Inpress Issue #1128 by TheMusic.com.au

DEEZ NUTS

HOPE SANDOVAL

OPERATOR PLEASE

SIMON PATTERSON

THE B U T T E R FLY E F FE C T THI R S T Y M E R C THE B E AU T I FU L G I R L S RE B E C C A B A R N A R D

VICTORIA'S HIGHEST CIRCUL ATING STREET PRESS

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Wednesday 23 June

JOHN FLANAGAN & THE BEGIN AGAINS + BEN ABRAHAM + TOM TUENA 8.30pm, Entry by donation (band room) Thursday 24 June

MISTER BLACK AND BLUES 5.30pm, Free in the Front Bar

THE BOY WHO SPOKE CLOUDS + DANE CERTIFICATE + JOSH ARMISTEAD 8.30pm $7 Entry (band room) Friday 25 June

SON OF A GUN

6pm Free in the Front Bar

Saturday 26 June

BEN CARR TRIO CILLA JANE + ALEX HALLAHAN

5.30pm Free in the Front Bar

8.30pm, $6 Entry (band room)

Sunday 27 June

JAMES KENYON & THE LLOYD WEIR 4.30pm Free in the Front Bar EARL GREY POLICY + THE GALLANT TREES 8.30pm, $5 Entry (band room)

Tuesday 29 June

NMIT RECITAL - KIRSTY MORPHETT + AUOUR ALESSANDRA ZOEGA 8.30pm, $6 Entry (band room)

Coming Up...

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Saturdays in June

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What do THE DRONES, THE DACIOS and BATRIDER have in common?

ISSUE 1128

WEDNESDAY 23 JUNE 2010 CREDITS EDITORIAL

Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast Editor Shane O’Donohue music@inpress.com.au Interval Editor Daniel Crichton-Rouse interval@inpress.com.au National Dance Editor Kris Swales zebra@inpress.com.au Contributing Editor Adam Curley Staff Writers Bryget Chrisfield, Michael Smith

ADVERTISING sales@inpress.com.au National Sales & Marketing Director Leigh Treweek Victorian Sales Manager Katie Owen Arts & local advertising Sarah Blaby Bands & local advertising Adrian Stoyles

DESIGN & LAYOUT artroom@inpress.com.au Group Art Director Stuart Teague Inpress Cover Design / Art Direction Matt Greenwood Layout Matt Davis, Matt Greenwood, Stuart Teague

ACCOUNTS & ADMINISTRATION accounts@streetpress.com.au Accounts Qing Shu

CONTRIBUTORS

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT INPRESS 16

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Foreword Line – news, opinions, tours, Backlash and Frontlash, and a look at the CityLove Music competition Parkway Drive have turned their backs on clinical production The Butterfly Effect feel like chattin’ about the footy Hope Sandoval talks more than we thought she would Deez Nuts don’t give a fuck about the haters Operator Please don’t do as much yelling these days Mat McHugh, frontman of The Beautiful Girls, has spent the past ten years travelling On The Record reviews new releases by Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem and The Morning Benders Thirsty Merc are a bit more funky these days Three Month Sunset reckon good music is different for everyone Mick Turner is stoked to be playing at his local, the Edinburgh Castle Voltaire Twins love buying synth toys off eBay Queensland band Nikko may have been named after The Velvet Underground’s mate, Nico

FRONT ROW 52 52 52 53 53 54 54 56

What’s going on in Melbourne Town in This Week In Arts Film Carew tackles Every Jack Has A Jill and Rocket Science We review Cinema Fiasco and The Grönholm Method Curator Mats Daleskog discusses the new ABBAWORLD interactive exhibition We weigh in on Circus Oz Trent Baker discusses Harold Pinter’s A Kind Of Alaska Cultural Cringe takes a look behind the scenes of the art world Thanks to his role in the Police Academy films, we’re super excited about Michael Winslow’s show tonight

22 57 57

Digital Potato previews the new releases in the world of DVD Jane Wollard tells the tale of a tortured elephant in her new production Topsy

BACK TO INPRESS 58 58 58 58 59 61 61 61 68 68 68 69 69 72 72 74 80 86 86

Tiger Choir once saw a guy go down on a girl at the bar at Pony Rebecca Barnard blushes when told her new album is sexy The Whigs are writing differently now Jez Mead admits his voice does sound a bit like Neil Diamond’s All you need to know about this Sunday’s Community Cup Our LIVE section has everything you need to know about the world of Melbourne live music! Gig Of The Week pulls on the boots for the Community Cup LIVE:Reviews is electrified by The Gin Club Stu Harvey gives you a ShortFastReport on the world of punk and hardcore Andrew Haug takes us to the dark side in The Racket Kendal Coombs leads the under-18s boardroom in the Department Of Youth Adam Curley is overwhelmed by new releases in The Breakdown Dan Condon blues and roots in Roots Down If you haven’t appeared in Fred Negro’s Pub, your mother probably still speaks to you Jeff Jenkins walks the talk with Jason Walker in Howzat! Our Gig Guide fills your diary for the weekend Find your new band and just about anything else in our classy Classifieds Finish Line hits hard with industry fact (and conjecture) Greatest Hit fears Ke$ha is trapped in Gaga’s shadow

PHOTOGRAPHERS Chrissie Francis, Kate Griffin, Kane Hibberd, Lara Luz, Lou Lou Nutt, Gina Maher, James Morgan, Heidi Takla, Nathan Uren.

INTERNS Andrea Biagini, Dale Brett, Mitchell Brown, Julian Hocking, Stefanie Markidis.

EDITORIAL POLICY The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting letters to us for publication, you agree that we may edit the letter for legal, space or other reasons. ©

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GIVEAWAYS The Cat Empire

Senior Contributors Clem Bastow, Jeff Jenkins Overseas Contributors Tom Hawking (US), James McGalliard (UK), Sasha Perera (UK). Writers Nick Argyriou, The Boomeister, Paul Andrew, Atticus Bastow, Steve Bell, Tim Burke, Dan Condon, Anthony Carew, EJ Cartledge, Peter Chambers, Matthew Cheetham, Chris Chinchilla, Rebecca Cook, Kendal Coombs, Adam Curley, Cyclone, Michael Daniels, Wayne Davidson, Guy Davis, Carolyn Dempsey, Liza Dezfouli, John Eagle, Guido Farnell, Sam Fell, Bob Baker Fish, Johnny Gash, Cameron Grace, Stu Harvey, Andrew Haug, Andy Hazel, Anthony Horan, Rod Hunt, Layne Kim, Cookie Lee, Joey Lightbulb, Michael Magnusson, Baz McAlister, Keith McDougall, Sam McDougall, Tony McMahon, Adam D Mills, Count Monbulge, Luke Monks, Fred Negro, Mark Neilsen, Roger Nelson, Danielle O’Donohue, Matt O’Neill, Jordan Oliver, Adrian Potts, Paul Ransom, Symon JJ Rock, Adam Sharp, Nic Toupee, Rob Townsend, Dominique Wall, Doug Wallen, Rod Yates.

Email giveaways@inpress.com.au from 5pm Wednesday Local alt.rockers Zoophyte are gearing up to record the much-awaited follow-up to 2007’s Another Point Of View, and they’ll be showcasing all their new material at the East Brunswick Club this Saturday, their final headlining gig before they hit the studio in August. Fellow Melburnians and all-round nice guys The Happy Endings will be supporting, along with solo performances from Tom Tuena and Kate Gogarty. We have one double pass to give away. After a three year wait, The Cat Empire are set to once again unleash their sweet fusion sounds upon the world, with their new album Cinema set for release this Friday. It will mark the group’s first full-length studio release since 2007’s So Many Nights, and if first single Feeling’s Gone is anything to go by, there is plenty of cause for excitement. Even more exciting though is that we’ve managed to get our hands on some copies of the album, which we will be giving away to five lucky readers.

of attention, and it should come as even less of a surprise that the majority of that attention be overwhelmingly positive. The British dance duo have made something of a name for themselves thanks to their ability to break down convention, and Further, the seventh and most recent studio release, proves to be no exception, continuing the group’s trend of not continuing the trend. The album is already racing up the charts, but for those who haven’t yet managed to get themselves a copy, we have five to give away.

It should come as little surprise that a new release from The Chemical Brothers should receive plenty WORD UP TO PRIZE WINNERS: Prizes must be collected from Inpress offices during business hours (9am-5.30pm, Mon-Fri). ID is required when collecting prizes. Prizes must be collected within four weeks of the giveaway being published. Please note, Inpress giveaway policy is that winners are permitted one prize per four-week period only.

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS

Dancing On My Own Fred Falke Mix ROBYN Swedish electronic pop queen Robyn has big plans to release three new albums this year. She dropped the first, Body Talk Part 1, last week. First single Dancing On My Own is unconventional pop with a drilling bassline and stunning vocals. The track is filling dancefloors the world over and has already inspired a clutch of hot remixes. Although it’s unlike anything that Robyn has previously released, Dancing On My Own is highly reflective of her unmistakable and incredibly individual sound Come With Me CEO CEO is the solo work of Eric Burglund, one half of The Tough Alliance and the brains behind cult Swedish record label Sincerely Yours – home to JJ, Memory Tapes and Air France. The Tough Alliance found loads of love internationally including a generous rating on Pitchfork (8.6) and much praise in the blogosphere. White Magic, CEO’s debut album (out 3 July), is a heartfelt, shimmering masterpiece.

DIAMOND DAYS

After sizzling sets from TTT and Liz Stringer, RRR’s Winter Warmer series of live-to-air broadcasts continues with a performance from Fabulous Diamonds this Thursday at 7.30pm during Max Headroom. The dynamic duo, Nisa Venerosa and Jarrod Zlatic, will play tracks from their neo-psych second album, Fabulous Diamonds II. You can catch the performance on 102.7FM or at rrr.org.au.

HOOKED ON A FEELING To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the seminal Joy Division album Unknown Pleasures, founding member Peter Hook will perform the album in its entirety in Australia for the first time this September. Billed as Peter Hook & Friends, the group will also play non-album singles Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart. Supported in Melbourne by a re-formed The Wreckery, they play the Palais on Friday 24 September. Tickets go on sale 9am Friday 2 July from redanttouring.com and Ticketmaster.

FOUR TO THE FLOOR

With tickets to Metallica’s three Melbourne shows quickly selling out, a fourth date has now been added to the Australian leg of the metal behemoth’s World Magnetic tour. The first leg of their Aussie sojourn now begins in Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday 15 September, where they’ll play for more than two hours in the round. This is in addition to their three shows at the venue on 18, 20 and 21 November. Tickets go on sale 9am Friday from Ticketek.

SONGS OF JOY

In Australia to support Passion Pit and The Temper Trap on their national tours and to perform at the Splendour In The Grass festival, Welsh dreamy indie pop trio The Joy Formidable will play their own headline show at the Workers Club on Sunday 25 July. New single Popinjay is a taster of the band’s full debut album, due soon. Support comes from Temper Trap DJs.

LIVING FOR THE WEEKENDER

Bringing together the cream of Australia’s punk and folk punk scene, Poison City Record’s annual Weekender Fest is locked and loaded again for 2010. Running from Friday 17 until Sunday 19 September, this year’s event will be headed by legendary UK punks Leatherface, making their first visit to Australia since 2005. The huge line-up also includes A Death In The Family, Break Even, The Currency, Paper Arms, Lungs, The Hawaiian Islands, Grenadiers, The Gun Runners, Arrows, Kill Whitey, Like… Alaska, Grand Fatal, Grim Fandango, Wil Wagner & The Smith St Band, Fires Of Waco and Jamie Hay, with more to be announced. The festival takes over the Arthouse on Friday 17 and Sunday 19 and the East Brunswick Club on Saturday 18. Tickets are sold separately for each show. For full line-ups, ticket details and regular updates head to myspace.com/poisoncityweekender. Tickets go on sale for all three shows this Friday from the Corner Hotel box office, Missing Link and Poison City Records.

X MARKS THE SPOT They’ve toured Australia as part of the Big Day Out and Soundwave but this September Britain’s most explosive post-hardcore act, Enter Shikari, head to Australia for their first ever headline tour. Boasting a genre-smashing sound that melds punk, hardcore, electronica, dubstep, drum’n’bass and rock into the one frenzied package, Enter Shikari took their native UK by storm with their gold-selling debut, Take To The Skies. Their 2009 second effort, Common Dreads, was a critical success, with English heavy music bible Kerrang! awarding it a perfect score. Joining Enter Shikari will be Melbourne’s most progressive metalcore sextet, House Vs Hurricane, who released their stunning Perspectives album in March. The bands play the Hi-Fi on Saturday 25 September and an afternoon under-18s show at the same venue on Sunday 26. Tickets go on sale 9am this Friday from the venue, Oztix, Greville Records and Polyester. By the time the tour rolls around House Vs Hurricane will be a finely-tuned playing machine – before they team up with Enter Shakiri they’re headlining the East Coast Blazin’ tour, supported by Heroes For Hire. They play Next at the Colonial Hotel on Thursday 26 August and all-ages shows at EV’s in Croydon on Friday 27 and the Geelong West Town Hall on Saturday 28. Tickets on sale from Friday.

BON FIRE

It’s been a big week for stadium tour announcements – Bon Jovi return to Australia in December as part of The Circle world tour. The tour will see the band spend much of the next two years on the road, performing 135 shows in 30 countries. This brand new stadium stage production coming to Australia is one of the biggest sets ever to be seen in this country – it’s powered by 800,000 watts of sound and contains close to 10,000 pounds of high definition video technology. The band play Etihad Stadium on Saturday 11 December. Tickets go on sale Thursday 8 July from Ticketmaster.

FLYING HIGH The Eagles – Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B Schmit – are returning to Australia with at least two concerts planned for Melbourne. In 2004, the band played five dates at Rod Laver Arena that were filmed for the hugely successful DVD release, Farewell 1 Tour – Live From Melbourne. Along with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the band’s Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is one of the best-selling albums of all time in the US, with 29 million copies sold. The Eagles play Rod Laver Arena on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 December. Frontier members pre-sale runs from 3pm today until 3pm this Thursday. General public tickets go on sale 9am on Monday from Ticketek with platinum, gold, silver and bronze ticketing categories available. The group have also teamed up with iloveallaccess.com to offer the ultimate fan experience featuring a variety of VIP ticket packages. For more details go toiloveallaccess.com.

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FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

WHITE NIGHT

White Woods formed in Melbourne in 2008, the members all having relocated to the Garden State from Hobart. Recorded to 2” tape, their debut album Bellplay solidifies the raw integrity of the band; the tracks seethe with the intensity of groups like Wire and Gang Of Four, as well as the sublime pop charms of The Moles and The Clean. White Woods celebrate the release of Bellplay (out Friday through Sensory Projects) with an album launch show at the Workers Club on Friday 16 July with guests Beaches and Angel Eyes.

CUP RUNNETH OVER

ALL ABOUT ME With new-ish drummer George Rebelo (from Hot Water Music) in tow, Against Me! will tour Australia for the fifth time in August. The band have just released White Crosses, their second album on Warner offshoot Sire Records (the first, 2007’s New Wave, was named Spin magazine’s top album of that year). The band play the Hi-Fi on Thursday 7 October; tickets go on sale Friday from the venue and Polyester.

BIRD TALK

Basement Birds – bringing together singer/songwriters Kevin Mitchell (Bob Evans), Josh Pyke, Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe) and Steve Parkin – are about to embark on their one and only tour performing together. Playing the Forum on Saturday 14 August, the guys are offering a number of special ticket deals to help tempt you through the door. If you head to basementbirds.com. au you could land yourself a pack that includes a ticket and a special copy of their debut album featuring a previously unreleased track. There will also be VIP packages available (limited to 50 tickets per show), which give punters the chance to attend a special 15-minute intimate sound-check performance followed by some time with the band (with a tour t-shirt thrown in). Support at the show comes from Old Man River.

Peter Gabriel will headline a monster bill that also includes Chicago, America, Peter Frampton and a host of locals this Melbourne Cup eve, Monday 1 November. The show will also launch “intimate mode at Etihad Stadium”, which has been described as “a new arena setting within Etihad Stadium”. It’s 16 years since Gabriel’s last Australian tour, while America this year celebrate 40 years as a band. Australian acts performing include Kate Ceberano, Blue King Brown, Daryl Braithwaite, Ross Wilson, Joe Camilleri, Deborah Conway, Stephen Cummings and Danielle Spencer. Tickets for the show go on sale this Thursday from Ticketmaster.

SOMETHING FROM KATY

Following a sold-out performance by Pendulum at Home The Venue in Sydney last month, the Debit Mastercard Priceless Music series continues with the only Australian show this year for Katy Perry – she plays Melbourne’s Plaza Ballroom on Thursday 12 August. To get tickets, head to mastercard.com.au/music and pre-register for an alert before 7 July. Tickets are $49.50+BF, limited to four per person, and will be available from 9am on Thursday 8 July. Tickets must be purchased with a Debit Mastercard.

YOU DO THE MATH

Primitive Calculators, the Melbourne post-punk fourpiece who forged an uncompromising sound in the late ’70s and early ’80s, re-formed early last year to play the Nick Cave-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals. The band have added another (rare) date to their diary – they play Yah Yah’s on Friday 3 September with The Paul Kidney Experience.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES Art pop icons Xiu Xiu and expansive experimental pop duet High Places will tour Australia in September. Over the past decade Xiu Xiu have come to be recognised for their unique and radical reinvention of pop. Subverting curious rhythms, growling basslines and melodic/vocal harmonies through a mesh of diverse influences and deconstructive techniques, Xiu Xiu epitomise a richly distorted vision of pop. Their latest album, Dear God, I Hate Myself, is a masterwork of dramatic, pulsing post-pop that places Xiu Xiu at the forefront of their field. High Places’ use a range of aural layers: bells and bird calls over a wash of ocean waves; mallets hitting mixing bowls over treated guitar and glockenspiel; reflective vocals over homemade beats. The result is an imaginative and spacious amalgamation of sounds with a unique, almost Caribbean undertone that is as immediate as it is refreshing. High Places visits Australia on the back of their recently released album, High Places vs Mankind. The bands play the East Brunswick Club on Friday 3 September.

TIN TIME

Mikelangelo (of The Black Sea Gentlemen fame) takes his latest project, surf‘n’western group The Tin Star, to the Northcote Social Club on Thursday 8 July. With their unique outlaw style of twanging instrumentals and sordid tales of love, death and despair, this will be the very last chance to catch them before they say farewell and head to warmer climes for the winter. For this very farewell gig the band will be joined by the dulcet tones of Saint Clare, the frenetic energy of the Tin Starlette go-go dancers and the experimental beauty of JP Shilo. The night will be opened by the exquisite Balkan gypsy sounds of the Sljivovitz Orchestra.

KEEP UP WITH JONESEZ

Following the release of a teaser track, a cover of Fang’s The Money Will Roll Right In, Mark Stewart (formerly of Horsell Common) is now releasing the first official single from Betty’s Soup, his debut album under the Jonesez moniker (it’s due in August). The song, Be That Guy, includes an accompanying clip, the second installment in his Basement Videos collection. Featuring a cameo from Talia of Fuzz Phantoms (Darren Cordeaux’s new band), Be That Guy is now available to download via the website where you can also view the clip – jonesez.com.au. You can also get a taste of the album when Jonesez play the Birmingham on Friday. Tickets are available from oztix.com.au.

WE WANT MORE After a series of storming sets at this year’s Soundwave festival and hitting number one in Australia with third album Brand New Eyes late in ’09, Tennessean quintet Paramore are heading our way in October for their own headlining shows. The Grammy-nominated band bring their spectacular arena show to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Wednesday 13 October. Tickets go on sale 9am Friday 2 July from theartscentre.com.au and Ticketmaster.

RAD-ATHON

Rock Out For Rad is a mammoth fund-raising show this Saturday for one of Pony’s favourite staff members, Rad, who was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Rad is the long-serving doorman of Melbourne’s late night institution, and bands playing the benefit show are Sin City, Pretty Suicide, Fathoms, DJ Geek Pie and Vesper White Burlesque. All proceeds go directly to Rad.

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

MAKING RADIO WAVES

The Vault is a monthly get-together for creatively inclined folk held at Loop on the last Monday of the month. The aim of the Vault is to gather together creative people in a friendly, convivial atmosphere so they can share and generate ideas. This month’s guest speaker is Kath Letch, who recently concluded a 15-year stint as RRR station manager to take up the role of digital radio project manager for the Community Broadcasting Association Of Australia. Letch will talk about the highs and lows of her 30-plus year career in radio, as a presenter, administrator, teacher and advisor, and will also speak about the past, present and future of community radio, including the current move to digital. For more info search Vault Melbourne on Facebook.

T EN S E PR

BLONDIE HAVE MORE FUN

It’s one of the year’s biggest double bills, so it’s no surprise that Blondie’s show with The Pretenders at the Palais on Wednesday 1 December sold out ridiculously quickly. Following that news comes the announcement the iconic groups will play a second – and final – date at the same venue on Thursday 2 December. Tickets are on sale now from Ticketmaster. Blondie and The Pretenders also play A Day On The Green at Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley on Saturday 4 December. Magic Dirt’s Adalita is the support on all shows.

OH BOYS

Synth pop rockers Boys Boys Boys! have been building a solid reputation in Perth over the past 12 months, where they’ve provided support for touring acts including Uffie, Matt & Kim, Bluejuice, The Galvatrons, Van She and Grafton Primary. Winning audiences over with a charismatic combination of catchy pop riffs, sugary all-girl vocal harmonies and ‘80s electronica, the sextet are finally heading east for a run of shows. They play Shake Some Action at Onesixone on Thursday 22 July.

BIG BIRDS Birds Of Tokyo will hit Australia’s capital cities in September to launch their new self-titled album – a record that has already led them twice around the world – with their most expansive live show to date. Focusing on the new material but canvassing their entire career, Birds Of Tokyo will pull out all the stops, filling each setlist to capacity with their most engaging and best-loved songs. Supported by LA indie rock prodigies Silversun Pickups, the band will treat fans to a show that guitarist Adam Spark has described as “visually massive”. They play Festival Hall on Friday 1 October. Tickets go on sale Friday 30 July from Ticketmaster.

THE RAINBOW CONNECTION

A documentary detailing the closure of Fitzroy’s Rainbow Hotel, titled The End Of The Rainbow, will screen on ABC2 this Sunday at 7.30pm and again on ABC1 on Sunday 4 July at 3.30pm. The film focuses on five characters – owners Chick and Ursula Ratten and musicians Jaimi Faulkner, Paul Williamson and Dave Evans – as the pub becomes another victim of noise complaints. For 14 years under the Rattens’ reign the Rainbow staged live music seven nights a week.

DO YOUR PART

Organisers of the student-run Party In The Patch festival are staging a gig at Ruby’s Lounge this Friday to raise money for their next event. Acts playing include The Vasco Era frontman Sid O’Neil, brat-rock two-piece The Feel Goods, Tassie power pop merchants The Overview and a stack of DJs. Punters will be rewarded if they come dressed as an animal (but no headwear allowed) or if they’re celebrating their birthday.

BALLS AND ALL

WOLFMOTHER GET SET The JD Set, established by Jack Daniel’s to provide up-and-coming local acts with the chance to play alongside established artists, has named Grammywinning cosmic rockers Wolfmother as the first headliner of its 2010 event. The six acts vying to support them are Sydney-based genre benders Kids At Risk; indie pop hipsters New Navy, also from Sydney; Novocastrians Here Come The Birds; Perth powerhouse The Revolvers; another Perth group, the ever energetic Young Revelry; and from Melbourne, the aggressively styled The Smoke. Voting is now open, and closes on Sunday 4 July – make your selection at thejdset.com.au. Everyone who votes will also be in the running to win flights, accommodation, gig tickets and a meet and greet with Wolfmother at The JD Set for them and a friend. The winning group will support Wolfmother in the Espy’s Gershwin Room on Thursday 29 July. Tickets go on sale Wednesday 7 July from thejdset.com.au.

All presale tickets available through MOSHTIX: Phone: 1300 GET TIX (438 849) on-line: www.moshtix.com.au, or at all Moshtix outlets, including Polyester (Fitzroy & City)

The Gangsters’ Ball is a fully-themed night of non-stop entertainment featuring the biggest names in Australian and international cabaret, vaudeville and swing dancing. The stellar line-up includes Madame Leila Montansano (Paris/Berlin) as MC, The Velvet Set ten-piece swing band, cabaret and vaudeville by Circus Trick Tease, burlesque, mind-bending magic, Australia’s best swing, rockabilly and rock’n’roll DJs, the Gambling Den – with poker, roulette and blackjack tables – swing and rockabilly dancing contests, cigarette girls and pin-up models, merchandise stalls, a cocktail bar, a 1920s themed photo booth and prizes for the best dancers. The Gangsters’ Ball takes over the Forum on Saturday 18 September.

LIVIN’ FOR THE CITY

Owl City – known to his mum as Adam Young – returns to Australia in November. Owl City’s first official album release, Ocean Eyes, was home to smash hit single Fireflies, which went to number one in 22 countries. Since supporting Cobra Starship out here earlier this year, the MySpace phenomenon has supported John Mayer and Maroon 5 on their American tours – now Owl City is back for his own headline shows. He plays the Palais on Wednesday 10 November with support from fellow Americans The Album Leaf. Frontier members pre-sale starts tomorrow at 2pm; general public tickets go on sale 9am Tuesday 29 June from Ticketmaster.

LET’S PARTY! Eagle & The Worm launch their second 7” single at the Northcote Social Club on Saturday 10 July. Following their Dan Kelly and The Gin Club supports, the nine-piece party band resurface to play their first headline show in some months. The single, taken from their forthcoming debut album, Goodtimes, features the Muppets-inspired original A-side All I Know and, on the flip side, a homage to the impenetrable force of Tom Jones and his iconic Vegas anthem It’s Not Unusual. After boggling minds at Cherry Rock, main support will be Norwegian viking metal outfit Barbarion – be sure to get in early for their pyrotechnical mayhem as they have more than 300 wives on their guestlist. Also on the bill is the mesmerising Robin Fox’s Laser Show, back in town after collaborating with John Cage in Scandinavia, as well as Ballarat upstarts The Black Hill Five and Rat Vs Possum DJs.

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

SONGS FROM THE CITY

Love your city? Want to win US$10,000? Then the CITYLOVE MUSIC competition for unsigned songwriters is your road to glory. MICHAEL SMITH speaks with founder HILTON ROSENTHAL. Inspired?

It all began a dozen years ago when South African-born Hilton Rosenthal decided to move to Sydney. “When I moved here someone said it won’t take long and the city will get in your blood and you’ll just love it, and they certainly weren’t wrong about that.” Rosenthal operates his own independent music label and publishing company, Rhythm Safari, distributed by Universal Music Australia, working with artists as diverse as Carole King, Foreigner and Christopher Cross, but he’s probably best known for coming up with the idea of Paul Simon’s Graceland album, and he’s produced every album by South Africa’s biggest rock artist, Johnny Clegg. It’s Rosenthal’s passion for his new home city of Sydney, however, that prompted the development of the CityLove Music project. “It started with me wanting to write a song about Sydney, and I started writing something and sent it over to my mate, a person I’ve worked with for a long time, my now business partner Bobby Summerfield, in LA. And we started changing it and when we finished I listened to it and thought, ‘Okay, so now what?’. Over time, the idea developed. There have always been some great songs written about cities – things that come to mind obviously are New York New York, the classic one,

BACKLASH

makes sense that this should just be for a single city or a single country. It’s an audacious project, I guess, but we started notifying writers just a little while ago through their songwriters societies, and we felt we needed to get some content on the site to show people what it was like and that content from all over the world is starting to build up on the site. I think we’ve got about 170, 180 songs as of today. We’re ready to start telling the world about it. Most of the songs so far have come from the UK and the USA in particular, but we’re starting to get songs from Australia, too.

and I Left My Heart In San Francisco – but overall it doesn’t seem that people write songs about their cities that often. “I just felt that maybe it was time to offer people an opportunity to write a song about a city – it doesn’t have to be their own city – and we then started thinking perhaps we should open it up to people who do not have their own ability to write backing tracks or produce professional backing tracks. So we decided to provide a number of songs about Sydney and allow people to use these so-called collaboration songs and download the stems, the individual backing tracks from the various instruments and mix and match or do what they like and write their own song on top of it, or they can write an original song right from scratch themselves.” It’s quite an ambitious leap, of course, taking a simple little idea about writing a song about Sydney to creating an international songwriting competition. “It is quite a leap! But equally, my whole life has kind of been involved in the music business and although there is a local music scene in every country, really the music in them is a single planet and in particular now, with the internet and online streaming and different types of sites, it just didn’t The Grindermen

“Our plan is that once the contest ends, the site will turn into a licensing library anyway. It’s been built like that. When you look at it, in the filter there are certain searches that you can do by mood or by genre or by beats per minute, etc, so that hopefully, advertising agencies, film and television music supervisors, if they’re looking for a song about a city can go there, find the song and contact us if they want to license it for synchronisation purposes. We would hope that we would certainly digitally release compilations from various countries and/or cities depending on how many we get, and obviously ultimately if we have enough good songs about any particular country or any particular city, that we could also release a physical CD as well.” Endorsed by APRA here, there is no entry fee and no restrictions on how many songs a writer might choose to enter. The song with the most votes at the end of the challenge wins, and that’s no small achievement in itself since that song will have competed against songs from around the world. The closing date for entries is Thursday 30 September. WHAT: CityLove Music WHERE: citylovemusic.com

FRONTLASH

APRA AWARDS

GRINDERMAN 2

We really don’t know where to start with the irrelevancy of these awards handed out on Monday, but Pnau/ Teenager/Empire Of the Sun’s Nick Littlemore winning Breakthrough Songwriter Of The Year is as good as any.

Not a lot happens in John Hillcoat’s 30-second teaser for the group’s second album (due September), but we’re still fuckin’ excited.

MTR The dismal ratings just in for Melbourne’s newest talkback team shows the bloke-heavy station has barely more listeners than women on air (for those scoring at home: that would be one).

JOANNE ZALM We hate her too, but death threats against the MasterChef mum are going a bit far. Matt Preston, on the other hand…

THE TACO BROTHERS They may be gringos, but the brothers’ tacos (served from a van in the beer garden) are our fave thing about the reopened Tote.

HORN SECTIONS

FRIDAY MARKI MARK

25 TH JUNE 8.30 TIL CLOSE

TIL CLOSE SATURDAY 268.30 JUNE DJ SHORTSLEEVES TH

SUNDAY THE KURTS

27 TH JUNE 5 TIL 7

28 JUNE MONDAY 9 TIL 11 ADAM AFIF & FERGUS MCALPIN ST

AND FRIENDS

WEDNESDAY

30 TH JUNE 8ISH

LITTLE JOHNʼS BLUEGRASS SESSIONS OPEN FIRE DINNER 7 NIGHTS LUNCH: SAT 12PM/SUN 1PM

9415 9904 MON - FRI 3PM TIL L ATE S AT MIDDAY TIL 1AM SUN 1 TIL 11

THE MARQUIS OF LORNE HO TEL CNR GEORGE + KERR S TREET S FITZROY

After seeing Dan Sultan and Eagle & The Worm on the weekend, we declare horns the must-have musical accompaniment of ’10.

RISE AGAINST THE MACHINE Before they take off to the States to join the Warped Tour, singer WINSTON MCCALL from Byron Bay hardcore outfit PARKWAY DRIVE tells LOCHLAN WATT about the band’s organic new album and how they shunned the clinical, machinelike production techniques ruining music today. Cover and feature pics by KANE HIBBERD.

“The intro, the middle breakdown, and the build up to the breakdown [are] exactly the same,” McCall admits. “The idea was we were fooling around with just jamming Hollow Man. We wrote this whole record in a bunch of different tunings we hadn’t used before, and it just sounded so heavy, but at the same time the riff that was used in it turned out to be a ripped off As I Lay Dying riff, and it was absolutely horrible. I’m like, ‘We can’t re-record this song; it has absolutely no context to what we’re doing with this album, and the riff sucks.’ We thought we’d just keep the parts that we liked, and re-write a different song. It’s music – you can do whatever the hell you want. We figured some people might get it, some people might be, ‘Where have I heard that before?’ and still not be able to put it together. And some people might just go, ‘Here’s a totally new song’.”

Tying in quite strongly with Deep Blue, the recently released video clip for Sleepwalker was shot in a Sin City style of washed-out black and white with huge splashes of blood red, and features exploding limbs, swarms of locusts, and, among other things, huge computer-generated buildings tearing apart the streets of Brisbane and throwing businessmen straight into their gnashing maws. “It’s taken a little more literally,” says McCall of the stark clip. “The idea was to have that represent the first three songs of the album. It definitely does match up with a lot of the lyrics, especially in Sleepwalker, and mostly in Unrest as well. I don’t know if there’s anything about buildings actually eating people in there... but the idea was to have an image of a society that we’ve built consuming and corrupting everything around it. This existence on the brink of lucidity, like a dream-like state – you can’t really tell what’s reality and what’s not.” One might expect such a video clip to come from a bigger production team, but through their years of experience and the platinum success of last year’s self-directed DVD release, Parkway Drive have learned that if you want the best results, just do it yourself.

“I

t’s basically a search for truth,” explains Winston McCall, the ever-modest yet unbelievably brutal singer of the concept behind the story told by Deep Blue, Parkway Drive’s third and most organic album yet. “It kind of follows the two main aspects of my personality, or the two main ruling parts of my life, which seem to be my growing distaste and disdain for western culture, and society full stop, and that being countered with the calm and power of the ocean. The story just follows a man trying to find some peace of mind, and some truth in a world that he realises has been created to basically rob him of that. It follows him going into the bottom of the ocean attempting to find that, and him coming back resolved.” When he began to piece together lyrics that could follow on from the widely embraced and precisely enunciated screams of 2007’s Horizons (a chart-smashing global success through the band’s three still-current labels: Resist in Australia, Epitaph in the US and Burning Heart in Europe), McCall looked to already addressed topics that resonated more strongly than others. It was clear to him that the words on Deep Blue would be kept in line with the oceanic themes and destructive metaphors of songs such as Boneyards. In fact, the lyrics to the new release “were literally done a year before we’d even started writing music”, which led Parkway to approach the task of album number three with a fresh, entirely holistic outlook.

“I just thought it would be a challenge to write in a different way to how I have in the past,” McCall continues. “I guess it added a little bit of pressure, in the sense that we had to make sure that everything worked before we went into the studio. In the past we’d usually gone in with no idea how the tracklisting was going to go. You may know the first song, but other than that songs get recorded and you go, ‘This sounds good here,’ but this time we had to write every single song [in] relation to how it was going to sit with all the other songs foremost in our minds.” Both 2005’s debut album Killing With A Smile and follow-up Horizons were recorded with Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam D, but this time Parkway ended up in the studio with Joe Barresi – a man previously found behind the boards pulling huge, natural tones from the likes of Tool, Clutch, Queens Of The Stone Age and Bad Religion. A decision that was “decided by time” – conflicting timetables – McCall believes it did push them outside of their comfort zone. “We live in the clinical age,” he explains of his thoughts on music production. “It’s almost as though, other than the writing itself of music, it’s almost inhuman. You go in and play the music, and then the whole thing is substituted by a computer, and you end up with insanely fast guitar parts, and drums that sound like a machine, that click instead of boom, and bizarre, over-the-top AutoTune

vocals and shit like that. We love the production value that Adam gave to us in the past, but I think since then shit’s escalated so much on top of that. The clean, clinical production has gone beyond that, to just mechanical production, and it was definitely something we didn’t want to do. We thought maybe if we do it the other way, it might turn the tide in the other direction and people might think, ‘Oh, we can actually be musicians,’ and people can appreciate the fact that music can stand on its own without being clinical clicks and beeps.” Any fan of Parkway Drive would surely be familiar with the line “sinking, always sinking” from the aforementioned Boneyards, the catch-cry reappearing on Deep Blue during the stomping track of hardcore fury and metal sensibility that is Deliver Me. “I’ve always liked that line,” explains McCall of its entirely intentional re-usage. “I have it tattooed on my chest, but the tattoo came before the actual song. It just seems to work with so many parts. I liked the idea of tying that line in again. It’s weird – there’s a few parts in there that have been borrowed from or inspired by bands or people that I look up to, or us… it’s a bit weird,” he laughs. The track Hollow even features resurrected riffs, breakdowns and lyrics from Hollow Man, a song that originally appeared on the band’s first release, the three-way What We’ve Built split from 2003.

“It was myself and the guy that did the effects that did it all,” he says referring to friend Aaron Briggs. “I drew up some storyboards, we went and hired ourselves the camera we needed to shoot with, and we got up at four in the morning like three mornings in a row to get the footage without people being in the shots, and in the half hour of specific light you needed for the camera, so it was fucking hard. We got stopped by the cops for filming like three times, so it was a little bit of a nightmare. “Whether or not people like what it is in the end, we’re 100% happy with it. We found when we did the DVD, by doing it ourselves, and by having your hand in every single part of the production, you come out with something that is completely what you wanted, and that is all you can ask for. If people like it or dislike it, that just comes down to opinion. There’s nothing better than saying, ‘I like that’. It’s so hard to put it in someone else’s hands, and have it come back looking completely different. The idea for this was maybe a bit odd, and if we did it somewhere else you could pretty much guarantee it coming back looking pretty similar to something else, so we just had to do it ourselves.”

WHO: Parkway Drive WHAT: Deep Blue (Resist/Shock) WHERE & WHEN: Wednesday 29 September Festival Hall

CHAOS CONTINUES Keeping the members of THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT moving in the same direction is on drummer BEN HALL’s mind as he chats to SAMUEL J FELL about recording their fourth album. theory at work once again. “Do you follow the AFL?” he asks. I tell him I don’t, really, as I grew up in Queensland. “Hmmm, well I’ve been talking about the band for the last 20 hours and I thought ‘cause you were in Victoria we could talk about footy for the first few minutes.” I know about as much about footy as I do about scientific jargon, so we switch to rugby league instead, the first State Of Origin having been played the week before. “Oh yeah, wasn’t that just great,” smiles Hall, obviously a Queenslander through and through. “They just outplayed ‘em in all aspects.” Indeed they did (as they did again two days prior to time of writing, but I digress). Talk turns to other things, none of them Butterfly Effect related, but that’s fine. Hall is obviously quite content with where the band are at and so there’s no pressure to get down to the hard issues, not that there really are many at this point – Final Conversation Of Kings has been out for a couple of years now, so it’s just a spot of touring happening right now. When we finish talking about football, I mention the side project for Butterfly Effect vocalist Clint Boge, Thousand Needles In Red, who toured briefly in March and April this year. Does this get in the way of the main focus? “Nah, he was only gone on weekends,” Hall says, and in fact TBE weren’t even touring at that time of year. What about other side projects? “Not me, but I know Glenn [Esmond, bass]’s got some songs he’s been working on that he intends to release one day,” Hall muses. “I’m happy to just plod along, really.”

n researching for this story, I did a little reading on the butterfly effect, the chaos theory from which the Brisbane-based hard rockers in question here take their name. The Wiki page used language that I, as a humble writer not well versed in scientific jargon, could make head nor tail of. As such, in order to ‘dumb’ it down somewhat, I then thought about watching the movie, The Butterfly Effect, with Ashton Kutcher, but thought better of it. I then thought about starting my own

butterfly effect, whereby I do a little dance on Queens Parade in North Fitzroy on my way to buy cigarettes, thinking that by cause and effect, the oil spill in the Mexican Gulf will miraculously clear up. It didn’t. Come interview time then, I was all ready to get into this with drummer Ben Hall, given the reason for our chat was not much more than tour promo, but he nipped this in the bud first up by asking me about football instead – chaos

Hall’s attitude is understandable; The Butterfly Effect have become big business over their 11 years of banging heads and rocking out. The band are about to head out on an extensive regional tour to completely wrap up the Final Conversation… cycle. Given the record has been out since September 2008, I venture that the band must be close to putting together another one – the band’s fourth. “Yeah, that’s right, we are writing for a fourth record,” says Hall, steeling himself to once more talk about The Butterfly Effect, and steel himself he should, for I’m getting down to brass tacks here, nuts and bolts – I want to know what the headspace is within the band, going in to record their fourth album. The three they’ve already released have been successful to say the least; is it tough to get motivated? “No, that’s not necessarily a problem,” Hall muses. “Sometimes it’s a problem to see

if we’re all moving in the same direction… Everyone’s musical tastes are different, so trying to iron those things out in the rehearsal room can be complicated.” Given the success of the band’s recorded work to date (particularly their second album, Imago from 2006, which was certified gold after only two months), the bar has been set dauntingly high for when they record once more. “Look, I try not to weigh into those little battles in my head,” Hall confesses. “I just try to think of the original philosophy which is the day we write songs that we listen to and go, ‘You know what? I don’t think it’s any good,’ is the day we pull the pin. But up until then, I still think we’re writing good songs, I can’t see how it’d be harder than any previous releases.” Of course, it’s early days at this point. The band have been writing and rehearsing for around five months now, there’s certainly no hurry, but I’m keen to find out how it’s sounding this early in the game. “The one thing I can see in the songs we’ve written so far is that they’ve all got really interesting parts all the way through,” Hall tells. “We’ve really been trying to get that as a major part, as opposed to having just a few interesting parts to get the song over the line.” It’s definitely early in the piece, but things seem to be heading in the right direction, although the ‘direction of the band’ itself is always something that warrants questioning. “Yeah, that’s a point of contention actually, sometimes we argue about what direction we’re going in,” Hall muses. “But I don’t think you can force those things… we just want to get better as musicians and bring more to the songs.” You can’t fault the man’s diplomacy. The Butterfly Effect will, this month, head out to a number of regional centres, they’ll lay it on thick and do what they do best. Then they’ll go home, rehearse some more, then get into the studio and start putting together the many pieces that will eventually make up their fourth record. “It could go anywhere,” Hall smiles. “We’ve got around ten songs at this point, but we want more than we need, so that when we come to make the record, it’s got ten great songs on it.”

WHO: The Butterfly Effect WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 30 June, Ferntree Gully Hotel; Thursday 1 July, Bended Elbow (Geelong); Friday 2, Inferno (Traralgon); Saturday 3, Pier Live (Frankston); Sunday 4, Commercial Hotel (South Morang)

SHE HANGS BRIGHTLY In a rare interview before her Australian tour, HOPE SANDOVAL talks pre-show nerves and the legacy of Mazzy Star with CYCLONE. You. (In later years, Into Dust, too, has achieved cult status.) Despite pressure from their new masters, Capitol, Mazzy Star refused to become MTV pawns. In 1996 they returned with the deeply subliminal Among My Swan. (A Mazzy Star outtake did appear on the Batman Forever soundtrack, with Sandoval subsequently declaring the film to be “horrible”.) In 2001 Sandoval embarked on a ‘solo’ career with Bavarian Fruit Bread. She’d met a new collaborator in My Bloody Valentine’s drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. He’d transplant to California and the two now share a house in Berkeley. “Sometimes we work together and sometimes we work separately,” Sandoval says of their dynamic. “[Ó Cíosóig has] recently learned to play guitar – in the past six years – and he’s become really good. He’s the type of musician who can just pick up anything and in a few months he’s pretty good at it. So he plays a lot of guitar. I play guitar only to write my songs, ‘cause I’m not very good.” (Speaking briefly before Sandoval, Ó Cíosóig describes The Warm Inventions as a challenge sonically compared to MBV. “It’s quite different, really; it’s a lot quieter, for sure!” the Irishman laughs. “It’s not loud rock music, even though we can get a little loud at times.”)

any artists’ mystique is contrived, but not Hope Sandoval’s. The beguiling Mazzy Star chanteuse, she of the disembodied voice, has influenced much contemporary music, from art-rock to trip hop to folk, yet little is known about her. At the heart of Sandoval’s mythology is her reluctance to grant interviews – not because of arrogance but profound shyness. Journalists depict the Californian as inaudible, virtually monosyllabic and demurring on the most innocuous of questions. While she’s often cited her nervousness performing, the dream-pop icon is finally heading to Australia for her premiere tour along with her band The Warm Inventions. However, fans will hardly see Sandoval, who’s renowned for her tenebrous stages. Astonishingly, when Sandoval gingerly takes the phone, although occasionally guarded, she’s chatty, whimsical and playful. Still, she confesses that, even after years of experience, gigging is scary. “I feel the same about it,” she says in sultry, not hushed, tones. “It’s an awkward thing to be doing. I think anybody

would feel the same way. But it’s quite important to play the songs live after you make a record. I feel that it’s a very important move to accomplish it live.” Born into a modest Mexican-American family, Sandoval grew up in a dangerous Los Angeles neighbourhood. Enamoured of The Rolling Stones, she conceived the folk duo Going Home with school buddy Sylvia Gomez. Demos were passed to Opal (and ex-Dream Syndicate) member Kendra Smith. Nonetheless, in a series of twists, Sandoval formed a second outfit with Opal guitarist Dave Roback, who’d initially produced an album for Going Home that never materialised. Roback, a key player in LA’s Paisley Underground movement, and Sandoval were also lovers. Signing to the indie label Rough Trade, Mazzy Star debuted with 1990’s underground (and collegiate) She Hangs Brightly, on which they strayed into the blues – and country – while developing a textural (and ghostly) production style. They popularised a psychedelia for the grunge era with the follow-up, So Tonight That I Might See, its pinnacle the shoegaze classic Fade Into

In 2009 Sandoval broke an eight-year drought with the altogether darker Through The Devil Softly. On first listen, The Warm Inventions’ music is not far removed from Mazzy Star – it’s more swoon-worthy melancholia – yet the feel is folkier. Sandoval isn’t pretentious and downplays her artistic growth between albums. “I didn’t think [Through...] was so different,” she says. “I thought the main thing that was different was the fact that we worked with a band [Ireland’s Dirt Blue Gene] that exist on their own – they’ve been playing together for six years. Overall, it’s the same two people writing the songs... I think that the records are quite similar.” Sandoval remains enigmatic – and secretive – about her inspiration. The singer, who doesn’t tweet, let alone blog, is bemused to hear of a discussion about Through’s lyrics on her website forum. One poster suggests, “It’s the writer’s/musician’s/band’s prerogative to [not illuminate] lyrics, right?” Indeed, Sandoval likes listeners to feel, not study, her words – words that are frequently reproduced inaccurately. “Usually what I find is that people are wrong about the lyrics. I always hate when they post their version of the lyrics; a lot of the times it’s wrong. I just

think to myself, I would never say that,” she laughs. “But I think it’s better for people to make up their own mind about it. I prefer to say [that they should] just keep it to themselves and not post their versions of the lyrics.” Sandoval has lent her vocals and songwriting skills to an array of musicians, many electronic. She guested on The Chemical Brothers’ Balearic Asleep From Day, recorded a version of Cherry Blossom Girl with the ‘French touch’ Air, and cut Into U with Richard X. She just recently cameoed on Massive Attack’s Heligoland. What is her interest in electronica? “You know, I wouldn’t have categorised them under ‘electronica’ or whatever the term is – I don’t even know what that is! Some artists just send me their music and, if I like it, if it inspires me, I’ll write to it. I suppose with those [electronic] artists, they tend to do that – that’s how they make records – so that’s one of the reasons I usually work with [them]... I don’t think any rock band would send their music out and ask another writer from another band to help write [something] – or maybe they would... Maybe it’s important to have the singer write their own part; maybe that’s why they do it. It’s a good idea.” Meanwhile, Sandoval has opened the way for a fresh wave of folk artists, such as Devendra Banhart. Karen Elson’s The Ghost Who Walks is very Mazzy Star. And it transpires that Among My Swan wasn’t Mazzy Star’s swansong – the pair have merely been on an “indefinite hiatus”. (Roback disappeared to Norway.) For the better part of a decade, Sandoval has alluded to a fourth album being in the pipeline. “It’s almost finished, it’s almost done,” she says patiently. “I’m on tour right now and [Roback is] doing this other project. We just have a few more things to do, and maybe a month’s work, and it’ll be done.” Sandoval might not sing any Mazzy Star in her Warm Inventions show, but it’s attracted rave reviews internationally. “The band that we’re playing with, Dirty Blue Gene, is the band that played on the record – and they’re an amazing band. They’re one of the best bands I’ve heard, or seen, in a long time. I’m so lucky to be working with them. They will be opening the shows, so they’ll do their set as Dirty Blue Gene, and then, of course, they’re our backing band. They’re really good – and they’re going down really well. People really love them.”

WHO: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Intentions WHAT: Through The Devil Softly (Shock) WHEN & WHERE: Sunday, the Forum

BREAKIN’ TEETH Formerly behind the drum kit for I Killed The Prom Queen, JJ PETERS is now running the show with his hip hop-influenced hardcore outfit DEEZ NUTS. He talks to DANIELLE O’DONOHUE about being the man in charge.

J Peters used to play in a band with four other very strong personalities. Every album I Killed The Prom Queen made was slaved over, every musical decision was an agonising one but these days, Peters answers to no one but himself. The music he makes, as hardcore act Deez Nuts, takes only a couple of weeks to put onto record, like latest release, This One’s For You, where Prom Queen albums could take months. “I locked myself in my bedroom for about two weeks and just thrashed it out,” Peters says of the writing of the latest Deez Nuts album. “That was two weeks prior to the actual recording dates so I literally was like writing the last songs the night before I went in to start tracking and then tracked it all in about two and a half weeks as well. “I do work better under pressure. I’ve always sort of chucked myself in the deep end and that’s what I did with this album. [Deez Nuts’ record label] Roadrunner said, ‘What sort

of time frame do you want to work for the album?’ and I was like, ‘Well, you give me a drop date and you give me a time you need it done by and I’ll just have to make sure it’s ready’.” Peters spent eight years sitting behind the kit of Adelaide band, I Killed The Prom Queen and says recording everything in such a quick and easy manner now is a nice change from how things used to work. “Months on end in rehearsal rooms, jamming from ten in the morning until six at night and then we’d go home for dinner and then we’d come back and rehearse from ten at night ‘til three in the morning. I think that’s just the way it works with most bands when you’ve got five personalities in the band who all come at things from a different angle and all want to put their two cents in. It’s just a different process. “The way I do it I get to write it all in my head and I get the final say so it makes things a lot quicker. But the downside to that also is that there’s no one to bounce ideas off. Some of your ideas are pretty shitty so as a result I’m always pretty scared going into the studio that I’ve written something pretty terrible that nobody’s had a chance to tell me it sucks. But it’s done all right so far.” Deez Nuts started as a musical experiment. Peters had time on his hands after the break up of Prom Queen and wanted to try his hand at writing and recording. The music Peters came up with was born out of the brutal hardcore and metal sounds favoured by Prom Queen and overlaid with vocals more in line with the rap and hip hop Peters listens to. Two songs and a demo later and the now Melbourne-based musician found himself with a cottage industry on his hands. “I put it up on MySpace and there was quite a bit of buzz about it right from the get-go. I was having kids send stamped self addressed envelopes with $5 in them for a demo and I think I moved about 200 demos that way just through mail order. “At that point I realised if there was that many kids that could be fucked – it was a pretty shitty process to have to get the CD that way and a lot of kids went to the effort of doing it – so I was like, ‘Wow, this could actually be something!’”

“You really have to do it off your own bat because you don’t have that major label support and you don’t have people playing you on Channel [V] and plugging you on major radio stations and stuff... As a result of that, you have kids that are more passionate about that type of music and they’ll drag their friends along to shows and make them check it out and they bring their friends along next time and it’s really more of a grass roots vibe.” This One’s For You is Deez Nuts’ second album and the band recently returned from their fourth tour of Europe and the UK. Things are a little bigger now than Peters sending out demos from his lounge room. But for a musician who’s played in one of the biggest metalcore bands in the country, Peters confesses to still having doubts. “I get nervous before every single show we play,” Peters says with a chuckle. “I’m like, ‘No one’s going to show up. This is going to suck.’ I’m always so paranoid about every show. We haven’t had too many fails yet so it’s exciting to see that shows are growing and getting bigger. We’re picking up more fans with every tour but I drive the other guys in the band crazy because I’m always like, ‘Fuck no one’s coming. This is going to be horrible.’ But it always works out.” For the live shows, Deez Nuts has a rotating line-up. Guitarist Stu Callinan, formerly of Picture The End, is a fixture; Ty Alexander of In Fiction is behind the drums and this time around bass duties are being taken care of by former Horsell Common bassist Luke Cripps. Peters knows the kind of music he makes is never going to be a part of the mainstream. It’s too heavy and too crude. But while kids are coming to shows, Peters knows he’s doing something right. “There’s always going to be people that hate us. People are pretty loud and voice their opinions quite frequently about their dislike for my band. But for every one of them there’s five kids that are coming along to every show and singing along to every word so I’m not too phased about the haters. “You really have to do it off your own bat because you don’t have that major label support and you don’t have people playing you on Channel [V] and plugging you on major radio stations and stuff. So you really have to take things into your own hands and just tour as much as possible. “As a result of that, you have kids that are more passionate about that type of music and they’ll drag their friends along to shows and make them check it out and they bring their friends along next time and it’s really more of a grass roots vibe.”

WHO: Deez Nuts WHAT: This One’s For You (Roadrunner) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday and Sunday, the Hi-Fi

HOLDING THE GLOVE “It was really hard to let someone else in,” OPERATOR PLEASE frontwoman AMANDAH WILKINSON tells SCOTT FITZSIMONS of her sojourn to songwriting boot camp. Drummer TIM COMMANDEUR tries to get a word in.

n one fell swoop and a song about table tennis, Gold Coast’s Operator Please, teenagers at the time, became golden children of the Australian music scene – loved by Triple J, loved by festivalgoers and so infectious that even the haters couldn’t harbour the guilty thoughts. Frontwoman and founder Amandah Wilkinson is the main songwriting force behind the band and while there’s been a few line-up shifts – most publicly when keyboardist Sarah Gardiner was revealed to have modelled on an adult site – one constant is the drummer Tim Commandeur. He’s officially one of the writing partners now after approaching Wilkinson and asking for the opportunity, but – and even in this chat in a function room of the Surry Hills Sebel with both of the aforementioned – he’s ever in Wilkinson’s shadow, struggling to get a full sentence in. Wilkinson seems to rule with something of an iron fist of control, but it’s more because she’s so passionate about writing songs and the process involved

that she can’t help but sway the conversation into her corner. Like any band that experiences early success, the writing process for the follow-up shifted dramatically. “I found the second record to be extremely difficult,” says Wilkinson. “The first record [Yes Yes Vindictive] is your whole lifetime and in the beginning with the songs [from second album Gloves] we didn’t actually know where it was going or what was going to happen with it.” Gloves is a superior record to its predecessor, with cheap hooks replaced by intelligent songwriting and the whole record more mature. Thrown into the deep end and into international touring, they didn’t really have a choice but to grow. “Just going on tour and going overseas and not spending a lot of time at home, it kind of awakens you to everything outside of Australia and so I think, as much as we are up to date and we are a westernised culture, we are very far away from the rest of the world. And we had to grow up and learn how to be less selfish with each other. We’d been living in each other’s pockets for years on tour,” says Wilkinson. “I think in the last leg of the tour in Japan, that’s when we were like, ‘We need to just come home and chill out’.” “We’ve had like a year, almost a year and a half off,” says Commandeur, getting a rare word or two in, “and when we get back we’ll be more prepared and know what to expect.” The focus is very much on the new album, though, and the two started writing again as soon as they got home, but weren’t blown away with what they were initially producing. Wilkinson was then whisked away to the likes of New York and Los Angeles on a writing junket, paid for by their publishing company. “I entered this Mecca pop world of writing and freaked out,” she emphasises. “I got there and they just do the strangest, tiniest little things to make the song like, whoa, mega amazing.” It opened her eyes to the slight turns of the musical hand that infuse all of the ‘disposable’ and ‘trashy’ pop that the world’s greatest nation creates.

“It was really hard to let someone else in, [but] you need to be a little less selfish with writing and learn to take other people’s ideas on board. I know that’s gonna make me sound like a jerk, but I’m not going to lie about it. Your heart’s in it. ” “At the start of the process I had no idea how to structure a song and how to write a song,” admits Commandeur. “And then Amandah went away and wrote with some other people for experience and she came back and brought that with her. And I think that taught me – well each other – a lot…” “…A lot about how to nut everything out,” Wilkinson finishes his sentence. Of the material written specifically for their second full-length, only two songs were left out. “There was one that was unfinished and there was one that I thought didn’t make the cut, or we didn’t think made the cut,” explains Wilkinson. “Yeah, it wasn’t up to the standard of the rest of them,” agrees her songwriting partner. She continues, “I think it came after we were on to a roll of about four really solid songs that we knew that we had and so we were like, ‘Okay, we’ve got all these ideas, let’s just nut through them and see how everything’s going to turn out’.” One thing the record lacks is the instant single, which, like many bands in their elevated position, could see Operator Please struggle to hold that position. “Because [breakout single Just A Song About] Ping Pong was written immediately, it was immediate,” says the frontwoman. Hopefully, they say, fans will realise that the album’s a grower. “As much as you don’t want to think of it like that, I think it is. It’s going to have to grow on people for sure. It is quite different to the first record, but it is us. I think a lot of the songs are middle-paced and the album in general is a lot slower in tempo and less frenetic,” Wilkinson says. “Not as much yelling,” adds Commandeur. “Yeah, not as much yelling,” Wilkinson assures. “I’ve focused a lot more on singing the melodies.” Staying away from the easy “double hi-hat” fix to get crowds dancing, the two are quietly confident that fans will find the groove lining Gloves. Ironically, Volcanic is bound to be a live favourite and is one of the moments that implements the technique. They also hope their admirers, who are currently going through the same post-teenage growth spurt as the band, will be with them for the journey. Wilkinson ensured she kept them in the loop, blogging the whole way through their time ‘off’. Still a way to go, they’re nonetheless on the way to adulthood. “It was really hard to let someone else in,” says Wilkinson, “[but] you need to be a little less selfish with writing and learn to take other people’s ideas on board. I know that’s gonna make me sound like a jerk, but I’m not going to lie about it. Your heart’s in it. You always want to better yourself with everything and you feel like a little piece of you is being taken away, but you know their ideas are better than yours,” she accepts, laughing.

WHO: Operator Please WHAT: Gloves (Virgin/EMI) WHEN & WHERE: Friday, Corner Hotel

THE BEAUTY MYTH THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS’ frontman and songwriter MAT MCHUGH tells BEN SALTER their surfy acoustic tunes were at first intended to piss everyone off.

he Beautiful Girls have been relatively quiet of late. Sure, there was a recent cheeky tour of Brazil and last year’s solo album and tour for lead singer/songwriter Mat McHugh, but apart from that, zip. The reason being that, for the past year, McHugh – the evil genius behind group – has been holed up in his home studio, painstakingly piecing together the brand new album by The Beautiful Girls, Spooks, their fourth studio release. An atmospheric, effects-laden affair, Spooks sees the band’s previous flirtations with dub and reggae blossom into a full-blown relationship. Now The Beautiful Girls are embarking on a massive two-month tour to promote the album, taking in everywhere from Broome to Townsville to Hobart. After being holed up at home for so long – apart from the aforementioned Brazil jaunt – the band, and McHugh especially, must be excited about hitting the road. “I am looking forward to the tour, but we haven’t had much of a chance to get excited”, McHugh says

down the line from his NSW home. “The tour is in the back of our minds, but we’re just super busy. The whole process of making the album, and now the process of transferring all those sounds into our live set, has been a lot of work. For this tour we have rehearsed for a couple of weeks straight all day, which is unheard of for us. Normally we just get together and have one rehearsal and then go on tour, so this album and this tour is a pretty big deal. I just want to get to the first day of the tour, you know, where you say, ‘Okay, now we’re all in the van, all the preparation is done, all we have to do is turn up and do it!’” As mentioned, Spooks takes the group’s trademark surfer pop/reggaelite sound and plunges it beneath layers of echo and delay, drums bouncing around all over the mix, horns drifting plaintively above. It’s definitely dub, then; complete with Melbourne-based reggae singer Vida Sunshyne toasting over a number of tracks. McHugh explains: “Our mate Ashley or [Sydney based DJ] Katalyst, he knows so much about dub and dancehall, he’s like a mentor to me. He recommended this up-and-coming hip hop act, these girls KillaQueenz, and we started talking to them, and Vida was a friend of theirs. Her father was a big musician in the reggae scene in Ghana, so she grew up in that world, she has that whole reggae thing down, and she’s a great, great girl. She came in for a day and we just hung out. It was actually the highlight of the whole thing, just listening to her sing, it was amazing.” With so much going on in the mix then, how do The Beautiful Girls plan on reproducing Spooks live? “In the past we’ve had as much of that atmosphere as we can control through our instruments – you know, just the three of us and what not – but this time a lot of the sounds and atmospherics and really full-on dub stuff is going to be done live”, says McHugh. “Our keyboard player is a big jazz and dub kinda guy and he’ll be triggering and playing a bunch of the woolly, dubby shifts and stuff. Plus, a bunch of stuff is done front of house, so we’re all kind of having a hand in it.”

“The whole thing was, calling the band The Beautiful Girls and playing really mellow acoustic music – at the time it wasn’t in any way fashionable. This was before the whole surf movement or whatever happened, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do this style of music and I’m gonna call the band The Beautiful Girls and I’m gonna piss all the other guys in the rehearsal studio off!’” The Beautiful Girls have been pretty much flat out touring and recording for the last five years or so, with four albums and several trips abroad to not only Brazil but the UK, France and the United States. “Well, really for me it’s been more like ten years,” McHugh continues. “I mean, my whole adult life has pretty much been travelling. As soon as we started the band we immediately started going overseas and playing and, before that for me, there was a few years of backpacking around. I lived in India for a year and then New York for a while and it was there especially that I met a lot of the contacts and started to get more of the idea for doing [The] Beautiful Girls.” Something not many fans would be aware of is that, prior to starting up his current outfit, McHugh performed in a Sydney-based stoner rock outfit, The Search For Delta 9. Does he ever get the yearning to crank the Marshall up to 11 again or is that sort of angsty rock’n’roll a young man’s game? “Where we grew up around here on the beaches, every guy was in a band like that, maybe not stoner but either that or punk or metal – all distorted guitars and screaming,” he recalls. “I got to the point where I was just done with that. I mean, I live on the beach, I’m not really that angry... It was a lot of fun, but I knew there was some other side to me than just that... The whole thing was, calling the band The Beautiful Girls and playing really mellow acoustic music – at the time it wasn’t in any way fashionable. This was before the whole surf movement or whatever happened, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do this style of music and I’m gonna call the band The Beautiful Girls and I’m gonna piss all the other guys in the rehearsal studio off’! At the time that seemed like the most punk rock thing we could have done, after what we’d come from.” McHugh has clearly thought about the issue of identity and his own band’s place in the scheme of things, and come to the conclusion that you can’t make anyone happy unless you please yourself first, as he explains. “Well you know how music is, everyone agrees for a week what is cool and then the next week no one does and it’s on to something else,” he muses. “There’s no use trying to keep up. At some stage people are going to think what you do is awesome and at some stage people are gonna think it’s shit. But ultimately you’re creating a body of work, and hopefully you put more substance into it than style. You just gotta say, ‘This is what I do, this is what I’m into’. And if no one likes it and I have to go back to working at a factory well at least I’ll like it, I’ll think it’s cool, and I’ll be able to say, ‘I’m proud of this’.”

WHO: The Beautiful Girls WHAT: Spooks (Die Boredom/MGM) WHERE & WHEN: Thursday, Inferno (Traralgon); Friday, the Palace

SINGLED OUT BY CLEM BASTOW

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SINGLE OF THE WEEK

BEACHES IN A WHILE/HALVE The Sky Was White Recordings While everyone is going bananas over other recently released, higher-profile psychedelic space-jams, here’s a little – 7”, to be exact – reminder that Beaches are one of the best bands in the country right now. In A While’s surging, plangent freak-out elevates the groove to somewhere transcendent, while Halve brings things back to grittier, garage-ier earth. Beaches take the jam – so often a ponderous, distinctly male pissing contest – and reclaim its power for good. You’d be hard-pressed to find two sides’ worth of more glorious noise anywhere else.

TONIC RELEASE ME Universal If anyone can explain to me why Tonic have used the Twitter bird on the artwork for Release Me, I’d be greatly appreciative – it would also occupy the time I’m not using by listening to the intensely dull Release Me, which exists in a terrifying time/space schism where Goo Goo Dolls and Five For Fighting are still setting the pace for adult oriented semi-acoustic rock songs and all videos are made using copious crane shots and lens flares in deserted factories and empty industrial canals.

GOO GOO DOLLS HOME Warner BRB, gonna write a new horror movie, Candyman 4: The Goo Googening; I looked into the mirror, wrote the above review five times, and Home appeared! Are you scared yet? YOU SHOULD BE.

GIN WIGMORE TOO LATE FOR LOVERS Island Even if it does threaten to turn into The Weight in its opening seconds, the excellent Too Late For Lovers does – from its bittersweet ‘60s strings to its pulsing Hammond organ – what every Gin Wigmore song does: makes me ponder precisely why she hasn’t ended up a global nu-soul superstar. She’s more consistent than Duffy and less irritating than Macy Gray, and has better songs than most of her peers, so what gives? Is it ‘cause she is Kiwi?

THE MORNING BENDERS BIG ECHO Rough Trade/Remote Control

DEVO SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY Warner

RICHARD IN YOUR MIND MY VOLCANO Rice Is Nice

Coming to us via the vicarious elation caused by the online video for album opener Excuses, The Morning Benders suggest a take on washy Cali band-pop more emotive than so many of their college-nonchalant peers. In the video, the foursome’s songwriter and singer, Christopher Chu, conducts a packed room of San Francisco’s indie elite (including Girls) in a community-feel orchestration of the song the band recorded themselves; a line of violins, a pianist and a choir making up for the work Chu performed in the studio himself. On screen, it’s as affecting as it can be without really being there; the song some wonderful collision of At Last, nu-percussion-fascination and a pasty university a cappella group, led by Chu’s stunning vocal.

Devo’s “88% focus group approved” new record, their first studio album in 20 years, is aptly titled Something For Everybody. They’ve embraced fan input throughout the process, conducting a survey to whittle 16 tracks down to the desired 12, and even changed the colour of their famous energy dome hats from red to blue following a colour study. Devo’s release day party saw the band hosting a listening party for 20 cats, while press and fans looked on from Warner Bros Records’ patio in Burbank. (And of course there were energy dome-shaped ‘hat-bowls’ and carpeted scratching post.)

“Whimsical psych pop” is how Conrad Richters (bass/ synth/guitar) describes his band’s sound. Hailing from Sydney, Richard In Your Mind were originally conceived as a recording project by former roommates Richters and Richard Cartwright (guitar/vocals/harmonica) in 2006. The gents released their debut LP The Future Prehistoric a year later and built up something of a following, capped by the Triple J-backed Make It Chill single from last year’s Summertime EP. Now a five-piece, Richard In Your Mind return with sophomore effort My Volcano.

However, this exciting proposal that The Morning Benders transcend the limitations taken on by those attempting to filter sentimental West Coast pop and Phil Spector’s production through a ‘cool’ siphon is disappointingly misleading. On record, despite Chu’s attempts to step into some underwater world of tape delay, mellotrons and an array of organs, what The Morning Benders make is indie pop, straight and true. A good version of it, absolutely; the melodies whistle through the wash like a breeze through an esplanade of palm trees, the guitars flitter with purpose over the avalanche of drums, and there’s a sense of nostalgia for something innocent and free that’s hard to shake long after listening. Even after Chu’s pause-causing vocal turn in Excuses, when he tones it down to a soothing whisper and layers it up as he does on almost every song following, it’s still lulling and pretty. But that’s where the majority of Big Echo is content to stay, inside the prism The Morning Benders themselves helped construct with their 2008 debut album, Talking Through Tin Cans; the prism that has had its corners well explored of late. With Excuses they’ve furthered the ideas already presented and hopefully it’s a sign of where The Morning Benders are heading. Adam Curley

The chugging, industrial beats are still prevalent throughout and whip sounds punctuate kick-off track Fresh, immediately arresting your ears. And it just wouldn’t be Devo without wacky lyrics (“Eating and breathing and pumping gas/Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, do it again” ). Please Baby Please is reminiscent of another decades-ahead-of-their-time outfit, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and a riff in Step Up could be borrowed from No Limit (2 Unlimited). A humorous animated music video for Don’t Shoot (I’m A Man) was debuted on the band’s website in April 2009, and this track features samples that could be a hobby helicopter taking off, or an electronic pogo stick, plus oodles of lyrical humour (“Don’t tase me, bro!” ). “I walked outside, it hit me on the donk/If you don’t want trouble you should stay at home” advises Later Is Now, and a chorus key melody calls to mind Go West’s We Close Our Eyes. No Place Like Home embraces the cheesiness of a Eurovision submission, complete with bombastic finish for grandiose choralography. It’s more likely that the aforementioned name-checked songs were influenced by Devo, and the 21st century welcomes them, matching shiny tracksuits, “everybody” masks and all. They’ve lived in the future since they formed in 1973. De-evolution is real and it wields a keytar in a ball pit.

With its blend of lo-fi atmospherics, minimalist yet joyful loops, acoustic flavours and layered, reverbed harmonies, the album is unique by local standards. Sitars bend and fade, otherworldly vocals dip and swirl, and baggy drum patterns give songs like This Face a distinctly early-’90s UK feel. The ambience is lightened in places too, with the largely instrumental Mongrowlia borrowing nicely from the patented grooves and sample effects The Avalanches used so beautifully a decade ago. Other highlights include the cleverly structured The Sun Broke Into Your Heart – which features a delightful little lead break – and the seriously psychotropic Creation. Here, with input from just the two original members, heavily treated samples shuffle and throb to accompany hypnotic, trippy vox. Album opener Tiny Colossus Face also pleases with its distinctive, shifting layers and up-tempo texture. It’s fair to say few Australian acts combine steel drums with lyrics like “You’ve forgotten how to walk/‘Cause you’re a hovercraft/Have you been cut in half?”. Novelty value aside, Richard In Your Mind produce music to challenge convention. Although some of the material here could do with a skip along, My Volcano is one of the most innovative local recordings for some time. EJ Cartledge

Bryget Chrisfield

KATY PERRY CALIFORNIA GURLS EMI Yes, yes, I know, it’s been out a few weeks, but for some reason I waited until the video release to reserve my judgement (blame the MTV generation). California Gurls is a fairly limp response to Empire State Of Mind, and if we’re talking the post-Love At First Sight/Get Into The Groove model, then Ke$ha’s recent Your Love Is My Drug is infinitely better. Then again, I could also be in a bad mood because Perry tweet-dissed Lady Gaga; bitch, step down.

MACY GRAY KISSED IT Universal Speaking of Ms Gray, the original loon is back, and I suspect Gary Glitter might have something to say about Kissed It, which sounds so close to Rock & Roll Parts 1 & 2 as to be vaguely uncomfortable. Aside from that killer stomp-’n’-clap refrain, however, Kissed It is DREADFUL. It also features a faxed-in, mixed-down guest solo from Slash, apparently playing himself on Guitar Hero, which is worthy of a mention only because… anyone? Bueller?

DISTURBED ANOTHER WAY TO DIE Warner When it comes to the sort of bands that Michael Bay no doubt masturbates works out to, I always get The Used (who are actually quite good) mixed up with Disturbed (who are actually quite shit). Indeed, the latter’s hysterical political/environmentalist boof rocker Another Way To Die (fuck the oil spill, brah!!) is similar in many ways to the former’s excellent Pretty Handsome Awkward. It’s the sort of sports metal that wants you to think, but then removes your ability to do so.

JONATHAN BOULET ONES WHO FLY TWOS WHO DIE Modular While all the jungle drums that herald Ones Who Fly Twos Who Die are well and good if you like that sort of thing, it’s such a sustained intro that I was nearly exploding from stressed out anticipation by the time the rest of the instruments joined in. There is such a thing as “too much percussion”.

THE FINISHING SCHOOL THE HOPEFUL CHORUS LINE Vitamin Adelaide’s The Finishing School are an interesting prospect, and not one to be confused with the (quite brilliant) weekly Melbourne indie dance night. The band comprises brother and sister team Emily and Thom Combe, Lyndon Gray and Andrew Gaborit, and are best known for being ‘the group that has Peter Combe’s kids in it’, which is a distracting irrelevancy given that any similarity begins with the surname and ends with the prominent use of acoustic guitars. This, their debut album, is a lushly recorded effort, highlights of which include smart arrangements, delicate acoustic finger-picking, a rhythm section more interested in atmosphere than drive and, most notably, a deft use of fraternal harmonies. What it doesn’t have, however, are memorable hooks or a clear concept of what it wants to get across. Like the cover art, this band are very good at being made up and looking/sounding the part. However, within the aesthetics lies an emptiness, a lot of nods and gestures but little to distinguish the group from the thick woods of plaintive and mellow Australian acoustic songsmiths, many of whom create stronger images with a lot fewer words and chords. This isn’t to say that there aren’t moments of interest – Starting A Conga Line features some wonderfully intricate and un-showy guitar work from Thom Combe, and there is a genuine grace and warmth to his sister’s floating vocals over the surprising electronic backing of Filthy Attraction. Given the album rarely moves above a moderate pace and they are not aiming for the hip, the atmospheres they seek to evoke could be better served with simplicity. There is obvious talent here and future efforts could be more interesting. What does work though is the production of Matt Hills and the rich instrumental backing the band construct, which combine to reinforce the urge for the lyrics to be tightened. Andy Hazel

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS DISCONNECT FROM DESIRE Speak N Spell/ THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM AMERICAN SLANG Shock The Gaslight Anthem lead singer Brian Fallon sings, in The Diamond Church Street Choir, “Though I never forget where I’m from/we might have moved away from home and slept out there on our own”. It’s a refrain that rings true over and over on this, the band’s third album. Every song is a homage to Fallon’s home, the state of New Jersey and the streets of New York City, the childhood that he’s left behind and the characters he’s grown up around in his working class, music-loving life. The band are constantly compared to fellow Jersey-ite Bruce Springsteen for making music that teams a rich soul influence with gritty, salt of the earth rock. Though you can also hear The Gaslight Anthem’s punk upbringing on this album, it’s a justifiable comparison. In this postmodern world, it’s rare outside of the big commercial rock acts for a band to wear their hearts so firmly on their sleeves. These are songs to sing along to with your lighter in the air, arm-in-arm with your mates. Though it’s probably not Fallon’s intention, the characters in these songs seem like they populate an America that doesn’t exist anymore – an America of poodle skirts, ponytails and the Sharks and the Jets. The earnestness has been there from the beginnings of the band, and while it will undoubtedly turn off indie hipsters too cool to bother with a band referencing lines like “mama never told me there’d be days like these” without a hint of irony, it gives these songs an achingly beautiful nostalgic romanticism. The band’s last album, The ’59 Sound, took The Gaslight Anthem out of the clubs and onto festival stages around the world. American Slang takes them home. Danielle O’Donohue

Inertia Put simply, it goes like this: great sonics, naff lyrics. New York art rock trio School Of Seven Bells make lovely, dreamy, moody sounds, but they should not be advertising the fact that it’s the lyrics that form the core of their work. Alejandra Deheza may well be a lucid dreamer but her words are more pedestrian adolescent poetry than shimmering spiritual insight. At times the lyrics on this album are genuinely cringe-worthy. Pity, because Disconnect From Desire is also a record of cinematic escapism. With its blend of shoegaze vagueness, electronica and goth-rock intensity, it creates a beautiful palette. Mix Cocteau Twins with My Bloody Valentine, stir in a little Lush and sprinkle on some of The Cure’s early work and you have the picture. Then again, there are also moments when it sounds like something Stephen Hague would have produced in 1986. However, when it works it works well. The album’s instantly catchy opener Windstorm is at once aloof and poppy, with warm fuzz everywhere. At the other end, the closer, The Wait, is a slow builder, all gorgeous girl vocals and hypnotic mists. It’s rather like ambling through a winter forest scene in a long black coat – corny but still somehow attractive. Elsewhere, ILU is punctuated by crunching ’80s drum sounds and arty pedal FX, whilst Babelonia pairs tough, fat bass with a Waif-ish vocal line and yet more Anglophile noise posturing. The album’s most effective statement is Dial, in which Deheza’s voice swoops and soars with brittle loveliness over rumbling waves of bottom-end fog. Sure, SVIIB sound like kids raised on ’80s esoterica and Baudelaire, and their sophomore album is hardly ground-breaking, but they manage to redeem themselves with a Quixotic commitment to deliberate weirdness. Art wankers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your audience. Paul Ransom

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PRINCESS ONE POINT FIVE WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU Pharmacy

LIZ STRINGER TIDES OF TIME Independent

AGAINST ME! WHITE CROSSES Sire/Warner

STORNOWAY BEACHCOMBER’S WINDOWSILL 4AD/

From the instrumentals Start and Interlude to the lush harmonics of I’m Not Ready and Your Wedding Day, What Doesn’t Kill You, the new album from iconoclastic local duo Princess One Point Five, is all heart, functional and dysfunctional love, sitting side by side then transposed onto a peculiarly Melburnian cocktail hour aesthetic. This record is best listened to suited up, in a comfortable Art Deco chair and sipping the last bracing drink before a big first date.

Tides Of Time is the third full-length release for Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Liz Stringer. While breaking no new ground, the recording is a faithful testament to the beguiling art of acoustic balladry. Of note, she plays every single instrument that appears, including lap steel, banjo, mandolin and even glockenspiel.

Tom Gabel sailed the good ship Against Me! into more radio-friendly waters on the band’s 2008 major label debut New Wave, which ended up being the band’s most commercially successfully album to date. It’s no surprise then, that the group have re-enlisted the services of super producer Butch Vig for their follow-up.

Remote Control

The core of Princess One Point Five is Sarah-Jane Wentzki and Richard Andrew, whose previous work has included stints with The Underground Lovers and Registered Nurse, and various guest musicians over the course of their four albums to date. The solidity of this pairing is what comes through strongest on What Doesn’t Kill You, arguably less of a ‘band’ record than their previous work, and, interestingly, much more resonant for the fact. As the title suggests, this is an album concerned with personal matters of experience and discovery, with a strength to the songwriting and a beautiful sense of comfort between the musicians that the more fun and raucous The Truth, for example, lacked in hindsight. This is not to say that there isn’t the odd rocking number, the almost Ramones-esque Quote Me being a good case in point, as is the French pop-inspired What Do You Know. The arrangements are gorgeous here, but it’s Wentzki’s hauntingly ethereal voice and lines such as “shut up and kiss me” that echo long after the disc has stopped spinning. Like a heartbreakingly beautiful but slightly discordant new note discovered on an instrument that only exists in a dream, it demands our attention with both its freshness and its opposite: the things it tells us that we already know but still need to hear.

Captivating live, Stringer is developing quite an impressive CV, with considerable praise lavished upon her previous albums, Pendulum (2008) and Soon (2006), and garnering a host of admirable support slots for the likes of Mia Dyson, Ash Grunwald and Weddings, Parties, Anything. Having spent a number of years in Europe, Stringer is still something of a relative newcomer on the local music scene, and remains fiercely independent. This attitude has carried through with Tides Of Time, being recorded in a converted church on an old eight-track. While there is genuine warmth and a comfortable, almost familiar feel to the ten songs presented, it would not go astray for Stringer to explore themes beyond the first person, confessional narrative. Love, loss, family and nostalgia backed (chiefly) by acoustic guitars can grow somewhat repetitive without distinct changes in form and tempo. Naturally, not every songwriter is interested in expanding the thematic universe and most find both inspiration and comfort in the one thing they know best: themselves. This aside, the jaunty mandolin and banjo pattern on The Road’s Inglorious End really sparks the project into life, likewise the stirring, infectious and radiofriendly Featherweight. Here, Stringer sings with anguish, urgency and assertion; one hopes this track will find its way out of inner-city Melbourne and into the collective consciousness. EJ Cartledge

The shiny power pop of the title track opens the album, with a polished and instantly infectious riff, and singalong – “White crosses on the church lawn/I want to smash them all” – chorus. Next up, on I Was a Teenage Anarchist, Gabel seems to be trying to cast aside the shackles of being pigeonholed as a punk rocker, asking the listener, “Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire? ” before coming to the conclusion “the politics were too convenient” and “the revolution was a lie”. The stadium pomp of Because Of The Shame has more in common with The E-Street Band than it does with Against Me! of old, and the band then slow things down a bit for the reflective Suffocation and We’re Breaking Up, before upping the tempo for High Pressure Low. Next up is Ache With Me, which could have been lifted from Gabel’s Heart Burns EP, before the ten-song set wraps up nicely with the more New Wave-y Spanish Moss, Rapid Decompression and Bamboo Bones. The production might be glossy and some of the lyrical themes a little simplistic, but Gabel still deftly delivers an effective turn of phrase and writes catchy-as-fuck riffs, and the vocal harmonies and pounding drums (now courtesy of George Rebelo) are still just beneath the surface. Old-school fans who thought New Wave was too polished might not be dissuaded from their opinions, but overall White Crosses is a logical progression, and for those willing to move on with the band, there’s plenty here to enjoy. Daniel Johnson

Tony McMahon

I confess. It was the 4AD tag that drew me to this record. Could the label that gave us The Cocteau Twins and Pixies unearth another eccentric gem? With a name like Stornoway you’d expect odd and what you get is rambling, folky, melodic English whimsy. Beachcomber’s Windowsill took five years to record; most of it captured in bedrooms and hired halls on eight-track. Throughout it is sprinkled with idiosyncratic instrumentation: banjo, cello, church bells and Morse code cosying up to the usuals. At times pure pop, at others more soundtrack, it is an album of dreamy mists and cold air beaches, of things found and kept warm. It’s an open fire, jug of mead kinda thing. The rollicking opener, Zorbing, isn’t typical, except in that it betrays Stornoway’s commitment to catchy hooks and kookiness. To be fair, it’s a marvellous little pop song. The Coldharbour Road is more textured, loaded with strings and keys, but it still comes off as a great sing-along. That it manages to retain an air of wistful cinematic atmosphere is admirable. Likewise, Boats And Trains is drenched in heartfelt. Brian Briggs does his best Celtic croon on this one, playing it for every bittersweet moment. Sure, it’s archly MOR but they just about get away with it. However, We Are The Battery Humans is gauche, well-heeled hippiedom at its most ridiculous, an embarrassingly undergrad diddle about... whatever. That the band began in a fresher dorm at Oxford should not be held against them. (The muscular, wry rumble of Watching Birds is surely redemption enough.) Stornoway walk across the heath previously traversed by such ramblers as Teenage Fanclub, The Decemberists, The Waterboys and even, dare I say, Travis. Part favourite jumper, part Sunday drive, this record is warm and intimate and just this side of corny. Paul Ransom

OUT NOW. INCLUDES THE SINGLE ‘ATX’ www.dew-process.com • www.getmusic.com.au

www.albertacross.net 31

ESCAPING THE TRAP SAMUEL J FELL holds nothing back while interrogating THIRSTY MERC frontman RAI THISTLETHWAYTE about the band’s new excursion into funk on their third longplayer.

but now, I think it has more of a definitive sound.” I disagree – I think the band had found their ‘sound’ on their first two albums and I think this one just muddies the water – but, as Thistlethwayte says, the band were looking for something “fresh”, and they believe they’ve found it. It’s at this point during the interview that Thistlethwayte begins talking about creative soup, so I feel it’s best to push the conversation in another direction, namely: where the bloody hell have Thirsty Merc been for the past two years? “We took a break at the end of ’08 for close to eight months,” Thistlethwayte explains. “We’d just worked really, really hard for four or five years; recorded an album, toured hard then come back and recorded another and gone off on tour again. We’d worked pretty hard and the name was out there, so it was just time to reconnect with something that feels inspired.” A period of quiet reflection is often a good thing, and indeed, it seems they weren’t actually away for that long at all. Regardless, the band are back, and via Sound City Studios in LA (the studio where Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumours, incidentally) have their third offering in Mousetrap Heart, a record borne from time off and “something that feels inspired”. “It’s hard to say where these things start, you have these subliminal germinations days before you even know it,” Thistlethwayte says. “And then one night you’re lying in bed and you think, ‘Wait a minute, that’s an angle, that’s cool’. I guess, as a writer, you’re always trying to be receptive to those ideas and then there’s a whole bunch of trial and error to see what comes out.”

he room is dark, save for the bare bulb above the table. Half obscured by the surrounding darkness, face illuminated from above, sits frontman for Thirsty Merc, Rai Thistlethwayte. He comes across as calm, not nervous at all. I’m the man asking questions and have yet to decide if I’m the good cop or the bad cop. There’s a rubber hose just outside – I want answers and I’m not afraid to get ‘em. Of course, this isn’t really happening at all, it’s merely a flight of fantasy, but please, indulge me. Thirsty Merc are back with a new record, Mousetrap Heart, following time off after releasing and touring their second record, 2007’s Slideshows. They’re also back with a new guitarist, Matt Smith, and a whole new sound. It’s a reinvention of sorts, hence the bare bulb and rubber hose session happening in my head. What’s the story, Thirsty Merc? What have you been doing, and where have you been doing it? What’s the point to all this madness? I want answers, and am not afraid to get ‘em.

“Well, we’ve basically just made a new album with a fresh sound,” Thistlethwayte muses when I ask how exactly the band have reinvented themselves. “We’ve infused a lot of funk into the pop rock we were doing before, and a bit of soul, too. It’s a bit of a sonic shift. We’ve also got a new guitarist, Matt Smith, and he helps with that new sound.” Listening to the record, I get a strong dose of Jamiroquai, which is odd and vaguely disturbing, but I press on. Thirsty Merc’s first two records, Slideshows and their self-titled debut from 2004, were rabidly successful. Was there actually any need for reinvention? “I don’t know if there was need for it. I don’t know if it was a conscious thing, really,” Thistlethwayte says thoughtfully. “We definitely… yeah, we definitely wanted to make something that sounded inspired and was fresh and real to us. I don’t think we were thinking about how it was gonna be compared to our first two albums, as much as just what felt right.”

There is indeed a funky element to the record, a smattering of soul groove, suggesting that, with Mousetrap Heart, Thirsty Merc are trying to shed their ‘commercial’, ‘mainstream’ and ‘pop’ tags, in order to connect more with the antithesis of those things and, in the process, perhaps gain some cred. “Well, I don’t think we were thinking along those lines,” Thistlethwayte says. “That’s more a marketing decision that we’re not conscious of at all… We’re just thinking about how to, sonically, keep things fresh for ourselves. We were thinking it’d be good to bring some grooves into the picture because we’ve all listened to a lot of that stuff in the past. If you go the straight-up pop rock route, that might seem like it’s under a bigger umbrella and so you can add… a more fringier kinda style in there, like a funkier kinda thing and that might seem to be an edgier idea. But I think we’ve got all the hooks in the songwriting that we always had…

This brings us to a line from the band’s current bio – “Even once all the recording was done, Rai admits he still wasn’t sure exactly what sort of album Mousetrap Heart would turn out to be.” It would seem then, that even after all this trial and error, the band still didn’t realise what they had, even after they’d spent weeks recording it. How can that be so? “Oh, that just refers to that strange concept that because you’re so in the inner workings of everything, you don’t get the same perspective as when you’re an audience member listening to something for the first time,” Thistlethwayte says. “I think that’s what I’m referring to with that.”

WHO: Thirsty Merc WHAT: Mousetrap Heart (Warner) WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 7 July, Karova Lounge (Ballarat); Thursday 7, Bended Elbow (Geelong); Friday 9, Corner Hotel

GUIDING LIGHTS Melbourne’s THREE MONTH SUNSET are following in the grand tradition of the shoegaze greats, drummer ANTON JAKOVLJEVIC tells TONY MCMAHON.

FITTER & TURNER Hooking up with Jeffrey Wegener to head a local bill, NICK ARGYRIOU grills MICK TURNER on the Melbourne musos who inspire him most.

feelings, and one of their aims is to use instruments as tools to achieve this with passion, innovation and balance. Even though we’re dealing with intangibles here, Jakovljevic’s thoughts on the subject are still insightful. “Good music is different for everyone. It’s about that feeling you get when you hear something that sends a tingle down your spine. You can’t really vocalise what it is. It could be a chord change or a change in the drum beat. It could be the way two vocal lines intertwine, but what exactly about any of those things is it that makes you feel that way? Basically, it doesn’t really matter. It just does and that’s a beautiful thing. A sweet reminder you’re alive.”

merging from guitar maestro Gabe Lewis’s amazing solo work, uncategorisable local outfit Three Month Sunset are set to release a much anticipated – and what could easily prove to be scene-defining – 12” EP. Various pundits have attempted to pigeonhole this fourpiece in the genres of shoegaze, dreampop or space rock, but the truth is that, delightfully, they transcend all such attempts while simultaneously utilising the best of what this music has to offer, no small feat when you think about it. Drummer Anton Jakovljevic tells Inpress how the band got started, talks of not wrecking something worthwhile and makes the not inconsiderable point that influences are only a foundation on which to build. “In the beginning, the only idea was to take what Gabe was doing as a solo artist and try and attempt to flesh it out into a full band. I don’t think we really had any idea what was going to come of it. Well, I didn’t anyway. It could have easily not worked. Having been a big fan of Gabe’s, I was really conscious of not destroying what was already a beautiful thing. During our first jam, we wrote what has become the opening track on the EP. All concerns where put aside immediately. As for the shoegaze tag, we openly admit we are influenced by that stuff, but it was a long time ago and our influences are a starting point, not an end point.” Three Month Sunset are obviously a band that think deeply about their art. This is evidenced by them being on the record as saying that good music evokes deep

Unfortunately, 12” debut EPs don’t come along every day. Jakovljevic explains the band’s thinking behind releasing their record this way. “Partly it was necessity. Our original thinking was to record four songs to be released as two separate seven-inches, but the fact is that the majority of our songs are at least five minutes long and quality would have to be compromised to squeeze them on. In addition, these four songs are in some ways a set. They are all different in their own way, but when put together, they paint a complete picture of where we’re at right now. Oh, and there is the fact that all the great shoegaze bands released 12” EPs.” Despite being proud of what he and the rest of the band have done on the record, Jakovljevic says it is the live arena that truly gives the band’s music meaning. “It’s in a live context where I think what we do really makes sense. I’m very proud of the recordings and think that we have managed to capture what we were aiming for, but it’s easy for people to assume that we have just added numerous layers over the recordings. We haven’t. When seen live, this becomes apparent. Our secret weapon is Gabe’s stereo guitar, which he runs through three to four amps. It’s often been commented that it sounds like two guitars, a loop pedal and a synth. It’s not. It’s also live that the two bass guitars make sense. This music is made to be heard really loud. Let the waves of sound wash over you.” WHO: Three Month Sunset

WHAT: You Are My Good Light 12” EP WHEN & WHERE: Friday, Cherry Bar

DISCO DETECTIVES Perth electro pop duo VOLTAIRE TWINS tell MATTHEW HOGAN they’re trying to track down Georgio Moroder to give him a cup of Joe.

he’s on bass for these shows,” explains Turner, chilling out on Victoria’s surf coast ahead of the gigs. With Pikelet’s Evelyn Morris also performing the Edinburgh Castle Hotel show this Saturday eve in the guise of Ev & Shags and with The Ancients’ Jon Michell also supporting Turner, Wegener and Wadley – the $10 entry fee is mind-blowing. Pardon the hard sell folks, but seriously!

ultifaceted genius is probably the most apt description of Australian musical treasure, the understated Mick Turner. Largely recognised for being the guitarist for the Dirty Three, Turner is also an accomplished painter, runs Dirty Three’s record label, Anchor & Hope and has collaborated with almost everyone: Chan Marshall, Thalia Zedek, Will Oldham, Bill Callahan, and, over the last few years, Laughing Clowns’ Jeffrey Wegener. Quite frankly we could sit here and rattle off many more Turner associations but let’s focus on this current incarnation; one that is hitting Australian stages as support to the hotly anticipated Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions tour kicking off in Sydney this week. “Tim Pittman of Feel Presents contacted me and asked if I was interested in doing the shows and because he does Dirty Three and Laughing Clowns, and the fact that he’s done some shows for me and Jeff before, it was all good to go,” explains Turner. With Wegener bringing forth a vastly different drum technique to that of Turner’s old mate Jim White, the results are equally as rewarding with Turner still loving every minute of the partnership with a fellow Australian rock/jazz/punk legend, who like Turner just keeps on evolving. Where Wegener whips rhythms into a frenzy playing as a duo with Ed Kuepper, his musical manner takes on more of a restrained approach when performing alongside Turner, with brushwork aplenty. “Having been a fan of Jeff’s from the Laughing Clowns era for years it’s been quite an honour to play with him, and Ian Wadley [Six Organs Of Admittance, Bird Blobs, St Helens’ multi-instrumentalist] an old friend of mine is playing bass… he plays drums with me sometimes but

The good news kept rolling in when the band found they’d be featured on a Kitsune compilation due out in July. “We were lucky, really. A bit of attention on the right blog and you never know who’s listening,” says Jaymes. “Jerry Bouthier mixed the compilation and he was involved in a remix of one of our songs last year as JBAG, so that formed the connection with Kitsune, and a few months ago they emailed us and asked if they could use it. It was weird – we haven’t actually given it much thought because it’s one of those things you just assume won’t

Currently on their first East Coast tour, Tegan reveals what’s in store for the band. “An album is in the pipeline, which we’ve started cooking up in recent months. After the tour we will probably chain ourselves to Studio Voltaire for a while to hopefully release at the end of the year. We’re looking at introducing a few new percussive elements to the live show, too. And naturally, we’ll probably buy some more synth toys off eBay.”

WHO: Voltaire Twins WHAT: DIL (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, Onesixone; Friday, Revolver; Saturday, Ding Dong Lounge

WHO: Mick Turner & Jeffrey Wegener WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, Edinburgh Castle Hotel

TYLER MCLOUGHLAN grills JACKSON BRIGGS of Brisbane rockers NIKKO on the meaning behind his band’s very suggestive album title. band, it’s a situation that works for Nikko and one that the band as individuals thrive in. “We play our instruments and Ryan has his vocals and his guitar and we all contribute our parts to the band – that’s the way we’ve always done it. I don’t question Ryan. I like Ryan’s lyrics, but I can only guess at what they mean. I think a lot of them are metaphorical for something but I don’t know for certain what that is.”

Jaymes believes finding your way onto blogs is a surefire way to get international attention. “It’s as easy and just sending all your favourite bloggers some tracks and politely asking them to have a listen,” he offers. “If you’re half decent, someone’s bound to be into what you do, even if it’s ukulele disco or something. There’s a blog for everything and the people who write the best, most well-read blogs are hungry for new music. Blogs reach so many people, and there are artists overseas who are making a legitimate living putting out their music through blogs and touring on the back of that attention. Blogs are a totally even playing ground, too.”

eading Melbourne way after a fling in Sydney last weekend, arty electro duo Voltaire Twins have made quite the name for themselves in their native Perth. The male half of the ‘twins’, Jaymes Voltaire, even picked up an award at the recent WA Citizen Of The Year awards. “I won the Bendat Family Foundation Perpetual Youth Scholarship,” informs Jaymes. “It’s a scholarship to go and study or do a mentorship with someone high up in my field of choice. In this case it’s sound design and production. I had to do an interview for it and I didn’t really understand what it was and I didn’t think I’d get it, so when they said, ‘What would you do with the money?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, maybe I’ll go and intern with Georgio Moroder!’ and I got it. Of course, now I have to try and find Georgio Moroder and plead for him to let me make his coffee.”

With Turner and his Dirty Three posse remotely working on some recordings over the Australian Summer, hopefully for a new record to be released in late 2010, Turner also recently played the Pavement curated ATP festival with his late 80s/early 90s punk outfit, Venom P. Stinger. “Jim [White] was in that band and it was great to do the shows,” he says. An inspired band selection from Pavement paying dividends. And that’s precisely what you get from employing the services of a figure like Mick Turner. A rich, assorted musical back-catalogue that just continues to keep giving. Aside from Dirty Three, the master axeman has appeared in seminal ‘70s and ‘80s bands such as Sick Things, The Moodists and Fungus Brains as well as with White in Tren Brothers since the late 1990s. His guitar style always one of penetration. Wild licks oscillating between a deadly storm of activity to dense, sparse tones that invoke all manner of harmonious imagery before swinging swiftly back to that trademark suffocating Dirty Three menace. Wonderful stuff either way, really.

WARM AND FUZZY

work out. Now that all the publicity’s gone out and our name is in this list with all these amazing artists like Róisin Murphy, Lo-Fi-Fnk and Lindstrøm. It’s bonkers!”

Voltaire Twins also found themselves in the southwest WA town of Bunbury recently for the Groovin The Moo festival. Despite playing at Laneway Festival, multiple Parklifes and more, they count their spot alongside Silverchair and Empire Of The Sun as their favourite festival experience. “Groovin The Moo was a fantastic day for us,” chimes in Tegan Voltaire. “We borrowed my brother’s enormous van to get us and all our gear down there so it all began with a nice, wholesome road trip. The crowd were definitely the best festival crowd we’ve had, they were really cheery and responsive so we were all pretty happy with the set. It was a really relaxed festival and it got us all whipped up for another road trip to get in front of audiences just like this one again.”

“The Edinburgh Castle is my local and I’ve been wanting to play there for a while so I thought this show in between the Hope Sandoval Sydney and Melbourne dates would work. Recently I played with Evelyn Morris at Melbourne Jazz Festival doing an improvisational workshop [Overground, featuring the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Brian Chase, Oren Ambarchi, Paul Grabowsky and Kim Salmon] and we’d never met each other before doing this and found the experience to be so interesting, so I thought she’d be great on the Edinburgh bill,” admits Turner. “I just find her style so inspiring the same way I find Jon’s, so it’ll be a great night because I’ve loved Mum Smokes and his solo works as well.”

With even some of the band members in the dark about the meaning behind their songs, it’s refreshing that the local band doesn’t feel the need to lay everything bare, maintaining a little mystery in the process. Referring to the lyrics, Briggs admits: “Some of them are pretty, well what I think is obvious, but I might even be wrong! It’s up for anyone’s interpretation for what they want it to mean.”

aking a break from his day job in a Brisbane café, guitarist Jackson Briggs describes the sound of Nikko, a band who started out as high school friends around five years ago. “It’s loosely based around rock with key post-rock sort of influences,” he explains. “Every person in the band has completely different music tastes, which is good I think – everyone plays their instrument how they’ve been influenced. We’re not trying to sound like something as a whole; we’re all bringing our differences to the band which makes it sound like it does.” With the name immediately bringing to mind a most influential band from the ‘60s, it’s hard for Briggs to say where exactly the name Nikko comes from. “I think it’s sort of loosely based around Nico from The Velvet Underground, but I couldn’t tell you to be perfectly honest. I’ve just always assumed that’s what it was,” he mentions whilst noting that he probably should find out. The five-piece have a fresh debut album in their hot little hands and it’s called The Warm Side. “That’s one of the song titles on the album,” Briggs explains. “Ryan [Potter, vocals/guitar]’s pretty closed about what his stuff means; he’s pretty elusive so I’m not entirely sure what ‘The Warm Side’ means. We’ve been playing that song pretty much from when we started out though.” Although there is the impression that frontman Ryan Potter plays all things song-related very close to his chest and keeps them separate from the rest of the

With the recording for their debut album being finalised in August last year, what took the quintet so long to get around to its May release? “A few things. The first one was we just wanted to take our time just getting it out and making sure we got it released by who we wanted to,” Briggs reflects. “Just getting it released by someone was pretty hard to find. We still ended up going down a lot of dead ends as far as finding labels that were willing to put it out. But we ended up finding Tenzenmen, which is a Sydney label, because they’d organised our first show down in Sydney. They ended up getting it distributed through Fuse as well for us which is really good. We weren’t expecting it to be available in JB Hi-Fi and all that – that was great. “We figured we’d been doing that for a while – selfreleasing everything – and in a way we still are doing it that way this time, but just with some help. We’ve still paid for everything ourselves. We’re paying for promotion out of our own pockets. It was just good to have some way of getting it out without having to go around record stores giving them your CD.”

WHO: Nikko WHAT: The Warm Side (Tenzenmen/Fuse) WHEN & WHERE: Friday, Pony; Saturday, Old Bar; Sunday Bar Open

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WEDNESDAY 23RD JUNE 2010

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JUNE MIXED MESSAGES: ERPHUN - Jun 25, Brown Alley GIGI BAROCCO, ACT YO AGE - Jun 25, Roxanne Parlour DJ SEGA - Jun 26, The Espy JULY THE LIKES OF YOU: STEPHAN BODZIN, ROBERT HOOD, HUGO - Jul 2, Brown Alley AIRPORT: SIMON PATTERSON, SIED VAN RIEL - Jul 2, Billboard HATIRAS - Jul 3, Roxanne Parlour ELEKTRIK TATTOO: DYNO - Jul 9, Billboard MISTA SAVONA - Jul 9, Hi-Fi Bar LIL KIM - Jul 10, The Espy SUPER DISCO: DROP THE LIME - Jul 10, Prince Bandroom STROBE: BAG RAIDERS, AJAX, BENI - Jul 16, Prince Bandroom SPIT SYNDICATE - Jul 16, The Evelyn HARVARD BASS - Jul 17, The Espy LOWRIDER - Jul 17, Sandbar BOB - Jul 21, Billboard AGAINST THE GRAIN 2ND BIRTHDAY: AQUASKY, NAPT, POE DE PITTIE, SKOOL OF THOUGHT - Jul 23, Brown Alley LADY CHANN, KILLAQUEENZ - Jul 23, The Espy LAB: PABLO CAHN - Jul 23, Secret Warehouse Location LOWRIDER - Jul 23, Westernport Hotel LOWRIDER - Jul 24, Corner Hotel THE LIKES OF YOU: JAMES HOLDEN - Jul 25, Royal Melbourne Hotel LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, HOT CHIP - Jul 29, Festival Hall WINTERBEATZ 2010: BIG BOI, FATMAN SCOOP, NE-YO, T-PAIN - Jul 29, Rod Laver Arena AUGUST DELPHIC - Aug 1, Corner Hotel GOLDFRAPP - Aug 3, Palace Theatre K-OS - Aug 3, Prince Bandroom OZI BATLA - Aug 6, Northcote Social Club A TRIBE CALLED QUEST - Aug 12, Prince Bandroom LIBERATE: JOHN 00 FLEMING, MIKE, TRITONAL - Aug 13, Brown Alley BLISS N ESO - Aug 13, Palace Theatre SCATTERFEST II: SHARKSLAYER, MIGHTY FOOLS, NEOTERIC, BEATACUE, KIDDA AND MORE - Aug 14, The Espy SEPTEMBER PETER HORREVORTS - Sep 4, Miss Libertine SUNNY: LEE BURRIDGE - Sep 17, Billboard CYPRESS HILL - Sep 23, Palace Theatre

AN N

NC EM EN T

TOURING DATES

SPACED OUT S

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DMC EXPANDS

THE LORD’S CHORE

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THIS WEEK SOUND JUNKIES PRES GIGI BAROCCO & ACT YO AGE @ ROXANNE PARLOUR If you ain’t acting your age then you ain’t made for this gig. Act Yo Age are ready as anything to send decibels through our heads. AYA will headline alongside Gigi Barocco (Italy) to bring you their very own house/electro music. As resident to the Sweat It Out crew, be prepared for an impressive show. Eli B, Distrakt, Kris Baha, Mu-Gen, Kraymer, Trumpdisco, Swick, Airwolf, MYM, Pop A Cap, Zayler, daftwho?, J Heasy, Death By Disco, Swerve, Marco Polo, Luke Wellsteed, Dom Dolla and Paul Coverdale are also on the agenda. This Friday, 10pm-5am. Tickets are $25+BF (early bird) through Moshtix or more on door.

MIXED MESSAGES FEAT ERPHUN @ BROWN ALLEY In Farsi, “Erphun” means the state and ability of being on a higher

spiritual level. Erphun’s music is brooding, pounding, moody and transformative, as if from another realm entirely. The only way to really experience this immense talent is to see him in action so be sure to head to Brown Alley this Friday. Local support from Miyagi, Muska, Ben Evans, Freya, Misch’ Chief plus more. Doors 10pm. Tickets $20.

DIAFRIX & THE PUBLIC OPINION AFRO ORCHESTRA @ THE CORNER Diafrix team up with The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra for a huge double bill. Diafrix’s debut album Concrete Jungle has taken their iconic concoction of hip hop, funk and African roots and developed it into a truly world-class sound. Plus special guests Motley (UK), DJ Surrender and Manchild. This Saturday. Doors 8.30pm. Pre-sale tickets $15+BF through the Corner Box Office (12-8pm, Monday to Saturday) or online (cornerhotel. com).

DJ SEGA @ THE ESPY Having spent the past year playing all the big clubs and festivals and reppin’ at music forums and the

now added DMC Records in South Yarra have of services. a Ticketmaster outlet to their list an outlet rather It’s cheaper to buy tickets from the outlet se choo can you and e than onlin ts at ticke your off t prin pickup option and running a DJ DMC. The store has also been the next course training school since 1991 with r six-week Thei e. Jun 30 ay nesd starting Wed all facets rs cove se cour ing introductory train on the technical of the industry, concentrating , advanced side of vinyl and digital systems s, plus selfunit cts effe of use and techniques rds.com.au reco dmc ck Che management tips. or call 9824 1211 for full details.

like under the Mad Decent banner, DJ Sega is heading our way. Sega’s father, DJ Brother Rob, raised him on classic soul and his obsession with music grew from there. Today, at just 21 years of age, he trades in the triumvirate of Baltimore, Jersey and Philly club music/party sounds, remixing the likes of Lil Jon, Crookers, Diplo, Sinden, MIA, Rye Rye, South Rakkas Crew and Blaquestarr. This Saturday at the Espy.

FLOW @ IRISH TIMES PUB France’s Flow has graced the stages of Ministry Of Sound and Gotham penthouse before. Flow will play an exclusive Melbourne set of progressive tech this Saturday kicking off at 9pm.

UPCOMING TOTAL ECLIPSE (THE X-ECUTIONERS) @ MISS LIBERTINE Five Elements and Universal Zulu Nation presents turntable legend Total Eclipse direct from New York. The night kicks off at 7.30pm with support from Zack Rampage, MzRizk and DJ Peril. It is also the opening

of the For Walls Gallery, so come down early for this one. Free Entry. Wednesday 30 June.

AIRPORT FEAT SIMON PATTERSON & SIED VAN RIEL @ BILLBOARD THE VENUE Back for another wild air race, the Airport artisans invite you to join their mile high club. Strap yourselves in for the ride of your life with trance heavyweights Simon Patterson and the flying Dutchman – Sied van Riel. Also featuring an impressive support line-up from around Australia including Nathan Cryptic (NSW), DJ Frost (SA) and local star Trent McDermott. First release costs $29+BF (strictly limited to 50), earlybirds are $39+BF (limited to 50), pre-sales will set you back $49+BF or first class flights cost $69 (available only through promoters). Friday 2 July. 9pm-5am.

THE LIKES OF YOU FEAT STEPHAN BODZIN, ROBIN HOOD & HUGO @ BROWN ALLEY The Likes Of You brings you a dose of techno with Stephan Bodzin (live), Robert Hood and

Hugo. Bodzin is the son of an experimental musician who cut his teeth composing music for European theatres before his talent was discovered and he went on to worldwide domination as a DJ and live artist. Hood is a founding member of Underground Resistance and makes minimal Detroit techno with an emphasis on soul. Rounding out the international delicacies is Hugo from Turin, Italy. A classically trained jazz musician, Hugo fell in love with electronic music in the ‘90s. Friday 2 July at Brown Alley.

GANGA GIRI @ EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB Australian artist Ganga Giri is world renowned for his Indigenous-inspired music and dynamically exuberant live shows. As a didgeridoo virtuoso and percussionist, his music encapsulates creative inspiration with an authentic Australian flavour. Ganga Giri is preparing to launch the first single (Bayami) from his forthcoming album, Good Voodoo. Joining Ganga on the road will be Wakka Wakka and Gumiloaroi Nations Indigenous singer/dancer Gumaroy, Jornick, Dan Pearson and Yeshe Reiners. Saturday 3 July. Doors 8.30pm. Pre-sale tickets $15+BF/$18 at the door.

LIL’ KIM @ THE ESPY The Queen Bee, Lil’ Kim is in a league of her own as one of the few female stars in hardcore rap. Kim is making her way to our shores for two shows only and will play her only Melbourne show at the Espy on Saturday 10 July. Tickets through espy.com.au and Oztix. Supports to be announced in coming weeks.

DROP THE LIME @ THE PRINCE After setting the stage ablaze at the Stereosonic Festival 2009, Drop The Lime (DTL) is heading back to tour Australia in July. Drop the Lime (Luca Venezia) is an electro DJ/ producer hailing from New York who has remixed Moby, Blaqstarr, Rex The Dog, Armand Van Helden and Midnight Juggernauts as well

as co-writing songs with Diplo and Herve. Catch DTL at the Prince on Saturday 10 July.

BOB @ BILLBOARD THE VENUE

BoB is bringing his Adventures Of Bobby Ray Down Under in July for two shows only. Dubbed “the new face of hip hop” and “a rock star in disguise” by MTV UK, BoB, (AKA Bobby Ray) also sings and plays instruments. In the words of our sista publication, 3D World, BoB is “a little bit Outkast and a whole lot of Kanye West”. Wednesday 21 July at Billboard The Venue. Tickets $53+BF through Ticketek.

LADY CHANN & MOTLEY @ THE ESPY The UK’s number one dancehall queen Chanelle Williams (AKA Lady Chann), has been part of North West London’s vibrant Suncycle crew since its conception and now she’s branching out alone and bringing her unique talent our way. Lady Chann hits the Espy on Friday 23 July with support from Sydney duo Killa Queenz, Motley (UK) and locals Fraksha, Mat Cant, Affiks and Mamasita Bonnita. Tickets available now from espy. com.au and all Oztix outlets.

MINISTRY OF SOUND TRANCE NATION 2010 TOUR @ BILLBOARD THE VENUE After a long hiatus in the genre, Ministry Of Sound returned to the fore of trance with Trance Nation, a two-CD collection and tour. Now 2010 sees this hugely popular release return to shelves and clubs around the country once again with Trance Nation Vol 2. TyDi and Dutch-born MaRLo are assuming touring duties. Friday 23 July from 10pm-3am.

AGAINST THE GRAIN’S SECOND BIRTHDAY FEAT NAPT, AQUASKY, POE DE PITTIE & SKOOL OF

THOUGHT @ BROWN ALLEY

NUGENT @ BAROQ HOUSE

If you haven’t heard a NAPT beat then you don’t know what you’ve been missing out on. The architects of N-Funk, NAPT is a DJ duo comprising Ashley Pope and Tomek Naden. Together they create sounds with roots in electro, breakbeat and house that are guaranteed to get you bouncing. Hailing from UK’s underground, NAPT’s dance music productions are enviable. Catch NAPT when they hit Brown Alley on Friday 23 July for Against The Grain’s Second Birthday featuring the Brit quadrella of NAPT, Aquasky, Poe De Pittie and Skool Of Thought. Earlybird tickets are $25+BF from brownalley.com and Inthemix.

The Pacha CD series is back in 2010 mixed by Ibiza’s own Space resident and homegrown talent, Alex Taylor and Onelove’s Matt Nugent. Expect tracks from Yolanda Be Cool & DCup, Cassius, Danny Tenaglia, Afrojack, Roger Sanchez, X-press 2 plus more. Many of these tracks will undoubtedly be dropped on Saturday 31 July.

WINTERBEATZ FEAT NE-YO, T-PAIN, BIG BOI & FATMAN SCOOP @ ROD LAVER ARENA Winterbeatz 2010 featuring urban superstar Ne-Yo, Grammy Awardwinning artist T-Pain, local duo Phinesse and Australia’s DJ Nino Brown is heading our way. Not only has Ne-Yo had huge success in his own right, he has also written smash hits for a plethora of artists including Rihanna, Mario, Janet Jackson and one of the highest selling singles of 2006/2007, Irreplaceable by Beyoncé. Let T-Pain Buy You A Drank at the afterparty. Just added: Big Boi from OutKast, and the party-king hypeman, Fatman Scoop. Thursday 29 July at Rod Laver Arena. Tickets from Ticketek.

YEASAYER @ THE PRINCE Yeasayer with special guests. Thursday 29 July. Doors 8pm (sold out). Second show (with no supports) tickets still available. Doors 11.15pm. Tickets $45+BF through handsometours.com, Polyester Records, Greville Records, the Prince Public Bar or princebandroom.com.au.

PACHA CD LAUNCH FEAT ALEX TAYLOR & MATT

DELPHIC @ THE CORNER Delphic return to our shores for the sold out Splendour In The Grass Festival but don’t panic if you didn’t score tickets to that one ‘cause a sideshow is being factored into their itinerary. These torchbearers of the new Madchester called over here for a quick East Coast visit March just gone and loved us so much they will return to Melbz on Sunday 1 August. Doors 8pm. Tickets $35+BF through Corner Box Office (11am-8pm, Monday-Saturday) cornerhotel.com.

K-OS @ THE PRINCE Trinidad-born, Toronto-raised musician/MC/producer k-os (also known as Kheaven Brereton) has enjoyed much acclaim from his fourth studio album Yes!, featuring guest appearances from Emily Haines of Metric and Murray Lightburn of The Dears. If you missed out on Splendour tickets, you can catch the k-os sideshow at the Prince on Tuesday 3 August. Tickets through Ticketek or through princebandroom.com.au.

PASSION PIT @ THE PRINCE Passion Pit with The Joy Formidable (UK) and Rat Vs Possum. Wednesday 4 August. Doors 8pm. Tickets $66+BF from Ticketmaster, the Prince Public Bar (12-10pm, seven days) or through princebandroom.com.au.

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST @ FESTIVAL HALL A Tribe Called Quest will be touching down in August for their first Australian tour. Featuring

all the original members – Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad – A Tribe Called Quest are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, with a select number of shows worldwide, one of which is scheduled for Melbourne. A Tribe Called Quest are a member of the Native Tongues rap crew with De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and Black Sheep and more recently Mos Def and Common. Thursday 12 August at Festival Hall (all ages). Tickets through Ticketmaster.

BLISS N ESO @ THE PALACE Bliss N Eso’s highly anticipated fourth studio album, Running On Air, will be released on 30 July. In its wake, their Down By The River tour will tear through capital cities during August with special guests Diafrix and Mind Over Matter. It’s Melbourne’s turn to catch the hip hop trio on Friday 13 August. Tickets now on sale through Ticketek and Oztix.

LIBERATE FEAT JON ‘00’ FLEMING @ BROWN ALLEY Liberate was launched in April 2010 and featured a starstudded line-up that included Eddie Halliwell, Sean Tyas, Matt Hardwick, Solarstone and Signum. So how could they top that? With Jon ‘00’ Fleming, that’s how! Proudly presented by Street Press Australia, the event will take in Melbourne on Friday 13 August at Brown Alley with a massive, extended four-hour set from Fleming as well as MIKE launching his upcoming album New York City Lights and the first ever Australian tour of trance newcomers, Tritonal. Wow! Tickets through Inthemix and onsideentertainment.com.

SCATTERFEST II FEAT SHARKSLAYER, MIGHTY FOOLS, NEOTERIC, BEATAUCUE & KIDDA @ THE ESPY

Having kicked off 2010 with the first Scatterfest, the Espy and Scatterblog are proud to present the second installment of this festival dedicated to bringing the most hype-soaked, futuristic, party minded acts together. Sharkslayer (Finland), Mighty Fools (Netherlands), Neoteric (Canada), Beataucue (France) and Kidda (UK) join local representatives Wax Motif, Act Yo Age, Congo Tardis #1, Slap & Dash, Mat Cant, Lewis CanCut, Mu Gen and Scattermish. Across multiple rooms at the Espy on Saturday 14 August. Tickets available through espy.com.au and all Oztix outlets.

SUNNY FEAT LEE BURRIDGE @ BILLBOARD THE VENUE It’s been two long years since dance music renegade Lee Burridge last gave Australia a work over, but this September we’ll get our fix again. The DJ has been locked in by Melbourne institution Sunny for a five-plus hour set alongside Phil K, Gavin Keitel, Rollin Connection, Ozzie La plus more on Friday 17 September at Billboard The Venue. 10pm-7am. Tickets: $25 through Inthemix.

PARKLIFE @ SIDNEY MYER BOWL & KINGS DOMAIN Parklife have rolled out the big guns for their tenth anniversary line-up – run for cover, muthafucker! Missy Elliott, Groove Armada, Soulwax, Holy Ghost!, Kele, Busy P, Memory Tapes, Cut Copy, Midnight Juggernauts, Uffie, Delorean, Darwin Deez, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Sinden plus many more. Missy Elliott is bringing a 27-strong, all-dancing entourage and a brand new album! This year Parklife Melbourne moves to Sidney Myer Bowl and Kings Domain, with more grass, more trees and more space. Mark Saturday 2 October in the diary. Tickets go on sale Thursday 1 July at parklife.com.au and they’re bound to go mega fast.

Zebra Magazine 5

CY CL ON

DUMMIES’ GUIDE TO

STEPHAN BODZIN

GO WITH A SMILE

STEPHAN BODZIN IS THE ANTITHESIS OF THE PO-FACED TECH PRODUCER, EXCITEDLY FILLING ZEBRA IN ON HIS LOVE OF EVERYTHING FROM MILES DAVIS TO MOTÖRHEAD AND HIS REVAMPED LIVE SHOW AS HE PREPARES FOR ANOTHER TRIP TO OUR SHORES. STEPHAN BODZIN PLAYS THE LIKES OF YOU AT BROWN ALLEY FRIDAY 2 JULY.

echno has always been cliquey, but Stephan Bodzin doesn’t care to conform. This accounts for why he’s not followed the pack by relocating from his native Bremen in Northern Germany to Berlin. He’s also not afraid to be silly. Ahead of Bodzin’s Australian club tour, the promoter advises journos that the German is easygoing – and possesses a great sense of humour. Alas, humour is problematic in techno. The hard-liners are disconcerted by extroversion. One local DJ sniffs that Bodzin is for “the kids”. After all, techno is equated with ultra serious, intellectual types like Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin. “Oh yeah, they’re very serious – very serious,” Bodzin laughs, having benefited from his morning coffee. “[But] no, that’s not me! I really appreciate their work, and their performance, sure, but I’m different. I can’t help myself partying with the people and you can see it – I need to smile if I’m happy, if I enjoy it.” Bodzin questions whether techno does lack humour. “If you look at Super Flu, for example, they’re really funny.” Bodzin will be bringing his “re-lived” show here over winter. Live electronic musicians often abstain from DJing – Robert Babicz was never tempted – yet Bodzin digs both. Nonetheless, he’s had nearly a year’s break from performing. His reconfigured live set is more advanced than that seen at 2009’s Future Music Festival, Bodzin referring to it as “V2”. He’s developed the visual aspect, for a start. Bodzin is aware that the term ‘live’ is used loosely in electronica circles, but he’s capable, dynamic and spontaneous – and no “laptop act”. As for the music? Expect “more clubby rockin’ stuff,” he says. Bodzin’s humour isn’t obvious from his bio, which begins with a very earnest – and ‘techno’ – statement about the importance of ‘authenticity’ in music. Clearly, he’s not an expert on postmodernist – or poststructuralist – theory, which challenges notions of authenticity. Bodzin came to the fore just four years ago, but he’s been active for years. He grew up surrounded by music – and synths – with his dad an experimental musician. In such a cool family, you might imagine that Bodzin had limited

6 Zebra Magazine

opportunities to rebel. “I was doing the opposite – believe me,” he insists. “[My father] was into jazz music and, when I was 14, I went straight to Metallica and Slayer, just to do the opposite and really get into trouble. I got back to this electronic tradition – it’s not really a family tradition – when I was 30 or something, really late.” Today Bodzin cites as inspirations not only Kraftwerk and Miles Davis, but also the lairy English metal band Motörhead. Bodzin had his stint in bands but wound up composing music for avant-garde theatre productions. The classically trained pianist was even involved with an Austrian dance company. “That was serious stuff [in terms of] content and meaning and big stories. I was working on crazy soundscapes combined with classical music and really strange sound backgrounds – I was running around with microphones outdoors and recording everything and stuff like that. That was interesting – a really good time – but the people in this theatre scene are so intense. It was so hard to communicate with them. After six or seven years I said, ‘Okay, people, that’s it, I need some light stuff now’!” That “light stuff” he discovered in club culture. Bremen’s Thomas Schumacher approached Bodzin to produce his Elektrochemie LK project. Bodzin formally debuted himself with Caligula/ Marathon Man on Marc Romboy’s Systematic. Ironically, Bodzin was producing before he could DJ – the bookings had flooded in, regardless. He established Herzblut Recordings in 2006. The next

year Bodzin issued an acclaimed album, Liebe Is…. (‘Love Is…’). Now, finally, he’s preparing the follow-up. “I was travelling a lot in the past. If you see other artists coming up with one album after the other, 95% of them do have a producer in the background. So, to go for good productions, you can’t do it when you travel each weekend – [performing] three shows. You have a hangover until Tuesday and on Thursday you need to get ready for the weekend. After three years travelling only, more or less, I started getting back into the studio in spring now. I’m about to test seven or eight new tracks for the first time in Australia – in the live show. They’re still a bit roughmixed for the live show but, after Australia, I’ll start finishing them for the album, which hopefully – I don’t promise – will be released around winter.” Bodzin’s latest music is a departure from Liebe Ist… “It’s still experimental, it’s still straight, it’s still sophisticated but working well on the floor, and it’s still with melodies. But I’m trying to get away from this electro attitude, which was still in there in 2007. I’m also influenced by what I’m playing as a DJ… It’s rockin’ stuff, actually! It’s not listening music,” he laughs. “No, not yet, when I’m old, Okay?” In addition to Schumacher, Bodzin has collaborated with Romboy and Oliver Huntemann (rumours persist of them churning out dodgy trance back in the day). He stops short of calling himself a ghost producer akin to Timo Maas’ cohort Martin Buttrich. Bodzin is especially effusive in his praise of Schumacher, who’s ever on a quest for something fresh.

BORN: 4 August, 1969 FROM: Bremen, Germany LABEL: Herzblut ACCOMPLICES: Oliver Huntemann, Marc Romboy, Thomas Schumacher, Caitlin Devlin ALIASES: H-Man (with Oliver Huntemann), Rekorder (with Oliver Huntemann), Elektrochemie (with Thomas Schumacher and Caitlin Devlin), Bo Djin, Boca, Condor, Innenleben, Mojave, Swoop, Van Gott MYSPACED INFLUENCES: Kraftwerk, Miles Davis, Motörhead. FUN FACTS: • Came it at #5 on Resident Advisor’s poll as one of the best producers of 2006 • One of the first performers to incorporate Lemur touchscreen technology into this live sets MEDIA HYPE: “Depending on where you stand, it’s the most deliciously tense 77 minutes of dance music you’ll hear all year. Or the biggest cocktease of them all. The formula (and there is very much a formula here) is invariably simple. Introduce beat, fade in melody, counter it, drop everything out, pull beat back in at exact same volume thereby negating aforementioned climax, add distortion around beat to fool listener into believing this isn’t trance at all, rinse, lather, repeat. It’s stupid and it totally works.” Stylus magazine review of Liebe Ist…, 2007 SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY AS STEPHAN BODZIN Caligula/Marathon Man (Systematic Recordings, 2005) Valentine/Papillon (HERZBLUT, 2006) Kerosene/Cucuma (HERZBLUT, 2006) Tron/Midnight Express (Systematic Recordings, 2006) Liebe ist… (HERZBLUT, 2007) Bremen Ost/Station 72 (HERZBLUT, 2008) AS H-MAN Manga/Flip Flop (Giant Wheel, 2004) Spacer/Rock This Place (Giant Wheel, 2005) Turbo EP (Giant Wheel, 2006) VS MARC ROMBOY Luna/Miranda (Systematic Recordings, 2005) The Alchemist (August 2006 – 2020 Vision UK) Telesto/Hydra (Systematic Recordings, 2006) Puck/Io (HERZBLUT, 2006) Callisto/Pandora (Systematic Recordings, 2007) AS ELEKTROCHEMIE Pleasure Seeker EP (Get Physical Music, 2005) Don’t Go/You’re My Kind (Get Physical Music, 2006) Mucky Star/Calling You (Get Physical Music, 2007)

What’s more, Bodzin respects Schumacher’s judgement: he has “very good taste”. Bodzin has remixed tunes for credible crossover artists – Depeche Mode, The Knife and Booka Shade. In fact, his biggest remix of late is Depeche Mode’s Fragile Tension, which he initially declined. “[Mute] were asking, like, three times [for me] to do another Depeche Mode remix. I said no two times, actually, because after Everything Counts, I said, ‘It’s a mistake to do another Depeche Mode remix; after the success, it can only get worse’. [But] Martin Gore was asking me personally to do this remix – and that’s the point where I said, ‘OK, what can I say?’. He got back to me and he really loved it.” Bodzin is incorporating the Fragile Tension mix into his live set, albeit without the vocals. No purist, he once tweaked Norwegian pop band A-Ha’s Celice – although it was Schumacher who put his name to it, Bodzin helping out. The pair turned it out in a weekend. Incredibly, Bodzin didn’t listen to the original, he just toyed with the song’s parts. These days, production aside, he devotes much of his downtime to the niche Herzblut, signing underground producers: the aforementioned duo Super Flu, French newcomer Nicolas Masseyeff, the multifaceted Austrian Florian Meindl. Many techno producers aspire to transcend the club world into the arts. Laurent Garnier is writing ballet music. Would Bodzin again engage with the theatre? “Yeah, maybe if I have a grey beard and a big belly… Hopefully I get that old. Why not? I’m pretty sure I’ll keep on working as a musician, composer, performer, whatever, in the future, so you never know. At the moment I’m totally into electronic stuff and club music, working on the new album, so I’m really concentrated on that, but I’d never say never to a good theatre production when I’m a bit older.” Bremen’s most famous musician has to be the big band leader James Last – he performed The Seduction (Love Theme) for the Giorgio Moroder-helmed American Gigolo soundtrack. However, Bodzin is the architect of the ‘Bremen sound’. Bodzin loves his hometown, but two years back considered a move to Berlin, where he has friends like Schumacher. Bodzin decided to stay in Berlin for a fortnight to see how he felt – but was soon overwhelmed. “There are too many artists, everybody’s a DJ, and everyone is so cool,” he says. Compared to sedate Bremen, Berlin is too distracting. “I would go out – go clubbing – each night,” Bodzin confesses, “so that’s kind of dangerous, too. As I’m playing each weekend, I party enough.” Still, Bodzin is seeking a change. He’ll relocate to San Francisco next year. “I always wanted to go there and rent or buy a VW Transporter – the old one – and hang around there. It should be a cool place.”

aking waves in the bass-heavy beat community are the sounds of relatively unknown 23-year-old producer Marcos Ortega (AKA Lorn). Hailing from the Midwest USA, his distinctly moody productions caught the attention of Flying Lotus, who promptly signed him up to the Brainfeeder label for his brand new album Nothing Else. Zebra caught up with Ortega in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over the phone and quizzed him on the beginnings of his beat-making career. “I’ve lost track to be honest, but I wanna say seven or eight years,” Ortega says. “I got started with scratching and I wasn’t really into hip hop at the time. I was really into drum’n’bass, IDM, electro and whatnot. So I decided to make my own beats and eventually that just kind of grew into my thing. I was really drawn towards it. I started handing them out back and forth between other DJs and producers, and eventually the loops or scratch beats turned into larger productions.” As it turns out, the partnership of Lorn and Flying Lotus has our very own country to thank. “Flying Lotus actually heard an early version of my tune on an Australian radio station,” Ortega explains. “I think he heard it on RRR. I assume he was touring at the time for his album Los Angeles. He wrote me and said he heard my track Tomorrow in Australia and then he started asking about the music and what I was working on. At the time I was working on Nothing Else – my album – and it wasn’t long after that I met him in Los Angeles for a gig.” Expectations are running very high for the new album, which is actually the first full-length release from Flying Lotus’ label. After the success of Lotus’s own work (including the recent LP Cosmogramma), Ortega seems to feel no pressure about the whole thing. “None that I could describe because I spent so long on this album. There was a lot of searching and trying to make things happen for myself and to see more than anything what could come out. So as far as Brainfeeder, those guys, I would say every artist on Brainfeeder has a definite love for music and a love of exploration and whatnot. So in that regard I think we’re in the same parallel, but otherwise I kinda feel like I’m on my own.” While the tunes from the album are definitely geared towards the dancefloor, Ortega’s beats are not throwaway. In fact, the music is very melodic and permeated by a dark mood that is unique amongst this new generation of beat-makers. This is all the more remarkable considering Ortega never properly learned an instrument. “During this whole process of making beats and making tracks, I sort of taught myself the piano and figured out what notes sound good next to each other and which notes made me feel like shit,” he says. “I guess when I make and listen Zebra Magazine 7

BY BE CA AT RL TI IN E

BREAKING BAD ITALIAN ELECTRO HOUSE MAKER LUIGI BARONE HAS ASSUMED SEVERAL IDENTITIES THROUGHOUT HIS MUSICAL CALLING. NOW, AS GIGI BAROCCO HE DISCUSSES THE OLD, THE NEW AND THE SOUNDS HE’LL NEVER VISIT AGAIN. xxx

GIGI BAROCCO PLAYS ROXANNE PARLOUR THIS FRIDAY. ith barely a moment to spare, Luigi Barone is jumping from plane to train along the Korean transit system. Taking a fleeting respite, the Milanesi known for his zany, relentless electronic music responds to questions with the same erratic confidence and energy that his show takes to a club. “Ninety percent of what I do is pure instinct,” he states, addressing the diversity of sounds his career has offered to date. “I try to keep my style in every production and at the same time I try to do something different every time… I just let the things keep rolling and see where I go.” A prominent DJ and producer over recent years under the alias Break The Box, Barone has clearly lost any love for the breakbeat culture that heartily embraced him as recently as in 2009. “The breaks scene is something I don’t like any more. I’ve found

myself in a lot of bad situations in parties and label stuff,” declares the self-proclaimed turncoat. “What I like in dance music is that the sound changes constantly and it gives you new ideas to make something new every time. This feature in breakbeat music is damn slow! I mean no evolution. This annoyed me, so I decided to stop Break The Box completely and move into a new sound.” It’s not the only self-imposed transformation that Barone has forced on his product. As the artist explains, his trade requires a degree of flexibility and a respect for the changing tides of fashion and fad. “In the beginning, when I started DJing, I found myself altering shows to accommodate different club cultures – but not now. I think that when a club or promoter books me, or someone goes to hear my sound, they know what I play.” While listing Italy, France, Belgium and Hungary

BY SW BR OB AD

MERRY MELODIES

THE SELF-TAUGHT MARCUS ORTEGA IS PERHAPS THE MOST MELODIC OF THE FUTURE BEAT MOVEMENT WITH HIS DEBUT ALBUM AS LORN. xxx

NOTHING ELSE IS OUT THROUGH BRAINFEEDER/INERTIA. aking waves in the bassheavy beat community are the sounds of relatively unknown 23-year-old producer Marcos Ortega (AKA Lorn). Hailing from the Midwest USA, his distinctly moody productions caught the attention of Flying Lotus, who promptly signed him up to the Brainfeeder label for his brand new album Nothing Else. Zebra caught up with Ortega in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over the phone and quizzed him on the beginnings of his beat-making career. “I’ve lost track to be honest, but I wanna say seven or eight years,” Ortega says. “I got started with scratching and I wasn’t really into hip hop at the time. I was really into drum’n’bass, IDM, electro and whatnot. So I decided to make my own beats and eventually that just kind of grew into my thing. I was really drawn towards it. I started handing them out back and forth between other DJs and producers,

8 Zebra Magazine

and eventually the loops or scratch beats turned into larger productions.” As it turns out, the partnership of Lorn and Flying Lotus has our very own country to thank. “Flying Lotus actually heard an early version of my tune on an Australian radio station,” Ortega explains. “I think he heard it on RRR. I assume he was touring at the time for his album Los Angeles. He wrote me and said he heard my track Tomorrow in Australia and then he started asking about the music and what I was working on. At the time I was working on Nothing Else – my album – and it wasn’t long after that I met him in Los Angeles for a gig.” Expectations are running very high for the new album, which is actually the first full-length release from Flying Lotus’ label. After the success of Lotus’s own work (including the recent LP

as hotbeds for progressive music, Australia, too, is not far from his conscience, having worked on tracks for locals Acid Jacks and The Only. “I think the Australian music scene is really good because the country is so young and the people are attracted by the new sounds and trends. Trends will still always affect me and I’m happy about that. It means that my mind is open; it’s a good thing. “I’ve been producing music for many years,” he continues, “and see myself at the halfway point of my career now. I know I can always grow up and I mean to do it. In my opinion a career is finished when you think you’re the best in the world! My secret here is to know the music theory very well. I’m a guitar teacher… I’ve studied music for years, which gives me something more and helps a lot, even with electronic music.” The pinnacles of Barone’s plans for world domination thus far are surely his separate collaborations with Wu-Tang icon Redman and rising star Kid Cudi. The Italian admits to a degree of shock when the remix requests first reached him. “The Redman remix came via Bob Rifo from The Bloody Beetroots. The two had been in the studio together, when Rifo asked if I’d like to do it. My initial response was, ‘Redman who?’. I thought it was an underground artist that sadly named himself after the rapper. I was in panic when I discovered it was an official track for the real Redman. The deadline was very short – I did it in two days. I’m very proud too of the track with Kid Cudi and that I’ve made something that works for the dancefloor, but also for the radios. When you decide to make a new version of a big tune, you have to know that the more mentally closed people will not accept it. I’ve found some blog where the people were angry like shit about my remixes. It’s been really funny to read it!” Cosmogramma), Ortega seems to feel no pressure about the whole thing. “None that I could describe because I spent so long on this album. There was a lot of searching and trying to make things happen for myself and to see more than anything what could come out. So as far as Brainfeeder, those guys, I would say every artist on Brainfeeder has a definite love for music and a love of exploration and whatnot. So in that regard I think we’re in the same parallel, but otherwise I kinda feel like I’m on my own.” While the tunes from the album are definitely geared towards the dancefloor, Ortega’s beats are not throwaway. In fact, the music is very melodic and permeated by a dark mood that is unique amongst this new generation of beat-makers. This is all the more remarkable considering Ortega never properly learned an instrument. “During this whole process of making beats and making tracks, I sort of taught myself the piano and figured out what notes sound good next to each other and which notes made me feel like shit,” he says. “I guess when I make and listen to music, I’m more drawn to melodic things or powerful things or things that strike something within you. “I listen to a lot of classical music and I listen to a lot of metal – Black Dahlia Murder, Through The Eyes Of The Dead, Misery Signals. A lot of mainstream R&B if I could be so bold. I’m just a sucker for that kind of shit. I’m more influenced by all of that than any hip hop or dubstep scene.” Ortega also brings a range of non-musical influences to his work as well. “A bit of literature I guess,” he explains. “I don’t really read much – I have a short attention span. But I’ve read John Milton’s Paradise Lost countless times. Generally anything by Stanley Kubrick, Lars von Trier, Fritz Lang, you know. The sort of outthere, provocative sounds I’m kind of drawn to, I guess.”

B PA Y A TE NG RS U ON S

FLYING HIGH SCOTTISH TRANCER SIMON PATTERSON HAS SAID GOODBYE TO THE HARD-EDGED FORMULA HE PERFECTED WITH TAXI, AND REVEALS TO ZEBRA THAT HIS NEW DIRECTION IS INFLUENCED BY THE REALITY OF NOT PLAYING THE CLOSING SET FOREVER. SIMON PATTERSON PLAYS AIRPORT AT BILLBOARD FRIDAY 2 JULY.

or Scotsman Simon Patterson, the massive Trance Energy event held in Holland every year was the pinnacle of all that he loved about the scene, and everything he dreamed of achieving. Patterson had attended four years in a row as a punter, but finally in early 2009 his time had come, and he was marked by promoters ID&T as an up-andcomer worthy of a peaktime slot on the Future stage. Fast-forward to April this year and Patterson was given the opportunity to perform to tens of thousands on the Trance Energy main stage alongside his longtime partner in crime Sean Tyas, playing the closing set for arguably the world’s most spectacular dance event. It was a timeslot that allowed him to showcase his turbocharged techno/trance fusion to its fullest effect, and it’s since talked about as one of the evening’s most exhilarating moments. “To get the chance to play the main stage with Sean this year

was probably the highlight of my whole career,” Patterson says. “It’s the Holy Grail of events, it’s so renowned, and to be given the closing set was incredible. We were lucky, because the DJs before us were playing a little slower and more progressive, so by the time we came on the crowd were really needing that energy. The fact they didn’t get that sound the whole night was great for us. We killed it, and the crowd stayed right until the end.” The year Patterson played the Future stage at Trance Energy, Paul van Dyk and Armin van Buuren saw fit to whip out his psychadelic-rinsed anthem Thump over at the main stage. That track was the latest iteration of his very own sound that he’d unveiled the year prior with devastating tech trance weapons like Smack and Bulldozer, which upon release, sounded like nothing that had come before. Patterson had stumbled upon a formula that delivered a whopping burst of power on the

GA BY LIN LI OV Z IC

SONIC MIRACLE WORLD

THE MUSIC ROBERT TAYLOR JR PLAYS AND CREATES AS DJ SEGA SITS VAGUELY AT THE PLACE WHERE BALTIMORE, BRICK CITY CLUB AND PHILLY PARTY MUSIC INTERSECT, BUT WITH HIS OWN SPECIAL TWIST. xxx

DJ SEGA PLAYS THE ESPY THIS SATURDAY. years ago in Twaswenty-three Philadelphia, Robert Taylor Jr born. Not long after his birth, north-west of his hometown in the neighbouring state of Maryland, the world of music gave birth to another infant in a stable in Baltimore city. That child was called Baltimore club and, as he grew, so his influence over dance music and the inimitable DJ Sega did, too. Taylor’s father was a DJ, Brother Rob, and he taught his son all about soul. Although he grew up in this environment, Taylor states the influence of his father and the transition from Taylor Jr to DJ Sega was more of the indirect kind. “I didn’t really grow up thinking that I was gonna be a DJ just like him. It’s something that came to form itself. His love for music gave me my curiosity for it. My curiosity gave me a wide range of music from all times and all places.” Taylor’s interest in music flourished

and he explored all types of genres from hip hop to metal, finding he had an appreciation for something within everything he came across. In a twist of originality, he didn’t decide to explore the decks until he discovered other people were making money off his music. That’s correct – Taylor began producing before he became a DJ. “I started producing as an outlet, a hobby. It was for my ears only… at first,” he says, yet sharing some of the results of that hobby led to “other people making money off of my music; and doing it wrong”. This is what led to Taylor’s transformation into DJ Sega. “I thought I might as well make money doing what I always dreamt about, which is to rock a crowd with my music.” The distinction between Baltimore club, brick city club and Philly party music (the latter of which Taylor prescribes to) is one that’s probably

dancefloor. Beginning with a solid club drive, it flattens out into a deceptively euphoric breakdown, before the beat drops again and all expectations are thrown out the window when it rips into a hardas-nails riff that’s powerful enough to tear a club apart. But, if much of the impact of Patterson’s club weapons come from the blow of the unexpected, it’s ironic there’s such a formula to it. “What a lot of people don’t know is that it was largely accidental that I even came across it in the first place. I could never manage to get a drop to kick in properly with the melody, I always ended up losing the energy. So it was almost like a cop-out in a way, to slam in with something different instead. But it just worked.” His latest single, Taxi, is probably the most epic, ambitious and polished of all the tracks in that mould. It’s still a long way from growing tired, but nonetheless, Patterson says he’s determined to move on from it. “I always said that Taxi represents the end of the line for that style, as everyone else has starting to produce tracks in that vein. I said I’d do just one more to sort of say goodbye to it.” One of the curveballs that Patterson hurled into the pitch last year was Different Feeling. It was an appropriately named tune that retained the uplifting energy of his other releases, though with a tempo that sported a slower, more progressive BPM. And it might actually offer an idea of what to expect from Patterson’s future musical output as he looks to diversify his sound. “I’m getting older and I need my sleep,” Patterson laughs. “Playing in different locations around the world, that harder sound doesn’t always work and you need a extra string to your bow. I think having a slower style that still might have hard elements to it will be beneficial for me in the long term. Something more progressive and a little more universal.”

detected only by its makers. As one journalist pointed out, the fact that you can play all three in a club without clearing the floor probably indicate there’s no drastic difference between each style. In fact, it is said that, born in Baltimore, it travelled in a northeasterly direction to the city of Newark in New Jersey where it became brick city club and then on to Philadelphia where it became know as Philly party music. Although Taylor lists distinct differences (more bass, more horns or less bass, less horns) the three styles are closely related and these days, many DJs and producers try to erase those state borders by referring to it all simply as club music. What makes Taylor’s music stand out stems from the fact that he is a perfectionist when it comes to his work. “If I don’t like something I feel like others won’t, even though I’ve been proven wrong [about this]. Heavy bass, heavy energy, and a heavy imagination, makes my music different from anything you’ve ever heard.” Taylor still retains his open mind when it comes to listening to music and being influenced by it. “I explore all types of music. It just has to be passionate and structured the right way. I’ve mixed up some video game sounds, movie clips, and even commercials.” But like most of us, with age and experience comes a sense of disappointment with and criticism for, the industry and its progeny. “I am picky nowadays. Music today just makes me seek out the music I’ve always loved to listen to. Club music is the closest to a better hip hop so to speak. Everything about the music is hip hop. Music evolves over years to become something new and better, although, it can become something new and annoying. Club music speaks to the soul of art lovers. I try to keep that alive with my productions.”

SINGLES

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

KYLIE MINOGUE All The Lovers

(Warner) Certainly the idea of All The Lovers is great: Kylie engaging in vaguely mystical, post-Saint Etienne intergalactic dance pop that trucks in omniscient dancefloor wisdom rather than the sly sexiness she was trying on last time around (“mystical” means “whispery verses” by the way). And the execution is hard to fault, shooting its dreamy electro disco target like fish in a barrel. But the whole thing is so selfconsciously huge that its slight inferiority vis a vis The One casts a shadow somehow.

NE-YO

Beautiful Monster (Def Jam/Universal) This is notable for setting a new record in the “R&B stealing from techno” stakes: its baseline is a jabbering pseudo-didgeridoo acid-into-trance bassline! This shocks me so much that the song is hard to judge, except to note that it’s basically in the Closer mould of tortured histrionic dance pop, only, um, more tortured and histrionic? Ne-Yo’s classicist, emasculated take on pop takes a while to reveal its full brilliance: give it a week and I’ll adore it.

GORILLAZ

On Melancholy Hill (EMI) Winsome, sighing synth-pop that inspires disgust and fondness in equal measure, like, it already hates itself more than you ever could, so why not succumb? It’s probably right to hate though: indie attempts at “cuteness” are usually shoot-on-sight material. In its favour are its frostinglike layers of synths, computer bleeps and backing vocals. The prosecution receive a big boost from Damon Albarn’s laconic, tuneless vocals though.

KELE

Tenderoni (V2K/Sony) Though I’m not a Bloc Party stan, I was hoping that singer Kele’s shift into solo dance pop would result in David McAlmont/Thieves or Adamski-featuring-Seal level greatness (yes, I am stereotyping black British male divas, so?). Unfortunately Tenderoni is basically blocky post-Wearing My Rolex electro house with Kele singing somewhat listlessly over the top, and not nearly enough of a tune to actually remind you he’s there.

JANELLE MONÁE Á

VARIOUS

(Bad Boy/Warner)

(CR2/Stomp)

The Archandroid

DARREN COLLINS

Is the most astounding thing about Janelle Monáe’s new album The ArchAndroid its breathtaking breadth of styles, or the fact that it is out on Diddy’s Bad Boy label? Born in Kansas City, Monáe travelled to New York as a teenager with dreams of acting, but her gradual realisation that music was her true calling led her south to Atlanta. It was here she formed The Wondaland Arts Society with some local, likeminded kids, by chance catching the ear of OutKast’s Big Boi who put her on their Idlewild album. This history, added to the fact that she ended up signed to Bad Boy, might suggest some dime-a-dozen R&B diva, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Following on from her 2009 Suite 1 EP comes Suites 2 and 3: The ArchAndoid, inspired by visionary 1922 silent movie Metropolis, the golden era of Hollywood and Broadway, English pop history and all manner of music, art and fashion. Together with her aforementioned Society, the golden-voiced Monáe has crafted an incredibly creative and diverse album laden with sticky pop hooks that will find fans far outside the urban demographic. While Tightrope channels the spirit of the late godfather of soul and Cold War cracks off frenetic Bombs Over Baghdad-style beats, elsewhere the folksy Oh, Maker sees Monáe swing between Lauryn Hill and Joan Baez, Come Alive convincingly punks out while the psychedelic Mushrooms & Roses believes that it is indeed the walrus. Not only one of this year’s most interesting albums but also one of its best.

CR2 – Live & Direct Ibiza STUART EVANS

Day, night and underground – is the music really that different? According to CR2 it is. Their latest compliment to Ibiza in the Live & Direct series is split into ‘Day’, ‘Night’ and ‘Underground’. The Ibiza assemblage, which is now in its third year, is rammed to the rafters of piano friendly, electro thumping sounds that are generally respectable, pounding and direct enough to warrant a listen. The first disc kicks off with the Rhythm Masters and MYNC’s I Feel Love, followed by a seemingly endless affair of piano friendly house records that are more uplifting than sniffing a line of Charlie. It’s brisk, sharp and freaking good fun. Sadly the ‘Night’ section is enough to send most off for a prolonged siesta. From the high of the piano to the low of the moribund electro/fidget edge, it’s duller than dull. The tempo is raised slightly with cuts from Mickey Slim and Sam La Moore’s honest I Wish It Could. Luckily the ‘Underground’ CD restores a modicum of faith with a class selection of dark and dirty sounds that have been making noises for the past few months. The endless bout of aural delights arrives courtesy of Ramiro Lopez, Coyu and many more besides. This is worth buying for disc one alone. The happy, stirring piano vibes lifted over a load of bouncy snare drums is a beacon of hope amongst the usual electro drivel.

VARIOUS

Sixteen F**king Years Of G-Stone Recordings (G-Stone/Inertia) DARREN COLLINS

It’s almost like they are doing this under sufferance. While most labels lunge at every opportunity to celebrate themselves, Viennese legends Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister for some reason have held off 16 years for their G-Stone label’s retrospective, and have finally done it with a healthy dose of punk profanity. This shouldn’t come as any surprise – G-Stone has always gone left where others go right. As soon as they were pigeonholed as chillout, downbeat or (god forbid) trip hop, the imprint began pumping out moments of unbridled dancefloor destruction through their stable of esteemed producers, musicians, vocalists and music lovers. Sixteen F**king Years… is split into one disc of ‘classics’ and another of new gear. The ‘classics’ disc more than lives up to its label, the first half littered with unforgettable down-tempo moments from Tosca, Urbs, Marsmobile and K&D themselves; you can actually hear trip hop being invented and then trashed before your very ears. Later there’s more 4/4-based material including Makossa & Megablast’s dancehall-deep house fusion and the awesome boogie-down soul of Rodney Hunter. The disc of new tracks includes darker, dubby, more sophisticated tracks, many of the artists featured on the classics disc reappearing to demonstrate how they have matured. Standouts include Makossa & Megablast’s gravelly vocalled house, DSL’s Dilla-esque chops and Christian Prommer’s avant-jazz cover version-ism. Who cares how many f**king years – G-Stone was and still is an enclave of musical genii.

Zebra Magazine 9

SEAN DECLASE

IDA Y cultural heritage has a huge influence on Your both your music and image in a fairly full sense; is it something you channel in some capacity or does it come out naturally? “It’s a bit of both… but for the most part, it comes out naturally. I was immersed into traditional Malay dance all through my childhood. During my teenage years though I rebelled, as teenagers do. I wanted to be more Westernised and at that time I didn’t realise the beauty and wisdom that was found in my language and my culture. I’m part Malay and part Indian… and both those cultures have such a rich cultural heritage. And it was a natural progression for me, that as I became older I wanted to understand more about the bloodline that I was born into and spent a lot of time in Malaysia and India. My experience of connecting with the land and people shaped the way that I saw the world and myself and I guess art is a reflection of an artist’s internal world. The song I wrote in Bahasa fo examp for ex example xamp mpplee came out effortlessly one afternoon when wh whe hen I wa w was ass sitting by the riverside and thinking of my mo mot mother. o herr. I’m so much more fluent in English now, but ut I had to write her in Bahasa Melayu because s do she oesnn’t understand much English.“ doesn’t Much M Muc Mu uch ooff yyour o lyrical content is focused on messages of self-empowerment and social change, what is it about these topics that you find so absorbing? “I grew up watching my mother struggling and fighting for equality. This affected me from an early age. Witnessing the disempowerment of my mother in many ways affected my confidence in myself when I was growing up. And it took a lot of inner work to be able to realise who I am and who we all are. And then in India, I saw it everywhere. You can only feel less than your worth, when you believe that you are. And so many of these women have never been told how beautiful they are. I find this topic so absorbing ‘cause it’s so personal to me. I top have such deep respect for people who dedicate hav ttheir lives to working on the ground.” the th You’ve Y ou had quite a host of people produce bbeats ea for you, is there any particular reason

why you’ve chosen to draft so many professionals for the task? “This is my first venture into creating music and I wanted to learn as much as I could about the process. And I thought what better way than working with all the different producers to understand the styles and options that [are] available out there? Each of them are so brilliant in their own way, but I wanted to understand what is the best process that suits me, so I can better communicate my creative needs for next time. It’s been a MASSIVE learning experience and I am so honoured to have been able to learn from these amazing brothers!” Out of those you’ve worked with are there any you’d especially like to continue working with in the future? “At the risk of trying to sound diplomatic, I will work with them all again! But if I had to choose, I would say Jake Savona. Only because he’s the closest thing to a brother that I’ve got. We have a very strong friendship based in trust, acceptance and honesty and I can be most myself around him and it’s easier to co-create music when you come from that place. I also respect his musical input and his attention to detail.” Ida plays the Evelyn, Thursday 1 July. Holographic Love is out independently Thursday 1 July.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SINGING? “My brother and older cousins forced me to join their band Declase when I was about 16. I never knew I had a voice ‘til the first time we practised. I got so involved in music, I started learning a multitude of instruments. Now it’s all I know!” ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH ANY CREW? “Yeah, have you heard of the KKK? Nah, in the Oz hip hop scene Justice and Kaos have been good friends of mine for a while. We regularly appear on each other’s tracks, including the ARIA-nominated Turn It On. On the dance front, I’m currently working with a few different producers from around the world and Oz. Guys like Black Dogs who I love to collaborate with… their stuff is seriously funky, right up my alley!” EVER EXCRETED ANY UNUSUAL FLUIDS BEFORE ROCKING A SHOW? “Actually I was famous for excreting fluids WHILE rocking the show! I would sometimes throw bottles of water over the full crowd in my excitement. Girls used to come up after the show and crack it ‘cause they spent all night straightening their hair… and that was step one of my plan, ladies and gentlemen.” YOUR BEST SHOW AND WHY? “The best feeling I think I’ve felt on stage was when I was playing with Bass Chimps. We recorded our first song, which was Can’t Stop. We signed it to Generation Records and within a few weeks the song had been getting regular play on radio and appeared on the best-selling Vinyl Pusher compilation MOVE. We didn’t really know how many people loved the song ‘til we did a show at Colonial Hotel. Everyone threw their hands in the air and screamed as soon as my opening vocal came in! I remember thinking of when I wrote the song in my car and would never have thought it would have reached so many people… it was a great feeling!” FAVOURITE COMEBACK LINE? “Your mama’s so fat, I took a photo of her last Christmas and it’s still printing!” WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE LOCAL HIP HOP/DANCE SCENE? LUCKILY EWAN PEARSON QUALIFIED THAT FOR US, BECAUSE IT SOUNDS HORREND OUS RATHER THAN GOOD… “I guess what I love most about the local scene is knowing heaps of acts about to make waves, and knowing what it’s going to do for Oz music. I always wished that Oz music would be like it used to be back in the Cold Chisel, Little River Band days, where people were just writing great songs. I think that time is coming soon, and I’d love to be a part of it.” WHAT GIGS DO YOU HAVE COMING UP? “My next show will be on Saturday 10 July which is a set featuring myself and a DJ – that one’s at 24 Moons in the city. Other shows include Rah Bar, Temperance and a few more to come. Expect vocal house meets funk!” PIC BY KANE HIBBERD.

“

DJJ KOZ D KOZE’S OPEN NING TRACK TO TOTAL 11 SOUNDS LIKE TOM WAITS COUGHING UP A HAIRBALL IN A COLOGNE WAREHOUSE. WHICH IS A GOOD THING.”

BASS CAMP AND THE FFUNKADELIC BREAKDANCERS

11. A Alchem Alc lchem hemyst he yystic ys yst ic ic SCIENCE PROJECT 2. Born Free (High Contrast Remix) MIA 3. Just Let It Go NICK THAYER 4. Suffocation (Memory Tapes Remix) CRYSTAL CASTLES 5. Netsky NETSKY 6. Unbroken, Unshaven THE BUDOS BAND 7. Moderat MODERAT 8. Tonight NITE JEWEL 9. Balance 011 VARIOUS/LEE BURRIDGE 10. In Heat (Javelin Remix) HEALTH

JONATHAN WALL

ZEBRA CAUGHT UP WITH FUZZY’S CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER JONATHAN WALL ON THE EVE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THIS YEAR’S PARKLIFE FESTIVAL LINE-UP. What’s the experience like from your end when the Parklife line-up is about to be released – is it excitement or anticipation? The end, or just the beginning? “I’m in charge of the advertising and communicating with our customers and the public, so from my point of view I’m really focused on making sure the artwork looks good, and the emails that go out are accurate beyond anything else – accurate and appealing. The line-up is a group effort obviously. It’s always basically a year-long saga, a rollercoaster ride of thrills and disappointments, incredible

moments late night bargaining love ntts aand nd hil nd hhilarious ilari ariou ar o lla ous ate te nnig iightt bbar arga ar ggai ainin ninng ssessions. ession ess ion oons. s YYou Yoouu lo ovvee it, you hate it, it’s the best thing, it’s the worst thing, it’s just hilarious.” When you start planning each year’s event, do you start with a ‘theme’ in terms of the sound, or a particular act, or does it slowly start to make sense a few months in? “For us it’s a lot about where music’s going, both the music that we like and what we think our customers like, and always trying to [find a] balance between not totally ditching all of the types of music from before, but pushing ahead. Because it’s always changing, and there are very few circumstances where you can be relevant doing the same music after ten years or 20 years – Parklife’s been going for ten now.” When you started Parklife you had the point of difference of being an outdoor dance music event, but ten years down the line there is obviously a lot more competition – how do you make your event stand out in a market that is overflowing with festival options? “Musically we don’t try to be all things to all people, and we don’t try to talk down to people. When a lot of things grow, it tends to be by dumbing it down, by being less and less sophisticated and more and more stupid. We keep trying to do the opposite, make it more interesting, put on artists who are big names that people have heard of but more importantly pushing the sounds that we like and new artists that we like. Right from when we started Fuzzy in the mid ‘90s we were always about not simply preaching to the converted, we like to actually convert people.”

W RE IS IT? Bass Camp at Lounge, 243 WHE Swanston Street, CBD. WHEN IS IT? Every Thursday night, but this special ‘Breaker’s Delight’ showcase is Thursday 24 June for end of exams. WHA WH T CAN YOU HEAR? The finest and freshe st in and an party tunes. And anything else with a bassli beats and breaks ne for you to shake your booty to! WHO PLAYS? The beat droppers this week are Lil Miss Breaks, Snowie, Flip and Citizen.com. Additionally there will be performances by the Funkadelics. WHO’S GOING? You, me, him, her... Anyon e looking for a night with a bit of flare and difference. Come and get involved in the culture of breakbeat with the Bass Camp crew and Funkadelics. Any other breakdancers welcome to join the party! WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW? It’s free entry for students (with ID). Bass Camp happens at Lounge every Thursday!

How do you compare the thrill of putting something like Parklife together in comparison to your previous life as a working DJ? “There’s a huge instant gratification thing about being a DJ – notwithstanding that there’s a bit of preparation, the amount of time that you spend actually playing relative to the preparation involved, there’s a high proportion of the fun bit to the homework. With the DJing you’re feeling it and immersed in it for a couple of hours, whereas I’m very much immersed in [Fuzzy] – we all are – when it’s over a period of a year you can’t be 100% focused. You’ve got to eat and sleep occasionally as well! On the other hand the thrill I get when it’s going really well and I look out from behind the stage and there’s a huge sea of people smiling and jumping around, it’s pretty exciting.” Parklife hits the Sidney Myer Music Bowl Saturday 2 October.

DYSFUNKTIONAL @ EUROTRASH

EUROTRASH

THE LOFT

DYSFUNKTIONAL @ THE LOFT

EUROTRA ASH

PURPLE SNEAKERS LAUNCH

KISS PIZZA LAUNCH KISS PIZZA LAUNCH

DYSFUNKTIONAL @ THE LOFT

PURPLE SNEAKERS LAUNCH

KISS PIZZA LAUNCH

BILLBOARD THURSDAYS

PLAYGROUND

BILLBOARD THURSDAYS

WITH CYCLONE

OG Flavas INTRODUCING ROX A series of fantastic neo-soulsters have come out of the UK in recent years, starting with Amy Winehouse. We had Wales’ charmingly retro Duffy, the feisty Adele... But not everyone was happy. Estelle, originally a femcee, only found success after hooking up with John Legend and moving to the US. Speaking to the Guardian in 2008, she accused white artists such as Adele of co-opting the soul – and challenged the media for hailing them as saviours of the music while ignoring black performers. In the meantime, with so many ‘nu-Amys’ on the scene (culminating in the overrated Pixie Lott), there’s been a swing away from neo-soul to electro. Even Aussie Gabriella Cilmi abandoned R&B for dance on Ten – and shed her audience. It’s into this milieu that London’s Rox, AKA Roxanne Tataei, has arrived. The singer/songwriter was one of our year’s big predictions with her debut, Memoirs. Tataei has an intriguing story. The half-Jamaican, half-Iranian soulstress honed her vocals in church, participated in The National Youth Theatre, picked up a guitar and eventually attracted industry attention while performing in a jazz ensemble. She’s now signed to Rough Trade. Certainly, R&B traditionalists will be gratified by Memoirs. There’s no electro, no gimmickry. Tataei offers ol’ skool songwriting, real instrumentation, and powerful vocals. As with Estelle (and Ms Dynamite), Tataei will be compared to Lauryn Hill, whose dressing, circa L-Boogie, she emulates. In fact, she’s worked with Hill’s affiliate Commissioner Gordon, though the primary producer here is the talented Brit Al Shux, responsible for JayZ’s Empire State Of Mind. Tataei’s first single is the big ballad No Going Back – with a gutsy delivery, organ riffs and ‘60s stylings – all produced by Shux. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s Winehouse back from the brink. I Don’t Believe – like the deceptively cheery My

Baby Left Me, about love-gone-wrong – has been licensed for a Rimmel campaign. Tataei ventures out with the gospel-influenced Do As I Say, reggae Rocksteady (way too obvious!), and gentle acoustic number Heart Ran Dry (evoking Corinne Bailey Rae). The string-laden (and more programmed ) Oh My is a real departure – it sounds like ‘80s soul. Overall, Memoirs is a conservative debut, and Tataei needs to develop a style of her own, but she has what it takes.

ELECTRIC DREAMS Diddy must be buggin’. The rapper anticipated the electro-hop explosion with his Divided Souls dance project – but, after 2001’s Let’s Get Ill, he chose to abandon it. Now the Bad Boy mogul is finally getting in on the act with his long-awaited Last Train To Paris. Diddy has assembled a trio, Dirty Money, with singers Dawn Richard (ex-Danity Kane) and Kalenna Harper. It’s very Felix da Housecat. Dirty Money have issued some singles, the latest Hello Good Morning featuring TI, but, so far, none have blown up. Interestingly, this time Diddy teamed with hip hop, not dance, producers. The question is, could there already be a backlash to electro-hop? Eschewing vintage soul for dance, Christina Aguilera has just dropped her most forgettable album. Despite her doing a Madonna by hiring cred collaborators (Switch, MIA, Peaches), Bionic is devoid of originality, personality and tunes – and full of cliches. Somewhere Xtina’s nemesis Lady Gaga is laughing...

LI IL KIM TO LIL TO OU TOUR?!

II’m m ju jus just s so confused rig right ight no nnow. Lil Kim is to ttou ouurin ing. g I’m pretty sure touring. WITH STEVE DUCK I ddidn’t idn’t’t just idn jus u step out of D elorea elo orre rea ean, ea n and I’m pretty a Delo Delorean, sure sure it’s it’ss be been enn five years since her her la he llast ast st alb aalbum um The um Th N Naked Truth. But h what h bbetter time i to come to A li ? Her Dancing hey, Australia? With The Stars commitments are all finished, what else is she gonna do? The Queen Bee will perform tracks from her debut Hard Core and of course the five-mic certified The Naked Truth at the Espy on Friday 10 July. That’s right, The Naked Truth scored five mics in The Source. Tickets $61.20 available now through theespy.oztix.com. au.

KOOLISM IS BACK

With their upcoming album The ‘Umu still on the horizon, Canberra’s Koolism will drop the album’s first single Can’t Stand It via iTunes on Friday 2 July. Danielsan has cooked up a little something with an apparent ‘wall of noise’ inspiration, while Hau breaks it down on the mic, as he explains: “The lyrics were inspired by, to put it simple and plain, a lot of fuckery in this country. I definitely believe we have it a lot better than many places around the world, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to voice my opinion on particular things I feel are wrong. Since I have the opportunity to say something I feel is worthwhile, then I’m going to capitalise on that. If you’re offended, then the shoe must fit. Wear it.” Cop Can’t Stand It next Friday on iTunes.

DIAFRIX PLAY THE CORNER

Diafrix are just constantly on the grind. These guys play like a show a day or something. This time around Diafrix are playing the Corner Hotel for a big show alongside The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. You’ll also catch support act Motley

HOTSPOT I LOVE DANCEHALL

WHERE IS IT? The Johnston, 60-72 Johnston Street, Fitzroy (just down from the Old Bar/opposite the Spanish Club). WHEN IS IT? Saturday 26 June from 9pm-3am. WHAT CAN YOU HEAR? We love all things dancehall – ‘80s, ‘90s and up to the time. With a lil bit of hip hop crossover, international dancehall sounds, funky bashment, Caribbean rhythms, and all kinds of dancehall-inspired, bass-heavy niceness. WHO PLAYS? For this session we have Major Krazy, SoFire , Sista Sara Vs Sista Raquelina, Andy Ites and Mamacita Bonnita, with Jean Poole on the visual controls and special guest Burn City Queenz dance crew. WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW? It’s $5 before 11pm and $10 after... BOOM! (UK) with DJs Surrender and Manchild. This one happens this Saturday, tickets $15 available now through cornerhotel.com.

NEW CHASM

Well, it’s sort of a new Chasm release. Similar to how RZA has Bobby Digital, Chasm has Dr Don Don, except his album probably won’t suck and piss everybody off. Dr Don Don is Chasm’s alter-ego, producing something a little different from what we’re used to. Dr Don Don’s debut EP draws influence from electro, house and of course hip hop, to create a more dancefloor-friendly product. Dr Don Don’s EP will feature Joyride, Vida-Sunshyne and Lotek, and will drop via Grindin shortly. Keep an eye out.

RAIN. HAIL. SNOW.

Funkoars are now pushin’ that snow! The Adelaide group have announced this week they will be heading north to the Snowy Mountains for a trio of shows in late July, alongside Ash Grunwald. While Grunwald pushes his new album Hot Mama Vibes, the Oars will push nothing but pure hip hop among that pure white. You can catch the shows at the Man, Falls Creek (28 July), Swindlers Bar, Mount Hotham (29 July) and Station Resort, Jindabyne (31 July). Jindabyne tickets $28.50, available now through moshtix.com.au, contact the venues directly for Falls Creek and Mount Hotham tickets.

SERIOUS UNDERGROUND BUSINESS WITH PAZ Business Music is currently pitching a realitystyled TV series, based locally, named after LL Cool J’s DJ “Cut Creator”.

CUT CREATORS

The Pitch – Wannabe hairdressers from Melbourne compete to style DJs’ manes. Celebrity judges from hair industry judge contestants on cut, style, juggle, flare, chirp, dexterity, bouffant. Audiences are asked to participate by attending favoured teams (DJ and Stylist) weekend residency.

THE IDEA

Cut Creators was spawned early hours of a Sunday morning, the time of day when the cerebellum is least expected to work. Business Music had been admiring the haircut of Dan Mor (Danny Karam in Underbelly 3). Danny was playing the role of a cut throat psychopath, and made the short fringe style more affable. The conversation was between Business Music and Ben Hibbert. Ben suggested all resident DJs should support a “Caesar”-styled bouffant for the month of June. The Caesar style came to our attention when Baltimore’s Scottie B hit our shores. Today this style is typical of more middle America sports fans and English soccer hooligans than DJs. The Caesar is a typical male styling, however I have seen local DJs Sunshine and Ms Krystal support an androgynous Caesar over the years.

THE STYLES

Street Elite recently uploaded a great retro clip from 1986. It’s a doco that includes local DJs Peril and Ransom with Bondy and Paris. The style of the times had moved from rock skinhead to moussed-out high tops (except Bondy, who is the only skip, still rocking a mullet). Almost a quarter of a century later, and the dominant style over all scenes, is the “Conservative Anglo” (RE: T-Rek), the few exceptions being… ‘90s Chrome Dome: Well represented by legends Brewster B and Honeysmack (they had no other options anyway) . Natty Dread: A regular of DJs at doof parties and combined with a red, black and green tea cozy is represented by DJs like Ras Crucial at a Chantdown around town.

Wigs: Seem to be dominant in the drag scene. Anglo ‘Fro: Unlike the ‘Gino ‘fro’ of the ‘70s, the Anglo ‘Fro was the do for locals Danielsun and Chris Gill. The Scottish curl is most legendary in Luke McD along with a trademark Chopper ‘stache. Hey Ladies: Are all conservative, easy managed styles, excluding Kate Jean whose undercut represents a no mouse mohawk. Thinning Crown: Most common in the elder statesmen but taking it to the next level is Grant Smilie. The renowned DJ has recently cast Ruby Rose to his talent pool, and he has also copied her grey/blonde hair colour. Facial: Spacey Space and his ‘70s ‘stache and Tamas Jones with a lumberjack’s beard. Hipsters: Can’t really DJ anyway, but when they are cast, they look something like The Bedroom Philosopher. Internationals: Business Music was recently billed alongside Dave Nada who wears a long mane, representing his DC punk background. DJ Hype fronted, rocking the Espy with a militant “Jar Head”.

THE SPONSORS APP

Serato, Ableton and Traktor face off for the first live styling app, making full use of laptop cameras and cranial scans. Who can get your locks bangin’?

THE SALON

One local disco DJ divulged a story of his early years wanting to be a hair stylist. His American accent and flair got him a job at Vidal Sassoon in South Yarra, with no credentials whatsoever. After destroying some socialite’s hair, he was promptly turned and ended up becoming a grand wizard of the 1s and 2s.

THE WINNER

DJ MAFIA. MAFIA’s recent trip to the USA saw her posing with her new Yo Mafia Raps customised Nikes and a custom “Mafia” outline shaved into her head. Classic.

Zebra Magazine 13

WEDNESDAY SPEAKER CHIC @ FIRST FLOOR A tribute to the sophisticated musical tastes of Melbourne’s north side. Combining indie grooves and electro with the occasional vintage reference or post-disco classic. Featuring Smile On Impact with special guests Jem (Hang Time/Kill Couture) and What Now (Don’t Doo Dat) with photography by Helen Young. Free entry.

COQ ROQ @ LUCKY COQ DJs Lady Noir, Agent 86, Kiti, Mr Thom and Joybot give you nothing but the best new wave, punk, Brit pop, bong rap and hair metal this side of Seattle from 9pm.

FIVE ELEMENTS & B WIV DEECE @ MISS LIBERTINE Representing the true old school mindset, weekly selectors MzRizk, DJ Sizzle, Takaco, Ayna, Duchesz and special guests walk you through all eras of hip hop. This week’s special guest is Affiks (Heavy Innit!!). On top of that, killer local spitters B Wiv Deece are hosting Wednesdays in June. Throughout the month, B Wiv Deece will be teaming up with some of Melbourne’s finest hip hop acts. Free entry for Five Elements/$10 entry for B Wiv Deece.

CANDY STORE @ LOUNGE It’s time to indulge your sweet tooth with an early start to the weekend. Join resident DJ PCP and very special guest Matt Radovich playing fine flavours of sweet house music all night. $5 entry.

THURSDAY RING THE ALARM @ FIRST FLOOR A night of deadly dancehall and killer reggae. Join Cat Sweeney from Burn City Queens as she hosts jungle city dance classes beforehand. Then residents Jesse I and Major Krazy are joined by weekly guest selectors. From 9pm3am. Free entry.

LOVE STORY @ THE TOFF Featuring 1928 and support from rotating guests Tranter, Rad Pitt, Megawuoti, and Sleeves playing everything you love in electro, techno, indie and disco. From 11.30pm-5am. Free entry. International and interstate guests monthly.

MISK @ MISS LIBERTINE A place where the music floats between deep melodic tech house, groovy jazz-spaced stabs, crunchy minimal techno and smooth cocktail house. Featuring resident DJs U-one and Dave Pham plus this week’s guests Rollin Connection and My Friend Samuel. Free entry.

HANGTIME @ EUROTRASH Hangtime continues to rock the shit out of Eurotrash. Featuring a rad line-up of rotating DJs to keep you boozed and buried on the dancefloor.

The Rhythm-al-ism team bring you the best urban jams and house grooves every week. Featuring Damion De Silva, FMR, A-Style, K Dee and Simon Sez. From 9.30pm4am. $15/$12 guestlist (guestlist@ restless.com.au).

THURSDAYS @ NEW GUERNICA Turns out those dudes in high school who were into music like The Smiths, The Cure and Manson learnt how to mix, typed the name Derrick Carter into Wikipedia and got themselves a residency at New Guernica. Conductors from 9pm include Negativ Magick, Post-Percy, Leslie Salvador and Bromance. Free entry.

3181 THURSDAYS @ REVOLVER Revolver keeps it laid-back and local from 6pm. There are tunes from Hans DC, Who and guests. Plus vintage video games, foosball, free wi-fi internet and half price meals every week from Colonel Tan’s all-new kitchen for local residents and traders. The second Thursday of each month features the designer market.

BASS CAMP @ LOUNGE Featuring the Funkadelics Breakdancing battle. This night will be infused with the culture of what breakbeat is all about. DJs Lil Miss Breaks, Snowie, Flip and host Citizen.com will be joined by RMIT’s Funkadelic Breakdancers. The main battle takes place between 10pm and midnight and performances will continue on through the entire night. $5/free entry for students (ID required).

FRIDAY SURREAL 2010 SAMPLER LAUNCH @ FIRST FLOOR Featuring DJ Cargo performing with a live band plus special guests Candice Monique and Lee Sissing on vocals. Support from Nymphlow, Kast and D-Inph, Kay-Z, Crusader and DJ Sim. Doors open 9pm. $10 entry.

PURPLE SNEAKERS @ MISS LIBERTINE This week at Purple Sneakers there is a special live set from indie darlings Otouto. You’ll also find Two Bright Lake DJs, Ebony and Ivory. Lady Noir, PHDJ, Quick Fix DJs and Fantomatique cementing Purple Sneakers as your weekly music guide. $12 entry from 8pm.

WAX! & PUSSYKAT @ REVOLVER Amassing releases on some of the world’s most acclaimed labels, you can catch the local boys of Wax! every Friday. Also on is Pussykat, featuring special guests from the Poison Apple crew including Chango Phat, Ross Horkings, Nick Kennedy, Clint Morgan, Bianca White, Luke Wellsteed, Death By Disco, Tyrone, Torren Foot and Matthew Grisold. Wax! will feature Oohee, Lewie Day, Andee Frost and Otologic from 10pm plus Sunshine’s morning set from 7am.

FRIDAYS @ CIRCUS Now into its third year and still bringing quality tunes ranging from commercial house to underground electro.

FREE RANGE FUNK @ LUCKY COQ

LIKE DISCO @ LA DI DA

Free Range Funk DJs Who, Agent 86, Lewis CanCut and special guests tempt you into the night with their eclectic bag of treats. Expect to be charmed with delightful jazz, deep soul and funk early. Stick around after dessert and it’s fruity disco, choice house and hipster dance drops. Free entry.

What is Like Disco? Motown and funk led us to disco and now original disco classics have been re-edited, remixed and reinvented. Disco continues to be a constant source of basslines, riffs and vocals for house and techno. So put your hands up and let your hair down as you dance to everything that’s like disco. From 7pm-dawn. $15/$10 guestlist.

VARSITY @ BIMBO DELUXE School’s out for the week and we’ve cleared out the lounge room. Teaching you a lesson in hip hop, soul and funk after school are Matt Radovich, Mr Moonshine, Just Lindsay, Tahl and Rowie.

RHYTHM-AL-ISM @ FUSION 14 Zebra Magazine

SCRIBBLE @ Q Start your weekend with Scribble. Featuring a line-up of super-producer M-Phazes, Jase (Beathedz), Flagrant, MAFIA and Derek {K}. You can expect to hear party jams, hip hop, R&B classics, soul anthems and pickings of the freshest new releases.

FRIDAYS @ EUROTRASH Mu-gen and NXR playing party through to electro. Free entry. Open until 3am.

FRIDAYS @ NEW GUERNICA You know it’s going to be a good night when you’re at a club and the DJs work the same part-time jobs during the week as you; it means they’re probably up for getting loose just the same. At New Guernica they’ve got more Nudie Jeans folding clerks and fixie part importers than you can poke a stick at. Oh, and the kitchen may burn down as Herbie and Post-Percy are the evening’s master chefs.

DYSFUNKTIONAL @ LOFT Damion De Silva, Ken Walker, K-Dee, Suga and Durmy are the funkin’ five in audio control. Playing R&B grooves and whatever funk keeps you movin’. From 9pm-late. $15/$12 guestlist (guestlist@ restless.com.au).

POPROCKS MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE NIGHT @ THE TOFF Join the crew at the Toff to celebrate the King Of Pop and pay tribute to his amazing body of work. From 9pm. Free entry.

BAMBAATAA @ LOUNGE Come blow off some steam after exams with the Bambaataa crew. It’s free entry for those who present a student ID card upon entry. Featuring Nick Verwey, Tom Ellis, Popeye, Hey Sam and Adrian Bell banging out the best in house, minimal, tech and disco until sunrise. From 10pm-late. Email badrunnerproductions@hotmail. com for guestlist.

SATURDAY SOUL SESSIONS @ THE TOFF The second instalment of Soul Sessions at the Toff begins with a fresh new collaboration with the Oz Soul Collective movement. The Oz Soul Collective is a passionate network of Australian soul/urban artists. This Saturday, catch Electric Empire, Candice Monique & The Optics and Runforyourlife for an Oz Soul Collective line-up with super smooth vocals, undeniable talent and explosive stage presence. Tickets $15+BF from Moshtix. From 7.30-11pm.

DIAFRIX & THE PUBLIC OPINION AFRICAN ORCHESTRA @ THE CORNER Diafrix have pushed past their status as Melbourne’s ‘next big thing’ and are building a massive cult following, with a growing reputation as one of Australia’s most amazing live acts. Named Best Homegrown New Artist in The Age EG Awards last year, their debut album Concrete Jungle features Diafrix’s iconic concoction of hip hop, funk and African. Support from 16-piece conglomerate The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. Tickets $15+BF from Corner Box Office.

THE SOLAR FLARES @ FIRST FLOOR The Solar Flares have been jamming it up since 2006 in and around Melbourne’s hottest nightspots and are now making their debut appearance at First Floor. To complement their live funk and soul will be Anthony Galati, Kano, DVISE and Moonshine playing disco and boogie from behind the decks. The late night Disco Social DJs will follow. From 8pm.

SINTHETIC @ ABODE A night of sonic stimulation and dancefloor deviance. Deep tech and tech house tunes provided by Nero, Lady J, SmuDJ and Syme Tollens. Décor, lighting and FX provided by Tracy G. Live performance by Pixelated. From midnight-late.

FAVELA ROCK @ MISS LIBERTINE

Featuring a killer local DJ line-up smashing out hip hop, dance and party jams all night. Plus, this month Favela Rock sees the return of our Sydney-based prodigal son Sleater Brockman. Lately, Brockman has been doing some damage on the radio waves and the dancefloor with the DJ crew Ro Sham Bo. Support from MAFIA, Steezy, Micka5k and DTP. $10/$8 guestlist (favelarock@opulentmagazine. com).

I LOVE DANCEHALL @ THE JOHNSTON Featuring Sista Sara Vs Sista Raquelina, Andy Ites, Mamacita Bonnita, Major Krazy and So Fire. Jean Poole will be providing the visuals for the evening and Melbourne’s sassiest dancehall crew Burn city Queenz bring the dynamite to explode the stage. From 9pm-3am. $10/$5 on the door before 11pm.

MAMA SAID @ CIRCUS Gear up as the Mama Said crew bring the very best of deep tech and house that Melbourne has to offer over two levels. Doors open at 10pm, so come and check out what all the fuss is about.

THE LATE SHOW @ REVOLVER Featuring breaks, dubstep, grime and funky in the front room while the back room samples disco, boogie, cut-ups, house and the rest. With residents Ransom, Nick Thayer, Raph Boogie and Matt Cant alongside guests Mr Moonshine, Lewis CanCut and Booshank. Plus Boogs and Spacey in the morning and primo rotating guests to boot.

THE HOUSE DE FROST @ THE TOFF The House De Frost is a modern day discotheque with its feet and ears firmly rooted in the nostalgia of days gone by. This is true disco, not nu-disco. Helmed by the infamous Andee Frost.

UNDER SUSPICION @ BROWN ALLEY Under Suspicion is Brown Alley’s new resident Saturday night. It’s a party that represents the best of underground culture and music. Under Suspicion aims to create a new underground culture that breaks down the walls of industry trends and ignites a party experience like no other.

THE TECH REPUBLIC @ POISON APPLE In the main room Boogs, T-Rek, Jen Tutty, Phil K, Ross Horkings, Tyrone and Bianca White supply the soundtrack to your evening while in the basement Gavin Keitel, Mike Callander, Lister Cooray, Bart Bara, Clint Morgan and Jamie Coyle bring you some of the finest house and techno to get your arse groovin’. $15 guestlist (inpresslist@ live.com).

HOUSE PARTY @ EUROTRASH Party on two floors with 1928, Sleeves, Megawuoti, Tranter, Mu-gen and D Ceed. $10/$5 before 10pm. Email adam@eurotrashbar. com.au for birthdays – you’ll get free entry and a cheap guestlist for your friends.

PLAYGROUND @ SEVEN Spread over six rooms, Playground has been showcasing R&B and hip hop for five years. Complimented by regular live acts, come and celebrate the best in urban culture that Melbourne has to offer.

SATURDAYS @ LUCKY COQ Spread over two levels with DJs downstairs including Pacman, Jean Paul, Sam McEwin and Greyskull playing tech house and electro. Upstairs you’ll find Kodiak Kid, Moonshine, Ash-Lee and guests playing funk. From 9pm-late. Free entry.

IT’S OUR HOUSE @ LOUNGE Join Darren Coburn and Moose for a sensual start to your Saturday night. Then, from the Smashbang label, it’s Luke McD smashing out original left-of-centre techno/

electro tracks. Finally taking you beyond the night is Nick Coleman, playing tunes to keep you up until the early morn’. From 10pm-late.

SUNDAY BLAK ROOTS ALBUM LAUNCH @ THE TOFF African act Blak Roots have taken the reggae genre in Melbourne to new heights with an exciting musical brew of driving reggae rhythms, refreshingly sweet vocals and African-inspired harmonies. Led by African vocal extraordinaire William Kadima, Blak Roots formed in early 2008 bringing together an eclectic mix of talented jazz, world and reggae artists from some of the planet’s most exotic locations. The band releases its debut album with the support of amazing local act Vox Congo performing a unique mix of Congolese gospel, rumba, soukous, zouk, reggae, aguaya and pende folk rhythms. Doors 7.30pm. $12 entry.

BE @ CO Launch night featuring Damion De Silva, Jay-J, Ken Walker, Kate Jean, DJ Ryza, Lightening, Rev and Hoesty heating up Co with R&B, old school, house and mashups. $15/$12 guestlist (info@ houseofgroove.com.au). From 9.30pm-late.

INDUSTRY SUNDAYS @ CIRCUS When you’ve stopped serving the masses, come to Circus and let loose. Great for people who love to party on a Sunday and for people who work in the industry.

SUNDAYS @ REVOLVER Revolver’s all-day electric disco party is one of the world’s most unique clubbing experiences – tight like family and welcoming like long lost friends. Featuring Boogs, Spacey Space, Radiator and T-Rek. $15 in the morning, free entry apart from Summer Series events.

SUNDAYS @ NEW GUERNICA A mix of Little Richard slamming a piano with a pair of blue suede shoes to John Lydon pissing off his Sex Pistol fans with his new band that was just as important, along with all the good new wave, death disco, punk funk, post punk and Liverpool pop you can hear in a good night out. Free entry.

KHOKOLAT KOATED @ K BAR Khokolat like you’ve never tasted. Featuring Damion De Silva, K Dee, Jay Sin and weekly guests playing R&B sounds strictly for the urban elite. From 9.30pm-late. $15/$12 guestlist (guestlist@restless.com. au).

STUN!DAYS @ BLUE BAR How many DJs does it take to change a lightbulb? Get down to Blue Bar and find out. Featuring Rowie and Kate Niall mixing it up. From 6pm-1am. Free entry.

SOUTH SIDE HUSTLE @ LUCKY COQ Pilgrim Light Circus kick the night off from 5-7pm playing live jazz and funk. Following them is Askew, Booshank, Paz, Ms Butt, Jumbo, Junji and Harry, Pete Baker and guests laying down slick tunes until 3am.

SUNDAE SHAKE @ BIMBO DELUXE Slide into your favourite comfy couch or across the dancefloor as masters of entertainment PhatoA-Mano, Agent 86 and Tigerfunk hit you between the ears every Sunday.

MONDAY STREET POETICS @ FIRST FLOOR Rotating MCs host an open mic night with the Street Poetics live band. The house band includes the likes of Mr Savona (Illzilla), Tom Tom (True Live), Choi (Cookin On Three Burners) and Miss Vida

Sunshyne. DJ Wasabi is also hand, accompanied by his mammoth bag of cuts to ensure you hear all those hip hop classics. $5 entry/free before 10pm.

DIAMOND DOGS @ BIMBO DELUXE Inspired by David Bowie, Lady Noir and Kiti span the ages of rock, glam and indie. If you’re after something a little different, then look no further.

DEEP @ NEW GUERNICA An mp3 player on shuffle isn’t as entertaining as listening to someone who actually loves playing good music getting loose with you from behind the decks. Hence New Guernica’s new take on Monday evenings. On rotation from 9pm, music lovers grace our organ and play sounds from the deep to keep the weekend wrongness flowing.

TUESDAY PERCY’S PLAYHOUSE @ NEW GUERNICA Hosted by the delightful young chap who thinks high tea means margaritas on a Monday morning. Special appearances by Percy’s colourful friends and a rabidly fun, five-hour-odd set of party dance with one of Melbourne’s most eloquently wasted madmen.

UPCOMING... IDA CD LAUNCH @ THE EVELYN Ida (pronounced Ee’da) explores influences from R&B, soul, dancehall, hip hop and world beat. Singing in both English and her native tongue (Bahasa Melayu), she creates a fresh and earthy fusion of east meets west, old meets new. Catch Ida when she launches her debut EP titled Holographic Love on Thursday 1 July with support from Candice Monique, DJ Wasabi, Voodoo Dred (Grrilla Step), Mista Savona, 1/6, Kojo, Matt Witney, Chap One and Tariro. There will also be tribal bellydance, dancehall and temple dance performances on the night.

STROBE FEAT BAG RAIDERS, AJAX & BENI @ PRINCE After throwing epic nights and days with Proxy, Fake Blood, Feadz, Boy 8-Bit, Jesse Rose, Sinden and more, we wanted to throw a party to show support for some of our favourite Australian acts – Bag Raiders, Ajax and Beni (Kitsune/ Riot In Belgium). Over two rooms with 1928, Sleeves, Megawuoti, Tranter, Kris Baha and James Fava. Our last show sold out two weeks beforehand, tickets will sell fast so don’t miss out. Friday 16 July. Tickets through Moshtix.

SPIT SYNDICATE @ THE EVELYN Spit Syndicate bring the Starry-Eyed national tour through Melbourne on Friday 16 July. The Sydney duo recently released their sophomore album Exile to widespread acclaim and will be joined by special local guests at each stop. Accompanied on stage by musical mercenary DJ Joyride, Spit Syndicate have built a monster reputation on the back of their unique, high-energy live shows.

ELOQUOR ALBUM LAUNCH @ REVOLVER Like the glow of the city streets, Melbourne’s Eloquor is the amalgamation of a spiritual soul with the battered underground. Digging deep into the aural landscape of New York’s hip hop roots, the talented hip hop lyricist and memorable performer returns to launch Charge, his second album. Supported by Melbourne’s finest emerging hip hop crews including Doc Felix, BBS, In Good Company, Scarlet City and Strike One, the night promises to deliver a full charge of underground hip hop like no other. Tickets $13 on the door, from 9pm. Friday 30 July.

Zebra Venue Guide

FIRST FLOOR 393 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 9419 6380 THE FOX 351 Wellington St, Collingwood 9416 4917 FUSION Level 3, Crown Entertainment Complex, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank ABODE 9292 5750 374 St Kilda Rd, St Kilda GEORGE LANE BAR 9525 5552 1 George lane (off Grey St,), St Kilda ALIA Level 1, 83-87 Smith St, (corner of Smith 9593 8884 THE GERTRUDE HOTEL St, and Gertrude St), Fitzroy 148 Gertrude St, Fitzroy 9486 0999 9419 2823 ALUMBRA GERTRUDES BROWN COUCH Shed 9, Central Pier, Docklands 30-32 Gertrude St, Fitzroy 9690 0883 9417 6420 THE APARTMENT GOLDEN MONKEY 401-405 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 389 Lonsdale St, (enter via Hardware 9670 4020 Lane), Melbourne ATTICUS FINCH 9602 2055 129 Lygon St, East, Brunswick 9387 0188 THE GOOSE & VINYL THE BALCONY 91-93 Flinders Lane (entrance via 422 Little Collins St, Melbourne Duckboard Pl), Melbourne 9642 8917 1300 843 466 BAR 362 GRACE DARLING HOTEL 362 St Kilda Rd, St Kilda 114 Smith St, Collingwood 9534 4666 9416 0055 BARAKI UPO MEZETHES THE GREAT BRITAIN HOTEL 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne 447 Church St, Richmond 9663 1002 9429 5066 BARBARA THE HAIRY CANARY Level 1, 203 Swan St, Richmond 226 Little Collins St, Melbourne 9429 3146 9654 2471 BAR OPEN HORSE BAZAAR 317 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 397 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne 9415 9601 9670 2329 BERTHA BROWN HOTEL BARKLY 562 Flinders St, Melbourne 109 Barkly St, St Kilda 9629 1207 9525 3332 BIGMOUTH INFLATION 168 Acland St, St Kilda 60 King St, Melbourne 9534 4611 9614 6122 BILLBOARD KATUK 162 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 517a Chapel St, South Yarra 9639 4000 9827 9004 BIMBO DELUXE KHOKOLAT BAR 376 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 43 Hardware Lane, Melbourne 9419 8600 9642 1442 BLUE BAR LA DI DA 330 Chapel St, Prahran 577 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 9529 6499 9670 7680 BLUE TILE LOUNGE LA LA LAND 95 Smith St, Fitzroy 134 Chapel St, Windsor 9417 7186 9533 8972 BOUTIQUE LAIKA 134 Greville St, Prahran 9 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9525 2322 9534 0002 BROWN ALLEY THE LOFT Corner of King St, and Lonsdale St, Level 2, 117 Lonsdale St, Melbourne Melbourne 9650 3388 9670 8599 LONG BAR CABINET BAR & BALCONY 60 Lygon St, Carlton 11 Rainbow Alley, Melbourne 9380 4004 9654 0915 LOOP CANARY CLUB 19-23 Meyers Pl, Melbourne 6 Melbourne Pl, Melbourne 9654 0500 9663 1983 LOUNGE CANVAS 243 Swanston St, Melbourne Level 1, 302-320 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn 9663 2916 9819 2200 LOVE MACHINE CHAISE LOUNGE Little Chapel St (Corner Malvern Rd), Basement, 105 Queen St, Melbourne Sth Yarra 9670 6120 9533 8837 CHASERS LUCKY COQ 386 Chapel St, South Yarra 179 Chapel St, Prahran 9827 7379 9525 1288 CIRCUS MADAMME BRUSSELS 199 Commercial Rd, South Yarra 63 Bourke St, Melbourne 9804 8605 9662 2775 CO. NIGHTCLUB MAEVE FOX Level 3, Crown Entertainment Complex, 8 472 Church St, Richmond Whiteman St, Southbank 9427 1233 9682 1888 THE MARKET THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL 143 Commercial Rd, South Yarra 1-21 Ocean Rd, Sorrento 9826 0933 5984 2201 MATCH BAR & GRILL COOKIE 249 Lonsdale St, Melbourne Level 1, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, 9654 6522 Melbourne MANCHURIA 9663 7660 7 Waratah Pl, Melbourne THE CORNISH ARMS 9663 1997 163A Sydney Rd, Brunswick MERCAT CROSS HOTEL 9380 8383 456 Queen St, Melbourne CROFT INSTITUTE 9348 9998 21 Croft Alley (off Little Bourke St), METROPOL Melbourne 60 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9671 4399 9534 5999 CUSHION LOUNGE MISS LIBERTINE 99 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 34 Franklin St, Melbourne 9534 7575 9663 6855 DECCA BAR MISTY PLACE 95 Queen St, Melbourne 3-5 Hosier lane, Melbourne 9600 0900 9663 9202 DING DONG LOUNGE MOTHER’S MILK (BRIGHTON) Level 1, 18 Market lane, Melbourne 287 Bay St, Brighton 9662 1020 9596 9470 THE DROWNING OLIVE MOTHER’S MILK (WINDSOR) 407-409 Swanston St, Melbourne 17 Chapel St, Windsor 9650 5486 9521 4119 ELECTRIC LADYLAND NASH HOTEL Level 1, 265 Chapel St, Prahran 344 Victoria St, Richmond 9521 5757 9428 3418 EMPRESS NEVERMIND 714 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy 336 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn 9489 8605 NEVERWHERE BAR ESCOBAR 185 Smith St, Fitzroy 189 Lonsdale St, Melbourne 0422 560 890 0407 845 278 NEW GUERNICA ESPLANADE HOTEL Level 2, Hub Arcade, 318 Little Collins 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda St, Melbourne 9534 0211 9650 4464 EUROTRASH THE NIGHT CAT 18 Corrs Lane, Melbourne 141 JohnSt,on St, Fitzroy 9564 4411 9417 0900 EVE BAR/LOUNGE THE NIGHT OWL 334 City Rd, Southbank Basement, 33 Elizabeth St, 9696 7388 Melbourne E-55 9614 2777 55 Elizabeth St, Melbourne NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB 9620 3899 301 High St, Northcote 9489 3917

ONESIXONE 161 High St, Prahran 9533 8433 THE ORDER OF MELBOURNE Level 2, 401 Swanston St, Melbourne ne 9663 6707 PALACE THEATRE 20 Bourke St, Melbourne 9663 4288 PLATFORM ONE Vault 7/8 Banana Alley, Melbourne 9620 7080 THE POST OFFICE HOTEL 90 Swan St, Richmond 9428 6674 PRINCE OF WALES 29 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9536 1166 PUBLIC BAR 238 Victoria St, North Melbourne 9329 6522 THE PURPLE EMERALD 191 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 9650 7753 Q BAR 257 Toorak Rd, South Yarra 9804 7800 RANDY DRAGON Basement, 313a Flinders Lane, Melbourne 9629 9141 RED HUMMINGBIRD 246 Russell St, Melbourne 9654 2192 RED BENNIES Level 1, 371-373 Chapel St, South Yarra RED LOVE MUSICROOM Level 1, 401 Swanston St, Melbourne 9639 3722 RED VIOLIN 1/231 Bourke St, Melbourne 0411 423 245 REVOLVER 229 Chapel St, Prahran 9521 5985 ROBARTA 109 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9534 9041 ROBOT 12 Bligh Pl, Melbourne 9620 3646 ROOFTOP BAR Level 7, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne 9663 3596 ROOM 680 Level 1, 680 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn 9818 0680 ROXANNE PARLOUR 2/3 Coverlid Pl, Melbourne 9663 1018 RUBY’S LOUNGE 1648 Burwood Highway, Belgrave 9754 7445 SAGI BAR 57 High St, Northcote 9489 9983 THE SAINT 54 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9593 8333 SECTION 8 27-29 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne 0422 972 656 SEVEN 52 Albert Rd, South Melbourne 9690 7877 SOFTBELLY BAR 367 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 0410 329 129 SORRY GRANDMA! 590 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 9670 7493 STAR BAR 160 Clarendon St, South Melbourne 9810 9954 SYN BAR Level 1, 163 Russell St, Melbourne 9663 8990 TERMINUS HOTEL 605 Victoria St, Abbotsford 9427 0615 TOFF IN TOWN Level 2, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne 9639 8770 TRAMP 14 King St, Melbourne TRANSIT Federation Square, Princes Bridge (corner Northbank), Melbourne 9654 8808 TRANSPORT PUBLIC BAR Federation Square, corner Flinders St and Swanston St, Melbourne 9654 8808 TRYST 3 Wilson St, South Yarra 9827 5533 TYRANNY OF DISTANCE 147 Union St, Windsor 9525 1005 VELOUR 121 Flinders lane, Melbourne 9663 5589 VIOLET TEARS 192 Barkly St, St Kilda 9534 4445 WAH WAH LOUNGE 185 Lonsdale St, Melbourne 9654 5793 WHITE BAR 129 Fitzroy St, St Kilda 9593 9077 WINDSOR CASTLE 89 Albert St, Windsor 9525 0239 WORKSHOP Level 1, 413 Elizabeth St, Melbourne 9326 4365 YAK 150 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 9654 6699

THE ARSE END HEADS UP

Spruce Lee. Pic by Cybel b e Malinowski

D-Bridge Magic is hanging on

MAGICAL MAG GICAL RATINGS RATINGS With 3MP off air and replaced by the conservative talk radio station no one knows about, Melbourne’s least offensive music station Magic (no Gaga or Bieber) has jumped in the ratings. It now beats Triple M and Mix and is equal with Nova.

Boganchef finalists

CYBER-THREATS = WEAK

MY NAME IS SPRUCE

So some horrible contestant from that crock show MasterBoganChef has been getting death threats… on Facebook. Who makes death threats on Facebook? About someone on a reality cooking show? This is why we prefer Project Runway.

Syd DJ Spruce Lee has done it again. His latest Club Chart hit is the awesomely XXL-phunky edit Feelin’ Real Good and better still, he’s used the totes fab moniker Toni Toni Lee.

ARSE LICKS

Tony Hayward under att

ack

TONY HAYWARD The BP CEO really was rather silly to choose to go yachting on his first day off since his company caused the biggest oil spill in US history, wasn’t he?

Chris Klein is a Mug

CHRIS’ DECLINE The first time Chris Klein makes news since his off-key Mamma Mia audition tape went viral and it’s for a drinkdriving offence. Oops!

CAUSE OF DEATH If it wasn’t disturbing enough to see Slipknot members unmasked and crying when bass player Paul Gray died – it’s now revealed that he died from an accidental overdose of morphine. Slipknot’s Paul Gray

Zebra Magazine 15

CHUNKY MOVE ANNOUNCE DANCE CLASSES

THEATRE

Including contemporary, ballet, funk, yoga and (new!) hip hop, Chunky Move’s public dance program is, depending on your natural rhythms, an excellent way to flail around helpless or look all effortless and smug. (And probably sweaty either way, but isn’t that an upside in winter?) The line-up of industryprofessional instructors is joined by Sid Mathur, who can help you get much better at urban, animation, popping, crunk, and dancehall styles. Classes run at their Southbank studios and can be taken casually or regularly, with discount rates for multiple passes. Head to chunkymove.com for more info.

CINEMA FIASCO THE GRÖNHOLM METHOD Astor Theatre

RED STITCH UNVEIL 2010 SEASON TWO Red Stitch Theatre are putting on four new plays between July and December this year. The season opens with the world premiere of Melissa Bubnic’s Stop. Rewind, a play developed through the Red Stitch Writers Program in which multiple voices of a group of co-workers whose stories conversations with an about each other develop into a group portrait, and ends on a similar note of interpersonal complications and confidences with a production of August Strindberg’s Creditors, wherein Swedish people have marital difficulties too. Between these are the comic mystery The City and Oh Well Never Mind Bye, an apparently not too optimistic consideration of media and social responsibility through that whole bombing thingy in London. Seeredstitch.net for dates and tickets.

THIS WEEK IN TUESDAY 22 Coppélia – final performance of the Australian Ballet’s interpretation of the village boy falling in love with the eponymous living doll and the ensuing shenanigans. State Theatre.

WEDNESDAY 23 Happily Ever After – a search for a satisfactorily perfect ending within the everyday world and one a little more magical. La Mama Theatre until 11 July. Maybe Forever – a contemporary dance piece taking up the uncertainty of loneliness. Malthouse Theatre until 26 June. Starting Here, Starting Now – a performance of the classic music revue. Black Box Theatre.

THURSDAY 24 7 Evils in One! – group exhibition. Closing night. No Vacancy. Artist Film Workshop – a new open collective for those working in or interested in film. TAPE Space, 8-10pm. Blood – Sergi Belbel’s play about amputations: finger, ear, foot, head. It comes, perhaps unsurprisingly, with a warning that it may be confronting, and is presented by Vicious Fish. TheatreWorks until 4 July. Deakin In The Loop – screening of films from 2009 graduates of Deakin’s Bachelor of Film & Digital Media. Loop Bar, 6-10pm. Indigenous Place Making: Knowledge, Culture and Community – a panel discussion on place making in Melbourne and how indigenous traditions can be addressed in the city’s architectural and community future. BMW Edge, Fed Square, 6-7.30pm. Tim Burton: The Exhibition – concept artworks, puppets, photographs, costume and film from his ouevre constitute this retrospective. Opening day. ACMI until 10 October. The Burton Club – Every Thursday throughout the Tim Burton exhibition ACMI is open late for viewings, drinks

ARTS and live entertainment inspired by his work. ACMI, Thursdays until 10pm. Tim Burton book signing – The Cube, ACMI, 10.30am. (Maximum two items per person.)

FRIDAY 25 Glastonbury: another stage – a collection of portraits taken by excellently named British photographer Venetia Deaden at the festival. Raw Gallery until 24 July. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure – screening of Tim Burton’s debut introduced by the director as part of his retrospective at ACMI. Other sessions 2 July and 4 July, bookings required.

SHOT SNAP-

BLUE GIRL WITH WINE TIM BURTON Displaying as part of Tim Burton: The Exhibition at ACMI until Sunday 10 October.

SATURDAY 26

FILM

Arena – launch of a series of interactive artworks engaging with sustainability. City Square until 24 July.

No genre is as brutally efficient, devoted to archetype and suffocatingly formulated as the romantic comedy. Picture: two unlikeable characters working aspirational jobs meet in a moment of mutual dislike, unconvincingly bitch the other out to their funnierbut-less-attractive friends, grow slowly attracted to their signposted paramour, all whilst maintaining ridiculous-in-the-extreme ruses that will be exposed right when everything is going great, leading to a bit where it rains and then someone has to profess their love for the other in grandstanding fashion, thereby suggesting that these obnoxious, privileged, vile specimens of mankind are somehow deserving of eternal happiness. Roll credits. Whilst these genre-works’re delivered with gags no sane human could equate to comedy, you can’t deny the romance inherent in their sustained cinematic delusions (like these hideous humans could ever truly be happy!). Forever lurking beneath these screenwritten romanticisms are unappealing realities, ones that glossy Hollywood products will always gloss over. Perhaps because of its cultural/

Winter Artisans Market – locally handcrafted artifacts, including crafts, artworks, etc. Northcote Social Club, 10am to 4pm.

SUNDAY 27 Candy Man – Wayne Scott Kermond enacts the life story of Sammy Davis Jr in this production at the Playhouse. Closes today. Melbourne International Animation Festival – last day at ACMI.

MONDAY 28 Peggy – performance of The Australian Ballet’s celebration of it’s founding artistic director, Peggy van Praagh, followed by a Q&A session. State Theatre. Tim Burton’s Slightly Scary Stories – an 80-min selection of the director’s early shorts on until 10 July as part of the retrospective at ACMI.

A world where we get to see Nancy Sinatra bellowing like a wounded elk, Tommy Kirk twisting by the pool and a ludicrous gorilla whose ape suit won’t zip up properly at the back is, by my reckoning, a pretty cherishable world. Cinema Fiasco screens on the first Friday of each month at the Astor Theatre. The whole thing is set up by the forensic commentary/observations of Janet McLeod and Geoff Wallis, two divinely unhinged film buffs who have spent far too many years studying celluloid ‘treasures’ otherwise thought lost behind the sofa cushion of history. CF is helping to redefine the concept of cinema as a communal ritual. McLeod and Wallis’s wonderfully eccentric dynamic combined with some of the worst films ever made by humans make this a truly unique film-going experience. And if its political incorrectness you’re concerned about, you needn’t worry – there’s heaps! When Wallis references Michael Hutchence at the sight of a hanging corpse, the laughter almost brings down the chandeliers. The night ends up in a whole mess of fun when they run a preview of their next attraction, Danish dinosaur shocker Reptilicus (Friday 2 July). The urge to hide behind the Astor’s battery of sofas may prove impossible to resist. Next screening is Reptilicus Friday 2 July CAMERON GRACE

Red Stitch Actors Theatre Is this what they call reality theatre? Stick four people in a room and subject them to all manner of bizarre, exploitative tests and see who survives. Welcome to Catalan playwright Jordi Galceran Ferrer’s black satire of corporate excess and HR madness. The Grönholm Method is a periscope into an 11th floor interview room, where ‘candidates’ converge to compete for a well-paid gig. There’s the straight-talking arsehole, the nervous guy, the cute, confident guy, and the driven career woman; all apparent stereotypes who cleverly devolve in this shrewd guessinggame comedy. By turns psychological puzzle and cultural critique, Ferrer’s vision of a job interview gone mad comes off like the bastard spawn of Big Brother and Glengarry Glen Ross. Directed unobtrusively by Nadia Tass (of Malcolm fame) this English language world premiere of The Grönholm Method is compact and clever, with room left for both the obvious humour and the darker undercurrents. David Whiteley takes the no-nonsense Frank and gives him more than a touch of Barnaby Joyce. (It’s scary and brilliant.) Sharp, dry and loaded, this play is like a weapon left where children can get at it: it could be explosive but instead it’s ‘just’ good, solid contemporary theatre. Until 10 July PAUL RANSOM

but deep in his dark soul; this pouty, mood-leeching, never-laughing man eyeballs-deep in repressed-emotion, needing far more rehabilitation than having some ridiculously-cute-girl take a shine to him. And, in Mélanie Laurent, this film has a ridiculously cute ridiculously-cute-girl; plenty of the film’s best frames coming when Devoldère happily gazes on her leading-lady’s manifest beauty. But, rather than being some Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Laurent’s character lives a life in ruins; and her whimsical, gameplaying, romantically-minded devotion to the idea of this male foil is part Amélie tweeness, part self-sustained delusion, and part creepy fucking stalking. Here, her zaniness isn’t a narrative catalyst, but a paralysing burden; and, in the end, this weirdly-compelling film essentially suggests that the only way anyone can really find love is by ceasing acting like ridiculous romantic comedy creations. Where regular rom coms find vile humans rewarded for their vulgar solipsism, Devoldère dares suggest her paramours need to get the fuck over themselves already or else no one will ever stand to be around them.

arriving on local screens this week after receiving its cinematic release, elsewhere in the world, in 2007. Largely, its rescue from the ranks of the ignored comes because so many of its cast – Anna Kendrick, chiefly, but also Jonah Hill and Aaron Yoo – has since gone on to become much-more-famous. Such a lag is a bit of a drag, but at least there’s a semi-good film on belated display; Jeffrey Blitz, following his spelling-bee-centric documentary Spellbound, writing a debate-club-themed fast-talkin’teens pic that wears its debt to Rushmore and Election happily on its blazer-sleeve. Blitz delivers us a meek twerp taken under the wing of a shot-calling honour-roller, but it’s never pure teenage-malefantasy fulfilment; even if there are repeated, mythologised shots of Kendrick’s ass in slow-motion. Instead, in between the flurries of rapid-fire dialogue, the surprisinglydroll gags, and the incongruouslyponderous narration, Rocket Science portrays coming-of-age as it should always be: a sexless succession of public humiliations that pitch in some painful place between comic and catastrophic.

CAREW

Adam Cruickshank, Oscar Ferreiro and Tim Hillier – home furnishing, Keanu Reeves and transistor radios are together for one last day at West Space.

Sing-Along Sound Of Music – audience participation evening of the somewhat classic musical at Hamer Hall. Dress-ups welcome, but not Rocky Horror.

REVIEWS

WITH ANTHONY CAREW

productional background, Jennifer Devoldère’s French/American romcom Every Jack Has A Jill actually punctures the wall of fantasy; even if many of its ugly truths are likely revealed unintentionally. Here, the debut writer-director delivers a largely dire parade of rom-com tropes: introducing us to a dour, sourfaced dufus freshly dumped by his upwardly-mobile long-term love-interest, who is fated to meet cute – via mixed-up suitcases – with an essentially-sociopathic, ‘quirky’ loner-girl who is all too happy to make said dour, sourfaced dufus the centre of her existence. Beyond its painfully-familiar boy/ girl pair, Devoldère comes calling with a collection of cringe-worthy comic relief; everyone else in the film rather resembling a single, ethnically-derived punchline, told repeatedly. Still, with its semileisurely pace, scant soundtrack cues, and lack of wackily-sustainedlie, Every Jack Has A Jill rarely resembles a Hollywood picture in its delivery. And, even better, there are actually suggestions that Devoldère knows that her characters’ quirks are not charming, but symptoms of mental illness. This dour, sourfaced dufus is, indeed, depressed; not in some frowny I-got-dumped way,

Rocket Science is a high school comedy in need of a tardy slip;

THEATRE

CELEBRATING THE SHARPIE CULTURE

REVIEW

CIRCUS OZ Birrarung Marr Circus Oz’s new show (no name – just ‘Circus Oz’), looks old-fashioned but it most definitely belongs in the 21st century. The lovely sense of circus of yore is heightened by the fabulous steam-punk aesthetic and traditional acts like bicycle balancing and cigar box juggling. The costumes take you back 100 years or so and the set design works well without dominating the scene. The whole thing is just so gorgeous and happy. Making it’s

not funny. Except that it is funny, wild, and comical, and exciting with balancing acts to make you gasp. The drum solo/balancing act where the acrobat stacks up bongos and snares into a precarious rolling tower has audience members shouting out, “Impossible!” and, “You can’t do it!” Of course he can, and does. The hip hopping red kangaroos (an entirely modern departure) are hilarious before they even start to run riot. Circus Oz has a unique culture that thoroughly informs what they do. No one performer is the star of this

show; you get a great sense of the ensemble’s trust and camaraderie. The music’s an absolute standout. You’d have a happy night out simply listening to the band and Sarah Ward’s original songs yet it all works together to produce a multilayered show with all the fun you could ever want. Opening night ended with a spontaneous standing ovation. Circus Oz is a treasure, even more so when you take into account the good they do out in the community. Until 11 July LIZA DEZFOULI

If you are of a certain age and grew up in Melbourne, the word ‘sharpie’ may be significant to you, coming to define a youth subculture of ’70s suburbia. Everything from the shoes to jackets to music to haircut defined the Sharpie style, and now, back by popular demand, the Skins N Sharps exhibition takes the trip back to uncover or restore memories of an era gone by. A CD, Suburban Sharp by the City Sharps, in being released in conjunction, as is the book RAGE: A Sharpie’s Journal, Melbourne 1974 to 1980, by Julie Mac. Skins N Sharps is held at Kustom Lane Gallery from Sunday 4 July, featuring artifacts, photos , and art. Head to skinsnsharps.com for more details.

ABSOLUTE ABBA FANS OF SWEDEN’S GREAT EXPORT, ABBA, ARE ABOUT TO LIVE THEIR WILDEST FANTASIES AT THE ABBAWORLD INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION. TONY MCMAHON SPEAKS TO CURATOR MATS DALESKOG.

kay, let’s get this out of the way right up front: the Street Press Australia family has more than its fair share of ABBA… worshippers is probably the only word for it, really. This writer is unashamedly included, along with a managing editor or two. As such, the interactive ABBAWORLD exhibition was never going to be anything but heavenly for us, so don’t expect even a semblance of objective reporting in the following. ABBAWORLD boasts conventional exhibition elements such as music, videos, photographs, objects, costumes, awards, and stories around the band’s albums, but there is also the option for each visitor to have his or her photo added to an ABBA album cover, opportunities to get onstage and perform with – wait for it – life-sized holographic band members and ABBA quizzes. Interestingly, curator Mats Daleskog describes the ABBAWORLD experience foremostly in terms of emotions. “I would describe it more as a roller coaster of feelings,” he says. “It’s based on a timeline from before ABBA were ABBA, right through to the time of Mama Mia [the stage show], and it focuses on very specific parts of their lives. We’ve recreated where they wrote many of their songs. Plus there’s the opportunity to be recorded performing with the band or have your picture added to an album cover and access it straight away on the internet. It’s kind of a total package. There’s really something for everyone, people enjoy it in different ways.” Talking of feelings, everyone of a certain, uh, age, seems to have memories associated with ABBA. My own – involving spin-the-bottle, a girl named Jillian Peterson and the song Fernando – shall remain just that, memories, but fortunately Daleskog is slightly less repressed.

“I had my first girlfriend at eightyears-old and that time was filled with ABBA memories. I remember being forced by her to pretend to be Björn singing into a tennis racket; what a memory. I did get a kiss from her afterwards though, so it’s a fond one. The exhibition really creates something like these feelings, I think.” It’s not just this magazine that has a special relationship with ABBA. The entire country was wildly in love with them during the ’70s, arguably more so than anywhere else in the world, and it seems that ABBAWORLD will reflect this. “Australia is probably the place where they were loved the most, even more than in Sweden at the time, I would say. Of course, ABBA: The Movie [directed, bizarrely it now seems, by Lasse ‘My Life As A Dog’ Halström] was shot in Australia during the tour, so we have material and stage clothes from that. It’s quite a blessing for us.” Most curators are loath to nominate highlights from their exhibitions, and Daleskog is no different. In fact, it could be argued that this task is even trickier for him considering the breadth of experiences on offer at ABBAWORLD. “That’s so difficult,” he says. “It depends on the person attending. We’ve got the actual piano they wrote their songs on looking out at the archipelago outside Stockholm where they had a summerhouse. We’ve recreated that. That’s kind of thrilling. Seeing people perform with 3D holographic images, that’s unique, we’re the only ones doing that. There’s also a lot of small, personal photos that gives you an insight into a side of the band that you perhaps haven’t gotten to see before. Like I said, something for everyone.” WHAT: ABBAWORLD WHERE & WHEN: Federation Square until 31 October

MALTHOUSE RESIDENTS TO TACKLE THYESTES Sometimes contemporary drama is kind of, y’know, quiet-ish. Accessible characters and their relatable problems. Go back to Shakespeare and everyone’s getting married or being King and Queen of the fairies in comedies, or ruling nations and killing each other in the tragedies. Further back again, everyone is related to and having sex with and/or revenging themselves upon the gods in Greek or Latin. Eventually the Gods get bored of it and everything’s sorted out. But that happens after the play finishes. THANKS SENECA, and hey, you did a great job as Nero’s tutor, too. The Malthouse Theatre have commissioned The Hayloft Project to make sense of this onstage through Thyestes from 16 September to 3 October under the direction of Simon Stone. Tickets at malthousetheatre.com.au.

MEGGS STOPS WORLD DOMINATION FOR LOCAL SHOW Local artist Meggs is opening his third solo Australian show after exhibiting in London, Tokyo, Miami, and LA. His new show, King For A Day, is a proliferation of paintings, prints and installations depicting the changing nature of celebrity in the age of mass online social media, and the disintegration of distance between person and representation this effects not only in the construction of short-lived entertainment figures but our own self-images. You? Yes, you. Now put down your iPhone. It opens this Friday at Backwoods Gallery, Collingwood and runs until 18 July.

WAKING LIFE

C U LT U R A L

WITH REBECCA COOK

WINTER THEATRE AND ONE BIG SLEEP. LIZA DEZFOULI TALKS AWAKENINGS WITH TRENT BAKER, DIRECTOR OF A KIND OF ALASKA.

irector Trent Baker first read Harold Pinter’s play A Kind Of Alaska years ago and is about to stage it at the Theatre Husk, home of Winterfall Theatre Company. “It’s not a new play, it’s about 30 years old now,” notes Baker, co-founder and artistic director of Winterfall. “I’ve just always liked it.” Pinter was one of several playwrights who approached Oliver Sacks, whose book, Awakenings, inspired the play, but he was the only writer Sacks approved of to bring the story to the stage. A Kind Of Alaska is based on actual events early last century where people fell into a kind of coma until they were revived decades later, having lost half their lives or more. What is it about this script that intrigues Baker? “The central character is so fascinating,” he says. “Her struggle after she comes out of a long ‘sleep’ is a specific situation, outside most people’s experience but we can all relate, sooner or later, to that sense of ‘what if’, of time wasted or time lost… Those ‘I should have’ moments.” The play ‘visits’ the central character, Deborah, played by Winterfall’s co-director Michelle Williams, at the ages of eight, 12, 16 and 45. She is cared for by her sister (played by

Felicity Soper) and her doctor (La Mama favourite Phil Roberts). “The drawcard for the audience is this experience the main character goes through,” says Baker. “She’s been asleep for 30 years.” The stuff of fairy tales, but unlike the old stories A Kind Of Alaska doesn’t place the audience in a morally defined world. “Pinter is deliberately ambiguous,” notes Baker. “He wants audiences to argue; he creates a polemic, he wants to create opposition in the audience. Baker says that when he and the three cast members came together after the first readings they had four different versions of the play. The great part of it is that it asks so many questions.” Baker is fascinated, and challenged as a theatre maker, by Pinter’s very particular way with language. “It’s almost a classical style, almost like Shakespeare, with the pauses, the silences,” he explains. “The art for a director is in observing the silences and pauses, and then the rapid fire! Pinter’s writing is like a piece of classical music – there is a basic structure you must adhere to and then you can improvise around that structure.” Pinter famously noted that “words

CRINGE

are what we use to disguise our nakedness”. Baker elaborates: “With Pinter the best stuff is what he leaves out. You think, ‘Hang on, what’s going on? How did that happen?’. There are subterranean depths; the dialogue is working on one level and the relationship on another.” A Kind Of Alaska is Winterfall Theatre’s second production, their first being As You Like It earlier this year. Their next production is an entirely different work, Blue Serge by Rebecca Gilman. Baker says his and Williams’s plan for Winterfall is to accumulate a loose ensemble of actors, directors, set designers in order to produce drama with a difference “It doesn’t have to be a new play,” he says, “as long as it resonates, that it’s work we enjoy.” WHAT: A Kind Of Alaska WHERE & WHEN: The Theatre Husk until 4 July

There is something so darn sexy about the National Gallery of Victoria’s latest Winter Masterpieces exhibition, European Masters: Städel Museum 19-20th Century, that opened on Thursday. Could it be the dark and troubled history of many of the 100 precious works? According to the NGV’s Curator of International Art, Sophie Matthiesson, “The Städel Museum was so adventurous, so risqué with its acquisitions that it attracted the attention of the Nazis. It made them a target. The Nazis seized more than 700 works in the museum (and later sold them to fund their cause). Many artists and directors were also exiled.” Years later the museum painstakingly bought the paintings back off the market. Many of the pieces have had what Matthiesson describes as “tumultuous lives”, such as the Franz Marc’s Dog Lying In The Snow, which was so abstract for the time, it enraged the realism-loving Nazis. Or maybe it’s the exclusivity of the work? The fact that such a valuable exhibition is here at all is a happy coincidence. Matthiesson said it was a case of the right place, right time. While travelling in Frankfurt, Cathy Leahy, Curator Prints and Drawings, got wind of the fact that the Städel was closing for a major renovation. “It never travels as a whole because it is so full of masterpieces. In normal circumstances, they would never let it go,” she says. So how did we

persuade them? Apparently it was a matter of the NGV being the first to ask. The works, which provide an outstanding survey of the key artistic movements of the time – Realism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism, German Romanticism, Expressionism and Modernism and French Symbolism – are of “colossal value” and therefore had to travel in separate shipments under armed guard. Armed guard! Getting hot yet? Maybe it’s the fact that they’ve never been seen in Australia before? Matthiesson admits it was a bit like Christmas when they started to unpack the paintings. “You’ve seen them as a JPEG but you’re never prepared for the real thing. Texture and scale don’t hit you until they’re out of their boxes. Your favourite is always changing as you open the next box.” Perhaps it’s the sense of European glamour? Opening night was certainly an enchanting affair with 3000 artloving folks turning out (no Socceroos fans tempted to protest the heavy Germanic influence in the exhibition) to get a squiz, mixing with a who’s who of the Australian art scene while listening to chanteuse Katie Noonan. The NGV itself even glammed up for the event sprucing up the spaces between the exhibit rooms with grand chandeliers and over the top baroque furniture. Whatever it is, no doubt the NGV is hoping the scent will be alluring enough to draw the Dalí style audiences of last year; Cringe suspects it will be.

HOT

FUZZ

BEST KNOWN FOR HIS ROLE AS SGT LAVELL “MOTORMOUTH” JONES IN THE POLICE ACADEMY MOVIES, MICHAEL WINSLOW CHATS TO MATTHEW HOGAN AHEAD OF HIS RETURN TRIP TO AUSTRALIA FOR SUPANOVA.

orld famous for being the “man of 10,000 sound effects”, Michael Winslow became famous for his appearances in the Police Academy movies, Gremlins and Spaceballs. More recently, he’s been lovingly satired on The Simpsons, King Of The Hill, Family Guy and Robot Chicken, and now he’s heading to Sydney and Perth as part of the Supanova Pop Culture Expo as well as playing the Comic’s Lounge in Melbourne. Last in Australia two years ago for Supanova in Melbourne and Brisbane, the comedian and actor has very fond memories of the expo. “It was pretty cool because I got a chance to reacquaint myself with Melbourne and the weather changing every few minutes,” he says, laughing, after greeting the call with a strong Aussie accent and a “G’day mate”. “Other than that, for me, it reminded me that I need to get

down there more often. It was great because working with everybody… I hadn’t seen [The Incredible Hulk] Lou Ferrigno in years. Getting the chance to sit next to him, just to see the folks down there and how things have changed.” Looking back on his earlier days, Winslow ponders on some of the lessons learned from his talents. “Oh man, I’ve always done this stuff,” he says. “You learn not to disrupt class any more in school. Like I said, I use my voice for good things now. One of the things I’ve had to promise not to do is no more doing the sound of the flight attendant call button on planes. I can’t do that no more at all. I can’t even think about that! Oh and no more talking to the food in the Chinese restaurant neither! I’ll tell you what, those utensils they use to make the food, those things are real sharp!” Starring in all seven of the Police Academy movies, a particular fond memory Winslow has is his time in Russia for Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow. “I was wearing one of those wireless mics and somebody brought it from the States and you know that frequencies, like in Australia and Russia or anywhere else, are different from the US frequencies – everybody knows that, right?” he asks. “We were in Gorky Park and I was practising some stuff, riding a bicycle and I was doing the sound of a Ducati being ridden by a dog that was cursing in Russian while running over a cat. That was the basic sound the Russian military picked up. Three guys ended up coming up to me in raincoats with one of those transponder units antenna thingies

and they were pretty upset. “You know when people try to teach you a foreign language, they teach you the dirty words first. Try doing a dog on a motorcycle cursing in that language. That really bothered them. It turns out they picked us up from six kilometres away. One of the things I did learn is that if you’re going to use wireless microphones, make sure that they’re licensed from that country.” Winslow also shared some news about the future of the Police Academy franchise. “New Line Cinema has announced they’ve acquired Police Academy, so there’s going to be a number eight,” he reveals. “I have no other information yet. There’s no script in place and there’s no director yet, so I would assume that they’re working on it. It obviously means a new staff, which should be fine. I think it’s going to do very well and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes up. It’ll be fun.” One director Winslow is certainly hoping will come aboard to revive the series is the man he worked with on Spaceballs. “One thing I really wish is that I could get Mel Brooks to give me another job,” he reveals before reflecting on working with the comic genius. “That was scary cool. It was really scary, but really cool, so it was like a scary cool sort of thing because you just don’t know whether he’s joking or whether he’s serious. When he gives an order, you’re looking at him going, ‘Okay, is he serious, or am I in trouble?’. Who else would wear a three-piece suit with tennis shoes? “I sat there and I learned a lot

because John Candy was great,” Winslow continues. “And it’s Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis, so I got a chance to sit there and watch the process. I was only supposed to be there a couple of days and I ended up being there two weeks. A lot of stuff ended up on the cutting room floor that no one will ever get to see. I wish I could tell you some of the things because they were genius but they were just outrageous.” Winslow is also credited with being one of the originators of human beatboxing, with modern day beatboxers, such as Rahzel, citing him as an influence. “Thing about the whole beatbox industry is, when you’re doing something, you never expect it to become what it is, you know what I’m saying?” Winslow reflects. “When I did the thing in Police Academy, it was just part of the way that things had happened because it was me, it was Doug E Fresh and The Fat Boys and there was so many different people. Before it was just something that people would talk about but now it’s an art form and now it’s an annoyance for Simon Cowell on American Idol when Blake Lewis did it. Basically it’s become an interesting point for hip hop; a very interesting development point. When I was growing up we had musical instruments in music, so seeing things happen from any human like that, it’s good. I like to see it; more please!” WHAT: Michael Winslow WHERE & WHEN: The Comic’s Lounge, tonight

D I G I TA L

POTATO

WITH MICHAEL DANIELS Grab onto the edge of your seat and prepare yourself for some nail-biting viewing! Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture earlier this year, the modern war time drama The Hurt Locker (Roadshow) becomes available on DVD and Blu-ray from this Friday. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker has also received some criticism for telling a biased story very much in favour of the US soldiers and simply making villains of their Iraqi counterparts. Following the perils of a team of special soldiers who put their lives on the line to disarm bombs and other explosive booby traps, The Hurt Locker stars former second banana Jeremy Renner (The Assassination Of Jesse James, 28 Weeks Later) in his first big role, except in the little known 2003 film Dahmer (DEJ Productions). The Hurt Locker also stars Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, and David Morse (The Long Kiss Goodnight). Despite being a Monday, the 28 June will feel like a Saturday morning as Warner DVD release a mountain of Hanna Barbera classic cartoons; The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop and Hong Kong Phooey are all being released in complete seasons, but in divided volumes. You can rug up in front of the heater with a bucket of Froot Loops and put your inner child on the sugar rush of their life! If it weren’t for the likes of The Flintstones we’d have no Simpsons (actually, if it weren’t for The Honeymooners,

we’d have no Flintstones!), and if it weren’t for The Jetsons, we’d have no Futurama. Penelope Pitstop wasn’t the only character from Wacky Races to get her own spin-off series, resident bad guys Dick Dastardly and Mutley also got their own show – we’ll keep an eye out for the future release of those guys! The 1 July brings the much praised revision of Alice In Wonderland (Disney) by director Tim Burton, keeping his longtime working relationship with Johnny Depp, who steps into the Mad Hatter’s shoes. Picking up the story with Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as a young woman and returning to the magical world down the rabbit hole, parents are warned that the story isn’t as warm and cuddly as the previous Disney animated incarnation. Chock full of extras and also available on Blu-ray, the film loses none of its appeal being presented in 2D, where the 3D visuals were a big pull at the cinema. Also being released soon: on Wednesday 14 July, everything old is new again for aging action stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren reprising ancient roles in the new Universal Soldier: Regeneration (Sony); the same day also sees George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and Ewan McGregor tell an odd sort of war story with The Men Who Stare At Goats (Sony); while back on the Thursday 1 Jult, the first volume of series five of Doctor Who (Roadshow) is released on both DVD and Blu-ray.

NEVER FORGET TOBY WALKER TALKS TO JANE WOLLARD, DIRECTOR OF TOPSY, WHICH TELLS THE TALE OF AN ILL-FATED CARNIVAL ELEPHANT.

ord has it that the world’s most famous polar bear, Knut, is crazy. Apparently the Berlin Zoo’s star inmate suffers panic attacks and has grown so used to the attention of snap-happy tourists that he imitates them taking photos with his paws. A researcher linked with the People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals diagnosed Knut’s disturbed state of mind, so vested interests need to be taken into account when considering the diagnosis. One wonders, though, what PETA would have said about the cruel and unusual punishment meted out in 1903 to circus elephant Topsy after she crushed three keepers to death in separate incidents at Coney Island’s Luna Park. Fed live cigarettes and eventually driven mad by torture, Topsy’s act of revenge saw her face the final injustice of being secured in an electric chair custom built by ruthless inventor Thomas Edison. About 1,500 are said to have watched her public execution. Grainy footage of the gruesome spectacle survives to this day and has inevitably found its way on to YouTube. It is that same footage that inspired Melbourne playwright Kit Lazaroo’s RE Ross Award-winning script Topsy. “I feared that I would see that elephant crumbling to her knees for the rest of

my life,” Kit has said of her motivation to create something out of the shock she felt after unexpectedly witnessing the film of Topsy’s demise. Three years after its first draft and two public readings later, Topsy finally receives its first full-scale production next month. Here Theatre’s Jane Woollard will direct, making this her sixth collaboration with Lazaroo since the pair began working together a decade ago. Inpress asks Woollard how she intended to channel Lazaroo’s ideas behind the affronting images and, in the absence of a real live Topsy, how she would make audiences notice the elephant in the room. “Really, the play is a parable or an allegory if you like for a world where violence is sensationalised where we enjoy cruelty for entertainment,” she says. “It’s an allegory for the contemporary world where people are routinely humiliated on television or YouTube. Once you see these images, like the cruelty towards prisoners in Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay, you can’t un-see them and you become complicit in that cruelty as a spectator. “You don’t actually ever see [Topsy] in the play. She’s spoken about a great deal and she’s in a cage behind some red curtains, so she almost

becomes this mythical creature that everyone is longing to save.” In keeping with the dark and exaggerated worlds Lazaroo is known for creating with language, Woollard says the recently refurbished fortyfivedownstairs space would be transformed into an Edwardian amusement park with a steam-punk aesthetic. Gavin Gray’s score will further serve the play’s allegorical intentions, employing the worn ivory keys of a ruined piano once belonging to the Hobart Town Hall to provide a sad melody to soundtrack Topsy’s lumbering journey to death. In the spirit of true independent theatre actor Colin James, who plays one of three Australians who set out

to free Topsy, has also created many of the show’s props using items picked up in Melbourne op-shops as well as contributing to its score. “I suppose we all sort of come from that tradition as theatre makers,” Woollard says of Here Theatre’s industrious team. “We all trained in the late 1980s and early 1990s so we very much come to things with the approach where everyone turns their hands at different things rather than just having discreet specialties.” WHAT: Topsy WHERE & WHEN: fortyfivedownstairs, tonight to Sunday 11 July

HERE, KITTY

LASTING MEMORIES

Hobart’s scuzz and fuzz jam band TIGER CHOIR chat to NICK ARGYRIOU about the strange powers of Moog synths and a little cunnilingus at Pony.

REBECCA BARNARD talks love, loss and picking up at the teen disco with JEFF JENKINS. Pic by Ros Gorman.

got a switch on it where you can get it to hold a note, and quite often what I’ll do is get it to hold a bass note then play a little guitar along, then change the note again,” states Cruickshank. “Hamish is really good at playing the Moog with the head of his guitar,” quips Nicholson. One of the central reasons Tiger Choir continually tweak their sound is to avoid ennui. “We’re all about avoiding getting bored when playing live and making music in the studio… that’s one of our main missions,” admits Nicholson.

lliot Taylor (vocals, guitars, sampling), Hamish Cruickshank (guitars, moog, vocals) and Sam Nicholson (drums, vocals) all huddle together around the one phone at the University of Tasmania bookshop where Nicholson works. They finish one another’s sentences, correct each other when it’s deserved and provide an entertaining and inspired half-hour yarn about all things happening in their Tiger Choir universe. They begin with a tale about the band’s first visit to Melbourne, playing Pony three years ago, which left an indelible mark on the youthful Hobart trio. “I was playing there and looked out and saw this guy going down on a girl at the bar… and we’re all like, ‘Whoa, big city!’,” laughs Nicholson. With Cruickshank on the verge of graduating in 2010 from a Science degree majoring in math and physics at the University of Tasmania, and Nicholson and Taylor both having completed the good old Arts degrees, it seems Cruickshank’s scientific background and knowledge has ignited sparks and a technical-orientated direction within the trio. Far from being your traditional band (whatever that is in 2010), Tiger Choir utilised samples and loops and the haunting Moog synthesiser to channel their breezy, breathy beats on the band’s debut EP that was released into the ether in late 2009. “The Moog adds this great bass sound to the mix on top of the crazy, whacked-out electronic stuff, but mostly the Moog plays the freakiest part,” says Cruickshank. With the Moog being a gift from a friend who bought the instrument for $10 from the local recycling tip, Tiger Choir soon realised the synth was in fact a vintage Fenton they estimate to be worth around the $500 to $600 mark. “It’s

There’s this wonderful balance achieved by Tiger Choir by way of fusing real-time sonic burst playing with studio effects that helps to build atmosphere around the band’s musical narrative. The sound is fresh and warped. Free from abusive pre-production and tapping more of the in-the-moment feel. Aside from the tired Animal Collective label, Tiger Choir draw inspiration from ‘60s and ‘70s folk rockers and psych masters, The Band and The Byrds – even covering The Band hit The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down in live sets. Dry The Rain by The Beta Band is also covered with Tiger Choir all acknowledging the influence that the Scottish folktronica collective has over their own artistic vision. With Tiger Choir currently recording their debut longplayer during visits on and off to Bruny Island on Tasmania’s south-eastern coast, the boys, after battling bouts of cabin fever, watching Norwegian erotica films on SBS and falling arse backwards into strange French house disco samples, are content with proceedings thus far. “In between writing and recording we also checked out this show on the history of Japanese toilets so we were surrounded by inspiration,” laughs Nicholson. With an anything goes approach for the record due out hopefully in late 2010 or the early stages of 2011, Tiger Choir have already garnered some interest from not only Sensory Projects but also a random lawyer who contacted the band wanting to represent them, as well as a US fan looking to distribute the band’s EP and play it on American college radio. Nice one.

WHO: Tiger Choir WHAT: Tiger Choir EP WHEN & WHERE: Friday, Yah Yah’s; Saturday, Pony (2am)

WHIGS WAM BAM A new method of songwriting has opened things up for THE WHIGS, frontman PARKER GISPERT tells SAMUEL J FELL.

you really know who you are. Your spiritual growth compensates for your physical decline – just!” With the help of the Vic Rocks program, Barnard made Everlasting in New York with her childhood friend Barney McAll. They spent time at Tony Bennett’s studio in New Jersey. “He has an independent artist’s fee, which is half what you’d normally pay. You gotta love Tony for that.” The Barnards and the McAlls – two musical families – grew up together in Mooroolbark. Barnard dedicates the album to Barney’s sister, Pip, her best friend, who died of liver cancer in 1986. “My first great loss.” Pip was two years older than Barnard. “She had a groovy boyfriend. I remember them playing Joni Mitchell’s Blue. Talk about life-changing! It transported me to a whole new world.”

“I

want to feel like I did when I met you/ Scared when you got me, you’re not gonna want me” – Age 14.

Rebecca Barnard remembers it as if it were yesterday: Croydon, 1974, her first Blue Light Disco. A boy spots her from the other side of the room. He approaches. “He smelled really nice,” Barnard recalls. “It wasn’t an aftershave smell, it was a smell that just felt really comfortable.” They didn’t kiss. “It was just an incredibly exciting feeling. Though I thought, ‘I better not show that I’m keen on him, he might reject me’.” Fast-forward 35 years and Barnard rejects the notion that Age 14 is a mid-life crisis song. “I think 14 is such a significant age,” she explains. Her son, Harry, is 14. Barnard’s new album – her second solo album, Everlasting – includes a song for Harry called Own Time. She declares: “It’s a mother’s job to worry and I do it all the time.” Everlasting should come with a sticker: Adult Themes. In the liner notes, Barnard explains that the album’s about “women that struggle with the constant dilemma of creativity versus motherhood, hormonal weirdness, ageing parents, trying to be everything to everyone”. It’s an album about longing and lust and loss, and the heroism of everyday life. “I had to open my heart to do it. I didn’t censor myself, I just did it. Without sounding corny, the best thing about getting older is

arker Gispert, frontman for The Whigs, is buying coffee and donuts when he answers my call. “I’ve got my donut and this fancy coffee drink which isn’t really my style,” he drawls. “It’s some sort of chocolate, iced mocha thing... chocolate and coffee, seems like a good combination.” Gispert knows all about good combinations, the band he fronts being one of them. Formed in 2002 out of Athens, Georgia, The Whigs have gone from strength to strength, whipping up a garage rock frenzy wherever they roam, laying down a couple of solid records in the process – 2005’s Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip and Mission Control in 2008. As it stands right now, the band are about to release their third record, In The Dark. For a start, it’s been in the can for almost a year, but is only seeing the light of day now, a business decision the band have nothing to do with, Gispert assures me. With this record we see quite a move away from the more confined sounds of Mission Control. In The Dark is a big record, lush and spacious, really painting these wide open soundscapes, a change indeed. “That has a lot to do with how we wrote the songs,” Gispert explains. “We wrote these songs differently for a specific reason, because when we were doing Mission Control we didn’t have a permanent bass player in the band, it was just Julian [Dorio, drummer] and I, so all the songs

On the other side of the desk for this record was an old friend of the band, Ben Allen, who’s produced the likes of Gnarls Barkley and Animal Collective. It seems the combination of his knowledge of the band plus his experience were just what The Whigs needed. “We’ve known him for about eight years and have been wanting to work with him for ages,” says Gispert. “He brought a real central quality to the record... we wanted to make a record that wasn’t your standard rock album sonically, and he was able to help with that, totally.” So In The Dark was recorded, sat on a shelf for a while, but will now see the light of day, and it sees the band in a positive place indeed. “I feel good about thing,” smiles Gispert. “I always want the records to be going somewhere; I never want to fall into a comfort zone. I’m proud of us for always doing what we’ve wanted to do. I’m happy about it.”

WHO: The Whigs WHAT: In The Dark (out Friday through Inertia)

The title track is about Barnard father’s death. “The hardest thing I ever had to do,” she sings, “was leave you in that room.” Nicknamed “Sluggsie”, Len Barnard was one of Australia’s finest jazz drummers. He started his recording career in 1949, and regularly performed with his younger brother, Bob. “I was so lucky that we recorded together and played together. To be able to do something creative with one of your parents … you realise how great it is.” Barnard blushes when it’s suggested that Everlasting is a very sexy record. “What can I say to that? I can’t say that my own record is sexy! But I love how you say that.” So what happened to the Blue Light boy? “I’m not sure,” she smiles. “I didn’t even know his name.” It was just a moment in time. Everlasting.

WHO: Rebecca Barnard WHAT: Everlasting (Shock) WHEN & WHERE: Friday, Thornbury Theatre

THE VOICE OF REASON JEZ MEAD has finally acknowledged his voice sounds a bit like Neil Diamond’s, he tells NICK ARGYRIOU.

came in on guitar. That creates a lot of stuff fighting for the same sonic space... so with this record, we started with bass. A lot of the songs began as drum and bass demos. Then I sang over the bass and wrote my guitar parts around the vocal melodies.” If you listen to the two records one after the other, you can see how this would have changed things. There’s this space to In The Dark, and it seems having the bass there and using it as a writing instrument has given the band more room to move, a fine thing indeed. “Yeah, we were able to fill out a bigger sonic landscape,” concurs Gispert. “And I guess things were technically a bit more properly arranged.” It’s an interesting change for the band to make, this new way of writing, but it’s obviously opened up a lot of sonic space, left them room to move – I’m curious if it was planned beforehand, of if this was just how it ended up happening. “From the beginning we wanted to spread things out,” Gispert tells. “We also wanted to be challenging ourselves and this allowed me to focus more on writing guitar parts... I was really able to look at the song and see what it needed as far as guitar goes.”

Barnard planned to call the album ‘Distilled’, which she thought was a nice link to her solo debut, 2006’s Fortified. “But I decided that was too harsh a word. I thought that ‘Everlasting’ really suited the record. Some people said, ‘You can’t call it that, Natalie Cole has already used it [for a 1987 song and album]’, but I don’t really rub shoulders with Natalie Cole.”

an acoustic sense, I guess,” he says. A la the Newton Faulkner cover of Teardrops? “Yeah, Newton does all that guitar tapping stuff and he rips, he really rips, but I prefer the José González cover which is way better, but I use the stomp box to channel and create my own interpretations.” There’s a maturity in the Beard Of Bees aesthetic that will probably see it rest in the adult contemporary field, but there is enough intricacy and nuance, imperfection, screaming and hollering to balance the lounge-inspired blues and jazz-infused linear thread and have it appeal to many markets.

rowing up in Perth and playing in AC/DC and Angels cover bands, self-proclaimed bogan Jez Mead moved east to Byron Bay in 2001 and then to Melbourne some time ago. He still lives in and out of his trusty campervan, the ideal mobile abode to get the troubadour around this fair country. Mead has clocked up plenty of mileage and taken his brand of rustic folk, roots, blues and pop from Redcliffe On The Murray in Perth to the Diggers Tavern in Bellingen, and recently toured Cornwall, England and the US, where he shot a video clip on the Mississippi last September. With strong support and tours with The Waifs and Angus & Julia Stone, Mead has released three independent records since 2001, with The Cruel Sea’s James Cruickshank playing his part as producer and sounding board in that time.

And now we have Beard Of Bees, the singer’s scorchingly atmospheric new record. Again, the lingering ghost of Nick Drake walks the line through the vocal delivery but Mead, whilst more than content with the call, feels that this effort into a decade-plus career is his least Drakeesque sound. “It’s funny because I reckon previous albums had something there but Beard Of Bees less so… but whatever the case I love him. He’s a treasure,” admits Mead. Explaining that he is only a product of what he grew up listening to over the years, Mead tells of the heavy influence both Drake and Will Oldham have had on his sound. But with Beard Of Bees, Mead pushed for diversity and embraced more of a broad palette. “At the moment I’m doing a Massive Attack cover, Angel, in my live sets using a loop station without trying to sound electronic… to have it electronic in

The Mead vocal is the highlight of Beard Of Bees. Deep and robust, it packs a powerful punch and moves through various ranges and tones, from a whisper to a holler and all things in between. “I’ve always had this low, monotone voice like my old man and now over the years I’ve just felt more relaxed in my vocal… and I’d love to put out a crooning album like a Michael Bublé one to keep developing the sound of my voice,” he laughs. Or even a Neil Diamond-inspired album? “I’ve got [the comparison] for years and rejected it for years and then I thought about it and the influence of having Neil’s vocal rubbing off on me was brought about from my mum playing his records around the house, in particular his 1972 album Hot August Night,” he admits. Turning 40 in July, Mead is arguably only now hitting his straps, and Beard Of Bees is the record that should ultimately propel him forward. But for now he’s going with the flow and keeping things simple, just like the way he plays live and records. “For Beard Of Bees I tried to adhere to that Viva Last Blues Will Oldham/Palace Music record where he just got everyone in for an hour before and said, ‘Here are the songs’, and you can hear all the mistakes going through it but it’s so fresh and raw and that’s the style I always want,” he concludes.

WHO: Jez Mead WHAT: Beard Of Bees (Belly Up Records/EMI) WHEN: Saturday 7 August, Northcote Social Club; Friday 13, Elwood Lounge; Friday 20, Morning Star Hotel (Williamstown); Sunday 29, the Drunken Poet

THE BIG CLASH Here’s all the info you’ll need to get the most out of this year’s Clash-themed COMMUNITY CUP .

PLAYING TIMES 11am: Gates open 11.10-11.40am: Money For Rope perform on Main Stage

Noon-12.40pm: Little Freddie & The Pops perform on Main Stage

1-1.40pm: The Blackeyed Susans perform on Main Stage

1.40pm: Welcome by Reclink CEO Adrian Panozzo 1.45pm: Players’ pledge 1.47pm: One minute’s silence for absent friends

1.48pm: National anthem 1.50pm: Coin toss by Mayor of Bayside City Council

2pm : Game commences 2.45pm: Half time 2.45-3.25pm: The Living End perform on Main Stage

3.50-4.15pm: Game continues 4.15pm: Game concludes 4.20pm: Match trophy and Best On Ground presentation

4.30-5.10pm: Nick Barker & The Reptiles perform on Main Stage

6pm: Gates close

TRANSPORT INFO: The Community Cup is held at Elsternwick Park, Elsternwick. Entry from Noel Rundell Gate on Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick. Organisers highly recommend you catch a tram to the Community Cup. By tram: From Swanston Street, catch the #67 tram to Elsternwick Station. By car: Limited off street parking. By train: From Flinders Street Station, catch the Sandringham line to Elsternwick Station. Note: Metro will be conducting track works between South Yarra and Elsternwick – replacement buses will be available between these stops. Entry is $5 donation per person. BYO folding chair and picnic blanket. Dogs permitted on leads.

ISSUE 1128 - WEDNESDAY 23 JUNE, 2010

TOURS

The Rockdogs celebrate their 2009 victory

PRESENTS

THIS WEEK INTERNATIONAL

PAUL DI’ANNO: Thursday Espy TRAIN: Friday Forum

NATIONAL

PRINCESS ONE POINT FIVE: Thursday Builders Arms WARPED, MATT SONIC & THE HIGH TIMES, BABY MACHINE: Thursday Tote AINSLIE WILLS: Friday Palais (Hepburn Springs) REBECCA BARNARD: Friday Thornbury Theatre; Tuesday Palais THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS: Friday Palace TUMBLEWEED: Friday Hi-Fi Bar JONESEZ: Friday Birmingham OPERATOR PLEASE: Friday Corner Hotel 50 LIONS: Friday Arthouse BLACK CAB, RSVP & THE RETURN TO SENDERS: Friday Tote THE WELLINGTONS: Saturday Northcote Social Club MIKE NOGA & THE GENTLEMEN OF FORTUNE, JOEL SILBESHER & THE BAGGAGE HANDLERS: Saturday Tote DEEZ NUTS: Saturday, Sunday (under 18) Hi-Fi Bar COMMUNITY CUP with THE LIVING END, NICK BARKER & THE REPTILES, THE BLACKEYED SUSANS and LITTLE FREDDY & THE POPS: Sunday Elsternwick Park MIDNIGHT WOOLF: Sunday Tote Bon Jovi Saturday 11 December Etihad Stadium

GIG OF THE WEEK THE COMMUNITY CUP SUNDAY, ELSTERNWICK PARK

he best pairing of two of this city’s top passions – live music and sport – is The Community Cup, an annual game of footy that pits a motley bunch of musos and general lowlifes (the Rockdogs) against a ragtag team of PBS and RRR announcers (the Megahertz). Captained this year by Dan Sultan, the Rockdogs are the traditional crowd favourites, with Monique Brumby, Tim Rogers, Kram, Wally Kempton and Ross Knight among those bringing a touch of rock star ‘glamour’ (and general lack of fitness) to the game. The Megahertz, meanwhile, have rung the changes this year, with Jacinta Parsons (RRR) and Maddy Mac (PBS) named co-captains, leading the side’s strongest ever female line-up. As well as all those musos running around on the field, there’s also a strong line-up of bands who’ll be strutting their stuff off it, with The Living End playing at half-time, up-and-comers Money For Rope, Little Freddie & The Pops and The Blackeyed Susans providing pre-match entertainment and a re-formed Nick Barker & The Reptiles closing proceedings. Money raised goes to the Cup’s official charity partner, Reclink. Our tip? Megahertz by ten points.

TUMBLEWEED: June 25 Hi-Fi xx OPERATOR PLEASE: June 25 Corner Hotel DEEZ NUTS: June 26, 27 (under 18) Hi-Fi LISA MILLER: July 2 Corner Hotel KARNIVOOL: July 6 Hi-Fi THE SOFT PACK: July 8 East Brunswick Club SALLY SELTMANN: July 10 Corner Hotel OM: July 11 National Hotel (Geelong); July 16 Hi-Fi THE WILSON PICKERS: July 15, National Hotel (Geelong); 16, East Brunswick Club; 17 Lot 19 (Castlemaine) KASABIAN: July 23 Festival Hall GRIZZLY BEAR, HERE WE GO MAGIC: July 27 Palais ALBERTA CROSS: July 27 Corner Hotel; 28, 29 Palace THE MAGIC NUMBERS: July 28 Corner Hotel YEASAYER: July 29 Prince Bandroom SURFER BLOOD: July 30 Corner Hotel MIDLAKE: August 1, 2 Prince Bandroom ASH, WE ARE SCIENTISTS, LAST DINOSAURS: August 4 Billboard The Venue LAURA MARLING: August 4, 5 Hi-Fi SLASH: August 11 Festival Hall CKY: August 12 Hi-Fi BLISS N ESO: August 13 Palace CORDRAZINE: August 28 East Brunswick Hotel TAKE ACTION TOUR: September 11, 12 Corner Hotel BIRDS OF TOKYO, SILVERSUN PICKUPS: October 1 Festival Hall SARAH BLASKO: October 7 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); 8 Palais; 9 Meeniyan Town Hall

The Gin Club pic by Lou Lou Nutt

deliver a very fine performance. Futureman is a particular standout, although All I Know swings Elvis (circa Viva Las Vegas) by his pointy boots round its head, serving as a brilliant finale to their set. I can’t wait to catch this band again.

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL

MARK LANEGAN: July 7 Corner Hotel; 9 Espy Gershwin Room THE SOFT PACK: July 8 East Brunswick Club OM: July 11 National Hotel (Geelong); July 16 Hi-Fi BOYS LIKE GIRLS: July 14 (U18), 15 (18+) Hi-Fi Bar SNFU: July 15 Arthouse STRIKE ANYWHERE: July 16, 17 Evelyn KASABIAN: July 23 Festival Hall SCISSOR SISTERS: July 26 Festival Hall THE TING TINGS: July 26 Palace GRIZZLY BEAR, HERE WE GO MAGIC: July 27 Palais ALBERTA CROSS: July 27 Corner Hotel FOALS: July 27 Hi-Fi Bar BAND OF HORSES: July 27 Palace MUMFORD & SONS: July 28 Palace Theatre 30 SECONDS TO MARS: July 28 Festival Hall BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB: July 28, 31 Billboard THE MAGIC NUMBERS: July 28 Corner Hotel LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, HOT CHIP: July 29 Festival Hall YEASAYER: July 29 Prince Bandroom THE STROKES: July 30 Festival Hall HELLYEAH: July 30 Billboard The Venue RICHARD ASHCROFT & THE UNITED NATIONS OF SOUND: July 30 Palace SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS: August 1 Northcote Social Club

Enter The Gin Club, here to launch their new album Deathwish. I weasel my way closer to the stage, finding an island of tall people to attach myself to. “Stick with us,” a kindly fellow six-footer says to me, “You don’t get tall-rage if you’re with others like us”. Or something to that effect. Anyway, The Gin Club are accumulating on stage. I knew there were a lot of them, but there seem to be even more with all the gear. I’m glad I’m buffered by my new companions, and indeed, soon out comes that forceful wave of raw-yet-intricate sound to blow us all away.

LIVE: REVIEWS

THE GIN CLUB, EAGLE & THE WORM EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB

he East Brunswick Club is looking pretty packed. We stand somewhere at the back of the crowd and crane our necks to see Eagle & The Worm performing their particular brand of music that makes me want to dance like a hillbilly that lost his leg and became a carnie (if I’da was only able to git me a li’l bit closer through them bipedualisers, I tell ya I’d be doin the ole Squat Yo Leg, you mark my words!). Meanwhile, Eagle & The Worm look like they’re having fun cranking the handle on stage to

The Gin Club put on something that is both very much a rock show and yet not. It’s a rock show in that it’s loud and ballsy. It’s not in that it’s folkily, democratically diverse in sound and order. Between songs, band members stride about from one side of the stage to the other, taking each other’s places and picking up each other’s instruments. Accordingly, it almost sounds like a different kind of band is playing each song. Changeability works in The Gin Club’s favour as they dissipate across the stage when one song ends, then rise together in total cohesion in the midst of the next one. There’s a point that sticks in mind: during Shake Hands (a personal favourite from Deathwish) the band all turn inward toward each other, resulting in the production of something truly electrifying from all their powers combined. From my island, experiencing this ebb and flow is like observing some serious tidal action and wishing I had a tougher tinny. Alice Body

live@inpress.com.au

MIDLAKE: August 1, 2 Prince Bandroom FRIGHTENED RABBIT: August 2 Hi-Fi Bar THE DRUMS, THE MOTIFS: August 2 East Brunswick Club FLORENCE & THE MACHINE: August 2, 3 Festival Hall GOLDFRAPP: August 3 Palace Theatre MIIKE SNOW: August 3 Hi-Fi Bar BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: August 3 Corner Hotel TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB: August 3 Billboard The Venue ASH, WE ARE SCIENTISTS: August 4 Billboard The Venue KATE NASH: August 4 Corner Hotel LAURA MARLING: August 4, 5 Hi-Fi Bar BAND OF SKULLS: August 4 East Brunswick Club JONSI: August 4 Palace FANFARLO: August 5 Northcote Social Club PASSION PIT: August 4, 5 Prince Bandroom TESTAMENT: August 6 Billboard SLASH: August 11 Festival Hall A TRIBE CALLED QUEST: August 12 Festival Hall CKY: August 12 Hi-Fi Bar KATY PERRY: August 12 Plaza Ballroom CHRISTIAN DEATH: August 14 Corner Hotel EELS: August 15 Palace SENSES FAIL: August 21 day (under-18), evening (18+) Hi-Fi Bar CHRIS BOTTI: August 22 National Theatre XIU XIU, HIGH PLACES: September 3 East Brunswick Club NAPALM DEATH: September 5 Hi-Fi ATTACK ATTACK!, PIERCE THE VEIL, DREAM ON, DREAMER: September 11 Corner Hotel METALLICA: September 15, November 18, 20, 21 Rod Laver Arena MAYHEM: September 23 Hi-Fi Bar CYPRESS HILL: September 23 Palace PETER HOOK & FRIENDS: September 24 Palais ENTER SHIKARI: September 25 (18+), 26 (u-18) Hi-Fi ASLAN: September 30, October 1 Clifton Hill Hotel EXODUS: October 3 Corner Hotel ALEXISONFIRE: October 10 Palace PARAMORE: October 13 Sidney Myer Music Bowl RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: October 24 Palais PAUL WELLER: October 26, 27 Forum CELTIC WOMAN: October 30, 31 Palais Theatre PETER GABRIEL, CHICAGO, AMERICA, PETER FRAMPTON: November 1 Etihad Stadium ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK: November 5, 6 State Theatre OWL CITY, THE ALBUM LEAF: November 10 Palais LEONARD COHEN: November 12, 13 Rod Laver Arena BLONDIE, THE PRETENDERS: December 1, 2 Palais; 4 Rochford Wines JACK JOHNSON: December 8 Sidney Myer Music Bowl BON JOVI: December 11 Etihad Stadium MUSE: December 14, 15 Rod Laver Arena THE EAGLES: December 17, 18 Rod Laver Arena MICHAEL BUBLÉ: Feb 22, 23, 25 Rod Laver Arena

NATIONAL

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: June 30 Ferntree Gully Hotel, July 1 Bended Elbow (Geelong), 2 Inferno (Traralgon), 3 Pier Live, 4 Commercial Hotel (South Morang) LOVE CONNECTION: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Tote SHANE HOWARD: July 2 St Brigid’s Hall (Koroit); 16 Oakleigh RSL; 17 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine) THE CASANOVAS: July 2 Tote REBECCA BARNARD: July 3 Bennetts Lane ASH GRUNWALD: July 3 Corner Hotel; 4 Ruby’s Lounge; 18 The Loft (Warrnambool) THE AMITY AFFLICTION: July 3 Hi-Fi Bar (under-18s arvo, over-18s evening); 5 Karova Lounge (Ballarat - all-ages); 6 Kangaroo Flats Leisure Centre (Bendigo - allages) GANGA GIRI: July 3 East Brunswick Club THE JOHNNYS: July 3 Tote REGURGITATOR: July 4 East Brunswick Club BURIED HORSES: July 4 Tote

KARNIVOOL: July 6 Hi-Fi THIRSTY MERC: July 7 Karova Lounge; 8 Bended Elbow; 9 Corner Hotel; 23 Westernport Hotel MIKELANGELO & THE TIN STAR: July 8 Northcote Social Club CW STONEKING: July 8 Corner Hotel; 9 Prince Bandroom RICHARD IN YOUR MIND: July 9 Northcote Social Club THE LITTLE STEVIES, BEN WELLS & THE MIDDLE NAMES: July 9 East Brunswick Club THE DEAD SALESMEN: July 10 East Brunswick Club EAGLE & THE WORM: July 10 Northcote Social Club SALLY SELTMANN: July 10 Corner Hotel CROW: July 10 Tote MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE: July 10, 17, 23 Spenserlive LITTLE RED: July 15 Prince Bandroom THE WILSON PICKERS: July 15, National Hotel (Geelong); 16, East Brunswick Club; 17 Lot 19 (Castlemaine) ERNEST ELLIS: July 16 Northcote Social Club THE PEACENIX: July 16 Sandbelt Live WHITE WOODS: Workers Club FABULOUS DIAMONDS: July 17 Toff In Town CHARLES JENKINS & THE ZHIVAGOS: July 17 Corner Hotel THE NATION BLUE, A DEATH IN THE FAMILY: July 17 East Brunswick Club BOYS BOYS BOYS!: July 22 Onesixone THE SCREAMING JETS: July 24 Hi-Fi BLISS N ESO: August 13 Palace BASEMENT BIRDS: August 14 Forum DARREN HANLON: August 20 Thornbury Theatre VIOLENT SOHO: July 22 Northcote Social Club RICK PRICE: July 22 Wellers (Kangaroo Ground), 23 Thornbury Theatre, 24 Palais (Hepburn Springs) HARD-ONS: July 23 East Brunswick Club LOWRIDER: July 23 Westernport Hotel (Phillip Island); 24 Corner Hotel THE TEMPER TRAP: July 24 Festival Hall YOUNG HERETICS: July 24 Northcote Social Club THE JD SET with WOLFMOTHER: July 29 Espy DUTCH TILDERS BENEFIT CONCERT with DUTCH TILDERS, CHAIN, KEVIN BORICH EXPRESS, CHRIS FINNEN, STEVE RUSSELL, GEOFF ACHISON, LLOYD SPIEGEL, STEVE PAGE and JEANNIE LUSHES: July 29 Thornbury Theatre SUPER WILD HORSES: July 31 Victoria Hotel THE CAT EMPIRE: August 8 Prince Bandroom; 19, 20 Palace PVT: August 12 Corner Hotel SHIHAD: August 13, 14 Northcote Social Club HOUSE VS HURRICANE, HEROES FOR HIRE: August 26 Colonial Hotel, 27 EV’s (all ages), 28 Geelong West Town Hall (all ages) CORDRAZINE: August 28 East Brunswick Hotel PRIMITIVE CALCULATORS: September 3 Yah Yah’s ANGUS & JULIA STONE: September 8, 9, 10 Palais Theatre GRINSPOON: September 8 Inferno; 9 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 10 Pier Live; 15 Eureka Hotel. POWDERFINGER: September 10, 11 Rod Laver Arena, October 29 Sidney Myer Music Bowl PARKWAY DRIVE: September 29 Festival Hall BIRDS OF TOKYO: October 1 Festival Hall SARAH BLASKO: October 7 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); 8 Palais; 9 Meeniyan Town Hall AIRBOURNE: October 31, November 1 Hi-Fi Bar

FESTIVALS

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS: July 30August 1, Woodford PARKLIFE: October 2, Sidney Myer Music Bowl and King’s Domain QUEENSCLIFF MUSIC FESTIVAL: November 26-28, Queenscliff

RocKwiz pic by Heidi Takla

its chorus lyrics, “I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger” – is an awesome choice for Hooper and Anderson’s different generations to tackle, and the result is extraordinary. All are welcomed back to the stage for The Sweet’s Ballroom Blitz, and Bull’s chorusintroducing “YEAH, YEAH, YEAH”s are deafening, drowning out all instruments. We think we’ve just heard the loudest note ever sung. The RocKwiz crew provide the perfect environment for like-minded music nuts to reminisce, laugh and feel accepted. Bryget Chrisfield

WANDA JACKSON, ITCHY FINGERS CORNER HOTEL Touring for the third time as backing band to 72-yearold rockabilly icon Wanda Jackson, Aussie quartet Itchy Fingers also warmed up the Corner as the support. Guest keyboardist Andrew King sat in for the bulk of a spirited set of covers, which ran the gamut from a BB King number to a reverent version of CCR’s Long As I Can See The Light with the drummer singing lead. By the time Itchy Fingers closed with Rockabilly Rebel, it was clear they knew their audience.

ROCKWIZ LIVE PALAIS THEATRE Rapping up a 30-plus run of shows across the country, RocKwiz lands in St Kilda’s iconic Palais Theatre for a pair of live shows. This penultimate gig was the first to sell out, so diehards abound and patrons eagerly feel the underside of their seats (where some old chewie probably lives) for a card inviting them to the stage for a crack at becoming one of the music game show’s panellists. Host Brian Nankervis ably runs this preliminary section and doesn’t miss an opportunity to maximise laughs, while displaying a duty of care that ensures no one returns to their seat feeling completely humiliated (although the lady who winds up singing the chorus from Mi Sex’s Computer Games seems grateful it wasn’t a live-to-air moment). The audience is instructed to hold hands, raise them to the sky and sing the ‘Palais anthem’, which Nankervis leads us through in ‘repeat after me’ fashion – it comprises various nonsensical chants, plus “Come on, Barbie, let’s go party”. The contender who attempts to identify the four herbs mentioned in Simon & Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair lyrics is asked whether he partook of some herb before the show, when his prolonged response is, “rose, parsley, save and TH-yme”. “I don’t care where you’re from, there’s a documentary about to be made with you as the star,” Nankervis praises. All the action is picked up by cameramen and played on the very rock’n’roll giant screen above the stage – everyone’s view is as good as what they’re used to on the idiot box. The “housewife’s choice” (Dougal) is there to hold up the scores, and every time the RocKwiz Orkestra belt out a riff, we are transported back to magical memories or reminded of classic tracks we need to own. Once the four punters have been chosen and put in place, Julia Zemiro is introduced, and looks delightful in her pigtails and polka dots. Her quick-wittedness is important to the pace of the show, and when she claims to have slept with the whole band – pausing and then insisting, “safely” – we’re exhausted from laughing. Our first mystery guest is the wonderful Ella Hooper, whose voice sounds magnificent even when she’s spontaneously called upon to sing a cappella. Angry Anderson rounds out the second team, and belts out the track considered to be his anthem, Rock ’N’ Roll Outlaw – what a set of lungs! Adalita and Clare Bowditch perform the first all-female RocKwiz duet, Because The Night by Patti Smith. Both ladies are outstanding examples of the talented chicks our country churns out, and this is another song to hunt down for the iPod. One of tonight’s questions is: “Who said, Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow?” The answer is Frank Zappa, but Zemiro shares a highlight from the RocKwiz tour – a previous panellist buzzed in and responded, “My dad,” for which he was awarded a point. Steve Kilbey and Vika Bull are welcomed to the stage and perform Queen’s Under Pressure. Bull is brilliant but the combination of the two voices is a strange one. A punter from each team gets to perform karaoke, and every time Zemiro says the word, it’s with a pronounced Japanese accent. Everyday people fronting a band is comedy gold, with the gentleman particularly carving himself out a lifetime highlight. Anderson is a side-splitting inclusion on the panel, even though his team isn’t victorious tonight. To close proceedings, a cover of Ooh La La by The Faces – with

The bassist now armed with an upright bass and King again on board, Itchy Fingers played Wanda Jackson onto the stage, an old-fashioned touch welcomed with hoots. Framed in a red dress, sparkly earrings and a large orb of hair, the diminutive spitfire broke out her cracking whip of a voice for a trifecta of Mean Mean Man, Rock Your Baby and Hard Headed Woman. Noting 55 years’ worth of songs to choose from, Jackson then opted for I Gotta Know, her one-time gateway song from country to rock’n’roll. From there she yodelled on I’ll Bet You My Heart I Love You, shared anecdotes about touring with – and kissing – Elvis back in the day, and lent her vocal bite to Baby, Let’s Play House. After a smouldering Heartbreak Hotel, Jackson mentioned her induction last year into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. She also recounted working with Jack White on her forthcoming album, containing “some of the neatest, most unusual songs”. Proving her point, she sang the advance single, a weirdly dazed take on Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good. Then came the flip, Shakin’ All Over, Jackson vibrating her voice to inhabit the song’s title. She revisited 1959’s Fujiyama Mama, a number one single in Japan, and her classic Funnel Of Love as well as its Patsy Cline-ish B-side Right Or Wrong. The highlight of the evening arrived with Riot In Cell Block #9, a blackly comic tune set in a women’s prison. Jackson gave it her most shredding wail, the band joined her for call-and-response vocals, and there was that spunky mix of innocence and menace that has endeared her to successive generations of rockabilly fans. In a slightly awkward moment, Jackson announced that she had accepted Christ in 1971, but the subsequent version of Hank Williams’ I Saw The Light was a lovely touch, and still had a certain hillbilly skip. The set closed with her biggest US hit, Let’s Have A Party, before an encore of Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On. Then the band played her off, though she stuck around to autograph copies of the new You Know I’m No Good 7”. Whatever Jack White does with Jackson on that new album, her cult status is in perfectly good nick. Doug Wallen

ARTHUR CANTRILL, AUDIO SLURRY, UNDECISIVE GOD, ROBIN FOX ACMI The launch of Chromatic Mysteries: Soundtracks 19632009 takes place at ACMI, in a darkened studio that’s geared toward the screen rather than the random desk that’s shunted to one side of the room. The first half of tonight’s programme screens those films of Corinne and Arthur Cantrill with music on the forthcoming album. This music was composed by Arthur who, 50 years ago, had hardly any musical experience apart from some piano lessons he’d taken when he was a schoolboy. This event celebrates his soundtracks, which consist of audio samples, loops, computer blips and fuzz, and the manipulation – pre- and post-recording – of traditional instruments such as piano and violin. I lie back in my deckchair. Kinegraffiti (1963) is a bunch of spiders’ shadows scrabbling frantically around the screen (apparently the imagery was derived from fireworks) while distorted high frequency plucking and scraping noises mirror the commotion. In Eikon (1969) a soprano note rings out on a loop while a couple of crazed violins accompany the manic activity of a woman on the edges of the screen. The aura in the room is of critical observation and concerted listening, and you don’t forget you are witnessing work from a pioneer of Australian experimental music. After the interval, the random desk makes itself useful for live performances from local experimental acts Audio Slurry, Undecisive God and Robin Fox. They’re here to improvise to silent films in the Cantrills’

live@inpress.com.au repertoire. Audio Slurry (Jeremiah Rose and Jack Quigley) jump up first and let loose on the software they wrote for the show. At one point, Quigley plays a lone wavering trumpet over a mishmash of curiosa electronica, which beautifully balances simplicity with multilayered sonic textures. Undecisive God (AKA Clinton Green and the Cantrills’ producer) is next, plucking at a guitar and feeding the sound through something that makes it warble hypnotically. I think of a jackaroo playing guitar on the porch; the sound sifted through a colander from the past. The venue’s so intimate and the audience so well behaved as to allow these imaginings of mine. Robin Fox is the last to take the stage. His performances seem to really bind with the Cantrills’ films, and I’m leaning forward in my deckchair and paying attention, even tapping my foot to a half-buried beat. All in all: a dark and cosy introduction to some intriguing music making. Alice Body

DAN SULTAN, EVEN THE FORUM It’s testament to the maturity of Dan Sultan’s fans that they arrive early to experience Even and the venue is packed from the get-go. The three-piece position themselves close together, downstage centre, and present a solid set – proficient, not flashy. Frontman Ash Naylor sports a paisley bodyshirt direct from the band’s heyday. “We appreciate your applause, we don’t take it lightly,” he assures. Rock And Roll Saved My Life is a memorable moment. Dan Sultan has escalated from a sold-out show at the Corner to a sold-out show at the Prince to a sold-out show at the Forum, all within a six-month period. Word of mouth continues to spread (this reviewer had three potential plus ones all offering their services) and loyal Sultan fans happily rub shoulders with new recruits this evening. Sultan tours with a seven-piece band and special guests tonight include two-thirds of The Wolfgramm Sisters plus two dancers – fattening up the perv factor for the fellas. The horn section, led by Steven Veale, blasts jubilation throughout this glorious amphitheatre-styled auditorium as the stage is warmed for the man himself. Sultan eventually bounds onstage – fully suited up in monochrome tones. “It’s always been a dream of mine to play here and this is the first time it’s my fault if something fucks up!” he later admits with a gravelly chuckle, having previously graced the Forum stage as part of Before Too Long (the Paul Kelly tribute shows). Fear Of Flying and Dingo set up a rollicking pace to kick-start proceedings and my plus one commends, “My dad would like this!” The crowd definitely spans a few generations. Sultan’s players are fantastic and capture the soulful essence of these songs but his syrupy timbre remains the key focus. His longtime collaborator/guitarist Scott Wilson remarks, “I told you you’d be hot in that jumper,” as Sultan towels his face down and the camaraderie between band members is enchanting. Gina Woods always does a smashing job on keys. The arc of the show slows right down in the middle via I Will Never Let You Down to Nyul Nyul Girl (from the Bran Nue Dae soundtrack) and culminates with Roslyn – the song Sultan wrote about his mother, which he sang on National Apology Day. This portion of the show is moving beyond belief. Receiving undivided attention for solo acoustic sounds just before 11pm on a Friday night is a big ask, but Sultan’s charisma demands it. It’s his portrayal of the material that

particularly resonates. Wilson joins Sultan onstage for Get Out While You Can, the title track from their latest album, and the trajectory is once again set to rock o’clock. Extra backing vocals elevate Letter (thanks to a couple of Wolfgramm Sisters). The double whammy of Cadillac And Mustang and Money causes an eruption of shaking tail feathers and Sultan utilises a series of props that punters present to him: draping a woman’s scarf across his shoulders; placing a bangle that’s been thrown onstage around his wrist before joking, “I’m married now”; and skipping across the stage, AC/ DC-style, with a crutch. The ladies certainly appreciate Sultan’s sporadic dance moves! Sultan is on top of his game and ready to exhilarate Womad UK next month.

PBS 106.7 FM and INPRESS present

Bryget Chrisfield

NOUVELLE VAGUE, BERRY PRINCE BANDROOM One can only really say, “Merci beaucoup,” for a show that exceeded all preconceived notions of lithe-limbed French mademoiselles and lothario’d monsieurs held by this particular Francophile. Straight from the streets of Paris, trio Berry open the night with an intimate set of shadesafter-dark/ heroin-chic acoustic-folk. With their ability to captivate the room, one can’t help feeling swept away to a smoky Parisian café as they lament lost friends or enthuse over love affairs. But the delicacy and indeed sensuality of Berry is blown away by the glittering whirlwind spectacle of Nouvelle Vague. From the moment they take the stage, the atmosphere changes from one of whispered secrets to wild child audience interaction. Perhaps unbeknownst to the band, perhaps not, this taps into nostalgic memories of a better time when the Prince Bandroom was the hub for Melbourne’s emerging punk and new-wave music scene.

An exclusive gig in a secret location. FEATURING

The two beautiful female vocalists have no inhibitions when it comes to firing up the audience, invoking crudity and vulgarity in its sexiest form. Ranging from being blown French kisses and yelling “fuck!” during their witty rendition of the Dead Kennedys classic To Drunk To…, to the loud and low audience “bzzz, bzzz, bzzz” they engineer as a prelude to The Cramps’ Human Fly, these French sirens know how to spark a reaction.

THE DRONES THE DACIOS and BATRIDER

There is something almost satirical about listening to the soulful, tongue-in-cheek acoustic version of God Save The Queen, accompanied by, of all things, a kazoo. What would the Pistols make of all of this?

150 double passes to be won. *

Then there is Joy Division’s iconic Love Will Tear Us Apart, possibly the most effective of all their songs this night, complete with heartfelt musings softly spoken in a delicate French accent of the fruitlessness of love, which make the previously buzzing room deaden with silence.

Enter when you buy a Coopers Dark Ale at these pubs:

Despite the irony behind the entire concept of Nouvelle Vague, there is something lovable and refreshing about these iconic songs being reinvigorated with fresh I-don’t-give-a-fuck humour that is truly punk, rather than the distortion of the genre by ‘traditional’ punk bands. Nouvelle Vague, of course, refers to the first New Wave, the real one that took place in French cinema circa 1960, and it is in the pioneering spirit of Godard, Truffaut et al that the band breath new life into this music, life that would have otherwise been lost in a ‘faithful’ carbon copy.

STANDARD HOTEL THE CENTRAL CLUB HOTEL Fitzroy

Richmond

WILD OSCARS THE COMFY CHAIR THE RETREAT HOTEL Richmond

Brunswick

LABOUR IN VAIN THE GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL Carlton North

Fitzroy

Lucie McMahon

COMMERCIAL CLUB HOTEL THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL Yarraville

Dan Sultan pic by Lou Lou Nutt

Brunswick

THE MARQUIS OF LORNE

kwp!CPR10795

Fitzroy

* Terms and conddititio ioons aappply. See coopers.com.au for details. Exclusive gig date 17/7. Promotion ends at 11.59pm on 2/7/2010. 63

live@inpress.com.au

BOYS IN PRAHRAN They were fielding offers from some major labels after their recent WAMi live show, but Perth’s Boys Boys Boys! are for now more excited about their impending first East Coast tour. Armed with their debut album, Yes, and new pop video Ticky Ticky Boom, Boys Boys Boys! will be bringing their quirky pop riffs, all-girl harmonies and hella fun live show to a show to Shake Some Action at Onesixone on Thursday 22 July. Entry is $6 from 9pm.

IRISH EYES For every cheerful song in his repertoire, Irish folkie JOHN SPILLANE has something darker, he tells MICHAEL SMITH.

HEEBIE DJIVA

RUMBLE IN YER CASKET Rumble, the Bendigo Hotel’s most notorious night, is upon us again and this Friday’s line-up a killer! Headlining the show is the infamous Rock Bottom James & Quadrajet, including The Detonators Doghouse Dave – look out ‘cause their blazing jump-rock tunes are as slick as their teddyboy quiffs. In support are St Kilda’s finest, The Exotics, who will be playing their lewd rockabilly, greasy rhythm’n’blues, crashin’ surf reverb and garage trash. Rockabilly trio Dogsday will have your feet a-tappin’ and your hips-a-shakin’, and Casket Radio will be opening the night with their new-school rockabilly tunes. Burlesque bombshell Honey B Goode will tantalise the senses and Rockjet DJs spin tunes ‘til 3am! Entry is $10.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Hi-Life Wedding play Revolver on Thursday 1 July. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? Katherine O’dell Boehms, bass: “Hi-Life Wedding was conceived on a Barramundi farm in rural NSW, although at that time we were just jamming to pass the time. We started the band in Taipei and moved to Melbourne last August so we could play a bit more.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “When we first arrived in Melbourne we recorded a demo with Joe Henderson from Pots And Pans Recording and Phil from Base Studios. Since then we’ve been playing around a lot with our sound and we’re in the planning stages of getting some of that down. We do a fair bit of tooling around in the bedroom.” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “Electrorockhousepunk.” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Radiohead, ‘cause I’d get to see their show heaps of times.” IF A HIGHER POWER SMITES YOUR HOUSE AND YOU CAN ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM THE FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” DO YOU HAVE A LUCKY ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR FOR GIGS AND WHAT IS IT? “No such luck.” IF YOU INVITED SOMEONE AWESOME ROUND FOR DINNER WHAT WOULD YOU COOK? “Fried chicken and peach pie.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO DRINK IN MELBOURNE? “Nana’s for six o’clock beer.”

So you have to wonder how Spillane managed to initially rise to some prominence as a musician in Ireland in a jazz group. “I started out as a rock’n’roller and played bass in various rock bands here in Cork city, but I had kind of two sides, the heavy rock thing and I had a bit of a folk acoustic thing for the sing-song after the gigs – the late night session, you know? Eventually I dropped my rock’n’roll persona – which was a very false persona, really – and concentrated more on the acoustic folk stuff.

“I

was in Australia October, November 2008,” John Spillane says, “and I found myself in Perth singing the Irish national anthem at the Subiaco Oval to 35,000 people, the biggest gig of my life you could say, and Ireland beat Australia [in International Rules] by one point. And I came home to Ireland to find that I had a hit record.”

SCARLETS BLOW Melbourne’s own female-fronted rock’n’roll juggernaut The Scarlets are kicking arse and taking names launching their awaited new EP, Blow Your House Down, at the Ding Dong Lounge this Friday night. In support are Bugdust, Sin City and Sydney’s bad boys LUST. A stellar line-up of Australian rock’n’roll like this is not to be missed!

of based in the Irish folk ballad tradition really, but I dip into it when it suits me.”

Play Like A Girl is a jam session and network for women musicians that provides an opportunity to gain inspiration and support from each other, and a ‘safe space’ to jam together and expand creativity, skills and networks. Coming up at the next jam on Tuesday 29 June at the Cornish Arms are Djiva (‘Jeeva’), an award-winning West Australian duo who perform with an earthy sensuality, an independence of spirit and a fresh contemporary feel. Their voices blend to create a vocal palette rich in colour and texture. The night begins at 7pm and is gold coin donation for entry.

READY FOR THIS JELLY? This Sunday the fire will be cracklin’ at the Bendigo Hotel, so settle in with all-girl a cappella trio Aluka at 4pm. Aluka sing contemporary original tunes that incorporate intricate harmonies, body and vocal percussion, tempo and time signature changes. Then the Bendigo welcomes back those crazy swingin’ cats known as the Jelly Tub Rollers! Playing thigh-slappin’ 1930s party jazz and blues. These over-dressed super-swing vaudevillians are guaranteed to get your party jumping! Combining the driving beat of drums, double bass and guitar with the tickles and moans of saxophone, trombone and vocals, the Jelly Tub Rollers bring an old-world energy to classic and original jazz tunes. Entry is free.

TAKE JADE HOME Featuring a brand new set of songs written for women by a variety of composers and singer/songwriters as well as several of her own compositions, Jade Leonard will romance you and your loved one with her soulful sound. You might just want to take her home! After a sell-out first season, singer, pianist and songwriter Leonard joins the Bizarre Cabaret Festival with a return season of her solo show For The Ladies. It takes place from Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 July at Kaye Sera’s Bizarre in St Kilda. Tickets are $20+BF through www.greentix.com.au.

JACK FOR FREE

Jack’s Castle play the second and last of their miniresidency shows in the front bar at Revellers Fitzroy this Saturday. Having just launched their debut album, On A Colour TV, the Melbourne indie group have enjoyed strong radio support across the country and are looking forward to the intimate surrounds of Revellers. Local supports kick off from 9.30pm and entry is free.

PULL A SWIFTY Get down to Revellers Fitzroy (it’s on Johnston Street) this Friday as The Swiftones wade through the venue dripping in reverb and jingling with delay. After playing around town in other musical endeavours, these fellows have banded together to show you what beat use to be. When they are not wandering around inner city hovels or wondering where to wander next, they will be at the bar. Entry is $10 from 8.30pm.

E-WAH THE LETTER

Get yourself out for some E-wah Lady fire and treacle then the local songstress plays with her compelling new line-up The Open Road this Thursday at the Great Britain Hotel. She’s kicking off first at 9pm, followed by the downright catchy country rock of Lonesome. Entry is free. Next up is Gertrude’s Brown Couch on Wednesday 30 June in the engaging environs of the upstairs room. Song craftsmen Charles Donahue and Simon Gardner will open the night to kindle your heart strings. Entry is $5.

That was his collection, Irish Songs We Learned At School. Listen to the latest Spillane released locally, a ‘best of’ suitably titled So Far So Good, Like and you’d get the impression that for this particular Irish singer/songwriter, life is pretty bright and full of optimism. “Well I do have quite optimistic songs,” Spillane admits with that inevitable sly twinkle in the voice that the Irish seem to have genetically programmed in at birth. “Quite a lot of bright, cheerful songs, but for every bright and shiny song that I have, I have a dark song. I didn’t choose the songs for the record myself. It’s my new approach to life – do what you’re told and cause the minimum fuss. Everything seems to go much better. So actually some of my best work is not on that album at all. “What’s on that album is the more commercial stuff. I let my manager and my record company select the songs and they left out the darker stuff.” A lot more in the vein of Lovers Leap in fact, the classic folk ballad lyric. “Well, yes, now you’re talkin’! Suicide drowning songs and stuff like that. You know I am kind

“But the reason I played in a swing jazz band is because really I always loved The Beatles and I learned a lot of Beatles songs on the guitar and The Beatles’ chord sequences are very sophisticated and very jazzy. So I got interested in jazz for fun really with some friends of mine and we sang in three-part close harmony – old-fashioned songs from the 1930s and 1940s – and then it became a real band called The Stargazers, which went on for seven years and was quite popular here.” Spillane considers all that part of his “long apprenticeships towards being the singer/ songwriter” that he is today and in fact he was something of a late starter in that field, signing to EMI in Ireland on his 40th birthday. “I wrote my first song when I was 16, but I wasn’t that good for a long time. I’m getting much better now – I’m 49 years old and I’m starting to get the hang of it.” With another album almost ready for release, it’s obvious Spillane has more than “got the hang of it”. “The career has been going very well for over ten years now, but it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” WHO: John Spillane WHAT: So Far So Good, Like (EMI) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, Clifton Hill Hotel

DIRTY BREADERS

The Breadmakers recently celebrated 20 years of service to the industry that does Melbourne proud – live rock’n’roll. They have played venues all over Melbourne, and the planet, and yet still love to be sucked back into the place where it all started, the Great Britain Hotel. They play the GB this Saturday night with two marathon sets of engorged swamp-pop-trash from 9pm. It’s free, so no excuses for all those tight in the penny department.

TWO UP FOR JJ

Locals JJ Symon & The Monochromes mark two years together with a special gig at the Great Britain Hotel this Sunday! It also happens to be the birth date of one local harmonica-brandishing, trilby-fitted troubadour. So head down to the GB in the evening to join in the celebrations and heckle the birthday boy. The awesome garage power-duo Blue Peter will thump the stage from 7pm, with the anniversary kids to follow. Entry is free all night.

ON THE

STEREO Arcane CROW Choose The Sentinel Blooze 6S & 7S The Drums THE DRUMS Something For Everybody DEVO Treats SLEIGH BELLS Reservoir FANFARLO You Are My Good Light THREE MONTH SUNSET Love Will Have Her Revenge THE MAIN STREET GOSPEL My Volcano RICHARD IN YOUR MIND Bellplay WHITE WOODS

VAMPIRE WEEKENDS The Retreat Hotel welcomes back those loveable popsters Mini-Bikes this Thursday night for their last show for the month, this week with very special guests The Level Spirits bringing their infectious soul garage sound (featuring former Stems man Julian Matthews on guitar). Mini-Bikes’ frontman Marcel Borrack delivers beautifully constructed pop songs that make you smile and are guaranteed to warm you up. Then on Friday at the Retreat, Spoonful rock the back room until midnight and DJ Johnny Two Decks keeps you dancing until 3am. On Saturday the Retreat welcomes Waz E James and band to the front bar from 7.30pm and out the back will be Fearless Vampire Killers with support from The Messengers. The Retreat Sunday roast is back and the open fires will be lit. And don’t forget Bogan Bingo is on every Monday night 8pm ‘til 10pm, free and adults only. See you there!

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MUMBLETOWN, OUTER SPACE Have you ever been to space? Flown really high in a UFO and confronted aliens? Well, neither have MumbleTown, but they do a rather bizarre song about running away to space. So getting in the spirit of their farewell show at the Evelyn this Thursday, the young ‘uns are dressing up in rocketship-themed clothes! Using their powers of persuasion they will force all who enter the Ev to do so as well! (Take the hint.) They are about to embark upon a six-month hiatus as some members head off overseas. On the night they’re joined by Toyota War, The Phantom Agents, Shutterstop and new pals Northeast Party House. Tickets are $7+BF from Moshtix and on the door from 8pm.

CHARLES DROPS A BALL After the success of last year’s sold out Blue Atlas Winter Ball, Charles Jenkins is back with his band The Zhivagos to celebrate the second Winter Ball at the Corner Hotel on Saturday 17 July. Jenkins will be joined by a red hot roster of musical guests including Nick Barker, Rebecca Barnard, Rob Craw, Stephen Cummings, Suzannah Espie, Georgia Fields, Angie Hart, Davey Lane, Jeff Lang, Ash Naylor, Kat Spazzy, Rob Snarski and more. Get frocked up and rock up to soak up some winter heat with a stunning line-up of Melbourne’s finest musicians performing all their latest and greatest and blowing the lids off a bunch of their faves! Get your tix now at cornerhotel.com.

STREET GIRLS REST

Gun Street Girls have decided to take a midrecording break to play all of their new songs in the intimate surrounds of the Grace Darling Hotel in Collingwood. With a new album due later this year it’s time to water the horses and get nice and loose on Saturday 10 July with special guests Dirty York and The Bonniwells.

WOOLF BLAST It’s another sweat and reverb soaked weekend for Midnight Woolf as the awesome foursome take their brand of fuzzed-out surf rock’n’roll to the gold fields of Ballarat. They play the Karova Lounge with local rockabilly band The Yard Apes and Sydney’s own Mother And Son this Saturday. Then Midnight Woolf return for a post-Community Cup show at the recently reopened Tote Hotel on Sunday with secret special guests and all night howlings.

SMASH YER FACE Since the launch of their debut EP in March, The Vaudeville Smash have been lighting up stages all over the country and recruiting a legion of new fans along the way. Sydney, Byron, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Launceston have all witnessed the spectacle but the band return home for one more show before they head to Italy in July to finish writing their album, due out later this year. Catch them this Friday at the Evelyn Hotel with support from Brendan McLean and Knight At The Discotheque. Tickets are $10+BF from Moshtix and on the door from 9pm.

WET ON WELLINGTONS

Indie darlings The Wellingtons will launch their new single, Song For Kim, this Saturday night at the Northcote Social Club. Song For Kim is the second blissfully poptastic tune to be lifted from their critically acclaimed album Heading North For The Winter, out now through Dust Devil Music. Joining them on the night will be Davey Lane & The Psychotic Pineapples and Waverley. Tickets are $13 on the door or $10 pre-sale at northcotesocialclub.com.

ALEX, KID

Alex Hallahan’s live show is an impressive hybrid of folk, alt.country and soul, sewn together by his hand and stamped with his unmistakably eclectic style – his band are wolves that haunt, they leap and bound and bite and tickle. Catch them this Saturday night at the Wesley Anne, sharing the bill with Cilla Jane. Entry is $6 from 8pm.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Kate Gogarty plays the East Brunswick Club this Saturday. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? “My dad was a touring musician, so I have been around musicians all my life and performing since I was 14. Over the past ten years I have honed my own sound and was last year invited into the studios of producer Sean Carey to record the first six tracks for release, which became the Blurry EP.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “We recently launched the Blurry EP, which is now available on iTunes. Check it out on MySpace.” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “For the current EP, it’s soulful, emotive, bluesy and moody.” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Dave Bowie, ’cause he’s sexy.” IF A HIGHER POWER SMITES YOUR HOUSE AND YOU CAN ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM THE FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “Would probably have to save Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. I’m a little bit obsessed with that album right now.” DO YOU HAVE A LUCKY ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR FOR GIGS AND WHAT IS IT? “Pants.” IF YOU INVITED SOMEONE AWESOME ROUND FOR DINNER WHAT WOULD YOU COOK? “It would have to be baked beans. Or maybe spag bol, if they were really special.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO DRINK IN MELBOURNE? “This is my first time down here, so you tell me!”

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ONE RAD CAUSE

TO BIEB OR NOT TO BIEB?

Rock Out For Rad is a mammoth fund-raising show this Saturday for one of Pony’s favourite staff members. Recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, Rad is well known to all as the long-serving doorman of Melbourne’s late night institution and, in true Pony fashion, no one is taking news of his illness lying down. So mark your calendar and help raise some money for Rad’s ‘higher than 5am at Pony’ medical bills with Sin City, Pretty Suicide, Fathoms, DJ Geek Pie and Vesper White Burlesque. All proceeds go directly to Rad.

BEND FOR DUVTONS

FISHY BOX Modsters of new wave, Melbourne’s Box Rockets, are all set to release Fishes/Stay, a smooth double A-side shot of distilled indie pop liquor. Fishes is a classic up-tempo rocker that pays homage to Britpop’s carefree early days; while its flipside Stay is curvy, lush and tension driven – a proven dancefloor beer spiller. The band is now hitting the road and jetting into the airspace in support of Fishes/Stay. Their hometown launch is set to go down at the Workers Club this Saturday, with support from psychedelic folk rockers Jimmy Hawk & The Endless Party, and emotive synth-rock group Skye Harbour. Entry is $8 from 8.30pm.

JENNY’S A WINER

At just 24 years old, Jenny Biddle has earned a reputation as a very gifted and talented singer/ songwriter, and is critically acclaimed as a guitarist. Biddle’s repertoire also incorporates piano, adding a dimension that when summed up with her guitar skills and vocal sound has drawn comparisons to the likes of Missy Higgins and Kaki King. A recent winner of the 2009 Just Guitars Best Artist Award held at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, she drew the attention of many new fans. Tonight, Wednesday 23 June, Biddle plays the Drunken Poet’s Wine, Whiskey, Women night from 9pm.

Catch The Duvtons playing their main Melbourne headline show before they support Canadian legends SNFU and then head off up the coast for some interstate and regional shows. These guys have recently been in the studio so some new material will be on showcase! They take the stage at the Bendigo Hotel this Saturday night. In support, launching their latest release, are Sydney’s very own Easy Company. Fancy some Irish do yer? Well fancy this – The Ramshackle Army play their first ever set, promising to bring a brand of Celtic punk rock to the stage. To open proceedings are The Playbook, who come fresh off the back of a few impressive debut shows for them. Entry is $8 from 8pm.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

BLOW IN YER BASEMENT After spending months working on their new album, The Blow Waves swap the studio for the Espy basement for a night on Friday 2 July. The Blow Waves hit the Espy stage with Sydney’s subversive Ghetto Pussy to confront you alongside Melbourne’s gender-bending Godzilla & Mummy Complex with Agent Cleave. DJs John Pants and Lovertits support. Doors open 9pm ‘til late – dress inappropriate. Limited tickets are $10+BF from oztix.com.au, the Espy Bottleshop, Greville Records, Polyester and Fist2Face. More on the door.

SHUT UP AND ROOT!

DC Root – frontman of garage punk poets Root! – justifies the hype as this country’s most original, articulate, angry, funny singer/songwriter/spoken-word artist. But this Saturday at the Evelyn he’s inviting everyone to head down and tell him to shut the fuck up. No, really – the show is called ‘Shut The Fuck Up At The Evelyn!’ and will mark Root!’s final show for the winter. So if you’ve seen them just one too many times since they released their second album, Surface Paradise, last year, make it one more just to give ‘em what for. They’re joined by The Decoys and The Rhetorics and tickets are $12+BF from Moshtix.

3RRR SOUNDSCAPE

Pigeons HERE WE GO MAGIC The Boxer KELE Bellplay WHITE WOODS Madlib Medicine Show No 3 – Beat Konducta In Africa MADLIB Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics LLOYD MILLER & THE HELIOCENTRICS Church With No Magic PVT Fang IRETSU Twelve Inch Clocks EP TWELVE INCH CLOCKS Twice Upon Two Times Remixed JSBL Revolutions Per Minute TALIB KWELI + HI-TEK ARE REFLECTION ETERNAL

On the eve of an East Coat tour, Black Cab drop by Collingwood to welcome back the Tote to the Melbourne music scene. With a new single, Sexy Polizei, and a live show that has made Black Cab Tote faves this is sure to be a rad show of rock and electronics with shades of Europe and 1970s America. Joining them on the night is Ron Peno’s RSVP & The Return To Senders as well as Harry Howard. It’s shows like this that make you glad the Tote is back!

WAR INNA DUB ZONE Raspect Records presents War Inna Babylon: Free Burma Fundraiser to be held at Noise Bar in Brunswick on Friday 2 July. Kicking off with the Oscar-nominated documentary Burma VJ at 7.30pm and followed by the sounds of Melbourne’s best reggae and dancehall selectors headlined by New Dub City Sound, the night aims to raise money for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). There’ll also be door prizes and a legendary dancehall battle between the Bam Bam Assassins and the Burn City Queenz, so head down and party for a very worthy cause.

UZI FIRE LAST ROUND

COLLARD BLUES IS GRAVY The term ‘the blues’ refers to the ‘blue devils’, meaning melancholy and sadness. While its origins lay in the south of the United States, with the lack of sun we see around these parts at this time of year it could easily be native to Melbourne. Perhaps that’s why we have so many kick ass blues guys in this town. This Sunday at the Drunken Poet sees two of our finest purveyors of the blues come together for an afternoon of, well, certainly melancholy, but at least a little sunshine with the sadness. Ian Collard of Collard Greens & Gravy takes the stage at 4pm, followed by Alex Burns at 6pm.

CAB TO THE TOTE

Princess One Point Five Play the Builders Arms on Thursday. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? Sarah-Jane Wentzki, vocals/guitar/piano: “Dumb luck, really. A series of totally unrelated chance events over a number of years, with several stops along the way, have all culminated in the current line-up. It all began when I answered an ad on the Readings wall for a share house. But that’s an entirely different story… The band as it is now started via a lot of different twists and turns. The short version is that Richard [Andrew] helped to produce the first P1.5 album when it was sort of a solo thing, and he’s basically made himself indispensable ever since. We’ve become very much a team over time, quite accidentally. Along the way, we’ve managed to convince talented people to play guest roles; most recently, Ben Grounds, Jed Palmer and Andy Pap. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but they are our more recent and/or enduring ‘guests’.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “I don’t think you ever stop noodling in your bedroom, but Princess One Point Five now has a nifty collection of recordings – a handful of singles, an EP and four full-length albums. The most recent one is called What Doesn’t Kill You.” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “Erm… really very bloody good? Um, intricate, melodic pop rock?” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Metallica. I reckon that would be hilarious! I mean, it would be dreadful, but funny as. Imagine being able to say, ‘Oh, yeah, when we played a show with Metallica’. Solid gold. No, I’m not serious. Actually, I’m very fond of Ladyhawke. She’d be fun to play with, just ’cause. She writes neat tunes, and I met her once years ago and she was just really, really sweet.” IF YOU COULD ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM A FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “Ecstasy Of St Theresa, a sampler vinyl, single EP thing. It’s actually Richard’s, but I often steal it and pretend it’s mine. They’re European of some description. I think. Probably the biggest influence on my early songwriting. Look them up – they’re awesome.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO DRINK IN MELBOURNE? “Believe it or not, I don’t actually go out all that much, I prefer to hang about the house or in our massive backyard. Sometimes I go to the Pinnacle in North Fitzroy. I used to frequent the Park Hotel in Abbotsford; they’re a fun bunch of people – great bar, great food.”

After a seemingly endless string of gigs this year, culminating in a headline spot at the Tote’s recent ‘secret’ reopening weekend, Baptism Of Uzi are to play their final show this Saturday before boarding up the shop for winter. They’ll be taking their stonerkosmische Wooden Shjips/Black Sabbath-inspired sonic adventurism to the Birmingham this weekend as part of the venue’s huge second birthday party bash. Two stages, 20 bands, all for free. Doors open at 12pm.

SOMETHING ROTTEN

Rotten Chop return to the stage this Friday at the Old Bar, with the sounds of the soon to be released Vacation Town EP and a swagger of new tunes under they’re belt. Joining them for the eve are fellow heavy weight grinders Odius Embowel, the technically supreme A Million Dead Birds Laughing and Geelong’s own Face On Fire. Get your grind on from 9pm onwards. Entry is $10 at the door.

MAN ABOUT TOWN With the release of his debut album, Ruins Of Our Town (mixed by Lindsay Gravina at Birdland), tuneful indie songwriter A Man Called Son has so far had an exciting 2010. After grouping together some talented musicians to join him live, his atmospheric and catchy show will be in full swing at the warm and cosy surrounds of the Edinburgh Castle on Sunday. Supporting will be noisy shoegaze upstarts The Nature Scene. Entry is just $5 from 8pm.

DICK FOR NUTHIN’

Wide-screen pop quartet Dick Diver comprises dual frontmen Rubert Edwards and Alistair McKay, bassist Al Montfort, who also plays in punk acts Straightjacket Nation and UV Race, and drummer Stephanie Hughes who moonlights as co-presenter of Triple J’s Home & Hosed. They team up with Baryshnikov and Patinka Cha Cha for an eclectic night of catchy pop tunes at Bar Open this Thursday. This will be Patinka Cha Cha’s last show before they launch their forthcoming EP and a rare chance to see all three bands for free in the intimate floorshow atmosphere of Bar Open. Doors at 9pm.

WRIGHT ON THE DANCEFLOOR In their two years together as a band, Melbourne genre-mashers Simon Wright & The Eclective have gone from being a Fitzroy jam band to a collection of finely tuned, extremely talented musicians pumping out party vibes to their every growing loyal followers. The energetic dancefloors they host are always packed with colour; the hip hop diehards are banging their heads, the reggae crew are doin’ the one drop bop and the smooth soul cats are sittin’ in the pocket groove. One thing they all share in common though, is a smile from ear to ear. The band play Bar Open this Saturday – entry is free from 10pm.

Hell hath no fury like a 12-year-old scorned, as US software developer Greg Leuch is currently discovering. Leuch’s crime was to develop a free plug-in called Shaved Bieber which, once installed, blocks all mentions of teen sensation Justin Bieber from the user’s computer. This has prompted a deluge of venomous hate emails/Tweets/messages from seriously pissed off Beliebers, which Leuch has fortunately been archiving at shavedbieber.tumblr.com/. Here’s a sample. policeman10019: UR A FREAKIN UGLY BITCH. UR JUST FUCKINGG JEALOUS OF JUSTIN BIEBER.SO GO FCKING BURN IN HELL AND STAY UR ASS IN THERE Flor_5824: Stop with the SHAVED BIEBER!! I know how to use a gun!!! I can appear next to U at any moment!!! YazmineeBieberFann: O MY GOODD. That Cock-Eyed Bastuurd carnt do anything!! okay i know some people hate and cant just stand justin but u dont have to flippin ERASE HIM!! WTFF!! u guys have PROBLEMS to whoever adds this app. i hate MILEY CYRUS but i dont wanna ERASE HER!! ha... theres a simple word for these kinda dumb Azz ppl. ...Pathetic JustinJBinSPAIN: Your bich mother!!!you die when you get with justin bieber you get with all his fans!! Gilipollas!!!! GaGa4Biebz: Ugh, I am so damn angry at you! You don’t even care if your new software hurts Justin. Go Die Hitler. 321BiEbErFeVeR: i swear, if my mom EVER tries to put the “shaved bieber” program on our computers.. I WILL RUN AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK!! (: Vale: greg leuch, you are a jerk! Fuck! die! leave in peace justin bieber and all the other famous people, because they have earned their fame! bieberrbabbyy13: if you dont like justin then boo hoo . go cry me a fucking river . we DONT care. you got that?! its the internet what about all those sex offenders out there ?! huh ?? why not do something about that. people die from creepers on the internet, and you want to stop justin because he did nothing? this is gay. and pisses me off so much, i dont even know what to say. this world is shit. leave the poor 16 year old alone and go jump off a bridge. motherfuckers. CHASS: WTF ?! I SWEAR TO GOD U GUYS ARE FGUCKED UP NOONE LIKES YOU AND I SWEAR TO GOD IM GOING TO BLOW U UP . JBloverShelby: fuck you, that’s just plain rude you probably don’t even have a life JasminSpitaler: Mum just showed me that she did block justin bieber on the computer. So ive locked myself in the bathroom and im crying. FuckLeuch: I know many things about you and i know where you live. Just be aware. I might just appear behind you and shoot you with a gun. Further reading: lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber. tumblr.com/

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HAVE YOU HEARD?

DANIEL REPULSES

This Sunday sees Daniel Tucceri launch his debut LP, The Symbols Repulse, at the Empress. Four years in the making, the album is an unpredictable mash-up of styles and instrumentation that will be best reflected with the attitude embodying the album launch at the Empress. Always one to challenge himself, Tucceri plans to dispense with his trusty guitar and, for the first time, do an entire gig performed on piano, with Leonard Ellis and Julian Febbraio on synths and drums respectively. Supports on the night will be the equally boundary pushing Fritzwicky and Fieldlings. Entry for the night will be free, so head down for what looks set to be a great evening of improvised and experimental music.

RARE RHYTHM The motivation for Melbourne’s BLAK ROOTS to record was simply that they wanted to share their original reggae sounds, basisst CONRAD HENDERSON tells NIC TOUPEE.

THE PINK STINK The Swamplords launch their new EP at the John Curtin on Friday. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? Jeremy Hindmarsh, drums/guitars/vocals: “Swamplords over the last five years have consisted of an ever-changing myriad of performers. The recent line-up met during times of adventures in the rainforest of northern Queensland.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “We are releasing our self-titled album this Friday... and yes, we all tool around.” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “The boiling pineapple sensation.” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Los Saicos. It would be great to perform in Peru.” IF A HIGHER POWER SMITES YOUR HOUSE AND YOU CAN ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM THE FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “William Onyeabor – When The Going Is Smooth And Good.”

Sabbatical presents an evening of metallic exploration with Brisbane’s Cured Pink at the Empress Hotel this Friday. The chaotic band have attracted descriptions such as “psychotic performance art”, “post-industrial noise bliss” and “bored at 3am” and Sabbatical are unleashing the first release by this constantly evolving Brisbane-based project overseen by Andrew McLellan. To launch this selftitled limited run cassette release, Sabbatical has curated a dynamite line-up with good mates True Radical Miracle and Ivens. Doors open at 8pm.

HAPPY BARFY BIRMO It’s nearly two years since the Birmingham Hotel became not shit any more! Last year’s first birthday was massive and this year is going to be even bigger. This Saturday from midday you can catch the most ridiculously awesome line-up of The Stabs, Dick Diver, Sydney’s Dead Farmers, Teen Archer, Ships Piano, Wil Wagner & The Smith Street Band, Dozers, Baptism Of Uzi, This War, Madonna, Grizzly Jim Lawrie and band, Chaos Kids, Keggin, The Black Hill Five and heaps more! Wanna know what else? It’s free!

Given his diverse experience as a bass player, having spent 20 years playing in funk, Latin, reggae, soul, gypsy music and jazz bands, and as a session muso, if anyone’s playing could inject a breadth of styles into Blak Roots’ sound, it would be Henderson’s. However, he didn’t just broaden the basslines; he assisted lead singer/songwriter William Kadina to take Blak Roots from first stages to main stages in the last two years.

“DO YOU HAVE A LUCKY ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR FOR GIGS AND WHAT IS IT?” “Long johns.” IF YOU INVITED SOMEONE AWESOME ROUND FOR DINNER WHAT WOULD YOU COOK? “Earwigs.”

CHERRY GOT SOUL Cherry Bar in ACDC Lane celebrates a decade of soul at Cherry with the Soul In The Basement tenth birthday, making it the longest running weekly soul night in the world. The bash happens on Thursday 1 July from 8pm to 5am with special guests Saskwatch live. PBS icons Vince ‘The Prince’ Peach and Pierre Baroni have been playing nothing but original 45 rpm soul 7”s at Cherry for ten soulful, sexy and sinsational years. Head there, celebrate, dance and no doubt pick up at the sexiest Thursday in Melbourne ever!

SWAMP THING The John Curtin Hotel hosts the masters of sunny psychotic surf, Brisbane’s Swamplords, this Friday for the launch of their new EP. They bring a cache of facemelting guitars like Brian Wilson’s darkest desires and poppy sing-along thrashed to death on the dunes by Anthony Kiedis, like in Point Break. Supporting are the reduced and reductive TTT and up-and comers, the effortlessly minimal Absolute Boys.

elbourne is, arguably, Australia’s home of reggae and dub music, and there is a large and loyal scene for the array of reggae clubs, DJs and bands on offer. Acknowledging this, but looking beyond genre boundaries, Conrad Henderson – bassist for Melbourne reggae-influenced band Blak Roots – cites Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Lauren Hill and Salif Keita amongst the band’s influences. It is of fundamental importance to Henderson that Blak Roots project an eclectic sound and reject labelling that pegs them as just another reggae band in Melbourne’s music scene.

CUPID SHOOTS OFF This Sunday drop into the Builders Arms and let Jim Patterson, Joel Edmondson and Cupid warm the cockles of your heart and soothe the savage beast that lurks inside the person sitting next to you. Jim Patterson’s songwriting has been described as “a cross between Steve Malcmus and Elliott Smith”, while Joel Edmondson’s debut album, Invisible Steps, is an experimental pop production of protest, passion and pestilence. It’s available from Lofly Records in August. Cupid’s music follows in the fine footsteps of all the aforementioned in what can only be described as post-lounge-folk-pop. Their intensity lies in their quietness, their sweetness, and the accordion player. Entry is $6 from 8pm.

THURS 24TH:

THURSDAY IS

Introduced by a mutual friend at a party, Henderson listened to the bare bones of Kadina’s songs and recognised a diamond in the rough, he recalls. “A couple of years ago, a friend of mine, Anita, called and said she had a reggae singer who would like to meet me. I went to a party and met William there. He started playing me his songs and I thought they were pretty good. Basic, but good. He had a lovely voice, so I said, ‘Let’s have a go at this’. Then, over a period of a few weeks, we nutted out his songs together, adding sophistication and arrangement to them.” Once he was satisfied with the results of their collaborative effort at translating Kadina’s ideas into complex, full songs, Henderson went one step further and organised a band to back Kadina’s voice – even recruiting his own brother! “My brother Chiki is a good guitarist, so I asked him to join, and then we found a drummer [Matthew Berg] and keyboard player [Gerald Frederic]. It was all falling into place really quickly, and then I found an African singer [Aminata Doumbia] and invited

SUN 27TH:

LADIES NIGHT $5 BUBBLE & $10 COCKTAILS

DJ’S 9PM TIL CLOSE

FRI 25TH:

TOP 40 & COMMERCIAL PARTY TUNES DJ’S 9PM TIL CLOSE

SAT 26TH:

TRANSPORT HOTEL @ FEDERATION SQUARE 9654 8808 / WWW.TRANSPORTHOTEL.COM.AU

80’s RETRO TUNES FROM 9PM TILL CLOSE

SUNDAY SESSIONS UNDER THE APPLE TREE

12.30PM – 2.30PM DUO

O.M.GEE'S 3PM – 6PM BAND

her to come and join. I wrote the music William and I had written out for the band to follow and, after two years of working together, we had a lot of good quality songs – in my humble opinion.” The album Blak Roots have just recorded contains only original songs and no cover versions, as he refuses to play them, Henderson states emphatically. “We recorded our CD because we had original music we wanted to share. We have never played a cover version in this band – I refuse to do that. If you have orignal songs and you believe in them, why would you want to do a Bob Marley song? They are wonderful artists, but my idea of taking on this band was not to do that: not to do what other bands are doing. Original music has to stand up for itself, and that affects the response you receive or the longevity you have.” One unarguably different element of their sound, compared to other reggae influenced bands in Australia, is that they don’t sing in English. Right at the beginning, when Kalemba presented his songs to Henderson, the lyrics were writtin in his native African language and Henderson saw no reason to change that. “The lyrics in the album are not in English, they’re in William’s native language, and there’s also a little bit of French in it. William already had his lyrics with him when we met, and he is newly arrived to Australia, so his English isn’t as profound as his own mother tongue” Henderson explains. “Sometimes when you translate things they can sound corny: William’s lyrics work best in their own language, I think. In the CD booklet we have translated them into English for people who want to hear what it is we’re singing about.” WHO: Blak Roots WHAT: Blak Roots (Indpendent) WHEN & WHERE: Sunday, Toff In Town; Saturday 3 July, Eolian Hall

EVERY NIGHT!

2010

WORLD CUP GAMES SHOWN LIVE ON SCREENS THROUGHOUT THE VENUE

EVERY WEDNESDAY

WORLD CUP

FOOSBALL COMPETITION

STARTS JUNE 16 FOR 5 WEEKS REGISTER FROM 6PM GAMES START 8PM EVERY REGISTERED PERSON RECEIVES ONE FREE BEER! 67

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SHORT FAST

Refused

OF YOUTH

REPORT

Hardcore and punk with STU HARVEY shortfast@inpress.com.au So have you been following the whole Cokie The Clown thing that has unfolded over the last few months? Just as we thought it was all about to die down, fictional member of Propagandhi Glen Lambert posted a challenge to Fat Mike’s alert ego Cokie: “I was depressed and pathetic back in 2004. The band NOFX even wrote a (terrible) song about how depressed and pathetic I was. [The song Glen is referring is One Celled Creature from the Wolves In Wolves’ Clothing album) Then this fucking clown comes along out of nowhere four years later, acting all depressed and pathetic. Coincidence? Well, this town is only big enough for one depressing and pathetic clown, and that’s me, Glen Lambert. So I’m issuing a public challenge to Cokie: meet me in the octagon. Three one-minute rounds. No holds barred. The loser apologizes publicly for stealing the other guys gimmick and pays the winner a whole shitload of money. I’m serious about this. I’ve been taping cutlery together and doing armcurls for the past four hours. I’m fucking ripped. Rich people interested in organizing this event please get in touch with my manager, Murray Moon. Oh, and heres a tip Cokie: real clowns don’t wear make-up.” For further updates on the potential clown beef, bookmark propagandhi.com. Tough week for veteran pop punkers Rufio; The band and crew (how these guys can still afford a crew is a mystery) were in a nasty RV crash. The word is that a driver in another vehicle fell asleep at the wheel and sideswiped the band’s RV while travelling at night in Nevada. The members of Rufio suffered bruises and cuts, but everyone has been able to leave the hospital. One of their crew is still hospitalised with damaged spleen. More details are not yet available. The driver of the vehicle at fault is on life support. They are going to take a few weeks to recover from injuries and were forced to cancel a run of upcoming shows. Also, their RV was split it two! Dennis from Refused recently explained to Canadian magazine Exclaim why the tenth anniversary reissue of their landmark album The Shape Of Punk To Come was actually not released until the 12th anniversary and why there is also a spiffy double vinyl version available. “Well, it was two or three years that they suggested they were gonna do this reissue of the last record ‘cause it was the ten-year anniversary. It was supposed to come out two years ago but we got involved and started saying, ‘Oh, if you’re gonna put it out, we should add stuff to it or make it a bit more price-worthy for people to buy; it’s too weird for people to just go out and buy it again’. So we actually instigated the fact that the live recording

THE

RACKET Metal, heavy rock and dark alternative with ANDREW HAUG theracket@inpress.com.au It’s the tour that just seems to get bigger and bigger! Metallica’s website has been updated with the following message: “Wow... you guys are nuts and we are nuts about you!! It’s still mind-boggling to us that 13 shows in Australia sold out in less than an hour! So guess what??? We’re coming BAAAACCCK! We spent the last couple of weeks trying to put a schedule together in September that would include yet another visit... the third one, the prequel if you will. It works out that on our way to Japan we can do just that.” So there is a god? This news is unbelievable and enough for me to already start booking flights to witness possibly the most underrated and criminally ignored metal band ever – Swiss thrash trio Coroner have been rumoured to have reformed for Hellfest in France in 2011. Speechless! According to The Pulse Of Radio, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan told RollingStone.com that the band is “quietly working” on a new album that will be released “when it’s ready”. Asked if the group might possibly test out some new songs on the road this summer, Keenan said, “If it comes together, yeah, you’ll hear some new stuff. If it’s not ready, you won’t”. Keenan hinted that the tour might include some new visuals, although he also joked, “Maybe I’ll just come out in my birthday suit. A 46-year-old naked dude running around onstage. Let’s see how that goes over.” Keenan, also vocalist for A Perfect Circle, said that a fourth album from that group is in the early stages,

DEPARTMENT All things under 18 with KENDAL COOMBS accessallages@inpress.com.au

would be in there and I know David added extra photos and stuff for the booklet. That’s why it took a while to get everything together: ‘cause we got involved. I also sent multiple emails to our management saying that if it’s not gonna be released on vinyl, you can’t release it at all.”

SHORT FAST REPORT TOP 5 Parkway Drive. Their eagerly anticipated third album Deep Blue hits stores this week. The production is a big step up from their previous albums, especially the bottom end that sounds huge. Dangers. The Californian hardcore outfit is touring Australian at the moment with Graf Orlock. They join me this week for an interview on Short Fast Loud and you can catch the two bands on 1 July at Irene’s Warehouse and 2 July at The Arthouse. Enter Shikari. The English lads who blend many genres to form their unique post-hardcore sound have announced their third trip to Australia will be happening this September. Supported by House Vs Hurricane the band hit town 25 September at the Hi-Fi 18+ and Sunday 26 September (under-18). New Miles Away. The Perth hardcore lads have unveiled the first track, Ghostwriter, from their forthcoming album, Endless Roads, that is due for an August release. Ghostwriter is one of the best Miles Away songs ever. If the rest of the album is of this calibre, it will be one of the albums of the year! Make your own mind up here myspace.com/milesawayhc. New Anberlin. Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place is the title for the brand new album from Florida’s Anberlin. Though you will have to wait a couple of months as the album is due for release September 21st. Don’t forget to catch Stu every Wednesday night hosting Short Fast Loud on Triple J. Coming soon is the SFL Mid Year Report. So email your favourite five punk/hardcore releases of the first half of 2010 to shortfastloud@triplej. abc.net.au then tune into the show on 7 July as Stu counts down the best of the year so far.

explaining, “We’ve got some riffs and some music. It’s just basically playing it over and over again while driving and waiting for things to fall into place.” San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans Death Angel will release their new album on 3 September. Singer Mark Osegueda previously stated about the band’s decision to work with producer Jason Suecof: “The new material is the most aggressive and technical music we have written in years. So we needed a producer that was capable of unleashing the tones that match and complement the overall vibe of the songs. With Jason’s experience in producing some of the most brutal contemporary metal artists and albums of today, I know we made the right choice! I think the collaboration between the two of us will prove to be venomous and infectious!” The BP oil spill has touched a nerve with Korn. The band are launching a boycott against using the company’s gasoline while on tour this summer. They have formally announced they will not be fuelling any of their touring vehicles with BP products and are strongly encouraging other acts to do the same. “The daily images are hard to watch,” says Korn frontman Jonathan Davis. “We need to do our part to let BP know there are consequences for causing something like this. We want to send a message to corporations like BP so that they will take more preventative measures in the future. The more costly their punishment, the more money they will spend to make sure disasters like this don’t happen again. It’s plain and simple capitalism.”

The week has finally come for the 2010 Community Cup, the best way to kick-start the school holidays. The Community Cup sees the Espy Rockdogs take on the PBS/ RRR Megahertz in the only game of AFL celebrating the vibrancy of Melbourne’s music scene, and all for a measly $5. The game supports RecLink, an organisation that uses sport and the arts to enhance the lives of the community’s most vulnerable and isolated people – those experiencing mental illness, disability, homelessness, substance abuse, addictions, and social and economic hardship. Entertainment will include The Living End, Nick Barker & The Reptiles, The Blackeyed Susans, Little Freddie & The Pops and SYN Free Kick Competition winners, Money For Rope. So make sure you get down to Elsternwick Oval early this Sunday as proceedings kick off at 11am. The annual FReeZA summit will be held at GO Tafe in Wangaratta on Tuesday 29 June, the Children’s Services Hub in Torquay on Thursday 1 July and at Brunswick Town Hall on Friday 2 July. The summits will feature a range of industry professionals, this year sharing event management advice and information. To boot, there’s a special live performance and free lunch. So if you are a young person interested in getting involved in your community’s music, arts, entertainment and cultural activities then head to thepush.asn.au and register your interest.

FRIDAY The first Whittlesea FReeZA Push Start Battle Of The Bands heat is on at the Epping Memorial Hall. Tickets are $10 on the door with a 6.15pm start. FReeZA Push Start Battle Of The Bands heat number two takes place with Time To Die Samurai, Passport For Amy, Cyaneye, Rekfast, Bring The Motion, Darcee Fox, Avenstar and Blue Shudder battling it out at the Wyndham Youth Resource Centre. Tickets are $8 on the door with a 6pm start.

SATURDAY La Fridge features DJ Gold and hip hop dancing at the Wedderburn Hall from 7.30pm. Tickets are $10. An open mic night to qualify for Jumpstart Jam, a youth recording project, is on at Torquay College from 6.30pm. If you want to get involved tickets are $5 on the door.

rejoined Borknagar as the band’s new bassist/ singer. Commented Vortex: “I am looking forward to see [sic] all you old-school helmet-wearing mofos on the road and to spend some quality time once again with my favourite vikings. Let’s make this event a really special BM party, come on!”

LOCAL GIG GUIDE Internal Nightmare (EP launch), Contrive, Humonic, Scar The Surface, Meticulous Despoilment and Deliverance We Prey – Friday, East Brunswick Club Rotten Chop, Odius Embowel, A Million Dead Birds Laughing and Face On Fire – Friday Old, Bar

TOURS, TOURS, TOURS Paul Di’Anno – Thursday, the Espy

Om – Sunday 11 July, National Hotel (Geelong); Friday 16, Hi-Fi Bar Testament – Friday 6 August, Billboard Slash – Wednesday 11 August, Festival Hall Napalm Death – Sunday 5 September, the Hi-Fi Mayhem – Thursday 23 September, the Hi-Fi Overkill – Friday 24 September, the Hi-Fi

Norwegian gothic metallers Tristania have set Rubicon as the title of their sixth album, which will be released via Austria’s Napalm Records. The band says: “We think the result has turned out amazing, and we’re extremely eager to get this album released.”

Exodus – Sunday 3 October, Corner Hotel

According to the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine, former Dimmu Borgir bassist/clean vocalist ICS Vortex (real name: Simen Hestnæs) has

Andrew Haug hosts Triple J’s The Racket every Tuesday from 10pm – triplej.abc.net.au/ racket. Email theracket@inpress.com.au.

Metallica – Wednesday 15 September, Thursday 18, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 November, Rod Laver Arena.

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THE

The Scare

BREAKDOWN Pop culture therapy with ADAM CURLEY As occasionally happens, I’ve been struggling lately with the influx of new releases to my desk/ life, each weighed down by previous conversations with others about how good it is or how much people have been talking or writing about the band or who’s in the band and what they’ve done prior to my learning about them. It’s by no means an uncommon affliction for anyone interested in music; the ‘hype machine’ is often discussed as killer of all that is innocent in music appreciation. Nor does is take anything away from that greater interest in what can be achieved in the name of music or (for some only, perhaps) how that relates to the world. But it does have an affect on how music is accepted or processed, and it’s currently doing my head in. For one, the talk of West Coast scenes and sounds and the seemingly never-ending line of bands and releases tagged with some kind of ‘60s pop or psych revival or featuring members of another band you only just heard of last month who moved to the Bay Area from Omaha. Or was that the Williamsburg band who are, perhaps ironically (but who can tell?), incorporating ‘90s LA beach-pop sounds into their lo-fi garage songs? I’m as interested in ‘happenings’ and influences on happenings as the next pop-cultural hack, but it’s easy to become cynical when it feels like ‘someone’ is constantly trying to throw an idea wrapped in marketing at you and claim it as the piece of your artistic appreciation or emotional experience that has been missing from your life. Particularly when that idea is just an idea; a bit of music recorded in one take by a few people who met each other a few months ago, intended as something instant and visceral. Thrown-together or improvised ideas can change the course of history, but it seems unlikely they can change an individual’s life when that individual lives hundreds of thousands of kilometres away and is streaming them via a blog in their bedroom. (This column is also just an idea, and a thrown-together one at that. It’s also available to be read at adamsbreakdown. blogspot.com. A band has to change someone’s life to cut through the barrage of noise, but it

ROOTS DOWN

Blues ‘n’ roots with DAN CONDON rootsdown@inpress.com.au I had initially intended to dedicate just one column to the feast of roots music I was lucky enough to witness at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee (about an hour south of Nashville) last weekend, but it became apparent very quickly that that simply would not suffice. So please enjoy my first of two recounts on what was a fantastic festival with a bevy of awe-inspiring acts. On the first night, Portland’s Blitzen Trapper played to an enormous crowd, showing off plenty of material from their freshly released Destroyer Of The Void album (which I’ve found to be a real grower, so give it some time). They’re reaching even further towards a classic ‘70s country rock kind of deal at the moment and I think they make a better fist of it live than on record. Early on the second day, New Orleans’ newest big hope, Trombone Shorty, hit the Which Stage with his band Orleans Avenue. Shorty has been a young gun on the New Orleans circuit for many years, first becoming a bandleader at the age of six (he’s just turned 24). The group plays a style of party-starting modern funk that seemed a little out of place in the midday sun, but was slick and impressive – the unmistakable New Orleans horn section giving a real kick to the sound which also occasionally nods to ska and classic rock. The That Tent was home to a stunning array of country acts on day two and to my surprise Jim Lauderdale wandered onstage early to explain to the crowd that the day’s festivities from that stage were being broadcast as a part of his Tennessee Shines radio show. It’s hard to say whether it was because of the soul-sucking heat and lack of shade on the festival grounds or due to a genuine spike in popularity, but the Carolina Chocolate Drops, one of the only African American, string bands around today, pulled an enormous crowd of younger people to their set inside the shady tent. The band’s

feels like it’s getting harder and harder for that to happen the more noise there is and the more fragmented our access to music becomes. Perhaps it’s just that, more than ever, it’s possible for a person or label or blogger to ‘discover’ a band they enjoy and then gain access to all the bands and ‘side projects’ attached to that band, creating instantaneous recognition of a ‘scene’ right around the world. It’s rare for bands to be publicised or even talked about right now as any kind of anomaly or example of a long, hard slog from the bottom made good. Besides, in media that has no interest in music anyway, gone are the all-in ‘discoveries’ of the ‘best new band on the planet’ from Aberdeen. There’s a perceived equal playing field, thanks in large part to the continuing deconstruction of the role of major labels and also an increased awareness of how the ‘music industry’ has previously operated. That can have great benefits, but in place of the big-money push of an act (which does still happen, granted), now there’s a clusterfuck of smaller operators all still hoping to get their band some recognition and audiences and sales. People may celebrate the end of the major-label reign, but everyone still wants a piece of that pie. I guess it’s just had me considering my ‘personal’ connections to the music I listen to and how important it is that exists. Recent news of the imminent end of Melbourne doom-thrash duo Wasted Truth and Queensland/Sydney postscreamo pub rockers The Scare has reminded me of both bands’ gigs I’ve been to and been a part of; the feeling of being involved in something and experiencing it with likeminded people. It’s natural to want to share that experience, and I’ve had conversations about how both bands “should have been better known”, but it’s also important to step back and remember that the experience of an idea, not the dissemination of it, is the thing.

energy worked off this crowd beautifully, but sadly their old time string/jug band style sounded a little ordinary when competing with the chitter chatter of a few thousand people. They are stunning players though with a real grasp on how to go about replicating the old time sound and I certainly hope they find their way to Australia soon. One of the truly legendary acts on this year’s bill was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and I’m pleased to report that these guys still sound amazing. They played a selection of classic songs from their career of more than 40 years – including Fishin’ In The Dark and their rendition of Mr Bojangles, which both earned them so much praise back in the day. Founding member and multi-instrumentalist John McEuen would have to be one of the finest banjo players alive and whenever the crowd isn’t busy singing along to the hits they’re picking their jaws up from the floor in awe of his incredible finger work. Later that night on the same stage, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers played what is probably best described as a totally perplexing set. The popularity of Martin as a celebrity ensured there was an enormous crowd present for the beginning of the show, but it seemed after everyone had caught a glance of the white-haired wonder and laughed at a couple of his jokes, the novelty had worn off and, subsequently, Martin ended up playing the set to a mere thousand or so people. But it was not Martin’s show, no matter what anyone might have you believe. The Steep Canyon Rangers proved themselves to be perhaps the finest example of a perfect country ensemble that exists in the present day. Their harmonies were eerily on point and their playing was always tasteful but often virtuosic – special mention must go to fiddle player Nicky Sanders for his work on their rendition of Orange Blossom Special. Of course, Martin offered comic relief, but his clawhammer style of playing was pretty damn impressive as well, though it must be said that his singing tended to slip too far into comedic territory to be taken too seriously. I’m not sure if he wants to be taken seriously – if he doesn’t, he ought to give that band to someone else. Plenty more to come next week!

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FOX GETS FRESH

HAVE YOU HEARD?

The Melbourne Fresh Industry Showcases at Revolver Upstairs showcase unsigned Melbourne bands, singer/ songwriters, MCs, composers and any other forms of musical expression that demand showcasing! There are huge prizes to be won including a world-class EP recording, cash prizes and much more. On Tuesday 29 June, Melbourne Fresh holds its Semi Final showdown – taking the stage will be Darcee Fox, Cacophony Society, Darktown Strutter, Atom Giraffe, Max Sipowicz, Glass Empire and Blood Union.

DEFEND YER ASS

TASTE THE TANG The Bonniwells play the Grace Darling this Thursday. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? John Waddell, bass: “Marck Dean [guitar/vocals] gave me a CD of his he made in his bedroom on a 1980s TASCAM. It blew my mind, so next time I saw him I offered to come jam with him. Around that time Zak Olsen [drums/vocals] had just joined my old band Last Gypsys and was on my couch regularly and tagged along for a jam and that was probably the conception of The Bonniwells right there.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “Both. Marck is constantly recording new hits in his bedroom, several new songs a week. We also recorded with Michelle at Static Attack in Essendon – we came away with eight tracks in two days. It worked out well considering it was only five days after our debut gig at the Tote. The eight tracks will be released shortly through Lou at Z-Man Records – keep an eye out for the CD titled Unprofitable Servant.” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “Throated, fury, jangly, garage.” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Darcy Clay, an underground NZ garage legend. He killed himself before a suicide prevention concert he was supposed to play. But he did record Jesus I Was Evil in his bedroom – most complicated bassline ever. Otherwise a current living band would have to be Thee Oh Sees. All of us have them on heavy rotation.” IF A HIGHER POWER SMITES YOUR HOUSE AND YOU CAN ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM THE FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “For me it would be Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers. But I know the other guys would answer differently.” DO YOU HAVE A LUCKY ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR FOR GIGS AND WHAT IS IT? “I try and wear my red crochet poncho but I usually only get through the first song before disrobing. Zak has this speckled polyester top he calls his uniform. I think he stole it off his mum.” IF YOU INVITED SOMEONE AWESOME ROUND FOR DINNER WHAT WOULD YOU COOK? “Spider cider.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO DRINK IN MELBOURNE? “In public.”

The Barons Of Tang are on the road again and this time it’s with their Winter Frost Bite tour. They’ve been dragging there instruments through hail and snow to bring you a very special show at the Northcote Social Club on Friday, with Queensland’s Tijuana Cartel and the Combia Cosmonauts. The Barons use traditonal gypsy and tango feels mixed with metal and punk break downs to ensure you laugh and cry and dance your arse off! The band have been touring non-stop around Australia for the past two years and have been slowly building an army of fans. Tix through northcotesocialclub.com.

Defend The Melody, Justin Ashworth Band and Ennis Tola, three bands hot off the press of their respective debut releases, join forces to bring an eclectic night of new music to the south side of Melbourne, showcasing their incredible live energy at Revolver Upstairs this Thursday. A night of ambient atmospheres and electronics mixed with pop sensibilities and some progressive rock, with world music ingredients and otherworldly flavours stirred in. With DJ sets tying it all together by internationally renowned electronica wizard Isnod, it’s goona be off tap! Entry is $12.

THE SOUL ELECTRIC Following a successful night, the second installment of Soul Sessions at the Toff In Town this Saturday begins with a fresh new collaboration with the Oz Soul Collective movement. The Oz Soul Collective is a passionate network of Australian homegrown soulurban artists and this weekend they’ve sourced a triple bill of superb soul acts in a night set to impress. Catch rising stars Electric Empire, Candice Monique & The Optics and Runforyourlife featuring Syrene – super smooth vocals, undeniable talent and explosive stage presence. Tickets are $15+BF on sale from Moshtix or $20 on the door from 7.30pm.

HOT STALKER

Dear Stalker are all revved up to take their energetic live show and some smokin’ new tunes to the Arthouse tonight, Wednesday 23 June. Artwork and distribution are being finalised for their selftitled debut EP, while much of a follow-up has already been written in the rehearsal room. Also set to rock on the night are The Mercury Theatre and Dirty Canary. Entry is $5 and it all kicks off at 8.30pm.

F IS FOR FERAL This Thursday, Pony will be playing host to a young Melbourne band by the name of Dirty F, a grimy, post-punk four-piece wielding brooding, unrestrained noise and energy, which will leave you soaked in the band’s sweat and drink rider. With only six shows under their belt and a debut EP to be released before the end of winter, they’re now given the first chance as the headline act for the evening. Supports for the night’s antics will be freak rockers Fritzwicky, the two-piece noise dealers known as Chico Flash and opening the night will be Romero. Doors at 9pm.

POP HAS A 7”

Pop Singles have just finished recording their third release – a 7” set for release in September. Capping off a year of existence, Pop Singles will play Yah Yah’s this Thursday, supported by the sonic stylings of Little Killing and the experimental sounds of Red Hymns. Doors open at 9pm.

Henry Manetta & The Trip stir up a midweek storm of soul jazz in the art deco splendour of South Yarra’s newest and most scintillating establishment, Red Bennies, on Wednesday 7 July. Featuring the maverick soul overdrive of Manetta on vocals, the funkster espionage of Adam Rudegeair on piano, Adam Spiegl’s trawling river bass, Ron Romero on the horn of tomorrow and the drum as a force of nature, Sam Hall, they’ll be playing new songs and some classics from the groove jungle. Entry is $10 from 8pm.

VISIONS OF WIZARDS

MISSION CONTROL THE POON Melbourne’s Mission Control are ragged melody, white noise and synths reminiscent of the Bladerunner soundtrack. Their influences range from Thurston and Lee’s guitar torture to the synthscapes of Vangelis and acclaimed French producer M83 (with whom Mission Control will collaborate on their debut album). They have a debut UK single out late 2010, mixed by Pheonix producer Philippe Zdar of Cassius. On Saturday 3 July, Mission Control play an intimate gig at the Toff In Town with Geelong’s teenage schralpers Sambrose Automobile and Bachus Marsh wunderkinds Hollow Everdaze as well as the Poon DJs between bands. Expect plenty of Roky Erickson, Pet Shop Boys and the 411 theme.

WEDDED TO REVOLVER

Hi-Life Wedding was conceived on a barramundi farm and played their first shows in Taipei. They play music that you can listen to. At their show at Revolver Upstairs on Thursday 1 July, the guitars will be benched at half time for synths and samplers. The electro pop will be played with legendary drummer Davey Porter. A Friend Of Mine will open the night with pedal funded warmth and emotion. The cold will be forgotten, VIXIA will perform modern electronic rock with timing, precision and character, and London producer/DJ Wayne Lotek will spin tunes. Entry is $5 from 9pm.

This Thursday, the crazy kids of Cult Visions will be headlining an antic-filled show at the Birmingham Hotel. Supporting them are the divinely atmospheric sounds of electro wizards Alpine, and the synth stylings of the oh-so debonair duo that is Hammocks & Honey. Sweeter than your mama’s apple pie and just as fine, if you want to be entertained be sure to get your dancing shoes on and check on out these up and coming young musical maestros. Entry is $5 from 8pm.

WIN SHIT HERE Want to win up to $7,000 in prizes? Yes, really, $7,000 worth of awesome stuff is up for grabs, and all you have to do is get your band’s shiz together and enter the upcoming Revellers Battle Of The Bands being held at Revellers North in Fitzroy! It’s a chance to perform in front of respected industry judges and an opportunity to win the amazing main prize of a development package that includes recording, duplication, promotional campaign and a headline show. All enquiries should be emailed to revellersbar@gmail.com. What are you waiting for?

ORPHANAGE LOSERS

Rock wannabes The Orphanage join forces with a whole bunch of try-hards for a night of pomp and posture at the Empress on Saturday 3 July. There’ll be tight jeans, pointy shoes, skinny boys and buxom ladies, angry barstaff and a doorbitch full of ‘tude to make you feel fashionably unwelcome. If you don’t get your beer full of semen your money is guaranteed to not be returned to you. Joining them will be Dead Man On Deck, Jimmy Tait, Jack On Fire and The Bluejays. Entry is $10 from 7.30pm!

THE DUST OFF

Jane Dust & Her Giant Hoopoes take their country-sequined grooves to Yah Yah’s this Sunday. With Triple J airplay and an album due for release this September through Vitamin Records, 2010 is shaping up to be a great year for Dust. Inspired by late ‘60s symphonic pop and early ‘70s country grooves, Jane Dust & The Giant Hoopoes promise songs about love, love and more love baby. Thrown into the mix are piano magic, symphonic styles and heavenly harmonising. The band will be supporting the always awe-inspiring Go Go Sapien and you don’t have to worry if you’re broke after the weekend because entry is free! Doors open at 5pm.

SMOKIN’ HALF PIPE On Wednesday 28 July you’ll see Revolver Upstairs as you’ve never imagined. They’re clearing out lamps, shag rugs and couches and building a half pipe ramp smack-bang in the middle of the backroom for the Revs Slay The Ramp BMX comp! A slew of partners are involved, including 2020 BMX Magazine, Colony BMX, Stowaway Distribution, Backbone BMX, Sanction BMX and Focal Point Magazine, who will be providing great prizes for the teams competing on the night. Some of Australia best pro riders will be taking part in the comp in this unique setting. Revolver DJs will be providing a soundtrack and there’ll be plenty of refreshments thanks to Carlton Dry. Doors at from 5pm and the night riding kicks of at 8.30pm. Entry is free!

TRIP TO BENNIES

BLUE BALL Formidable psychedelic soul rock trio The Bluejays are launching their debut album, Colours In The Window at the Northcote Social Club with special guests Money For Rope this Thursday. Originally from Perth, The Bluejays have a well established reputation for their killer tunes and exciting live shows that keep punters coming back for more. Having played with international touring acts The Black Keys, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Peanut Butter Wolf and Jamiroquai, The Bluejays are keen as mustard to unleash their new tunes into the world! Entry is $8 from 8pm.

live@inpress.com.au Brain DJs to oversee this killer line-up, no music lover will want to miss it. Revolver Doors open at 8pm.

COURT ON FILM Dandy Warhols fans bummed out by the inclusion of just the one new track on the band’s forthcoming Best Of The Capitol Years: 1995-2007 will be pleased to know frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor hasn’t been completely idle of late: the singer has been watching a lot of movies and posting his one-sentence reviews at dandywarhols.com. Here are some of our faves:

SINGLE BEACHES Fresh from touring the states in March, Beaches are launching their new 7’’ this Friday at the Workers Club! With support from two of their favourite Melbourne bands, pop geniuses The Twerps and rockin’ super babes School Of Radiant Living, it’s gonna be one bangin’ party night! And if that’s not enough, DJ Craigy from Scott & Charlene’s Wedding fame will be smashing tunes between bands! Entry is $10 from 8pm.

CUBA IS FESTY Get along to the Workers Club this Sunday for the Anti-Gentrification Festival Festy Fashion Jam and create your own shabby chic clothes using bits of the original Tote carpet (gloves supplied!) while checking out hirsute pole dancer Agent Cleave and listening to some of the best bands in Melbs. Playing on the night will be Cuba Is Japan, Grizzly Jim Laurie, J Hawke, Mount Disappoingment and Zero Miles An Hour. Prizes for grossest garments crafted. Entry is $8 from 3pm.

BOWLING IS LOVE

Three-piece 8 Bit Love play a blend of indie, dance, electro and rock. Deemed tech heads by their peers the band embraces the mesh of music and technology. Their sets and instrument set-ups are all changing and growing incorporating guitars, synths, live drums, laptops and cowbells to create a unique sound and solid live performance. See them live at Rockstar Bowling on Level 3 of Melbourne Central this Friday from 9pm. There are specials at the bar and you can even go have a game of bowling if you feel the need to roll a ball.

Hair (1979) About every five to seven years I really try to like this movie but I think the bigger problem here than Treat Williams’ eyebrows is that I just can’t dig on any of these tunes. Solaris (1972) Proof that Russians working out deeply philosophical relationship problems in space is no less boring than doing it on Earth. Brideshead Revisited (2008) I usually adore this kind of thing but not only was the dialogue glaringly sub-par, but if I wanted to watch people act and direct I’d get myself invited to the set. Cloverfield (2008) I wish I could shake the hand of every person who worked on this amazing movie and ask them why it’s called Cloverfield. The Aviator (2004) Unwatchable. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) At the time this movie was made, Paul Ruebens was clearly the smartest man in the world. Gran Torino (2008) I just loved this movie and Clint is amazing but then again I’d be grumpy too if I was surrounded by such bad actors all the time. Get Smart (2008) How so many funny gags can equal such a tedious movie is something I hope I never actually find out. Paper Moon (1973) If you told me you thought this was the greatest movie ever made I wouldn’t actually be able to say you were wrong so I would just say “yeah or Star Wars”. Let The Right One In (2008) Easily one of the coolest movies I’ve ever seen (even though the translation and dubbing sounded like it was done by some first year Romanian ESL students in the Netflix version I saw). Marjoe (1972) With the assistance of the fast forward button this became quite an interesting short film. Coraline (2009) Every frame is a work of art, and when viewed in this order they became very, very boring. Entrapment (1999) I watched this one the night after watching The Avengers and although they are turds of distinctly different colors, the one thing they have in common is that I couldn’t make it to the end of either. City Of Ember (2008) If I was nine years old when I saw this I wouldn’t have thought it was a piece of shit, I’d have thought it was a piece of poo. Seabiscuit (2003) Shitbiscuit.

SCIENCE AT NIGHT

THE UMLAUT KEY

Umlaut, the brainchild of Bär McKinnon (exMr Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3), have joined forces with the irrepressible, parlour magician/social commentator extraordinaire Dr El Suavo for a rollicking Australian tour this month. With the release of Umlaut’s debut album late last year, the band are taking their whimsical, soundtrack-inspired tunes to the stage. The offbeat mix of shimmering keyboards, woodwinds, quirky percussion and surf guitar has garnered international praise from both Bunglelophiles and music critics alike. They play the Karova Lounge in Ballarat on Thursday 1 July.

WILDE ON FRIDAY Local alt.country troubadours and all round good boys The Wildes have taken up residence at the Builders Arms this month, continuing in the front bar this Friday from 6pm to 8pm. With a 30-date national tour coming up the lads need to get some early nights in and as such they’ve opted for the early evening shift, bringing their gospel tinged tunes to punters for free! With some fresh singer/songwriter supports, it’s the perfect way to get your Friday evening going.

3PBS TIPSHEET

InnerSpeaker TAME IMPALA Alfalfa Males Once Summer Is Done Conform Or Die THE HARD-ONS Next Stop Soweto Vol 3 VARIOUS ARTISTS The Bride Screamed Murder THE MELVINS Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch RICHY PITCH Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics LLOYD MILLER & THE HELIOCENTRICS The Garden RUTH MOODY Prevenge HUORATRON Fish Market Part 2 CHALI 2NA My Volcano RICHARD IN YOUR MIND

GIRLS ON THE AVENUE Frock up and rock on down to the Party Girls’ ‘Christmas In July’ show at the Palais Hepburn Springs on Saturday 10 July. Fresh from headlining at the Chillout Festival in Daylesford in March, the Party Girls are back at the Palais by popular demand to Turn Back Time and bring you Simply The Best hits from the fabulous ‘80s. They know you’ve been Workin’ 9 To 5 and that’s no way to make a livin’. They know Girls (and boys) Just Wanna Have Fun. And they know you wanna get All Fired Up and go down to Devil Gate Drive. Tickets are $21 from Moshitx, or $56 for dinner and the show. Doors open 6.30pm.

DANCEHALL ON THE FITZ

I Love Dancehall moves to its new venue, the Johnston in Fitzroy, this Saturday with the bass heavy power and a new dancefloor vibe! With a little bit of hip hop crossovers, international dancehall sounds, funky bashment, Caribbean rhythms, and all kinds of dancehall-inspired big bass heavy niceness, it’s gonna go off! Heading in to the dancehall with Sista Sara and Sista Raquelina, Andy Ites, Mamacita Bonnita, Major Krazy pon the mic, SoFire keeping the fire burning and Jean Poole pon the visual controls. Special guests are Melbourne’s sassiest dancehall dance crew Burn city Queenz. Entry is $5 from 9pm and $10 after 11pm.

Black Night Crash’s favourite band We Are Scientists are heading out for Splendour In The Grass and a massive co-headline show with Britpop dinosaurs Ash at Billboard The Venue in August. To celebrate, BNC are throwing a pre-tour party this Saturday at the Rochester Castle! WAS have set the dancefloor alight since 2006 with such indie dancefloor zingers as The Scene Is Dead, Nobody Moves Nobody Gets hurts and recently the new single Rules Don’t Stop, from their new album Barbara. Thanks to Secret Sounds and Liberation the BNC crew have copies of Barbara to hand out on the night. Party-starting DJs Clefb and Knackered Converse will be stirring up a pot of banging indie rock hits all night long. Entry is free from 8pm to 3am. Hit blacknightcrash.com for the deets.

DELISHA KAVISHA The Caravan Music Club (located at the Oakleigh/ Carnegie RSL in Oakleigh) continues its showcase of musical delights with the wonderfully talented Kavisha Mazzella this Sunday helped out by Matthew Arnold on violin. On Friday 2 July the Caravan Music Club hosts the all-star Model Super Orchestra featuring Sean Kelly, Billy Miller, Jack Howard, Cal McAlpine, Mark Ferrie and James Black! Shane Howard launches his new album Goanna Dreaming at the venue on Friday 16 July and Barb Waters & The Mothers Of Pearl showcase their new album Buffalo Mountain Girl on Sunday 18 July. Come and check out the beautiful old stage and candlelit seated theatre style setting and hear some amazing music while you’re at it. See caravanmusic.com.au for show and ticket details.

GRANEY REMIXED

Dave Graney & The Lurid Yellow Mist are playing four Thursday nights at the Grace Darling Hotel in July. Starting from Thursday 1 July, the band are on the run up the release of a brand new album, Supermodified, in August/September. It’s a remix album with Graney doing all the remix work – singing tracks over again, re-stringing them with more guitars, adding keys and percussion to some tracks and remastering the lot of it. Go pester him to try to play it live at the Grace.

SCOTTS NEW STUFF The Builders Arms will see the unveiling of the refreshed line-up of The Bon Scotts supported by Shutter Stop and Adelaide’s The Honey Pies this Saturday night. With the addition of accordion, mandolin and violin to the mix, The Bon Scotts will be bringing a newfound energy to their ever-present vigor and passion. This line-up promises to be a celebration of sound, from the nouveau-retro thrum of Shutter Stop to the molten-rock swoon of fourpiece The Honey Pies, all topped by the charismatic instrumentation of The Bon Scotts. You better be wearing your dancing shoes! Entry is $8 from 8.30pm.

POPS OFF CHOPS The debauched ways of Sodom and Gomorrah are first to come to mind when talking about Melbourne’s fave dancefloor punks The Off Pops. After two months away from the wild gigs to record, shoot and party, The Off Pops are back on the scene ready to preview their new single. Perth heavyweights and Australia’s newest electro monarchy Voltaire Twins will join them this Thursday at Shake Some Action at Onesixone with plenty of specials to get everyone loose. This may be your last chance to catch them at a venue before they head to Japan for a tour.

CLAVIANS ROLL ON It’s at that stage where all good times must slowly come to an end, so don’t miss out on witnessing electrifying jungle-punk duo Clavians as they play their second last Revolver residency show tonight, Wednesday 23 June. Joining them will be the emphatic pop rock symmetry of I, A Man, the rockn’roll heartbeat that is A-Bomb Whores and the night kicks off with the punk rock thrashings of Graft Vs Host. It’s only a gold coin donation on entry and with a bunch of Scatter

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Pom Pom play IDGAFF on Thursday, Blue Velvet on Friday and Noise Bar on Saturday. HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER? Pom Pom, guitar/keys/electronics: “I spent 2008 writing and programming Pom Pom electronically, and looked for musicians for the live set in early 2009. Dot Dash [keys] has performed with me live since then.” HAVE YOU RECORDED ANYTHING OR DO YOU PREFER TO TOOL AROUND IN YOUR BEDROOM? “I’m constantly recording demos in my bedroom but am about to release my debut EP in August, which was engineered and co-produced by Sean Carey (ex-Thirsty Merc).” CAN YOU SUM UP YOUR BAND’S SOUND IN FOUR WORDS? “Industrial pop thrash electronica.” IF YOU COULD SUPPORT ANY BAND IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY? “Nine Inch Nails, as they are my biggest influence musically and were the main band that really got me interested in writing industrial-inspired music.” IF A HIGHER POWER SMITES YOUR HOUSE AND YOU CAN ONLY SAVE ONE RECORD FROM THE FIRE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “I don’t have a record player, and hence don’t have any records. Could I save my laptop containing my whole library of music as well as all my own recordings instead?” DO YOU HAVE A LUCKY ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU WEAR FOR GIGS AND WHAT IS IT? “Not really. Stage outfits are a big part of our show, but at the moment my huge black heels make a regular appearance. They are fun to stomp around in on stage.” IF YOU INVITED SOMEONE AWESOME ROUND FOR DINNER WHAT WOULD YOU COOK? “Mexican, with lots of sangria. Mmm… sangria. As well as my grandma’s recipe for guacamole.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO DRINK IN MELBOURNE? “Revolver. It’s dirty and grungy with comfy lounges. And I’ve had some very memorable times there.”

live@inpress.com.au

movie cliché: ‘It was the summer he would never forget’. I was never more talented and good-looking and smart and funny as I was during that period. Jealousy was my revenge on my adolescence.”

The Dead Salesmen

How does Hap look back on the “nervous ‘90s”, when the major labels were checking out the Deads? “I don’t want to be a negative nelly, but I drank too much. I cringe about how I thought if I just got pissed all the time everything would sort itself out. It didn’t.” Hap also cringes when he recalls one particular gig. “We played an afternoon gig somewhere in Prahran just for Michael Gudinski. I sat on stage with my back to him, crying because some girl had dropped me the night before, while Ryda and Lenny were spitting at each other and calling each other cunts. Pat was probably tripping.”

HOWZAT! Local music news by JEFF JENKINS

BACK FROM THE DEAD It’s 1994 and Howzat! is at the Punters Club, standing next to Mushroom Records boss Michael Gudinski. He’s there to check out one of our favourite bands, The Dead Salesmen. The buzz is big. The feeling is they could be the biggest thing to come out of Ballarat since Plugger. Their brand of folk rock is original and infectious, and singer Justin ‘Happy’ Hayward is a prodigious talent. “Could be the next Paul Kelly,” we hear someone say. Unfortunately, the Deads never got the success they deserved. But they did do four fine albums before calling it quits eight years ago. They are now re-releasing their debut album, Jealousy,

and doing a reunion show at the East Brunswick Club on Saturday 10 July. “We were asked to play at the wedding of some old friends last year,” Hap explains. “We would have to be the poorest choice for a wedding band, but we loved seeing and playing with each other again. We did a Christmas show in Ballarat a few months later and then I thought we should at least do a Melbourne show at some stage down the track – Melbourne was a big part of the Deads life.” Shane Danielsen reviewed the Deads’ debut in the Sydney Morning Herald: “Jealousy is a shambolic and occasionally angry set of songs, dominated by acoustic guitar, but dotted with adventurous time changes and exorcistic electric guitar and vocal blasts.” Hap has only fond memories of Jealousy. “[Guitarist] Ryda and I were writing like water coming out of a tap. Once [drummer] Lenny and [bass player] Pat joined, everything just flowed beautifully. The time when Jealousy was being recorded was like a

The Dead Salesmen grew out of Frank Banner & The Pencils, a school band that Hap and Ryda started with Julie Reeves, “the baddest girl in school”. “Ryda and I both had a crush on her,” Hap admits. “She once wrote 10,000 words to Billy Idol. She got to meet him. I forgot to ask her what the words were.” Ryda recalls: “The Pencils were very serious and also quite crap.” They did just one gig – at Hap’s brother’s 21st – where they met Lenny Hyatt, who would become their drummer. Ryda wanted to call the band “The Cucking Funts”; Hap opted for The Dead Salesmen. “Some people believe I cursed our chance for mainstream success by not going with Ryda’s suggestion. If I could turn back time ...” Ryda sums up the early days as “dole bludging, hippie, pot/piss-head freaks”. What’s Hap like these days? “I’m off the dole,” he smiles. Any chance of some more Deads releases? A live album? A DVD? “I would like to re-release everything one day and make, like, 20 grand each for ourselves,” Hap says. “That’s all for more than 20 years of doing this sort of stuff – just a cool 20 grand each. I’m deadly serious. It is a nice, reasonable figure.” Ballarat is still home for Hap and Lenny. Pat lives in Melbourne, while Ryda is in Woodend. “Ballarat is sized just right, I reckon,” Hap says. “You can find anyone in ten minutes in Ballarat. You can

also not find them for ten years.” The Deads grew out of Ballarat’s Bridge Mall Inn. They started there and ended there (in March 2002). Sadly, the venue no longer exists – it became a Telstra shop and it’s now a clothing shop.

GIG OF THE WEEK

Rebecca Barnard’s new album, Everlasting, is exquisite. She’s launching it at the Thornbury Theatre on Friday.

CHART WATCH

A disappointing debut for Kylie’s new single? All The Lovers lands at 14. We Speak No Americano YOLANDA BE COOL (number four) Lying AMY MEREDITH (12) All The Lovers KYLIE MINOGUE (14, debut) Unbroken STAN WALKER (26) iYiYi CODY SIMPSON (34) Mr Mysterious VANESSA AMOROSI (40) Crowded House’s new album has a chart-topping debut, while their bestof returns to the Top 40 – after having already sold more than 900,000 copies. Intriguer CROWDED HOUSE (number one, debut) Down The Way ANGUS & JULIA STONE (17) Iron Man 2 AC/DC (19) Compass MARK VINCENT (21) Immersion PENDULUM (23) April Uprising JOHN BUTLER TRIO (27) Innerspeaker TAME IMPALA (34) Recurring Dream CROWDED HOUSE (40)

HOWZAT! PLAYLIST

Tentative THE DEAD SALESMEN Closer To You REBECCA BARNARD Easy Targets LAZY SUSAN Everybody’s In Debt JASON WALKER Avalanche BRITISH INDIA

gigguide@inpress.com.au

Alyssa Manceau, Jenni Biddle The Drunken Poet Bittersweet Kicks, Spencer P Jones Cherry Bar Clavians, The Sophisticants, Bone, Graft Vs Host Revolver Combo Bombo, Jazzistry 303 Daryl Roberts The Spanish Club Dom, The Dead Beats, Ryan Sterling, The Sister City The Standard Hotel Humans As Animals, Beavercore, Daniel Tedford Bar Open Isomer, Dead Boomers, Ebola Disco, screwtape Stutter John Flanagan & The Begin Agains, Ben Abraham, Tom Tuena, Mister Black n Blues Wesley Anne Karaoke Bender Bar King Bayler, SHERIFF, Cotton Sidewalk, The Furniture Incident Esplanade Lounge Magic Silver White, Flying Scribble, Al Yamamoto Builders Arms Hotel Mercury Theatre, Dear Stalker, Dirty Canary The Arthouse Open Mic The Elwood Lounge Saskia Sansom, Matthew Story, Kirsten Verwood Empress Hotel Single Twin Edinburgh Castle Hotel songwriter’s Collective, Jesse Mitchell Band, 2swai, Damien Van De Geer Trio, Jess Heiser Evelyn Hotel The Black Hill Five, Madonna, Sharpie Crows, Sex Face Birmingham Hotel The Brunswick Open Mic with host Matt McFarlane Brunswick Hotel The Sweets, Speed Orange, Major Chord The Old Bar

Visit coopers.com.au for all details. 74

BONNIWELLS PSYCH OUT Witnessing Melbourne trio The Bonniwells live is like dropping a coin in an interpretive ‘60s psych garage jukebox – their music comes at you like a king wave of jangled-guitars, screams and howls, and a driving rhythmic drum beat. Catch them this Thursday as they perform songs off their upcoming debut album Unprofitable Servant (due for release soon on Z-Man Records) for their final week of their June residency at the Grace Darling Hotel. Support is from Electric Smile Band (AKA The Amazing Phillips Sisters) and entry is $8 from 8pm.

THU 24

Alice & Dan The Elwood Lounge Ancient Man, My Left Boot, Tubofvas, Godswounds The Old Bar Art Noise, Madonna, Fieldings, Vodnik Revellers North Craig Lee Smith, The Infamous Tuesdays The Drunken Poet Cult Visions, Alpine, Hammocks & Honey Birmingham Hotel Defend The Melody, Justin Ashworth, Ennis Tola Revolver Dick Diver, Baryshnikov, Patinka Cha Cha Bar Open Dirty F, Fritzwicky, Chico Flash, Romero Pony En Tout Cas, San Fran Disco Ding Dong Lounge E-Wah Lady, The Open Road Great Britain Hotel John Montesante Quintet feat. Fem Belling The Commune Lemya The Toff In Town Mal Webb, Scott Edgar & The Universe 303 Missfire, Midnight Drive, Glass Empire, Gripping Water Esplanade Lounge Northeast Party House, Mumble Town, Toyota War, Shutterstop, The Phantom Agents Evelyn Hotel

Open Mic Bender Bar Paul Dianno, Cemetery Urn, Humonic Esplanade Gershwin Room Pretty Strangers, Thieves, The Grinders Empress Hotel Princess One Point Five, Cuba is Japan, Lehman B Smith Band and Choir Builders Arms Hotel Rock Aerobics, Pop Singles, Little Killing, Red Hymns, Pauli Douglas Yah Yah’s Sugarbeat Cherry Bar The Blue Jays, Money For Rope Northcote Social Club The Bonniwells, Electric Smile Band Grace Darling Hotel The Boy Who Spoke Clouds, Dane Certificate & Josh Armistead Wesley Anne The Last Night on Jupiter Brunswick Hotel The Level Spirits, Mini Bikes Retreat Hotel The Promises Edinburgh Castle Hotel Thief Card, Innerspace, Her The Arthouse Waylon Joes Union Hotel Brunswick

FRI 25

50 Lions, Blkout, Persist, Lookin In The Arthouse

Internal Nightmare, Humonic, Contrive, Deliverance We Prey, Meticulous Despoilment, Scar the Surface East Brunswick Club Jenni B The Elwood Lounge Jonesez, Kempsey, The Retreat, Fuzz Phantoms Birmingham Hotel Jordie Lane, Bad Boys Batucada Brunswick Town Hall Kristen Virag Bender Bar Marki Mark Marquis Of Lorne Hotel Mezzanine BluAfterGlow Nymphlow, Kast+DInph, DJ Kay Z, Crusader, Dj Sim First Floor Odiousembowel, Rotten Chop, A Million Dead Birds, Face on Fire, DJ Montenegro The Old Bar Operator Please, Tim and Jean, Chaingang Corner Hotel Poison Apple, Pussykat Revolver Poprocks at the Toff, Dr Phil Smith The Toff In Town Radio Vertigo, Ghost Mutt, Dark Arts, Jennifer Bishop Brunswick Hotel

MAZE, NOT CORN Since November 2009 The April Maze have been in the studio recording their debut album, Recycled Soul, with producers Hugh McDonald (Redgum) and Ian Pritchett (Angus & Julia Stone, The Beautiful Girls). After three successful, selfproduced EPs, the full-length album features this alternative folk duo’s strongest material to date. Delivered with soul and sincerity their tuneful songs are complimented by cello, stomp box, guitars, banjo and strong male female harmonies – a distinct sound that has been given justice on this beautifully produced record. The April Maze launch their debut album over four special shows in and around Melbourne. Catch them at Grind N Groove in Healesville on Friday 2 July, Burrinja Café ion Belgrave on Saturday 3, Baha Tacos in Rye on Friday 9, and at the the Toff In Town on Sunday 11.

BUTTER UP BRITTLE There’s nothing more that Melbourne alternative rockers Brittle want to do but to capture their dynamic live sound and energy in their recordings. And that’s exactly what they’ve achieved with legendary producer Mark Opitz at the helm on the band’s new five-track EP titled, The Owls, which is out now as a free digital download. The EP is being backed by a massive tour of the same name that currently sees the band visiting all major centres and a string of regional towns. Catch Brittle when they roll into Casey’s Hotel in Hawthorne this Friday, and Revellers this Saturday. Rebecca Barnard, Scott Edgar & The Universe Thornbury Theatre ‘Rumble’ Rockabilly Night, Casket Radio, Dogsday, The Exotics, Quadrajet Bendigo Hotel Second Hand Heart, Tim Anders Edinburgh Castle Hotel Shaun Kirk Baha Tacos Son Of A Gun Wesley Anne Spoonful, DJ Johnny Two Decks Retreat Hotel Swamp Lords, TTT, Absolute Boys John Curtin Hotel The Actor Buddhists, The Motifs, Tailor Made For A Small Room, Evan Meagher Builders Arms Hotel The Bitches Brew, Prequel, Edd Fisher, Mr. Fox, Red Bastard Red Bennies The Scarlets, Bugdust, Sin City, L.U.S.T Ding Dong Lounge The Swiftones Reveller’s North (upstairs) The Wildes Builders Arms, early show Three Month Sunset, Iowa, Thieves Cherry Bar Tiger Choir, Trjaeu, Great Earthquake, Love Connection DJ’s, Andrew Young Yah Yah’s Tijuana Cartel, Barons Of Tang, Cumbia Cosmonauts Northcote Social Club

What are you doing AFTER DARK on July 17?

Traditional Irish Music Session, Dan Bourke & Friends The Drunken Poet Tumbleweed, Mustang, Baby Machine HiFi Bar Vaudeville Smash, Brendan McLean, Knight at the Discotheque Evelyn Hotel White Birds & Lemons, Alpine, Winterplan Grace Darling Hotel

SAT 26

AC/Dshe Esplanade Basement Akaname, Bowcaster, Encircling Sea, Ornithologist The Arthouse Andrew McDonald, Dave Fazza Empress Hotel, Arvo Show Austin The Drunken Poet BAMA-LAMA, The Frowning Clouds, Hello Sailor Vintage Fair Grace Darling Hotel Ben Carr Trio, Cilla Jane, Alex Hallahan Wesley Anne Brittle, with Supports Reveller’s North (upstairs)

Cabin Fever, Punch The Clown, Murder Balls, The Worthingtons, Another Rotten Corpse Brunswick Hotel Castle Bazaar Markets Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Arvo Show Changing Falls, Special Guests Empress Hotel Deez Nutz, Louie Knuxx, Sun Tzu, The Red Shore HiFi Bar Diafrix, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Motley, Surrender, Manchild Corner Hotel DJ Sega, Mu-Gen, Scattermish, Matt Cant, Lewis cancut, Phil Para Esplanade Lounge DJ Shortsleeves Marquis Of Lorne Hotel Electric Empire, Candice Monique & the Optics, Runforyourlife (ft. Syrene), The House deFROST, Andee Frost The Toff In Town Fearless Vampire Killers, The Messengers, Waz E James Band, DJ Xander Retreat Hotel Hills Are Alive John Curtin Hotel Jack’s Castle Reveller’s North (downstairs) Jodie Moran, Chicken House St. Andrews Hotel Kaos Agent’s The Elwood Lounge ‘Know Your Roots’ Guesswork, Bridget Pross, Filthy Soup, Kenny Joe Blake 303 Mick Turner & Jeff Wegener, Ian Wadley, Ev & Shags, Jon Michell Edinburgh Castle Hotel Mike Noga & the Gentlemen of Fortune, The Bowers, Joel Silbersher The Tote Pete Rowland & Friends The Palais, Hepburn Springs Rockstar Experience Chandelier Room Root!, The Rhetorics, The Decoys Evelyn Hotel Rushcutter, Sons Of Lee Marvin, The Jacks Cherry Bar Shaun Kirk Rainbow Hotel Simon Wright & the Elective Bar Open

kwp!CPR10778

WED 23

Ainslee Willis The Palais, Hepburn Springs Andrew McUtchen, with Supports Reveller’s North (downstairs) Band Of Horses, BoH The Palace Beaches, The Twerps, School Of Radiant Living, Dj Craigy, Charlene’s Wedding Workers Club Bodies, Nikko, Hunter, A Lonely Crowd, Mother & Son, Three Way Chat Pony Casual Projects, Deep Street Soul Esplanade Lounge Cheerleader, Left Feels Right, The No Real Need The Public Bar Cosmic Psychos, The Gung Hoes, The Spazzys, Money For Rope, The Fuck Fucks, The Nubiles, The Level Spirits, Buried Horses Esplanade Gershwin Room Cured Pink, True Radical Miracle, Ivens, Eko Eko Azarak Empress Hotel Fitzroy Funk Collusion Bar Open

Wed. 23rd (Wine, Whiskey, Women) 8pm: Alyssa Manceau 9pm: Jenni Biddle Thurs. 24th 8pm: Craig Lee Smith 9pm: The Infamous Tuesdays Fri. 25th 6pm: Traditional Irish Music session with Dan Bourke & friends Sat. 26th 9pm: Austin Sun. 27th 4pm: Ian Collard 6.30pm: Alex Burns Tues. 29th 8pm: Weekly Trivia

All Shows Always Free! The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (Directly opposite Queen Vic Market). Phone: 03 9348 9797 www.myspace.com/drunkenpoets 75

gigguide@inpress.com.au Sin City, Pretty Suicide, Fathoms, Vesper White Burlesque, Geek Pie, Tiger Choir Pony SINthetic BluAfterGlow Sista Sara, Sista Raquelina, Andy Ites, Bonnita, So’Fire, Burn City Queenz, Major Krazy The Johnston Slick 46, Standard Union, Catgut Mary, Miss Goldie Yah Yah’s Stefan Lafebre (The Silence Engine) Northcote Town Hall The Bois Et Carbon Builders Arms, early show The Bon Scotts, The Honey Pies, Shutter Stop Builders Arms Hotel The Box Rockets, Hawk & The Endless Party, Skye Harbour Workers Club The Breadmakers Great Britain Hotel The Duvtons, Easy Company, The Ramshackle Army, The Playbook Bendigo Hotel

The Late Show Revolver The Solar Flares, Kano, Dvise, Moonshine First Floor The Stabs, Dick Diver, Dead Farmers, Teen Archer, Ships Piano, Wil Wagner & The Smith St Band, Dozers, Baptizm Of Uzi, This War Birmingham Hotel The Wellingtons, Waverley, Davey Lane & Psychotic Pineapples Northcote Social Club These Hand Seperate The Sky, Nikko, Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Wil Wagner & The Smith St Band, DJ Crispi The Old Bar Thirty One Fifty, Raised By Wolves, Zenith ASP, Silent Rose Skyland Esplanade Gershwin Room Weekender, Voltaire Twins, Philosophy of Sound, DJ Steve Wide & Friends, Aussie Rock Special Ding Dong Lounge Wei-Shen, Bonez, KC, Crusader, Apex, Jay, Yun, Wiki, Lady D Esco Bar

Winterun, SHERIFF, Morrocan King The Public Bar Zinnia Blue, The Taylor Project Bender Bar Zoophyte, The Happy Endings, Tom Tuena, Kate Gogarty East Brunswick Club

SUN 27

3 x Sets from Lot 56, Cave Eleven, Luca Della Night Owls, Van Myer Brunswick Hotel A Man Called Son, The Nature Scene Edinburgh Castle Hotel Aaron Paterson, John S Williams, Frankie Bender Bar Blak Roots, Vox Congo, The Sunday Set, DJ Andy Black, Haggis The Toff In Town Cazi Builders Arms, early show Cupid, Joel Edmendson, Kim Patterson Builders Arms Hotel Dan Brodie Pure Pop Records Daniel Tucceri, Fieldlings, Fritzwicky Empress Hotel

Deez Nutz, Louie Knuxx, Sun Tzu, Dream On Dreamer HiFi Bar Delia & Mikee The Elwood Lounge Go Go Sapien, Jane Dust Yah Yah’s Headspace, Dale Ryder Band, Bad Boys Batucada Esplanade Lounge Hello Sailor Vintage Fair Grace Darling Hotel Ian Collard, Alex Burns The Drunken Poet Ida Fox, Genevieve & Jezabel Edinburgh Castle, early show James Kenyon & The Lloyd Weir, Earl Grey Policy, The Gallant Trees Wesley Anne Jessica Paige, Josh Romig, Danielle McDonald Chandelier Room Jimi Hocking & the Blues Machine Manhattan Hotel JJ Symon & The Monochromes, The Blue Peter Great Britain Hotel Kathy Hinch Band, Jumbledat, Jester Crew Evelyn Hotel Kavisha Mazzella, Matthew Arnold Caravan Music Club

Martin Stuart and Friends Lord Newry Hotel Michael Meeking, The Grenadines Empress Hotel, Arvo Show Mike Rudd, Bill Putt Eltham Hotel Money For Rope, Little Freddie & The Pops, The Blackeyed Susans, The Living End, Nick Barker and the Reptiles Elsternwick Park Our Anatomy, Nikko, Caught Ship, Couching Tiger DJ’s Bar Open Penelope Swales The Palais, Hepburn Springs Revolver Sundays Revolver Ruckus St Andrews Hotel Sunday Sets, Aluka, Jelly Tub Rollers Bendigo Hotel That’ll Be The Day, Cyaneye, Zyncarla The Arthouse The BlowUp (60s rock) The Grandview Hotel The Denotators, Wild Turkey Retreat Hotel The Detonators Davey’s Hotel The Hired Guns The Standard Hotel The Kurts Marquis Of Lorne Hotel

The Mick Pealing Band Carringbush Hotel The Patron Saints, Kim Volkman, Billy Pommer Jr. Lyrebird Lounge The Straight Eights Sandbelt Hotel The Toot Toot Toots, Yis, Mother & Son, DJ Mantooth The Old Bar Tim Woods & The Dirty Shoes, Jen Biddle, Richard Jeffrey, Vic Farrel, Opa! 303 Under The Apple Tree, O.M.Gee’s Transport Hotel (Fed Sq) Wasted Truth, Occult Blood, Marc Fusinato, Pathetic Human Workers Club ‘West African Drum & Dance’, Asiko, Wassawumba, Lamine Sonko, DJ La Northcote Social Club

MON 28

Adam Afif, Fergus AcAlpin & Friends Marquis Of Lorne Hotel Bogan Bingo Retreat Hotel

‘Crotchety Knitwits’, Sewing & knitting & Boozing, All Welcome The Old Bar El Moth & The Turbo Rads, DJ Mattheo Evelyn Hotel Josh Owen Band Esplanade Lounge Monday Night Madness!, Michael Gambino Brunswick Hotel Open Decks Bender Bar Ren Walters 303 Saroula, Jay Howie Empress Hotel Stomp Dog, Bohemian Bluegrass Misfits The Standard Hotel Swing Classes The Toff In Town The Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra, Matt Hetherington The Apartment

TUE 29

Anna’s Go Go Dance Classes Bendigo Hotel Atticus Thump, Bridget Pross, The Middle West The Arthouse Collage Esplanade Lounge

Custom Kings, The Greasers The Toff In Town Darcee Fox, Cacophony Society, Darktown Strutter, Atom Giraffe, Max Sipowicz, Glass Empire, Blood Union Revolver DJ Mac G Retreat Hotel Ivanhoe School of Music 303 NMIT Recitals, Auour Alessandra, Kirsty Morphett Wesley Anne Open Mic Night Empress Hotel The Basics, Hancock Basement Northcote Social Club The Brunswick Discovery, The Free Spirits, Route 69 Brunswick Hotel Weekly Trivia The Drunken Poet

140 Sydney Rd

BRUNSWICKHOTEL.NET

9387 6637

NO COVER CHARGE

WED JUNE 23 - 8:30 PM

THE BRUNSWICK OPEN MIC

WITH HOST MATT MCFARLANE. $10 JUGS! REGISTER AT 8PM ON THE NIGHT! (FREE BEER PER PERFORMER!)

THURS JUNE 24

THE LAST NIGHT ON JUPITER! FRI JUNE 25

RADIO VERTIGO GHOST MUTT DARK ARTS JENNIFER BISHOP

SAT JUNE 26

PUNK ALL DAY AND NIGHT! FEATURING: PUNCH THE CLOWN THE MURDERBALLS THE WORTHINGTONS CABIN FEVER ANOTHER ROTTING CORPSE FREE BBQ FROM 7PM!

SUN JUNE 27 - 5PM

3 X SETS FROM LOT 56 9PM - CAVE ELEVEN LUCA DELLA NIGHT OWLS VAN MYER

MON JUNE 28

MONDAY NIGHT MADNESS! $10 JUGS AND FREE JUKEBOX PERFORMANCES BY: MICHAEL GAMBINO

TUES JUNE 29

THE BRUNSWICK DISCOVERY

GIVING CHANCES TO NEW UP AND COMING ARTISTS ( ENQUIRIES TO BRUNNYGIGS@GMAIL.COM) THIS WEEK: THE FREE SPIRITS, ROUTE 69

gigguide@inpress.com.au

303 Wednesday Combo Bombo, Jazzistry Thursday Mal Webb, Scott Edgar & The Universe Saturday ’Know Your Roots’ Guesswork, Bridget Pross, Filthy Soup, Kenny Joe Blake Sunday Tim Woods & The Dirty Shoes, Jen Biddle, Richard Jeffrey, Vic Farrel, Opa! Monday Ren Walters Tuesday Ivanhoe School of Music

BAR OPEN Wednesday Humans As Animals, Beavercore, Daniel Tedford Thursday Dick Diver, Baryshnikov, Patinka Cha Cha Friday Fitzroy Funk Collusion Saturday Simon Wright & the Elective Sunday Our Anatomy, Nikko, Caught Ship, Couching Tiger DJ’s

BENDER BAR Wednesday Karaoke Thursday Open Mic Friday Kristen Virag Saturday Zinnia Blue, The Taylor Project Sunday Aaron Paterson, John S Williams, Frankie Monday Open Decks

BENDIGO HOTEL Friday ’Rumble’ Rockabilly Night, Casket Radio, Dogsday, The Exotics, Quadrajet Saturday The Duvtons, Easy Company, The Ramshackle Army, The Playbook Sunday Sunday Sets, Aluka, Jelly Tub Rollers Tuesday Anna’s Go Go Dance Classes

BIRMINGHAM HOTEL Wednesday The Black Hill Five, Madonna, Sharpie Crows, Sex Face

ESPLANADE LOUNGE

Thursday Cult Visions, Alpine, Hammocks & Honey Friday Jonesez, Kempsey, The Retreat, Fuzz Phantoms Saturday The Stabs, Dick Diver, Dead Farmers, Teen Archer, Ships Piano, Wil Wagner & The Smith St Band, Dozers, Baptizm Of Uzi, This War

BRUNSWICK HOTEL Wednesday The Brunswick Open Mic with host Matt McFarlane Thursday The Last Night on Jupiter Friday Radio Vertigo, Ghost Mutt, Dark Arts, Jennifer Bishop Saturday Cabin Fever, Punch The Clown, Murder Balls, The Worthingtons, Another Rotten Corpse Sunday 3 x Sets from Lot 56, Cave Eleven, Luca Della Night Owls, Van Myer Monday Monday Night Madness!, Michael Gambino Tuesday The Brunswick Discovery, The Free Spirits, Route 69

BUILDERS ARMS HOTEL Wednesday Magic Silver White, Flying Scribble, Al Yamamoto Thursday Princess One Point Five, Cuba is Japan, Lehman B Smith Band and Choir Friday The Actor Buddhists, The Motifs, Tailor Made For A Small Room, Evan Meagher Saturday The Bon Scotts, The Honey Pies, Shutter Stop Sunday Cupid, Joel Edmendson, Kim Patterson

CARAVAN MUSIC CLUB Sunday Kavisha Mazzella, Matthew Arnold

CHERRY BAR Wednesday Bittersweet Kicks, Spencer P Jones Thursday Sugarbeat Friday Three Month Sunset, Iowa, Thieves

IN THE CAN Tin Can Radio are Australia’s best live genre mashers. An infectious flavour of synth-driven indie dance music takes unique melodic styling and carries it through disco punk, electro, postrock, dubstep, drum’n’bass and reggae. This multi-genre approach, coupled with their engaging live performance, has whipped up a whirlwind of support and captivated audiences nationwide. In April, Tin Can Radio signed with Sydney based label Major Label and released their acclaimed single Hot Trash, gaining consistent airplay on Triple J and RRR. They launch their new single, From Moments To Memories, at the Workers Club on Friday 2 July and at Revolver Upstairs on Saturday 3 July. Doors at both from 8pm. Saturday Rushcutter, Sons Of Lee Marvin, The Jacks

CORNER HOTEL Friday Operator Please, Tim and Jean, Chaingang Saturday Diafrix, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Motley, Surrender, Manchild

DING DONG LOUNGE Thursday En Tout Cas, San Fran Disco Friday The Scarlets, Bugdust, Sin City, L.U.S.T Saturday Weekender, Voltaire Twins, Philosophy of Sound, DJ Steve Wide & Friends, Aussie Rock Special

EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB Friday Internal Nightmare, Humonic, Contrive, Deliverance We Prey, Meticulous Despoilment, Scar the Surface Saturday Zoophyte, The Happy Endings, Tom Tuena, Kate Gogarty

EDINBURGH CASTLE HOTEL Wednesday Single Twin Thursday The Promises

Friday Second Hand Heart, Tim Anders Saturday Mick Turner & Jeff Wegener, Ian Wadley, Ev & Shags, Jon Michell Sunday A Man Called Son, The Nature Scene

EDINBURGH CASTLE HOTEL, ARVO SHOW Saturday Castle Bazaar Markets

EMPRESS HOTEL Wednesday Saskia Sansom, Matthew Story, Kirsten Verwood Thursday Pretty Strangers, Thieves, The Grinders Friday Cured Pink, True Radical Miracle, Ivens, Eko Eko Azarak Saturday Changing Falls, Special Guests Sunday Daniel Tucceri, Fieldlings, Fritzwicky Monday Saroula, Jay Howie Tuesday Open Mic Night

EMPRESS HOTEL, ARVO SHOW Saturday Andrew McDonald, Dave Fazza Sunday Michael Meeking, The Grenadines

ESPLANADE BASEMENT Saturday AC/Dshe

ESPLANADE GERSHWIN ROOM Thursday Paul Dianno, Cemetery Urn, Humonic Friday Cosmic Psychos, The Gung Hoes, The Spazzys, Money For Rope, The Fuck Fucks, The Nubiles, The Level Spirits, Buried Horses Saturday Thirty One Fifty, Raised By Wolves, Zenith ASP, Silent Rose Skyland

Wednesday King Bayler, SHERIFF, Cotton Sidewalk, The Furniture Incident Thursday Missfire, Midnight Drive, Glass Empire, Gripping Water Friday Casual Projects, Deep Street Soul Saturday DJ Sega, Mu-Gen, Scattermish, Matt Cant, Lewis cancut, Phil Para Sunday Headspace, Dale Ryder Band, Bad Boys Batucada Monday Josh Owen Band Tuesday Collage

EVELYN HOTEL Wednesday songwriter’s Collective, Jesse Mitchell Band, 2swai, Damien Van De Geer Trio, Jess Heiser Thursday Northeast Party House, Mumble Town, Toyota War, Shutterstop, The Phantom Agents Friday Vaudeville Smash, Brendan McLean, Knight at the Discotheque Saturday Root!, The Rhetorics, The Decoys Sunday Kathy Hinch Band, Jumbledat, Jester Crew Monday El Moth & The Turbo Rads, DJ Mattheo

GRACE DARLING HOTEL Thursday The Bonniwells, Electric Smile Band Friday White Birds & Lemons, Alpine, Winterplan Saturday BAMA-LAMA, The Frowning Clouds, Hello Sailor Vintage Fair Sunday Hello Sailor Vintage Fair

HIFI BAR Friday Tumbleweed, Mustang, Baby Machine Saturday Deez Nutz, Louie Knuxx, Sun Tzu, The Red Shore Sunday Deez Nutz, Louie Knuxx, Sun Tzu, Dream On Dreamer

JOHN CURTIN HOTEL Friday Swamp Lords, TTT, Absolute Boys Saturday Hills Are Alive

MARQUIS OF LORNE HOTEL Friday Marki Mark Saturday DJ Shortsleeves Sunday The Kurts Monday Adam Afif, Fergus AcAlpin & Friends

NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB

Thursday The Blue Jays, Money For Rope Friday Tijuana Cartel, Barons Of Tang, Cumbia Cosmonauts Saturday The Wellingtons, Waverley, Davey Lane & Psychotic Pineapples Sunday ’West African Drum & Dance’, Asiko, Wassawumba, Lamine Sonko, DJ La Tuesday The Basics, Hancock Basement

PONY Thursday Dirty F, Fritzwicky, Chico Flash, Romero Friday Bodies, Nikko, Hunter, A Lonely Crowd, Mother & Son, Three Way Chat Saturday Sin City, Pretty Suicide, Fathoms, Vesper White Burlesque, Geek Pie, Tiger Choir

RETREAT HOTEL Thursday The Level Spirits, Mini Bikes Friday Spoonful, DJ Johnny Two Decks Saturday Fearless Vampire Killers, The Messengers, Waz E James Band, DJ Xander Sunday The Denotators, Wild Turkey Monday Bogan Bingo Tuesday DJ Mac G

REVELLER’S NORTH (DOWNSTAIRS) Friday Andrew McUtchen, with Supports Saturday Jack’s Castle

REVELLER’S NORTH (UPSTAIRS) Friday The Swiftones Saturday Brittle, with Supports

REVOLVER Wednesday Clavians, The Sophisticants, Bone, Graft Vs Host Thursday Defend The Melody, Justin Ashworth, Ennis Tola Friday Poison Apple, Pussykat Saturday The Late Show Sunday Revolver Sundays Tuesday Darcee Fox, Cacophony Society, Darktown Strutter, Atom Giraffe, Max Sipowicz, Glass Empire, Blood Union

THE ARTHOUSE Wednesday Mercury Theatre, Dear Stalker, Dirty Canary Thursday Thief Card, Innerspace, Her

Friday 50 Lions, Blkout, Persist, Lookin In Saturday Akaname, Bowcaster, Encircling Sea, Ornithologist Sunday That’ll Be The Day, Cyaneye, Zyncarla Tuesday Atticus Thump, Bridget Pross, The Middle West

THE DRUNKEN POET Wednesday Alyssa Manceau, Jenni Biddle Thursday Craig Lee Smith, The Infamous Tuesdays Friday Traditional Irish Music Session, Dan Bourke & Friends Saturday Austin Sunday Ian Collard, Alex Burns Tuesday Weekly Trivia

THE OLD BAR Wednesday The Sweets, Speed Orange, Major Chord Thursday Ancient Man, My Left Boot, Tubofvas, Godswounds Friday Odiousembowel, Rotten Chop, A Million Dead Birds, Face on Fire, DJ Montenegro Saturday These Hand Seperate The Sky, Nikko, Hotel Wrecking City Traders, Wil Wagner & The Smith St Band, DJ Crispi Sunday The Toot Toot Toots, Yis, Mother & Son, DJ Mantooth Monday ’Crotchety Knitwits’, Sewing & knitting & Boozing, All Welcome

THE PUBLIC BAR Friday Cheerleader, Left Feels Right, The No Real Need Saturday Winterun, SHERIFF, Morrocan King

THE SPANISH CLUB Wednesday Daryl Roberts

THE STANDARD HOTEL Wednesday Dom, The Dead Beats, Ryan Sterling, The Sister City Sunday The Hired Guns Monday Stomp Dog, Bohemian Bluegrass Misfits

THE TOFF IN TOWN Thursday Lemya Friday Poprocks at the Toff, Dr Phil Smith Saturday Electric Empire, Candice Monique & the Optics, Runforyourlife (ft. Syrene), The House deFROST, Andee Frost Sunday Blak Roots, Vox Congo, The Sunday Set, DJ Andy Black, Haggis

Monday Swing Classes Tuesday Custom Kings, The Greasers

THE TOTE Saturday Mike Noga & the Gentlemen of Fortune, The Bowers, Joel Silbersher

THORNBURY THEATRE Friday Rebecca Barnard, Scott Edgar & The Universe

TRANSPORT HOTEL (FED SQ) Sunday Under The Apple Tree, O.M.Gee’s

UNION HOTEL BRUNSWICK Thursday Waylon Joes

WESLEY ANNE Wednesday John Flanagan & The Begin Agains, Ben Abraham, Tom Tuena, Mister Black n Blues Thursday The Boy Who Spoke Clouds, Dane Certificate & Josh Armistead Friday Son Of A Gun Saturday Ben Carr Trio, Cilla Jane, Alex Hallahan Sunday James Kenyon & The Lloyd Weir, Earl Grey Policy, The Gallant Trees Tuesday NMIT Recitals, Auour Alessandra, Kirsty Morphett

WORKERS CLUB Friday Beaches, The Twerps, School Of Radiant Living, Dj Craigy, Charlene’s Wedding Saturday The Box Rockets, Hawk & The Endless Party, Skye Harbour Sunday Wasted Truth, Occult Blood, Marc Fusinato, Pathetic Human

YAH YAH’S Thursday Rock Aerobics, Pop Singles, Little Killing, Red Hymns, Pauli Douglas Friday Tiger Choir, Trjaeu, Great Earthquake, Love Connection DJ’s, Andrew Young Saturday*Slick 46, Standard Union, Catgut Mary, Miss Goldie Sunday*Go Go Sapien, Jane Dust

tional drums and/or cymbals - brand new skins for all 5 toms - Drum City cymbal bag (leather) - clamp arm 3x boom cymbal stands - 2x straight cymbal stands - stool - additional tom arms Cymbals: - Zildjian A Custom 14” hi-hats - 10” splash - 17” crash - 18” crash - 16” fast crash - Zildjian A - 21” sweet ride All in perfect condition, reluctant sale. Call Kieran on 0410691616. Pickup from Sydney.

EMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION HEADROOM SOUND AUSTRALIA Using; P Audio, B & C, JBL and E.V. Top quality drivers in all our custom built bins. Top boxes, mids, subs, wedges to spec. This online pic is our new folded horn with one 18inch challenger, putting out 137db – 140+ when coupled. Call us for a free quote. 0414355763 iFlogID: 3100

RADIO CAREERS Short of time but want that break in being a radio guru? Why not do short courses at the 2SER Radio School then get involved with volunteer work at the station’s radio programs. 2SER is run by volunteer programmers who’ve ended ahead in the industry with radio skills. Learn voice presentation,editing, interviewing, podcasting and more. There are fees for the course based on accredited units and you can enter into a payment plan so you invest on your radio skills. Contact Annamarie 02 9514 9511, email radioschool@2ser.com and grab this hot opportunity! iFlogID: 5459

ENTERTAINMENT WANT TO WORK IN THE MUSIC BIZ?

iFlogID: 5091

Positions Available all over Australia in the most exciting Discount Travel Business ever seen! This is not some Get Rich Quick Scheme. This is a real business, and it will take some real work on your behalf. But the business systems that we have in place make everything simple: step by step!. Here are just some of the benefits this new business can provide: The Ability to Make a Great Part-Time Income or Extraordinary Full-Time Income. A Flexible Work Schedule you can arrange. Being Able to Stay Home with your Family. Being Debt Free and Financially Independent. Spending More Time Doing Things You Really Love. Vacation Whenever You Want. And, for the First Time, Being in Complete Control of Your Life! Affordable Startup Costs - Less than $1000 StepBy-Step Blueprints To Follow. Professional Training, Support & Marketing Tools. Aussie Pyxism Melbourne: 03 9005 8160 www.aussiepyxism.com info@aussiepyxism.com iFlogID: 5664

FOR SALE

Excellent condition Marshall Vintage Modern 100W Head VM2466 and Marshall Vintage Modern 4 x 12 Cab, that separates with roadcases made by Transitpak in Thomastown, Melbourne, which is one of the leading custom road case manufactures in the world. Constructed of lightweight high strength 8mm laminated plywood with aluminium extrusions, quality butterfly catches and castor wheels. Roadcases only for head and top amp, bottom amp has no road case. iFlogID: 5461

iFlogID: 5520

iFlogID: 5593

HUGE FENDER NEW AND USED SALE

ROCK MEMORABILIA

ACOUSTIC GUITAR MATON M225

GIBSON 1960 RI GOLDTOP

and small to suit any occasion. Dynacord,yamaha,mackie,cordless mics,etc etc. Instrument hire also available such as drumkits,keyboards,amps and much more. Call for 9689 4622 Just 10 min from cbd iFlogID: 4624

MUSICIANS FOR FUNCTIONS/ VENUES www.myspace.com/thespaced

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LIVE GIG FILM CLIPS

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ROCK MEMORABILIA FENDERS SECONDHAND 1979 STRAT- ASH BODY IN CASE $2695 1975 MUSIC MASTER IN CASE $1795 MEX STRAT W/DUNCAN H-BUCKER $649 NEW USA STANDARD TELE S/ BURST $1799 USA STANDARD STRAT -BLK $1749 USA JAZZ BASS - SUN BURST $2199 MEX JAZZ BASS BLK $849 ROAD WORN STRATS AND TELES $1499EACH CALL TIM 07 54743033 MUSIC@NOOSA LTD STOCK iFlogID: 5598

SECONDHAND 1960 RI LES PAUL GOLDTOP IN EXCELLENT CONDITION W/CASE ONLY $3395 CALL US 07 54743033 - MUSIC@NOOSA

iFlogID: 3466

THE SPACED ARE HERE!

Authentic Signed Rock Memorabilia and reprints from around the globe. www.rockgodsandlegends.com

Maton M225 Solid Sitka Spruce soundboard Queensland Maple Back, sides & neck Rosewood with dot inlays fingerboard Australian Made Original Elixir strings Natural Finish $750 *pick up in Sydney area iFlogID: 3645

of official licensed band merchandise. Hundreds of bands, thousands of products! AC/DC, Blink 182, David Bowie, Dead Kennedys, Escape The Fate, Iron Maiden, Jimi Hendrix, Joy Division, Megadeth, Metallica, MGMT, Minor Threat, Misfits, Nirvana, Opeth, Parkway Drive, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Ramones, Slayer, Sonic Youth, Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more! T-shirts, fleecy hoodies, caps, beanies, bags and loads of other cool stuff. Shop now at www.tsp.net.au. iFlogID: 4737

GUITARS

FENDER PROSONIC 2 X 10 W CASE W. Flight case. Offers welcome. Alltube circuitry, 4/8/16 ohm selector, 60 watts rms, 3-way rectifier switch (ClassA/cathode bias/tube rectifier, Class AB/grid bias/tube rectifier, Class AB/grid bias/SS rectifier). 2 channels,independent cascading gain controls in drive channel for ultra intense distortion textures, EFX loop, ext speaker out, 2-button footswitch, birch/maple ply cabinet. 2x 10” Celestion speakers and all-tube spring reverb.

LES PAUL STUDIO - WALNUT $1495 LP 1960-CLASSIC-GOLDTOP $2995 LP 1960-CLASSIC - SUNBURST $2995 LP ROBOT - DARK PURPLE $2195 LUCILLE BB KING $3295 ALL GUITARS ARE SECONDHAND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.. CALL TIM 07 54743033 MUSIC@NOOSA

RARE PAINTED 7STRING IBANEZ AX

Need a live clip to promote your band?? SnakeEyeProductions offers multi camera filming of your next gig in Hi Definition, includes Editing and Uploads at great rates.. Ph0416120639 Authentic Signed & Reprint Rock Memorabilia from across the globe www.rockgodsandlegends.com

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Are you thinking of hiring quality musicians that bring an audience ? Do you have a function/event and considering live entertainment ? For a limited period, we are offering a Venue Promotions Package featuring favourite entertainers. If it is about raising your venue profile or just great entertainment you want, contact us now. Chris 0419 272 196 http://infovisionproductions.yayabings.com.au iFlogID: 5076

BOOKING AGENTS

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ABSOLUTE VALUE!

PA SYSTEMS, LIGHTS , STAGES

CALLING ALL DJS & ARTISTS

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MUSIC@NOOSA - INTEREST FREE

BUSINESSES Valleyarm are a global digital music supplier and are seeking sales contractors Australia wide to sign bands and artists. On target earnings of $37800 PA, flexible hours and awesome incentives! A passion and an ear for good music is essential, if you like checking out bands and have good people skills then this might be the job for you! A real chance to make huge dollars within the music industry! Training provided. Email interest and resumes to info@valleyarm. com or call 03 9525 5589 for more information.

AMPS

MUSIC INDUSTRY BIBLE

IBANEZ THERMION GUITAR HEAD

iFlogID: 4839

Ibanez Thermion TN120 All Tube Guitar Head. Good Condition, great amp. $600

LOOKING FOR A JOB BACKSTAGE ?

iFlogID: 4027

VIPER GUITAR AMP.ALL VALVE Backstagejobs.com.au Australia’s very own dedicated online employment website to backstage jobs. Subscribe to our free jobs & news bulletins and become a member for free and post a free classified.

The Directory is a sourcebook for all the contacts in the Australian music market. There are over 5,000 listed companies & individuals in 70 sections covering all business sectors from Artists cross referenced by Booking Agents, Managers & Record Labels, Promoters, Music Media, Venues, Lawyers, Publishers & much more! We have 3 versions of the Directory available in Print $55 (GST & Postage included)--6 Month Online Subscription $40--iPhone App $19.95 (from Apple iTunes Store). To purchase your print or online version go to www.immedia.com.au/amid or call the IMMEDIA! Office (02) 9557 7766 iFlogID: 5078

iFlogID: 5352

CD / DVD

LOOKING FOR WORK. Studying sound engineer looking for part time work at a venue or with a band. Hard working and reliable. availiable nights and weekends iFlogID: 5686

SELF-EMPLOYMENT

100 watt head and matching 4/12 angled quadbox.2 fully seperate channels with reverb/crunch/mean/filth. effects send/return.all footswithable. very versatile.Australian designed quality.MINT CONDITION.$850 ono. iFlogID: 4664

LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY Would you like to be able to offer everyone you know and everyone they know and so on, the BEST PRICES GUARANTEED in the world for all their new brand name shopping? Well take a look at this. This is most certainly a lifetime opportunity to launch ongoing income well into the future. www. hotglobalbusiness.com/fortunate

MARSHALL VS100 VALVESTATE AMP.

SECOND NATION DELINQUENT E.P

12-24 MONTHS INTEREST FREE, NO INTEREST EVER, TAKE HOME YOUR GUITAR,AMP,P.A,KEYBOARD,ETC TODAY... CALL US FOR MORE DETAILS 07 54743033 MUSIC @ NOOSA

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KORG TRITON EXTREME88

Have YOU been to our shop. Sales / Repairs / Hire / Service / Rentals / Trade –Ins / Tuition. We also deal in Pre-Loved equipment.OPEN Monday to Saturday - MUSIC CAVERN - JOHN LANE , Beenleigh - 3807 5688 iFlogID: 5234

IMMORAL FASHION

Genuine 1980’s Pete Townshend jap model. all original. in case. plays great. nice patina. very rare. suit collector. EXCELLENT CONDITION! $2500.00 Ph Jimbo on 0428744963. iFlogID: 4711

GUITARS FENDER GIBSON MARTIN Vintage and USA guitars. Buy, Sell and Trade. mattsvintageguitars.com 02-9518-0150

DJ EQUIPMENT

NEW SEAGULL ACOUST/ ELECT

iFlogID: 5483

*NEW* N.I MASCHINE

A rarely used example of this classic and much sought-after synthesizer in excellent condition. Price includes delivery to any destination on mainland Australia.

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PA EQUIPMENT HEADROOM SOUND

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Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 head and 1960a 4x12. GREAT CONDITION apart from cosmetic wear. Genuine Marshall footswitch provided. ONLY $1600. PH TOM on 0433744065.

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MASTERING MASTERING BY PAUL GOMERSALL

Trust your next mastering project with Paul who’s been working with major international artists for over 25 years..you’ll probably find his name on CDs you own.....For a limited time song transfers through the ATR100 - the worlds finest 1/2” tape machine - is absolutely FREE!! (Worth up to $100 a song)...So for only $88 per song you can get the results you want at the price you can afford..-..Post - Upload, or call in......For further details visit --- www.gomersall.com --- Call Paul 0407 488 697 iFlogID: 2857

MATTHEW GRAY MASTERING - $99 CD Duplication for no minimum copies and quick turnaround. CD Replication for runs over 500. Cost effective and high quality. Several packaging options. Delivered to your door - see our website for more details: www.musicdesignsolutions. com.au Or email us for a quote: info@ musicdesignsolutions.com.au iFlogID: 5722

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Want the freedom of your own business working your hours? Village Guitar are leaders in contemporary music tuition. Our strong profile, proven methods and ongoing support will give you every chance of succeeding in your own business. We are looking for guitar players. You don’t have to be a rock legend, however you must be good with people. We can teach you to teach others and to effectively run your business. Very low start up costs. Take the first step today. Call Mark on 02 9580 9284 or 0409 701 249.

For Sale! Fantastic Sounding AKG K701 Headphones, Brand New with original packaging, manual and warranty card. Bought $900, will let go for $700. You don’t wanna miss this occasion, don’t you!? Email me on vangelis2133@yahoo.com or just phone: 0449672435. First Come, First Serve!

KEYBOARDS

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Rare 7string Ibanez AX7221, 22 fret, equipped w/Seymour Duncan Invader pickup (w/volume & tone control) & DiMarzio clip-lock strap. Heavy tone & huge sustain. Features handpainted (by owner) biomechanical landscape in the style of H.R.Giger. Price includes new black guitar hard case & postage if required. Call for more info, I can custom-paint any guitar.. Michael - 0417184213.

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From the people who brought you TheMusic.com.au comes two new free news resources, The Daily News Feed and Velvet Rope; the only source of music business and industry news you will ever need! Each morning the Daily News Feed posts crucial music business news, helping you stay current with Aussie and overseas breaking stories. Velvet Rope is brought to you via Door Bitch and is a weekly news column that keeps you up to date on the happenings of the music biz. From job opps, news, events & a bit of back room gossip, Door Bitch has it covered. It’s out every Friday at noon. Check out the new news at www.TheMusic.com.au iFlogID: 5089

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of professional isolated stage splitters (Radial, JensenTransformers), Quality pre amps, Great microphones, Internationally experienced engineer Jeremy Conlon MOB: 0421 836 876 EMAIL: jeremy@cooperblack. net www.myspace.com/jeremythesoundengineer B. Music (Composition) , Cert IV Music Tech, Cert IV Work Place Skills and Assessment

Custom bass drum heads ensure your bands name gets remembered after the gig. The sickest, best quality custom bass drum heads, banners, backdrops, stickers, and full drum wraps! www.kustombassdrumgraphics.com.au sales@kustombassdrumgraphics.com.au iFlogID: 2883

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ROCK MIXER WANTED FOR EP We have 5 days recording in late June. We need a great Rock producer/engineer to mix our 5 tracks. Must have plenty of experience in Rock/Metal/Punk www.mypace. com/droptankband droptankband@ gmail.com

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Your voice has the ability to sing at the Audioslave/ Radiohead/ Aretha/ P.J.Harvey level because of Design. Extend your vocal range learn to sing the right technique the first time, career counseling how to start a band. For advanced students: • Microphone Techniques • Recording Techniques • Songwriting • Harmonising. Free performance nights for current and previous students. 10 + years teaching experience. Beginners to Advanced also guitar lessons 0405-044-513 iFlogID: 2671

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And you get paid! Pressplay Media seek music licensing opportunities for Independent Artists and Labels for various uses of copyrights, including: Synchronization/Placement into Film, Television, Commercials & Games AND the Reproduction of their music to be played in venues and businesses within the Hospitality and Retail industries. We are constantly seeking new artists which enable us to continually strengthen our database of songs. Any artist or label wanting to register should fill out the form provided on our web site for “Music Owners”. Go to: www. pressplay.com.au We look forward to working with you!

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A rockin’ salute from the Team at Clk Click Publicity! Clk Click Publicity is a music and entertainment publicity company that specialises in providing excellent quality management, marketing and PR services in order to promote music, film, arts and events in Australia. We have an introductory offer that will blow your mind, and keep your pockets full! For a limited time Clk Click Publicity can whip you up a professional Bio and Press Release for only $100. We can also organise band photos and logo creation for a very reasonable price. If you’re interested in finding out about our full range of publicity services, we’d love the opportunity to have a chat with you and put together a proposal for your next release, event or tour. For further information please shoot us an email at info@clkclickpublicity.com or visit our website at www.clkclickpublicity.com We look forward to working with you!

any project. Book covers, children’s books, album art and much more. Based in Melbourne, drawing world wide! Excellent rates. www.paulikin. com -Phone: 0403 996 129 or email paul@paulikin.com

Looking for a photographer for your band?Checkout theartofcapture. com to see examples and portfolio of work. Studio and location shots.All states. Contact Kane Hibberd Kane@theartofcapture.com or call 0419 570 660. iFlogID: 1256

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography...Get the right shot the first time at an affordable cost..Contact Mike 0447572106 iFlogID: 4631

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Write, develop and record your material in a creative, positive environment. I am a producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocal coach with vast experience in helping artists polish their songs. Studio features Pro-Tools and vintage gear with three recording rooms. Extensive industry contacts. Phone Andrew Covell 9798 2665 or 0425 262 594 iFlogID: 5184

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REHEARSAL ROOMS CAULFIELD MUSIC CENTRE **MENTION THIS ADVERTISEMENT TO RECEIVE A FULL 5 HOUR REHEARSAL STUDIO BOOKING ON SATURDAY OR SUNDAY FOR $45** WELCOME TO CAULFIELD MUSIC REHEARSAL STUDIOS. WE HAVE FIVE LARGE, SOUNDPROOF ROOMS AVAILIBLE FOR HIRE. ALL OF THE ROOMS ARE THE SAME SIZE (APPROXIMATELY 7 X 6 METRES). EACH ROOM IS EQUIPPED WITH A 12 CHANNEL P.A. SYSTEM, 4 MICROPHONES, 4 MICROPHONE LEADS AND 4 MICROPHONE STANDS. OUR REHEARSAL ROOMS ARE ALL AIR CONDITIONED. THEY ARE ALWAYS KEPT CLEAN AND WELL MAINTAINED. WE HAVE TWO ROOMS WITH PIANOS AVAILABLE FOR SOLO, PRIVATE USE. THESE ROOMS ARE AVAILABLE FOR HIRE WHEN THEY ARE NOT BEING USED FOR TEACHING. PLEASE CALL FOR AVAILABILITY. THEY ARE HIRED AT $5.50 PER HOUR. EXTRA EQUIPMENT CAN BE HIRED WITH THE ROOMS. PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU WILL BE NEEDING WHEN YOU BOOK SO THAT WE CAN HAVE IT READY FOR YOU. FOR ALL BOOKINGS PH: (03) 9532 9530.

Play songs on guitar instantly. $49.99 postage inc. kit of 4 x interfaces + tutorial CD. Special deals for the first 100 buyers. The guitar is an easy instrument to play but it is an extremely difficult instrument to learn. Getting past the initial stumbling clanging strumming period of learning guitar can take a number of years and its made all the more difficult by the blank fret board. InteGuitar solves this problem by giving the fret board a temporary movable visual interface of rudimentary OPEN and BAR Chords in the form of a silicon strap. If you can see how the chords are played these basic functions can be over come in much shorter time and be less frustrating. Because the interfaces can be repositioned along part of the neck Bar Chords be displayed. It takes a few attempts to get used to setting up an interface eventually taking 1 to 5 minutes to complete. Silicon Interfaces stretch to fit on all steel string acoustic and electric guitars. Fatter necks like classical guitars are a little harder to fit. Call us now on 0405 044 513 iFlogID: 2716

BLUES HARP LESSONS

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SINGING LESSONS THAT ROCK

NY TRAINED SONGWRITING TUITION PROFFESSIONAL ROYALTIES EARNING POP ROCK SONGWRITER AVAILABLE FOR TUITION AND GUIDANCE. TRAINED WITH LEADING NYC VOCAL TEACHER WHO HAS WORKED WITH ARTISTS IE. AVRIL LAVIGNE, KELLY CLARKESON AND BEYONCE. COMMERCIAL RADIO PLAY FOR ORIGINALS. LOCATED EASTERN SUBURBS. AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL. ORIGINALS WELCOME OR BEGINNING FROM AFRESH. K.I.S.S. = $$$$$. 0435 426 012 iFlogID: 4454

PRODUCTION/MIXING TUITIONS I’m a professional Music Producer and Sound Mixer who has worked with internationally renowned artist such as Seal and De La Soul, and I’m offering private tuition in Mixing and Production. Bring your own session (Logic or Protools) or use one of mine, and I will show the tricks that they do not teach you at school, I work from my home setup (Surry Hills) only, $65 per hour. http://www.steevebody. com

VIDEO / PRODUCTION 360 DEGREE INTERACTIVE VIDEO

Professional Trombone player available for gigs, session and tours. Jazz, Funk, Latin, Pop, Rock and Classical. Can sight read, improvise and write parts. Contact Brendan 0409833827. iFlogID: 4101

Panoramic Video create interactive 360 degree online videos that are a unique addition to any website, putting your fans and web viewers virtually there with you. We can add in hotspots into the videos too so that you can direct users to other web sites for ticket or music purchasing, and with the ability to be embedded into other pages such as blogs etc, a Panoramic Video is a perfect choice for viral marketing.. Our videos keep the interest and by their nature keep users and fans on your website for longer than a standard video. It’s cool, and it’s unique, and a great option if you are looking for something different and innovative.. Costs will vary depending on where you are and what we do for you, but our rates are very reasonable.... We are a new innovative business in Melbourne and looking to help promote local bands and artists with our interactive videos.. so give us a call for a great deal. Check out some of our samples at www.panoramicvideo.com.au then give us a call on 03 9457 7600 today.. We would love to hear from you! iFlogID: 2774

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MUSICIANS AVAILABLE BASS PLAYER BASS PLAYER AVAILABLE

A1 HOME CALL GUITAR TUITION A1 very experienced guitar teacher available for home call tuition.we come to you! become a better musician soon!based in sydney’s inner west.I had the best teachers,now you can too.learn the fundamentals that make a great guitar player!many styles taught in a relaxed,fun manner that will get you happening fast.ph 0421727864. iFlogID: 4240

CAULFIELD MUSIC CENTRE Caulfield Music Centre MUSIC SCHOOL * where students become

Lola Vocal Tuition is a team of two female music students, teaching beginner to intermediate students (of any age) in all styles of contemporary music. We work on technique, vocal confidence and overall on-stage performance. We do either single or group singing tuition. For prices email us at lola_vox@hotmail.com or call Laura on 0427763653 or Luise on 0419329896 .

Gary Soloman Bass player for Marie Wilson, Bo Diddley, Free zone etc is available for local/ touring gigs and recordings. Original acts or covers OK , any genre styles OK call Gary 0407505764

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SINGER LOOKING FOR LIFE TIME BAND genuine music man searching life time members. iFlogID: 2424

HAVE VOCALS WILL TRAVEL Vocalist looking for home. Happy to begin with new band or established. Influences blues rock punk folk metal everything. Have experience playing in bands and vocal training. iFlogID: 5369

MUSICIANS WANTED BASS PLAYER BASS PLAYER WANTED Bass playwer wanted for originals band in Melbourne. Have the basics of songs completed, just need to learn the songs to add the bass and get them gig ready. Looking for someone determined and eager to play. Influences are Sonic Youth, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, etc. Contact 0403929446. iFlogID: 4224

VOCALIST WANTED Professional band with clubwork and agent, looking for charismatic male vocalist.Ideal influences would be 80’s 90’s pop/soul.Must be true showperson. Age: 35 - 50years of age. For details call Cora on 0418 122 370.

Bassist wanted to join melodic metal band with death/black/thrash influence. Must be determined, skilled and have own gear and transport. Easygoing but professional environment. Ages 18-30 Wollongong/ Sydney based. Influences: Dimmu, Old man’s child, arch enemy, children of bodom, immortal, megadeth, slayer, amon amarth etc. Interest gained nationally and internationally with distribution deals on offer for the band. Great opportunity. www. myspace.com/asmodaiaus or email asmodai_aus@hotmail.com iFlogID: 5302

GUITARIST TO FORM/JOIN BAND

GET SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL!

i am looking to form a serious band, influences include Stone Roses, The Smiths, Beatles, Kinks, Suede. Preferably looking for vocalist to collaborate with, then add bass and drums later. songs ready, looking to be gigging asap. own transport preferable. email - thevilliers@hotmail.com

Session Bass Player Wanted! Drummer is forming a fast paced professional original alternative rock band to get signed to a major label. Must be ambitious, self-motivated, committed, reliable and have a lot of drive. No metal. Age: 18-30. Rehearsing at Wetherill Park. Only contact me if you want to get signed to a major label! E-mail: cooleywill2@hotmail.com.

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LEAD GUITARIST AVAILABLE Lead guitarist looking to jam/form a heavy metal band, preferably on the central coast but willing to travel. Influences: Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron maiden - Blake 0403138542 iFlogID: 5350

OTHER SAXOPHONIS AVAILABLE

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GUITAT TUITION Experienced guitar teacher, all styles and skill levels welcome. Learn how to play like your heros. teaching in collingwood area. flexible hours, competative rates. 0439404403 gypsyjones11@gmail.com iFlogID: 5180

SINGING TUITION Tired of cracking on high notes? Not enough range or power? Learn to sing it right 1st time, every time. Dramatic improvement guaranteed. Beginners to professionals welcome. Creative, friendly environment. Also recording, songwriting, multi-instrumentalist. Phone Andrew Covell 9798 2665 or 0425 262 594

Experienced saxophonist based in Sydney is looking for bands and studio sessions. Jazz, funky, afro, reggae,latin, rock, folk. If interested contact me at 0410041979. Cheers. Lorenzo

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GUITARIST

Modern Life Music School offers professional performance based tuition for the dedicated beginner or established musician. A tailored program to achieve your goals utilizing a modern studio and live performance facility will ensure that you achieve your potential .

SAXOPHONIST AVAILABLE

BASS PLAYER WANTED

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LOLA VOCAL TUITION

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Learn to play from some of Australia’s best guitar teachers. G4 GUITAR is a network of over 100 teachers across Australia using the latest learning techniques to ensure students the absolute best tuition available. Backed by the G4 GUITAR METHOD our teachers have the reputation to take you from beginner to pro. Please visit our website to find your closest teacher and grab a free download. www.g4guitar.com.au or Phone 0405-274456

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Ableton certified trainer and author of Ableton video training for Groove 3 (USA) Craig McCullough is available locally in SE Qld for private Ableton and music technology training. Video training is also availble from www. groove3.com. Mobile: 0431 556 746 email: abletontrainer@optusnet. com.au

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CONTEMPORARY AND MUSIC THEATRE SINGING TUITION. TRAINED WITH LEADING NYC VOCAL TEACHER WORKED WITH ARTISTS IE. AVRIL LAVIGNE, KELLY CLARKESON AND BEYONCE. WORLD RENOWNED VOCAL EXCERSISES TO VASTLY IMPROVE VOCAL TECHIQUE BASED ON EXCSERCISES FROM MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC. LOCATED EASTERN SUBURBS. AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL. ORIGINALS WELCOME. AUDITION COACHING. 0435 426 012

Learn Blues Harmonica all styles from Ragtime, Country Blues , Chicago Blues styles. Private lessons in Sydney with Blue tongue & Workshops across Australia with Bluetongue, Ian Collard & Doc Span. web- http://www. bluetongueharmonica.com.au p-02 80037132 m-0412 668575

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Dane specialises in providing highquality creative images to a diverse range of clients. Contributor to Rolling Stone Magazine and Street Press. www.photodane.com

SINGING TEACHER NYC TRAINED

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Unlike other DJs, Top Shelf DJs have a background in alternative and indie music. So if you want your party to have a distinctly indie/alternative feel,or just want a few alternative tunes in the mix, we are the perfect fit for your event! Find out more at www.topshelfdjs.com.au

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TUITION

Headroom Sound Australia. Re-cones to all models e.g. JBL, P Audio, B & C, E-Tone etc Custom built crossovers, all at budget prices. For quotes contact Ray on tallpoppies@iprimus. com.au or 04143 55763

musicians * www.caulfieldmusic. com.au QUALIFIED TEACHERS AVAILABLE Monday - Friday: 4pm-9pm * Saturday: 10am-4pm * Sunday: 11am-4pm * *Please call for lesson availability times. PRIVATE LESSONS - $28 PER HALF HOUR GUITAR BASS PIANO SINGING & VOICE PRODUCTION DRUMS PERCUSSION SAXOPHONE FLUTE RECORDER HARMONICA VIOLIN At Caulfield Music Centre Music School, we offer private, oneon-one lessons. We believe this is the best way for students to learn their chosen instrument. All students receive special student DISCOUNTS on musical instruments and equipment. All lessons are payable weekly, one lesson in advance. A DISCOUNT applies when paying for 10 lessons in advance. Missed lessons incur the full fee unless a minimum of 24 hours notice is given. Exceptional circumstances will be considered. ALL ENQUIRIES AND BOOKINGS PHONE 9528 1162 OR EMAIL music@ caulfieldmusic.com.au

Experienced saxophonist is looking for bands and studio sessions. Jazz, funky, afro, reggae, latin, rock, folk. If interested contact me at 0410041979. Cheers. Lorenzo iFlogID: 2848

PRO TROMBONIST AVAILABLE

BASSIST WANTED Hunting Foxes is a new band that blends driving, progressive indie rock, with an emphasis on complicated instrumentation, interesting song structures, and catchy melodies. We are currently seeking a male bassist who is similar in terms of ability, image, influence, stage presence and age to ourselves; therefore from 24 – 28 years. Influences range from Apparat, Aphex Twin, Battles, Bloc Party, Don Caballero, Friendly Fires, Foals, Flying Lotus, Jimmy Edgar, Grizzly Bear, Minus the Bear, Mute Math, Phoenix, Radiohead, Russian Circles, Squarepusher, The Police, Zombi, etc. We currently rehearse once a week and have just completed recording our debut EP; produced entirely by ourselves. www.huntingfoxes.com For more information please send an email to huntingfoxes@hotmail.com with details. iFlogID: 5570

AAA BASS PLAYER WANTED Are you a bass player and are tired of playing cover songs where you cannot truly express yourself? Are you being confined to root notes, and would like to play “lead bass”? Then get in touch with The Clue: we are

For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au 81

a Sydney-based band, play mostly original stuff (classic rock, pop and folk), and rehearse every Monday in Ultimo. We are looking for YOU! Good gear a must, vocal harmonies a plus. See you soon!

performing!Practice 1-2 times per week. Gig asap. All ages welcome. www.myspace.com/nicolesero 0435 426 012

DRUMMER

Session Guitarist Wanted! Drummer is forming a fast paced professional original alternative rock band to get signed to a major label. Must be ambitious, self-motivated, committed, reliable and have a lot of drive. No metal. Age: 18-30. Rehearsing at Wetherill Park. Only contact me if you want to get signed to a major label! E-mail: cooleywill2@hotmail.com.

iFlogID: 5638

FUNKY RYTHYM SECTION WANTED! funky rythym section wanted for dynamic sexy funk/rock/blues hip hop band.influences-the meters,early rhcp,sly stone,james brown,jimi hendrix,parliament/funkadelic.phone 0421727864.

iFlogID: 4392

GET SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL!

iFlogID: 5467

iFlogID: 4238

WANNA BE IN MY BAND??!!! Who wants to be in a all girls original pop rock band hav some fun and make some $$$?! Guitar/bass/ drummer needed. Must be able to sing passable back up vox and luv performing!Practice 1-2 times per week. Gig asap. All ages welcome. www.myspace.com/nicolesero 0435 426 012

KEYBOARD SKILLED KEYBOARDIST WANTED to complete lineup of new show. Ability to cover orchestrations and excellent sounds to match a must. High quality show with good pay. Contact: onemoreguitar@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 4323

iFlogID: 4394

MULTI-GENRE KEYBOARD PLAYER

DRUMMER WANTED Drummer wanted for originals band in Melbourne. Have the basics of songs completed, just need to learn the songs to add the drums and get them gig ready. Looking for someone determined and eager to play. Influences are Sonic Youth, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, etc. COntact 0403929446. iFlogID: 4431

SONS OF GENGHIS NEED DRUMMER!

SEEKING KEYBOARD PLAYER WITH A LIKING AND SKILL IN VARIOUS GENRES OF MUSIC FROM THE 60’S ONWARDS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A LONG TERM PARTNERSHIP WITH A PROFESSIONAL LYRICIST, SINGER WITH AMBITION TO FROM A SONGWRITING DUO TO CREATE SONGS FOR ALBUMS, FILM AND OTHER MEDIA. PROFICIENCY IN APPLE, GARAGEBAND A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE. , PLEASE CONTACT ENRICO ON 0407 781156 FOR FURTHER DETAILS. iFlogID: 4976

MUSICIANS WANTED FOR POP BAND

Sydney Based “Sons Of Genghis” need versatile drummer, if you play like primus meets Chilli Peppers, Faith no more meets Pantera,this is the band for you and we want your chops!! Check the sounds at www. myspace.com/sonsofgenghis. Call Jono 0410 330 702 or Andy 0420 771 357. iFlogID: 4485

DRUMMER NEEDED - ROCK/ POP BAND

Melbourne bassist seeking RELIABLE, DEDICATED, CONFIDENT, CREATIVE musicians to form pop band. Influences: Faith No More, INXS, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, GnR, Soundgarden, The Police, Godflesh, Icehouse, M.I.A, Depeche Mode, Pantera, Genesis ect listen to demos at soundcloud.com/integra and call Mike on 0424 838 782 iFlogID: 5226

SYNTH NOISE MAKER WANTED SYNTH NOISE MAKER WANTED FOR ELECTRO POP ROCK BAND, WE LIKE INTERESTING SOUNDS, BANDS LIKE THE KNIFE, BOWIE, NINA HAGEN, ENO, DELTRON, PORNO FOR PYROS, KRAFTWERK AND MORE. BALLARAT AREA...WE HAVE RELEASES..WE NEED A DEDICATED OPEN PERSON.. OWN GEAR, TRANSPORT, WE HAVE SYNTHS TOO, MULTI INTRUMENTALIST WOULD BE GOOD..OPPORTUNITY TO CO WRITE NEW MATERIAL.. HAVE FUN..TRAVEL AND PLAY..EMAIL softrobots@gmail.com PHONE Jez. 0421 836 876 iFlogID: 5409

KEYBOARDIST AVAILABLE!!! We are seeking an experienced drummer for a Rock/Pop band in the Western Suburbs - male or female. You will need to give dedication, determination, motivation and have the want to stick to the band in the long haul. We have a few gigs coming up after August so we are looking for someone as soon as possible. Check us out at www.myspace.com/thewrittencrusade. If you feel this is the band for you and would like to partake in this moving forward band, please contact Dinora on 0419 198 696.

I am looking for a job that is musically related, preferably performing or something along those lines. Studying a B. Music (Performance) at AICM. mobile number: 0435544916 email: brat.dog@hotmail.com Thankyou

WANNA BE IN MY BAND??!!!

iFlogID: 5512

iFlogID: 5677

DYMANIC DUO SEEK REST OF BAND! Rhythm guitarist/ vocalist and Drumming freak seek rest of band with the goals of giging and recording. Influences from the punk/ rock/ alternative genres, but openly experimenting with many other sounds. must be: between ages 16-19 , open to ideas and styles, able to commit, skill level of “intermediate” or higher Contact via email both Andy and Pete at bubblesrox@me.com (Andy) and pdorkota@gmail.com (Pete) iFlogID: 5712

SINGER

iFlogID: 5131

Attention all Techno, Dance, Electronica bands, DJs and producers! Valleyarm Digital are releasing an Aussie Electronic compilation album called “Technically Australian”. The album will be exclusive to iTunes and will released and promoted worldwide. Submit your track (1 per band) and bio to info@valleyarm.com now to secure a spot. We’ll also be offering a $5000 online marketing and global digital distribution deal to a “Stand Out” act that we think has what it takes...this could be you!! iFlogID: 5514

METAL BANDS WANTED FOR ITUNES Attention all metal bands! Valleyarm Digital are releasing an Aussie Metal compilation album called “METAL AS F#@K!”. The album will be exclusive to iTunes and will released and promoted worldwide. We want to show the world just how heavy Australia is so submit your track (1 per band) and bio to info@valleyarm.com now to secure a spot. We’ll also be offering a $5000 online marketing and global digital distribution deal to a “Stand Out” act that we think has what it takes...this could be you!!

Five world-class passionate vocalists wanted for a Gospel music CD project. Must have beautiful, passionate, powerful and devotional delivery. iFlogID: 3585

SINGER FOR GRUNGE/ROCK BAND Sydney Grunge/Rock band Samsara looking for a talented singer and front man to join a complete band looking to gig and record. An albums worth of music is already written but need vocal melodies and lyrics. Influences include Silverchair, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Black Sabbath etc etc. Contact Daniel: 0403 885 433, for more information and demos. iFlogID: 4187

SKA SINGER WANTED

Guitarist and drummer looking for serious band members to jam, write songs and learn together with. Relatively close to CBD if possible. Technical ability not as important as having right personality and taste in music. Our favourite music includes: The doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nick Cave, Radiohead, Modest mouse, Mgmt, Presets, Mogwai, Kooks, Gorillaz. Call Andy 0430079765.

MUSICIANS WANTED

SINGER NEEDED

ELECTRONIC MUSICIANS WANTED

iFlogID: 5541

iFlogID: 2762

BEAUTY FOR A CAUSE CAMPAIGN

it down some one can come along and steal it. That’s what we do. We can register your name and trade mark it so it will be yours, protecting your future money making ability and your creative talent. Call me today 31142123 or email ej@engelbertjones.com.au iFlogID: 3496

iFlogID: 3643

100 COLOUR POSTERS ONLY $80

Established and agent backed OZ Red Hot Chili Peppers Show are looking for a experienced singer, to front the band. Must be based in Sydney, with own transport, and ready to gig on weekends.Gigs waiting. Please email details to info@ozredhotchilipeppersshow.com.au iFlogID: 5242

SIMPLY RED VOCALIST REQUIRED Professional Sydney based band with club work and agent requires a frontman for Simply Red tribute show.For further information call Dianne on 0418 122 370. iFlogID: 5290

PINK TRIBUTE NEEDS SINGER

ALEY GREENBLO, A CURRENT FINALIST FOR MISS EARTH AUSTRALIA HAS RECENTLY BEEN CHOSEN TO BE THE FACE OF THE “BEAUTY FOR A CAUSE CAMPAIGN”. ALEY HOPES TO CREATE AWARENESS ABOUT CURRENT ENVIRO PROBLEMS AND HAS SET OUT ON A MISSION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! THIS “DOWN TO EARTH” COMMERCE LAW STUDENT IS EXTREMELY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT & IS DEDICATED TO ENSURING THAT OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET REMAINS CLEAN & LITTER FREE! ALEY HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY ACTIVE IN PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS & HAS TAKEN ON VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL INITATIVES. “IT IS SO EASY AND EVERYONE CAN HELP BY DOING THE SMALLEST THINGS!”

iFlogID: 4579

Singer needed for hard rock band. We’re looking for a singer, male or

The Australian Pink Show, Sydney’s well established and leading Pink Tribute needs a Fill In singer. We require someone with experience and the stage presence to be Pink. We are agent backed and have loads of gigs ready to go. You need to be available on weekends to perform. So... Ya reckon you can do it? then email Rob at info@ozpinkshow.com.au or go through the link on our website www. ozpinkshow.com.au

GREEN, GLAM & GORGEOUS

VOCALIST / ENTERTAINER

Aley Greenblo who was crowned as a finalist in January for the MISS EARTH AUSTRALIA PAGEANT TEACHES THE WORLD HOW TO ADOPT A GREENER WAY OF LIFE. Aley is studying COMMERCE LAW at UNSW and has been speaking out to encourage others to get active. In a speech Aley delivered to her fellow peers on Friday she mentioned that “MANY PEOPLE ARE INTIMIDATED BY THE IDEA OF ‘GOING GREEN’. IN REALITY HOWEVER, “GOING GREEN IS VERY SIMPLE AND MANY PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED HOW EASY IT IS TO FOLLOW AN ECO-FRIENDLY LIFESTYLE”. ALEY GREENBLO’S ACTS INSPIRE US TO INCULCATE GREEN LIVING IN OUR LIVES AND SPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN OUR OWN LITTLE WAY. TO FIND OUT MORE GO TO: http://aleygreenblo.blogspot.com/ or facebook: aley greenblo

iFlogID: 5379

Rolling Stones Tribute Band are currently running auditions for the role of Mick Jagger. Professional attitude and experience required. Industry contacts well established. (some guitar and harmonica skills would be an advantage) Contact Chris 0431 530 330 E-mail bazza40@tpg. com.au iFlogID: 5415

GET SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL! Established (experienced) singersongwriter wanted! Drummer is forming a fast paced professional original alternative rock band to get signed to a major label. Must be ambitious, self-motivated, committed, reliable and have a lot of drive. No metal. Age: 18-30. Rehearsing at Wetherill Park. Only contact me if you want to get signed to a major label! E-mail: cooleywill2@hotmail.com.

100 Full Colour A4 Gloss Posters = only $40 100 Full Colour A3 Matt Posters = only $50 100 Full Colour A3 Gloss Posters = only $80 and many more options to choose from Posters • Flyers • Handouts • Business Cards We can print a sample for you while you wait and complete the job within the hour. bsd@zip.com.au www.blackstar.com.au

100% devotion to music and the packaging it comes in. Pi (Paul Ikin) has a Complete Design Studio aimed at album cover design, packaging and Band Websites. Based in Melbourne Central Complex its easy to get to. Some of the services include * Art Layout design for CD’s/Digipack/ Gatefolds, * Vinyl Sleeves 12” & 7”, and professional Band Websites. Feel free to visit our site to find out more about our services www.paulikin. com iFlogID: 4626

SUPER CHEAP COLOUR PRINTING

BEAUTY SERVICES

MYSPACE LAYOUTS 200$

SONG WRITER GET SIGNED TO A MAJOR LABEL! Established (experienced) singersongwriter wanted! Drummer is forming a fast paced professional original alternative rock band to get signed to a major label. Must be ambitious, self-motivated, committed, reliable and have a lot of drive. No metal! Age: 18-30. Rehearsing at Wetherill Park. Only contact me if you want to get signed to a major label! E-mail: cooleywill2@hotmail.com.

GRAPHIC DESIGN REAPERS IMAGE DESIGN CD Art/Layout design,posters, stickers etc, video editing/filming,DVD, multimedia. Cheapest rates in Melbourne. reapersimagedesign.com.au 0403 416 424 iFlogID: N/A

WANT A LOGO FOR YOUR BAND?

iFlogID: 5481

WEB & GRAPHIC DESIGNSYDNEY

Inspire Design Studios provides meaningful, smart and economic design solutions that communicates

iFlogID: 3672

PHOTOGRAPHY

iFlogID: 4552

SERVICES

iFlogID: 5479

Trust the professionals to capture the fun and magic of your party or event! 21st parties, sports clubs, nightclubs, promoters, concerts, seminars plus corporate and social functions! We’ve been awarded “Best scene Photograph” PDMA in 2009, member of the AIPP and have extensive experience in photographing events from parties through to music events of 40,000 revellers, so you can be assured of affordable quality and professional photos for your party or event! Check us out or make a booking today at www.atomikarts.com

PI BAND ART AND DESIGN

With over 20 years experience, ACE Design & Print has gained an unequaled reputation as a reliable supplier of quality printing with exceptional service and competitive prices. Our print services are designed for fast production and fast delivery within your budget. Here are some prices for your consideration, let us know your specific requirements and we can quote & deliver! 100 A4 Posters printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $40 250 A6 Leaflets printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $50 250 Full Colour Digital Business cards onto 300gsm gloss = $50 100 A3 Posters printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $80 1000 Business Cards in full colour 2 sides with plastic coating = $160 1000 A5 Flyers printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $210 1000 A4 Letterheads printed in full colour onto 100gsm bond = $230 1000 A4 Flyers printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $300 500 A2 Posters printed in full colour onto 150gsm gloss = $490 1000 A5 Booklets 8pp printed in full colour onto gloss = $735 500 Presentation Folders printed in full colour on white board = $795

iFlogID: 5314

PARTY & FUNCTION PHOTOGRAPHY

MYSPACE - WEBSITES - ALBUM ART - POSTERS - LOGOS - PROMO - TSHIRT DESIGN - Graphic Design services for everything in the music industry. Website packages start at $449 Custom Myspace $899 WE KNOW YOUR BUSINESS Email for a free quote/consultation paul@cattanachdesign.com.au or vist the website www.cattanachdesign.com.au

iFlogID: 5082

muso’s wanted to jam form rock/ metal band, steve,0424487379

iFlogID: 5516

clearly with a given market. From website design, to branding, we can take you through the entire process of creating an identity for your organization. Maybe you just need some business cards, or maybe you need a completely new look. From logo design, to website creation, to company apparel, and anything in between. To provide you with the most competitive pricing contact us to discuss your requirements without any obligation. Special prices Static website (within 5 pages) $495 CMS website (within 7 pages) $695 Online shopping site $795 No hidden charges or on-going monthly fees To find out more please visit www. lydiay.com

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS SINGER

TECHNO WANTED FOR ITUNES!

GUITAR/BASS/KEYS/VOCALS WANTED

Details: http://hotelwilliam.yayabings. com.au This is the underground melting pot of music jam sessions, organised by the Yayabings Music Club with the JazzKatts romping the Fusion Bar. Musicians/singers, comedians and artists at all levels perform by coming in on that evening. Totally impromptu and musicians may improvise with other musicians/singers or perform their own set. Local/Backpackers/ Internationals all welcome.

female, for our all original hard rock band. The guitarist and I (bass) have been playing together for over 8 years now and over 3 years with our drummer. We have been writing new songs the last 2 years and continue to work on fresh original material. We have also been playing gigs all over Melbourne for the last year getting some stage experience up but we are really dying to get a frontperson with a voice that works with our music. We’re willing to give anyone a listen, we’re all easy going and in it for the fun above all else, but also been keen to take the next step and make it a serious commitment. Have a listen at our myspace link upon application. http://www.myspace.com/psyecho Please note the myspace recordings are over 2 years old now and we have progressed in style and skill greatly since then.

GOSPEL SINGERS WANTED

MUSO’S WANTED TO JAM/ FORM BAND

MUSICIANS AND AUDIENCE WANTED

Who wants to be in a all girls original pop rock band hav some fun and make some $$$?! Guitar/bass/ drummer needed. Must be able to sing passable back up vox and luv

Attention all Rock bands! Valleyarm Digital are releasing an Aussie Rock compilation album called “ROCK ME DEAD!”. The album will be exclusive to iTunes and will released and promoted worldwide. We want to show the world that Australia has the best rockin’ bands on the planet so submit your track (1 per band) and bio to info@valleyarm.com now to secure a spot. We’ll also be offering a $5000 online marketing and global digital distribution deal to a “Stand Out” act that we think has what it takes...this could be you!!

iFlogID: 5522

iFlogID: 2814

iFlogID: 2631

ROCK BANDS WANTED FOR ITUNES

Solo composer looking for musicians to support for live acts/form a band. If you play bass, drums, piano/ keyboard, guitar or sing then you can help me out playing original songs + help compose :) To hear them musical style visit and listen @ www. myspace.com/ stevewilliams91 or http://www.reverbnation.com /stevewilliams91 Ages 17-25 contact via myspace (above) or stevewilliams91musicprofiles@ gmail.com

OTHER

KEYBOARDIST WANTED

iFlogID: 5666

G4 Guitar is an Australia wide network of Guitar Teachers who teach from their own homes and studios. With over 100 teachers we are the No.1 name in guitar tuition. We welcome both inexperienced and experienced teachers and we provide online training and support. To apply to become a teacher please visit our website at www.g4guitar.com.au or phone 0430-426137

iFlogID: 4843

iFlogID: 5610

LIVE BAND MEMBERS 4 SOLOARTIST

Electronic musicians wanted to form a live act. Preferably using Ableton & with some hardware. Influence :Groove Armada, Bent, Justice, Faithless, Röyksopp, Nightmares on Wax, Thievery Corporation, Air, Bonobo, Cassius. Tell me a bit about yourself & preferably send some links to your soundcloud : whooyeah@gmail.com. Also Want to hear from other musicians that would like to colaborate on this type of project.

iFlogID: 5531

For 50s & 60s RocknRoll Band Make New Mates, Have Fun & Play Gigs Practice in Osborne Park (WA) Area Mike - 0438 935 031 Leave a Msg if No Answer

GUITARISTS WANTED TO TEACH

Valleyarm Digital are looking for bands to be included on compilation albums that will be featured on iTunes worldwide, you’ll still own 100% of your recordings & publishing plus make money from the sales!! All genres are welcome and we’ll also be offering a Worldwide Digital Deal to a band or artist that we think we can market on a global scale! This will include $5000 worth of online marketing and a worldwide release on all the major digital stores. Submit your tracks (1 per band/artist) along with bio and contact details to - info@valleyarm.com www.valleyarm.com

If you want to join a band, form a band, find a new band member, get exposure, or just jam, then Ozjam is for you! Whatever instrument or genre of music you play, Ozjam can connect you with other talented, like minded musicians who are looking to jam, gig, and even tour the World! Ozjam is loaded with features, it’s free to join and with over 4000 members its fast becoming the largest online music community in Australia today!

We are a new band called Low Gear. Have had about 16 practices together at home, and now about 10 in a studio. We’re not looking for anyone interested in making money as soon as they join a band as we are not gigging yet, but will be looking to just for fun to start, then who knows. Whilst we dont like to admit to being influenced directly by any particular bands, we all like a mix of, The Specials, Toots and the Maytals, Madniess, Reel Big Fish, Prince Buster, Sublime as far as ska goes, we also individually have many opposing influences such as, The Clash, The Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers and thats just me! We have had a great time in the rehearsal rooms in Marrickville, Sydney for the past couple of months, doing 2 hours every fortnight until we get storage then looking to make it more regular. We are now finding that we are hitting a wall without a singer and are looking for someone to come along and give us some input and help us over this hurdle. We are looking for a singer who is decent, but doesnt feel the need to bash it out at 100% all the time, someone who can relax into a voice and also belt out some cheeky stuff every now and then too. If you feel you would have a good time practising with us, give us an email and see how you go. If you enjoy our company then I am sure you would be a welcome friend.

iFlogID: 5668

GUITARIST

iFlogID: 2923

BANDS WANTED FOR ITUNES ALBUMS

Global Sanctuary Photography are currently running their yearly May, June and July specials. To name a few people we have shot: John Mayer, Jimmy Barnes, Iva Davies, Cruel Sea, Panic at the Disco, Human Nature, Killing Heidi and Delta Goodrem. We come to you on location or at your gig or come to our awesome warehouse studio at Botany. Studio style or grungy warehouse, the choice is yours. We are creative and easy going producing quality work using canon pro gear. Call us on 0416 144 277 or email us at globalsanctuary@mac. com. Visit www.globalsanctuary.biz iFlogID: 4518

1100 FULL COLOUR POSTERS = $80

Visit our website for an extensive price list and other services! iFlogID: 4554

PRO TOOLS/LOGIC TRAINING UTS:Pro School offers high quality, professional short courses in Digidesign Pro Tools 8 designed to improve your music and audio postproduction skills. PT 101 12-13 July PT 110 14-16 July PT 201 19-20 July PT 210M 21-23 July Logic Pro 101 7- 9 July Ring 9514 9931 or go to http://www.utsproschool.uts.edu.au to book your place iFlogID: 4586

BAND PHOTOS

iFlogID: 4914

Want a logo to differentiate yourself from other bands? We can make you stand out from the rest! Boggleworks are currently offering a special price of $250 (RRP $349) for your very own custom designed logo. Visit www. boggleworks.com for more info. Be sure to enter the promotional code “IFLOG” for the special discount! iFlogID: 2808

GRAPHIC DESIGN SERVICES

Create your Myspace page with us. Prices starting from 200$. Send an email for more information: bezzouro@hotmail.com

NAIL DOWN YOUR NAME

Need band photos? Then contact Atomic Pics as we can provide high quality live show and Promo Photos at a very affordable price Contact me with a message @ www.myspace. com/volume11

You got a great band. Your band is tight. you look great, your getting gigs your getting known but you haven’t protected your name. If you don’t lock

ILLUSTRATOR! BOOKS TO ALBUMS

iFlogID: 5566

OTHER

For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au 82

iFlogID: 5118

Finally, something with an i in front of it that’s FREE. iFlog.com.au Free online andprint classifieds

For further info please contact the team at info@coveryourartz.com or visit our website at www.coveryourartz.com. iFlogID: 5308

OTHER

Do you need an affordable Illustrator? Freelance illustrator Paul Ikin can create a range of styles for your project. No hidden cost at an affordable price. Album Covers - Film Clips - Book Sleeves - Children Books - Online Images - Fliers - Posters Editorial Artwork. Visit www.paulikin. com - T: 0403 996 129 iFlogID: 5133

TRUCK AND DRIVER FOR HIRE 4 Tonne Truck with Hydraulic Lift available for Hire for deliveries private, commercial or contract (by negotiation) $65 p/hour for man and truck $85 p/hour for two men and truck. Call Derek 0423979396.

Troy Music School where Students become musicians. Tuition in Guita r,Vocals,Drums,Piano,Sax,Violin,Cl arinet,Trumpet,Bass Guitar,Ukulele and now offering Lessons In Recording,Protools, Cubase,Ableton live. Record your songs now. Ph. 9689 4622 184 Barkly st Footscray 10 min from city. iFlogID: 4622

SYDNEY MUSICIANS WANTED Musicians wanted to join our new online community - thesound.com.au iFlogID: 5209

WANTED AMPS TOUR STAFF WANTED

iFlogID: 5137

HAYDEN CHARLES PHOTOGRAPHY Specialising in portraiture, marketing and promo shots plus live gigs, full professional service. Never flat, lifeless shots. See www.haydencharlesphotography.com for details iFlogID: 5699

TUITION P&O/DJ BOOTCAMP CRUISE P&O have teamed up with DJ Bootcamp to bring u Australias first 8 day/3 island professional DJ Course Cruise.Learn DJing and enjoy, food,entertainmet,accommidation and 3 islands!Early booking discounts.Go www.djbootcamp.com.au to book 95472578 info. Sails August 29, 2010 iFlogID: 4498

TROY MUSIC SCHOOL FOOTSCRAY

THE CHILLI MAN IS BACK!!!!

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Ever found yourself putting on a tour and don’t know how to get a sound engineer or someone to sell merchandise on the other side of the country? Well, that is how CoverYourArtz.com came about... The website enables anyone offering a service that can be used by touring artists to browse for work, and for touring artists to find the people they need to make their tour work anywhere in Australia. By visiting CoverYourArtz.com, anyone who is putting on an event is able to source all types of crew from tour managers, sound engineers, and lighting technicians to merchandisers, photographers and poster distributors in areas where they wouldn’t normally know where to start looking. Anyone working in the industry can look for work, and also list their details so that they don’t miss out on that next ‘big job’! Registering and browsing for jobs on CoverYourArtz.com is absolutely free, you only pay when you want to apply.

THE CHILLI MAN IS BACK!!!!!! The Chilli Man has spent months of trial and error handpicking the best fruit and veggies to put into his sauces. The world’s hottest company has spiced things up and has created the most delectable, mouth watering and delicious range of Chilli sauces on the market. “The stuff is so incredible you will be eating it straight out the jar!” All products use fresh Australian grown products and perform exceptionally well at BBQs and Dinner parties. It will undoubtedly spice up ANY dish. For More information or to order chilli sauce today: www.thechilliman.com.au chinwag@thechilliman. com.au iFlogID: 5125

SPONSOR NEEDED: HUGE EXPOSURE

Hi, My name is Aley Greenblo and I am currently a Miss Earth Finalist, Miss Global Australia, Miss SupraNational Australia and a Miss Bikini World Australia finalist for the competition in Darwin in July. I am absolutely passionate and dedicated to the environment. I have high hopes to win the Miss Earth world title and apart from bush regeneration schemes, recy-

cling, tree planting and water management projects, I have also been to schools and universities lecturing the students about environmental management. My reason for emailing you is simple and direct. I am looking for a handful of sponsors to assist me with my quests through money sponsorship. In return your name/ brand/website will be included on the official Website as well as inclusions in other media promotions and my social media pages and blogs. Please do not hesitate to contact me for more information and/or to discuss what form of sponsorship you would be willing to engage in with me. If you sponsor me then you are supporting an environmental cause that entertains, moves and engages a mainstream audience. Benefits include an exceptional and powerful outside brand presence whereby your business can be identified as a good corporate citizen, playing an active role in saving the environment. Miss Earth Australia has loyal and enthusiastic followers and their number has grown enormously since 2004. This annual event attracts media attention. Members of the media believe in the cause and often help out. As a Miss Earth Australia finalist I have duties to fulfill through the year and I hope to encourage everyone to reduce their environmental footprint. If you become a sponsor you will help to encourage every Australian and business to plant at least one tree. This requires worthy ambition because trees extract CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to trunks, branches, leaves and flowers. Everybody has to take their first step to clean our atmosphere and environment and this is why I think that trees are worthwhile because they clean up the atmosphere, stabilize river banks, provide shade and prevent soil erosion. I believe that encouraging individuals to be aware of and responsible for the environment in which we live is one of the single most important tasks this society faces. I look forward to hearing from you. Regards, Aley Greenblo. Email: aley_greenblo@hotmail.com Blog:http://aleygreenblo.blogspot. com/ Facebook: Aley Greenblo iFlogID: 5622

BACK STAGE

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INDUSTRY NEWS BY BRYGET CHRISFIELD

Taking a slash

FINISH LINE

SPLIT FOR THE SCARE After releasing their Daniel Johns-produced second album titled Oozevoodoo last year, Sydney (via Brisbane and Birmingham) band The Scare have called it quits. When Finish Line contacted the band’s drummer, Sam Pearton, he identified “supporting Suicide and playing Reading and Leeds festivals in England” as personal highlights from his tenure with The Scare. On whether he would have done anything differently within the band if he could have his time again, he replied: “I would probably do a lot of things differently, but in a sense it was a band that grew up over time. We started in the Sunshine Coast seven years ago, [when all of the band members were] aged between 16 and 17. I think most people would have changes to make from that period of life.” The Scare toured as part of Big Day Out 2010 and were renowned for their raucous live shows that broke down the division between performer and audience. So what does the future hold for the talented individuals who formed The Scare? “Currently, Liam [O’Brien, guitar] has a band called Myth & Tropics, Brock [Fitzgerald, guitar] and I have been working on some stuff at BJB Studios the past couple of weeks,” Pearton enlightened. “Wade [Keighran] is one motherfucker of a bass player so every man and his dog wants him and Kiss [Reid, vocals] has been working on some stuff as well.” A handful of farewell shows for The Scare have been scheduled for July and they’re bound to be memorable.

CUT COPY READY TO DROP Having been announced for this year’s Parklife rollout, Cut Copy sent out a fan letter last week announcing that they have finished recording album number three. Although no release date details were included in this email, Pitchfork reported that the follow-up to 2008’s In Ghost Colours set is expected to drop in January, preceded by a single in the fall (our spring), which will coincide with Parklife. The band set up in a makeshift studio on the outskirts of Melbourne to lay down the tracks and will now head off to play a slew of European festivals throughout July, culminating in Lollapalooza on 7 August. Once these shows are wrapped, Cutters will mix their record with Ben Allen (who produced Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective). Cut Copy’s frontman Dan Whitford identified Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones and Malcolm McLaren’s Duck Rock album as being on high rotation during the creative process and said he used Bowie’s Young Americans as his “reference for the vocal sound in particular”. “There’s more of a repetitive, hypnotic, rhythmic aspect to a lot of the tracks,” he shared. Whitford also admitted during the interview that Lady Gaga asked his band to open for her on tour. “It was one of those weird moments where you’re not sure whether to burn the letter or frame it and put it on your wall,” he recalled. “We were simultaneously repulsed but also tantalised by the idea of touring with her for a whole year. It is funny how you can write off some huge, ultrapopular musician, but if you find out they actually like your music, you’re like, ‘Oh, well maybe they’re all right!’” If you need a Cutters fix, a ‘making of’ documentary is available on YouTube. Search for “Episode 1 – Cut Copy Making of the 3rd Album”.

STOMP TO THE BEAT After moving on from his post as Head of Marketing and International Licensing for Dew Process Recordings, Graham Ashton will continue looking after the International Licensing side of things while unveiling Footstomp Music. Footstomp is an independent music services company specialising in artist and event management. Its roster consists of Glenn Richards (Augie March) and The Honey Month and the company will also be co-managing Yves Klein Blue (with Secret Service). Ashton is also consulting for a brand new Melbourne label, Redcat Sounds, and was recently announced as the executive programmer for Big Sound 2010. Got news? Announcements? Gossip? Unsubstantiated but hilarious rumours? Send them all to finishline@streetpress.com.au.

GREATEST HIT DESERT ISLAND SONGS WITH CLEM BASTOW

KE$HA YOUR LOVE IS MY DRUG Sometimes, in the scramble to laud the latest saviour of music as we know it, other artists equally worthy of such accolades get left behind. In the case of anyone currently toiling away at pop genius in the shade cast by the giant glitter obelisk that is Lady Gaga, they might as well pack things up and start a chartered accountancy firm. Spare a thought, then, for Kesha Sebert, who we know better as Ke$ha: there was no hope for her excellent Your Love Is My Drug when faced with the behemoth that is Lady Gaga’s smorgasbord of singles from The Fame Monster. What chance does a free-spirited desert psychedelia video have when up put up against Gaga and Steven Klein’s Alejandro video juggernaut? Very little, as it turns out.

SLASH: STAGE RAID WAS DRAMATIC Touring to promote his self-titled solo album, Slash encountered a particularly rowdy crowd in Milan on Thursday 10 June. Just as he launched into the killer Sweet Child O’ Mine guitar solo, a fan rushed the stage and was tackled by Slash’s security guard, ‘Junior’. Finish Line spoke to the easygoing riff maestro a couple of days later to get the lowdown. “You’re the first press I’ve spoken to since then,” the 44-year-old former Guns N’ Roses guitarist confirmed, eager to dispel sensationalised reporting of the incident. “It was a fucking AMAZING audience. It was just this one guy – an overzealous guy. Now that I know all the facts, you know – because at first I didn’t know what this guy’s intention was. But now that I sort of know what happened, it wasn’t any kind of malice or anything, he just got up there and my security guard had to tackle him because he didn’t know what he was going to do. So in the process of tackling him, I went down with him [laughs] – I didn’t go down but my guitar did.” Slash continued playing until he noticed the neck of his guitar had been broken and briefly paused to swap instruments. Slash’s wife Perla took to Twitter immediately following the incident and criticised the way the venue’s security handled the situation. “…Junior hit his head hard and the Milan security did nothing! Kicked him out but didn’t arrest him. I love Italy! But fuck those security [and] promoters for doing nothing!” Verifying that the guitar has since been fixed, Slash stressed, “It seemed very dramatic, but it’s just a rock gig so no one got hurt, really. All things considered, I’m not too fazed by it. It’s nice to know – after the fact, at least – that the guy really meant well. The commotion of the whole thing was really in not knowing what his intentions were.”

OZZY’S GENES

DANDY DRUMMER SETTLES IN MELB

We all know that Ozzy Osbourne has been cheating death for years but now scientists are reportedly conducting a £27,000 genome analysis test to find out what it is in his genetic code that makes him such a trooper. The 61-year-old Black Sabbath frontman and self-described “medical miracle” told UK tabloid Daily Star: “It’s all very well going on a bender for a couple of days but mine went on for 40 years. At one point, I was knocking back four bottles of cognac a day, blacking out, coming to again and carrying on.” Knome, the US company that is conducting the study, hopes to gain a better understanding of how drugs are absorbed by the body and why some people can survive a life of excess while others are not so fortunate. Osbourne broke his neck in a quad bike accident in 2003, has been committed to a mental institution numerous times and suffers from involuntary shudders. Osbourne initially attributed these shakes to his history of drug abuse but in 2005 he was diagnosed with a genetic condition called Parkin Syndrome, which displays similar symptoms to Parkinson’s disease. The rate at which Osbourne needed to ask his family members to repeat themselves during the hit TV series The Osbournes suggests he also suffers from hearing loss. All will be revealed in approximately three months when the test results are completed.

The Dandy Warhols’ drummer Brent de Boer is moving to Melbourne. De Bouer met an Australian girl at a BBQ put on by Even’s Wally Kempton a few years back and the couple have since married and lived in Portland for a couple of years before deciding to relocate to Australia. Although de Boer will be residing far away from the rest of The Dandy Warhols, he reassured Triple J that the band, who are heading our way for Parklife, are not breaking up. De Boer also revealed he’s recorded an album with a side-project –“this country’n’western sort of group” featuring several Aussies. “We have an eight-piece band with mandolin and slide guitar and violin and two guitars and bass and drums – the whole deal,” he told Zan Rowe. “We’ve got Bob [Harrow], the lead singer from The Lazy Suns, and we’ve got the organ player [Peter ‘Gamma’ Lubulwa] from The Galvatrons. It’s called Immigrant Union. We’ve only played four shows so far but we’ve recorded a record which should be coming out next year, with Greg Williams, who actually recorded two of The Dandy’s albums.”

AMID ADS The booking deadline for display ads for the 45th edition of the AustralAsian Music Industry Directory (AMID) is 30 June. Advertising rates are clearly outlined at immedia.com.au/amid/advertising. php and the next edition comes out on 1 September 2010. The current 44th print edition is $55, the online six-month version is $40 and the iPhone app is $20. Call (02) 9557 7766 for next day delivery.

SOUND ADVICE The first batch of artists set to showcase at Big Sound 2010 are Children Collide, Boy & Bear, The Vasco Era, Last Dinosaurs and The John Steel Singers. Michael Gudinski will also be heading to Brisbane to present a keynote address at the event and will be joined by other speakers including Brian Ritchie (founding member of Violent Femmes/The Break) and Courtney Hard (Senior A&R Manager for Sony Music, Australia). More showcasing acts and speakers for the event, which takes place from 8-10 September, will be announced over the coming months. Full ticketing and registration details are online now at bigsound.org.au and discounted passes are on sale until Wednesday 30 June.

Not only that, but as my Zebra counterpart, Tim Finney, recently noted conversationally, Katy Perry’s California Gurls also swipes Ke$ha’s glory (Gurls could be a Ke$ha cover, such is its similarity to her various hits, Your Love Is My Drug and TiK ToK included), and Perry’s mindless summer rent-a-hit also has an “event video”. (Said video perplexingly installs Perry on the game board of Candyland while Snoop Dogg rolls Swarovski’d dice and Perry releases candygirls from jelly and lolly wrapper prisons in a vaguely disturbing manner – that would give HR Giger a sugar headache.) It’s a shame, because Your Love Is My Drug is one of the fizziest pop gems since the Ruff & Jam 7” Mix of Kylie Minogue’s Love At First Sight (La Minogue, in the meanwhile, is too grown-up for this sort of buoyant dance music these days, and is instead busying herself with dreamy trance-pop anthems). That’s not to say that Your Love Is My Drug hasn’t done well; it’s fared reasonably in the global charts and made it to #1 in the US pop charts. But I feel strangely protective of Ke$ha and her song, and I can’t explain it. Perhaps it’s because – drug analogies or not – Your Love Is My Drug is one of the most unabashedly happy songs to hit the charts in a long time. That might seem odd in light of its similarities to Katy Perry’s California Gurls, but while that song might seem upbeat, its upbeat arrangements mask Perry’s usual sourpuss competitive streak; it’s effectively three minutes of her pouting in the mirror. All that’s missing is a breakdown in which Perry pushes a nerd face-first into a puddle. Your Love on the other hand, removes itself completely from the (admittedly intoxicating) downbeat quality that so much pop and R&B has taken on since Rihanna’s Umbrella. Was it the global financial crisis? The death of Michael Jackson? Did all of pop’s songwriters hit mid-life crises at the same time? Who can say, but those now omnipresent synthesisers have turned sad lately. From Jason Derulo’s Ridin’ Solo to Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak and everything Timbaland’s done lately, and even Lady Gaga, synths have swirled around vocalists in a sad trance. So, for Ke$ha to reimagine them as a force of happiness feels like a brave move. (Unsurprisingly, stripped of sad-synths’ artificial gravitas, the main criticism of Ke$ha’s songs seems to be that they are “dumb” pop.) Who knows what sent pop plummeting into an abyss of self-reflection and songs of living the high life on one’s own, but with her psychedelic Peter Max animations, glow in the dark python and splashes of $2-shop glitter eyeshadow, Ke$ha feels like a determined soldier fighting on behalf of positivity. Even if pop has become serious lately, it’s okay to remember we can have fun, too. I like your beard.