Brag#645

ISSUE NO. 645 JANUARY 13, 2016

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MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

PANIC! AT AT THE THE DISCO THE ONE-M AN SHOW

Plus

2015 THE YEAR THAT WAS

Plus

HOLY HOLY

JA SON ISBELL

DAUGHTER

DY L A N JOEL

Collaboration isn't always simple, but these guys have found their rhythm.

The Alabama man is seeking a new kind of freedom.

Album number two has come easy for the British trio.

Organic sounds underpin witty hip hop with a soulful twist.

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“Musical magic.” LA.COM “A wall of talent on stage.”

DENVER WESTWORD

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22

ENMORE THEATRE

ALLEN STONE THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA BRIAN WILSON D’ANGELO THE DECEMBERISTS DON MCLEAN ELLE KING JACKSON BROWNE JANIVA MAGNESS LUCKY PETERSON RHIANNON GIDDENS THE SELECTER SHAKEY GRAVES SONGHOY BLUES TAJ MAHAL VINTAGE TROUBLE THE WAILERS BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 3

rock music news

the BRAG presents

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Joseph Earp, Augustus Welby and Anna Wilson

songwriters’ secrets WITH

TONY DURANT FROM FUCHSIA The Last Song(s) I Released 2.

Encouraged by the worldwide interest in the re-release in 2005 of the first Fuchsia album (on Pegasus UK in 1971), I eventually continued writing from where I’d left off, and it seemed the muse hadn’t left me. What started as a little home project ended up with a great Mojo article, a doco being made, some amazing reviews, and links with some great musicians, including a young Swedish band.

time 40 years later, and see them work.

Proud? Well, maybe a little! ‘The Band’, written in 1972, failed to get us a new deal after our record deal collapsed. Recently Swedish band Me And My Kites (named after a song from Fuchsia’s first album) recorded it, and the release resulted in my touring Sweden/Europe in 2014 and ’15 with them. Fuchsia was back.

It also helped get Fuchsia signed to Cherry Red Records recently.

The First Song I Wrote 1.

‘Rue Morgue’ – a gothic piece with violin bowed guitar. I was 18 and in a psychedelic band doing the London circuit in 1968. We played supports for Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd to 400 people – all light shows and weirdness. The title was courtesy of horror writing pioneer Edgar Allan Poe; it was the beginning of a strange journey into a land of make-believe.

that drives that melody. Then the mood and atmosphere of the song takes over. The subconscious lines come to the surface, one of which will trigger broader meaning and direction, and the idea develops from there on a course of its own.

4.

The Song That Makes Me Proud Writing songs with string arrangements an integral part was always an experiment.

No musical training made it an even bolder challenge. Rehearsing them was an exhilarating experience back then. [We’re] playing them live to an audience for the first

music of rebellion and change. [I spent my time in] school with early Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan (‘Masters Of War’), The Who (‘My Generation’), and Syd Barrett/Floyd; then university with the classical giants: Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill (Threepenny Opera), which led me to my Mahagonny musical, currently in production.

What: Fuchsia II: From Psychedelia To A Distant Place out now independently Where: Django Bar When: Sunday January 17

ft. Violent Soho, Spiderbait, The Preatures and more Burns Creek, Tasmania Friday February 19 – Saturday February 20

GLEN MATLOCK, EARL SLICK & SLIM JIM PHANTOM Newtown Social Club Sunday February 28

LORD HURON Oxford Art Factory Wednesday March 23

SHAKEY GRAVES The Basement Thursday March 31

LIGHT UP THE BUDDZ

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray SUB-EDITOR: Sam Caldwell STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Anita Connors, Joseph Earp, Anna Wilson, Augustus Welby ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com Tony Pecotic - (02) 9212 4322 tony@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Furst Media 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 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATOR: Sarah Bryant - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Elias Kwiet, Joseph Earp, Anna Wilson, Anita Connors REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Christie Eliezer, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Emily Meller, David Molloy, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, George Nott, Daniel Prior, Tegan Reeves, Kate Robertson, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Leonardo Silvestrini, Jade Smith, Lucy Watson, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

Hot topic reggae artist Collie Buddz is all set for his debut Australian tour. Breaking through to the world stage in 2013 with hit single ‘Light It Up’, Buddz developed a deep interest in music in Bermuda, where he was raised, and was already spending time in studios from a young age before going on to complete a degree in audio engineering. Equipped with technical and instrumental know-how, Buddz began crafting his own originals. In recent years he has worked with the likes of Salaam Remi, Busta Rhymes, Lil Jon, Shaggy and more, so really, it’s about bloody time he made it down to Australia. Buddz will play the Factory Theatre on Wednesday February 10.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

Mountain Sounds Festival has added an injection of all-Australian acts to join the already vibrant musical and cultural buzz of activity on its exciting bill. The second round lineup of the local and environmentally sustainable fest includes hectic electric Brisbane duo Cut Snake, whose music produces an atmospheric and deepleaning sound that is unabashedly diverse and strong-headed. They join an announcement of Aussie acts that also features Elaskia, Nocturnal Tapes, Ocean Alley, Jake Grigg (Something With Numbers), Adi Toohey and Dreems, among others, who bring even more musical diversity to the eclectic blend of food, arts and fashion to be featured at the third incarnation of Mountain

Steve Poltz

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

THE NEW SENSATION

Sounds. The day-long event happens at Mount Penang Parklands on Saturday February 20.

SHAMELESS, NOT SILENCED

The Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced advocacy group has created a music event as a fundraiser for Hey Sis, a charity designed to eradicate rape and domestic violence against indigenous women. Wrought into life after a number of its founding members were targeted with misogynistic threats online, Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced aims to combat both rape culture and the propagation of sexual violence. As part of its advocacy, the group has announced Shameless, a celebration of Sydney women in rock. The one-off event will combine raucous live music, including sets from roustabouts Scabz (the “shittest band in Newtown”) and Le Pie, as well as installations

by Mikaela Stafford and booze from Young Henrys. This isn’t your normal charity event,

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Friday 12pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Fishished art: No later than 2pm Monday Ad cancellations: Friday 4pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to.

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4 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

Kylie Auldist

Given her new single has been described as “the love child of Chaka Khan and Rick James”, Kylie Auldist’s upcoming Sydney show is sure to be a memorable night.

Auldist, the powerhouse vocalist behind nouveau-soul act The Bamboos, will strut and sashay her way across the Brighton Up Bar stage on Australia Day Eve. Ostensibly the show will be to promote her new single ‘Sensational’, and to drum up attention for her upcoming solo release Family Tree, but it will also undoubtedly serve to remind those in attendance of Auldist’s unique talents as a performer.

Auldist plays Brighton Up Bar on Monday January 25.

then, and rather than dry canapés and toffy talks, the night will feature real rock and expose even realer issues. Shameless hits 107 Projects in Redfern on Friday January 29.

YABUN FESTIVAL LINEUP

An indigenous musical icon is set to headline at the Yabun Festival in Camperdown’s Victoria Park this month. The organisers behind the free event designed to showcase indigenous and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture have announced that rock and reggae legend Bart Willoughby will lead the program. Willoughby is best known for anthemic classics like ‘Aboriginal Woman’ and ‘We Have Survived’, and his name will be familiar to any long-term – or even casual – fan of indigenous music, or indeed Australian music in general. The family-friendly event will also feature food stalls, singing lessons for kids and traditional indigenous games. The Yabun Festival is free, and will hit Victoria Park on Tuesday January 26.

Strung Out

AMURIKA, FOLK YEAH!

The Yanks are sending us their best folk artists to join the already stellar lineup for the milestone 50th anniversary National Folk Festival at Easter. US artists Sheila Kay Adams, Grammy-winning Peter Rowan, and Phil Wiggins with Dom Turner of the Backsliders join the massive contingency of the best in the folk world for the celebratory edition of the Canberra festival. Leading these great names is iconic cult musician Steve Poltz, famously a member of alt-rock group The Rugburns, who also co-wrote artist Jewel’s breakout hit ‘You Were Meant for Me’. The full artist lineup is available on the event Facebook page, with the colossal 50th National Folk Festival taking place in Canberra’s Exhibition Park over Easter, Thursday March 24 – Monday March 28.

STRUNG OUT RE-STRUNG

Favourites of the ’90s punk rock resurgence are heading back to Australia this March.

Strung Out are best known for their work through the ’90s, but they’ve never been ones to rest on their laurels. The Californians’ latest album Transmission.Alpha.Delta demonstrates their continuing creative exploration while staying true to their punk rock signature. They’ll be in the country this March, bringing along special guest Pears. Their Sydney date is at the Metro Theatre on Friday March 11.

thebrag.com

Shakey Graves photo by Jarred Gastriech

Songwriting Secrets The Song That Changed My Life 3.

First, find a sequence of chords with a 5.

From my teens, music from many strong melody line, then a lyric meter/rhythm sources determined my future. It was often

PARTY IN THE PADDOCK

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BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 5

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Joseph Earp, Augustus Welby and Anita Connors

five things WITH

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

THE CAIROS

TARIK STONEMAN FROM CHASE CITY Your Band 3.

We met in school. We are a pretty chill bunch of dudes; we tour a lot (six tours in two years) cause we love being on holiday and playing shows, really.

The Music You Make 4.

Our first EP was very Vampire Weekendesque alt-pop with touches of garage there, but it was very surfy. But we have moved to a more dance-based sound with our newer song taking inspiration from indie legends LCD [Soundsystem], and is a bit darker than we are used to. I think being such a young band we don’t want to nail ourselves into a corner and are always changing up what we do.

Brisvegas’ dreamy pop-rockers The Cairos are on their way back to the Sydney stage, with a new tune to boot. In follow-up to last year’s release of their debut album, Dream Of Reason, and the amicable but conscious uncoupling with their record label, they’re hitting the road with their new single ‘Love Don’t Feel Right’.

Having packed a show at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York as well as nailed some supports with Mutemath, The Cairos will be bringing grooving beats, soaring vocals and stellar synth lines aplenty.

Noire and Yeevs support.

We’ve got two double passes to The Cairos’ single launch at Brighton Up Bar on Friday January 22. Head to thebrag. com/freeshit to enter the draw.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

The Australian alt scene is nuts. There are literally so many really great bands that deserve

1.

Growing Up I actually grew up in Turkey and was there till I was ten. My family listened to very traditional Arabic music, which has had little to no infl uence on my music.

Inspirations 2.

I have so many inspirations. When I was young I was a huge hard rock fan – my

favourite band of all time is probably Black Sabbath. My infatuation with rock slowly faded, moving from more commercially friendly bands such as Foo Fighters through to indie rock/pop acts like Kaiser Chiefs, early Wombats and Arctic Monkeys.

Now I listen to just about everything really and am pretty happy at how open my tastes are.

to be playing big rooms, but I guess that’s the reality. You need that right time and place thing to happen (and write a cracker of a tune, of course). We are happy to keep working hard and taking baby steps whilst improving our craft and having a great time!

Where: Hotel Steyne When: Saturday January 16

Sydney Rock ‘N’ Roll & Alternative Market

Fanny Lumsden

ROCK’N’ROLL MARKET RETURNS COURTYARD SESSIONS RETURN

The Seymour Centre’s now-annual summer program boasts not only a diverse range of musical acts, but a gourmet barbecue too. What more could you want? February 2016 will see the return of the Courtyard Sessions, an overwhelmingly popular string of live shows spearheaded by the Seymour Centre and the City of Sydney. Though the full lineup is yet to be announced, it’s already been confirmed that the sparkling Australiana act Fanny Lumsden will be making an appearance, along with the smouldering crooner Iluka. Perhaps best of all, the events are free, making them the perfect first date for all you cheapskates out there. Get on it. The gigs kick off on Friday February 5.

Dust off those blue suede shoes, Teddy Boy suits and swing dresses, and get ready to channel your inner Jerry Lee Lewis and Doris Day – the first instalment of the Sydney Rock ‘N’ Roll & Alternative Market for 2016 is near! The market is bopping into Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar this February with a vast array of spectacular stalls, swing dancing lessons and a classic vehicle display. There’ll also be vintage fashion, jewellery, food, posters, homewares, collectables, and retro hair and make-up stylists. And for the vinyl enthusiasts, make sure to check out the record fair, with more than 50,000 LPs and 45s to browse through, covering alternative, punk, metal, rockabilly, blues, jazz, country, reggae, club, hip hop and every other genre since the dawn of rock’n’roll. A huge live lineup will be headlined by Celtic folk-punk rockers The Rumjacks and Australia’s kings of roots rock, The Detonators. Mother Truckers, The Hellcat III, plus DJs Limpin’ Jimmy and The Swingin’ Kitten, Rod Almighty, The Crimplenes and The Rockabilly Rhino will also be jiving by. It all goes down on Sunday February 7.

HANGING WITH OLD MATES

THE END IS NIGH

ON THEIR HIGH HORSE

TARANTULA ON THE LOOSE

We all know Old Mate. He’s the fella who’s there to bum you a cigarette when you need it, and to say g’day at the bar when no-one else can muster even a smile. He’s a good guy, Old Mate. And now the stage is set for Old Mate’s Block Party, a mini-festival being held at the Factory Floor on Saturday January 30. The Lockhearts are leading the lineup, and they’ve chosen a bunch of their peers to join them, including Papa Pilko and The Binrats, BRAG favourites The Daphne Rawling Band, The Dead Love and The Cherry Dolls. As the saying goes, Old Mate always delivers.

The Persian Drugs

SLIDE INTO SLYFOX

As ever, the minds behind Live At The Sly are proving to be clever foxes indeed. The Persian Drugs have been locked in to headline the weekly event this Thursday January 14, following on from an incendiary Newtown Festival performance recently. The Slyfox gig will also see performances from La Mancha Negra and Blackbird, and entry is free.

6 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

One of the most hotly tipped progressive rock acts in this wide brown land, Caligula’s Horse, are galloping around the nation once again this autumn. Their politically minded new single, ‘Turntail’, is the third to be lifted from their 2015 album Bloom. The record landed in the Top 20 of the ARIA chart, and introduced the Brisbane five-piece to an even broader audience on these shores and beyond. Western Australian proggers Chaos Divine will join the new Caligula’s Horse dates, including Oxford Art Factory on Friday April 15.

To celebrate her new EP When The World Ends, Queensland songwriter Ayla is coming down the coast to see us. Ayla has been building a name for herself for a couple of years now, and things really began to take flight with the release of her debut single ‘Wish I Was’ in 2014.

Since then she’s gone from strength to strength, appearing on triple j’s popular Like A Version segment and hitting up the Woodford Folk Festival over New Year’s. Now, with a new EP to show off, Ayla is playing a couple of intimate Sydney shows. She’ll be at Cafe Lounge on Wednesday January 20 and Oxford Art Factory’s Gallery Bar on Thursday February 4.

Horace Bones have arrived. The breakout Melbourne psych rockers are here with their debut single, ‘Tarantula’, and they’ll soon be onstage at Frankie’s Pizza to play it. The band came together as a bunch of former housemates – because to stay together, you’ve gotta play together – and having already shared stages with acts like Pulled Apart By Horses, Remi, Bad//Dreems and Money For Rope, Horace Bones are all set for a headline tour of their own. Their Sydney show is on Sunday January 24. thebrag.com

#TheRocks #AusDay

therocks.com BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 7

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

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THINGS WE HEAR • How long before Apple Music launches another radio station behind Beats 1? It’s already trademarked the names Beats 2 through 5, and B2 through B5. • Which management company’s Christmas break-up ended in a water fight? • Which musician’s planned motorcycle trip around Tasmania was thwarted after someone stole his chopper on Christmas Day? • Is Live Nation interested in buying some or all of EDM empire SFX Entertainment? Or is SFX considering bankruptcy? • Will the original Take That lineup, with Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, reunite for a world tour in 2017? • As part of its crackdown on drugs at music festivals, the New South Wales Government plans to initiate a plan where drug sniffer dogs will search festival sites every day for a week before the

event, so no-one sneaks in to stash their stuff early.

Festival promoters will be billed for the searches. • The Stiffys’ new guitarist Dev has been assigned extra duties. As the only member with a car, he has to do the driving on their eight-date tour from Friday January 22 – Saturday March 19. The other band members said they were “quite focused on enjoying the rock’n’roll lifestyleâ€?. • LCD Soundsystem are back touring and confirmed they’re releasing a record.

They’ve acknowledged, “There are people who feel betrayed,â€? after their promise never to reunite after they split in 2011. • Justin Bieber made UK chart history this week, becoming the first artist ever to occupy the entire top three on the UK singles chart. • Foo Fighters’ Greatest Hits has become their sixth million-seller in the US. • Parkway Drive’s Killing With A Smile and Horizons albums are certified gold (35,000 sales), joining Atlas and Deep Blue. Their number one album from

last year, Ire, is not too far behind. • The three-day Indigo Evolution Arts and Music rave on the North Coast over New Year’s was shut down with a court order claiming organisers did not get permission.

Police were concerned for 5,000 punters, as narrow roads and poor visibility would make it hard for emergency services to get through. • Over the next 12 months, Peter ‘Blackie’ Black will release a new single a day via Bandcamp. He said, “I’ve been playing music my whole life, it’s wonderful. It just gets more wonderful every single day, so while I’m still able I ‌ wanna go nuts!â€? He says fans of the Hard-Ons, Nunchukka Superfly and his solo stuff will dig it. • Lady Gaga was given a pony for Christmas by her record label. • Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam got behind the DJ decks at Western Australia’s Disconnect music festival, playing a 30-minute set under the name S-Ludz.

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AC/DC THIRD-HIGHEST GROSSING TOUR LAST YEAR

LEGION CROWDFUNDING: $219,634 IN FIRST WEEK

AC/DCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rock Or Bust world tour was the third-highest grossing tour of 2015. According to US concert trade bible Pollstar, the band earned US$180 million from selling 2.3 million tickets to 54 shows. They were beaten

by Taylor Swift, who grossed $250.4m from selling fewer tickets (2.2 million over 83 shows) but with prices at an average of $110.15 each, and One Direction, who grossed $210.2m. The others in the top ten were U2 ($152.2m), Foo Fighters ($127m), Fleetwood Mac ($125.1m), Ed Sheeran ($117.3m), Kenny Chesney ($116.4m), Garth Brooks ($11.4.9m) and The Rolling Stones ($109.7m).

The inaugural Legion Music Festival in March, set up to fill the vacuum left by the undignified collapse of Soundwave, raised $219,634 from 977 supporters in the first week of its Pozible crowdfunding campaign.

However, the $3.2 million target has to be reached by Monday January 25. Founder John Sankey of LA metal band Devil You Know is also negotiating with local partners to cover production costs. But heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emphasised the festival will only be staged if the costs are covered.

New South Wales venues also did well in the global round-up. Of five Australian entries in the top 200 arenas list, Allphones Arena was at number 51 with ticket sales of 325,171, and Qantas Credit Union Arena at 54 with 313,835 punters. Newtown Social Club was the sole Sydney venue to make the top 200 clubs at 103rd, selling 35,528 tickets (the other three were from Melbourne).

Newcastleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hope Estate Winery scraped into the top 200 amphitheatre venues at number 96 with 25,580. In the top 100 outdoor stadiums (among nine Australian entries) were ANZ Stadium at 34th (127,111 tickets), Allianz Stadium at 47th (110,267), Bluesfest/Boomerang site Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm at 51st (105,475) and Randwick Racecourse at 91st (63,089).

AUSSIES CERTIFIED Courtney Barnettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit has been certifi ed gold by ARIA for Aussie sales of 35,000. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well beyond anything I ever imagined would happen off the back of my first album,â&#x20AC;? Barnett said when nominated for Best New Artist in next monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grammys. Siaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aliveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is platinum and 2015 X Factor Australia winner Cyrus Villanuevaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is gold.

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Tour promoter Destroy All Lines has announced Chris Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien as its new general manager of touring. He will oversee all tours alongside Daniel Misztal and Ash Hull. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 20 years in the biz have seen him run a record label, punk clubs, booking agency and management firm. He oversaw Soundwave from inception and served as GM of Vans Warped Tour 2014 and Harvest Festival. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am thrilled to be heading up this passionate team of music lovers with a renewed core focus to work alongside our artists to continually develop and nurture their careers within Australia,â&#x20AC;? he said. Destroy All Lines has a long-term partnership with Chugg Entertainment.

TECHNICS TURNTABLES RETURNING Technics turntables, much-loved by DJs and vinyl fans, are making a comeback. Panasonic discontinued the iconic brand in 2010 just as the vinyl revival began. But at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, two Technics SL-1200 models were unveiled. They have a new motor designed to be quieter and less prone to vibrations, aiming to provide better sound quality. Sony also previewed a turntable: the PS-HX500 streamlines the digitisation of vinyl through a USB cord and an app.

Other music-related items include a lightbulb that plays music, a headband called SleepPhones to let you fall asleep to music, and a music player called Prizm that â&#x20AC;&#x153;readsâ&#x20AC;? the mood of a room and plays appropriate music (it detects youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the room via your mobile device and taps into your streaming playlist).

CARISSA WALFORD LEAVING CHANNEL [V] Carissa Walford is leaving Channel [V] after five years to move to LA to pursue an international career, similar to Renee Bargh who now hosts Extra TV. The 27-year-old daughter of a singer/drummer, Walford fronted bands and studied acting before landing the [V] gig in 2011, working on The Riff and WTF.

MOST PLAYED ON AUSSIE RADIO Mark Ronsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Uptown Funkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was the most played song on Australian radio in 2015.

According to media monitoring firm Aircheck, it got 20,234 spins on all 54 commercial radio stations in nine cities, plus triple j, FBi Radio and Radio Adelaide. Second was Walk The Moonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shut Up And Danceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (18,637 plays), Maroon 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sugarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (17,540), Jason Deruloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Want To Want Meâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (17,324) and OMIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (17,112). Keith Williams of Aircheck parent RCS said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Disappointingly there are no Australian songs in the top ten most played and only 12 in the top 100 of 2015, compared to 20 in 2014. There are two Australian songs in the top 20.â&#x20AC;? These were Vance Joyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fire And The Floodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (13,295, 14th) and Kygo feat.

Conrad Sewellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Firestoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (13,295, 17th).

Other Australian songs were Siaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Elastic

Heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 22 (12,445), Jarryd Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Do You Rememberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 25 (11,901), Iggy Azaleaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Troubleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 27 (11,633), Peking Dukâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Take Me Overâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 36 (10,503), Vance Joyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Georgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 37 (10,360), Graceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Own Meâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 38 (10,358), Conrad Sewellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Start Againâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 70 (7,361), Guy Sebastianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lingerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 79 (6,789), Birds Of Tokyoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Anchorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 91 (6,200) and Yolanda Be Cool and DCUPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sugar Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at 99 (5,692).

JAZZ BELL AWARDS OPEN Submissions have opened for the 2016 Australian Jazz Bell Awards. Now in their 13th year, the awards have new categories, a prize pool of $40,000 and a new submission process in which jazz enthusiasts can vote across the eight award categories, said awards founder Albert Dadon. See australianjazzacademy. org.au.

WANNA WORK AT MUSICNSW? MusicNSW is looking for an experienced executive producer to join its Glebe team next month. It is a new position and suitable for someone with a passion for contemporary music programming, a broad knowledge of the NSW music industry and experience in project and event management. More info is available at musicnsw.com, and the deadline is 5pm this Friday January 15.

Lifelines Married: US DJ superstar Steve Aoki and Australian model Tiernan Cowling after a five-year relationship, in Hawaii.

Married: Tim Chaisson of Canadian roots trio The East Pointers, and visual artist and yoga teacher Jen Allen, during the New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day sunrise ceremony (complete with Tibetan chants) at Queenslandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Woodford Folk Festival.

Engaged: Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DJ Ruckus and Australian model Shanina Shaik, after he proposed during a Maldives holiday.

Dating: Reece Mastin confirmed heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stepping out with singer Bonnie Anderson after his split from actress Rhiannon Fish.

Ill: legendary US funk keyboard player Bernie Worrell (Parliament-Funkadelic, Talking Heads), 71, has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

Hospitalised: Janet Jackson had to cancel her world tour for surgery after doctors found â&#x20AC;&#x153;growth on her vocal cordsâ&#x20AC;?.

Hospitalised: Thy Will Be Done drummer Jay Waterman, 41, after he had a cardiac arrest during the holidays.

Hospitalised: NSW country singer Alby Pool had a triple bypass last week.

In Court: Adelaide musician Woonun Edwin Willoughby, 24, told the Adelaide Magistrates Court he would plead guilty to the manslaughter of Oden Edgar, 45.

Edgar was fatally stabbed in Athol Park on November 30. Police indicated they will pursue murder charges. Willoughby is the son of drummer Bart Willoughby of No Fixed Address, Coloured Stone, Mixed Relations and Yothu Yindi fame.

Died: David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, after a battle with cancer. His new album Blackstar was released last Friday on his 69th birthday.

Died: Jason Mackenroth, drummer with Rollins Band, of prostate cancer at 46.

Died: Chicago R&B singer Otis Clay, 73, of a heart attack.

Died: Darwin blues and reggae multi-instrumentalist Reggae Dave (Dave Asera), 51. He was inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) Hall of Fame in 2009.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 9

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

STILL GOT THE FEVER

“I

’m just such a selfish bastard,” laughs Brendon Urie, the sole remaining original member of Las Vegas’ theatrical rockers Panic! At The Disco. Bursting onto the scene in 2005 with their breakthrough album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, Urie and his thenbandmates Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith and Brent Wilson washed over the world of pop-punk and alternative rock with a concoction of their own, influenced by burlesque, classic literature and straight up pop-rock licks.

theatrical magic but with shorter syntax and more rock-fuelled tones, while Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! arrived two years later with an increased electropop presence and more of a hip hop flavour than before.

After winning over the masses with their zany lyrical wit and grand instrumentation, the subsequent departures of bassist Wilson, songwriter Ross and Wilson’s replacement Jon Walker signalled the end of Panic! as we knew them.

But for the ever-energetic frontman Urie, his persistence in flying the Panic! flag, exclamation point in tow, has been all about evolution.

“I’m huge [Frank] Sinatra admirer,” he gushes. “Some of my earliest memories are as a child at Christmas, opening my presents and hearing Frank sing ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘White Christmas’. He’s been a huge part of my life.

The strategy is working. Look back at each Panic! album since their debut and its follow-up, 2008’s Pretty. Odd., and the transformation is unmistakable. 2011’s Vices & Virtues still carried some of that 10 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

“I actually wanted to do a Sinatra album, and so the first song I wrote in that style was the title track.

I wrote it just purely with piano and vocal, but I had the string arrangements in my head, so I was like, ‘Cool, I know how to do this.’

But as I sat down to write these arrangements I realised, ‘I don’t know how the fuck to do string arrangements!’”

It was this hurdle that forced Urie to take the classic Ol’ Blue Eyes vibes and apply them to a completely new musical context. “The thing I do know how to do is produce tracks,” he says. “So I took a track that I had been working on months ago and mashed the two together. I don’t know how putting this beat behind a Sinatra style worked, but it sounded

so cool! It gave me such a happy feeling that then took the whole album in that direction.”

Throughout the record, the many tones that make up Urie’s distinctive vocals soar over driving guitars and the glitches and bops of electronics. The exception is the closing ‘Impossible Year’, which Urie describes as his finished interpretation of a traditional Sinatra ballad. “Just [my] voice. No double, no Auto-Tune, just baring it all and putting it all out there.”

But when asked what would happen if, hypothetically, Sinatra were to provide any feedback on his homage, Urie laughs. “I would hope that he would critique my vocals and tell me, ‘It’s not good enough, they’re sloppy.’ That’s what I would hope he would say, because he is phenomenal and flawless. He is ‘one-take Sinatra’.”

Alongside ‘Impossible Year’, Urie looks back with fondness on the creative process he undertook for the album as a whole.

“It kind of took me back to my roots.

If I got bored of one instrument, I’d just move onto another. I have a studio [at my house], so I just ended up knowing exactly what I wanted to do when we went in to record properly. It just became easier to get my point across and more fun to see how far I could take my original ideas.”

The experimentation with different sounds was, as Urie says, his “saving grace”. Yet the Panic! At The Disco touring band, consisting

“A LOT OF ARTISTS FALL INTO THAT GAP OF, ‘OK, I WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT,’ BUT THEY JUST WRITE SOMETHING FASTER USING THE SAME INSTRUMENTATION, WRITING STYLE AND STRUCTURE. I DON’T LIKE TO DO THAT, BECAUSE I GET VERY FRUSTRATED.” of Dallon Weekes, Kenneth Harris and Dan Pawlovich, were often left scratching their heads when Urie brought his creations to the rehearsal room.

“We actually just rehearsed a couple of days ago with these new songs,” he says. “There’s a song on the album called ‘Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time’. I sat down with the drummer Dan, who is a phenomenal and talented drummer, but he just couldn’t figure it out. After a while he was like, ‘OK, I’ll get it,’ and he did after one try. If you push other people to do their greatest, they’ll come out on top.”

Despite how jovial and jittery Urie is in anticipation for his new release, he is mindful of the fact his newfound creative freedom came at a cost. It was around two years ago that founding drummer Smith wrote an open letter detailing his battles with addiction. He officially left Panic! last April, and though Urie mentions no plans for Smith to make a return to the band, the pair’s relationship remains strong. “Spence and I are

still the closest of friends,” Urie says.

“It’s awesome”.

Looking back on what has already been a long musical career, it seems Urie has always been destined to be the sole orchestrator of his creative world. Out of all the bands he has played in from his school days until now, he draws one clear conclusion.

“I just got bored with people,” he says bluntly. “I started making demos on my own. I played guitar, drums, I did vocals and everything else.

Because – and it sounds really shitty to say out loud – but I couldn’t stand being with people. It sounds kind of cocky, but they weren’t up to my calibre.” He laughs, “They weren’t grade A.” “It took me a while to realise if you want something done then you should do it yourself. That’s how Death Of A Bachelor came about.”

What: Death Of A Bachelor out Friday January 15 through Fueled

By Ramen/Warner

thebrag.com

Panic! At The Disco photo by Shervin Lainez

“A lot of artists fall into that gap of, ‘OK, I want to do something different,’ but they just write something faster using the same instrumentation, writing style and structure,” he says. “I don’t like to do that, because I get very frustrated.

I’m so mindful of that, that I like to compare songs all of the time, so it gives me a sense of what I should do and what I shouldn’t do.”

Now it appears yet another incarnation of Panic! At The Disco has begun. But with the impending release of their new album Death Of A Bachelor, it emerges that Urie has maintained one particularly unexpected influence since the beginning.

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BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 11

Daughter Disappearing Act By David James Young

D

espite being one of the more quiet and reserved LPs of 2013, If You Leave – the debut album from London neo-folk trio Daughter – certainly resonated upon its arrival.

Peaking in the top 20 of the British charts, scoring rave reviews from the press and even having its songs featured in shows ranging from Grey’s Anatomy to Hollyoaks, the album made it clear to all and sundry that there was something quite special about what the group had achieved at such an early stage. Needless to say, crafting a follow-up could well have been a daunting process – but only if Daughter allowed it to be. Thanks to a change of method, they found themselves at ease while making album number two.

The end result is Not To Disappear, which arrives some two-and-a-half years after If You Leave and has plenty to show for the time between.

Production was split between

“I think that both albums are equally high in percentage of me telling everyone everything,” she laughs. “I feel like, writing-wise, I was writing quite differently. It felt a lot more direct and conversational, whereas the last album felt like it used a lot more abstract imagery. I’m not going to lie, I was a little worried at first when I read some of my sets of lyrics back – I was like, ‘Oh, bloody hell! Can we use this?’ I felt it was important to not edit myself, however.

I wanted to use exactly what came out of my head the first time. I think Not To Disappear deals with a lot of things – it’s a lot more vulnerable and a lot more naked.”

For just three people, Daughter are able to create quite a densely layered sonic atmosphere in their songs.

Walls of shimmering guitar can often go up against beds of keys, while a violin bow shredded over guitar strings can pierce through a wave of ambience at any given moment.

With all three members being multiinstrumentalists, there’s a clear sense of the left knowing exactly what the right is doing – and it’s something that is notably apparent on the new record’s songwriting.

“This album is definitely less concerned with our set roles,” says Tonra. “For If You Leave, I would come in with the basics – the guitar part and the vocals – then

I’d work on it with Igor, and then we’d show it to Remi [Aguilella, drums] to jam with him. It was a lot more free-form this time – it was never me showing the other guys what the songs were going to be.

All three of us would get together at the same time and just see what the other had to offer.

“I think a lot of the freedom we had on this album had to do with the fact we’d hired out our own space. We had a room for about a year and a half that we would come to every week. It was good to get away from your own flat and not be disturbed

by neighbours telling you to shut up every hour.”

With Not To Disappear finally ready to go after work began on it as early as the start of 2014, Daughter are planning their next moves – which, inevitably, means touring the world in support of the release. Australia is on the cards, and Tonra herself is particularly excited to return with new songs and a new live lineup.

“We have loved our visits there,” she enthuses. “It’s so far away – it really is so exciting that people know our music no matter where we go.

“I suppose that’s the miracle of the internet age, that anyone can discover your songs. You can travel all this way, and there’s all these people waiting for you. It’s just beautiful. This will be our first tour with our new touring member, Lucy, who will be filling out a lot of the extra layers of guitar and keyboards and backing vocals so it can sound full live. She’s really great – it’s so lovely to have a lady to do all of my harmonies with.”

What: Not To Disappear out Friday January 15 through 4AD/ Remote Control

Lukas Nelson Get Real By Rod Whitfield “Oh man, however much energy the crowd is putting out, we’re going to amplify that ten times, 10,000 times, and put it back at them,” he says.

“We love to play live, that’s what we do.”

Already, Promise Of The Real have been working and touring with some of the luminaries of country and blues/roots music – not just Nelson’s famous father, but also Canadian rock legend Neil Young (including working closely with him on his most recent album The Monsanto Years) and former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty. Nelson has been enjoying every minute.

L

ukas Nelson, son of American country music legend Willie Nelson and now a highly accomplished artist in his own right, has been to Australia several times over the course of his life. He has toured the nation with his famous father on more than one occasion, and he has a great many memories of those times. One recollection, however, stands out from the rest.

“I went with an Aborigine guide, and my mother and my little brother, and we went out to Ulu… Uluru. We went out to the outback and we did a walkabout. It’s probably the most

12 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

imprinted memory in my head right now.”

Most Aussies haven’t actually done a walkabout around Uluru, Nelson is reminded. “Yeah, I know!” he laughs. “I feel privileged. There was something very special about being out there in the desert, that’s for sure.”

The one thing Nelson has never done on our soil is tour under his own steam and with his own band.

But that’s all about to change when Nelson brings his Promise Of The Real and their brand of “cowboy

hippie surf rock” for appearances at Bluesfest as well as single dates in Melbourne and Sydney.

“I’ve heard [Bluesfest] is just a beautiful festival, beautiful town,” he says. “Byron, and Melbourne as well, both of them are well known as just great musical towns. The people there are just full of youthful energy and have a lot of disdain for their government. All the things that I love.”

Nelson vows that he and the band will deliver an intense, powerpacked show for their Aussie fans.

“It’s just been a masterclass in music, and we’ve been soaking up every bit of it, and learning so much,” he says. “Music, for us, is a way of life, so we really try to carry on the tradition of those who’ve lived their lives in music. So it takes a lot of focus and preparation and teamwork, but it also takes something that can’t be taught, and that’s the ability to sit back and let things happen. Because as musicians, when you’re playing a song, it’s impossible to play a good song unless you’re going with the flow. So if you can apply that to the rest of your life and you go with the flow, man, things just unfold in such beautiful ways. We’ve been blessed.”

As it happens, it was actually Neil Young who was the catalyst for the formation and naming of Nelson’s band.

“We met at a Neil Young concert, my drummer [Anthony LoGerfo] and I,” Nelson recalls. “There’s a song called ‘Walk On’, and one of the

lines in it is, ‘Sooner or later, it all gets real,’ and that’s the ‘promise of the real’ in my mind. I thought that would be a great band name, Promise Of The Real.”

So the Neil Young influence was there from the very beginning?

“Yeah, and seven or eight years later we’re playing with him,” Nelson laughs again. “It’s quite an intense turnaround.”

Nelson looks back on 2015 as the “best year of my life”, and 2016 has similarly great things in store.

“There is so much [going on] – there is two albums being released; hopefully there’s something more with Neil. We’ll be recording with Dad a lot and spending a lot of time with him. Then we’ll be working with my brother [Jacob], and of course we’ll be on the road promoting the new albums. So there’ll be no shortage of things to do.”

As his 2016 calendar suggests, Nelson finds working with his family to be particularly enjoyable and fulfilling. “It’s just easy man, it’s all just flow. Everybody just gets the joke, and when everybody gets the joke, it’s nothing but fun.”

Who: Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real What: Bluesfest 2016 With: The National, Tom Jones, Kendrick Lamar, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and many more Where: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm When: Thursday March 24 – Monday March 28 And: Also appearing at the Factory Theatre on Monday March 28

thebrag.com

Daughter photo by Francesca Jane Allen

“We knew that it was something that we couldn’t overthink,” explains Elena Tonra, the band’s lead vocalist and primary lyricist, who also toggles between guitar and bass. “We knew that if we did that, it would kill any degree of spontaneity or off-the-cuff creativity that we had going. We were touring for quite a long time, but when we came back to the studio we had built up all of these different ideas. Musically, we were coming from a lot of different angles and trying styles that people normally wouldn’t associate with us. We had a really open mind in terms of which direction we could go – and I think the conscious decision to factor out whether songs sounded too much like the last album, or not enough, allowed us to open up as much as we could.”

guitarist Igor Haefeli and American producer Nicolas Vernhes, who has previously worked with the likes of The War On Drugs, Deerhunter and Speedy Ortiz, and set the band up in his own studio space in Brooklyn.

It’s an album that explores a lot of new territory for Daughter – not least of all for Tonra, who found herself once again writing as honestly as she could from a lyrical perspective.

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Felix Riebl On Going Solo By Erin Rooney up in the morning and often go and write songs. Music is one of the most essential forms of movement that I can imagine, and I do a lot of travelling and perform a lot, and as a way of processing that, songs seem to be a great way of continuing that cycle.”

Whether Riebl is working on The Cat Empire or his solo project, his intention is to continue his life as a songwriter. He doesn’t see going solo as a way of making a grand departure from the band that made his name, but rather as an avenue to explore new sounds and techniques in audience engagement. Although his solo performances might be perceived as more personal than the lively festival atmosphere of a Cat Empire show, Riebl makes an important distinction between the two.

“They’re both very emotional experiences for me. The Cat Empire is exuberance and a lot of colour and sweat and that kind of thing, and this … is often more impersonal in a way, less emotional, but more kind of powerful in a closer space, so I can really listen to my voice and the way it works in a much quieter kind of atmosphere.”

F

elix Riebl is, first and foremost, a songwriter. While The Cat Empire frontman and now solo artist has the ability to enchant and energise a crowd onstage, there is a kind of magic associated with the quiet of

returning to the piano that propels him forward.

“The experience of writing music is a real mystery to me a lot of the time, and it’s also a great preoccupation,” says Riebl. “I wake

Since Riebl first went it alone with the release of his album Into The Rain in 2011, he has been able to take his creativity in a new direction, and he’s done the same again with his new EP, Lonely Truth. Now, he explains going from “railing against”

his own voice – and even being embarrassed by it at times – to embracing the unique ways he can shape and phrase his instrument.

Lonely Truth sees Riebl strive to create natural, heartfelt songs with simple storytelling – as in the track ‘Crocodiles’, which is something of a travel diary from a recent trip to East Timor.

makes sense, when things come into focus.”

“When I was there, I couldn’t make sense of much, to be honest,” he says. “It was really just one set of images after the next. I met some wonderful people but I couldn’t really place myself there, but as soon as I came back, I could remember a lot more and make something of those disparate things that had happened.”

“It’s probably more layered than what I’ve done in the past in terms of an album. I’ve been very dedicated to natural sounds before now, but I’m really excited about this one – it feels unexpected, and to be surprised in your work is one of the best things, I think.”

Riebl is no stranger to travelling, having toured all over the world and drawn musical influence from destinations as far and wide as South America and Europe. But his East Timor visit made him question the real purpose of travelling to distant places with the band, and whether he’s now reliant on going to new locations to write.

“It made me think of all of the travelling I do as a band in The Cat Empire – so much of it is mindless travel, getting from one place to the next. We see a lot of places, but really the true travelling happens onstage once you begin a song.

I really associate performing with kind of a movement, and that’s the point when all of the travelling

“The Cat Empire is an outward band – it has horns, a lot of rhythm, and a lot of combustion onstage, and there’s all those contrasts. With my show and my voice in this context, it’s really about doing the opposite.”

2016 will certainly be a busy year for Riebl, with both a Cat Empire album and a new solo record to share. He expects that his forthcoming effort will take his sound in a new direction again, as he’s found himself writing about some unusual topics.

In the meantime, he’s preparing a band and some special guest musicians for his upcoming EP launch show at The Basement.

For those who are accustomed to the high-energy antics of The Cat Empire and unsure of what to expect, Riebl’s passion for songwriting and sharp selfawareness would suggest you’re in for a treat.

“The Cat Empire is an outward band – it has horns, a lot of rhythm, and a lot of combustion onstage, and there’s all those contrasts. With my show and my voice in this context, it’s really about doing the opposite.

It’s very intimate and it’s very close – it draws the space differently.

It brings people in as opposed to battering them out.”

What: Lonely Truth out now through My Shore/Kobalt With: Roscoe James Irwin Where: The Basement When: Sunday January 24

Jason Isbell Nothing Left To Lose By James Di Fabrizio

A

mericana singer-songwriter Jason Isbell has come a long way to reach the point he’s at today. In a past life, he was debilitated by alcohol and substance abuse. Years of hard living culminated in Isbell being kicked out of his former band, Drive-By Truckers, before finally taking the first steps down the path to sobriety.

Now completely clean, Isbell has more drive and clarity than ever before, marking him a songwriter at the top of his game. His latest record, Something More Than Free, was released last year to almost universal critical acclaim, providing a snapshot of an artist who has finally found the inner solace he yearned for on his breakthrough album, 2013’s Southeastern.

“I try to make records as a document as much as anything else,” says Isbell. “When my life changes, the content of my work is going to change. When I made Southeastern it was a very confusing time for me, which turned out to be really good creatively because it gave me a lot to say, a lot to talk about and a story to tell.

Once that period was over with and I moved through that, the process felt a lot stronger, it felt a lot happier, and I’m a lot more satisfied with my personal life. I think that the challenge became pushing myself creatively in a way that reflected that.”

14 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

“I think anything you can use as a way to get perspective can help you work through issues,” he says.

“That’s what art does for me, making songs – it gives me a different perspective. Sometimes I’m writing allegorically, or if I’m writing even about a character that I have synthesised from different people that I know, or just one that I made up if I’m writing a fictional story – it winds up being in a lot of ways about my own life. Really, it’s with the purpose of giving me a different perspective. If you step outside of yourself long enough to look at your life from a different angle, I think that can help you more than anything else.”

Indeed, Isbell uses character-driven narratives within his songwriting to masterful effect. Storytelling has always been a crucial element of the country and folk traditions, but Isbell’s musical vignettes pulse with a nuance that is not often heard. His Southern parables have covered everything from working life and existentially minded outlaws to the undignified death of a cancerstricken friend. No matter what character he creates, however, a seed of his own experiences is placed inside it.

“I’m always going to find my way into the songs, even if they are character-driven,” he says. “There’s going to be some of me in each of these characters, because the only way I can really feel qualified to write about their stories is if their

stories and mine intersect in a lot of ways. If I grow as a person, then they’re going to do the same thing.”

Isbell is an extremely studious writer and will often revise and edit his lyrics until they are delivered with exacting economy, yet rich with detail. Nothing is chosen haphazardly, and not a single syllable is wasted.

“If I’m working on a record, sometimes I’ll get on a kick where I’ll work every day,” says Isbell. “If I have studio time booked, I’ll sit down every day for hours and hours and just really refine every song.

I used to not be able to do that.

When I drank, it was really hard to focus for that long. Now I can sit for eight or ten hours a day sometimes and work the puzzles of writing the songs, trying to make everything come out as succinctly as they possibly can.”

Something More Than Free saw Isbell team up once more with prolific Nashville producer Dave Cobb, who brought an organic touch and sparsity to the record.

With Isbell’s voice of a fallen angel – sweet, but raspy – and such painstakingly crafted lyrics, it’s no surprise Cobb pushed him to take centre stage. Ultimately, there was no need for anything else to get in the way. “[Cobb] wants to do away with anything superfluous,” says Isbell. “I really feel like that makes the record feel more genuine to me. I think it makes the emotions stronger.”

After all, emotions are at the core of Isbell’s songwriting. In the years he’s been sober, he’s created better music than ever before.

He has been through a lifetime of experiences, both joyous and crushing. Now, it’s all about setting them free to those who want to listen.

“I think it all comes down to empathy, really. I want people to know that I understand what it’s like to be them, and I want them to understand what it’s like to be me.

I think that’s the ultimate goal of creating anything.”

Who: Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit What: Bluesfest 2016 With: The National, Tom Jones, Kendrick Lamar, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and many more Where: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm When: Thursday March 24 – Monday March 28 And: Also appearing at the Enmore Theatre on Sunday April 3 More: Something More Than Free out now through Spunk/ Caroline xxx

If Southeastern was a fearlessly honest documentation of Isbell’s journey towards sobriety and happiness, Something More Than Free is a record of what happens when the light at the end of the tunnel begins to flood through the void. Throughout it all, one

thing is clear: songwriting is a vehicle for Isbell, not only to share his experiences, but to act as a personal mission statement of sorts; laying down on tape a sincerely optimistic depiction of the life he is determined to lead.

thebrag.com

Holy Holy Forces Of Nature By Joseph Earp

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he mountain that graces the front cover of Holy Holy’s debut album, When The Storms Would Come, is a fake. Shaped by artist Yuji Hamada, it’s an aluminium foil construct; an intoxicating, carefully built lie. In this way, it’s totally unlike Holy Holy themselves – a band that came into being naturally, and without blueprint.

“I was just thinking, ‘Let’s write some tunes,’” says Oscar Dawson, who along with songwriting partner Timothy Carroll makes up the core of Holy Holy. “When Tim and I were first writing the material, it was thought of as Tim’s solo project. But I got my greasy mitts all over it, to the extent that it was sort of no longer in his name. I wasn’t thinking about it too hard … I was just enjoying playing.”

Not only was the duo’s conception unplanned, but so was the writing of their debut record, a sombre and serene collection of folk rock tunes. They went off-road, striking out with no specific end goal in mind. “We embarked on a session … a few years ago, recording with our producer Matt Redlich in Brisbane,” says Dawson. “That became the first basis of the record. But that kept changing. The record kept developing and became a different record. We could have kept going forever, really. But we got to the point where we were like, ‘This is our album.’ And that was that.”

When The Storms Would Come was released to great critical fanfare, and on the strength of the record, the band has played sold-out dates across the globe. Yet despite these highs, Dawson has managed to keep his head. In conversation he’s humbly, strikingly understated. Just take his view on how to conquer pre-show nerves, for example. “[It’s about] giving slightly less of a fuck as the years go by,” he says jovially, his grin almost audible over the phone. “When I was a lot younger, a teenager, I would get so nervous I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

I would be like, ‘Why the hell am I even doing this? This is stupid. I hate myself right now.’

But that doesn’t happen anymore, thankfully.

It’s just not worth me worrying about. If [the audience] like it, they do, and if they don’t, well… I mean, it’s not really my fault.

“It’s not that big a deal,” he continues, laughing to himself. “It’s almost egotistical to think it’s that big of a deal. You get all nervous, like, all wrapped up in yourself – you’re all taking yourself so seriously. Nobody else cares.”

Dawson has a similarly refreshing matter-offact take on the dreaded touring life. It’s an attitude that will no doubt keep him in good stead when Holy Holy hit the road for their upcoming string of dates behind ‘A Heroine’ – their last proper tour before they board themselves up in the studio and begin work on album number two.

“I find touring kind of ideal in a way, because I know where I need to be and when I need to be there. I just need to make sure I’m in the right place at the right time. All I need to do is hit those broad targets each day. And they’re not that hard to hit. And then I get to play music. And drink.”

Not that Dawson is blasé, mind, and he speaks candidly about the conflicts that arise from a shared creative process. When asked what effect a songwriting relationship has on a pair of mates, he replies quickly. “It fractures the friendship.” There’s a brief pause, then he laughs.

“I’m joking,” he says. But there is some vague truth to the jibe, and he goes on. “Often – not always, often – there is a bit of tension in the process. And so there should be, actually, I think. I think it’s important. Sometimes there have been songs I’ve written in the past [with other people] where it’s been like, ‘Yeah, that’s great, cool,’ and we just love ourselves and just love each other… and then [the song] might be a bit tepid.”

With Carroll it’s different. He and Dawson often find themselves meeting in the middle, relishing the creative tension that arises from the writing process. And, after all – as Dawson readily admits – it’s “always in the pursuit of some higher goal”.

“There’s no one way that [songwriting] works best. Sometimes we just jam in the room and the idea just comes out. Things just sort of come. It’s a real to and a fro. And where they start – it might be an iPhone recording or something – might have no bearing on how it ends up. But it’s still an important step on the way.”

Indeed, for both Dawson and Carroll, songwriting is a process of discovery. It always has been. “It might sound wanky,” says Dawson, “but it’s true. [The songs] just take you where they’re going to take you. You’ve gotta go with it. And when you do let it happen, you go to places you never thought you would go to. You go, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that would happen.’”

He exhales, a reflexive – some would say natural – sound of pleasure. “That’s always, always, the most exciting place to work.”

What: When The Storms Would Come out now through Wonderlick/Sony Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday January 15 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 15

Viet Cong The Band Formerly Known As By Natalie Rogers this project on and off for two years – even before our self-titled album was released. So with the name change and a new record, it’s almost like getting born again.”

Those paying close attention to Viet Cong’s recent social media posts will have seen photographic evidence that from now on they plan to do things differently – and that includes their choice of recording studio. Opting to lay down tracks in a huge converted barn, Munro says the time away from the world was just what they needed to get their creative juices fl owing.

“We’ve mostly fi nished now, although we need to do a little bit of tweaking, then we have to mix everything – but it will probably be wrapped up around February and then the record will come out in the fall, around September or October.”

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In three short years, these four self-confessed “mostly private people” from Calgary have survived the scandal and success of a band double their age. In a Facebook post late last year, they openly admitted the band name had been a rushed decision and they never meant to cause people pain. Nearly four months later, with no name change as yet, and their first Australian tour due to kick off in a couple of weeks, we sit down with guitarist Scott ‘Monty’ Munro to set the record straight.

Munro says. “It’s hard to pick a band name, you know? Especially the second time around.”

“We’ve got a bunch of names picked out already – we just haven’t narrowed the list down entirely yet,”

“It will give us the opportunity to make a different-sounding record too,” he adds. “We’ve been working

Munro is in good spirits, excited to talk about the band’s plans for the year ahead. “Honestly, we’ve been tossing around ideas for the name change since the beginning of last year, so we’ve been billing ourselves as Formerly Known As, and we’re going to finish the Australian tour under that name. But once we all agree on something, then we’ll make an announcement.

“Another personal favourite of all of us is a band called This Heat. They put out a couple of great records in ’79 and ’81. They weren’t a band for super long but they were fantastic, and we’ve been getting into all the bands around that time. The singer/ drummer had a band called Camberwell Now and the guitar

“We will hopefully be playing a bunch of new tracks at these upcoming shows,” Munro continues. “Although I’m not totally sure – we might just play our normal set, which has never been played live in Australia before, so I hope that won’t be too disappointing,” he jokes.

As first-time visitors to our shores, Viet Cong remain curious about what to expect. When it’s mentioned that they’re playing in Wollongong on Australia Day, Munro seems intrigued. “I have no idea what you guys do, but we have Canada Day – is it like that? We’d love to catch up with Courtney Barnett and her band that we met at SXSW. I assume it’ll be just one big outside party?

We’d love to get some sun.”

Being close to nature seems to be high on the agenda for the band.

“We had some time off recently, so we went back to the little town in rural British Columbia where our friends have a barn,” says Munro.

“We played Black Sabbath covers, watched a bunch of movies and hung out in the wilderness, which was pretty nice. After the Australian shows are done I think we’re going to get some beer and go camping – we’re all pretty mellow.”

What: Viet Cong out now through Jagjaguwar/Inertia With: Batpiss Where: Newtown Social Club When: Monday January 25

Viet Cong photo by David Waldman

015 was a year of highs and lows for Canadian post-punk band Viet Cong. The highs can be attributed to a stellar performance at SXSW (despite drummer Mike Wallace suffering a broken wrist) and the release of their self-titled debut album, deemed by critics and fans alike to be one of the most original and progressive albums of the year. But that attention ironically brought about the lows for Viet Cong when controversy over their name came to a head, resulting in groups of protesters picketing outside venues. Some venues even cancelled shows due to the mounting public pressure.

Munro says that while they were busy working on new material, the guys traded records and immersed themselves in the classics. “We listened to a lot of The Cure and the Iggy Pop records that David Bowie produced in the 1970s, like The Idiot or Lust For Life, which are still always on rotation.

I play The Idiot at least once a week still. It’s now to the point of disintegration but I don’t care – that record gets played a lot!” he laughs.

player had a band called the Lifetones – they’re a little more dubbed out but they’re also really good. All the stuff that came from that scene was pretty cool, and the new stuff we’ve written is heavily infl uenced by it.

Jennifer Kingwell Sleeping Lessons By Adam Norris and we met very soon after,” Kingwell explains. “So we’ve been very good friends ever since.

Prior to heading off on tour, we just fi nished a residency at the Wesley Anne [in Melbourne] to kind of test out the material, see what works, what wouldn’t work – try and shape the show into a really beautiful evening of sharing stories and songs, working on covers, gradually incorporating more of each other into our work. It ended up being a really beautiful run of shows, so we’re looking forward to taking that energy with us around Australia.”

Of course, this wonderful friendship could yet go the way of the Hindenburg. One aspect of this tour is the chance for fans to see Kingwell and Green reinterpret each other’s material, taking a song and completely reworking it into an entirely new beast. Thus far, there has been a happy absence of fl ames and despair.

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unveil an updated release. First though, the pair are making sure they both hit the road in style.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Kingwell laughs.

“I’ve done my fair share of foetalposition-curling over the last couple of weeks, what with the tour, getting the EP ready to go, as well as all of these other projects starting to creep forward. But it is very exciting.

I’m just trying to keep focused on when Plum and I actually hit the road. That will be a great feeling.”

Theirs is a partnership that has been some years in the making.

Although their backgrounds are quite different, in other ways the two have evolved into each other’s musical counterpart, and something like the Night Terrors tour has been at the back of their minds for an age. The real surprise is that they haven’t already set out to conquer their respective countries.

“Plum moved here [from New Zealand] about three years ago

“I love and admire Plum so much as a songwriter and a performer, and it’s such an honour to kind of get inside her head and work on her material in a completely

Both Kingwell and Green also had the enviable pleasure of supporting the inimitable Amanda Palmer on her Australian dates (and if this wasn’t enough, Palmer’s husband Neil Gaiman also cameos on The Lotus Eaters).

Such a support is a remarkable step in each of their careers, but observing Palmer in action was perhaps the most benefi cial facet.

“I learned a lot from supporting Amanda,” Kingwell says. “In some ways, it was like a really fantastic apprenticeship. Seeing her incredible work ethic, seeing her incredible connection to her fans, which is 100 per cent authentic.

She really taught me about valuing the people who support you and support your music, because that’s a relationship like any other. Like your family, or with your lover or best friends. It’s an incredibly important one to nurture, and that’s probably the main thing I’ve taken away from that.”

What: The Lotus Eaters (The Night Terrors Tour Edition) out Friday January 15 independently With: Plum Green Where: The Newsagency When: Thursday January 28 thebrag.com

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ot only is Jennifer Kingwell a delight to chat with – a voice full of character and quick to laugh – but her music is outstanding. The Melbournebased songwriter’s debut EP The Lotus Eaters elevated her status among local music aficionados, and fans are now primed for a rather pleasant sense of déjà vu. Teaming up with fellow performer Plum Green for a string of shows across Australia and New Zealand, the Night Terrors tour will see Kingwell

“When the other person is sitting there right opposite you onstage while you interpret their music, it can be kind of nerve-wracking.

But luckily so far we’ve both really loved each other’s interpretations.

I think that’s why this has already resonated with people who came to the residency, and why we’re so excited to be taking on this project with each other.

different way. We’re very complementary I think, and so far our interpretations have been very different from the original.

Mostly Plum is guitar-based, and I’m piano-based, so they’ve been quite strong departures from the original, while keeping the same intent and intensity.”

Dallas Crane Good For Nothin’ By Tex Miller

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fter keeping quiet for nine years, Dallas Crane have released their fifth studio album, Scoundrels. Combining elements of all their previous releases, it’s immediately apparent this is the best thing the Melburnians have ever done. Dallas Crane formed in the mid-’90s, and released their debut LP Lent in 1998. However, it was ‘Sit On My Knee’, the lead single from 2000’s Twenty Four Seven, that really put them on the map. The BRAG speaks to lead singer Dave Larkin about the band’s illustrious return, and after so many years away, he’s full of confidence about the time ahead.

“It feels good to be back. There is no ridiculous timeline that we have to produce music by or expectations on our music anymore, and that’s a really great thing, I think,” he says. “It’s been a really enjoyable experience piecing this album together. We spent so much time on the road previously, which allowed for less time to create new music and put out albums. That meant we felt we really needed to up the ante with every release and to stamp our place in the music scene. Having complete control over everything has been fantastic and defi nitely something we want looking into the future.”

Kicking off the album is ‘The Sunnyside’, in which Larkin channels the late, great Bon Scott. It’s not a fl at out AC/DC rip-off, but it’s a reassuring indication that Aussie rock is in good hands. The music industry has undergone drastic change since Dallas Crane’s fourth album, Factory Girls, came out in 2006. Accordingly, Scoundrels came to life courtesy of a recent online advent.

“For this record we turned our hand to crowdfunding,” says Larkin. “We found out in 2015 it is really a non-existent record industry. The whole Roman Empire of the record label seems to have dissipated in our absence. Artists are so DIY these days, and you have to be.

“I think the insecurity of not knowing whether the album was going to happen or not – because we put it up to our fans

– was defi nitely an interesting thing. We wanted to reach as many people on social media as we could and we hit the target in nine days. We had reached 35 per cent in just one day and from that point on we knew we were in good hands.”

November. Despite their long absence, the record sounds just as ballsy and freespirited as Dallas Crane’s earlier releases.

Guitars and drums combine with Larkin’s howled vocals, sating fans’ lust for quality Aussie rock’n’roll.

The band’s generous followers were rightly rewarded when Scoundrels dropped in late

Larkin and co. are now taking the new record all around the country. The

Taylor chuckles, “I know the gig at Giant Dwarf is billed as being in acoustic mode, but we [should] put the word out through the BRAG that you need to bring your ammunition. Bring anything you want to pelt at Tim Rogers. Let’s get him back to selfdefence mode.”

“I’d just turn up,” Rogers says drily. “I thought there was some kind of equity benefit.” But habitual self-depreciation aside, Rogers does admit he enjoys any opportunity to leave his comfort zone. “I get asked, ‘Why do you do film … and TV stuff?’ One, it’s work.

Two, there’s a chance to learn something. I started in theatre, but television and comedy – there’s an opportunity to learn. I’m not there for the sandwiches.

frontman sells it simply: “Everyone should come down and hear the new tunes for themselves.”

What: Scoundrels out now through Public Bookings Where: Newtown Social Club When: Saturday January 30

My Tunes Rogers Vs Taylor Vs Rogers By Joseph Earp

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longside his work as an actor, a gardener, and as the frontman of You Am I, Tim Rogers seems to have also found steady employment as his own harshest critic. Though he’s ostensibly speaking with the BRAG to discuss My Tunes, an upcoming night of music and conversation that will see him play strippedback songs from across his discography and reflect on his career with long-standing friend Chris Taylor of The Chaser, he still finds ample opportunity to rag on that Tim Rogers guy.

“I’m always about five minutes behind,” he says.

“You’ll see when Chris and I talk. I’ll be talking about what Chris was talking about five minutes before.”

Taylor laughs. “You’ll be saying, ‘Hello, good evening,’ when I’m on my second question.”

“They’ll go, ‘Gee, that Tim Rogers can play a dunce really well,’” adds Rogers, not uncheerfully. “Half an education and a couple of nervous breakdowns will do it every time.”

Even though Rogers might be his own worst enemy, he has no shortage of devoted fans – among them Taylor, who personally selected the musician as his My Tunes sparring partner.

“A lot of my misspent youth was spent going to You Am I gigs and being magnetically drawn to Tim in particular,” says Taylor. “[He] was doing something in rock’n’roll that few other people were doing at the time, which was putting on a show.

“It was sort of the time of shoegaze, and a lot of bands like My Bloody Valentine and Ride – who I love – came out and never looked at you. But Tim came out and waved his arms around and put on a fucking rock’n’roll show. It was like a revolution.”

“All the movement and arm-swinging really did start off as a way to not get hit by cans and bottles,” says Rogers. “A lot of shows we played early on were rougher because we were playing heavier, more hardcore… If you move around there’s less chance of getting sconced.”

thebrag.com

The pair laugh. They do a lot of that.

Indeed, they come across as genuinely firm friends. Neither can remember exactly when they met each other, but Taylor guesses it might have been on the set of The Chaser’s War On Everything, way back when.

“We often joked in The Chaser that there were two people who would always say yes to a cameo. One was David Stratton and the other was Tim Rogers. We were incredibly grateful, cause a lot of people in the music industry… either they’re a bit too cool to do a comedy show or a bit too uncomfortable. And Tim was neither of those things. He always said yes. So I think it was our very first episode ever of The Chaser’s War On Everything, there was a parody sketch … I can’t remember the joke.

We needed a rock star and Tim stepped up to the plate … and then we couldn’t get rid of him.”

“If you’re asked to be on something and you’re the rock’n’roll guy, I’m aware that there’s an expectation that you’re going to be a bit of dill and won’t take direction well and that you’re just looking for the drinks rider.

But I’m very concerned with doing a good job. I’m attentive and want to listen, and I like being directed, because I don’t trust my own instincts in mediums other than music.

I guess sometimes that gets mistaken for generosity.”

“You’re really good at it,” says Taylor, stepping into the middle of another Rogers versus Rogers fight. “The reason we knew, even before we got you in to do any comedy work … [was because] I’d seen you on The Micallef P(r)ogram(me). You used to do these fake interviews; these very well

written, awkward interviews. Normally it’s people like Andrew Denton and then one week it’s Tim Rogers, and [you] just nailed it. [You] got into the rhythms of [Shaun] Micallef’s comedy. I was like, ‘This guy gets it, let’s get him in.’”

The warm feelings go both ways. When asked if he is looking forward to My Tunes, Rogers seems most enthusiastic about being up onstage with Taylor. “I like doing just regular shows, but anything involving a friend and someone I have a lot of respect for and there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing – I’m excited about that.”

It’s that level of mutual respect that promises to make the upcoming night at Giant Dwarf so much fun; that and the prospect of some very good-natured, old-fashioned ribbing. Whether it will be Taylor pulling his friend’s chain or Rogers picking up the slack and tearing straight into himself remains to be seen.

What: My Tunes Acoustic Series: Chris Taylor Presents Tim Rogers Where: Giant Dwarf When: Wednesday January 20

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 17

2015 The Year a

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That Was

2015 is gone, but it won’t be forgotten.

It was the year of Caitlyn Jenner’s transformation and of a female jockey winning the Melbourne Cup. It was the year we argued over whether the dress was blue and black or white and gold. King Kendrick and Queen Courtney dominated the charts and the critics’ reviews, while Kanye and Kim’s latest release was their second child, Saint West. Yes, 2015 had its share of ups and downs. And before we embrace the New Year entirely, it’s time to look back with some of the BRAG’s staffers at 12 months that will go down in history. Ish.

Chris Martin Adam Norris Staff Writer Top three Australian albums: Falls – Omaha Playwrite – Cathedrals Art Of Sleeping – Shake Shiver Top three international albums: The Mountain Goats – Beat The Champ Lord Huron – Strange Trails Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear Film of the year: Sticking to those released in Australia this year, it’s a battle between It Follows, The End Of The Tour, Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Gig of the year: Florence + The Machine at the Opera House Forecourt was damned impressive, though on a smaller scale, Edema Ruh brought one hell of a show to the Gaelic Club (and Elton John, because Elton John).

What I’m looking forward to in 2016: The 50th National Folk Festival, the 31st Woodford Folk Festival, interviewing Tom Waits, and finding the magic lamp that will make that third aspiration realistic.

Three Australian artists to watch: All Our Exes Live In Texas, Maia Jelavic, Marvell.

A foolproof prediction for the year ahead: Hypercolour will return big time with a series of fashionable cravats. A new Lord Of The Rings film set between the first and second movies will be found in a dormant New Zealand volcano, exploring the doomed romance of Gandalf The Grey, and a Balrog whose heart would not be tamed.

Top three Australian albums: Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit Tame Impala – Currents City Calm Down – In A Restless House Top three international albums: Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly Blur – The Magic Whip

Managing Editor

Bronx and Jurassic 5 straddled the spectrum of genres on offer, and we even forgave Alabama Shakes for not playing the hit.

Biggest discovery: Our fortnightly Game On section, with all its reviews and rumours, turned me into a PlayStation gamer again.

Hey, if it’s good enough for President Underwood in House Of Cards…

Gig of the year: Blur’s triumphant return to Sydney to slay one and all at the Ent Cent (RIP). A show to tick off the bucket list, and a surprisingly energised display from four musicians whose peak is supposedly behind them – except really, it isn’t.

What I’m looking forward to in 2016: Some massive festival lineups and hopefully a new Radiohead album. And on the big screen, if 2015 was the year of the sequel (The Hunger Games, The Avengers, Star Wars), then hopefully this year we’ll see some great original stories bloom.

Festival of the year: Bluesfest. Sure, it was a little muddy, but nothing gumboots couldn’t handle.

Meanwhile, Mariachi El

A foolproof prediction for the year ahead: Jon Snow will return. It’s bound to happen, but it feels so cheap.

Sarah Bryant

Art Director

I developed a severe case of FIMOOGS (Fear I Missed Out On Good Shit) in the year just gone – but here’s what I gleaned, or managed to vaguely recall about 2015:

person. Truthfully, I haven’t heard it, but I’m picking it nonetheless, whatever it’s called. The King lives!

Also Motörhead – Bad Magic and Blackalicious – Imani Vol.1.

Biggest discovery: Henry Wagons’ Tower Of Song on Double J coincided with the BRAG’s print deadline, so each Monday night was an alt-country discovery. I love Willy!

Gigs of the year: Dreams came true – I hugged Neneh Cherry! She is one cool woman. Blur were tops. KISS ruled!

What I’m looking forward to in 2016: Sia’s silent album?

What I’ll miss most about 2015: The last time there was a new Terry Pratchett novel waiting to be read.

Top three Australian albums: Daniel Johns – Aerial Love Tame Impala – Currents (even if I do like their old stuff better than their new stuff) Gaahhdd… three? Was there a Donny Benet album this year? If so, that’s it!

What I won’t miss about 2015: Losing our coastlines to those kraken armies.

Who knew that dolphins would turn out to be such turncoats?

Top three international albums: Not a single Elvis sighting in decades, but remarkably the ‘Pelvis’ himself released an album this year, which is no mean feat for a dead

Favourite interview: There have been over 200 interviews this year, so choosing the best is a hard task. Banoffee was a standout, ditto Halsey and Lizzy Plapinger of Ms Mr. Chatting with two of my literary idols, David Mitchell and Michael Chabon, however, was un-freakin’-believable.

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Film of the year: Amy Best arts/cultural festival of the year: The Other Art Fair was a great opportunity to mingle with artists, after the queuing. I came home with a Tim Andrews screen print of gold cats with green eyes.

Three Australian artists to watch: Client Liaison (because you can’t take your eyes off them anyway), Dara Gill (gallery curator and visual artist), Dunny Minogue.

A foolproof prediction for the year ahead: I don’t want to give you nightmares, but it has something to do with Donald Trump.

Augustus Welby Staff Writer Top three Australian albums: Tame Impala – Currents My Disco – Severe Jess Ribeiro – Kill It Yourself Top three international albums: Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Goin Down…

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfl y Four Tet – Morning/ Evening Film of the year: Ex Machina Gig of the year: The Drones at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid LIVE. What I’ll miss most about 2015:

Brad Haddin in whites.

What I won’t miss about 2015: Far right scaremongering becoming increasingly prevalent.

What I’m looking forward to in 2016: Articulate public discourse.

Three Australian artists to watch: Vigilantes, Sans Parents, Room Temp.

A foolproof prediction for the year ahead: Shane Warne has one too many Botox injections and can no longer remember the difference between leg spin and Hanson.

David Molloy Contributor Top five films (and their respective MVPs): Beasts Of No Nation – Abraham “how is this child so utterly amazing” Attah.

It Follows – the creature!

An unstoppable, shape-shifting, sexually transmitted stalker.

The Lobster – Olivia Colman’s monstrous hotel manager is magnificent.

Mad Max: Fury Road – feminism! But also Charlize Theron kicking arse and taking names.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – tempted to say BB-8, but the real winner is TR-8R.

of experimentation, and a truly fascinating listen.

Chvrches – Every Open Eye. Pure, unadulterated joy. I could listen to Lauren Mayberry forever.

Honourable mention to Kendrick Lamar for still being the best in the game.

Movie quote of the year: “We dance alone.

That’s why we only play electronic music.” Loner Leader, The Lobster

What I’m looking forward to in 2016: The VVitch – scariest trailer I’ve seen in a long time. There’s also new Deftones to look forward to; (hopefully) some increases in arts funding; a new live venue in Marrickville; Rogue One; a new Coen Brothers flick; the disappointment from Batman Vs Superman mingling with the thrill of Suicide Squad; Deadpool; new Walking Dead/Jessica Jones/ Daredevil; and a new season of Game Of Thrones where even the book readers will be in the dark… fingers crossed it won’t be as shit as the last one!

Hollywood’s finest moment: Are you kidding? Could it be anything other than Star Wars? Maybe this is the year of finally doing franchise additions right – Mad Max, Avengers and The Hunger Games were all on point. It’s either that or Amy Poehler and Tina Fey calling out Bill Cosby at the Golden Globes.

Top three Australian albums: Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. The voice of our generation, though I’m sure she’d cringe at the thought.

Playwrite – Cathedrals.

Expansive, beautiful, melancholic, joyous indie-folk from the best band you’ve never heard of; their harmonies are heartbreakers.

My Disco – Severe. While everyone’s dancing to Tame Impala, come recede into silence with these miserable minimalists.

Top three international albums: Deafheaven – New Bermuda. Could they top Sunbather? Hell of a task, but the new album feels far more diverse, and has some serious bangers on it.

Arca – Mutant. This was the year that Arca broke electronica and reassembled it as he saw fit. A mind-shredding array

Favourite interview: It had to be Guillermo del Toro – one of my idols and greatest inspirations, and an extremely affable chap to boot. Nerding out with the director of Pan’s Labyrinth easily tops the list.

Three Australian filmmakers to watch: Justin Kurzel – sure, Macbeth was imperfect, but Kurzel’s visual panache has seen him take the director’s chair for Assassin’s Creed, which is out later this year.

Jennifer Kent – no releases in 2015, but we’re still shaking from The Babadook, and after being courted to direct Wonder Woman, Kent has a lot of grand options available to her.

Ursula Dabrowsky – making waves as part of Enzo Tedeschi’s Deadhouse Films stable, Dabrowsky can only go up after the release of her unflinchingly brutal Inner Demon.

A foolproof prediction for the year ahead: No Man’s Sky will take up every second of your time that isn’t already filled by Fallout 4. You wait…

thebrag.com

“A story that needs to be told told” TIME OUT

“Astonishingly beautiful. beautiful Essential viewing” SUN HERALD

The return of a landmark production

THE SECRET RIVER SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY AND ALLENS PRESENT

BY KATE GRENVILLE AN ADAPTATION FOR THE STAGE BY ANDREW BOVELL ROSLYN PACKER THEATRE, WALSH BAY

SYDNEYTHEATRE.COM.AU @

DIRECTOR

COSTUME DESIGNER

WITH

NEIL ARMFIELD

TESS SCHOFIELD ISAAC HAYWARD

ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE

LIGHTING DESIGNER

SOUND DESIGNER

STEPHEN PAGE

MARK HOWETT

STEVE FRANCIS

SET DESIGNER

COMPOSER

DRAMATURG

1 – 20 FEB 2016

STEPHEN CURTIS IAIN GRANDAGE

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

MATTHEW WHITTET

9250 1777

GEORGIA ADAMSON JOSHUA BRENNAN TOBY CHALLENOR SHAKA COOK NATHANIEL DEAN FRANCES DJULIBING ISAAC HAYWARD

SYDNEYTHEATRECO #STCSECRETRIVER JENNIFER HAGAN TREVOR JAMIESON HEATH JELOVIC NINGALI LAWFORD-WOLF MADELEINE MADDEN COLIN MOODY JEREMIAH MUNDINE

WESLEY PATTEN KELTON PELL RORY POTTER RICHARD PIPER JAMES SLEE BRUCE SPENCE MATTHEW SUNDERLAND

COMMISSIONING AND TOURING PATRONS

DON’T MISS THE LIMITED RETURN SEASON OF THIS BELOVED, MULTI AWARD-WINNING PLAY. PRESENTING PARTNER

DAVID GONSKI AC & ORLI WARGON OAM CATRIONA & SIMON MORDANT AM

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc., Sydney Festival, Perth International Arts Festival and The Centenary of Canberra.

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 19

arts in focus

arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Joseph Earp, Augustus Welby and Anna Wilson

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit Holding The Man

five minutes WITH

hat’s the concept behind Blanc De Blanc, which is set to make its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House?

Blanc De Blanc has sprung from the magic of champagne whilst celebrating the hopeful abandon of the party. We are aiming to lubricate audiences into an immersive flow of decadent dance, circus, cabaret and art. The show riffs on histories of vaudeville and cabaret with a neomodern approach.

With so much activity happening onstage, from comedy and circus to cabaret, how does everything come together into one cohesive show?

All of our artists are from diverse backgrounds, but we have all been brought together to create a new genre-smashing world. Our intention is to express the diversity of the creative (and real) world through the common thread of a party – corked and uncorked, sophisticated and wild. Working with our creators, the performers’ individual personalities have been encouraged to inform how we all move and swell together onstage.

The result is an exciting new take on ‘variety’ and ensemble performance.

What will you be doing as part of the show?

Through incantation, dance and

drag feelings I am speaking about the sacredness of the bubbles, the privilege of the party and the dual light and darkness in celebration.

Given Sydney’s current oppressive lockout culture I wanted to point to the vitalness of late-night party spaces for a healthy society and progressive thinking. Blanc De Blanc is a world that wants everyone moving, grooving and connected – the champagne is a social balm, the theatre a womb.

The creator, Scott Maidment, has worked with Madonna and also created Limbo and Cantina.

How challenging is it to work with his vision?

Scott is an extraordinary curator and risk-taker. He is a figure who can bridge the gaps between social and cultural worlds. He asked me to be in the show because he wanted my subversive energy onstage. It has been

challenging and extremely rewarding to be taken out of my comfort zone into new terrain.

The vision works because it is one that allows room for voices of difference.

HOLDING THE MAN

You’re also known for your alter ago, Betty Grumble – what are her plans for 2016?

I will be debuting Betty’s onewoman Show Grumble: Sex Clown Saves The World at Adelaide Fringe and beyond. I will also be keeping the late-night push-backery alive in Sydney venues like Tokyo Sing Song, The Bearded Tit, Harpoon Harry and Slyfox alongside performance collective Gang Of She.

Based on the much-loved and hugely successful memoir and stage play of the same name, Holding The Man is one of the must-see Aussie films of recent times. Only the fourth cinematic outing by acclaimed director Neil Armfield (Candy, Twelfth Night), the film has garnered nearuniversal acclaim from critics, as well as a suite of AACTA Award nominations. It tells the funny, warm and extraordinarily moving story of the 15-year love affair between writer Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school. Their relationship blossomed and endured in the face of adversity and discrimination, until tragedy reared its head.

What: Blanc De Blanc Where: Studio, Sydney Opera House When: Until Sunday February 28

Holding The Man will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on Thursday January 14, and we’ve got five DVD copies to give away. Enter the draw at thebrag.com/freeshit.

Emma Maye Gibson photo by Chrissie Hall

W

EMMA MAYE GIBSON FROM BLANC DE BLANC

ARCADIA AT STC

The Pride

PRIDE BEFORE THE PLAYHOUSE

It’s only taken seven years, but The Pride is finally making its way Down Under. The Pride, a theatrical exploration of sexual liberation and identity by Alexi Kaye Campbell, has been announced as part of Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s 2016 season, and will tie into this year’s Mardi Gras. The play shifts back and forth between two distinct time periods – 1958 and the present day – and explores a diverse range of issues facing Oliver and Phillip, the loving couple at the heart of the piece. Devotees of romantic, politically minded theatre, this one’s for you. The Pride is on at Eternity Playhouse from Friday February 5 – Sunday March 6.

PEKKA KUUSISTO

Finland’s Pekka Kuusisto will lead the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective (formerly known as the ACO2) in a series of performances covering Beethoven, Sibelius and 21st century compositions. The collective’s new artistic director is a highly regarded maverick of contemporary classical music; engaging, personal and exquisitely talented. Alongside the classics, there’ll be compositions from 21st century innovators such as Björk, Philip Glass collaborator Nico Muhly and The National’s Bryce Dessner.

Kuusisto and the ACO Collective will perform at City Recital Hall Angel Place from Saturday February 13 – Friday February 19. You can also see them at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Sunday February 14.

Gen Fricker

GENERAL THINKING, MAJOR VENUE

The Streets of Barangaroo program will play host to a challenging reflection about identity and nationalism as part of its General Thinking summer debates. General Thinking on The Streets of Barangaroo, directed by Remo Giuffre (founder of General Thinking and director of TEDxSydney), brings together some of the country’s brightest thinkers, experts and clever minds to discuss a diverse menu of topics and issues in a series of TED-style talks, debates and panel discussions. The year’s first event, Australia, I Love You… But (You’re Breaking My Heart), will feature a lineup of four culturally diverse speakers including Amrita Hepi (descendant of the

Ryan Corr in Arcadia

Bundjulung people in northern New South Wales), Troy Wong (2014 NSW state poetry finalist), and hip hop artists L-Fresh The Lion and Nick Bryant-Smith (AKA MC Solo of Horrorshow).

Together they will explore what it means to people of varying cultural backgrounds to be in love with Australia, in a thought-provoking and potentially controversial evening. Challenge your thoughts on Thursday January 21 at Wulugul Pop Up.

MANLY ART GALLERY

Vince Vozzo’s Dreaming Of Galileo and Peter Dittmar’s An Outsider Between Two Cultures are both set to hit the Manly Art Gallery and Museum. Vozzo, a multi-disciplinary artist well known for his profoundly textural sculptures, will showcase a new work incorporating both a large drawing and a “provocative” frieze. By contrast, Dittmar’s art is deeply influenced by spirituality and his Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, so the combination of the two exhibitions will make a nice contrast. Dreaming Of Galileo and An Outsider Between Two Cultures run from Friday February 19 – Sunday March 27.

Tom Stoppard’s much lauded Arcadia is set to be performed as part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2016 season, and it’s the most exciting play about maths, architecture and literature you’re ever likely to see. Promise. This modern classic, a witty exploration of the way the past influences the present – and perhaps even vice versa – is as funny and moving as anything else Stoppard has written. The Sydney production will star television and film heartthrob Ryan Corr, and be directed by theatrical legend Richard Cottrell.

Arcadia plays from Monday February 8 – Saturday April 2 at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

PLACE TO FIND BEAUTY

Places To Find Beauty, the new exhibition from Samantha Hornitzky and Emily Boulton, is to take place at the Brand X gallery throughout January. Following in the great surrealist tradition of collage, the works combine a playful sense of chaos with striking, assured tonal contrasts. This art is unlike much else out there, so if you’re the kind of gallery-goer who likes your exhibitions to veer just on the other side of anarchy, then Places To Find Beauty shall prove beautiful indeed.

The show kicks off on Thursday January 14 and continues until Sunday January 31.

Allowing Yourself To Stop When You Need To Stop by Samantha Hornitzky

THE PANIC SERIES

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Arcadia photo by James Green

Comedyish: The Panic Series is so called because – according to the organisers – “nobody has properly finished any [of their material] and shit is getting scary”.

The live comedy loving Giant Dwarf is hosting this new series of shows, and it’s all shaping up to be a hoot.

Featuring a host of hilarious acts, including the likes of Matt Okine, Gen Fricker, Becky Lucas and Zoe Coombs Marr, The Panic Series will see comedians trot out the material they’re trying to get into shape before they hit the festival circuit. It’s sure to be messy, anarchic fun, with a promise the shows will be full of warts-and-all rawness. Score some laughs on Monday January 18 and Monday January 25.

thebrag.com

The Fantasticks [MUSICAL THEATRE] From The Golden Years To Now By Adam Norris

B

y putting on a show named The Fantasticks, you’ve already set the expectations rather high. Add to this the fact that the 1960 quasi-fantasy holds the record as the longest-running musical in history (42 years off Broadway – not to mention the countless revivals scattered about the globe), and you find yourself with significant shoes to fill. For Helen Dallimore, however, this was all part of the appeal: find something uniquely treasured, and develop fresh ways to enchant audiences all over again. The Helpmann Award-winning actress and director talks to us in the leadup to opening night.

But Wait…There's More photo by Rob Blackburn

“Rehearsing and directing a show is fairly relentless, especially in the early stage of creating it. Getting it up off the floor, making all of those decisions. Once a lot of it is set, it becomes more about sitting back and letting the actors work while I take notes. I look forward to that time coming,” Dallimore laughs.

“But this is also the fun part as well, as a director. Solving any problems, and on top of that I’m a single mum, so I’ve a four-yearold boy to contend with. When I directed High Society I made the tragic error of taking him along to a matinee that he just wasn’t up for, and about ten minutes in he started making so much noise I had to leave. I felt so terrible. My poor actors!”

Life and art is all about the learning curve, and while it’s safe to assume Dallimore won’t be bringing her son to another matinee anytime soon, her past experiences have been aligning almost perfectly to bring us to

The Fantasticks. Having featured as Glinda in the original West End production of Wicked, and Cinderella in Into The Woods, helming an allegorical musical that partly takes place within a fantasy world seems a logical next step. While Dallimore caught the performance bug early, she has learned over time that musical theatre can be a very particular game.

“I wanted to be an opera singer, until I realised I didn’t like a lot of opera. I only liked some of it, but there was going to be a lot of opera I was going to have to sing that I wouldn’t really enjoy. But then I became actively enamoured with Bill Collins’ Golden Years Of Hollywood. It was my dream to get double pneumonia and be stuck in bed for three weeks doing nothing but watch Bill Collins all day! That’s when I fell in love with musicals, I think. All those old movies. But I know a lot of wonderful actors who are creative and highly intelligent, and they say, ‘No, that’s not for me.’ I think you need to have that bug and that personality where you feel you can really stand up and stake a claim in the piece.

“Not long after drama school, I formed a theatre company with some mates, as you do, called Hair Of The Dog. The idea was to create opportunities for ourselves, and we were part of the movement that set up the Old Fitz back in the day. That’s when I got the directing bug. When you’re an actor you’re a cog in the wheel, and it’s a wonderful form of self-expression and release. But it’s very oneeyed, and you never get to see the complete picture. Once you direct, you kind of never look back.”

It is estimated that every year, 250 different productions of The Fantasticks are mounted worldwide. Many of these will of course be high school and amateur musical society versions, which tend to not veer drastically from the original Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones stylings (no, not that Tom Jones). But given the nature of the show, the scope for tackling such a well-loved creation with fresh and respectful hands is huge. It’s a task that has energised Dallimore and her crew, and the end result will be nothing short of… well, you get the idea.

“I saw so much potential for a directorial vision,” she says. “It wasn’t the sort of show where because it’s set in an almost magical world, you can do

almost anything. It was ripe for reimagining. That was the appeal for me, to turn this extraordinary score and wonderful fable into something no-one has ever seen done in the show before. There’s a Broadway version running at the moment, but to my knowledge it hasn’t been done outside of the usual parameters. It’s still performed more or less the same way from when it was first done in 1960.

“I think it’s a beautiful score, just a stunning composition. There’s also the fact that it’s designed for a small theatre, and I think people really love to see musical theatre in an intimate space. It makes for such a change from sitting up in the gods, to be up close and personal with the performers, to

see their expressions and the tears in their eyes as they sing.

It’s incredibly powerful. It’s also the kind of story that you know, but you don’t know. You see it and think, ‘Oh yes, this is about lost love, about regaining love,’ but it also comes from some long theatre traditions. It has commedia; all sorts of infl uences that are embedded in this work that I think everyone responds to on a really deep level. It’s really exciting, because people who know the show are going to get a huge surprise, and a happy one, I hope.”

What: The Fantasticks Where: Hayes Theatre Co. When: Until Sunday January 31

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

NATIONAL OPEN MIC COMEDY COMPETITION

SURVIVAL OF THE FUNNIEST TUESDAYS IN JANUARY & FEBRUARY 8pm • The Comedy Store, Moore Park • $15/$10 conc.

TICKETS FROM COMEDYSTORE.COM.AU AND AT THE DOOR

RAWCOMEDY.COM.AU

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

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Game On

Film Review Hits and misses on the silver screen around town

Gaming news with Adam Guetti

THE BEST OF 2015

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in Sisters

Narrowing down 2015’s finest was a long and arduous task, but here are some of the games we think you should have played in the last 12 months.

BEST XBOX ONE GAME Rise Of The Tomb Raider Crystal Dynamics’ 2013 Tomb Raider – a reboot of the classic franchise – was an exceptional experience.

Its sequel, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, is equally exceptional, if not more so. With Lara’s origin story complete, more attention has been paid to the explorer’s actual raiding of tombs, which thankfully makes the whole thing more fulfilling for long-time fans.

BEST PS4 GAME Bloodborne

■ Film

SISTERS In cinemas now For fans of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, the wait for a new film following their triumphant Golden Globes appearances has been a long one. Sisters sees the comedy duo team up with director Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) and former Saturday Night Live collaborator Paula Pell, who wrote the screenplay.

Subverting the roles they played in 2008’s Baby Mama, Fey and Poehler appear as the chalk-and-cheese Ellis sisters. Fey is the garish Kate, a reformed party animal and single mother living precariously from one pay cheque to the next, while Poehler is Maura, a dependable and reliable nurse and recent divorcee – the do-gooder and community-minded sister who often finds herself as the non-drinking “designated mum” on party nights.

Their anxiety is triggered when their parents – played wonderfully by James Brolin and Dianne Wiest – shock the pair by announcing they are selling the family home and downsizing to a retirement condo to enjoy a more affluent lifestyle. The sisters have just one week to claim their high school mementos before they go out with the garbage collection. Now on the cusp

of middle age, they vow to throw the ultimate house party; one that will put a satisfying exclamation point on their long-lost youth.

As ever, Fey and Poehler are wonderful playing off each other’s subtle nuances.

Their chemistry has clearly endured since their first meeting at an improv class in Chicago in the early ’90s. Part Animal House, part American Pie, Sisters does follow a well-worn path through insecurity, self-identity and the traumas of reunions – albeit with some charmingly clever detours.

Too often though, the film reverts to becoming formulaic and many of the characters feel underdeveloped – almost as if they’ve been lifted from Pell’s sketch-writing career, which is disappointing for a film starring two of Hollywood’s brightest comedic minds. Unfortunately, the script only sporadically allows Fey and Poehler to push the envelope – even Maya Rudolph is criminally underutilised as the snobbish Brinda.

While Sisters is a valiant effort that delivers some tremendous laughs in patches, you get the sense that what might have been needed was a screenplay written by its stars.

Tim Armitage

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Sydney Hills Outdoor Cinema Heritage Park, Castle Hill, Friday January 15 – Sunday February 14 Sydney sure loves an outdoor cinema.

And the harbour city’s newest, the Sydney Hills Outdoor Cinema, is back for a second gangbuster season. The 2016 program features 31 films across an array of genres, ripe for date night, a family sesh or an outing with mates. Highlights include SPECTRE, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and Hotel Transylvania 2. With MTV on board as the presenting partner, there will also be music from local acoustic acts and DJs each night. Keep an eye out for the special edition Gelato Messina choc tops and street-style bites, nibbles and nosh from the team at The Tuckshop. Here’s hoping the weather holds up.

Tickets start at $21.70 for adults and $17.60 for children. For more information, including the full 2016 program and VIP packages, head to sydneyhillsoutdoorcinema.com.au.

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Older gamers love to complain that current developers have begun hand-holding players by making their titles too easy.

Well, that certainly cannot be said for Bloodborne, created by the evil mastermind behind Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. Bloodborne will more than likely bring you to tears of frustration, but it’s always the good kind that makes you strive to get better and keep coming back for more.

BEST PC GAME The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Few games are as expansive, as polished and as downright enjoyable as CD Projekt Red’s finest effort yet. Wild Hunt’s narrative will keep urging you forward and your choices actually have lasting consequences on your adventure. That’s not to mention the fact that on PC it all looks absolutely jawdropping.

Rise Of The Tomb Raider

Bloodborne

BEST MOBILE TITLE Her Story If you own an iPhone or iPad, you owe it to yourself to download Sam Barlow’s Her Story. Acting as an interactive movie video game, you must work your way through a database of police video clips. The goal? To solve the mysterious case of a missing man. Watching the dynamic performance of real-life actress Viva Seifert justifies the purchase alone. Fans of Serial, this one’s for you.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Her Story

THE BIG GAMES OF 2016

Quantum Break

2016 is going to be a huge year in gaming, so here are a few early picks you should definitely be keeping an eye on.

Quantum Break is trying to do what no game has done before – break down the wall between video games and television.

One half of the Xbox One exclusive is a classic action game, the other a television show. The events of one are capable of influencing the other, so this is bound to be a fascinating experiment.

No Man’s Sky

The Division

There’s only one word for No Man’s Sky: ambitious. An open-world, randomly generated space exploration title, where you can make your own discoveries before the rest of the world.

Whether it all actually works remains to be seen, but you should be interested to find out!

Originally announced back in 2013, there’s a still a lot to learn about Ubisoft’s MMO-esque shooter. Despite a number of delays, though, soon you’ll be able to discover it all for yourself as you try to survive within The Division’s post-apocalyptic warzone.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Robotic dinosaurs.

That’s pretty much all you need to know about Horizon.

Alright… also the fact that it’s an open-world action/adventure game featuring futuristic cavemen and a spoonful of RPG mechanics. But let’s be honest, you’ll probably want it for the robot dinosaurs.

Nathan Drake is back for one (supposedly) final ride, so there’s certainly a lot of pressure for the adventurer’s swansong.

How exactly will Naughty Dog send off one of Sony’s biggest stars?

Nobody knows, but what we do know is that it looks downright stunning.

Review: Tales From The Borderlands: Season One (PS4, XBO, PC, PS3, 360)

F

or the longest time, most people paid little to almost no attention towards Telltale Games (the studio behind classic adventure games like Sam And Max), leaving its team of hard-working developers to quietly pump out titles of severely varying quality. Then one day they got their hands on the increasingly popular Walking Dead franchise, and everything changed.

Season one of Telltale’s The Walking Dead won countless Game of the Year awards, allowing the team to now handle gigantic properties like Batman, Marvel and Game Of Thrones. Ignore these heavy hitters, though, and you’ll discover that one of Telltale’s most enjoyable efforts in recent memory is also its most strange and unconventional.

Tales From The Borderlands takes the well-known shooter series Borderlands, then slaps on a number of classic Telltale design choices. You’ll take the role of Rhys, a Hyperion ‘suit’ who dreams of becoming the next Handsome Jack, and Fiona, a classic con artist looking for her next big score. Predictably, their paths intersect, leading them to be captured by a bandit and forced to regale their adventure in an attempt to avoid death.

A lot of Tales’ fun actually comes from its unreliable narrator. As Rhys and Fiona explain their sides of the story, both indulge in white lies, meaning neither can be entirely trusted. Playing through a series of events, only to get thrown back to the beginning and do it all again in a new light, makes for a unique and fresh dynamic for Telltale, and becomes one of the season’s most endearing qualities.

The other is the incredible humour littered throughout all five episodes, which constantly takes jabs at society and the Borderlands franchise the season draws much of its inspiration from.

It might not pack the emotional gut-punch like The Walking Dead, or focus on a constant threat of danger like Game Of Thrones, but Tales From The Borderlands is an absolute blast from start to finish.

Adam Guetti

thebrag.com

out & about Queer(ish) matters with Lucy Watson

I

f you’re a gay man in Sydney (or perhaps, like me, have the sensibilities of a gay man), and sometime around your third glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve when the topic of New Year’s resolutions inevitably came up, you thought, “Fuck, Mardi Gras is soon,” you’re not alone.

Every year, impossibly, it seems that first weekend in March is closer to Christmas than usual. Every year, you make the New Year’s resolution to shred for Mardi Gras, and possibly continue the trend beyond Mardi Gras, to keep that body year round.

Every year, you go to bed on New Year’s Eve thinking, “This will be my last drink for a while,” until you remember it’s summer in Sydney and there’s an amazing queer party every other weekend.

So how do you shred for Mardi Gras in the midst of the biggest events on the queer social calendar? And be realistic here, it’s not like you’re going to stay home because staying sober and resting is good for your workout schedule. Let’s be honest, working out and eating well just gets in the way of your socialising, beach-going, and general life time. So here are a few tips for bulking up ahead of Mardi Gras without the hassle of a gym commitment.

Skip the beers I don’t mean stop drinking. If you want to read a self-indulgent piece about how great it is giving up booze, go to literally any other column in any mainstream paper this summer (Peter FitzSimons had a particularly vomit-inducing take on it a few weeks ago in the SMH. Seriously, if you’re into masochism, you’ll love it).

No, what I mean is literally just avoid beer.

Replace it with spirits and soda water, or maybe just straight spirits. Lighter spirits are better, but G&Ts are still bad because tonic is oddly bad for you (having ‘water’ in the title is a trap!)

Go to more dance parties If your social calendar is so full you have a choice of more than one event on any given night, choose the one with more dancing. Dancing is a pretty epic workout, plus it’ll prepare you for the specific fitness you need for Mardi Gras. Bonus points if you can find a dance party where you can dance and walk simultaneously, as that’ll get your parade fitness well up to scratch.

Have more sex There’s plenty of visitors to Sydney this time of year – why not take this chance to meet them and greet them in a way that is both enjoyable and energetic? Obviously, aim for active sex – starfishing just doesn’t burn those calories.

Double fist And by this I obviously mean carry two drinks at once. This is a fantastic workout for your biceps, and involves less time standing around in the bar line. It’s a good idea to buy doubles in tall glasses, and only go to bars that’ll serve you in actual glass, because you’ll need a decent amount of weight in both hands for this workout to be extra effective.

Walk home from the club I’m aware this isn’t always the safest option, but if you’ve made a new ‘friend’ at the club, you can go together for safety in numbers. Walking home means you’ll not only save some money for a few extra drinks on Mardi Gras, but you’ll also get a good late-night workout, plus a better chance to stave off the next day’s hangover. This is important for my next tip…

Go to the beach (and tread water) Going to the beach is important for the other crucial part of Mardi Gras fashion: your tan. Tread some water while you’re in the ocean for that extra bit of incidental exercise. If you bring a cocktail, holding it above the water is also great upper body exercise.

Fuck beauty standards Of course, the final option is to do none of this. All the tanned men in glitter booty shorts in the parade all look the same, and those toned bodies look like they haven’t seen an ounce of fun in years. Wear whatever the hell you want on Mardi Gras, and don’t give a flying fuck about how much of your exposed body jiggles. You look fucking great anyway.

this week: We’re still in a little of that post-New Year’s slum (but start preparing your bodies for next weekend). This Saturday January 16 is the next instalment of Heaps Gay featuring Dunny Minogue, Cunningpants, Nelson De Sousa and others at the Oxford Hotel.

JAN

16

Meanwhile, this weekend also sees The Shift host a club night with a gaming twist: it’s Kirby’s Dreamland: 7 Colours, featuring twoplayer DJ excellence from Kirby and Johny Blue Boy. JAN

Mardi Gras photo by Ashley Mar

16

The new weekly event at the Imperial Hotel hosted by Stereogamous also continues this Saturday. It’s perfect for those Inner Westies too lazy to get to the Oxford for HG. JAN

16

thebrag.com

Nelson De Sousa

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 23

BARS BRAG

– Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight A Work In Progress 50 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri noon-2am Ash St Cellar 1 Ash St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri 8.30am-11pm The Attic 275 Pitt St, Sydney CBD (02) 9284 1200 Mon – Fri 11am-1am; Saturday 5pm-1am Assembly 488 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9283 8808 Mon – Tue 5-11pm; Wed

The Australian Heritage Hotel 100 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 2229 Mon – Sun 10.30am-midnight Balcony Bar 46 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3526 Mon 5pm - late; Tue – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight BAR100 100 George St, The Rocks (02) 8070 9311 Mon – Thu noon-late; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun noon-midnight

Bar Eleven Lvl 11, 161 Sussex St, Sydney CBD (02) 9290 4712 Thu 4-9pm; Fri – Sat 4-11pm The Barber Shop 89 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 9699 Mon – Wed, Sat 4pm-midnight; Thurs – Fri 3pm-midnight Basement 33 Basement, 27-33 Goulburn St, Sydney CBD (02) 8970 5813 Mon – Thu 5pm-late The Baxter Inn Basement 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD

DEAD RINGER

Mon – Sat 4pm-1am Bondy’s L1, 16 Philip Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9251 2347 Thu – Fri 5pm-late; Sat 5pm-late Bulletin Place First Floor, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thurs – Sat 4pm-1am deVine 32 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 6906 Mon – Fri 11.30am-11.30pm; Sat 5.30-11.30pm Frankie’s Pizza 50 Hunter St, Sydney CBD

Tell us about your bar: A brand new restaurant and bar in Surry Hills serving great Australian produce in a contemporary, rustic and relaxed spot on Bourke Street. It’s the second venue from the team behind Bulletin Place at Circular Quay, combining world-class cocktails with a short rotating menu of the best of local wines, beers and cider. We’ve teamed up with head chef Tristan Rosier (previously of est. and Farmhouse) to create a fl exible menu of bar snacks, sharing plates and sweet treats available till close every night.

The Glenmore 96 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 4794 Mon – Thu, Sun 11am-midnight; Fri – Sat 11am-1am Goodgod Small Club 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney CBD (02) 8084 0587 Wed 5pm-11pm; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri 5pm-3am; Sat 6pm-3am Grain Bar 199 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9250 3118 Mon – Sun noon-late Grandma’s Basement 275 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 3004 Mon – Fri 3pm-late; Sat

bar bar

OF

ADDRESS: 413 BOURKE ST, SURRY HILLS PHONE NUMBER: (02) 9331 3560 WEBSITE: DEADRINGER.WTF OPENING HOURS: MON – THU 5PM-MIDNIGHT; FRI – SAT NOON-MIDNIGHT; SUN NOON-10PM

Gilt Lounge 49 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 0000 Wed 6pm-midnight; Thu & Sat 6pm-2am; Fri 5pm-2am

TH

EK

B R A G ’ S G U I D E T O S Y D N E Y ’ S B E S T WAT E R I N G H O L E S

Mon – Fri noon-3am; Sat – Sun 4pm-3am

E E W

The Fox Hole 68A Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 4369 Mon 7am-3pm; Tue – Fri 7am-evening The Grasshopper 1 Temperance Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9947 9025 Mon – Thurs & Sat 4pm-late; Fri noon-late Harpoon Harry 40-44 Wentworth Ave, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 8800 Mon – Sun 11:30am-3am The Lobo Plantation Basement Lot 1, 209 Clarence St, Sydney CBD 0415 554 908 Mon – Thu, Sat 4pm-midnight; Fri 2pm-midnight The Loft UTS 15 Broadway, Sydney (behind 2SER) (02) 9514 2345 Mon – Wed 2pm-10pm; Thurs – Fri 2pm-late Mojo Record Bar Basement 73 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4999 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu, Sat 4pm-1am; Fri 3pm-1am The Morrison 225 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9247 6744 Mon – Wed 11.30am-midnight; Thu 11.30am-1am; Fri – Sat 11.30am-2am; Sun 11.30am-10pm 11.30am-10pm The Palisade 35 Bettington St, Millers Point 0421 001 474 Tue – Fri noon-2.30pm & 6pm-9.30pm; Sat 6pm-9.30pm Mr Tipply’s 347 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 4877 Mon – Sat 10am-late

What’s on the menu?

Grown-up bar snacks. A signature dish is creamed almonds blended with verjuice and sesame, served with char grilled toast. There’s also a new interpretation of a classic beef tartare with aioli, pickles of daikon and eggplant and potato ‘paper’. Larger sharing dishes include braised fennel with spinach, labneh and kale chips in a preserved lemon vinaigrette, followed by our signature brined and roasted chicken with cavolo nero and a rich chicken sauce.

Care for a drink?

Try the Blushing Spritz, a delicious light summer spritz of a grapefruit oil syrup, verjuice (unripe grape juice) and Kina (a Swiss quinine bitter liqueur), fi nished with sparkling wine.

Sounds: All killer, no fi ller. Eclectic, changeable!

The bill comes to: A Blushing Spritz is $16, Pineapple Fizz $15, beef tartare $15 and braised fennel $23.

Palmer & Co. Abercrombie Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Wed 5pm-late; Thu – Fri 3pm-late; Sat – Sun 5pm-late Papa Gede’s Bar Laneway at the end of 348 Kent St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 5pm-12am Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern Basement, 60 Park St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 6pm-10pm Rockpool Bar & Grill 66 Hunter St, Sydney CBD (02) 8078 1900 Mon – Sat lunch & dinner The Rook Level 7, 56-58 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 2505 Mon, Sat 4pm-midnight; Tue – Fri noon-midnight The SG 32 York St, Sydney CBD 0402 813 035 Tues – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Shirt Bar 7 Sussex Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 8068 8222 Mon –Wed 8am-8pm; Thu – Fri 8am-10pm Since I Left You 338 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4986 Mon – Wed 5pm-10pm;

Thu – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Small Bar 48 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0782 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Smoking Panda 5-7 Park St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 4618 Wed – Sat 4pm-late Stitch Bar 61 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0380 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-2am; Sat 4pm-2am The Swinging Cat 44 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 3696 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Tapa Vino 6 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay (02) 9247 3221 Mon – Fri noon-11.30pm Uncle Ming’s 55 York St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight York Lane 56 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 1676 Mon – Wed 6.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 6.30pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight

121BC 4/50 Holt St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 1582 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight Absinthe Salon 87 Albion St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 6632 Wed – Sat 4-10pm Arcadia Liquors 7 Cope St, Redfern (02) 8068 4470 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Bar Cleveland Cnr Bourke & Cleveland St, Redfern (02) 9698 1908 Mon – Thu 10am-2am; Fri – Sat 10am-4am Bar H 80 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 1980 Mon – Sat 6pm-late; Sun 11am-3pm Bellini Lounge 2 Kellett St, Potts Point 0432 241 556 Thu – Sun 6pm-late The Beresford 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 8313 5000 Mon – Sun noon-1am Black Penny 648 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9319 5061 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Button Bar 65 Foveaux St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1544 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Café Lounge 277 Goulburn St, Surry Hills (02) 9016 3951 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sunday 4-10pm Casoni Italian Bar & Eatery 371-373 Bourke St, Darlinghurst Tue – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm Central Hotel

42-50 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3814 Mon – Sat 10am-2am; Sun 10am-10pm Ching-a-Lings 1/133 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 3333 Tue – Wed 6pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 5pm-10pm The Cliff Dive 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst Wed – Sat 6pm-4am The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 1487 Tue – Wed 6pm-late; Thu – Fri 12pm-late; Sat – Sun 6pm-late The Darlie Laundromatic 304 Palmer St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sat 5pm-11pm Darlo Bar 306 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 3672 Mon – Sun 10am-midnight Darlo Country Club Level 1, 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst 0449 998 005 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-2am Dead Ringer 413 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3560 Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Della Hyde 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 5pm-3am Eau De Vie 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst 0422 263 226 Mon – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 6pm-midnight The Forresters 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noon1am; Sun noon-10pm Gardel’s Bar 358 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 8399 1440 Tue – Sat 6pm-midnight Gazebo 2 Elizabeth Bay Rd, Elizabeth Bay (02) 9357 5333 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat – Sun noon-midnight Golden Age Cinema & Bar 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1556 Mon - Sun 11am-9pm Goros 84-86 Mary St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 0214 Mon – Wed 11:30am-midnight; Thu 11:30am-1am: Fri 11:30am-3am; Sat 4pm-3am The Hazy Rose 1/83 Stanley St, Darlinghurst (02) 9357 5036 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Hello Sailor 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9332 2442 Tue – Sun 5pm-3am Hinky Dinks 185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6379 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 1-10pm

thebrag.com

Dead Ringer photos by Nikki To

Highlights: We really wanted to create a venue that we would go to all the time ourselves – a type of venue that we felt was missing in Sydney; a ‘come as you are’ vibe that serves grown-up food with top cocktails and interesting, local and changing beer and wines. We hired staff that know what they’re talking about without sounding preachy and fi lled the venue with natural wood-fi nished and fresh fl owers, ferns and succulents.

24 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

5pm-late

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK Pour it in your mouth-hole... (responsibly).

Surly’s 182 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3705 Tue – Sun noon-midnight Sweethearts Rooftop 33/37 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point (02) 8070 2424 Mon – Thu 2pm-11.30pm; Fri – Sun noon-11.30pm This Must Be The Place 239 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 8063 Mon – Sun 3pm-midnight The Tilbury Hotel 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Fri 9am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm Tio’s Cerveceria 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Fri 9am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm

Mon – Fri 5pm-11pm; Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon10pm The Phoenix Hotel 1 Moncur street Woollahra (02) 9363 2608 Wed – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri – Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon-10pm

ALL SPICE DAISY All Spice Daisy photo by Jason Loucas

@ HOTEL PALISADE, 35 BETTINGTON ST, MILLERS POINT Ingredients: • 30ml Plymouth Sloe Gin • 25ml Pimento Dram • 45ml Shiraz • 15ml Grand Marnier • 30ml fresh lemon juice • Two dashes of Angostura bitters Method: All ingredients into a three-piece shaker.

Shake then double strain.

Garnish: Three edible flowers

Hollywood Hotel 2 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9281 2765 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu – Sat 10am-3am

Glass: Coupette Origins: We wanted to create a drink that may seem wintry but tastes fruity, fresh and feels like summer.

Best drunk with: Another All Spice Daisy.

During: Morning, noon or night.

While wearing: Your birthday suit.

And listening to: Justin Bieber.

Low 302 302 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1548 Mon – Sun 6pm-2am

Hustle & Flow Bar 105 Regent St, Redfern (02) 9310 5593 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight

Mr Fox 557 Crown St, Surry Hills 0410 470 250 Tue – Wed 5pm-late; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm

Li’l Darlin Darlinghurst 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 Mon – Sun 4pm-late

The Norfolk 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 3177 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

Li’l Darlin Surry Hills 420 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills (02) 9698 5488 Mon – Fri noon-late; Sat 4pm-late

Old Growler 218 William St, Woolloomooloo 0422 911 650 Tue – Sat 5pm - midnight

LL Wine and Dine 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point (02) 9356 8393 Mon – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat noon-late; Sun 11am-10pm The Local Taphouse 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 0088 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-11pm Love, Tilly Devine 91 Crown Ln, Darlinghurst (02) 9326 9297 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm

thebrag.com

The Passage 231A Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 6116 Mon – Sat 5pm-late Peekaboo 120 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo 0403 747 788 Mon – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm – 12am Play Bar 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 0885 Tues – Sat 5pm-midnight Pocket Bar 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 7002 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am; Sun 4pm-midnight

The Powder Keg 7 Kellett St, Potts Point (02) 8354 0980 Wed 5pm-1am; Thu 5pm-2am; Fri – Sat 4pm-2.30am; Sun 1pm-midnight The Print Room 11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington 0424 034 020 Wed – Fri 3pm-late; Sat 12pm-11pm, Sun 12pm-10pm Queenie’s Upstairs 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Tue – Sat 6pm-late & Fri noon-3pm Roosevelt 32 Orwell St, Potts Point 0423 203 119 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Rosie Campbell’s 320 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 8356 9120 Mon 5pm-midnight: Tue – Sun 4pm-midnight Shady Pines Saloon Shop 4, 256 Crown St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Soda Factory 16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills (02) 8096 9120 Mon – Fri 5pm-3am; Sat – Sun 6pm-3am

The White Horse Hotel 381-385 Crown Street, Surry Hills 1300 976 683 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 2235 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Winery 285A Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 0833 Mon – Sun noon-midnight

Anchor Bar 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi (02) 8084 3145 Tue – Fri 4.30pm-late; Sat – Sun 12.30pm-late Bat Country.

32 St Pauls St in Randwick (@ The Spot) (02) 9398 6694 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Beach Road Hotel 71 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach (02) 9130 7247 Mon – Sat noon-1am; Sun 11am-10pm Bondi Hardware 39 Hall St, Bondi (02) 9365 7176 Mon – Wed 5pm-late; Fri noon-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-10pm

Freda’s 109 Regent St, Chippendale (02) 8971 7336 Tues – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm

Speakeasy 83 Curlewis St, Bondi (02) 9130 2020 Mon – Sat 5pm-11pm; Sat – Sun 4pm-10pm

The Gasoline Pony 115 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville 0401 002 333 Tue – Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri – Sat 3-11.30pm; Sun 3-9.30pm

Spring Street Social (and Jam Gallery) Underground 195 Oxford St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tues – Sat 4pm-3am Stuffed Beaver 271 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 3002 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

The Angry Pirate 125 Redfern St Redfern (02) 9698 9140 Tue – Thur 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-midnight Bar-racuda 105 Enmore Rd, Newtown (02) 9519 1121 Mon – Sat 6pm-midnight Bauhaus West 163 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8068 9917 Wed – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 11am-midnight The Bearded Tit 183 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8283 4082 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon - midnight; Sun noon - 10pm Blacksheep 256 King St, Newtown (02) 8033 3455 Mon – Fri 4pm-11pm; Sat 2pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-10pm Bloodwood 416 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 7699 Tue – Wed 6pm-late; Thu – Sun 5pm-late Calaveras 324 King St, Newtown 0451 541 712 Wed – Sat 6pm-midnight The Chip Off The Old Block 3 Little Queen Street, Chippendale (02) 9318 0815 Tue – Sat 4pm-11pm Cornerstone Bar & Food 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh (02) 8571 9004 Sun – Wed 10am-5pm; Thu – Sat 10am-late

The Bucket List Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive (02) 9365 4122 Mon – Tue 11am-5pm; Wed – Sun 11am-late

Corridor 153A King St, Newtown 0405 671 002 Tue – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 1pm-10pm

The Corner House 281 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 8020 6698 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm

Cottage Bar & Kitchen 342 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8084 8185 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon10pm

Fat Ruperts 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 1033 Tue – Fri 6pm-late; Sat – Sun 2pm-late Mr Moustache 75-79 Hall St, Bondi Beach (02) 9300 8892

Earl’s Juke Joint 407 King St, Newtown Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm

The Robin Hood Hotel 203 Bronte Rd, Waverley (02) 9389 3477 Mon - Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-10pm

Vasco 421 Cleveland St, Redfern 0406 775 436 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight The Village Inn 9-11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Mon – Sun 12pm-late

Tea House 530 King St, Newtown Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 5.30pm-midnight

The Hideaway Bar 156 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8021 8451 Tue– Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon-10pm Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville (02) 9519 9911 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 11am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm Kelly’s On King 285 King St, Newtown (02) 9565 2288 Mon – Fri 10am-2.30am; Sat 10am-3.30am; Sun 11am-11.30pm Knox Street Bar Cnr Knox & Shepherd St, Chippendale (02) 8970 6443 Tue – Thu 4-10pm, Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight Kuleto’s 157 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 6369 Mon – Sat 4pm-late; Thu – Sat 4pm-3am The Little Guy 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8084 0758 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm Mary’s 6 Mary St, Newtown (02) 4995 9550 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Midnight Special 44 Enmore Road, Newtown (02) 9516 2345 Tues – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm Miss Peaches 201 Missenden Rd, Newtown (02) 9557 7280 Wed – Sun 5pm-midnight The Moose Newtown 530 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 0072 Wed – Sat 6pm-midnight Mr Falcon’s 92 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9029 6626 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun 2pm-10pm Newtown Social Club 387 King St, Newtown (02) 9550 3974 Mon 9am-6pm; Tues – Fri 9am-8pm; Sat 10am-8pm

Different Drummer 185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9552 3406 Mon – Sat 4.30pm-late

The Oxford Tavern 1 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 Mon – Thu noon-10pm; Fri – Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon-9pm

Doris & Beryl’s Bridge Club and

Lord Raglan 12 Henderson Rd,

Alexandria (02) 9699 4767 Mon – Sat noon-late; Sun noon-10pm Raven’s Eye 127 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 6429 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 11.30am-midnight; Sun 11:30am-10pm The Record Crate 34 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9660 1075 Tue – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Royal 156 Norton St, Leichhardt (02) 9569 2638 Mon – Thu 10am-1am; Fri – Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-midnight Secret Garden Bar 134a Enmore Rd, Enmore 0403 621 585 Mon – Sun 1am-11pm Soho In Balmain 358 Darling St, Balmain 0407 525 208 Tue – Sun 5pm-midnight Temperance Society 122 Smith St, Summer Hill (02) 8068 5680 Mon – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri – Sat: noon-midnight; Sun: noon-10pm Thievery 91 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8283 1329 Tue – Thu 6pm-11pm; Fri 6pm-midnight.

Sat 11pm-3pm & 6pm-midnight Timbah 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9571 7005 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri noon-11pm; Sat 3pm-11pm; Sun 4pm-8pm Wilhelmina’s Liquid and Larder 332 Darling St Balmain (02) 8068 8762 Tues – Fri 5pm - late; Sat – Sun 8am - late The Workers Lvl 1, 292 Darling St, Balmain (02) 9555 8410 Thu – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 2pm-late ZanziBar 323 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 1511 Mon – Sat 10am-4am; Sun 10am-12am Zigi’s Wine And Cheese Bar 86 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (02) 9699 4222 Tue 4pm-10pm; Wed – Sat 2pm-late

Alberts Bar 100 Mount St, North Sydney (02) 9955 9097 Mon – Wed 11.30am-10pm; Thu 11.30am-11pm; Fri 11.30am-midnight Firefly 24 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 0193 Mon – Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri 4-11.30pm; Sat noon11pm; Sun noon-10pm The Foxtrot 28 Falcon St, Crows Nest Tue – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri – Sat 5pm-2am; Sun 4pm-10pm The Hayberry Bar & Diner 97 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest (02) 8084 0816 Tue – Thu 4pm-12am; Fri & Sat noon-midnight Sun noon-10pm

Your bar’s not here?

Email: chris@ thebrag.com

Hemingway’s 48 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9976 3030 Mon – Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 8am-10pm Honey Rider 230 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 8880 Tue – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm InSitu 1/18 Sydney Rd, Manly (02) 9977 0669 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-10pm The Hunter 5 Myahgah Rd, Mosman 0409 100 339 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm Jah Bar Shop 7, 9-15 Central Ave, Manly (02) 9977 4449 Mon – Fri 4pm-late; Sat 9am-late; Sun 9am-10pm The Local Bar 6/8 Young Ln, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 0027 Tue – Fri 11.30am-midnight; Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Los Vida 419 Pacific Hwy, Crows Nest (02) 9439 8323 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Sat 11.30am-midnight; Sun 11.30am-10pm Manly Wine 8-13 South Steyne, Manly (02) 8966 9000 Mon – Sun 6.30am-late The Mayor 400 Military Rd, Cremorne (02) 8969 6060 Tue – Wed 5pm-late; Thu – Sat noon-late; Sun noon-10pm Miami Cuba 47 North Steyne, Manly (02 99775186 Tue – Thu 8am-10pm; Fri – Sat 8am-1am; Sunday 8am-4pm Moonshine Lvl 2, Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly (02) 9977 4977 Thu 5pm-2am; Fri 1pm-2am; Sat noon-2am; Sun noon-midnight The Pickled Possum 254 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 2091 Thu – Sat 9pm-1am SoCal 1 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9904 5691 Mon – Tue 4pm-late: Wed – Thu noon-1am; Fri – Sat noon- 2am; Sun noon-midnight The Stoned Crow 39 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest (02) 9439 5477 Mon – Sun noon-late The Treehouse Hotel 60 Miller St, North Sydney (02) 8458 8980 Mon – Fri 7am-late; Sat 2pm-late Wilcox Cammeray 463 Miller St, Cammeray (02) 9460 0807 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 2pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-10pm BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 25

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK DAVID BOWIE Blackstar Columbia/Sony

An icon says goodbye with a fittingly comprehensive and exquisite record.

LIME CORDIALE

Blackstar is the second burst of creativity since David Bowie’s recording hiatus ended three years ago, and sadly marks his final opus.

It also happens to be one of the most nuanced, experimental and concise records from any point in Bowie’s career. With the help of Tony Visconti and the Donny McCaslin Quartet, it stretches out into a jazzy world with intoxicating results.

Creating an all-encompassing world of music, it’s mystifying from the start, with prayer-like vocals and wordless harmonies dancing over erratic drums, saxophone stutters and eerie strolls into the blues – and that’s just the title track. Pulling away from his previous guitar-driven albums, Bowie leans towards the rhythmic partnership of drums and bass as the bedrock to allow ample space for saxophone and keys.

Lyrically, the album treads between nonsensical and intensely relatable, using Bowie’s ability to stretch one’s imagination with lines like “She punched me like a dude,” and “I’m so

high it makes my brain whirl / Drop my cell phone down below”. Album closer ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ displays Bowie’s voice in raw form, with lyrics that now hold even greater import as the iconic artist’s farewell.

Blackstar shows Bowie had lost none of his experimental edge, still challenging traditional form and structure, all resulting in a spellbinding album to truly complement the imagination. His last was one of his best, and an exemplary way to celebrate his outstanding contribution to art.

Iain McKelvey

DAUGHTER

CHARLES MURDOCH

BASEMENT

SWIMWEAR

Not To Disappear 4AD/Remote Control

Point Future Classic

Promise Everything Run For Cover

Low Summer Independent/Bandcamp

Shot through as it is with an especially youthful kind of swagger, Lime Cordiale’s Road To Paradise feels ready-made to score secret adolescent cigarette breaks behind the bike sheds.

Not To Disappear is the second release from British brooders Daughter, and if their 2013 debut unhemmed your heart with its wistful, haunting melodies, you’ll be a goner for this new ten-track effort.

Basment’s first full-length release since an indefinite hiatus in 2012, Promise Everything is a solid return; it’s just a little pedestrian.

At its best, the EP is as entertaining as indie-pop of this variety comes; it’s a jangly collection of bombastic choruses, juicy solos and anthemic lyrics. A song like ‘Hanging Upside Down’ perfectly demonstrates the young band’s ability to combine hedonistic pleasures with a palatable kind of rebellion. It’s poppunk with the anarchy dialled down and the energy ratcheted right up, and though it’s so safe that it would make only the most conservative of parents concerned, tracks like ‘Good From Far’ have a pleasing flippancy about them.

Opener ‘New Ways’ conjures an apocalyptic landscape with a sparse beat, ambient haze and wailing lo-fi guitars. It’s a fitting welcome to an album oozing with eerie, expansive sounds and big-picture musings on loss, love and loneliness.

The depth and breadth of electronica expands exponentially with every passing year, and into this sea of new music swims Charles Murdoch with his first full album, Point. It’s a confident debut, born from the industry cred Murdoch snagged after remixing Flume’s ‘Sleepless’ and the excellent musicians he’s convinced to feature for him. Vocal contributions from Ta-Ku, Kucka and the peerless Oscar Key Sung make real impact within the ultrachilled environs of Murdoch’s grooves.

Following up his 2012 debut The Kissing Machine, Swimwear (the solo project for Dappled Cities’ Tim Derricourt) has kept the good vibes flowing with the late-night bliss of Low Summer. Acting as the antidote to a wet summer, it’s driven by synths, infectious rhythms and pop hooks.

‘A Animal’ offers warming synths and layered beats, using the repetition of “Don’t you know you’re a animal” to lull you into hazy disco bliss.

But it’s far from perfect. There is a vaguely overproduced quality to the EP; both ‘Feel Alright’ and ‘Other Ties’ feel neutered and toothless, and at times it seems as though the band has polished its own message out of existence. Though ‘Not That Easy’ is fun while it lasts, its pleasures are of a distinctly vapid variety.

Nothing, however, packs the emotional punch of ‘Doing The Right Thing’, where Tonra’s fragile vocals and portrait of a woman with dementia is nothing short of gutwrenching: “I have lost my children / I have lost my love / I just sit in silence”.

Road To Paradise Chugg

Following on from Colourmeinkindness, Promise Everything contains all the ingredients that make a Basement album a cult success: concise song structures, memorable melodies and rhythms that funnel each instrument into an unavoidable punk rock bop.

There is no doubt this is the band’s most mature studio sound to date.

The production screams ‘radiofriendly’ – moving away from the grit and angst of Colourmeinkindness and the subsequent EP Further Sky, Promise Everything instead opts for a more clean-cut sound. But big chords and vanilla song structures can only go so far, and too often tracks drift into the middle of the road.

Road To Paradise is a particularly pedestrian pleasure then; junk food for the ear that won’t entirely satisfy, but certainly won’t offend or annoy either.

The swelling drama and despondence of Not To Disappear will prove overbearing for some, but if you allow yourself to drift with the spacey guitars, synths and vocals, it’s an oddly nourishing wallow sesh.

With the exception of ‘Back To It’, however, the rest of the album has little new to offer. The last three tracks in particular, while enjoyable, fail to be instantly memorable.

While Promise Everything meets the grade with its solid collection of songs and standout production, it spends a lot of time in generic radio rock land. With the band’s edge capped and safeguarded, the record stands as a solid rock album; no more, no less.

Concocted in a variety of environments ranging from bedrooms in New York and Sydney to beaches in Costa Rica and Mexico, the album oozes wanderlust. ‘Cannonball’ opens with staccato guitar and beats as each new sound is placed on top, building into a woozy track that would suit both a deserted beach and late-night dancehall. ‘Lost’ pairs Derricourt’s hypnotic vocal melodies with a tribal-influenced jam, while ‘Hold On’ is all about clean disco guitars, pulsating synths and reverb-laden vocals that dabble in sugary falsetto. Far from shallow disco-influenced jams, each track is layered with complex and different instrumentation, and the tight production allows for each distinct instrument to be heard.

As background music for any chilled summer catch-up, Point excels, but there’s also plenty of room for Murdoch to grow into something new and exciting.

If you find yourself housebound with a comedown to rival Pete Doherty’s typical Wednesday morning, then Promise Everything might be the soundtrack for you.

With the follow-up High Summer due for release early this year, Low Summer is the first chapter of Swimwear’s ode to joyous disco, summer and slow jams.

Joseph Earp

Jennifer Hoddinett

David Molloy

Aaron Streatfeild

Iain McKelvey

The single ‘Numbers’ surges with energy as Elena Tonra’s ghostly vocals drift over tribal drums. ‘Alone / With You’ pulses with synths and biting lyrics, while ‘No Care’ offers reprieve from all the pensiveness, pairing a rollicking snare rhythm with spitfire, monotone vocals.

It’s the opener and the singles that really stand out. ‘Nothing For You’ establishes the headspace of the album – a kind of energised dream world, with no deep dark secrets hiding in the shadows. ‘Frogs’ introduces more of a relaxed club vibe that gives way to the 8-bit colours and Sunday afternoon beats of ‘Straws’.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK Just three years ago, Savages busted down the doors with their debut record Silence Yourself, its relentless momentum loudly announcing the arrival of post-punk’s new saviours.

Their follow-up sees them diversify their influences and punch their way through all opposition, without necessarily expanding on their sound.

SAVAGES Adore Life Matador/Remote Control

If you haven’t heard ‘The Answer’ yet, drop everything and put it on. Gemma Thompson’s unhinged, unstoppable riffage and Jehnny Beth’s insistent cry of “If you don’t love me / Don’t love anybody” make for one of the best album openers of recent memory, a thrashy reminder of everything we’ve missed in the preceding years.

Ayse Hassan on bass is perhaps the real hero of Savages, an ever-present

26 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

and groove-defining force in their sonic assault. The production perfectly captures the vibrancy and aggression of her playing; you can practically hear the pick thudding against the strings in ‘Evil’ and ‘T.I.W.Y.G.’. Frontwoman Beth continues to astonish by communicating rage, loss, love, hope, power and contempt without ever resorting to overt aggression. Despite the absence of hardcore screaming, she can have you raising your fist in defiant solidarity or cowering in selfreflective shame.

Savages have managed to parallel the brilliance of their first album, if not outperform it, and there is plenty to adore in this roaring new set.

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

THE BEACH BOYS - Pet Sounds KENDRICK LAMAR - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City FLOWERTRUCK - Dirt

ANNA CALVI - One Breath DAVID BOWIE - Heroes

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live reviews

What we've been out to see...

THE WOMBATS, LAST DINOSAURS

galdstone

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Hordern Pavilion Sunday January 3

FOALS

to coax some unconvinced arms into the air, a morning coffee song for an evening gig.

The best art is the art least contrived, released unhindered from the pit of personality and individual experience.

Foals are one example of that, shapeshifting between alternative, indie, math, post-rock and even bits of funk and electronica like a synesthesiac skips between sounds and colour. Live, none of the members stand out from another, twirling together into a tight, team performance that middle managers everywhere strive to attain. This team dynamic is reflected in the same five fellas having stayed together for all of their four albums.

Even emotional nukes like ‘Providence’ and ‘Spanish Sahara’ felt somewhat subdued due to sound problems, and the gig looked set to be appreciable, but not lovable. Then, out of nowhere, the gig and Foals found the jade monkey in ‘Inhaler’. The amps found their voice, the lighting became irrepressible, and frontman Yannis Philippakis mirrored the new-found energy in a crowd-surf.

Coming out to ‘Snake Oil’ – a middleorder song from their latest album – Foals proved happy to play the songs they like, eschewing an opening blast to roll along with some of their older and/ or slower output. In between, they threw in a banger or two; ‘My Number’, their Godzilla-sized hit from 2013, managed

That was that, though; ‘Inhaler’ was the ‘last song’ before the twin encore, ‘What Went Down’ and ‘Two Steps, Twice’.

‘Inhaler’ had ignited the crowd, and it’s a pity it came so late. Despite the dreary conditions outside and the poor sonic climate inside, all in all Foals delivered a performance delicately excelling in raw energy and calculated work ethic, proving that thumping rock isn’t dead yet.

Nick Hartman

the maccabees

Matthew ‘Murph’ Murphy wished the receptive crowd a Happy New Year.

After that it was on for young and old as the polished three-piece pumped out after hit. 2011’s This Modern Glitch Last Dinosaurs werePizza the perfect 20:12:15 :: Frankie’s :: 50 Hunter St hit Sydney singles ‘Jump Into The Fog’, ‘Tokyo opening act for The Wombats’ final (Vampires & Wolves)’ and ‘1996’ were a headline show of their Glitterbug Tour. blast from the past, while the impressive The Brisbane indie-pop foursome filled light show and cityscape backdrop kept the packed-to-capacity dancefloor with all eyes glued to the stage. their sunshine-infused beats, infectious energy and humorous banter.

The 2008 charity single ‘Is This Christmas?’ pondered the reason for The openers’ light-hearted approach the season and caused a spike in sales to what could have been a daunting at the merch stand, with The Wombats’ day at the office for a young band was Christmas jumper completely selling out. embraced by a crowd of all ages, from But the fun didn’t stop there, as the show coloured-haired co-eds to 20-somethings rolled on with ‘Be Your Shadow’, ‘Kill The and middle-aged rockers. A particular Director’ and ‘Emoticons’, culminating in high point was lead vocalist Sean a solo acoustic performance of ‘Isabel’ Caskey’s self-deprecating attitude when

by Murph. remarking this was the first support gig they’d played without the audience The volume was then cranked to 11 mistaking them for the Jonas Brothers. with the dancefloor anthem ‘Techno Fan’ before The Wombats dived head-first By the time everyone’s secondinto their debut smash, ‘Let’s Dance favourite Liverpudlian band The To Joy Division’. Once the Christmas Wombats took to the stage, the sweaters were soaked through, the night Hordern Pavilion dancefloor felt more ended with an impromptu jam dedicated like a trendy nightclub than a generic to another great Brit in the late Lemmy event space. The honorary Australians Kilmister. (they’ve visited our shores three times in less than 12 months) launched Natalie Rogers straight into Glitterbug’s second single ‘Give Me A Try’ before frontman

PICS :: AM

Hordern Pavilion Tuesday January 5

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PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

04:01:16 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

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live reviews

06:01:16 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

LEON BRIDGES, AINSLIE WILLS

while ‘Smooth Sailin’’ helped you feel (almost) as suave as Bridges, but the overall emotion of the performance was almost always uplifting.

When’s the last time you saw someone perform in a suit at the Metro Theatre?

Texas’ nostalgic soul gem Leon Bridges effortlessly transformed the usually grungy space into a jiving ’60s jazz club with his smooth tunes and even smoother dance moves. Though 2016 has just begun, this sold-out show was one the lucky gig-goers who snagged a ticket won’t forget in a hurry.

There was a strong theme of romance throughout the night, reflecting the longing tunes of Bridges’ shining debut album Coming Home. He summed up his enthusiasm for unconditional love in ‘Better Man’, and even asked everyone to give the person next to them a hug.

Metro Theatre Saturday January 3

Ainslie Wills warmed up the stage and produced a confident sound. She had a great set-up with her band, helping give her a strong presence that meant her solid vocals and catchy tunes got the attention they deserved.

The crowd waited with bated breath as Leon Bridges and his band burst onstage with the bouncy tune ‘Flowers’.

It was an audience filled with passionate fans, lapping up his cool style and instantly singing his lyrics back at him.

The nature of Bridges’ genre meant the atmosphere and dance moves of the crowd could change from fun to cheeky to sensual in a heartbeat. Songs like ‘Brown Skin Girl’ made you feel coy,

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The highlight of the show, though, was an intimate performance of ‘River’. Bridges cradled his guitar and strummed so gently that the party atmosphere turned quiet and the warmth of his vocals trembled across the room as everyone swayed silently to the sweet duet.

By contrast, his final encore ‘Mississippi Kisses’ went out with an absolute bang as fellow blues star Gary Clark Jr. joined the band on guitar for some solos.

“Go tell all your friends to come for when we come back to Australia!” said Bridges at the end of the show. But with the ecstatic cheering and applause from a venue practically overflowing with people, he probably won’t need to issue any reminders.

Erin Rooney

bloc party

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08:01:16 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

07:01:16 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

GARY CLARK JR. Sydney Opera House Monday January 4

“You’re gonna know my name by the end of the night,” sings Gary Clark Jr. on his now-customary set opener, ‘Bright Lights’. Truth be told, the introduction isn’t required. Five years ago, he was just another obscure blues musician noodling away to pay the bills; now he’s headlining the famous Sydney Opera House, and he’s clearly thrilled to be here.

The lanky Texan guitar master is a smooth operator to boot, and fast becoming a regular on the Australian touring circuit. He doesn’t quite have the devil in him like so many in the blues lineage before him – you wouldn’t come across the oh-so-suave Clark on a murky Mississippi crossroads at midnight – but he makes up for it by traversing styles from traditional rock’n’roll (‘Ain’t Messin ’Round’) to soul (‘The Life’) and all in between.

Joined by a slick backing band, Clark and his signature Epiphone six-string inspire an evangelical following from his fans. Undaunted by the high-brow surrounds of the Concert Hall, individual crowd members take to yelping, applauding and riffing on air guitars at

random intervals throughout the show.

To be sure, it’s a performance based on impulse – almost every song has two or more sprawling solos – and all that improvisation means there are occasional fl at moments in the set. But the Gary Clark Jr. experience is more about witnessing an artist in process, and more often than not, it’s astounding.

Special mention goes to the rhythm section of drummer Johnny Radelat and bassist Johnny Bradley, who lay down the canvas on which Clark paints his masterpieces. Guitarist King Zapata is an idiosyncratic sideman, dressed in a Pharrell hat and dark sunglasses. Near the end of the night, there’s a special appearance from the golden vocals of Leon Bridges (though the chosen song doesn’t give him much time to shine) and his sax player, who threatens to steal the show.

But all eyes remain fi xed on the frontman, who’s grown with every performance on these Antipodean shores, and will be bigger than ever by the time his next tour comes around. As Clark himself puts it: “I don’t believe in competition / Ain’t nobody else like me around”.

Chris Martin

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FBI SMACS 2016 Carriageworks Sunday January 10

FBi Radio is more than just the second word in its name. It’s an institution. A community. An idea to be expressed. A celebration. Taking over the entirety of Eveleigh’s Carriageworks, the station threw a block party to raise funds for further developments within its immediate confines, as well as to both recognise and revere the music coming out of the greater Sydney area right now.

We’re talking music that’s as diverse as it is engaging, and that much was apparent as soon as one walked inside.

The Preatures’ Gideon Bensen strutted his solo stuff with some slick new pop numbers, the party-starting Coda Conduct dropped rhymes over the theme from Round The Twist (seriously) and Holy Balm led the devoted few in a shoe-shuffling hipster disco. All within the course of 20 minutes – and we haven’t even mentioned the guest DJ sets from Labor MP Anthony ‘DJ Albo’ Albanese.

What other station could pull that off?

Across the day, things heated up from both a literal and figurative standpoint.

As each stage slowly but surely evolved into total sweatboxes, the acts performing upon them really started cooking with gas. Honorary Sydneysiders The Walking Who and Shining Bird showed the city slickers how it’s done down in the ’Gong,

while newcomer Sampa The Great stole the show with one of the tightest and most impressive sets of the entire festival, oozing soul and pure charisma backed up by a sizzling live band.

Not to be outdone, Fishing made a triumphant – albeit quite risky – return to the live setting, playing entirely new material from their forthcoming second album. It looked as though Doug Wright and Russell Fitzgibbon were marching directly toward the rave cave on their new songs, sending the audience into a spiralling trance and turning up the joy fantastic with a cameo from Doug’s older brother, Cloud Control frontman Al. Betting everything on black, Fishing emerged as the true victors of the day.

Later on, Thundamentals’ Tuka teamed up with another great Sydney act, Left., to add further dimension to some of his already excellent solo cuts. The second stage, simultaneously, was brought to a close from two generations of garage rock par excellence, Hockey Dad and Palms.

The FBi SMACS were an entirely exhausting and incredibly rewarding experience for performer and punter alike.

Both the station and Sydney Festival should wear the day’s triumph with the greatest of city-centred pride. Glorious Sydney.

THE WEATHER STATION

the crowded in the most Canadian of ways, an apology “for what’s happening outside”.

It was perhaps fitting in the lead-up to seeing The Weather Station to find oneself in a queue of umbrellas, raincoats and gumboots. The heavens sure did help set the mood for this gig. It rained; how it rained.

The fans were soon in the sway of Lindeman’s soaring but nimble voice, tapping and nodding along, some with their eyes closed. Lindeman’s tunes are at once idiosyncratic and universal, a good example being ‘What Am I Going To Do (With Everything I Know)’, a song that explores what it is to constantly overthink things.

The Famous Spiegeltent Wednesday January 6

The Weather Station is the indie-folk moniker of Toronto singer-songwriter and fingerpicking guitarist Tamara Lindeman. Channelling Joni Mitchell, Bill Callahan and David Wiffen, the focus is on beautifully crafted, nuanced tunes.

And each of her three records feels like peering into a private, confidential world in which love and anxiety are on the mind.

Bedraggled, wet and dripping, the audience filed into the Sydney Festival mainstay, The Famous Spiegeltent. Wood panelled, intimate and watertight, all the ingredients were there for a top-notch concert.

Lindeman took to the stage without pageantry or introduction, joined by Ben Whiteley on bass and Ian Kehoe on drums. All wearing the uniform livery of black slacks and brown brogues, they launched straight into the opener. It was two songs before she bantered with

Sydney Opera House Thursday January 7

A typically nonchalant Kurt Vile and his backing band The Violators materialised on the Sydney Opera House stage Thursday night as if they had just rolled out of bed. Never to be overstated, Vile – behind a shy grin and mop of brown hair – leaned into the microphone to quietly word ‘hello’.

10:01:16 :: Carriageworks:: 245 Wilson St Eveleigh 8571 9099

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Seeing The Weather Station onstage was pure joy. It often seems a difficult task for bands venturing into minimalist folk – songs so often sound the same, and end up all rolling into one – but that never befell here. The trio charmed with honest, captivating lyrics and delicate, beautiful melodies. An early highlight of this year’s Sydney Festival.

Anita Connors

EY MAR :: HERS :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHL

lo!

catalogue, from ‘Jesus Fever’ and ‘Pretty Pimpin’ to older assets ‘Dead Alive’ and ‘Freak Train’. Of the newer material, ‘I’m An Outlaw’ takes on echoes of Neil Young while ‘Dust Bunnies’ is reminiscent of a smoky Bob Dylan.

While the standout ‘Wakin On A Pretty Day’ benefited from additional players on bass and drums, Vile shines best when accompanied by just his acoustic guitar, as well in collaboration with Stella Mozgawa from Warpaint on the drums.

Here, he often exaggerated key guitar moments on the pedals. Although the audience couldn’t always make out the expression on his face, the action felt like a knowing smirk.

Kiera Thanos

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Though perhaps his lack of audience engagement may seem bothersome to some, it’s within the peculiar quirks and endearingly awkward subtleties that lies the essence of Vile’s charm. Across a two-hour set punctuated by regular guitar changes, he traversed his extensive

OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAP

Other highlights came from The Weather Station’s latest album, Loyalty. ‘I Mined’ is anxiety-riddled, while ‘Shy Women’ wonderfully encapsulates the reality of everyday female politeness. And closing the show with the track ‘Tapes’, Lindeman’s vocal range was on full display in this deceptively simple ditty about reminiscing over mixtapes.

David James Young

KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS

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10:01:16 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney

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pick of the week Dreamland

SATURDAY JANUARY 16 Magic M agiic Mirrors Spiegeltent

Dreamland Jack Ladder + Kirin J Callinan + Donny Benet + Laurence Pike 11:45pm. $25.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

The Dan Bolton Quartet Foundry616, Ultimo.

8:30pm. $16.50.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Manouche Wednesday + The Smoky Berets Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Montz Matsumoto + Lincoln Davis The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Blackbreaks + The Mismade + The Dirty Earth Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 6pm. Free.

Blake Tailor Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 8pm.

Free.

Music Of The Beatles - feat: Joseph Calderazzo

+ Simon Meli + Mark Da Costa + Carmel Mesiti Rock Lily, Pyrmont.

7:30pm. Free.

Penny Lane Optus Centre, Macquarie Park.

12pm. Free.

Stag Blues Jam feat: Al Britton + Jim Finn Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt.

8pm. Free.

Sugar Jam Open Mic Night Sugarmill, Kings Cross. 8pm. Free.

The Chills Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

7:30pm. $49.

Troye Sivan + Gordi Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:40pm. $40.68.

Vibrations At Valve Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 7pm. $15.

THURSDAY JANUARY 14 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Huknee Puknee Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

8:30pm. Free.

Willowy + Brendon Moon + Obscura Hail The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $5.

30 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:15

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Hailu Mergia + Tony Buck & Mike Majkowski Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

5:15pm. $46.95.

Masha’s Legacy - feat: Masha’s Minstrels Foundry616, Ultimo.

8:30pm. $21.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Fierce Mild + Yes I’m Leaving + Montes Jura + Fabels 107 Projects, Redfern. 7:30pm. $10.

Greg Byrne Trio Rock Lily, Pyrmont.

8pm. Free.

Live At The Sly feat: The Persian Drugs + La Mancha Negra + Blackbird Slyfox, Enmore.

7:30pm. Free.

The Cops Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

The Daughter’s Agenda + Callum Chynoweth Band Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Thee Oh Sees Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $43.

FRIDAY JANUARY 15 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Jazzgroove Summer Festival - feat: The Sticks Ft. Ben Hauptmann + The Cooking Club + Lekker Foundry616, Ultimo.

7pm. $20.

Matthew E. White Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

7:30pm. $39.

Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 8pm.

Free.

Blues Brothers Rebooted + Shane Peters + Chris Clackson The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $34.50.

Chloe Adelle The Newsagency, Marrickville. 8pm. $16.50.

Creo + Capital Coast + Smaal Cats Waywards, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

Darren Fewins Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill. 8pm.

Free.

Deaf To All But Metal Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Evie Dean The Crest Hotel Sylvania, Sylvania.

7pm. Free.

Guy Sebastian Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7pm. $86.66.

Holy Holy Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $28.70.

Jed Zarb Colonial Hotel, Werrington. 8:30pm.

Free.

Matt Lyon The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm.

Free.

Moving Pictures Bridge Hotel, Rozelle. 8pm. $30.60.

Paul Mason Trio Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

9pm. Free.

Penny Lane Zest Grill House, Rooty Hill. 5:30pm.

Free.

Pretty Lights + Opiuo + Emancipator Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $76.36.

Stephanie Grace Duo + Cool Jerk + Dirty Cash + Fingers Rock Lily, Pyrmont.

6pm. Free.

Thee Oh Sees Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

8pm. $43.

Wildcatz Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 9pm.

Free.

Courtney Barnett

SATURDAY JANUARY 16 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Errol Buddle Quintet Penrith RSL, Penrith.

2pm. Free.

Jazzgroove Summer Festival - feat: Brokebeat Mountain + Tony Electro + Career Advice Foundry616, Ultimo.

7pm. $20.

Lolo Lovina The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $24.30.

Matthew E. White Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 8pm. $35.

Saturday Night Divas South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club, Kingsford. 7:30pm.

Free.

Symphony In The Domain - feat: Sydney Symphony Orchestra Royal Botanic Garden & The Domain, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Chich & The Soul Messengers The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm. $5.

Dame Joan’s Love Children - feat: Mic Moriarty

The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $5.

Paul Hayward And His Sidekicks Town & Country Hotel, St Peters.

4pm. Free.

Satellite V Petersham Inn, Petersham. 8pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Blake Tailor Plough & Harrow, Camden. 8pm. Free.

Cath & Him Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 10pm. Free.

Courtney Barnett + Cloud Control Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $45.88.

Dark Entries Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Dreamland - feat: Jack Ladder + Donny Benet + Kirin J Callinan + Laurence Pike Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

11:45pm. $25.

Ed Zaidan Duo + Paul James + Cavan Te & The Fuss + Cool Jerk Rock Lily, Pyrmont.

6pm. Free.

Harts Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $20.

Hits & Pieces Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

12:30am. Free.

Jack Biilmann + Kate Gogarty The Newsagency, Marrickville. 8pm.

$27.50.

Jed Zarb Wallacia Hotel, Wallacia. 8pm. Free.

Katcha Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

9:30pm. Free.

Led Zeppelin Masters Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $89.

Lennon - Through A Glass Onion - feat: John Waters + Stewart D’Arrietta South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club, Kingsford. 8pm. $45.

Matt Lyon The Crest Hotel Sylvania, Sylvania.

7pm. Free.

Moving Pictures + Bobby Sox Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 7:30pm. $30.

Oneworld Hornsby Inn, Hornsby. 7:30pm.

Free.

Penny Lane Novotel, Rooty Hill.

6:30pm. Free.

Red Alert Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville.

10pm. Free.

So Frenchy So Chic In The Park feat: Lou Doillon + Brigitte + Hindi Zahra + Soviet Suprem St John’s College, Camperdown. 1pm. $70.31.

Soundbird Penrith RSL, Penrith.

9pm. Free.

Stephanie Lea PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield, Enfield. 9pm.

Free.

Timothy Bowen Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15.

Brigitte

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Dirty Three State Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $89.

Peasant Moon + Ben Horder + Matt Ward The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Big Radio Dynamite Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

8:30pm. Free.

Blake Tailor

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up all night out all week...

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Turnstile Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt.

8pm. $36.60.

Twisted Fest 2016 Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 12pm. $15.

SUNDAY JANUARY 17 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

James Chance And The Contortions Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7pm. $40.

Jazzgroove Summer Festival - feat: Ollie Mcgill Trio + David Groves Quintet + Zac Hurren/Julien Wilson Quartet Foundry616, Ultimo.

6:30pm. $20.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Ivanhoe The Deck, Sydney.

3:30pm. Free.

Juliet Ward & Pete Timmerman + John Tennyson The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm. $5.

Kev Carmody Magic Mirrors

Spiegeltent, Sydney.

4:30pm. $46.95.

Ricardo Steyer Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7:30pm. Free.

Sir Richard Bishop + Daniel Bachman St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney.

6pm. $49.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Blake Tailor Northies Cronulla Hotel, Sydney. 6pm.

Free.

Bucket Lounge Presents – Live & Originals Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Clive Hay Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 3:30pm.

Free.

Ed Saloman Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free.

Evie Dean Mosman Returned Services Club, Mosman. 3pm. Free.

Fuchsia Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $10.

Georgia White Wallacia Hotel, Wallacia. 1pm. Free.

Jed Zarb Jamison Hotel, Penrith. 1pm. Free.

R5 + Jack & Jack + DJ Ryland + At Sunset Big Top Sydney, Milsons Point. 6pm.

$70.40.

Sabbath Sessions - Feat: PoisonUs + Born Jovi Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

Stephanie Lea St George Rowing Club, Wolli Creek.

1pm. Free.

Suite Az + DJ Nino Brown Rock Lily, Pyrmont.

8:30pm. Free.

The Blackeyed Susans Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

7pm. $46.95.

MONDAY JANUARY 18 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

John Maddox Duo Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Julia Jacklin Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $8.

Swerve Society - feat: Conrad

Greenleaf Experience + Richard Cartwright + Wintah Thompson Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. Free.

The Monday Jam The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills. 6pm.

Free.

TUESDAY JANUARY 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Nic Vardanega Quartet Foundry616, Ultimo.

8pm. $16.50.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Jenny Hval The Famous Spiegeltent, Sydney.

8pm. $46.95.

Live Rock & Roll Karaoke Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

The 1975 Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7pm. $75.95.

Dirty Three

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13

Led Zeppelin Masters Sydney Opera House, Sydney. 8pm. $89.

The Chills Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

7:30pm. $49.

So Frenchy So Chic In The Park - Feat: Lou Doillon + Brigitte + Hindi Zahra + Soviet Suprem St John’s College, Camperdown. 1pm. $70.31.

Troye Sivan + Gordi Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:40pm. $40.68.

THURSDAY JANUARY 14

The Cops Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

James Chance And The Contortions Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $40.

Thee Oh Sees Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $43.

Dirty Three State Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $89.

Holy Holy Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $28.70.

Jazzgroove Summer Festival - Feat: The Sticks Ft. Ben Hauptmann + The Cooking Club + Lekker Foundry616, Ultimo. 7pm. $20.

13 Jan

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

14 Jan

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

15 Jan

Chich & The Soul Messengers The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm. $5.

(10:00PM - 1:40AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

16

5:45PM  8:45PM

Jan

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sun

17

Courtney Barnett + Cloud Control Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $45.88.

Harts Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $20.

Kev Carmody Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

4:30pm. $46.95.

Sabbath Sessions - Feat: Poisonus + Born Jovi Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

The Blackeyed Susans Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney. 7pm. $46.95.

MONDAY JANUARY 18 Julia Jacklin Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $8.

Swerve Society - Feat: Conrad Greenleaf Experience + Richard Cartwright + Wintah Thompson Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm.

Free.

TUESDAY JANUARY 19 Jenny Hval The Famous Spiegeltent, Sydney. 8pm. $46.95.

The 1975 Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7pm. $75.95.

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Jan

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

(10:00PM - 1:15AM)

mon

18 Jan

Matthew E. White Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

7:30pm. $39.

SATURDAY JANUARY 16

fri

SUNDAY JANUARY 17 Fuchsia Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $10.

FRIDAY JANUARY 15

thu

Timothy Bowen Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15.

Live At The Sly - Feat: The Persian Drugs + La Mancha Negra + Blackbird Slyfox, Enmore. 7:30pm. Free.

Creo + Capital Coast + Smaal Cats Waywards, Newtown. 8pm. Free.

wed

Harts

tue

(9:00PM - 100AM)

19 Jan

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

The 1975 xxx

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 31

brag beats dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Joseph Earp, Chris Martin and Anna Wilson

five things

THE ARGYLE’S SUMMER SERIES

Set Mo

Those looking to add some colour to their summer need look no further than The Argyle’s Summer Series, a string of parties themed around different international beaches. From this Friday January 15 – Sunday January 17, the focus will be on Miami, while next Friday January 22 – Monday January 25 it’s the global home of partying, Ibiza. Expect a selection of music and drinks to take you around the world. And on Monday January 25, it all comes back home with an Australia Day Eve party featuring KLP.

WITH KATALYST

TOTALLY W!LD

READY SET MO

The weekly Sosueme party at the Beach Road Hotel is making a summertime splash, with this week’s headliners Set Mo leading a massive lineup that also includes Turquoise Prince LTC, Luen, Silver Age, Bobby Gray and Bernie Dingo. 2015 was a big year for Set Mo, thanks largely to the release of their Deutsch Duke collab ‘White Dress’, and their set this Wednesday January 13 will mark a big start to 2016. Meanwhile, Saturday January 16’s Yours event at the venue sees a hip hop block party headlined by Hey Sam.

CARL COX IS PURE

Growing Up 1.

I grew up in a household where

Geoff in any capacity is surreal.

the hi-fi played a central role. The music played was sometimes questionable but the system it was played on was always pretty amazing. I was never encouraged to do anything that was artistic in any sense so I went against the grain there. It was always gonna be that way. Can’t beat the rush of creating, really.

Your Crew 3.

The people I work with are always

Inspirations 2.

This is a hard question to answer as so many people inspire and it’s always hard to pick only a few.

One of my fave artists of all time is Eugene McDaniels, because he wrote amazing music but also because some of his lyrics were so political and socially conscious.

Just amazing. Geoff Barrow, who I work with on Quakers, is also another inspiration. I was a massive Portishead fan even before we became friends, so to be working with

changing. I saw someone describe me as a serial collaborator, which made me laugh. At the moment, part of my crew is my Quakers crew, Geoff Barrow and all the MCs we collaborate with – Guilty Simpson et cetera. Stones Throw are part of that crew also. Then Steve Spacek, who is part of my Space Invadas crew; Nat Slade, who is coming to perform at Vibes [On A Summer’s Day]… Leeroy Brown will always be part of the crew as he’s an old friend and collaborator, as is Mr. Clean.

The Music You 4.

Make And Play Hip hop and soul are the musical styles I create. I’m working on hip hop with MCs such as Guilty Simpson and Quakers, both of which are indie hip hop, so expect some new material in that genre from

32 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

me. Basically all my crew [at Vibes] will be playing hip hop, soul, funk, blues and reggae. We’ll bring a lot of new unreleased music to play, exclusives! There will be several MCs and singers featured throughout the set also.

House and techno legend Carl Cox has announced a brand new touring showcase of international house he has branded Pure. The program for the event will be personally hand-picked by Cox, and promises to feature the crème de la crème of house and techno artists. It’ll be a delight not only for fans of Cox himself, but also a significant event for Australia’s electronic scene at large. The lineup will be announced in late January, so keep your ears to the ground. Pure will hit the Hordern Pavilion on Saturday April 23.

DANCEETC ON THE ROOFTOP

Party animals, your prayers have been answered: the DANCEetc rooftop jams are back for 2016. Just like last year, the weekly outdoor events will boast appearances from some of the finest acts around Sydney and Australia. This month’s headliners include Touch Sensitive (Saturday January 16), Adi Toohey (Saturday January 23) and Set Mo (Saturday January 30). The parties take place atop the Republic Hotel in the CBD, where there’s an unbeatable atmosphere, so save the date(s).

Mantra Collective promises an event with killer sound as it welcomes Parisian house identity DJ W!ld for an exclusive Sydney show. As his production stock has risen, so has the calibre of DJ W!ld’s sets, bringing a unique and eclectic French influence and expansive discography to his beats. Integrating house, techno and disco, his continual hunger to introduce new musical characteristics to his sound creates blurred lines between past and present. Mantra Collective’s Whitecat, Space Junk and Aboutjack will be on support together with Rascal and Harrison Jones. Get your cut at Civic Underground on Saturday February 6.

SWEENEY GOES SUPER

New Yorker Tim Sweeney will kick off his 2016 Australian tour with a special Australia Day weekend set at Super OpenAir. Presented by the House Of Mince, Sweeney will bring his Beats In Space brand – the radio show that draws thousands of listeners across the globe – and the awesome skills he’s gained from his years working in the studios of hip hop legends, to the decks in Sydney.

Supporting Sweeney on the lineup are D&D, Ben Fester & Preacha and L’Oasis. The event will be held at the Factory Theatre on Sunday January 24.

Goat Island

Music, Right 5.

Here, Right Now Music is music; it is ever-evolving and the industry and landscape is forever changing with technology as well.

It’s a shame music to some extent has lost its value, but I’ll keep doing what I do cause I love it and do it for that reason. So the financial obstacles are sometimes there but the passion will win out over them in the end.

What: Vibes On A Summer’s Day 2016 With: Jazzie B, Faze Action, Kylie Auldist, Russ Dewbury and more Where: Bondi Pavilion When: Sunday January 24

GETTING YOUR GOAT

Sydney Harbour might be the most patriotic background for an Australia Day celebration imaginable, so the inaugural Goat Island Sounds festival already has one critical element down pat: location. But it isn’t just resting on that one laurel. The event, hosted by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, is set to feature a bunch of beats from the likes of Kilter, Just A Gent, OK Sure, Luen and Klue, as well as all-important Australia Day drinks provided by Young Henrys. Tickets for the Tuesday January 26 festivities are available at nationalparks.nsw.gov.au.

thebrag.com

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

five things WITH DJ

Corona Extra + Sunday Sundowners presents

FRENZIE

Growing Up 1.

I grew up in Melbourne in the ’70s. My father was the guitarist for a major Australian band at that time, so I was very used to being around the music industry, seeing the backstage of major stadium festivals, tour buses across the USA, and recording studios.

It was just normal to me. As a child in primary school I had dreams of buying the vacant building down the road and turning it into a disco. This was before house music or clubbing was even a thing. It was just something that was inherent to me. My mother used to drive me to my first DJ gigs and help me hire the sound equipment. I was still in high school.

When hip hop music started to get kind of big in the late ’80s, it actually allowed me to take it all seriously. DJing was suddenly a legitimate thing to do.

Inspirations 2.

As a DJ, my biggest inspiration would be DJ Ransom from Melbourne. He taught us about style and owning your thing. I still rate him as one of the best DJs in the world.

Beyond that, radio DJs like Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, Latin Rascals and Tim Westwood definitely shaped my career in radio. I’ve been doing radio around Australia since 1991.

A GERMAN FROM SPAIN

DJ FRENZIE (Groove Therapy) DJ Somatik & Larry Diamond

WWW.DANIEL SAN.COM.AU

My show on 2SER is now in its 14th year.

Your Crew 3.

My crew is large. I lived in three states at a time when people were just figuring this industry out.

A lot of my close friends have gone on to shape the local hip hop and dance music scene. They know who they are.

4.

The Music You Make And Play I consider myself a hip hop DJ, but that really gives me free rein to play

anything I want – funk, disco, house music, soul music, whatever. Years back I helped pioneer the local drum and bass and breakbeat scenes. It’s all just good music, and an experienced DJ will disregard styles and genres.

Music, Right 5.

Here, Right Now I’m a big vinyl record collector. These days I’m really into playing 45s just because it strips away the gimmicky laptop element. I like having to work hard as a

@DANIEL SANMANLY I 02 9977 6963

DJ, and playing 45s is about the hardest format a DJ could use. Laptops are fine and I use one from time to time, but it’s way too easy for me. Give me a small box of 45s, a limited selection of songs, and let’s make it work.

What: Wax On/ Wax Off With: DJ Somatik, Larry Diamond Where: Daniel San Manly When: Sunday January 17

German Brigante

Spanish tech house performer German Brigante is embarking on his debut Australian tour to show us just why he’s become so popular in his home country.

It’s not just the Spanish who are picking up what Brigante’s laying down, but he’s recently stormed the entire continent, from Sankeys and Ministry Of Sound in the UK, to the House of M.A.N.D.Y. in Berlin and Scala in Ibiza.

The secret to his prevailing success? His groovy house tracks with techno undertones and anthemic sensibility. Brigante is playing in Sydney for S.A.S.H on Sunday February 7.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 33

Dylan Joel When Life Gives You Lemons By James Di Fabrizio

T

hroughout his hip hop career, Dylan Joel has taken a refreshingly metered approach – and he’s all the better for it. After years of steadily releasing EPs and singles while paying his dues on the live circuit, the Melbourne MC has finally unleashed his debut album, Authentic Lemonade. It’s a festivalready mix of hip hop, soul and live instrumental sections, with Joel’s affable yet extremely dexterous rapping taking centre stage. Following a long period of refining his sound, Authentic Lemonade arrives as a cohesive representation of Joel’s artistry.

“I just thought about it from the perspective of trying to make my career sustainable,” says Joel. “If I make music for other people – completely for other people, and try to please people by making music – [if] that’s how I’m going to approach it, then I’m probably going to burn out really quick. I’d probably last maybe a year or two longer before it starts to become too much.”

For Joel, staying true to himself and refusing to compromise for the sake of pleasing anyone else was intrinsic to a sustainable creative existence.

“The only way for me to continue to do this, and continue to make music that I’m inspired by, is just to be completely myself and write about the stuff that I want to write about, and make music that I want to make.

I spent a lot of time trying to keep myself in check to make sure what I was creating was me and was genuine. I’d say this album is a pretty strong reflection of who I am.”

Joel has long been an adept beatmaker, allowing him to actualise his ideas into music. However, the album sees him team up with ARIA Award-winning producer Cam Bluff

(Hilltop Hoods, Illy, Allday). With Joel in the co-producer’s seat, the two immediately discovered a creative spark, going on to craft multiple tracks in their first session together – all of which would later end up on Authentic Lemonade.

“We hit it off real quick,” laughs Joel.

“I’ve got heaps of ideas and I’ve got heaps of vision for where the beats and instrumentals should go, but I can’t engineer it all. Cam and I had the same sort of vision for how we wanted this album to go and how we wanted it to sound, just from spending time together and working out what beats we like. Man, it worked so well.”

Listening to Joel’s music, it’s clear he draws from a broad palette of inspiration. Traces of gospel line the airtight production of ‘Always Fresh’, while ‘Swing’ sounds like a Duke Ellington remix, flipped on its head as a vehicle for the rapper to unleash a flurry of rhyming triplets. If it sounds unconventional, that’s because it is.

Joel draws ideas from “everywhere outside of hip hop”, before filtering them back through the world of rap.

“I listen to hip hop heaps, but when I want a strong idea for a new track, I’ll listen to a lot of other genres and take a lot of inspiration from there,” he says. “There’s generally not like a, ‘Hey, I want to make some beats that sounds like this band.’ It’s more like you pick little elements in different songs and you’re like, ‘I really like what they’ve done here. Maybe we could use that idea to help create something, or make a foundation for it.’”

One of the most engaging aspects of Authentic Lemonade is the use of live instrumentation. The record gains a dynamic, humanised feel by pairing live elements with more electronic

moments. It features playing from some high-profile session musicians, including trumpeter Igmar Thomas (John Legend, Robert Glasper) and drummer Tim Coghill, best known for his work with Matt Corby.

“These are meant to be live instruments,” says Joel. “Once we finished, we went back to the drawing board and got a lot of live session musicians to come in and replay a lot of the stuff. That for us really lifted the record. When I started playing live, I started with a live band. Pretty much from day one I’ve had a bass player and a drummer; I had a vinyl DJ back

in the day. For me, playing live and live instrumentation was always a huge factor of the big picture.”

Right from the early days, Joel has kept that bigger picture in mind. He’s unabashedly created music with hopes of bringing about positive change. He’s also raised thousands of dollars for causes close to his heart, and a commitment to altruism is one of the most endearing aspects of his musical identity.

“I can use music to give to others. It’s kind of pointless trying to make music solely for yourself and for your own

Off The Record

credit and affirmation. I try and make stuff that affirms others, and I make the music that I love making. Through doing it for myself, it gives to others.

I think that’s where it is, man. That’s where it lies for me. If I start making music for myself and for my own credit, I should probably stop.”

What: Tomorrow’s People With: E^ST, Kilter, UV Boi Where: The Lair, Metro Theatre When: Saturday January 23 And: Authentic Lemonade out now through Warner

RECOMMENDED Trus’Me

Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray Oliver Schories

S

tarting off this week’s column with some bad news: Piknic Électronik Sydney has been cancelled. But on the plus side, we’ll still be getting visits from the international acts booked for the Melbourne incarnation, including the likes of Dubfire, The Hacker, Kode9, Ed Banger House Party (Busy P and Boston Bun) and more. Show details will be announced shortly. Stay tuned.

And now, possibly the most amusing story I’ve heard this year (well, it’s just started, so definitely the best). Swedish techno artist Anthony Linell AKA Abdulla Rashim was arrested on his tour in Melbourne for a graffiti spree in a train yard in the suburb of Mordialloc. Apparently it’s “a stupid habit that’s tough to break”, he told police.

No plans before Valentine’s Day? Dance away your troubled lovelorn tears with Trus’Me. I won’t lie, I think he’s a bit of a shit DJ. Dude simply can’t mix.

But goddamn is he a good producer. If he plays his own releases, including tracks from 2007’s incredible Working Nights and 2009’s In The Red, it’ll be a night to remember. Take a sonic journey to Manchester and back on Saturday February 13 at Civic Underground.

Ian Pooley

SATURDAY JANUARY 16

Francis Inferno Orchestra, Tornado Wallace Burkedin Hotel

SATURDAY JANUARY 23

Oliver Schories Burdekin Hotel After 20 years in the game Ian Pooley is still kicking, and he’s coming back to Sydney. The don runs two labels out of Berlin – Pooled Music and Montage – but his cuts are being reintroduced to the young’uns by the recent mixes from Ostgut Ton. He’s coming to the Burdekin Hotel on Saturday January 30, with support from the Something Else crew including CD INC., Shivers, Mark Craven, Aaron Robins, Marc Roberts and Tristan Case.

January 23 at the Burdekin Hotel, with support from Mesan, Tech No More, Brosnan Perera, About Jack, Spacejunk and Whitecat.

It’s been almost a year (to the exact date), but Oliver Schories is coming back.

Over time he’s released on the likes of Parquet Recordings, Stil vor Talent, Katermukke and Get Physical. Says it all, really.

It’s happening on Saturday

Best releases this week: as you can no doubt guess, almost nothing has come out in the first week of the year as it’d be a marketing nightmare.

However, Tim Sweeney’s ‘best of’ mix on Beats In Space is worth a squiz for a solid look back at 2015.

Tour rumours: Resident Advisor’s number one DJ for the billionth year in a row Dixon is returning soon, as is the space-disco king Prins Thomas. Announcements imminent. Oh yeah, Efdemin is also definitely going to be here sometime over the next month.

SUNDAY JANUARY 24

Julio Bashmore, Florian Kupfer, Andy Garvey, EK Collective National Art School

SATURDAY JANUARY 30

Ian Pooley Burdekin Hotel

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6

Catz N Dogz Chinese Laundry

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13

Hot Since 82 Greenwood Hotel

Trus’Me Civic Underground

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14

Nightmares On Wax, Lefto, Mike Who National Art School

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20

Tale Of Us Greenwood Hotel

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 21

Hunee, Mark E, Touch Sensitive, Lovebombs, Adi Toohey National Art School

SUNDAY MARCH 6 Jeremy Underground, Sadar Bahar, András, Ariane National Art School

TUESDAY MARCH 15

St. Germain Enmore Theatre

Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos? Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon.

34 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

thebrag.com

SAT 16 JANUARY SPECIAL GUESTS

PEPPERPOT HANNAH RESIDENTS

RABBIT TAXI MESAN

1 0 P M T I L L L AT E

$10 BEFORE 12AM / $15 AFTER 1 9 9 E N M O R E R O A D W W W . S LY F O X . S Y D N E Y

BY DAY

BY NIGHT

Sunday 17th January TERRACE

TERRACE

Monkey Safari Pepperpot Gabby Alec Sander

Hosted by Koh: James Taylor Dan Baartz ࠮ Kazuya ࠮ Matt Weir

DEN SLOWBLOW ࠮ Venda ࠮ Jimmy Brüs

MAZE Alessandro Latina ࠮ Julien

BOX Something Else vs 4our

GREENWOOD HOTEL 1pm to 9pm - $15

HOME NIGHTCLUB 8pm to 4am - $15 till 10pm / $20 after $15 all night with SASH by day stamp

www.sash.net.au BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 35

club guide g

club picks p up all night out all week...

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week Touch Sensitive

SATURDAY JANUARY 16 Taylor’s Social

Xxx

Danceetc Rooftop Party Touch Sensitive + Klue + Marks & Oz + Avon Stringer 5pm. Free.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13

FRIDAY JANUARY 15

CLUB NIGHTS

CLUB NIGHTS

Bamboo Boogie feat: Harry Sounds + Daniel Lupica + Karim Middle Bar, Darlinghurst. 5pm.

Free.

Salsa Wednesdays - feat: DJ Miro + Special Guests The Argyle, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.

Sasslife Weekly Secret Garden Bar, Enmore. 7pm. Free.

Sosueme - feat: Set Mo + Turquoise Prince LTC + Luen + Silver Age + Bobby Gray + Bernie Dingo Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.

Bassic - feat: Nina Las Vegas + Lewis Cancut + Grmm + Swindail + Tdy + Squeef + Bluegrass DJs + Gudu + Gomu Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.60.

Blvd Fridays - feat: Brooklyn Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $13.40.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks.

5pm. Free.

Foreigndub + Inner West Reggae Disco Machine Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 9pm. $13.90.

Friday Frothers - feat: DJ Babysham + DJ Jesse Sewell Side Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Friday Lite - feat: Victoria Kim Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

Harbour Club - feat: Resident DJs The Watershed Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. Free.

Jam Fridays Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 9:30pm.

Free.

Loco Friday - feat: DJs On Rotation The Slip Inn, Sydney.

5pm. Free.

Night Lyfe - feat: Richie Ryan Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

THURSDAY JANUARY 14 CLUB NIGHTS Sky Terrace DJ Series - feat: Jane Grigg Sky Terrace, Pyrmont.

7pm. Free.

Spirals - feat: Belu + Ed Wells + Vcs Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $10.

HIP HOP & R&B Dam-Funk Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 8pm. $35.

36 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

Free.

Scubar Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

Sky Terrace DJ Series - feat: Simon Caldwell + Peter Gordon Sky Terrace, Pyrmont.

7pm. Free.

The Japanese House Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $37.50.

Tnb Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 8pm. Free.

HIP HOP & R&B 73 Til’ Infinity - feat: DJ Broke + Krystal Diola + Edseven + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

Dam-Funk Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney.

11:45pm. $39.

SATURDAY JANUARY 16 HIP HOP & R&B Boathouse Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Watershed Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. $20.

Headnod’s Farewell feat: Louie Headnod + C’Man + Makoto + Nick Caratgold + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

R&B DJs By The Greens Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville.

4pm. Free.

The Justice Crew Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. $40.

Yours - feat: Hey Sam Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

CLUB NIGHTS Ashley Wallbridge + Gil Glaze Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $23.70.

Danceetc Rooftop Party #2 - feat: Touch Sensitive + Klue + Marks & Oz + Avon Stringer + Kormak Taylor’s Social, Sydney. 5pm. Free.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Frat Saturdays - feat: DJ Jonski Side Bar, Sydney.

7:30pm. Free.

Husky + Mo’Funk Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 6pm. Free.

Lndry - feat: Roland Tings + Indian Summer + Acaddamy + Skin & Bones + Persian Rug + Coda + Tyson Bruun + Derrell + Mike Hyper + King Lee + DJ Just 1 Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.60.

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

Motorik (Original Flavour) - feat: Late Nite Tuff Guy + Itch-E And Scratch-E + Phil Smart X Francis Xavier + Fantastic Man + DJ Hmc + Stereogamous Factory Theatre,

Marrickville. 3pm. $25.

My Place Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Bar100, The Rocks.

8pm. Free.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Odd Mob + Kyro + Danny Lang + Mo’Funk + Bennet + Samrai + Yaz + Leukas Vs Steve Zappa + Oh? + Nanna Does + Jesse Bloch + Fingers + Deckhead + Skinny Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $38.

Scubar Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney.

8:30pm. Free.

Sky Terrace DJ Series - feat: 45 Sessions + DJ Misbehaviour Sky Terrace, Pyrmont.

7pm. Free.

SUNDAY JANUARY 17 CLUB NIGHTS Escape Sundays Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 2pm.

Free.

Marco Polo Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 1pm. $12.40.

S.A.S.H By Day - feat: Monkey Safari + Pepperpot + Gabby + Alec Sander Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 1pm. $15.

S.A.S.H By Night feat: James Taylor + Dan Baartz + Kazuya + Matt Weir + Slowblow + More Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 8pm. $15.

Sky Terrace DJ Series - feat: Andy Garvey + Pelvis Sky Terrace, Pyrmont.

3pm. Free.

Straight Up Sundays - feat: Cool Hand Luke Middle Bar, Darlinghurst. 5pm.

Free.

Summer Series (Miami) The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Sunday Sundown feat: Safia DJs + Joy + Gloves Coogee Pavilion, Coogee. 3:30pm.

Free.

Tim Boffa + Murray Lake Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 4pm. Free.

MONDAY JANUARY 18

Dam-Funk

FRIDAY JANUARY 15

Nina Las Vegas

Bassic - Feat: Nina Las Vegas + Lewis Cancut + Grmm + Swindail + Tdy + Squeef + Bluegrass DJs + Gudu + Gomu Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.60.

Dam-Funk Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney. 11:45pm. $39.

Sky Terrace DJ Series Feat: Simon Caldwell + Peter Gordon Sky Terrace, Pyrmont. 7pm.

Free.

Sosueme - Feat: Set Mo + Turquoise Prince Ltc + Luen + Silver Age + Bobby Gray + Bernie Dingo Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

The Japanese House Plan B Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. $37.50.

Stereogamous Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

3pm. $25.

Pacha Sydney - Feat: Odd Mob + Kyro + Danny Lang + Mo’Funk + Bennet + Samrai + Yaz + Leukas Vs Steve Zappa + Oh? + Nanna Does + Jesse Bloch + Fingers + Deckhead + Skinny Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $38.

SATURDAY JANUARY 16

Sky Terrace DJ Series Feat: 45 Sessions + DJ Misbehaviour Sky Terrace, Pyrmont. 7pm.

Free.

Ashley Wallbridge + Gil Glaze Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $23.70.

SUNDAY JANUARY 17

Headnod’s Farewell - Feat: Louie Headnod + C’Man + Makoto + Nick Caratgold + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm.

Free.

Lndry - Feat: Roland Tings + Indian Summer + Acaddamy + Skin & Bones + Persian Rug + Coda + Tyson Bruun + Derrell + Mike Hyper + King Lee + DJ Just 1 Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.60.

Motorik (Original Flavour) - Feat: Late Nite Tuff Guy + Itch-E And Scratch-E + Phil Smart X Francis Xavier + Fantastic Man + DJ Hmc +

S.A.S.H By Day - Feat: Monkey Safari + Pepperpot + Gabby + Alec Sander Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 1pm. $15.

S.A.S.H By Night - Feat: James Taylor + Dan Baartz + Kazuya + Matt Weir + Slowblow + More Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 8pm. $15.

Sky Terrace DJ Series Feat: Andy Garvey + Pelvis Sky Terrace, Pyrmont. 3pm.

Free.

Sunday Sundown - Feat: Safia DJs + Joy + Gloves Coogee Pavilion, Coogee.

3:30pm. Free.

Late Night Tuff Guy

CLUB NIGHTS Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs + DJ Thieves + Recess + Otg + Chivalry + More Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

TUESDAY JANUARY 19 CLUB NIGHTS Coyote Tuesdays The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $10. thebrag.com

live reviews up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

DISCLOSURE Sydney Opera House Tuesday January 5 Disclosure at the Sydney Opera House. In concept, perhaps nonsensical. But the venue’s contemporary music team is on fire. This was a thrilling show and a good analogy for the duo’s paradoxical career.

First, a recap: Disclosure are two brothers from a mundane Surrey suburb who, as well-todo schoolboys, carved a distinct sound based around a smattering of acid house cowbells and two-step rhythms they were too young to remember first time round. Their revivalist music reinvigorated British dancefloors before producing some huge chart smashes the world over.

Seats at the Opera House were superfluous. From the first stabs

of ‘White Noise’, everyone was on their feet. Another first album banger, ‘F For You’, ensured the dancing wouldn’t be discouraged by the introduction of tracks from the pair’s slower tempo second record.

The younger Lawrence sibling, Howard, demonstrated some proper musicianship, picking up the bass for ‘Superego’ and singing on ‘Jaded’. That said, with each behind their own space-age control panel twiddling knobs on the sort of equipment they could only have dreamed of when making music in their bedroom as 14- and 16-yearolds, there was no discerning between the ‘live’ and looped elements. It didn’t much matter.

The recorded vocals of Sam Smith and Lorde on ‘Omen’ and ‘Magnets’ respectively were accompanied by outstanding lights and visuals – Smith illustrated as a pink line drawing, like something from an A-Ha album cover.

The reception to these songs might’ve suggested otherwise, but the guys were best with their heads down, manipulating the tracks way beyond the familiar.

Extended tribal drums and synth fills built to the first recognisable lyric of ‘When A Fire Starts To Burn’ and the dirtiest drop. At that point, the prestigious Opera House seemed like the most unsuitable venue imaginable and I longed for the sticky carpets of the grimy hometown nightclub frequented in my formative years.

The pantomime of Guy introducing ‘Latch’ at the last had obviously been tried before, but the Lawrence brothers weren’t prepared for the rapturous response. And it’s unlikely the Opera House’s Concert Hall will host a crowd-surfing wheelchair for a while to come.

David Wild

five things WITH KID

FOUR TET Sydney Opera House Wednesday January 6

KENOBI

One may wonder as to the logic of putting a dance/electronic musician in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

After all, the legendary Giorgio Moroder kicked off his set in the basement – why not keep the party there, where there’s adequate room to shake one’s groove thing?

Maybe it’s the size of the audience drawn by Kieran Hebden, AKA Four Tet – or more likely it comes down to the scale and ambition of his lighting rig, one so accomplished that it actually drew attention to possibilities you may not have even known the venue had.

It started off gently, as Hebden humbly made his way to the desk centrestage, bathed in blue light. With no support act, and no-one else other than cameramen onstage, he ushered us into his aural landscape with the soothing ebb and flow of an electronic tide. The centrepiece of the lighting rig, a prism of icicle-like tendrils dotted with lights, blipped and booped accordingly, giving only the bare hints of what was to come.

Growing Up 1.

My dad is a muso so I grew up with music all around. The first music I recall hearing was Bob Marley’s album Uprising. There is a track on it called ‘Coming In From The Cold’ and I used to listen to it imagining all these people huddled under a shelter getting cold in the rain [laughs]. I was about four. We went to heaps of Dad’s gigs as a kid and even though at the time we’d have rather been at Luna Park or the movies, it was certainly a big influence on us musically!

Inspirations 2.

I’m not sure I have any favourite musicians as such, but I’m always inspired by those artists who aren’t afraid to evolve and follow their own path, often to the

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point of obscurity and failure, and yet (hopefully) prove everyone wrong and ‘make it’.

That’s what I love; artists with passion and authenticity.

but I’m back with it now. It’s sounding really fresh to me, plus not a lot of people are doing it, so it feels good to be doing my own thing again.

3.

5.

Now

Your Crew Back in the day my crew was Q45, Ritual and Goodwill – they were the guys I started out with.

That’s shifted and changed now and I’m not 100 per cent sure I have a ‘crew’ in that way anymore. I do run a label called Klub Kids, though, and that has a crew factor about it – though it tends to be a bit more of an ‘online’ posse than a ‘hang out’ crew.

The Music 4.

You Make And Play As Kid Kenobi I’d call my style ‘breaks’. I’d moved away from that sound for a while

Music, Right Here, Right

This is a hard one to answer as I’ve been doing this for 20 years now! I think musically the scene is amazing with so many talented producers doing great stuff.

On the negative, I do fi nd people in clubs a little more disengaged than they were ten years ago.

Obviously there are still some amazing clubs operating in Australia, but I think overall the ‘culture’ has gone a bit from clubs as clubs and DJs are no longer the epicentre of distributing new

dance music to the general public; the internet is. So, in a way, they aren’t as ‘special’ anymore, their cultural value has decreased. I recall kids coming to hear me play as it was the only way they could hear certain tunes or tunes they’d never heard before, so they were super pumped to be in a club. Now we all seem to have the same music.

It’s the downside of the internet revolution! Oh, and obviously the lockout laws are destroying things.

What: Vibes On A Summer’s Day 2016 With: Jazzie B, Faze Action, Kylie Auldist, Russ Dewbury and more Where: Bondi Pavilion When: Sunday January 24

A few outliers stood up, sick of being relegated to their seats, and then the whole house was on its feet. The Concert Hall became a dance hall in a matter of seconds.

Every possibility was teased out of the visual display, pulsing and shifting colours while carefully placed strobes and patterns lit up the waving arms of the crowd. Hebden himself kept his head down, singularly concentrated on maintaining our hypnotic state – his only eye contact was an adorably awkward wave as he entered and left.

In true club form, the music never let up. Hebden guided us expertly through his expansive discography, with that chest-thumping bass carrying all the way through to the finale of Morning.

Listening to the glorious raga vocals of Lata Mangeshkar as the bulbs flickered and faded was like watching the sun rise after a long night of partying, and the rapt audience was already up to give its ovation as Hebden stepped into the shadows.

Seats be damned, this was a show that tapped into that most significant element of dance music: it left us feeling alive.

After 15 minutes, the bass kicked in.

David Molloy

YOUNG FATHERS, ECCA VANDAL, BLACK VANILLA

hopping, but there’s still a ways to go as far as Ecca Vandal’s concerned.

Oxford Art Factory Tuesday January 5 Beck may have only needed two turntables and a microphone, but Black Vanilla can go you one further – they only need some thudding sub-bass and some seriously fl exible dance moves and they’ve got the party started. The Sydney trio are primarily concerned with minimalist rave beats and intense build-ups that blend elements of hard dance, hip hop and garage of the non-rock variety. “I know it’s a Tuesday, but just pretend it’s not!” teases vocalist Marcus Whale.

We’re quite content to do just that, as Black Vanilla transport punctual attendees into the throng of the late night into the early morning.

Having previously warmed up for everyone from The Prodigy to Birds Of Tokyo, Ecca Vandal knows how to hype an audience. What’s less certain, however, is what her music itself actually entails. Too much of a heavy rock act for hip hop heads and too much of a hip hop act for the rock kids, Vandal falls into indecisive grey areas, ending up not quite working for either. It could be her busy-sounding backing band only working in small doses or purely the non-committal nature of her genre-

Formerly only been exposed to Sydney through means of festivals, it’s finally time for Young Fathers – the group widely considered to be making the most important music in Scotland right now – to deliver their first-ever headlining show.

Some have evidently been waiting years for this, refuting the broader nature of bigger dance festivals in favour of getting the full experience in far more intimate surrounds. It is they, subsequently, who are perhaps rewarded the greatest out of all in the room. The setlist spans from their earliest releases – ‘Rumbling’ from Tape One; ‘Queen Is Dead’ from Tape Two – to their most recent LP, the urgent and uncompromising White Men Are Black Men Too; including ‘Old Rock N Roll’ and key single ‘Rain Or Shine’.

Wherever they take the audience – the mean streets of the city; their longoppressed cultural roots – it’s at once white-knuckle intense and hands-up revelry; pure catharsis with the primitive wailing of drums exuding a substantial degree of their collective energy. They leave the stage after an hour in waves of droning synth noise, as if they are to fade into static entirely. No encore. None needed. Veni vidi vici, Young Fathers.

David James Young

BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16 :: 37

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up all night out all week . . .

party profile

wax on/wax off It’s called: Wax On/Wax Off It sounds like: An old-school block party! We all know deep down that vinyl sounds better. Funk, soul, reggae, break s, hip hop, disco.

Acts: DJ Frenzie, DJ Somatik and Larry Diamo nd.

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Moog – Jurassic 5 – ‘Gotta Understand,’ Audrey Royal ‘What Is A Party?,’ – ‘Super Sexy Soul Man’.

And one you definitely won’t: No holds barred , no guarantees. If it rocks, it’s in! Trust your DJs! Sell it to us: What is a party if it doesn’t really rock? We’re going back to the way it used to be: three DJs with over 60 years combined record collecting and rocking dancefloors! A venue that could pass as a rock star’s beachside penthouse, free entry, drink specia up for it crowd. Oh, that’s right, great food downs ls, and a friendly, tairs plus the beach across the road. Make a day of it.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Big smiles , no attitude and definitely the music!

Crowd specs: Friendly, up for it crowd. Attitud es checked at home.

Wallet damage: Free entry, with drink specia ls on offer.

Where: Rooftop Beachside Dojo, Daniel San, 55 North Steyne, Manly.

When: Sunday January 17, 3pm-late.

FIELD DAY 2016 The Domain Friday January 1 Like many Field Day attendees, my festival partner and I arrived a little worse for wear after Lost Paradise the night before. The security guard at the entrance made tasteless remarks to the both of us. Between this and the constant I.D. checking at the various festival bars (three times at the same bar by the same marshal), and the larger than usual police presence, there was a feeling that the people who were there to keep an eye out were doing more harm than good. The news that a woman had been hospitalised after allegedly overdosing on pills was not particularly surprising, nor were Premier Mike Baird’s knee-jerk comments on the fate of music festivals in New South Wales.

The drama surrounding drugs and festivals aside, Field Day had some amazing offerings in the way of producers, DJs and rappers. The overall direction of the program was firmly in the realm of dance with slight deviations into the worlds of hip hop (Pusha T) and indie-pop (The Wombats and San Cisco).

Pusha T was the best of these. He pulled a small crowd despite being Kanye’s main man, the modest turnout for his set having everything to do with the tastes of the average Field Day attendee.

As the day progressed, the most popular acts weren’t the producers delivering contemporary and groundbreaking sounds (such as Daniel Avery and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs), but rather the familiar and perhaps more middle-of-the-road sounds offered up by headliners Disclosure and homegrown artists such as Flight Facilities.

Having said that, the choices made on the fly by performers on every stage – including the last third of TEED’s Centre Stage set – mirrored the audience. Case in point: TEED segued from leftfield house into nostalgic hits like ‘Starlight’ by The Superman Lovers and ‘Ignition’ by R. Kelly.

The Left Field Stage, meanwhile, had some of the festival’s best offerings with the likes of Avery, Seth Troxler and France’s The Avener. The latter’s set was a bass-driven funhouse, utilising the cosy nook among the trees that is the Left Field Stage to the same degree of success as Dusky did in 2015.

Golden Features’ main stage set was well executed, which was particularly pleasing considering how new he is to the world of commercial renown. He wasn’t the only act to go nuts with the pyrotechnics, but his production budget was all the more impressive in light of how newfound his stardom is.

The Red Bull Stage was deliberately nostalgic, divided into sets covering the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s – the best of which might have been Mo’Funk’s upbeat house and funk spot and Kato’s ’70s set.

field day 2016 01:01:16 :: The Domain, Sydney

38 :: BRAG :: 645 :: 13:01:16

PICS :: AM

Closing out the day were two polar opposites in Boys Noize banging out brutal hard techno and electro as Disclosure indulged the main stage crowd with their trademark earworm house-pop and guest spots from the likes of AlunaGeorge. It was a fitting conclusion to a day of eclectic crowd-pleasers that traversed grime, trap, house and accessible radio anthems.

Sarah Little

OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

S :: ASHLEY MAR :: KATRINA CLAR

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