Inpress Issue #1273 by TheMusic.com.au

BETH ORTON

NEON TREES

PRIMAL SCREAM

BUCHANAN BIG BLACK DELTA FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND CRADLE OF FILTH

N O W AVA I L A B L E O N I PA D • W E D N E S D AY 8 M AY 2 013 • I S S U E 12 7 3 • F R E E

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THE SP RTING CLUB Wednesday

Trivia 8pm Thursday

Salt Lake City 7pm Free Friday

Tango Rubino 6pm Free Saturday

Tim Guy 7.30pm Free Sunday

Dan Watkins & Paddy Montgomery 6pm Free

27 WESTON ST, BRUNSWICK Tues - Fri 4pm till Late Sat & Sun 12pm till Late

TUESDAY

OPEN MIC

7PM

WEDNESDAY

SIMPLY ACOUSTIC

8PM FREE

THURSDAY

KLARA KUBONJA ZOE K & THE SHADOWKATZ

6PM FREE 8PM

FRIDAY

LETTER B DAVE SATTOUT W/ OH PEP! AND AL PARKINSON

6PM FREE

8PM $10

SATURDAY

PAVEMENT SERENADERS LORRAINE EP LAUNCH

SUNDAY

Open...MON - SAT...from 12pm ‘til late Kitchen til 10pm SUN...from 12pm ‘til 11pm Kitchen til 9pm

Live Music Bookings wesleyannebookings@gmail.com www.wesleyanne.com.au

NEW AUTUMN MENU 8

5.30PM FREE 8PM $7

THE MELWAYS 4PM FREE BROOKE RUSSELL & THE MEAN REDS 8PM $10

Autumn Special

2 for 1 meals weekdays before 6pm $12 jugs of Boag’s and Cider OPEN FOR LUNCH FROM MIDDAY

bookings: 9482 1333

1000s OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

THE GUIDE AT 9

ISSUE 1273 W E D N E S D AY 8 M AY 2 0 1 3

LUCKY THURSDAYS THU 9 MAY

LoopHole presents 'Precious Things' an exhibition of glass sculpture by Laurel Kohut opening Thu 9. 6pm

CRADLE OF FILTH FRI 10 MAY

Thu 9. 8pm - Electric Universe Collective Dot Complacency, Ghostsoul & Virtual Proximity come together for an evening of glitch, hiphop and jazztronica Fri 10. 9pm - Moving Visions Moving Visions

BIG BLACK DELTA

A collaboration of image and sound coming

BILLBOARD SATURDAYS SAT 11 MAY

together for the photographic, music loving individuals with Dj's Scattermish, Matt Cant & Lewis CanCut. Sat 11. 11pm - Pitch(B):tch

INPRESS 12 14 16

Mo Ichi and Miyagi present their night of dirty

ATARI TTEE TEENAGE ENAG GE RIOT (DIM M MAK) AK) FFRI RI 1 RI 17 7 MA MAY MAY

techno, minimal and tech driven house with

guest DJ’s Freya and Caspian & VJ Alt Esc Del Tue 14. 7pm - Pleasure Forum Australia discuss Sex Workers and the Sex Industry

19 20 21 22

Panelists: Christian, Anise, Riley & Anastasia

23 24

ELUVEITIE FRI 24 MAY

25 26

28 29

FRI 31 MAY

FRI 7 JUNE

KIDDFECTIOUS FRIDAY 12 JUL

SOILWORK FRI 4 OCT

FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER

BRUNSWICK

SATURDAY 4, 11, 18 & 25 MAY

RAISED BY EAGLES SUPERB ALTCOUNTRYBLUEGRASS

ROCKPOPCROSSOVER BAND LED BY LUKE SINCLAIR THE IDLE HOES AND FEATURING NICK O’MARA FINGERBONE BILL, LUKE RICHARDSON THE STETSON FAMILY AND JOHNNY GIBSON VAN WALKER BAND. THEY PLAY FOUR FAT SATURDAYS OF GOLD. “EWE” RIPPER! 5PM

SATURDAY 11 MAY THE ALMIGHTY SPOONFUL RETURNS FOR A NIGHT OF TOPS, HIGHLY CHARGED RHYTHM AND BLUES. 9PM

SUNDAY 12 MAY

DREY ROLLAN BAND SYD WANNA SEE THOSE HIPS SHAKIN?

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, ROCKABILLY, BLUES AND DOOWOP FROM THIS ROCKIN’ SYDNEY OUTFIT. WE’RE IN FOR A TREAT. 5PM

THE UNION HOTEL

BRUNSWICK 109 UNION ST, BRUNSWICK 9388 2235

10 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

BACK TO INPRESS 33

38 40

Check out This Week In Arts; and we chat to Harmony Korine about Spring Breakers This week we review Scarborough, Dance Of Death, Blak and have Watching Mad Men;

42 48 50

Gig Of The Week is a good ol’ fashioned event with The ReChords; and LIVE:Reviews takes in Groovin’ The Moo Sarah Petchell will Wake The Dead with her punk and hardcore talk; the freshest in urban news with OG Flavas; Dan Condon blues and roots in Roots Down; and heavy shit with Adamantium Wolf Pop culture therapy with The Breakdown; hip hop with Intelligible Flow; when your club needs a boss it’s Business Music; and Beyond The Speakers fills dead air The best Live gigs of the week and Sorted For EPs If you haven’t appeared in Fred Negro’s Pub, your mother probably still speaks to you; and Jeff Jenkins gets down and local in Howzat! Our Gig Guide fills your diary for the weekend Find your new band and just about everything else in our classy Classifieds Gear and tech talk in Muso

GIVEAWAYS GALORE!

SPOONFUL

AMORPHIS

FRONT ROW

THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT

KILLING JOKE

Foreword Line brings you all the latest tour announcements Moves and shakes with Industry News Super Wild Horses have nothing but wild love for one another Om tread their own atmospheric path and Primal Scream talk Meredith and eccy parties Going to church with Beth Orton Neon Trees are shooting stars Rockin’ the Cradle Of Filth PBS 106.7FM’s Vince Peach takes our Taste Test and Funeral For A Friend get angrier Afrika Bambaataa on the death of the DJ Cairo Club Orchestra on The Gatsby Winter Soiree; Leon Thomas on soul; Buchanan on A&R pressures; and Big Black Delta’s accidental rise Beastwars on bustin’ across the ditch and Kilbey & Kennedy join forces once again On The Record rates new releases from Melvins and The Cat Empire

while Cultural Cringe gives us the arts news and Good Timing makes us laugh Danny Delahunty levels about Insomnia Cat Came To Stay; Jim Jefferies gets Legit and Anthony Carew wraps up the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival

This week it’s an album/gig/movie bonanza! We’ve got five copies of The Rubens’ reissue of Best We Got; two double passes to Kaki King’s show at the Corner on Thursday 30 May; and five in-season double passes to Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. Get on it!

CREDITS EDITORIAL Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast Editor Bryget Chrisfield music@inpress.com.au Assistant Editor Samson McDougall Editorial Assistant Stephanie Liew Arts Coordinator Cassandra Fumi frontrow@inpress.com.au Staff Writer Michael Smith

ADVERTISING sales@inpress.com.au National Sales & Marketing Director Leigh Treweek National Sales Manager – Print Nick Lynagh Account Manager Anna Moull Account Manager Andrew Phillips

McMahon, Luke Monks, Fred Negro, Mark Neilsen, Danielle O’Donohue, Matt O’Neill, James Parker, Paul Ransom, Dylan Stewart, Izzy Tolhurst, Nic Toupee, Rob Townsend, Dominique Wall, Doug Wallen.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Senior Contributor Kane Hibberd Jesse Booher, Andrew Briscoe, Chrissie Francis, Jay Hynes, Lou Lou Nutt, Heidi Takla, Elaine Reyes.

INTERNS Jan Wisniewski, Annie Brown

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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CONTRIBUTORS Senior Contributors Jeff Jenkins Overseas Contributors Tom Hawking (US), James McGalliard (UK), Sasha Perera (UK). Writers Nick Argyriou, Aleksia Barron, Atticus Bastow, Steve Bell, Sarah Braybrooke, Luke Carter, Anthony Carew, Rebecca Cook, Adam Curley, Cyclone, Guy Davis, Liza Dezfouli, Dan Condon, Simon Eales, Guido Farnell, Sam Fell, Bob Baker Fish, Warwick Goodman, Cameron Grace, Chris Hayden, Andrew Hazel, Brendan Hitchens, Ching Pei Khoo, Kate Kingsmill, Baz McAlister, Tony

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FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

BACK IN BLUE Ahead of the release of their new album to be released later this year, Blue King Brown add two new freedom fighting backing singers to their band. Joining Natalie Pa’apa’a are the powerful vocals of Lea and Petra Rumwaropen; daughters of the late Agosto Rumwaropen, singer-songwriter behind one of West Papua’s most recognised and outspoken acts The Black Brothers. Catch Natalia Pa’apa’a with The Rumwaropen Sisters in acoustic mode supporting Julian Marley at the Corner this Thursday.

WEDNESDAY 8 MAY

RESIDENCY

I KNOW THE CHIEF SLEEPY DREAMERS GRANSTON DISPLAY $5 TOUCAN COCKTAILS THURSDAY 9 MAY

EP LAUNCH

HAIKU

WIRE BIRD JOHNNY & JUNE DJ TOMMA $2.50 POTS, $5 VODKAS!

KORA AURA Kora have just been confirmed to play the Espy on Friday 21 June. After a summer of headlining festivals, completing their album release tour across their native New Zealand and preparing for a run of shows through the US, Europe and the UK later this year, Kora are set for four Aussie dates in support of their brilliant second album, Light Years. Released at the end of 2012, Light Years is a mix of genres with the band capturing the well known energy of their live shows and pushing the studio envelope to create their Gold-selling second album.

FRIDAY 10 MAY

UNUSUAL FUN

INPRESS PRESENTS

SINGLE LAUNCH

Iconic singer Cyndi Lauper returns to Australia to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her groundbreaking album with a nationwide tour of Australia. During the tour, Lauper will perform the record-setting album She’s So Unusual in its entirety. Recorded and released in 1983, She’s So Unusual, Lauper’s debut solo album, features some of her most well-known songs and perennial radio favorites including Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Time After Time, She Bop, Money Changes Everything and All Through The Night. See Lauper live at the Palais Theatre on Thursday 29 August.

SEATTLE THE MODERN AGE CALM & CHAOS WATCHING FOOLS

SATURDAY 11 MAY

ALBUM LAUNCH

LORD ELM ST – RETURN SHOW ELECTRIK DYNAMITE MASON SEWERCIDE SUNDAY 12 MAY

BIG RED RUN FUNDRAISER GIG

I CONFESS

STRAWBERRY FISTCAKE SEDULOUS ROSE SKYSCRAPER STAN & THE COMMISSION FLATS WILEY RED FOX SHUT UP AND CHOKE ME STRANGERS IN TOWN SCARLETT COOK SARAH EIDA ONION MONDAY 13 MAY

RESIDENCY

THE CACTUS CHANNEL DEMIAN DJ MISS GOLDIE

TUESDAY 14 MAY

RESIDENCY – SOUL MONDAYS

Haim

FOR YOU At Street Press Australia we’re presenting a few Splendour sideshows ourselves. So far we’ve announced Surfer Blood at the Corner on Wednesday 24 July, Haim at the Hi-Fi on Thursday 25, Everything Everything at the Corner on Friday 26 and James Blake at the Palais on Wednesday 31.

DAT BASS

After the huge debut of the Addicted To Bass brand in Australia, Ministry Of Sound is back with the next instalment – Ministry Of Sound Presents Addicted To Bass Vol II. Set to rattle you to your core with enough bass madness to blow the Richter scale, Ministry Of Sound has gathered over 50 of the most ground breaking tracks of right now, set on two discs of sonic fury. Kicking things into fifth gear from the getgo is notorious party starter and serious bass addict Kronic. Pushing the boundaries of bass, Tom Piper leads the way on disc two as he mixes and mashes his signature blend of bass-fuelled bangers. See Piper at Universal Bar (Bendigo) on Saturday 1 June and both acts at Inferno (Traralgon) on Saturday 29.

ECHO DRAMA COMING UP TIX AVAILABLE THRU MOSHTIX: THE CACTUS CHANNEL (MONDAYS IN MAY) ECHO DRAMA (TUESDAYS IN MAY) I KNOW THE CHIEF (WEDNESDAYS IN MAY) SKYWAYS ARE HIGHWAYS – EP LAUNCH (MAY 17) PLUDO – SINGLE LAUNCH (MAY 24) EL MOTH – EP LAUNCH (MAY 25) KALACOMA – EP LAUNCH (MAY 31) BUILT ON SECRETS – ALBUM LAUNCH (JUNE 1) TULAHLAH – EP LAUNCH (JUNE 7)

Ash Grunwald’s friendship with Scott Owen, bassstraddler for The Living End, developed quickly around the coal pit in Grunwald’s backyard over many a soy sausage and a surf report. Soon enough, the lads themselves would stand side by side on the stage as well. One thing led to another, and soon The Living End’s drummer Andy Strachan would take to the road with Grunwald too. The three ended up in the studio where they recorded a cracking, heavy version of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy. Now they’re bringing it to the stage. See them live, together at the Torquay Hotel on Saturday 15 June, the Corner on Thursday 27, Prince Bandroom on Friday 28 and Westernport Hotel on Saturday 29.

ORANGE YOU GLAD Martha Wainwright is delighted to announce that she has handpicked two of Australia’s best indie folk beauties to share the stage with her on the forthcoming Australian tour. Joining Wainwright at her Melbourne Recital Centre show on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 June and Memorial Hall on Sunday 16 will be Tinpan Orange in trio mode. Since their early days, brother-and-sister duo Tinpan Orange have evolved into a dizzyingly original musical force. Their new album, Over The Sun, produced by Steven Schram, sees the band transplanted into the middle of an operatic third act with high drama all around, full orchestra in flight, the drums of war rumbling.

WHATCHA OWEN? Australian rock/blues artist Owen Campbell announces a national tour to launch new album, The Pilgrim. Last year Campbell’s debut album Sunshine Road spent over ten months in the Australian iTunes Blues Charts, twice reaching the number one position and achieving Top Ten status in the ARIA charts as well as charting in the Top Five in five different countries. Campbell was also a finalist in last year’s season of Australia’s Got Talent. Catch him performing at the Spotted Mallard on Saturday 25 May.

FACEBOOK.COM/THEWORKERSCLUB INSTAGRAM @THEWORKERSCLUB TWITTER.COM/THEWORKERSCLUB TICKETS FROM THEWORKERSCLUB.COM.AU

BELLA & THE MELLOWS GUSTO THE BODYSNATCHER

UNLIKELY THREE

WINTER SECRETS It’s Winter Secrets time again! In short, Winter Secrets is an “annual institution” where Clare Bowditch takes one super-talented collaborator (this time it’s Spender), and creates a mind-blowing show where you, the audience, get to be her back-up band (if you want to). The night is also a chance for one talented musician in each state to join Bowditch on stage for a cover of her new single One Little River and be in the running for $1000 worth of prizes. The show comes to the Corner on Saturday 10 August.

NUMBERS ELEVEN

Three years on from their last album Engineering The Soul, Something With Numbers stage a return with long-awaited album Eleven Eleven, and a national tour to support the hotly anticipated release. Bursting with melody, ambitious hooks and sincere intent, Eleven Eleven is a return to form for Something With Numbers. Catch them at Ding Dong on Saturday 6 July. TAG @THEWORKERSCLUB ON INSTAGRAM DURING MAY TO WIN JUNE GOLDEN TICKET -A DOUBLE PASS TO EVERY SHOW IN JUNE -$40 FOOD & DRINK VOUCHER

WED 8 MAY

SUN 12 MAY

FRI 17 MAY

THU 23 MAY

WED 29 MAY

(SINGLE LAUNCH) HIDING WITH BEARS CATCH RELEASE

(ALBUM LAUNCH) THE NYMPHS

(NZ)

(EP LAUNCH) TRASH FAIRY’S MATT GLASS BAND

(SINGLE LAUNCH)

VELMA GROVE

SHIRAZZ

THU 9 MAY

EVERY MONDAY!

(SINGLE LAUNCH) HAILEY CRAMER SPENDER

TWERKERS CLUB $1.50 POTS FROM 4-9

ELLA HOOPER FRI 10 MAY

HOUSE OF LAURENCE

(EP LAUNCH) THE GOOD MORROWS SAT 11 MAY

THE RECHORDS

(EP LAUNCH) THE DREY ROLLIN BAND (SYD) CHERRYWOOD SUN 12 MAY (MATINÉE SHOW) ‘TIMBER & STEEL PRESENTS’

SAL KIMBER & THE ROLLIN’ WHEEL DAN PARSONS & HIS BAND

12 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

TWERKSHOP

TUESDAYS IN MAY RESIDENCY

NEW GODS

LORDE

SAT 18 MAY ‘EYEONEYE RECORDS LAUNCH PARTY’ FEAT.

REDX

FRI 24 MAY

THE FROWNING HOLLOW EVERDAZE CLOUDS (WELCOME HOME SHOW) JIMMY HAWK & THE ENDLESS

CHOOK RACE

SUN 19 MAY (MATINÉE SHOW) ‘TIMBER & STEEL PRESENTS’

SAT 25 MAY

P.SMURF

VALENTIINE(14 MAY) JOSEPH PAUL (21 MAY)

THE STILLSONS (SINGLE LAUNCH) LITTLE WISE

(EP LAUNCH) REMI ELEQUOR

WED 15 MAY

SUN 19 MAY

SUN 26 MAY (MATINÉE SHOW) ‘TIMBER & STEEL PRESENTS’

(EP LAUNCH) TOWERS FLUXX!

(SINGLE LAUNCH) THE CORNER SHOP KIDS SARAH STONE

POLICE & THIEVES THU 16 MAY

CHARLES BABY (ALBUM LAUNCH) JACKSON MCLAREN WISHFUL

SCOTT BOYD WED 22 MAY

BISCOTTI

(SINGLE LAUNCH) SEX ON TOAST OUTERWAVES

PAPA PILKO & THE BINRATS (SYD) CHERRYWOOD SUN 26 MAY

JOSH FORNER (ALBUM LAUNCH) JOE FORRESTER

SECOND HAND HEART FRI 31 MAY

ANDY BULL

(SYD – SINGLE LAUNCH)

SUN 2 JUN ‘TIMBER & STEEL PRESENTS’

OWLS OF THE SWAMP(SINGLE LAUNCH) ALUKA FRI 7 JUN

SUN 9 JUN (QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY EVE)

THE EVENING CAST NICK VAN BREDA (DOUBLE ALBUM LAUNCH) SAT 22 JUN

IN HEARTS WAKE (BYRON BAY) COUNTERPARTS (CANADA) THE STORM PICTURESQUE SAT 29 + SUN 30 JUNE

BEN OTTEWELL (UK – GOMEZ)

THE CHEMIST

BILLY’S THAI KITCHEN!

SAT 8 JUN

FREE INTERNET!

(ALBUM LAUNCH)

DEEP STREET SOUL (FAREWELL SHOW) KARATE BOOGALOO UP UP AWAY

GREEN/RED/MASSAMAN CURRY $18 PAD THAI/PAD SEE EW/PAD SWING BY AND SURF THE NET

5VFTEBZT

KNOCKOUT POOL COMP

$100 FIRST PRIZE $5 ENTRY KICKS OFF 7PM SHARP

8FEOFTEBZT

OPEN MIC NITE

5IVST UI

MICHAEL MEEHAN &

THE LADIES IN WAITING PLUS

BLACK COCKATOO 9PM

'SJ UI

FIRE & THEFT 9PM

4BU UI

HARRY HOWARD TRIO PLUS

STU THOMAS (SOLO) 9PM

4VO UI

AN AFTERNOON OF ART & MUSIC INTRODUCING THE ART OF

JUAN FERDARODE PLUS

MICHAEL ASHDOWN, JUKAI FOREST AND

MARTIN SLEEMAN (MORNING AFTER GIRLS) 4PM

KITCHEN NOW OPEN AVAILABLE FOR FUNCTIONS Bar: 9484 1470 Band bookings and venue hire: tagomagobookings@gmail.com 13

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

INPRESS PRESENTS

I N D U S T RY N E W S W I T H S C O T T F I T Z S I M O N S frontline@streetpress.com.au

OPEN FUNERAL Opening acts have been let out of the barrel for the fast-approaching Funeral For A Friend Aussie tour. With Sydney hardcore stalwarts Relentless first out as the main support slot already, a barrage of burgeoning local heavy talent has been announced on all shows. Opening for the Corner show this Tuesday are AmourUs and on Wednesday 15 May at Pier Live (Frankston) are While The City Sleeps.

CREATOR OF SWEATSHIRTS Odd Future alumni Earlwolf featuring hip hop virtuosos Tyler, The Creator and Earl Sweatshirt are set to embark on an explosive Australian tour this June. Tyler and Earl are two of the most talked about hip hop artists of recent memory but it isn’t just the hype; each have earned their acclaim by subverting conventions of genre with divisive lyrics and an innovative, experimental sound. Together they are a provocative force of nature that owns every inch of the stage. See them both when they come to the Palace on Friday 7 June.

Twelve Foot Ninja

TWELVE FOOT NINJA SMASH CROWD FUNDING RECORDS Victorian rock band Twelve Foot Ninja have set the world record for the most money ever raised by a band for a music video since the advent of crowdfunding. A few weeks ago, the band launched an enormous campaign in an effort to raise $45,000 to go towards making their new film clip. The concept of the clip seems to have resonated with fans and the people of the internet in general as the band have managed to raise a final amount of $52,600. Contributions to this impressive figure include $7,000 from an unnamed overseas fan who bought a private performance and BBQ as well as a signed guitar for $2,800. The band’s clip will be a revenge tale, as justice is sought against an internet troll. A few special guests feature in the video, including American metal band Periphery and Penthouse Pet Madison Rhys.

HANDS IN THE AIR Australia’s very own Airbourne, with a May release of their crazy high energy and speaker-blowing album Black Dog Barking, are finally returning to Australia to give us a first hand serving of the new tunes. The band have multiple major festival appearances across Europe and the UK booked in before they return home, and their own headline tours across the world. Welcome them back when they play at Whalers Hotel (Warrnambool) on Friday 19 July and the Corner on Saturday 20.

LET’S GET WILDE Due to the ecstatic response to the news of the forthcoming Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw tour, the Melbourne show on Friday 18 October is being moved to the historic Palais Theatre. All purchased tickets for the Palace show will be given best seats in the house at the Palais. There’s also a show at Chelsea Heights (Mornington) on Thursday 17. For the first time in decades, Australian audiences will be able to hear their greatest hits live on stage. As an added bonus, and a world first, Nik Kershaw will also be part of Kim’s backing band along with Kim’s brother, Ricky Wilde, and his daughter, Scarlett Wilde, on backing vocals.

TIM MINCHIN RECEIVES TONY NOMINATION Tim Minchin has scored a nomination in this year’s Tony Awards for his work on the musical, Matilda The Musical. Considered the most prestigious of awards for theatre and musicals, comedian and musician Minchin has been nominated in the category for Best Original Score Written For The Theatre. Other nominees include Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (A Christmas Story, The Musical), Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green (Hands On A Hardbody) and Cyndi Lauper (Kinky Boots). Matilda was one of the most successful titles from the nominations, as it also scored a nomination for Best Musical alongside Kinky Boots, Bring It On and A Christmas Story. Minchin has built a strong career for himself in the musical sphere in recent years, particularly with his role in Jesus Christ Superstar. The awards ceremony happens Sunday 9 June. Locally they’ll be screened on Arena from 10am Monday 10 June.

LONGLIST DRAFTED FOR AMID POWER 50 Deliberations for the AMID Power 50 2013 are now well underway with the longlist of music industry professionals currently being drafted by the editorial team of the Australasian Music Industry Directory and wider Street Press Australia. The annual list of the 50 most ‘powerful’ people in the music industry is once again being generated through in-depth consultation with respected industry identities and weeks of discussions. Last year Mushroom boss Michael Gudinski was named the most powerful individual, with Splendour In The Grass promoters Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco ranked at two. The AMID Power 50 2013 will be revealed in the next edition of AMID (incidentally, the 50th issue), to be released this June. Discussions on the final list enter their final phase in the next four weeks. Listings, including the free ones, for the AMID Power 50 2013 edition are now open for all aspects of the industry and close Wednesday 15 May.

BIGSOUND LIVE APPLICATIONS EXTENDED While applications for the 2013 BIGSOUND Live were supposed to close, organisers of the Brisbane showcase understand some bands can be a little disorganised or just plain busy, so they’ve extended the deadline to Monday 20 May. The first program announcement will be released Thursday 9 May and is said to be even bigger than last year’s. The event will provide local Brisbane bands the opportunity to perform before some of the world’s most important music industry figures and make some serious inroads in the Brisbane music scene. If you want to attend the BIGSOUND conference itself, early bird tickets are available until Monday 20 May. BIGSOUND happens Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 September in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

PRESENTED BY

MANIC RUGBY FANS

CATCH THE BREAK

After a prolonged silence that has seen the band take a break from touring and releasing records, Manic Street Preachers have announced a short Antipodean tour to coincide with the British Lions Tour of Australia – the rugby team’s first in over a decade and the group’s last visit since 2010. These rugby enthusiasts will be bringing their peerless brilliance to Australia for two shows only, each the night before the test matches against the Australian Wallabies in Melbourne and Sydney, with the Melbourne show at Festival Hall on Friday 28 June with Hungry Kids Of Hungary.

Following an exceptional run of shows with Rodriguez on his recent national tour, including a star turn at Bluesfest, those fine surf rock gentlemen of The Break are donning their special issue tour space suits in readiness for a series of live dates. The band’s first headline shows to celebrate the release of their second album Space Farm will take them to four cities, unleashing their unique blend of driving rhythm, reverbed guitars, trumpet and theremin. Catch The Break at the Caravan Music Club on Thursday 30 May and Thornbury Theatre on Friday 31.

GOOD AFTERNOONAN

BFFS

Released only ten weeks ago, Katie Noonan’s new album Songbook and its accompanying launch shows have seen her garner some of the most significant praise received in her career to date. Songbook sees Katie Noonan lie intimate, acoustic, re-imaginings of her mostloved songs over lush string arrangements. Catch the show at the Substation, (Newport) on Friday 21 June, GPAC (Geelong) on Saturday 22 and the Toff on Sunday 23. Support comes from Playwrite in acoustic mode.

Best Friends, the new single from self-proclaimed antiboy-band and internet sensations, The Janoskians, is an upbeat dance pop track that borrows from US artist Wallpaper’s song, Best Song Everrr. What started as an after school project for the teenagers has grown into something of a phenomenon, with The Janoskians’ fear-of-nothing-attitude and humour garnering them an army of fans around the world. They perform at Festival Hall on Thursday 27 June.

IMPRESSIVE IMPROV

MONEY ‘N’ DALLAS

A collaboration between internationally acclaimed musicians Bobby Singh (tabla), Adrian McNeil (sarod) and Damian Wright (flamenco guitar), Rasa Duende’s first recording Improvisations explores meeting points between Hindustani and Flamenco traditions through a deep understanding and engagement with both of these highly expressive music cultures. They play at Melbourne Recital Centre on Thursday 13 June and Montrose Town Centre (Mount Dandenong) on Friday 14.

With his new album Gratitude coming out soon, P-Money has announced some shows to celebrate. Joined by David Dallas, P-Money is set to take Gratitude directly to the fans. Following on from the huge success of The Rose Tint and limited edition release Buffalo Man, David Dallas’ new album Falling Into Place is set to drop in July. Don’t miss your chance to hear it first. See both acts at the Espy on Friday 7 June.

GOING TO THE MOVIES After reuniting for a sold out tour in 2011, the original Moving Pictures line-up is back for a limited number run of shows this August. Forming in Sydney in 1980, it didn’t take long for Moving Pictures to make their mark on the local scene with a strong reputation as pub rock act with R&B influences. Their debut single, Bustin’ Loose, was their first foray into the charts, but it would be the anthemic follow-up single, What About Me?, that really solidified Moving Pictures’ place in Australian music history. See them live at Palms At Crown with special guest Jeff Duff on Friday 23 August.

MAKE A SPLASHH Australian/NZ/Brit band Splashh are pleased to announce the release of their debut album Comfort, featuring latest single All I Wanna Do. With the album set for release on Friday 7 June, Splashh will head out to Australia for two shows only, including one on Saturday 29 June at Ding Dong, before heading back to the UK to support The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park. Head along to the show to hear well-crafted, neo-shoegaze, pop songs, written in the summertime in Byron Bay.

14 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

SPLENDOUR SIDEYS Missed out on tickets to Splendour In The Grass? Not to worry, because they’ve showered us with sideshow love. Announced so far are: MS MR (Hi-Fi on Monday 29 July), Jake Bugg (Corner on Sunday 28), Fidlar (Corner on Monday 29), Daughter (Corner on Tuesday 23), Palma Violets (Northcote Social Club on Monday 29), Wavves and Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Corner on Saturday 27), Darwin Deez (Corner on Wednesday 31), Villagers (Corner on Tuesday 30) and Of Monsters & Men (Palais on Saturday 3 August).

IN ORBIT Sydney’s Breaking Orbit will once again traverse the country in June 2013 with their captivating blend of ambient, melodic and heavy progressive rock as part of the Silence Seekers national tour. Fresh from a sold out Australian tour with national heavyweights Dead Letter Circus, this tour will see the band celebrate the continued success of their debut album released in late 2012 to worldwide critical acclaim. Catch them at Revolver on Friday 14 June.

FEELING SHEEPISH Brisbane pop six-piece, Sheppard, have become one of 2013’s breakout radio acts with sing-along hit Let Me Down Easy igniting airwaves around the country and are pleased to unveil a new video for the track. The band take their song on the road this month with a string of shows. They perform at Golden Vine (Bendigo) on Thursday 30 May, Karova Lounge (Ballarat) on Friday 31, Prince Bandroom on Saturday 1 June and Ding Dong on Thursday 6.

BECAUSE THEY CAN Dates have been announced for the Australian leg of the Bon Jovi Because We Can Tour. It will stop off at Etihad Stadium on Saturday 7 December. Tickets for the Australian tour will go on sale on Monday 20 May. Ensuring there is something for every fan, Bon Jovi are offering a wide range of ticket options starting at $35. In this spectacular new show fans will be treated to an unforgettable night of Bon Jovi’s huge arsenal of hits, as well as new tracks from the band’s latest album What About Now.

TYDI IT UP

EPITOME OF COOLIO Rapper Coolio has announced Australian tour dates, including a show on Thursday 27 June at Red Bennies. Coolio began rapping from a young age and performed in many local Los Angeles rap contests as a youth. After making connections in the LA rap scene and joining group WC & The Maad Circle in 1991, he went solo, releasing debut album It Takes A Thief, which contained the breakout hit single Fantastic Voyage. Coolio is perhaps best known for his 1995 single Gangsta’s Paradise.

Australian DJ and producer tyDi has officially signed to Republic Records. Joining the label’s roster worldwide, his debut single Nothing Really Matters (featuring Melanie Fontana) is being released this week. Noted internationally for his kinetic performances, effusive charisma and knack for a danceable smash, the Brisbane-based electronic dance music sensation stands primed to reach his biggest audiences yet. Check him out at Fusion this Saturday.

ONE OF A PAIR It’s the first time Aussie expat Xiao Zhong will play his Shanghai-based band, Pairs’ songs in Australia after five years of living and playing music in China. He will be joined by The Smith Street Band’s Wil Wagner and East Brunswick All Girls Choir’s Marcus Hobbs. They’re each playing a solo set at Long Play in North Fitzroy on Friday 5 July.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

FOREWORD LINE

SI SAYS Leading British rockabilly/soul/R&B sensational entertainer Si Cranstoun is returning to Australia in June. Cranstoun is young, fresh, does rockabilly/swing in the same vein as legends like Jackie Wilson, and is quickly building a reputation throughout Europe and the US as one of the most exciting finds on the rockabilly/swing circuit in decades. Check him out at Burwood RSL CLub on Friday 14 June.

INDUSTRY NEWS WITH SCOTT FITZSIMONS frontline@streetpress.com.au

AMOUR FOR AMORPHIS

APOCALIPSTICK Abbe May does not care if you are offended by the lack of guitars on her new album, Kiss My Apocalypse. It is is unashamedly sexual and would almost be romantic if it weren’t for the vitriol. The album follows 2011’s AMP-nominated masterpiece Design Desire. Kiss My Apocalypse is a completely different animal. Minimal guitars. Maximum synthdriven doom pop. It’s as if the vocals took over while the guitars were passed out in the bathroom. See Abbe May live at Ding Dong on Friday 21 June.

KINGS AND BBQS Internationally revered, The King Khan & BBQ Show is the doo-wop/psych/R&B/rock’n’roll elite powerhouse of Mark Sultan, aka BBQ – smashing snare, bass drum and tambourine with his bare feet while molesting his guitar and singing like a possessed angel – and King Khan, who’s nearing legendary status for his advanced nuttiness and unpredictability, spinning and howling like a freak while belting it out on his guitar. After a three year absence, they’re back. See them at the Tote on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 June.

THEY’RE HERE NOW The Kerser and Rates We Here Now Regional Tour kicks off at the start of June, supporting their single We Here Now. Kerser’s alluring but upfront lyricism along with his irrefutable skill on the mic has the hip hop community abuzz following his skyrocketing after a high profile battle against 360. For Kerser, touring with brother/best friend Rates is a dream come true. See them perform at Karova Lounge (Ballarat) on Thursday 13 June and Barwon Club Hotel (Geelong) on Friday 14.

REPEAT THE MANTRA

Amorphis will soon tour Australia for the very first time in their illustrious career. They have been at the forefront of the scene for well over two decades. They will be here performing tracks off their latest release Circle but will also perform classic and fan favourite Amorphis tracks across their comprehensive discography. See them performing at Billboard on Monday 14 October. Slayer (Jeff Hanneman, second from right)

SLAYER GUITARIST JEFF HANNEMAN DIES NEW TOYS London based five piece Toy make rock’n’roll songs that distort and contort themselves to make a gloriously kaleidoscopic sound. With a sustained attack and release of ever-evolving psychedelia, the group effortlessly meld NYC ’77 to Neu! ‘75 via Warp Records and Detroit scuzzball rock. While a myriad of influences may have gone into the group, it is a single-minded, propulsive whole that emerges from the speakers. Toy’s self titled debut album was released late 2012, with the first single Left Myself Behind selling out of the initial pressing upon the first day of its release. See them perform at the Corner on Tuesday 18 June.

SOME NERVE Featuring Ezekiel Ox (Mammal, Over-Reactor), Lucius Borich (Cog, Juice, FloatingMe), Davarj Thomas (Pre-Shrunk) and virtuoso guitarist Glenn Proudfoot, new project The Nerve is the culmination of a 15-year association between friends and songwriting partners that has now come to fruition. They have now announced an extensive run of Australian shows ahead of the release of their forthcoming single Down There. See them at Rock N Load at the Espy on Saturday 1 June, the Sporting Club (Geelong) on Thursday 28 and Northcote Social Club on Friday 29.

Melbourne-based rapper Mantra is thrilled to announce that he has signed with Ten To Two Records – the team behind records from Xavier Rudd and Seth Sentry this past year – ahead of the release of his new single Loudmouth. The autobiographical single celebrates the act of following your own destiny. Mantra hits the road in June, stopping by the Northcote Social Club on Thursday 6.

TAKING STOCK Now venturing out solo, Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale has released an EP, Keep Moving. With a full-length album of the same name to be released soon, Stockdale is set to tour his new material. There will also be old Wolfmother favourites being played at the live, full-band shows. See Stockdale and band with guests The Delta Riggs and Bob & Friends at Ferntree Gully Hotel on Thursday 13 June, the Hi-Fi on Friday 14, the Wool Exchange (Geelong) on Saturday 15 and Pier Live (Frankston) on Sunday 16 June.

TYBG One of the most enigmatic forces in hip hop, Lil B is set to embark on his debut Australian tour. Since his early successes, Lil B has recorded nearly 3,000 songs, selfproduced and directed hundreds of music videos and developed an army of supporters with a creative style and originality unmatched in the entertainment industry. He’s also a published author and the architect of the “Based” lifestyle, a philosophy that encourages positive thinking and creative expression in the pursuit of happiness and helping others. See him at the Hi-Fi on Thursday 13 June.

POISON OF CHOICE

TURN UP THE VOLUMES Volumes are a collection of seven musicians coming from a wide array of musical backgrounds, ranging from jazz, classical, post-rock to rap and, of course, metal. Volumes’ eclectic tastes blend together to forge a creative bond between several types of genres that are worlds apart. This particular blend of musical styles strives to find a balance between chaos and tranquillity. Standing out in their genre is the fact that Volumes have two lead vocalists who utilise their different ranges to create a layered, charismatic volatile sound. Check them out at Ringwood OLP (all ages) on Saturday 7 September and the Evelyn on Sunday 8.

Poison City’s annual Weekender fest is back again. Part music festival, part punk-rock family reunion, the threeday event converges this year takes over the John Curtin on Friday 6 September, the Corner on Saturday 7 and the Reverence on Sunday 8. Headlining is The Smith Street Band, joined by special international guests, Joyce Manor (USA), Cheap Girls (USA) and Cory Branan (USA), all making their first visit down under. The line-up also features Blueline Medic (playing their only show for 2013), The Nation Blue, Luca Brasi, Hoodlum Shouts, White Walls, Lincoln Le Fevre, Arrows, The Bennies, Deep Heat, Milhouse, Grim Fandango, Jen Buxton, Infinite Void, Clowns, Postblue, Apart From This and Pinch Hitter, with more acts still to be announced!

MAJIKA Melbourne’s long standing genre-defying schizophrenic freestyle groovers Jika will be playing their first show in over three years headlining Kings & Queens at the Espy this Saturday. Formed in 1998 and featuring ex-members of Mammal and Trojan Horns as well as AlithiA and Seven Hearts, Jika blend live visuals with sax to didge to Latin percussion, synths and more. Supporting on the night will be Disgruntled Bruntle, Lung, The Greeting Method, New Manic Spree and The Spitting.

Slayer guitarist and founding member Jeff Hanneman passed away last Thursday 2 May in the US of liver failure at the age of 49. Hanneman had been on an indefinite hiatus from the band since early 2011 when he contracted the flesh-eating necrotising fasciitis as the result of a spider bite. In an interview earlier this year in the lead-up to Soundwave, bandmate Kerry King expressed that the band were still hopeful Hanneman would rejoin them on stage in the future. Hanneman co-wrote lyrics and music for all of the band’s albums throughout their 30-year career, including Raining Blood (a co-write with King), off their 1986 breakout, the Rick Rubin-produced Reign In Blood. Hanneman had a massive impact on heavy music and is recognised for bringing punk-rock energy to metal. In the aftermath of his death, heavy-metal peers including Metallica and Anthrax have taken to social media to recognise and commemorate the loss of an icon within the genre. Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah told theMusic.com.au, “Jeff was what we in Australia call blokey. He loved cars and guns. We’d often fight about gun control. But under the gruff exterior was a good man who was generous and respected his fans. All of us here at Soundwave are devastated for his family and for Kerry and Tom.”

WARPED DETAILS EMERGE Dates for the upcoming Warped Tour were revealed last week by co-promoter (and Soundwave boss) AJ Maddah. The prolific tweeter has revealed there will be six stops for the event at the end of November/start of December, with the punk tour visiting Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide. The festival was revealed to be returning to Australia during Soundwave festival earlier this year, when ads for the event appeared on the event’s screens. Maddah has previously expressed the differences between Warped and Soundwave, saying, “Warped is about mayhem and DIY punk rock spirit. Soundwave is about delivering a slick and orchestrated day of performances.” With a line-up due by June, if it looks anything like the UK leg of the tour, expect the likes of Rise Against, Billy Talent, Capture The Crown, Crossfaith, Itch, Real Friends and Yellowcard.

REGISTRATIONS OPEN FOR MELBOURNE MUSIC EVENTS Registrations are now open for artists who wish to participate in two of Melbourne’s big music and arts events – Fringe Festival and Music Week. Fringe covers a range of mediums besides music, including comedy, cabaret, dance, visual arts and kids programming. This year, more than ever, the festival is encouraging independent artists to get involved. The program runs from Wednesday 18 September to Sunday 6 October. Applicants have from now until Friday 24 May to sign up. Melbourne Music Week want creative music enthusiasts to get involved with their ‘Self-Made’ series. The initiative encourages applicants to create their own unique event. Registrations for the other programs on the MMW bill are also open until Friday 17 May. The event takes place from Sunday 15 to Monday 23 November.

KRIS KROSS DEATH ‘LIKELY AN OVERDOSE’ Chris ‘Mac Daddy’ Kelly of ‘90s rap group Kris Kross likely died from an overdose. Kelly was found dead in his Atlanta home last week aged 34. According to a police report Kelly had been taking a mixture of heroin and cocaine the night before his death.

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As Amy Franz and Hayley McKee (aka garage rock duo Super Wild Horses) talk ‘the Melbourne sound’ and recording new album Crosswords in a butter factory, Andy Hazel learns the pair have never argued and only recently started to practise. hen Super Wild Horses first appeared in 2009, pushed into playing their first gig by an insistent friend, Amy Franz and Hayley McKee were highschool friends who had no interest in forming a band. Now both small business operators (McKee runs Sticky Fingers bakery and Franz is a jewellery wholesaler), the duo still don’t feel like a ‘real’ band.

“It was only when I moved to Melbourne, which was six years ago, that I said ‘Let’s have a little jam’,” says McKee. ”Amy had equipment in her house and we pulled it together and thought we’d give it a go. I bought a drum kit before I moved, because I really wanted to play drums, but I sold them for my ticket to Melbourne so I literally had them for about a week,” she laughs. “We’ve both grown up around music and were latecomers to making music,” says Franz. “I would say that we both have a sense of understanding music but in terms of practice it’s a

more recent thing.” While a lot of friends decide that forming a band would be a cool idea, very few are still going two albums down the track, with one US tour in the bag, another on the horizon. On what makes them special, McKee carefully suggests, “Maybe not aspiring to anything other than making music? We want to do our best for ourselves and to learn new things, but there’s no way we ever went: ‘Let’s form a band’.” “Or make records,” adds Franz reflexively. “Yeah, we were just fucking around and it’s been heaps of fun,” says McKee. Franz expands on this sense of fun and freedom that Super Wild Horses channel. “We’ve always been open to things as they come, and get excited about them: it’s not like things went for or against a plan we had, we’ve travelled a very meandering path. We have a similar idea about what we want and what the band is to us,” she explains as McKee agrees. “There haven’t been the arguments that exist in some other bands where people have got different ideas about what they want; if someone wants to be famous and someone else wants to keep it low key, say. We have a pretty similar outlook.” This similarity of view extends as far as not arguing, at all. Perhaps it’s the maturity and lack of ego inherent in the instrument-swapping female duo, but even the legend of the band forming after “a bratty argument in a car” as one print story told, is misleading. “It wasn’t an argument,” says Franz. “We just used to sing in cars, we used to wind the windows up and sing weird songs to make each other laugh.” “Just to make each other crack up, that was the primary objective,” continues McKee. “I don’t think we’ve ever argued,” she looks to Franz. “No arguments, just silences,” she laughs. “We just wait until the other one is exhausted. Normally, if one of us has a really strong opinion on something, the other will say, “Okay, cool. If you feel really strongly about that, let’s roll with it,” and the rest of the time we’re both either wishy-washy about something or both really into it, so decision-making is generally pretty easy.” The decision to record their second album Crosswords in a butter factory outside of

Castlemaine is one both girls thought was a great idea. Previously used by Twerps and Chet Faker, the cavernous interior lends the album a unifying, natural reverb that Franz sees as a big bonus to the band’s guitar/drums/vocals approach. “It’s always going to be a sparse sound, but we wanted it to have warmth with that reverb. Even though people often think of reverb as a distancing effect, I always thought of it as the opposite, there’s something close about that beautiful echoey sound.” McKee agrees. “We were really conscious of trying to fill the gaps that our first record had, which was just two instruments, two vocals and nothing much in between. This is why we wanted bass on a track or organ to push that sound and make it squishier. “We really like getting out of town to do recording,” she continues. “We like getting away and having the space to just commit, really commit, to this period of time for recording.”

“I think we’re more comfortable when – actually, we’ve never recorded in a studio,” realises Franz. “We like the idea of being able to set up your gear, go for as long as you want to – stay there preferably – and not have all the things that go with being in a space that belongs to someone else.” “It would just be weird doing it and then going home in your car,” says McKee “And going home and cleaning your house,” continues Franz. “Yeah!” laughs McKee. “And that warehouse shell was great,” says Franz keenly. “We shifted in, we took some pictures with us and stuck them all over the walls. It really felt like our joint for those three days. When I listen to the songs I can recollect the moments we were recording them, because it was very cold. We were doing the vocals at night time huddled around this little potbellied stove, and it was freezing. We had all of our clothes on plus blankets, three pairs of socks and [were] standing

next to this potbelly that was hissing and cracking while we were recording. I think you can still hear it a couple of times on the album. When I listen to the songs I can see Hayley looking like some weird wizard from Lord Of The Rings,” she cracks up. Crosswords shows an evolution from embracing the limitations that made their debut album Fifteen so popular and made them part of ‘the Melbourne sound’, a ‘scene’ the band have no problem with. “I think inherently there’ll always be a bracket there with us,” ponders McKee. “UV Race, Eddy Current [Suppression Ring], Mikey Young – that kind of thing will always be floating ‘round. Eddy Current was a bit before us but we all bubbled away together for a while and now I think it gets referred to as that sound. But I think the Melbourne sound shifted, it’s more Dick Diver, Twerps, [The] Stevens sort of sound now, whereas before it was more garage DIY. It’s still DIY, depending on what you do, but it’s always been a bunch of friends just getting together and doing it.’ Franz agrees, “I think it’s inevitable that people are going to use reference points when they’re writing about a band that no one’s heard of. You see it in almost every review you ever read: ‘They sound kind of like this band or that band,’ and I’m happy to be lumped in with this Melbourne scene in general, but I don’t think that it’s necessarily that specific. “I do think we allowed ourselves time to push songs as much as we could rather than [on] the first record where we could write a song and we were like, ‘Oh my god, it’s a song! We’ve nearly hit three minutes. This is awesome, let’s have a beer.’ Whereas for this record I was like: ‘What about we do this? What about we push it that way?’ I know when I listen to the record now, I feel confident that the form we chose for it was the right one for that song. We tried out different things and I feel we found the right one.”

RUNNING WILD

“Well, I think we could always learn more,” says McKee. Franz laughs, “That’s going to be the headline. We could always learn more!” WHO: Super Wild Horses WHAT: Crosswords (Dot Dash/ Remote Control) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 31 May, Tote

CRAZY HORSES Super Wild Horses by nomenclature alone sit in some pretty illustrious company. Samson McDougall teases out some wild, crazy, equine reasons why. There’s something about horses that evokes emotion in human beings. Close up, their dead black eyes reveal little of what may be going on inside their enormous skulls but from a distance they emanate grace and beauty like possibly no other animal on earth. And we’re not talking about those overgroomed, doped-out glamour-pusses of the racetrack, no. What we’re talking here is a wild brumby (no relation to John) cutting rough on a mountainous landscape, a workhorse on a muster through endless prairies, a black beast at a canter through the shallows on a deserted beach in the rain, a Shetland with a pom-pom walking circles at a petting zoo – you get the picture. Horses (1975) by Patti Smith was an album that undoubtedly changed the world. New York was on the brink of punk rock when this thing dropped and the primeval nerve of the album cemented Smith as a flag-bearer of the punk revolution. The tracklisting is perfect, the playing is loose, the artwork is by Robert Mapplethorpe and you can taste the (non horserelated) gristle in her voice. It’s a bronco of a release. Ask anyone who wasn’t alive in the ‘60s and ‘70s what their favourite Rolling Stones song is and 47% of the time they’ll answer: Wild Horses (Sticky Fingers, 1971). That’s not to say it’s not an incredible song ‘cause it most certainly is. Contrary to popular belief the thing was most likely not written for Marianne Faithfull and was more about being on the road. Keith Richards’ 12-string guitar work weeps like a lonely cowboy on a cold night. As far as bands featuring horses in their names, the list is less agreeable. However, recent visitors to our shores Crazy Horse must top the pile. Of all the extant rock proponents on the planet, Crazy Horse straddle the divide between the then and the now. They basically own the rights to 15-minute freak-out jams with sevenminute intros, Neil Young apparently wove the first ever flannelette shirt (which he still wears) and their vitriolic social commentary rings truer today than when written decades ago. If Crazy Horse were a horse they’d be a Trojan Horse.

DIVINE INTERVENTION When iconic stoner metal band Sleep split in 1998, Om was born. Since then, and with the replacement of Chris Hakius and inclusion of Emil Amos, they’ve defined an entirely inimitable idea of music. Cam Findlay talks to Amos about the backbones of making profound music. m well and truly exist on the peripheries of popular music. There’s a few reasons for this. First of all, there’s only two members of the band: Al Cisneros, former bassist of seminal doom/drone stoners Sleep, and Emil Amos, the prolific songwriter and drummer of avant-garde outfits Holy Sons and Grails. Then there’s the overarching content of Om recordings: heavily embedded in theology and philosophy, Om songs are built off of traditional and ritualistic religious rights, spanning every religious design from Christianity to ancient Dharmic Hinduism, hence their moniker. Building on the mantra of “om”, the duo record subtly amazing, chant-inspired soliloquies that stretch and meander through their source material. Those factors combined mean they’re obviously not top 40 fodder, but their brilliant uniqueness has garnered them a cult following, and on the eve of an Australian national tour, things are looking more, well, exposed for Om.

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“Well, it’s kinda strange,” Emil Amos answers on the current goings-on for himself and Cisneros from his home in Portland. “It feels like all of the bands have kind of reached their apex of productivity at this very moment. Literally like, today, this week. It’s a great thing, but man, the coordination just this week has been brutal. I wake up, and all day I just sit there and I have to pound out emails, make phone calls, do interviews or sketch out the touring route. But I have to do that for each one of the bands, so it’s really pretty brutal,” he laughs. The other bands Amos refers to are his other projects in Grails, Holy Sons and relatively untested avant-psych project Lilacs & Champagne. For years, these acts have been efforts of duty for Amos: he, and his bandmates, have handled all angles of the business of being a band, aside from label distribution and promotion. “It all has to be systematised and kinda consolidated under all these different categories,” he continues. “Since we work with all different labels with each band, they can’t be conglomerated. But the

booking and the publicists, things like that, can be conglomerated. When I was growing up and I wanted to write a song, I just wrote a song. Nowadays, I can’t. I wanna reach for my guitar, but I can’t, because I’m doing my taxes, or I have to buy a plane ticket, you know?” It’s an exceptional amount of effort that Amos puts on himself, but for him, it’s part of the entire artistic process, one which he wouldn’t see diluted by outside interference. Apart from being a necessary evil, it’s imperative to his work. “It’s necessary in the sense that we’ve reached a professional level where I can support myself just on music now,” he explains. “When you think about it that way, you know, it is a job. To write the songs is one thing, but then to have all of them in a collection released by a label, you owe that label. It does work, because they do promote it. That’s an obligation to yourself. Sometimes, it’s really difficult, and you can’t even understand exactly why you’re so bogged down with just, emails or something. You want to go play music, but… It’s part of the equation of being moderately successful, too. So it’s like, you have to stop and be thankful that anybody wants to talk to you or listen to your music. I mean, first of all, if you’re a real artist, you want the control anyway, because you can’t stand anyone misrepresenting you.” When Om formed in 2003, it was an undefined and vague project in the minds of Cisnero and fellow ex-Sleep member, drummer Chris Hakius. Between then and 2007’s Pilgrimage, the two developed the defining sound of Om, with a pinpoint balance between Hakius’ drumming and Cisnero’s bass. When Hakius decided that he didn’t want to take part anymore, Cisnero called Amos. Usually associated with avant-garde and experimental post-rock and folk projects, it was a big step to join a stoner metal-influenced drone project, but it was a destined fit. “I knew it was going to be entirely challenging, because my style on drums is pretty undisciplined,” Amos says. “As a drummer, I wanted to basically forego what we do in Grails. I wanted to not have the timekeeper role, and almost make the bass guitar the metronome of the band, so I could flutter around. I want to kind of redefine what a drummer does.

If you listen to, like, especially the first Grails record [The Burden Of Hope], you can hear that I’m not really wanting to play, well, beats, necessarily. By the time the Om offer came along, it just seemed like a natural challenge; to move to the next phase and try to see if I could serve as a completely different entity in a band.” Since then, Om has become something beyond what Cisnero’s original expectations might have been. Om’s fifth album – the second with Amos – Advaitic Songs was released mid-last year. It immediately surprised the music public: those that were used to the drone/ doom of Sleep were given epic harmonic motifs, and those expecting the investigational try-everything mandate of Amos’ work were given a driving, guttural chant. Over five tracks, Advaitic Songs delve as deep into religious consequence and ideal as any other contemporary release. And that wasn’t just some kind of divine accident; starting with 2008’s God Is Good, Amos and Cisnero have been exploring and defining religious experience through music better than anyone. Advaitic Songs is just a step in that journey. “It didn’t feel like we were doing anything especially new to us,” Amos explains of recording the latest album. “We felt like we were approaching it pretty much like we had been before, with the same message as God Is Good. But I guess I would say the one thing that was really, really different from God Is Good to Advaitic Songs is that the new record took way longer,” he laughs.

“Basically, we moved just as slow as we wanted to; we didn’t rush a single thing. I think we worked in something like four to five different studios, and we used different engineers. I mean, God Is Good was recorded with Albini, so it was very much like you live with him, in his studio which is also his house, basically. So you live with him for about a week, and you make your record. It’s done. Advaitic Songs was doing the same thing, with the same amount of focus, but stretched out over about two years.” Advaitic Songs and its predecessor truly ring of works of deep exploration: Amos has, in the past, expressed the hope that his music will be realised as the act of “facing your own personal reality”. As exhausting as that may seem, he’s confident that his work with Om, and with whatever other project takes form in his journey, will not end anytime soon. “Actually I was just talking to Al today. He’s sending me some sessions of some new songs we’re working on. We’re even talking about starting a whole new series of a whole new sound of Om releases that would be a whole series of different kinds of ambient music. We did expand the sound on the new record, but it’s expanding even more now. I’m surprised; it never seems to stop. The momentum just keeps going.” WHO: Om WHEN & WHERE: Friday 10 May, Hi-Fi

CHASE THE SUN Primal Scream’s tenth album is ready to drop and frontman Bobby Gillespie steps back in time to the Second Summer Of Love with Bryget Chrisfield. “I just remember taking loads of ecstasy, really, and havin’ a good time,” he laughs. istening to Primal Scream’s incandescent new album More Light, which is still on high rotation and yet to be ejected from the car stereo, serves to illuminate just how many important bands cite the Glaswegian outfit high up on their influences list. Kasabian is one band that springs to mind, but when asked whether he rates the Leicester lads’ output, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie’s not playing: “I’d rather just talk about Primal Scream. Maybe talk about our record.”

Yeah, no worries. River Of Pain is awesome. “Oh, thank you.” It really takes some unexpected twists and turns. “Mmm-hmmm.” Can you talk us through some of the compositional decisions, like that random orchestral interlude? “Well that’s actually the Sun Ra Arkestra playing on there. Are you familiar with the Sun Ra?” Affirmative. “Yeah well that’s Marshall Allen and three other guys on there. For that [song] we get the Arkestra, plus we get a 30- or 40-piece orchestra – strings and stuff. So we mixed two of them together to make that middle section of River Of Pain. It’s kinda like a free jazz, dark blues, Walt Disney kind of thing going on there. You know, it’s kinda – kind of dark.” It’s definitely a cinematic listen. Your mind gets carried away on visual tangents. “Oh good, that’s the idea.”

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Robert Plant puts down some guest vocals for Elimination Blues on the new album and Gillespie assures me these weren’t phoned in. “He came into our studio… Andrew [Inees, guitar] engineered it and he set up the mics and everything. [The band were] in one room, and then I was in the other room with Robert, countin’ him in, sayin’, ‘One-two-three-four,’ and giving him the nod where he had to sing and stuff. So that was kinda a great experience.” Admitting they’ve been friends “since the mid-‘90s”, Gillespie adds: “Robert played harmonica on one of our albums, Evil Heat, about ten years or so ago”. On whether there’s anyone left on his collaboration wishlist, Gillespie eventually comes up with a corker: “Kurt Cobain would have been pretty good, we

18 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

thought about him.” Via hologram? “Well, back just before he died,” Gillespie stresses. “When he killed himself, Andrew Innes said, ‘Oh, it’s a shame, we could’ve made a record. It could’ve been really good.’ So that one, he got crossed off the list in 1994.” Apart from making More Light, Primal Scream spent the time in between records touring the world. Australian audiences were treated to the Screamadelica shows as part of Big Day Out 2011 and then we didn’t have to wait too long before the band returned for Meredith Music Festival in December 2012, this time to show off their extensive back-catalogue and a handful of new songs. “It was a really magical energy in the audience,” Gillespie remembers of the aforementioned festival appearance. “It was like a force field. I loved that gig.” When told the festival site’s named Supernatural Amphitheatre, he ponders, “Oh, maybe it’s on some kind of energy thing comin’ out of the earth. Have you heard of these things called ley lines? Some people believe that there’s energy lines, grids of energy, that go all ‘round the earth. A lot of churches are built on pagan holy sites and they reckon that the pre-Roman British people built their holy sites in these special places because there was some kinda magical energy. You know what? Some people believe that Buckingham Palace is built on a convergence of ley lanes. St Paul’s Cathedral will be on a ley line, so that means that the royal family or the church are basically blocking all the natural energy that’s comin’ out of earth, that should be comin’ to the people… So basically they’ve appropriated our power and our energy to rule over us. Some people believe that, you know, and, I mean, I don’t know if it’s true. “But I worked in a factory when I was a teenager and a guy was writing a book about ley lanes, so that’s how I found out about them – he was the one that explained it to me… There’s more to the fuckin’ universe than people realise, I think.” Suddenly Gillespie digresses: “Is it okay? I just want to put a jumper on, ‘cause it’s gettin’ chilly.” A female voice advises there’s time for one more question while Gillespie rugs up. He returns. Final question: Would Gillespie be so kind as to tell us about the first time he wandered into a dance party?

“Oh, okay. Er, first time would’ve been 1988. I lived in Brighton and this girl I knew, Tracey, she worked on the door at the Escape Club, which was a kinda cool club. Anyway, I really liked this girl – I don’t mean, like, romantically, but she was the girlfriend of a guy I knew and she was a really cool girl – and she tipped me off that there was gonna be a really cool party in a warehouse under the Brighton Main Line railway station. And me and my friends went up there, and, um, I think we’d taken some speed, and, ah, we just went looking for [the party], just to see what it was like. There was a couple of guys dressed up casual – just like guys from an estate – and they were playin’ records. And we didn’t really understand the music or really get it, but we kinda thought it was interesting, you know? And there wasn’t that many people there, but that was the first time I’d ever been to, like, a warehouse party or a rave. That would’ve been maybe the summer of ’88 so that’s just when it was starting up.” So what about those raves where you’d be given a phone number to call and then you’d be given a vague sort of address to head towards? “Yeah, there was a bit of that going on,” Gillespie recalls. “But, I mean, what I used to do is go to this art club, and then basically you’d come out at two in the morning and then you would just hang outside and say to people, ‘What’s happenin’?’

And, once you were a bit of a face in the scene, people would say, ‘Oh, there’s gonna be a party at Black Rock’, which was a kinda groyne. You know what a groyne is? Those walkways that go out into the sea. Well, somebody would just set up decks in the groyne and loads of kids would get there and just dance. And, you know, they’d still probably be high from being on ecstasy at the club since, like, Wednesday or Thursday night.” Before acid house, Gillespie reflects, “You always imagined that to get into some of these clubs you had to dress up in expensive designer clothes, but when the acid house thing hit it was more democratic, and more about expecting anything, you know? I mean, stylistically, sartorially, it wasn’t great – it was just, like, t-shirts and jeans and stuff and, you know, long hair – but loads of colour.” And happy pants. “Sorry? I can’t remember them, but I just remember taking loads of ecstasy, really, and havin’ a good time,” he laughs. So what would’ve been Gillespie’s longest stint without sleep then? “Er, I’d go three days or something – or four days. We did used to go for days and days.” WHO: Primal Scream WHAT: More Light (Ignition Records/Inertia)

WORLDLY GIFTS Following the release of Sugaring Season, Beth Orton returns to Australia this month for a short run of intimate solo shows in churches. The British songstress tells Tyler McLoughlan of the transformative process behind her fifth record. ollowing the 2006 release of her fourth album Comfort Of Strangers, Beth Orton wasn’t sure she’d ever make another record. But she continued to write, taking guitar lessons from the late folk legend Bert Jansch and stealing moments as her first child slept, all the while pushing deeper into her creative psyche without any thought of where the songs would live. A second child and marriage followed, and so too did Orton’s fifth record, Sugaring Season, released late last year. A term picked up from her Vermont-raised husband, folk artist Sam Amidon, Orton explains how the title has come to serve as a metaphor for her transformation.

“I’ve spent time around people who spend time around maple trees. To be honest, I’ve not done a lot of maple hugging myself but yeah that’s an expression that people would sort of like band about willy nilly and I’d be like, ‘Hang on, that’s so beautiful – what the hell does that mean?’ And it just describes that time of year when spring starts burgeoning. I mean here [in London] spring starts burgeoning and it fucking snows on it – it’s cruel!” Orton laughs. “Actually it is quite a difficult time – it is when it’s still really muddy, it’s still really cold and yes it can still snow and you know, people go into the woods and they tap the trees and it’s just a slight change in the temperature, which causes the sap to rise and causes it to flow and so on and so forth. On many levels it’s so beautiful,” she says. “Nature is a huge theme of the record, and cycles and seasons… Beginnings and endings.” Hailed as the first lady of folktronica, Orton has moved progressively towards a traditional singer-songwriter role since the release of her third album Daybreaker in 2002. Sugaring Season presents a far more accomplished and intricate guitarist and a vocalist proficient in managing dynamic; alongside strings and piano both playful and mournful, Orton has crafted a delicately beautiful record. Funnily enough, Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers – collaborators instrumental to her early success – co-wrote the almost implausible folk country romp Call Me The Breeze.

“He had a really nuts beat and I sang a little idea and then we got together and then we sort of muddled around,” she says. “And then I said, ‘Look, I really just want to take this away and do something completely radical with it, which is put it on banjo and acoustic guitar’ – which I did – and he actually loves the version, so it’s very different from his and my version!” Orton recorded Sugaring Season in Portland, Oregon with producer Tucker Martine, renowned for his work with the likes of Mudhoney, REM, Sufjan Stevens, Neko Case, and his wife Laura Veirs. “When he’d heard the songs and we spoke again and we talked about the musicians and who he would like to hear on the record, it was just like, ‘Oh my god – this is a no brainer’ as they say. It just came together; he’s a fantastic individual, a lovely guy and just such a lovely person. Everyone gets a crush on him – man, woman or beast… So that’s one side of it, and it’s very good to work with someone like that – very present, his ear’s always open, he’s open minded, he wants to just make it work, you know; it’s one of those situations which is always fantastic. And he was like Brian Blade on drums and I was like, ‘Whoa, okay!’ And then Sebastian Steinberg on bass, and Sebastian’s someone I worked with a lot in the past and so that was exciting, and then Rob Burger [on keys] who played on my last record also lives in Portland, had just moved to Portland and was available, and so it just came together like that. I think we just were both so excited by the songs and then by the musicians that were available and up for doing it and then of course [guitarist] Marc Ribot is an old friend and work colleague of Tucker’s and so he got involved as well, which was fantastic, and it just – I don’t know – that’s just how it kind of works with Tucker; it just kept rolling along, one good omen after another with him,” she says, a hint of a crush in her voice. The result was an album that Orton loves and feels passionate about despite feeling that, after being let go by EMI six years ago, she might never record again. “I felt it was a culmination of arriving in a place that I really wanted to arrive to, if you know what I mean,” she says.

“And sometimes that can be something quite obscure… like making a relationship or meeting someone – it’s just like, ‘Oh fuck, yeah this is somewhere I’ve hoped to get to but not even known it’ probably half the time.” Choosing Australia as the first territory in the world to road test the as-yet unreleased Sugaring Season on in January 2012, Orton was grateful for a warm reception for the material she played largely in solo mode with accompaniment for just a couple of songs by Amidon. “They were beautiful, amazing audiences; just so lovely, I really enjoyed it… I’m not just saying this, I swear, but I couldn’t have asked for a nicer audience to come back to so I’m just really appreciative of that.” Visiting this month by invitation of Heavenly Sounds, known for touring the likes of Seeker Lover Keeper, Lisa Mitchell and Julia Stone through Australia’s holy venues, Orton is excited to continue her tradition of intimate shows. “This tour I’m doing, I’m actually doing completely solo because obviously it’s churches and so on, and I’ve tried to do bands in those environments and it can just get so lost. I find it quite nerve-racking; the

more kind of purist I get about it the more nerve-racking it is, so this time I’m coming right out with it – it’s like putting words to music. It’s just the most direct kind of connection that I can get to the music and to the songs and to the words and to the melodies and I hope therefore it’s something that the audience can really feel as well, even when it’s just less one person, you know, it makes such a huge difference… I did quite a bit [of solo work] in the period while I was writing the songs as well so it will be nice because I can include a couple of the songs that didn’t actually make it on this record but I hope will make it on the new record… “It was offered to me and I was just like, ‘Fuck yeah, I’d love to do that!’ The acoustics in the space of a church are like a gift from God,” she says with a wry chuckle. “It’s a very, very beautiful space to work with.” WHO: Beth Orton WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 8 May, St Michael’s Church

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 19

NAMES IN LIGHTS Fresh from an epic tour with Maroon 5, this month US pop juggernauts Neon Trees hit our shores for the second time. Chris Hayden catches up with frontman Tyler Glenn and probably asks one too many questions about a certain pop princess.

“

I FEEL LIKE SHE’S SO GIANT AND SO SUCCESSFUL THAT I ALMOST WOULD FIND HER BEING A JERK ACCEPTABLE”

or anyone taking it upon themselves to watch all four painfully slow hours of the Grammys back in February, a few things became abundantly clear. 1) Wally De Backer is officially our biggest musical export since AC/DC; 2) Jack White doesn’t give a shit; and 3) Taylor Swift seemingly knows the words to every single song in the Billboard charts. The latter was obvious to the extent that, as the broadcast unfolded, the Twittersphere began lighting up with drinking game suggestions based around imbibing every time the camera cut away to Swift enthusiastically miming the words to whatever tune happened to be playing at the time – the majority of which were destined to vanquish her own tunes and leave her with only one measly trophy (for a collaboration!). Whatever her motives (it’s certainly not our place to suggest that Swifty is some sort of all powerful hit magpie, or anything less than an incredibly shrewd businesswoman) it’s this voracious appetite for the output of her competitors that put 2013’s golden girl in touch with Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn a couple of weeks ago, leading to a bump in the already burgeoning profile of the Utah-based flouro-pop outfit.

“I feel like she’s so giant and so successful that I almost would find her being a jerk acceptable,” Glenn quips on Swift’s invitation for him to join her in a rendition of his band’s hit single Everybody Talks at a recent LA show. “She’s just the most down-to-earth person, though. I know she’s been a fan for a while, so when we toured with Maroon 5 and she was at the Staples Center in LA she asked me if I wanted to sing with her at a show. I thought that it was really kind but I actually didn’t think it was actually going to happen. A week later I got a text on my phone and it was Taylor Swift. It was surreal to know that she was really a fan, that she was texting my phone and it wasn’t a fake number. It was weird though – especially on iMessage where you can see that the person is typing – it was weird to think that Taylor was somewhere on the other end of the phone thinking about what to type to me. So she flew me out next week and we did the show. She’s incredibly kind, especially for her age and from the kind of success she’s had. If you look at the degree of fame that she had – she’s basically it right now – versus the type of person that she is off stage and as a human being, it’s definitely a bit shocking and surprising.” Of course, the fact that Neon Trees received the tap on the shoulder from Swift indicated that they’re doing pretty well for themselves, thanks very much. First gaining significant exposure in 2008 when they opened for The Killers across America, Glenn and his cohorts struck commercial paydirt with their ubiquitous 2010 single Animal, taken from the debut long player Habits. Signed to Mercury Records, currently touring with Maroon 5 and riding the crest of a wave of euphoria whipped up by the aforementioned smash Everybody Talks, it seems that years of hard work are finally paying dividends. “All of us started this band in 2005 and we’ve given that every single day, day in and day out,” Glenn explains. “We did it a lot on our own without label help, so I think that’s given us an appreciation of what we have now. Sometimes people may look at us as a pop band, and I think when we call ourselves that it’s because of our love of great pop songs that people can sing along to – but it doesn’t reflect in any way the type of artists we are or the way we play our music. “As far as my personal life goes, day to day it’s only different in the fact that I’m never at home,” he continues modestly. “Before that I had such a desire to never be at home and now I’m just so much more appreciative of the simpler life. Not to be dramatic but I feel like I’ve found purpose. I think it’s like anyone that is passionate about something, if they feel like they’re contributing and they’re getting up every day and doing something to make their lives interesting. I feel like I’m much more comfortable in my own skin.” One inescapable aspect of running a successful pop band in 2013 is the advent of social media. Bands are able to converse with their fans in an immediate manner never thought possible – and one look at Neon Trees’ Facebook page would suggest that they’re savvy to this trend. It’s surprising then to find that a culture vulture like Glenn would confess to becoming somewhat disillusioned about how his fans are finding and consuming their music in this day and age. “I used to take social media so lightly, and I still in some way do think that it takes away some of the mystique of the music, or of the band you are,” he explains. “At the same time, if you take this approach solely, you’re actually holding on to an almost archaic approach. It’s become such a social thing and it is important. I do like that we have a fanbase that’s so interested in what we’re doing because the minute we don’t I think we’d be pretty sad. “I was fortunate enough to grow up without cell phones and the internet. I went to high school without all that stuff. I mean, the internet was still around but it wasn’t such a daily thing as it is now. I’m happy that I grew up with a love of going to shows and having to wait in line and hanging out for hours only to get a glimpse of the person I went to see. I had to really seek out information on artists and I think it created more of an ownership that felt really special to me. I don’t know if that idea of feeling special towards a band or an artist has completely gone but I definitely feel that it’s a lot easier to neglect seeking out much about the artists. I do love a lot about the modern way music works but you can’t really expect the same fandom or devotion all the time that artists could have had 15 years ago.” WHO: Neon Trees WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 15 May, Ding Dong

20 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

CRADLE TO ENSLAVE While Metallica fans were copping contrived death sentences across the pond the most extreme-imaged band of a generation were done with their unholy gestation period and sprang from the British womb. Simon Holland catches up with Cradle Of Filth demon Dani Filth. radle of Filth instantly moved the ‘Going to Hell for listening’ bar way the fuck off the scale with intense cover art, masturbating nun T-shirts and an aura of dark majesty. The band’s first major release, The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh, under the label Cacophonous Records, reflected the dark sufferance pioneered by Nordic black metal bands with lashings of gothic romance and poetry. The album, though leaking dark femininity, was noticeably devoid of satanic references yet the album was thrown into the genre along with the second generation of Norwegian black metal and their modus operandi of church burnings, goats head and murder.

The band has long attempted to distance itself from Satanism directly, but fringe-dwelling psychofans would continue to bind the band up in controversy for the better part of a decade, with the members lacking the sufficient fucks to actively rebut the claims. Any study of the Cradle of Filth content revealed an immersion in the darker recesses of literature with a flair for the jilted romantics. The demonic personae of band members were reinforced with a series of intense video clips with dark theatrical concepts involving razorblades, hellspawn and the occasional vagina. To a fan familiar with the nature of extreme metal the clips provide tributes to companion genres in different mediums such as horror films and dark literature. To an innocent bystander however the video clips are horrendous output akin to a simultaneous mixture of shit and vomit seeping from the pores of the Dark Lord himself.

actually means is that you’ve got a mind of your own and you’re actually changing your style to suit what you want to do. I mean, I don’t want to screech like an injured rabbit the rest of my life and Cradle of Filth want to move on and explore different things. You’ll see that the high stuff and the screechy stuff is still there when you come to see the show because we’ll be playing quite a selection of stuff, from Dusk... And Her Embrace and Cruelty And The Beast - stuff people will be chuffed to see.” WHO: Cradle of Filth WHEN & WHERE: Friday 10 May, Billboard

At this point the band’s leader and principle namesake Dani Filth couldn’t care less. He’s been the subject of the 21st century’s version of a witch hunt; trial-by-tabloid TV documentaries and abuse from conservative sectors for more than two decades. “It’s strange because not a lot of things get as much critique as the extreme metal scene,” reflects Filth, from his home in the pleasant countryside county of Suffolk, about 86 miles to the north east of London. “I don’t know why that is, but I think in today’s environment and culture where you’ve got a lot of guys sitting behind their computer it’s very easy to judge people and criticise them and come up with comments and stuff - it happens all the time. People are bored and haven’t really got much of a life so I don’t take criticism to heart any more. I appreciate it if it’s on the right track and I go ‘Well yeah, that’s obvious’ and we’ll take notice of it but generally over the years with a band as loved and reviled as Cradle of Filth it’s all been very forced and black or white - you either love us or absolutely hate us so it’s really easy to decide between the two and just ignore really. We’re all long beyond caring about people that just slag you off for absolutely no reason - these days we quite enjoy it actually.”

There’s more to this story on the iPad It has long been a suspicion that Cradle of Filth played the extreme card as a form of a gimmick to further the lifespan of the band. However, after 22 years of dedication to the form and numerous excellent albums the band has shown that their fundamental substance resides in the dark corner of the metal world. Hailing from Britain the band filled a vacuum in metal that followed the extreme mass of world-conquering countrymen Iron Maiden. Mention of the Irons sparks an enthusiastic conversation of mutual fanboyism. “It’s cool that we had a band like them around to grow up watching. I’ve since met Bruce on many occasions, had to take over his radio show a few times. We’ve had the pleasure of supporting Iron Maiden on a few occasions, getting up on stage a few times and filling in the choruses of a few tracks – Heaven Can Wait for one. Awesome, absolutely awesome. It was great watching them growing up - I’ve always been a massive fan and they are still one of my main influences.” It was about at this point that Dani Filth transformed from demonic icon to regular guy with an interesting job. “It is a job and it’s a lot of work.” laments Filth. “When people ask me about recommendations or advice I can give to up and coming bands it is really about having one hundred and ten per cent dedication to all aspects of a band. It’s not something you can just flip into because it’s just such a cutthroat environment. There’s so many people and so many bands recording albums in their bedrooms and stuff that you’ve got a wall of competition from the word go really. Anything less and you’re doomed to mediocrity, which in some ways is worse than failure.” If the secret to Cradle of Filth’s immense success despite all odds seem rather pedestrian it is due to Dani’s intelligence and resilience that the band has managed to outlast the rise and fall of trends in metal. The darkest rumour to befall Dani’s ability to perform was without a doubt the rumour he had blown out his voice and was a shadow of his former self, a tale that has persisted as a commonplace in metal circles for over a decade. “It’s just rubbish. It’s people talking and it’s absolute rubbish.” refutes Filth. “In fact I’m one of the few people that see a special throat doctor who specialises in stretching and massaging and stuff because the throat is a muscle you see, so you do damage it in much the same way as people get tennis elbow from overuse. There was one point where I was struggling a little bit because of that very thing - a voice strain - but as far as I’m aware unless you sing like Paul Young, where you sing below your actual vocal chords, which is very damaging, it’s a complete myth about destroying your voice. Your voice will change as you get older - it will become lower. That’s just natural and the only way to combat that is to become a eunich and I’m not really going to go down that avenue just yet. So yeah, I see this very good doctor that does all these stretches and that and these days the voice is more sort of pliable than ever! So when people say ‘You’ve lost your voice’ what they

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 21

TASTE TEST: VINCE PEACH FIRST ALBUM I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY? The first album I bought with my own money was The Toys’ album A Lover’s Concerto on Stateside Records. They were a girl group from New York City, who made great soul music. It’s got a version of I Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby that sounded fantastic. I’ve still got the album as well, although I don’t think I’ve played it in about 20 years! It’s there for sentimental value; maybe I should revisit it sometime.

THE ALBUM I’M LOVING RIGHT NOW? The album that I love right at this minute is Charles Bradley’s Victim Of Love, which has just come out this year on Daptone Records. He’s just got such an amazing voice; like an old-school soul singer. His voice has a certain resonance that offers shades of Solomon Burke and Otis Redding. It’s a great record label and a really tasty album. I’ve seen him play live and I was well impressed.

MY FAVOURITE PARTY ALBUM? I’m a 45s person really, so party albums tend to make way for party tracks instead! But I suppose, if I had to choose, my favourite party album would be the Chess Mobile Disco Series volumes one, two and three. There’s a good mix of dance tracks on there. These days, I carry them with me all the time as well. Whenever I’m DJing I use it as my “going to the toilet break” record. Every DJ should have one of those kinds of albums – lots of great songs that flow into each other, so there’s no work required! My advice to new DJs is, early on in your career, to invest in an album that you can go to the toilet to.

MY FAVOURITE COMEDOWN ALBUM? Oh, dear me. That would be, erm, I suppose Linda Jones’ A Portrait Of Linda Jones. It was a beautiful album that was released in about 1971, and it came out on a label called Turbo Records. I rate her as one of the greatest female singers of all time. So much passion. She unfortunately died very young, and I don’t think it was long after that record came out, I think. Even still, though, I play that record very regularly. I don’t know if that means I’m coming down too often, I guess it’s probably not a great sign though, is it?

THE FIRST GIG I EVER ATTENDED? It would have been the band called The Pretty Things, if my memory serves me correct. They’re

still around; in fact, I think they’ve just re-formed recently and started playing some more gigs, which I guess is good for them! To be honest, though, I’m not really into that sort of genre of music any more but I reckon I saw them when I was about 17 or 18. That particular gig was in a place called the Grafton Rooms in my old hometown, Liverpool. The Grafton Rooms was a fantastic venue that used to play all the local up and coming bands, and I saw amazing gigs from people like Vince Ray, The Cryin Shames, and Gerry & The Pacemakers there. They’re all great acts and I saw many others too, but going right back, the very first band that I actually saw there was The Pretty Things. Even though I was only 17, I didn’t have to sneak in which was handy. There was no real age limit, but the only thing we weren’t allowed to do was buy beers. Of course, everybody did anyway. No one at the venue really policed it all too much; it was a great atmosphere to see live music back in the day.

THE WEIRDEST GIG EXPERIENCE I’VE EVER HAD? I don’t think I’ve ever had any weird gig experiences, to be honest. That’s weird in itself I suppose, isn’t it? Actually, now I think about it, a long time ago I played a gig at what I thought was a holiday camp, which ended up turning out to be a nudist camp, and I didn’t even know about it until I got there! At the end of the day though, I still got paid and I still got to play my records to a whole bunch of nude people, so I guess that does count as a pretty weird gig. And I managed to keep my clothes on too, which I suppose was a bonus. It was in this bizarre little place in the UK in, I reckon, about 1975. In hindsight, I reckon that my set list on that night would’ve been a pretty interesting one to look back on.

BIGGEST NON-MUSICAL INFLUENCES? I suppose Charles Dickens would have to be right up there. I don’t know if that’s clichéd or not, for a DJs biggest non-musical influence to be a writer, but his writing is really something very special. And he also has a great love for lawyers, just as I do.

THE COOLEST PERSON I’VE EVER MET? It would have to be Paul Weller, he’s a damn cool guy. When would that have been? It was some time during the late ‘70s or early ‘80s, I’d say, when he was playing with The Jam, back in the United Kingdom. I once met Mary Wilson from The Supremes as well; I would have

to say that she’s one of the coolest women I’ve met. I met her at the Wyvern Theatre in the UK as well, in 1981. I summoned up the courage to ask her to marry me but alas, she said no. I think she missed out there…

music. In a way, it was an era that was just like the ‘60s, only 40 years earlier, ha ha.

THE BIGGEST CELEBRITY CRUSH I’VE EVER HAD?

Dead. Full stop.

IF I WEREN’T MAKING MUSIC, I WOULD BE? Interview by Dylan Stewart

That’s an easy question: Diana Ross. For obvious reasons! And she’s still got it to this day.

WHO: Vince Peach

IF I COULD HANG OUT IN ANY TIME AND PLACE IN HISTORY?

WHAT: Romance Your Radio, 2013 PBS Radio Festival

I suppose it would have to be the 1920s, in either London or Paris. It was a period of prosperity and good times, full of culture and great jazz

WHEN & WHERE: Monday 13 to Sunday 26 May, 106.7FM

A DIFFERENT BEAT They may have momentarily lost him as a fan, but Funeral For A Friend’s newest recruit, drummer Pat Lundy, tells Brendan Crabb that he was won back to the fold by the Welsh mob’s more aggressive recent direction. uneral For A Friend tub-thumper Pat Lundy, who joined the Welsh post-hardcore/melodic hardcore crew last year, has the unique perspective of having been a fan of the band, then losing touch with them musically before eventually reconnecting with their new approach. Luckily the latter happened at the time they had an opening on the drummer’s stool. This enabled Lundy, previously of English metalcore outfit (and former Funeral For A Friend touring buddies) Rise to Remain to slot neatly into the ranks.

sent to me. I had to write my parts to their parts. I guess I was able to change a lot of the dynamics in the drums, add a lot of my own fills and change Ryan’s. I guess it was like drumming by numbers, if that makes any sense, because it was kind of mapped out for me. I just got to freestyle most of it, but within what they’d done already. On the next record obviously I’ll be a part of the entire writing process, so that’ll be a treat. Hopefully I’ll have more of a say and it might sound differently again. But we’re already getting ideas for that sort of stuff.”

“It was unexpected (joining), because I’d heard through the grapevine that Ryan (Richards) was leaving, (but) I didn’t know when and how it was all going to roll out,” he explains. “One day I got a call from ‘Bouch’ (Richard Boucher), who plays bass and he asked me to come out to Cardiff, because I live in London, to do an audition. I remember just getting out of bed that morning, I went and looked at the tracks and did my audition like five or six days later. I think they told me on the day that I was in, because I think they had the other auditions in the previous days. But I had the benefit, I kinda had the upper hand I guess out of all the other guys who went for the gig, I suppose. Rise had toured with Funeral a whole bunch, so I knew them real well, and we all really got on from like the very first tour. I was crazy young and learned a lot from those guys. So it has worked out in a weird kind of way, like the universe was aligned. It was all in the timing.”

The sticksman is asked what inspired the heavier direction assumed on ensuing latest disc, Conduit, which often recalls their aggressive, hardcore roots. “Other members leaving, for one, who perhaps wanted to pursue more mainstream-sounding stuff,” he says. “Matt (Davies-Kreye, vocals) is a hardcore kid at heart; he’s grown up listening to so many cool bands. You wouldn’t have necessarily got that from the earlier Funeral records, but you can definitely tell that from Conduit. Stuff like BoySetsFire, Vision of Disorder; heavy bands, man, that were in the early EPs. (2003’s) Four Ways To Scream Your Name and (2002’s) Between Order And Model were two releases that definitely had that sound.”

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Considering he was only enlisted mid-last year, how much songwriting input did he have on the latest record? “Well, it was weird, because the drums had been tracked by their previous drummer. When I joined, they asked before I’d said anything really, they were like, ‘right, we’re going to put you into the studio and you’re gonna track the drums again.’ So I got two weeks to compose for the record, but it was within a bell curve… I had to write within the limitations of the actual riffs that were recorded, and all the bass lines and solos they

22 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

Despite being a fully-fledged member, he can still adopt a pseudo-outsider’s viewpoint when evaluating the band’s career. “I think personally it changed drastically when (2003 debut) Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation came out. If I’m being honest, I did as well, man. They lost me as a fan, so…. But yeah, it all worked out, the band is in a good place. Everyone’s really stoked, ‘cause when you’re really excited about the music that you’ve made, going out and touring it isn’t ever going to be a chore. No matter how hectic the schedule, you’ll just love it, because the shows will always be rad, you’ll all be enjoying what you’re playing and vibing off on-stage. I don’t think songs like The Diary and Rules And Games are going to make an appearance anytime soon, because it’s just a different band now, to be honest.” Lundy also hints that Funeral For A Friend’s recent output is more along the lines of what he himself enjoys musically. “When I started Rise I was really young, and when I was young, I was into really aggressively

offensive, horrible music,” he laughs. “Not horrible, but the cookie kind of growling stuff that I guess related to me at that age. As I’ve got older I’ve got into more and more stuff, and I would definitely say that Funeral now is more of the demographic of what I would be into. I suppose I grew up on hardcore as well, so straying from metal doesn’t seem like too weird of a thing for me to do. The new stuff is heavy anyway, (so) I get to do my thing still. I was convinced that it would work, because I enjoy heavy bands. While I’m able-bodied, I want to fuck my body up playing really hard shit, playing really fast and whatever it is. I don’t want to join a jazz band yet, you know what I mean? I guess I knew that they were convinced of a new, heavy dynamic and it felt right to be a part of it.” When it’s proposed that being armed with a slew of new, nastier material could come in handy if they need to vent some personal frustration while on tour, he quickly agrees. The drummer plays his own part in this though; the self-confessed “wind-up merchant” using his fandom of Justin Bieber to irritate his bandmates. “It’s just laid-back; we all take the piss and

just have fun. I get the guys pissed off all day long; play music that they hate and just throw stuff at them. Get them all pissed off, unplug their iPod chargers and shit, real twisted stuff. So when they get on-stage, they kick right into gear and just let it all out.” Having spent almost the entirety of 2012 recording their new album, Funeral For A Friend return to Australia, where the quintet has amassed an increasingly large fan-base. Their upcoming run is their most extensive visit Down Under to date. “I guess when you get into the swing of things it’s kind of like, tour mode we call it. When you get into a rhythm of touring, it’s nigh on impossible to break and if you have more than, I guess a fortnight off… I don’t think that’s even happening at all this year.” WHO: Funeral For A Friend WHAT: Conduit (Roadrunner/Warner) WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 14 May, Corner Hotel; Wednesday 15, Pier Live

POPPIN’ AND LOCKIN’ This year Afrika Bambaataa celebrates the 30th anniversary of Planet Rock, but before travelling back to the start, he speaks to Rip Nicholson on the significance of that record and the life and death of the DJ in a culture he created. ip hop has been played like a 40-year game of broken telephone. Through misinterpretation, it has fallen to a predisposed term for a rap industry. Like the voice of God himself, the legendary Afrika Bambaataa Kahim Aasim speaks only of the gospel in a tone befitting the mythical status of a founding father. While DJ Kool Herc was amassing his Herculoid sound system at Cedar Park, down south, Aasim was transforming rioting gangs of the Bronx into battling participants of what he and Keith ‘Cowboy’ Wiggans would soon coin as hip hop. The revered and followed DJ was a born leader, but before Aasim was to become a much fabled chunk of music history, he would command a strong authority over the warring streets of South Bronx. He could storm through any neighbourhood to battle another DJ. The myths written of him are staggering and grow through the eons of time. He has been named ‘Master Of Records’, a title awarded for having one of the world’s largest record collections, started at age 4. His name has been incorrectly recorded online numerous times and when asked of a recent birthday, and how old he felt, he replied coyly, “The whole month of April is my birthday,” and, “I’m as young as a newborn flower and I’m as old as the sun, moon and stars.”

negative side gets the limelight and they don’t seem to wanna show anything positive. It’s keepin’ real hip hop down! “And all so-called radio stations that don’t play a balance of music, they need to play the old with the new school for there to be true school. So, I give respect to the artists that bring some of the elders or the old school legends back with them and then maybe eventually they might be able to go and tour or tour together and let the people see old and new together. That’s hip hop.” WHO: Afrika Bambaataa WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 11 May, Laundry

By 1975, Aasim had built up his stockpile of records and with the strength and numbers of the Zulu Nation, held down some of the biggest block parties the Boogie Down had ever seen. Next came Grandmaster Flash who would redefine the wheels of steel. Then as call-and-response MCs became recording artists, most DJs fell off. The industry supplanted them for studio music. Aasim explains how he managed to survive the cull after Grandmaster Flash was pushed off The Message. “That’s the situation where the devils behind the record business tell the MCs they don’t need the DJ. I was one of the DJs that made sure I stayed involved in any way,” he laughs. “I kept my work on tour with them and kept my name on the record. In a lot of other groups the MCs became the stars and had left the DJs behind. “There will always be five key records that will be played over and over again to mark the history of hip hop. They are Kurtis Blow’s The Breaks, Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight, Grandmaster Flash’s Wheels Of Steel, Melle Mel’s Message and Planet Rock (with The Soulsonic Force),” lists Aasim with authoritative measure, the last of which was released in 1982 and cost $800 for Tommy Boy Records. Here, Aasim’s message was to bridge peace between the Blacks, Latinos and punk rocker gangs, but after producer Arthur Baker gave it a makeover with German act, Kraftwerk, the record sold over 650,000 copies and made a significant splash outside of not only the Bronx, New York but across Europe and the world. “Planet Rock took it to where people who were from out of town and really hadn’t been exposed to the hip hop culture because of the electro-funk sounds and techno-pop style that was happening at the time. That’s what people were really having a good time to. Then this fresh new music started popping up all around the world. People started poppin’ and breakdancing, rapping and graffitiing places. That’s why I kept travelling from outside the city and to country to country to try and make sure that’s happening. A lot of people think it just blew up overnight. It didn’t work like that. We really had to push it from town to town and different countries, all across Europe and then back to the United States. We worked hard at playing in small cafes, park jams, little back-end record stores, wherever and whenever until it really caught on.” Throughout Aasim’s entire recording career, his music reads like a well-stamped, dog-eared passport. From the European house music attached to Planet Rock, the ‘Godfather of Hip Hop and Funk’ has travelled the world in search of the perfect beat. When he left the early constraints of Tommy Boy Records, “I was doing all this crazy music with Celluloid and other labels. “I take people on a music journey,” emphasises Aasim. “I wasn’t one of these DJs or artists that just sit in the United States and go with the progression of where the radio takes them. I liked to travel and even more so I liked music. So in Spain I recorded with a group, we recorded a song called Feel The Vibe and it was bilingual. In Italy I recorded Street Happyness with [Enzo Avitabile]. Then I met with John Lydon and recorded World Destruction with Time Zone, and then I moved on to Africa and Greece and recorded with other groups and went by a different name, move on again and create more music with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and with James Brown and just working a bunch of different artists on different labels.” This November will mark 40 years since the original inception of the Universal Zulu Nation, when they were simply a B-boy and MC team accompanying the Bronx River legend on his early shows. Now it stands as a powerful beacon for the might and dedication Aasim has built up around the globe for hip hop. Two score years on and Aasim explains, of the juggernaut that hip hop is today, what he is most proud. “I’m proud to see a lot of people [that] came up from hard times and especially the ones who give back to their families or do something positive for the community, those artists that have started their own labels and made something entrepreneurial of theyselves. And, anyone who gives back. But,” as Aasim, clearly frustrated, expresses stern distaste toward the powers that have misinterpreted the true term of hip hop, “I’m not proud of these so-called radio stations that claim to be hip hop and R&B. “There is a huge cultural movement still going strong all around the world today, it’s just the rap media side keep pushing their show more. The way they brainwash you, use mind control by program directors who are not open enough to play music for what it is. They don’t show the break-beating event for the Rock Steady 30th Anniversary. They don’t never show you that! But they’re quick to tell you who’s beefin’ or who does something wrong and claiming that as hip hop. All that

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 23

GHOSTS OF SOIRÉES PAST With the release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby just around the corner, likely bringing with it a resurgence in popularity for all things 1920s, the timing is perfect for the vintage extravaganza The Gatsby Winter Soirée. Kate Kingsmill chats with Cairo Club Orchestra’s Peter Milley. he roaring ‘20s will be recreated for one night only in the splendid heritage ballroom of Malvern Town Hall. The frocks! The style! The music! Even the cars. Champagne, hot jazz, New Orleans brass, Dixieland, swing and big band tunes will be the order of the night. There will be classic cars, market stalls and a vintage photo booth. flappers and fly boys, dames and dapper dans are all welcome. There is no official dress code but if you want to fit in, dress to impress, come swanky and spiffy. Starting your toes tapping will be The Horns Of Leroy brass band, which will welcome you into the soiree with their New Orleans brass band music and modern funk and soul repertoire. Trad jazz and Dixieland sextet Shirazz will continue the entertainment. They say a set from Shirazz is a step back in time to a jumping New Orleans dance hall, where fast, hot tunes complement swing standards and laid-back Louisiana street beats. Shirazz should be enjoyed irresponsibly and in excess.

Hotfooting it late into the night will be Cairo Club Orchestra, a ten-piece vintage dance orchestra who faithfully interpret songs of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. The appeal of this era, says Cairo Club Orchestra band leader Peter Milley, is “lots of things”. He explains, “After World War I there was just this huge, not a renaissance but a huge development, in literature, art, engineering, you name it, there was just this explosion and things advanced very rapidly, especially music. Music in 1920 is very different from popular music in 1930. In ten years, from the ‘20s, the fashions went from great, big floppy hats to bobbed haircuts and short dresses, then The Depression came along and nipped that all in the bud and America went more conservative in the ‘30s. But the fashions of course, the clothes, they look good and they’re really comfortable to wear. I’ve got a ‘30s brand new pinstripe suit; it’s very comfortable.”

SPRING BREAK Widescreen pop merchants Buchanan faced some familiar challenges during the recording of their debut album Human Spring, not least an influential A&R department and an overseas-based producer. Chris Hayden gets the inside info.

be comfortable. Which is good because you should come prepared to dance. Milley is clearly a sucker for the era, and not just for the fashions. “It’s comfortable and it looks good but there’s plenty of substance and depth in it all,” he says. “People were proud of what they did once, whether it was music or making cars or all of that, and the customer was always right, there was a different business attitude back then as well. It was a simpler era in some respects.” He has noticed a resurgence in popularity for the fashions and taste of the era in the last few years. “Worldwide, the vintage fashions and the music, there’s a lot of young people involved in it,” which is great for his band, who specialise in original arrangements of songs from the era. “My band is what you’d call a dance orchestra really, or a jazz orchestra. It’s the standard size, they had them in the swing era and they had them in every country as well. And the music and all the arrangements for the bands to play all the jazz stuff or whatever it was was published everywhere, there’s a whole world of it. The best of all that music really stands the test of time. You had to be pretty athletic to play it convincingly. Modern pop music is more lateral. It doesn’t jump up and down a lot. ‘20s tunes are a bit ragtime-based and blues-based, the tunes themselves are actually made of chord intervals. It’s challenging to play, it requires a fair bit of dedication to play it convincingly, because it’s only convincing when it works.”

think at the last count we actually recorded it in seven different studios,” so says Buchanan’s lead singer Josh Simons of the epic recording process involved in putting together the band’s meticulously crafted debut album Human Spring. A project 18 months in the making, the album has delivered on the potential Simons and his cohorts had hinted at on two previous EP’s and is set to cement their reputation for stirring cinematic pop. As Simons explains though, Human Spring isn’t a record borne of taking the easy way out.

“I

“We actually started promoting the first single for the record over 12 months ago so it’s been a very long journey to the actual release of the album,” he says with more than a hint of relief. “We actually started writing it before we knew we even wanted it to be an album. We spent most of 2011 touring and supporting our EP so between the dates we were shooting up to a holiday house in Lorne and just putting down some tracks. That got us signed to a production deal (with label Gigantically Small) and that then allowed us to get a producer in the room and try some new songs.”

One part of this process, and perhaps a necessary evil for any band signed to significant label, was the eventual influence the A&R department had on the finished record. Rock biographies are littered with tales of evil members of this particular club and their dastardly deeds (Coldplay were once dismissed as “post Radiohead drivel” by one former scout), but Simons reveals a pragmatic take on the fiasco: the best ideas should always win. “My philosophy is that I’ll fight for what I think is best,” he enthuses. “But the minute I’m proven wrong or someone shows me something that’s better, I will go with that. You’re absolutely crazy if you don’t go with the strongest idea in the room. A&R was an interesting process, only because their motivation isn’t necessarily the sonics like the producers might be. A&R are more thinking about whether the song has enough choruses and things like that. I suppose because we write song structures that aren’t necessarily conventional – like a lot of the songs on this album don’t have choruses but are still quite poppy – it was tough. That was a challenge but it only served to strengthen the album. It was completely confronting because I’ve never had anyone challenge me before on that type of stuff. In hindsight I can’t believe it’s never happened before because, you know, who am I to know what’s going to work on radio? At the time, you hop in your car after a meeting and you chain smoke all the way home, pick up a bottle of wine and you get angry, but I’m so grateful for it in the end.”

So there you go – not only will you look awesome, you’ll

The producer Simons is referring to is UK-based engineer Catherine Marks, best known for her work with Foals, Interpol and Death Cab For Cutie. “She’s an Australian who has been living in England for about ten years now,” he explains. “She’s worked on some of our favourite albums of all time, and on things like Kanye West as well. I knew on this album that I wanted to work with a producer who could take things to the next level but sometimes that can cost a lot of money. The thing about Catherine is that she’s recorded a lot of bands before but she’s never really been in the producer’s chair – so we tried it out, loved the process and we ended up doing the whole album with her. We had to fly her back and forth a bit though – she was working on Foals’ new album at the same time so whenever she was available we’d work with her.”

FROM THE HEART

RELUCTANT PROTAGONIST

What does he think The Gatsby Winter Soirée will be like? “Don’t use the word ‘vibrant’ whatever you do, everyone uses that! I’d say exotic. And there’ll be a lot of energy.” WHO: Cairo Club Orchestra WHAT: The Gatsby Winter Soirée WHEN & WHERE: Friday 31 May, Malvern Town Hall

Leon Thomas’ philosophy on soul music: “I really don’t think soul has to be a genre, or a sound. I think it’s whether a song has a soul in it, has heart in it…” He talks Dylan Stewart through this sentiment. he sun’s shining down in Breamlea, and as local singer-songwriter Leon Thomas wanders his way through the dunes, it’s a metaphorical ray of light that is highlighting his impact both on the sand beneath his feet, and on the Melbourne soul music scene. “My parents have a little shack down here; it’s a beautiful spot. I’d live down here if I could, but, y’know, you’ve gotta be in it to win it,” he says.

And in it he is. After kicking around Melbourne town in bands for the best part of a decade, it’s only the past four or five years that Thomas has been performing as a solo artist. “I was never satisfied just being a band member. I was doing all the writing and the creative direction, but we never really went anywhere. Now I’m building my solo career up in small pieces, and adding to my list of collaborators.” It’s been through one person in particular, producer Steven Mowat (aka Matik), that the next chapter of Thomas’ career has taken shape. Although more wellknown from his work with hip hop stars Bliss N Eso, Pez and Seth Sentry, Mowat’s meeting with Thomas was one full of enthusiasm and excitement. “He came to a show and he saw me play; he’d been listening to The Black Keys, and he loves rock’n’roll. We started chatting, and we ended up at Sing Sing Studios two weeks later.” The timing of this chance encounter couldn’t have been better. “I had the band together, we had the songs together, it was just really great timing,” Thomas recounts. “All the songs were pretty much ready to go. [Mowat] swept in like an angel and decided to arrange the universe to make this record happen.” The result is Thomas’ debut self-titled EP. Recorded live to tape and without any overdubs, Thomas and his band were so well-prepared for the recording process that there was practically no rehearsal necessary. “We’d just come off the back of a residency at the Grace Darling, and a show at the Old Bar, then we went straight into the studio and started recording,”

24 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

WHO: Buchanan WHAT: Human Spring (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 6 June, Curtin Bandroom

Big Black Delta began with no ambitions whatsoever. Having just released his eponymous second album, Jonathan Bates must explain to Matt O’Neill how he ended up remixing Daft Punk and playing in M83. he continues. Although the recording was laid down in July 2011, life has somewhat gotten in the way. “It doesn’t sound glamorous, but I have a life where my music isn’t the only thing I do. In order to make my music, I need to make a living. Also, our drummer went away for a while, so I’ve been focusing on writing the next batch of songs.” The soul-infused EP has been available digitally for a while, but Thomas’ immediate future sees a massive launch for the physical release at Cherry Bar this month. “It’s gonna be a rock’n’roll show,” he says. “It’ll be bluesy, it’ll be dirty, and it’s gonna be fun.” Thomas has been playing with the current line-up for the past couple of years, and judging by the excitement levels at a recent single launch, he’s preparing for a big night. Although it’s hard to deny his soulful roots, Thomas is hesitant to pigeonhole himself as a soul musician. He’s a massive fan of other local acts like Mojo Juju and Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes (whose first ever show Thomas supported), but sees the “soul” scene as more diverse than that. “Soul can be any type of music,” he says. “I really don’t think soul has to be a genre, or a sound. I think it’s whether a song has a soul in it, has heart in it… Something that the audience decides. People wouldn’t call Radiohead a soul band, or Thom Yorke a soul singer, but there’s a heck of a lot of soul in what they do and I think that’s one of the reasons for their success.” And as he looks out onto the rolling ocean from the dunes, you get the feeling that Leon Thomas is destined for more success of his own. WHO: Leon Thomas WHAT: Leon Thomas EP (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 17 May, Cherry Bar

onathan Bates is so indifferent to industry mythology. Hilariously so… Almost. In the past handful of years, Bates’ unassuming solo project has gone from random bedroom experimentation to international cult act beloved of Daft Punk, who he remixed for their Tron: Legacy OST, and M83, who he recently joined as live guitarist. Yet, there isn’t an ounce of grandstanding or posturing in the man.

“When I started off, I didn’t imagine I’d be speaking to you today. I’d taken some time off music. Eventually, it was either drink or make music all day long. Eventually, I started making music,” he laughs. “I was trying to do the nine to five thing but, America being what it is right now, it wasn’t going that well. Eventually, I just decided to try and play a show because I didn’t have much going on.” His debut album, 2011’s BBDLP1, wasn’t even originally intended for release. Bates had borrowed a laptop off a friend (one-time Nine Inch Nail Alessandro Cortini), knocked together a handful of sketches and chucked them online. As time went by, those recordings grew in notoriety until Bates was almost obligated to release them officially. “At the time, I was just putting it out myself and just using the internet. A friend of mine just offered to print up the record for me and we printed, like, two hundred copies. That sold out and a little while later momentum just built up and we had all these labels overseas wanting to release that record,” Bates explains. “By which time I’d completely moved on. “You know, I had a whole other album of new material I could have released. As a compromise, labels just kind of went – ‘well, why don’t we do half-half?’ and I just went with it. I mean, it all ends up in the same place, right? I don’t really care if people buy my music or not. If they enjoy it, I hope they come to the show. If not, I’m sorry I wasted their time.”

Bates’ success seems to coalesce in direct proportion to how little he invests in it. Previously fronting indie-rock act Mellowdrone, he spent over a decade trying to make music his living – even signing with Columbia Records, at one point. However, it’s with his skittish, noisy, synth-heavy retro-electro work as Big Black Delta that his career has truly taken off. “I seem to be most useful in this universe if I just put my head down and make stuff. Regardless of where it ends up,” he says candidly. “Mellowdrone kind of started off like that. Then, it became a band and it never really went anywhere. The reason I call this project Big Black Delta is because I love UFOs and ufology and, when I started this project, I decided I had to be like a five-year-old with it. “You know, just some five-year-old kid sitting in the middle of the livingroom playing with his four or five favourite toys. One might be a Transformer and the other might be a piece of Lego and they make no sense together but I’m just going to have fun with them in my own little world. There’s a lot of people who confuse wanting to be entertainers with wanting to be musicians. “What I’ve learned is I am simply not talented enough to be that; to be a Beyonce,” he says, utterly serious. “Like I said, the only time the universe ever even hints at acknowledging my existence is when I just sit down, shut up and do what I like. Which is so much easier, because I am just not fucking smart enough to do anything else.” WHO: Big Black Delta WHAT: Big Black Delta (OneLoveRecordings)

BETTER THAN BUBLÉ You might not think a New Zealand sludge outfit have anything in common with Michael Bublé, but you’d be wrong. Drummer Nathan Hickey tells Tom Hersey about Beastwars and their relationship with the Canadian crooner. ven if you’ve never heard the music of New Zealand’s Beastwars, you’re probably thinking they wouldn’t be the type of dudes to lumped in with your mum’s favourite crooner, Michael Bublé. But that’s how it ended up at the end of April, when the sludge rockers’ second full-length record, Blood Becomes Fire, landed at number two on the charts in their native New Zealand, ahead of gauche popstars like Pink and Macklemore, right up their next to Bublé’s number one.

“You can see a photo of the charts on the internet and there’s this painting of a skull [from the album’s cover] right next to Michael Bublé’s face,” Beastwars drummer Nathan Hickey says of their unlikely chart position. “We thought it was so surreal that this band that started off making music that we never thought anybody would hear, it was just for us to try and emulate the music of our heroes. We shouldn’t ever think about the top 40, because we just do everything to please ourselves… Then to have this kind of mainstream acceptance, you just kind of get bewildered by it.” The drummer’s still coming to terms with the band’s chart placing in their home country. While it’s unlikely that a band who sound like the best bits of early Melvins, Crowbar and High On Fire would place on a chart, the success visited upon Blood Becomes Fire is anything but undeserved. The album is a tightly produced, pounding monolith of hesher madness, and a marked improvement upon the band’s 2011 offering Damn The Sky. According to Hickey, that has a lot to do with how the band started out. “The guitarist probably hadn’t picked up a guitar for five years before we decided to form the band, I didn’t even know how to play drums when we got together, and so I had to learn on the job,” he says. “So there’s a big difference now, because we’ve all gotten so much better at our instruments and played with a whole bunch of really influential bands who have really made us step up what we were doing.” Blood Becomes Fire also benefited from being rigorously

ELEGANT ELEGIAC It’s a musical marriage The Church’s Steve Kilbey engineered and All India Radio’s Martin Kennedy found so perfect they’re onto their third album together, as Michael Smith discovers.

road tested as Beastwars found themselves playing to increasingly larger audiences in their home country. “Probably 80% of the album we’ve been playing for the last year,” Hickey continues. “So how most bands’ debut albums are good because they’ve spent a couple of years playing all the material live before they record it, and then the second album sucks because they haven’t had time to play it on the road, but we’ve been playing shows as far back as a year ago where we were playing our entire new album, start to finish.” Asked if the guys were a little bummed out that Blood Becomes Fire lost out on the top spot though, Hickey is adamant that the band are beyond stoked to find themselves at number two. It’s pretty damn good for a garage band made up of dads. “The band members have got kids, got mortgages,” he says, “so the band is not real life, it’s the place where we don’t have to think about whatever’s going on in real life. It’s freedom from thinking about paying the bills and what’s happening at your day job.” Also, Hickey reckons that the number one place was all but sewn up by the competition. “Bublé’s a smart guy and always releases his CDs just before Mother’s Day.” So were Beastwars similiarly hoping that Blood Becomes Fire was going to sell a lot of copies to a market desperate for Mother’s Day gifts? “Well, no but we’re just as cynical as Michael Bublé is. We released our album in time for Record Store Day, and we played live at a massive record store here and had three or four hundred people come and check out the record. So we’re probably just as marketing savvy as Bublé, but without the big budget.” WHO: Beastwars WHAT: Blood Becomes Fire (Destroy Records) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 11 May, Bendigo Hotel; Saturday 12, Hi-Fi

hen All India released I think it was their first album, one of my brothers gave me a copy and said, ‘I think you’ll like this’,” Steve Kilbey recalls the beginnings of the collaboration with All India Radio’s Martin Kennedy that has spawned three albums so far – the latest one, You Are Everything. “I liked it and I made sure every time I did an interview for about the next year or so, when anybody said, ‘What do you like?’, to not sound like an old fuddy-duddy who’s out of touch and also to let people in All India Radio know I like them so if they ever wanted me to sing on their record or anything, I’d say, ‘I like All India Radio’. And sure enough, like a fish coming after a baited hook, after about a year, Martin Kennedy sent me a track and said, ‘Would you like to sing on this track?’

“W

“Of course I loved it and we just started up a kind of mail-order collaboration. We didn’t actually meet until well after the first album [2009’s Unseen Music Unheard Words] had been finished, and the next one [2011’s White Magic] we actually met up and did it, and then the third one the same.” The way this Kilbey/Kennedy collaboration works is that Kennedy sends Kilbey a series of musical sketches for which Kilbey then creates lyrics and then Kennedy embellishes back in his home studio. “A lot of the music carries over from my other band,” Kennedy admits. “I often have a lot of tunes swirling ‘round inside my head, and I don’t know which project to use them for, whether for All India Radio or the project with Steven, so I put them all into the music bank and withdraw them when I need to.” “When we started making this album,” Kilbey continues, “I had in mind and I think Martin did too, we wanted something kind of deeper. The first album was kind of more minimalistic and I think was a good record, and the second record was very poppy and had all these very short, melodic songs, like this one but in the end it didn’t kind of add up to anything. I think

this third album has a lot more depth, whatever that means. It’s not quite so glib and clever, and, I dunno, it’s posing some hopefully interesting questions and alluding to some interesting things with the music.” Kennedy’s music certainly provides a sonic context for Kilbey’s voice that’s quite different to anything else he’s produced, though, as he admits, it’s not a million miles from The Church. “It’s very simple, but after a while, all these simple things strangely enough can form something quite complex,” he says. “When Martin sent me one of the tracks to remix, I could actually see how he was doing what he was doing and I was stunned. Now obviously I’ve made records on my own where I play everything, so I know how a song can be constructed, but it’s strange to see Martin’s songs actually pulled apart and realising what’s behind something that you thought was completely different.” Among the words Kilbey uses in his blog to try and describe the result are “elegant” and “elegiac”, and they pretty much sum up this truly beautiful collection of songs the lyrics for which Kilbey wrote automatically, just going with whatever the music drew out of him. “By the time Steve’s ready to do vocals,” Kennedy explains, “the track is in its bare-bones stage, enough for him to get a feel for it, and then usually I do most of the overdubs, all the instruments myself.” WHO: Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy WHAT: You Are Everything (MGM) WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 12 May, Toff In Town

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 25

SINGLED OUT WITH STEPHANIE LIEW

ON THE RECORD

THUNDERCAT Heartbreaks + Setbacks Brainfeeder

Do It Quick Independent Everything sounds sleepy in this track; the vocals sound mumbled through half-closed lips, the guitarist strums as though lying in a hammock on a hot summer’s morning, and even the trumpets are lazily blown. The two-line melody itself becomes tiresome. Three quarters in, it’s like everything suddenly wakes up, albeit reluctantly, yet that still fails to pick up the song. For a pop-swing track, or any track, Do It Quick lacks enthusiasm and elicits a similar reaction from the listener.

WILD NOTHING A Dancing Shell Captured Tracks Those experimental-disco tendencies Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing harboured on their last album Nocturne have come into full bloom. A relaxed, funky guitar groove sits under a Bowie-esque spoken-sung verse, and then a sonically shimmering synth riff and romantic, satiny sighs in the chorus. A Dancing Shell sounds incredibly assured for a track with a noticeable shift in style, yet you can also see the natural progression across Wild Nothing’s catalogue from how it began to what is now.

FALL OUT BOY

IRON & WINE

Save Rock And Roll

Ghost On Ghost

Island/Decaydance

4AD/Remote Control

Beyond The Ragasphere

Fall Out Boy are back, and they want people to know they’re still fighting; for what they believe in, for love, for youth and idealism. The album’s opening and closing lines sum it up: “Put on your war paint” (The Phoenix) and “We won’t go/’Cause we don’t know when to quit” (Save Rock And Roll).

It’s not always an easy thing to abide when a musician reinvents themselves. Do it too quickly and you’ll be accused of jumping the shark; even abandoning fans. Don’t do it quickly enough and the critics will start circling with cries of stagnation or lack of ambition. It’s a thin tightrope only mastered by those rare chameleons with vision and talent broad enough to pull any kind of seachange off. Sam Beam is one such animal and on Ghost On Ghost, his fifth record under the moniker of Iron & Wine, he has culminated a collection of small shifts shown on previous efforts into a full-blown sunny side up, ecstatic pop record.

Riverboat/World Music Network

Typically, you could expect to hear it in Hawaiian music or perhaps country music, but from the early-‘90s Indian lap steel guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya has been using new tools to come to terms with Indian classical music. To do so he’s invented his own slide guitars, three instruments he refers to as ‘the trinity’. His sound echoes that of the sitar, crafting incredible lush ragas over elongated notes, typically accompanied by a tabla and the drone of the tanpura. Yet there’s something more, and it was hinted at on 2008’s Calcutta Chronicles, which touched on flamenco, Hawaiian, even Americana finger picking. At that time he referenced these influences via his own unique style, on Beyond The Ragaspere he’s invited a few friends along. This has pushed his music into newer, more fusion-esque realms.

MANNY FOX

LIVE

DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA & FRIENDS

He’s played bass for Erykah Badu and Suicidal Tendencies, and now Thundercat (aka Stephen Bruner) is onto his second solo album. This is its first single, and it’s killer. Co-written and co-produced by Flying Lotus, it’s a light electro/ dance/R&B swooner that’s heavy on the bass and falsetto harmonies. With a voice that drips honey, Bruner turns a line as simple as “Heartbreaks, setbacks, breakups, make-ups/ Love, love, love, love” into something tender and vulnerable. Not many songs would make you want to weep and dance at the same time, but Heartbreaks + Setbacks somehow manages it.

We’ve got a drum kit alongside the tabla, electric bass alongside his acoustic guitar, and it’s quite a subtle form of fusion that doesn’t draw attention to itself until you listen intently, despite the drums coming from jazz-funk percussionist Jeff Sipe. His guitar-related guests are a little more overt however: electric jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, bluegrass dobro player Jerry Douglas and flamenco guitarist Adam Del Monte all leaving a piece of themselves in the mix. Bhattacharya demonstrates his mastery by making it all fit, adapting his approach with each cultural exchange. Beyond The Ragasphere is truly beautiful and complex music. It’s the work of an artist whose use of unconventional instrumentation in a traditional form has created an entirely new approach to Indian classical music; however, that was only the beginning. Now he wants to create a new tradition.

While there’s not a lot of rock’n’roll going on, this is undoubtedly an album for the arenas: huge singalong pop hooks and beats and riffs to get blood pumping. Patrick Stump has never sounded more assured, singing with such convincing force that it saves some of Pete Wentz’s lazier lyrics from crossing into mere cliché. Songs like the triplehooked Alone Together prove the band’s proficiency at relating to a modern young audience’s swinging ‘everything’s either the best or worst’ mentality. See also the lyrics of Rat A Tat: “We’re all fighting growing old…/’Cause it’s never getting any better than this”. Just ignore Courtney Love’s questionable contributions. Skip Death Valley too; the acoustic guitar clashes with rock riffs and a dance banger vibe, complete with a confusing dubstep breakdown. Just One Yesterday featuring Foxes’ soulful vocals and an intro that recalls Adele’s Rolling In The Deep, offers some respite from the bam-boom-pow fire of most of the album, as does Young Volcanoes, which sounds like a slicker, boppier version of a From Under The Cork Tree-era song. Apt, uplifting closer Save Rock And Roll, featuring Elton John – who works well as the low to balance Stumps’ highs – also throws back to …Cork Tree’s Sugar, We’re Goin Down: “I will defend the faith, going down swingin’’”. Fall Out Boy are looking to the future while not forgetting their past.

Breaking through on his previous album, Kiss Each Other Clean, which rode a combination of Twilight endorsement and general critical mass acceptance to the number two position on the US Billboard chart, Beam has steadily transformed himself from hushed bedroom crooner to Day-Glo ringmaster. Ghost On Ghost kicks off in this manner with the loose and colourful horns of Caught In The Briars and moves through a collection of some of Beam’s finest melodies yet. Much has been made of the Austin native’s bearded, shed-bound persona (he was Bon Iver before Bon Iver was Birdy), but tracks like Singers & The Endless Song, with it’s Al Green-esque backing vocals, and the lazy melancholic splendour of Sundown (Back In The Briars) loan Ghost On Ghost a well-suited accessibility. An ill advised detour into jazz fusion on Lover’s Resolution never really takes off, but sits as a testament to the ambition coursing through Beam’s wonderfully musical veins. Fingers crossed he lets them flow for some time yet. Chris Hayden

Bob Baker Fish

Stephanie Liew

LAWSON

MELVINS

SUPER WILD HORSES

Chapman Square

Everybody Loves Sausages

Crosswords

Universal

Ipecac/ Fuse

Dot Dash/Remote Control

When UK band Lawson came to Australia for a brief promo tour last month, the hype surrounding them was unexpected, but their debut album Chapman Square proves that this hype was warranted. The acoustic poprock outfit list their major musical influence as Maroon 5, but don’t seem to reference them musically on the album or in their overall sound. It’s more like listening to Train: not Drops Of Jupiter but Hey Soul Sister.

Ever wanted to stab a rock band? It’s possible that track two of the Melvins 20th studio album could drive you to that kind of violence. It’s a covers album, demonstrating the unpredictable band’s diverse range of influences, and come to think of it, being possibly the least commercial covers album you could imagine, it probably explains some things.

The newest album from Australian female duo, Super Wild Horses, oozes creativity. The album title, presentation and the music within are all cryptically imaginative. The title, Crosswords, hints at the puzzling nature of life itself, while neatly providing a framework for the inclusion of the clever cryptic clues for the album’s song titles, which are inscribed on the album’s inner leaflet.

ROKELLE FEAT DAVE AUDE Bullet Audacious Despite big names such as Dave Aude taking some of the credit for Bullet, it just sounds like every other mediocre EDM track you’d hear overplayed on commercial radio or, if you’re so inclined, at da club (assumedly). Its high production value doesn’t mask a lame Eurovision vibe about it either. Rokelle’s vocals are merely passable and the melody is basic. Bullet is not memorable or catchy and it’s certainly not imaginative; it would make a good addition to the Dance Dance Revolution arcade game soundtrack, because, you know, it’s got a steady beat, is repetitious and has a fast enough rhythm. Rating: DDRworthy (Easy Mode), but not a popular choice.

BEACHES Send Them Away Chapter Records With the local hazy pop/garage surge going on at the mo’, it’s good to see ladies getting in on the action, with Steph Hughes of Boomgates, Super Wild Horses, and now Beaches, who are back with a new single and album. Leaning a little more on the shoegaze and psych side, the song centres around one blissed-out premise/hook – “Take those blues and send them away” – and it works charmingly; the stunning, spiralling guitar solo is the ribbon on top, holding it all together.

HAILER Postcard Independent Psych-blues rock by numbers, this is underwhelming when compared to other local contemporaries. The vocals are mixed too low so that they blend into the guitars, and rock screams just fade into the ether too, losing whatever impact they aimed for. Postcard sounds like a happy jam of a riff or two that didn’t get any further in development.

Chapman Square features the breathy, delicate vocals of Lawson’s lead singer Andy Brown and once these are combined with catchy, pop-rock melodies the album is gently beautiful. Guitars and drums are the driving force of each song on the album, which gives a feeling of breathing life into a dusty room. The subject matter of the majority of the songs on the album is Brown’s break-up with Mollie King, a singer from The Saturdays. Lyrical content explores the following themes: unrequited love/regret on Standing In The Dark, a break-up from the girl’s perspective on Gone, the boy’s side of the story on When She Was Mine and Stolen, and a long-distance relationship on Everywhere You Go. The simplicity of the lyrics on Waterfall – “… holding onto love’s impossible, like climbing a waterfall” – conjures up beautiful imagery and this song is an album highlight. Another is the unexpected piano at the beginning of You Didn’t Tell Me, which is reminiscent of Gabrielle’s Out Of Reach from the Bridget Jones’s Diary soundtrack. Lawson and, more importantly, Chapman Square could just be the sleeper hit of the year. Maggie Sapet

Track two is their sickly saccharine version of Best Friend by Queen, with guest vocals from Caleb Benjamin of Tweak Bird, that’s all cheesy keys and untrustworthy niceness. Pretty much the last thing you would expect from a band that once prided themselves by their ability to torment their audience with the slowest heaviest riffs ever. But then that’s part of Melvins charm. They thrive on doing the unexpected. Black Betty is instantly forgettable, as any goodwill for that song has previously been extinguished, buried, then set alight and buried again by Spiderbait. Mark Arm (Mudhoney) warbles and drones like only he can on Set It On Fire from The Scientists and it’s a classic rock and roll dirge. Their take on Bowie’s Station To Station, with the incredible JG Thirwell (Foetus) on vocals, begins with unpleasant noise before locking into a seemingly endless triumphant riff. In 11 minutes it takes the song out of Bowie’s cocaine prison and returns it messy, kicking and screaming to the garage. Clem Burke from Blondie drops in to add some drums to a punked up Attitude from The Kinks, Scott Kelly (Neurosis) growls on Warhead from UK metalheads Venom and Jello Biafra messes with Roxy Music’s In Every Dream Home A Heartache. That’s comedy right there. In fact, this whole album is one big joke. Even when they’re trying to be sincere the Melvins can‘t help but take the piss. Bob Baker Fish

26 • For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews

With minimal intervention with respect to production, Crosswords is another unabashed garage rock-pop collection from Super Wild Horses, reflecting both the demand for yet more DIY-sounding music and the popularity of Super Wild Horses’ debut album, Fifteen, which was released in 2010 to critical acclaim with Australian audiences wholly embracing the signature lo-fi sound and calling for more. Crosswords answers this call. Reminiscent of ‘60s rock-pop, the layering of casual harmonies over buzzing guitar riffs is a winning and effortless combination. While each track carries the garage rock thread, each has its own undertones. The opener, Alligator, is quite gritty and provides a good introduction for what’s to come on the album. Then there’s the beautiful and understated cover of You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, which is sure to have listeners swooning. Dragging The Fog is a sultry number and the playful Waikiki Romance is a delightful note on which to end the album. Amy Franz and Hayley McKee must be applauded for their simple, revitalising style of music production and performance. Crosswords is a no-frills album that portrays the girls doing what they know and love – playing music. It makes for a refreshing break from all the over-produced electronica that seems to be dominating the airways of late. Claire Moore

THE CAT EMPIRE

BOMBINO

IGGY & THE STOOGES

RILO KILEY

Steal The Light

Nomad

Ready To Die

Rkives

Two Shoes/Inertia

Nonesuch/Warner

Fat Possum/Warner

Little Record Company

Wow, has it really been ten years since The Cat Empire’s self-titled debut? While most of us have been destroying our livers and discovering HBO TV series during this time, these Melbourne boys have been releasing album after album and accruing more frequent flyer points than Kevin Rudd, taking their mash-up of jazz, soul, funk and rock to all points of the globe. But with 2010’s Cinema being somewhat underwhelming and many of the band’s members spread across various side projects, for a moment I wondered whether The Cat Empire could still be as innovative and imaginative as they once were. I shouldn’t have bothered worrying, though, for sixth album, Steal The Light, may just be a career-defining statement, it is that darn good.

It may just be that West African music is more popular in the Western world now than ever before; seriously good crossover artists blending elements of modern rock music with their own musical traditions are becoming recognised for their considerable talents. Niger’s Bombino – a Tuareg bluesman – is the latest name on music lovers’ lips and Nomad proves he’s worthy.

Heavy weighs the crown. Since Iggy Pop reformed The Stooges, and has now added classic ’73-era James Williamson back into the mix, the pressure to impress has been high. Live, there’s no arguing they’ve succeeded. On the record though? Less so. Williamson’s presence is made known immediately, on the very Raw Power reminiscent opening track Burn. The riff is groovy and has the classic chainsaw edge that makes the ‘Iggy & The Stooges’ moniker arguably more powerful than ‘The Stooges’. It doesn’t hit home, but it comes close.

It’s been six years since LA indie stalwarts Rilo Kiley pulled up stumps. Since then, collaborators Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett have continued on their merry way, with nary a glance at the aftermath of their legacy. So don’t think Rkives – a trawl through the plethora of unreleased material and B-sides from the band’s 19 year history – is the first step towards reunification. Nevertheless, the compilation serves as a reminder that the quartet deserved to be much bigger than they were.

The tone is set right from opener and first single, Brighter Than Gold. In a track that simply bursts with creativity, the band combine a throbbing bass line, a haunting vocal sample, a catchy, understated chorus and an explosion of horns just to finish things off for good measure. Am I Wrong shows off Felix Riebl’s vocals as he delivers a soulful blast, while Still Young and Like A Drum get the party started big time. The horns and vocals take centre stage for most of the album’s first half, though, as the band deliver one potential single after another. But in the closing stages, The Cat Empire allow themselves to experiment a little more. Go sees them mash-up mariachi with turntable scratching, while sizzling keyboardist Ollie McGill struts his stuff on the playful Sleep Won’t Sleep. Add Graeme Base’s brilliant artwork and there’s not much to dislike here. Paul Barbieri

The guitar playing of Omara ‘Bombino’ Moctar is the centre-point of Nomad, and he really is a stunning player. In no way is his style of blazing up and down the fret board typical of modern rock music, but the flair with which he does it is exquisite. Through Nomad his playing seems irrepressible; fast, tuneful, gritty, rhythmic and just so very proficient. Dan Auerbach continues his brilliant production track record, ensuring there’s a liveliness that pumps through this record and that the spirit of Bombino’s music is kept entirely unbridled. There are plenty of small intricacies – like the pedal steel in the background of closer Tamiditine – that you’d not expect without external help; thankfully Auerbach’s input is consistently tasteful. The loping groove of Amidinine, the complexly contrasting rhythms of Ahulakamine Hulan, the aggressive Azamine Tilade and the chirpy, airy Imidiwan all show the divergent styles and musical moods of Bombino. Some may consider the intrinsic language barrier too much to get beyond, but if the music doesn’t speak to you then maybe you’re best leaving this record for those who are moved by its assorted qualities. Nomad is the sound of a hugely gifted musician who’s been placed into the right hands and it’s simply brilliant. Dan Condon

There isn’t anything truly abhorrent about the album; it runs loops around 2007’s The Weirdness. But is that all we’re comfortable asking of Pop? Those first three albums are still powerful, intimidating pillars of proto-punk rock greatness. Painful as it is, the group are better left as a live nostalgia act.

Kicking off with the plaintive Let Me Back In, it’s not until the soaring It’ll Get You There that the realisation of their absence really takes hold. It’s a sonorous track that showcases not Lewis’s excellent singing voice, and is as strong a song as they ever released. All The Drugs is resonant, amusing yet aching; the Fleetwood Mac-gospel of slowburner Draggin’ Around; the space-indie warble of Rest Of My Life (how isn’t this a Unicorns track?); the jangling groove of Emotional – all are deserving of rediscovery. But as with most cuttingroom floor collections, there are as many misses as hits – the remix of Dejalo (inexplicably including Lewis on AutoTune and a verse by below-par rapper Too $hort) is perplexing at best, whilst American Wife, About The Moon and Patiently aren’t bad as much as they are MOR fare. Well, You Left sees Sennett take the mic, and his Elliott Smith-esque vocals combining with erstwhile whimsy and regret underline the strengths of Lewis as the core of the band rather than anything else. Rkives finishes off with the twee The Frug and a hidden track, and it’s not hard to see why Rilo Kiley called it quits: their era has passed us by. But what an era it was.

Andrew McDonald

Brendan Telford

It’s depressing that’s about as good as it gets. On Job Pop pines, “If I was joking would it be funny?” This is a frustratingly telling line, even if it wasn’t written to be. If this was Pop taking the piss, worshipping a man in his mid-60s acting like he’s 24, would that make the whole thing better? Even on relatively light and fun Gun, an odd album highlight, when he sings “If I had a fuckin’ gun I could shoot at everyone”, the venom is lacking. That’s the sort of lyric that could drip with punk rock vulgarity and power, but it’s depressingly monotone and half mumbled. The less said about the odd country experimentation of Unfriendly World the better. Pop knows how to experiment, his recent French lounge work shows that, but here he really misses the mark.

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 27

FRONTROW@INPRESS.COM.AU

THIS WEEK IN

ARTS

Fear&Love&Clowns

WEDNESDAY 8

SATURDAY 11

Live On Air: Poet Laureate Telia Nevile – imagine not having to leave the house to watch live comedy. Join Melbourne comedian Telia Nevile and her live online comedy show that is being filmed in her loungeroom. Part of the Anywhere Festival, link to site given upon purchase, 8pm.

Fear&Love&Clowns – a clowning show, where there is a message but you can ignore it if you want, it’s mostly in the metaphor (but not in a wanky way). There’s also some violence and a ballet. Malthouse Theatre, 7pm, to Saturday 18 May.

THURSDAY 9 Spring Breakers – a film directed by Harmony Korine (Gummo) this thriller centres on the annual American college ritual of Spring Break. Four students Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine are seduced into the world of unhinged white rapper Alien (James Franco). In cinemas today. Dressed To Kill: The James Bond Chronograph – a talk and exhibition led by author and film critic Byron Bache about James Bond and his iconic Hollywood costumes. Whether you’re a Bond fan or just like a fine suit, this event will teach you more about dinner jackets, lapels, cuts and cuffs than you ever thought possible. ACMI, The Cube, 2pm.

FRIDAY 10 Grease: Sing-A-Long Version – hopelessly devoted Grease fan? Whether you’re a Pink Lady or a T-Bird and you think Grease is the word, you should come watch the classic film with a room full of other Greasey nerds. There will be prizes for the best costumes and it will be hosted by David Lamb. But what if I don’t know all the words to Summer Lovin’?! Never fear, because the words are all on the screen so you’ll never have to mumble through the verses again. Astor Cinema, 8pm.

No Child – a one-woman show written and performed by Nilaja Sun, who after eight years of teaching at one of New York’s toughest schools decided to turn it into a piece of theatre. Sun returns after her sold-out Melbourne Festival season. Theatreworks, 8pm, to Sunday 26 May.

SUNDAY 12 Monet’s Garden – treat your mama to a sophisticated and cultured Mother’s Day by taking her to see the father of French Impressionism Claude Monet’s collection of paintings of his rural northern French home’s garden. Monet’s garden became his lifelong obsession. This event is exclusive to Melbourne and promises to be a popular exhibition. NGV, to Sunday 8 September.

TUESDAY 14 Meet The Filmmaker: Sunset Six – an Australian rock’n’roll comedy film that follows the story of an alcoholic, sex addicted aged rock star who hasn’t made a good song in 20 years. With his new band The Sunset Six, they are offered a record deal and a crisis occurs when his washed-up rocker can’t change his ways. The screening will have a live performance from The Sunset Six and the audience will also get to, you guessed it, meet the filmmakers! Nova Cinemas, 6.45pm.

ART NOT? OR

To continue the tweetconvo @frontrowSPA.

28 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

Harmony Korine

WASTED YOUTH Anthony Carew sits down with cinema’s bad-boy Harmony Korine and learns how to turn an entire generation of Disney lovers off. The prospect was delicious from the first announcement: Harmony Korine, the onetime-crackhead enfant terrible of American underground cinema, was making a film with James celebrity-asperformance-art Franco and Disney tween queens Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, set against the girls-gone-wild debauchery of spring break. And Spring Breakers delivers on the promise; a brash, obnoxious, semi-ironic flick that plays as a long dream sequence, yet essentially turns MTV’s ultrasexualised culture into a nightmare. Every Korine film – from Gummo’s bacon-taped-to-walls to Trash Humpers’ faux-snuff-film trolling – has been an exercise in provocation, but they’ve done so solely as art-movie curios. Due to its stunt-casting and parade of fresh flesh, Spring Breakers has been a genuine commercial success, being witnessed – and written about – by far more humans. And, thus, received the kind of witless editorials that come with mass exposure, a controversy-mongering The Guardian piece conflating that Spring Breakers glorifies rape culture; even though, as The New Inquiry so sagely retorted, “to accuse Spring Breakers of propagating rape culture is tantamount to accusing Platoon of propagating war.” In the middle of all this controversy sits Harmony. Now 40, Korine is no longer the young maverick, the prodigy plucked from a life of stoned skating as a teenager by Larry Clark. He’s a father, now, and someone who may’ve just, due to

the success of his film, acquired some genuine Hollywood power. Yet Korine is hardly arrogant, or apologetic, or defiant in the midst of all this controversy. Instead, he’s just affable; denying any need to defend his film with a shrug. “I don’t need to defend the film, it defends itself,” Korine says. “I make the work until I feel like it’s perfect in the way that it exists, and then I put it out there.” How does it sit with him, personally, that Spring Breakers – and he himself – is being called sexist? “I think it’s great!” Korine beams, earnestly. “All reactions are perfect. I don’t ever make a film that’s ever meant to be one way. I can feel one thing, you can feel another thing that’s exactly the opposite. Who’s to say what’s right? I just hope you’re moved by them, you’re entertained. I’m just trying to make things beautiful.” Of course, ‘beauty’ is in the eye of the beholder; the poster for Trash Humpers, after all, infamously showed a man in a horror-store mask sitting on the toilet. Surely Korine must realise – must relish – that his role is as provocateur? “I don’t think of myself as a provocateur, because I don’t even think of myself!” he laughs. “I follow the light. There’s something that’s more purpose-driven that I follow... There’s certain things in the films that characters do that provoke. But to me it’s nice to have things that get a reaction, that make people feel a certain way; that make them confused, or excited, or outraged. But I don’t think of them as provocations, I just think of them as little gems.”

The genesis of Spring Breakers came when Korine started collecting “pictures of extreme debauchery on the beaches of Florida”; the excessive behaviour and flagrant bacchanalia of a ritual built on public drunkenness and hyper-sexualised inhibition: photos of college kids making their own porn, vomiting in the ocean, snorting the powdered sugar off donuts, flashing body-parts at passersby. Symbolically, spring break is televised by MTV – its coverage sponsored by various brands of liquor – as rite-of-passage for American kids, the next step on from a ‘super’ sweet 16 party; presented with a bubblegum façade plastered over a date-rapey culture. “It’s almost this classic iconic American imagery,” Korine offers, “but at the same time there’s this collision between this hypersexualised, hyper-violent ritual and the teenaged innocence that surrounds it, the pop indicators of youth: the nailpolish, the bathing suits, the Mountain Dew bottles, the kegs. I started seeing it as this coded language, and I wanted to use that language to make a film that was like a pop poem. It was never meant to be a documentary or an exposé of this debauched, immoral world, it’s far more an impressionistic portrait of its imagery.” Wanting the movie to play like a dream, or a “drug trip” at a trance-DJ set, Korine cuts the film up into a “liquid narrative” that swims this way or that, the slipperiness creating a surreal feeling that certainly suggests it’s a commentary on fantasy, not reality. Visually, it’s a radical

I WANTED THE MOVIE TO LOOK LIKE IT WAS LIT WITH CANDIES. I WANTED THE FILM TO SEEM LIKE WE’D USED SKITTLES FOR LENSES”

aboutface from the grimy pallor of Trash Humpers, which was shot in the dark on decaying VHS tape. Filmed on 35mm and then wildly colour-graded, Spring Breakers’ hyper-saturated palette plays a huge part in its detachment from reality. “I wanted the movie to look like it was lit with candies,” Korine enthuses. “I wanted the film to seem like we’d used skittles for lenses. The movie is about cultural surfaces, the way things look and feel. And all the mythology and meaning is the residue of those surfaces, the bleed of the candy. A lot of it was like painting: pushing all these neon colours and hues to create this hyper-insane realm.” But push Korine on what that abstraction and detachment mean, thematically, and again he defers. “I just try to be a good soldier of cinema,” he says. “It’s more instinct to me. I prefer not to say anything about the film definitely, that it’s this or that, because I don’t want to complete the act, to close the narrative. I make films that are put together in a way that they obviously invite extreme reactions, because they’re not telling you what to think. There are things in there that people find morally ambiguous, so they then become more of a reflection of the viewer. To me, that’s making a real personal connection with audiences. I want people’s reactions to be personal and interpretive, for it to be like an abstract painting: whatever you think is there is there if you believe it.” WHAT: Spring Breakers In cinemas Thursday 9 May

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REVIEWS WAT C H I N G

(MAD) MEN

GOOD

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD S6, E6 This Week On Mad Men: There’s awkward, then there’s seeing your father-in-law/$9mil client with a midtown whorehouse’s “biggest, blackest prostitute”. Personal/ professional pile-ups proliferate when Pete and Don detonate accounts with villains at Vicks and Jaguar; Pete knowing daddy-dear will dowse his flickering hopes of reigniting way-hot old-flame Trudy. With SCDP considering a Public Offer, bridge-burning’s bad timing, but Roger’s saucy stewardess ‘stings’ him in with Chevy as our Mad. Ave. Alpha Males trip ass-backwards into new business; leaving Joan feeling like a rented whore and Peggy an eternal underling. She’s woed by Abe’s Westside renos, dreaming of her smooch with Ted; but he’s busy batting his baby-blues at Don, that swinging-

SCARBOROUGH THEATRE The Honeytrap’s production of Scarborough explores the budding romantic relationship of a high school student and teacher. The play invites you to observe the obvious moral and logistical complications that occur. Walking into the Brunswick Arts space the audience encounters an exquisite set by Casey-Scott Corless. Hotel room furniture sits on top of 30cm of pure white sand and seating surrounds the set. Good seat choice is imperative, as sight lines are often obscured by props and actors. The script is fantastic, gently exploring the convoluted and dark subject matter, challenging the audience with a distinct delicacy and grace. We judge the protagonists harshly but ultimately

Pete Campbell’s PunchableWeasel-Face Watch: “It’s a marvel! Everyone wants you!” SCDP pimp Pete... flirts?... to Joan. Sterling One-Liner Of The Week: “Since we’re gonna be cellmates, why don’t we ask the screw for a couple of drinks?” Anthony Carew Screening every Monday night, 5.20pm and 8.30pm, on Showcase

Benjamin Meyer Brunswick Arts, to Saturday 18 May

mesmeric triptych. By focusing on men, women and ancestors, Blak both dissects and re-assembles the realities of clan tradition within an overarching context of modernity and, of course, Western theatre. More than that Blak is energetic, elegant and beautifully constructed. Powered by David Page and Paul Mac’s rumbling and evocative soundtrack and by the dual choreographic magic of Daniel Riley McKinley and Stephen Page, it draws you into a world of ritual, transformation and loss. However, it is far from funereal. Blak’s final third is a triumphant reconnection with the serpent of culture and country. Loaded up as they are with expectation and obligation, Bangarra deliver the theatrical goods with passionate and powerful aplomb. Paul Ransom Arts Centre to Saturday 11 May

WITH KIRSTEN LAW Have you ever felt so powerless against a television series that you’re compelled to watch all of the episodes back-to-back, to the detriment of anything else in your life? Perhaps you’ve slipped into a Breaking Bad coma, or tumbled into a Game Of Thrones vortex. (This week I nearly succumbed to America’s Next Top Model pox, but I don’t want to talk about it.) You know that yearning for the next episode that permeates your every waking HBO-addicted moment? That’s the kind of thing I feel about certain podcasts. It began in 2009 with Scott Aukerman’s Comedy Bang! Bang! – a cornucopia of celebrity guests and ‘surprise’ guests that are neither famous, nor sane (ie, characters to rival SNL in its heyday). The best thing about podcasts is that you can listen to them while you’re doing the dishes. Or driving. Or shopping for a Mother’s Day present. And that’s how I consumed CBB – all day, every day, for four hours a day until I’d caught up to the current episode. It was an era of consumption so great that I never anticipated it would happen again. But, this year it did, with Paul Gilmartin’s Mental Illness Happy Hour. If you like hearing successful people talk about their malfunctioning brains and you’re over WTF, it might be time to move onto MIHH*. On the local front, it seems like everyone’s dabbling in ’casting these days. It’s fun, it’s free-ish and, as Cock & Bull host Cathy Culliver says, it allows you to share your work with a larger audience. “It’s nice to know that listeners can’t and won’t ever miss a show,

Oh, it’s horrible. But as with a car accident, you keep looking at it through your fingers. The Malthouse’s production of Dance Of Death is an adaptation by Tom Holloway of the August Strindberg play from 1900 redrawn by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Reminiscent of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Dance Of Death shows the corruption of soul brought about by an antagonistic marriage. Alice and Edgar, isolated on their island home, are clever, vituperous and relentless in their tormenting of each other. The arrival of a third party, Kurt (David Paterson), a former beau of Alice’s, encourages the wretched couple to intensify their matrimonial war and Kurt is lured into the battle despite his initial efforts to remain neutral. This play

Despite the fact that Bangarra Dance Theatre are often judged by measures others than dance, on stage they pull it off. The three-part work Blak underscores this perfectly. It’s both a slickly executed piece of contemporary dance and a passionate evocation of aboriginality in 2013. Indeed, the artistic and cultural poles at work in Blak illustrate the central conundrum of Bangarra and, by extension, all indigenous Australians: what does aboriginal culture mean against the click-speed glare of a world obsessed with iSelf fetishism and sound economic management? Does it have currency and if so, what is its value? Once you burrow through the layers of history, though, what you get is a

Arcane & Able: “Everybody loves astronauts!” mock-beams Frank Gleason, ready to cash out on advertising and 1968.

the writing is so strong and the characters so relatable that it is impossible not to sympathise with them. Cast members perform strongly, adopting the mannerisms of their characters perfectly. Libby Brockman as Beth is a particular standout. Where the production falls down, however, is the decision to repeat the play but change the sex of the teacher and student. Whatever differences created by this choice are so subtle that they border on insignificant and ultimately you end up watching the exact same dialogue twice in quick succession. Scarborough, nevertheless, is challenging theatre about a controversial issue. It provides insight and for this alone it is well worth checking out.

DANCE OF DEATH THEATRE

BLAK DANCE

dick who’s “Tarzan swinging from vine to vine”. Some men love women, some love memos; and from Megan et maman Julia Ormond (maternal marital advice: “the only thought he should have at this meal is how quickly he can get between your legs”) to trumpeting a new über-agency, here comes both.

TIMING

is uncomfortable to experience, particularly as it underlines the limited power and few practical choices open to Alice, making a strong and incidental feminist statement. Holloway has blended the text with modern language, very smoothly on the whole, but it would be more effective with fewer expletives; here the shocking effect of the taboo words is diluted through their overuse. Jacek Koman and Belinda McClory scintillate as Edgar and Alice but there is some unsatisfying textural lack, some limitation to their respective ranges. The play is staged in a glass box (the proverbial fishbowl reference) with the audience on both sides. Dance Of Death offers a lot of laughs and many winces but doesn’t quite create the visceral impact it aspires to. Liza Dezfouli Malthouse Theatre to Sunday 19 May

C U LT U R A L

because they can just download it and listen when they’re ready,” she explains. In a way, podcasting is one of the most accessible public art forms, because all you need to do it, arguably, is a recording device and an internet connection. Good content is important, but good sound quality could be even more important. “Listening to a podcast recorded with poor quality audio can be very distracting,” says Culliver. I concur. Storytelling is one of the most podcast-friendly subject matters, as Culliver has discovered while recording live shows for the podosphere. “I’m hoping the podcast will help generate a bigger buzz around the storytelling movement in Australia, which I feel is still finding its feet,” she says. It does seem like time we had more podcasts like Risk and The Moth, which both have huge followings and prove a reciprocal relationship between live and recorded comedy and storytelling as podcast fans flock to live shows. And you, friends, can do just that right here in Melbourne after downloading Cock & Bull. Culliver and Jon Bennett run storytelling nights, Willow Tales in Northcote and Bazaar Tales in the CBD three times a month, with free entry! Now, take those buds out of your ears and live a little. *Public Health Warning: an MIHH abyss is not something you want to fall into. Limit yourself to three episodes a week. The Cock & Bull podcast is available fortnightly through iTunes; Willow Tales runs at Willow Bar in Northcote on the last Thursday of every month; and Bazaar Tales runs at Horse Bazaar on the first and third Tuesday of every month.

CRINGE

WITH REBECCA COOK Confession: I am a terrible wuss. See a Judd Apatow film that involves public defecation? Count me in. Sit through a musical about attempted assassinations of the US President? No sweat. But suggest we go see a documentary on the plight of starving or stolen children, and I’m home in front of Welsh whimsy Gavin & Stacey on the idiot box before you finish your question. The world seems bleak enough without knowing for sure about injustices around the world. So it was with great trepidation that I visited the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival (HRAFF) website to check out their program as the fest launches on Thursday this week. Another confession: over the years I have seen many media releases by the festival and quickly filed them away, not wanting to confront anything too difficult in my warm lounge room. Steeling myself, I read about opening night film, Alias Ruby Blade, a documentary that chronicles the birth of East Timor and the relationship between Kirsty Sword, an Australian activist, and the jailed leader of the Timorese resistance, Xanana Gusmao. With images of Robert Connolly’s Balibo flashing through my mind (which, to be honest, I only watched because it was the opening night film at the Melbourne International Film Festival one year), I reluctantly clicked on the video trailer. Heck, no wonder opening night is sold out and a limited additional release of tickets went in less than two

days (an encore screening is being arranged); the doco looks both mesmerising and thrilling. Sword-Gusmao are also guests of the fest and will be taking part in a Q&A after the screening. Emboldened, I watched more trailers. There was Love Free Or Die, another documentary about another trailblazer, Gene Robinson was the first openly gay bishop to be consecrated in the Christian world. Then the exposé on radical activist-turned FBI informant Brandon Darby, Informant caught my eye. Yes, I would go out of my way to see it. And while Sunkissed, about an investigation into the cause of unusual genetic disorder in the Navajo community, and William & The Windmill made me tear up, I didn’t feel depressed; instead, I felt inspired by these brave people. The only one I couldn’t force myself to watch was In The Shadow Of The Sun, about Josephat Torner, a man campaigning to protect fellow albinos, who are often ritually murdered, in Tanzania. It’s the closing night film on Thursday 23 May, which will be followed by a Q&A with the UK director, Harry Freeland AND Josephat Torner himself. Maybe I can work up to it, because it would be a shame to miss seeing a real life hero. That’s what I’ve learnt this fest is really about, the people who survive and thrive in (what we consider to be) extraordinary circumstances. I’ve had the wrong perception about the fest and that’s one wrong I can easily right, for starters. For program details head to hraff.org.au.

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 29

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is set. “She is vertical, upright,” Delhunty says, describing Sutton’s positioning onstage, “and the dress kind of extends across and around, and it ties in around on itself to restrict her movement, and then there’s a large white background, and all of the movement within the play is done through hand drawn animations projected over the space. So they’re integrated within the performance itself.”

IN THE ARMS OF SLEEP

TOO LEGIT TO QUIT Ahead of a soldout stand-up tour, Jim Jefferies talks to Baz McAlister about fatherhood, making it in LA and his sitcom Legit. Sydney-born comedian Jim Jefferies wasn’t always beloved in his home country. It was only when he moved to the UK around the year 2000 that his darkly charismatic larrikin humour hit home. He’s more regarded here as a ‘shock comic’, even now the rest of the world loves him; he recalls one review from the Melbourne Comedy Festival a couple of years ago that began with the disgusted sentence “I thought this was supposed to be an arts festival”. But Jefferies’ loyal and growing Aussie fanbase has ensured his upcoming whirlwind homeland tour is completely sold out before he even takes the stage. His life has changed – the Jim he is onstage, the guy with the wild, true stories about taking disabled friends to brothels and rampant alcoholism, is a front. He’s doing well. He’s lived in LA for four years now. He’s got a stable relationship and a beautiful six-month-old baby boy. And his wilder days have been chronicled in his recent critically acclaimed breakout TV sitcom Legit, which has just finished airing its 13 episodes in the US and been renewed for a second series. The only problem is his die-hard fans now think he’s betrayed them. “People who watch the TV show and see me in a shopping mall in America with my son, they look at me like I’m a fraud, like I’ve made the show up,” Jefferies laughsFor Legit, Jefferies has dramatised some of his best-known stand-up bits. He plays a skewed version of himself, a comic trying to make it in LA. “How many decades did it take before we figured out that a comedian didn’t have to play a mailman, or a fireman... just let funny people be themselves,” he says. In the show he rooms with a childhood friend and his brother, who has muscular dystrophy. That was a way in to a sharply-written, tender yet funny portrayal of the wider disabled community.

Insomnia Cat Came To Stay is a play about insomnia stretched to the point of mania. Director Danny Delahunty talks to Zoe Barron about how one might represent that sort of thing on stage.

“We thought it was going to be our biggest problem, that we’d get a lot of flak,” Jefferies says. “But the opposite happened. We’re now seen as this sappy show, almost. We are the number one employer of disabled actors in Hollywood. It’s not a joke, we really are. There’s an agency that only takes care of disabled actors and they normally just hire them out for public service announcements, and Hallmark movies where there’s this poor Down syndrome kid who’s being picked on at school – never for a comedy. And we’ve used all of them!” When Jefferies returns to LA after his Australian tour he plans to bunker down and start writing Legit’s second series, limiting himself to two stand-up gigs a month while putting in 50-hour writing weeks. At the end he’ll reward himself with some ‘big bookings’ in the US – “I can’t tell you where, but think of the most famous place in New York,” he teases, “then go down one step.” He plans to adapt more of his stand-up into scripts for the show, possibly bringing in his parents – and who knows, maybe even an analogy for baby son Hank. It seems, though, he has firmly and happily settled into LA life. “I have a house now in the Hollywood Hills, and it’s all very wanky and stuff, but LA is a fun place... if you’ve made it,” he laughs. “I think it could be the most horrible place in the world if you were struggling. Just to be in the business and have an agent and support and all that stuff is a lot easier than if you went over there and just tried to get a leg in somewhere. I assume it’s a fucking nightmare. I would have hated to start doing stand-up in America. In England, you do a show, every comic gets $200. Happy days, we all have the same money, let’s go drinking and meet girls. In America, one comic gets $5000, one gets $100 and one gets $10. That’s how bitching happens. There’s no camaraderie in that dressing room!” WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 May, Comics Lounge Legit will air in Aust. (date TBA)

30 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

When director Danny Delahunty was brought on to direct Insomnia Cat Came To Stay in 2011, writer Fleur Kilpatrick gave him some pretty broad boundaries. “When I got brought on to the project,” Delahunty explains, “the writer said she wanted to make something of it but she wasn’t sure what, and I said, ‘Leave it to me’. So that was when I took what had essentially started as almost a cabaret show, and we got an animator involved to create projection art for the piece.” Bringing animator Thomas Russell to the project was the first step in many on the way to creating an eclectic, often intense piece of theatre built from a fusion of

music, projected animation and performance. The play is the story of Kilpatrick’s experience of chronic insomnia, and was initially created from her diary entries during a particularly acute bout of the affliction. As such, the piece is quite surreal in its execution. It relies heavily on Russell’s visuals, Sarah Walker’s set design, and a soundscape created by composer Roderick Cairns to replicate the strange, waking dream state of severe sleep deprivation. “It was such an evocative script,” says Delahunty. “The images that she was painting, they were so visceral in the text, I just wanted to double-handle that. I really wanted to give us the experience

Danny Delahunty that she’s having.” The script had very little scope for movement onstage, so Delahunty’s first step was to play on this and restrict movement completely, essentially tying actor Joanne Sutton to the set. To do this, he put her in a large white dress that turned into a bed, which is where much of the play

These images are meant to represent what is going on in the head of the insomnia-crazed protagonist. This is how Kilpatrick experienced insomnia, and it is through her personal experience that the story is told. “It’s an extremely accurate representation of one person’s experience of sleep deprivation. And it’s pretty clear within the play itself that it is her experience, and the way she expresses it is through things such as, ‘I’m a chronic storyteller; I can’t stop myself from lying in bed and making up stories and seeing images’. Obviously, not everyone who has insomnia has that particular affliction.” Still, it is a personal account of a fairly universal experience. “It’s funny, the amount of people you get involved with on a project and then they just in casual conversation go, ‘Yeah, yeah, I suffer from insomnia’,” Delahunty says. And this is how Quiet Little Fox, the theatre company that produced the piece, likes to tell their stories. “Rather than make it a play about a disease, it’s about a woman suffering from that disease. That’s kind of where Quiet Little Fox theatre come from – they like to tell the individual stories behind the big issues.” WHAT: Insomnia Cat Came To Stay WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 11 to Saturday 18 May, The Malthouse

HUMAN RIGHTS ARTS & FILM FESTIVAL

The Imposter

WITH ANTHONY CAREW The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, now entering its sixth year, has quietly staked out an important place in the local cinematic calendar, earning its stripes as one of the best curated festivals in the country. The festival’s brief is vague enough that it can select films based not solely on their social worth, but on their cinematic merit. That means it can find a place for The Informant, a fascinating cinematic study of the life of Brandon Darby, streetkid turned radical activist turned FBI snitch turned, well, we’ll save that coda for the film. Echoing the oeuvre of Errol Morris – and, more recently, Bart Layton’s muchloved The Imposter – it sets Darby down for a to-camera interview, and dramatically recreates his testimony. But the subject is the most unreliable of narrators, and the film becomes – beyond its innate debate about the extent of radicalism and the self-justifying entrapments of anti-terrorist organisations – a fascinating study of the invented narratives people use to skew their view of ‘reality’. The Informant is the clear standout of HRAFF’s 2013 slate, but there’s

Ombline plenty to recommend. Amongst its documentaries are the killer William And The Windmill, in which a Malawian teen builds windmills to bring electricity and irrigation to his village, then finds his ‘inspirational’ story turning him into a pseudocelebrity in America, leaving him ‘lost’ between two worlds. In The Shadow Of The Sun chronicles the lives of albinos in Tanzania, who live in fear of being abducted and dismembered by witch-doctors. And Words Of Witness is a casually astonishing chronicle of a 22-yearold Egyptian girl cutting her teeth as journalist during the Arab Spring, feeling the weight of her chosen profession at the fulcrum of history. Rawer is a fascinating film showing a Dutch mother raising her son on a hardcore raw food diet, which earns the ire of health authorities. Love Free Or Die follows Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly ‘out’ gay minister campaigning for change within the hierarchy of the Anglican/ Episcopal church. Go Grandriders is for people who like things ‘inspirational’: in which a crew of 80/90-something Taiwanese seize the dwindling days of their lives and ride around China on motorcycles. Eddie Adams: Saigon ’68 is only 17 minutes long, but it raises enough

Eddie Adams: Saigon ’68 questions for HRAFF to stage a table discussion; its look at one of photojournalism’s most iconic images filled with endless questions about the power of photography and its slippery relationship with truth. And Walk Away Renee is decade-on ‘sequel’ to the awful Tarnation, the best moments when Jonathan Caouette stops making music-video montages of old home video, and has his schizophrenic mother shot in classic observationist fashion. The narrative features are weaker, in comparison, but still of interest: Ombline a fearsome French drama about a mother raising her newborn

son behind bars; My Brother The Devil updates the kitchen-sink drama to the council-estate drama, with a tale of Arab-English siblings torn between ghetto legalities and family loyalties; Xingu a based-ona-true-story tale from mid-20thcentury central Brazil, in which brothers on the frontier of cultural ‘expansion’ work in peaceable cooperation with the varying native Indian tribes. And Zarafa is a piece of genuinely sweet animation; a dignified family-friendly fable about the first giraffe ever brought into fin-de-siècle France that, suitably, aches with warm-hearted humanity.

URGENT!

LISTINGS CLOSING

be where the POWER is! for new or renewed listings www.themusic.com.au/amid 31

GIG OF THE WEEK

THE RECHORDS SATURDAY, WORKERS Born in 2009, The ReChords are one of those local outfits that ooze what it is to be part of the Melbourne Music community – the type of band that’ll seemingly just turn up at your local to bust out a couple of sets and get the place moving on a Friday night. Their hillbilly country swing is as polished as their immaculate shoes and their delivery as sharp as their pressed suits and hair. They are a class act and they have a new EP to share with you this Saturday at the Workers Club. With The Drey Rollan Band from Sydney and Cherrywood also on the bill, this ain’t just a gig – it’s an event. Get on down from 8.30pm.

FRONTLASH STANK YOU

Tame Impala’s cover of OutKast’s Prototype for triple j’s Like A Version. Is there anything these boys can’t do? Kevin Parker keeps a straight face singing, “Stank you smelly much,” and how’s Nick Allbrook’s vocal parts? Truly ruling at life. Matt & Kim

OH MERCI BEAUCOUP The Amity Affliction Pics by Andrew Briscoe the strength of this band’s live set two albums into their musical career illustrates their on-themark songwriting. The Brisvegas four-piece warm dancing bodies right up and many revellers get an early start with the festival ground already nearing capacity. The ground is littered with those plastic Smirnoff hipflasks (already drained), a coupla movie tickets and (seriously) a pack of contraceptive pills (thankfully only the sugar pills remain).

Tame Impala

GROOVIN’ THE MOO

PRINCE OF WALES SHOWGROUND, BENDIGO: 04/05/13 The traffic congestion down Bendigo’s main drag makes the annual Groovin’ The Moo festival impossible to ignore. Sharp-dressed tourists hang outside motor inns and it’s immediately clear there will be many young ‘ladies’ wearing casual layers, but with makeup and hair fit for a prom, onsite today. Leading up to the festival entrance there’s some amateur graf decorating partitions, which suggests a community initiative. A thorough bag search sees a fella ask the question, “Any pens?” as he peers inside. Pity the old-school pen and paper reviewers! While hasty animal onesie purchases are finalised (cows are still the most popular, for obvious reasons), Hungry Kids Of Hungary warm up the Moolin Rouge tent, setting a high standard from the get-go (it’s just past midday). Old favourites such as Let You Down sit proudly alongside excellent new song When Yesterday’s Gone and hearing

Urthboy brings the early b-b-bounce to the outdoor triple j stage with a medley that includes Blur’s Song 2 (“WHOO-Hoo!”). His own The Signal (featuring the sweet, “Please come home” sample) turns the paddock into a trampoline. Jane Tyrrell singing the hooks live really gives the Urthboy live experience a winning edge. Matt & Kim up the ante, bringing party-rockin’ vibes to the adjoining Channel [V] stage. Kim Schifino drums like a demon and her impressive guns prove she spends a lot of time pummelling her kit. Matt Johnson throws confetti into the crowd and it spreads so far that he must’ve been a javelin champion at college. When multi-coloured balloons are thrown into the crowd for the punters to blow up and brandish, the effect is spectacular. They are the cool LMFAO. When Seth Sentry arrives on the adjacent stage, it’s a bit of a case of: ‘Where’s the balloons?’ His underdog hip hop is well received – especially The Waitress Song and My Scene – but we’ve already seen so many bells and whistles today that we’re ready for pyros. Making the pilgrimage back to Moolin Rouge, and warmth, The Amity Affliction pull a massive crowd of fanatics who belt out every lyric with appropriately emotive facial expressions. They may be from Gympie, Queensland, but they perform like international heavyweights and are received as such. The alternating vocals of Joel Birch and bassist Ahren Stringer sees each strive for a better crowd reaction when it comes to their respective part and this oneupmanship adds to the electrifying atmosphere. A Pikachu onesie-wearing bloke crowd-surfs and this fittingly illustrates the looseness this band have encouraged throughout their stellar set. Back out to the brrreezy conditions (those Groovin’ The Moo printed tights must be raking in the dough at the merch) and Alpine are bringing their breathy harmonics to the [V] stage. Co-frontladies Phoebe Baker and Lou James compete for the unhinged dancing title and if you shut your eyes, Alpine’s

music really does conjure mountainous vistas. Far from just supplying music that’s pleasant to do the spring cleaning to, Alpine are a more danceable concern live as best demonstrated by Gasoline. Most females in attendance sport unflattering, high-waisted Lycra disco pants and then there’s that gurner whose embroidered beanie reads “Comme de Fuckdown”. YACHT play a phenomenal upbeat set in Moolin Rouge, injecting some class into proceedings. Frontvixen Claire L Evans looks smokin’ in a long white lace dress with visible short black slip underneath and Second Summer is like a call to the wild with its video game blips and cheeky lyrics “…Can you stand by your man?/After shit, shit hits the fan.” Next up on this stage is Pez, who labels the Bendigo massive “Bendies”. Seth Sentry gets up for a feat. and leads a Happy Birthday singalong for Pez, later revealing it was actually the rapper’s birthday yesterday. The Festival Song was always gonna be today’s festival game-changer and it’s time for some after-five fun and frivolity. Wandering past a “No Horses Beyond This Point” sign (really!) and back out into the open, They Might Be Giants are owning the triple j stage. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) makes us wish we’d headed out here sooner for more of their quirky steez. From the moment Tame Impala step onto the [V] stage, the punters are in raptures. Frontman Kevin Parker’s trademark beseeching lyrics in opener Solitude Is Bliss – “You will never come close to how I FEE-eel” – speak to many teens experiencing that painful rite of passage: unrequited lovesickness. The Perth multi-instrumentalist virtuosos play their ‘what just happened?’ version of Elephant straight into Feels Like We Only Go Backwards and the Bendigo Groovin’ The Moo massive are rendered powerless. Even if you’ve seen this outfit gazillion times, you’ll eagerly await every twist and turn of their set. Their riffs are the musical equivalent of a bargepole manned by six burly Scotsman bursting unexpectedly through your front door. Canadian indie rockers Tegan and Sara are up next on the triple j stage and suffer by comparison. Walking With A Ghost rouses some excitement but the glowsticks and hands in the air over yonder in Moolin Rouge beckon. Oh, of course! It’s Flume o’clock. And what an amazing year and a half this young producer, Harley Streten, has had, with

Alex Gow singing in French for the Melodie Francais project. Veuillez oui!

CHICKEN TONIGHT A Current Affair, we salute you and cannot wait for The Chicken Boy special: “I can take him out anywhere. I can do anything with him,” enthuses the lady on the ad. This one looks almost as good as the M-Cat one.

BACKLASH BLONDE PROMO

Shouldn’t Robert ‘Millsy’ Mills have been removed from all Legally Blonde The Musical promo considering he’s no longer playing Warner Huntington III in the blockbuster musical?

BONKERS COLLAB Robbie Williams will feature on the lead single from Dizzee Rascal’s upcoming The Filth set. The single’s called Goin’ Crazy (sequel to Bonkers?) and the video clip sees the pair riding mobility scooters. Haven’t heard it yet, but we miss Fix Up, Look Sharp Dizzee!

TWAT IN A HAT Timmy Trumpet and his collection of twat hats. Just don’t. four songs listed in the latest triple j Hottest 100. The standard ‘How much is he actually doing up there and how much is it just press play, dance and tweet’ beefs apply. Sure, there are impressive visuals to look at if you’re up close enough (or on shoulders) and Holdin’ On (“HIPshakin’ mumma I love you”) would make a statue dance. Flume closing with his take on Hermitude’s HyperParadise is also a stroke of brilliance. There’s a much needed lift back to Melbourne to catch and so we say adieu to Bendigo for another year. But not before loitering at the signing tent to watch Tame Impala, pens poised (how did these get smuggled in past security?). Seeing the faces on the kids as they walk away from Kevin Parker and co., clutching their freshly signed items, is heartwarming and yet another reason why this festival rules. Next year, freshly polished black biker boots will be traded in for gum boots. And maybe an overnight stay can be booked in the night prior to capitalise on that $16.95 all-you-can-eat buffet at the local Pizza Hut. Bryget Chrisfield

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 33

Thurston Moore at the Arts Centre, replete with a harp, and it was stunning. Tonight, the harp is gone but his band retains two drumkits. Keyboard, bass and violin and occasional cello support from Jessica Says round it out. Ryan has a gentle charm, admitting he doesn’t have much to say on stage. His guitar playing is stunning as usual and his voice sounds stronger. He has released the songs with more grunt as singles – The Cannibal Club and the string heavy, Spanish oomph of Red Eyed Birds. But it is the quietly captivating Building A Snowman that has the most impact. He finishes with the Cohen-esque The World Is Ending, and the ultimate in low-key gigs evaporates. Kate Kingsmill

CAMPERDOWN & OUT, MAD NANNA, OCEAN PARTY, NERVOUS TOTE: 26/04/13

The Bronx Pic by Kane Hibberd

THE BRONX, VIOLENT SOHO CORNER: 30/04/13 Violent Soho’s reputation precedes them to the point where the Corner is heaving and chockers before they’ve even arrived on stage. There’s a lot of hair being flung about up there and the band’s short, aggressive outbursts of songs – probably best exemplified by Jesus Stole My Girlfriend – make the perfect opening act with the punters appropriately salivating for The Bronx by set’s end. The girth of average The Bronx fans is such that they should only have sold one quarter of the usual Corner capacity tonight. Shitty Future comes early on and bald, squat frontman Matt Caughthran – who gives hope to those who ain’t genetically blessed ‘cause he’s pretty cool regardless – paces the width of the stage like a caged big cat. After asking us what day it is – “TUESday!” – Caughthran counters, “In rock’n’roll it can only ever be Friday or Saturday,” and then tosses a coin to decide which. Turns out it’s ‘Saturday’. Youth Wasted, the lead single from the band’s new album, attracts no crowd surfers, which is kind of like The Bronx barometer for what’s hot (or not). Maybe fans are still recovering from the song’s Magic Mikeesque flimclip (we reckon it’s choice). Caughthran, who tells us he’s come a long way since Pocket Full Of Lint, that Christian band he was in when he was a teen, is a bona fide banter expert who imparts his message with preacher-man charisma. He assures us The Bronx do exactly what they want, not what’s expected of them, then demands he be crowd-surfed onto a high bench that circles a pole several metres from the stage. Meanwhile, a random lady dressed in black stage invades, more than filling the space Caughthran has left vacant. White Guilt “goes out to the Catholic girls”, the throng goes wild and crowd-surfers’ shoes escape from feet. “Our hearts will stop if we don’t play fuckin’ music, man,” Caughthran shares, all earnest-like. He hands his microphone to a front-row punter who, surprisingly, belts out some classic Vanessa Williams: “You’re gonna save the best for last.” As always with The Bronx, it’s a riveting, exhilarating show from go to “WOO-HOO!” But we’re left with one gripe: after admitting he caught Black Sabbath’s show the night prior, Caughthran indulges in a 20-second impersonation of Ozzy Osbourne’s between-song geeups. It’s downright cruel and, apart from the fact that we doubt Caughthran even had to pay for his Sabbath ticket, there’s no mention of how incredible the band sounded or their legendary contribution to music. Unwise move, brother! Let’s see what sort of capacity arena crowds YOU’RE performing in front of aged 64. Bryget Chrisfield

Frankie Gionfriddo, who personally goes up to punters yelling in their face, “Give me an ARGGGHHHH!!!!!” Mammoth Mammoth lead singer Mikey Tucker also employs a similar version of audience interaction many a time, jumping down into the crowd to give very practical demonstrations of how to mosh. His screeching, high-energy vocals epitomise the no bullshit rock style of guitar, bass, drums and a whole lot of head bashing. Everyone gets involved, from the subtle affirmation bang of “yeah man, that’s real good man” to the full body affair of air guitar, swirling hair and a whole bunch of flexible lanky glory. Apart from the very unwelcome interruption of the creepy flying robot camera, Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk go down a treat, with long bluesy solos, infectious slow rhythms and guttural choruses. His a cappella number is ballsy but pays off wonderfully, being one of the highlights of the afternoon. Matt Sonic & The High Times exhibit some nice dreamy melodies but are a little too pop-punk for the Cherry vibe. Furthermore, the lead singer’s almost desperate pleas to get the audience to make more noise get annoying. However, extra special props must be given these guys for being the only band with a female member who make it on the bill after 5pm. When King Parrot take the stage it is like being punched in the face by an epileptic fit. “Let’s see some fucking moshing! If you need to wake up here is some water!” yells lead singer Youngy just before throwing two litres of water into the first 12 rows of revelers. Their music is characterised by double bass kicks, impossibly fast guitar riffs and ear-splittingly vitriolic hate. These guys are definitely one of the best thrash outfits going around. Truckfighters deliver the goods, living up to their slogan of being “probably the best band in the world”. Their music represents everything that is great about the prog-rock genre: interesting riffs and great rhythms that deliver a wall of sound that never gets tired or boring. Dango’s and Ozo’s double stage dive is the perfect way to conclude the set. Headliners Unida don’t really follow up on the groundswell of positivity left by Truckfighters. Bristling guitar riffs from Arthur Seay and clear high pitched vocals from John Garcia do create an electric vibe in the crowd, however. It is this buzz that everyone takes home as they stumble out of the lane and are swallowed again by the big bad CBD.

Headliners Camperdown & Out are a poppy garage rock outfit with a pleasantly recognisable Australian indie-rock sound reminiscent of contemporaries Boomgates or Twerps, though these guys hail from sunny Sydney. They open with the endearingly locally set Manly; a grabbing, lo-fi tune and the perfect icebreaker. The band have a relaxed and unpretentious back and forth relationship with the crowd, especially guitarist Roche who encourages his Northern Queensland mates in the crowd to misbehave. His vocal style is quite conversational as opposed to melodic, and this suits the casual, garage vibe of the band. Another highlight is the chordy Down And Out; a good demonstration of the band’s fun, self-effacing ethos. All together it’s an even set; steadily paced with a solid chord-driven, synthy sound and boppy tunes.

Sure, Osbourne stays close to the mic most of the time, relying on a teleprompter, but his vocal gusto is still relatively intact. And he’s hilarious. “Come on you fuckers! Let’s go!” he enthuses and jumps and claps simultaneously to garner momentum, much like a toddler. There’s oodles of (waterproof) guyliner and the frontman constantly splashes his head with water from a bucket at the foot of the drum riser. He later empties the bucket over the front rows with glee. Osbourne’s shuffle to the sides of the stage is hilair. Iommi’s guitar work in Electric Funeral is unparalleled. Going “back to the very beginning”, Osbourne introduces Black Sabbath, as warped letters spelling out the song’s title grace the massive gilt framed back screen that’s the centrepiece of a triumvirate. During Butler’s solo that closes Behind The Wall Of Sleep, his fingers resemble tarantula legs scurrying up and down the frets. A new track Methademic – from the deluxe tracklisting of Sabbath’s forthcoming 13 set – receives a world premiere airing and demonstrates this band are certainly not slowing down with its carnivalesque riffs and Butler’s impossibly fast fingering. Osbourne loves a “CUCkoo!” call and response in between songs. And what is that he’s swigging out of that giant teacup? The visuals are trippy (with plenty of bare titties) during Fairies Wear Boots and it’s hard to believe this song was released 43 years ago. The three veteran members leave the stage and it’s Clufetos’ turn to solo. Is he the fastest drummer in the world or what? These beats are so close together they almost merge into the one! A circle pit forms during Iron Man with its devastating double whammy melody. Vocals follow the guitar line and it’s no wonder Iommi’s fingertips are all band aided up. Another newbie God Is Dead? showcases an intricate, galloping drum pattern. Osbourne constantly yells, “I can’t fucking hear you!” and gives a dude on shoulders in the crowd the double thumbs up. Main set closer Children Of The Grave inspires mass pogoing and then our metal gods leave the stage.

While Camperdown & Out and all their supports are strong and entertaining in their own right and particular genres, the crowd can certainly feel the incongruity of the acts – chosen perhaps for their individual flairs rather than for a consistent, crowd-targeted bill.

Osbourne hilariously leads a “one more song” chant from offstage and then warns us we have to go “that fucking extra mile” if they return to the stage. We’re treated to an awesomely extended Paranoid during which a grumpy old coot whacks this scribe on the back and mouths, “Siddown!” from his seated position. Nope. One must always obey the talent over the punter. Besides, his legs obviously work since he’s sent scurrying up the stairs even before the applause subsides.

Stephanie Tell

Bryget Chrisfield

TOFF IN TOWN: 27/04/13

At their second time performing at the festival, Melbourne act Barbariön do their best to get everyone into the mood for rock. They are an incredibly tight band; however, once you get over the gimmicky aspects of a whole bunch of scantily-clad white dudes of varying levels of fitness hip-thrusting to their own version of Viking rock, you realise that their music is a little bit dull. Especially for 3pm. Kudos must be given to singer

Jessica Says: the cello, the French lyrics, the pretentious falsetto… We can’t escape it because we’ve just bought a round of drinks too big to scull. Plus one describes it as Tori Amos on welfare – genius. The upside is the relief when Ryan glides onto the stage without a word. He starts with the track that also opens the album, the beautiful and haunting Out Of Africa, alone on stage with his guitar. He played this a few months ago supporting

34 • For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews

Next the again starkly different Mad Nanna perform an intriguing grungy set with super long bouts of dissonant, instrumental lo-fi. The band are casual, laid-back slackers whose jarring elongated sections and genre-fitting off-notes seem to put some of the crowd at ill-ease, and others to sleep on the bandroom floor. However, for a crowd here to see the jangly Camperdown & Out, it’s no surprise that Man Nanna’s winning ‘90s emo sound seems to jar with the audience (though again, Roche devotedly parties for one in front of the stage before his turn to perform arrives).

It looks like the scene is set to shoot Sons Of Anarchy along Olympic Boulevard tonight – motorcycles galore. Official photographers at this event are advised that they should only enter the pit on the understanding that they, together with their photographic equipment, may well get “hit with a bucket of water from Ozzy”. As rumbling bass is felt through boots, there’s a rush through turnstiles. Oh, crap! They’re opening with War Pigs! Bolt for the designated doors. It’s a great audience participation song and Ozzy Osbourne sure puts his crowd to work with constant requests to clap along, point skywards or wave our arms from side to side (sometimes all three in the one song). The mighty combination of Tommy Iommi and Geezer Butler and their ridiculously rapidfire power chords makes us swoon. Touring drummer Tommy Clufetos ain’t no slouch either.

KIERAN RYAN, JESSICA SAYS

On a typically bleary Melbourne Sunday afternoon CherryRock13 sees brethren of the rock genre crowd into AC/DC lane for a plethora of acts covering most styles of rock. With every main-stage act making some mention/hilarious joke about the construction company Merkon (who have conveniently placed a sign directly above the stage advertising the brand new shiny building they are constructing) the festival has an uneasy vibe to it, with many wondering if this last little grungy corner of the CBD will be able to survive the waves of gentrification that are still to come.

AC/DC LANE: 06/05/13

Ocean Party are a distinct change, meticulously getting their sound right beforehand for a gentle, dreamy performance. Their set incorporates watery distortion with pensive melodies and wandering, feathery keyboard notes paired with three guitars and no bass. They’re floaty rather than hard driven; their songs building lightly rather than powerfully. However, their pleasant, atmospheric sound gets Camperdown & Out’s Nathan Roche swooning at front of stage.

ROD LAVER ARENA: 29/04/13

Benjamin Meyer

Considering Kid Sam were such deserved darlings of the live scene in Melbourne, it’s surprising this gig hasn’t sold out. With that band on suspension, this is the launch gig for the hugely talented guitarist and vocalist Kieran Ryan’s solo album. There was a strange, intangible magic to the music of Kid Sam, which has evaporated in Kieran Ryan’s solo work. His eponymous record has a different kind of charm. This material is less ethereal, and is much more steeped in the classic mode of songwriting a la Leonard Cohen or The Triffids. The Toff is a lovely venue for it, but oddly it’s so low key in here it’s almost no key. At least the walls won’t fall down – people are holding them up on both sides, spreading the chairs along the sides, leaving a chasm in the middle of the room in which people end up sitting, cross legged. It is, after all, music to shut your eyes and sway your head to.

CHERRYROCK13

Openers for the night are gritty five-piece Nervous, a fast and loud noise-pop outfit combining various undistorted punk elements. For a first set in a night of four acts, Nervous get the crowd jumping and shouting, while vocalist James McLean yowls into the mic. McLean is an energetic frontman with a strong personality, moshing with punters as best as humanly possible from up on stage.

BLACK SABBATH

Black Sabbath Pic by Kane Hibberd

Tool Pic by Kane Hibberd

TOOL ROD LAVER ARENA: 27/04/13 “So how many people from the footy club are here tonight?” This overheard query while inspecting the external merch stand speaks volumes about Tool’s demographic. Then a dude whips out his Tool tatt to show some strangers. Mammoth queues for the men’s toilets when there is virtually no wait for the ladies is further evidence that Tool attract a sausage sizzle. Not only are they conducting bag searches at the turnstiles, but also hand-held metal detector procedures are in place so all must adopt the mid-star jump stance. A DJ set as support act? Not really sure about that. A throbbing heartbeat intro gets us in the appropriate ‘horror’ state of mind for this alt.metal four-piece’s multi-sensory performance. As soon as the band members materialise, a roar akin to what you’d imagine accompanied the final, murderous blow to a gladiatorial contest at the Colosseum goes up. Band leader Maynard James Keenan can’t ever accurately be labelled as ‘frontman’ since he lurches and lunges, menacingly, from side to side upstage in line with Danny Carey’s gargantuan drum kit. Keenan looks like he’s landed on stage via time machine, direct from the ‘90s with his mohawk, aviators and ‘designer’ frayed jeans. During opener Hooker With A Penis, not only are there air guitarists in the house, but also air drummers proudly pelting their invisible skins to prove their knowledge of these constantly shifting time signatures. Tool’s guitar techs sport white lab coats and the venue security guards do an amazing job policing the “no photography” rule. They shine torches at every smartphone that’s held in the air and an uncooperative punter who keeps on filming is ejected from the venue. Guitarist Adam Jones doubles as art director and his visuals are like National Geographic on crack. Schism (“I KNOW THE PIECES FIT!”) takes us there and many geeks jizz in their pants. As Justin Chancellor’s bass rumbles bother our spleens, onscreen imagery of sewn together Frankenstein creatures interspersed with what looks like footage of human insides from an endoscope camera make us glad we skipped dinner. Chancellor looks like the ghost of Sovereign Hill, outlaw chic, and sways in a trance-like state as he plays. An eerie sound effect signals intermission, making us feel as though we could be abducted by aliens at any moment. There’s also a handy countdown to act

two on the screens. Tool return to the stage while many blokes are still in the foyer battling toilet queues. Sinister, insidious visuals continue to colour our future nightmares. Closer Stinkfist is the clear set highlight this evening, perfectly showcasing these virtuosos. Fans screech out lyrics and toss their heads about as if the music’s entered their souls: “Constant over stimulation numbs me/But I would not want you any other way.” After genuinely appreciative bowing and saluting while soaking up our applause, Tool leave the stage. “That was some different shit, man,” announces a neighbour in the crowd. Cue house lights. Katy Perry’s Wide Awake is played over the venue soundsystem. This sends Tool fans scurrying toward their nearest exit in great haste. Bryget Chrisfield

VANCE JOY, ALI BARTER NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB: 27/04/13 Okay, so Sunday night isn’t a traditional night to be heading out to the pub to catch a live gig. It’s been a big weekend, filled with late nights, footy matches and back-breaking gardening, but with the prospect of some great local music on the cards, it’s time to get out of the tracksuit pants and put a clean shirt on one last time before the working week takes over. At 8.30pm meandering through the door of the Northcote Social Club, it’s clear that more than a few other people have had similar ideas. She’s 15 minutes late onto the stage, but Ali Barter commands the audience’s attention from the moment she steps into the spotlight. Without getting too worked up about her appearance (catcalls of “you’re gorgeous” do that enough), one thing is certain: she has very clean hair. Which is apt, as her 40-minute set, accompanied by Oscar Dawson of the now-defunct Dukes Of Windsor on guitar, is also very clean and clear. Barter’s voice is beautiful; on songs like Marigold it is nigh unstoppable, but unfortunately, and admittedly, she is exhausted on stage, which does little to lift the mood in the room. That’s not to say that the audience aren’t encapsulated – they totally are – with nary a whisper able to be heard during her impressive set. At 9.40pm Vance Joy and his band take to the stage. Opening up with the beautiful track Emmylou, once more the crowd seems in awe of the music, listening with such intent you could hear a pin drop. The

Melbourne-based lad cuts a striking figure on stage, standing a solid 6’2” with a mop of brown curls atop his head, yet despite his farm/surfer boy-next-door appearance, his voice belies a definitive tenderness.

AEROSMITH, WOLFMOTHER, GRINSPOON

Given this is his third sold-out show in the past 24 hours (with a fourth scheduled for two days’ time), it’s unsurprising how crystal clear the sound is, but still, many congratulations must go to “Clint” behind the mixing desk. Joy’s band, too, is right on song, working in the background like a well-oiled machine. He’s at his best when the band are firing too; a three-song acoustic bit mid-set isn’t as strong as the rest, especially a somewhat unconvincing rendition of Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark.

There’s plenty of room on the hill when we wander down and take our seats in time for Grinspoon. The band have still got it and Pat Davern’s guitar wizardry doesn’t go unnoticed. Tracks such as Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills and More Than You Are stand up and Phil Jamieson’s a captivating frontman. He jokes about wearing “Iain Hewiston suspenders”, but they look rad and match the red cup from which he imbibes.

Recalling David Gray in his vocal delivery (too much tremolo, but totally makes up for it with quality falsetto), Joy burns through songs from his debut EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing, finishing with lead single Riptide to a very happy audience. It’s 10.30pm when he’s done; perfect for a school night. Dylan Stewart

KING TUFF, SCOTDRAKULA TOTE: 28/04/13 After a rock’n’roll cruise down the Yarra on Anzac Day, cult garage antagonist King Tuff returns to solid ground at the Tote tonight. Main support comes from local trio Scotdrakula. Part drawling proto-punk, part Thee Oh Sees, these guys nail their interplay with the volume pushing into overdrive. The charming Canadian wit combined with the high performance intensity of guitarist and vocalist Matt Neumann is the perfect mood setter and they manage to entice a considerable crowd from the courtyard. There are some true winners in their set and when they turn on the harmonies for a few soulful cuts they sound like the complete package. King Tuff hit the stage with main attraction (all the way from the USA) Kyle Thomas flanked by the exuberant Magic Jake on bass and his drummer Gary. Thomas is wearing a black denim vest with his own moniker emblazoned across the shoulders, and with his beady eyes peeking out from under his Dodgers cap, he launches into Dancing On You, the first cut from his infamous debut Was Dead. Dirtier than on record, it sets the tone for the rest of the night as the band run through songs from his debut and last year’s self-titled effort in quick succession.

SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL: 28/04/13

Putting on a floppy, black-felt chick’s hat is a mistake made by Andrew Stockdale, although the svelte frontman’s arse always looks smokin’ in a pair of Wranglers. And what Wolfmother bring is always world class. There’s a catfight in the mosh with one casualty given her marching orders. Attention local ‘heroes’ who like to bag Stockdale: become as accomplished a singer/guitarist as he is, sell as many records as he has and then open your cake-hole to comment. Woman, Joker & The Thief and New Moon Rising; holy crap, when Stockdale sings along with the impossibly high, debilitating riff we’re completely won over. Stockdale acknowledges this is the last gig the band will perform under the Wolfmother moniker and invites us all to their next one. Long Way To Go, the first taste from Stockdale’s solo EP, is a face melter. Too many amps to count are set up for our mighty headliners, Aerosmith. And of course they have a catwalk for Steve Tyler to sashay down. Love In An Elevator opens and it’s guns blazin’ from the get-go. They don’t breed ‘em like Tyler anymore. There’s three printed scarves flowing from his mic stand and Tyler throws a pair of novelty sunnies (and later a harmonica during Livin’ On The Edge!) into the crowd. Being in Tyler’s presence is precious, such is his charisma and how massive is that gob! “Gooday!” he says in exaggerated fashion. Cryin’ shows off Tyler’s sustained vocal chops and we have flashbacks to the video clip featuring Alicia Silverstone (getting her bellybutton pierced) and Stephen Dorff (being a dick). Tyler’s XXX-rated heavy-breathing interlude gets pulses racing – “You can’t help yourself at all,” can you Tyler?

With stage moves stolen straight from the repertoire of an overexcited tribute band, the three-piece look sort of like badly drawn cartoon versions of diehard rock’n’rollers; but when Thomas launches into one of his solos or nails a disarmingly pop chorus you know King Tuff is where it’s at. Despite some individual enthusiasm, the crowd takes a while to collectively warm up. But after some casual stoner banter from the stage (“Is it winter in Australia yet?”, “this one’s for hot girls, who know they’re hot, which is all of you”) the punters go crazy for favourites like Bad Thing, Sun Medallion and Alone And Stoned. The band’s pure pursuit of garage fun is infectious and a wide range of people take to the mosh to goof off and rock out.

Tyler’s introducing Janie’s Got A Gun as a song about “child abuse and related issues” brings added gravitas to the performance. Legendary guitarist Joe Perry is labelled “my blood brother in arms” by Tyler and the pair even have matching blonde/grey streaks in their hair. Perry’s axe is a work of art with a portrait of his wife Billie (who resembles a Baywatch babe) emblazoned across it. Tyler is the real deal. He emotes with every lyric as if he experienced the inspiration behind it yesterday. Aerosmith’s cover of Come Together by The Beatles sounds wonderfully dirty. After acknowledging drummer Joey Kramer is pissed off he didn’t get a solo, Tyler demands an impromptu one to make up for it. Whether or not the song’s actually inspired by Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil, thank fuck for (Dude) Looks Like A Lady – it’s an absolute belter. To enhance Run DMC collab Walk This Way, Tyler welcomes a coupla young b-boys – who were apparently break dancing out the front of the band’s hotel – to execute some backspins on the catwalk.

After the token encore break, Thomas returns solo to play Evergreen on request. As the first time he has ever played the song live, the raw, imperfect rendition is the highlight of the night and makes one fan extremely happy as she sings along with the every word. The full band return to blast out Animal, capping off one of those excellent nights that reminds you that rock’n’roll needn’t be serious business.

For the encore, Tyler plays honkytonk piano on Dream On. Perry stands on top of the piano to get busy with some riffs. Tyler joins his bro’ on top of the piano and then their exceptional keyboard player Russ Irwin takes over. As larger than life as Tyler himself, you should see the size of his maraca! Here’s hoping another 20 years don’t pass until we welcome this matchless band to our stages once more.

Jan Wisniewski

Bryget Chrisfield

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 35

ROOTS DOWN

ADAMANTIUM WOLF

WAKE THE DEAD

BLUES ‘N’ ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON ROOTS@INPRESS.COM.AU

THE HEAVY SHIT WITH LOCHLAN WATT

HARDCORE AND PUNK WITH SARAH PETCHELL

meantime, the band have announced a tour, and you can catch them on Saturday 1 June at the Espy and Friday 29 at the Northcote Social Club.

Bob Brozman Shortly after filing my column last week I was given the news that the great Bob Brozman had passed away at the age of 59. To say the news shocked me is a vast understatement, he was such a spritely, healthy-looking guy who seemed to live for little more than playing the guitar and teaching the world about all of the amazing music that intrigued him so much. He was a hell of a guitarist and one of the world’s best ethnomusicologists, mainly, in my eyes, because he actually actively brought his knowledge and passion about exotic forms of music to people. He toured relentlessly and released scores of records by himself, in collaboration with others and in a huge variety of different musical styles. A couple of the most mindblowing musical moments of my youth came courtesy of Brozman in one way or another. I’ll never forget the first time I heard his live favourite, Down The Road, the way he would beat the crap out of his guitar while scatting like a crazy man in between his wild, schizophrenic and constantly changing finger-picking and strumming. I had the great pleasure of speaking with Brozman a couple of years ago; here are a few of my favourite moments from that chat. “I think I’m the second hardest-working man in show business after James Brown,” he quipped. “All I know is that I do honest work. When I show up I bring a heap of instruments with me and I don’t bring any pedals of any kind. I’d rather have different-sounding instruments than a bunch of silly pedals which just sound like someone’s engineering circuit. Consequently I work pretty hard lugging the stuff around so I look at it as getting paid to do that and then I play for free.” The passion he had for music began with the blues. “It all started out with blues, the American roots music basically,” he said. “When I first heard that as a little kid it was the first, shall we say, abnormal kind of music I ever heard. I found it very exciting and attractive because it was so intense and rhythmic. From there I just followed my ears around and then I realised that everywhere colonialism went, the guitar went with it; and when it was left behind interesting stuff happened. “I never realised when I started out as a kid playing blues that it would lead me to Papua New Guinea, which was the last place on earth where guitars arrived, I did a project there a few years ago with Macquarie University.” While he was certainly a highly intelligent person – he was an adjunct Professor at the Department of Contemporary Music Studies at Macquarie University after all – his shows were never dry. He was genuinely entertaining when he performed, using humour, energy and “I guess I’m a roving guitar anthropologist and I’m exploring the frontiers of colonialism; but at the same time I’m an entertainer,” he explained. “My shows are quite relaxed and very rhythmic and crazy and humourous.” Brozman played for much of his career with serious pain in his back and other parts of his body after he was involved in a serious car accident way back in 1980. He never let it stop him from constantly playing new styles of music on guitar and other instruments, but according to longtime collaborator and producer Daniel Thomas, about 18 months ago his hand just stopped working and he was no longer able to play Hawaiian guitar, while playing other kinds of guitar caused him a great deal of pain. He died on Tuesday 23 April after apparently taking his own life. He is survived by his wife Haley Robertson Brozman and a daughter by the name of Zoe. If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide contact Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

36 • For more opinion go to themusic.com.au/blog

Amorphis Finnish progressive metal group Amorphis will, in October, visit Australia for the first time ever. Having existed since 1990, the band have covered vast tracts of music territory in their career, and last month released their 11th album, Circle, through Nuclear Blast. You can catch the band at Billboard on Monday 14 October, with tickets available from metalmassacre.com.au. After their last Melbourne visit fell through, Sydney power metal group Lord will finally launch their new album Digital Lies this Saturday 11 May at the Evelyn Hotel. Support will come from Elektrik Dynamite, Elm Street, Mason and Sewercide. Doors at 7.30pm with bands from 8pm. Melbourne’s The Nerve have just announced their signing to Sydney-based label Bird’s Robe Records. The band features members whose resumes include names like Mammal, Full Scale, Pre-Shrunk, Cog, Floating Me and more, and they will release their debut album through the label in late 2013. With their hard rock sound, it’s a slightly left-field choice for Bird’s Robe, a label more traditionally oriented towards ‘post’ bands like Sleepmakeswaves, We Lost The Sea, This Will Destroy You, Rosetta, etc. Frontman Ezekiel Ox commented that “There is an integrity in the community focus of Bird’s Robe, and we are pleased to be co-creating with such an exciting and dynamic company.” In the

Brisbane brutalists Disentomb have just been picked up by American label New Standard Elite for the release of their second album. Having last year released a demo and announced their signing to the similarly slamming American label Brutal Bands, one can only assume that the prior deal went a little south somewhere along the way. They are the second Australian band to join the New Standard Elite roster, with Adelaide’s Seminal Embalmment having released their Stacked & Sodomized EP through the label earlier this year. New Disentomb merch, with a free copy of their 2012 demo, can be purchased over at nserecords.bigcartel.com, with a full-length expected late 2013/early 2014. This week, American group Om are touring Australia for the second time. Though their associations with pioneering stoner metal band Sleep have often seen the band labeled similarly, their mix of Eastern, traditional, drone and noise influences has created a sound definitely outside of any typical ideas of metal. Catch them this Friday 10 May at the Hi-Fi with Fourteen Nights At Sea, Dead River and Assad. Also playing Melbourne this Friday 10 May at Billboard are British extreme metal legends Cradle Of Filth. Sydney-based The Amenta will provide direct support, while local competition winners Ne Obliviscaris will open things up. Cradle Of Filth released The Manticore & Other Horrors last year, The Amenta dropped Flesh Is Heir a couple of months back, and last year’s debut album Portal Of I saw Ne Obliviscaris get signed to Season Of Mist worldwide. New Zealand stoner rockers Beastwars will hit the Bendigo Hotel this Saturday 11 May. The Ruiner, Broozer and Batpiss will provide support. Tickets available on the door for $15.

BEYOND THE SPEAKERS FILLING THE DEAD AIR WITH RACHEL CORBETT met before and then go home while somebody else cleaned up the mess? It was perfect. In theory.

The Buggles When The Buggles sang, “Video killed the radio star” it was with a sense of nostalgia for a golden age of radio before video came along and changed the business forever. Thirty-four years later and those lyrics still ring true, if not with a slight modification, namely, “Video killed the radio star’s dignity”. Online content is a massive part of any media organisation and as such there is a constant need for those big ideas that will get people’s attention. Online producers throw around terms like ‘unique browsers’ and ‘click-throughs’ but unfortunately there seems to be an inverse relationship between the success of a video and the amount of dignity those of us supposedly doing the ‘entertaining’ have got left at the end of it. This month was no exception with our biggest online success resulting in me lying in a pool of mayonnaise and tinned spaghetti with half a bottle of Cottee’s strawberry topping slowly creeping towards my unsuspecting crack. Truly one of those sobering moments where you realise that some 32-year-old women are trying to cure cancer and end world poverty, but I’ve got no one to blame but myself, because it was my idea. Genius. It all began when a caller to our radio show told us a tale of a boarding-house food fight gone wrong. As he was describing the moment his orange landed in the bowl of cereal his mate was eating, leaving him awash in a sea of milk, the light bulb went off: We have to have a food fight! How had nobody thought of this before? Who wouldn’t want to go to a completely consequence-free event where you got to chuck food at a bunch of people you’ve never

Now, with an event like this you definitely want to be the person who gets paid to come up with the idea, not the one who gets paid to execute it, because to say it was a logistical nightmare for our team is an understatement. The first problem was the venue. What kind of self-respecting establishment says, ‘Oh, of course, that sounds fabulous,’ when a producer calls and says, ‘We’d like to hire your place to throw food that’s past its use-by date in, would that be okay?’ At one point we actually thought we were going to have to do it at a tip, until the Scouts came to our rescue and let us use one of their halls, which of course needed some modifications or children for generations would be completing the tasks required for their ‘sewing badge’ in a place that smelt like the digestive system of someone who really needs to rethink their diet. It took our team countless man-hours and enough plastic sheeting to cover three football fields and get our producer on a watch list, but somehow they turned a modest little hall into something that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the set of Dexter. We arrived in the finest Vinnie’s outfits $3.50 can buy and sat down at the table for five minutes of civilised conversation with our 20 guests so we could all pretend we were adults for a while before things got real. Ten minutes after the ceremonial mashed potato was hurled at my face to signify the beginning of the fight, I was writhing around on the floor covered in, among other things, half a bucket of mayonnaise which, by the smell of it, was well and truly on the wrong side of its use-by date. Talk about a high point! And when the wrap-up video meant I was last to get in line for the shower, it wasn’t long into the stench-filled, 40-minute wait that I was questioning the brilliance of my ‘perfect’ idea. It’s all fun and games until somebody smells like a bomb’s gone off in the condiment aisle of the supermarket – and it’s been left unattended for three weeks. Once again I found myself thinking “mop and bucket to aisle me” as more of my rapidly dwindling dignity was spilled in the quest for that next great video.

The Nation Blue Poison City Weekender is back for another year in 2013. Brought to you by Poison City, Resist and Hobbeldehoy, this year will see the festival headlined by Weekender stallwarts The Smith Street Band, joined on headlining duties by US bands Joyce Manor and Cheap Girls, both heading here for the first time. The line-up also features classic Australian punk-indie bands Blueline Medic (playing their only show for 2013) and The Nation Blue. Add to this Luca Brasi, Hoodlum Shouts, White Walls, Lincoln Le Fevre, Arrows, The Bennies, Deep Heat, Milhouse (playing their last ever show), Grim Fandango, Jen Buxton, Infinite Void, Clowns, Postblue, Apart From This and Pinch Hitter. There is still another lineup announcement to come, with tickets going on sale on Friday 10 May. As for the dates: Friday 6 September will be at the John Curtin; Saturday 7 at the Corner; and Sunday 8 at the Reverence. Poison City Records also announced that they will be re-issuing The Nation Blue’s thundering debut album A Blueprint For Modern Noise, giving the album the vinyl treatment and some nice remastering. Originally released in 2001 through Trial & Error, the album was recorded soon after the band relocated from Tasmania to Melbourne, and was hailed at the time for being furious, bleak, melodic, brooding and full of Australian imagery. The band’s appearance at Weekender will be the official release show for the record’s reissue, which is due for release on double LP in late August. Stay tuned to the Poison City website for pre-order details. We’re well aware by now that Melbourne is known for releasing some pretty tough hardcore, and the newest addition to this scene, Outsiders Code, is no exception. Featuring members of 50 Lions, Her Nightmare, Hitlist and Warbrain, this is a band that have consolidated an array of influences and experience to create a debut that is one of my most anticipated of 2013. Called Exiled From Birth, it’s due out Friday 7 June through Resist Records and follows a self-titled 7” released last year through Midnight Funeral. I strongly recommend heading over to the band’s Bandcamp to check out their songs, and if you like what you hear, head to the Midnight Funeral webstore to pick up the 7” and then pre-order the album through Resist. I mentioned a few months ago that Bleeding Through were calling it a day after over a decade as a band, and now the seminal metalcore group have announced they will be touring Australia one last time this July. Across seven genredefining albums, Bleeding Through have cemented themselves at the peak of the metalcore hierarchy and set the benchmark for many copycat acts to follow. The band have always been known to deliver an unforgettable live performance, and with the addition of Perth’s Make Them Suffer to the bill, these are going to be unmissable shows. You can catch the bands when they play an 18+ show at the Ferntree Gully Hotel on Friday 26 July, and for those close to the city there is another 18+ show at the Hi-Fi on Saturday 27 July. Sydney’s Relentless were supposed to be playing the Sound And Fury Festival in California this July. However, last week the promoters announced that the festival will not actually be going ahead this year due to unforeseen circumstances. In an honest statement, the promoters succinctly put the cancellation down to issues to do with the financial risk of running a festival on that scale. 2013 would have been the eighth year of the festival. If you were planning on travelling to the US for the festival, I guess it’s now time to think a change of plans. Last up, something for Henry Rollins fans. The big man is releasing a new book. Called Before The Chop: LA Weekly Articles 20112012, it’s a compendium of the first 100 articles Rollins wrote for the Weekly, and includes an interview with Nick Cave. This is the unedited material; what Rollins sent the Weekly wasn’t always what was published. You can order the book through Rollins’ webstore or ask your local (independent) bookstore.

BUSINESS MUSIC

OG FLAVAS

INTELLIGIBLE FLOW

INVESTING IN CLUB MUSIC WITH PAZ

URBAN AND R&B NEWS BY CYCLONE

HIP HOP NEWS & COMMENTARY WITH ALEKSIA BARRON

Snoop Lion

DJ Sabo

TON ON TOP OF TON Sol Selectas head honcho DJ Sabo has held strong as a leader in moombahton the last few years. Moombahton is by no means dead, and trap has taken nothing away from its strength. As Sabo’s LA base heads towards summer, the world moombahton massive enjoyed a great mix titled DJ Sabo’s Massive Edits Mix. Not one to give up just a mix, there was also a link to a bunch of the edits for his worldwide fanbase. The playlist holds true to the tribal/tropical vibe that is closer to the original production of early ‘ton. What is also evident in the release are the three ‘Soboton’d’ Aussie releases: Lewis CanCut’s Crassula (Sabo Edit), Northie’s Chase Me Down (Spenda C Remix/ Sabo Trap Edit) and the legendary AfroNuts’ (Douster, Edu K Remix/Sabo Edit) by Yolanda Be Cool. These were always great stand-alone tracks during the evolution of tropical club, but they are now tearing up sound systems once again. Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, DJ Melo has followed the same path as labelmate DJ Sabo and fixed up a zip file of tropical/tribal moombah joints and edits that are essential on a USB stick or virtual crate. The pack contains collaborations with Dos Mundos radio presenters/DJs and aims at the percussive end of ‘ton. The Dos Mundos radio program is all things past, present and future Latin dance, and has an online location for the overseas diehard fans. Between Sabo and Melo, you have a good hour of solid dancefloor locked. Earlier last month some of the more experimental moombah artists started an online campaign for the release of the Jack The Moombah compiled by Jon Kwest. Jon Kwest was the ire of drum and bass enthusiasts when he ‘ton’d a bunch of legendary d’n’b tunes. However, he won the approval of a few producers who wanted these re-made for their current sets. Now that crew of producers work as a collective and they have ‘ton’d jacking house classics. Previously mentioned producers Sabo and Melo feature on here, as well as UK dynamo Disgraceland who gives all his releases a clear 3am club moment. Disgraceland takes on the 1986 release This Brutal House by Nitro Deluxe and the team of Kwest and Melo get buckwild on the ‘80s classic Hot Music and the familiar sample is enough to please funk, house, disco and hip hop fans, while driving your ‘ton, trap, bass dancefloor. OWSLA CEO, Skrillex has announced the signing of David Heartbreak. A few internet comments on various sites asked “Who?”, but all fans of moombahton are familiar with one of the godfathers of the sound. Heartbreak came up with Munchi in the next level of ‘ton after the early Dave Nada releases. There was a number of months when the Lil Jon ‘Heartbreak’ time stretch was a big part of DJing ‘ton in clubs alongside the Munchi ‘whistle’. The Foundation EP release on OWSLA/Vibe also features collaborations with Skylar Grey and Partysquad and aligns more with EDM than just moombahton. Fans of Heartbreak would be well aware he can square off on most modern dance styles. I expect the OWSLA team might be making an appearance in the southern hemisphere summer ‘13/’14. Diplo recently commented in The Huffington Post that “a lot of people think that we’re taking Jamaican culture, but in reality, we’re one of the most influential acts changing what’s happening in Jamaica.” When you see and hear the new Major Lazer release Watch Out For This (Bumaye) (feat Busy Signal, The Flexican and FS Green), it is undeniably a fusion sound, and in a DJ set it falls into the moombahton crate as much as Express Yourself would. Go moombahton.

Can an old dogg learn new tricks? In Snoop Dogg’s case, yes. The gangsta rapper born Calvin Broadus Jr has recast himself as singer Snoop Lion on a reggae album, Reincarnated, accompanied by a documentary (available locally on DVD). Broadus considers this neither a reinvention nor a rebranding, but his Rastafarian rebirth. It’s certainly no Diddylike name change gimmick. Dr Dre’s original protégé had a “spiritual awakening” after the passing of his homie, Nate Dogg, but possibly he was also belatedly responding to the ‘90s bi-coastal beef – known to have profoundly unsettled him. Reincarnated is nostalgic: Broadus grew up listening to reggae artists like Gregory Isaacs. Teaming with Major Lazer producer Diplo, Broadus journeyed to Jamaica (he’s been visiting since 1994) to record Reincarnated – Vice film crew in tow. He introduced ‘Snoop Lion’ with last July’s single, La La La (a “bonus” here). Broadus would contentiously claim to be the reincarnation of Bob Marley. Indeed, Marley likewise dealt with struggle in his music – and had an anti-establishment streak (cue: I Shot The Sheriff). Today Broadus has disavowed guns. On Reincarnated he is all about ‘one love’ – and smokin’ weed. The album is stashed with redemption songs. Broadus’ manoeuvre has met with widespread cynicism, many asking if it’s “a marketing ploy”. Is he doing a Joaquin Phoenix? Ahead of Casey Affleck’s “mockumentary” I’m Still Here, Phoenix pretended to quit acting to become a rapper. Nonetheless, the self-aware Broadus already was a parody. ‘Snoop Lion’ is a risky move. The Doggfather still sells rap albums. Everybody loves Snoop the rapper, even when he’s sleazing it up in a Jessica Mauboy video. Not everyone digs reggae – as divisive a genre as country. Besides, reggae swings

in and out of fashion. Just ask Shaggy. Bunny Wailer, who actually bestowed that righteous ‘Lion’ moniker on Broadus and appears in the doco, has since publicly lambasted his Rastafarian stance as “fraudulent” (weirdly, via gossip site TMZ). Admirably, Broadus has answered the tough questions in interviews. In Q he expresses disbelief at Wailer’s charge: “I have nothing but love and respect for Bunny Wailer,” he says. “I match negativity with love. So there is no drama.” Broadus concedes to being “not one hundred per cent” Rastafarian due to his accumulated (Babylonian!) wealth. But he is involved with charity in Jamaica. Reincarnated has been described, too, as Broadus’ mid-life crisis, mortality an omnipresent theme. Perhaps it’s his counterpart to Jay-Z’s existentialist Beach Chair, off Kingdom Come. Regardless, Broadus’ motives for shedding his iconic persona are, he admits, mixed. He was bored. He sought a challenge. He wants to perform for Barack Obama... Ultimately, the hatin’ is disproportionate. Were the Beastie Boys upbraided for their transition from obnoxious to conscious b-boys? Black acts, it seems, are afforded less freedom. Reincarnated is enjoyable, if unoriginal, spanning roots, dancehall and dubsteppy EDM – there are abundant pop hooks. The peace anthem, Lighters Up, is hip hop – though, again, Broadus sings. (The Californian has sung before: on 2011’s Doggumentary he even duetted with Willie Nelson.) Diplo is cooler than David Guetta but, while the DJ produces choice club bangers, his pop forays often betray his limitations. Still, Diplo’s posse does well here. There are some peculiar contributions. Chris Brown, hardly a peace-lover, guests, as does his rival for Rihanna’s affections, Drake. RiRi herself is MIA. Instead Rita Ora sings on Torn Apart – very No Doubt. Miley Cyrus pops up on Reincarnated’s current single, Ashtrays And Heartbreaks. Reincarnated features younger – and hipper – reggae stars (Mavado, Popcaan, Mr Vegas), but the Marley clan are conspicuously absent. Yet Broadus is joined by his daughter Cori B (and Drake) on the mellow Beirut-sampling No Guns Allowed – that should impress Obama. Rappers are experiencing sustained careers. Give Snoop Lion a chance.

THE BREAKDOWN POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH ADAM CURLEY above the usual chart bling while revelling in images of “jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash”. It provides the essential fantasy but on her – and by transference, the listener’s – own terms.

Lorde In Australia it’s been hanging around the bottom end of the singles chart the past month, but Lorde’s Royals has been causing more of a fuss in her homeland New Zealand. There, the pared-back indieR&B song has topped the chart and gone platinum, causing all kinds of pain in the form of YouTube covers and Facebook fan rants about its singer and writer, 17-year-old Ella Yelich-O’Connor. Across the Pacific, love for the track has come from Grimes, who tweeted about it, as well as from Diplo – not bad for a song released as a free download without a global record-label push. (Yelich-O’Connor was scouted as a 13-year-old by Universal Music New Zealand but has only recently signed an international deal with the company – though triple j labels Royals an “independent” release on its website, so that might not yet extend to Australia.) Even with label backing, it’s a rare occasion that a young musician from NZ is able to spark an international career with, essentially, one standout track. The song is a standout. It’s also the perfect ‘debut’ song for many reasons. For starters, it clearly positions Lorde’s identity in the pop year book. Even better, it positions her identity as that of a rebel and an underdog. “I’m not proud of my address/In a torn-up town/No postcode envy,” she sings before the chorus kicks in: “But every song’s like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin’ in the bathroom…” Just as MGMT’s Time To Pretend, Jessie J’s Price Tag and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s Thrift Shop announced those acts as anti-consumerist while celebrating the excesses of pop production and making centrepieces of the things they railed against, Royals pits Lorde

It’s also a song about ‘us’ while also being about Lorde as a personality to be followed. Jessie J posed that “we don’t need no money,” while MGMT claimed, “We’re feted to pretend”. Lorde posits, “We’ll never be royals/It don’t run in our blood,” but that “We don’t care/We’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams”. Rather than leave it there, though, the thought follows: “Let me be your ruler/You can call me queen bee… Let me live that fantasy”. Yelich-O’Connor is acknowledging social and economic inequality and then asking permission for a place of privilege as a kind of vigilante leader in popular culture, even if that position is a fiction without any real-life repercussions (for now). As a debut track, the song also showcases YelichO’Connor’s talent without making a grand display of it. With no more backing than a beat, YelichO’Connor easefully rolls out the opening lines with a voice as potentially large as that of Florence Welch and with as much control as any big-name R&B star, but she never pushes it. Like Kimbra’s Settle Down, it’s the hint of ability that is really at work, rather than the ability itself. Yelich-O’Connor holds all the power here: we aren’t judging her talent; she’s giving only as much as she wants to give. That lasts the entire track, too. There’s no opening-out moment, no TV-quest key change, and the track ends abruptly at the 3:10 mark, leaving off an expected final chorus. Lorde leaves room for more, room for future songs, and in doing so pulls Royals out of the path of the ‘one-hit wonder’ gun. Whether that’s true is to be seen, of course, and Universal and Yelich-O’Connor are keeping their cards close, with no trace of a live performance video and even very few pictures to be found online. Small shows in Sydney and Melbourne next week should reveal more, but they’re no doubt just the beginning of a very long campaign to make a worldwide name of NZ’s new pop hero.

Mantra It’s been a good few days for local legend Mantra. Your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper has inked a new label deal, released a fresh single and dropped a brilliant video clip. He’s now signed to Ten To Two Records, the label started by No Dice Management’s Ross McPherson and Rowan Robinson. (No Dice manage Seth Sentry and Grey Ghost, so they would seem to be shoring up their stocks of thought-provoking alterna-rappers). Mantra has already dropped his first single through the new label – an autobiographical track that goes, appropriately, by the name of Loudmouth. It features lashings of Mantra’s trademark sharp flow and will get you smiling and nodding your head at the same time. The real treat is the video clip, which was directed by Grey Ghost (the same brilliant mind behind Seth Sentry’s hilarious Dear Science video), and confirms Mantra as the best artist to fill out a school uniform since Britney. (Okay, maybe that’s going a bit far – but the clip really is brilliant.) The video premiered on Friday on the V Music site, and you can view it there. You can also buy Loudmouth on iTunes, where $1.69 gets you a brilliant, persistent little earworm of a track that you won’t be able to get out of your head. (You’ve been warned.) In additional good news, Mantra is heading out on tour to celebrate his new release. The Loudmouth tour will be swinging through Melbourne on Thursday 6 June when the MC plays the Northcote Social Club. Check the venue website (northcotesocialclub.com) for ticketing details. If you’re in the market for some good live music this weekend, the Laundry Bar has got you covered (as per usual – seriously, that venue is the shiznit). There’s good stuff happening on Friday 10 May when Chasm drops in to launch his Diamond Cuts EP (I wrote about it in these pages a few weeks ago, and if you don’t remember what I said, allow me to summarise: it’s good). The EP’s two feature vocalists, MC Skryptcha and Rachael Berry, will also be performing, as will M-Phazes and the guy everyone seems to be talking about at the moment, Remi. If you haven’t heard Remi’s track Sangria yet, I highly recommend checking it out on his triple j Unearthed page (triplejunearthed.com. au/Remi) – or you could, y’know, just head down to the gig. I’m sure he’ll perform the track on the night. Presale tickets for the gig are available from Laundry Bar’s Oztix page. In fact, the Laundry will be playing host to double happiness this Friday night – it’s also the first night of the Joelistics and Polo Club residency. These two inimitable acts will be ruling the roost for four Fridays in a row, and every week they’ll be paying homage to a different artist. This Friday, they’re all about the Beastie Boys. Best bit? Entry is free. Get along, it’ll be a fun one. Then on Saturday night, regular visitor N’Fa Jones is dropping in. Jones has been slowly but surely carving out his solo identity, having formerly been best known for his work with 1200 Techniques. This Saturday 11 May he’s playing a free show at the Laundry Bar to celebrate his new release Live On, so if you like your hip hop intriguing and soulful, check this show out. Finally, if you happen to be listening to triple j from 6pm on Monday night, keep an ear out for the new Horrorshow single Unfair Lottery. The talented twosome, Adit and Solo, have been laying low for far too long, and new music from these guys is always welcome.

For more opinion go to themusic.com.au/blog • 37

SORTED FOR EPS WITH JAN WISNIEWSKI

PATRICK JAMES All About To Change (Create Control)

PEE-HENS Throughout this May at the Tote, The Clits will be undertaking their residency every Wednesday night with special guests. Tonight (Wednesday) will be their second of the five shows with supports from Ross De Chene Hurricanes and Chook Race. Doors open at 8pm.

FOOD FIGHT

Patrick James has a sound that many could only wish for. His brand of folk is no doubt polished and triple j-ready, but there is an authenticity in his delivery and musicianship that other Australian artists sorely miss. Though he is aided by a band on this record, James holds centre stage – spreading calming messages with a nice-guy persona. The lack of grit does get a little bland when the latter tracks are played but the overall quality of his debut could see him up there with the Corby(s) and the Boy & Bear(s) of this country. James is playing this Friday at the Corner supporting Emma Louise.

Fuzzy shoegazers Flyying Colours finally recorded their debut single Wavygravy and will officially launch it at the Grace Darling on Saturday 18 May with ESC and The Baudelaires.

BRAVESTATION

Mammoth Mammoth are back from their extended tour of the Twilight Zone and are ready for their Melbourne gigs this May. They’re playing this Friday at the Espy supporting Destroy She Said who’ll be launching their new single and at the Hi-Fi this Sunday with Unida (USA).

IV (Led Astray) I don’t know why these guys aren’t buzzing all over the internet already but maybe this is the release that will push Toronto’s Bravestation past the minor music blogs. To describe them simply as tropical pop is an injustice as their infusion of cool ‘80s R&B makes them so much more than just a generic indie outfit with a knack for catchy melodies. The music comes at you in waves with the wonderful vocals of Devin Wilson layered over the top. Despite there being a lot going on, the band’s pop sensibilities ensure that it is all devoted to the relentless groove. You could listen to this stuff all day.

WINTERCOATS Heartful (Yes Please Records) Melbourne’s James Wallace returns as Wintercoats for his third EP, Heartful. Slightly haunting and unconventionally beautiful, Heartful shows his greatest step forward as an artist. Each track is built slowly on delicate electronic elements and synthesised strings, seemingly passing in a moment. Wallace’s voice is softly sung but his words speak much louder, only emphasised by the backing of what sounds like a male chamber choir on Burial and Voyage. There is no great diversity in sound across Heartful, nor does it rely on cheap hooks to get by – a testament to Wallace’s singular vision to create something that will stay with us. Wintercoats launches Heartful this Saturday at the Gasometer.

LEANING TOWER Shaky Stills have been taking some time out to craft new songs. Now with four singers in the mix they’re ready to hit the stage once more. You can get along to see their good time alt.country and blues every Sunday afternoon in May for their residency at the Edinburgh Castle.

WOOLLY KILLERS

(Dirt Diamond Productions) Reckless is the outcome of three years of creative work from former Fremantle local Kathryn Rollins and long-time Freo musical mainstay Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe). Every part that appears seems to have been crafted and thoughtfully placed into these tracks. This adds weight to Rollins’ songs with some impressive lyrical imagery backed with light touches that always seem to be building to a chorus. But this is obviously the work of a young songwriter, sifting through ideas in search of a sound. Not all of them work but somehow these imperfections lend a human quality to this release. Kathryn Rollins launches Reckless this Saturday at the Grace Darling.

FIREY COOL-CATS An all-girl brass band, The Red Brigade play knock-out, sweet-ass power pop tunes and Sugar Fed Leopards stir up dance floors with new click/clap soul disco. They’re getting together to sparkle and snap in the surroundings of the Spotted Mallard this Wednesday from 8.30pm.

This Saturday Vika & Linda will be bringing their brand of folk-rock to the Flying Saucer Club (Elsternwick). They’ll be supported by Benny Walker and doors open at 8pm.

TERRIBLE TANTRUM In the depths of Victoria’s South Gippsland in two old school halls, Charles Baby found the sound he was looking for in his new album The End Of The Terror Lights. Featuring the blistering banjo single A Happy Affair (With A Terrible Consequence), the album will be launched on Thursday 16 May at the Workers Club with Jackson McLaren and Wishful.

TEKKING OFF! Tek Tek Ensemble is a festive anthropological miniorchestra consisting of trumpet, trombone, violins, percussion, guitars, double bass, piano accordion and the human voice. They’re undertaking a residency at the Spotted Mallard every Thursday in May from 9pm.

FUNERAL BOUQUET Following the well-received double-A side vinyl release of Moody Blues/The Liberating Kind, Florelie Escano is back with her new single, I Won’t Say Goodbye. Escano and her eight-piece band launch the single this Saturday at the Spotted Mallard.

STU-PIDLY GOOD FLOWERS IN THE SKY Having released six albums so far in 2013, Anigozanthos prepare to moosh it all up in a very rare performance that is equal parts electro, techno, hip hop, ambience, noise, singing, guitaring, mistakes, soul, delay, dub and whatever else will stick to it at the Gasometer this Friday. They’ll be joined by Flyin’ Sorcerer, Opium Rabbit, Microflora and Acciness.

DOUBLE BLAST This Saturday, The Two Shots launch their debut 7˝ at Open Studio (Northcote). Just back from wigging the cats out at gritty joints in Berlin and Prague, where their single Last Fast Blast first blew out the unsuspecting public, this raw vocal, guitar and bull-fiddle duo will be hitting Melbourne with their primitive barbarian roots beat.

SIGNATURE GUITAR LAUNCH Cole Clark guitars are honouring Australian blues legend Lloyd Spiegel with the release of two signature model guitars, which he will be touring nationally to promote before launching the models overseas. The FL2-LS1 and FL2-LS2 are now in production and will be on display for the first time at the Melbourne launch on Friday 24 May at the Velvet Room at the Thornbury Theatre.

38 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

WILEY RED FOX – WILEY RED FOX How many releases do you have now? Clemmie Wetherall, vocals/guitar: This is our very first release, so it’s simultaneously relieving and nerve-racking to finally have something committed to tape. How long did it take to write/record? One song on the EP is over ten years old! But most of them are songs I’ve written over the last few years just before I put the band together. We started recording in September/November last year with Damien Sutton from The Bon Scotts but because we all work and/or study it took a little while to get it all together, Damien has been very patient with us. We finished up in February and mixed it with Neil Thomason at Head Gap and then mastered it with Adam Dempsey at Jack The Bear’s Deluxe Mastering.

This Sunday Yvette Johansson’s Vintage Pearls will be playing a Mother’s Day Special at the Flying Saucer Club (Elsternwick). For an afternoon of jazz and swing head down; they’ll be playing from 3pm.

(Independent)

Reckless

When The Joe Kings imploded in dramatic fashion in mid 2012, RedX soon formed with some of their members and began gigging furiously on the Melbourne scene. Catch them at the Workers Club on Thursday 23 May with Trash Fairies, Matt Glass and The Loose Cannons.

MOTHER OF PEARL

FLYING WALKERS

EP FOCUS

RED TRASHCAN: LOOSE GLASS

This Saturday Melbourne’s music community turn out for a concert for two visiting Alma Nuns from East Timor who run a facility for disabled children near Dili International School. Featuring musicians such as The Flybz, Mystic Trio, Lawrence Austin, Dave Arden, Jesse Hooper and Casey Richardson, Rubber Dubb, Keagan Clothier, Painters & Dockers Trio and many more, the benefit will be held at the St Ignatius Church Hall (Richmond).

Green Jelly

KATHRYN ROLLINS

We All Want To’s new single No Signs continues the ‘holy shit, this is awesome’ trend the band have already established. We All Want To play an early acoustic show this Friday at the Edinburgh Castle followed by a full band show that evening at the Yarra Hotel (Abbotsford) and then again this Saturday at Public Bar (North Melbourne) with Charlie Horse and Autumn Falls.

NO NUN-SENSE

HOWLIN’ STEAM TRAIN

The ragged and rockin’ new EP from Melbourne locals Howlin’ Steam Train is a well-executed, modern take on old-school R&B. The first two tracks in Chinatown and Over The Bend are uptempo rock’n’roll with an undeniable bad-ass edge that’ll have you nodding your head as the riffs come fast and furious. A well-placed move into soul territory comes with Shine. The inclusion of Mojo Juju’s voice in the chorus is a perfect complement to the Steam Train sound. The tempo is upped again on final track Boogie. Its loose, raw quality exemplifies what to expect when you catch these guys live. Howlin’ Steam Train launch Green Jelly this Saturday at Cherry Bar.

SIGN OF THE SEASONS

Stu Thomas has made a name for himself internationally playing great music with some of Australia’s finest bands, including Dave Graney and Kim Salmon. Thomas appears at Tago Mago (Thornbury) this Saturday in solo form. Legendary musical figure Harry Howard follows.

URUBAMBA RIVER

EMontero launch their new single Passions at the Luwow (Fitzroy) on Friday 28 June with The Ancients and Swim Between The Shags. Quite the supergroup round town, Montero’s latest epic devotional Passions is lifted from their forthcoming debut LP The Loving Gaze.

BREAKING THE WALLS

Jericco unleashed their new album Beautiful In Danger in April. They play a launch show at the Espy on Saturday 25 May. Main support Sleep Parade also have a new album Inside/Out due for release this month. Also supporting on the night are Rainbird, Thick Line Thin and more.

TAKE-OFF AND LANDING Brightly are a Melbourne-based three piece, combining elements of folk, pop and electronica. Off their debut album Beginnings & Endings, the band unveil their new single Preflight Nerves. They play at the Northcote Social Club this Thursday with We The People, Super Magic Hats and Sagakara.

What was inspiring you during the making of the EP? Mostly the people I was working with. I didn’t have much of an idea of what I was doing when I started recording, I was still thinking about music as a solo artist and Damien really helped me think more about song structure and the way different parts were working together – or weren’t working together. My whole approach to thinking about music has really changed. Also I really enjoy watching professionals at work, so working with Damien and Neil and seeing how they were making decisions and approaching different ideas was inspiring. What’s your favourite song on it? I think it’s a tie between Valentine and Heartifice. Valentine because the band was on board for the writing process and I think it sounds the most cohesive, but Heartifice because it’s a little bit ‘90s and I play a dodgy guitar solo on it. We’ll like the EP if we like… Summer, cheap wine, guitars, being too sincere and something a little bit indie, a little bit folk and a touch bittersweet. Will you be launching it? We are launching it at the wonderful Old Bar in Fitzroy on Thursday 9 May with our friends The Taylor Project and Pensive Penguin. Then we are heading to Adelaide in June to launch it there – three quarters of the band (including myself) are Adelaide ex-pats so we can’t forget our hometown.

GARNERED ENERGY Alternative bluegrass band Mustered Courage will launch their new album, Powerlines, at the Northcote Social Club this Friday, joined by Australia’s leading a capella queens The Nymphs as well as The Walters.

GRANDMA’S SIDE Melbourne-based electric piano duo Footy make largely improvised minimal, classical, drone-like, psychedelic music. Footy will be launching their debut album at the Northcote Social Club this Sunday, supported by Pearls, grungy five-piece Mad Nanna, and The Backstabbers.

POLKA PIANO Klara Zubonja draws inspiration from her background in European folk music and combines this with her broad knowledge of contemporary musical traditions. Catch Zubonja performing at the Wesley Anne this Thursday.

THAT’S ALL DAVE Dave Sattout toured his debut EP overseas in 2011, playing well-received shows in pubs, soup kitchens and cafes. He’s now on an East Coast tour supporting his debut album. See him at the Wesley Anne this Friday.

ALBUM FOCUS

AWKWARD SILENCE Wondercore Wednesdays at the Curtin is an excursion into a new wave of young producers and musicians in Australia. Tonight (Wednesday) features Uncomfortable Sciences and Silentjay.

SINGLE FOCUS

ARPEGGIO PARTY Major Minor’s first originally written album will finally be unveiled this Friday at the Curtin Bandroom on what promises to be a night to remember. All 11 tracks from Ceste Zivota will be performed in among classic covers.

CHARLIE HORSE – STRANGE PASSENGERS What’s the title of your new album and where did it come from? Our new album will most likely be called Strange Passengers. It is an oblique reference to songs having a life of their own and being like people in their own way. This new set of songs are a strange bunch of people that have hitched themselves to the band for a while and whether we like it or not, are here for the duration of this latest journey. How many releases do you have now? This is our third release. Last year we released an EP (I Killed My Mind) and an album (I Hope I Am Not A Monster). How long did it take to write/record? We are almost finished this album, it has taken about a year but is being interrupted at the moment by touring and Vikings. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The first album was a bit more Americana/alt. country but Strange Passengers is definitely our European album. We have embraced the love of the guitar again and much darker lyrics. There is quite a bit of backhanded gallows humour amongst the bombast though. What’s your favourite song on it? Something I Can Feel – no chorus and no bad language. Will you do anything differently next time? Who knows, maybe we can do an Icelandic album next time. Will you be launching it? We are on tour at the moment playing most of the new album: Friday 10 May, Edinburgh Castle (early acoustic show with We All Want To); Friday 10, Yarra Hotel (with Iowa and We All Want To); and Saturday 11, Public Bar, North Melbourne (with Tully On Tully and We All Want To). For more info see: charliehorseband.net

SAVAGE DINOSAURS Barbariön have hammered, welded and bashed together all manner of hard-core rock and soft-core metal concepts into a sound that makes some people uncomfortable. Check them out at Ding Dong Lounge this Friday with Very Handsome Men and Pterodactly.

CHINESE WATERWAYS Stre4m have been playing their ‘pagan devotional music’ in Melbourne for the last year or so. Now they have decided to go to China. The band play a send-off show at the Gasometer this Thursday, with support from Bum Creek, Glass Bricks and China fellow-travellers Inolla.

COLD HARD GUARDGEESE

WINGS AND HOOFS With Buried Feather’s home demo and 7” single both out of print, it’s with great excitement that they are releasing their full-length album. They launch the album with Pony Face, Flyying Colours and Atolls at the Tote this Friday.

What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? It is nearly impossible to recall now. I suppose lyrically it is a stream of consciousness prose; I’d proudly cut off my limbs and whisper that I am a poor Tasmanian boy’s Kerouac.

ANIMALISTIC CHAOS

We’ll like this song if we like… Four chords, two red guitars and one ramble.

New Zealand metal band Beastwars have released their latest album Blood Becomes Fire. They play at the Bendigo Hotel this Saturday with support from The Ruiner, Broozer and Batpiss.

Do you play it differently live? Every time. Sometimes it lives for a lot longer live. It is a song that can grow or shrink, ebb or flow, become arrogant or shy.

BOOGALOO BOARDING

Will you be launching it? Our final Melbourne date on this tour is Sunday 12 May at the Grace Darling with Canary, Wishful and James Fahy.

For a rocking evening of groovy surf and garage, be sure to get yourself to the Bendigo Hotel this Thursday for an awesome line up featuring The Corsairs, Darts, The Big Face & The Boogie Woogie Boogie Board Boys and Sean Peters & The Motherfuckin Boogaloo All Stars.

LIVELY DAUGHTERS Alt.country band The Stillsons are showcasing their new single Break And Keel, from upcoming album Never Go Your Way. They play at the Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine) on Saturday 18 May with Justin Bernasconi.

THE RAT KING Sydney heavy metallers Lord return to Melbourne with their fourth studio album Digital Lies. Joining the celebration will be Electrik Dynamite, Elm Street, Mason and Sewercide at the Evelyn this Saturday.

RECORD LENGTH

The ReChords’ upcoming four-track EP It Won’t Be Long has been in the making since early 2012. They’ll be launching the EP this Saturday at the Workers Club with The Drey Rollin Band as well as local lads Cherrywood.

REVOLT AGAINST CANCER Riot In Toytown, Sudden State, Darcee Fox and Black Mayday combine forces for an unforgettable night of hard rock in support of the Leukaemia Foundation and Shave For A Cure. Head to the Reverence this Thursday for tunes and live head shaving action. All proceeds will go to the Leukaemia Foundation.

For more info see: christophercolemancollective.com

ANONYMOUS AUTHOR Following on from the release of the band’s widely acclaimed EP Tales From The Wasteland, Ten Thousand now return armed with a string of new singles. They’ll be playing a string of shows at the Cherry Bar including one tonight (Wednesday) with Aimee Francis.

EVIL FAIRY

Ella Hooper released her new single Häxan in April and is celebrating with a launch gig at the Workers Club this Thursday with supports from Hailey Cramer and Spender.

ROMANTIC POETRY

Jo Dawson’s latest project, Seattle, brings her band/ second family back together for the release of their debut single Replay. They play at the Evelyn this Friday with The Modern Age, Calm & Chaos and Watching Fools.

Is this track from a forthcoming/ existing release? It is from Burnt Black Wood, our debut EP. We launched it at MONA on 15 March this year and have been touring it since. Next up is the UK via Collingwood. How long did it take to write/record? It took less time to write than to play. It was a 30 second-er. The recording process was perhaps a three-hour job all up but stretched over three seasons.

At the ripe young age of 16-18 the seven members of Animaux decided to leave their clean-cut rocker days behind them to descend into the dark world of pop/funk music. They’ll be playing at Bar Open this Friday night.

WASHINGTON WASHINGTON

What’s the song about? Christopher Coleman, singer-songwriter/guitarist: The search for that which one already has.

Wintercoats’ Heartful from Melbourne’s one-man orchestra James Wallace is rich in symbolism; narrations of unwanted and uncontrollable realities, but hopeful and optimistic. See Wintercoats this Saturday at Gasometer with from Galapagoose and The Townhouses.

OPEN RANGE ZOO

Haïku are wild, melancholy, Keatsian, raw, a little bit tribal, classical, rock and folk. Haïku launch their debut EP For War Within this Thursday at the Evelyn with special guests Wire Bird and Jonny & June.

CHRISTOPHER COLEMAN COLLECTIVE – DANDELION FLOWER

NOT THE FASHION CLUB HOT DESSERTS This Saturday night ragged St Kilda indie-rockers Howlin’ Steam Train launch their brand new EP Green Jelly at Cherry Bar, supported by Los Tones, Mesa Cosa and DJ Mermaid. The new EP features songs such as Chinatown, the riff happy electric party starter and the ‘60s rock’n’roll-soaked Over The Bend.

Thrashy garage popsters Pretty City say they are influenced by Mystic Spiral, a fictional band from ‘90s cartoon show Daria, and aspire to be like Trent’s band from Reality Bites. They’re playing at the B.East (Brunswick East) this Thursday with July Days.

BITTERSWEET BURGERS Bitter Sweet Kicks’ energetic live shows are renowned for leaving the stage covered in blood, sweat and broken glass after they bash their way through a solid set of chaotic rock’n’roll. Catch them at the B.East this Saturday.

SIMMERING TALES

KEEPING IT NUDE

Fabels play original experimental progressive dreamscape songs. Zimmer, the band’s debut album, was just released. To celebrate,the band will be touring Australia including a show on Thursday 6 June at Yah Yah’s.

Tully On Tully play Thursday 30 May at the B.East with Mercians and Halcyon Drive. Tully On Tully’s progressive folk pop, infectious vocals and subtle dark side is earning them a loyal following.

GOSSIP HIGHWAY

SEXY SPASM

Rumour Control endeavour to bring stadium rock to your local pub. This Friday night they’ll be launching their new self-titled EP at Cherry Bar with supports from Beloved Elk, The Narrow Road and Pointless Nepean.

Garage-psych-punks The Spasms play at the Old Bar this Friday with The Velvets, Sexy/Heavy and The Thrusts. A free track of theirs, I’m A Deadbeat, will be available to download from their website on the day of the show.

SOMEWHAT PLANTLIKE

FOLKY BECKONING

Following the launch of the Somewhere Elsewhere album last year, Zoophyte have been undertaking their residency on Mondays at the Espy. This Monday they’ll be playing with Tom Tuena.

Singer-songwriter Gosti will greet Melbourne with her smoky tell-all travel tales and a full band in tow this Saturday at the Grace Darling. Also playing on the night are the ambient Jarek and wordsmith Zane Beck.

For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news • 39

HOWZAT! LOCAL MUSIC NEWS BY JEFF JENKINS radio creates connections and gives a voice to so many people. It’s accessible and real and I want to love it and hug it and call it George.”

Jenny O’Keefe

WEDDINGS, PBS, ANYTHING Not many radio announcers can say they’ve married more than one of their listeners. The theme for this year’s PBS radio festival is “Romance Your Radio”. Jenny O’Keefe, who presents the excellent Homebrew show (Mondays at 3pm), can relate. Like RRR’s Jon von Goes, Jenny is also a wedding celebrant. “I have married a few listeners,” she laughs. “Often there’s this real intimacy because I’ve been in their house or cars or showers for years, even though we’ve never met. It’s not creepy at all, even though it sounds a little bit wrongtown.” After presenting PBS’s Breakfast Spread for two years, Jenny has been spinning the homegrown hits since the start of 2012. What does she love most about community radio? “Where do I start? I can’t imagine life without it – it’s the lifeblood of culture and good tunes. Community

40 • For more opinion go to themusic.com.au/blog

Jenny – who some call “J O’K” (“though I have horrible memories of being called ‘Jock Strap’ in primary school and it reminds me of that”) – is a clever communicator. “There was this one artist who came in for an interview and they were super-dooper shy. It was quite awkward, but we muddled through and then they picked up their guitar and sang. It was like the sun had come out, such beautiful talent emanated from them. I learned that day that musicians are often at their best when they’re communicating through song, and asking questions about their gifts can be a bit redundant. You have to pick your moments.” What’s Jenny’s favourite wedding song? “One couple used Welcome To The Jungle as their processional. It was unreal.” And the wedding song she never wants to hear again? “I’m pretty lucky that I don’t seem to attract people with music taste that I object to. I would probably have an issue if any Shania Twain came up, but to each their own.” What’s been Jenny’s most unusual wedding location? “I’ve heard of celebrants who marry people while skydiving or in a helicopter or scuba diving, but the weirdest thing that’s happened to me was doing a wedding in NSW. I got attacked by leeches and bled everywhere. It happened at the rehearsal and the ceremony. I was the only one out of 250 people who got leeched. Awkward.” Jenny hesitates when asked for her three all-time favourite Aussie acts. “Oh, man, that’s a tough one. I’m not very good at naming favourites because I love everyone and I’m really crap at remembering names. But

all-time favourites off the top of my head – Paul Kelly, Crowded House and Clare Bowditch. And right now I’m loving Courtney Barnett, Ainslie Wills and Mojo Juju.” Ainslie’s album, You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine, is her 2013 fave – “it’s sublime, different, lush and an absolute work of art.” Jenny nominates Spender as an artist to watch. “He’s going to go absolutely gangbusters over the next year or so. He’s made this ace video for Never Again where he eats an entire wedding cake backwards. Seriously, look it up. He even plays sexy saxophone.” Of course, Jenny can’t stop at naming just one emerging talent – she also mentions The Little Sisters, Aluka, Olympia, Sweet Jean, Jess Ribeiro & The Bone Collectors and Georgia Fields. “Just tune in to Homebrew because I can’t mention everyone who deserves it,” she says, “and they all deserve it.” The PBS radio festival runs from Monday 13 to Sunday 26 May. More info at pbsfm.org.au. And if you’d like Jenny to marry you, head to joyfulceremonies.com.au.

UPS AND DOWNS Fancy a guitar lesson with Kim Salmon? Or how ’bout a beer with Ron Peno? The Darling Downs have just finished their first album in six years and to release it, they’ve launched a crowd-funding campaign at pledgemusic.com. For $120, you can have a lesson with Kim (pay $1000 and you get to keep the guitar). For $75, you can have a drink with Ron (though we’re not sure who pays for the drinks). The Darling Downs’ third album is called In The Days When The World Was Wide.

ANGRY, INDEED Angry Anderson is aiming to be the biggest musician turned conservative politician since The Seekers’ Athol Guy was a Liberal member of state parliament in the ’70s. News of Angry running for the National Party for the NSW seat of Throsby split fans. Comments at Noise11.com included: “He can be beaten…”, “Instead of running for office, Angry

should be running the dodgem cars in a sideshow alley…”, “Peter Garrett’s Mini-Me…”, “All hail Angry…” and “The Pauline Hanson of rock”.

CHART WATCH No Aussie hits in the Top 10. Hello STAFFORD BROTHERS (number 11) A Thousand Years CELIA PAVEY (23) Holdin On FLUME (24) Big Banana HAVANA BROWN (25) Lanterns BIRDS OF TOKYO (26) Anthony Callea’s third album, Thirty, arrives at 18. Universus SHOCKONE (number two, debut) Flume FLUME (four) Life Is A Highway JASON OWEN (five, debut) Romantique RACHAEL LEAHCAR (13, debut) Sharkmouth RUSSELL MORRIS (14) Thirty ANTHONY CALLEA (18, debut) The Essential DIVINYLS (21) March Fires BIRDS OF TOKYO (35) The Rubens THE RUBENS (38) The Golden Jubilee Album THE SEEKERS (39)

HOWZAT! PLAYLIST Saved THE DARLING DOWNS Dancing For The Girl VAUDEVILLE SMASH Somewhere RENEE GEYER Seachange BRYAN ESTEPA Anxious MARC WELSH

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SAT 11TH

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TOUR GUIDE

THE HAPPY MONDAYS: June 6 Palace NORTHLANE: June 9, 10 Corner THE BEARDS: June 13 Pelly Bar (Frankston); 14 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); 15 Hi-Fi

PRESENTS

JELLO BIAFRA & THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: May 11, 12 Corner

FRIGHTENED RABBIT: May 8 Corner

YOU AM I: July 3, 4, 6 Forum

EMMA LOUISE: May 9 Yarra Hotel (Geelong); 10 Corner; 11 Karova Lounge (Ballarat)

GOLD FIELDS: July 12 Karova Lounge; 13 Corner; 18 Eureka Hotel (Geelong)

THE RUBENS: May 10 Forum; 12 Yarra Hotel (Geelong)

THIS WEEK INTERNATIONAL FRIGHTENED RABBIT: May 8 Corner BETH ORTON: May 8 St Michael’s Church JULIAN MARLEY: May 9 Corner SANDI THOM: May 9 Melbourne Recital Centre CRADLE OF FILTH: May 10 Billboard OM: May 10 Hi-Fi TYDI: May 11 Fusion DJ AFRIKA BAMBAATAA: May 11 Laundry DRAGON: May 11 Palms At Crown BEASTWARS: May 11 Bendigo Hotel; 12 Hi-Fi JELLO BIAFRA: May 11, 12 Corner UNIDA: May 12 Hi-Fi THE SEEKERS: May 14 Hamer Hall FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND: May 14 Corner

NATIONAL GUY SEBASTIAN: May 8 Lighthouse Theatre (Warrnambool); 10 GPAC Costa Hall; 11 Eastbank Centre (Shepparton); 12, 13 Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre KATHRYN ROLLINS: May 9 Grace Darling ELLA HOOPER: May 9 Workers Club LAURA IMBRUGLIA: May 9 Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine); 11 Old Bar EMMA LOUISE: May 9 Yarra Hotel (Geelong); 10 Corner; 11 Karova Lounge (Ballarat) DANIEL CHAMPAGNE: May 10 Loft (Warrnambool) SOMETHING FOR KATE: May 10 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 11 Pier Live (Frankston) MUSTERED COURAGE: May 10 Northcote Social Club MESSRS: May 10 Grace Darling; 11 Saloon Bar (Traralgon) THE RUBENS: May 10, 11 Forum; 12 Yarra Hotel (Geelong) BORED NOTHING: May 11 Northcote Social Club RED INK: May 11 Espy Lounge JIKA: May 11 Espy Gershwin Room SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR: May 11 Audrey’s Rooftop (Abbotsford) (two shows) STEVE KILBEY, MARTIN KENNEDY: May 12 Toff NEW GODS: May 14 Workers Club

FESTIVALS HEART OF ST KILDA: May 14 Palais

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND: May 15 Pier Live (Frankston) NEON TREES: May 15 Ding Dong ISAIAH MITCHELL: May 15, 22 Northcote Social Club; 18 Public Bar LIGHTNING TAPE WOLF: May 16 Barwon Club (Geelong); 17 Grace Darling DEFTONES: May 17, 18 Palace TENACIOUS D: May 17, 18 Palais LORDE: May 17 Workers Club MATT EDWARDS: May 17 Brown Alley JELLO BIAFRA: May 17 Coolangatta Hotel; 24 Thornbury Theatre (talk) LOCAL NATIVES: May 18 Forum DELANEY DAVIDSON: May 18 Spotted Mallard STAN RIDGWAY: May 18 Corner; 19 Caravan Club FRED V & GRAFIX: May 19 Royal Melbourne Hotel BOBBY WOMACK: May 21 Hamer Hall ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD: May 22 Corner LITA FORD: May 23 Prince Bandroom THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT: May 23 Caravan Music Club; 31 Billboard; June 2 Ferntree Gully Hotel BORN OF OSIRIS: May 23 Hi-Fi; 24 Phoenix Youth Centre ELUVEITIE: May 24 Billboard OCTO OCTA, MAGIC TOUCH, BOBBY BROWSER: May 24, 25 Mercat EMMURE, THE GHOST INSIDE: May 25, 26 Hi-Fi KAKI KING: May 30 Corner JULIE ANDREWS: May 31 Hamer Hall MIGUEL ATWOOD-FERGUSON: June 1 Hi-Fi FLATBUSH ZOMBIES: June 1 Toff MATTHEW E WHITE: June 3 Northcote Social Club THE HAPPY MONDAYS: June 6 Palace THE MILK CARTON KIDS: June 6 Thornbury Theatre; 7 Meeniyan Town Hall; 8 St Kilda Memo KILLING JOKE: June 7 Billboard KAMELOT: June 7 Hi-Fi THUNDERCAT: June 7 Forum EARLWOLF: June 7 Palace

AIRBOURNE: July 19 Whalers Hotel (Warrnambool); 20 Corner

SOMETHING FOR KATE: May 10 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 11 Pier Live (Frankston); 24 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); June 14 Forum

SURFER BLOOD: July 24 Corner

BORED NOTHING: May 11 Northcote Social Club

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING: July 26 Corner

BOB EVANS: May 16 Yarra Hotel (Geelong); 17 Corner; 18 Meeniyan Town Hall

JAMES BLAKE: July 31 Palais JAPANDROIDS: August 28, 30 Corner

SAN CISCO: May 23 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); 25 Corner (two shows)

WED 8 MAY 2013 Julien Wilson ‘B For Chicken’ Quartet: 303, Northcote Songrider’s Club+Various: Baha Tacos, Rye Slocombe’s Pussy + Warpigs + Roussemoff + Roundtable: Bar Open, Fitzroy Nick Haywood Quartet: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne Ten Thousand + Aimee Francis: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Frightened Rabbit + Admiral Fallow: Corner Hotel, Richmond Mo Soul with +DJ Vince Peach + Miss Goldie + Special Guests : Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Dizzy’s Big Band: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond Phil Para: Elsternwick Hotel, Elsternwick Jonnie Murphy Band + The Sweet By & By: Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North I Know The Chief + Sleepy Dreamers + Granston Display: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Amy Lee + Tobias Moldenhauer: Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy Vanna + Sierra + A Call To Anguish + Eyes Wide Open: Karova Lounge, Ballarat The Ewing Brothers: Kent Street Bar & Cafe, Fitzroy Guy Sebastian: Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool Magic Hands + Velcro + Easy Money Club: Old Bar, Fitzroy Sugar Fed Leopards + The Red Brigade: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Beth Orton + Alexander Gow: St Michael’s Uniting Church, Melbourne Open Mic: Tago Mago, Thornbury Animal Hands + Plastic Spaceman + Cider Tree Kids: The Bendigo, Collingwood Open Mic: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Wondercore Wednesday + Uncomfortable Sciences + Silentjay: The Curtin (Band Room), Carlton Kerryn Fields + Anna Struth: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Daryl Roberts: The Quiet Man Hotel, Flemington David Wright + Michael Milne: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy The Clits + Chook Race + Ross De Chene Hurricane: The Tote, Collingwood

42 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

HAIM: July 25 Hi-Fi

FOALS: September 27 Palace

Velma Grove + Hiding with Bears + Catch Release: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Jon Stevens: Wellers, Kangaroo Ground Simply Acoustic+Various: Wesley Anne, Northcote

THU 9 MAY 2013 Matt Kirsch Trio: 303, Northcote The Black Alleys + Summer Blood + Sex St Band + MKO: Bar Open, Fitzroy Vanna + Storm The Sky + Sierra + Empires Fall + Exposures: Barwon Club, South Geelong Nat Bartsch: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne The Skampz: Burvale Hotel, Nunawading Rebecca & Billy’s Singalong +Rebecca Barnard + Billy Miller: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Ultravibralux + DJ Vince Peach + Pierre Baroni: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Julian Marley + Natalie Pa’apa’a (Blue King Brown) + Chant Down Sound: Corner Hotel, Richmond Recreation Thursdays+Various: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Kerberos + John Turcio: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond John Flanagan & The Begin Agains: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick The Killdeers + Adam Eaton + Kate Lucas: Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North Haiku + Wire Bird + Johnny & June: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Tomb Hanx + Lioness Eye + Space Cadet + Halt Ever: Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy Kathryn Rollins: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Oh Pep!: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood The Solicitors + Signal X + The Big City: Great Britain Hotel, Richmond Strings & Things+Various: Grind ‘n’ Groove Bar, Healesville The Ten Tenors: Hamer Hall, Melbourne The Pony Men + The Soulenikoes + Saprotroph: Karova Lounge, Ballarat Queen & Convict + Brooke Russel: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East The New Pollution + Them Nights: Lounge Bar, Melbourne Free Range Funk+Agent 86 + Lewis CanCut + Who: Lucky Coq, Windsor Sandi Thom: Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank

Brightly + We The People + Super Magic Hats + Sagakara: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Wiley Red Fox + The Taylor Project + Pensive Penguin: Old Bar, Fitzroy May Riot In Town + Sudden State + Black Mayday: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Hit The Fan + Audacious + The Fourfront + MHZ + Dj Marshall + Al-Flex + Duende + The Rudy V: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray Kids From The Mill + Super Saloon + Nikhail: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Tek Tek Ensemble: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Michael Meehan & The Ladies In Waiting + Black Cockatoo: Tago Mago, Thornbury The Corsairs + Darts + The Big Face & The Boogie Woogie Boogie Board Boys + Sean Paul & The Motherfuckin Boogaloo All Stars: The Bendigo, Collingwood Laura Imbruglia + Iowa + Little Wing: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine Cotangent + The Groves + A Gazillion Angry Mexicans + The Ivory Elephant: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Alma Mater: The Butterfly Club, Melbourne Hud Corley + Pritchy Ray: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Stream + Bum Creek + Glass Bricks: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Hyperborea + Stray Light + Drooling Mystics: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Buzz Campbell + Lee Rocker + Firebird: The Luwow, Fitzroy Sean McMahons Western Union: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Made For Chickens By Robots + Heel Toe Express: The Public Bar, North Melbourne Salt Lake City: The Sporting Club, Brunswick Zoe Ryan + Jess Healy: The Thornbury Local, Thornbury How Love + Tristan Coleman + Michael Goodfellow: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Ella Hooper + Hailey Crame + Spender: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Klara Zubonja: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Zoe K & The Shadow Cats: Wesley Anne, Northcote Auto Da Fe + The Midnight Scavengers + Horsemeat: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy Emma Louise + Patrick James: Yarra Hotel, Geelong

FRI 10 MAY 2013 Years Of Scummery + A Commoner Revolts + Heaps Tuff + Dead Peasant: 303, Northcote Bad Karma + Reverend Bode & The Troublemakers: Baha Tacos, Rye Animaux: Bar Open, Fitzroy Riversnake + Vendetta + Dirge: Barwon Club, South Geelong Rita Satch Band: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne Cradle Of Filth + The Amenta + Special Guests : Billboard The Venue, Melbourne Ryan Elliot: Brown Alley, Melbourne The Best of Bon Scott+Various: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh DJ Claz + DJ Peril + DJ Sef: Chaise Lounge, Melbourne Spencer P Jones: Cherry Bar (Afternoon), Melbourne Rumour Control + Beloved Elk + The Narrow Road + Pointless Nepean: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Emma Louise + Thelma Plum + Patrick James: Corner Hotel, Richmond Barbarion + Very Handsome Men + Pterodactly: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Hayden Jones Trio: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond We All Want To: Edinburgh Castle Hotel (Front Bar/ Early), Brunswick King Lucho: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick La Rosa Marchita: Elsternwick Hotel, Elsternwick The Wallbangers + Chilliad + Jets & Ammo: Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North Seattle + The Modern Age + Calm & Chaos + Watching Fools: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Something For Kate + Courtney Barnett: Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully The Rubens + Walk The Moon + Oh Mercy: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Guy Sebastian: GPAC Drama Theatre, Geelong Messrs + Tully On Tully + Harts: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Like Royalty + Oh Pacific + Outlines + Chris Appleton: Karova Lounge, Ballarat The Presley Family: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Discotheque+Elana Musto + Greg Sara + Scott T: Match Bar, Melbourne Mustered Courage + The Nymphs: Northcote Social Club, Northcote

The Spasms + The Velvets + Sexy/Heavy + The Thrusts + DJ Cisco Rose: Old Bar, Fitzroy Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin Celebration feat. +Steve Balbi + Simon Meli + Dallas Frasca + Natasha Stuart + more: Palais Theatre, St Kilda La Dance Massive+Brunswick Massive: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Red Bennies 3rd Birthday feat. +Client Liason + DJ Edd Fisher + Fugitive + Mike Gurrieri + more: Red Bennies, South Yarra Cavalcade + The Union Pacific + Kissing Booth + Summerhill: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Virtue + Squeaker + Tabula Rasa + Killshot + Bravo Juliet: Revolver Upstairs (Early ), Prahran Fire & Theft: Tago Mago, Thornbury Clairy Browne + Dirty South + Melodee Maker: The Bendigo, Collingwood Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel + Guests: The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine Street Fangs + Road Ratz + Foxtrot + Summer Blood: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Alma Mater: The Butterfly Club, Melbourne Major Minor: The Curtin (Band Room), Carlton Traditional Irish Music Session with+Dan Bourke & Friends: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Theatre Burlesque+Various: The Espy (Gershwin Room), St Kilda Destroy She Said + Mammoth Mammoth + Drifter + Long Holiday + Will Coyote: The Espy (Lounge Bar), St Kilda May Kiddo + At the Age of 440 + Lune Zoo + Diamonds Of Neptune + Irie + The Shrunken Heads + Black Fuel + James Caddy: The Espy (Basement), St Kilda Live SeriesVol 12 featm, +Useless Children + Ratsak + Spite House + more: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Om + Forteen Nights at Sea + Dead River + Assad: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne

House of Laurence + The Good Morrows + Lands: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Jon Stevens: Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak Dave Sattout + Oh Pep! + Al Parkinson: Wesley Anne, Northcote Letter B: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote TJ Quinton: Willow Bar, Northcote Mimi Velevska + Flounder + The Jail Bird Jokers + Pretty City: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy We All Want To + Iowa + Charlie Horse : Yarra Hotel (Late), Abbotsford

SAT 11 MAY 2013 Kooyeh + Aether Beach: 303, Northcote Lamine Sonko & The African Intelligence: Bar Open, Fitzroy Where’s Joss + Seedy Jezus + The Underhanded: Barwon Club, South Geelong Alex & Nilusha Ensemble: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne WHOW 2013 Fundraiser feat. +Model Super Orchestra + Brian Nankervis: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Jamie MacDowell + Tash Sultana + Dale Gannan: Chandelier Room, Moorabbin Howlin’ Steam Train + Los Tones + Mesa Cosa: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine + Useless Children + Special Guests: Corner Hotel, Richmond Lotek + Lady Lash: Cornish Arms Hotel, Brunswick Truck Fighters + Matt Sonic & The High Times + Dead River: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Joe Chindamo Trio: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond Velvet Cake Gypsies: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick

THE RUBENS: May 10, 11 Forum; 12 Yarra Hotel (Geelong)

Daniel Champagne: The Loft, Warrnambool The Exotics + Voodoo Swamp Daddies: The Luwow, Fitzroy Rachael Leahcar: The Palms, Southbank The Drey Rollan Band: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg 28 Days: The Prince (Bandroom), St Kilda The Twoks: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda Solkyri + The Nest Itself + The Swell: The Public Bar, North Melbourne Tango Rubino: The Sporting Club, Brunswick Lot 56: The Thornbury Local, Thornbury Buried Feather + Pony Face + Flyying Colours + Atolls: The Tote, Collingwood JD Project: The Vineyard, St Kilda

Phil Para: Elsternwick Hotel, Elsternwick Gram Friday + Andy Wear: Empress Hotel (Afternoon), Fitzroy North Strine Singers + Nice Boy Tom: Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North Lord + Elm Street + Electrik Dynamite + Mason + Sewercide: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Live Sessions with+The Tiger & Me + Simon Levick: Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully The Rubens + Oh Mercy + Walk The Moon: Forum Theatre, Melbourne Gosti + Jarek + Zane Beck: Grace Darling Hotel (Basement), Collingwood The D Grades + The Pink Tiles + Les Minijupes: Great Britain Hotel, Richmond

Emma Louise + Patrick James: Karova Lounge, Ballarat DJ Afrika Bambaataa : Laundry Bar, Fitzroy Spectrum: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Textile+DJ Pacman + Jean Paul + Moonshine + Tahl: Lucky Coq, Windsor Bored Nothing + Gung Ho + Step Panther: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Laura Imbruglia + Iowa + Little Wing: Old Bar, Fitzroy Two Shots: Open Studio, Northcote Something For Kate + Courtney Barnett: Pier Live, Frankston Shannon Bourne: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Nocturnal Graves + Kromosom + Pale Sage + Split Teeth: Reverence Hotel, Footscray Fear Like Us + Ribbons Patterns + Adeline Pines + Maricopa Wells + Andrew Richmond: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar), Footscray Grizzly Jim Laurie + Charles Baby + Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Bang feat. +Vanna + Storm The Sky + Sierra: Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Messrs + Tully On Tully: Saloon Bar, Traralgon Florelie Escano: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Harry Howard Trio + Stu Thomas Paradox: Tago Mago, Thornbury Beastwars + The Ruiner + Broozer + Batpiss: The Bendigo, Collingwood Kill Two Birds + 23AOA + Mountfield Plains: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Dave Wright & The Midnight Electric + Johnny Gibson & The Hangovers + The Staffords: The Brunswick Hotel (Afternoon), Brunswick Alma Mater: The Butterfly Club, Melbourne Ben Smith: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne Kings & Queens feat.+Jika + Lung + Disgruntled Bruntle + The Greeting Method + New Manic Spree + Spitting Swallows + Kat Arditto + DJ Ignite: The Espy (Gershwin Room), St Kilda Red Ink + 8 Bit Love + The Elliotts + The Universal + Phil Para: The Espy (Lounge Bar), St Kilda The Quarters + Lucky Few + The Furrows: The Espy (Basement), St Kilda Wintercoats + Galapagoose + The Townhouses: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Danger Beach + Jonny Telafone + Bad//Dreems + The Ocean Party: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood The Pearly Shells + DJ Jumpin’ Josh: The Luwow, Fitzroy Dragon: The Palms, Southbank Zoe K & The Shadow Cats: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg The Wellingtons: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda We All Want To + Charlie Horse + College Fall: The Public Bar, North Melbourne Tim Guy: The Sporting Club, Brunswick Stormy Monday + Guests: The Thornbury Local, Thornbury Laura + Presence of Soul + Mushroom Giant + Yawning: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Slumber Party Massacre II+The Tarantinos: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood

Harbour The Hostage + Reeds Of The Temptress + Nicolas Cage Fighter: The Tote (Front Bar), Collingwood The ReChords + The Drey Rollan Band + Cherrywood: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Pavement Serenaders: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Lorraine + Jen Knight & The Cavaliers: Wesley Anne, Northcote Bayou + Nathan Hollywood + Howard: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy

SUN

Michael Ashdown + Jukai Forest + Martin Sleeman (Morning After Girls): Tago Mago (Afternoon), Thornbury Jimi Hocking: The Bay Hotel, Mornington Heaven The Axe + Sydonia + Guests: The Bendigo, Collingwood RDzJB + Famous Will & Pat WIlson: The Brunswick Hotel (Afternoon), Brunswick Cabbages & Kings + Big Head Ella: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Alma Mater: The Butterfly Club, Melbourne

UNIDA: May 12 Hi-Fi

12 MAY 2013 Artist Proof + Mel Calia: 303, Northcote The Tarantinos + Terry McCarthy Special + Guests: Bar Open, Fitzroy Test Pilot Molly: Barwon Club, South Geelong Golden Jubilee Concert+Margret Roadknight: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne Chris Wilson + Mr Black n Blues + DJ Max Crawdaddy: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Nihl + Aether Beach + The Mercury Theatre + Ana Nicole : Cherry Bar, Melbourne Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine + Grong Grong + The Spinning Rooms: Corner Hotel, Richmond Shakey Stills: Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Brunswick Sunday Arvo Comedy+Various: Empress Hotel (Afternoon), Fitzroy North Birds & The Bees Showcase+Various: Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North Big Red Run Fundraiser+I Confess + Strawberry Fist Cake + Shut Up And Choke Me + more: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Blackhill Ramblers: Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully Christopher Coleman Collective + Canary + Wishful + James Fahy + Erik Parker: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Alex Lashlie’s Growl + Jack Mitchell: Great Britain Hotel, Richmond Georgia Maq: Kent Street Bar & Cafe, Fitzroy Merri Creek Pickers: Lomond Hotel (Early), Brunswick East Ken Maher & Tony Hargreaves: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Footy + Pearls + Mad Nanna + The Backstabbers: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Beersoaked Sundays+Cash Savage & The Last Drinks + The Infants + The Rolling Blackouts + DJ Dan Lewis: Old Bar, Fitzroy Frilly Knickers Jazz Band: Open Studio, Northcote Pheasant Pluckers: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy The Moonee Valley Drifters: Retreat Hotel (Front Bar / Afternoon), Brunswick Wil Wagner + Corey Price + Terror & Taam + Luke Thomas: Reverence Hotel (Front Bar / Afternoon), Footscray Honky Tonk Angels: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North Union Royale: Spotted Mallard (Matinee Show), Brunswick Spectrum: St Andrews Hotel (Afternoon), St. Andrews

Browne, Pankhurst & Hannaford Trio: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne Cherry Jam+Various: Cherry Bar, Melbourne The Cactus Channel + Demian + Miss Goldie: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Nicholette Forte & Friends + Jordan Walker + Jamie Wills: Lounge Bar, Melbourne Songwriter Sessions+Various: Old Bar, Fitzroy Let’s Get Funny at the Brunny+Various: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Mark Seymour & the Undertow: The Sphinx Hotel, Geelong

Cal Walker & Tim Crossey + Rory Ellis: The Drunken Poet (Afternoon), Melbourne Nudist Funk Orchestra + Dale Ryder Band + Bad Boys Batucada + Ms Butt: The Espy (Lounge Bar), St Kilda Mountain & Swamp Sessions with+Fruit Jar + Friends: The Gasometer Hotel (Front Bar / Afternoon), Collingwood Worng + Creeks: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Unida + Beastwars + My Left Boot: The Hi-Fi, Melbourne The Blackeyed Susans: The Post Office Hotel, Coburg Jack Howard: The Prince (Public Bar), St Kilda Presence of Soul + Yawning + Lunaire + Bear The Mammoth: The Public Bar (Afternoon), North Melbourne Dan Watkins & Paddy Montgomery: The Sporting Club, Brunswick Chelsea Drugstore: The Standard Hotel, Fitzroy Steve Kilbey + Martin Kennedy + Glenn Benie + Phillipa Nihill (GB3): The Toff In Town, Melbourne Giants Under The Sun + Kashmere Club: The Tote, Collingwood Shirazz + The Nymphs: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel + Dan Parsons: The Workers Club (Matinee Show), Fitzroy Brooke Russell & The Mean Reds + Skyscraper Stan & The Commission Flats: Wesley Anne, Northcote The Melways: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote The Rubens + Oh Mercy + Walk The Moon: Yarra Hotel, Geelong

MON 13 MAY 2013 Motion + Knight + Brooks Duo: 303, Northcote

Blue Grass Jam Night+Various: The Sporting Club, Brunswick

TUE 14 MAY 2013 Mirko Guerrini Sextet: Bennetts Lane, Melbourne The Patron Saints: Cherry Bar, Melbourne Funeral For A Friend + Relentless + AmourUs: Corner Hotel, Richmond Big Band Frequency: Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond Mister Sippy: Elsternwick Hotel, Elsternwick Echo Drama + The Do Ya Thangs + Gusto The Bodysnatcher: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Tommy Flemming: Geelong Performing Arts Centre, Geelong Melbourne Improvisors Collective+Bat Country + Full Circle + Anton Delecca Quartet: Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy The Seekers: Hamer Hall, Melbourne Kain Borlase Trio: Kojo Brown, Richmond Irish Sessions+Various: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Walk The Moon + Special Guests: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Kelsey James + Brooke Russel + Matthew Kenneally: Old Bar, Fitzroy The Gaslight Anthem + Dave Hause: Palace Theatre, Melbourne Never Cheer Before You Know Who’s Winning+Various: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Discovery Night feat.+Discovery Of A Fox + Oscar Galt + Tali Sing: The Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Jimmy Hawk: The Curtin (Front Bar ), Carlton Trivia+Various: The Drunken Poet, Melbourne The Kite Machine + Leadlight + Jordan Walker: The Espy (Lounge Bar), St Kilda

TOUR GUIDE TAYLOR DAYNE: June 7 Chelsea Heights Hotel; 8 Palms At Crown; 9 Shoppingtown Hotel (Doncaster) CHUCHO VALDÉS & THE AFRO-CUBAN MESSENGERS: June 8 Hamer Hall TIKI TAANE: June 8 Corner DASH BERLIN: June 8 Shed 14 Central Pier Exhibition Halls YO GABBA GABBA!: June 8 Palais CHRIS LIEBING, JIMMY EDGAR: June 9 Brown Alley MASTA ACE: June 9 Espy THE KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW: June 11, 12 Tote THE BELLRAYS: June 12 Corner ELEANOR MCEVOY: June 12 Northcote Social Club ALISA WEILERSTEIN: June 12 Melbourne Recital Centre LIL B: June 13 Hi-Fi THE BLACK ANGELS: June 14 Palace SI CRANSTOUN: June 14 Burwood RSL Club BARB JUNGR: June 14, 15 Recital Centre Saloon MARTHA WAINWRIGHT: June 14, 15 Recital Centre; 16 Memorial Hall Leongatha (Gippsland) TOY: June 18 Corner BORIS: June 19 Corner JON ENGLISH & THE FOSTER BROTHERS: June 20 Corner KORA: June 21 Espy ARTURO SANDOVAL: June 22 Palais MUNICIPAL WASTE: June 23 Corner MONO: June 23 Hi-Fi PAUL THORN: June 23 Northcote Social Club; 25 Hallam Hotel COOLIO: June 27 Red Bennies MANIC STREET PREACHERS: June 28 Festival Hall A$AP ROCKY: June 29 Festival Hall CANNABIS CORPSE: June 29 Hi-Fi DAYLIGHT ROBBERY: July 5 Public Bar; 21 Gasometer GILBY CLARKE: July 7 Northcote Social Club PINK: July 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, August 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23 Rod Laver Arena ENABLER: July 11 Bendigo Hotel; 12 Black Goat Warehouse JONNY CRAIG: July 12 Wrangler Studios; 13 Bang; 14 Pelly Bar (Frankston) LA DISPUTE: July 12, 13 Corner TODD RUNDGREN: July 19 Chelsea Heights Hotel; 20 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 21 Corner SAINT VITUS: July 20 Hi-Fi DAUGHTER: July 23 Corner SURFER BLOOD: July 24 Corner HAIM: July 25 Hi-Fi EVERYTHING EVERYTHING: July 26 Corner BLEEDING THROUGH: July 26 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 27 Hi-Fi WAVVES, UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA: July 27 Corner JAKE BUGG: July 28 Corner MS MR: July 29 Hi-Fi FIDLAR: July 29 Corner PALMA VIOLETS: July 29 Northcote Social Club ALT-J: July 30 Festival Hall VILLAGERS: July 30 Corner DARWIN DEEZ: July 31 Corner JAMES BLAKE: July 31 Palais

NATIONAL ANTHONY CALLEA: May 15 Chadstone Shopping Centre; July 13 Palms At Crown CHARLES BABY: May 16 Workers Club BOB EVANS: May 16 Yarra Hotel (Geelong); 17 Corner; 18 Meeniyan Town Hall THE BROW HORN ORCHESTRA: May 16 Espy; 17 Spotted Mallard; 18 Baha Tacos (Rye); 19 Westernport Hotel (San Remo) SETH SENTRY: May 17 Forum; 18 Ding Dong HEROES FOR HIRE: May 17 Wrangler Studios (Footscray) THE STEVENS: May 17 Tote BRITISH INDIA: May 17 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); 24 Pelly Bar (Frankston); 25 Ferntree Gully Hotel FRANKENBOK, ABREACT, DREADNAUGHT, HEAVEN THE AXE, KING PARROT: May 17 Pelly Bar (Frankston); 18 Inferno (Traralgon); 31 Newmarket Hotel (Bendigo); June 28 Yahoo Bar (Shepparton) THE DEEP END: May 18 Cherry Bar CITY RIOTS: May 18 Rochester Castle MARK SEYMOUR & THE UNDERTOW: May 18 Sphinx Hotel (Geelong) TONIGHT ALIVE: May 18, 19 Ding Dong NEW GODS: May 21, 28 Workers Club GUY SEBASTIAN: May 21, 22 Capital Theatre (Bendigo) REDX: May 23 Workers Club SAN CISCO: May 23 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); 25 (two shows), 26 Corner LEE KERNAGHAN: May 23 Ballarat Regional Multiplex; 24 Warrnambool Lighthouse Theatre; 25 Geelong’s Costa Hall; 29 Bendigo’s Capital; 30 Swan Hill Town Hall; June 2 Shepparton Eastbank Centre MANIFEST AT THE CORNER FT KING PARROT: May 24 Corner SOMETHING FOR KATE: May 24 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); June 14, 15 Forum GAY PARIS: May 24 Fitzroy Hotel; 31 Loft (Warnambool) JERICCO: May 25 Espy SOFTWAR: May 25 Bottom End OWEN CAMPBELL: May 25 Spotted Mallard THE MURLOCS: May 25 Northcote Social Club CALL THE SHOTS: May 26 Fitzroy Town Hall

LAURA IMBRUGLIA: May 9 Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine); 11 Old Bar

THE MOUNTAINS: May 30 Espy; June 1 Baha Tacos (Rye); 2 Pure Pop Records SHEPPARD: May 30 Golden Vine (Bendigo); 31 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); June 1 Prince Bandroom; 6 Ding Dong SUPER WILD HORSES: May 31 Tote MATT CORBY: May 31 Palace CLAIRY BROWNE & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES: May 31 Corner BAD//DREEMS: May 31 Gasometer ANDY BULL: May 31 Workers Club TOMMY TRASH: May 31 Pier Live (Frankston); June 1 Code Red ENOLA FALL: May 31 Espy; June 1 B.East OWL EYES: June 1 Corner TOM PIPER: June 1 Universal Bar (Bendigo); 29 Inferno (Traralgon) THE NERVE: June 1 Espy; 28 Sporting Club (Geelong); 29 Northcote Social Club MY FICTION: June 1 Newmarket Hotel (Bendigo) BLEEDING KNEES CLUB: June 1 Ding Dong BEACHES: June 3 Northcote Social Club MANTRA: June 6 Northcote Social Club THE CHEMIST: June 7 Workers Club P-MONEY: June 7 Espy Front Bar THE SUPERJESUS: June 7, 8 Espy Gershwin Room THE TONGUE: June 8 Espy THE NATION BLUE: June 8 Tote NORTHLANE: June 9, 10 Corner THY ART IS MURDER: June 13 Corner; 14 Arrow On Swanston RASA DUENDE: June 13 Melbourne Recital Centre; 14 Montrose Town Centre (Mount Dandenong) FOREVER THE OPTIMIST: June 13 Espy; 14 Barley Corn Hotel; 15 Gertrude’s Brown Couch THE BEARDS: June 13 Pelly Bar (Frankston); 14 Theatre Royal (Castlemaine); 15 Hi-Fi HAILER: June 13 Brunswick Hotel; 14 Yah Yah’s; 15 303 (Northcote) KERSER & RATES: June 13 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); 14 Barwon Club Hotel (Geelong) ANDREW STOCKDALE: June 13 Ferntree Gully Hotel; 14 Hi-Fi; 15 Wool Exchange (Geelong); 16 Pier Live (Frankston) EXPERIENCE JIMI HENDRIX: June 14 Palms At Crown VAUDEVILLE SMASH: June 14 Corner BREAKING ORBIT: June 14 Revolver THE RED PAINTINGS: June 15 Espy ASH GRUNWALD, ANDY STRACHAN, SCOTT OWEN: June 15 Torquay Hotel; 27 Corner; 28 Prince Bandroom; 29 Westernport Hotel (San Remo) KATE MILLER-HEIDKE: June 16 Lighthouse Theatre (Warrnambool); 21 St Michael’s Church; 22 Capital (Bendigo); 23 at Westside Performing Arts Centre (Shepparton) I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN: June 21 Corner ABBE MAY: June 21 Ding Dong KATIE NOONAN: June 21 Substation (Newport); 22 GPAC (Geelong); 23 Toff ROBOTOSAURUS, TOTALLY UNICORN: June 22 Reverence WAGONS: June 22 Corner BABY ANIMALS: June 22 Hi-Fi IN HEARTS WAKE: June 22 Workers Club; 23 Phoenix Youth Centre THE JANOSKIANS: June 27 Festival Hall SPLASHH: June 29 Ding Dong KRONIC: June 29 Inferno (Traralgon) THE BREAK: June 30 Caravan Music Club; 31 Thornbury Theatre YOU AM I: July 3, 4, 6 Forum BALL PARK MUSIC: July 5 Forum PAIRS: July 5 Long Play DICK DIVER: July 5 Corner; 6 Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine); 12 Barwon Club (Geelong) BAPTISM OF UZI: July 6 Northcote Social Club SOMETHING WITH NUMBERS: July 6 Ding Dong GOLD FIELDS: July 12 Karova Lounge (Ballarat); 13 Corner; 18 Eureka Hotel (Geelong) AIRBOURNE: July 19 Whalers Hotel (Warrnambool); 20 Corner OUR LAST ENEMY: August 2 Revolver BERNARD FANNING: August 9 Palace; 10 GPAC Costa Hall (Geelong) CLARE BOWDITCH: August 10 Corner DON MCLEAN: August 17 Hamer Hall MOVING PICTURES: August 23 Palms At Crown THE CAT EMPIRE: September 12, 13 Forum PARKWAY DRIVE: September 20 Palace

To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags • 43

CLUB GUIDE

WED 8 MAY 2013 Cosmic Pizza with+NHJ: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Compression Session with +Cassawarrior + Dd + Ricka: E55, Melbourne Dubstep Grime Drum & Bass+DJ Baddums + Carmex: Laundry Bar, Fitzroy Coq Roq +Agent 86 + Lady Noir + Joybot + Kiti + Mr Thom: Lucky Coq, Windsor Various DJs: New Guernica, Melbourne The Dinner Set feat. +DJ Perplex: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran

Trocadero+Various DJs: Match Bar, Melbourne James Kane + Negative Magick + Nu Balance + Post Percy: New Guernica, Melbourne Le Disco Tech+Various DJs: Pretty Please, St Kilda 3181 Thursday+Hans DC + Jake Judd + Nikki Sarafian + more: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Do Drop In+Kiti + Lady Noir: The Carlton Hotel, Melbourne Midnight Express with+DJ Prequel & Ed Fisher: The Toff In Town, Melbourne The Ritz+Cauc-Asian DJs + Joshua Gillard + Ken Walker + Lucille Croft + Carrick Dalton + more: Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak

FRI

THU 9 MAY 2013 Mezzanine & Back Room+DJ Mannequin + DJ Syto: Abode, St Kilda Matt Dean + Matty Grant + Phil Ross: Billboard The Venue, Melbourne Tiger Funk Live+DJ Moonshine: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Grad Party+DJ Rowie: European Bier Cafe, Melbourne Electric Universe Collective+Various: Loop, Melbourne

10 MAY 2013 Juicy+Chairman Meow + Coburg Market + Mr Fox + Tigerfunk + Who: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Weekender+Various DJs: Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Badaboom+DJ Rowie: European Bier Cafe, Melbourne Notorious +Various DJs: First Floor, Fitzroy Panorama+Matt Rad + Mr George + Phato A Mano + Tom Meagher: Lucky Coq, Windsor Various DJs: New Guernica, Melbourne

Retro Sexual+Various DJs: One Twenty Bar, Fitzroy Jack In The Box with +Jay-J + Luke McD + DJ Hoops + more: Onesixone, Prahran Lewie Day + Mike Callander + Alex Thomas + Katie Drover + Who: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran !Plonk! feat. +DJ Joey Lightbulb + Clink + Silverfox + more: Rochester Castle Hotel (The Book Club/Upstairs), Fitzroy Sweet Nothing+Marcus Knight + DJ Xander James: Temperance Hotel, South Yarra Anigozanthos + Flyinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sorcerer + Opium Rabbit + Microflora + Acciness: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Uptown Groove+Various DJs: The Order Of Melbourne, Melbourne PopRocks+Dr Phil Smith: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Jean Paul + DJ Lauren Mac + more: Veludo, St Kilda

SAT 11 MAY 2013 Neo Sacrilege+DJ Nero: Abode, St Kilda Frazer Adnam + Scott McMahon + Jamie Vlahos + Mr Magoo + Ziggy: Billboard The Venue, Melbourne Hot Step+Various DJs: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy

Rats feat. +Major Lazer Vs Sampology: Brown Alley, Melbourne Billy Hoyle + Amin Payne: Cape Lounge, Fitzroy DJ Andy Pala + Kah Lua: Chaise Lounge, Melbourne Various DJs: Chi Lounge, Melbourne DJ Damion De Silva + Ken Walker + more: Co. Nightclub, Southbank Action Sam + DJ Rowie: European Bier Cafe, Melbourne Billy Hoyle + Duchesz + MzRizk + Wasabi: First Floor, Fitzroy tyDi + more: Fusion, Crown, Southbank South Side Hustle+Askew + Booshank + Disco Harry + Junji + more: Lucky Coq, Windsor Various DJs: New Guernica, Melbourne Various DJs: One Twenty Bar, Fitzroy OneSixFive+DJ Courtney Mills + DJ Hoops + DJ Ollie Holmes + DJ Josh Paola + DJ Will Cummings: Onesixone, Prahran Club Fiction+Kitty Rock & The Bad Ladies: Red Bennies, South Yarra The Late Show+Mat Cant + Ransom + Too Much + Boogs + more: Revolver Upstairs (Late), Prahran Marcus Knight + DJ Xander James: Temperance Hotel, South Yarra King Homeboy + DJ Nick One + MC Lotek + Rudekat Sound + more: Tetris Studios, Brunswick

Captain Moonlite Party+Various: The Curtin (Band Room), Carlton Poison Apple feat. +Spacey Space: The Prince, St Kilda The House deFrost with+Andee Frost: The Toff In Town (Late), Melbourne Strut +Andreas + Danny Merx + Henrique + Jason Serini + Mark Pellegrini + MC Junior + Nick Van Wilder: Trak Lounge Bar, Toorak Cosmic Tonic: Veludo, St Kilda

SUN 12 MAY 2013 Sundae Shake+Agent 86 + Phato A Mano + Tigerfunk: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Surrender+DJ Sergeant Slick + Adam Trace + DJ Adrian Chessari + DJ Chris Ostrom + DJ Sef: Fusion, Crown, Southbank Goo Goo Muck+Various DJs: Lounge Bar, Melbourne Guilty Pleasures+Various DJs: Pretty Please, St Kilda Boogs + Spacey Space + DJ Radiator + DJ Silversix + T-Rek: Revolver Upstairs, Prahran Danger+George Hysteric + Rohan Bell Towers: The Carlton Hotel, Melbourne Open Decks+Various DJs: The Thornbury Local, Thornbury

The Sunday Set+DJ Andyblack + Haggis: The Toff In Town (Carriage Room / Afternoon), Melbourne

MON 13 MAY 2013 Ibimbo+Lady Noir + Kiti: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy Freedom Pass+Phil Ross + B-Boogie + Chris Mac + Dozza: Co. Nightclub, Southbank Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A Rap+Various: First Floor, Fitzroy Kool Aid+DJ Mu-Gen: Laundry Bar, Fitzroy Zoophyte + Tom Tuena: The Espy (Lounge Bar), St Kilda Stiff Drink with +DJ Roman Wafers + Michael Ozone: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Twerkers Club with+DJ Fletch: The Workers Club, Fitzroy

TUE 14 MAY 2013 Bimbo Tuesdays+Adam Askew: Bimbo Deluxe, Fitzroy DJ Jaguar: E55, Melbourne Cosmic Pizza +Various DJs: Lucky Coq, Windsor

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44 â&#x20AC;˘ To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

THE PRESLEY FAMILY

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YOU SCAN FOR ALL YOUR LATEST MUSIC NEWS 45

BEHIND THE LINES THE JASON BLUME SEMINARS

American songwriter Jason Blume, whose songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Britney Spears and The Gipsy Kings, Backstreet Boys and Tomohisa Yamashita, Escape From Earth and country artist John Berry, is coming to Australia to present a series of two-day handson songwriting workshops, titled Taking Your Songs To The Next Level, covering the lyric and melodic tools and techniques used in successful songwriting in a variety of popular styles from contemporary pop to country, R&B to folk. The workshops will provide multiple opportunities to practice crafting melodies and lyrics incorporating easy to learn techniques and participants will leave with several new songs begun and the tools to finish them. The seminars, which run 9am through 5pm both days, cost $250/$200 discount and run as follows: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May at Brisbane JMC Academy; Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 at Sydney JMC Academy, in their new Ultimo campus; and Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 at Melbourne JMC Academy. Contact the respective academies or APRA for details and bookings.

SONG SUMMIT PRESENTS “THREE WISE MONKEYS” The good Song Summit people have invited three great international music industry experts to pop over to our place to present workshops designed to help songwriters, professional and aspiring, with insights into how to develop three important facets of any career under the collective soubriquet, Three Wise Monkeys. Ralph Murphy, whose career spans five decades, not only as a songwriter but also a producer and publisher, will present Hear No Evil: The Art of Songwriting. A producer whose CV includes making records for Taylor Swift, The Band Perry and Jars Of Clay among many others, Tom Jackson will present See No Evil: The Art of Performance, designed to help set up a foundation and direction to define your unique voice and style to showcase your talent. Founder of the successful Cyber PR firm and author of three books on social media and marketing for artists, Ariel Hyatt will present the self-explanatory Speak No Evil: The Art of Promotion. Over three days each speaker will take you through the afternoon from 1 to 6pm, and you can book for all three days or the session which you feel will be most beneficial for your career, the fee being $120 for the three days or $50 for individual days. Three Wise Monkeys come to the State Library of Western Australia Theatre, Perth, Friday 24 through Sunday 26 May; Brisbane Powerhouse, Rooftop Terrace and Turbine Hall Sunday 26 through Tuesday 28; the JMC Academy Auditorium, Ultimo, Tuesday 28 through Thursday 30; and Kindred Studios, Front Space in Melbourne, Thursday 30 May through Saturday 1 June. For more information and to book a place for this national event, head to the Song Summit website. Meanwhile, Sydneysiders get a bonus courtesy the Vivid festival. Tuesday 28, the Museum of Contemporary Art down at Circular Quay hosts Song Summit Presents in Conversation, with five songwriter producers – Arnthor Birgisson, Gary Clark, Chris DeStefano, Louis Schoorl and Stuart Crichton. The topic: the making of a hit song. From 9pm, tickets $15.

SOUND BYTES Former frontman of Brisbane’s Inland Sea, Jeremy Hunter, spent three days in Airlock Studios, nestled in mountainous bushland in Samford in the northwest part of his home town with producer Konstantin Kersting (The Belligerents), cutting the five tracks that make up his eponymous debut solo EP, which was mastered at Modern Mastering. Kersting has also just finished the Art Of Sleeping’s latest EP. Brendan Gallagher mixed his new double album, Wine Island, at Gigpiglet’s GPHQ Studio in Redfern, but has also produced the new Bernie Hayes album, as he did his own, at Albert’s in Neutral Bay and mixed Jeremy Oxley’s EP, which will feature in a documentary on The Sunnyboys, at Airlock Studio. LA-based expat Australian singer, songwriter, film score composer and guitarist Mitch Grainger has called in Ron McMaster at Capitol to master the album he’s cut with musical partner Rosa Pullman as The Lovers.

46 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

IN THE STUDIO: VIOLENT SOHO Bass player Luke Henery takes Michael Smith through the process of Violent Soho’s recording of their forthcoming album. t’s coming along great,” Violent Soho bass player Luke Henery explains, on the line from recording studio, The Shed, in Brisbane suburb, Windsor, where the band are finally getting around to recording their third album. “We’re just moving on to guitars now.”

“I

The Shed was set up by Screamfeeder touring member Darek Mudge in the industrial part of Windsor, with an old Crest Audio 40-channel console from the 1980s running into ProTools in the studio control room with two live rooms, one of them L-shaped in which Henery recorded his parts, the room next door the drum room, both with really high ceilings. “I had three amps set up – an Ampeg SVT4 running into a [Brisbane-made] Tym Guitars six by ten, and then the lows I sent to a Roland Studio 120, just using the 15” speaker on that, so just crossing over, using the Tym’s for the highs, the lows through the 15, and then I ran out of the bi-amp from the SVT into an Acoustic B600 and Acoustic eight by ten, and I ran distortion on that channel. I had four channels – I had a clean DI sound, a clean on the Ampeg, clean on the 15 and then dirty on the Acoustic. So if you were coming into a chorus, you could pull the subs in the 15 up and pull the dirty up, so you could get whatever sound you want.” Forming at school in 2004, the four-piece – singers and guitarists Luke Boerdam and James Tidswell, drummer Michael Richards and bass player Henery – released their debut EP, Pigs & TV, in 2006, with producer Bryce Moorhead, who then produced half their 2008 debut album, We Don’t Belong Here, recording at the now defunct Zero Interference Studios in Brisbane, the other half being produced by the late Dean Taylor at HeadGap Studios in Melbourne. Having signed to former Sonic Youth mainman Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! Records in 2009, Violent Soho got to cut their eponymous 2010 album with Pixies producer

Gil Norton in Wales, mixing duties handled by Rich Costey, whose credits include albums by Mastodon, Frank Turner and Nine Inch Nails. For their third album, however, the boys have returned to Moorhead, putting in a week of preproduction in the rehearsal studio with him before they headed into the studio. “We’d done a bunch of our early demos with him, and the first EP and half of our first album, and every time we recorded with him we were rushed but he was still able to always pull something awesome out of the songs, something that we always found hard to replicate. Even when we went to Wales, even Gil struggled on some of the songs that we re-did with him [the band revisited several songs from their debut for the international-release second album], couldn’t replicate what Bryce had pulled out of the songs in such a short period of time. For this record, we had the option to go and record in other, more expensive studios with more expensive producers, but that meant we’d have to sacrifice time. So we decided we wanted to use Bryce because we wanted to give him the opportunity to have a good amount of time to work on the record and we’d be able to push him to really get the best out of the songs, which he hadn’t had the opportunity before because of time restraints. It’s definitely paying off, the work that he’s doing now and the focus that he has has been awesome. It’s been a great decision to spend five weeks with him instead of 15 days in another studio.” Since it had been a while between releases, before knuckling down to working on the album, having signed with local label I Oh You Records, Violent Soho recorded a couple of singles – Tinderbox and Neighbour Neighbour – with producer Lindsay Gravina (The Living End, Jet, Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders among many) down in Melbourne. “It was a really great opportunity, to work with Lindsay,” Henery admits. “He did a great job, but in terms of doing the album, we’ve got such a good rapport with Bryce, knowing we’d be in the studio for a long time it was going to be better to work with him. Coming from Zero Interference, his approach as a producer is as little interference as possible. He’ll sort of sit there and very timidly say,

‘Awww, don’t know if it’s working,’” he laughs, “and then he’ll really push you to think about it and try and get the best out of you, and that’s what we love. He’s not slamming ideas down your throat and he’s trying to push you in any one direction – he gently nudges you to get the best out of you, which is great.” John Agnello, who’s worked on records by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Kurt Vile among others, will mix the album in the US. “I think that, with our sound, he’s obviously mixed a hundred awesome bands, all the bands that we love! So when his name came through, it was a pretty clear choice for us. I mean, to work with someone you respect as much as John Agnello, what an opportunity. He’s such a versatile mixer and masterer as well – if you look at his catalogue of bands, he’s done it all. And with his mixes, he never seems to take anything away from the songs, which I think is most important. He just sort of brings out the best in them – he never seems to put his clear stamp on it, you know? Other mixers and masterers, you can hear them in the mix, where with John Agnello, you’re listening to the band in the best fidelity you could.”

STUDIO PROFILE Any tips for artists entering a studio for the first time? If you’re not planning to “lock out” a studio for a week or more to record and relax then you’re probably looking to make the most of your money. Make a demo of your songs just to see what you sound like on a stereo. Perhaps a recorded rehearsal like the ones offered at SDP Studios is the first best step or a live recording of your show can be invaluable. When it’s time to record the song for release, remember what sounds you want from what gear you already use. It’s okay to take new and exciting equipment into the studio but don’t leave the standard arsenal at home. Remember to eat and have a good time.

STAGE DOOR REHEARSAL AND RECORDING STUDIOS Answered by: Richard Smith What’s the studio setup you have there equipment-wise? Our studio has a mix/control room based around our DDA console. Our main overdub/live room is large enough for a full band and is viewed from the control room through double-glass and surrounded by thick walls. In the next few months several of our other larger live spaces will be linked to our recording system. Monitoring is through Tannoy BPM 6.5 or Yamaha NS10 for near and Tannoy 15” dual concentric for large/far. We’ve expanded our electronics and also have several mobile recording systems in addition to the main studio. We now offer a service to multitrack your live shows or rehearsals along with simple stereo recording systems for the rehearsal rooms. Gear – Pro Tools with Apogee converters – 32-channel recording system. DDA D series console. Guitar and speaker tie-lines along with mic tie-lines between studios. Valve mic pres – Siemens V72, Rola Mk2, Altec 438c. Transistor mic pres – Telefunken V776 (four-channel), Focusrite Producer Pack Mk1, Altec. Dynamics – Joe Meek, DBX, Drawmer, BSS. Mics – Neumann M147, AKG 414EB, Geffel UM57, Calrec, Sennheiser, Shure, Rode, etc….

Which notable artists have worked at the studio? A few people of interest have stopped by lately to record while rehearsing pre tour at SDP Studios. All of the artists that record with us are valuable. Arguably the more experienced ones often get in and out quicker. We record a broad cross-section of musical styles. Recently there’s been Aussie rock, hip hop, psychedelic/experimental and spiritual, live material and voice-over work happening. Who do you have on staff and what’s their background in the industry? The main engineer, Richard, has combined equipment, cabling and knowledge to recently update the recording facilities. His background in audio and music production covers 15 years: Music TV broadcast for Channel [V] live to air, voice editing for many corporate enterprises, live and location recording of voice and music, music mixing both live and studio, and many years of Pro Tools editing experience and Avid technical abilities. Analogue vs digital? It’s nice to inject some analogue expression into the available slots in modern digital recording techniques. The modern sound is definitely accepting to new digital styles of production. We don’t record to tape at SDP, however rely on our DDA console for sub mixing and tracking, along with many valve, early transistor and more modern microphone preamplifiers and outboard. Can bands bring in their own engineer or do they have to solely use a house engineer? Bands are welcome to bring their own engineer. We don’t offer a Dry room hire rate, however the house engineer can easily be transferred to a great

assistant. If you want to book the studio for a few days we can negotiate a rate including assistant. Is the studio capable of holding a full band at once for recording? Our live room is fine as a small room that fits a full five-piece band comfortably and is also one of the favourite-sounding rehearsal rooms. Work is in progress to connect other studios including our largest. We’re an impoverished indie band – do you offer any deals for acts in our situation? We sell noodles in our café along with salad etc… Or you could just drink from our cappuccino machine… We have some promotions like the one coming this May where you can get a “real deal”. Check them out on Facebook/StageDoorStudiosSydney or The Drum Media (online if you’re interstate). Alternately our live recordings are a real deal too… You can multitrack your band playing live in the rehearsal room and take the files and a stereo mix with you, or mix it here. Minimum is a three-hour session to get you on tape. That’s an easy hour of recording time with a full mic up through our DDA and outboard Preamps and Apogee converters. Do you have any in-house instruments at the studio acts can use, or is it totally BYO? At SDP Studios we keep a few Randall amps and Peavey Bass rigs for hire, a few pedals, good cables etc. At this stage backline is not our specialty; however we can organise good hire amps and drum kits for recording if you want to book them in. What’s the access to the studio like with regards to parking, flat load, etc? We have loads of parking at a central location, and it’s a flat load with our trolleys. Working in the studio can be arduous and we’ll need a break – what are the amenities in the local area? We have a public café, Internet, supplies shop etc on site 24/7 while your session is on. The studios are close to Newtown (five-minute drive) What are your contact details? Call Stage Door Productions on (02) 9565 1123 or email Music@StageDoor.com.au

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BEHIND THE LINES SOUND BYTES

It’s been 16 years between albums for Glasgow, Scotland indie popsters The Pastels, whose last album, Illumination, came out in 1997, though there was a collaborative album, Two Sunsets, with Tokyo’s Tenniscoats in 2009. Anyway, they’ve got a new one, Slow Summits, due late May that was recorded by John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea And Cake) and Bal Cooke, with McEntire then mixing it in Chicago at his Soma Electronic Music Studios. Popular visitor Irish singer songwriter Eleanor McEvoy recorded the album she’ll be showcasing in person here end of May through June, If You Leave, at The Cauldron Recording Studios in Dublin with McEvoy coproducing with Mick O’Gorman, who co-mixed the album with engineer Ciaran Byrne, the album then mastered at Metropolis Studios in London by Ian Cooper. Ryan Nelson engineered the new EP, Roll It In, from Brothers Grim And The Blue Murders, in Andrew McGee’s Empty Room studio [the two have previously worked together engineering recordings for Gruntbucket and Spencer P. Jones], located at an isolated winery. It was then mixed by Lindsay Gravina (The Living End, Rowland S Howard). LA-based expat Australian singer, songwriter, film score composer and guitarist Mitch Grainger has called in Ron McMaster at Capitol to master the album he’s cut with musical partner Rosa Pullman as The Lovers. Melbourne artist Hamish Anderson headed to Sydney to record his eponymous debut EP in BJB Studios with producer Eric J Dubowsky (Art vs Science, Weezer, Bluejuice). The EP was engineered by Jean-Paul Fung (Birds of Tokyo, Last Dinosaurs, Silverchair) and mastered by Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, Dr John, The Shins). The debut album, Embracism, from eclectic artist Kirin J Callinan was produced by Kim Moyes of The Presets at his home studio in Sydney and mixed in upstate New York at the home studio of Chris Taylor (CANT, Grizzly Bear). Jason Fuller (Blood Duster, Dern Rutlidge) and Adam Calaitzis (Damaged, Abramelin) produced the debut long player, aptly titled Bite Your Head Off, from Australian extreme thrashers King Parrot. Co-produced by lead singer Josh Simons and Catherine Marks (Foals, Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, Kanye), the debut album, Human Spring, from Melbourne band Buchanan was recorded across seven different studios, with the bulk of the work done between Tender Trap studios in Northcote and Simons’ home garage studio. The album was mixed on an analogue desk by Andy Baldwin (Bjork, Midnight Juggernauts) and mastered in London by Geoff Pesche (Radiohead, Coldplay, LCD Soundsystem) at Abbey Road Studios.

SAHARA TO NASHVILLE African “desert blues” came to Nashville when Tuareg guitarist Bombino took up the invitation to record with Dan Auerbach. Michael Smith investigates. couple of years ago, a friend of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who earlier this year won Producer of the Year at the GRAMMY Awards, suggested he check out the Niger-born Tuareg guitarist, singer and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar after seeing him perform and feeling Auerbach might appreciate his unique style of desert blues. Born and raised in Niger, in and around the northern city of Agadez, Bombino is a member of the Tuareg Ifoghas tribe, a nomadic people descended from the Berbers of North Africa.

Living in exile in Algeria and Libya in his teenage years, Bombino’s friends played him videos of Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler among others, which they watched over and over in an effort to master their licks. Moctar later studied with renowned Tuareg guitarist Haja Bebe, who asked him to join his band, where he acquired the nickname Bombino. In 2009, filmmaker Ron Wyman, who had heard a cassette of Bombino’s music while travelling near Agadez, tracked Bombino down in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he was in exile after two band members were killed in a rebellion. Wyman featured him in a documentary he was filming about the Tuareg and also produced his 2011 solo album, Agadez. Having become a fan, Auerbach invited Bombino and his band to Nashville to record an album at his studio, Easy Eye Sound. The result is Nomad. Easy Eye Sound features a rare 1969 Quad-Eight console, various Urei and Pultec pieces and Altec 16567A mixers, along with a stack of other vintage gear including two rare Daniel Flickinger 351-1 Program Equalizers, an RMI electric piano and Altec “Voice of the Theater” studio PA. Muso sent a few questions to Bombino via his US label, Nonesuch. The core of your music, while informed by Western blues and rock, is the traditional

Producer Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, Dallas Frasca) did the business on debut album, Beautiful In Danger, from Melbourne’s Jericco.

50 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

What was Dan Auerbach like to work with as a producer? Did you two do much in the way of preproduction before you started recording? And what do you feel he brought to your music as a producer? Dan is a genius. He is a great musician and a great producer. He is also a really cool guy. We had a really good time together. It was my first time to record in a real studio, and this studio... wow... it was really firstclass! Dan had all these old amplifiers and microphones and other toys like that, and he knew exactly what each one would be able to contribute to the sound. So we got to experiment with a lot of cool sounds. But in the end he was very open to stand back and let the music happen, to let my band play just as we always do. We did not prepare anything for the recording session. The first time I met Dan was on the first day of recording. Everything happened very naturally. It was really a big experience for me and for my band. I will always cherish those memories. It was really a thrill for us and everyone had a really good time. How different was the approach to recording Nomad to the recording of your previous album, Agadez, with filmmaker Ron Wyman?

maple with a bound top and back and a solid maple centre block, marrying the traditional archtop’s looks and sonic depth, and the solidbody’s sustain and resistance to feedback. The neck is made from solid mahogany, topped with a bound fingerboard made from hand-selected rosewood. The pickups are routed through the traditional three-way switch and individual volume and tone controls and topped with clear knobs for a distinctive look. The Flat Black model carries Gibson’s legendary Tune-omatic bridge with aluminium stopbar tailpiece.

NOW IT’S SUPER BASSMAN One of the most powerful and versatile bass amps Fender has ever created, the Super Bassman is a stadium-level 300-watt tube head, its dual-channel design using modern technology to maximise classic technology, with classic Fender late-‘60s/ early-‘70s “blackface” styling and a wealth of innovative features on the front and rear panels.

Perth five-piece 44th Sunset called on Rob Grant (Tame Impala, POND) to produce their debut EP, Boa Constrictor Hat, which was then mixed by JP Fung (Birds Of Tokyo, Glass Towers).

Armed with his iPhone 3GS and a multitrack app, Sydney singer, songwriter and unconventional cellist – he plays it across his lap like a guitar – Kent Eastwood headed off for a trip through Europe, writing and recording demos for what’s become his latest and third album, Travellin’ Tales, in churches in Dresden, stairwells in Berlin and a backpackers’ in Prague, among other places. It seems he even stumbled across one of Jeff Martin’s 12-string Danelectro guitars in a shack in Ireland and took the opportunity to see how it played. On his return to Australia, he transformed the phone recordings into high quality studio recordings.

At the core of your sound is the Fender Stratocaster. What do you use to create the various sounds you get out of that guitar in terms of amplification and effects pedals? I usually do not use effect pedals. Maybe that is what gives me a sound that is unique. Most guitarists, they will use many pedals to change the sound. I like the raw sound of the guitar and the amplifier. I always use a Fender amplifier. I think it is just the raw sound of the guitar and the amp that gives me my sound.

Agadez was recorded mostly outside in Agadez. Then we went to Boston and worked in Ron’s house to finish the album. So of course this is a much different experience than recording in a big studio in Nashville with one of the greatest producers in the world! Both were very meaningful experiences to me. Agadez for me was capturing the essence of my home. Nomad for me was capturing my spirit as a nomad who travels the world playing music to make people happy. Dan’s studio must have been an exciting environment in which to record – what “new production toys” did you discover while you were recording that you’ll be incorporating in your sound in the future? Well, we used the lapsteel guitar on a few of the songs and that sounded very beautiful to me. We are going to have some lapsteel for the tour in America this [northern] summer. Also some organ. Playing with any kind of keyboard is very new to me. We don’t play with keyboard in Niger. But the sound is very rich with the organ and it fits perfectly with Tuareg rock. So we’ll try to use that here and there as well. Nomad, by Bombino, is out on Nonesuch, distributed by Warner Music.

PRODUCT NEWS

Released to help commemorate the Bicentennial of the crossing of the NSW Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813, 2013 Australian Bush Laureate Awards finalist Jim Low recorded, mixed and mastered his second album, Across The Blue Mountains, in Roweth Music studios in Millthorpe, western NSW, run by fellow musicians Jason and Chloë Roweth.

With actor Jack Thompson guesting on harmonica on two tracks, the third album, Getting There Is Only Halfway Back, from Round Mountain Girls was recorded at Studios 301 Byron Bay with producer Anthony Lycencko (Busby Marou, Pete Murray, Xavier Rudd).

music of the Tuareg. What is it about that music that makes it so distinctive? I think what makes our music so distinct is the rhythm. Our way of thinking about rhythm and counting it is different from the rest of the world. I notice this every time I play with a non-Tuareg musician. For us, the accents and the pulse of the song are not where a Western person would think they are. So I think this gives our music a distinct flavour, but at the same time it is not so different that people cannot appreciate it.

Chris Cornell

CHRIS CORNELL GETS HIS OWN GIBSON Known for his singing, songwriting and guitar playing with Soundgarden as well as his solo work and his contribution to Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog, Chris Cornell has long shown a love of Gibson electrics with some alternative twists. So Gibson’s Memphis division sat down with him and have built the Chris Cornell ES-335, based on the original thinline “dot neck” semi-hollow electric 335s of the late 1950s, with a pair of Jason Lollar Lollartron pickups, made in the style of the original Filter’Tron humbuckers but sized for a Gibson PAFstyle humbucker mounting, which give that fatbut-jangly late ’50s to early ’60s twang that fuels Cornell’s tone. Available in a choice of an Olive Drab Green or Flat Black finish in nitrocellulose lacquer, with a Bigsby vibrato option on the former, the Chris Cornell ES-335 is constructed from laminated

Features include a tube preamp (two 12AX7s) and power amp (one 12AX7, one 12AT7, six 6550s); a Vintage channel that delivers the full, warm sound of a classic Fender passive tone stack; Overdrive channel that delivers the aggressive and responsive sound of a modern active tone stack (choose between channels with included footswitch); rear-panel Fender Automatic Bias system that constantly monitors and re-biases tubes for perfect performance and alerts you when service is required; Speaker Output switch that can be set to “Mute” to turn the speaker off and record silently using preamp tone from the XLR output, and an Impedance switch (8, 4 or 2 ohms) and master volume control with push/pull mute.

A&H DELIVER THE QU-16 Packaged in a stylish 19” rack size and inheriting technology from the acclaimed GLD and iLive digital mixing systems, UK audio specialists Allen & Heath’s new Qu-16 compact digital mixer, due for release this month, offers very professional

facilities at a very affordable price. The Qu-16 features total recall of settings, including 17 motorised faders and digitally-controlled preamps, an intuitive touchscreen, Qu-Drive integrated multi-track recorder, dSNAKE for remote I/O and personal monitoring, multi-channel USB streaming to Mac, Qu-Pad control app and iLive’s renowned FX library to deliver the highest audio quality. Standard configuration includes 16 mic/line inputs, three stereo inputs, four FX engines with dedicated stereo returns, 14 mixes (including LR, ten auxiliary mixes and two dedicated FX busses), 12 mix processing channels, patchable AES digital output with a further two-channel ALT output, dedicated Talkback mic pre input and two-track output. In terms of processing capability, the five high-speed dual core DSPs provide comprehensive channel and FX processing, with ample room for future processing updates and functionality. A highresolution (800x480) full colour touchscreen includes easy to drive ‘Touch Channel’ access to channel processing, the FX racks and all the setup and system management controls. Qu-Drive, the mixer’s integrated USB recorder, works with an external USB drive to record and playback multi-track and stereo audio .wav files. For studio use there is also a USB audio streaming interface for record and playback to Mac DAW systems. Distributed in Australia by Technical Audio Group, the Qu-16 retails at $3499.

MEET THE RG2228A GW Bit of a mouthful but then the Ibanez RG2228A GW hasn’t been around long enough yet to have gained a friendlier nickname. It’s the passive version of the very popular RG2228 electric guitar, which is leading the way in the proliferating world of eight-string guitars. With a very stable, very playable neck and the famous RG body shape this passive version has a bit more warmth than the active model. With a basswood body and Ultra-8 five-piece maple/ wenge neck with KTS titanium rods, the RG2228A GW comes with DiMarzio D Activator 8 neck and bridge pickups and an FX Edge III-8 bridge.