The Brag #452

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This Week

ROOTS MANUVA Thu 8 March w/ Dizz1, Tuka Just Announced

DIGITALISM Fri 11 May

Coming Soon

ROCK FOR RECLINK FT. THE CRUEL SEA & DAN SULTAN Thu 15 March

AQUA Fri 16 March*SOLD OUT!*

XAVIER RUDD *SELLING FAST!*

Fri 23 March

HELM & ELECTRIC HORSE Sat 24 March

Pez Fri 30 March

Mark Lanegan Band Fri 20 April

Iced Earth Thu 5 April

Fu Manchu Thu 3 May

w/ Lord

Kaiser Chiefs Tue 15 May

Dead Meadow & Pink Mountaintops Fri 6 April

Mutemath Wed 16 May

Sneaky Sound System Sat 7 April

Mickey Avalon Fri 18 May

Sandy Rivera Sun 8 April

w/ Kid Mac

Amon Amarth Sat 14 April

TIX +INFO 1300 THE HIFI

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly and Caitlin Welsh

five things WITH

PIETA BROWN (USA) Growing Up The Music You Make I grew up around a lot of music: my great The people/critics say “indie Americana 1.

4. grandparents were musicians; both of my folk rock blues”; I call my sound ‘prairie stomp’. grandfathers were preachers; my dad (Greg Brown) is one of my favorite songwriters... I spent a lot of my “daily” childhood after the age of 7 living with my mom, who worked 80 hours a week – so a lot of alone time! All of it has everything to do with my music now.

Inspirations I’m never good at favourites, but a few 2. early inspirations for me were Jean Ritchie, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Led Zeppelin, George Harrison, my dad, Loretta Lynn – and later, Neil Young, Iris Dement, and John Prine.

And Bo Ramsey, who I collaborate with often, continues to inspire me! For me, songwriting and music have become my response to the world! It’s my lifeline.

Your Band Bo Ramsey is always a part of my crew, 3. even when he doesn’t come out on the road.

We collaborate often; a deep and continual love of various forms of blues music is one of our biggest musical connections. In Australia I’ll have JT Bates on the big drums and Mike Rossetto on electric guitar and banjo.

I’ve recorded with many outstanding musicians and producers in the United States (Calexico, Amos Lee, Mark Knopfler, Don Was). I’m excited about our upcoming live shows in Australia – it’s a new formation: The Sawdust Boys! Though I’ve played with JT and Michael before, we have just recently started this trio, so there should be a fresh feeling! We’ll be playing songs from my newest album, Mercury and earlier ones like One and All – and some new songs too! And we’ll be collaborating with amazing Australian songstress Lucie Thorne.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I’ve only been to Australia (including 5.

Sydney) once! I was introduced to a lot of great music – so it seems like something MUST be going on! I’ve been enjoying Lucie Thorne’s music as well as Hamish Stuart’s own release, and digging Jordie Lane and Sal Kimber too...

With: special guest Lucie Thorne Where: Camelot Lounge / Corner Marrickville Road & Railway Parade, Marrickville When: Thursday March 15, 8.30pm

CHIIISSSELLL!

PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com ACTING EDITOR: Dee Jefferson steph@thebrag.com 02 9698 9645 ACTING ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Roslyn Helper dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITER: Caitlin Welsh NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Jay Collier, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, George Popov, Rocket Weijers, Tim Whitney ADVERTISING: Ross Eldridge - 0422 659 425 / (02) 8394 9492 ross@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 8394 9027 les@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Meaghan Meredith - 0423 655 091 / (02) 8394 9168 meaghan@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Conrad Richters - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance & parties) INTERNS: Sigourney Berndt, Alex Christie, Antigone Anagnostellis, Verity Cox REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Michael Brown, Liz Brown, Bridie Connellan, Ben Cooper, Oliver Downes, Alasdair Duncan, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Henry Florence, Mike Gee, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Robbie Miles, Peter Neathway, Hugh Robertson, Matt Roden, Romi Scodellaro, Jonno Seidler, Rach Seneviratne, Luke Telford, Rick Warner

A few facts that make Cold Chisel the greatest band in Australia: a) Jimmy Barnes wears undies on the cover of their magnum opus Circus Animals – not swimmers, undies; b) ‘Choir Girl’, a song about abortion, was played relentlessly on commercial radio stations through the ‘80s, most of which were owned by the Catholic Church; c) at the Countdown Awards (the ‘80s-ARIAs), they refused to pick up any awards and ended the night by trashing the stage; d) they have a song about Ita Buttrose, and it rules. We can now add e) Cold Chisel have announced their first studio album in 14 years, No Plans, which will be out April 6, and they will be launching it with an April 18 show at the Hordern. And f) ‘Do you remember, nothing stopped us on the field, in our day-ay-ay…’ Tickets on sale March 19.

Stonefield

AIN’T NO PARTY

So we were, like, sitting around in our inflatable furniture sorting our butterfly clip collections when a couple of pressers landed in our Yahoo inbox. Turns out S Club 7 and Big Brovaz are touring together in May – giving us barely enough time to recover from those Aqua shows – and we all know there ain’t no party like one where all the girls are wearing long chopsticks stuck into painfully tight, tiny knots of hair (pack your eye patches). And then on September 29, Eiffel 65 pilot their blue spaceship into Selina’s, of all places, with N-Trance in tow – but by then 2003 will be the new 1997 and JT and Xtina will be here for the Justified/Stripped/Reunited tour. (No complaints but.)

STONEFIELD

Ok, somebody please explain what is so great about four young sisters from rural Victoria playing amazing psychedelic stoner rock while looking effortlessly cool in that nondescript way that only teenagers can truly pull off? Oh, I guess I just explained the appeal of Stonefield while questioning the appeal. Is that meta? Or irony? Or tautology? Or symmetry? Come explain the wonders of language on their Bad Reality tour, which stops at The Standard on April 27. The Delta Riggs and Kingswood are supporting, and have you heard the sound at The Standard? It’s pretty undeniable.

Jezabels

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

Win a giveaway? Mail us a stamped and addressed envelope, and we’ll send your prize on over...

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I don’t know if you guys know this, but Neil Finn has a strong case for Most Hilarious Dude On Twitter. Liam says Dad gets flimsy on a nice red and just goes nuts in 140 characters or less, talking about how he’s going to “waste” 50 Cent and bemoaning the fact that nobody worships his calves, which have been “sculpted over years by brisk walking in the soft sand”.

Hopefully he’ll share some of his Hot Body Star Secrets when he appears as a keynote speaker at Sound Summit, which is on in Sydney May 26-28 – he’ll share that position with playwright and director Wesley Enoch, as well as presenting a doco about his Seven Worlds Collide project.

VIVID LIVE 2012

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SOUND SUMMIT 2012

JEZAHELLSYEAH

I have a bone to pick with the Jezabels: last year they were all “THE ENDLESS SUMMERRRRRRR!” and we were all like “WOOOOOOO SOUNDS AWESOME!” – and this summer has been both a total non-event weather-wise and now seems to be both endlessly hot and wet as fuck. What gives, Jezzies? Bet you anything it’s all nice and sunny when they play a bunch of shows in, uh, June, including one at the Hordern Pavilion on June 9. Yeah. That Hayley and her wacky weather voodoo.

You know in basketball when a player is shifted from starting forward to captain? Or when Ally McBeal would appear on Boston Legal, but still be Ally McBeal? Well, something that may be akin to this is happening with Vivid LIVE, now that Fergus Linehan, currently Head of Contemporary Music at Sydney Opera House, is taking on the role of Festival Director for the ten-day festival. He has hit the ground running, commissioning Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner to create and perform a unique evening of new works. Vivid LIVE happens from May 25 – June 3. Block it out in your Peanuts calendar. The full program will be announced on March 15. Block that out, too.

LAST DINOSAURS IN A MILLION YEARS THE DEBUT ALBUM FEATURING THE SINGLES

ZOOM, TIME & PLACE

AND

HONOLULU OUT NOW

TOURING THIS APRIL SAT 21ST OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY SUN 22ND TRANSIT BAR, CANBERRA SEE LASTDINOSAURS.COM FOR TICKETING DETAILS lastdinosaurs.com dew-process.com

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly and Caitlin Welsh

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said WITH

KARAVAN!

LAMTECH FROM LION MOUNTAIN STUDIO Your Band I used to rap in a small crew with another 3. guy; that was good in lots of ways, but it’s also really hard to work with someone who has different priorities. Now I’m part of the Lion Mountain crew; we work together and it’s awesome; we work together to make music but it’s much more than that – we help each other learn, and support each other as artists.

I’ll DJ with anyone! As long as they respect the dance floor!

The Music You Make I’ve had a lot of producers help me 4. out over the years, and I thank all of them because I feel like the music I make is because of the different styles they use. At the moment I have a track on FBi Radio that 48/4 helped me with – it’s awesome to have made something sound good and so professional.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I’m still learning at Lion Mountain; I’ll keep 5. making music but I want to know everything

Growing Up When I was a kid I was always miming 1. to all kinds of music, like hip hop, RnB, jazz – whatever would take my attention away from what I was doing. Where I grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, my family were all listening to soul music. My parents didn’t know much about music; I’m the only one in my family who is musical. My childhood was difficult because I was living with my dad and my Aunty; in ’96-‘97 the war came to

Freetown and we had to keep moving from one place to another to stay alive.

Inspirations My favourite musicians are Bob Marley, 2.

2PAC and Biggie; they are known all over the world and their stories have been told everywhere, because of their music. When I was about eight years old I started to really notice music and knew that I had to express myself in that way.

Several years ago in Oxfordshire, a young songwriter by the name of Tommy Grant could be seen playing unremarkable guitar pop in the clubs of Abingdon – there is a now-famous video on YouTube of him behind a microphone, wearing a yellow shirt and clearly struggling with nerves. Several years, a few forgettable tracks and one suspiciously bee-stung-looking eye later, Timmy has reinvented himself as “Thom Yorke”, complete with an unlikely backstory about fronting of one of the most influential bands of the past two decades.

The hype has worked for him, though, with his band “Radio Head” causing a ticketbuying frenzy when they sneakily announced intimate arena shows along the East Coast in November. And if all this is news, you’ve clearly been living in a bunker for the past waytoolong. (And tickets went on sale last Thursday March 1, we hope you were paying attention.)

FOLK UKE

BJM TOUR

The best thing about Gilmore Girls, aside from everything about it, is the fact they dedicated an entire episode’s B-plot to a parody of the documentary Dig!, and more specifically, The Brian Jonestown Massacre. They are a prolific bunch – frontman Anton Newcombe claims even more so than The Beatles, and he is kinda correct. They will be playing a small percentage of their catalogue May 17 at the Metro Theatre, with Danish indie rock duo The Raveonettes in support. Matt Hollywood is back in the BJM fold, too.

This is a good thing.

GO HERE, GO THERE

POGUE TRADERS

The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ is the greatest Xmas song not to appear on Hanson’s Snowed In, and despite the fact that Xmas songs are terrible, heinous things, it perfectly transcends this rule to capture the heart of The Pogues. Shane McGowan’s rough, shambolic, whiskey-soaked charm is the reason Australians

relate to the band, and why we will be skinning up, then getting a skinful, then something else involving skin (we’ll get back to you) come April 8 at Bluesfest, then again on April 11 at the Hordern Pavillion. The Melbourne show has sold out, so don’t delay.

GO HERE GO THERE

BRAG loves MUM @ World Bar. BRAG loves FBi Social at Kings Cross Hotel.

BRAG loves it most of all when the two parties come together to throw Go Here Go There, the best double-venue, minifestival in town. If you don’t know the score, it’s pretty simple: one ticket gets you into both venues, where you have your choice of 13 bands over three stages. This time round the bands include Richard In Your Mind, Sticky Fingers, Step-Panther and... BRAG has a couple of double passes to giveaway, and if you can tell us one other band on the lineup, one of them could be yours.

Step-Panther

With: The Sierra Sisters, LL Bock, DJ Funzo, 48/4, O Squid, Sounds Revolution and more What: Sounds Of The Lion Launch Party Where: Red Rattler 6 Faversham St Marrickville When: Saturday March 10 from 8pm

RADIOHEAD TOUR

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

(Go here, though). Richard In Your Mind, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Step Panther, Sures, Pear Shape, Jenny Broke The Window and 20% off burritos – does that not sound like the best red note you’ll ever spend? Yep, Go Here Go There is back again, and it’s just a twenny for 13 bands on three stages spread across two venues PLUS a magical wristband that gets you a discount at Guzman y Gomez.

Grab your ticket now, thank us (and FBi Social and MUM and FBi Radio and the World Bar and Guzman y Gomez) when you’re floating on a happy, thrifty cloud down Bayswater Road on March 16.

about music production – that’s where I’m at. I want to show other people how to make music, and help them out. When I’m doing a live show, I’m always there to surprise the audience, make them really enjoy themselves – that’s what I’ll be doing on Saturday!

Time to grab your tambourines, don your headscarves and kick up your heels – the gypsies are coming to town! Karavan!

International Gypsy Music Festival rolls into town this weekend, and this year they’re showering us with the tunes of Turkish gypsy music royalty Baro Banda, as well as locals Lolo Lovina, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Stoli & The Black Train, and Trevor Brown in DJ mode. It’s all happening at The Standard on Saturday March 10 – and if you’d like a double pass, just tell us who the Festival Director is (hint: see our story on page 18).

Remember that time we got drunk off red wine and cough medicine and started that Ukulele Orchestra with your neighbour Jess and her tall, tall boyfriend? Well, turns out that wasn’t as novel an idea as we claimed on Facebook, then Twitter, then YouTube. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have been at it for 25 years, playing the Royal Albert Hall and achieving various other feats that passed our group by. David Bowie likes them, too (he never heard us), and Bowie likes only the best things in life. They play the usual uke-jams: ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, ‘Psycho Killer’, you know the score. Catch them at Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, March 6 (this Tuesday, hurry!).

Richard In Your Mind

Ash Grunwald

GUM BALL FESTIVAL

Did anyone else always get Bubble O Bills when their parents bought them ice cream, because that was the only time you were ever allowed bubblegum, and you had to tongue off all that crappy chocolate and pallid, creepy cowboy face parts just to get to the gum ball in the middle, which was by that point ice cold and hard and tasted gross anyway? Well, that trauma is about to be totally healed when you head off to The Gum Ball Festival– an outdoorsy, chilled festival who just announced their finalised lineup for this year. Featuring Jinja Safari, Ash Grunwald, Wagons, Sietta, Front End Loader, Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, and the delicious combination of The Tongue and Custard, all in the bucolic surrounds of the Hunter Valley. Tickets on sale now.

RICHARD IN YOUR LOCAL

Richard In Your Mind play music that’s best described with a string of nonsensical terms: sunshine, whooshy, shoosh, mind-journey, mountain air, psychotropic, laser-eyed kittens. The Sydney psych-pop band play The Lansdowne this Wednesday March 7, with Lyyar and Through The Forest Door in support. Best thing about it is all that stuff we just mentioned. Second best thing is, it’s free!

“You’re bad for me like cigarettes but I haven’t sucked enough of you yet” - ROWLAND S. HOWARD 10 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

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The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * Aussie DJ Havana Brown went to #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Chart with debut single ‘We Run the Night’. Meantime DJs Minx and Alison Wonderland spun discs for names like Coldplay, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Tinie Tempah when they played EMI’s afterparties at the Grammys and Brits. * Slash told Triple M he’s touring here in spring. * While in Sydney, Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst got a tattoo of his record label’s bird logo.

Meanwhile, since touring here in January, Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner has got a Yorkshire rose tattooed on his arm, to denote his Yorkshire background. He’s already got the name of Brit poet John Cooper Clarke on his arm for inspiring his lyrics. * Jennifer Lopez’s nipple has its own Twitter account. It was set up minutes after she had a wardrobe malfunction at the Oscars. The account has a pic of the nearpop-out. Within three days, the account had 4,000 followers. An account dedicated to Angela Jolie’s leg accrued 15,500 in the same time. * Here’s something that Playground Weekender organisers (axed due to

ARIA: DIGITAL SALES UP 36.7% The Australian recorded music industry was last year worth $382.7 million, a slight 0.34% drop from the year before, according to Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) wholesale figures released last week. It’s a far cry from the $528.2 million generated in 2005, but ARIA took heart in the fact that overall unit sales were up 20.46% to 98.1 million units.

Physical sales were down 13.8%, but still accounted for $242 million. CD albums sold 20.5 million units worth $222.6 million while CD singles shifted 47,472 copies and brought in $151,402. Vinyl albums sold 44, 876 units generating $902,669 in revenue.

As Australians embrace legitimate online services, digital sales grew in number by 36.7% to 75.5 million. Digital track sales were up by 39.2% to 66.4 million (generating $79.5 million) and digital albums up 45.9% to 4.8 million ($46 million). Digital sales now make up 36.7% of the industry’s value, compared to 27.2% in 2010. While further growth is expected as new services like Spotify, Deezer and Rdio arrive, ARIA warned that online piracy continues to take its toll. Overseas figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) show that one in four consumers use illegal sites each month. Dan Rosen, ARIA CEO, said, “While as an industry we are doing all we can to embrace the digital media landscape by offering music fans more options than ever before to get their music legally online, we require urgent assistance in the fight against the negative impact of illegal online piracy. We will work in good faith with the Government and ISPs for practical progress in the coming year.”

G IV EA W AY S

APRA’s CEO Brett Cottle, in a keynote address to Fuse Festival in Adelaide, predicted 2012 would be the first year to show a rise since 2002, when Oz Music wholesale sales were at $600 million. He predicted that in 2012, the value of digital sales would surpass that of physical. Estimates are that digital sales will this year be worth $300 million at retail with physica

flooding) or Hobart’s MSFest (crap ticket sales) could hope for: 50% of 4500 fans who bought tickets for a Canberra Symphony Orchestra performance that got rained out, donated most or all of their money back to the orchestra, as the show cost $150,000 and 18 months to plan. Meanwhile, a series of shows in Port Macquarie to honour women songwriters and musicians as part of International Women’s Day, March 8, was axed due to low ticket sales. * One-time Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore died last February from a heart attack brought on by his drinking so much it was almost five times over the driving limit. He had 380mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood in his system, more than 30mg the amount associated with fatalities. Amy Winehouse had 416mg in her body when she died surrounded by three empty vodka bottles. * Children Collide parted with their fourth drummer since forming in 2004. Ryan Caesar quit, after his relationship with singer Johnny McKay soured. * Asked how he’d like to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ ‘God Save The Queen’, Johnny Rotten wants a cake fight with the Queen.

salesl at $250 million. The industry could “go into another golden period,” if it could combat illegal downloading.

QANTAS <3 MUSOS Six months after Virgin became the preferred carrier for Australian touring musicians thanks to its muso-friendly baggage policy, Qantas has lurched to the front counter too. Musicians can check in an additional item of luggage for free (48 hours notice, the item can weigh up to 23kg or 32kg for Qantas Club members), and pool luggage allowance between a band’s entourage (nine members or less). Musicians have to show proof they are a member of a music association, including AAM, AIR, APRA, AMCOS, LPA, CMAA, Live Performance or state associations such as MusicNSW, QMusic or VicMusic. We hear some of these were taken by surprise at the announcement.

UK TICKETING SCANDAL A furore has hit the UK involving ticket reselling websites. According to Channel 4’s Dispatches in an episode called The Great Ticket Scandal, major promoters keep aside tickets for big name tours so they can be sold for inflated prices through such sites. The show’s reporters went undercover and claimed that sites as Viagogo and Seatwave even get their employees to buy tickets when they go on sale so they can resell later. Both sides have angrily denied the claims, saying employees are banned from such practices.

INDICA IN OZ Canadian label Indica is to set up Australian operations – its first international outpost. Its president and head of A&R Franz Schuller, also member of punk band GrimSkunk, told this column, “Australia and Canada have many similarities, culturally and spiritually”. Indica has previously released John Butler Trio and The Cat Empire in Canada. The first two releases by Indica Australia (indica.com.au) will be NSW singer-songwriter Kim Churchill (whose Detail Of Distance album is out on April 6) and Canadian trio Half Moon Run,

who drop their debut album in May and tour here in September. They’ll be looking at young acts from Oz and NZ for international release, and to release and tour new acts from abroad.

Schuller’s partners in Indica Australia are Geoff Trio of Code One Entertainment across management, Rob Scott and Norman Parkhill from Source Music for publishing and synch, and Nicole Hart of Revolutions Per Minute for radio/ publicity. MGM will distribute.

SONG SUMMIT KEYNOTES Neil Finn and theatre director Wesley Enoch will be keynote speakers at Song Summit 2012, at the Sydney Convention Centre from May 26-28. Finn will present The Sun Came Out, a doco about how three years ago he got buddies Johnny Marr, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway, Glenn Richards and Bic Runga together to record an album for English charity Oxfam. Songwriter attendees are this year eligible for a scholarship to join the Bali Songwriting Summit (June 1-10) in Ubud, to write and collaborate with international artists and hit writers. For all the Song Summit details, see songsummit.com.au.

RECLINK COMMUNITY CUP The Meanies, Front End Loader and The Celibate Rifles will play the first Reclink Community Cup at Henson Park, Marrickville on Sunday March 18, with more to be announced. The Adam Spencer-captained Sydney Sailors team includes Max Easton (The Brag), Alex Dyson & Tom Ballard (triple j), Scott Dooley (The Project), Merrick Watts (Triple M), Ryan Fitzgerald & Wippa (Nova), Neil Cordy (ex-Sydney Swans), Mike Willesee Jr (Sky News), Scott Fitzsimmons and Kris Swales (Drum Media), actor/ musician Rhys Muldoon, and 2SER and FBi Radio folks. The Western Walers, captained by Dan Sultan, includes Damien Lovelock (co-captain), Anthony Field (Wiggles), Sam Worrad (The Holy Soul), Cec Condon (The Mess Hall), Joel Beeson (Philadelphia Grand Jury) and Geordie Malone (Kira Puru & The Bruise).

BAD SUMMER A bad economy, competition from the Queen’s Jubilee, Olympics and the absence of Glastonbury will mean a lean summer for British festivals. The YouGov Sixth Sense Music Festival Report revealed that half of those who attended a festival last year said they would not go this year. One third said festivals were too expensive, and only 5% thought they were value for money.

VIVID LIVE: NEW DIRECTOR The Sydney Opera House’s Vivid LIVE (May 25 – June 11) this year drops the idea of guest curators like Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno and Steve Pavlovic.

Instead, SOH’s head of contemporary music, Fergus Linehan, takes over as Festival Director. For Vivid LIVE 2012, New York creatives Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly and Bryce Dessner have been commissioned to create and perform new works. The full program is revealed on March 15.

KEIYNAN LANDS MTV Keiynan Lonsdale has been made full time presenter for MTV Australia and NZ alongside Erin McNaught. The singer, dancer and actor (he was with teen band Panjo 5) filled in for McNaught on MTV News, co-hosted MTV Summer, and hosted the first episode of Local Produce with 360 and Calling All Cars.

RADIO INK IN HOLLYWOOD When Sydney's Radio INK played G’day USA festivities in Hollywood, Miranda Kerr told them she was in her Roosevelt Hotel room dancing to their eight-hour DJ set below, Jon Voight posed for a pic, Chris Noth (aka Big from SATC) refused, Paul Hogan looked at Dic Money when told he was a fan of his last movie and muttered, “Thanks, who are you?” and Jeff Beacher (Beacher's Madhouse) asked if they could get him an interview with Nine Network. Radio INK are now back in Oz, where they’ve been announced as supports for the Aqua tour, and will release new single ‘Who We Are Tonight’ this week.

NEW SIGNINGS #1: TWO FOR LAUGHING OUTLAW Sydney indie label Laughing Outlaw has signed local power trio Bambino Koresh, led by charismatic Argentinian/Spanish singer-guitarist Leticia Nischang, and Blue Mountains outfit Charlie Horse, whose Crystal Rose and Paul McDonald grew up listening to Johnny Cash and Neil Young records, and built a studio in a remote valley to record their debut album.

NEW SIGNINGS #2: STRANGERS Sydney’s Strangers signed to new Shock imprint Permanent Records after label manager Leigh Gruppetta saw them at Big Sound Brisbane. They’re working on their debut album with producer/manager Tom Larkin of Shihad.

NEW SIGNINGS #3: SELECT Joining Select Music’s roster are Brisbane producer/ songwriter Argentina and his band, and hip hopper Sentry, who hit with single ‘The Waitress Song’.

NEW SIGNINGS #4: 360 Melbourne rapper 360 signed his worldwide publishing to Universal Music Publishing Group.

His platinum Falling and Flying went Top 5, his single ‘Boys Like You’ featuring Gossling has sold over 100,000 copies.

Lifelines Born: a Gibson guitar enthusiast in Waukesha, Wisconsin named his new son Gibson and wore a Gibson Les Paul shirt during the 30-hour delivery.

Hospitalised: Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones for an urgent heart surgery.

Hospitalised: King’s X drummer Jerry Gaskill, heart attack.

Died: Davy Jones of ‘60s prefab band The Monkees, 66, heart attack in a Florida hospital. They had six top 10 singles in the US, and three #1s: ‘Last Train to Clarksville’, ‘I’m a Believer’ and ‘Daydream Believer’.

Died: US bluesman Louisiana Red, 79, in Germany after a few days in a coma brought on by a thyroid imbalance.

Died: Dee Cernile, guitarist for Canadian band Sven Gali, 46, lung cancer.

DFA RECORDS OFFICIAL FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL AFTERPARTY!

I

WIN!

f you were clever enough to grab tickets to Future Music Festival, we’re betting you’re also clever enough to know that the DFA Stage is the place to be, with acts like Horse Meat Disco, Hercules and Love Affair, and Holy Ghost! tearing it up.

And for all of you who just can’t get enough DFA in your grill, we invite you to picture a dark hall, filled to the brim with dirty, sweaty partygoers, shaking their groove thang to the likes of local heroes Softwar and SlowBlow, tech-house mavericks Benoit & Sergio, cult synth-pop maestro Juan MacLean, and the legendary James Murphy and Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), who are more well known and well loved than Angelina’s right leg (true).

Benoit & Sergio

12 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

Pictured all that? Well that, my friends, is the DFA Records Official Afterparty, happening at the Metro Theatre on Saturday March 10. If you want to grab yourself a double pass, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us which country Benoit & Sergio hail from!

Sandringham Hotel 387 King St Newtown 9557 1254 MON

05

MAR TUE

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WED

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MAIN STAGE STREET LEVEL MAIN STAGE

Sando Sketch Club Life Drawing Unherd Open Mic “The Songwriter Sessions” Adam Pringle and Friends

FREE 7:00pm FREE 8:00pm FREE 7:30pm

STREET LEVEL

Funky as F#ck

CHILL STAGE

Capitol + Michele Madden (Tourettes) + Blackie (The Hard Ons)

$10 8:00pm

STREET LEVEL

Old Man Crow + Mavis And Her China Pigs

FREE 8:00pm

CHILL STAGE

Petulant Frenzy play Frank Zappa

STREET LEVEL

+ TOOHEYS $6 NEW JUGS (7-8PM)

+ $3 SCHOONERS OF SANDO LAGER

FREE 8:00pm

$15 8:00pm FREE 8:00pm

Johnathan Devoy + special guests “Ragged Company & Artist Voice presents”

F R I

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Endless Boogie (USA) + Rack & Ruin

$35 8:00pm

***TICKETS ON SALE NOW – www.moshtix.com.au ***

MAR

STREET LEVEL

FREE 8:00pm

Video Juke Box “Metal Evilution presents”

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MAIN STAGE

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$35 pre-sale (UK) / $40 (Grim Reaper / Lionsheart / Onslaught / Empires Of Eden) door + Darker Half + Taberah + Dragonsclaw 7:30pm

Steve Grimmett

***TICKETS ON SALE NOW – www.helldownunder.com

STREET LEVEL

Dave Tice and Mark Evans 4pm-7pm DJ Kaki 8pm-late

FREE 4:00pm

“I-94 Bar presents” SUN

11

CHILL STAGE

25th Floor + Chickenstones + Big Al Creed (unplugged)

$10 7:00pm

STREET LEVEL

Lucy DeSoto And The Handsome Devils

FREE 4:00pm

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FRIENDLY FIRES Third Time Lucky

By Alasdair Duncan uture Music Festival will mark Friendly Fires’ third visit to Australia in a little over a year; they were here for Good Vibrations last summer, and returned in winter for Splendour In The Grass.

The difference between the shows was surprising: the first time around they were good, but the second, they were amazing. I was there near the front of the crowd for their roof-raising set in the dance tent, and I have never seen as many people taking their shirts off or as many audience members engaging in public displays of affection as I have during that performance. I mention this to drummer Jack Savidge, and he laughs nervously.

“Well, I’d say if you’re in a band and you’re not aiming for people to take their clothes off during your shows, then you’re probably doing something wrong,” he says.

Savidge’s mind right now is on the future – specifically, on new music from Friendly Fires. The band have already started work on a follow-up to Pala, and are excited about the direction that the new songs are taking. “We’ve just been in Sweden,” he tells me. “We spent just over a week there, and we made a lot of new music. We rented a cabin out somewhere remote, and the peace and quiet really helped us get a sense of focus. It felt really good to start getting new ideas out. When you’ve been playing the same couple of songs for a long time, you want to add a new dimension to what you’re doing, and I think the stuff we’ve been doing in Sweden really does reach something we haven’t touched on before.

I’m really excited about it.”

“I was getting into dance music and I was getting into DJing when I was in my late teens,” he continues, “and I think I got Ed and Edd into it a little bit. I’ve loved that kind of thing for a long time, especially music from around the birth of rave.” It’s a peculiar position to be in – experiencing nostalgia when you were never actually there in the first place – but as Savidge points out, the internet makes looking to the past a whole lot easier. “You can go on YouTube and look at videos of raves from two decades ago, watch music videos from that era, and you can just sit there for days and do that if you choose,” he says. “It’s all readily available. I don’t think that’s a ... it’s a strange thing to be constantly thinking back to the past. At some point you have to worry about what’s happening here and now.”

Is this a new dimension instrumentally or lyrically, I ask Savidge, or just in terms of the general feeling of the music? “It’s in terms of the general feeling,” he replies.

“The new songs are maybe a bit more thoughtful than the songs on Pala. Pala’s a very intense record, and with the new songs, we want to do something that’s a bit more beautiful and unhurried. I don’t want to say that they’re relaxed, because that makes them sound like chill-out music, but they’re a bit more laid-back.” The Friendlies have been listening to a lot of Neu! and Can lately, and this Krautrock sound, Savidge tells me, has proven influential on the new material. “Not a lot happens in the music, but it’s still very evocative,” he says. “It makes you feel like you’re speeding down a motorway or something like that. That’s the kind of feeling we’re going for.”

“I’d say if you’re in a band and you’re not aiming for people to take their clothes off during your shows, then you’re probably doing something wrong...”

It seems Friendly Fires won’t be making an all-out dance record this time around, but they may not rule it out for the future. Fans who caught the band’s entry in the Bugged Out series of mix albums will remember the track, ‘Stay Here’, a collaboration with Toronto-based house outfit Azari & III, who are also on the bill at Future Music. “Making

that track with them was amazing,” Savidge says, “because we got to try on a different kind of music for size. We’d never thought about making a house track before, but it turned out really well. The collaboration was a little bit of a disjointed experience, because we never actually got to meet, we were just passing music back and forth over the internet. But yeah, it was good to try on a different sound.”

Taking our conversation briefly back to the tour, I ask Savidge if, while the band are excited to be coming back to Australia, they are dreading the thought of lugging all their synths and gear around to the other side of the world yet again. “Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that too much these days,” he says, “because we have a crew to do that. Generally though, it’s annoying.

It’s okay in Australia, we’ve never had much hassle there, but in America, everything has to be done by the book, and ... I don’t know.

It’s all a bit serious. But yeah, waiting in airport queues and pushing around a huge stack of gear is never fun.” So, any parting words for fans before Future Music Festival?

“Just that we’re delighted to be coming back again,” Savidge says. “If you see us walking around the festival, do come and say hi.

That’s my message to Australia.”

With: New Order, Aphex Twin, Swedish House Mafia, Fatboy Slim, Tinie Tempah, Die Antwoord, Skrillex, Chase & Status, Jessie J and loads more Where: Future Music Festival @ Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 10 After: Friendly Fires DJ set at Picnic’s Future Music Festival Afterparty @ GoodGod Smallclub on Saturday March 10 from 10pm, alongside Mike Witcombe, Kali and Andy Webb

“I am blinding, autoluminescent. I am white heat. I am heaven sent. I was a nightmare but I’m not gonna go there again” - ROWLAND S. HOWARD 14 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

Friendly Fires photo by Satoshi Minakawa

The key difference between the two shows, as Savidge tells it, was confidence. “When we did Good Vibes, we were road-testing a load of new songs that hadn’t been released yet,” he explains. “We knew that it was going to be a bit tougher to sell those ones, but we still ended up playing about five or six new songs that people hadn’t heard. By the time we came back for Splendour, people knew the songs, and the response was better, so I think in turn maybe we played a bit better. I think you get back what you give to audiences, and we definitely found that at the Splendour show.” The band have been touring Pala for a good long while since then, and they’ve grown even more confident with the songs, so when they come back for Future Music Festival, Savidge assures me, the show will likely be even better again.

The songs on Pala were synth-kissed dance rock of the most intoxicating variety. The album represented an attempt by Friendly Fires to capture the joy and abandon of a time and place they never actually got to visit – the early ‘90s rave era. Like the bulk of their audience, the band were too young to be involved in the rave movement when it actually happened, so instead, through day-glo synths, rolling piano loops, cut-up rhythms and euphoric, hands-in-the-air choruses, they created their best version of it. “When we first got together, we were just discovering dance music, so a lot of the songs on the album are nods to what inspired us when we were starting out, and really what remains important to us,” he says.

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 15

Real Estate My Bros By Emily Williams

“[The Chinese restaurant show] ran really late and we didn’t end up playing until like two in the morning. People were crowd-surfing, moshing during our set... It was a good one.”

Australia, they’ll bring an expanded touring quintet that includes keyboardist Jonah Mauer, who started out band-managing the guys on their fledgling tours, and new drummer Jackson Pollis, who, aside from being a superb drummer, is also a longtime friend. “We were only ever really a trio when we were making the record,” says songwriter Martin Courtney. “We’ve always had a drummer, [but] it’s always good to have more people; the more people the better. ‘Cause even in terms of, I don’t know, getting along on the road, it’s nice to have extra people there.” For buffering? “Yeah, exactly; to toss around a bit more.”

S

itting snugly in the top reaches of many critics’ end-of-year lists, Days, the second LP from feted New York-via-New Jersey trio Real Estate, is an accomplished, sun-speckled record that follows the recent trend for nostaglia-dripping indie-pop records, without seeming reactionary or sliding into pastiche. Ahead of the group’s debut Australian tour, bassist Alex Bleeker explains the mood of Real Estate’s follow-up is a direct result of the tiring touring schedule for their debut LP, which consequently left the band nostalgic for the simple pleasures that home provides.

“At a certain point we just had to take a break from touring, to become re-engaged in the band, in a way,” Bleeker explains. “It’s still fun to play live every night, but you can’t change it up that much and there’s kinda this mechanical, robotic glaze that tends to come over you. Once we were done touring that first record, we were able to start working on new material and enjoy playing again for the

heck of it and not performing for anybody.

That was a really necessary step in the process of creating the new record.”

Another key aspect in the shift towards a more widescreen sound was their use of a traditional studio (for the first time), under the guidance of producer Kevin McMahon.

“He’s like an extended friend,” Bleeker tells me. “He’s a professional but we’ve known him a long time, so it was this happy hybrid; we weren’t going into a studio where we didn’t know anybody, [or one] that was very, very flashy and unlike our very modest, home-style sound. … With the second record [we felt] that we wanted to make it a natural progression for the band. [But it was] definitely a step up, and there was definitely a learning curve – like, ‘Oh my god, we’re in a studio now, we can do anything we want’.

You’re not guided by your limitations.”

Working with familiar faces seems to be part of Real Estate’s MO. When they come to

A little tour weary when we talk, Courtney agrees with Bleeker’s assessment that much of Days’ emotional content emerged as a result of the ‘robotic touring glaze’. “I think that that definitely informs some of the lyrics on the new album. The idea of being down a lot, and homesick and everything on the road.

That was definitely a new thing for us … the experience of being away.”

If it wasn’t already apparent, Courtney is a bit of a homebody. “A big one,” he concurs.

“I don’t really like being gone all the time, I really actually prefer to be home…with family. [Touring] also takes away from the time that we get to come up with new music.

That’s what I prefer – the time of writing and recording songs as opposed to just playing them all the time.”

And the way Real Estate tell it, New Jersey is pretty easy to get nostalgic about. Days speaks of “dormant trees, under bright lit skies / Mountains of maple leaves standing side by side...” “Where we come from, it’s definitely pristine, tree-lined suburbs, and in the music we’re definitely nostalgic for

this neutral, coming-of-age type of area, and I think that’s really present on the first record,” Bleeker says of the hometown shared by him, Courtney and Matt ‘Ducktails’ Mondanile. Songs like ‘Green Aisles’ encapsulate all the romanticism of things seen through the rose-tinted filter of distance. “A lot of [Days] is about …having memories of home when you’re removed from them,” Bleeker agrees. “I don’t think you really know where you’re from until you leave and see as many places as possible and figure out where you fit in.”

A few days before our chat, Real Estate played an unassuming Chinese restaurant with fellow New Yorkers, Black Dice. And if all this weary talk of perpetual touring and the loneliness of the road paints Real Estate as a band who’d prefer to be curled under a blanket rather than performing on stage, Martin Courtney assures me they still enjoy playing live. “Yeah it was fun!” he recalls of the Chinese restaurant show. “The show ran really late and we didn’t end up playing until like two in the morning. It’s not the type of show that I ever would have gone to… The audiences were cool and people were crowdsurfing, moshing, during our set, which is pretty rare. It was a good one.”

With the touring cycle for Days coming to an end shortly after their Australian sojourn, these will be some of the last Real Estate shows before the band take a long-overdue break to record a new EP. You can almost see Courtney grinning at the prospect…

With: Twerps, Sures Where: The Standard When: Friday March 9 More: Days is out through Domino

Dirty Three photo by Annabel Mehran

Dirty Three

Something Surreal In The Air By Alasdair Duncan

T

hese days, Warren Ellis calls Paris home. The violinist, who plays with such iconic Australian acts as Dirty Three and The Bad Seeds, is living the life of the exiled artist – as far as that’s possible with a wife and two children. As a family man and a musician, the city suits him just fine. “Paris is a good place to be,” he says. “It’s easy to go places, and it’s easy to hide and get away from things. I move in small circles, and I’m a creature of habit. I go to England a lot to work with Mick, and it’s easy to get over there and get into a studio. I can get to America in a couple of hours – the only place it’s actually relatively difficult to get to is Australia. I’m in a good position here – I need to be able to move around at the moment.”

The Mick he’s referring to is, of course, Mick Harvey, his Dirty Three band mate of almost two decades. Harvey currently resides in Melbourne, while the third member of the trio, drummer Jim White, is a man of the world. Though it seems counter-intuitive, Ellis assures me that the great distance is what keeps the band vital. “When you live in different countries, you don’t get complacent about things,” he explains. “When you get together, there’s a sense of urgency. There’s a moment that you have to work in, and that’s it.

You can’t easily arrange another session the

“We were at it so long that the mood had passed through desperation – by the time we got to it, there was actually something surreal in the air.”

16 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

next week if something goes wrong. If it didn’t mean anything, then we’d just stop doing it – the fact that everybody still has the desire to get together and do it means it’s important.”

Toward The Low Sun, the first Dirty Three album in seven years, is out this month.

Ellis has called it the band’s definitive work, although the process of getting it into the world was a long and difficult one. “There were a couple of occasions between the last album and this one where we got together in a room to see if we had any ideas,” he tells me, “but none of it seemed to lead anywhere. I was starting to wonder if the band had actually run its course. For me to have been able to create a lot of stuff with other projects, playing with other bands and doing film work ...” he stops for a second. “To have been able to do that but still be struggling with Dirty Three was very frustrating. We were at it so long that the mood had passed through desperation – by the time we got to it, there was actually something surreal in the air.”

The key to finding a sound that worked, Ellis says, was to stop thinking like a studio group and start thinking like a live outfit. “We started talking about it,” he says, “trying to work out a way to get back into it, and then we hatched this idea to try and open it up again, and try and get more of the elements we have when we play live. That allowed us to open the dialogue up again – in the live setting, you can take a simple idea and let the voice of the instruments take over, and a really interesting thing takes place. We were more interested in that, rather than the more straightforward tunes that we’d been heading towards on the previous album. We were really lost for a while, but it was playing live that really made us figure out an approach.”

I ask Ellis if the years of frustration from failed attempts to create an album fed into the dark, frenetic mood of Toward The Low Sun. His answer takes me by surprise – he tells me that, when it comes to recording

with Dirty Three, he finds it best to leave his emotions at the door. “I think whenever I’ve gone into the studio, it’s always been better if it’s emotionally really neutral,” he says. “Obviously you’ve felt a lot of emotions, good and bad, that have inspired you to write the songs, but once you get into the studio to record, I think it’s good to leave all that baggage at the door and then get in there and be as neutral as you can so the voice that you find in there is pure.”

that have taken me be surprise, and haven’t been the things I was searching for. I find that when you try to force those things, you end up feeling disappointed by them.

I always try to remain neutral in the studio.

That’s something that’s come with time – in the early days, I couldn’t do it. Maybe it has something to do with getting older, but I’ve found that if you can go into the studio without that baggage, you can find a much truer, purer performance.”

“I think then, if the music needs to be sad or emotional or violent, it can be as objective as possible, or as pure as possible,” he continues. “It’s not forced that way. Some of the most beautiful discoveries I’ve had in the studio, some of the most extraordinary moments, have happened accidentally and effortlessly – they’ve always been things

When: Wednesday March 21 Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House More: Also playing WOMADelaide from March 9-12 at Botanic Park (Adelaide) with Bonobo, First Aid Kit, Gurrumul, Jinja Safari, Chic, Blue King Brown, Pajama Club, Tinariwen, Groundation, Penguin Café and more

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au.yamaha.com BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 17

The Magnetic Fields S

tephin Merritt’s mordant wit and his ear for an exquisite pop hook have made him a much-beloved cult figure with his band The Magnetic Fields. Each of the songs on his new album, Love At The Bottom Of The Sea, is like its own short-story collection, populated with a variety of sad, twisted and tormented characters. Take opener ‘Your Girlfriend’s Face’, whose narrator takes out a hit on an ex-boyfriend, promising that the assassin will start by messing up his girlfriend first – it’s two minutes of gleeful sadism, wrapped in some of the sweetest hooks and melodies you’ve ever heard. Then there’s ‘Andrew In Drag’, a tale of a gay boy who falls in hopeless, unrequited love after seeing a friend dressed as a girl.

Brothers Grim Black Cherry & Blue Murder By Benjamin Cooper

J

ames Grim, frontman of Melbourne blues fiends Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders, possesses one hell of a beard.

It’s so bad-ass that it occasionally opens doors that mere mortals find closed, ensuring that the Brothers maintain their reputation as cheeky rule-breakers. Speaking down the line from Melbourne’s Labour in Vain Hotel, the sometimes-teacher (and full-time partystarter) is infectiously excited as he exclaims, “Sweet Jesus, I love this pub! I mean, it’s nice enough to meet you, but these people are actually opening the bar early for me just so I can have a pint and a chat with you. Brilliant!”

(Grim is quick to acknowledge that his influence over hospitality staff may be down to “that crazy-eyed bushranger thing”).

Sydney fans of the southern gentlemen’s dirty brand of rock can expect Grim and his cohorts to be in good health and roaring spirits when they headline the upcoming instalment of Black Cherry – something they’ve had their sights on for quite a while.

“Generally speaking,” Grim says, “we tend to just tour by doing our own thing. So to be able to do someone else’s show, and particularly such a special event like Black Cherry, is both rare and enticing.”

In particular, Grim is looking forward to Jungle Rump’s infamous live Rock’n’Roll Karaoke. “I have to admit that I am something of a latecomer with karaoke,” he confesses.

“People always assume that because I’m in a band I can sing – which is the first and worst mistake. I’m in a blues band, y’know? We’re all about the growl... My finest karaoke moment definitely came at this weird suburban bowling club a little while back,” Grim recalls, fondly. “I didn’t realise, but

there’s this whole culture of people who take karaoke pretty seriously. I don’t think they dug some hairy blues punk climbing up on stage to do a very energetic version of Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’. Musically, it probably wasn’t all that strong, but it was pure performance the likes of which that place hadn’t seen before.

This time – well let’s just say I have been prepping Kriss Kross’ ‘Jump’ and I am ready to rip that shit up!”

Grim is also particularly looking forward to sharing a bill with “totally dynamite” Melbourne rockers The Delta Riggs, and local burlesque babe Tasia. “If Tasia were alive thousands of years ago,” Grim reckons, “she’d be this queen in the jungle. She’d sit atop a crazy throne and the Amazons would bring her the finest men they could hunt. She’d pick a few specimens to devour, and then discard the others. That lady has sass and style and grace, and damn it if she doesn’t know how to work all those elements together.” And there’s every chance the man himself may perform at his exotic best: “I’ve whipped my kit off before at a show,” Grim tells me. “I’m no stranger to a bit of chaos, and I think Black Cherry’s the perfect place for some beautiful moments of organised chaos. Some people might say ‘that’s disgusting’; I’d say, ‘Welcome to the blues, baby!’”

Love gone wrong is an ongoing concern in Merritt’s work – in fact, he admits, it’s probably the thing that most drives him as a songwriter. “Unrequited love is a major theme in my life, and in pop music,” he says, a note of sadness in his deep voice. “Songwriters are not the kind of people you want to go out with, they’re the kind of people you want to avoid. Most songwriters, dare I say all, would be quite familiar with that feeling.” It’s a tricky position to be in, I say, to have something that fuels you creatively but is such a drain on you personally. “There’s something endlessly inspirational about unrequited love,” he says.

“This new album definitely embodies that concept.”

Merritt’s songs draw from his own experiences. ‘Your Girlfriend’s Face’, for instance, is a revenge fantasy about an old ex, and all of it actually happened...aside from the part about hiring the assassin, he assures me with a nervous laugh. I ask if the same is true of ‘Andrew In Drag’ – but he tells me he doesn’t actually remember writing that one.

“I like to sit around in bars writing songs,” he says, “and because each song takes so long to write, I’m often quite drunk by the time it’s finished. Then I wake up in the morning and I don’t remember having written it. That song is one of those. I discovered it in my notebook one morning... in my handwriting.”

Given the narrative quality of his work, I ask Merritt if he has ever considered turning to fiction writing as an outlet. He tells me that the idea of working in multiple mediums has definitely crossed his mind. “I recently saw a documentary on Serge Gainsbourg,” he says, “and I didn’t realise he’d been a painter before he became a songwriter. He was a painter of women, of nudes. It’s interesting, because he was doing a similar thing, but in a different medium.” He tells me that if he were to write a work of fiction, it would probably be a verse novel. “At the moment, verse novels are big in the young adult market, but it’s a tradition that dates back to Eugene Onegin – so verse novels can also be very serious, high art.

Mine would be funny, so I think it would be more like Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate.”

I suggest to Merritt that, with the young adult market crying out for an interesting gay protagonist right now, a couple of his twisted characters might well liven things up a bit.

“Everyone’s been asking me about writing fiction today,” he says, “so it feels like it might be the time. As long as it doesn’t have a visibly gay person on the cover, it should be okay.”

With: The Delta Riggs (Melb), Firebird (Melb), Graveyard Rockstars, plus DJ sets from Jane Gazzo (Channel V), Kasdeja (Ascension), Rockabilly Rhino vs Wolfman Dan, and performances by Tasia, Holly J’aDoll, La Viola Vixen (Bris) – and heaps more!

Where: Black Cherry @ The Factory Theatre

What: Love At The Bottom Of The Sea is out now on EMI

When: Saturday March 10 from 8pm

Karavan!

Music To Kick Your Heels Up To By James Nicoli

F

rom its humble beginnings in Melbourne to its current East Coast tour, the Karavan!

International Gypsy Music Festival has steadily grown in both size and popularity over the last three years – and this year’s festival continues the trend of showcasing the best local and international proponents of oldschool and current gypsy music.

According to festival director Murat Yulic there are no signs of slowing down, either, with plans to expand Karavan’s touring schedule nationally.

For Yulic, Karavan! is as much a passion as a job; born and raised in Turkey, he has been surrounded by gypsy music for most of his life.

“It’s such a big part of life there; almost all weddings and celebrations have gypsy musicians and music,” he tells me. And Yulic went on to become a musician himself, honing his craft over the last five years through playing with Romani musicians in Turkey.

thought it was time to introduce this unique band to Australian audiences – and so far it’s been great.” Baro Banda will play in Sydney off the back of their performance at Perth International Arts Festival on February 28, of which Yulic says, “it was fantastic. Everyone there had an amazing time…”

It was in 2005, while working on producing a gypsy music festival in Istanbul, that the first seeds of Karavan! were sown. The festival ended up falling through, but Yulic and his collaborator Alisha Brooks were so inspired by the concept that it percolated in their minds for the next five years – before coming to fruition in 2010, in Melbourne, where Yulic was living at the time and jamming with his band Unified Gecko.

Playing alongside Baro Banda for the Sydney leg of the tour are Karavan! veterans Lolo Lovina, and locals Stoli & The Black Train, The Crooked Fiddle Band, and DJ Trevor Brown.

“The idea behind Karavan! is to present different aspects and influences of gypsy music,” says Yulic. The Sydney leg of the tour will be headlined by Baro Banda, a truly global outfit that was born out of a 2006 jam session on a street stage in the heart of Istanbul, between members of Unified Gecko and master Romani musicians of Istanbul.

The result is a unique sound that combines the best of underground gypsy roots music with more modern electronic sounds.

“Since that performance in 2006 we’ve toured Turkey many times and performed at many festivals around Europe,” says Yulic. “We

For Yulic, Karavan!’s blend of great local and international acts is part of its success; the other major factor is the festival’s unique vibe and atmosphere. “It’s a very diverse type of people that go to Karavan!, and everybody seems to be in great spirits... [there’s]s a lot of dancing, a lot of foot stomping and it’s just a happy party really!”

What: Karavan! International Gypsy Music Festival With: Baro Banda, Stoli & The Black Train, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Lolo Lovina, Trevor Brown (DJ set) Where: The Standard / Lvl 3, 383 Bourke Street, Taylor Square When: Saturday March 10

“The clouds assume the shape of Catholic girls with Uzis. All of them on the make” - ROWLAND S. HOWARD 18 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

Xxxx

Love Hurts By Alasdair Duncan

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 19

Wild Flag Grrrl Power By Michael Hartt

P

ortland four-piece Wild Flag started as a one-off collaboration for a soundtrack to a documentary about feminism in art.

Ex-Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein had enlisted former drummer Janet Weiss and keyboardist Rebecca Cole (of fellow Portland natives The Minders) to create the instrumentals for the film. As Cole explains, what happened next was what really got the group up and running.

“The director wanted vocals for a track and Carrie hadn’t really written the songs with that in mind, so she sent the song to Mary [Timony] in DC to see if she could come up with something. Mary sent us back this track that just sounded so great. I think listening to that song, almost presented as a pop song once we added the vocals, probably got us all thinking ‘Well maybe there’s something here that we should explore’.”

With Timony based on the other side of the country, in Washington DC, the quartet decided to get together in the same room to see if they could produce more music to the standard of that first outing. With some

satisfactory results, it was decided that the next step should be to play live. Their first public outing was to 200 people in November 2010, following by a West Coast tour. “In the meantime, we’d sent some demos to Merge and they liked them, luckily,” Cole recalls, “and signed us to their amazing label. They wanted us to do some East Coast dates and to do South By Southwest in the spring so we booked those shows. So we actually got two tours under our belt before we went into the studio to record in April 2011”.

Besides Brownstein and Weiss’ extensive shared history through Sleater-Kinney, Brownstein and Timony had released an EP together in 1999 as The Spells, and Weiss and Cole had also collaborated previously. “There was a little bit of familiarity within the group,” says Cole, “but we’re still a pretty new band and I think there’s still is a lot of freshness there; a lot of stuff we can learn about the four of us working together in a group dynamic. The balance of newness and familiarity was pretty helpful for us”.

In September 2011 the group released their self-titled debut LP, an album full of fistpumping, sing-along rockers and cheekily infectious pop that displays the rawness of a band that’s honed their sound playing live.

“Together the four of us are kind of wielding this beast that is definitely rock,” Cole muses of Wild Flag’s sound. “When I describe my band, I say its rock‘n’roll. But there’s a lot of influences there and a lot of opportunities for growth that we haven’t even explored yet… We all have such a diverse background as far as music that we love and music that we’ve played goes [and] I think you can hear our individual influences a little bit in the record. Janet’s a very powerful drummer, I can’t think of a record

“We’ve built into the set these spaces of improvisation and freedom where we almost push each other to see how far we’re gonna go.” she’s played on where that isn’t expressed.

Carrie and Mary are two of the best guitar players going. They have very different styles both as guitar players and as singers. Then my background is pretty much pop; more pure pop as far as what I’m used to playing.”

Since the album’s release the group has toured extensively through the US, and began 2012 with a tour of the UK and Europe. Cole explains that playing live has given them the opportunity to expand on the album’s material as well as developing their musical chemistry. “We’ve built into the set these spaces of improvisation and freedom where we almost push each other to see how far we’re gonna go,” she tells me. “It’s a really wonderful thing; it keeps touring really fresh. … We never play the songs the same way, especially the ones that have moments for jams and room for improvisation.”

Prior to their European shows, the group re-convened to flesh out some new material to test out in front of an audience. “It’s important for us to have new songs to play. When you’re playing a bunch of shows, it’s nice to have fresh stuff in the set to look forward to. Also, it gives us a chance to work songs out live before we record them, which I think is a really nice way to do it if you can do it,” Cole says.

With: Love Of Diagrams, Unity Floors Where: Manning Bar, Sydney University When: Tuesday March 13 More: Also playing Golden Plains Sixxx held from March 10-12 at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, Victoria with Bon Iver, Real Estate, Black Lips, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, First Aid Kit, Roky Erickson, Charles Bradley, Urge Overkill and loads more.

20 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

Wild Flag photo by John Clark

As yet there are no plans for album number two.

With each member having commitments outside of Wild Flag – including Brownstein co-writing and starring in the hipster-skewering comedy Portlandia – dedicating enough time to the band could be a challenge. “We all do other things and there’s also the physical distance we have with Mary on one coast and us on another coast. I think we do pretty well,” Cole says. “We all made it a priority this year to be available, play a bunch of shows and spend a lot of time together. I think deciding to put it at a high priority level for all four of us has been helpful.”

Last Dinosaurs Looking To The Future By Alasdair Duncan

Y

outhful Brisbane indie rockers Last Dinosaurs are all set to release their eagerly-anticipated debut In A Million Years. The album’s title is a line from the opening track ‘Zoom’ – which is about being young and in love and feeling as though you have an infinite amount of time ahead of you – and according to singer Sean Caskey, it’s meant to encapsulate the band’s optimistic approach to life. “When you’re young, you feel like you can be immortal, and ‘Zoom’ is essentially about that. Immortality, to me, is making a mark on a person, and on the world, so you can be remembered. That’s what I want to do with my life, and that’s what we wanted to do with this album – we wanted to make something timeless.”

Early last year, when their infectious single ‘Time & Place’ was launched, Last Dinosaurs were almost ready to decamp to London to record an album. That never happened, but Caskey feels now that they made the right decision. “We were thinking seriously about the move,” he says. “We had a heap of songs to record, but we looked at them, and just decided that they weren’t good enough. We decided to wait another six months to a year, and that was really the best decision we could have made. Most of the album was written in the six months leading up to the recording. If we didn’t wait, we would have had a completely different set of songs, and it would have been nowhere near as good as the one we have now.”

Last Dinosaurs met in high school, bonding over a shared love of Phoenix and The Strokes, and they were playing gigs around the country before their guitarist, Sean’s brother Lachlan, was old enough to be allowed into venues unchaperoned. When writing their debut, the idea of pleasing crowds was never far from their minds. “We’ve learned a lot of lessons in the couple of years of touring we’ve done,” Caskey says. “It sounds a bit obvious, [but] when you’re playing a song you like, and the crowd clearly really like it too, that’s just the perfect feeling. Whenever we wrote a song for the album, we asked what it would feel like to play live – when we tour, we want to have fun, and we really want everyone at the gigs to have fun, too.”

bittersweet, lyrically or melodically. I think that’s influenced me a lot. That actual sound of that melody comes from that style of music.”

Given that Last Dinosaurs are about to tour the country to launch their album, I ask Caskey about some of the highlights of the band’s live career so far. He still regards a trip around Australia with Foals as one of the greatest runs of gigs Last Dinosaurs have yet done: “We got to hang out with them and talk to them a lot, they were really humble people,” he recalls.

A recent tour with Foster The People was also an eye-opener, but for different reasons.

“I’m not a die-hard fan, but they put on an awesome show,” he says. “[But] they were so busy, they didn’t really have much time to talk to us and let us pick their brains. It was great to have the chance to watch their live show and learn from it, but we didn’t get to understand them as people, which is a very important part of it for me.”

What: In A Million Years is out now through Dew Process

”Adam Cohen is not only ‘the son of Leonard’ but a complete artist who amply deserves the applause and cheers he received from the sell-out crowd.” - Métro (Montréal)

“Most of the album was written in the six months leading up to the recording. If we didn’t wait, it would have been nowhere near as good as the one we have now.”

In A Million Years is stuffed with tremendously catchy guitar pop tracks, ‘Zoom’ and ‘In A Million Years’ among them, but one of the stand-outs is ‘Weekend’, a slower, dreamier song with a distinct early ‘90s haze about it.

Caskey seems thrilled that I’ve picked this one out – it was the last song written for the album, and proved to be one of the more challenging, but it’s also one of their favourites. “We were in pre-production,” he says, “and basically the whole album was finalised, but we spent days and days trying to figure out the last song. It was so hard. The guys decided that we were going to make it ‘Weekend’, and we were going to completely rewrite it, and I just thought, ‘Oh fuck, that sounds like a lot of work!’”

Xxxx

At the time, Caskey was writing a different, all-new song, but slowly, he found himself cannibalising it, until each part of it was folded into ‘Weekend’. “The thing about that song is that I always like to play things that don’t sound like anything else, that sound different. ‘Zoom’ has that very fast, weird melody, and ‘Weekend’ has that dreamy, fantasy, cartoon sort of melody that you hear coming through on the chorus. I finished my guitar part for the song, and then decided I wanted to try this extra thing I had in my head, which ended up being that weird little sound, and that made the song.”

To me, ‘Weekend’ sounds almost like vintage video game music, but Caskey says that the song draws on his childhood love of anime. “I grew up watching a lot of Japanese anime,” he says, “particularly films, and the guy who writes the music for a lot of them is named Joe Hisaishi. His thing is the melancholy sound.

I’ve always been fascinated by the whole idea of melancholy. I like the music I make to be

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arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...

five minutes WITH

A

lice Springs based stand-up comic Fiona O’Loughlin has spent the last year touring the major festival circuit and is set to grace the stage with her “desert-dry wit” at the recently re-opened Harold Park Hotel.

In her new show, The Divine Miss O, O’Loughlin takes her cues from Bette Midler and Cher, and wants to make you feel like it’s just one rollicking dinner party.

GAME OF THRONES! WIN! A Song of Ice and Fire is the first of five best-selling novels in George R.R. Martin’s epic Game of Thrones series.

Adapted by HBO for television, this sweeping fantasy saga has become and instant and engrossing cult hit.

FIONA O’LOUGHLIN

You’ve spent the last year touring the major festival circuit. Do you prefer the big gigs or a more intimate setting like your upcoming show at the Harold Park Hotel?

Unfortunately I prefer big gigs, only because there’s safety in numbers. One in four people laugh out loud so I’ve always figured the more the merrier, quite literally.

In the past you’ve drawn largely on your Irish Catholic upbringing, your family and myriad stories from your own life. What can audiences expect from your new show The Divine Miss O? This show has a little less of me holding the gun to my own head. I’m having some cracks at the world around me and I’m singing!!

How have Bette Midler and Cher served as inspiration for The Divine Miss O? In a very tongue in cheek way.

You’ve been quite public with your battle against alcoholism.

Does comedy help you deal with this or does

Unicorn City

the nature of the job add fuel to the fire?

Comedy was definitely more of a hindrance to my disease before I recognized that I had a problem but since then my work has absolutely given me a vehicle to laugh with/at it and actually understand it so much better.

Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season is out on DVD through Warner Home Video on March 7; we have three box-sets to give away. To get your hands on one, tell us what you would name your sword if you lived in one of the Seven Kingdoms (besides Bob).

In what way have you taken a more deconstructed approach to your comedy style in The Divine Miss O? There’s less truth in The Divine Miss O and more nonsense!

What’s the difference between telling jokes on stage and telling them around the table at a dinner party? There are so many differences to those two scenarios but my goal has always been to have my audience feel like they’re at my dinner table.

If you only had five words to describe yourself, which ones would you choose?

Lazy, generous, impatient, frustrating and loving.

What: The Divine Miss O When: March 7-9, 8pm Where: The Harold Park Hotel / Cnr Wigram Rd and Ross St Glebe Tickets: $20 from trybooking.com/BFCG

will have something to show for it at the Dorkbot Group Show this Tuesday March 6 at Serial Space, 33 Wellington St Chipendale. Presenters include CJ Conway, George Poonkhin Khut, MPU (Mobile Projection Unit), Lukasz Karluk, Rene Christen, Nick Clark, Peter Blamey, Paul Greedy and Pip Stafford. The exhibition runs until the March 11. dorkbot.org

OUTSPOKEN POETRY

Wondering why all your friends have started speaking in couplets and rhyming their verses of late? It’s probably because Sydney’s underground poetry scene is slammin’ at the moment…but let’s leave the poetics to the poets. Outspoken are showcasing the best local female talent (and

there’s a ton) at Studio 401 (342 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills) on Wednesday March 14 from 7pm to coincide with International Women’s Day. And if you like that sort of thing, you probably already know about this thing: sydneypoetry.com

R.O.C.K.E.T. RAW RETREAT

As part of Art Month, COFA Collective R.O.C.K.E.T. (Raw Organic COFA Kids Eat Together) will transform Firstdraft Gallery into something of a body and mind retreat from March 11-12. Prepare delicious raw food at a costumed banquet or let Dr. Fanny Foetal introduce you to the new you in one of her personal selfregeneration sessions. Sounds like RAWsome fun! Firstdraft Gallery, 116-118 Chalmers St Surry Hills. More info at artmonthsydney.com.au

Anything Can Break

FANTASTIC PLANET FILM FESTIVAL

GROUNDSWELL ARTS

Arts sector-driven collective Groundswell will host the Multicultural Arts Forum 2012 at CarriageWorks on April 13-14. It’ll be a space to talk about how artistic practise defines ideas of cultural identity. The event will focus on four main topics: industry development, Presentation platforms and diverse programming, audience development and arts practice. You’ll also get to hear from some of Sydney’s leading arts practitioners including representatives from the Australia Council, Sydney Opera House, Arts NSW, SBS and Playwriting Australia. More info at artsradar.com.au

PROJECT FIVE #4

Leading local street artists Vexta, HAHA, E.L.K. and Reka will take to the cobblestone in and around The Rocks for the fourth instalment of Project 5’s weekend of street art (running March 6-9). The weekend will include a Live Art Event with artists drawing, spraying and painting to live beats from the Future Classic DJs. aMBUSH Gallery will close the party by auctioning off works produced over the weekend, with all proceeds going to the Information Cultural Exchange 22 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

xxx

This year’s Fantastic Planet Film Festival is oozing with the best new horror, fantasy and science fiction this side of reality. It kicks off on March 22 at Dendy Newtown with the Australian premiere of The Divide, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller nominated for Best New International Feature at the 2011 Edinburgh International Film Festival. The program also features Below Zero, which was voted Best Horror Movie at the 2011 American International Film Festival and Father’s Day, which swagged Best Film at Toronto's After Dark Film Festival. Also to include on the bucket list is Bryan Lefler’s Unicorn City, a Monty Python-esque fantastical comedy about an unemployed gamer who creates a Utopian gaming society. The festival closes on April 1 with the Australian premiere of Love, a science fiction masterpiece about an astronaut stranded in space, with a soundtrack by Angels and Airwaves. fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com

(ICE). Thanks to a partnership between aMBUSH Gallery and the Harbour Foreshore Authority, we’ll also get to see a full month of artist talks and a Retrospective Art Exhibition in a pop up gallery at 47 George Street. More info at project5.com.au.

MONSTER SURFERS

For any surf fans out there, or anybody who’s been to the Old Paramount Building and knows how awesome it is, or for anybody who has ever heard of surfing, you will wet yourselves to know Monster Children have curated an exhibition to pay tribute to one of surfing’s biggest names, Jack O’Neill.

Celebrating 60 years in the industry, the 60 Years of Innovation Art Tour will showcase commissioned artworks by Thomas Campbell, Geoff McFetridge, Liam Gerrard, Jim Phillips Jnr., Tim Chapman and Mark Penxa. The exhibition opens 6pm Thursday March 15 at The Old Paramount Building, 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills.

DORKBOT

Our favourite local nerd collective have been at it again – doing weird things with electricity – and

BIENNALE OF SYDNEY 2012

The Biennale of Sydney is due on our shores once again this year and a bundle of highlights have just been revealed. Titled All Our Relations, works selected for the 18th Biennale will focus on current local and global issues such as migration, contamination, corruption and coercion. There is just too much to list here, but we’re definitely going to check out Thai artist Nipan Oranniwesna’s City of Ghost at the AGNSW – a site-specific installation made from baby-powder that explores the fragility of our contemporary world.

Thailand’s Pinaree Sanpitak will present her installation Anything Can Break at the MCA, consisting of hundreds of origami cubes and breast-shaped glass clouds suspended from the ceiling. Illuminated by fibre optics, the cubes and clouds are lined with motion sensors that trigger music in response to the audience’s movement. Along a similar vein, a work bridging Pier 2/3 and Cockatoo Island is New Zealand-born artist Tiffany Singh’s Knock On The Sky Listen To The Sound. Singh will invite visitors to decorate 1000 wind chimes and transport them to Cockatoo Island. There, they will be reinstalled as a collaborative work with the public. The Biennale Of Sydney runs June 27 until September 16. More to come watch this space: bos18.com

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The Weir [THEATRE] Drinking Beer Spinning Yarns By Roslyn Helper

“D

o you think the characters could speak to each other?” This was Artistic Director Ian Rickson’s suggestion to Dublin playwright Conor McPherson during a commissioning conversation in 1997. Six months later, one of the century’s greatest plays was complete, and The Weir debuted at London's Royal Court Theatre.

Aksel Hennie as Roger Brown

Jo Nesbo: Headhunters [FILM] Nordic Noir By Josh Donellan

Y

ou probably haven’t heard of the pop group Di Derre, but in their native Norway they’re kind of a big deal.

Lead singer Jo Nesbo is better known for his career as an internationally best-selling crime novelist, though he didn’t always plan on becoming a famous musician-cum-author.

Or taking calls from Martin Scorsese, for that matter.

Nesbo started out as a successful stockbroker and it wasn’t until two years after the death of his father, who had held unfulfilled lifelong literary aspirations, that Nesbo decided to become an author himself. “I realised I had to write and in order to do that I had to quit my job. I summed up the money I had, I mean, you’re overpaid as a stockbroker so I knew I had enough to be a writer without income for quite some years and I didn’t really want a yacht or a big summer house. It didn’t feel like taking a risk, it just felt like something I had to do. There was no way around it.”

Nesbo’s books have been a runaway success both in Norway and internationally. So much so that when they were first translated into English, some bright spark at his publisher’s marketing department decided it’d be a smart move to bill him as “the next Stieg Larsson”.

Nesbo, in a sardonic Scandinavian accent, comments, “Well you know, [that’s what was written on] the stickers on my books in the UK. I saw the sticker and I thought well, okay, they say I’m the new Stieg Larsson. It could have been worse, I could have been the new Dan Brown.”

The film adaptation of his 2008 Headhunters hit screens this month. Like most wellexecuted film adaptations, it’s an almost

page for page translation of the novel.

The story follows a successful corporate headhunter, Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), who also dabbles in the somewhat hazardous extracurricular activity of high-stakes art theft.

When Brown meets the former CEO of a high profile GPS company, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), he thinks he’s not only found the perfect client, but also a chance to nab a treasured Rubens masterpiece. However, it soon becomes clear that Greve has his own sinister intentions and that the hunter is about to become the hunted.

McPherson’s seminal play has been on New Theatre’s cards for a couple of years, though director Alice Livingstone had never heard of the play until she was asked to direct it. “I actually didn’t know his work at all, so this has been a revelation. After the first reading when the words just flowed off the page… I was won over and jumped at the chance to do it.”

The Weir is set in a small rural bar in Ireland and follows a conversation between a closeknit group of four middle-aged men who have been doing the same thing every night for as long as anyone can remember: drinking beer and spinning yarns. McPherson’s earlier plays were mostly monologues and The Weir is often described as a monologue-based play too.

However in a 2007 interview with RTE:Ireland, McPherson described the moment he realised that writing drama could follow the flow of thought through dialogue in a very easy fashion.

“I realised that it could go into all sorts of eddies and pools," McPherson said, "and it could speed up and slow down, and for the first time

Following the release of Headhunters, Martin Scorsese has come on board to film Snowman, the seventh book in Nesbo’s hugely popular Harry Hole series. I ask the author how he feels about the translation of his stories from page to screen. “I think the thing I’m worried about is more to do with how I feel about the story as a writer. If I’m finished with the story, I’m finished with the story. If I see a talented director wanting to tell a story, I’m happy to provide them with material. But I didn’t want to sell the rights to the Harry Hole series because I was worried it would impact on the series that I was still writing. So I said for many years, ‘I don’t want anyone to make a film of it, but if Martin Scorsese calls I might reconsider’. So that was a sort of joke, but as it turned he called me and said he wanted to make a movie, so I sort of caved in and sold out.” Despite Nesbo’s doubts about maintaining his creative integrity, at this stage it looks like the only thing going to sell out are Headhunters tickets.

I thought that maybe I could write something like this”.

Livingston says, “I love that it’s a play where nothing happens on the surface, but the characters are profoundly changed by the time they spend together on this particular night. It’s a play that relishes language – the power of words, the magic of storytelling.”

Indeed Livingstone admits that one of the biggest directing challenges has been finding a way to tell the story visually on stage. “In something so delicately balanced, which relies so much on words, it’s really vital to get actors who are highly attuned to language and capable of creating rich characters, and I’m very lucky to have brought together five terrific performers who are also a joy to spend time with and full of creativity and ideas,” she says.

Taking the stage is a cast of New Theatre veterans including Patrick Connolly (Waiting for Godot and The Farnsworth Invention), Peter McAllum (who Livingstone acted with in Canary last year), Barry French and Lynden Jones (who both appeared in Laughter on the 23rd Floor) and Amanda Stephens Lee, who Livingstone spotted in Sport for Jove’s Shakespeare Festival over the summer.

Livingstone also attributes the play’s depth to its deft construction. “It’s the moment to moment interactions – the banter, the button-pushing, the flare-ups, the humour – that give it such life and energy… In the end, though, it works because of the relationships between the characters and the subtext – the undercurrents beneath the apparently placid surface. It has that wonderful Celtic mix of the real and the supernatural; the traditions of folklore existing side by side with the day-to-day business of living."

Livingstone also explains why she thinks The Weir was voted #40 in the Royal National Theatre’s list of 100 Most Significant Plays of the 20th Century. “It's a play that is timeless – and by that I mean that what it explores and reveals is so basic to our humanity that it will never date. It lays bare very deep, human concerns – the fear of loneliness, the regret of lost opportunities, the need to be valued, the pain of grief, what makes us laugh and cry, what binds us together in friendships, and how the comfort of strangers can be so intrinsic to survival when times are tough. There’s a profound understanding of what makes people tick and it’s a powerfully honest play, without pretention." This is theatrical storytelling in the best Irish tradition.

What: The Weir by Conor McPherson When: Friday March 9 Where: New Theatre / 542 King Street Newtown Tickets: $30 from newtheatre.org.au

What: Headhunters When: Opens Thursday March 8

Musecology

The Macleay Museum, Sydney Univeristy

[PERFORMANCE] Mnemonic Museum By Bridie Connellan

“F

reud’s a fraud. He thought the clitoris was an undeveloped penis. You can’t trust a guy like that…” Daniel Stricker doesn’t think too highly of the origins of the theory of the unconscious; he’d rather allow his audience to let the magic happen.

Mnemonic Museum is the second event in the four-part Musecology series, a set of multidisciplinary performances curated

by Stricker (Siberia Records, Midnight Juggernauts) and Jack Jeweller (Black and Blue Gallery). With the first event seeing Justice Yeldham, Kirin J. Callinan and friends reclaim the Woollomooloo PCYC Boxing Ring, the second instalment continues the lads’ love of subverting space, as they seize Sydney University’s Macleay Museum. “Sydney has many incredible spaces – the problem is a lot of them are being turned into Mexican and Vietnamese-themed Justin Hemmes restaurants,” says Stricker. “Jack and I started exploring forgotten spaces because we want to get artists to respond to these environments in their own way.”

Mnemonic Museum will see four artists transform their eclectic music into a live score for the 1961 horror classic The Eyes of Hell aka The Mask. Think Jim Carrey in black and white, with a murderous intent rather than rubber-mouthed banter, and originally filmed in 24 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

anaglyphic 3D (blue and red plastic goodness).

Back in 1961 the film was billed as “the weirdest nightmare world that man has ever dreamed, or the screen has ever dared show”.

The audience was required to put on their own ‘masks’ to view the terrifying ‘eyes of hell’, which would spook them into hysterics.

According to the trailer, the film was about “taking you to the limits of your nerves and the very boundary of sanity”. Yikes.

With the help of local musician and DJ Jaimie Leonarder (aka Jay Katz), Stricker and Jeweller were quite simply, sorted. “Originally we were interested in working with Jay Katz from the Mu-Meson’s film archive, not only because of the archive (and the community he has created) but because of Jaimie's history in the late ‘70s industrial scene, which is a very important part of Sydney's musical history.

Jack watched You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story at Mu-Meson, which references another film, The Mask.

Lo and behold, Jaimie had a print (the film isn’t on DVD). The idea of screening this film, which draws on the memory of artefacts and historical symbolism, worked perfectly.”

So like all good site-specifics, the idea of Mnemonic Museum is to use the natural history and ethnographically inquisitive surrounds of the Macleay to explore the

shadows of memory and the unconscious – the very essence of what Carl Jung was rabbiting on about in the early 1900s. As he said, “Dealing with the unconscious has become a question of life for us.”

With one special guest still to be revealed, the current lineup includes garage psych-poppers Naked On The Vague, Leonarder's new imagery-meets-music project Not Applicable, and Stricker’s DCM, a synth duo with Chris Ross (ex-Wolfmother). “I think the night will be a complete sensory overload,” says Stricker.

“I really love exploring new worlds and moods – and the best way to do this is through total

synthesis. People will go into a museum surrounded by artefacts and creatures in jars to watch a 1960s 3D film about a mask’s psychologically damaging effects, at the same time listening to psychotic music; I hope it has a similar effect on the audience as it does on the characters in the film…”

What: MUSECOLOGY #2 – Mnemonic Museum When: Friday March 9 from from 8.30pm Where: Macleay Museum, Sydney University More: $10 on the door

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S â&#x20AC;&#x153; ummer rainâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leave a light on for meâ&#x20AC;?

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Bathurst RSL (02) 6332 3999

FRI 16TH MARCH

FRI 30TH MARCH

Dee Why RSL (02) 9454 4000

Hornsby RSL

SAT 17TH MARCH

Penrith Panthers Evan Theatre (02) 4720 5555

Mounties (02) 9822 3555

SAT 31ST MARCH

SUN 18TH MARCH Wenty Leagues (02) 8868 9200 BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 25

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

At the heart of the arts Where you went last week...

Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

■ Film

A SEPARATION Opens March 1

bode in oz

PICS :: TL

Normally, I’m not one for getting caught up in all the awards season hoopla, but it’s hard not to take note when Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation has bagged the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, adding to a mounting stash of 44 accolades from around the world.

24:02:12 :: China Heights Gallery :: 3, 16-28 Foster St Surry Hills

Farhadi first garnered international attention in 2009 with his film About Elly, which tells a subtle yet gripping story about a weekend in the Iranian countryside, where an innocent matchmaking exercise ends in tragedy.

In his new film, the writer-director treads similar territory as he tracks the slowly deteriorating marriage of Nader (Peyman Moadi) and his wife Simin (Leila Hatami).

The couple are desperate to move to a more progressive society for the sake of their daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi); somewhere that offers women less repression and more opportunity. However, Nader’s ailing father suffers from dementia and needs round-the-clock care, and is certainly not able to emigrate with his family. When Nader decides to stay behind, Simin files for divorce and moves back to her mother’s home. Struggling to maintain his household, raise his daughter, keep his job and look after his father, Nader hires a deeply religious housekeeper who is reluctant to take on all she is asked to do.

As the stress mounts, Nader places more and more responsibility on Razieh (Sareh Bayat) until an ill-timed decision on her part leads to a confrontation that could destroy Nader’s life.

Nothing is clear-cut in this deceptively simple, middle-class story, and the excellent performances of Farhadi’s cast add depth and emotional integrity to the film. On another level, Farhadi offers a subtle and fascinating commentary on the oppression that permeates Iranian society thanks to theocratic and bureaucratic rules and regulations. In his various acceptance speeches around the world, Farhadi has been carefully circumspect about what is happening at home to fellow filmmakers like Jafar Panahi at the hands of Iran’s rulers. But as long as people like Farhadi continue taking risks to tell powerful stories like this one, the pressure will remain on the Iranian authorities to relax their oppression.

Tim Milfull ■ Film

JOHN CARTER 3D

the future is known

PICS :: TL

Opens March 8

25:02:12 :: Firstdraft Depot :: 13-17 Riley St Woolloomooloo

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

TWIN PEAKS COCKTAIL SOIREE Friday March 9 from 8pm The World Bar / 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross Twin Peaks Cocktail Soiree. Did any four words ever sound sweeter? Well… This ain’t gonna be your average cherry-pie cocktail-drinking, doughnut-munching party. Ohh no.

Brendan Maclean (triple j) and electropopster Jugu will spin tunes in this spooky, kooky, allAmerican small-town Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me red-velvet-curtained party – so be prepared for a bunch of Lynchian strangeness. Just don your best tartan button-down and head to World Bar's Apothecary bar to find out for yourself (there will be prizes for costumes!)

26 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

Judging by early buzz, this live-action debut from WALL·E director Andrew Stanton seems destined for the critical scrapheap. Which is bogus – John Carter is a blast. Holding true to its origins as strapping, Edgar Rice Burroughspenned pulp, this is unabashed fun from start to finish, mercifully free of the foul ideology and/or leaden self-seriousness that plagues many Hollywood blockbusters today. Sure, it’s no Empire Strikes Back, but since when has blithe B-grade escapism been something to hate on?

Taylor Kitsch (of NBCUniversal’s Friday Night Lights) brings just the right note of knowingly bull-headed charm to the Confederate Captain who finds himself inexplicably shuttled via wormhole to Mars.

There, he finds the interplay between low Martian gravity and his dense Earthman musculature makes him an accidental ubermensch, able to leap vast distances and heft many times his own terrestrial bodyweight. Discovered by the Tharks – a race of tusk-faced, six-limbed green gladiators – he’s taken captive and prized for his newfound brawn. Here he meets fellow prisoner Dejah Thoris (Lynne Collins), beautiful humanoid princess of Mars. Beleaguered and righteous, she’s in dire need of a secret weapon – or, say, a studly superhuman willing to fight for the cause of her peace-loving, subjugated people…

If it sounds convoluted, it is (we haven’t even mentioned the martial Zodangans…) and Stanton is clearly aware of this. So rather than attempt to disentangle the more perplexing elements of Burroughs’ century-old source material (why are the red-skinned Martian natives essentially humans with tribal tats and fake tans?

What do those shape-shifting bald guys led by Mark Strong want, save for the dark satisfaction of watching worlds fall?)

John Carter zips right by them. Stanton – romantic to a fault – credits his audience with enough goodwill to dig the rollicking vibe and check their more censorious instincts at the door.

Crucially, the action is thrilling and enjoyably cartoony. The epic arena battle against a pair of troll-like ‘white apes’ is a definite high point and as an animator, it’s no surprise that Stanton has framed some wonderfully inventive compositions to maximise the 3D. For an optimal experience, see this in IMAX. Gerard Elson ■ Theatre

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST DRAGONS...

Until March 24 / Old Fitz Theatre The Importance of Being Earnest Dragons and Other Classic Tales as Told by an Octopus is a re-imagining of three classics, with script by Alli Sebastian Wolf, directed by Scarlet McGlynn.

From the opening, the set looks like some sort of children’s storytime gone wrong.

Paul Armstrong plays the Octopus beautifully, and his superb comic timing has me in constant fits of laughter. The tales themselves explode onto the stage as The Importance of Being Earnest, Phaedra and Dante’s Inferno now brim with dragons, ghetto smack talk, glam rock music and countless other references to popular culture. The intertwining of these references with the classic texts is very funny, most successfully executed in the parallel drawn between Clerks character Dante and Dante from Dante’s Inferno.

However, despite strong conceptual ideas, the humour often uses stereotypes and gimmicks to avoid dealing with more complex issues. Rather than delving further into the texts themselves, ideas are layered over the top with the result that the texts become either unnecessary or the central essence remains the same and un-critiqued. The most successful tale is the adaptation of Phaedra, which points out the ridiculous elements of the text very well, particularly Theseus’s extreme masculinity.

The play ends with the Octopus’s suggestion that it is not only the theatre but the world itself that is ridiculous and messy. His final wish, and a strongpoint in the show, is to send us out into the world to create chaos. I only wish that the show had gone further to cause chaos and really shake the institutions of the texts themselves.

Emma McManus ■ Film

CORIOLANUS Opens March 8 Despite being one of Shakespeare’s least lyrical, romantic or comedic plays, and furnishing the canon with one of its most inscrutable and difficult heroes, Coriolanus – reignited on screen by director and leading man Ralph Fiennes – is absolutely mesmerising. Or perhaps it’s precisely because of these things… All the razor sharp wit and language of Shakespeare is there, with the big emotions and ideas – but attached to a powder keg of politics, power and war. Add a protagonist every bit as fascinating as Lear or Hamlet, and Coriolanus is very well suited to Fiennes’

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

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

modern adaptation, which places it somewhere in the Balkans, circa the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s.

Our (anti)hero is Caius Martius (Fiennes), a general of the Roman army who is renowned for his bloody resolve, and his exceeding capacity for war; a warrior-hero, who lives to kill, rather than killing to live. Martius is so dedicated to the art of war, in a society that relies on war to sustain its power and wealth, that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a hairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breadth away from being given the powers of a Consul â&#x20AC;&#x201C; until his frank refusal to play the populist card (and more than a little political and media manipulation by 'faceless men') puts him on the wrong side of the Roman public.

Banished from Rome and stripped of his title, he makes the fascinating decision to risk everything in an act of bloody revenge against the State, with the help of his long time enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler).

Fiennes rips the screen to shreds as Martius, a part he played on stage a little over a decade ago. In a way this play is about the seductiveness of this particular

combination of blood-thirst and pride, for those in close proximity to it and to the general public who depend on it. And as an audience, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not totally repulsed

by Martius â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we have to respect him, at the very least, as someone who has principles and integrity. But compassion and diplomacy are about as much his purview as unicorns and cupcakes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so he presents as a tragically flawed character.

Equally interesting is the constellation of conspirators and foils around Fiennesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Martius, including a mother who has dedicated her life to his success but would herself be better suited to the role of Consul, and a senator who is equal parts his partner, manipulator and consigliore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fleshed out by an incredible support cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox and Jessica Chastain.

Dee Jefferson

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Ralph Fiennes in Coriolanus

Street Level With Renata Bialkowska Crumble

F

rom humble beginnings as a teenager making experimental film for Metro Screen TV to her recent directorial debut at the New York International Film Festival, Renata Bialkowska talks about what inspired her to write Crumble.

From Sydney to New York â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how did you do it? After completing my arts degree at Sydney University I worked in business publishing.

Then the opportunity came to live in New York and work in PR. It was there I finally felt the courage to create art. Everyone had sideprojects â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from waitresses with screenplays to stockbrokers playing in bands. I immersed myself, working with artists, and saw many films born. It was easy to find inspiration to write and I found plenty of encouragement to just do it.

What prompted you to write Crumble?

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d heard the saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;monogamy equals monotony,â&#x20AC;? and wanted to explore that. It was inspired by my own life and the dysfunctional yet colourful lives of people around me.

Xxxxx

In what ways is Crumble autobiographical?

I had a brief marriage and thought it would be forever but realised he was a serial bachelor.

He helped me understand the discontent men have with marriage once the challenge is over.

I explored that further with the film, taking it to all sorts of extreme levels.

What does this film say about women in

contemporary society? Some feminists have viewed this film as offensive to women, but porn, addiction and prostitution arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t disappearing. I wanted to depict how both the wife and the escort are exploited in their worlds and my intention was to empower these women through an unlikely bond with each other.

What was your biggest challenge as a director? First and foremost was financing.

Locations were pulled on the first day of the shoot, and I found it intimidating not being technically minded around the all-male crew. I was also seven months pregnant. However, I had an amazing AD who helped execute my vision, everyone backed the script and I got great performances out of the actors.

What was it like working with Steven Bauer (Scarface) and Oksana Lada (The Sopranos)? Steven is professional on camera and only has to look at his lines briefly. He was pretty relaxed and would play his guitar on breaks. Oksana is more used to working in TV, but she has an incredible work ethic so we accomplished a lot in the four-day shoot.

What: World Of Women Film Festival â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Session #5 @ Late Night Library Where: Surry Hills Library / 405 Crown Street When: Thursday March 15 from 9pm More: WOW Film Festoval runs March 6-16; full lineup and tickets at wift.org/wow BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 27

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK SLEIGH BELLS

While the latter is the perfect way in for Treats fans, it’s soft enough to lure those who were put off by the cacophony.

Reign Of Terror Liberation

“Our music’s not academic, you know? And it should be first and foremost for your feet, or your body, and maybe the last priority is your brain.” So Sleigh Bells’ guitarist/producer Derek Miller told Brag in 2010. There’s a sophomoric hedonism to their sound, and that’s not an insult. Teenagers know better than anyone the thrills of throwing themselves around.

The coarse grain of Treats has been buffed off, but it clears the way for Sleigh Bells to be more than just That Loud Band With The Hot Chick. It’s Blitz, anyone?

Where Treats played off the apocalyptic collision of the wispy feminine and the overblown masculine, Reign sees yin and yang meeting in the middle to balance the formula, turning it into actual pop songs.

‘Crush’ and ‘Comeback Kid’ are perfect examples: audible lyrics with a sense of narrative, backed by a gleefully posturing late-‘90s alt-rock guitar strut.

NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE

POND

Northeast Party House have earned local cult status as a raucous party band, playing at derelict warehouses and inducing stage invasions at Falls Festival – and their music leans on this self-perpetuated concept. Thankfully, the EP does not suffer at the hands of clean production and a crisp studio recording; the songs are still soaked in party juice, and you actually get to hear the individual parts of what are all quite nicely put-together dance-punk songs.

Lead single ‘Embezzler’ kicks off like the angry little brother of Pnau’s ‘No More Violence’, and for a second I’m scared they’re heading down Art vs. Science street – but thankfully they do a U-turn. There are evident influences with the punchy guitar licks (Foals), the husky vocals (Minus The Bear) and the lyrics about witches and bears and crap (Klaxons), but you have to admire the audacity of these guys; the chorus of ‘Embezzler’ is some kind of insistent jungle war cry – ‘RAH! / TSSS / WOOH’ – which, idiocy aside, would be so much fun to yell at a party.

‘Empires’ sits back on its punctuated beat, as an array of atmospherics and analogue blips whirling through space are articulated by syncopated guitar and synth jabs, and singer Zachary Hamilton-Reeves sounds like he pulled the vocals right out of Kele Okereke’s voice box in The Boxer.

They’ve included ‘Dusk’ (the single that earnt them triple j Unearthed bragging rights), a song that builds off the tension in its docile verses for a helter-skelter ear-fuck of a chorus.

There’s not much bona fide emotion throughout, but this EP showcases Northeast Party House for what they are – a clever pastiche of their favourite indie dance bands, with an added level of face-paint-animal-costumehelium-balloons debauchery.

I have a confession to make: I didn’t think Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker was nearly as good as everyone else did. Great fun, to be sure, and I understood it better once I saw them play live, but give me Cream any day. But those of you longing for another Tame Impala record will have a great time with Pond’s fourth and latest LP. It’s impossible not to compare Pond with Tame Impala, not least because two-thirds of This Band used to be in That Band. That Band played late-‘60s-inspired psych rock, while This Band plays early-‘70s-inspired rock. If Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker was 1967, with all its Cream/ Hendrix psych guitars and hazy, druggy patina, then Beard is 1970 – a little bit of Bowie/Bolan glam creeping in (‘You Broke My Cool’) and bigger, crisper riffs that give off a broader, American AM radio vibe (‘Elegant Design’). There’s a lack of pretension here, and a feeling that this was recorded “in a ramshackle old farmhouse in Western Australia” simply because they didn’t need high-tech studio wizardry to sound like they are having a great time.

This honest, organic enthusiasm and homespun charm sustains you through a record that, at 13 songs of not-inconsiderable length, starts to drag during the often tedious codas and frills. They may have added to the enjoyment of those involved, but test the patience of those listening, which is a shame when there is so much excellent rock to be had.

Lots of fun, even if it lags a little.

If you loved Innerspeaker, why not take its more light-hearted younger cousin home for a spin?

Hugh Robertson

Caitlin Welsh

GREY GHOST

Beard, Wives, Denim Modular/Universal

Embezzler EP Independent

Krauss’ dissolute-cheerleader persona from Treats jostles for space with a softer, almost sisterly character. In the wistful ‘End of the Line’ and ‘You Lost Me’ Krauss croons regretful platitudes like ‘It didn’t have to be this way’ and ‘I don’t want you to see me this way’ over the cascading, Ratatat-like harmonics. In the latter track, a wash of soft-focus sounds sparkle around those crisp guitars, merging with Krauss’ gossamer vocals to make them sound like Slowdive – until, of course, Miller can’t resist chiming in with yet more volcanic riffage. He rejoices in thick, distorted, elementary downward strokes like cock-rock icons revel in the masturbatory intricacy of the nine-minute solo.

CADILLAC

Grey Ghost EP EMI Music Australia With a debut EP whose first song kicks off with a track called ‘Unfuck Me (With Your Love)’, it’s safe to say you’re the kind of guy who says what he means. And so it is that Melbourne MC Jeremedy, of the now-defunct experimental outfit The Melodics, teams up with producer Matik, who has worked with the likes of Pez and Drapht, to bring us the sound of the future: Grey Ghost.

It’s not often you see a band that can meander from indie rock to electronica/hip hop influences, but Grey Ghost create an interesting pastiche of genres and successfully fuses them to the point where it feels like an entirely new genre altogether.

Single ‘Space Ambassador’ subtly works rap-tinged vocals with a pulsing indie pop hook, and creates an irresistibly catchy track that is poised to infiltrate dance floors and radio playlists everywhere.

‘Black Ghost Gold Chain’ follows in the same vein, and it’s nearly impossible not to be sucked in by the handclaps, outrageously catchy chorus and Jeremedy’s seamless alternating between rapping and vocals – a worthy contender for next single, and my pick for the standout track on the record.

Final track ‘Alchemy’ takes on a futuristic feel, employing some heartfelt synths and ethereal, dreamy vocals to gently punctuate the whimsical flow about love lost, with a little bitter sting to the lyrics that keeps the saccharine edge at bay.

If this is what Grey Ghost has to offer us on a debut EP, it’s a fair assumption that the album is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Marissa Demetriou

This double vinyl is a woozy, decadent treat from Cadillac; a brazen and sun-kissed record that will serve as a much better advertisement for our country than any Lara Bingle hogwash.

It encapsulates how everyone abroad imagines the Australian summer: palm trees, hot nights and gorgeous people in a utopia where things like ‘accounting firms’ and ‘street press’ just don’t exist. Taking generous doses of inspiration from ‘80s heavyweights like UB40 and The Whispers, Cadillac mesh the synthesiser euphoria of old and new with organic-meetsanthemic percussion, for a sound that sits somewhere between Com Truise and Miami Horror; Blade Runner and Beverly Hills Cop; Brisvegas and the Balearic Islands.

‘Dreams’ and ‘Endless Summer’ are highlights on a record that could easily be blanket-termed as Hammock Music. The concentration is on instrumentation (I could not recall to you a single lyric), and the songs don’t reel you in with a vocal hook or a particular melody, but rather sweep you up in their hypnotic leisure.

The remix vinyl is way too excellent to dismiss – and each remix has taken Cadillac’s knack for writing inoffensive, malleable songs, to really nice places.

Funnily, the stronger tracks on the EP have lacklustre remixes, while the weaker tracks are given a nice injection of pizzazz: notably the poolside piano on the Ray Mang remix of ‘Blue Skies’, and Marcos Cabral’s take on ‘Make You Feel’, which really brings out the Ali Campbell in Cadillac.

This is music that thrives on its connotations. The whole dream-popAustraliana-relax-mate-it’s-just-disco charade may be a tad contrived, especially with the West Indies cricket logo emblazoned on the vinyl (why?) but they sound good doing it. So where the bloody hell are ya?

Rach Seneviratne

Rach Seneviratne

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK LAST DINOSAURS

In A Million Years Dew Process With their debut LP, Brisbane’s Last Dinosaurs take us on an electric, eclectic ride through their prehistoric soundscape; they’ve figured out their sonic sphere, but they’re still experimenting with styles within that sphere.

The album kicks off with ‘Zoom’, a 100m sprint of a song that reels you in with its infectious buzz-saw guitar riff. It’s a dynamite first song, but as I’m listening through the following tracks, it feels

28 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

strangely like the songs were recorded and then sped up slightly. The quickfire nature of the album is a testament to the talent of this 18-to-22-year-old cohort, however all songs – no matter how catchy and intentionally fast-paced they are – should have space to breathe. So when ‘Satellites’ – an interlude of the organic-beach-sounds and galactic-synth-pads persuasion – comes on halfway through the album, it feels like a haphazard time-out from the hustle-bustle of the other tracks.

Having said that, there are some pop ditties that could very well stand the test of time in a million years (LOL). ‘Andy’ is a standout – a funky fiesta of a track that sits somewhere between The Strokes and a botellón in Barcelona – and ‘Time

and Place’ is a charming tribute to 19thcentury master-inventor Nikola Tesla, with a mysterious outro that begs for another song. They also diversify beyond their speedy-pop skeleton, with the slower, darker ‘Used To Be Mine’, and the heavier whirlwind track that is ‘I Can’t Decide’.

The comparisons to Two Door Cinema Club will come aplenty, but the Dinos arguably do it better, with inventive guitar exploration, intricate instrumental arrangements and hectic vocal acrobatics. This review seems harsh in retrospect, but it’s because these guys are only getting better and it’d be imprudent to plateau them so early.

Rach Seneviratne

PASSENGER

Cadillac EP Future Classic

All The Little Lights Inertia The first time I heard Passenger was at Woodford two years ago; one of those rare stumble-upons that are truly impressive, his music even soundtracked the beginning of a summer romance. Sure, it ended horribly a few months later, but that’s also kinda perfect, because Mike Rosenberg writes some of the most honest and clever break-up songs around.

That being said, this album is a little more optimistic than we’ve seen before from Passenger – perhaps due to his quickly climbing popularity, particularly in Australia. That’s not the only change; the first song, ‘Things That Stop You Dreaming,’ immediately signals that this is going to be a more densely orchestrated album than previous efforts, which mainly dealt in one-man-with-a-guitar folk pop. ‘Let Her Go’ is pretty much the definition of bittersweet, and benefits from heartfelt and uplifting backing vocals. Live favourite ‘Holes’ is a downtrodden anthem, based on simple piano and rhythmic guitar with a swelling, sentimental chorus – saved from being trite by an authentic delivery.

Songs like ‘Feather On The Clyde’ also contain the kind of over-earnest lyrics that would be cringeworthy out of almost any other artist’s mouth, but somehow, with a mix of wit and selfdeprecation, Rosenberg pulls it off almost every time. Lately Passenger has been lumped in with fellow UK artist and human punch line Ed Sheeran, which I think is unfair: Rosenberg’s music takes a lot less from bad white reggae and more from traditional folk and orchestral pop, as well as being altogether more sincere and convincing.

This is sweet, simple and heartfelt stuff from acoustic folk’s nicest guy.

Madeleine Laing

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

EMMA RUSSACK - Sounds Of Our City BONOBO - Black Sands AIR - Le Voyage Dans La Lune

CLOUD NOTHINGS - Attack On Memory TWERPS - S/T EP

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 29

live reviews what we've been to see...

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Enmore Theatre Friday February 24

There’s a line in Ghost World where Enid Coleslaw scorns “people who think they’re cutting edge because they know who Sonic Youth is”. At one point, with Seth Cohen mostly to blame, Death Cab seemed to be the 2003 equivalent: the shibboleth of the black-specs-and-cardigans crew – if you liked them, or at least could recognise the Transatlanticism cover, you were Indie Enough. Tick. And for all the extra exposure and record sales, even before they left Barsuk Records for a major and penned exclusive singles for Twilight, their image suffered a bit with older fans who sneered about “the Coldplay of the Pacific Northwest” and clutched their Built To Spill records.

In February 2012, Death Cab For Cutie can still brandish both their songwriting chops and Pac Northwest cred. The hometown sound to which they’ve been accused of being Hollywood traitors emerges again and again, coarse and warm like a second-hand wool coat.

Early cuts (from ‘Army Corps of Architects’ first up, to ‘No Joy in Mudville’) and breakthrough-era classics (five,

count ‘em, five songs from Transatlanticism – more than even Codes & Keys, the album they were touring!) mingle with the cleareyed, radio-friendly singles and occasional stylistic excursions. Hear the gravelly ‘90s tremble of the guitar bridge in ‘Crooked Teeth’ (from 2005’s Plans); watch them transition from last year’s ‘You Are A Tourist’ (where the guitars are far too soft for one of their best, most purely joyful riffs) to 2003’s ‘The New Year’, which shares several of the former’s stomping chords and expansive outlook – but little of its sage optimism.

And anyone who thinks DCFC are a morose band should be dragged to one of these tight, engaging shows. Ben Gibbard – the king of the cardigan crew who got sober, took up distance running and could now be described as both lithe and blithe – leaps atop the drum riser to shred during a propulsive, nine-minute ‘We Looked Like Giants’, in a meaty mid-song breakdown that Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox wouldn’t kick out of bed. Drummer Jason McGerr continues to be their biggest asset, though – from the glowing, rolling rhythms of ‘A Movie Script Ending’ and ‘Tourist’ to the motorik jams on ‘Doors Unlocked and Open’ and ‘Long Division’. I get the feeling he’s as much behind the wheel as Gibbard and Chris Walla on their recent ‘crisp and considered’ vibe – and it’s led to good places. Maybe not to the cutting edge, but perhaps close to home is better anyway.

Caitlin Welsh

POPOV OUR PHOTOGRAPHER :: GEORGE

FIRE! SANTA ROSA, FIRE!, SURES, 1929INDIAN GoodGod Small Club Saturday February 25

Beneath the GoodGod disco ball, 1929indian look and feel like a scale model of an arena band, pushing alt-dance grooves on a shy but satisfied early crowd.

Their comically large keys and laptop setup takes up half the stage and an even greater chunk of their sound, bound together by a bang-on rhythm section and the Brian Molko-like purrings of the frontman.

1929indian are intense from front to back, making the baby-faced Sures seem all the more youthful and innocent in contrast.

They’ve only been playing together a few months, but their CV already boasts of support slots with San Cisco and Best Coast, plus a Laneway appearance courtesy of triple j Unearthed. Early on,

their two- and three-part harmonies are a touch off key, but Sures win points for a non-stop exposition of concise musical ideas – it’s all three-minute pop songs, with nothing overdone and enough strong hooks to fill a workshop. They close with ‘Poseidon’, a promise that they’re set to blossom into musical maturity, and as soaringly beautiful a song as anything on this stage tonight.

Sam Stearne’s white drum kit sits alone on the darkened platform as Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! wait patiently for the last of the punters to arrive, but the moment Caitlin Duff steps up to her microphone, the show bursts into blinding colour. An up-tempo version of ‘Little Cowboys, Bad Hombres’ is the early highlight, Dave Williams momentarily diverting attention from Duff’s understated charisma; ‘Test Crowd’ follows, Stearne assembling a collection of dancefloor-friendly polyrhythms that no drum machine could ever think up.

Williams, Nathaniel Morse and Josh Flavel form a guitar/bass trio with power to belie their nice guy façades – in tandem, they massage clean sounds into immense constructions, transporting one and all to a place infinitely larger than this room. Bigger bands with bigger PAs can do the same of course, but in theatres and stadiums they come off as distant. In these intimate surrounds, F!SRF! sound like echoes in a canyon that originate from metres away, not miles.

As their set comes to a close, the South Australian exports flirt with vaudeville before Williams hits a solo to prove he doesn’t need distortion to punch a hole in the wall.

But the night remains property of Caitlin Duff, a ringmistress in red who commands proceedings with a wink and a smile for every occupant of the packed dancefloor, and a humble invitation to come visit anytime. Damn near irresistible.

Chris Martin

MAYER HAWTHORNE, ELECTRIC EMPIRE, FANTINE Metro Theatre Friday February 24

I wish I could review this show without whinging about the sound – but my night got off on an ugly note, with my ears assaulted by the sounds of a metal band blasting from The Lair, which leaked into the next-door theatre – muddying a charming opening set

by Fantine. Accompanied only by acoustic guitar and tambourine, the singer-songwriter had a fantastic voice and sweetly wide-eyed presence. Shame that for anyone standing on the left side of the theatre, it sounded like a poorly tuned radio picking up two very different stations. By the time the far louder support Electric Empire finished, the metal gig was over, and luckily it’s hard to maintain the rage with a bunch of super-smooth cats getting all good-times funky in your face – even if the music itself isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Hats off to their new bassist for the best grooves/expressions/blonde-froprotruding-from-rear-of-beret I’ve probably ever seen.

Rocking a white three-piece-suit and matching guitar, Mayer Hawthorne burst onto the stage and began singing ‘Maybe So, Maybe No’, but – the horror – there was no vocal to be heard. By the end of the song, the sound guy had managed to get some volume happening, but it wasn’t until a lot of barely-audible crowd banter later that Hawthorne’s vocal was finally turned up louder than his backup singers. Gamely ploughing ahead, Hawthorne promised us a

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HUDSON MOHAWKE, RUSTIE, NELSON, WORD LIFE, ROLEO Manning Bar Saturday February 25

Roleo is the perfect foil for the rest of tonight’s bill. His sprightly wonkiness recalls the wilted boom bap of Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles; it’s refreshingly disorienting, and immediately affable. The only crutch is the lack of volume. It’s clear that tracks like ‘Forever Breaks’ or ‘Out Of The Frame’ really need to be felt as much as heard, but the PA is holding its punches for the time being.

The first half of Word Life’s performance is underwhelming. It’s a deft stab at intelligent club music, but it feels too staid, formulaic and straight to really drive anything home. The way it’s been mixed means it doesn’t really push the air in a room as big as Manning Bar, and the pervasive lack of volume doesn’t help, although things pick up when they just start DJing. Their own tracks sound great at home. Maybe the live set needs some work.

Nelson’s set stands as a generic crossroads amid each of the evening’s acts. His selection is a dense and carefully weighted narrative that feels impressively organic despite the breadth of its allusions. House and dubstep give way to old-school soul and fleeting Dillaesque trills, in a dense and coherent melange.

Rustie and Hudson Mohawke saunter on at midnight, and play back-to-back, trading small sets. This proves a perfect salve to the intensity of each player’s music; an extended blast of either might be too much to process after a few vodka Redbulls.

HudMo starts, and it’s almost unsettling to watch the room yield to his syrupy, synthetic filth; he wrings elements of southern hip hop and bass music into a froth of rhythm that’s at once pragmatic and perverse. When the bass in ‘Thunder Bay’ drops, it’s impossible to resist dancing like a lunatic. Rustie’s sets feel briefer and more intense.

His music’s saccharine maximalism thunders out of the PA system, the amphetamine arpeggios and fizzing bass barely contained by its fuzzed, fluttering speaker cones. Later, the aggressive effervescence is diluted with cheesy selections from the ‘80s; the room has thinned by this point, but gained in enthusiasm. No one leaves looking anywhere near disappointed.

Luke Telford

“show” – as opposed to a “concert”, or “gig” – and as his set progressed, the distinction began to make sense.

This must have been one of the most conspicuously well-rehearsed shows I’ve witnessed: musically bang-on, with added surprises to keep it interesting – like mashing new track ‘Dreaming’ into Hall & Oates’ ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ – perfectly executed. But with choreographed dance moves and all, “entertaining” sometimes reads “cheesy”. The best moments were the slower numbers, like ‘Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out’ and ‘I Wish It Would Rain’, where the focus shifted from showmanship to soul.

Jenny Noyes

OUR PHOTOGRAPHER :: TIM LEVY

OUR PHOTOGRAPHER :: GEORGE

POPOV

live reviews

Remedy

what we've been to see...

RYAN ADAMS Sydney Opera House Tuesday February 28 The songs were heartbreaking. That much we knew going in; we also knew that whatever tracks Adams plucked from his enviable catalogue would be rendered more fragile by the intimate acoustic setting. What we weren’t expecting, as we so solemnly took our seats, was that two hours later we would have heard three improvised songs: one about a mythical animal called Oratu (a joke spun off from his mishearing of a fan’s ‘I love you’), a whispered piano ballad about Adams missing his cat – listed with hilariously solemn brackets on last. fm as ‘Mr. Cat (Soft As Fuck)’ – and a hokey thanks-for-coming song, full of quick wit and nonsense. We also didn’t expect the physical comedy, nor the story about Adams witnessing the construction of Sydney Opera House while fishing in a Bayou-esque Sydney circa 1963. The intervals were full of jokes and laughter, but during each song, the hushed awe of the audience was a true mark of a performer who can effortlessly hold the audience in his hands.

More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

Adams is ostensibly touring in support of his recent album Ashes and Fire, and because of that we are treated to renditions of the title track, ‘Dirty Rain’, ‘Do I Wait’ and ‘Lucky Now’ – which, in acoustic-mode, are superior to the album versions. The remainder of the setlist was comprised of Adams’ commonly agreed upon Important Songs. ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ – the closest thing in his storied catalogue to a ‘standard’ – was the perfectly paced opening track, a pianodriven ‘New York, New York’ thankfully lost the twang of the original, ‘English Girls Approximately’ still chimes like it should, Adams’ arrangement of ‘Wonderwall’ (which writer Noel Gallagher has now adopted) was superb as always, the undeniable melody of ‘Two’ showed why it was a not-so-unexpected hit, and closer ‘Come Pick Me Up’ was beautiful, sincere and fucked up, as always. The encore saw a Ratt cover (‘Round and Round’) and the seven-minute ‘Strawberry Wine’. Adams is charming, hilarious and heartbreaking.

Loath as I am to end a review with a recommendation, just go see him next time, yeah?

Nathan Jolly

JOE PERRY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

John Lydon

Aerosmith’s Joe Perry is the latest ‘Smiff to become an author – but his coming autobiography should be a beaut. Of all the characters in Boston’s former finest – a title that has more fittingly been bestowed on The Dropkick Murphys in recent years – Perry has long been not just the band’s American Keef, but a true punk by both deed, attitude and historic association.

ROY ESTRADA SENTENCED ROTTEN ALBUMS

It’s going to be a busy time filled with mock anger, ‘hippy’ hating and appalling pajamalike clothes. Yep, John ‘Rotten’ Lydon will be back in action in a big way this year, with both his babies giving birth: Public Image Ltd’s new album This Is PiL is scheduled for release in May on the band’s label, PiL Official; and to mark the 35th anniversary of The Sex Pistols’ classic Nevermind The Bollocks – which still has the best rock’n’roll guitar sound ever – a new expanded edition is on its way.

BLACK BALLS

The savagely cut-back Black Sabbath reunion tour has grown back one show that’s scheduled for August in a US city yet to be announced. Sharon Osbourne has hit the ball squarely back into Bill Ward’s court regarding his involvement, saying that the drummer’s participation is now “up to Bill”.

SLASHYWOOD

Recent Sydney visitor Slash is going into the movie business – horror films, to be specific. His company Slasher Films begins its first project in the next few months. The guitarist is a big fan of the genre, and while someone like Rob Zombie has long been a director, the Slashster is set to be a producer and will be totally hands-on regarding all aspects of his ventures (including of course handling the soundtrack music).

JOEY RAMONE

A second solo album from the late Joey Ramone, who passed in 2001, is on the way. The Lanky One shaped this (too?) long list of 17 songs during his time in the Ramones and after the band called it quits. The songs have been completed with the help of artists such as Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, the ultra cool Little Steven Van Zandt and The Dictators. Titled Ya Know?, it’ll be out in May.

Here at Remedy we’re strong believers in not letting the politics or beliefs of any artist impact on our view of the music they make; but even we have our limits. We’ve been enjoying the late-‘60s madness of early Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention recently, music that made The Velvet Underground seem like nothing more than a straight 12-bar boogie band. A major component of the early Mothers was Roy Estrada, who went on to steer Little Feat and then wrestled with the glorious lunacy of Captain Beefheart’s musical ‘teachings’.

He has just been sentenced to 25 years for a second bout of child molestation. Thanks a lot man. You’ve curdled some of our greatest listening pleasure…

QUEEN DYNASTY

We’ve long railed against our heroes – and, when we’ve been in the mood, even the heroes of others – for pissing on their legacy simply in a bid to try and stay relevant, or just to get out of the house for a while. Few have been quite as guilty of this as Queen, the band who delivered a string of hugely powerful and promising albums in the early ‘70s that had them pegged as the new Led Zeppelin years before the Night At The Opera effort made them huge. But now they’ve outdone themselves by recruiting American Idol fall-shorter, one Adam Lambert, to be the band’s frontman at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth in the UK in July. They seem to think it’s a fitting move given that Knebworth was where Freddie Mercury played his final show in 1986. We strongly question that call.

But tragically, everyone will probably love it and sing-along with all the hits.

They could have saved time by just standing at the door of the rehearsals of American Idol and grabbing the losers when they were shown out.

Joey Ramone

ON THE TURNTABLE OUR PHOTOGRAPHER :: TIM LEVY

SISTER JANE, THE MAPLE TRAIL, CAITLIN PARK The Standard Thursday February 23 Broken Stone Record’s ethos has proven a sound business model: there’s a lot of talent in Sydney’s backyard, so why not offer a platform to deliver them to the public?

The label’s crown jewel, Caitlin Park, was included on a bunch of Australian Album Of The Year lists with 2011’s Milk Annual, while Blue Mountains act Sister Jane scored an Indie Album Of The Week nod from BRAG for their debut, Mercy. So what better time to take the stable on the road around Australia?

From Bellingen to Melbourne, four bands – Sister Jane, The Maple Trail, Caitlin Park and Magnetic Heads – were showing us what all the fuss has been about.

Caitlin Park was already on stage when I arrived at a crowded Standard; armed with an acoustic guitar and her bandmates, she was in the middle of her famous cover of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’. Heartfelt and calming at times, while gripping and powerful in others, it was an impressive set capped by a duet with Aiden Roberts of The Maple Trail on

‘Jack, Where You At?’ – but unfortunately, a lot of the crowd seemed more content to talk loudly than listen. (Why yes, I am interested in your chatter about sautéed prawns. I’d appreciate it if you yelled louder about your culinary history…)

With a bow drawn across his guitar, Roberts signified the commencement of a languid Maple Trail set. Reminiscent of Paul Kelly at times, his ability to swing from the jangly pop of ‘Kodiak’ to the beautiful lament of his duet with Caitlin Park showed that he knows how to craft a song – especially when delving into his more sorrowful and mournful repertoire.

Headliners Sister Jane immediately gripped the audience by the shoulders and shook them into action. Lead singer Dan Davey howled into the microphone, giving the crowd a much-needed energy boost after being blissfully lulled by the two previous acts. Keyboardist and flutist Lauren Crew took over singing duties for an amazing rendition of ‘Lay Low’, and the singers from all of the other acts joined Sister Jane on stage for ‘Outer Suburbs Of The Soul.’ It was rollicking and swampy, and the perfect end to an impressive showcase.

Rick Warner

On the Remedy turntable is The Misfits’ utter classic Walk Among Us with – like early Rose Tattoo – its glorious punk-charged ‘50s rock’n’roll. Few acts were more perfect in every conceivable way than these guys. And more than three decades on, their skull logo is still as commercially popular as ever and their general aesthetic untouchable.

Just imagine if they had had the big bucks of a major label behind them?

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS There’s some further news regarding the Sydney leg of that killer Dig It Up! – Hoodoo Gurus Invitational tour on Sunday April 22, happening across the Enmore, Notes and the Green Room with The Gurus, The Hard-Ons, The Sonics, Died Pretty, Redd Kross, The 5.6.7.8’s, The Fleshtones, Royal Headache and more. There’ll now be a fourth venue, with the Sly Fox Hotel also hosting. There’s also several new additions to the bill, with former Dream Syndicate main-man, Steve Wynn appearing in duo-mode with his wife Linda Pimon on drums, performing old faves and future classics. Kim Salmon and Spencer P. Jones will also be doing solo sets, plus a rare showing as a duo. And lastly, Sydney’s white-hot garagesters The Gooch Palms have signed on as well. Now, as

far as tickets go, both A and B Reserve have sold right the fuck out, leaving just a handful of C reserve (available at just $99 plus booking fee) and general admission tickets (floor space only) – arguably the best seats in the house. Schedules and final additions will be announced in midMarch. Stay tuned.

Solid Gold Hell is back again on March 31 from 9pm until 3am at the Sly Fox in Enmore. Guest DJs include Toothless Yella from Glitter Canyon, The Walk On

By DJs, as well as regulars Demonika and Cutthroat.

It’s a ways off, but Calling All Cars hit the Annandale on May 4 with shit-hot rockers The Strangers doing the opening honours.

Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays.

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 31

live reviews what we've been to see...

soundwave festival 2012 Sydney Olympic Park Sunday February 26 Perhaps you’re a long-haired doom-metaller, clad in black long-sleeves and baggy jeans despite the 30-degree heat; or you’re a SoCal punk with a faded Pennywise tattoo and a family; or maybe you’re the sexy bleachedblonde screamo girl. Well, there were a couple of things that you all had in common on Sunday: a) you seriously don’t give a fuck about Lupe Fiasco; and b) you were at Soundwave 2012.

Since 2008, the likes of The Offspring, Incubus, Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Bloodhound Gang (yes, Bloodhound Gang), Faith No More, Primus and Iron Maiden have graced the stage, and every year, Soundwave seem to do it bigger. So what for 2012? Oh, nothing really – just bring out goth rock demigod Marilyn Manson, ‘90s legends Limp Bizkit and Slipknot, punk heroes Bad Religion and probably the biggest metal crossover act in recent memory, System Of A Down.

Nothing of the Soundwave ritual had changed. Everyone wore black. Everyone had tattoos. Everyone en route was getting drunk on longnecks and alcopops (yeah, I’m talking to you, motocross guy drinking the watermelon Breezer). Sniffer dogs were sparse and the police unobtrusive, and in a wellmanaged and executed entry process, it took hardly five minutes before I was inside Soundwave for another year.

After a couple of false steps, I decided to catch Swedish beasts Meshuggah.

Brutal and jaw-droppingly tech, I listened in amazement as they easily negotiated impossible time signatures. There didn’t seem to be much moshing going on though – I imagine most had trouble jumping to the beat.

My first foray to the main stage was to catch Florida hardcore act A Day To Remember. Easily navigating from metalcore to pop-punk, it was a fierce set with four simultaneous circle pits breaking

out during their last song. Comparatively, Bad Religion played to a disappointingly sparse crowd. They did an admirable job, but they would’ve been better off on the punk stage; here, uninterested kids were just tolerating them to get a decent spot for Marilyn Manson.

The punk stage drew small crowds all day. Bands like New Jersey post-hardcore band Thursday and Californian veteran punks Strung Out played their hearts out, delivering some of the best sets of the festival, made even more special by the intimacy achieved in the smaller setting.

Strung Out in particular were a highlight; they played to only a few hundred people, but they played with more passion and energy than most other bands that I’d witnessed that day. From their early punk catalogue to their metal-influenced later songs, they gave their fans a real show where everyone left smiling.

Marilyn Manson was in full flight as I returned to the main stage. At his theatrical best, he writhed and thrust his way through the set, pouring fake vials of cocaine on his guitarist during ‘The Dope Show’ and wearing the bras tossed on stage by his screaming female fanbase.

I spent an hour in the Channel [V] Ele[v] ator during Slipknot’s set; on a suspended bar sitting 50 metres above the main stage, it gave me the opportunity to see around 40,000 people all jumping in unison to ‘Spit It Out’ and ‘Fuck This World’ while I sipped cocktails like some kind of hard-rock, cloud-floating overlord.

It was left for System Of A Down to close proceedings. They had not missed a beat during their recent hiatus and gave the absolutely jam-packed stadium a best-oftype show with every song you would ever want to hear. From early stuff like ‘SuitePee’ to more recent work like ‘Revenge’, it was one of those forever memorable experiences. I’ve seen a lot of shows in my time, but there is simply nothing more elating than 40,000 or so people singing the words to a song (‘Chop Suey’ in this instance) together as the band just stands there smiling.

Rick Warner

COLLIER OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS :: JAY

32 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

& ASHLEY MAR

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Human Extinction, Daniel Allars, Jerky, Papercrane, Leohas, Cascade, Partisan Code, Tonks Green Heavy Yen Project, Grand Plan, The Cruel Kind, Green Green Green, Darkc3ll, Horrowood Mannequins, Evil Ugly, The Damned Humans and many many more fantastic acts

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

screaming gravitas

vans bowl-a-rama

It sounds like: A good idea.

Who’s playing? Scattered Order, Faspeedelay (Mel), Domeyko/Gonzalez, Galaxy Fuzz Band, DJs Lars Ollo Chresta (2SER) and Ears Have Ears (FBi Radio).

Sell it to us: ‘Dirty Shirlows Presents’ is a bi-monthly series traversing eclectic, experimental, psychedelic rock, DIY & emerging music. The March edition features post-punk overlords Scattered Order, best known for their cacophonous noise-scapes of found sound, sharp guitars and pulsing beats.

They’re playing alongside Melbourne’s Faspeedelay who blur boundaries between kraut and post-rock; Galaxy Fuzz Band who make music like their namesake – fuzzed out rock-tronica with nods to 1950s space race films and Domeyko/Gonzalez who captivate audiences with walls of noise and cinematic soundscapes.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Scattered Order’s monstrous sound!

Crowd specs: A relaxed cross-section of experimental and unconventional rock fans, Shirlows regulars, young inquisitive audiophiles and older die-hard Scattered Order fans.

Wallet damage: $10 Where: Dirty Shirlows, 32 Shirlow St Marrickville When: Saturday March 10 from 8.30pm

PICS :: RW

party profile

It’s called: Screaming Gravitas

wolf call

PICS :: TL

25:02:12 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247

slam day

PICS :: AM

24:02:12 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool Street Sydney 9267 3787

:: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER WEIJERS :: KET ROC :: NS MUN IEL DAN :: MAR

34 :: BRAG :: 452: 05:03:12

KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY

open air cinemas 21:02:12 :: Dolphin Lawn :: Bondi Beach 9130 1235

PICS :: KC

23:02:12 :: Annandale Hotel :: 17 Paramatta Rd Annandale 95501078

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NEW ALBUMS COMING SOON ON DOMINO Lightships(Gerard Love) / Black Dice / Patrick Watson / Lower Dens / James Yorkston WWW.DOMINORECORDCO.COM

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 35

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antiskeptic

24:02:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711

25:02:12 :: The Lair :: Metro Theatre 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

cabins

PICS ::RW

triple treat

PICS :: TL

up all night out all week . . .

forresters hotel relaunch

PICS :: TL

22:02:12 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247

23:02:12 :: Forresters Hotel :: 336 Riley St Surry Hills 9211 2095

it’s called: The Fabergettes EP Launch Party!

It sounds like: A night of Sydney’s dreamiest garage-pop-rock’n’roll.

Who’s playing? The Fabergettes, Bang! Bang! Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Dreamboats.

Sell it to us: All aboard the good ship Fabergette for a hip shakin’ head bobbin’ fun time. From the milky ways of outta space to the sandy shores of Hawaii, we will take you on an intergalactic journey with complementary Piña Coladas.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: You‘ll wake up the next day, find silver confetti in your hair, and instantly regret that drunken proposition you made to you-know-who.

Crowd specs: Hipsters, rockers, dream boys, hula dancers, space aliens.

Just the usual.

Wallet damage: $10 on the door Where: Goodgod Small Club/ 53-55 Liverpool St Haymarket.

When: Friday March 9 from 7.30pm D HONCHO) :: KATRINA CLARKE

S : TIM LEVY (HEA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER WEIJERS :: MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ROCKET

36 :: BRAG :: 452: 05:03:12

:: ASHLEY

made in japan

PICS :: KC

party profile

the fabergettes ep launch party!

25:02:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 37

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

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7

Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park

New Order

The Naked And Famous $92.30 (+ bf) 7pm MONDAY MARCH 5 ROCK & POP Bernie The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Chic feat. Nile Rodgers Metro Theatre, Sydney $65 (+ bf) 8pm Matt Jones Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4pm

JAZZ Doig Big Band 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8pm Alison Penney

Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm John Diedrich, Katrina Retallick, Michael Falzon, Lara Mulcahy Blake Ericson, Mark Simpson, Jay James Moody, Elise McCann Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point $35 2pm all-ages Monday Jam The Lansdowne, Broadway free 9pm Open Mic Jazz: DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm Sonic Mayhem Orchestra Blue Beat Bar & Grill, Double Bay $10 9pm Starfish Club: Tina Harrod Clovelly Bowling & Recreation Club $20 7pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (USA) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $39–$69 8pm Massimo Presti, Che Fisher, Russell Neal Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY MARCH 6 ROCK & POP Adam Pringle and Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 8pm Bondi Jam Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Hue Williams Jack’s Bar and Grill, Erina free 7pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm The Road Crew The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Songwriter Sessions Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Steve Tonge The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm

JAZZ

Nile Rodgers

The Gypsy Art Club Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7pm Jazzgroove: Matt Keegan Trio, Whitesploitation 505 Club, Surry Hills $8 (conc)–$15 8pm

Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Boris Sladakovic, Russell Neal Dee Why RSL free 6.30pm Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House 8pm Winters End, Sea Legs, Daniel Hopkins The Basement, Circular Quay $20 9pm

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7 ROCK & POP Adam Eaton, Emily Ulman Old Manly Boatshed 8pm Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Bernie Segedin Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Capitol, Michele Madden, Blackie Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm The Checks (NZ), The Delta Riggs, The Walking Who Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Daniel O’Donnell (Ireland) State Theatre, Sydney $89.90 (+ bf) 8pm Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Holly J’aDoll & Lauren LaRouge, Ab Fab, Abbadon, Pepper Grinde, Veronica Bloom, Maple Rose, Lady Nostalgic, Mystique Rose,

Bella Sweet Pea, Betty Vainglorious, Lady O. Slide, Darlinghurst $10 7pm In Pieces The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Jagermeister Presents: The Damned Humans, Far Away Stables, Gentlemen & Vagabonds, Baby Snakes Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse, Danger Dannys, Rohin Jones, Andre Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Mandi Jarry Northies, Cronulla free 7.30pm March of the Real Fly FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 1pm Matt Jones Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 6pm Matt Price Summer Hill Hotel free 7.30pm Mike Bennett The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt free 8pm Neandertown Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm New Order (UK), The Naked & Famous Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $92.30 (+ bf) 8pm Old Man Crow, Mavis and Her China Pigs Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 8pm Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band (USA) Notes Live, Enmore $40 (+ bf) 8pm Replika Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Richard In Your Mind, Lyyar, Through The Forest Door The Lansdowne, Broadway free 8pm Steve Tonge Duo O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9pm Will And The People Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm

JAZZ Alphamama, KillaQueenz, Saea Banyana, Mirrah, Femme Fatales, Fly Girl Tee, Ambre Hammond Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf)–$15 8pm Benny Chong, Cameron Murray, Bosko & Honey The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf) 8pm Ben Sollee (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $35 (+ bf)-$40 8pm Jimmy Vargas and Liliana Scarlatta Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 9pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm

Umbrellas 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (conc)–$15 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Benny Chong, Cameron Murray, Bosko & Honey The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf) 8pm Bryan Farley, Stephen Hunt, Pete Loveridge, Tim Connolly, Anna Forbes, Michelle from Blaxland, Carolyn Woodorth Royal Hotel, Springwood free 8pm Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7pm David White, Nathan Cole, Greg Sita Cookies Lounge and Bar, Bakehouse Quarter, North Strathfield free 8pm Emma Russy, Joseph Within The Skeleton Horse, Rowan Jones The Valve, Tempe free 7pm John Chesher, Gavin Fitzgerald, Senani, Sean Renford, TAOS Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Men With Day Jobs, Paul McGowan, Black Diamond, Che Fisher, Darren Bennett Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm Miss Gray, Grant Wolter, Russell Neal Evening Star Hotel, Surry Hills free 7pm Penguin Cafe City Recital Hall, Sydney 8pm Vincent Pham, Helmut Uhlmann UTS Loft, Ultimo free 6pm

THURSDAY MARCH 8 ROCK & POP Aaron Welsh Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Adam Eaton, Emily Ulman Clovelly Hotel 8pm Adjusted Johns Junk Band Association (Orkney Islands), Truckstop Honeymoon (USA) Lizottes, Dee Why Anthems Of Oz The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Chartbusters The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10.30pm Edens March, Mushu, Erika Visser The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf) 8pm Eleven, Mar Haze, Eagle & The Child, Kind The Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Eli Wolfe Low 302, Darlinghurst 8pm Eric Bibb (USA), Staffan Astner (Sweden), Krystle

“My angel’s gone, I took a fall . Concussion’s crown was all I wore” - ROWLAND S. HOWARD 38 :: BRAG :: 452 : 05:03:12

Xxxx

pick of the week

Emma Russack

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Warren, James Eccles The Basement, Circular Quay $66 (+ bf) 9.30pm The Good Stuff Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Hot Damn!: Wish For Wings, Anchor (SWE), Promises, The Turning Tide, Where The Enemy Sleeps Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15 (guestlist)–$20 8pm Insert Coin(s) Level 4 Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 6pm Jessie J (UK), Professor Green (UK), DJ Ruby Rose, Amy Meredith Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $79.90 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Open Mic Night: Various Artists Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7pm The Rapture (USA), Azari & III (Canada) Metro Theatre, Sydney $55 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Roots Manuva (UK), Tuka, Dizz1 The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $49 (+ bf) 8pm Steve Tonge Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Tete (FRA), Hey Big Aki, Brett Qinterford FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $12 8pm TNL: Earth 2 Audio, Scotty McClintlock, Emmy Lou, Stewart Dyer Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm West Tigers Home Heroes Band Competition: The Rubix, Dseva feat. DJ Skae & Jase Gray, Nugwardo, The Shortlist, The Bedlams, Liam Gale & The Ponytails, Dream Delay, Mordechai The Valve, Tempe free 7pm

JAZZ

Eastside Live at 505: Gypsy Dub Sound System 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (conc)–$15 8pm Every Woman Festival: Aston, Amanda Easton, The Blondettes, Maz Mazak Blue Beat, Double Bay $20 9pm Joseph Tawadros Trio The Red Rattler, Marricville $20-$25 8pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Nano Stern & The Sindicato (Chile) Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $30-$35 7pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Sax in the City: Jeremy Rose Trio The Spice Cellar, Sydney free 6pm Sharon Shannon Big Band The Factory Theatre, Enmore $40 (+ bf) 7pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Judy Collins, Daniel Champagne The Concourse, Chatswood $63.50–$83.50 8pm Lyall Moloney, Ashleigh Mannix Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Massimo Presti, Russell Neal Kogarah Hotel free 7pm Truckstop Honeymoon (USA) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $29 8pm

FRIDAY MARCH 9 ROCK & POP

50 Years of the Rolling Stones – A Historical Perspective: Damien Lovelock, Les Murray, Amanda Easton, Rex Goh, Nick Meredith, Lloyd G The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf)–$30 9pm AJ, Miss Elm The Eastern Lounge, Chatswood $18 7.30pm allages Altitude Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm The Angels Tribute Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Bernie Segedin Great Southern Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Benn Gunn Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool free 4.30pm Black Jesus, Innsmouth, Convent Guilt The Valve, Tempe free 7pm The BMXicans, Delorean Tide, Doctor Fungi, Mechanics of Creation Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $10 8pm Carbon Copy Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Courtyard Sessions: The Sculptures Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale free 6pm allages Courtyard Sessions: Panama, MA, Sures The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale free 6pm Diafrix, Joelistics Annandale Hotel $18 (+ bf) 8pm Diego Guerrero Trio (Spain), el Solar de Artistas City Recital Hall, Sydney $47 8pm all-ages Endless Boogie (USA) Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $35 (+ bf) 8pm Eric Bibb (USA), Staffan Astner (Sweden) Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith $65 (+ bf) 8pm The Fabergettes, Bang Bang Rock N Roll, The The Fabergettes

Dreamboats GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 7.30pm Flagfall, Dylands Eye, Jeff Chinky The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 8pm Flamin’ Beauties Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst free 10pm Fun Machine, Citizen Sex, Scotdrakula, DJ Axton Frick FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $12 9pm Gang of Brothers Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 10pm Groundation Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown 8pm The Headliners Westmead Tavern free 6.30pm John Field Duo Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm John Kennedy’s 68 Comeback Special Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville free 8pm Jonathan Jones The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm King Tide, Uncle Jed Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Kirk Burgess Duo Vineyard Hotel free 9pm Lj Chatswood RSL Club free 5pm Movement Presents: Panama Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm MUM: The Demon Parade, Them Swoops, The Nectars, Rainbow Chan, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Beast Flood, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm No Art, Bare Grillz, Unity Floors Black Wire Records, Annandale $10 8pm Original Sin INXS Show Wentworthville Leagues Club free 8pm Papa Pilko & The Bin Rats, Annie McKinnon Band, Golden Fear Notes Live, Enmore $14.30 8pm Phil Spiller Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Real Estate (USA), The Twerps, Sures The Standard, Darlinghurst $42 (+ bf) 8pm Reckless The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Red Fire Red, Super Best Friends Club 77, Sydney Sam Sparrow Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $27.50 (+ bf) 8pm The Shady Expedition, Claire, Vuple Vulpes, The Effing Seas Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Sprung Monkey, The Grains Manly Fisho’s $38.20 (+ bf) 8pm Take A Hit Kingswood Sports Club free 7.30pm Taylor Swift (USA), Hot Chelle Rae Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $109.90 (+ bf)–$139.90 8pm Twilight at Taronga: Diesel Taronga Zoo, Mosman $59 (conc)–$69 7.30pm Underlights, The Demon Parade, Iron Bar Hotel, DJ LAncelot Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm

Will And The People Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $20 8pm

JAZZ

Jo Fabro Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale 8pm Pugsley Buzzard Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15-$20 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Cassy Judychair, Hillside Theory, Remo St., Russell Neal Mars Hill Café, Parramatta $10 8pm Lyall Moloney, Ashleigh Mannix The Vanguard, Newtown $10 (+ bf) 8pm Rescue Ships 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8pm

The Delta Riggs

SATURDAY MARCH 10 ROCK & POP

Between The Devil & The Deep, Animal Shapes, Hazards, Zita Grim The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 8pm Black Cherry: Brothers Grimm & The Blue Murders, The Delta Riggs, Firebird, Graveyard Rockstars The Factory Theatre, Enmore $18 (+ bf)–$22 8pm Classic Rock Show: Barry Leef, Peter Northcote Band Notes Live, Enmore $25.50

8pm Creedence And Friends Blacktown RSL Club free ‘9pm Dave Tice, Mark Evans Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Deadfest ’12: Lab 64, Imperical, War Faction, Jaded Empire, Amodus, Na Maza, Tensions, Domino, Foundry Road, Not Another Sequel Just Another Prequel The Valve, Tempe free 12pm Defamer, Hell Itself, GXSXD, Autolysis Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $12 (presale)–$15 8pm Dirty Deeds – The AC/DC Show Everglades Country Club $20 8pm Doni Raven & The Blackjack Wolfpack Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Springwood free 9.15pm Gentle Ben & His Sensitive

wed

Side, Mother and Son The Vanguard, Newtown $16 (+ bf) 8pm Giants of Science, Lomera, The Turps, Skinpin The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm Gilbert Whyte Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Hell Down Under: Steve Grimmett, The Darker Half, Taberah Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $35-$60 8pm Hit Machine Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 9pm Hooray For Everything Kingswood Sports Club free 8.30pm Hue Williams Everglades Country Club, Umina free 10pm James Reyne, Jordan Miller Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54–$112 (dinner & show) 7pm Jason Walker, Suzy Connolly, Luke O’Shea,Lachlan Doley,

thu

In Pieces 07 Mar

08 Anthems Of Oz Mar

Jonathon 09 Mar

Reckless

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

Jones

(5:00PM - 8:00PM)

sat

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

10 Jimmy Bear Mar

Singled Out

The Blarney 11 Mar

Andy Mammers duo

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sun

Boys

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

St Patrick’s Day Festival Upstairs Level 1 from 7am!

sat

17 Mar

Irish Breakfast

Eggs, Bacon, Black & White Pudding, Mushrooms, Tomatoes & Soda Bread

Bottomless Irish coffee & Guinness Plus

The Killarney Trio Live

Stringy Bark ....................................... 7:00AM U2 Elevation ..................................... 11:00AM The Blarney Boys............................. 1:30PM The Moonshiners ............................ 4:30PM Dublin Up............................................. 7:00PM 3 Way Split......................................... 11:00PM + PARTY TUNES AND TOP 40

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 39

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

Danielle Blakey, Sam Knock The Basement, Circular Quay $39.90 7pm Jeff Duff Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Jimmy Bear The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Karavan! International Gypsy Music Festival: Baro Banda, Stoli & The Black Train, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Lolo Lovina, Trevor Brown (DJ Set) The Standard, Darlinghurst 8pm Kirk Burgess Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale free 8pm Lloyd Spiegel Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15 7.30pm Millennium Bug Penrith RSL free 9pm Next Best Thing Seven Hills RSL free 8.30pm No Art, Mere Women, DeathSquare, Ghastly Spats Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10

8pm The Peel Tempel, The Go Roll Your Bones, Corpus, The Grand Lethals FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Postcards Duo Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Red Hot Numbers Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 8pm Saturday Night Live: Smells Like The 90s Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Singled Out The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Skinpin The Square, Haymarket Sky Squadron, Sierra Fin, Them Dreamers, Ghosts of York, Achoo Bless You, The Dirty Ground, Lourdes, Mylee Grace & the Milkshakes Annandale Hotel $10 6.30pm The Slips, Tiger Town, Matt Sztyk, F.R.I.E.N.D.s DJs

JAZZ

Hannah James Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm The Rescue Ships 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co. Café / Wine Bar,

Leichhardt free 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Lyall Moloney, Ashleigh Mannix Old Manly Boatshed 8pm Rebecca Fielding, Alan Watters, Emily Wong, The Wildbloods, He&She, Adam Kiss, Russell Neal Royal Exchange Hotel, Marrickville free 7.30pm The Secret City, Oliver Goss, Helmut Uhlmann Terrey Hills Tavern free 7.30pm

SUNDAY MARCH 11 ROCK & POP

Bon Iver

www.fbisocial.com

Tuesday March 6

Wednesday March 7

Thursday March 8

9pm // FREE

1pm // FREE

9pm // $12

JURASSIC LOUNGE AFTER PARTY:

LUNCH BREAK PRESENTED BY ALBERTS:

MARCH OF THE REAL FLY & broadcast live on FBi Radio 94.5FM!

8pm//$16 through moshtix $22 at the door

LAUGH YOUR TITS OFF featuring

TOMMY DEAN 40 :: BRAG :: 452 : 05:03:12

Handsome Devils Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 4pm Mandi Jarry Harbord Beach Hotel free 6pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Pete Hunt Waverley Bowling Club free 3pm Red Sky, Become the Catalyst, Delinquent The Valve, Tempe free 6pm Rock Monster Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 3pm Sharlene Rainford The Red Rattler, Marrickville $5 5pm Thompson Gunners Riverstone Bowling & Recreation Club free 2pm

Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm Andy Mammers Duo, Blarney Boys The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Bon Iver (USA) Sydney Opera House 8pm sold out Chickenstones, 254th Floor, Big Al Creed Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7pm Dave Wilcons Duo Overlander Hotel, Cambridge Park free 3pm Drive: Peter Northcote, Virginia Lillye The Bridge Hotel $10 3.30pm Finn Bald Rock Hotel, Rozelle free 6.30pm Girls Of The Golden Age Of

L2 Kings Cross Hotel

ASTHMATIX DJs + DJ WACKS

Rock, The Starliners Petersham RSL $2 3pm Glenn Whitehall Oatley Hotel free 2pm Hit Machine The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Hue Williams Grange Hotel, Wyoming free 1.30pm Hunter & Suzy Owens Band Marrickville Bowling Club 4.30pm James Parrino, Outlier Dee Why RSL Club free 10pm Johnny G & the E-Types Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Kurt Williams Collaroy Services Beach Club free 2pm Lucy De Soto and The

`

Friday March 9

Saturday March 10

9pm-late // $12

8pm // $10

BLUDLUST

THE PEEP TEMPEL + THE GO ROLL YOUR BONES + CORPUS + THE GRAND LETHALS

presents:

TETE (FRANCE) +HEY BIG AKI! +BRETT WINTERFORD

FUN MACHINE +CITIZEN SEX +SCOTDRAKULA +DJ AXTON FRICK

MIDNIGHT - 3am // FREE

LATE NIGHT SOCIAL: THE BLOTTER LABEL PARTY & broadcast live on FBi Radio 94.5FM!

Xxxx

Sierra Fin

Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Storylines: Joseph Calderazzo, Jason Walker, Suzy Connolly, Lachlan Doley, Danielle Blakey, Luke O’Shea, Sam Knock The Basement, Circular Quay $39.90 (+ bf) 8pm Swingshift Cold Chisel Show Lone Pine Tavern, Rooty Hill free 8pm Talk It Up Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Taylor Swift (USA), Hot Chelle Rae Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $109.90 (+ bf)–$139.90 8pm Ted Nash Newport Arms Hotel free 8pm Thompson Gunners Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8.30pm Tom Ugly, Louise London Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Urge Overkill (USA), Sounds Like Sunset Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $51 8pm The Winstons Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm

gig guide send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Truckstop Honeymoon (USA), On The Stoop Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 6.30pm Vibrations at Valve Band Competition Grand Final Valve Bar, Tempe 12pm Will And The People Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt 8pm The Zebs, Glitter Canyon, Ben & Ben, Bonez Annandale Hotel $5 5pm

JAZZ

The Peter Head Trio & Friend The Harbour View Hotel free 4pm The Subterraneans Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Paul Furniss, John Smith Illawarra Master Builders Club, Wollongong free 2.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Aimee Francis Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm Audrey Auld (USA), Faith Lee The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf) 8pm Glenn Whitehall Oatley Hotel free 2pm Lyall Moloney, Ashleigh Mannix The Vault, Windsor 8pm

marCH 14

gig picks

up all night out all week...

+WINTER PEOPLE + CASTLECOMER Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

marCH 28

APRIL 04

MONDAY MARCH 5 Bonnie Prince Billy (USA) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $39–$69 8pm

Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Beast Flood, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm No Art, Bare Grillz, Unity Floors Black Wire Records, Annandale $10 8pm

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7

Real Estate (USA), The Twerps, Sures The Standard, Darlinghurst $42 (+ bf) 7pm

Richard In Your Mind, Lyyar, Through The Forest Door The Lansdowne, Broadway free 9pm

Sam Sparro Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $27.50 (+ bf) 8pm

Alphamama, KillaQueenz, Saea Banyana, Mirrah, Femme Fatales, Fly Girl Tee, Ambre Hammond Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf)–$15 8pm

SATURDAY MARCH 10

FRIDAY MARCH 9 The Fabergettes, Bang! Bang!

Rock'n'Roll, The Dreamboats GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 7.30pm MUM: The Demon Parade, Them Swoops, The Nectars, Rainbow Chan,

9 6 @ ( 3 / , ( + ( * / , +

+

BETTY AIRS

APRIL 11

+

Black Cherry: Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders, The Delta Riggs, Firebird, Graveyard Rockstars and more The Factory Theatre, Enmore $18 (+ bf)–$22 8pm

APRIL 18

Karavan! International Gypsy Music Festival: Baro Banda, Stoli & The Black Train, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Lolo Lovina, Trevor Brown (DJ) The Standard, Darlinghurst $37 (+ bf) 8pm

+ APRIL 25

+

VANSHE

+ SWIMWEAR

Real Estate

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 41

42 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

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

brag beats free stuff

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

five things WITH

SOFTWAR

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

ACID MONDAYS

Ibiza-based trio Acid Mondays will headline the Spice Cellar on Saturday March 24. Comprised of Dan Ward, Alex Wolfenden and Garry Todd, the ‘Mondays bonded over “their love for fat beats, inter-dimensional travel and cups of tea” – and proceeded to create “percussive, sprawling, sleazy house music.” Having dropped their debut EP on the respected 2020 Vision label, there’s plenty of hype surrounding these guys; this is your chance to see whether they live up to it. Support on the night will come from Murat Kilic and Matt Weir. Entry is free with guest list before midnight, and $20 thereafter.

MAD RACKET

Mad Racket returns to the hallowed turf of Marrickville Bowling Club for the first time this year on Saturday March 17 with a themed ‘Hair Wars – Future Fuzz!’ bash. In addition to the futuristic hair/wig theme (which really is a significant hook in itself!) this will be a rare locals-only Mad Racket, featuring extended sets by all four Racketeers: Zootie, Jimmi James, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell. Given that the racketeers regularly outshine the internationals they play alongside, you have plenty to look forward to – in addition to organising an exotic wig. As the presser affirms, “Twenty bucks will get you a full Bowlo-O-Sonic rig, reasonably priced drinks, several flashing lights and a greenside smoking area. It’s also a chance to sport a special hairdo or piece from the near or distant future, be it lunar locks, hi-tech weaves, cosmic curls or alien bangs.”

DJ QUIK

If you know your hip hop (and your ‘Thug Life’ tattoo suggests that you do) then you already know all about DJ Quik. The Compton native is a DJ, producer, multiinstrumentalist; basically, an all-round legend of the game. His latest album, Book Of David, is all beats and clever lyrics - basically what hip hop should be.

On Thursday March 15, DJ Quik will be strutting his stuff at the Gaelic Theatre. If you want to get your hands on a double pass, just tell us the rapper’s real name.

Naughty By Nature

Growing Up The Music You Make Both our parents were into their music big Tropical milkshake-style beats that make 1.

4. time, so this definitely had an impact. And we you want to light a lantern on a beach close were both born into the mid-‘80s, so this says something. Flashbacks of Roxy Music and Duran Duran will remain with us for life. We often find ourselves mid-set dropping the odd INXS track, which is always an Aussie treat for the barbie.

to Bangkok, or just simply max-out with a fresh salad or smoothie. Our new EP is out on Future Classic – titled This Time Around – and you can head to our Soundcloud page (soundcloud.com/sof-1). We often post free songs and mixes n’ stuff.

Inspirations Beethoven, Charles Manson, Gumby 2. and Inspector Norse are a few that come to

Music, Right Here, Right Now There is honestly so much good music 5. going on at the moment; Sydney is really

mind...

pulling its finger out and taking the scene head-on, which is good to see.

Your Crew We have a mad crew here; Sydney is 3. tough and times get tougher out on these streets. On the topic of crew, one of the best crews in the world are coming to Sydney – DFA. We are super excited to be playing alongside them at the DFA Future Music Afterparty. Guys like James Murphy, Pat Mahoney, The Juan Maclean, Benoit & Sergio and SlowBlow... Fuck me, it’s going to be bloody outrageous... Just have a listen to The Juan Maclean’s ‘Happy House’ and you will understand.

FRIENDLY FIRES DJ SET

Picnic will host a Friendly Fires DJ set down at Goodgod Small Club on Saturday night – the only chance you’ll get for an additional Friendly Fires fix beyond the Future Music Festival.

While the indie credentials of Friendly Fires are well documented, their club credentials ain’t too shabby either. The three band members grew up listening to electronic labels like Warp, and lead singer/synth-player Ed Macfarlane released tracks on respected Manchester electronic imprint Skam and Hooj Choons offshoot Precinct. Their ‘Suck My Deck’ mix for Bugged Out! collated cuts from artists like Bot’Ox, Discodeine and Butch, while Friendly Fires kicked off this year by releasing a remix package of their second album Pala, which included reworks from Tensnake, Benoit & Sergio and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, amongst others. Local supports will come in the dashing form(s) of Mike Witcombe, Kali and Andy Webb. Tickets are $18.50 presale, while late night ravers not willing to concede defeat should note that entry will be a mere $10 from 3am.

With: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem/DFA), The Juan McLean, Benoit & Sergio, SlowBlow What: DFA Records Official Future Music Festival Afterparty Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday March 10, 10pm More: Tickets on sale through The Metro Theatre and Ticketek - $45+BF

PLAYGROUND WEEKENDER

“The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth... and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished – birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.”

While I may be quoting a passage from the Bible pertaining to Noah’s Ark, I may as well be referring to the Bureau Of Meteorology’s fateful predicted forecast for last weekend, which as the majority of readers will undoubtedly be aware by now, was the reason behind the cancellation of Playground Weekender 2012. Playground main-man Andy Rigby commented, “We have been planning this event all year and were anticipating it as much as our guests were. The safety of the guests, artists and staff at the event, and on their way to and from the event, is our main priority. Reluctantly we have followed advice that it would be unsafe to ask people to travel in these weather conditions, and as such the event cannot go ahead.”

SUPAFEST: FINAL LINEUP DROP

The final round of artists have been announced for Supafest, and there’s plenty of ‘big guns’ who’ve been thrown into the mix. Female hip hop icon Missy Elliott will be working it with her entourage of dancers, along with the über-successful Grammy Awardwinning trio Naughty By Nature, who will be throwing down ahead of Chris Brown and Big Sean, who round off the final lineup announcement. They join a star-studded lineup that already comprises P. Diddy, Kelly Rowland, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, Ice Cube and Trey Songz. Supafest 2012 is slotted for Sunday April 15 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney; $149 GA tickets are currently available online.

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 43

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

DJ GILBERTO DO FUNK Growing Up My first musical memories 1. are of listening to Santana and The Beatles with my parents on long road trips, and watching my grandparents dance to paso dobles at Christmas time. When I started playing guitar in high school I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen – I even bought a Kramer with a locked tremolo, oh yeah baby!! Everyone else was into grunge and I loved ‘80s hair rock; I have been proven right finally!

Inspirations Living in Spain when I left 2. high school was one of my strongest inspirations; watching live flamenco and the live jazz scene in Madrid around the turn of the millennium – awesome.

Then I met a capoeira dancer and fell in love with Brazilian music and culture – from Timbalada to Marcelo D2 to O Rappa.

Your Crew The Kriola Collective plays 3. at every Favela Freak Out; it’s a ten-piece big band made up of some amazing Sydney musicians that can play any genre I throw

Alison Wonderland

Snakes’ released on Cosmo Vitelli’s esteemed Parisian Label I’m A Cliché, and their jamming epic ‘Fire Eyes’ pressed by none other than DFA Records. Keep Your Dreams consists of unreleased material save for two tracks, one of which is ‘Blue Snakes’ – which was also used by eclectic French DJ Agoria on his fabric mix – and the other is the rocky anthem ‘My Rescue’, released earlier this year via Modular, replete with a Dr Dunks extension.

The Canyons will headline The Standard on Friday March 16, with support from Albatross, Rainbow Chan and Mikie & Tyson.

at them. They bring the bootyshaking Brazilian rhythms to life with huge drums, traditional instruments, fuzzed-out guitars and a sax/trumpet/trombone horn section.

The Music You Make My DJ sets tend to have a 4. bit of everything – that’s why I decided to start Favela Freak Out in the first place! Samba Soul, Rio Rock, Sao Paulo Punk, Baile Beats – anything to get the girls on the dancefloor (once the girls are there, the guys ain’t got no excuse).

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

Sydney at the moment is going crazy, so many great little venues and places to see music. When I started promoting in 2002 there was nothing; I see the variety and quality available now and I get misty-eyed. Onya Clover!

With: Kriola Collective Where: Favela Freak Out @ GoodGod Small Club When: Thursday March 8

INSERT COINS #4

Because all good things come in fours (from now on) it only seems appropriate that the fourth instalment of Oxford Art Factory’s Insert Coin(s) should take place on level four of the esteemed venue. Furthermore, as you are possibly/probably aware, this event series consists of four awesome elements of fun!: retro arcade gaming juxtaposed with music, art and the gastronomical delights of an ‘80s-style milk bar. This particular edition of this geek-fest takes place this Thursday March 8 at 6pm and will showcase live art from Mr Sweet and Vars One, and (amongst a mountain of indelible games) the recently released EA Sports SSX (and at a later date, FIFA Street). To snag a double pass be the first to tell us one awesome arcade game from the ‘80s.

Freestylers

DIGITALISM

Hamburg duo Digitalism are heading back Down Under in May, and will play The Hi-Fi (formerly The Forum) on Friday May 11.

Digitalism have been a mainstay in the dance scene since the huge success of their first two 12”s, ‘Zdarlight’ and ‘Idealism’ in the midnoughties, releasing a couple of full-length albums, touring extensively and remixing the likes of Daft Punk and Depeche Mode.

Traversing indie and electro influences in their productions, a fusion encapsulated in their cover of The Cure, Digitalism have established a strong Aussie fanbase through past appearances at events such as Parklife and Field Day. This time around they’ll be headlining their own sideshow, with support from Beni, among others. Tickets are available for $45 from fuzzy.com.au

ALISON WONDERLAND After a brief sojourn overseas playing in LA, NYC and London, local lass Alison Wonderland returns to Australian shores where she will immediately set out on a Welcome To Wonderland National Tour. Kicking off in March, the tour will see her whip around the country taking in 15 cities and playing at a bevy of venues, including – most importantly for Sydneysiders – Oxford Art Factory on Saturday March 31. The press release describes Alison’s DJ sets as traversing “disco, indie, hip hop, house, Baltimore and everything in between,” so one can expect an eclectic array of tunes. There’s also the small matter of Wonderland’s forthcoming debut compilation album, which is due out in April through EMI.

CANYONS

Perth duo Ryan Grieve and Leo Thomson, collectively known as Canyons, will be embarking on a live band national tour in support of their long-awaited debut album, Keep Your Dreams, which is out now on Modular Recordings. Canyons have been supported by some of the more respected names in the electronic scene throughout their career thus far, having had their track ‘Blue 44 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

ELECTRIC EMPIRE

Melbourne three piece Electric Empire play The Standard on Saturday April 28 in support of the deluxe re-release of their self-funded/self-penned/self-titled debut album, which now includes bonus tracks and remixes. After supporting the likes of The Brand New Heavies, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Mayer Hawthorne, the trio have began headlining their own shows on the back of critical acclaim for their funked-up brand of “out-n-out feel good soul”. The deluxe edition of their debut album comes replete with the brand-new single ‘Yes I Will’, and remixes of the ‘Baby Your Lovin’ by Smoove and Chris Bangs. Presale tickets to see Electric Empire can be procured online. $20 + BF

COME TOGETHER

Now in its eighth year, Sydney’s annual long-weekend party, Come Together has announced its second all-Aussie hip hop lineup to take the stage at the Big Top Luna Park on Saturday June 9. Melbourne rapper 360, the acclaimed pair Horrorshow, the Blue Mountains duo Hermitude, Seth Sentry, Koolism, Thundamentals, Scryptcha, Purpose and Bam Bam will all be representing from 4pm through till 11pm.

Tickets on sale March 15, with first release only $59 from cometogether.com.au. And young sconies need not despair, as this is an all ages event.

GARDEN PARTY @ IVY

While Jam Music’s Garden Parties at Chinese Laundry finished up recently, the brand – and indeed the ‘garden party’ concept – will live on, starting Saturday March 31 at the Ivy Courtyard. Chinese Laundry is still involved with the event, as a glance at the local DJ lineup will affirm, however the focus will be on veteran UK headliners The Freestylers and Boy 8 Bit (although I must confess Doctor Werewolf also caught my eye when initially perusing the presser). Germany’s Marten Horger will also be throwing down, with the beats commencing at midday sharp.

PROSUMER

Panorama Bar resident Prosumer (known as Achim Brandenburg to his inner circle), who hails from Saarbrücken in Southwestern Germany, will play a four-hour set for Co-Op at One-22 on Saturday March 23 as part of his debut Australia tour. Taking the Prosumer name from Alvin Toffler’s novel The Third Wave, a book that informed much of the imagery and ideology that surrounded the emergence of Detroit techno, Prosumer has forged himself a reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable DJs on the scene, earning himself a regular spot at Berlin’s zeitgeistdefining Panorama Bar. Drawing on the soulful sensibility of early Detroit and Chicago records, Prosumer has released for revered labels such as Running Back, Playhouse and Ostgut Ton, collaborated with Tamo Sumo, and put out his debut album Serenity – a joint work with producer Murat Tepelli – in 2008. Prosumer’s Panorama Bar 03 compilation was released last year to widespread critical ‘thumbs up’, collating gems from Morgan Geist, Jeff Mills, Uwe Schmidt, Theo Parrish and DJ Iz among others. Presale tickets for Co-Op featuring Prosumer can, and should, be procured via Resident Advisor.

SQUAREPUSHER

Squarepusher will release a new album, Ufabulum, on May 14 through Warp Records. Not much is known about the record at this point, bar the fact (according to a press release) that ‘Pusher has started “thinking about pure electronic music again. Something very melodic, very aggressive.”

Ufabulum will be the first album by Squarepusher – an integral Warp artist since the late ‘90s, and forever associated with labelmates Aphex Twin and Autechre – since 2010, when he teamed up with a “band” (which may or may not have just been Squarepusher) called Shobaleader One for d’Emonstrator.

KRAFTY KUTS

All the way from Brighton Beach, flyin’ business class of course, stalwart producer/DJ Krafty Kuts will play Ivy Courtyard on Saturday April 28 as part of his next Aussie tour. Anyone who has attended a DJ set from the man they call ‘Special K’ in the past will know what to expect – a selection of breaks, electro, dubstep, DnB and hip hop tracks mixed at whirlwind speed with expert precision. The tour coincides with the release of Krafty Kuts’ forthcoming album, Let’s Ride, which will hit shelves later this month.

HAVE IT. .. EAT IT TOO

EVERY SATURDAY LAUNCHING MARCH 17

world bar BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 45

Zane Lowe Believe The Hype By Caitlin Welsh

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that I had a choice. I could just show up and press play, but then I realised that I don’t have the personality for that. I’m not the kind of person you want to go and stare at, because I’m not that kind of person. So I need to have a purpose, to really get in to this DJing thing, because otherwise I’m going to go insane. And that was kind of it. And that was 12 years ago!”

he BBC Radio official site declares that Zane Lowe – revered tastemaker and DJ, in both the party-starter and oldfashioned radio disc jockey sense – delivers “the best new music shoved in your ears”. Lowe does cop flak for the forceful rhetoric he uses around new music – the weekly designation of the Hottest Record In The World on his Radio 1 show, for example, teeters on the edge of self-importance and self-parody. But he’s had some time to consider his position on the H-word.

“I’m not afraid of hype,” he muses, in his stillat-least-half-Kiwi accent. “I’m not afraid of that word... look at Arctic Monkeys. They saw that hype for what it was, and they’ve built an entire career out of that tiny spark, because everyone gee’d up. But they still have to get through. And if you can’t, then hype will be just that. But I don’t see a problem with giving an artist the chance to live up to that hype. Because that really is the foundation of what you build on.

Either that or hard work. Hopefully both.”

It goes without saying that Lowe has a keen ear, being the first to play Gnarls Barkley’s international hit ‘Crazy’ on the radio, and giving his Hottest Record stamp of approval to just about every pop and indie star who’s made it big in the UK this decade. In a climate

where most music discovery channels have originated or migrated online, he’s arguably one of the last of a dying breed in one of the last bastions of 20th-century style pop radio.

you don’t have the right of way anymore.

And there’s nothing wrong with that, either, you’ve just got to find a way to galvanise your audience and remain vital.”

“You’ve got a lot of opinions, and a lot more outlets for music, and a lot more ways that people can discover it,” he says of the current music media. “And there’s no question that that’s an overwhelmingly positive thing for artists, and for developing your own story. It just means that when you’re broadcasting,

Lowe was in hip hop outfit Urban Disturbance for six years before moving into broadcasting and so was no stranger to the stage, but made a point early on in his DJing career of not being just another bloke in headphones. “I started to realise very quickly when I started to DJ because of the Radio One thing, I realised

Lowe has seen trends come and go throughout that time, so when he’s excited about a moment in dance music, it’s probably a good idea to pay attention. “I think that with people like Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex and artists like that – dance music is really at an apex again. Its tipping point is well and truly global. And in America, too – I did a show with Skrillex and A-Trak in New York recently, and the reaction was unbelievable. I was on first, at 10pm, and that crowd was going for it like it was New Year’s Eve. It was unbelievable.”

With: Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, Fatboy Slim, Tinie Tempah and heaps more.

Where: Future Music Festival @ Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 10 After: With Chase & Status (UK) @ Chinese Laundry’s Future Music Festival Official After Party

New Order Playing For Keeps By Leigh Salter

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he 32nd year of New Order’s inconsistent existence is upon us, and Gillian Gilbert is a little surprised to be back. “You just never know with this band what to expect, really,” she says. The silence that followed the band’s last album – 2005’s Waiting For The Sirens’ Call – was broken by a statement in 2007 that New Order were “no more, and never likely to be again”. That announcement, made by (now ex) bassist Peter Hook, was a red herring – he was the only one at that particular meeting. Hook’s subsequent plundering of Joy Division’s back catalogue and threats of legal action against the remainder of New Order are now matters for public opinion, but New Order’s surprise return in late 2011 implies that solidarity within the group still exists.

Bernard Sumner, Gilbert and drummer Stephen Morris (Gilbert’s husband) re-united as New Order last year with new bassist Tom Chapman and second guitarist Phil Cunningham; the first show without Hook was intended as a one-off benefit gig. It was also the first show to feature Gilbert back behind the keyboard following her open-ended departure in 2000 to look after her sick daughter. “I missed just being with everybody,” she recalls. “It took me a long time to get used to not being in New Order.”

The obvious Hook-shaped hole in the band raised potential problems for the long term.

“We were quite scared about doing a fullyfledged tour with new band members,” Gilbert admits. “So instead of barging back into the spotlight as it were, and announcing some big comeback tour, we took small steps.”

Chapman will inevitably be compared to Hook but, Gilbert notes, it’s wrong to assume he’s merely imitating. “Tom isn’t copying Hooky, he has his own style of playing. Tom wasn’t there when we recorded those songs, and so it stands to reason that he hears them differently to Hooky and has his own take on them.”

The band have in the past found themselves in financial strife, especially as a result of involvements with Tony Wilson’s Factory label.

They tried to recoup lost earnings when they reconvened in 1990 (“for what we thought would be one last time,” says Gilbert) to record the official World Cup anthem, ‘World In Motion’. In a bittersweet twist, the song hit #1 at the same time that New Order found themselves broke, disbanded and had little hope of a future. “It was encouraging having a number-one single, yeah, but really we did that record as a commercial venture because we were in trouble financially,” Gilbert confirms. “Stephen had the idea to do it, and just because we knew it would be used by all the TV stations broadcasting the World Cup, we all agreed. It was one of the few financially smart things we did as a band.”

Although Hooky is the current fly in the band’s ointment, their instability began long ago as a result of bad business, with Factory crashing during the making of New Order’s 1993 comeback album Republic. “In spite of things like that, we have always sort of battled through,” Gilbert laughs. “Some things way out of our control have slowed us down, but… I think in a way the band is bigger than us as individuals, which makes it easier to carry on in the face of… whatever the universe can throw at us. … I think with this group getting back together, we knew [Hook’s objection] would be just another battle in a long line to get through,” she smiles, adding, “but in New Order, that’s just how we play.”

With: Swedish House Mafia, Aphex Twin, Die Antwoord, Friendly Fires and more Where: Future Music Festival @ Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 10 Sideshow: with The Naked and Famous @ Hordern Pavilion, Wednesday March 7

Ian Pooley Funky Fishing By Andrew Hickey

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or someone who values their chill-out time, Germany’s king of funky house has been anything but quiet. Since debuting in 1993, Ian Pooley (born Ian Pinnekamp) has consistently been pumping out the warm grooves to dancefloors across the world via a slew of classic anthems, and established a reputation for his remixes before he even released his debut album, 2004’s Souvenirs.

Eschewing the typically more abrasive sound of his peers, the Mainz native has been the bridge between techno and house and is still going strong as he works on a new project and prepares for his upcoming trek to Australia.

It’s been a while since you were in Australia – how are you feeling about this upcoming trip? I really like Australia a lot, especially after long months of winter in Europe. It’s been way too long – 2005, I think.

What’s your creative process like in the studio? I spend on average 9-10 hours in studio every day. I don’t wait for some magic moment where I feel a sudden flash of creativity or anything like that; for me, creativity comes from discipline and work and loving what you do.

As a producer, do you prefer analogue or digital? 80% analogue; digital only for arrangement and finalising the track.

What’s your goal when creating a track – to get people moving or thinking? Both, preferably. I like the idea that the same track can affect people differently. Whether it makes someone dance, creates a certain mood or makes you think, it doesn’t really matter – as long as it doesn’t leave you indifferent.

One of my favourite tracks of yours is ‘Balmes’, with Esthero; do you enjoy collaborating with other artists? I like collaborations; it’s always exciting to hear what someone else’s take on my idea is and other

46 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

ways around. I’ve been really lucky in the sense that I’ve worked with many artists I respect a great deal. I have guest vocalists on three tracks [on my new album]: Dominique Keegan from The Glass, James Teej, and a really talented singer called Gus. [I’m] very happy with the result!

What was the techno scene like when you started out – and how has it changed? It has changed in the sense that it took maybe a bit more dedication before. I used to travel to buy records and equipment; people used to plan weeks, even months ahead to go and hear certain artists play. Nowadays everything is more accessible – and that makes it more disposable, in a way. But at the same time there is still a lot of great and exciting music around, and the young generation seems to be rediscovering vinyl again, which is a good thing.

What projects are you working on at the moment? I’m finishing my album; it took quite a while but it’s almost done now. I just had a release out on Pokerflat, and there’s another one coming out on Systematic with Matthew Dekay, which is remixes. I also recently finished another EP with Spencer Parker. Besides that, I’ve got quite a few remixes. So it’s a busy start to the year!

I read that you dream of some day becoming a Croatian fisherman; are you far off from fulfilling that goal? Hopefully not! I go to Croatia every summer and do a bit of fishing.

Actually I’m gonna spend some time with my good friend Dick Johnson in New Zealand on this tour – going out on his boat and catching our own dinner which is always a real treat.

With: Chase & Status (UK), Zane Lowe (UK) Where: Future Music Festival Official After Party @ Chinese Laundry When: Saturday March 10, doors open 9pm

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Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Manuel Tur

Soul Sedation

Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom-heavy Beats with Tony Edwards Soul Sedation goes live every Wednesday night on Bondi FM (88.0 or bondifm. com.au). Tune in 10pm 'til midnight to hear a deep and soulful selection of the tunes covered here, and plenty more that I don't have room for. ith Playground Weekender officially cancelled by the SES prior to commencement last weekend, approximately 10,000 people were left to search for new plans. Soul Sedation supposes one washout in six years (so far) ain’t bad, since the event is held quite literally on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, very much in the flood zone. After the loss of life in the Queensland floods still fresh on everyone’s minds, authorities’ risktaking capacities must certainly be at an all time low. One of the parties that popped up as an alternative was the Rebel Rave Weekender, where the Crosstown Rebels family of artists – Damian Lazarus, Art Department and cohorts – found a venue in the city in which to do their thing. And at the time of publishing the Playground organisers were still cooking up further replacement events in Sydney. This was posted on their Facebook page Friday morning: “Morning Weekenders. Great weather for ducks! We are still working on events for this Saturday and Sunday in Sydney and are hoping to give you an update later this morning. We will also be giving you more info on refunds. In the meantime, all aboard the Ark!”

ON THE ROAD

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he Korean-born Berlin-based producer Hunee, whose recent Australian tour included a slot at for the HAHA crew a few weeks back at Marrickville Bowling Club, will release an as-yet-untitled LP later in the year. The producer (real name Hun Choi) has been throwing out the occasional EP and single over the last couple of years, with his “warm and sensuous” takes on house sounds being released on labels like Ostgut Ton and Permanent Vacation.

However, for his maiden LP, Hunee has shifted stables to the Dutch label Rush Hour. As an aperitif, Rush Hour will release an EP of new Hunee material, entitled Ride, which is expected to drop in the near future. On the HAHA front, the reputed local underground crew will host the next in their Under The Radar warehouse party series this Saturday night. The lineup for the next UTR is a counterpoint to the many parties that fall into the trap of trying to squeeze too many DJs onto the bill: D&D (aka HAHA residents Dean Dixon and Dave Fernandes) will be on the decks all night, playing a whopping – or, to use the correct techno terminology, ‘Villalobosian’ – eight-hour set, from 10pm till sunrise. This is their party, and they’ll play all night if they want to. Further details are available online through the HAHA website.

German producer Manuel Tur will release a new album through Freerange Records in late April, titled Swans Reflecting Elephants – a tip of the cap to the one and only Salvador Dali. Tur has gradually developed his production style since he dropped his ‘Syphon Drum’ remix for Solomun’s 12” ‘Cloud Dancer’ in 2010. Since then, he’s remixed an eclectic selection of artists such as Azari & III, Jazzanova, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Little Dragon, Festland and Jacob Korn, expanding his focus to more alt-pop and established artists while also slowing down the rhythm of his own releases. “The painting Swans Reflecting Elephants worked as a metaphor for me when recording the album and searching for a general sound,” Tur said of the forthcoming album. “Being interested in both accessible and poppy sounds, as well as rather abstract textures, I wanted to merge these two opposed sides like Dalí brought together the two very different animal species that are delicate swans and hugely powerful elephants. I like how Dalí mirrored them to create a cohesive fusion of the two and I wanted to achieve the same with the music. I find the fuzzy setting, the obscure colours and the dull light in the painting very inspiring.” In following this vision, Tur recruited guest vocalists Blakkat (aka Mark Bell) and Elina Monova to create what is apparently a more “dancefloor-oriented” album than his debut, 0201; it certainly

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY MARCH 10 HAHA Under The Radar #16 Warehouse party TBA

FRIDAY MARCH 30 Efdemin One22

THURSDAY APRIL 5 Moodymann The Spice Cellar

MONDAY APRIL 9 Stimming The Abercrombie

seems like a far more ambitious release than its antecedent.

Three artists from James Holden’s Border Community imprint, Fairmont, Luke Abbott and Avus, will make up the headline triumvirate at Chinese Laundry on Saturday March 23. Fairmont is the alter-ego of Canadian producer Jake Fairley, whose cut ‘Oshawa’ was featured on Holden’s classic Balance mix before the Fairmont moniker was well and truly cemented with the release of the Coloured In Memory album back in ’07. Moving right along – I’m restricted by the oppressive word count, unfortunately readers… there’s simply not enough room to waffle on in self-indulgent monologues like this one – Abbott’s Holkham Drones album from last year is a great snapshot of the ambient psychedelia that characterises the Border Community sound, and features tracks that attracted remixes from producers such as Etienne Jaumet, RocketNumberNine and Gavin Russom. Rounding out the triumvirate, Avus is both an accomplished producer and a DJ with a lengthy UK club pedigree, including a resident slot as warm-up man at the former Border Community nights at London club The End. To see these three artists play live should offer hugely innovative, and at times challenging, variations to the well worn electronic/club blueprints that we’re normally exposed to in Sydney. As Holden himself said of the Border Community culture when I spoke to him on his most recent tour of Australia, “I don’t really care what goes on in the middle of the dance scene to be honest.

We can carry on doing what we’re interested in, and there are enough people in the world to find that interesting that we can just do it.

It’s sort of healthy for the scene too; I don’t think monocultures produce good music.” I’ll drink to that Mr. Holden!

Luke Abbott

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com 48 :: BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12

In new music there’s fresh juice for fans of hip hop, funk, dubstep and disco.

Pitchben’s ‘Stand Up’ remixes is the release for the disco heads to track down.

Tiger & Woods are involved on remix duty, as are Runaway (Jacques Renault), and the result is some brilliantly playable disco grooves. That one’s out through Compost Records.

The new DJ Format album is incredibly dope, inviting praise industry wide. Get involved with this record – Statement Of Intent. “The best hip hop in ages,” says The Recordstore’s Stephan Gyory, but maybe he would say that, he runs a record store after all. In all seriousness you should track this release down through the Project Blue Book label.

Dubstep heads will need to get across the new release from Pinch and Shackleton; it’s out on the generally astute Honest Jon’s label. The record reportedly fuses reggae, dubstep, techno and Middle Eastern percussion, with most early reviews giving it a significant thumbs up.

Gang Colours has dropped his new album, The Keychain Collection, on Brownswood Recordings. Think UK funky, groovetronica, beat poetry and bass music. On the same label there’s also a new edition of Worldwide Family out, showcasing the label’s top shelf roster. This instalment is mixed by Kutmah, and you’ll hear music from Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and Jon Wayne plus

Hermitude

FRIDAY MARCH 9 Groundation Manning Bar

FRIDAY MARCH 16 Hermitude Oxford Art Factory

FRIDAY MARCH 23 Watussi, True Vibenation, Alphamama Metro Theatre

SATURDAY APRIL 28 Electric Empire The Standard

new signings like Lapti and Seven Davis Jr. To gigs: assuming you’re picking this publication up on Monday, Chic are playing a show in Sydney tonight! For many people Chic are the disco band, and the New York outfit’s track record on the charts certainly backs this assertion.

Turn up to The Metro tonight to catch the band in all their glory, with chief songwriter Nile Rodgers on lead guitar.

US reggae band Groundation return to the South Pacific to tour their new album, Building An Ark. The Californian outfit writes pure, traditional roots reggae, made in the spirit of the early reggae output from Kingston in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

They’re on the WOMADelaide bill, but you can also catch the Sydney sideshow, Friday March 9 at Manning Bar with both Budspells and Lore on support duty.

Melbourne trio Electric Empire have been in Japan, churning through some shows.

The band has just re-released its debut self-titled record including bonus tracks ‘Yes I Will’ and a cover of ‘Baby Your Lovin’’.

You can catch the mellow soul vibes at The Standard on Saturday April 28.

Newly emerged Sydney funk band, Whitehouse, have just released their debut record, Funky Intervention, on the Gadigal Music label. You’ll be able to check out their particular blend of hip hop, funk and spoken word at the OAF, Thursday March 22.

Groundation

Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com

Out this Friday 9th

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

club pick of the week

MONDAY MARCH 5 Goldfish, Kings Cross We Owe You One 6pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Chic feat. Nile Rodgers $65 (+ bf) 8pm Scubar. Sydney Crab Racing 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY MARCH 6

SATURDAY MARCH 10

Swedish House Mafia

Royal Randwick Racecourse

Future Music Festival Swedish House Mafia (SWE) New Order (UK) Fatboy Slim (UK) Paul van Dyk (GER), Tinie Tempah (UK), The Wombats (UK), Chase & Status (UK) Skrillex (USA) Jessie J (UK), The Rapture (USA) Sven Vath (GER), Die Antwoord (RSA), Aphex Twin (UK) The Naked and Famous (NZ), Friendly Fires (UK), Gym Class Heroes (USA) Zane Lowe (UK) Professor Green (UK) Knife Party, Dubfire (USA), John O’Callaghan (IRL), Flux Pavillion (UK) Oliver Huntemann (GER) Ørjan Nilsen (NORWAY), Porter Robinson (USA) Kill The Noise (USA), Ruby Rose, tyDi, Timmy Trumpet, Gareth Emery (UK) Jamie Jones (USA), James Murphy & Pat Mahoney (USA), Hercules and Love Affair (USA), Azari & III (CAN) Alex Metric (UK), Holy Ghost! (USA), The Juan Maclean (USA), Benoit & Sergio (GER), Horse Meat Disco (UK) Stafford Brothers

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Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJ Willie Sabor 8pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Jurassic Lounge After Party DJ Wacks, Asthmatix DJs free 9pm Goldfish, Kings Cross We Owe You One 6pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frat House free Scubar, Sydney Backpacker Karaoke 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday DJ Johnny B, DJ Shipwreck, MC Fro, Dr Rhythm $10 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Tuesdays Mike J, Ping Pong Tiddly, Chapper free 8pm

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7 Bank Hotel, Newtown Wednesdays With Lady L Jimmy D, Sandi Hotrod Beach Road Hotel, Bondi The Camera Club free 8pm Enmore Theatre Skrillex, Porter Robinson $72.10 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Epping Hotel DTF Resident DJs free 8pm The Flinders Hotel, Darlinghurst Hip Hop DJs free 8pm Kit & Kaboodle Supper Club, Kings Cross Resident DJs 8pm Ruby Rabbit, Darlinghurst Resident DJs 9pm Scubar, Sydney Schoonerversity 3pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Blaze Tripp, Autoclaws, Joyride, Subaske, Boonie, Hansom, Hobophonics, Kristy Lee, Empress Toy, Devola $5 9pm

THURSDAY MARCH 8 The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Lounge DJs 8pm Bar 100, The Rocks The Powder Room 5pm Cargo Lounge, Kings St Wharf Dance The Way You Feel 6pm Enmore Theatre Fatboy Slim (UK), Ajax $50 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages The Flinders Hotel, Darlinghurst Hippies from Hell DJs free 8pm Goldfish, Kings Cross We Owe You One 6pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Favela Freak Out DJ Gilberto Do Funk, Kriola Collective with Tiago De Lucca $10 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Resident DJs free 8pm The Hi-Fi, Moore Park Roots Manuva (UK), Dizz1, Tuka $49 (+ bf) 9pm Ivy, Sydney Ivy Live DJs free 6pm The Lansdowne, Broadway Vultures DJs free 8pm Low 302, Darlinghurst

Thursday Switch DJs free 9pm Metro Theatre, Sydney The Rapture (USA), Azari & III (CAN) Metro Theatre, Sydney $55 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Insert Coin(s) Level 4 DJs $10 6pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn Hot Damn DJs $15$20 8pm Ruby Rabbit, Darlinghurst Resident DJs 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Flaunt Dim SLM, DJ Task 8pm Soho, Potts Point Femme Fatale Resident & Guest DJs 8pm Venue 505, Surry Hills Gypsey Dub Sound System $10-$15 7.30pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda O-Week Party Jake Stone, Chris Moody (UK), Urby, Dan Bombings, Jack Shit free (student)–$5 9pm

FRIDAY MARCH 9 34 Degrees South, Bondi Get Down Get Down DJs free 8pm Annandale Hotel Diafrix, Joelistics $18 (+ bf) 8pm Arthouse Hotel, Sydney After Dark Resident DJ 9pm Bar 100, The Rocks Shut Up & Strut Cissy Strut 8pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi DJ Jeremy free 8pm Cargo Lounge, Kings St Wharf Kick On DJs Chinese Laundry, Sydney Boss Bass Masaki vs Kemikoll, Kombat vs Who Am I, Pop The Hatch vs Bruxism, Hydraulix vs AutoClaws, AL1AS vs Bassriot, Swiss Dub, Struz, Carcinogen vs Shudder X $15-$20 10pm City Hotel, Sydney One Night in Cuba Mani, Nandez, DJ Yamaya, Av El Cubano, DJ Coco $15 8pm Civic Underground, Sydney Volar Resident DJs 10pm Enmore Theatre Die Antwoord (South Africa) $55.60 (+ bf) 8pm Epping Hotel Flirt Resident DJs 9pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Point Break DJs Home The Venue, Sydney Delicous & Sublime Fridays Resident & Guest DJs 9pm Hotel Chambers, Martin Place F**k Me I’m Famous Resident DJs $15 9pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Rat Pack DJs Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Rufus DJs, Hansom, Hobophonics, Isbjorn $10 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction W!ldlive Fridays Resident DJs $10 10pm The Marlborough Hotel Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Metro Theatre, Sydney Sven Vath, Dubfire, Jamie Jones, Oliver Huntemann $44.70-$55 10pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 8pm Omega Lounge, Level 2 City Tattersalls Club, Sydney Unwind Fridays Blended Beats DJs, Greg Summerfield free The Roxy, Parramatta Ronnie (USA), DJ Fingaz (USA), Mark Pellegrini, Yeah

Right DJs, Andreas, Danny Merx, Nick Van Wilder, Anfery Manfre, DJ Stylz $25 10pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Pay Day Fridays Dim SLM, DJ Troy T 8pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Friday MixTape James FitzG free 6pm Soho, Potts Point Soho Fridays Resident & Guest DJs free 8pm Space, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm Tunnel Nightclub, Kings Cross Why Sleep? DJs $10-$15 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY MARCH 10 Arq Nightclub, Taylor Square Dance Jake Kilby, Jayson Forbes, Rob Davis, Jimmy Dee, Justin Scott $15-$25 9pm The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Vamp Music Flux Pavilion, Porter Robinson, Kill The Noise, Vengeance, Kyro & Bomber $40 9pm Bar 100, The Rocks My Place Omega Soundsystem Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Smoking Poines & Friends, DJ Greg Perano free 8pm The Burdekin, Darlinghurst Tribal Progression Kevin C, Ft Mode, Thierry D, David Roberts free-$10 10pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Disco! Disco! DJs 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Official Future Music Festival Afterparty Chase & Status (UK), Zane Lowe (UK), Ian Pooley (GER), Kraymer, Softwar, A-Tonez, Belted & Sloppy, Mike Hyper, King Lee, Eggo $25 9pm Club 77, Woolloomooloo Starfuckers Starfuckers DJs 9pm Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly Saturdays Resident DJs 9pm Epping Hotel Back Traxx Back Traxx DJs 9pm Establishment, Sydney Sienna Valentine’s Special G-Wizard, Troy T, Lilo, Def Rok 9pm The Flinders Hotel, Darlinghurst Horne Dogg free 8pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Picnic presents Official Future Music Festival Afterparty Friendly Fires (DJ Set), Mike Witcombe, Kali, Andy Webb $18+bf/$25 11pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Cadell, Alleyoop, Recess, Bilman, Gary Montgomery, Johnny Somerville $20 9pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle Supper Club, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Resident DJs 8pm The Marlborough Hotel Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Metro Theatre, Sydney DFA’s Official Future Music After Party James Murphy & Pat Mahoney, Juan McLean, Benoit & Sergio, Softwar, Slowblow $39 (+ bf) 10pm Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Halfway Crooks 3rd Birthday Captain Franco, Levins, Toni Toni Lee, Radge, Leon Smith, Joyride $10 10pm Randwick Racecourse Swedish House Mafia (SWE), New Order (UK), Fatboy Slim

club guide send your listings to: clubguide@thebrag.com (UK), Paul van Dyk (GER), Tinie Tempah (UK), The Wombats (UK), Chase & Status (UK), Skrillex (USA), Jessie J (UK), The Rapture (USA), Sven Vath (GER), Die Antwoord (STH AFR), Aphex Twin (UK), The Naked and Famous (NZ), Friendly Fires (UK), Gym Class Heroes (USA), Zane Lowe (UK), Professor Green (UK), Knife Party, Dubfire (USA), John O’Callaghan (IRL), Flux Pavillion (UK), Oliver Huntemann (GER), Ørjan Nilsen (NORWAY), Porter Robinson (USA), Kill The Noise (USA), Ruby Rose, tyDi, Timmy Trumpet, Gareth Emery (UK), Jamie Jones (USA), James Murphy & Pat Mahoney (USA), Hercules and Love Affair (USA), Azari & III (CAN), Alex Metric (UK), Holy Ghost! (USA), The Juan Maclean (USA), Benoit & Sergio (GER), Horse Meat Disco (UK), Stafford Brothers $135–$190 12pm The Red Rattler, Marrickville Sounds of the Lion Launch Party The Sierra Sisters, Lamtech, LL Bock, DJ Funzo, O Squid, Sounds Revolution $10 8pm all-ages Ruby Rabbit, Darlinghurst

Resident DJs 9pm Selina’s Nightclub, Coogee Bay Hotel Resident DJs 8pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Club Troppo MJM, Drew Mercer free–$10 9pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst Kittens Kittens DJs $5-$10 11.30pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney YokoO, Robbie Lowe, Sam Roberts $25 10pm Tunnel Nightclub, Kings Cross ONE Saturdays DJs $10-$20 10pm The Watershed Hotel Watershed Presents... Skybar The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham Blaze Tripp, Kato, Shivers, Raye Antonelli, Adam Bozetto, Astrix Little, Paul Masters, Matt Nukewood, Illya, Faz, Faf, Hannah Gibbs, Bentley $15-$20 10pm

SUNDAY MARCH 11 Bank Hotel, Newtown Sundays Kitty Glitter free 4pm Bar 100, The Rocks Funkdafied Sundays DJs 5pm

Beach Road Hotel, Bondi The Camera Club DJ Jamin, The Live Collective, DJ Sally 5pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 5pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club free 6pm Gypsey Nightclub, Darlinghurst Sensation 169 Resident DJs $10-$15 11am Name This Bar, Darlinghurst Sunday Sets DJ Competition Flight Deck free 6pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sets free DJ Tone 7pm Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Loose Ends Matty Vaughn free 10pm Ruby Rabbit, Darlinghurst Resident DJs 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays DJ Def Rok, Dim SLM, Bobby Digital 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice Murat Kilic $20 5am The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust Ben Korbel, James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm

club picks up all night out all week...

MONDAY MARCH 5 Metro Theatre, Sydney Chic feat. Nile Rodgers $65 (+ bf) 7.30pm

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7 Enmore Theatre Skrillex, Porter Robinson $72.10 (+ bf) 7pm sold out The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Blaze Tripp, Autoclaws, Joyride, Subaske, Boonie, Hansom, Hobophonics, Kristy Lee, Empress Toy, Devola $5 9pm

THURSDAY MARCH 8 Enmore Theatre Fatboy Slim (UK), Ajax $50 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages

Hydraulix vs AutoClaws, AL1AS vs Bassriot, Swiss Dub vs Struz, Carcinogen vs Shudder X $15-$20 10pm Enmore Theatre Die Antwoord (South Africa) $55.60 (+ bf) 7pm

SATURDAY MARCH 10 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Official Future Music Festival Afterparty Chase & Status (UK), Zane Lowe (UK), Ian Pooley (GER), Kraymer, Softwar, A-Tonez, Belted & Sloppy, Mike Hyper, King Lee, Eggo $25 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Picnic presents Official Future Music Festival Afterparty Friendly Fires (DJ Set), Mike Witcombe, Kali, Andy Webb $18+bf/$25 11pm

The Hi-Fi, Moore Park Roots Manuva (UK), Dizz1, Tuka $49 (+ bf) 9pm

Metro Theatre, Sydney DFA’s Official Future Music Afterparty James Murphy & Pat Mahoney, Juan McLean, Benoit & Sergio, Softwar, Slowblow $39 (+ bf) 10pm

Metro Theatre, Sydney The Rapture (USA), Azari & III (CAN) Metro Theatre, Sydney $55 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages

Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Halfway Crooks 3rd Birthday Captain Franco, Levins, Toni Toni Lee, Radge, Leon Smith, Joyride $10 10pm

The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda O-Week Party Jake Stone, Chris Moody (UK), Urby, Dan Bombings, Jack Shit free (student)–$5 9pm

The Spice Cellar, Sydney Murat Kilic Robbie Lowe, YokoO, Sam Roberts $25 10pm

FRIDAY MARCH 9 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Boss Bass Masaki vs Kemikoll, Kombat vs Who Am I, Pop The Hatch vs Bruxism,

The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham Blaze Tripp, Kato, Shivers, Raye Antonelli, Adam Bozetto, Astrix Little, Paul Masters, Matt Nukewood, Illya, Faz, Faf, Hannah Gibbs, Bentley $15-$20 10pm

Die Antwoord

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 51

snap up all night out all week . . .

dfa's fmf afterparty

It’s called: DFA’s Official Future Afterparty feat.

James Murphy and Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem/ DFA).

party profile

It sounds like: Dirty disco, sexy beats, deep deep house.

Who’s playing? James Murphy and Pat Maho ney (LCD Soundsystem), Juan Maclean, Benoit & Sergio, Future Class ic DJs, Softwar and SlowBlow.

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: NYCC – I’ll Keep My Light In My Window, Todd Terje – Inspector Norse, Hercu les and Love Affair – You Belong.

And one you definitely won’t: David Guett a & LMFAO – Getting Over You. Sell it to us: It’s a who’s who of internationa l disco heaven and local legends who throw our deadset favourite partie s. Good beats, good people, good party. The proof is in the formu la.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: NOTH ING Crowd specs: Sexy disco peepsters Wallet damage: From $39 (+bf)

ac slater

PICS :: AM

Where: The Metro Theatre / 624 George St When: Saturday March 10, 10pm

360

PICS :: TL

25:02:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

23:02:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER KET WEIJERS :: TIM WHITNEY ROC :: NS MUN IEL DAN :: MAR

52 :: BRAG :: 452: 05:03:12

KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY

the orb & bomb the bass

25:02:12 :: The Metro :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666

PICS :: KC

propaganda

PICS :: DM

24:02:12 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9331 3100

DJ’S THIS MONTH INCLUDE: KID CROOKES SKINNY JACK BAILEY 14TH MINUTE ALIBI JACK BAILEY ROBUST FROSTII HEKE E-CATS ED THE PANDA AXLE SANDEMAN

$4 BEERS | $4 BASICS | FREE PING PONG | DJ’S STRIKE CHATSWOOD THURSDAY NIGHTS FIND US ON

BRAG :: 452 :: 05:03:12 :: 53

snap up all night out all week . . .

q-bert

It’s called: Favela Freak Out It sounds like: A crazy dance party direct from the block parties of Rio. Who’s playing? 10 piece live band Kriola Collec tive, resident DJ Gilber to Do Funk and special guest DJ Ritual.

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Joao Brasil feat. Lovefoxxx – ‘L.O.V.E. Banana’; Gilber to Gil – ‘Maracatu Atomico’; Seu Jorge – ‘Carolina’.

And one you definitely won’t: ‘Mas que Nada ’ - by anyone!!

Sell it to us: A wild, crazy mash-up of genre s and styles from the world’s party capital!

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The muscl e pain in the small of your back from shaking your ass, the bit of sugar cane stuck in your teeth from the Caparinhas and the gold glitter g-string dangling over the end of your bed.

Crowd specs: Party people, Brazilophiles and double-jointed movers and shakers.

Wallet damage: Only 10 Reals (that’s dollar s folks).

Where: GoodGod Small Club / 55 Liverpool St Chinatown.

When: Thursday March 8 (and every secon d Thurs of the month)

PICS :: AM

party profile

favela freak out

mum

PICS :: KC

24:02:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

25:02:12 :: GoodGod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 92673787 D HONCHO) :: KATRINA CLARKE

S : TIM LEVY (HEA OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER KET WEIJERS MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ROC

54 :: BRAG :: 452: 05:03:12

:: ASHLEY

spectrum

PICS :: TL

badonkadonk

PICS :: KC

24:02:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

24:02:12 :: Spectrum :: 34-44 Oxford st Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 3100