24.08.16 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Issue
153
Sydney / Free / Incorporating
GLASS
ANIMALS
Human beings, Weird stories and the Sausage Candle
6–11 SEPTEMBER SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
3RD SHOW ADDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND!
29 AUGUST
•
STATE THEATRE
BOOK AT TICKETMASTER.COM.AU OR CALL 136 100
28 AUGUST, 7PM & 9.30PM • SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
2ND & FINAL SHOW ADDED BY POPULAR DEMAND!
6 & 7 SEPTEMBER
HOSTED BY
8 SEPTEMBER
•
CONCERT HALL
•
JUDITH LUCY
•
9 SEPTEMBER
•
CONCERT HALL
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
JULIAN CLARY • MARGARET CHO • JIM NORTON BEARDYMAN • CHARLIE PICKERING • PETER HELLIAR 10 SEPTEMBER • CONCERT HALL
RHYS DARBY & FFRIENDS RIENDS
MOUTHFUL OF SHAME
11 SEPTEMBER
CONCERT HALL
ENMORE THEATRE
BOOK AT TICKETEK.COM.AU OR CALL 132 849
10 SEPTEMBER
•
CONCERT HALL
HOSTED BY
TOMMY LITTLE FILMED FOR A BRAN BRAND D NEW SERIES IES ON
8–10 SEPTEMBER
•
STUDIO
You make up the track titles, Beardyman makes the album.
HOST OF ABC TV’S V’S THE WEEKLY
CHARLIE RLIE PICKERING KERING
ONE ALBUM ONE M PER PER HOUR
H OW TO O TA M E A W I L D SQUIRREL
★★★★★ EDINBURGH FESTIVALS MAGAZINE
★★★★★ SCOTS GAY
9 & 10 SEPTEMBER
•
PLAYHOUSE
8 & 10 SEPTEMBER
•
PLAYHOUSE
7 & 8 SEPTEMBER
BOOK AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE BOX OFFICE 9250 7777 BOOK AT TICKETMASTER.COM.AU 136 100
JUSTFORLAUGHSSYDNEY.COM
2 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM/JUSTFORLAUGHS
•
PLAYHOUSE
#JFLSYDNEY
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 3
4 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
220-232 Oxford St Paddington Sydney 2021 www.paddorsl.com.au
SATURDAY 27 AUGUST 8PM
THE RETURN OF BLUES/ROCK LEGEND
CHRIS TURNER AND THE CAVEMEN THE HANGOUT
294 MARRICKVILLE RD. MARRICKVILLE. ENTRY ILLAWARRA RD. PH: 0450 008 563
Devil on the Rooftop + The Crooked Fiddle Band + Emad Younan
WED AUG
Katherine Vavahea + friends
THU AUG
4th Annual Glee Goes Solo Night
FRI AUG
26
HUGO RACE + Julitha Ryan + Earl Ray & Michelangelo Da Vinci
SAT AUG
Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection
SUN AUG
Sonic Mayhem Orchestra
MON AUG
DBL DRUM DBL BASS
TUE AUG
24
7.30PM, $15
25
8:00PM, $10
6.30PM, $15
27
8.30PM, $15
6:30PM, FREE ENTRY
BLUES/ROCK LEGEND
CHRIS TURNER & THE CAVEM EN SAT 3/9 8PM
DIRECT FROM NZ BLUES & ROOTS FESTIVAL
BOUNTY HUNTERS
28 29
8.30PM, $15
8.30PM, $10
COMING UP AT LAZYBONES
30
AUG 31 Carl Riseley & Band feat; Jonathan Holowell and Morgan Campbell $10 Level 1 - the squares $10 SEP1 Collaborate!! $10 SEP1 Level 1 Dr TAOS’ Medicine Show $10 SEP2 The JHD Revival Band $15 SEP3 Hussy Hicks $15 SEP4 No Brakes - Rockabilly Band $10 SEP5 Sonic Mayhem Orchestra $15 SEP6 That Red Head $10 SEP7 Hammerhead $10 SEP8 Lazybones Acoustique Lounge Level 1 $10 SEP8 Laserfly + Marosi di Buriana + The Human Instrumentality Project $10 SEP9 Roxfam $15 SEP10 Lazy Susan with Maia Marsh + Caitlin Harnett $15 SEP11 Becky & The Pussycats Free Entry SEP12 Sonic Mayhem Orchestra $15
WWW.LAZYBONESLOUNGE.COM.AU – RESTAURANT & BAR OPEN 7 NIGHTS
www.thebasement.com.au
The Home of Live Music Since 1973 BASEMENT
THU 25TH 8PM
BASEMENT
FRI 26TH 8PM
FRESH “MALK”
INDIE ROCK SHOW SUPPORTED BY “THE CANNONS”, “STIFF SOX” AND FRIENDS
BASEMENT
SAT 27TH 8PM
FEAT: LISTIC, BENJI PK, KAOE, BC, DJ’S MYME, PORKSAC AND MANY MORE
FATHER SYDNEY PRESENTS: LEVEL ONE
SAT 27TH 10PM
LOUIE MINARTY PRESENTS: LEVEL ONE
FRI 26TH 10PM
TRAP CITY
BASS/TRAP/EDM PARTY FEAT: DJS TERRABYTE, ELWOOD, BALCK FRIDAY, 6FTSOUND, ARBEE AND MANY MORE
NO REST IN AUGUST!
SATURDAY 178AUGUST SATURDAY JUNE
DON’T MISS!
MONTHLY ALTERNATIVE CLUB FOR ALTERNATIVE SPECIES FEAT DJ’S: S.H.E., XERSTORKITTE, ACTION ANT AND MANY MORE
FRESHLY PICK’D HEADZ PRESENTS
HIP HOP SHOW
NO REST FOR THE WICKED PRESENTS
BASEMENT
SUN 28TH 4PM
COMING UP
FATHER BASS CLUB WEEKLY BASS MUSIC CLUB NIGHT NOT TO BE MISSED FEAT: MYRNE, HATCH, LUUDE, HOLLY AND MANY MORE
“THE LOOSE SHREDS”
ROCK SHOW SUPPORTED BY: “THE VENUS ALCATRAZ”, “THE DAUGHTERS AGENDA”, “SARAH KILLS”, “GYPSY”, “RED WHISKEY”
Thu 1 Sept: 8pm Basement: Metal Sydney Metal presents: Episode V, Rum and Ale meet up; Fri 2 Sept: 8pm Basement: Nappy presents “As A Rival” Obsolete Tour, Punk Rock Show supported by “Dividers”, “Ebolagoldfish”, “The Great Awake”, “Raised As Wolves”; 10pm Level One: Ruffbeatz presents: WhiteNoise (Escape Reality Launch) feat: DJs WhiteNoise, Kryptic, Loose Cannon, Ben420, Zac Slade Music, Biscuit Bytes, Loren Pierce, Triex; Sat 3 Sept: 9pm Basement/Level One: Father Sydney presents: Wu-Xi Collective, Bass Music club night not to be missed, feat: Myrne, Hatch, Luude, Holly and many more; Sun 4 Sept: 4pm Basement: Rock/Punk Show with “Trashed Again” supported by “Durry”, “Maps To Eden” and many more
KAV TEMPERLEY “HOPE ST TOUR”
ONE OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC’S DEFINING VOICES AND ENIGMATIC SONGWRITERS, KAV TEMPERLEY OF ESKIMO JOE HAS ANNOUNCED HIS DEBUT SOLO RELEASE, HOPE STREET EP. TO CELEBRATE, KEV WILL BE PERFORMING AT THE BASEMENT IN SEPTEMBER. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
JUST ANNOUNCED...
SUN 13 NOV CAFÉ OF THE GATE OF SALVATION FRI 02 DEC STEVE CLISBY FRI 16 DEC CHRISTINE ANU PRESENTS: REWIND – THE ARETHA FRANKLIN SONGBOOK
FOLLOW US: ON FACEBOOK @ THE BASEMENT & ON TWITTER @ #BASEMENTSYD RESTUARANT OPENS AT 11AM, SERVING FOOD ALL DAY
THE SPIN DRIFTERS
WED 24 |AUG
COREY HARRIS (USA)
THU 25 AUG
JONAH & THE WAILERS
SAT 27 AUG
THE MONDAY JAM
MON 29 AUG
JOHNNY G & THE E-TYPES PRESENTS “KING OF SOUL” OTIS REDDING’S 75TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
FRI 2 SEPT
THE BEST OF CHESS RECORDS
FEATURING RAY BEADLE + CHRIS WILSON + CHARLIE A’COURT
SAT 3 SEPT
HARRY MANX (CAN) + CLAYTON DOLEY
SUN 4 SEPT
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 5
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Southern Guns
You can shut down the rumour mill, legendary rockers Guns N’ Roses have confirmed they are headed Down Under for the Not In This Lifetime... tour, with Axl, Slash and Duff all on board.
Guns N’ Roses
65 St Science The length in minutes of a Sia concert in Israel, which left fans - who are now suing her and the promoter for eight million sheqels (approx AUD$2.7 million) unsatisfied.
Holy Holy have announced 14 dates around the country in celebration of their new single, and video clip, Darwinism. The track comes from their upcoming album and the tour will kick off in November.
Ladies In Black
Back In Black The Queensland Theatre Company have announced that the six-time Helpmann Award-nominated musical Ladies In Black, the adaptation of Madeleine St John’s 1993 novel, will tour the east coast from January to March. 6 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Credits
Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
Tide’s In
Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast
In support of their forthcoming seventh studio album, Tidal Wave, US punk-rock outfit Taking Back Sunday have announced they’ll be heading to Australia in March 2017 for a massive headline tour.
National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Gig Guide Editor Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au Contributing Editor Bryget Chrisfield
Taking Back Sunday
Holy Holy
Editorial Assistants Brynn Davies, Sam Wall
London Grammar
Contributors Adam Wilding, Andrew McDonald, Anthony Carew, Brendan Crabb, Cameron Cooper, Cameron Warner, Carley Hall, Cate Summers, Chris Familton, Chris Maric, Christopher H James, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Deborah Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Eliza Berlage, Guido Farnell, Guy Davis, Hattie O’Donnell, James d’Apice, Jonty Czuchwicki, Kassia Aksenov, Liz Giuffre, Mac McNaughton, Mark Beresford, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt MacMaster, Mitch Knox, Neil Griffiths, Paul Ransom, Mick Radojkovic, Peter Laurie, Rip Nicholson, Ross Clelland, Sam Murphy, Samuel J Fell, Sarah Braybrooke, Sarah Petchell, Sean Maroney, Sebastian Skeet, Simon Eales, Steve Bell, Tanya Bonnie Rae, Tim Finney, Tom Hersey, Tyler McLoughlan, Uppy Chatterjee, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan Photographers Angela Padovan, Cole Bennetts, Clare Hawley, Jared Leibowitz, Josh Groom, Kane Hibberd, Leila Maulen, Pete Dovgan, Peter Sharp, Rohan Anderson
Blow Me Down Falls have announced their December/ January line-up. Joining headliner and first act Childish Gambino are more than 30 acts (with more to come) including London Grammar, The Avalanches, Tkay Maidza and Violent Soho.
Advertising Dept Georgina Pengelly, Sammy BladesMoore sales@themusic.com.au Art Dept Ben Nicol, Felicity Case-Mejia
Sheila E
Admin & Accounts Meg Burnham, Ajaz Durrani, Emma Clarke accounts@themusic.com.au Distro distro@themusic.com.au Subscriptions store@themusic.com.au Contact Us PO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
Mere-Goes-Round It’s that beautiful time of year when Meredith acts start to announce sideshows. Dungen, Badbadnotgood, Sheila E, Japandroids and Cass McCombs have all announced extra dates throughout December to coincide with their festival performances.
Suite 42, 89-97 Jones St Ultimo Phone (02) 9331 7077 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au
— Sydney
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 7
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Up North
Northlane
It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Northlane since the release of Node and the metalcore favourites have locked down a run of intimate east coast headline dates for November to celebrate another massive year.
Dinosaur Jr
Lisa Mitchell
Dinosaur Sightings Dinosaur Jr have announced they are returning to Australia in January 2017 to tour Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not, the group’s first LP since 2012 and the fourth since their 2005 reformation.
i’m gonna start wearing fake teeth like i wear fake eyelashes. just another row of teeth over my teeth. to make my teeth look thicker. @anna_train
8 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Streetwise After the awesome response to The Boys, her latest single and the first taste of upcoming album Warriors, Lisa Mitchell has announced five dates for the Something About These Streets tour in October.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Frontlash
’80 arena rock lives
Guns N’ Roses touring, new albums announced by Metallica and Bon Jovi – anyone would think it’s 1989 all over again. In our mind it’s not that bad a place to be, except for the teased hair of course.
Joy Us
Acclaimed Melbourne threepiece The Peep Tempel have emerged from the shadows touting new album Joy, which is set for release in just a couple of months’ time and precedes a six-date national album tour in November.
Luca Brasi
The Peep Tempel
Called out a “piece of shit” punter from their Sydney show who decided that a couple of other punters’ bodies were “his property in the pit”. How does this keep happening in this day and age?
Shinzo Abe The Japanese Prime Minister dressed up as video game character Mario at the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. Name another world leader who would do anything as awesome as that.
Give It Up Dub reggae six-piece Kingfisha have revealed their second album Offered It Up and announced a huge national tour to go with it. The Brisbanites will perform 13 shows from September through to December.
Kingfisha
Metallica – Hardwired… To SelfDestruct
Backlash The Reality TV Olympics And we’re back to the constant dross of reality TV served up by the commercial networks now the Olympics have finished up.
SVOD classification Savage Beauticians
Melody Pool
Lauded aussie singer-songwriters Peter Bibby and Melody Pool have announced a joint sojourn around the country this September and October as the pair continue to tout their excellent recent albums.
According to a report on IT News, Netflix may delay original content in Australia as it takes a lot of time and money to classify it for our audiences. Please find a solution fast so we don’t go back to the dark ages of waiting on US content again.
Footy Show fans Weren’t quite sure what to make of the awesomeness that is Violent Soho when the band appeared on the NRL’s The Footy Show. Don’t worry Violent Soho, we loved you (and especially James Tidswell’s vintage Broncos outfit). THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 9
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Fair Play
Fairgrounds
Fairgrounds 2016 have released a stellar line-up for their December event. The Drones, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Rodriguez, Japandroids, Jagwar Ma and Julia Jacklin are just the start of the list.
Thrill Pill
Kimya Dawson
Set to hit the country this October for Wollongong’s Yours & Owls Festival, US hip hop artist Antwon has announced a string of sideshows. The tour comes on the back of Antwon’s recently-released EP, Double Ecstasy.
Antwon
100 The percentage of Australian acts that could be performing at the AFL Grand Final, hinted at by Mushroom Group’s Michael Gudinski in a radio interview.
10 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Count ‘Em BIGSOUND organisers have announced another 80 speakers, including a last-minute keynote by anti-folk extraordinaire Kimya Dawson, composer of the Juno soundtrack and one half of The Moldy Peaches. Head to bigsound.org.au to see the full timetables.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Hump Day Bday
RELEASE WATCH
Paces
Sosueme, Beach Road Hotel’s resident Wednesday nightclub, are having their ninth birthday this week and they’re throwing a party to celebrate with Paces, Alex Dyson, Tom Tilley and a host of DJs.
Here’s a wrap of who’s just announced a new release:
The Panics
Beth Hart
Grammy-nominated singer Beth Hart’s latest album Fire On The Floor is out 14 Oct on Provogue/Mascot Label Group.
Pocket Drops Following the premiere of new single, Weatherman, celebrated Aussie alt-rockers The Panics have announced a four-date national tour this October to accompany the release of their eagerly awaited fifth album, Hole In Your Pocket.
The debut LP from DD Dumbo Utopia Defeated will drop on 7 Oct via Liberation. Look out for B Wise’s debut project for Elefant Traks – the Semi Pro EP – due 23 Sep. Crystal Fighters have dropped a new single All Night ahead of the release of their as-yet-untitled third album, out in October via Play It Again Sam. Industry legend Barry Gibb will release his first solo album of new material In The Now on 7 Oct through Columbia/Sony. Jagwar Ma have dropped a single Give Me A Reason from their forthcoming album Every Now & Then, to be released via Future Classic on 14 Oct.
Between Books
Melody Pool
The Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster has dished out the first details of his upcoming memoir about his late bandmate and long-time friend, GW McLennan. He told BBC Radio 6 Grant & I is due out 27 Aug.
The Weakerthans’ John K Samson is releasing his second solo album Winter Wheat 21 Oct on Epitaph/Warner.
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 11
Music
Human
All
After
Glass Animals drew from some autobiographical experiences when creating their new album, but not the male prostitute character - inspired by a fortune teller called Jupiter who wore “little shorts and a tank top” - frontman Dave Bayley and bassist/keyboardist Ed Irwin-Singer promise Bryget Chrisfield. Cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd.
just spotted that!” Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley points at one of his band’s framed gold records on a wall inside Caroline HQ, South Melbourne. “Madness!” The Oxford quartet’s breakthrough single Gooey achieved gold status in Australia earlier this year and Bayley recalls the day Glass Animals were presented with this certification. “It was so nice! It was a mental day: we had finished our album [How To Be A Human Being], had our first-ever BBC [Radio] 1 interview... and then we walked out and someone was there with our gold discs! It was the most mind-blowing day! And I cried a little bit... And just finishing the record as well was just, like - it was quite an emotional record; it was weird kinda writing about personal things, which we’d never really done properly before.” During a previous interview with this scribe back in 2014, Bayley admitted, “I’m a bit scared about writing very honest things... Maybe for the next record I can be a bit more blunt.” So how did he go? “[I] tried in this one, yeah,” Bayley reveals. “Some of it’s made up, some of it’s autobiographical - I’m not gonna say what’s what - I like that mystery.” Bayley is dressed casually in faded jeans and a bright, coral-coloured windcheater. He’s quietly spoken and his accent is quite posh (so much so that it comes as a shock if he
“I
drops an F-bomb). Sitting next to him on the couch is bassist/keyboardist Ed Irwin-Singer, who’s sporting a black shirt, tan jacket and jeans combo. Irwin-Singer has really bright blue eyes. So where did they hang their framed gold records? Bayley offers, “I gave mine to my mum.” Irwin-Singer dobs in their drummer, “Joe [Seaward]’s is in his loo... That’s really funny.” “Yeah, my mum put hers in the entrance,” Bayley continues. “As you walk into the house, it’s there! [Laughs] It’s really embarrassing.” She must be really proud. “Yeah, she’s sweet,” he allows. That’s gotta be one of hardest things about touring... “Not seeing mum?” Bayley interjects, chuckling. Glass Animals played the first of two sold-out shows (the second to go on sale) at 170 Russell last night. During the day, they stopped by Kane Hibberd’s studio in Cremorne for our cover shoot. Given that Bayley studied medicine, it can’t have been the first anatomical model he’s come across. “Yeah,” the frontman admits. “We had to pull it apart and put it back together.” IrwinSinger laughs, “It was quite hard!” Bayley agrees, “Yeah, it was tricky! But it all came flooding back; it was really weird. So I’ve decided to quit music and go back to medical school.” IrwinSinger feigns shock, “What!?” and then Bayley consoles, “Never. No.” While Glass Animals were touring off the back of their debut album Zaba, Bayley became fascinated with the strange conversations they were having with randoms
I said, ‘What is that smell?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it’s a candle. It’s, like, my sausage candle.
12 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
and began recording some of these into his phone. So did these ‘subjects’ know they were being recorded? “Not always,” Irwin-Singer confesses before Bayley jumps in, “I think some of them did... There was a guy talking about giving himself a blow job and how he would, like, wake up every day and try and give himself a blow job and he was [laughs] really weird... On tour you meet a lot of people.” “Yeah,” his bandmate concurs, “Either the world is much more weird than I thought it was, or... As a musician and maybe as a foreigner, people feel that they can tell you stuff that they wouldn’t say to their friends and family.” Bayley says the “good stories” they collated ranged from “heartbreaking” to “just plain weird”, “hilarious” to “shocking”. These sound bites inspired Bayley to “start making up [his] own characters... sort of incorporating autobiography into that”. “We ended up having to redo a bit of it. It was a bit incriminating,” Irwin-Singer observes. Although Bayley confirms “some of it is real”, he recognises that they “definitely couldn’t have gotten away with” some of it: “we actually had to remove some for the final cut of the record because it was a bit much, yeah.” “People said stuff that they probably wouldn’t have said if they knew that it was gonna end up on an album,” IrwinSinger opines. What about that a dude banging on about sausages at the beginning of Take A Slice? “The sausage guy, yeah,” Bayley obliges. “That was a fortune teller...
I shouldn’t say, but that’s a real recording. We went up to this guy to get our fortunes read and this guy was called Jupiter - that was his name, yeah. And we went up to him and someone was cooking some food next door, and I said, ‘What is that smell?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it’s a candle. It’s, like, my sausage candle.’ And it was a very weird thing to say - really weird thing to say - so we all started laughing awkwardly. And I had this idea for a character that was, like, a male prostitute... It was the way that this guy Jupiter was dressed: he was wearing, like, little shorts and a tank top.” So you could see the outline of his ‘candle’? “Oh, yeah,” Bayley chuckles. “And he had this little candle next to him and all these tarot cards and, I dunno, male prostitute just popped into my head.” Irwin-Singer teases, “You felt seduced by him.” “Yeah, I did,” Bayley plays along. “He was very handsome, so I wrote a character based on that idea... That idea came later when I was re-listening to the recording and remembering what was happening, yeah; so all of the kind of character sketches and ideas came after the tour had finished in December,” he clarifies. “It was just too busy on the road... Actually writing meaningful stuff can be really tricky on tour.” As soon as Glass Animals returned from their tour, Bayley “locked [himself] away in a
studio”. “I had so many ideas. I really wanted to get started,” he enthuses. “I hadn’t made music probably - well, since that Joey Bada$$ track [Lose Control], but that was [done in] one day.” So at what stage did Bayley involve the other Glass Animals in the songwriting process? “A week and a half and after that... I had most of the songs, like, everything was written pretty much,” he shares. Irwin-Singer jokes, “And we were like, ‘Dave, what are you doing? Send it to us’.” The band “went to a friend’s wedding in January”, Bayley continues, then, upon their return, “Went into the same place together and started kind of breaking [the songs] apart, just developing them further”. Glass Animals “just went with the demo” for a couple of the How To Be A Human Being album tracks, which was a departure from the production on this album’s predecessor. On creating their “really polished” Zaba set, Bayley reflects, “We were really self-conscious - and we’d never done it before - and we wanted everything to be dead perfect. But what we realised this time around is that you can do all of that, but you end up losing a bit of soul and spontaneity... We’re sort of appreciating that rawness and that grittiness in those first takes a lot more.”
What: How To Be A Human Being (Wolf Tone/Caroline)
Creature Feature Animals As Leaders American prog-metal outfit outta Washington, DC.
Animal Collective Experimental popsters from Baltimore.
Animal Liberation Orchestra Californian quartet of rock proportions.
Plants And Animals An indie-rock band from Montreal.
Super Furry Animals Welsh psych-rockers fronted by Gruff Rhys.
The Animals Responsible for The House Of The Rising Sun. ‘Nuff said.
The Sound Of Animals Fighting American rock supergroup founded by Rich Balling of Rx Bandits.
Music
Banana Surprise Genre-mashing hard rockers Twelve Foot Ninja may just hand you a banana when you’re expecting a sausage. Guitarist Steve “Stevic” MacKay and Brendan Crabb look to the mother sky. Pic by Kane Hibberd
A
key component of eclectic Melbourne heavy rockers Twelve Foot Ninja’s success has been endorsement by high profile industry figures. However, those who have actively championed the band — progressive metallers Periphery, Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares and Sevendust’s Morgan Rose — have often seemingly done so due to genuine fandom of both their music and unique sense of humour rather than being motivated by vested interest. This enhanced exposure has led to touring opportunities both here and abroad and meant their progress has largely felt organic.
You can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes with polishing turds any more. People try, but often the truth comes out.
“It has an amazing effect when someone, I guess you could call those people trend-setters to a certain degree because they’ve reached critical mass,” guitarist Steve “Stevic” MacKay enthuses. “They already have established audiences, and when they say they like something, it’s powerful, people listen... That’s what I’m always telling students of marketing and advertising. It doesn’t work any more, people are immune, and you’re competing for people’s attention, and those people don’t care. “It comes down to creating good content, and you can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes with polishing turds any more. People try, but often the truth comes out. The most powerful thing is a peer recommendation, and that peer could just be some person on Facebook, 14 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
or someone who promotes something that’s not getting something out of it. That’s when you listen to that stuff.” Twelve Foot Ninja are the antithesis of pre-packaged major label rock fare. Look away, those who prefer their music easily compartmentalised. Second album Outlier is again being issued by small Sydney-based label Volkanik Music. Thus, there weren’t outside forces compelling them to expedite the follow-up to 2012 debut full-length Silent Machine. “It was probably too long between drinks, but we honestly just wrote so many songs and had to whittle it down to the bunch that we had and could really get behind,” the axeman says of their new record. “I suppose it’s a bit of a curse when you’re trying to do some experimental stuff and try different combinations, it doesn’t always work. It reminds me of a bunch of scenes in sci-fi movies, it might have been Alien where you see all the aliens that didn’t make it, and they’re in glass tanks, they’re like the deformed versions of the final article,” he laughs. “We’ve got a bloody stadium full of those deformed foetus things in jars that just didn’t get finished. And they won’t, because they hit a point where we just went, ‘Nah, this thing sucks, let’s move on’.” The Music recounts witnessing Twelve Foot Ninja open for Fear Factory in 2013. “Are these guys playing reggae or something?” one clearly confused punter quizzed his evidently unimpressed friend. “I love that reaction,” MacKay responds. “It’s polarising; some people like it, some people hate it. The analogy I think of it is, if I said, ‘I’m going to give you a sausage’, and I actually handed you a banana instead. And if you ate the banana, you’d either spit it out going, ‘This is the shittest sausage I’ve ever had’, or you’d go, ‘I think I like this. It’s different to what I wanted, but it’s okay’. That’s sort of how a lot of the full-on metal dudes... If it’s called metal, that’s like saying it’s a sausage. If you give them anything but a sausage they sometimes spit it out and say, ‘that’s fucking stupid’. Or they go, ‘actually, it’s cool. It’s different’,” he laughs, before apologising for the analogy. There’s an element of truth there, though — metal can be a rather insular and segregated world. MacKay says he’s grateful the metal community has embraced them overall, but doesn’t wish to be pigeon-holed. “A lot of it’s meant to be very aggressive, so the reggae or some of the more soulful stuff can feel... Not necessarily like that. It’s a different vibe altogether.” Outlier’s touring cycle will include playing enormodomes opening for US heavyweights Disturbed. “We’re just going to go out and try and destroy it like it’s our last show ever... It’s an opportunity for us to get in front of a different audience. Of course they’ll be people who are one-eyed Disturbed fans, and anything that’s not Disturbed is just not what they want. It’s also a band’s job to try and win over those people.”
What: Outlier (Independent) When & Where: 2 Sep, Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle; 3 Sep, Bald Faced Stag
ALEX & EVE KING OF THE NORTH FRI 26 AUG
CUTE IS WHAT WE AIM FOR SAT 27 & SUN 28 AUG
DENIZ TEK + THE DARK CLOUDS + THE UNDERMINES
25 - 28 AUG
A MONTH OF THE BEST NEW COMEDY
SAT 8 OCT
BAD FESTIVAL BIG WHITE + DISPOSSESSED + MORE!
SAT 15 OCT
TUE 11 - SUN 23 OCT
THE SMITHS TRIBUTE a BLACK MOUNTAIN SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL GARY MOORE REMEMBERED a LEVELLERS POLE EVOLUTION a RATCAT a HORRORSHOW HAYES CARLL a THE AMY WINEHOUSE SHOW
THU 25 AUG - SAT 3 SEP
AKMAL FRI 26 & SAT 27 AUG, 7:15PM
MISS BURLESQUE NSW FRI 2 SEP
ASH WILLIAMS
I'VE DONE SOME BAD THINGS
FRI 2 SEP, 7PM
DIESEL SAT 3 SEP
ONE DAY SUNDAYS SUN 4 SEP
FUSEBOX THEATRE
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THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 15
TV
The Missing 2% Justin Theroux and Damon Lindelof — the lead actor and creator of The Leftovers respectively — talk to Guy Davis about the joy of mystery and the draw of Australia.
L
et’s say, for argument’s sake, that you were telling a story where 2% of the planet’s population suddenly and mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth. The story would likely revolve around two questions: Why did these people disappear? And where did they go? Damon Lindelof, perhaps best-known as the cocreator of the hit TV series Lost, knew he wasn’t going to ever address those questions when he started developing his television adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s novel The Leftovers, a story in which, uh, 2% of the world’s population has suddenly and mysteriously vanished from the face of
The Leftovers Executive Producer Mimi Leder, actor Justin Theroux and Co-Creator Damon Lindelof.
I want to live in that space of mystery, which means you don’t answer questions definitively, which feels more like life, doesn’t it?
the earth. Although he acknowledges with a laugh that his show would probably attract a larger audience if it did. Instead, as its title indicates, The Leftovers focuses on the people remaining behind, people grieving the loss of missing loved ones and unable to explain what this miraculous, mysterious event says about — well, everything from the possible existence of a higher power to their own place in the greater scheme of things. “The thing that activates me most in storytelling, and the thing that bites me in the ass the most, is mystery,” says Lindelof. “What makes mysteries so great to me is... well, take someone who has been convicted of murder and claims to be innocent. Are they innocent or not? That to me is much more compelling than, ‘Nope, they’re guilty’. I want to live in that space of mystery, which means you 16 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
don’t answer questions definitively, which feels more like life, doesn’t it?” Leftovers lead actor Justin Theroux, who plays small-town police chief Kevin Garvey, echoes Lindelof’s sentiments. “People say it’s so weird and that they don’t get it,” he says. “What I love about the show is that it mimics your life more than you may think. It’s completely universal to think, ‘What’s the point of life? What’s the purpose of grinding on?’ — Damon has shone a light on that in a way that is at times uncomfortable. Most people are happy to go through life not thinking about too much, not examining what’s underneath the surface. But everyone has an existential moment at some stage in their life.” For the third and final season of The Leftovers, Lindelof has brought the cast and crew of the show to Australia, a development hinted at when it was revealed that Garvey’s father, played by Scott Glenn, had travelled here in search of answers. “He’s been wandering the continent, and his journeys culminate in the Melbourne area at around the same time the rest of the show is basically colliding with him,” says Lindelof. Neither series creator nor lead actor were too forthcoming with details about how the Australian locale would affect this final chapter of the story. However, Lindelof was quick to praise the local crews working on The Leftovers. “Yeah, my experience so far has been that it is awesome,” he says of Australia. “Being a producer of television and film for 15 years now, a big part of it is, ‘What is the culture of the place and the people?’, because that translates to the work ethic of the crew you hire and this delicate balance of having fun while you work but also dealing with people who are very exacting in their craft. We’ve gravitated towards places — Austin, Texas in season two, and now here — where the work ethic is incredible but it’s also a lot of fun working together. There’s something in Australia that’s very organic when it comes to that.” Rather than construct sets, the show primarily takes advantage of actual locations around Australia, ranging from Federation Square in the Melbourne CBD to the You Yangs mountain range just outside Geelong. Shifting from one location to another between the first and second seasons of The Leftovers gave Lindelof the opportunity to broaden the show’s visual palette and open up the story more. And a little research into Australian cinema of the 1970s, especially Peter Weir’s Picnic At Hanging Rock and The Last Wave, help set the tone for the new episodes, which will be filmed over the next couple of months. “There’s something about the way those two movies feel — they’re kind of supernatural movies but nothing overtly supernatural happens in them,” says Lindelof. “Why is that, we wondered, and the answer started leading us towards Australia — there’s something strange and magical and off-kilter without taking itself too seriously here. Then we watched [films set in Australia like] Wake In Fright and Walkabout and we thought, ‘Let’s stop ripping off these movies and just go!’. The gravity of the story was sort of pulling us here.”
The Leftovers returns to Foxtel early 2017
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THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 17
Music
Changing The Guard When searching for a new King Of The North drummer, frontman Andrew Higgs tells Bryget Chrisfield he took comfort from the auditory hallucination in Field Of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come”. t was awesome. We premiered Burn on Triple R yesterday and it was funny - I was on top of the scaffold just working and then they’re talking about the upcoming clip and Nicole [Tadpole]’s got someone in there doing the gig guide and he goes, ‘Oh, have they got a new drummer yet?’ ‘cause she mentioned King Of The North,” Andrew Higgs laughs. “And she goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t know much about that - Higgsy, if you’re listening, give us a buzz.’ And then I’m literally, like, standing on this scaffold and I put
“I
I went ahead and booked a 23-date Australian tour and a 30-date European tour [laughs] without even having a drummer.
down my trowel and I’m like, ‘Hello?’ And I could hear myself coming through the radio and she’s playing the tune&#133; I guess there’s the element of trust there, which is pretty cool; she just put it on without having listened to it before. And at the end of [the track], it just went silent and she goes, ‘HOLY SHIT!’ [laughs]. So that was the best. I rang her back and said, ‘Can I use that as a quote?’” Before King Of The North recorded their new album Get Out Of Your World, drummer Danny Leo advised Higgs he could no longer commit to the band. But still, Leo ended up laying down drums for all of the album tracks bar one, which called upon the skills of Cog’s Lucius Borich (Higgs: “I chose only one of songs
18 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
[Burn] that Lucius did to put on the album”). He’s doing “some tradie work” for a mate at the moment and Higgs says they were discussing how well his search for a new drummer would have translated into a reality TV show. “He’s like, ‘Mate, you should have made a show out of this - it’s riveting!’” Higgs chuckles. Although he confesses “documenting it was the last thing on [his] mind”, Higgs acknowledges, “I definitely could’ve, ‘cause there were so many people and so many contestants, and so many funny videos that I got sent in as well.” Drummers from all over the world applied (Higgs: “There was a couple of inquiries from the States”). “I had 43 people apply for it and I was like, ‘What!?’” Higgs recalls. He “physically jammed” with “about 20-odd” contenders, but replacing Leo meant Higgs was after a drummer who could also sing, which immediately “culled a lot of dudes”. “There’s not a lotta drummers that can sing,” Higgs confirms. On the new King Of The North recruit, Higgs enquires, “Have I told you about Steve [Tyssen]? He’s awesome.” It wasn’t just Tyssen’s “drum skills” and vocal ability that made him stand out to Higgs, either. “It was sort of hard in a way, because I was like, ‘Ok, this has to happen,’ but I didn’t really put any pressure on myself, ‘cause I just knew in the back of my mind that it would work out and I knew that everything would be fine,” Higgs shares. “And that’s why I went ahead and booked a 23-date Australian tour and a 30-date European tour [laughs] without even having a drummer. People thought I was nuts, but I was just, like - they obviously haven’t seen Field Of Dreams: ‘If you build it, he will come’ [laughs].”
When & Where: 26 Aug, Factory Theatre; 27 Aug, Long Jetty Hotel; 8 Sep, The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Newcastle; 9 Sep, The Basement, Canberra
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THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 19
Music
Giveaways
From Rap To Trumpet
Here are some sweet giveaways you can win this week. Head to theMusic.com. au/win for more details.
Tickled Tickets
The collab between RZA and Paul Banks — Banks & Steelz — fuses the boundary between hip hop and rap/rock with a touch of indie on their LP Anything But Words, finds Cyclone.
M Slasher DVDs
Captain Fantastic Tickets
20 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
any musicians succumb to complacency mid-career. But RZA (aka Robert Diggs) is becoming more adventurous. The Wu-Tang Clan MC, producer and mastermind is now furnishing a long-canvassed album with Interpol frontman Paul Banks as Banks & Steelz. And Anything But Words transcends fusty notions of ‘rap/ rock’ — it’s indie, Shaolin-style. Meeting in 2011, the surprise “buddies” bonded over, not only music, but also chess. So the first question for the New Yorkers, on a patched-in call, is who typically wins? They laugh. The exuberant Diggs quips, “People like to hear that, don’t they?” Banks reveals it’s Diggs. For Banks, Anything But Words isn’t so incongruous. He is an old hip hop head, moonlighting as DJ Fancypants. However, in the ‘90s Diggs was a purist — the Wu infamously the antidote to “R&Bullshit”. He’s often spoken of a youthful, cultural “antagonism” towards rock. “I was just a hip hop junkie. I was totally dedicated to the genre... I didn’t even see it as a ‘genre’ — I saw hip hop as the only form of music.” Diggs considered alternative genres merely as breakbeat-sample sources. Yet Diggs has since “evolved”. He’s picked up instruments —
including guitar. Banks & Steelz enjoy a mutual appreciation of artists like Leonard Cohen, Elton John and John Frusciante. While making Anything But Words, Diggs shared various rock discoveries. Banks “got a real kick” when Diggs stumbled upon Nick Cave through a trailer for 20,000 Days On Earth. The assiduous duo studied each other’s studio techniques, too. Banks, a maximalist, learnt from Diggs that removing something from a song can improve it. Diggs was “inspired” by Banks’ melodic flair. Anything But Words has impressive guests — the Wu’s Ghostface Killah (the first single Love & War), Kool Keith and Florence Welch. Banks & Steelz, currently touring North America, are keen to hit Australia. Beyond that, Banks envisages a follow-up LP. “I’d love there to be a sequel,” he enthuses. “There’s a bunch of material we didn’t get to finish for this album, and there’s a bunch of material that we’ve yet to write that I feel very compelled to do... There’s definitely more to come.” Both have independent projects on the go. Banks has talked of a solo LP. “It could be an Interpol record, I think, next for me — it’s more likely,” he discloses now. “It’s about all I could say.” Meanwhile, Diggs’ latest directorial effort, the hip hop drama Coco, starring Azealia Banks, is slated for release around Valentine’s Day 2017. (“She did a great job as an actress,” he says of the femcee. “I think she has a future.”) Then word is that Diggs is mastering the trumpet. His progress? “Well, the thing about the trumpet is that, even though I practise a lot in my house in the woods, I still have people that live there with me,” he laughs. “Learning the trumpet is a very challenging thing for the rest of the family. I do hear, ‘Oh Dad!’ — I get some of that ‘dad shit’... So I’m working on it.”
What: Anything But Words (Warner)
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THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 21
Comedy
The Art Of Making Yap In between fits of laughter, Alan Carr discusses sticking a selfie stick up Justin Timberlake’s trouser leg, whether or not guests have literally pissed themselves on his chat show and why there’s no such thing as “funny heckles” with Bryget Chrisfield.
To read the full interview head to theMusic.com.au
I
n Italy “yesterd’y”, Alan Carr is back in London in time for our chat and gushes of the country shaped like a boot, “Beautiful food, beautiful wine, beautiful people - what’s not to love?” When told we’re pretty sure the beverages Carr downed while abroad would’ve tasted a lot nicer than the refreshments he offers guests on his chat show, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Carr admits, “Oh, yes, you bet”. So whose job is it to keep that infamous “globe”
Pointing at your crotch going, ‘Put this out’? That’s not banter.
stocked? “Well what we say to people is, we say, ‘Is anyone going on a holid’y? Like, a European holid’y? You’ve got to bring something [back] that’s no more than five euros.’ And someone came back from Greece once and I swear that it was like mauve with multi-coloured iron filings in. It was just so, haha, disgusting!” Now we’re wondering how often the gold foil leather sofa needs professional cleaning. “What when someone’s pissed themselves? Or vomited?” Carr jumps in before laughing hysterically. “It’s been close, it’s been close, hahahahaha.” A 16th Series of Alan Carr: Chatty Man aired this year and Carr shares, “As you go through the series you get less and less starstruck ‘cause you sorta realise that everyone’s sort of the same, really”. “When you see the guests arrive - normally I look out the window 22 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
and they’ve got, like, a tracksuit on and they’re smokin’ a fag and there’s stains down their trousers,” Carr explains, before admitting, “I was [starstruck] when Justin Timberlake came on. I was a little bit, ‘Ooh, JT!’” When told this scribe prefers to call said triple threat Justin Trousersnake, Carr doesn’t miss a beat. “Ooh, have you slept with him?” We wish! Doesn’t everybody? “Well,” Carr chuckles. “No. I mean, I need proof, though. I need photographic evidence [laughs].” Photo or it didn’t happen? “Yeah, stick a selfie stick up his trouser leg or something,” Carr cracks up. He’s already penned one autobiography, Look Who It Is!: My Story, and Carr reveals, “I’m writing a new one at the minute that’s coming out this Christmas”. The followup to Look Who It Is!: My Story focuses on his TV career: “The troubles with TV and showbiz and stuff, you realise it is quite a nasty business as it were.” And Carr Googles himself for research purposes: “You put in ‘Chatty Man’ and press search and you’re like, ‘Oh, god, please be kind!’ So it’s a bit like wadin’ into a sewer... I know you’re a journalist, but, you know, sometimes there’s been, ‘I never said THAT!’ And the thing is, I am such a bitch that people can put whatever and go, ‘Ooh, Alan’s on the turn, Alan’s ‘ad a few wines’. I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t say that, I think - I didn’t say it!’ hahahahahahaha.” On the subject of political correctness, Carr ponders, “Personally, I’m not a big fan of those comedians that will joke about rape. And I think [with] some of the male comedians there is a sense of, ‘Oooh, I’m being so edgy!’ And that’s not really me.” Carr then observes, “Everyone is offended now, and everyone wants to be offended, which is the interesting thing. But if a joke’s funny I’m gonna go for it, but I’m not setting out to have people crying or walking out.” Given that audiences these days want to be part of the experience, we wonder whether Carr has noticed an increased number of hecklers over time. “You don’t get funny heckles,” Carr points out. “If anything you just get, [puts on bogan voice] ‘Ugh, you’re shit!’ So, I mean, there is, like, this myth that Oscar Wilde’s in the audience... sadly, it’s more odd bods.” And quite often it can be pretty hard to decipher what punters call out. “You sound like you’ve got your head in a urinal at the best of times... I did this warm-up gig and it didn’t go that well, and the fire alarm went off halfway through. And so the fire brigade had to call, and I was trying to calm ‘em down; everyone was panicked. And this woman was absolutely paralytic; she’d been stopped drinks at the bar and then was like pointing at her crotch shouting at the fire brigade, ‘Put this out!’ And I said, ‘Look madam,’ I said, ‘We’re trying to put it out’. There wasn’t a fire as it happened, but I mean it was all pretty scary and I thought I’d stay on stage, calm everyone down; I didn’t wanna just leg it. And then on Twitter they go, ‘Oh, Alan Carr can’t handle the banter!’ And I’m like, ‘Banter? Pointing at your crotch going, “Put this out”? That’s not banter’.”
What: Alan Carr — Yap, Yap, Yap! When & Where: 6 & 7 Sep, Just For Laughs, Sydney Opera House
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THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 23
Music
World Wide ORB THE BIGSOUND BUZZ STARTS HERE Moreton
Here’s week three in our roundup of must-see acts playing at this year’s annual BIGSOUND showcase in Brisbane (7-9 Sep).
Moreton Don’t know a lot about this Brisbane three-piece, just know that their track The Water is a fragile piece of moodiness that has us desperate to see what they can do live.
Ryan Downey That voice. THAT VOICE. Ryan Downey’s rich baritone is destined to melt the hearts of all who come into contact with it at BIGSOUND. His Tidings is on repeat in our office.
Rainbow Chan Okay, so the buzz on Chan began years ago... but her new house-anthem-in-themaking Work takes things to a whole new level. See her now before she blows up globally.
24 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Jamie Harmer, Zak Olsen and Daff Gravolin of ORB are an impossible band to Google, but easy to tag, Brynn Davies finds out.
I
t’s a serious struggle to find ORB on the internet. There’s a UK DJ duo dubbed The Orb that comes up in most rudimentary searches, and it poses a bit of an issue for the Geelong boys. “Someone bought The Orb’s records. Oh wait, they bought an ORB record sorry, thinking it was The Orb, and complained to us about that. They sent the record back and everything,” laughs Jamie Harmer. “What an idiot,” someone pipes up in the background. Harmer, Zak Olsen and Daff Gravolin are sounding off their names every time they answer a question due to a bad phone connection, but it doesn’t often work. It turns out that the name ORB was chosen because it’s “three letters, three band members, sounds powerful” someone starts to explain, but a loud “and it’s easy to tag everywhere!” drowns out the answer. Growing up together, “we all used to skate together, and old skate movies kinda introduced us to cool punk music and stuff,” explains Gravolin. As similar as their influences may be — you’ll hear a lot of doom, psych rock, prog and garage on their debut LP Birth — Harmer’s musical education varied slightly from that of Olsen and Gravolin. “Well, I guess I didn’t sort of automatically hear all the music,” Harmer starts off tentatively. Both of his parents are deaf, and it was his older brother who first
got him hooked. “My older brother was pretty into hip hop, he was like a rapper and stuff. So I was real into hip hop when I was in like primary school. But then, yeah. I just got into skating and got into music through skating, as a bunch of music people do.” He’s nonplussed about his parents being unable to hear the result of his work with ORB, “It’s sort of the norm to me. But they do talk about the fact that they’d like to hear it. And they sort of are real interested in what it would sound like. I showed them the clips and they really like the clips.” It’s taken almost a year since completing the album to release Birth, which dropped on 1 Jul and sports just five tracks — albeit five tracks that average six minutes long, with Electric Blanket clocking a stellar 16:03 minutes. “When we did it, we didn’t have a label to put it out. We didn’t know if someone was going to or who was going to do it and we wanted to wait to see if we could get someone from overseas to get it out. It worked out in the end,” explains Olsen. The day was saved by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s own label Flightless. “It wasn’t like a big thing, we’ve known those guys for a little bit and they wanted to put out some of our older band’s stuff — the Frowning Clouds — but that never really happened. It just seemed like a good one to do with them. So it didn’t seem like this big ‘oh my god we signed with King Gizzard’ or something. It was just sort of our friends helping us out,” muses Olsen. “We’re allowed to do what we want to do [with our music], and we wouldn’t do it with them if we weren’t!”
What: Birth [Flightless / Remote Control Records] When & Where: 27 Aug, Volumes Festival
Destructive Steps
Destructive Steps is an annual street dance event held in Sydney comprising multiple styles of dance with dancers competing in a freestyle battle format with no set choreography or showcases. The dancers will battle for the title of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best popper, breaking (breakdance) crew and breaker. Entering its eighth year, Destructive Steps takes place on 26 & 27 Aug at Petersham Town Hall and 28 Aug at 2C Gladstone St Newtown.
Bboy Sammy Sex and Bgirl RayGun from 143 L.S.F. Pic by Josh Groom.
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;˘ 25
Circus
Box Of Tricks Cirque du Soleil return to Australia this month with Kooza and, as Ghislain Ramage tells Paul Ransom, this show’s about the circus.
I
t’s a frigid night in Santiago and French-born circus performer Ghislain Ramage is waiting to go on stage. He’s been fulfilling a teenage dream and travelling the world with Cirque du Soleil, not only as a Cyr wheel specialist but as an all-rounder able to fill in where necessary. In many ways, his skill-varied base is old school carny; a bit of acrobatics, some clowning, juggling etc. “Contemporary circus,” he explains, “can
Contemporary circus can tend to be more dark because its goal sometimes is not to please the audience.
Since debuting in Montreal in 2007, Kooza has toured relentlessly, clocking up close to 3,000 performances and more than six million ticket sales. Created by American-born clown David Shiner, it is most often described as “circus in a box”. However, Kooza is still typical Cirque, in that it ties itself to a narrative and a few core ideas. As Ramage encapsulates it, “The whole story of the show is about life and death. Yes, you have a dark side but it’s treated in a way that’s not scary. For me, it’s not just dark because from darkness light shines again.” The show’s trajectory follows the journey of a mime called The Innocent into the beguiling and morally ambiguous world of the circus, a place where he meets such characters as The Bad Dog, The King and The Trickster. In spite of all the potential pitfalls, The Innocent survives and thrives. “Kooza is inspired by the roots of circus,” Ramage says, “so it’s much more joyful.” For Ramage, the world of Kooza reflects his own journey, an odyssey that began at the age of six. “My mother sent me to a circus school because I was already running and jumping everywhere and she thought it would be a good idea. Luckily there was a small circus school in my hometown. I started doing it as a hobby, learning all the basic skills. It only became a passion later.” The passion was fuelled by a DVD of Cirque’s Quidam, which the young Ramage watched over and over. “It was so rich and that’s how I got really passionate about it,” he recalls. “But y’know, before I was maybe 15 years old I did not even know I could really become a circus artist.” Ramage’s life on the road performing in huge tents neatly accords with the traditional childhood circus fantasy. From smalltown France to Chile (and soon to Australia), he has walked the path so spectacularly realised in Kooza. “For me, it’s not real work,” he jokes. “Y’know, I get to play every night.”
What: Kooza When & Where: 25 Aug — 25 Sep, Under The Grand Chapiteau, Entertainment Quarter
tend to be more dark because its goal sometimes is not to please the audience; it’s more about the message you want to present. But this show is not like that.” This show is Kooza and it’s about the circus. Its appeal is rooted in a kind of cultural nostalgia, a misty vision of tents, trapeze and tricksters. “Most people know about traditional circus but they don’t know much about contemporary circus; but what happens with Kooza is that even though it’s inspired by traditional circus, it’s not traditional. It’s transformed with the Cirque artistry.”
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THE NEW ALBUM 25.08.16
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 27
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
Bluestone Lane, various NYC locations A mate of mine works in one of these cafes and she says its a big celebrity draw. Finding a slice of home when you’re far away can be comforting, but the chilli flakes on top of the avo smash was like nothing I’ve ever had back in Sydney. (CHILLI DOESN’T BELONG ON AVO!) Even still, a mocha made by someone who can pronounce it properly was worth the wait and trek out in the rain.
The Milling Room, Upper West Side High ceilings, black-aproned staff and a rustic decor. It’s one of very few modern American restaurants that offered us (fluffy, warm, perfect) freshly baked bread with olive oil. Americans love to burn the crust of their bread slightly and the smoky taste is so damn great. The wild mushroom risotto with reggiano, black truffles and mascarpone was worth it just for the truffles, but the chilled spinach side with ginger, citrus and sesame seeds which was the real MVP.
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new york city eats
People make the mistake of thinking the Big Apple is about the bars, the fashion, the business and the music scenes... but I have news for you. It’s about the food. From neighbourhood hole-in-thewall eateries to fine-as-hell, $200 per head dining experiences to the kebab/hot dog stands around each corner, New York City has just about everything when it comes to keeping yourself satiated. I tried out a mere handful on my recent summer visit, making sure I had a tonne of stories to bring back and make my friends jealous with. Caveat: I kind of lied up there. New York is also really great for the nightlife, fashion and music scenes. It’s just so much more fun eating, don’t ya think? Words and Pics by Uppy Chatterjee
The Spotted Pig, West Village Another big celebrity hotspot, this cosy pub has literally the greatest shoestring fries I’ve ever had. The whole place is warm, friendly and unassuming and the food matched the atmosphere perfectly — we split the famous chargrilled burger with roquefort cheese and the Cubano sandwich with arugula salad, all the while stuffing handfuls of the unbelievably good fries into our mouths.
The Bagel Store, Williamsburg Because when you’ve got a chance to eat something viral-worthy, you’re gonna do it, right? These rainbow bagels have been all over the internet lately, and with Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer giving it their approval on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, I had to give it red-hot go on my first morning in NYC. The rainbow bagel itself — though stunning to look at — tasted like cardboard, but it was massively redeemed by that Oreo cream cheese. Unnngggghh.
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TIx ON SALE SEPT 1st FROM 10AM • FOTSUN.COM I N C L U D E S 2 N I G H T S F R E E C A M P I N G • u p g r a d e f o r t h u r s d ay c a m p i n g A C C O M M O D AT I O N a n d t e n t c i t y PA C K A G E S AVA I L A B L E f o r 2 0 1 6 • k i d s u n d e r 1 0 f r e e v e n u e - s u n d o w n e r t o u r i s t pa r k , P o rt M a c q u a r i e • t i c k e t i n g s u p p o rt e d b y o z t i x . c o m . a u
AT
THE CARRINGTON FREE — EVERYONE WELCOME SUNDAY 28 AUGUST, 1 – 4PM
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SIMON MELI
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Spark Sunday
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*SEE SITE FOR FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR OUR WHAT’S NEW OPTIONS
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TIM MEACO T H E LO C K H E A RT S
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JIMMY CUPPLES U N D E R T H E C R E AT AT I V E D I R E C T I O N O F
JOSEPH CALDERAZZO 9 PIIEC ECE CE BAND BA BA ST TR RIN ING G SE S CT C IO ON BIG G SCREE CR RE EE EN VI V SU SUAL ALS AL S Meet the Spark Cycles family of custom retro electric bikes and have a ride of PeeWee, Goldie, Dennis or Gary. “We are celebrating the final five days of our IndiGoGo crowdfunding campaign” SPECIAL GUESTS LAURA PALACE CALLUM BAKER (SET IN MOTION) Kids and dogs welcome.
www.sparkcycles.com The Carrington – 565 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 W H O L ELOT TA LOV E .CO M . AU
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 29
Indie Indie
Why We Run
Mirella’s Inferno
Monsters Of Rock Down Under
Album Focus
EP Focus
Single Focus
Answered by: Nick Langley
Answered by: Meghan Dea.
Answered by: Grant Walmsley Freebird
Album title? Holograms
EP Title? HAUNTING.
Single title? Your Time
Where did the title of your new album come from? The track Hologram came before the album name, but the plural form felt right for the album. Something about the connotations of a hologram connected with the themes, textures and instrumentation of the record.
How many releases do you have now? This is the second EP we’ve released to date.
What’s the song about? It’s influenced by Screaming Jets manager and friend Aaron Chugg who tragically passed. His attitude was make this moment Your Time.
How many releases do you have now? Four singles, a couple of videos and an album. How long did it take to write/record? Writing took around two and a half years, with plenty of tracks revised, re-worked and relegated to the trash. Conversely, we only spent two weeks in the studio recording. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Guzman y Gomez burritos and cabin fever. What’s your favourite song on it? Collectively, probably Hologram. There’s quite a journey condensed into four and a half minutes, there. Mine’s Rust, I think. Will you do anything differently next time? As tempting as a quadruple album is, we’ll probably stick to crafting the strongest 40 minutes we can. There’s been talk about going a bit darker, stranger, more aggressive. When and where is your launch/next gig? We’ve got a residency throughout September at Sydney’s Captain Cook Hotel. 14, 22 & 28 Sep, right after Rock ‘n Roll Bingo. Website link for more info? whywerun.net
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Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The life I was living changed rapidly in the last two years and the experiences created by my friends, family, loved ones and complete strangers inspired this EP. What’s your favourite song on it? Walk Away. We’ll like this EP if we like... ‘80s and ‘90sinspired techno-pop. When and where is your launch/next gig? 12 Nov, Oxford Art Factory Website link for more info? facebook.com/ events/627232887444881/
How long did it take to write/record? Another co-write for the band, it was originally written at the band’s inception two years ago and recently reworked with vocalist Holly Wilson. Recorded, produced and mixed by GW. Is this track from a forthcoming release/ existing release? Your Time will be on the band’s forthcoming debut EP, due for release later this year. What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? The band consist of not only some of the greatest musicians in the country, from some of our most celebrated groups, but of very close and dear friends. We’ll like this song if we like... Rock’n’roll baby - Deep Purple to Queen, to anything classic rock! Do you play it differently live? It’s pretty close to the record live, just with a bit more mongrel! When and where is your launch/next gig? 25 Aug, Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice. Website link for more info? monstersofrock. com.au
Music
old, and they’d listen to it,” he tells. “I’d get excited at how excited they were to go out to dances to see them: I didn’t even know what Thee Midniters was and I didn’t know what went on at these dances, but I wanted whatever was making them so excited about going! “It’s more about chasing a feeling — to me it was magical, because you can’t imagine what thrills people that much when you’re eight, but you already know that you want whatever’s the most thrilling thing. I’m still like an eightyear-old — I still want that exciting thing in music. It became a bit of a holy grail to seek that out. “It’s always the idea, and that’s how I learned to do it, from everyone in all of the bands I’ve been in — the people I’ve collaborated with have always done what they’re doing to the extreme, to their ultimate vision. They’re all people who are very sure of what their vision is — I’m not saying they plan everything out, but the general muse is there and it’s seeking a sort of purity or rawness or realness or way-out-ness. An other-ness. “I think with The Pink Monkey Birds we’re a dance band, we’re a rock’n’roll band, we’re about life being funny, sexy, dangerous, smart and stupid all at the same time. They’re all of my favourite things, so all of my favourite music is like that and that’s what rock’n’roll should be like. And there’s definitely a sense of humour, because it’s fun to look at the world in a skewed way — you have to laugh at it, because if you didn’t laugh at it you’d be crying.”
Chasing A Feeling
The Pink Monkey Birds’ founding frontman Kid Congo Powers tells Steve Bell about his eternal quest for “other-ness”.
L
A-bred musician Kid Congo Powers has the most impeccable of rock’n’roll pedigrees — having played guitar over the years for The Cramps, The Gun Club and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds — but for the last decade he’s been applying his vision to his own project, The Pink Monkey Birds. This band’s inaugural tour of Australia last year earned rave reviews, and now they’re returning on the back of fourth album La Arana Es La Vida, a collection of down and dirty rock’n’roll that drags the music of Powers’ past into brave new places. “The good thing this time was that we weren’t afraid to try old things, because a lot of the time you don’t want to repeat yourself,” Powers laughs. “That’s how I am at least — I know I often cut things off before their time because I’m so restless to go onto the next thing. “It was good to go back and say, ‘let’s just make a rock album and try different types of rock that we love’, like put in an Elvis TCB sorta thing, and put in anything from Krautrock to noisy stuff to Chicano rock. I think visiting [Chicano rock] in a bigger way was the most exciting aspect.” This continues a love Powers developed as a youngster in the ‘60s when he became enamoured with East LA Chicano rockers Thee Midniters. “I had older sisters who were teenagers when I was eight or nine years
Vale
Tom Searle from Architects. Pic via Facebook.
It’s been one of those weeks in the music industry where some notable performers have passed away.
Tom Searle The guitarist for UK metalcore act Architects passed away at the age of 28 following a more than threeyear battle with cancer.
Matt Roberts The original guitarist of US rock band 3 Doors Down was found dead in a Wisconsin Hotel.
Peter Read The co-founder of seminal Sydney underground act Thug (alongside Tex Perkins and Lachlan McLeod) was reported to have passed away in Melbourne.
When & Where: 1 Sep, Oxford Art Factory
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 31
Music
A Kav In The Life In the lead up to the performances of Beatles Back2Back, we grabbed Kav Temperley to give us an insight into his history with and love of the Fab Four.
K
av Temperley of Eskimo Joe is taking part in Beatles Back2Back, where two albums widely regarded as the best of all time − Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band − will be performed back to back in their entirety and in orginial song order. Also performing at the show are Russell Morris, Jack Jones and Jon Allen, with all four out front of a 15-piece band. Here Temperley gives us his take on The Beatles. On when he discovered The Beatles: “I seem to have discovered each album in order, songs like Twist & Shout really appealed to me when I was very young, but by the time I was ten years old I thought Maxwell’s Silver Hammer was amazing. So from very early on I started memorising chords and melodies.” On the first Beatles record he purchased: “I remember having a lot of crappy cassette recordings but I’ve probably bought Abbey Road and The White Album about 20 times each.” On his favourite Beatle: “I’ve always loved Lennon’s songwriting, but being a songwriter myself its very hard to separate where one person’s idea begins and the other’s end. Lennon and McCartney certainly taught me a lot about collaboration.”
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On Abbey Road Vs Sgt. Peppers as the greatest: “Sgt. Peppers... is inspiring and has A Day In The Life, which is one of my favourite songs of all time. I do come back to Abbey Road as it sounds so good sonically and the drums and bass at the start of Come Together is like a warm hug.” On his Beatles hidden gem: “Honey Pie on The White Album is amazing, you only need to listen to the Pixies cover version of the song to hear its true potential.” On performing true to the original vs. putting his own spin on things: “Being a total Beatles-o-phile I do try and stay quite true to the tunes, but I also have one of those strange pokey voices that sticks out like a sore thumb wherever it is, so I will probably end up somewhere in the middle.”
When & Where: 26 & 27 Aug, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
OCALS THE BLOGS T PRODUCERS THE CLU STIVALS THE GROUP HE TOURS THE FANS THE BLOGS THE ENC THE CLUBS THE REM OUPIES THE ALBUMS NDUSTRY THE LOCAL CALS THE BLOGS TH RODUCERS THE CLUB TIVALS THE GROUPIE THE BLOGS THE ENCO THE CLUBS THE REM OUPIES THE ALBUMS DUSTRY THE LOCALS STRY THE LOCALS THE
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 33
OPINION Opinion
De La Soul
O G F l ava s Urban And R&B News With Cyclone
R
ecently Bow Wow announced that, at 29, he is retiring - to much online mirth. After all, the former teenybop rap star hasn’t dropped an album in seven years. Regardless, hip hop was once deemed a young person’s game. There was no The Rolling Stones. But that’s changed. Assisted by Prince Paul, New York’s De La Soul pioneered jazz (or alt-) hip hop
n which we look at some theatrical spectacular that is the Olympic games. There’s no longer any point denying. I’m feeling very Olympic at the time of writing. And as much as I love the drama and the triumph of all manner of ridiculous sports that appear to be only rolled out every four years, the highlight of any Olympics, from a theatrical point of view, is always the overblown extravaganzas providing the bread in the athletic sandwich. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a few of the best moments from years gone by. Moscow 1980: Only the Russians could form the Olympic rings out of human towers six stories/people high. Los Angeles 1984: A dude flew into the stadium on a jetpack. Mad. Barcelona 1992: Paralympian archer Antonio Rebollo going full blown Robin Hood with a flaming arrow. London 2012: Her Royal Highness The Queen (cohort of corgis and James Bond in tow) was higher than ever, sky-diving into the Olympic stadium (which, let’s be honest, even with the trickers tops Seoul’s run of the mill skydiver in 1988). And if doubt remains, remember that the Olympics have produced as much pedigree as any televised talent contest: Nikki Webster began dropping hints about a forthcoming album in 2014; and Tiesto, the first DJ to play at the Olympic games (2004, Athens) recently launched a deep house label, AFTR:HRS with goal of - you’ll never guess it - “promoting deep house”. Nikki Webster
Moderately Highbrow Visual Art Wank And Theatre Foyers With Dave Drayton
I
with 1989’s 3 Feet High And Rising acclaimed for its offbeat samples and wryly conscious raps. Alas, by the mid-’90s, they were considered reactionaries, critiquing playa culture on Stakes Is High (notably the title track courtesy of J Dilla). Yet the trio assumed cult longevity. In 2005 they graced Gorillaz’ hit Feel Good Inc. Ironically, today their back catalogue, under Warner’s control, is largely unavailable for streaming reportedly due to sample issues.
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Now De La Soul, returning to Australia in November, are again being hailed as revolutionaries with their eighth album, And The Anonymous Nobody (ATAN). Early last year, determined to complete a comeback free of corporate constraints, De La Soul launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign - and raised a massive $600,000. ATAN sees De La Soul act more as producer/curators than rappers - among its extraordinary guests Jill Scott, Snoop Dogg (the funky single Pain), David Byrne, 2 Chainz and Damon Albarn. They recorded with live musicians, too. ATAN is expansive sonically: Memory Of... (Us) (featuring Estelle and Pete Rock) has jazzy Kendrick Lamar vibes, while Lord Intended, with The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins, is stompin’ glam rock. Most revelatory? The space ‘n’ B Greyhounds with... Usher. ‘Retro’, ATAN ain’t.
The Heavy Shit Metal And Hard Rock With Chris Maric
L
ive music is a funny thing. I guess it’s like comfort food. The more familiar you are with it the more likely you’re going to partake. I’m going to try not to use this week’s 600 words to once again attempt to convince whoever reads my shit to go to more shows, BUT lets compare that analogy anyway. A couple of weeks ago there were a bunch of events on in Sydney on a Saturday night to fulfil your metal needs. Over
OPINION Opinion
at The Factory the Brewtality Festival was playing host to around 20 bands (for only 40 bucks!) and for the few hours I was there you’d be lucky to count 150 people wandering in and out of the two rooms. At the Newtown Social Club the black metal event of winter was meant to take place with Inquisition headlining, but unfortunately they had to cancel. However, not one to let the fans down, the show forged ahead with the mighty King. A super group of sorts with Dave Haley [Psycroptic plus-fifty-other-bands] on drums, Tony Forde [Blood Duster] out front and Dave Hill [The Day Everything Became Nothing] on guitar, they played a mesmerising set of melancholic black metal that should make Scandinavia and eastern Europe fall in love with them. There was maybe 120 people at that show if you’re lucky. Sydonia also played a free show at The Vic in Marrickville but I couldn’t make it.
Sure, all three detracted from any one single event having a huge crowd, but did it? Even 400 people isn’t all that many in a city this size and the Melbourne leg of Brewtality the weekend before pulled more than that. Melbourne crowds are always more than ours, sometimes double for the same bands, local ones anyway. The comfort food angle? Well, last week many people’s prayers were answered when Guns N’ Roses announced they are touring early next year. I was actually very surprised they are playing outdoor stadiums like it was 1992, especially since the last GNR tour here in 2008 didn’t fill the arena at Homebush and Slash is at about Hordern level on his own. Nostalgia is a funny thing though so maybe the chance to see them on stage together with Duff and who the hell knows on drums and rhythm is enough to convince 60,000 Sydneysiders to go and watch. Great! I wish there was more bands capable of the mega stadium show from rock’s glory days and I long for a new wave of bands to rise up and be able to pull those crowds themselves, but how can they when fuck-all people seem interested in checking out new, unsigned and untested bands. One of GNR’s most infamous events of the past is a filmed gig they played at The Ritz, which featured a really awesome version of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. It was played on MTV a lot growing up and was in a club the size of The Stag. Even a band as giant as them started out playing dive bars any chance they could. The buzz grew cause people had a hunger for live music and told their friends too. They moved up the ladder quickly once they broke out of the club Guns n Roses circuit, but hey, we need a club scene to get bands to the next rung up the ladder too or no-one goes anywhere. So there you go, I did it again, sorry! Go see the bands... they are worth it.
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 35
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Mike Noga King Cooking Vinyl
★★★★
Even before vacating The Drones’ drum stool, his solo work was proving Mike Noga a songwriter of wit and style and a performer of a certain rakishness. But the quiet, dusty charm of his previous album, 2011’s The Balladeer Hunter, doesn’t prepare you for the sprawl and density of this. King is loosely a concept album, based on Woyzeck — an often bleak late-18th century play that touches on modern issues such as PTSD and medical experimentation, along with more timeless themes like jealousy-provoked murder and descent into madness. With added narration from actor Noah Taylor, Noga’s songs can churn as Jack’s mind and world disintegrates, songs like Greys To Reds and the headlong stumbling of Nobody Leads Me To Flames getting close to a ragged edge. But Noga can leaven that with other moods — as in the wry, resigned shrug of All My Friends Are Alcoholics, a blackly comic pub singalong destined to be a favourite. He even recasts one of his earlier songs, Down Like JFK, to a recognition that things are going to shit, and likely destined to sink further. Noga already has a burgeoning international reputation, opening for diverse peers, from Band Of Horses to Low, providing a talent that can complement a range of music. Here he’s turned the play’s tragedy into a little triumph, making an album that owes the traditions of Australian rock, but approaches it from some fresh angles. Ross Clelland
Glass Animals
Rainbow Chan
How To Be A Human Being
Spacings Silo Arts & Records
★★★½
Wolf Tone/Caroline
★★★½ After a quality debut, Glass Animals have stomped the ground for their latest LP, with first single Life Itself doing the rounds this year. The catchy ditty elevated the hype surrounding the indie kids once again, but does the album live up to the talk? That depends which half you listen to. The aforementioned single kicks things off and immediately there’s an expectation of a solid spin ahead. While they certainly push the indie pop-rock envelope with breathy vocals in Pork Soda and some flute piping and percussive afro in Youth, it’s not until midway that the interesting and the avant garde kick in. Their penchant for the percussive grows in the sinister Mama’s Gun, the whimsical motifs and crunchy buzz augment Take A
36 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Slice, and the random smooth R&B beat and angular tweets and noises make The Other Side Of Paradise the highlight. In important ways, yes, How To Be A Human Being lives up to expectations; musically there are a lot of interesting things going on throughout, more so in the second half. But there’s also something a bit restrained about the whole thing that really does give you the desire to hear more. Whether that’s a ploy or just how these guys roll is an interesting question to ask, but an album should satisfy a listener during the actual act of listening, and perhaps not have them ask, “What else have you got?” Carley Hall
Rainbow Chan has been releasing some really sweet singles, and the drop of her first LP is sure to turn a few heads and mark the emergence of a fresh voice in Australian music. Across the ten songs of this album, Chan works mellow, pastel-coloured vibes with a light whimsical touch that occasionally borders on being a little twee. Looping and layering her vocals, Chan can be bewitchingly elfin in exactly the same way that those words have been used to describe Bjork. Yet she seems keen to avoid abstraction to deal adult pop, in which she coos about love and fading relationships. At times, Chan’s songwriting feels a little nostalgic, as she rather conservatively sticks to lyrics loaded with narrative and memories wrapped around familiar pop hooks.
What sets Chan apart from the rest of the crowd is the cool diva-esque charm she exudes as her vocals glide smoothly across twitchy, glitched up electronic arrangements that provide a contemporary setting for her songs. Thick layers of her vocals singing in unison on songs like The Letter create a dreamy sound that wraps itself around listeners. Lead single Work has the confident house bounce of the Masters At Work. Taking in the vibrant charm of tunes like Last, close listening reveals an intricately crafted mix filled with oddments of sampled sounds that have been cleverly pulled together into coherence. Guido Farnell
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
The Wilson Pickers You Can’t Catch Fish From A Train ABC/Universal
Taasha Coates & The Melancholy Sweethearts
Vaudeville Smash
Cass McCombs
The Gift
Anti-/Warner
Taasha Coates & Her Melancholy Sweethearts
Independent
ABC/Universal
★★★½
Mangy Love
★★★½
★★★½
★★★½
The folk, country and bluegrass string quintet return with their third album after a period on the sidelines due to Danny Widdicombe undergoing Leukaemia treatment. You get the strong sense these guys play for the thrill of creating communal music together and the chemistry between their voices is a natural fit while still allowing their individual personalities to shine. First single Pulled Apart By Horses borrows a line from Iggy Pop and references Lethal Weapon, and Fortitude recalls both Grant Lee-Philips and Neil Finn, but the winner is the infectious and lilting Through It All on this fine return.
Taasha Coates & Her Melancholy Sweethearts takes the kind of sobering, dusty walk we’ve come to expect from The Audreys’ vocalist. Her first solo outing since the group’s hiatus, some of the tracks may lack some of the chemistry that the pairing brought, but Coates makes up for it with a sincere intimacy. It’s a blue but hopeful collection of songs, with restrained arrangements and softly reaching vocals that highlight her yearning country quaver. There’s a familiarity at play in Coates’ latest, which she leans into a bit too heavily at times, but it’s safe, warm and utterly reassuring.
The Gift is a gaudy package fit for a laser party at Hasselhoff’s house, so it can be hard to tell if Vaudeville Smash are making fun or just having it. There are only so many songs about sassy ladies and the men who love them to go around, but if you were wondering what Phil Collins founding Kool & The Gang would be like, this is it. Calypso soul studded with sax, sharp crystal synths and a slow, sexy drum beat. It’s as bubbly as a backyard jacuzzi, just as deep, but a lot of saturated fun given the right circumstances.
After a relatively productive number of years, in which he released two full-length features in 2011 and a great follow-up in 2013, artsy-folksy-indie kid Cass McCombs has been in hibernation, excepting last year’s B-sides and rarities collection. It’s a fitting tone then that this album is akin to waking up from a period of rest; drowsy (Bum Bum Bum) and occasionally brutal (Rancid Girl), it features the talented Angel Olsen (Opposite House) and less lap steel than other albums but remains another quality album nonetheless.
Nic Addenbrooke
Adam Wilding
Chris Familton
Nic Addenbrooke
More Reviews Online LA Salami Dancing With Bad Grammar
theMusic.com.au
Joseph I’m Alone, No You’re Not
Venus II Inside Your Sun
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 37
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Georgia Fields
The Delta Riggs
The Veils
Astral Debris
Active Galactic
Total Depravity
MGM
Inertia
Nettwerk
Twelve Foot Ninja Outlier Volkanik
★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★
For lovers of lush vocals paired with diverse, at times challenging orchestral arrangements, Astral Debris is for you. Melbourne singer-songwriter Georgia Fields channels Florence & The Machineesque tribal beats on Hood & The Hunter (without the vocal acrobatics), and a cover of David Bowie’s Where Are We Now? is as strong as the original. Produced by Fields and Double J host Tim Shiel, it’s Lachlan Carrick’s experienced hand at working with strong singers (Katie Noonan, CW Stoneking) that shines. Astral Debris promises a lot, and although the arrangements can sometimes mask her vocal line, tracks like Moon strike a fine balance.
It’s nigh on impossible to open up Surgery Of Love, the first cut from The Delta Riggs’ second full-length, and not be swept up in a wave of Rolling Stonessounding nostalgia. Elliott Hammond’s voice channels Jagger with all the swagger, and the percussion and rhythms that throb throughout Active Galactic are pure rock’n’roll, pushing you, pulling you and if necessary dragging you through the record’s 13 tracks. There’s cheek — Baddest Motherfucker In The Beehive — and cheer — Stay While You Run Away — and all throughout a confidence that The Delta Riggs know they want to be a big fucking deal.
With frontman Finn Andrews announced as part of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks reboot, The Veils’ profile seems destined to rise. Andrews’ whisper-to-scream emotionalism fits well with Lynch’s waking bad dreams, with their fifth album again showing the range of what this sometimes utterly visceral band can deliver. With perhaps unlikely input from Run The Jewels’ El-P, they go from the discordant grate of Axolotl, via Low Lays The Devil’s rolling organ — somewhere on a line between The Drones and Bad Seeds — to the troubled croon of Iodine & Iron. Add titles like Do Your Bones Glow At Night? and again The Veils bleed, howl, and ache — as few do so well.
Melbourne genre-benders Twelve Foot Ninja finally come good with their second album after 2012’s debut Silent Machine. The wait is no surprise; constant touring aside, the fivepiece have upped the ante on the complexity and diversity of their previous release. There’s a lot that’s familiar in the Mike Patton-esque vocals, the djent style, the crunchy chugs and snappy changes, but Outlier is such a rule-breaker that it’s still unpredictable and rewarding. Bossa nova and piano tinkles in One Hand Killing, commanding directives from lead man Kin Etik in Sick and Indian flavours and a catchy chorus in Monsoon are the offbeat highlights.
Dylan Stewart
Dylan Stewart
Carley Hall
Ross Clelland
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38 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
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Live Re Live Reviews
Paul Dempsey @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Peter Dovgan
Paul Dempsey, Olympia Metro Theatre 19 Aug
Paul Dempsey @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Peter Dovgan
Olympia @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Peter Dovgan
Dead Letter Circus @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Josh Groom
Dead Letter Circus @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Josh Groom
40 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Ben Folds & yMusic @ Sydney Opera House. Pic: Rohan Anderson
Despite the changes on the boarded up, pre-light rail George Street, there was a reliable vibe inside The Metro tonight. Supported by fellow Melbourne songwriter Olympia (who brought a similar mix of quirk, folk and killer melody), Paul Dempsey gave the full house nearly two hours of tunes. With minimum banter between pieces, but acknowledging the crowd and returning “I love you, Paaaauul” catcalls from the darkness, new album Strange Loop was given a great live airing. Dedicating sweary newbie Hey History (Don’t Go Changin’) to Donald Trump, Dempsey’s slow-burn swagger supported the set and charmed the hell out of the crowd. Olympia and band soared throughout the main set, too; adding colour and shape to his sonic stories. Highlights included The Great Optimist, Volunteers, Lifetime Supply and Idiot Oracle, while Dempsey described Be Somebody as a song about “the worst pick-up line of all time”. As a collection, the new stuff is perhaps a little more subdued than Dempsey’s previous offerings, but live there was plenty of room to let the tracks expand. Returning to older treads Out The Airlock had us swaying as one, while a cover of Television’s Elevation ticked the box for fans who love an obscure piece of Dempsey’s self-described shotgun karaoke. He teased us with the threat of a Cure track — not this time, sadly, but perhaps one day (imagine!). Not much in terms of very old tunes this time around, with Ramona Was A Waitress, Fast Friends and Bats bunched together. Having said that, you don’t really need much
There was a familiarity to this gathering that both sides clearly weren’t taking for granted.
more than the last’s simple repeat “nobody’s ever gunna break your heart again” you get something new every time you hear Dempsey do it. Thanking the crowd several times for “just being here, for coming out to hear us”, there was a familiarity to this gathering that both sides clearly weren’t taking for granted. See and hear you for the next collection, Paul. Liz Giuffre
Dead Letter Circus, Clint Boge, Rival Fire Metro Theatre 20 Aug Rival Fire is an energetic young four-piece from Melbourne who make a glorious noise. Despite the thin crowd, the band didn’t seem to mind, cranking out their hook-laden set. Frontman Rob Farnham is blessed with a great set of pipes that he uses to maximum effect over the eight-song set, interspersing with several shoutouts to the headliners, the crew and the audience. Their sound incorporates some interesting elements, suggesting potential ahead if they can lose the overproduced sheen that veers a tad too close to innocuous Christian rock. Scuff it up a bit, add some grunt.
eviews Live Reviews
Clint Boge, along with fellow ex-Butterfly Effect member Kurt Goedhart, is always a pleasure to catch in any venue. When the duo appear on the Metro stage for an acoustic set with the big PA, there’s a lot to like. There are more than a few Butters fans in the house who were thrilled to hear favourite tunes live and loud once again. One highlight was the unexpected cover of The Church’s Under The Milky Way. It was something of a full circle too; ten years ago almost to the day, Butterfly Effect was presented with their first gold record when playing a gig at this very venue. One thing no one sees coming is the lusty house-wide singalong to You’re The Voice during the changeover between sets. However, these kind of antics should come as no surprise to fans of Dead Letter Circus, touring to promote their newly released third album. The band is already talking about material for their fourth, which according to frontman Kim Benzie is scheduled for release next year. The set blends new material with crowd favourites, features some retina-searing strobes — worrisome for the epileptics — and enough smoke to trouble the asthmatics; along with all of the elements that make for a seamless set from an accomplished band.
Thanking the crowd for their support over the past ten years, the band then ‘Rick-roll’ the audience.
Benzie gives a shoutout to Sea Shepherd, and fulfils his nomination to raise awareness of male suicide. Thanking the crowd for their support over the past ten years, the band then ‘Rick-roll’ the audience — giving a second unexpected blast from the ‘80s. Nice to see they haven’t lost their sense of humour — this time last year, DLC celebrated bassist Stewart Hill’s birthday with a massive cake in the shape of a cock. Hard to imagine what they’ll come up with for next year’s stage pranks. Fiona Cameron
Ben Folds & yMusic Sydney Opera House 20 Aug Ben Folds lit up the Opera House, igniting revelry with upbeat and accomplished music throughout a bustling Concert Hall. The overture gave a blissful welcome to the evening; undulating silken chords from the string section met with the arpeggio of the clarinet and flute, and the muted trumpet sang with a golden sheen. Then came the main attraction, Ben Folds. In a flourish of applause the band kicked into gear with joyfully bouncy tunes, Folds led the eight-piece with his unique voice, harmonising with flautist, Alex Sopp. Folds waited until the third song to introduce his characteristic larrikin charm, but once the penny had dropped there was no way it was going to be picked back up. “This is a waltz,” Folds said. “About all the things you forgive in a relationship when it’s starting out... and by the time you get to the third verse you don’t forgive them anymore.” The next song was, according to Folds, written on stage, “and that’s why it’s only one chord.” The song, Effington, was classic Folds: emanating an imaginative
Folds waited until the third song to introduce his characteristic larrikin charm, but once the penny had dropped there was no way it was going to be picked back up.
hilarity and an amiable catchiness. Folds and band dipped into his catalogue with Still Fighting It, filling the Concert Hall with nostalgia he couldn’t resist succumbing to. He recalled previous shows at the Opera House with “hacky sack players”, “a drum circle” and “a mountain of papers with requests on them.” “Rock this bitch,” came the call from the darkness to the sound of cheers and the eye roll of Folds. “Oh shit,” he warbled into the mic. “Y’all know what that means... I gotta make something up.” Folds dug deep into his ingenious mind and let his fingers do the talking with a lovely Latin-tinged chord progression. The band took up the call and the jam was on, Folds inviting the audience to join in with a call and response and a clap on two and four. With classics like Steven’s Last Night In Town, Song For The Dumped, Brick and tracks off the new album, So There, Ben Folds and yMusic’s performance was entertaining, light-hearted and vivacious, leaving very few in the house unenthused.
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The Glourious Sousaphonics @ Gasoline Pony Witch Hats @ Red Rattler Ed Kuepper @ Factory Theatre
Shaun Colnan THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 41
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
Look Back In Anger. Pic: John Marmaras
Fawlty
Fawlty Towers Live. Pic: James Morgan
Towers Live Theatre Roslyn Packer Theatre to 18 Sep
Look Back In Anger Theatre Old Fitz Theatre to 10 Sep
★★★★ Claustrophobia is an emotion that theatre has a unique power to inspire. Directors Lizzie Schebesta and Damien Ryan have created a stunning space under the Old Fitzroy Hotel — an apartment interior becomes an artistic foreshortening. The audience is the apartment’s fourth wall, cramped and too close to the too real toxicity of the trio who live there. Look Back In Anger follows the tribulations of Jimmy (Andrew Henry), his wife Alison (Melissa Bonne) and Cliff (Robin Goldsworthy) as they try to get along with their daily lives without money or social tact. Jimmy’s destructive narcissism is the driving force of the very human breakdown to which the audience bears witness. John Osborne’s show is an ode to human imperfection but it’s gritty and unclean, a harsh ode that doesn’t idealise. While each actor has an energy that is a pleasure to watch, the subtle performance given by Goldsworthy deserves its own accolades. A diminutive Welshman in love with his friend’s wife and beleaguered by his own circumstance, Goldsworthy’s performance is one of extraordinary pathos. He is an unlikely but welcome pillar to the show’s success. The only criticism worth giving is in regards to the play’s relevance. Look Back In Anger rocked audiences 60 years ago but the script doesn’t pack the same punch. Its rust shows, but in spite of that rust it is still a stellar experience. For a riveting journey and great stagecraft, see Look Back In Anger. The Old Fitz continues to please in its impressive 2016 season. Sean Maroney
42 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
★★★★ Fawlty Towers has been reborn, 40 years after it first aired on BBC2. Fawlty Towers Live is a collection of the very best parts of the original 12-part series, distilled down and weaved together into an uproarious twohour performance adapted by John Cleese himself. If you’ve ever watched the series or come across any of Monty Python’s works, you’ll know what you’re in for. There’s sharp British humour, memorable
characters preying on timeless sitcom stereotypes, and expert physicality as the characters scurry around managing what is probably the worst hotel in Britain. The cast is perfect. Stephen Hall channels John Cleese to an almost eerie extent as the hopeless, grandstanding proprietor Basil Fawlty, while Blazey Best excels as Sybil Fawlty, his critical, appearance-obsessed wife. Mixed in among the absurd string of guests are Syd Brisbane as faithful bellhop Manuel, who’s from Barcelona and doesn’t speak much English, much to Basil’s chagrin. Director Caroline Jay Ranger has done an incredible job taking what is basically a string of unconnected, episodic incidents and bringing them together to form a cohesive narrative, set on a stage encompassing all the second-rate interior spaces from the original. Whether you’re a returning fan, a John Cleese enthusiast, or merely out for a laugh, Fawlty Towers Live offers an unforgettable and endlessly hilarious night. Sam Baran
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 â&#x20AC;¢ 43
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 24
Alex Lahey
The Ramblers: Bald Faced Stag (Front Bar), Leichhardt
SOSUEME 9th Birthday feat. Paces + Alex Dyson + Tom Tilley + DJ Sports + Sideboob: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Drapht
Dead Letter Circus + Clint Boge + Rival Fire: Coffs Harbour Hotel, Coffs Harbour Java Quartet: Foundry 616, Sydney
The Music Presents
The Mismade + Kvlts of Vice + Mucho Sonar: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Whole Lotta Love: 20 & 26 Aug Laycock Street Theatre Gosford; 27 Aug State Theatre
eush + Ben Panucci + Chuffy: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Liz Stringer: 31 Aug Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club; 14 Sep Grand Junction Hotel Maitland; 15 Sep Lizottes Newcastle; 16 Sep Camelot Lounge L-FRESH The LION: 8 Sep The Small Ballroom; 10 Sep Newtown Social Club; 16 Sep Great Northern Hotel Dirty Wolves: 18 Sep Sydney Opera House Wollombi Music Festival: 24 Sep Wollombi Gregory Porter: 28 Sep The Basement Michael Franti & Spearhead: 29 Sep Metro Theatre Emma Louise: 13 Oct Street Theatre Canberra; 14 Oct Uni Bar Wollongong; 15 Oct Cambridge Hotel Newcastle; 4 Nov Metro Theatre
Devil On The Rooftop + The Crooked Fiddle Band + Emad Younan: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville Live & Local feat. Melody Feder + Red Sugar + Byren: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton Manouche Wednesday feat. Gadjo Guitars: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Chris Cooke Duo: Orient Hotel, The Rocks Minimum Wage with Joker Squad: Proud Marys, Erina Coast & Ocean + Azza D + Zepha: Rad Bar, Wollongong MELT feat. DJ Kitsch 78 + MC Blazin: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Melbourne-based Alex Lahey is currently headed ‘round the country as the national support for The John Steel Singers on their album tour for Midnight At The Plutonium. See them both at Newtown Social Club, Friday.
An Evening With Jean-Claude Van Damme - Unplugged And Unscripted: The Star, Pyrmont
The Gloomchasers: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham Ben Wright Smith: Rad Bar, Wollongong
Adam Katz: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour Musos Club Jam Night: Ruby L’Otel, Rozelle
Second Sun: Smiths Alternative, Canberra Orsome Welles + Tundrel + Hallucinatoriam: The Basement, Belconnen The Spin Drifters: The Basement, Sydney
Lisa Mitchell: 22 Oct Newtown Social Club A Day On The Green: 5 Nov Bimbadgen Winery Rothbury
Wahey
Thu 25
Leon Spencer + Allysha Joy + Colourfields: Slyfox, Enmore
No Refunds: Bald Faced Stag (Front Bar), Leichhardt
Hugo Race: Smiths Alternative, Canberra
Rose Carleo: Bathurst Panthers, Bathurst
Corey Harris + Kristen Lee Morris: The Basement, Sydney
Damien Leith: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Buzz Kull
Residual: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst
Mullum Music Festival: 17 - 20 Nov Mullumbimby
The Songs of Patsy Cline with Michelle Little: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Sad Grrls: 8 Oct Factory Theatre
Winter Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Drapht: 8 Oct Metro Theatre
Reidmeister
Katherine Vavahea + Olatundji + Kahlo + Lola Sola: LazyBones Lounge (Level 1), Marrickville
Fairgrounds Festival: 2 & 3 Dec Berri Bell X1: 3 Dec Factory Theatre
Danny Ross: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Crank It Massive two-day event Volumes 2016 is on this Friday and Saturday. Oxford Art Factory, Cliff Dive, Brighton Up Bar and The Burdekin will host an army of artists including Buzz Kull, Nicholas Allbrook and Habits.
Lepers & Crooks + Ed Wells: Leadbelly (formerly The Vanguard), Newtown
Meister Blaster
Cath & Him: Manly Leagues Club (Menzies Lounge), Brookvale
The new wave of rock is sweeping through Factory Theatre on Friday, when Reidmeister and Bad Moon Born join King Of The North in launching their new album Get Out Of Your World.
Larger Than Lions: Marble Bar, Sydney Shawn Lidster + Dancing Fingers + Daniel Tomalaris: Mercantile Hotel, The Rocks Andy Black + Tyne-James Organ + Marcelo: Metro Theatre (All Ages), Sydney Satellite V: Miss Peaches, Newtown
Josh Johnstone: The Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst Cute Is What We Aim For: The Small Ballroom, Islington
Mark n The Blues: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Dorsal Fins: Newtown Social Club, Newtown Matt Jones Duo: Orient Hotel, The Rocks Tourist: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
44 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Benny Fowler + George Bishop: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham Two Steps on the Water + Passive Smoke + Happy Axe + Ear Ache: The Phoenix, Canberra
Gigs / Live The Guide
The Spin Drifters
Stephanie Lea: Dural Country Club, Dural
Cambo: Oriental Hotel, Springwood
Urban Stone: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour
Arrested Development + Black Bird Hum: Enmore Theatre, Newtown
Volumes Festival 2016 feat. Buzz Kull + BV + Dro Carey + Koi Child + Corin + Felix Lush + Charles Murdoch + Rainbow Chan + Alba + Jaala + Kato + Kimchi Princi + Low Ton + more: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
The Chosen Few: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi
Lets Groove Tonight: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith
Freshly Pick’d Headz with Listic + Benji PK + Kaoe + Dolzy + B.C + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
King Of The North + Reidmeister + Bad Moon Born: Factory Theatre (Factory Floor), Marrickville Dame Joan’s Love Children: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Country Drifters Nine-piece western swing and classic country outfit The Spin Drifters are a who’s who of Australian players and singers, from Felicity Urquhart to George Washingmachine. Head to The Basement Wednesday to watch them in action.
Black Rheno + Chambers Of Insanity + The Grounds + Burning Mountain: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington
Friday Night Fiddlin’ with Michael O’Donnell: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham
The McClymonts: Twin Towns, Tweed Heads
Trap City feat. Various DJs: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
Lolo BX + Luude: Proud Marys, Erina Nick Saxon: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Hugo Race: Heritage Hotel, Bulli Blake Tailor: Hornsby Inn (Hunter Street Bar), Hornsby
Black Heart Breakers
David Agius: Jacksons on George, Sydney One World: Kings Park Tavern, Kings Park Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin Celebration feat. Jimmy Cupples + Dallas Frasca + Tim Meaco + more + Whole Lotta Love: Laycock Street Theatre, North Gosford 4th Annual Glee Goes Solo Night: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
The Funk Disciples: The Soda Factory, Surry Hills
The Sea Gypsies + Tom Stephens: Leadbelly (formerly The Vanguard), Newtown
Liam Gale + Henry Manuell: The Temperance Society, Summer Hill
Damien Leith: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Nathan AllGood: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour The John Steel Singers + Alex Lahey: Transit Bar, Canberra City Strawberry Boogie 1st Birthday with Polish Club + Raave Tapes + Split Visions + Sun Sap + more: Uni Bar, Wollongong Malk + The Cannons + Stiff Sox: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
Brown Sugar: Marble Bar, Sydney The Amity Affliction + Trophy Eyes: Metro Theatre, Sydney
I Heart U
Never Ending 80s: Miranda Hotel, Miranda Alphamama + Nardine: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe
There’s a huge night of power pop and punk rock at Brighton Up Bar Friday when Hentai Magi, The Powerpacks and Maids support Black Heart Breakers for the pint-sized rockers’ I Want You single launch.
Kristen Lee Morris
Kodiak Empire + Hashashin + Dream Cities: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Sam Lyon Duo: Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill
Sat 27
Fri 26
Orphans + Good Boy + Ugly Mundays + Archy Punker: Rad Bar, Wollongong Two Steps on the Water + Moonsign + Skin Prison + Dog Dirt: Red Rattler, Marrickville
Festival Of The Fallen with Hammer + Tundrel + Enfield + Freelance Fuckwits + Murder World + Carbon Black + Terrorential + Kvlts of Vice + more: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Rolling Stoned + DJ LT: Revesby Workers (Infinity Lounge), Revesby
The Old Brown Boot Band: Bald Faced Stag (Front Bar), Leichhardt
Bluesmen
Furnace & Fundamentals + Luke Antony Duo + DJ Kitsch 78: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Foam: Bank Hotel, Newtown
Eagle & The Wolf’s Kristen Lee Morris is quickly becoming one of Oz’s best country and blues performers, and this Thursday he’s joining living Delta blues legend Corey Harris at The Basement.
Nightwing: Ruby L’Otel, Rozelle
Yours <3’s Techno: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Moriarty & Angelo: Smiths Alternative, Canberra
Yesterday Once More: Classic Carpenters with Dami Im: Belmont 16’s, Belmont
Cath & Him: St Georges Basin Country Club, Sanctuary Point
Soundproofed: Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, St Clair
The Beatles Back2Back: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band & Abbey Road feat. Russell Morris + Kav Temperley + Jack Jones + Jon Allen: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney
Damien Leith: Blue Mountains Theatre, Springwood
Anna Murphy: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt The Belle Havens: Bald Faced Stag (Front Bar), Leichhardt Foam: Bank Hotel, Newtown The Kava Kings + The Knots + MVRKS: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Black Heart Breakers + Maids + The Powerpacks + Hentai Magi: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst The Protesters: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville Tijuana Taxi: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville Akmal: Comedy Store, Moore Park Winter Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store (8.30pm), Moore Park Hucker Brown: Coogee Diggers (The Bunker), Coogee
Ralph Graham + Don Hopkins + Helmut Uhlmann + Rose Winter + more: Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Newtown
The Angels + Mi-Sex: Dee Why RSL, Dee Why
The John Steel Singers + Alex Lahey: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Harbours + Our Past Days + Introvert + Eat Your Heart Out: Drone (All Ages), Newcastle
The Headliners: North Ryde RSL, North Ryde
Jr & the Jewel-Tones: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Food Court + The Pretty Littles + Nick Nuisance & The Delinquents: Botany View Hotel, Newtown Volumes Festival 2016: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst
Nick Payne: The Newsagency, Marrickville Friday Night Feista feat. Funkytrop + Jon & Eli: The Phoenix, Canberra
Kriola Collective: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Reckless: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
THE MUSIC 24TH AUGUST 2016 • 45
Comedy / G The Guide
KLP + DJ Sports + NYXEN + Various DJs: Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Infinity Broke + Yeevs: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
Hugo Race
Anita Spring + The Soul Doctors: Club Cronulla, Cronulla
The Angels + Mi-Sex: Wentworthville Leagues Club (Starlight Auditorium), Wentworthville
Michael Jackson & Prince Show +Tribute Band: Club Toukley RSL, Toukley
Sun 28
Akmal: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Swing Social with Blue Rhythm Band: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Winter Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store (8.30pm), Moore Park
Seventeen: Big Top Sydney, Milsons Point
Red Slim: Coogee Diggers, Coogee Urban Guerillas: Corrimal Hotel, Corrimal
Original Sin - INXS Show: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills
The MatchBox 20 & Rob Thomas Tribute Show: Culburra Bowling & Recreation Club, Culburra Beach
Jaga Band: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville Regent Street Big Band + The Starr Sisters: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Michael Winslow: Dapto Leagues Club, Dapto Blake Tailor: Dural Country Club, Dural Jimmy Barnes: Enmore Theatre, Newtown Cute Is What We Aim For + Blossom: Factory Theatre (Factory Floor), Marrickville
Nowheresville
Ben Folds + yMusic: Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra
Hugo Race is out touring his newest Fatalists (Race plus Michelangelo Russo and Julitha Ryan) LP 24 Hours To Nowhere Head to LazyBones Lounge on Saturday to catch the trio.
Brazil & Beyond feat. Anna Salleh: Foundry 616, Sydney Chris O’Connor: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
The Amity Affliction + Trophy Eyes: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Joe Cocker Show+Doug Parkinson: Rooty Hill RSL, Rooty Hill
Paces: Miranda Hotel (Carmens), Miranda
Beatnix - Beatles Show + DJ Ta$k: Rooty Hill RSL (Fred Chubb Lounge), Rooty Hill
The Italian Tenors: Mounties, Mt Pritchard On The Corner feat. Diola: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Paul Hayward & his Sidekicks: Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Newtown Cub Sport + Clea: Newtown Social Club, Newtown Tyne-James Organ The Chosen Few + Jimmy Bear: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Three’s Company Wollongong singer-songwriter Tyne-James Organ joins fellow solo act Marcelo as they support Andy Black on his first solo headline tour. This shining array of solo acts will be hitting Metro Theatre on Thursday.
Volumes Festival 2016 feat. Nicholas Allbrook + Slum Sociable + Fishing + Mall Grab + Donny Benet + Mossy + You Beauty + Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever + Cliques + Marcus Whale + Habits + Zero Percent + Orb + Good Boy + Unity Floors + Terrible Truths + The Harpoons + Hubert Clarke Jnr + Null + Babicka + Leo James + Angie + Scott & Charlene’s Wedding + Darts + Summer Flake + Good Morning + Scraps + 100% + California Girls + Solid Effort + Us The Band + Xanga + Nite Fleit + Andy Garvey + Adi Toohey + Playful Sound + I Oh You DJs: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
Sam Lyon Duo: Kellys on King, Newtown
Chris Turner & The Cavemen: Paddington RSL (The Hangout), Paddington
The Songs of John Lee Hooker played by Hugo Race + Michelangelo + Julitha Ryan: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Jellybean Jam: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith Cambo: Plough & Harrow, Camden
Eddie Boyd + Space Monk: Leadbelly (formerly The Vanguard), Newtown
Wongo: Proud Marys, Erina
Nick Saxon + Jason Lowe: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Foam + Heads Of Charm: Rad Bar, Wollongong
King Of The North: Long Jetty Hotel, Long Jetty
Hot August Night - The Concert with Peter Byrne: Revesby Workers, Revesby
Sydney Soul Weekender: Manning Bar, Camperdown
Agent 69: Revesby Workers (Infinity Lounge), Revesby
Soul Empire: Marble Bar, Sydney
The Leisure Bandits + Mind Jackson Duo + DJ D-Flat: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
The Headliners: Matraville RSL, Matraville
46 • THE MUSIC • 24TH AUGUST 2016
Unlocking The Doors - Doors Tribute Band: Central Hotel, Shellharbour City Centre Kian & JC: Enmore Theatre, Newtown Cute Is What We Aim For + Stand Atlantic: Factory Theatre (All Ages/ Factory Floor), Marrickville Fifty Million Beers: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Ovadrive: Ruby L’Otel, Rozelle
Claire McGuiness + CJ Fairlight + Katherine Vavahea: Grind, Cronulla
The Transylvaniacs: Smiths Alternative, Canberra
Jen Buxton: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington
Bowie Unzipped feat. Jeff Duff: Southern Cross Club, Woden
Two Steps on the Water + Rachel Maria Cox: Jura Books, Petersham
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin Celebration feat. Jimmy Cupples + Dallas Frasca + Tim Meaco + more + Whole Lotta Love: State Theatre, Sydney
TEES
The Beatles Back2Back: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band & Abbey Road feat. Russell Morris + Kav Temperley + Jack Jones + Jon Allen: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney Deborah Conway + Willy Zygier: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Havana Brown: The Argyle, The Rocks Jonah & The Wailers: The Basement, Sydney The Evergreen: The Beach Hotel, Merewether The Idea of North + Soulfood a Cappella: The Concourse, Chatswood Black Rheno: The Hideaway Bar, Enmore Pacha feat. Mightyfools: The Ivy, Sydney
Tee Up Dreamy local two-piece TEES and DJ Sweetie Zamora will be at Newtown Social Club on Thursday with Dorsal Fins, who are touring their most recent single, Sedated.
Stephanie Marchant: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle Erin Badman + Gaia Scarf: The Newsagency, Marrickville
Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Immy & The Hook Up: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour
Scott Aukerman: Metro Theatre, Sydney
No Rest For The Wicked with DJ SHE + Xerstorkitte + Action Ant + more: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo Father Bass Club with Myrne + Hatch + Luude + more: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
Performing Brazil+Various Artists: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Gordi + Xavier Dunn + Jake Meadows: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Gigs / Live The Guide
Deborah Conway + Willy Zygier: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Danny Ross
Disco Biscuits: The Beach Hotel, Merewether
Shaun Kirk: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham Bonnie Kay & The Bonafides: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle Lazy Colts: The Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst
Ross Goss
Mon 29
Sonic Mayhem Orchestra: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville Katherine Vavahea: LazyBones Lounge (Top Floor), Marrickville Harbours + Our Past Days + Amends + Mixtape For The Drive: Rad Bar (All Ages), Wollongong Trevor Noah: State Theatre, Sydney The Monday Jam: The Basement, Sydney
Danny Ross will be continuing his east coast We Are Songs single tour in Sydney this week. He’ll be performing songs from his upcoming LP, Aquamarine at LazyBones Lounge on Thursday.
Andrew Samuel + Kahlo: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham The Bootleg Sessions feat. Skyvory + Patrick McKinney + The Freemen + Last Moon: The Phoenix, Canberra The Daughter’s Agenda
UK Anthems + U2 Elevation: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Shred Agenda
Matt Lyon: Penrith Panthers (Squires Terrace Bar), Penrith Endless Summer Beach Party: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith Andrew Samuel + Camden Manor + Kahlo: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham Drivetime Commute + Skylerwhite: Rad Bar, Wollongong
It’s all on at Valve Bar this Sunday when The Daughter’s Agenda, The Venus Alkatraz, Authority Downfall and Gypsy are set to take the stage alongside the night’s headliner The Loose Shreds.
Anna Murphy
James Muller + David Theake: Foundry 616, Sydney
Cavan Te: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour
Murphy’s Law Swiss folk-metal goddess and hurdy-gurdist Anna Murphy will be gracing our shores very soon for her debut solo Australian tour, kicking it off with her first show at the Bald Faced Stag on Friday.
Tue 30 Open Mic Night with Champagne Jam: Dundas Sports Club, Dundas Jacob Parks: Foundry 616, Sydney Dbl Drum Dbl Bass: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville The Whitlams: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Live & Originals feat. Justine Wahlin + Julianne Jessop + My Sisco Electro: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Charlie A’Court: Smiths Alternative, Canberra Press Club Band: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour
Harbours + Our Past Days + Blue Velvet + Hindsight + Rumours: Red Rattler (All Ages/Matinee Show), Marrickville Elle May: Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour Suite Az + Troy T: Rock Lily, Pyrmont Mitchell Anderson: Ruby L’Otel, Rozelle Rhinestone Gala feat. Papa Pilko & The Bin Rats + Key to the Highway + Extension Cord + Daphne Rawling Band + Satellite V + The Sweet Jelly Rolls + more: Shady Pines Saloon, Darlinghurst Tommy Emmanuel: Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra Just For Laughs feat. Trevor Noah: Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Sydney
Mick On Wheels: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi Unity Hall Jazz Band: Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain The Venus Alkatraz + The Daughters Agenda + Gypsy + Red Whiskey + more + The Loose Shreds: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo DJ DZ Deathrays: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
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