a very exciting moment in collecting, as people are thinking

about expanded ways to incorporate art into their living environment.” The discussion will undoubtably touch on how collectors can consider a more diverse range of acquisitions by taking an interest into studio practice, investigating the commissioning of site specific works and exploring places in the broader context of the home for multimedia and moving image works.

An increasingly asked question is not only what to buy, but where to buy? Australian contemporary art has seen a greater engagement with the Asian region, specifically Hong Kong and Singapore with a profusion of fairs – Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair and Art Stage Singapore – as well as project platforms such as Singapore-based Future Perfect, with Australian art specialist establishing their practice and expertise in the Pacific-Rim region. Glass-Kantor will also be looking towards New Zealand; “[There is] a convergence between New Zealand and Asia, where there is a strong generation coming through”, traces of which are already evident as Sydney Galleries mark New Zealand artists such as Elizabeth Thomson, Abby McCulloch and Jake Walker on their exhibition calendars for 2014.

With the expansion of multimedia and digital practice, stepping into the world of art collecting and taking the leap of acquisition can be daunting.

Australian art audiences now have a plethora of trading platforms before them; not only galleries, fairs, museums, forums and pop up spaces, but the profusion of digital media, websites, blogs and social media create an expanded opportunity for collectors to see and engage with as much creativity as possible. “Diversity enables individuals to make their own choices and find their own meaning,” says Glass-Kantor.

Collector’s Space: Trend Watch, and its exhilarating panel of Australian contemporary art experts promises to unravel the secrets behind empowered, enabled, inquisitive and innovative collecting in Australia in 2014. “Collecting is a highly personal engagement,” says Glass-Kantor, who has a self-proclaimed “eclectic approach to Asian art” in her personal collection. Over time, collectors develop an in depth knowledge and learn to trust themselves, but until then it’s about engaging, exploring learning what you want to achieve and asking the right questions.

What: Collector’s Space: Trend Watch, part of Art Month Sydney 2014 When: Sunday March 23, Where: Collector’s Space, 101 William Street, Darlinghurst

Rise Of The Eco-Warriors [FILM] It’s A Jungle By Tegan Jones

F

ifteen passionate and adventurous young people leave their ordinary lives behind to spend 100 days in the jungles of Borneo.

Their mission: to rescue the rainforests and endangered orangutans from destruction.

Rise Of The Eco-Warriors is the latest project of documentary filmmaker Cathy Henkel.

It’s a follow-up to her 2008 IF-award winning film, The Burning Season, which dealt with saving rainforests through the carbon trading mechanism. The venture originated from online polls completed by school children who, when asked what they would do to save the world, overwhelmingly responded with ‘stop deforestation’.

The poll creators, Microsoft Partners in Learning, contacted Henkel and asked her for ideas that students could engage with. The result was DeforestACTION, a campaign that would involve travelling to Borneo to implement deforestation solutions and allow children to monitor the action from their classrooms. An international call for the volunteers was placed, and the result was the 15 amazing young men and women who would become the arsekicking Eco-Warriors.

Despite an abundance of knowledge on the palm oil trade in Borneo, the filmmaker admits that none of it prepared her or the Eco-Warriors for the reality of what was waiting for them. “We

18 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

all went into a kind of shock faze when we saw just how rampant it is, and how much disregard there is for the law, because most of what’s happening is illegal.”

“Forests are being destroyed to plant palm oil plantation and palm oil serves the global food market and cosmetics,” Henkel told SBS last year. “So we the consumers are the prime cause of this deforestation by consuming this product ignorantly. The people on the ground who are most affected by it are the Dayak communities whose land is being taken away from them – often against their will. They fight, they resist, they are taken over and lose their land and livelihood.” Henkel explains that the villagers begged the team to help them, to speak on their behalf and tell the world.

Cathy filming in Tembak

Help them they did, as the Eco-Warriors forfeited their creature comforts for a bed consisting of floor and a mosquito net, treacherous roads, and sinking longboats. “One of our boys nearly drowned in a surging river after a big flood”, recounts the director before also describing how everyone, except for herself, became sick during their time there. But despite the team’s rollercoaster ride of emotions and physical hardships, they never gave up their fight for the rainforest.

orangutans who were victims of deforestation, including Jojo, a baby orangutan that captured the hearts and minds of the team. This rescue initiative was lead by Dr. Willie Smits, who is responsible for aiding hundreds of orangutans himself. He chose the site because there was no rescue centre in the region and the orangutans were living in horrendous conditions. Despite working with limited resources and beyond their levels of skill and expertise, the eco-warriors managed to build and set up the centre. Henkel that fifteen new orangutans now call it home and are doing well.

One of the biggest achievements of the EcoWarriors was building a rescue centre for

There’s no doubt that Rise Of The Eco-Warriors is a confronting documentary film, but with

positive intentions, with a focus on educating and motivating people. Henkel has said that she hopes that audiences will exit the cinema asking what they can do to help. This message in particular rings loud and clear; “Every action counts. Every individual does matter.” Henkel says that this won’t be her last venture into the rainforest. “I don’t think I’m done with this topic.

I don’t want to stop until there’s a better system in place.”

What: Rise Of The Eco-Warriors When: Wednesday March 26 at Big Picture Film Festival More: ecowarriorsrise.com

thebrag.com

Collector’s Space: Photo courtesy of Trend Watch

urban space filled with museum quality artworks never before seen in public, which is playing host to an array of collecting-focused talks and events. One of the most anticipated is Trend Watch, a panel discussion promising to reveal the inside track with tips, predictions and anecdotes to prepare Australian collectors, both aspiring and established, for the 2014 market.

The event boasts a dynamic panel of charismatic, distinguished industry insiders Alexie Glass-Kantor, Artspace Executive Director and acclaimed international curator; Dick Quan, a pioneering medical practitioner and avid collector of contemporary Australian and international art; and Barry Keldoulis, CEO and Group Fairs Director of Art Fairs Australia.

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

■ Film

■ Film

NEED FOR SPEED

GLORIA Garcia and Hernandez in Gloria

Aaron Paul in Need For Speed In cinemas now In cinemas now “Based on the video game by Electronic Arts” reads a credit near the end of Need For Speed; roughly all one needs to know that in the realm of gearhead films, this isn’t Two-Lane Blacktop. For that matter, it’s pretty far behind the stellar last two entries in the Fast & Furious series, with its leaden stabs at humor making one yearn for the sub-Howard Hawks group shenanigans of Vin Diesel and company.

The Winter's Tale photo by Michele Mossop

Featuring Aaron Paul in his first major film role following his beloved stint as Jessie Pinkman in Breaking Bad, Need For Speed is shoddy in nearly every department except the one that counts: the car chases, which are lengthy, plentiful, urban & pastoral-bound, captured with as many cameras as possible (including GoPro for the tricky parts), and for the most part, pretty virtuosic and exciting.

The narrative is only there to facilitate said sequences, with Paul’s Tobey Marshall hell-bent on revenge after being framed for the death of his brother in a street race with British car-upgrade entrepreneur (Dominic Cooper). With a spunky car dealer (Imogen Poots) by his side, he hits the road on a cross-country trip to find his nemesis, outracing cops and generic baddies along the way.

Like many films named after their main character, the acclaimed Chilean drama Gloria is a character study in the truest sense of the term; an introspectivebordering-on-claustrophobic examination of one character, which studies them as much as it lets us do the studying. Unlike many films, however, the character in question (played by Paulina Garcia, in a performance that won her Best Actress at last year’s Berlin Film Festival) is a divorced woman in her 50s beginning an affair with divorced former naval officer Rodolfo (Sergio Hernández), and director Sebastian Lelio, working from a screenplay by Gonzalo Maza, doesn’t shy away from depicting her unbridled sexual hunger, as well as nudity from bodies well past cinema’s unwritten age barrier.

To be flip, old people deserve their sexuality represented onscreen too, and if the film’s critical plaudits and US box office success are anything to go by, there’s certainly a neglected adult audience who find the identification refreshing rather than alienating. By the same token, there’s a nagging sense of the film taking its character’s underrepresentation for granted; after a rift in Gloria and Rodolfo’s relationship leaves her unmoored again, she risks becoming a cipher as her actions become harder to explicate.

The casting of Paul turns out to be pretty effective; fans of Breaking Bad have only the memories of Jessie Pinkman to go on, since his character remains such an ill-defined cipher, which turns out to be kind of ingenious. Meanwhile, Poots (Poots!) overcompensates for a nothing role with overly winsome spunk, and the less said about Michael Keaton as the radio DJ providing a zany running commentary, the better. Still, Need For Speed delivers the goods, and the whole thing has a likeably goofy, uncynical vibe that’s pretty refreshing; it exceeds rock bottom expectations, becoming something destined to be fondly half-watched and half-remembered on Friday nights for years to come.

Fortunately, Garcia’s flinty performance keeps her consistently watchable; the banal symbolism of anecdotal scenes (and there are a lot of them, particularly in its billowing third act) like Gloria seeing herself reflected in a busker’s dancing skeleton-puppet act are redeemed by the generous expressiveness of Garcia’s face, and the supporting cast is also strong – particularly in a resentment-fraught family dinner shared by Gloria, Rodolfo and their respective exes. If Gloria is finally too dramatically circular – not to mention visually drab and anonymous in its commitment to naturalism – to completely engage, it’s a testament to Garcia that Gloria herself resonates so vividly.

Ian Barr

Ian Barr

Rory Potter in The Winter's Tale ■ Theatre

(Liana Cornell) is fresh-faced and chaste.

THE WINTER’S TALE

A few real standouts, however, were Michelle Doake as Paulina, who brings a particular sassiness to the role with some perfectlytimed pauses and a tone of voice not often heard in the Bard’s work; Justin Smith as the young shepherd who is appealingly sweet and dopey; and Myles Pollard, who magically transforms from a king into a hunched old shepherd, complete with a mouth-full-of-loose-teeth mumbling.

Showing now at Sydney Opera House Playhouse The Winter’s Tale, one of the Bard’s rarely performed plays, is the latest offering from theatre company Bell Shakespeare, and it is a beautiful visual feast of shadow play, coloured lights and children’s toys.

The whole play is set in a charming child’s room with a bed, a dress up box, toys strewn about and homemade decorations – blue for Mamillius and pink for Perdita – hung from the ceiling.

As expected, the actors all beautifully fill their roles – Leontes (Myles Pollard) is in turn buoyed by rage and crushed by grief, Hermione (Helen Thomson) is gracious and elegant, and Perdita

Another performance worth a mention is Rory Potter as Mamillius. This iteration of the prince goes far beyond conventional interpretations of the role; after his death, he remains onstage as a sprite to watch the play unfold.

Dressed as a tiny wizard in an oversized robe he also acts as stagehand – passing props to

other characters and helping them change onstage – listens silently to the monologues and uses his wand to weave the magic required by this play.

It seems a shame that, amidst the whimsical, nostalgic tone of the rest of the play, the heavy-handed singing and dancing scenes felt like an obvious grab for laughs – all the more obvious for the subtle, clever humour that surrounded them.

Shakespeare is hard enough to follow when spoken; sung while dancing, it becomes almost impossible.

Overall, though, this reimagining of The Winter’s Tale is enchanting, captivating and fresh. It’s almost worth seeing just for the delightful representation of the classic moment: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

Hannah Warren

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Dimboola King Street Theatre, Newtown, March 13 to March 22 Everyone loves a wedding. Right?

Well, you’re invited to the wedding of Protestant Morrie McAdam and Catholic Reen Delaney in King St Theatre’s Dimboola.

Written by Jack Hibberd in 1968, Dimboola promises to be the most tragically Australian wedding you’ll ever The cast of Dimboola experience; the two families come together in the Mechanics’ Institute Hall in Dimboola, Victoria, and try to preserve social grace and dignity in the face of impending disasters. Because what wedding would be complete without disasters?

There will be laughter, tears and beers, so grab tickets at kingstreettheatre.com.au. thebrag.com

SCREEN & MEDIA CAREERS NIGHT Special Industry guests panel • Find out about hot jobs in demand Watch clips and trailers • Free networking drinks & snacks Diploma Screen & Media with VET Fee Help available June - December 2014

Diploma Multiplatform Production with VET Fee Help available July - December 2014

*FREE ENTRY*

Wednesday 26 March 6pm

RVSP at metroscreen.org.au

C E N T R E F O R S C R E E N C R E AT I V I T Y BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 19

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK SUN KIL MOON Benji Caldo Verde/Spunk

It’ll be a while before anyone wraps their head around Sun Kil Moon’s new album. Seldom has there been an album so confessional, so real. Pinkerton is the only one in recent memory that springs to mind. But that’s got nothing on Benji.

Xxxx This is main man Mark Kozelek’s memoirs, diary and ID, set to music.

Why Mark Kozelek felt the need to put out a collection of songs with such explicit autobiographical detail is hard to fathom, but it’s incredibly fascinating, and a remarkable achievement. The music is not the focus, but thankfully it serves its purpose well, retaining the trademark slowcore folk Kozelek’s been playing all his career.

The portraits he paints are not flattering; not the stories he tells in these 11 songs nor how he handles them. Opener ‘Carissa’, for example, is about his second cousin, who died in a freak accident taking out the garbage. Kozelek makes it about himself, admitting: “I didn’t know her well”.

That of course is what everyone does when someone in their lives passes, making sense of it by focusing on how they fit into the picture. Kozelek is just being incredibly, brutally honest, as he is for the entire album.

“It’s a complicated place / This planet we’re on.” Indeed.

Leonardo Silvestrini

JASON ISBELL

FOSTER THE PEOPLE

NATHAN ROCHE

TAKING BACK SUNDAY

SALLY SELTMANN

Southeastern Spunk

Supermodel Columbia/Sony

Watch It Wharf Glenlivet-A-Gogh

Happiness Is Hopeless/UNFD

Hey Daydreamer Caroline

The unique attributes of the American South may have been eroded by the pervasive influence of the internet and the insipid mass media but there’s still something distinctive about the music and culture of the world that exists south of the Mason-Dixon line. If you can see past the ever-present cliché of the racist redneck or the imbecilic farm yokel you’ll find a sociology that’s as elegant as it is perennially proud.

Foster The People’s sophomore album, Supermodel, arrives almost three years after its predecessor, Torches. For their latest effort, Marcus Foster has cited influences from West African music to David Bowie and The Clash.

The Watch It Wharf LP sleeve features an amusing ramble acknowledging that change is inevitable, but there’s always another bar just around the corner; an apt initiation into Nathan Roche’s life perspective. His tunes aren’t chipper exclamations about the lucky life, but they are founded in an optimistic, worry-about-it-later outlook.

Taking Back Sunday’s new fulllength studio album, Happiness Is, represents something of a comeback for the post-hardcore heavyweights. It is their first independent release in over a decade, and the third album featuring the original lineup. But fans expecting a return to the classic TBS angst may be disappointed.

The Sydney songwriter borrows generously from Lou Reed, takes nods from Memphis soul and smears it all in a Tex Perkinsian Aussie drawl. There’s a touch of pathos to Roche’s choked baritone musings, but he pushes forward with a sanguine spring in his step, dismissing any lingering pity. Musicwise, basslines lead the way next to paper-thin drums, rudimentary guitar and early rock’n’roll keyboards.

The single ‘Flicker, Fade’ is the kind of guitar-heavy anthem you would expect from a TBS album.

Adam Lazzara’s gritty vocals are layered over plenty of powerful riffs and thrashing snares. The most interesting track is arguably ‘Nothing At All’, a heavily layered, sombre number that has strong post-rock influences. But the clear standout is ‘Better Homes And Gardens,’ a deeply personal departure from the band’s recent work. The movement from Lazzara’s quiet confidences about the breakdown of his marriage to the noisy chorus feels the most like the angst-ridden rock that put TBS on the map. But even this song feels slightly too engineered.

When listening to Sally Seltmann, it’s hard not to picture a woman romanticising the idea of having her head in the clouds, wearing her heart on her sleeve, and filling her days with dreams. Her album Hey Daydreamer conveys just that. With a waltzy march sound underpinning almost every song, Seltmann has crafted songs of witty stories and characters with a sound that sweeps you up, and before long you’re lost in the album.

When Jason Isbell sings about romance, he sings from the heart like only a real Southerner can. His voice is emphatic, his emotions sincere. Isbell confesses his sins, and defends – vicariously, at least – the actions of his fellow sinners.

On ‘Cover Me Up’ he is alone, protesting his innocence; on the sweetly rocking ‘Stockholm’, Isbell is the travelling troubadour, the sugar-voiced heir to Gram Parsons’ flawed charismatic Southern gentleman. If there’s a better paean to love than ‘Songs That She Sang In The Shower’ then it needs to be packaged up and delivered to the Smithsonian. And for a local angle, look no further than ‘New South Wales’ – whether it’s contemporary, metaphorical or just plain honest.

And that, in a very Southern way, is just what Jason Isbell is, and why he’s to be treasured.

Patrick Emery

‘Coming Of Age’ is the lead single, and one thing that stands out is the new focus on guitar. Exuberant riffs are layered on top of the LA trio’s signature upbeat tempo; a twist to their familiar and well-loved indie pop style. ‘Nevermind’ is a gorgeous tune that features wistful acoustics, seeing the band step out from the pop logic of their previous album. ‘The Truth’ is an MGMTesque track with heavy-handed key progressions and drifting falsettos.

Closing track is ‘Fire Escape’, a stripped-down acoustic tune with gorgeous harmonies and lyrics delivered with a raw vulnerability. It really is a beautiful track, and quite unexpected.

Considering bands that experiment with their sound risk isolating existing fans, Supermodel is an artful continuation of Foster The People’s exquisite production value and indie dance-pop.

The record sounds like it was captured on one microphone in a Detroit garage in 1968 and left to ferment under stacks of discarded vinyl for 40 years. Again, this kink complements the terrain Roche maps out. Things aren’t perfect, but that’s no cause for apprehension.

The album is a strong follow-up to the band’s debut, and their commitment to exploring different soundscapes has certainly paid off.

The protagonist of Watch It Wharf is drunken, underpaid and barely there, but more importantly he’s hungry to live, fuck and make the most of everything sent his way.

Watch this wharf, big things lie ahead.

The album, as a whole, is best described as solid. Maybe it is the nostalgia talking, but it is hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment at how very neat it is. Taking Back Sunday have matured musically, but may have lost some of their emotional power in the process.

Sharon Ye

Augustus Welby

Emily Meller

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK While some artists try to blend the lo-fi sound of a home studio with their music, Cull embrace the lo-fi and feed off it on their debut EP Ba Noi. Kicking off with ‘World Inside Your Head’, the band sticks you on a broken down merry-go-round while they play the hallucinogenic version of ‘It’s A Small World’. A woozie and addictive track, it’s the kind of song that annoys most people but still sticks in your head.

CULL Ba Noi Independent/Bandcamp

20 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

Opening with simple guitar picking and vocals so distorted they feel like they’re travelling through time, ‘The Sacred Burial Urn’ follows on like a nice lie down after too much spinning. ‘Animate’ melds sharp,

chirping electric keyboards with the rolling growl of guitars and flying reverb, making the song rise and crash like an LSD trip, before finally tapering out to the closer ‘Keep My State’. This one smashes you with a wall of distortion, backward notes, and an endless crashing beat before smoothing out to let the vocals mend your wounds.

With an EP that feels like a haunted theme park for guitar pedals and home studios, Cull have crafted a wonderful sound that takes you further in four songs than you thought possible.

A great first release.

Aside from the light-hearted exuberance flowing throughout the record, Seltmann also deals with some heavy topics. ‘Dear Mr Heartless’ comes as an open letter of rejection to heartbreak and unreciprocated feelings, with ‘I Will Not Wear Your Wedding Ring’ taking the opposite side of the coin, an anthem of protest against abandoning independence for matrimonial subjugation. ‘Catch Of The Day’ carries on the topic in a more cheerful tone: “I’m not going to live my life being told who I’m supposed to be.”

A strong theme of independence comes through the album, and this is perhaps the reason behind Seltmann’s love of daydreaming: dreams require only one person, but can hold the entire world.

A wonderful album of joy and sunshine, Hey Daydreamer is a joyous and irresistible listen.

Daniel Prior

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

MIKHAEL PASKALEV - What’s Life Without Losers THE CLASH - London Calling PUBLIC ENEMY - Fear Of A Black Planet

KIM WEMPE - Coalition LYON APPRENTICE - I Will Find You

Daniel Prior

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 21

live reviews What we've been out to see...

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

VIEW FULL GALLERY AT

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, NINE INCH NAILS, BRODY DALLE

frontman, yes, but also the sound artist. Verse/chorus is for bores.

Qantas Credit Union Arena Thursday March 6

Where Reznor’s show is thebrag.com about captive immersion, Homme’s is about participation. Queens of the Stone Age are rougher round the edges than their co-headliners, but it seems to work for tonight’s crowd. ‘No One Knows’ and ‘My God Is The Sun’ come early, and Homme introduces ‘If I Had A Tail’ with: “This one’s about telling the man to go fuck himself.”

Hey hey, my my; that rock’n’roll will never die. You’ve heard it all before – you probably heard Alex Turner say it in his BRIT Awards speech last month – but nobody makes the point quite like Trent Reznor and Josh Homme.

Remember, last time they shared a stage at the rock’n’roll unfriendly Grammys ceremony, they were all but thrown off it.

What better place than Sydney to plot their revenge? Opening the first night of the joint tour after support act Brody Dalle, Reznor has little to say – yet Nine Inch Nails perform with such conviction that any rock’n’roll dissenters in the room (as if) are instantly smote.

Reznor and his cronies open with ‘A Warm Place’ from The Downward Spiral – 20 years ago, that essential record dropped – before transitioning back and forth through their sprawling catalogue. By the time they reach ‘March Of The Pigs’, it’s clear something special is going on – and not just for the insistent noise storming out of the PA. Reznor’s directorial hand extends beyond his bandmates; truly, the overall production of lights, sounds and set design beats anything else in the world right now.

The songs, of course, all descend into a destructive mess, even through the electronic mid-set section that’s all blips and blops in place of Ilan Rubin’s manic drumming. Here, it’s all about Reznor – the

‘I Sat By The Ocean’ shows all the swagger that Homme was kind enough to teach Turner’s Arctic Monkeys, as does ‘Make It Wit Chu’ – the mosh so riled up by this point, it’s pogoing through a disco ball falsetto chorus. The ceaseless drone of ‘Sick, Sick, Sick’ only brings inevitable chaos at the front, and the band responds with an epic jam-out on ‘Better Living Through Chemistry’. Encores bring the chugging singalong to ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ (“That sounds like ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’,” laughs Homme.

“My home away from home!”) and ‘A Song For The Dead’, which refuses to die.

Nine Inch Nails are the most musically adventurous of the two acts, but these Queens just rock out like it never went out of fashion, so they’re the fitting closer tonight. It’s hard to see how Reznor will keep up throughout this 11-date tour, and yet you just know he will. The fun is only just beginning.

Chris Martin

PHOENIX Hordern Pavilion Wednesday March 5 As live gigs go, this one was almost a contest. Who put more work in, who got the other off most, who was more impressed, and who gave their vocal chords the biggest workout – the crowd or Phoenix?

It was difficult to tell. The few thousand fans who flooded into the Hordern Pavillion made something of a karaoke show out of the evening, and together the performers onstage and we sweating sardines put a helluva lot in.

For me, Phoenix meant aimlessly driving around with friends who’d just gotten their P-plates; Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix scoring my 17th summer. There were plenty of fans in the same demographic, but also some teeny tiny ones who most likely came to the French foursome last year through Bankrupt!, and plenty from their debut album of 2000, United.

Though most crowd favourites came from the 2009 record, Phoenix played a taste of each of their four albums, giving every punter what they came for. Some sick visuals – as my friend described it – accompanied ‘Love Like A Sunset’, footage

MEG MAC, GEORGIA FAIR, NIC CASSEY The Vanguard Thursday March 6 When three amazing Sydney artists get together for a show, it’s only natural to think it’s going to be a pretty awesome experience. There’s Meg Mac, star on the rise, headlining her first show of 2014; Georgia Fair, who are riding high after the release of their second album Trapped Flame, and Nic Cassey, a wonderful songwriter and musician. Yet, with so much promise, the night only left a feeling of disappointment.

Nic Cassey opened the show with an intimate performance, playing songs from his debut album Where Are You Going I Just Collected Some Pellets and some newly written ones, all solo on his keyboard before bringing on a friend to back him up on cello towards the end of his set.

The beauty that underlined his songs was apparent to all, and despite a misbehaving piano at the start of the show and a few missed notes on a very new song, Cassey’s performance was an excellent start.

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

22 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

Georgia Fair followed up, with the duo playing an engaging set on both acoustic and electric guitar. They kicked off strong, performing a good mix of songs from both of their albums. The second half of their

of driving through the streets of Paris. And nestled between parts one and two of that seven-minute track was more recent hit ‘Bankrupt!’, just to keep us on our toes.

A disco ball came down for ‘Fences’ and ‘If I Ever Feel Better’, which made for a surprisingly intimate, dancehall feel for such a large-scale gig.

For the encore, frontman Thomas Mars, accompanied by Chris Mazzalai on guitar, walked off the stage and sang to the front row. We must’ve gained about ten metres at this point, as the entire crowd pushed in to grab Mars’ hands, unbutton his shirt, and pretend he might be serenading us personally. But the real glory came at the conclusion of the show, when Mars walked through the crowd hugging (yes, hugging!) and thanking fans before crowd-surfing through the moshpit and standing on our shoulders.

Each of the musos laughed onstage and shook their heads in disbelief at our excitement. I’ve never seen a band enjoy itself so much – bands as big as Phoenix, least of all. “Every time we come here, you never disappoint,” smiled Mars. And we all smiled back, proud of our efforts.

Rachel Eddie

act was somewhat underwhelming, but the skill and ability of these two lads could not be doubted.

When the time for Meg Mac came, she stepped out blasting her powerful vocals and grooving to the soulful sounds that are becoming her trademark. Gaining shouts of admiration and love from audience members, Meg fed off it all and continued to build up on the energy, as she performed crowd favourites like ‘Every Lie’ and ‘Known Better’.

So why was the gig such a let-down?

Quite simply, the crowd would not shut up.

All through Nic Cassey and Georgia Fair’s sets, the clattering of forks and knives chimed alongside idle dinner conversations of “What you up to this weekend?” and “Are bananas really that good for you?” The only time people let up was if they were watching the show through their phones, and when Meg Mac came out at the end of the night. This was perhaps added to by the Vanguard’s awkward setup, which lacked both seats and standing space, with dining tables taking up a large section of floor space at the front of the stage. All in all, the discourtesy and disinterest the crowd showed towards these amazing performers was the biggest detractor in what was otherwise a fantastic show.

Daniel Prior

thebrag.com

AMY ROSE

BREAK MY STRIDE single launch

with special guest CAKESHOP

W EDNESD DAY MARCH 19 WEDNESDAY 8PM • THE VANGUARD $12 AT THE DOOR OR AVAILABLE FROM THEVANGUARD.COM.AU

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 23

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

WEDNESDAY TO SUNDAY TILL 4AM

robert glasper experiment 08:03:14 :: The Hi-Fi :: 122 Lang Rd Moore Park 1300THEHIFI ::

magic bones

PICS :: KC

SERVING DRINKS & PLAYING BEATS

PICS :: KC

@ Agincourt

09:03:14 :: Frankie's Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney

[ NO LOCKOUT! ]

@ Agincourt 871 George street, Sydney City, valvebar@gmail.com www.valvebar.com.au For band bookings please email valvebar@gmail.com 24 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

dan sultan

PICS :: AM

PROMOTERS ENQUIRIES INVITED valvebar@gmail.com

09:03:14 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

S :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY

MAR ::

thebrag.com

★★★★★ THE LIST - UK

★★★★★ EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS

‘WHY CAN’T EVERY COMEDIAN BE THIS FUNNY?”

★★★★★ THREE WEEKS - UK

ADELAIDE - THEBARTON THEATRE 18 & 19 APRIL ON SALE

PERTH - CROWN

20 APRIL 8PM SOLD OUT 20 APRIL 10PM NOW ON SALE

AUCKLAND - ASB THEATRE 25 APRIL ON SALE

MELBOURNE - PALAIS THEATRE 26 & 27 APRIL ON SALE

BRISBANE - TIVOLI THEATRE 29 APRIL 7.30PM SOLD OUT 9.30PM SHOW NOW ON SALE 30 APRIL 7.30PM SOLD OUT 9.30PM SHOW NOW ON SALE

SYDNEY - ENMORE THEATRE 1,2,3 MAY SOLD OUT, 4 MAY ON SALE

GO TO MORE-COMEDY.COM GIG GUIDE FOR TICKETS & INFO BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 25

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

pick of the week Billy Bragg

Midnight Tatler, Darlinghurst. 8pm. free.

THURSDAY MARCH 13 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Flap! + Luke Escombe Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. free.

Live Latin Sessions - feat: Latin Kaos Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

7:30pm. $7.

Tangalo Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Christie Lamb Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. free.

Folk Informal - feat: Oliver Downs + Golden Bridges + Lola And The Captain + Jep And Dep FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill.

8pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Shae Watson + Bradley Primmer + Guests Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Guests Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 Sydney Opera House

Billy Bragg + Courtney Barnett 8pm. $92.70.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Frente Cumbiero + La Chiva Gantiva + Cumbiamuffin Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $30.

Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington.

8pm. free.

Pen Island Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $16.50.

Wanderlust Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. $10.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Bluevenus + Marta Pacek + Luke O’Shea The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $18.80.

KP Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

7pm. free.

26 :: BRAG :: 553 : 12:03:14

Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm. free.

Pulp Kitchen And Folk Club - feat: Live Rotating Folk Bands Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery + Guests Sackville Hotel, Rozelle.

7:30pm. free.

SSA + John Chesher + Master Tiger + Pete Scully + Paul Mcgowan + Gavin Fitzgerald Old Fitzroy Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 7pm. free.

Youngbloods + Andrew Denniston + Guests Avalon Beach RSL Club, Avalon. 6:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Summer Hills Hotel, Summer Hill. 7:30pm. free.

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Cara Kavanagh

O’Malley’s Hotel, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

Gary Johns Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7pm. free.

Gemma Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Gogarty + Nikita King Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $8.

Greg Agar & Imogen Clark The Juniors, Kingsford. 6pm. free.

Lunchbreak - feat: Fun Machine FBi Social, Kings Cross. 1pm. free.

Mark Travers Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

Optus Rockcorps 2014 feat: Empire Of The Sun + Rudimental + Samantha Jade Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7pm. free.

Stephen Fisher-King Campsie RSL, Campsie. 1pm. free.

Steve Crocker Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

5pm. free.

Tatler Sydney: Live Til

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

10 O’Clock Rock Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

10pm. free.

80s & 90s Live Music Nag’s Head Hotel, Glebe.

8:15pm. free.

Alex Hopkins Open Mic Night Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free.

Anthems Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

9:30pm. free.

Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Dan Spillane Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free.

Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. free.

Evie Dean Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

10:25am. free.

Matt Jones The Ranch, Eastwood. 8pm. free.

Passive Resistance - feat: Good Griefs + Narla + Monte Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. $10.

Yo La Tengo Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

8pm. $40.

FRIDAY MARCH 14 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Bandsonstage - feat: Rusty Peach + Winters End + Carl Stewart Band Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free.

Blackstar Duo

Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool.

5:30pm. free.

Cath & Him Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill.

8pm. free.

Deke Dickerson Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $30.

Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free.

Songjam - feat: Stuart Jammin + Guests Rosehill Hotel, Clyde. 7:30pm. free.

Songjam - feat: Andrew Denniston + Starr Witness + Guests Earlwood Hotel, Earlwood.

7:30pm. free.

Us Too Duo Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Bandaluzia Flamenco With Naike Ponce Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. $30.

Jazz Hip Hop Freestyle Sessions Foundry616, Ultimo. 11:30pm. free.

King Tide Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

7:30pm. $12.

Mike Nock Quartet Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

The Cooking Club The Sound Lounge, Sydney.

8:30pm. $10.

Twilight At Taronga Wickedly Broadway - feat: Lucy Durack + David Harris Taronga Zoo, Mosman.

7:30pm. $35.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free.

Andy Mammers Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Anything But Arnold Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

Balmain Blitz Band Competition Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 7pm. $15.

Big Way Out Duo Horse & Jockey Hotel, Homebush. 7:30pm. free.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

10:30pm. free.

Chicks On Speed FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $35.

Counterfeit (Woodstock) feat: The Blarney Stoners + Taos + Rex Havoc Banned + Michael Fridge + Chiko & The Rollers + Fred’s Ginger + Bronwyn Eather + Bella Voltaire + Gas Wylde + Mo Joe Blow + King George The 3rd + Brown Acid Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

7pm. free.

Courtyard Sessions - feat: Goldsmith Seymour Centre, Chippendale. 6pm. free.

Dave Phillips Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

Dave White Experience New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

11pm. free.

David Agius Duo Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

David McMaster New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

10pm. free.

Evie Dean Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Glenn Lumanta Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

5:30pm. free.

Hitting Trees + Elliot The Bull + Them Dreamers Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $10.

Hue Williams Royal Exchange, Newcastle.

7:30pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Cyren Restaurant , Darling Harbour. 6pm. free.

Jellybean Jam Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Jess Dunbar Novotel, Darling Harbour.

5:30pm. free.

Joe Echo And Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

9pm. free.

Jon English + Amy Vee Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $39.

Jonny Rock Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free.

Kaleidoskope Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. $10.

Leon Fallon Parramatta RSL, Parramatta.

5pm. free.

Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt.

9:30pm. free.

Mad Cow Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9:30pm. free.

Matt Jones Duo Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 11:30pm. free.

Matt Jones Duo Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 6pm. free.

Matt Price Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

9pm. free.

Mike Tramp The Vanguard, Newtown.

8pm. $35.80.

Nicky Kurta Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Pluto Jonze + Brave + Little Fox + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Ryan Enright The Grand Hotel, Rockdale.

5:30pm. free.

Ryan Thomas Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 10pm. free.

The Blue Ruins Grand Junction, Maitland.

8pm. free.

The Holidays Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $17.

The Silver Lining Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. free.

The Snowdroppers + Crapulous Gee Gaw + Swamp Harlot Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8:30pm. free.

Throwing Copper + The Offspring Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. free.

Zoltan Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9pm. free.

SATURDAY MARCH 15 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Bandsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin + Carl Stewart Band Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown. 7:30pm. free.

Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Bondi. 9pm. free.

Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free.

Nathan Cole Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool.

6pm. free.

Paul Hayward And Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free.

Saturday Live Band Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8:30pm. free.

Stormcellar thebrag.com

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

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Arrebato Ensemble The Sound Lounge, Sydney.

8:30pm. $15.

Bandaluzia Flamenco With Naike Ponce Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. $30.

Cafe Of The Gate Of Salvation & Their Heavenly Band (feat: Members Of D.I.G.) Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

7:30pm. $28.90.

Dale Barlow Quintet Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

Jive Bombers Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Agent 69 Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Antoine Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

3:30pm. free.

Ben Finn’s Reels On Fire The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

9pm. free.

Black Diamond Hearts Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 9:30pm. free.

Born Jovi - The Bon Jovi Show Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

9pm. free.

Cara Kavanagh And Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

9pm. free.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

4:20pm. free.

Chicks On Speed FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $35.

Client Liaison + Lanterns + Nicole Millar + DJ Bobby Gray Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. free.

Colour Therapy + Adulthood + Taking Berlin + Baltimore Gun Club Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. free.

Corrosion Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10.

Darren Johnstone Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

9pm. free.

Dave Phillips Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

David Agius Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

6pm. free.

Dirty Deeds - The AC/DC Show Padstow RSL Club, Padstow.

8pm. $15.

East Coast Band Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

Fallon Bros Greystanes Inn, Greystanes.

8pm. free.

Geoff Rana Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free.

Global Battle Of The Bands Sydney Heat Agincourt Hotel, Sydney.

12pm. $15.

Greg Agar Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. free.

Gum Leaf Mafia Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8:30pm. free.

Hue Williams East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction. 7pm. free.

Jamie Lindsay Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 6pm. free.

Jess Dunbar Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free.

Jonny Gretsch’s Wasted

thebrag.com

Ones Captain Cook Hotel, Botany.

10pm. free.

JTR Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $23.60.

Kids Disco Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 2pm. free.

Luke Dolahenty Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. free.

Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Matt Jones Duo Panthers, Penrith. 9pm. free.

Matt Walker & The Lost Ragas + Raised By Eagles + Jep And Dep Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

7pm. $15.

Mountain Sounds Festival - feat: Ball Park Music + Emma Louise + World’s End Press + Snakadaktal + Jinja Safari + More Mount Penang Gardens, Kariong. 12pm. $89.

Ngaiire Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.50.

Peter Northcote’s Drive With Ciaran Gribbin Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $27.

Saturday Night Divas Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. free.

Seattle Sound Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 9pm. free.

Suite Az Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free.

The Bandits Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

8pm. free.

The Spirit + Steve Smyth + Hot Spoke Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

7:30pm. $12.

Tim Shaw Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free.

Tori Darke PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

7:30pm. free.

Zoltan Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale.

8pm. free.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Ben Hardie Trio Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. $10.

The Strides Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 7:30pm. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Alfreco Brasserie - feat: Stuart Jammin + Chris Brookes Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong. 3pm. free.

Chill Out Sundays Scubar, Sydney. 7:30pm. free.

Ian Blankeney Emma Louise

Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. free.

Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free.

Jack Bloack Minstrel Show - feat: Russell Neal + John Chesher + Jack Bloack’s Jug Stompers + Veronica Wagner Old Fitzroy Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 6:30pm. free.

Jimmy Gannon Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 1pm. free.

Liam Gerner The Welcome Hotel, Rozelle.

5pm. free.

Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free.

Mick Aquilina Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

2pm. free.

Sunday Blues And Roots The White Horse, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Sunday Sounds Acoustic feat: Bop Louis Duo Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 2pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Achtung Baby The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

5pm. free.

Alex Hopkins Family Inn Hotel, Rydalmere.

2pm. free.

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Billy Bragg + Courtney Barnett Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

8pm. $92.70.

Cara Kavanagh O’Malley’s Hotel, Kings Cross.

4pm. free.

Damien Dempsey + Sasta + Mick McHugh Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $50.

Dan Spillane Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 5pm. free.

David Agius Horse & Jockey Hotel, Homebush. 3:30pm. free.

Gemma Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Handpicked The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

12:30pm. free.

Hooper And O’Toole The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

1:50pm. free.

Irish Hooley PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

5pm. free.

Joe Echo Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

7pm. free.

Leon Fallon Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee.

8:30pm. free.

Madi Jarry Manly Skiff Sailing Club, Manly. 4pm. free.

Mark Travers Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge.

1pm. free.

Mini Mobile Farm O’Donoghues Irish Pub, Emu Plains. 12pm. free.

Paddy Melon Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 3pm. free.

Quasimodo + Top Hat Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12.

Reels On Fire The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill.

4:30pm. free.

Reels On Fire Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

12pm. free.

Rockin’ Eddie Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm. free.

Sam And Jamie Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7:30pm. free.

Shindig Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park.

5pm. free.

St Pat’s Day Event Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

4pm. free.

The A-Team Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free.

The Mondays Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free.

The Regulators Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Tori Darke Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction.

3pm. free.

Zoltan Woolwich Pier Hotel, Woolwich. 2pm. free.

MONDAY MARCH 17 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Mark Travers O’Donoghues Irish Pub, Emu Plains. 3pm. free.

Shaylee Wilde & The Irish Dancers O’Donoghues Irish Pub, Emu Plains. 11am. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Helmut Uhlmann The Loft (UTS), Ultimo. 6pm. free.

Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin + Chris Brookes + Massimo Presti + Rick Taylor + Taelor-Jane Hanley + Mai-Anne Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

7:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free.

Rattle & Hum - U2 Show O’Donoghues Irish Pub, Emu Plains. 7pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Big Swing Band Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 7:30pm. free.

Happy Monday Games Night Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. free.

Latin & Jazz Jam Open Mic Night World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free.

Mambo Mondays Bar100, The Rocks. 5:30pm. free.

Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills.

8pm. free.

Reggae Monday Civic Underground, Sydney.

10pm. free.

wed

TUESDAY MARCH 18 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Ray Beadle & The Silver Dollars Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction.

7:30pm. $7.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Jazzgroove - feat: Henry Rasmussen + Steve Hunter Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $16.50.

Old School Funk & Groove Night Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. free.

Rumba Motel Salsa - feat: DJ Willie Sabor + Friends The Establishment, Sydney.

6pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Billy Bragg + Courtney Barnett Manning Bar, Camperdown.

8pm. $72.45.

David Agius Summer Hills Hotel, Summer Hill. 7:30pm. free.

Jess Dunbar And Matt Price The Juniors, Kingsford. 6pm. free.

Sky Ferreira Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.50.

Steve Tonge Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. free.

thu

Mark Travers 12 Mar

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

Anthems 13 Mar (9:30PM - 12:30AM)

fri

Jonathon Jones + Reckless 14 (9:30PM - 1:30AM) (4:30PM - 7:30PM) Mar sat

The Blarney Boys 15 Mar (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

+ Souled Out (9:30PM - 12:30AM)

sun

U2 Elevation + UK Anthems 16 Mar (8:30PM - 12:00AM) (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

St Patrick’s Day Festival Upstairs from 7am!

mon

Irish

17 Breakfast Mar

BOOK EARLY! ($30) + The

Killarney Trio

LIVE

GROUND FLOOR

Royal Hotel, Bondi. 8:30pm. free.

Stringy Bark .................................. 8:00AM The Blarney Boys ..................... 11:00AM U2 Elevation .................................. 1:30PM The Moonshiners ....................... 4:30PM Dublin Up........................................ 7:00PM Lonesome Train.......................... 11:00PM + PARTY DJ TILL L ATE

tue

Nick Kingswell 18 Mar

(9:30PM-12:30AM)

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 27

gig picks up all night out all week...

Sky Ferreira

for Live and Localsau!

Calling all artistsplay entertainment.com.

Contact: chris@fair

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

ND MUSIC GREAT FOOD A

urant In Australia” ta es R t en m n ai rt te “Awarded Best En

SYDNEY LIZOTTE’S nment presents

02 9984 9933

MAR

Fairplay Entertai

12 Coopers LIVE & LOCAL Jazz &

psy Pure Bohemia – Gy g in aw 13 Life Dr MAR oyan Brothers 14 The Grig featuring The Bondi Cigars t Line Blues Legends, on Fr MAR The Original ki & Al Britton 15 Shane Pacey, Lez Kars Show 20th Anniversary Tribute Show U2 MAR Rattle & Hum – 16 grass Trio (USA) MAR Peter Rowan Blue 19 Manouche Bouas & Feel Thengmachine MAR Parissa ashi 20 featuring George W MAR e Eden 21 Karis of Gypsy, la Band – A Night MAR Marsa ic us M 22 Balkan & World Warriors Big Gig MAR Weekend ic 23 presented by Mall Mus

MAR

OAST C L A R T N E C ’S E IZOTT 02 4368 2017 L

ents tertainment pres MAR Fairplay En L CA 12 Coopers LIVE & LO rs MAR Grigoryan Brothe 13 The featuring The Bondi Cigars t Line Blues Legends, on Fr al in MAR The Orig rski & Al Britton 14 Shane Pacey, Lez Ka Show 20th Anniversary – ow Sh es di MAR The Crow e & Split Enz 15 A Tribute To Crowded Hous MAR ndaluzia 16 Ba nment presents MAR Fairplay Entertai CAL 19 Coopers LIVE & LO MAR ith Duo 21 Damien Le

Folk Informal - feat: Oliver Downs + Golden Bridges + Lola And The Captain + Jep And Dep FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Mountain Sounds Festival - feat: Ball Park Music + Emma Louise + World’s End Press + Snakadaktal + Jinja Safari + More Mount Penang Gardens, Kariong. 12pm. $89.

Yo La Tengo Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $40.

Ngaiire Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.50.

FRIDAY MARCH 14

The Spirit + Steve Smyth + Hot Spoke Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 7:30pm. $12.

King Tide Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 7:30pm. $12.

Hitting Trees + Elliot The Bull + Them Dreamers Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

Pluto Jonze + Brave + Little Fox + DJ Bernie Dingo Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

The Holidays Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $17.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 Damien Dempsey + Sasta + Mick Mchugh Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7pm. $50.

TUESDAY MARCH 18 Sky Ferreira Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.50.

SATURDAY MARCH 15 Client Liaison + Lanterns + Nicole Millar + DJ Bobby Gray Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

Global Battle Of The Bands Sydney Heat Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 12pm. $15.

Matt Walker & The Lost Ragas + Raised By Eagles + Jep And Dep Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7pm. $15.

MAR

e Eden 22 Karis

Ngaiire

The Holidays

nch with MAR Lazy Sunday Lu 23 Ross The Boss Wilson

02 4956 2066

THURSDAY MARCH 13

ASTLE LIZOTTE’S NEWC others The Grigoryan Br featuring The Bondi Cigars t Line Blues Legends, Fron MAR The Original ki & Al Britton 13 Shane Pacey, Lez Kars Show 20th Anniversary Show MAR m The U2 Tribute 14 Rattle & Hu Monster ry & The Absolute MAR Jon Clea 16 Gentleman esents Entertainment pr MAR Fairplay L CA LO 19 Coopers LIVE & MAR n Evans 20 Morga The Key Of Life – ok MAR Songs In ngbo 21 The Stevie Wonder So ibute To A Tr – ow es Sh MAR The Crowdi Enz lit Sp & e us Ho 22 Crowded

MAR

12

MAR

23 Karise Eden

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

W W W. L I ZOT T E S.CO M.AU 28 :: BRAG :: 553 : 12:03:14

thebrag.com

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

brag beats

inside:

metronomy also: + club guide + club snaps + weekly column

havana brown in the city of angels

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 29

brag beats

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

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

five things WITH

JACKAL

DJ Premier & Pete Rock

Growing Up My parents were really 1. supportive of anything I wanted to try out when I was a kid. They bought me instruments, music lessons and eventually software. It all started when I was around seven, making raps over pre-made beats on a cheap plug-in keyboard.

Inspirations I don’t think anything 2. inspires me more than Skrillex’s Scary Monsters era. That and Pendulum’s Hold Your Colour really got me hooked on electronic music. They’re both so colourful and energetic.

I usually get inspiration finding samples or sounds or just making random drum patterns then piecing things together. I like to listen to all types of music though; at the moment I’m really into Flume, ESTA, Mr. Carmack and Lunice. Hopefully one day I’ll make a record as raw

SHAPESHIFTER

and interesting as Nirvana’s In Utero album, that’s one of my all-time favourites.

Your Crew I was always stuck in 3. small seaside towns, which meant I usually had to work alone and was never part of any scene. But I liked that; I enjoy having full control over the music and not having anyone else around me doing the same thing. Most of the people I work and speak with now I met online. I share most of my unreleased stuff with my (currently in Sydney) producer friend Aryay. We tell each other what’s good and what’s bad, it’s a good system. He’s a super talented dude too!

The Music You Make I like to make anything 4. that’s bouncy or weird using sounds that are just unnatural.

Lately I’ve been making some really energetic stuff for the

Shapeshifter are a Kiwi outfi t with a tradition of selling out Sydney shows, and will journey across the Tasman still basking in the success of their fi fth studio album, Delta, which was mixed by compatriot DnB producers The Upbeats.

Shapeshifter will play Manning Bar on Saturday March 22. Support will be provided by the Netherlands’ Black Sun Empire, together with local acts Foreign Dub, NCrypt vs Commit, Highly Dubious, Mad Cow and Sakura. For presale tickets, head to manningbar.com.

30 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

clubs, which is so fun to play live! But I’ve got a bunch of other cool beats coming out soon including a collaboration from me and Toronto producer Grandtheft which is out on Mad Decent soon.

5.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The collaboration between hip hop and dance music is so fun and exciting; it’s so versatile and you can be so creative with it. My favourite stuff to play in my sets would be producers like Munchi, Mr. Carmack, Astronomar, Buku and Baauer. All these guys have their styles so perfected and unique, still something I’m trying to work on. I recently saw Keys N Krates’ live show in Toronto, they turned a ‘trap’ set into a live band performance. It completely blew me away.

Where: Chinese Laundry When: Friday March 14

Legendary hip hop producers Pete Rock and DJ Premier will be gracing us with their presence in May for the Collusion event where they will perform as a duo in both collaborative and ‘versus’ sets. Hailing from the hub of all things hip, Brooklyn, DJ Premier is regarded as one of the best in the biz when it comes to hip hop. Formerly one half of the seminal duo Gang Starr, DJ Premier has his production fingerprints smeared on a plethora of famous records including The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready To Die, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and Mos Def’s Black On Both Sides as well as working with the likes of Kanye West, Mark Ronson, Mac Miller and The Game. With a list of collaborations equal to that of Premier, Pete Rock found fame with the influential duo Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. As a solo artist and producer for two decades he has worked with the likes of Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest and Ghostface Killah, to name a few. The Sydney leg of the tour will be at The Hi-Fi on Saturday May 3.

RECONDITE

German producer Lorenz Brunner, who goes about his business under the guise Recondite, will headline Club 77 on Saturday March 22 as part of his debut Australia tour. Inspired by the likes of Superpitcher and the Dial Records clique, Recondite rose to prominence in 2011 when he starting releasing EPs through his label, Plangent Records, one of which was picked up by Scuba for his DJ Kicks compilation. The following year Recondite upped the ante by releasing an artist album for Acid Test and an EP on Scuba’s Hotflush label, before unleashing his sophomore album Hinterland last year on Ghostly International, which he described as his “first genuine non-concept Recondite album” and “the most personal thing I have done until now”.

Recondite will play a live set, with Brohn, Yokoo and the Motorik DJs also throwing down after doors open at 9pm.

FIBONACCI FESTIVAL

A new entrant into Sydney’s festival circuit, the boutique Fibonacci Festival, is slotted for

the Easter weekend, and will run from Friday April 18 until the following Monday at the Hawkesbury River Centre. The inchoate lineup thus far features Paranoid London, who will be playing live, alongside the likes of Shit Robot, Acid Mondays, Jeff K and San Proper, with more internationals still yet to be announced.

Paranoid London are a three-piece DJ/live/ label owning collective who first emerged back in the acid-washed summer of ’07, and have built their reputation on live sets laden with acid (house), driven by analogue instrumentation and live vocals. Veteran producer Shit Robot cut his teeth as a DJ in NYC through the ’90s and early 2000s alongside the likes of LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. He then released party stonkers such as ‘Simple Things’ – memorably reworked by Todd Terje – and a rip-roaring remix of Dondolo’s ‘Dragon’ – which featured Nancy Whang imitating a dragon while apparently blind drunk in the studio – before dropping his debut album From The Cradle To The Rave on the DFA label. A range of tickets to the BYO Fibonacci Festival with assorted camping and accommodation deals are available online.

Shapeshifter

Jackal photo by Thomas Accarado

PETE ROCK & DJ PREMIER PIECE

dance music news

free stuff

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

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

he said she said WITH

ETC!ETC!

B

orn and raised in Los Angeles, DJ and producer ETC!ETC! hides behind a cartoon-like mask, so he’s a tricky one to research. What we do know is he’s been drawing the attention of tastemakers around the world, from Diplo to BBC Radio 1, ever since he made the shift towards a moombahton production style.

And he’s a big fan of The Beatles. Ahead of the Sydney date on his World Invasion Tour, ETC!ETC! let us in on a few more secrets…

Calvin Harris photo by Drew Ressler

What’s your biggest musical infl uence?

The Beatles. Growing up, that’s all I heard from family and friends. [They were a] big inspiration for me, then and now. John Lennon is the biggest inspiration [of all] – just how he tells a story to me is amazing. When I first heard The Beatles I was like, ‘This is OK…’ but when I started to listen to music lyrically, I was in awe.

Bam Bam

PICNIC’S SIXTH BIRTHDAY

Following the release of his single ‘Bags Packed’, Melbourne hip hop producer Bam Bam has a new EP out entitled The Good Life. To toast this achievement in inclusive, participatory fashion, Bam Bam is embarking on a tour that includes a performance supporting Seth Sentry at Sydney University’s Manning Bar on Thursday April 3. He’s got his bags packed, and he’s going... somewhere.

The Good Life EP features the aforementioned single as well as the follow-up, ‘Feel Like I’m Alive’.

SPICE CELLAR THURSDAYS

The Spice Cellar has launched a new weekly Thursday club night, conceived to “satisfy your midweek cravings and urge to hit the dance floor”. This Thursday March 13, Parkside will headline proceedings, ahead of EK and Airspace later in the month. Parkside have previously supported the likes of Bicep and Detroit’s Omar-S, while their regular throw-down has seen Sunday takeovers from international heavyweights like Soul Clap, Horse Meat Disco and 6th Borough Project. Spice Thursdays will run from 10pm until late.

Tell us about your crew.

My crew is and will always be Mad Decent. Working with Diplo and everyone from the label is always a pleasure, but I also love to work with Bro Safari – [another] big inspiration to me. Mayhem, Gent and Jawns, Bro Safari and Brillz are my homies for life.

What do you make of the current music and house music scenes?

The music scene now is amazing. Everyone is able to do their own thing, which I love.

I love hearing everyone’s style, no matter what genre. I’m a fan of everything and all my peers are inspirations.

What should we expect from a live ETC!ETC! set?

My live set is bass and moombahton with a little bit of house.

What: Chinese Laundry When: Friday March 14

A DECADE OF MINISTRY

For over a decade now, Ministry of Sound has been the go-to destination for blissful dance mixes. Plucking everything from top-ten hits to the avant-garde, it has promoted electronic dance music to the masses more successfully then anyone else in the same timeframe. To earmark its success, Ministry of Sound has put together a mammoth three-disc compilation of club anthems released between 2000 and 2009, titled Decade. Drawn from a period often referred to as the second coming of dance music, the compilation features the likes of Calvin Harris, Benny Benassi, Eric Prydz, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada, Digitalism and many more. The BRAG has five of these bad boys to give away – for your chance to win, head to thebrag. com/freeshit and tell us your ultimate club anthem of the ’00s.

JAMES DELA CRUZ

James Dela Cruz

BAM BAM

Calvin Harris

Picnic will celebrate its sixth birthday by hosting revered Berlin veteran producer Moritz von Oswald this Saturday March 15. Von Oswald carved out his niche in the club realm many moons ago through his productions as Basic Channel, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound, establishing a style of minimal and dub techno that would have a profound influence on later producers. Von Oswald’s early collaborations alongside Juan Atkins on Tresor Records forged the ‘Berlin-Detroit axis’, and he reunited with Atkins for last year’s excellent Borderlands album.

Von Oswald’s lustrous discography also features remixes of the likes of Tony Allen, Ravel and Mussorgsky, along with his releases as the Moritz von Oswald Trio alongside Max Loderbauer and Sasu Ripatti. A diverse musician, von Oswald embraced his experimental proclivities when he linked up with Norwegian future jazz trumpeter/ composer Nils Petter Molvær on an album titled 1/1 that was released at the end of last year.

Picnic’s sixth birthday celebrations commence at 9pm and will sprawl across multiple levels of The Burdekin, with Kali, Andy Webb and Simon Caldwell all set to spin alongside a host of other locals.

James Dela Cruz, a man renowned for his association with The Avalanches, is taking up a weekly Saturday night DJ residency at The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel in Enmore that kicks off this Saturday March 15. One of Australia’s most innovative and respected DJs, Dela Cruz’s sets traverse an eclectic sonic spectrum spanning hip hop, dance, Arabic, reggae, DnB and throwback influences. Dela Cruz originally established himself as a turntablist via memorable sets at the Victorian DMC and ITF competitions, before forming the turntable band 2 Minute Needles with DJ Dexter, DJ Kuya and his brother. This attracted the attention of The Avalanches, whom he joined as a DJ and keyboard player throughout their international tours. In addition to his affiliation with the fabled Aussie troupe, Dela Cruz has also shared the bill with Erol Alkan, DJ Kentaro, The Streets and, uh, Lily Allen, among many other prominent internationals. Further to his weekly Saturday slot, Dela Cruz will be playing at The Duke of Edinburgh on Tuesday 18 March and Wednesday 19 March to warm up the crowd heading to the Enmore Theatre for Jurassic 5.

Dirtybird imprint and Catz N Dog’s Pets Recordings. Sibthorpe has also remixed the likes of Marc Romboy and TV Rock and been remixed by fellow Londoner Mr G, and his discography comprises a collaborative release with none other than Bobby Champs. First release tickets are available online for a lobster.

TRESOR WAREHOUSE PARTY This Saturday, local techno proponents If Records will host a warehouse party headlined by DJs

88uw and Krenzlin, who are residents at the renowned Berlin nightclub Tresor. Tresor has remained a staple in Berlin’s club milieu since its establishment in the late ’80s, and doubles as a record label that has released material from luminaries such as Blake Baxter, Robert Hood, Jeff Mills and Juan Atkins. Uncompromising in both commitment to techno and quality, you can expect the Tresor resident DJs to deliver a brand of techno that packs plenty of punch. For further details and ticket information, head to the IF Records Facebook page.

Action Bronson

ERYKAH BADU

The final tickets for Erykah Badu’s headline Sydney show at The Star on Thursday April 17 have just been released and are available for you – that means you – to purchase online. Badu has been a dominant presence since her debut album Baduizm dropped back in ’97, releasing what no less an authority than Rolling Stone hailed as one of 2010’s best albums in New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh. She stole the show at last year’s BET Awards when she joined Kendrick Lamar on stage to perform his hit single ‘Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe’.

A1 BASSLINE

A1 Bassline will headline Goodgod Small Club on Saturday March 22, crowning a lineup that also includes charismatic local duo Wordlife (who will play live), Preacha, Adi and U-Khan.

A1 Bassline is the moniker of London producer Christian Sibthorpe, who has released bassheavy house and techno tracks on Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried Records, Claude VonStroke’s

ACTION BRONSON

Off the back of his recent string of performances supporting heavyweights Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, accidental hip hop figurehead Action Bronson will return to Australia and perform at the Metro Theatre on Wednesday April 30. Since debuting with the Tommy Mas-produced Dr. Lecter EP, Action Bronson has established himself as an influential player in the hip hop milieu, and will arrive on our shores basking in accolades for his latest mixtape Blue Chips 2, released late last year. With Bronson’s first studio album due out in the coming months, it is likely he will perform plenty of new material during his Australian shows for his devoted fans.

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 31

Havana Brown How To Make It In Los Angeles By Alasdair Duncan he past few years have seen a huge contingent of Aussie beatmakers and producers making the move to sunny Los Angeles to take advantage of America’s current love of the genre known as EDM. Havana Brown is one of these, and says the secrets to making it are an upbeat attitude and a strong work ethic – two things she definitely has in spades.

T

possible. It was great for me at the time, because in Australia you can feel a bit isolated, you can feel a little distant, and that level of show can feel unattainable. Touring with an artist like Lady Gaga makes you realise that she’s actually just a person like you and me, and achieving that level of success is really just about being determined and diligent and working hard for it.”

“I really love it here,” she says. “It feels like I’m at the heart of the entertainment industry. Everyone here is either a singer or an actor or is in music, but they’re all creative, and so in a way we can all relate.”

It would be fair to say, though, that your typical Havana Brown track is a little heavier and a little more club-oriented than many of her pop contemporaries’ work. “I think I’m just naturally attracted to something that’s got a little bit of darkness to it,” she says. “Even growing up, the pop music I liked was never the squeakyclean stuff – I really loved listening to Aaliyah and Janet Jackson because their music was often just that little bit darker, it had a bit more of an edge. Don’t get me wrong, I love pop; there’s nothing wrong with it, and it’s what I do, but I love the club element, I love making it a bit grimier.”

For Brown, the city is all good vibes and positive affirmations, photo shoots and Oscar pre-parties.

“Everyone in Los Angeles is here to work, and I love the fact that I can get into the studio with different people every day. I find the attitude here very inspiring.”

Havana Brown has always had big dreams. In the early years of her career, most Aussies probably knew her best for playing DJ sets in support of big-name pop artists. Chances are that if Rihanna or Lady Gaga happened to be playing at your local entertainment centre, Brown would be there too, playing booming hip hop and house tunes in between sets.

That era gave her a taste of the kind of success she desired.

“I think that those support slots were definitely an inspiration for me,” she says. “I was around people at the top of their game, touring the country and the world, and obviously I was a DJ, but when I was touring with someone like Lady Gaga and seeing her every night, in my mind, that’s where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.”

Those early experiences would inspire Brown’s own transition from DJ to pop performer. “For me, it was just all about getting ideas for what I could do with my shows and performances,” she says. “It was inspiring in the sense that Rihanna and people like that all put on very big shows, and I got to see how that was

The aim of tracks like ‘Warrior’, Brown says, is to bring the rougher and harder side of present-day club music to pop melodies. “That’s something I feel is my own.”

Brown will soon be returning to Australia, with shows including an engagement at Marquee’s anniversary celebration. Reflecting on the club music landscape in the country, she says it has changed significantly since her earliest forays into DJing.

“Very early on, when I first moved back to Australia after living in the UK for a while, the biggest thing I noticed is that there was no crossover of genres whatsoever. If you were a house DJ, you did not play in R&B clubs, and if you were an R&B DJ, you did not play in house clubs. The two worlds just didn’t meet. In the years that followed, that began to change – there were a lot of big-name producers who had huge crossover hits that mixed those two worlds.”

People like Pitbull and David Guetta, Brown says, were the ones behind

this change. “Even someone like Akon made an impact with ‘Sexy Bitch’,” she says. “People were suddenly putting rap artists on top of dance tracks. That confused people at first, but then I think more people became open to listening to different things. In London, I was playing R&B and hip hop as well as dance, and really loving it, and I tried to do that in my sets when I came back here, and it didn’t go down very well. I’d try and

keep it easy for the audience and play some commercial house tunes in an R&B set, but people really didn’t like it. I’m glad that’s changed, because now you can play in all sorts of clubs and everyone knows the music.”

With this in mind, what can fans expect from Brown’s upcoming set at Marquee? “I definitely want to drop my new single,” she says. “That one will be coming out very soon. I just

want people to have fun. The aim is for people to have fun, to forget about what’s happening in their lives and enjoy the moment, feel the music and just feel sexy.”

What: Marquee Sydney Second Anniversary Where: Marquee At The Star When: Saturday March 22

Metronomy Love Letters By Michael Caves

I

n preparation for Metronomy’s fourth album, Love Letters, the group’s founder and creator of its distant sonic signature, Joseph Mount, made the decision to take things down a different path. In search of a retro-purist sound, Mount and Metronomy arrived at the analog-focused Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, London. It might seem an unusual choice for a band which, up until now, has had a predominately electronic and digital slant to its music. But for Mount, the choice to record with vintage mics, eight-track tape recorders and Abbey Road mixing desks only helped recall the styles of mid-’60s British rock’n’roll.

“It’s difficult to kind of remember exactly when decisions were made, but I was writing demos and stuff pretty much all the way [through] touring the last album, The English Riviera, and after a while I started to think that it would be, I don’t know … the last album was the first time I’ve used a studio and it was the first time I’d worked with what I imagined a studio to be, you know, with a big desk and nice microphones and things like this,” says Mount.

Toe Rag is full of vintage ex-BBC and EMI microphones – even the ridiculously old, circa-1930s STC

32 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

4021 ‘Ball and Biscuit’ microphone that gave its name to a White Stripes song from the chart-topping Elephant, also recorded within the confines of this illustrious studio.

“Basically at the end of recording English Riviera,” says Mount, “I felt like although I’d recorded a record in a studio, it hadn’t been the experience I’d imagined it to be like. It hadn’t been quite as pure, or something. We were still using a computer and I still felt a bit like it was the same process that I would do at home, on my little laptop or whatever … Over a period of time I started to think I should try and get that satisfaction I was looking for, and I felt like it would just be a really interesting thing to do – to take what I do and what people perceive I do and record it in a way which involves much more finesse.”

Mount explains. “I think when you are recording in a studio like that with such limitations, you’ve got no choice but to have the vocal perfect – there’s no quadruple track[ing] it and stuff … I think in the past I might have tried to hide behind the effects a lot more.”

Relieved the album is complete, Mount and the rest of Metronomy will embark on a promotional tour with shows across Europe and the USA and rumoured to include dates Down Under in the latter half of the year.

The resultant Love Letters is a subtly dark release full of reminiscent lyrics about lost love and heartache.

Opening track ‘The Upsetter’ carries the fragility of Mount’s vocal, without all the multi-tracking and width of previous Metronomy records – the analog signal path has crafted his voice into something with more honesty and lucidity.

The singer seems unsure if this new record represents a new direction for the band. “With each record I release there’s a context, and having a back catalogue, you know, having four albums now, it’s easier to start to build a picture and work out how different tracks and different records relate to each [other] … The fact that it was recorded the way it was, it has changed how I wrote songs and stuff like that. I’m getting much more relaxed and I’m beginning to understand what I do a bit better. I think I trust myself [more], so I think the defi nitive sound is emerging.”

“Lyrically it’s more kind of dark, you can hear everything much easier,”

What: Love Letters out now through Warner

thebrag.com

Deep Impressions Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

M

ysterious Moscow-based producer Gesloten Cirkel, who has hidden his identity since releasing his first EP in 2009, will release his debut album Submit X next month on Murder Capital, the same label through which he dropped his memorable maiden self-titled EP. Gesloten Cirkel’s output has been limited since then – a case of quality over quantity if ever there was one – with his discography currently comprising just three EPs, the most recent being last year’s Hole, which featured a remix from Nonplus main man Boddika under his esoteric electro-leaning Transportation AAD moniker. Each of Gesloten Cirkel’s releases have received a strong response from the club cognoscenti, a trend he established with his debut EP, which was heavily supported by the likes of Levon Vincent and piqued my interest with the self-titled track ‘Gesloten Cirkel’ – a rollicking fusion of crackling house and robust death disco crowned by a rooster sample that doubles as a delectable callto-arms for a dancefloor circa dawn. As one YouTube user astutely commented, “This is the music playing at the party you want to be at”. I firmly endorse such comments, and certainly regret not playing ‘Gesloten Cirkel’ out in DJ sets in all its crowing glory when I had the opportunity to do so – one of life’s many ‘should’ves, would’ves, could’ves’.

Details about the forthcoming Submit X album are scarce aside from the fact it comprises ten tracks and a description/ warning that it is “not for the faint-hearted”.

What else would you expect from a producer who shuns the fame game and hasn’t even revealed his identity to the world? “I hope it isn’t intentional because that seems like a dick thing to do,” the anonymous producer responded via email when pressed about his penchant for withholding information from the public sphere. “For the record, I am just an out of shape balding dude who sits in an office,” he confirmed, before adding facetiously “OR AM I?!!!... Loose lips sink ships.”

Despite his limited output and abrasively underground approach to PR, Gesloten Cirkel has built up a strong cult following, performing at the nightclub pantheon Berghain and having his tracks rinsed by the likes of Ben UFO, Boddika, Blawan and, of course, Levon Vincent. Anyone with a penchant for “rave music and dark stuff”, or quality house and neo-techno for that matter, should snap up Submit X when it drops in April.

House music auteur Fred Peterkin, known to dancers and chin-strokers alike for his output as Fred P and Black Jazz Consortium, will headline the next Mad Racket on Saturday April 26. Hailing from Queens, and having honed his DJ skills around the NYC club circuit, Peterkin’s sound traverses everything from soulful house influences to tougher techno beats.

His accomplished body of work as Fred P and Black Jazz Consortium has been released largely on his own Soul People Music imprint, though Peterkin has also collaborated with Move D and co-released with Vakula on Ethereal Sound, in addition to releasing on Jus-Ed’s Underground Quality label. More recently, Peterkin kicked off a new series on his Boards label

LOOKING DEEPER Moritz von Oswald

SATURDAY MARCH 15 88uw and Krenzlin Warehouse party Moritz Von Oswald The Burdekin

SATURDAY MARCH 22 Recondite Club 77

SATURDAY APRIL 26 Fred P Marrickville Bowling Club

with an unmixed compilation of tracks from the likes of Ryo Murakami that is descriptively entitled Selected: Compiled

By Fred P. Next month, Austrian proponent of experimental electronica Christian Fennesz will release his first album in six years, Bécs. Since starting out as a singer and guitarist in Viennese underground band Maische during the late ’80s – come on, you’re a huge fan of Maische, right? – Fennesz has established himself as an ambient producer of note, while attracting a broad listening public through his diverse body of remixes that includes refashionings of Junior Boys, Nine Inch Nails and Oneohtrix Point Never. Despite the substantial gap between Bécs and Fennesz’s last full solo LP, 2008’s Black Sea, our subject has actually been quite prolific in recent years. For instance, he put out an ultra-limited edition cassetteonly release called Szampler for the UK Tapeworm imprint in 2010, and was the driving force behind the soundtrack for Edgar Honetschläger’s 2011 film The Beginning And The End Of All Things the following year. The forthcoming Bécs is touted as a “conceptual follow up” to Fennesz’s lauded 2001 album Endless Summer. In contrast to the drone-driven soundscapes of Fennesz’s last album, Bécs apparently explores “more florid pop mechanisms” throughout its seven tracks, a forecast that provides an uplifting note for us to close this week’s column on [fade to black, as florid pop plays over the end titles…]

Christian Fennesz photo by Luis Martins

Christian Fennesz

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

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 33

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

Move D

SATURDAY MARCH 15 HIP HOP & R&B

Video DJ Matt Whitelaw AKA Mister Styles Mounties, Mount Pritchard.

8pm. free.

Crooks Live - feat: Joyride + Miracle + Manu Crooks + Levins + Captain Franco + Elston Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

11pm. $10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests.

World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10.

Chardy + Denzel Park Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $35.

El’ Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $109.

FBi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefits FBi Social, Kings Cross.

11:30pm. free.

Goodgod Hai-Life Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Grant Smillie Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Len Faki + The Only + Chris Arnott + Matt Ferreira +

SATURDAY MARCH 15 The Spice Cellar

Move D

Sneaky Simon + Sand Bar + Mike Hyper + DJ Skoob + Fingers Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.10.

Love 70s Pool Party feat: Mr. Glass + Graham Mandroules Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $25.

Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

Move D + Murat Kilic + Mike Witcombe + Dean Relf The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. $25.

My Place Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 8pm. free.

Picnic 6th Birthday - feat: Moritz Von Oswald + Simon Caldwell + Kali Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

9pm. $22.

Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 CLUB NIGHTS

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor.

The Establishment, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Marco Polo - feat: Various DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 1pm. $15.

Martini Club And Friends feat: Ocky + Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm.

free.

S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Life Less Ordinary + Kerry Wallace + Telefunken + Declan Esau & James Greville + Matt Weir + James Taylor Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

St Patrick’s Live feat: Furnace And The Fundamentals + Thundamentals + Hot Dub Time Machine + Yolanda Be Cool Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 3pm. $50.

Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

MONDAY MARCH 17 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

DJ Mattia Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

TUESDAY MARCH 18 CLUB NIGHTS

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

DJ Robin Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

Underground Tuesdays feat: Declan Kelly + Black Lace + Donegal + Marlin Bar 34 Bondi, Bondi Beach.

8:30pm. free.

+ Murat Kilic + Mike Witcombe + Dean Relf send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

10pm. $25.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

House Party Scubar, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Snapback - feat: Various Artists Newtown Hotel, Newtown.

7:30pm. free.

The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross.

10pm. free.

The Wall - feat: Various Local And International Acts World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $5.

Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross.

9pm. free. xxx

THURSDAY MARCH 13

free.

Kicks World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Sydney. 10pm. $12.

Matt Nukewood Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. $10.

Physical Education - feat: Various DJs Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. free.

Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Red Bull Music Academy (DJ Vadim) - feat: Anomie + Onetalk + Noel Boogie Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. free.

Solarium - feat: Solarium DJs And Live Acts Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

Spice Thursdays The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. free.

The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

HIP HOP & R&B Free The Beats Venue 505, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. free.

CLUB NIGHTS

$5 Everything Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm.

34 :: BRAG :: 553 : 12:03:14

FRIDAY MARCH 14 HIP HOP & R&B

DJ Corey Hodge AKA DJ Slinkee Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9pm. free.

Len Faki + The Only + Chris Arnott + Matt Ferreira + Sneaky Simon + Sand Bar + Mike Hyper + DJ Skoob + Fingers Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.10.

Vent - feat: Izzy N The Profit + DJ Maniak Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

Move D + Murat Kilic + Mike Witcombe + Dean Relf The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $25.

CLUB NIGHTS

Binjuice + The Moonlight Cowboys + DJ Guy Miyairi Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free.

Astral People And Friends Vol. 1 - feat: Polographia + Cliques + Black Vanilla + Preacha + Modern Fairytale Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. $10.

Boom Box Fridays - feat: Zerocool Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

ETC!ETC! + Jackal + Spenda C Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.10.

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. free.

Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free.

Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free.

Soft & Slow - feat: Frank Booker The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

10pm. $15.

The Furious George Album Launch - feat: Binjuice +

Picnic 6th Birthday - feat: Moritz Von Oswald + Simon Caldwell + Kali Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $22.

SUNDAY MARCH 16 S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Life Less Ordinary + Kerry Wallace + Telefunken + Declan Esau & James Greville + Matt Weir + James Taylor Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10.

Len Faki

FRIDAY MARCH 14

St Patrick’s Live - feat: Furnace And The Fundamentals + Thundamentals + Hot Dub Time Machine + Yolanda Be Cool Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 3pm. $50.

Astral People And Friends Vol. 1 - feat: Polographia + Cliques + Black Vanilla + Preacha + Modern Fairytale Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. $10.

Boom Box Fridays - feat: Zerocool Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

ETC!ETC! + Jackal + Spenda C Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.10.

Soft & Slow - feat: Frank Booker The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15.

SATURDAY MARCH 15 Chardy + Denzel Park Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $35.

Spenda C

thebrag.com

Xxx

club pick of the week

The Moonlight Cowboys + DJ Guy Miyairi Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

Yo Grito!

Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. free.

live review What we've been out to see...

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL Royal Randwick Racecourse Saturday March 8 Blue skies, shirtless guys, dancing and a whole lotta butt cheek. Yup, it’s Future Music. More than 100 acts flooded Randwick Racecourse and were almost exclusively EDM, with a few out-of-place indie and hip hop acts thrown in the mix for good measure.

Hoards of sweating dudes fist-pumped their way through the day, revelling around ten stages scattered across monumental grounds. At a festival so rife with testosterone it was nice to see the few female DJs that did hit the decks were Sydney’s own. Helena kicked things off, playing to a crowd as small as to be expected at midday. Once the punters had started to amass, local lady GG Magree took to the V Energy Green Room dropping a trap-laden mix, while Katie Valentine got a small but enthusiastic crowd pumped up early.

With a bizarrely short and early set at 4:15pm, Pharrell Williams took to the main stage and somehow managed to squeeze in almost every major commercial hit he’s ever done. The songs were crowd-pleasers and didn’t venture far from what everyone expected, but there is a time and a place to get experimental with your set and Future is not it. From the Neptunes-penned ‘Hollaback Girl’ he went straight into ‘I’m A Hustler Baby’, ‘Hot In Herre’ and ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’. And the hits didn’t end there – the seemingly ageless production guru then powered on through N.E.R.D. classics ‘Lapdance’ and ‘She Wants To Move’. After 25 minutes of his allotted 30, Pharrell still managed to fit in a track from his new album before belting out the anthems everyone was anticipating. ‘Blurred Lines’, ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Happy’ were compacted into a few short minutes with Williams lightheartedly proclaiming, “They cuttin’ me off here!”

The unwavering master of lounge, Kaskade, played to a similarly large and loyal audience which lapped up his tunes ecstatically as confetti rained down from high. Simultaneously Kaytranada, from the gritty Montreal scene, held it down at the Likes Of You stage for over an hour, keeping a modest crowd dancing with a set heavily inspired by hip hop, R&B and bass music.

Amazing visuals of cats jerkily flashed on screens above the stage, complementing the beats seamlessly. And frankly, who doesn’t love watching cats while getting down to remixes of Missy Elliott’s ‘Sock It 2 Me’ and Janet Jackson’s ‘If’?

thebrag.com

Fresh from Grammy success, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit the main stage and played a set permeated with enthusiasm despite poor sound quality.

The fans didn’t seem to mind much, gazing up contentedly as the Seattle rapper belted out his repertoire. ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’ caused mass hysteria as miles of fists triumphantly pummelled the air. The duo finished with their social commentary on consumerism, ‘Wings’, as a giant Jordan logo was illuminated behind them.

A different vibe was in motion at the Knife Party Haunted House tent. Baauer and Sub Focus decided to swap sets unannounced, with the former showing off his eclectic range which goes far beyond just the ‘Harlem Shake’. Sub Focus then brought the party up a level, blasting a bass-heavy set beneath the spider webs. Strobe lights and pulsating visuals accompanied, transforming the crowd into a wild pack of ravers, oblivious to anything beyond the realms of the Haunted House.

As the sun set and every toilet began to overflow, Rudimental played a genreblurring mix of everything from DnB to reggae to acoustic. The English quartet belted out their hits unfazed by the fact a large number of festival-goers had drifted over to catch Eric Prydz on the main stage.

Longstanding Aussies Cut Copy also pulled a fair crowd for their live set, despite taking the stage at the same time as Knife Party and Dutch house icon Hardwell; and it was the turn of French alternative rockers Phoenix to suffer the indignity of sparse support while the dance acts drew the masses.

They showed little sign of disillusionment with their fate, however, and a devoted fan base danced on regardless, lavishing in the freedom to move. Meanwhile, the Future Sound System stage was a pit of unrivalled sweatiness hosting the likes of ATB, Markus Schulz and Paul van Dyk.

PHOTOGRAPHER:: ASHLEY MAR

::

Unsurprisingly, Canadian super-producer deadmau5 drew the largest crowd of the day with thousands of adoring fans turning up to see his world-renowned live show. Mouse head intact, he dropped tracks from his latest EP as well as his ten-minute masterpiece ‘Strobe’.

Unrivalled lighting and visual effects mesmerised an awestruck mob in a display so spectacular it was hard to deny the night belonged to him.

Thea Carley

BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 35

snap

ryan hemsworth

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

the 45 sessions feat dj muro

PICS :: AM

08:03:14 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

soft & slow

PICS :: AM

kicks launch night 07:03:14 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585 36 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

PICS :: BC

09:03:14 :: Captain Cook Hotel :: 1/162 Flinders St Paddington 9360 4327

06:03:14 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 S :: LIAM CAM OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: :: AMATH MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR

ERON :: KATRINA CLARKE :: BEAU

CORVELL

thebrag.com

SAT22032014 2100_0300 —

UNITED COLOURS OF DRUM&BASS UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY UNION THE COLLECTIVE SYDNEY FOREIGNDUB PRESENT

SHAPESHIFTER

SHPSHFTR: TRTN_RECS HOSP_RECS » BSE: BSE_RECS CTRS_RECS BLCKT_RECS

BLACK SUN EMPIRE CIT NF004 MMX—ʹΝ

[NL]

— SUPPORT FOREIGNDUB / NCRYPT VS COMMIT / HIGHLY DUBIOUS / MAD COW / SAKURA

SAT MARCH 22 09PM — 03AM MANNING BAR SYDNEY UNI

LIVE [NZ]

$

TIX

55 + BF

MANNINGBAR .COM

33S 53’ 11.5002 | 151N 11’ 14.9742 BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14 :: 37

snap

tenzin

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

chinese laundry uv party

PICS :: AM

07:03:14 :: Marquee :: The Star Sydney Pyrmont 9657 7737

spice troopers

PICS :: KC

s.a.s.h sundays 08:03:14 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585 38 :: BRAG :: 553 :: 12:03:14

PICS :: AM

07:03:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

09:03:14 :: Flyover Bar :: 275 Kent St Sydney 9262 1988 S :: LIAM CAM OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: :: AMATH MAGNAN :: ASHLEY MAR

ERON :: KATRINA CLARKE :: BEAU

CORVELL

thebrag.com

ABSTRACT ENTERTAINMENT

PROUDLY PRESENTS

PACO PEÑA FLAMENCO DANCE COMPANY OMPANY “Mr Peña is a virtuoso, capable of dazzling an audience beyond the frets of mortal man.”

– THE NEW YORK TIMES

Americas Guitar magazine judged Paco Peña as best flamenco guitarist of the year for five consecutive years.

STATE THEATRE, SYDNEY FRIDAY APRIL 4

BOOKINGS: TICKETMASTER 136 100 OR WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM.AU

CIVIC THEATRE, NEWCASTLE THURSDAY APRIL 10 BOOKINGS: (02) 4929 1977

TWIN TOWNS AUDITORIUM, TWEED HEADS FRIDAY APRIL 11 BOOKINGS: 1800 014 014

ABSTRACT ENTERTAINMENT PROUDLY PRESENTS

4 -TIME GR AMMY WINNER

\While Larry Carlton is celebrated as a member of jazz legends The Crusaders..he’s also been the guitarist of choice for such luminaries as Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Steely Dan . Indeed his guitar work on Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” has been listed as the third best guitar solo on record by Rolling Stone Magazine.

19 -TIME GR AMMY NOMINEE

LIVE IN CONCERT

Larry Carlton AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Legendary American Jazz Guitarist LARRY CARLTON, the winner of 4 Grammy Awards & 19 Grammy Award nominations

2014

saturday

31 may

THE SEYMOUR CENTRE, SYDNEY Bookings: (02) 9351 7940 Ticketmaster 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au

Apply now Trimester 2 commences

19 05 14

Feed Your Passion

Australian Institute of Music, 1-55 Foveaux St, Surry Hills NSW For more information visit aim.edu.au or call 02 9219 5444 CRICOS 00665 65C