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THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 3
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INSIDE FEATURES
ARIA Form Guide Mikal Cronin
feature
Patrick James Love Over Gold Robert Ellis Kinky Friedman AFI The Hello Morning
“IF THE MOVIE WAS BAD I WAS SO UP SHIT CREEK THAT IT DIDN’T MATTER ANYMORE.”
“IF WE’D NOT GROWN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSING. I’M PROUD OF WHAT I’M DOING NOW.”
- DAVEY HAVOK OF SOON-TO-BE-PLAYINGSOUNDWAVE AFI (P26)
- MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS DIRECTOR TOM BERNINGER (P30)
The Hunger Games Tom Berninger Bodyjar Sonny & The Sunsets World Forum Of Music Mama Kin
REVIEWS Album: Alex Cameron Live: Neutral Milk Hotel Arts: BIFF
THE GUIDE Cover: Shandy Eat/Drink Local News Gig Guide The End: ARIA Awards Past
SICK TUNES GIVES YOU FIVE FRESH TUNES TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WEEKEND THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON. ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU.
BE THE FIRST TO SEE NEW CLIPS FROM CITIZEN KAY, SIERRA FINN AND ERNEST ELLIS. PREMIERING ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU
“HOW’S THIS FOR CRED: THE DOCTOR’S LATEST COMPANION, CLARA, IS DATING ROB STARK. EAT SHIT JK ROWLING.”
- THE LOOKING GLASS’ HELEN STRINGER IS JUST A LITTLE EXCITED FOR THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR (P61)
review “IT’S NOT 2005; THE FOUR-PIECE ARE NO LONGER THE HOTTEST INDIE BAND ON THE PLANET. THANKFULLY, NO ONE TOLD FRANZ.” - BENNY DOYLE CHECKS OUT FRANZ FERDINAND (P47)
web 6 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
NEW RECORDS FROM GHOST B.C. AND STRANGERS.
STREAMING ALL WEEK, PRIOR TO THEIR RELEASE ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 7
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
EDITOR Steve Bell
ASSISTANT EDITOR Benny Doyle
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi
MUSO EDITOR Michael Smith
GIG GUIDE EDITOR Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS Adam Curley, Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood, Anthony Carew, Baz McAlister, Ben Preece, Benny Doyle, Bradley Armstrong, Brendan Telford, Carley Hall, Chris Yates, Cyclone, Dan Condon, Daniel Johnson, Dave Drayton, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy McAlister, Matt O’Neill, Mitch Knox, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler McLoughlan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 20 NOVEMBER - 26 NOVEMBER 2013
party listen
PHOTOGRAPHERS Freya Lamont, John Stubbs, John Taylor, Kane Hibberd, Rick Clifford, Sky Kirkham, Stephen Booth, Terry Soo
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Brett Dayman
QLD SALES Zac Gould sales@themusic.com.au
ART DIRECTOR Nicholas Hopkins
ART DEPT Brendon Wellwood, Eamon Stewart, Julian DeBono
ADMIN AND ACCOUNTS Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson, Loretta Zoppolone, Shelley Neergaard accounts@themusic.com.au
DISTRO
This weekend is the annual Valley Fiesta shindig, the street party which is this year operating in cahoots with over 40 local venues to make it one of the biggest Fiestas ever! There are bands and artists from every nook and cranny of the musical spectrum and the streets of the Valley come alive for one of the year’s biggest celebrations of all things cultural – there’s free fun and entertainment for the whole family. Get amongst it and party local!
Isn’t it great when the highbrow and lowbrow worlds collide? This Saturday at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre the QSO is presenting Video Games Unplugged: Symphonies Of Legends which finds our state’s finest classical musicians performing tunes from some of the most iconic game soundtracks from throughout the years, backed by a visual component and some entertainers to provide context. Truly something for everyone!
Anita D’Angelo distro@themusic.com.au
SUBSCRIPTIONS store.themusic.com.au
CONTACT US Phone: (07) 3252 9666 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au Street: Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
Cricket fans of the world will be focusing their attention on Brisbane this week as the First Test of the eagerly awaited Ashes series kicks off at the Gabba fortress on Thursday! The Aussies need to lift to bring the Poms down a few pegs, and there are so many questions to be answered: will Mitch find the pitch? Can Warner keep his hands to himself? Can Pup and Watto survive in the same team? Will the Barmy Army still sing those same tired songs? Support the boys, c’mon Aussies!
Postal: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
support
BRISBANE
watch
Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special. Let your inner geek out and join 75 countries across the globe having a sneaky perve at the dorky Matt Smith. Oh, and David Tennant, too. You’ll have to set your alarms if you want to watch the simultaneous broadcast of The Day Of The Doctor; it’s on at 6.50am AEDT on Sunday (but will also be shown at 7.30pm) on ABC1. Don’t lie, you love sci-fi.
wear
drink
Campari. That’s all we feel like now after being visually enticed by their brand new calendar for 2014, simply titled Worldwide Celebrations. Leave it to the Italians to rope in the inviting Uma Thurman to remind us just how special Campari sours can be, though it would’ve been nice to have seen the Hollywood actress celebrating Straya style, complete with stubbies and some zinc. 2015?
A white ribbon this Monday in support of White Ribbon Day and the end of violence against women. It’s all about bringing men and women together to fight for this pertinent cause. November 25 is also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the start of 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence Against Women. Together we can end this now.
travel
Somewhere new in your local region. You’ve probably got some spectacular patch of natural beauty right on your doorstep that you’ve never explored, so skip a late Friday at the pub for once, pack the car and head towards the horizon. Enjoy the last full weekend of spring before these nice temperatures we’ve been receiving morph into that heinous sweat creator that is summer. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 9
national news news@themusic.com.au
TOTALLY BEACHIN’
The sun is out and the beach is calling. That’s why Kingswood and Calling All Cars are going to be chasing the breakers, heading out on the Life’s A Beach tour over the New Year period. The two tireless rock acts will riff it out 29 Dec, Barwon Heads Hotel; 30 Dec, Torquay Hotel, Torquay; 2 Jan, Carmens, Miranda; 3 Jan, Mona Vale Hotel; 4 Jan, Entrance Leagues Club, Central Coast; 5 Jan, The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle; 10 Jan, The Northern, Byron Bay; 11 Jan, The Tempo Hotel, Brisbane; and 12 Jan, Solbar, Maroochydore. Fans of renegade hip rock act She Rex will also be happy to hear they will be joining the bill from 4 Jan onwards, sweetening the deal just that little bit further. CSS
BIGGER DAY OUT
The mighty annual musical rite of passage that is the Big Day Out has just got plenty larger with a bunch of new international and local stars featuring on the second announcement. Heading up the list of acts are Vista Chino, formerly known as Kyuss Lives! (just don’t tell Josh Homme we said that), while Primus and CSS get a run following Harvest Festival folding. Aussie artists also performing on the bill, meanwhile, include Bliss N Eso, Kerser, Bluejuice, Violent Soho, The Jungle Giants and All The Colours. Happening 19 Jan, Metricon Stadium and Carrara Parklands, Gold Coast; 24 Jan, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne; 26 Jan, Sydney Showgrounds; and 2 Feb, Claremont Showgrounds, Perth.
ARIA AWARDS SET TO ERUPT
The Australian music industry’s night of night has just got a whole lot bigger, better and brighter with a fantastic list of live performers announced for the ceremony, to be held at The Star Event Centre, Sydney. Mixing rock, pop, dance and hip hop, you’ll hear hit tunes from electronic man of the moment Flume, WA wunderkinds Tame Impala and fellow westies Birds Of Tokyo, as well as Vance Joy, Bliss N Eso, Jessica Mauboy, Samantha Jade, Sheppard, The Potbelleez, Stafford Brothers and Alison Wonderland. Guest tickets have all but sold out for the event, so you’ll just have to tune in when GO! broadcast proceedings at 7.30pm, 1 Dec.
DECK THE HALLS WITH DAZ
Darren Hanlon loves a little bit of Christmas cheer – just like you! That’s why no matter how busy his year is, even if he’s been crisscrossing the American south writing and recording a new album, he always manages to squeeze some time into his schedule to play his annual Christmas shows to see in the festive season. A tradition that’s stretched out eight years now, Hanlon will perform intimate solo dates 21 Dec, St Stephens Church, Sydney; 22 Dec, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne; and 23 Dec, Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane.
More than a concept, more than something imagined, Miami Horror’s latest track, Real Slow, is pulled straight from personal experiences, but although the inspiration is sourced from a different place, the sunshine sounds the band are renowned for haven’t been lost. And now Miami Horror want to celebrate with you, properly. In addition to their scattered December shows happening in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne (see The Guide at theMusic.com.au for full details), you can now also get your fix during these new headline dates: 7 Feb, Oh Hello!, Brisbane; 8 Feb, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney; 14 Feb, Corner Hotel, Melbourne; and 15 Feb, Amplifier Bar, Perth. These are the band’s first local gigs in over two years so get involved!
ELLIE GOULDING
A LITTLE WHITE LIE(S) NEVER HURT ANYONE
Jared Leto leads dynamic stadium rock group Thirty Seconds To Mars back Down Under next year, playing all ages dates on 25 Mar, Challenge Stadium, Perth; 28 Mar, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne; 29 Mar, Sydney Entertainment Centre; and 30 Mar, Brisbane Riverstage. That’s pretty good news in itself. But it gets better, with anthemic British act White Lies just announced as main support. The Fulham group have continued to shine since the release of their 2009 debut To Lose My Life, and their grandiose rock will set the stage perfectly for the headline performance.
“TOO EARLY IN THE SEASON TO TRAMPLE SHOPPERS?” NEVER TOO EARLY TIM SIEDELL [@BADBANANA]. 10 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
PERSONAL PULSES
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Young indietronica singer Ellie Goulding is already playing venues like the O2 Arena in her native England, and has recently just taken out Best Solo Artist in the 2013 Q Awards, beating out the likes of David Bowie to receive the accolade. So you probably get the message – this woman is a superstar. The 26-year-old Brit plays all ages shows at Challenge Stadium, Perth, 28 May; Festival Hall, Melbourne, 31 May; Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 3 Jun; and Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 5 Jun. Get your tickets from next Tuesday.
national news news@themusic.com.au NEIL FINN
FAT FREDDY’S DROP
BRINGING IT ON BACK
Following on from some stunning duel sessions with good friend Paul Kelly, Kiwi songwriting legend Neil Finn will be doing things alone once more, releasing a brand new solo record Dizzy Heights on 7 Feb before hitting the road to promote the third longplayer in the month following. Along with Joshua James, Finn will bring his Dizzy Heights tour to Nambour Civic Centre Sunshine Coast, 6 Mar; QPAC, Brisbane, 7 Mar; GPAC Playhouse, Geelong, 11 Mar; Hamer Hall, Melbourne, 12 Mar; Perth Concert Hall, 16 Mar; Newcastle Civic Theatre, 20 Mar; and Sydney Opera House, 22 Mar. Tickets for all shows go on sale this Friday.
TIME TO GET FRUITY
Combining the celebratory jive found in townships right across their country with glorious pop hooks, Mango Groove are seen as an institution in their native South Africa. Now, it’s our turn to get wrapped up in the 11-piece band’s unique dance rhythms, with the group set to play capital city dates next year, performing 21 Feb, Red Hill Auditorium, Perth; 23 Feb, Forum Theatre, Melbourne; 28 Feb, Big Top Luna Park, Sydney; and 1 Mar, Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane.
MORE WHOA FOR WOMADELAIDE
Australia’s leading world music festival WOMADelaide is returning to the South Australian capital next year, and with this second round of announcements it’s shaping up to be an unmissable event. Added alongside the likes of Arrested Development and Billy Bragg are Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, in their only Australian performance, Washington, Fat Freddy’s Drop (pictured), Hanggai, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jeff Lang, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Mehr Ensemble, Mikhael Paskalev, DJ Muro, Neko Case, Pokey LaFarge, Quantic, Saskwatch, Ade Suharto & Peni Candra Rini “Ontosoroh”, Airileke, Ane Brun, Antonio Serrano, Asif Ali Khan, Awesome Tapes from Africa, Azadoota, Baby et Lulu, The Baker Suite, Balanescu Quartet, The Brown Hornet, Carminho, Coloured Stone, DJ Yoda, Dub Inc, The Electrolounge (No Birds, Question Question, Menagerie, Oddessa – with Young Black Youth VJing every night), La Chiva Gantiva, Les Gitans Blanc, Loren Kate, Los Coronas, Makana, Roberto Fonseca, Sitara, Thelma Plum and Tinpan Orange. In addition there’s planet talks from the likes of Polly Higgins and Peter Garrett, the KidZone with heaps of activities for the younger punters and loads of other visual and performance art to be found during the four-day celebration. It happens 7 to 10 Mar in Adelaide’s Botanic Park.
“WRITING GREATS [SIC] SONGS THAT INSPIRE PEOPLE, THAT’S WHAT I BELIEVE IN” HAHA @KIDROCK, GOOD ONE.
PERIPHERY
ENDLESS HORIZONS
Continuing to shatter boundaries with their limitless metal vision, Periphery take the complex and create music that’s startling and fresh. The Maryland sextet will light up stages early next year, joined by instrumental prog purveyors Animals As Leaders at these shows: 31 Jan, The Hi-Fi, Brisbane; 1 Feb, Metro Theatre, Sydney (licensed/all ages); and 2 Feb, Billboard The Venue, Melbourne.
YOUTHFUL AND RECKLESS
Raise a glass to Joyride when the One Day Crew MC celebrates the launch of his three-part EP endeavour, the Gentleman Trilogy – Honourable, Chivalrous and Valiant – with a series of east coast shows, his first solo gigs ever. Get the real perspective of a young man kicking it in the beating heart of the city at The Workers Club, Melbourne, 5 Dec; Goodgod Small Bar, Sydney, 12 Dec; and Bowler Bar, Brisbane, 19 Dec.
BODY MOVING
Multi-platinum selling superstar Selena Gomez has just announced she’ll be extending her current world tour, bringing Stars Dance to Australia early next year. The former Disney do-gooder and spring break bad girl will perform four capital city dates, happening 1 Feb, Perth Arena; 6 Feb, Brisbane Convention Centre; 7 Feb, Sydney Entertainment Centre; and 8 Feb, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne. Tickets go on sale Friday. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 11
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au BOBBY ALU
NO ANCHOR
SHIPPING OUT
ALLUDING TO SOMETHING BIG
In his last local date for the year, Bobby Alu – fresh off the road as part of Xavier Rudd’s touring band – will launch his smooth record Take It Slow at The Hi-Fi on 14 Dec, with cracking support acts in the way of Kooii, Brother Fox and Jordan Rakei. Tickets for the date are available now through the venue website for $15+BF.
SWEEPING THROUGH THE RANKS
MAC–HAPPY DAYS
STREET FIGHTING BANDS
STRAP ON IN
South Australian queen MC Tkay Maidza has been creating so much buzz that we damn near forgot she hadn’t even released an official single yet. That’s all about to change, however, with the Jurassic-sized tune that is Brontosaurus, which features Bad Cop. A big bad booty shaker of a jam, you can hear the youngster throw her verses around when she supports David Dallas at Alhambra Lounge, 19 Dec. Tickets via Oztix for $15.
Swashbuckling Hobo are putting on an end of year knees up to celebrate some of the sweet vinyl that’s been released on the label during the past few months. Hobo Town will feature performances from Gravel Samwidge, Lovely Legs, The Dangermen, Stink Bugs and The Wrong Man, and takes place at the Underdog, 14 Dec. Get your tickets on the door for $12.
Turns out it’s a big weekend at Solbar – not that that’s anything new! The Sunshine Coast venue will also host Sydney’s favourite son Kid Mac, who’s travelling around the country at the moment showing off his latest record, Head Noise. You probably already know lead single Bustin’ Down The Door thanks to the NRL Footy Show, but this is your chance to get familiar with the rest. All the festivities take place this Saturday, with tickets through Oztix for $12+BF.
Having not played a Brissie club show for far too long, we’re stoked to welcome Bob Log III back once more when he performs at Alhambra Lounge, 13 Dec. Turn this into a Friday fright night to remember with some filthy, helmet-wearing blues courtesy of Log; soul slayers The Horrortones also make a return, while Teen Sensations bring some boyish charm to the whole shindig.
“BREAKING: MIAMI SOUND MACHINE FINALLY SUCCESSFUL IN TURNING THE BEAT AROUND” NOW THEY’VE JUST GOT TO TURN IT UPSIDE DOWN @JIMGAFFIGAN. 12 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
It’s going to be a quiet Sunday morning in Brisbane after the final show from monumental local noise rock trio No Anchor. The guys have just announced they’ll be going on an indefinite hiatus – thank the allure of Melbourne for that one – but won’t be going without one last bloody racket. Send the lads off the right way by heading along to Crowbar, 30 Nov. It’s $10 cover with Clowns, Speedlab and Release The Hounds also on the bill.
MISS MAY I
The delicious harmonies of Little May will set the tone perfectly during Mikhael Paskalev’s upcoming tour, with the Sydney trio announced as support during the Scandinavian son’s upcoming Australian tour. Get along early to Alhambra Lounge on 4 Mar and see why those a-May-ding ladies have been setting Hype Machine alight with their track, Hide. Tickets available through Secret Sounds, with the tour proudly presented by The Music.
WE ALL WANT TO
ROCKING SEAS APPROACHING
There’s no denying that We All Want To have had a fairly large year. From their sold out show at Judith Wright Centre back in April, to receiving an AMP nomination and hitting the top 20 in the college radio charts Stateside, the Brissie five-piece have been kicking goals left, right and centre. And that’s why they’ve come up with something special to suitably sign off the year with their fans, announcing A Band On Ship, a 100-capacity rock party that will happen on the Brisbane River, 1 Dec with support from Some Jerks. Get involved on this Christmas boat cruise by heading to Oztix – tickets are $24, with the boat leaving at 4pm from Mowbray Park CityCat terminal.
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388 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. 18+ ID Required. Management reserve the right to refuse entry.
FRI 22 NOV
BAND OF FREQUENCIES, THE FLOATING BRIDGES SAT 23 NOV
THE FUMES
WEDNESDAY 20TH
STONEFIELD
LOCKY 8PM
THURSDAY 21ST
RAG DOLL 4PM PLAGIARHYTHM 9PM
FRIDAY 22ND
B-RAD 5PM 9PM MOTION DJS UPSTAIRS 9PM
SATURDAY 23RD
LOCKY 3PM 9PM MOTION DJS UPSTAIRS 9PM
CRAIC’N SUNDAY 24TH
MICK MCHUGH 12PM RAG DOLL 4PM • WASABI 8PM
MONDAY 25
TH
SUN 24 NOV
FRI 29 NOV
THE BADLANDS SAT 30 NOV
A LITTLE PROVINCE THU 5 DEC
THE NERVE FRI 6 DEC
WAXHEAD SAT 7 DEC
DEAD BEAT BAND MON 9 DEC
THE MELVINS & HELMET SUN 15 DEC
AFENDS XMAS W/ POND
ROB HACKWOOD 8PM
WED 18 DEC
TUESDAY 26TH
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
Cnr George and Elizabeth Streets, Brisbane Ph 3221 4377 irishmurphys.com.au
Live music 7 nights a week THE TEMPO HOTEL
JONSON STREET BYRON BAY
7 NIGHTS A WEEK
WOODY LIVES HERE 8PM
Id JAN Z 9^Z 6a^kZ THU 16 h^g^h Idbdggdl L 7dgc D[ D
www.thenorthern.com.au
SUN 29 DEC
BONJAH
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 13
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au BULLHORN
BRITISH INDIA
MEET THE KIDS
In case you forgot (how dare you?), British India are going to be letting loose at The Zoo this weekend, backing up for a pair of sets on both Friday and Saturday night. And if that wasn’t all, recent Unearthed High winners Lunatics On Pogosticks will also be bouncing around with that youthful exuberance, while Fox & Fowl round it all up. Limited tickets are still on sale via Oztix for $30+BF.
COMMUNITY ENTERTAINMENT
Looking to expose diverse local artists and continue the cultivation of a healthy local arts scene, the all ages Jam’n’Beats Festival is coming to Club Greenslopes, 14 Dec, with a heap of acts including: Cheap Fakes, Kryptamistik, Fat Picnic, Ladi Abundance Project, The Worriers, Vaguely Human, Hifire, Haitch & Pachamama, Triptaphene, Un Dia Antes, Kitty Konfuzion and DJ Athol. In addition to the music there’ll also be fire performances, live graffiti, markets, burlesque, games and more, plus the lawn bowl greens are right at your feet – roll on for $20.
TWO SIDES TO THE HORN
Cavalier brass ensemble Bullhorn are showing the flipsides of their influences by hosting two nights at The Joynt, with 6 Dec playing out as a hip hop review, while 7 Dec sees a soul revival go down. The band will collaborate with some mighty fine vocalists, including Hannah Macklin, Lachlan Mitchell, Bec Laughton and D Kazman Cassels from Dubmarine; for the full list of voices fronting up on each night head to Bullhorn’s Facebook page.
STRUMMING HIS STUFF
Knowing how to work his young fingers all over the fretboard, 22-year-old Aussie Joe Robinson has quickly established himself as a guitar virtuoso to be reckoned with, having already shared the stage with the likes of The Black Keys and Robert Randolph, and headlined shows throughout North America, China and Japan. See the wizard in his element when he plays The Brewery, Byron Bay, 3 Jan and New Globe Theatre, 4 Jan.
“INSTAGRAM MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THE WORLD’S ONLY EMPLOYED PERSON” ALEX BAZE [@BAZECRAZE] FILTERS OUT THE TRUTH.
CAN’T HELP BUT BE FRANK
ICEHOUSE
LET’S GET TOGETHER
According to Iva Davies, Icehouse have long felt the love in Queensland, so it makes sense that the Oz rock icons – whose hits such as We Can Get Together and Electric Blue helped shape the ‘80s – would jump at the chance to return for a couple of special performances early next year. Adding to the flavour, fellow ARIA hall of famers Models will also perform at both dates, hitting stages with a swag of classics, as well as some exciting new material that’s set for release in 2014. The bands play Southport RSL, Gold Coast, 17 Jan and Eatons Hill Hotel, 18 Jan. 14 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
On 7 Mar at Southport RSL on the Gold Coast and 8 Mar at The Old Museum, you can get a feel for the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin once more, with the much-loved Christine Anu tackling the American’s iconic catalogue of songs during Rewind – The Aretha Franklin Songbook. Enjoy emotive interpretations of historic tracks like Respect and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman; for fans of both Anu and Franklin, this is a night you don’t want to miss.
RETURN OF THE KINGS
This Friday, head along to Solbar, Maroochydore to celebrate the Sunshine Coast return of Kingfisha. The Brissie boys have those fancy reggae riddims on lock, so get a groove on when they perform with Noah Slee. Tickets are $15 on the door.
SWEATING OUT THE CLASSICS
The Angels continue with their workhorse rock’n’roll mentality, returning to the road in 2014 with their second record featuring The Screaming Jets’ Dave Gleeson, Talk The Talk. Already performing as part of the Red Hot Summer Tour at Harrigan’s Drift Inn, Gold Coast, 15 Feb, the pub rock legends will also play headline dates at Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast, 28 Mar and Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast, 29 Mar.
CAN’T HELP HERSELF
In addition to her Shady Palms show, 13 Dec that we announced last week, Sarah Frank is also doing a whole lot more locally, playing The Loft, Gold Coast, 22 Nov; Ric’s Bar, 25 Nov; The Village Markets, Gold Coast, 1 Dec; and Genki Cafe, Coolangatta, 7 Dec. Hear tracks from the singersongwriter’s latest self-titled solo record.
MONDAY 25 NOVEMBER
MIC’S TRIVIA 7PM
TUESDAY 26 NOVEMBER
DEEP STACK POKER 6PM
WEDNESDAY 20 NOVEMBER JORDAN AND BRYAN
SHOWCASE NIGHT 7PM
O’MALLEYS OPEN MIC NIGHT THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER JORDAN & BRYAN
OPEN MIC NIGHT 7PM
O’MALLEYS OPEN MIC NIGHT
PLAY AT OPEN MIC NIGHT TO SCORE A PAID GIG AT OUR SHOWCASE NIGHT O’MALLEY’S OPEN MIC NIGHT
FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER
LOCKY 5PM
STRINGS FOR AMMO 9PM
DJ BRIAN MENKENS 12AM
SATURDAY 23 NOVEMBER
GER FENNELLY 3PM
ALTER EGOS 9.30AM
OFF THE LEASH 9:30PM
SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER
GER FENNELLY 3PM
STRINGS FOR AMMO 7PM
Basement Level - Wintergarden Centre Queen Street Mall - Brisbane City PH 07 3211 9881 FAX 07 3211 9890 Email admin@mickomalleys.com.au
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 15
16 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
ARIA FORM GUIDE
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Birds Of Tokyo – March Fires Flume – Flume Guy Sebastian – Armageddon Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away Tame Impala – Lonerism
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR Big Scary – Not Art Flume – Flume RüFüS – Atlas
Words The Music editorial team. Cover pic Cole Bennetts.
The Rubens – The Rubens Vance Joy – God Loves You When You’re Dancing
BEST MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Flume – Flume Guy Sebastian – Armageddon Keith Urban – Little Bit Of Everything Matt Corby – Resolution Paul Kelly – Spring and Fall
BEST FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Boy & Bear – Harlequin Dream
Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson – Wreck and Ruin
Boy & Bear – Harlequin Dream
Lee Kernaghan – Beautiful Noise
The Drones – I See Seaweed
Troy Cassar–Daley and Adam Harvey – The Great Country Songbook
Mama Kin – The Magician’s Daughter
BEST DANCE RELEASE
Sheppard – Let Me Down Easy
Melbourne Ska Orchestra – Melbourne Ska Orchestra
Jagwar Ma – Howlin
Airbourne – Black Dog Barking
The Drones – I See Seaweed
Russell Morris – Sharkmouth
The Potbelleez – Saved In A Bottle
Karnivool – Asymmetry
The Presets – Pacifica
Northlane – Singularity
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
The Cat Empire – Steal The Light
RüFüS – Atlas
The Amity Affliction – Chasing Ghosts
Bob Evans – Familiar Stranger
BEST COMEDY RELEASE Housos – Live
Sara Storer – Lovegrass
Flume – Flume
BEST POP RELEASE Empire Of The Sun – Ice On The Dune Guy Sebastian – Armageddon
Clare Bowditch – The Winter I Chose Happiness
Sammy J & Randy – Bin Night
Empire Of The Sun – Ice On The Dune
Josh Pyke – The Beginning And The End Of Everything
Pauly Fenech – Pauly’s Shorts
The Preatures – Is This How You Feel?
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
Tom & Alex – The Bits We’re Least Ashamed Of
Vance Joy – God Loves You When You’re Dancing
Tame Impala – Lonerism
Sarah Blasko – I Awake
Birds Of Tokyo – March Fires
Tame Impala – Lonerism
Archie Roach – Into the Bloodstream
San Cisco – San Cisco
BEST GROUP OF THE YEAR
Birds Of Tokyo – March Fires
Big Scary – Not Art
Emma Louise – Vs Head Vs Heart
Sarah Blasko – I Awake
Jasmine Rae – If I Want To
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away
Missy Higgins – Set Me On Fire
BEST ROCK ALBUM
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE OF THE YEAR
Abbe May – Kiss My Apocalypse
Jessica Mauboy – To The End Of The Earth
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Various – Colin Buchanan’s TGIF Songs
San Cisco – San Cisco
The Rubens – The Rubens
BEST HARD ROCK/ HEAVY METAL ALBUM
Thy Art Is Murder – Hate
BEST URBAN ALBUM Bliss N Eso – Circus In The Sky Horrorshow – King Amongst Many Illy – Bring it Back Seth Sentry – This Was Tomorrow Urthboy – Smokey’s Haunt
awards
This year’s ARIA Awards may be one of the most contested ever because this year Gotye isn’t going to take out everything. However, it’s expected that Sydney’s Flume will dominate because Flume is Flume and he’s had one hell of a year. But so too have the other contenders; Tame Impala, The Drones, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and even Jessica Mauboy have all earned their places in the higher echelons of the Australian music landscape. Let’s just hope Liddiard doesn’t snub the whole song and dance again. The Music editorial team took a look at the categories for the 27th annual ARIA awards; these are our picks. ALBUM OF THE YEAR Who Will Win? Tame Impala - Lonerism Who Should Win? Tame Impala – Lonerism Why? Tame Impala deserve this. Second record to dominate here and overseas Flume’s hot, but these guys are worthy.
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR Who Will Win? Flume Who Should Win? Flume Why? It’s hard to argue with this one, even if label-mates RÜFÜS came from nowhere and Vance Joy is going to be the biggest thing of 2014. The Rubens peaked too early for the voting.
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Who Will Win? Flume - Flume Who Should Win? Paul Kelly – Spring And Fall Why? Don’t EVER ask why Paul Kelly should win an award. It’s just not cool to question these things. Plus, Spring And Fall is great.
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Who Will Win? Jessica Mauboy - To The End Of The Earth Who Should Win? Emma Louise - Vs Head Vs Heart Why? Mauboy has had a pretty massive year and she is deserving, no doubt. But Emma Louise is the underdog; she’s only young but she’s worked hard to put out a record with this kinda class.
BEST GROUP Who Will Win? Tame Impala - Lonerism Who Should Win? Tame Impala - Lonerism Why? Probably one of the closest categories - Tame Impala are loved both here and overseas, but Birds Of Tokyo and The Bad Seeds returned with strong efforts. Boy & Bear and Empire Of The Sun didn’t have the impact as they did with their last albums.
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE OF THE YEAR Who Will Win? The Drones - I See Seaweed Who Should Win? The Drones - I See Seaweed Why? This one’s a toughie. The younger voting members would vote for The Drones, while the older voting members would go the Cave. Is the older voting block outnumbered this year? Time for another changing of the guard.
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM Who Will Win? Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away Who Should Win? Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away Why? Just to see what Nick thinks about being pigeonholed as adult contemporary.
18 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM
BEST POP RELEASE
Who Will Win? The Cat Empire - Steal The Light
Who Should Win? The Preatures - Is This How You Feel?
Who Should Win? Russell Morris - Sharkmouth Why? The Cat Empire because most people will have heard it. Records from Archie Roach, Melbourne Ska Orchestra and Mama Kin are better, and Russell Morris’ brilliant (and highcharting) Sharkmouth is the best of the lot.
Who Will Win? Guy Sebastian - Armageddon Why? Is This How You Feel? is brilliant, but this is where the judges get to give TV talent show winners a token nod.
BEST ROCK ALBUM Who Will Win? Tame Impala - Lonerism Who Should Win? The Drones - I See Seaweed Why? In the war between Gareth Liddiard and Kevin Parker, Parker will be the victor.
BEST COMEDY RELEASE
nick cave & the bad seeds
Who Will Win? Tom & Alex - The Bits We’re Least Ashamed Of Who Should Win? Tom & Alex - The Bits We’re Least Ashamed Of Why? The triple j factor might just win it for the brekkie hosts.
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Who Will Win? Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey - The Great Country Songbook Who Should Win? Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson Wreck and Ruin Why? Arguably the tightest category this year, Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson’s album was brilliant, but The Great Country Songbook might pip them. Jasmine Rae, Leigh Kernaghan and Sara Storer miss out due to the quality competition.
BEST DANCE RELEASE Who Will Win? Flume - Flume Who Should Win? Flume - Flume Why? He’s a big contender overall but in the Dance category? No contest.
NOMINATED FOR FIVE AWARDS
BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM Who Will Win? Karnivool - Asymmetry Who Should Win? Northlane - Singularity Why? Either way, metal fans will be pissed because there are more genres of metal than there are species of bacterium and picking one subgenre involves not picking others, which is an implicit declaration of war.
BEST URBAN ALBUM Who Will Win? Bliss N Eso - Circus In The Sky Who Should Win? Seth Sentry - This Was Tomorrow Why? Very strong year for local urban releases and everyone is worthy of picking up the gong. That’s not a cop out, it’s the truth. Bliss N Eso released a cracker of an album though so might just get it, but jeez Horrorshow’s varied effort was good too.
ARIA FAST FACTS
NOMINATED FOR SEVEN AWARDS
Year first ARIAs held: 1987 At: Sheraton Wentworth Hotel, Sydney Hosted by: Elton John First Best Group: INXS First Best Female Artist: Jenny Morris First Best Male Artist: John Farnham
the cat empire
karnivool NOMINATED FOR TWO AWARDS
NOMINATED FOR SEVEN AWARDS
Year Best Adult Contemporary Album introduced: 1987 First winner: John Farnham Year Best Comedy Release introduced: 1987 First winner: Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson Year Best Country Album introduced: 1987 First winner: John Williamson Year Hall of Fame established: 1988 First inductees: AC/DC, Col Joe, Dame Joan Sutherland, Johnny O’Keefe, Slim Dusty, Vanda & Young Year Best Independent Release introduced: 1990 First winner: Wild Pumpkins At Midnight Year ARIAs first televised: 1991 Year Best Pop Release introduced: 1994 First winner: Peter Andre Year Best Dance Release introduced: 1995 First winner: Itch-E & Scratch-E Year Best Rock Album introduced: 1999 First winner: Powderfinger Year Best Blues & Roots Album introduced: 1999 First winner: David Hole Year Best Urban Release introduced: 2004 First winner: Koolism Year Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album introduced: 2010 First winner: Parkway Drive Won most ARIAs ever: Silverchair Won most ARIAS in a single year: Savage Garden with 8 in 1997
NOMINATED FOR THREE AWARDS
NOMINATED FOR ONE AWARD
HE’S A BIG CONTENDER OVERALL BUT IN THE DANCE CATEGORY? NO CONTEST.
flume
Nominated for most ARIAs ever: Silverchair Most wins for Best Group: INXS with 4 Most wins for Best Female Artist: Wendy Matthews, Kasey Chambers with 3 Most wins for Best Male Artist: John Farnham, Diesel, Alex Lloyd, Gotye with 3
tame impala WHEN & WHERE: 1 Dec, broadcast on GO!
the drones
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 19
music
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Garage wunderkind Mikal Cronin explains to Steve Bell why he’s as happy taking complete control of his own solo project as he is relaxing in bands with his mates.
S
ongwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mikal Cronin has been ensconced in the fertile garage scene of San Francisco for a long time now despite his tender years, first coming to attention as bassist in Ty Segall’s live band before more recently turning heads with his own accomplished solo output. In recent times Cronin has released two albums of his own – his eponymous 2011 debut and this year’s follow-up MCII – and is quickly forging a reputation as a skilled composer and arranger, his fluid and emotionally direct ‘aggressive pop songs’ rendered all the more remarkable given that he plays nearly all of the instruments on the recordings himself.
“Yeah, on MCII I played the majority of the instruments – I had a couple of friends come in and play a little bit of stuff, like my friend Charlie [Mootheart] plays a couple of drum tracks and my friend Dylan [Edrich] plays all of the strings, the violin and viola – the stuff that I couldn’t play,” he explains. “But mostly it was just me and Eric Bauer who recorded it down in his studio, plugging away. “I’ve kind of always done that at home – just writing and recording songs on my own – because it’s a little easier and a little more direct. I don’t have to work out how to translate my ideas before I record them, so it goes a little quicker. There’s lots of people way better than me at certain instruments, and that’s part of the reason it’s fun playing live, but it’s fun and like a challenge for me to try and play as much as I can on the records, and it’s a little easier to translate. In the live situation it sounds a little different than the recorded version, just because it’s a four-piece band and it’s pretty loud and maybe a little faster sometimes.” Cronin’s most recent batch of songs consist of quite laidback, acoustic-based fare for the most part, but they still pack a hefty emotional punch due to his penchant for honest introspection and self-analysis. “I write really autobiographically and at that point in my life the theme was kind of reminiscent of what I was feeling at the time – there was a lot of change and confusion and contradictory thoughts and adverse actions, and a lot of confusion in trying to find my place,” 20 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
he reflects. “A lot of people have attributed that these are pretty common themes about being in your mid-20s and growing up and trying to figure out your place and what you’re doing and how to act and how to have relationships. So yeah, there’s a pretty
about it, but if I’m writing about a problem or an issue it does put it in the forefront of my mind,” he concedes. “Especially during the process of writing and recording and then playing live – you revisit those themes almost every day. So it does help a bit – it comes out of the subconscious and into the real world, I guess.” And although Cronin is a veteran of many bands, he professes to really enjoying the process of writing and releasing material on his lonesome. “Yeah, I like it more sometimes, but it’s also really difficult sometimes.
“THERE’S A PRETTY BIG THEME OF CONFUSION AND CONTRADICTION, BUT TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE ABOUT IT AT THE SAME TIME.” big theme of confusion and contradiction, but trying to stay positive about it at the same time. That constant push and pull about trying to better yourself and be the happiest you can be without stumbling over yourself at the same time.” This creative process sometimes proves cathartic for Cronin, although that’s not really the main objective. “It’s not directly like the minute I write about something I feel better
With a band you can kind of lean on people and it’s more of a collaborative thing – everybody’s in it together – and that helps the writing process a bit because it divides the labour, and if you’re just doing it by yourself you have no one to blame if it’s not going right. There’s no real filter between what I want to do and what I end up doing. There’s no other people to say, ‘That’s not a good idea’, there’s nobody telling me what to do and what not to do which frees me up. Although it does make it harder and more overwhelming sometimes too.”
WHAT: MCII (Merge) WHEN & WHERE: 21 Nov, Alfred’s Apartment, Gold Coast; 22 Nov, Black Bear Lodge; 23 Nov, The Northern, Byron Bay
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THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 21
music
ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE Patrick James is a simple man with a simple plan – to make the music he loves and share it with the world. He covers some career highlights with Jazmine O’Sullivan.
H
aving moved from Port Macquarie to the big smoke of Sydney a few years ago, Patrick James believes he is well and truly settled into city life, yet there are still some small city habits he likes to keep alive. “Busking is one of the things that took a lot of work to get going,” James explains, “but now it kind of funds everything I’m doing musically, from recording to touring. It’s good because it’s fast money, cash-in-hand and you get a few people come to the shows from seeing you in the streets – there seems to be a good rapport there.” With the modern day musician looking more and more to their fans for financial support through crowdfunding, James says such campaigns are a road he could go down in the future, yet reiterates, “I just love the feeling you get with busking. You can just go to street and all of a sudden there’s 20 people around you. I like handing out CDs and flyers while I do it, and I tell them all about my forthcoming shows – it’s a cool way of putting yourself out there.” With his list of achievements for the year including the release of his debut EP All About To Change, supporting both Emma Louise and Josh Pyke for their tours, performing a showcase at BIGSOUND and playing his own headlining tours, there’s a lot for James to be proud of. Reflecting on his favourite moments throughout the year he reveals, “I think selling out the two Vanguard [shows in Sydney] at the start of the year, and then Wonderland on Channel Ten having picked up a couple of songs from our EP which has really extended our reach again, so that’s really cool. [But] if I had to choose a personal highlight of the year it would be playing with Josh Pyke at the Enmore Theatre. It’s a massive venue and so many great bands have played there. It was one of those really special moments for the whole band.” Looking ahead, James is set to release his next single in October, and gives The Music some exclusive info concerning the track. “I actually haven’t said [this] to anyone yet, but it’s going to be called Wait and it’s coming out on the 22nd of October,” James reveals. “It’s a bit different to the other [songs] we’ve released in terms of production; it’s a bit heavier and has a bigger sound. 22 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
I can’t wait to release it. The song is about being loyal to someone; it’s about waiting by their side that kind of thing. It sounds corny but that’s what it’s about.”
To accompany the new single James will be heading out on what will be his last tour of the year. “It’s been a crazy year, I think I’ve played upwards of 75-80 shows, so we’re all fairly wrecked and are just starting to reflect on the whole year; the fans we’ve made, the shows we’ve played. This next tour is going to be great; it will be like a celebration.”
While taking a leap forward in production for Wait was something James had been really
After a fast-paced year like this many would want to take a break and relax a little. Not James. “We’ll definitely keep going. We want to record again as soon as possible, so early next year we’ll be back in the studio.
“THIS NEXT TOUR IS GOING TO BE GREAT; IT WILL BE LIKE A CELEBRATION.” working towards, he believes it was mainly possible because of the help and direction given by producer Wayne Connolly (Boy & Bear, You Am I). “Wayne was so good to work with. He had just come from recording albums with some pretty big acts and I was just constantly bouncing ideas off him and feeling like he really understood it. We definitely hope to go back and record some more songs with him in the future.”
There will also be more touring and recording coming up pretty early in the new year for our forthcoming album, so we’re all looking forward to that.” To help release his debut album in style, James signed to record label Create/Control earlier in the year, and even though most of the songs for the album had been written a long time ago, he believes they have been helpful in realising his creative goals. “The general kind of stories [for the songs on the album] have been about getting out on the road and touring and having the freedom to do that. And obviously that idea of loyalty – whether it’s your mates, your loved ones, or whatever, that’s been coming through in a lot of the songs I’ve been writing, so you can expect to hear messages like that on the album, too.”
WHEN & WHERE: 27 Nov, Black Bear Lodge
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THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 23
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GOLDEN GIRLS
Lucie Thorne and Pieta Brown have traversed oceans to make music together, and they tell Justine Keating the whole thing couldn’t have gone any better.
A
hemisphere apart and two years in the making, Lucie Thorne (Aus) And Pieta Brown (US) have combined their musical prowess to form folk duo Love Over Gold. A majority of those two years were spent on either side of the globe, corresponding back and forth via the internet deliberating the potential formation of this international project. A little more recently, the distance between them diminished and allowed the pair to write, record and release their debut album, Fall To Rise.
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The Love Over Gold story dates back to late 2010 at the annual Mullumbimby Music Festival where both Brown and Thorne were performing. Brown recounts the events leading up to their eventual camaraderie, citing that it all started after they played a couple of songs together at the festival. “After that, I saw Lucie do a solo show,” she goes onto explain. “I was just sitting in the audience and I had a flash or a vision - I’m not sure what to call it, but it wasn’t even something I thought we should do, it was more like seeing it in my mind, like... ‘Wow! I think there’s some unspoken thing
here and we should follow that!’ When I got back to the States, I wrote Lucie a little letter through the internet, and I think - if I have this right - the first line was ‘I hope you don’t think I’m crazy, but I’ve had this whole idea...’ and that was the start of it.” Brown’s concerns went unfounded. Thorne responded with equal enthusiasm, her response an immediate proclamation of interest. As Thorne retells it, the pair were on exactly the same page. “I can remember, as soon as I opened the email I was like ‘I don’t think you’re crazy, I think that’s a fucking great idea!’” “I mean, we liked one another from the first moment we met, so there was a kind of ease in it and a sense of connection and friendship from the start. Then I guess it kind of unravelled into a musical connection about how we might try do some work together and then we started writing songs over the internet and brewing ideas.” Thorne, who had been planning a trip to Europe, spontaneously decided to travel to Holland via Iowa in order to make Love Over Gold a reality. Brown and Thorne spent two days in Iowa recording the album with Thorne returning only a few months later to put the final touches on the record. Following the completion of Fall To Rise, the duo took the project on its first live stint over in the US. Now, the duo are reuniting once more to offer Australian audiences a taste. WHAT: Fall To Rise (Vitamin) WHEN & WHERE: 21, 22 & 24 Nov, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby
FADING PHOTOGRAPHS In less than 12 months since first visiting our shores singer-songwriter Robert Ellis has undertaken a seismic shift in his sound. He tells Steve Bell how to avoid pigeonholing by embracing ambiguity.
I
n early 2012 Texan-bred, Nashville-based singersongwriter Robert Ellis made his first trip to Australia, supporting Americana mainstay Justin Townes Earle. At that point Ellis had only one release to his name – 2011’s country-infused Photographs. Now Ellis is returning under his own steam; He’s recorded and readied his follow-up long-player, The Lights From The Chemical Plant – scheduled for a February release – and its songs are completely different in nature. Gone are the overt country stylings, they’ve largely been usurped by a more ‘pop’ aesthetic in the mould of artists such as Paul Simon and Randy Newman. “Yeah, those are my heroes,” Ellis laughs. “Alongside those country guys – I still listen to the country stuff too – but just the songcraft and ambiguity of guys like Paul Simon is really appealing to me. His shows are so fun, because he can play a reggae and a rock and a country song – he’s not really restricted at all by any genre boundaries. And I think in the press too people give him so much leeway, I feel like he could literally do anything and people would like it because it’s Paul Simon. “Photographs was really fun but it was kind of a concept album – the country stuff was pretty much intentionally derivative, especially the stuff on the second side; I
24 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
wanted that stuff to sound like Lefty Frizzell or George Jones, and I wanted it to wear its influences on its sleeve. My hopes for this new record are that it’s a little bit more just my thing. For this tour I’ll mostly be playing new stuff – I’ll probably play a couple of songs from Photographs, but mostly for the sake of continuity. I’ll be leaning a little less heavily on the country stuff and playing as much of the new stuff as possible.” It’s clear that this shift towards a less stylised sound is about Ellis following his muse rather than any grasp for a bigger audience.
“Yeah, when I say ‘pop’ too I think that may be a little confusing. By pop I don’t mean like Rhianna or something; I honestly don’t think I’d ever have a shot at achieving that kind of success, and that’s not who I am as a writer either. It’s just stuff that’s a little less genre-specific. Actually an Australian guy who I really like is Gotye; I was really impressed with his record. It was huge over here in the States – and I guess worldwide – but I really liked how he positioned himself. It’s not necessarily rock or beholden to any genre – it’s a little bit ambiguous, which I appreciated.” WHEN & WHERE: 23 and 24 Nov, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby
THE ORIGINAL HIPSTER
“My full name is Richard Kinky ‘Big Dick’ Friedman,” is the first thing the cult folk hero says when he sits down for a chat. And though he might like to tell jokes, Tom Hersey realises the man is not without a serious side.
“B
ut you can call me Kinky, or Lord Friedman… It doesn’t really matter.” And just like that, the Texan activist, entrepreneur, writer and singer-songwriter acquiesces to the interview. Because we’re here to talk about his upcoming tour, Kinky gets that out of the way. “It will be a solo tour, which will create a Judy Garlandlike rapport with the audience. And also when you start doing shows every night, by yourself, you start running
on pure adrenaline, and you start to channel the spirits of Hank Williams and Lenny Bruce and Woody Guthrie, so it makes for an interesting evening. “I follow advice that Willie Nelson gave to me [when playing a show]. He said to me, ‘If you’re going to have sex with an animal, always choose a horse. Because that way if things don’t work out at least you know you’ve got a ride home’. That’s served me very well in politics, as in life. So the show is a lot of music, a lot of old favourites, and then I’ll do some readings from one of my latest books. And there’ll be some politics in there.”
An unsuccessful run for Governor of Texas in 2006 hasn’t dissuaded him from trying to do something for the state he clearly loves.
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“I’m running for agricultural commissioner here in Texas. I’m running on a campaign to legalise marijuana to be cultivated in Texas, and I think it’s going very well. Because I think this would castrate the Mexican drug cartels for one thing, and it would lower property taxes, and the other candidates won’t talk about it. Because we’re not talking about pot-smoking hippies here, we’re talking about how we could actually pay for education, and criminal justice, so we’re not putting kids in jail for three years for non-violent offences and costing the taxpayer a fortune and screwing up the kid. “Most law enforcement I talk to are for this, because we know we’re losing the war on drugs every day... So it’s a big issue, and so this campaign is very much a referendum on legalising marijuana… But there’s a lot of other issues that the commissioner would be dealing with. Water. Feral hogs… I like the idea of helping people on farms.” But why would any sane, non-megalomaniac choose to enter politics? Being a musician means you’re rad, being a politician only means you’re an arsehole. “There’s no question that politics is a step down from being a musician. Touring around with an acoustic guitar playing songs, like Johnny Appleseed or Jesus Christ, is a noble profession, and politics ain’t. But I’m willing to take the step down for Texas...” WHEN & WHERE: 22 Nov, Mullum Festival; 23 Nov, Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi; 24 Nov, Black Bear Lodge
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 25
music
STILL BURNING STRONG Between panic attacks, AFI frontman Davey Havok penned the band’s darkest work to date. The eccentric vocalist runs Daniel Cribb through the writing process for their ninth record, performing on Broadway and writing his first novel.
F
rom his ever-evolving, always-interesting appearance to unique and unmistakable vocals, AFI frontman Davey Havok excretes charisma. But when the vocalist answers the phone in his Portland hotel room, he sounds like the life has been sucked out of him. “I’m very sick and I’m on tour,” Havok explains. “It’s pretty brutal, there’s not much you can do about it,” he continues in a soft tone.
It’s Halloween, and the one song old-school punk and hardcore kids generally associate with the day is Misfits’ Halloween. Back in 1999, when they were still very much a part of and influencing the hardcore scene, AFI released a cover of the song. Since their hardcore debut, Answer That And Stay Fashionable, came out in 1993, they’ve evolved into an alternative rock band and severed their ties somewhat with that community. Their new record, Burials, is one step further away. “It’s like comparing your current self to your pre-school self. I’m very happy with Burials and it has nothing to do with the first couple of records, which I’m proud of, because if we’d not grown it would have been embarrassing. I’m proud of what I’m doing now.” Their sound has evolved but the darkness flowing throughout Havok’s lyrics has always remained constant. Burials is no exception and sees some of his darkest work to date. “Every record that we create is an honest reflection of what’s going on at that period of time and that’s very much the case with Burials… I was going through a lot of emotional chaos when we were writing the record and I feel that chaos really came through on the record.
of time working on the songs so we’re totally happy with them when we enter the studio. I’m very proud of the band. We spent about a year and a half, writing for months. It just takes that long for us to get together a group of songs that we’re happy with. After releasing record after record, it’s a bit more difficult for us to be satisfied with what we’re creating. We’ve covered so much ground over the years that our standards are getting higher and higher.” There were four years between Crash Love and Burials, and during that time Havok utilised every second. Whether or not it was to try and keep his mind away from the darkness surrounding him, he broadened his skillset, which sees a more theatrical essence to the
“I WAS GOING THROUGH A LOT OF EMOTIONAL CHAOS WHEN WE WERE WRITING THE RECORD AND I FEEL THAT CHAOS REALLY CAME THROUGH ON THE RECORD.” “Themes of panic and anxiety and betrayal that you hear running through the record came from personal experience. When we were writing the record there was really nothing else to write about because it was so present and so permanent in my life at the time.” When queried on specifics of the turmoil fuelling the record, Havok shies away. “I think the record is so very, very transparent that anyone can read the lyrics and see what I was going through. To define it any more would discolour people’s interpretation of what’s going on and I really do not want to take away from a different interpretation someone may have of the record.” It’s AFI’s drawn-out writing process that explains why each album is so different, with Burials focusing on bigger choruses and melodies, which is reminiscent of 2003’s Sing The Sorrow, making it a more engaging listen than 2009’s Crash Love. “We typically spend a lot 26 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
band’s ninth record. You almost need a piece of paper and pen in front of you to sketch out a timeline of Havok’s travels to understand how he’s spent the past few years. He fronted Green Day’s American Idiot on Broadway in 2011, wrote fictional novel, Pop Kids, and released and toured a new album with his side project, Blaqk Audio. “The Blaqk Audio record that we released and toured on was
right before AFI began writing. I was Pop Kids while we were recording Crash Love and I finished it shortly after I finished performing in American Idiot. “I just very much enjoy the arts; I enjoy singing, I really enjoy writing and I’m working on my second novel now. Performing on Broadway was one of the best experiences of my life, if not the best experience of my life. I love acting, and it’s something that I would love to do again. Everything that I do, it’s not that I need to be doing something at all times – I enjoy taking a break – but not at the expense of missing out on doing something that I love.” WHAT: Burials (Universal) WHEN & WHERE: 22 Feb, Soundwave, RNA Showgrounds
LET IT FLOW
The Hello Morning main man Steven Clifford tells Benny Doyle that he’s happy to pull the plug on creativity.
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s the creative lynchpin behind dapper alt-country sextet The Hello Morning, there’s no better person to comment on the state of the group than frontman Steven Clifford. Both versions of the band: the one that toils in the studio and the one that remains tirelessly on the road are invigorated and inspired. Part of that is to do with guitarist Dave Manton taking the recording reins for their new four-track Tie That Binds. Clifford says that Manton has a cool way of working, capturing the full scope of what the six-piece do rather than breaking it down into tiny pieces.
“It just made so much sense. It’s so different when you’ve got someone doing it on the inside. It was the experiment to see if it would work and it just felt so much better, it was so much easier. And that’s important, it’s not about doing something quickly so you get something over and done with, it’s about not getting stale and capturing the right stuff, not labouring over little things that are really unimportant.” The other part is that The Hello Morning are simply enjoying the challenge of playing their new material. Clifford explains that after becoming comfortable with the tunes from their self-titled 2012 fulllength debut, the band are once again being pushed in the live realm.
“You take for granted how well you know all the intricacies of the songs – things just happen – and you don’t notice but the songs just morph and take on their own life when they’re in a live set and you’ve been playing the same songs for 18 months with the same six people,” he expands. “But then when you introduce something new you have to really do some work and make sure the arrangements make sense.”
music
Tie That Binds holds songs that formed organically for the Melbourne group. But even if things don’t work that way all the time that’s not such a bad thing either. “Half of them seem to just happen, we just play them and it all just works,” Clifford remarks on songwriting for the band. “I like that energy when everyone is on the same page, where there seems to be a common ground that we’re all drawn to. Having said that, when we made the [full-length] album, pushing on through things that were more complicated or maybe took a lot more debating, that had its rewards as well. “[But either way] I’d rather just keep moving and do things,” he concludes, adding that stagnation is a terrifying prospect for the band. “I feel like you block up the creative flow if you just start storing things like, ‘I can’t do anything until I’ve gotten these songs committed to something’. And then [that way] we [always] have something to play; we get to play new songs.” WHAT: Tie That Binds (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: 24 Nov, Eumundi Live, Eumundi Amphitheatre
WED 15 JAN St Stephen’s Uniting Church All Ages Tickets on sale at noon, Monday 25 November via ticketek.com.au www.heavenlysounds.com
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film
FUELLING THE FIRE The second instalment of The Hunger Games gives us a look into the wider world of the Capitol and the districts. Tom Hawking discovers how Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence expanded on the dystopian society and what stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson thought of the directorial switch.
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t’s strange to feel anything approaching sympathy for a well regarded Hollywood director who’s just taken the reins of a gazillion-dollar franchise that’ll probably furnish him with enough cash to buy a small Pacific island... but still, it’s hard not to feel for Francis Lawrence, just a little bit. He came to the Hunger Games franchise when it was already fully established as a commercial and critical juggernaut – the first film, directed and written by Gary Ross, was a resounding success, and Ross seemed well established as a sort of Panem Peter Jackson for the foreseeable future. Then he jumped ship, and why he did so remains open to question. Ross spoke at the time of The Hunger Games’ release about how much he was looking forward to Catching Fire, and one certainly got the impression that his actors – especially his star, Jennifer Lawrence – loved him. He cited the film’s tight production schedule as his reason for leaving, but it’s hard not to suspect there might have been going on behind the scenes – surely a director would make time to direct a sequel to one of his most-loved films unless there was a compelling reason not to? (For what it’s worth, one also gets the impression that this mightn’t have been the easiest group to become a part of – pretty much all the actors involved in the first film give variations on a chummy statement about how “tight-knit” they were, and there’s a certain air of... well, dickishness, to be honest, about the Year 9-esque way that Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth, paired for a round-table session 28 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
at the press junket for the film, giggle and try to outdo themselves in giving sarcastic and/or nonsensical answers to journalists’ questions.) Anyway, in light of all this, you can argue that for all it was professionally (and, presumably, financially) rewarding to take command of such a high-profile franchise, Lawrence was on a hiding to nothing taking this job – if Catching Fire is as successful as the first film, he’s continuing his predecessor’s good work, and if it isn’t, then he gets to carry the can. Which it’ll be remains to be seen. Still, sitting at LA’s swanky Four Seasons hotel, three days into the journalistic onslaught that surrounds his film’s release, Lawrence is determinedly chipper.
Yes, he says, he felt that he could bring something new to the franchise, and he was excited to do so. “I didn’t find it hard to make [the franchise] my own, actually,” he says. “It was the thing that I had to think about when I got the call. I was a fan of the books, and [the film has] a great cast. It’s a project that’s hard to resist. I re-read the book when I got the call about meeting with everybody to make sure there was enough material for me to make it my own. And I really quickly saw that there was, because the story is a very different story than the first one; for me, it’s where everything kind of opens up.” Lawrence is fairly light on specifics as what in particular he felt he could bring to the project, preferring that his film speak for itself. But watching Catching Fire, you see what he means about “everything opening up” – unlike the first Hunger Games, which centred around what happened in the arena, this film focuses more on the dystopian society that gives rise to the Games in the first place (so much so, actually, that the presence of another iteration of the Games in this film feels like a weird afterthought.) “I think the thing that really hooked me the most about Catching Fire,” he agrees, “is that for me, it’s the movie that the real themes and ideas really start to kick in. And that’s one of the things I wanted to sell.” For their part, his actors also speak warmly – and, it must be said, diplomatically – of the transition. Josh Hutcherson, for instance, says, “I like how Francis took the world that Gary had created and
“THE STORY IS A VERY DIFFERENT STORY THAN THE FIRST ONE; FOR ME, IT’S WHERE EVERYTHING KIND OF OPENS UP.”
worked with it and kept it, like the continuity of the world. But also, sort of, built upon it and made it bigger because the story becomes a larger scale story. You get the opportunity to see a lot more of the Capitol, a lot more of the districts. And I think that the way Francis built upon what Gary had already done was really smart.” Jennifer Lawrence, for her part, is as endearingly blunt as ever. “Of course I was upset [that Ross wasn’t returning],” she says, “but I completely understood. And I was really, really impressed – I admired why he didn’t take on the movie. He didn’t think he had enough time to be able to give his best. As upset as I was to see him go, I do admire that about him. And then Francis has been absolutely wonderful.” It remains to be seen whether audiences agree, although for what it’s worth, Francis Lawrence has already confirmed that he’ll be returning to the franchise for the adaptation of the final book, Mockingjay, which will be split into two films, Deathly Hallows-style. Filming is already under way, and will last until July next year. What can fans expect? “I don’t want to give too much away,” the director says, “but I will say that we’re making these books and we’re making them true. We’re making Mockingjay, we’re not reinventing Mockingjay.” WHAT: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire In cinemas 21 Nov THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 29
“We were very familiar with and accustomed to seeing ourselves on camera and picking and choosing the fights we wanted to show, the funny moments or the sad moments. We saw each other as these people onscreen. We’d look at it more as a story and characters. But there’s always that fear of are we just laughing at this because we find it funny, or will it be interesting to anybody else? Will anybody even care?” The answer is a resounding yes. But without the help of Berninger’s sister-in-law Carin Besser, Matt’s wife, it may never have been finished. A former editor at the New Yorker magazine, her ability to see both sides of the brothers’ relationship gave her valuable insight when it came to editing the film. “She was an incredibly good editor. She’s got a really good eye and a really good sense of tone and of character and of everything. My brother and I are still not the best communicators. Carin had the ability to take both of what we were trying to say; she was definitely a translator between my brother and I in a lot of situations. She was invaluable.
film
SLOW SHOW Mistaken For Strangers is a band documentary about someone not in a band. Danielle O’Donohue talks to its director and leading man Tom Berninger.
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om Berninger is a little brother. His older brother Matt fronts US indie rock band The National, whose last album, High Violet, made such an impact they toured Australia several times and even got to meet US President Barack Obama. Tom, the youngest of the Berninger clan, isn’t really a fan of indie rock. He prefers metal. He also likes making short horror films and doesn’t really seem to appreciate just how well regarded and big his brother’s band is. So, when Matt invites him to go on tour with The National as part of the crew, Tom takes his video camera and we get to see things spiral out of control for the hapless new member of the team. Berninger’s initial intention wasn’t to shoot a movie. He was to shoot footage for web diaries for their website but two and a half years later his movie, Mistaken For Strangers, is as much about his relationship with Matt as it is about his brother’s band. “I didn’t expect much of anything for a good number of years when I was working on it,” Berninger admits. “For my movie to be taking me to Sydney, Australia is pretty amazing. Especially when I wasn’t able to go there on tour with the guys.” The reason Berninger never makes it to Sydney with The National is a moment in the film The Music won’t give away, but needless to say, Berninger is keen to finally be making it down under for the Brisbane International Film Festival. Mistaken For Strangers had to, of course, have a narrative and it turns out the best footage was of Berninger himself. Well, both Berningers and their relationship. So this documentary about The National turned into something else entirely though fans will still enjoy the beautifully shot live footage and the insight into life on the road with the band. “It was nerve-wracking, especially for me at the end. I had no idea the movie was going to be turned into this. I was pretty scared because I had a lot on the line. Not 30 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
only was I the director and the main editor, I was the shooter and I became the main subject just because that was the best stuff. I was incredibly nervous. It still hasn’t really sunk in. It’s sunk in that I have a good movie but it hasn’t really sunk in about what I’m going to do next.” Berninger’s relationship with his older brother is laid bare in Mistaken For Strangers, but Tom is happy to report the pair have survived the movie-making process and have a stronger relationship as a result. “We have a smile on our faces a little more now. Our relationship has come into a different phase. For a good two years of editing I didn’t know if I had a movie at all and the last six months of editing we knew we had something good. My brother was really on board. He was loving what we were doing. We were working very hard together but he was not quite sure what this movie’s reaction would be. So it was pretty difficult.
“My brother and I still play these roles from when I was ten and he was nineteen. Even though we’re not, I can still be the selfish younger brother and he can be the overbearing older brother. Even in our working relationship I can feel like I have these great ideas and he doesn’t appreciate them because he doesn’t believe in me. And he has great ideas but I think he’s overbearing and it’s his idea or nobody’s idea... in a certain way. Carin, who met us both as adults, can see where I’m coming from without that filter of Matt’s younger brother.”
“MY BROTHER AND I STILL PLAY THESE ROLES FROM WHEN I WAS TEN AND HE WAS NINETEEN.”
Now Berninger gets the enviable job of taking it to film festivals, starting in April with the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where Robert De Niro introduced the film. “Up until then we’d had small little testing screens with no more than ten people at a time and then this was a colossal event in my life. I’ve never married but I felt like this was like getting married. I wasn’t even nervous. I’m more nervous about smaller screenings at other festivals. “I think because if the movie was bad I was so up shit creek that it didn’t matter anymore. I was smiling. It was like, ‘Who cares? Let’s just have a good time. I can’t believe I’m standing here.’ I have no reference to that and never will. It’s the most crazy event of my life.”
WHAT: Mistaken For Strangers WHEN & WHERE: 24 Nov, BIFF, Event Cinemas Myer Centre
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music
COMING BACK TO LIFE After eight years away, Cam Baines has returned to Bodyjar with a fresh focus. He talks to Benny Doyle about making records without being a jerk.
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ucking around with side projects. Sorting through personal stuff. Living life. The members of Bodyjar haven’t exactly been idle for the past eight years, but with the release of their first full-length since 2005’s eponymous effort, the focus has come back on what the guys are best at – being a band. “When we went back and did those reunion shows for No Touch Red, I think we really learnt a lot about ourselves as a band and what we’re good at,” explains frontman Cam Baines. “We went off in a few weird directions in 2005 on that self-titled album. I think what we’re really good at is just writing good simple punk songs with good melodies and lyrics, and not trying to create a new genre. So we stuck to the simple stuff this time and I reckon it paid off.” Supporting all-time heroes Descendents in February also helped the Melbourne four find the fire within. “They were such a massive influence on us, they produced two of our records, [and] I used to write them letters and that when I was a kid. Twenty years later we’re playing with them – we couldn’t say no,” he gushes. “And just playing with those guys and just seeing... y’know they don’t do it full-time, and they had a massive break like we did and they came back, and we just thought, ‘If those guys can do it on their own terms then we should try and do what they do’.” Baines says Role Model couldn’t have been created if the band didn’t step away from Bodyjar; however, the record was never going to be an outing for old time’s sake. The quartet weren’t willing to record again unless they had the songs: fast, energetic, catchy. They had to make a full-length that was better than the others, while still meeting expectations from a salivating fanbase by paying homage to their past. It was a balancing act, but with Tom Larkin in the producer’s chair the band found immediate focus. “He smashed the songs into form,” Baines recalls, calling the Shihad drummer a fantastic music arranger. “They were basic sketches and he polished them up. He was really handy to have around; once we got him in there it really happened quick.”
32 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
In the past, such objective ears could have been disregarded, but these days Baines is far more chilled in the studio. He remembers with a smile the menacing presence he once was when a Bodyjar album was being recorded. “I used to go in and just give producers so much shit,” he reveals. “I used to write down
shared on the road during Bodyjar and Shihad’s festival salad days of the early ‘00S, an honest record was always going to be the end result. “They were always a band we wanted to tour with but we never got asked to do it or they didn’t want to tour with us or something. [Tom] said they were scared because we were so good! They didn’t want to go on after us,” he toys, cackling at the statement. “We’re a different style of music I guess, but they were the one big rock band that we all thought was cool, we all agreed that [1999’s] The General Electric was a fucking classic – it’s such a good album, so well recorded. We wanted to sound a bit like that back then but we couldn’t do it.”
“IF THOSE GUYS CAN DO IT ON THEIR OWN TERMS THEN WE SHOULD TRY.” EQ settings so they couldn’t change them, and I was just a control freak at the start – I was really badly behaved, I’d never do that now. I used to go in and go, ‘That’s the guitar sound don’t fucking change it’, and I’d write it down and just micromanage every little fucking thing and not let anyone have their say. But when you’re young and you’re just obsessed and driven that’s what happens.” Because a relationship was already there thanks to time
Thankfully they still can’t. They still sound like Bodyjar. And whether you’re enjoying the gleeful speed and whimsical lyrics of Fairytales or the Joey Cape (Lagwagon) and Stephen Egerton (Descendents)assisted Hope Was Leaving, there’s no shaking the positive vibes of your new favourite Role Model. “I was talking to Tom about it and he was saying he thinks it’s got a really good intent,” finishes Baines. “Everyone is doing it for the right reasons and just to make good songs and create a good vibe; we all want to enjoy it, it’s not about money or stuff like that, it’s just about getting that creative stuff out and onto a CD and just enjoying that part of our lives again.” WHAT: Role Model (UNFD) WHEN & WHERE: 22 Nov, The Hi-Fi; 23 Nov, Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 33
music
SCRATCHING IN THE DARK Carefree San Fran garage exponents Sonny & The Sunsets have been getting a bit more serious of late. Creative guru Sonny Smith tells Steve Bell how sometimes you’ve just got to follow your muse no matter where it drags you.
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t’s fair to surmise that San Franciscan musician Sonny Smith is something of a cultural chameleon. Not just in terms of the music that he concocts – the first two albums by his band Sonny & The Sunsets (2010’s Tomorrow Is Alright and 2011’s Hit After Hit) were predominantly laidback, retro-tinged garage pop, while 2012’s break-up collection Longtime Companion was straight-up country and this year’s Antenna To The Afterworld is relatively synth-heavy, plus he infamously penned hundreds of disparate-sounding songs for his 100 Records art installation – but also because he’s previously dabbled in fiction, comic books and film.
Take Antenna To The Afterworld, for instance. After Longtime Companion’s stylistic left turn few were expecting a collection of songs about death and the afterlife – the focus no doubt due in part to the tragic murder of one of Smith’s friends during the creative process – but, then again, neither was Smith himself. “I often want something when it’s time to make a record, but then I often don’t get what I want,” he smiles. “In the eventual journey from the inception to the final product I usually end up making a lot of turns and end up with something that I never expected. At the beginning of Longtime Companion I didn’t think it would be like how it ended up at all – I thought it was going to be a slapstick record almost, like a knees-up country record full of instrumentals. And I was going to call it Rhinestone Sunsets – I wanted it to be something fun. But in the course of making it the songs that were coming out were much more heartfelt and once I started recording the music it became a little more serious, I guess. It became what it became which is the way it should be – you should be expressing yourself and remove the original intention a bit and just do what’s lurking inside. “With Antenna To The Afterworld I knew that I wanted to work with some beats – a certain kind of new waveish feel – but beyond that I had no idea what it would be like, and once I started getting into it there were a lot of happy mistakes and providential moments that made it sound like it did that weren’t intended.” 34 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
Fortunately Smith thrives on this cognitive tumult, choosing to enjoy rather than fight the twists and turns as he navigates the songwriting process. “Ultimately that’s what it’s all about,” he continues. “It can be hard to be in the dark and it can be quite
While much of Antenna To The Afterworld seems thematically connected, Smith is adamant that the record is far from a concept piece. “The whole thing isn’t some big concept record or anything, like it’s sometimes been called – but there is in more songs than not an exploration of alien characters and love and space and beings from other planets and death and the afterlife,” he reflects. “It’s all swirling in and out of different songs. A lot of the songs have nothing to do with that – one of them is just about a girl on the street and a lot don’t have anything to do with space or aliens – so it’s not really all interconnected.”
“IT CAN BE HARD TO BE IN THE DARK AND IT CAN BE QUITE FRUSTRATING.” frustrating. You don’t know what you’re doing and sometimes that can be scary and frustrating and make doubts come up, and you have to remind yourself that being in the dark is a really important part [of the creative process], and when I can do that – when I can remind myself that that’s one of the most important parts, just scratching around in the dark – then I usually come out just fine. If I get a little too frustrated and down then it’s just unproductive.”
And while Smith at times seems to be a poster boy for the fertile Bay Area scene – the Sunsets’ line-up has included Kelley Stoltz and members of Thee Oh Sees– he’s not sure that San Francisco is worthy of any hype. “I often think that it’s maybe been blown out of proportion a little bit,” he ponders. “A lot of the places I visit – including Melbourne for instance – have incredible music scenes, and I wonder sometimes whether San Francisco’s scene gets a light shone on it for reasons that I’m not expert enough to figure out. Things to do with affluence and socioeconomic reasons perhaps – it could be a snowball effect or something. San Francisco gets a lot of attention, but when I visit other cities I see a lot of great stuff too so it’s hard to tell whether it’s really legitimate.” WHEN & WHERE: 22 Nov, Queensland Art Gallery Up Late
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 35
music
THE MAGIC OF MUSIC The eyes of the music world are firmly on Brisbane for this week’s World Forum On Music. Forum Manager Danielle Bentley tells Steve Bell about the myriad musical delights awaiting punters and delegates and what they can hope to take away from this prestigious and ambitious event.
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or four days this week thousands of music industry figures, musicians and music enthusiasts from all over the planet will converge on Brisbane for the fifth biennial World Forum On Music (WFM5), which finds people from every facet of the music world congregating to discuss, perform and map out the future of music on this planet. It seems like a heady agenda but anecdotal evidence from previous World Forums suggests that it’s a vital experience that offers something for anyone interested in or affiliated with the musical form in any of its myriad shapes and guises, incorporating a vast and eclectic array of events and performances (check out worldforumonmusic.org for full details and programs). It all takes place between Thursday 21 and Sunday 24 November at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University at South Bank Parklands, and will ensure that for a few days at least the eyes of the music world will be firmly fixed on our city. “It’s such a massive program, with an extensive array of concerts, performances, installations and about sixty panels as well,” explains WFM5 Forum Manager Danielle Bentley, herself a talented musician in the classical and popular realms. “As Forum Manager I’m basically overseeing all aspects of the event, but particularly looking after all of the panels and performances. I do a lot of liaising with the International Music Council (IMC) who are based in Paris – I went over to Bangkok and met with them to structure the panel side of the program. The panels cover all different areas of music – there’s intellectual property rights, performance, composition, education, youth, world music – pretty much everything you can think of. It’s very much a joint process with the IMC.” If it seems like a fantastic coup for Brisbane to be hosting WFM5, that’s because it undoubtedly is. 36 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
“The Director Professor Huib Schippers is [Chairman of ] the Music Council of Australia and he’s also originally from the Netherlands, so he’s got quite strong European connections,” Bentley explains of how Brisbnane landed this prestigious event. “He basically suggested to the IMC that it would be great to have the forum in Australia – it will be the first time that it will be held in the southern hemisphere – and from there Brisbane’s infrastructure got it over the line. “What’s interesting about it is that it covers all areas of music and so many different voices from across the world. Not so much ‘world music’ as such, more the state of music across the world.” Bentley explains that the depth and breadth of the panels and activities available over the course of
WFM5 makes it attractive to both industry professionals and music fans as well. “There’s five different streams – there’s one focusing on community music and we’ve got this amazing social justice activist Eugene Skeef who works mostly in Europe with marginalised community groups and that kind of thing and he’s putting on a concert here with a choir of refugees. Then there’s industry aspects with APRA and QMusic having panels and being quite heavily involved. We’ve also got a very strong strand looking at the state of music in China, and also the China Conservatory Ensemble are coming to perform. Also being at the Conservatorium there’s quite a strong education focus as well – there’s five different academic conferences going on, looking at everything from performing arts and health to the study of music, popular music and also eco-musicology, which is like the study of music and the environment. “Plus BIFF – the Brisbane International Film Festival – are putting on a program of music films on the Sunday, a group of movies which have been chosen because music plays such a strong part in creating the plot and the mood. There’s also a massive public performance program as well – everyone from Katie Noonan to William Barton – and there’s a free music stage out at the free music bazaar.” Delegates from all around the world will also take the opportunity to network and hopefully form new partnerships and alliances to help nurture music moving forward. “That’s one of the big driving forces in terms of having all of these different industry groups and music societies and advocacy groups and academics and musicians and festival organisers and everyone
DANIELLE BENTLEY
“WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT IT IS THAT IT COVERS ALL AREAS OF MUSIC AND SO MANY DIFFERENT VOICES FROM ACROSS THE WORLD.” altogether,” Bentley enthuses. “It’s the first time that this has happened in Australia, having representatives of all the different facets of the music industry together in the same place, which should lead to all manner of interesting conversations and hopefully partnerships and projects and so forth in the future. “One of the outcomes of it is that in Europe they release declarations which give a meaning and an end result to a conference or festival or whatever it might be, so one of the outcomes from here will be the Brisbane Declaration which outlines various themes which have come out of the conference in terms of the future of music across the world over the next ten years.” The theme of WFM5 is Sustaining Music and Engaging Communities, an altruistic ambition that Bentley believes is entirely attainable. “I think it relates to music as an expression of community and culture, and also when you see the
crossing of genres and creating cultural connections through music,” she explains. “If you look at a marginalised community such as the refugee group Scattered People you can see how music helps build a community for them when they’re finding their way in a new country. The IMC also has something called the Musical Rights Awards which honour people who’ve been using music to help community growth and development. One of
the projects that the IMC was involved with recently was setting up the first music school in Afghanistan after the Taliban retreated – there’s a lot of ways that music can make a difference in the world. “In Australia there are groups such as the refugee groups and the homeless choirs, so music for them in Australia has a very different meaning when you’re talking about community music. I think that music is an integral part of society and I don’t think we can do without it – what would the world be without music? We all work in the field because we love it and know that music can change the world in its own way.”
WHAT: World Forum On Music WHEN & WHERE: 21-24 Nov, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, South Bank Parklands THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 37
music
LISTEN TO YOUR MAMA Renowned as she is for her sultry strains, ARIA-nominated and WAM-winning songstress Danielle Caruana, aka Mama Kin, is no stranger to the power of the spoken word, either. Mitch Knox chats with the philharmonic philosopher in the lead-up to her keenly awaited appearance at the Mullum Music Festival.
I
t’s been something of a whirlwind year for Western Australia’s Mama Kin. Between an ARIA nomination for her acclaimed sophomore full-length The Magician’s Daughter, shows in support thereof, and her still-fresh joint win (with Timothy Nelson & The Infidels) for Folk Act Of The Year at the WAM Awards, somehow she’s still found the time to juggle directorship of philanthropic arts organisation the Seed Fund (which she co-founded with husband John Butler in 2005), make appearances at music panels around the country including at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND and Melbourne’s Australasian Worldwide Music Expo, and tackle duties as Festival Patron of the upcoming Mullum Music Festival. But, with her most recent speech, as part of a Dom Alessio-chaired panel with Adalita, Grace Barbé, and Emily Lubitz of Tinpan Orange at the WAM Conference, covering a variety of strategies to aid emerging artists in developing their careers, Mama Kin is happy to talk a little bit more. “I find it always really inspiring to have those conversations,” she says. “It’s always a good touchstone for me to do those things. But I really enjoy imparting and talking about that kind of core concept of, ‘Articulate where you want to get to, and work backwards to where you are’. I enjoy talking about that stuff; it gives people real strategies for promoting their music in a way other than investing all this incredible amount of energy and money into making an album, and then kind of going, ‘Why isn’t that enough?’”
That attitude, Mama Kin says, is part and parcel of a mentality seemingly endemic among the current crop of emerging songwriters – the X Factor/Idol/Voice/Got Talent generation – and that’s one of entitlement. It sounds harsh, especially if you’re a millennial, but it’s true, surely; just look to reports from Britain of despair over youths’ unwillingness to finish school or take menial labour jobs because they believe they’re only a horrifying audition process away from hitting it big. But the actual impact of those shows is negligible, she says – something for us to look back on in a decade and laugh at – because so many artists who go through those shows tend to end up where they started, and find themselves on the circuitous route of hard work they’d hoped to avoid in the first 38 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
place. But, she concedes, even outside the reality TV world, there will always be anomalies.
on to that. Unfortunately, it’s not enough for most of us out there. You do have to be able to have the other hat on and go, ‘Okay, what are we doing here, and how are we going to build it?’”
“For some artists, the road is different, and they write one song that gets picked up on the trail of things, and all of a sudden, they’re… you know, someone like Lorde, whose fifth show was filling [in] for Frank
Hers is an incredibly considered, thoughtful – and rare – outlook towards music both as a creative pastime and as a business concern. She’ll be back in the musical saddle at Mullum, an event dear to her heart, but she’ll always be as good a conversationalist as she is a composer. “I think it’s kind of intrinsic to who I am… I was doing this before I was doing Mama Kin, you know?” she laughs. “It’s already what I do. It feels very natural to me to be talking
“THE QUALITY OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC IS WORLD-CLASS!” Ocean at Splendour… it’s a very different trajectory from what most musicians will have to walk,” Mama Kin says, without a hint of bitterness in her voice. “But those things do occur, and for those artists it’s a different road; it’s no less challenging, but it’s different. The conversations we have are more with people who are kind of engaging in an independent release, and, yes, I do think the onus is [on musicians] to be savvy about it and to be switched
about this stuff, because I feel really passionate about the Australian music industry, I feel really passionate about how important it is that we listen to a lot of Australian music as Australians, because I feel like the importance of articulating our culture through art is undeniable for a culture such as ours… I think music plays a massive role in that, and I’m passionate about it being viable for more and more people to make music in Australia. “And we’re seeing that – we’re really seeing that! The quality of Australian music is world-class! The number of bands that are doing South By Southwest and creating real careers in other territories is… it’s really happening, you know? It’s a really, really healthy scene. I think it’s an important thing to do.” WHEN & WHERE: 23 Nov, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby
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reviews
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
This week: Adoration explores the unconventional and passionate love affairs between two mothers with each other’s sons; Cold Chisel remain a visceral live act – and their new album proves it; and the vocal dynamics of The Everly Brothers have been challenged by Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones.
ALEX CAMERON Jumping The Shark Crawfish Records
★★★★
TRACK LISTING
The most instantly disarming thing about Alex Cameron’s debut solo is, well, pretty much everything. Cameron plays in Sydney’s Seekae and, while they wouldn’t necessarily be accused of taking themselves too seriously, they have kept a very low personality profile as band. Often playing in darkness on stage, only the most recent release of theirs has featured vocals at all, giving some slight insight into their collective personality. Cameron has launched a ‘publicity’ campaign to accompany the album including a website to rival the classic still-live Space Jam relic complete with ‘Under Construction’ graphic. His twitter profile mocks the game of celebrity. Even the name of the album suggests that it’s all a laugh. All cool, except that even when taking the piss, this record is outstanding. The tracks are minimal, perhaps churned out quickly or lovingly crafted to hit this level of simplicity. After two fantastic low key pop tracks, the humour kicks in heavier on Real Bad Lookin but it’s still a great song, full of hooks and covers some bleak issues. The Comeback is electro Springsteen and INTERNET is barely more than a synth line for most of the song – his voice and the lyrics are funny, sad and also telling.
1. Happy Ending
6. INTERNET
2. Gone South
7. Mongrel
Maybe Cameron is hiding behind the jokey elements which wouldn’t be necessarily as obvious without the promo, but the songs are fantastic, the performance perfectly restrained and he keeps the whole thing so classy it’s hard not to revel in it wholeheartedly.
3. Real Bad Lookin
8. Take Care Of Business
Chris Yates
4. The Comeback 5. She’s Mine
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 41
album reviews
BILLIE JOE & NORAH
COLD CHISEL
Foreverly
The Live Tapes Vol 1: Hordern Pavilion, April 18th, 2012
Warner
Cold Chisel Music/Universal
After his breakdown and stint in rehab, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong needed a way to redeem himself. The cleancut, smooth sounds of Foreverly seem almost like the work of a PR team in damage control. The timing, choice of album and theme seem so out of the blue that everyone has been anticipating the release of this record – even those who don’t know who Don and Phil Everly are.
Cold Chisel concerts are communal affairs, as much about the music as about nostalgia, celebration and escape from the daily grind, and this first live volume finds the band firing on all cylinders in Sydney last year on the back of their massive Light The Nitro tour and their last studio album No Plans.
Armstrong choosing to bring Norah Jones aboard was the best thing he could have done. The unmistakable and iconic vocal dynamics of The Everly Brothers have been challenged on this release, and introducing a female voice into the mix opens the songs up to a completely different interpretation. There’s an interesting chemistry between the pair – probably to do with how separate their chosen genres sit from one another – so
★★ it would have been nice to see them collaborate on something a little more upbeat and original. In 1958 The Everly Brothers released a collection of covers titled Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, which gave the songs a new edge. When it comes down to it, Foreverly is a remake of a cover album, and Armstrong and Jones haven’t done enough legwork in their own interpretations to justify the final product. Fans of Norah Jones and The Everly Brothers will no doubt find this a good listen, and while this won’t really appeal to Green Day fans, it’s the first redeeming thing Armstrong has done in years. Daniel Cribb
The band sounds lean and hungry, mixing up their extensive discography across 21 tracks, from the classics to new songs from No Plans. Of course the best moments come from those seminal tracks that feel burnt into the psyche of generations since the ‘70s, filtered down through parents’ record collections and more a part of Australian culture than any other band of the last 30 years. Standing On The Outside gets things rolling, loosening up band and audience. Cheap Wine incites a full-throated sing-along where you can picture the lighters
DAUGHTRY
THE KVB
Sony
A Recordings
Let’s be honest, many of you dear readers are just as disdainful of gluttonous talent shows as I, but once in a blue moon, someone genuinely remarkable manages to punch through. But our haughtiness is always validated by the success of grunting, soulless hacks like Chris Daughtry, whose biggest talent is to make shitloads of cash off people who communicate in flannel shirts and body odours, who have but one expectation from their music: louder = better.
Before the UK duo of Nicholas Wood and Kat Day hit our shores next month in support of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The KVB have released this little gem to whet our appetites. It’s their third album, but their first on Anton Newcombe’s label A Recordings, which has given them plenty of time to hone their sound before all the psych/ rock/garage/shoegaze/alternative fans check them out live.
Baptized
If Daughtry toned it down and wrote from his heart not for his next mansion, Baptized wouldn’t be so addled with so much transparent vapidity. Comparing an argument with the missus to Battleships is agonisingly obvious, and just in case you don’t get the point, the chorus’s cannons go “Boomboom-boom-boomboom”. The most offensive is the calculated anthem with the big sing-along chorus, Long Live Rock And 42 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
★★★★ waving and grinning punters on tops of shoulders. Aside from the anthems, highlights also emerge when things quieten down. Saturday Night showcases the wonderful interplay between Ian Moss’ guitar and Don Walker’s piano, such a key element to both the songwriting and sound of the band, while Flame Trees is the concert’s deserving centrepiece. This is a great (and great sounding) addition to their catalogue that serves a number of purposes – a hits package, a sign that they are still alive and kicking as a band and a reminder of what a dynamic and visceral live act they remain. Chris Familton
Minus One
½ Roll, with surgically inserted references to high school, Billy Joel and Bon Jovi to tell you exactly how good you feel. When Daughtry labours the emotions, he simply thieves Take That’s Patience (in Wild Heart) or SMS’s his own lyrics over Train’s Hey, Soul Sister and renames it Cinderella. I desperately want to tell you it’s not all so harrowingly bad, but after the over-wretched chorus of seventh song, The World We Knew, you’re still only halfway through the contempt Daughtry seemingly has for his audience. Rather than simply boring in its lack of ideas, Baptized drowns you in an acrid stench of money. Mac McNaughton
Minus One is a shoegaze washout, starting with Again & Again. The song immediately shows off ambient vocals, measured drum machines, minimalist synth lines, wailing guitar and a sensual bassline to create a soundscape that plays homage to the likes of the gods of shoegaze: The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Dominance/Submission is a high point and is the band at its least derivative. The seven-minute track is up-tempo and plays
★★★★ most with the synth and effects pedals. At times, it actually sounds like wind is whipping around you, while Wood, in his signature monotone, mumbles something indiscernible in your ear. Thanks to the sprawling breakdown it feels original, while also fitting into the late ‘80s/ early ‘90s period where this kind of “noise” was at its peak. There is no stand-out track – rather the album blends into one reverb-soaked epic, without getting boring. It swells and dives and makes the most of that ‘80s-esque synth and bass drone throughout, but especially in closer Radiant Hour. Hannah Story
album reviews
★★★★
★★★
★★★½
★★★★
BABYLON CIRCUS
CORONET BLUE
DEICIDE
LIAM GERNER
Never Stop
Better Day
In The Minds Of Evil
Land Of No Roads
Cartell
Laughing Outlaw/Inertia
Century Media
Shock
It’s five albums down the track for this French nine-piece and they’ve moved well beyond their initial ska stylings, incorporating everything from gypsy swing to Afro pop, reggae and rock music. Singing predominantly in French, but occasionally in English, live they’re a powerhouse of barely restrained infectious energy, though recently they’ve become increasingly adept at layering their albums with subtle moments of genuine beauty. While typically diverse, Never Stop is Babylon at their most pop, full of hooks and singalong choruses, music to which you mumble nonsensically as you realise you don’t even speak French.
Boasting another intimidating resume, Coronet Blue release their third studio album with style and an assuredness that only experienced musicians have. Heavily swung 8ths give Waiting Forever a classic feel, and the organs, EP and vintage guitar sounds sure help that along. Midway sees that delicious Hammond shining on Oh Pardon Me, and the male backing vocals show that fellas can totally pull off the “ooh”s and “ah”s too. Eventually, the album gets brought to a close with Absolute Zero and reverb-y drums and of course, you guessed it, ol’ Hammond B3.
Negative publicity flocks to Glen Benton like flies on you-know-what. Recently, a support act scorned lambasting the frontman’s alleged unprofessionalism. Deicide thrive on such drama, latest LP combining bangers, middling fare and filler. Benton’s vo-kill gurgle had lost potency, but cracking, Legion-channelling opening title track helps reaffirm credentials somewhat. Searing Between The Flesh And The Void reinforces the taut, less melodic old school vibe, while dexterous drummer/songwriter Steve Asheim remains their true MVP. Scourge of opening acts and promoters worldwide, Deicide still have some evil intentions.
Opening with a nice, fat drum groove underlining Gerner’s guitar and a tasty Rhodes sound, Dead And Denialville showcases the quality of the album to come. Sporting a resume of tours and collaborations, it comes as no surprise that the calibre of the recording, production, performance and indeed every other aspect of the album is utterly pristine. Mainly armed with an assumedly faithful companion, an acoustic guitar, Gerner portrays a self-image of nomadic tomfoolery and delivers it in any kind of style you’d think to make, thumbing your merry way down a dusty highway.
Bob Baker Fish
Lukas Murphy
Brendan Crabb
Lukas Murphy
★★★★
★★★
★★½
STARVATION
VARIOUS/BONOBO
VARIOUS
Starvation
Late Night Tales
Clarity/Shock
Late Night Tales/Balance
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire OST
So often do modern hardcore bands that follow the short, fast and loud ethos fall into the trap of boxing themselves into being just another Infest throwback, but Adelaidians Starvation have successfully managed to follow that recipe without too overtly borrowing from the greats of the ‘80s. Power violence without too much violence and thrash metal without too much thrash, Starvation’s debut self-titled album is a great example of hardcore that is accessible to hardcore elitists, as well as those simply with a penchant for anything gutsy.
A Late Night Tales disc doesn’t offer a technical set of mixing, more so it gives an insight into a particular artist’s personality via a selection of wax from their record box. In Bonobo’s case, it reveals a man who’s at peace with the world around. He blends electronica, orchestral and otherwise to create an audio sanctuary, a place to readjust your mood. Nina Simone’s Baltimore sees in a beautiful passage in the mid section, for example, while Peter & Kerry’s One Thing cover puts a choice spin on Amerie’s original. These are songs which just drip through the speakers.
Justine Keating
Benny Doyle
Universal
★★★★
WOODEN SHJIPS Back To Land Twelve Suns/Rocket
Like most soundtracks of this ilk, this one takes a bunch of currently scorching hot names and takes what often feels like a leftover B-side from one of their recent sessions. In this case, to tie into The Hunger Games, everything is over-dramatised in just the right doses. Gal-of-themoment Lorde has the perfect inclusion, the keystone and creepy cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Elsewhere contemporaries such as Coldplay, Sia, The National and Santigold deliver pedestrian tracks that’ll undoubtedly sound at home in the film, but here, are a little uninteresting overall.
Wooden Shjips’ latest, much like The Black Angels’ Indigo Meadow, unexpectedly adds a more accessible, almost pop dimension to their previously freakedout frequencies. The sludgy psychedelics give way to lustrous textures. Bass and drums work motorik rhythms but move beyond mind-numbing repetition to work up a sweat over muscular grooves that bounce. Their usual loose improvisational approach yields to melody and tighter songwriting. Guitarist Ripley Johnson’s mellow faraway vocals are haunting and he treats us to guitar solos soaked to the bone in fuzz and distortion. Wooden Shjips are in interstellar overdrive with these utterly gorgeous cosmic rockers.
Ben Preece
Guido Farnell THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 43
albums/singles/eps
★★★½
REQUEIM Early AM (Ft Abbey Rose) Minimal Aesthetics A nice throwback beat with some jazzy licks sets the pace for Early AM’s nerd raps and Abbey Rose’s sweet vocal track resulting in a very cool track. Nice.
LILY ALLEN Hard Out Here Capitol Allen returns to make a garbled message about feminism. Missing the mark with satire in the video and song, it probably does more damage to the cause.
ALICIA KEYS Brand New Me Sony
★★
★★½
DRESSES
CAULFIELD
Wrist Slitter
Sun Shy
Vanity
Equal Vision/UNFD
SideOneDummy/Shock
Halfcut/Shock
Beginning with a prerecorded New Orleans jazz fade-in, Pryor’s latest release immediately kicks off to an intriguing start. Opener The House Hears Everything tears into a fast-paced, thumping punk number. Pryor’s appropriately abrasive, nasal vocals set the true shape of the album. Intermittent backing harmonies outline the central points in the lyrical delivery, and screaming guitar breaks it up. Three short songs in, banjo and cello open the title track, toeing the border between folk and punk. The album curiously ends the same way as it started, with a jazzy fadeout. But, why the hell not?
As a general rule we’ve been taught not to judge things by their cover, but in the case of Dresses’ debut, a discerning first glance can prove to be a real timesaver. The real-life, love-struck Portland couple of Timothy Heller and Jared Maldonado skip along a sicklysweet electro pop road together, unaware of the repetitive nature of their vocal hooks and harp usage. Their single Blew My Mind is not bad on its own, while Friends Are Dead seems to be the token slow and moody track that falls short of eliciting any real emotion. Overall, what could have been a light and enjoyable listen is overwhelmed by whimsy.
Subtlety appears to be an art lost on Caulfield – it takes no less than a minute of the album before they bust into a breakdown. The album’s opening track, A Letter To Myself One Year Ago, paints a very accurate portrayal of the remaining 11 tracks; once you’ve heard that, you’ve basically heard it all – save for the occasional sporadic synth line either serving as a brief introduction to the next track or as accompaniment to a breakdown. A little patience would go a long way for the outfit, for it seems that is what Vanity lacks.
Lukas Murphy
Grace Wilson
Justine Keating
MATT PRYOR
Delicate piano R&B ballads are Alicia’s strong point; Brand New Me is unspectacular but acceptable in a classic pop way.
ALEX LLOYD
★★★
Waterfall
★★★★
★★★½
Independent
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
OLIVER TANK
RESIN DOGS
High Rise
Slow Motion Music
Sony
Create/Control
The Beats From Downunder EP
Melbourne band pay homage to obvious influence Ono in both the track and video. Shouty vocals and abstract noise work so well over the steady beat and crunchy guitars, outstanding stuff.
Stone Temple Pilots have subdued cravings for their heavy strand of power rock with new EP, High Rise. They’re joined by Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, a potentially confusing gambit that, after repeated listening, proves not to be a deterrent. Standout track Black Heart transforms Bennington’s voice from angst to rounded rock star, melding with the relentless power strums and classic timing. The accompanying tracks follow suit with glamorous wailing guitars, their catchiness undeniable and each following on with cruisy confidence from the last; an effortless yet impressive release from the now-foursome.
The title is sort of right. There is a feeling, a drama, in Oliver Tank’s mostly machine-made music that drips its emotion into you. There’s depth to his little synthesised worlds, songs which can sometimes be almost hymnal and longing, such as the little insistent waves of Home, or can be askance and dreamier like Her’s heartbeat echoes and wordless singing. You Never Know is just a pop song of subtlety in its quiet spirals that stay with you. Across its sometimes delicate components there is an absolute craft and care.
Chris Yates
Alice Bopf
Waterfall sounds like that ad where the donuts and shit chase the person and then the person eats some chewing gum, except nowhere near as good.
DEADMAU5 Suckfest9001 EMI Deadmau5’s new pseudo technohouse-whatever wallpaper does what it says on the box, with wildly depressing results.
SUPER WILD HORSES Ono In A Space Bubble Dot Dash/Remote Control
44 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
Ross Clelland
Hydrofunk/MGM Flagbearers of what was variously championed or demonised as skip hop, yer Dogs have taken some time to get around to the next thing, and here work in collaboration, often to good effect. Still The Beats with Dialectrix is of the focus track stuff of the triple j playlist of 2010, and gets the couple of versions treatment – notably one by Sydney DJ/ remixer Omegaman, which adds some swing that works particularly well. Other highlight, the slinky Ride, is brassy groove, with Kel On Earth’s vocal challenge to get it some further notice. Ross Clelland
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live reviews
KEEP ON DANCIN’S, MARTYR PRIVATES, ROKU MUSIC Black Bear Lodge 15 Nov Local shoegaze enthusiasts Roku Music are opening up this muggy night of dark sounds and limited stage banter, and they’re doing it well. Guitarists Innez Tulloch and Donovan Miller know when to bring it heavy and when to step off the gas and let the songs breathe, and there’s a real prettiness to their sound underneath the sheer distorted noise of the guitars. Miller and bassist Jody
FRANZ FERDINAND @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: FREYA LAMONT
Gleeson share singing duties, and with sweetness and weight in their washed-out vocals it’s like dreaming in reverb; you don’t particularly need to know what they’re saying. The room is filling up nicely as Martyr Privates continue to cement their place as maybe the pinnacle of Solid Brisbane Bands that people love to endlessly lament should be much bigger than they are, with a set of sweaty, down-and-out mantras. Ashleigh Shipton’s bass playing is particularly powerful, propelling and grounding these songs while some very tight up-front drumming adds drama. The band look bored, and they do gig constantly so maybe they were, but if anything this helps rather than detracts from the vibe of these sad-angry-guy songs. 46 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
Keep On Dancin’s are launching a couple of new tracks tonight, but first up we get some older stuff like the wonderful Houston, off 2011’s The End Of Everything LP. Initially, singer Jacinta Walker wants to skip this song, but thank God they don’t because it’s a total triumph of raw sadness that almost serves as the band’s mission statement for their shows: hold on, ‘cause you’re about to feel some feelings. It seems like in the past few months Walker’s voice, which has always been incredible, has taken on an even more beautiful resonance, and tonight she’s in top knock-you-off-yourbarstool form. Hewitt Eyes is also darkly powerful, and the one song where the band seem to really let loose with the anger that is simmering under the surface in most of their tracks.
FRANZ FERDINAND, THE CREASES The Tivoli 17 Nov Harvest isn’t happening today as planned but Brisbane still gets a vibe for it thanks to sharp Scotsmen Franz Ferdinand. Before they arrive, however, we’re treated to an opening stanza from The Creases, and there’s plenty to like from the local four-piece, who tread an endearingly ramshackle middle ground between indie and postpunk, even managing to lift after tech issues and hecklers. Buzz worth believing in. There’s nothing like a bit of rock’n’roll theatre to round out
FRANZ FERDINAND @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: FREYA LAMONT
Guitarist Yuri Johnson’s genius is that he can make his solos and riffs sound surprising and cool even if you’ve heard them 50 times before, and tonight he’s doing just that with the confidence that only comes from drinking large glasses of fruity punch (highly recommended). They close up the set with the double of Baby and Grey Ghost, the singles they’re launching tonight. Baby is melancholy and sweet, while Grey Ghost is fierce and sinister, bringing one last incredible vocal performance from Walker. These songs have long been live favourites and capture two different sides of this excellent band, so it’s both cool to see them get their own release, and exciting that this may be a sign of perhaps another long player on the horizon. Madeleine Laing
the weekend. More than merely musicians, Franz Ferdinand are showmen of the highest order, and tonight the Tivoli stage has been cleared to allow for as many rock kicks, hair flicks and hip thrusts as we the crowd can endure. As it turns out, it’s a hell of a lot. Sure, it’s not 2005; the four-piece are no longer the hottest indie band on the planet. Thankfully, no one told Franz. They kick off with Right Action, which smoothly moves into No You Girls – our voices are suitably warmed up by now and frontman Alex Kapranos knows it. He cranks up proceedings with The Dark Of The Matinee, Evil Eye and Do You Want To, flirting with the front rows while the rest of the band tweak the songs ever so slightly to keep them spicy and fresh without losing the elements we love.
It’s pretty special when the band cover The Go-Betweens’ Was There Anything I Could Do?, Kapranos dedicating the track to tonight’s support (“From one Brisbane band to another”), while a cheeky disco curveball comes at us by way of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love, which is worked into Can’t Stop Feeling. In between all this Franz draw freely from their latest LP, with Fresh Strawberries, Brief Encounters and Bullet seeing the quartet energised and the crowd quickly onside. Kapranos is moving like a dapper conductor, while running mate Nick McCarthy bucks like a little rock jockey, darting seamlessly between guitar, keyboard and synthesiser, making each instrument sing. The love seen during those
FRANZ FERDINAND @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: FREYA LAMONT
tracks though is nothing compared to Take Me Out; you know you’ve written a timeless riff when people sing along with the strums. By this stage we’ve already got far more than our money’s worth – everyone could leave happy – so the fact the band then perform Ulysses, This Fire and Goodbye Lovers & Friends, before an encore featuring Stand On The Horizon and Michael, means we’re more than spoilt tonight. Outsiders then concludes the unfaultable performance, with the Franz frontline – including Bob Hardy’s temporary bass replacement – picking up sticks with drummer Paul Thomson for a tribal drum beatdown that stops the show, figuratively and literally. Benny Doyle
live reviews
MICHAEL BEACH, TAPE/ OFF, TINY MIGRANTS, SODA EAVES Beetle Bar 14 Nov Some uncharacteristic torrential rain doesn’t dampen the spirits of tonight’s special bill at the Beetle Bar. Transient troubadour Soda Eaves kicks things off with a spacious extravaganza of soft, considered poetic vignettes set over spectral guitar loops and scratchy radio recordings. The artist is wholly immersed in his craft, weaving gossamer tapestries of bitter chagrin (On The Beach) or ruminative
once more, and once more they offer a ramshackle set of deranged melodicisms and slacker wit wrapped garishly in distortion, shouts and slanted banter. They may be the only ones on this bill without a fresh release, yet the set is littered with new tracks for their incumbent album that are lightyears removed from the Pavement skillset. The slapdash energy remains, but is imbued with a tentative maturity to go with the caterwauling implosions. The man of the hour is Michael Beach. In Australia for Sound Summit for one of his other bands, the newly minted Shovels, the San Franciscanslash-Melburnian is given a rare chance to showcase his solo gear, specifically cuts from his magnificent sophomore LP Golden Theft. Roping his Shovels bandmates to back these elegantly
M. WARD @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
downward spirals (Sweet Stores), and it’s hard not to be drawn into his quietly crowded world. Rambunctious raconteurs Tiny Migrants are raring at the bit to get into their set, which is littered with cracked classics both old and new. It all sounds fresh tonight though, as the lack of reverb means vocals and guitar jump out of the blocks without subterfuge at play, and is livelier for the efforts. This means that tracks like Uncontrollable aren’t as overtly bombastic, but adds an effervescent sheen to the proceedings. A new westerntinged seduction really lights things up. They are anything if not irascible though – expect their next show to be showered in shit, just to prove they ain’t going soft. It seems that Tape/Off is starting to get the taste for the open stage
before closing a well-received set with a rollicking rendition of Daniel Johnston’s To Go Home.
The Tivoli 12 Nov
This star-studded bill is a remnant from the cancelled Harvest Festival, so it’s gold from the get-go as US indie legends Superchunk kick off their first show on Australian soil since 1996 to a heroes’ reception, kicking off with Cast Iron like they’ve never been away. Material from new album I Hate Music such as FOH and Me & You & Jackie Mittoo goes over superbly live and has frontman Mac McCaughan jumping around like a teenager, but it’s older fare like
SUPERCHUNK @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
wasted rustic tracks, Beach is in electrifying form, his gravelly voice and spirit in full display. The true glory of Beach’s songwriting is embedded in his proclivity for permeating these tracks with a primitive punk spirit that always threatens to pinwheel out of control, yet instead crumbles under the weight of its own apocryphal intentions. The rollicking stop/ start dynamism of Straight Spines, the bluesy burdens bristling on Dirt, the working class crossroads of Static, are all underscored with a maniacal desire to always traipse on the precipice of disaster. Finishing with the excellent The Exhilarating Rise, Beach and his cronies deliver a blistering performance that is far too rare in this day and age – one of raging heart. Brendan Telford
NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL, M. WARD, SUPERCHUNK
Anticipation is rife for Neutral Milk Hotel’s first ever show on Australian soil, the fervour around enigmatic frontman Jeff Mangum having built up to cult-like proportions due to his extended absence from the musical landscape. Even while he’s eschewed the limelight over the years his music has been steadfastly finding its way to new ears, so when the hirsute singer-songwriter steps up and delivers the opening to The King Of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 and that voice rings forth, people seem incredulous that this is evening happening, and bemused by how incredible it sounds. He brings the full emotion and intensity of the NMH recordings to life with the help of his ragtag but
SUPERCHUNK @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
For Tension and Skip Steps 1 & 3 which really gets hearts beating, and the growing throng lose their shit when they segue classics Driveway To Driveway and The First Part together. They’re just as vital and powerful as ever, and they finish a brilliant return with their hook-laden first single Slack Motherfucker and equally catchy chestnut Hyper Enough. After such a firebrand opening it’s somewhat strange when the understated M. Ward emerges with his laidback country-folk ensemble, but things soon revert to type as they offer a stream of smooth, lyric-driven numbers such as Poison Cup, the hookridden Fool Says and the catchy Vincent O’Brien. Ward’s a quietly charismatic performer and his band are tight and innovative, bringing a faux-Beach Boys vibe to proceedings with To Save Me
incredibly intuitive band. Songs like the rousing Holland, 1945 twist and turn through their eclectic arrangements. Tracks from their acclaimed 1998 opus In The Aeroplane Over The Sea illicit the strongest response, for obvious reasons, but while they pull out material from every NMH release and it all sounds resolutely strong, Mangum’s solo renditions of Two Headed Boy and Oh Comely are indubitable highlights of an absolutely incredible set. People seemed stunned that they’re finally hearing this exotic music in the flesh at all, so the fact that it sounds so full and rich throughout is merely a bonus. The enigma may be stripped away, but the NMH legend is only strengthened by this remarkably stunning performance. Steve Bell THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 47
live reviews
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, IMMIGRANT UNION The Hi-Fi 17 Nov Sans Courtney Barnett, Immigrant Union in five-piece form woo an early crowd with an alt-country, folkish take on psych. Alternating between droning, slightly melancholic rock and some really upbeat acoustic strumming and country rhythms, the dual frontman approach featuring The Dandy Warhols’ drummer Brent DeBoer and Bob Harrow – generally faceless
powerhouse – she’s got to be in this outfit – though not in that flashy way that screams “Look at me” with every fill, which is particularly evident given her unique choice of rhythms that allow the bluesier moments to come into their own. The balls-out rock begins in earnest with Rival, the dual-vocal approach of Hayes and bassist Robert Levon Been blowing heads back as they trade riffs beneath a brain-penetrating strobe; BRMC always give good lighting. Berlin is notable for the delectable polished sleaze that permeates Baby 81, though it’s not all menacing rock despite what Been’s booming, distorted chord style of bass often denotes. Some tender moments present too, not least Let The Day Begin, a tribute to his late father Michael Been of
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB @ THE HI-FI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
due to a fine mop of hair – is borne on good old-fashioned songwriter chemistry. Despite its boppy, Warhol-esque cadence, I Can’t Return feels bittersweet; DeBoer’s ode to leaving Portland for Melbourne, it’s a closer that highlights the band’s musicianship with an extended outro and a parting notion that these guys have got something goin’ on. Rolling onto stage with slickedback hair and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, it doesn’t get much cooler than Black Rebel Motorcycle Club guitarist Peter Hayes as he launches into Hate The Taste from this year’s seventh record, Specter At The Feast. Beat The Devil’s Tattoo is an early highlight, not least because of the understated skills of drummer Leah Shapiro. She’s a 48 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
4ZZZ GUILT RETREAT 8
highlight of the generally psych-jangle-sounding set, while, following a broken string, the funk interlude is a terribly underrated part of the evening and the band once again nail it.
17 Nov
Back by the bar, Eggvein are unmissable, partly due to the wig/hive worn by the group’s vocalist falling just short of the ceiling. The songs are a tad goth and a tad punk and it sits in an interesting realm between traditional and bat-shit crazy. Part US part Aus group Shovels follow and in comparison to their on-record sound, the group feel more accessible on the live stage. The sound is very post-punk and at times it hurts but in the end it’s a well received and warranted set.
Greenslopes Bowls Club Boatloads of bands have convened tonight at the humble and growing Greenslopes Bowls Club and it’s Dag that kicks things off while it’s still good bowlin’ and sunglasses weather. The band drive through their set, the closing portion proving the highlight, sounding like a lo-fi version of Gareth Liddiard’s solo work. Operating on a twostage premise, in the bar room Adelaide’s Hydromedusa were described amongst the audience as bitchin’ Sabbath riffs’, and true that. The band actually pull it off without sounding
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB @ THE HI-FI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
The Call who previously served as the trio’s sound engineer. They’ve spent time on all the records of their career tonight, and it’s fitting that Spread Your Love, from their 2001 debut, provides a chugging, fuzzridden end to the set, though even after 90 solid minutes the crowd wants more. Returning with unplugged versions of Complicated Situation and Shuffle Your Feet from 2005’s Howl, the dynamic set continues. With max power, once again the BRMC rollercoaster peaks across Whatever Happened To My Rock’n’Roll (Punk Song), sending everyone out into the rainy evening with newbie, Sell It, a final memento of the teasing, noisy, brooding and damn near perfect rock experience just had. Tyler McLoughlan
All the way from the US of A, The Real Numbers could slot
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB @ THE HI-FI. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
tacky or as if the bong had been left in SA; an interesting addition on this eclectic bill. Sydney’s Adults are the kings of the breakdown tonight with pseudo math-rock riffs mixing in with elements of post-rock and general garage. The sound of the group during some tracks doesn’t feel as full as it could, but overall it’s a solid performance. Then come Gerald Keaney and the Gerald Keaneys, who, in their traditional fashion (even with a partially new line-up), are the musical equivalent of a finger painting done by GG Allin. It’s eclectic, it’s confronting and it’s bloody engaging and super tight. Blank Realm are, as per usual, a big drawcard for the night. The set draws from upcoming release Grassed Inn with newly rebranded Falling Down The Stairs being a notable
themselves into the Sydney DIY scene with ease. Their set is fun and energetic partly due to its basic delivery and classic pop songwriting. Fellow US Sound Summit sideshowers Tyvek close out the night with a generally well-rounded set. The blood/alcohol level of the crowd allows them to generate a marvellous reception no matter what, and their set becomes a highlight by the end after earlier creases are ironed out. The terms ‘snotty’ and ‘lo-fi’ are thrown around about this band and lyrically they’re on the money as the wittiness of the lyrics is what drives the tracks. A brief encore concludes the set and then the masses spill out onto the street well served. Phew. Bradley Armstrong
BIFF reviews
STEVIE NICKS: IN YOUR DREAMS Palace Barracks (finished)
If you’re looking for crazy Fleetwood Mac drug stories, look elsewhere. Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams is a trackby-track chronicling of the writing and recording of the rock star’s latest solo record, and it’s pretty much one big, self-affirming love-in. Even though there’s something slightly laughable about a bunch of rich middle-aged white people talking about inspiring young people to “go back to the old way” of making music, they’re easily forgiven when Nicks’ wilful, energetic personality is at the heart of this film, and fans will get a lot out of it. In Your Dreams is shot softly and brightly, with unobtrusive camera work, but the use of extended periods of music video-type footage
DIRTY WARS
often seems a little lazy. This film is light on drama and heavy on self-congratulation, but if anyone’s earned a bit of indulgence once in a while, it’s Stevie Nicks. Madeleine Laing
THE PUNK SINGER Palace Barracks (finished) The Punk Singer starts out energetic and exciting, with fast cuts between Riot Grrrl co-creator and the film’s subject, punk singer Kathleen Hanna, performing with Bikini Kill, and people like Kim
Gordon, Joan Jett, Corin Tucker and Tavi Gevinson passionately explaining what Hanna and the Riot Grrrl movement have meant to them. From this fierce opening you’re hit immediately with the force of Hanna’s personality and how much she did for women who had spent their whole lives being silenced. Director Sini Anderson has given the story over to the women who were there, and their voices are incredibly powerful. About halfway through though, the film takes a dark turn, as Hanna becomes ill with a mystery sickness that not only makes her unable to sing, but deeply depressed. However, her relationship with Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock from Beastie Boys) is as strong as her incredible will to survive. Madeleine Laing
DIRTY WARS Screening 22 Nov, Palace Barracks
Jeremy Scahill is an American liberal investigative journalist, and Dirty Wars is his brave attempt
serious as this needs, and you can see the psychological toll it takes on him, his list of innocent dead growing overwhelmingly longer as he digs deeper and deeper. A sadly necessary and incredibly vital film. Madeleine Laing
ADORATION In cinemas 21 Nov
Based on Doris Lessing’s novella, The Grandmothers, Adoration explores the unconventional and passionate love affairs between two mothers with each other’s sons. The film has quite a pedigree, with its literary origins and two lead actresses in Naomi Watts (Lil) and Robin Wright (Roz), as well as Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons). Even though it’s got an Aussie setting – at gorgeous Seal Rocks in NSW – it’s all rather French, no doubt facilitated by director Anne Fontaine (Coco Avant Chanel). If taken at face
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
to shed some light on the depths of the US Army’s cover-ups of secret raids all over the Middle East. Scahill discovers how these raids have killed innocent men, women and children, contributing to the cycle of anger and retribution that fuels the seemingly neverending “War on Terror”. This documentary is incredibly hard to watch; shots of murdered children and mutilated bodies are presented mercilessly, the landscapes are harsh and striking, the colours are muted, and the score is everpresent and heart-breaking, making this film both horrific and deeply sad. Scahill is the kind of sober narrator that a story as
value, the film can come across as quite pedestrian despite its titillating subject matter, but if you look deeper Adoration does have some interesting themes. Questions are raised about the unbreakable bond between lifelong friends Lil and Roz, whether there’s more to their devotion to each other than friendship, and if their unusually close relationship has somehow permeated their sons’ respective psyches. It is all rather incestuous but thankfully doesn’t move into creepy territory. Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville as the sons manage their roles so well that you do believe their deep
attraction to the mother figures, and generally it’s easy to go with the story – which would’ve been a complete disaster without the onscreen chemistry. Vicki Englund
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE Screening 22 Nov, Event Cinemas
Only Lovers Left Alive is crystalline, essentialised Jim Jarmusch. A vampire film that basks in its own nighttime-ness, its own wisdom and cool – and too in the fundamental tactility of life observed over centuries – it’s everything native and incidental to Jarmusch’s style and fascinations, explicit in a single experience. Narratively, the film emphasises the more existential parts of the vampiric condition, exploring age, timelessness and the wisdom in understanding people from an immortal’s
THE PUNK SINGER
uniquely topographic perspective. For Jarmusch, the vampiric lore is both a metaphor and a narrative form to play with and exert his personal interests through. There’s a natural stillness to timeless living, just as there’s a great stillness to the way Jarmusch constructs his films. So too is there a shared love of people and conversation, sex and fabrics. Ultimately, its plot machinations are merely there as footholds on which one steadies oneself through an otherwise deliciously fluid experiment in mood and atmosphere. Sam Hobson THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 49
AMA
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CIT COCK Y VIEWS COOP T E AILS Dele RS ON T AP ctab le d ishe s
Live
FEATURING THIS WEEK AT THE BEARDED LADY TAP 1
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the guide
SHANDY
Members/roles: Cam – drums, Vik – bass/backup vocals, JJ – lead vocals/guitar How long have you been together? Two weeks – we are very now! How did you all meet? At the bar. You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo? We listen to the motor – we listen to the beats, the humming, the melody lines, depending on the engine capacity and other specifications. Running engines are a great source for developing riffs. It’s the working man’s creative thought process to writing rock’n’roll – just ask Malcolm Young. Also a mixed tape of unknown ‘70s punk bands would be brill. What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? Everything! We are a reaction to modern day Brisbane. Every bar looks like the Love Boat, they sell $10 beers, paid parking everywhere, and Brisbane is one big cyber soft cock digital community bubble. Shandy represents the last bastion of Brisbane’s glory days. Inner-city Queenslanders, rock’n’roll share houses, mangoes in the streets, singing on the Gabba hill, cheering at the Lang Park cauldron and all the rest. Brisbane’s foundations were built on murder money and don’t you forget it! What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term? We’re booked in to record this summer; we’ve had straight-up interest abroad. There will be a Shandy release or two for 2014! Shandy play Dolphins Hotel, Tweed Heads on 29 Nov and Prince Of Wales Hotel on 12 Dec. Photo by TERRY SOO. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 51
eat/drink
CHECK OUT KIRIN’S JAPANESE-INSPIRED CIDERS This new range comes in four flavours: Fuji Apple, Fuji Apple and Mikan (mandarin), Fuji Apple and Ume ( Japanese plum) and Fuji Apple and Ginger.
FRITZ’S RAILROAD RESTAURANT, KANSAS CITY, US You take your seat, make your order through telephone, and then your burgers and fries are brought out to you on an actual train (well, a toy one – a real one would probably be overkill).
KAYABUKIYA TAVERN, UTSUNOMIYA, JAPAN
HALONG BAY GROTTO/CAVES, VIETNAM
Be served by macaque monkey waiters Yatchan and Fuku-chan, who belong to the tavern’s owner, Kaoru Otsuka. They work two hours a day and receive soya beans as tips!
Candle-lit dinner in a mystical cave – this would rank pretty highly on the ‘romantic date destinations’ list.
DINNER IN THE SKY Operating in more than 15 countries, Dinner In The Sky is exactly what it sounds like (except it can be any meal). Twentytwo people at a time can dine at a table suspended 50 metres high.
EL DIABLO, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN SUR UN ARBRE PERCHÉ, PARIS, FRANCE Eat a fancy meal while sitting in a swinging chair, and there’s even the option to get a massage. Seems like someone couldn’t decide between opening up a restaurant, playground and massage parlour.
52 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
The barbecue to end all barbecues. Eat meat that’s been grilled using a (dormant) volcano’s geothermal heat while enjoying beautiful, panoramic views of nature.
Illustration Sophie Blackhall-Cain.
eat/drink CAFE PROFILE
Where do you eat out? Often outside.
What’s the design/ atmosphere of your cafe? Warehouse-style dark ambience. Who is serving/cooking and what makes them special? Kurtis mans the tools. His chatty charisma and manchild musk makes up his strangely awkward charm.
BEAR BONES ESPRESSO
Address: 66 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley Answered by: Kurtis Tupangaia Website: facebook.com/ bearbonesespresso
What breakfast meal is the best hangover cure? Coffee, followed by some beans, then more coffee. Always finished with a healthy dose of remembering what transposed the night before.
What’s the best way to have eggs? Scrambled. It just is, deal with it. If you have a “Big Breakfast” what is on the plate? Bread, scrambled eggs and chorizo. But if I was being healthy, a Bloody Mary on the side. Extra vodka.
BAR PROFILE
SOUTHSIDE TEA ROOM Answered by: Patience Hodgson Address: 639a Wynnum Rd, Morningside Website: southsidetearoom.com Briefly describe the design/ atmosphere of the bar? Wood panelled walls, your grandparent’s old lounge suite, Uncle Norm’s old beer fridge is filled with games. Does the bar have a music component? We play our favourite tunes all the time and have live music every Saturday night with $5 Saturdays.
Briefly describe the crowd that frequents your bar? Everyone comes to our bar. Those who love sport, those who don’t, wine sniffing grandparents, first date tetris champions, girls green of hair, guys with facial hair, girls in nude-coloured high heels and sometimes guys in
ALCO-DESSERTS Jelly: Fancy up your humble jelly shot. Layer flavours and colours, add fruit and experiment with flavour combos to create cocktail jellies. Cupcakes: Substitute some of the milk or the vanilla extract with rum, liqueur, vodka etc. Or all of the milk for Bailey’s Irish Cream... Butterscotch pudding: Infused with bourbon and topped with caramel sauce, or doused in bourbon whipped cream, this is a truly decadent dessert.
Do you have a specialty drink? We make delicious, classic cocktails from Negronis to Southsides, our most ordered cocktail. Does the bar offer food? Junk food: burgers and hot dogs. Street food: pupusas and hand pressed tacos.
OUR PICKS
What is an ingredient you couldn’t live without? Irony, and maybe cynicism. But coffee, always coffee.
rainbow-coloured high heels. All are welcome. Who’s cooking and pouring and what makes them special? Ritchie manages our daytime cafe. He’s tall, dark, handsome and makes delicious coffee. His sidekicks are Handsome Dan and Dom. The kitchen is home to foodies Maddy and Simon. Our bartenders are all romantics with tattoos: John Mercer,
Dom, Simon and Simon. Dom (Dominique) organises our events. Anything out of the ordinary on the horizon? Your new favourite cinema in the suburbs will be screening a handpicked selection of flicks every Thursday night. $10 movie munchie packs will be available at the bar with a drink, popcorn and cookie!
Chocolate mousse: Spike your mousse with Irish cream, dark rum, brandy, orange/ coffee/hazelnut liqueur, etc. Revel in the chocohol. Cheesecake: Cheese goes with wine, so cheesecake goes with margarita, amaretto, Guinness, brandy, Irish cream, rum raisin... and so on.
mon-wed 6.30am-3pm thurs-fri 6.30am-6pm sat 7am-6pm sun 9am-6pm
café good food & coffee Mon-Sat 7am–3.30pm Sun 7am–2.30pm
breakfast, lunch & afternoon tippler
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693 Brunswick St, New Farm e asa@ponycat.com.au p 3254 2883
THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 53
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
BACKLASH
TOURING THIS WEEK
LET THEM BE
Another year, another Schoolies, another opportunity for newspapers to moralise. Did these people have no fun when they were younger? Let the kids let their hair down…
WHA’ HAPPENED? So scalped Bieber tickets are sinking online for a fraction of their face value – where art thou fickle Beleibers? Was it the (alleged) drugs and hookers? So sad (but mainly so funny).
SHINING BRIGHT Get on down to YAC, Byron Bay on Friday or Crowbar this Saturday and make Stateside visitors Daylight feel welcome. The Pennsylvanian rock four will be supported by Post Blue, Milestones, and in Brisbane only, Deer Lord.
JUST SAY NO The hospitality industry are agitating for a move towards a US tipping structure – umm, no? You already get a wage, don’t expect more unless your service is exceptional…
FRONTLASH BRING IT ON!
The Ashes are finally here, so too our long-awaited chance for revenge against the most heinous of enemies. Never forget, no matter what happens at least we don’t live in England…
20/20
DRINK AND BE MERRY
The trashy punk of Bad Vision will leave you battered and bruised when they take over Brisbane. See them Saturday at Trainspotters or Sunday at 633 Ann’s Rock N Roll BBQ. Or both, if you’re brave enough.
The brother and sister duo that comprise The Merrys are launching their debut single We Don’t Know with a headline date near their Coolum locale. They play Solbar, Maroochydore this Thursday alongside Asher Chapman and Ziggy Alberts.
OUT OF THE PIT
COVERED IN CRONIN
You know the sort of dirty, stirring blues you’re going to get just by Swamp Thing’s name, but you’ve got to experience the New Zealanders live to get the real feeling. They play the Joynt Thursday with Rolling Wheel.
Mikal Cronin has announced supports: Slaves and The Familiars, pictured, playing Thurs, The Northern, Byron Bay; Tiny Migrants and Lovely Legs helping at Black Bear Lodge, Fri; and Dead Beat Band at Alfred’s Apartment, GC, Sat.
SUPER ‘CHUNK So great to finally see Superchunk in Brisbane after a 16-year break, their acoustic instore at Jet Black Cat especially intimate. NMH ruled hard too, such a shame about Harvest.
PUMPED UP JICKS Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks are back with new single Lariat from the awesomelymonikered new album Wig Out At Jagbags. The golden age of indie keeps on givin’…
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… DEICIDE In The Minds Of Evil Century Media BILLIE JOE & NORAH Foreverly Reprise/Warner COLD CHISEL The Live Tapes Vol 1 Universal I AM LEGION I Am Legion Neon/Warner
54 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
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FUTURE SOUNDS
GETTIN’ COMFY
ALBUM FOCUS
THE LITTLE STEVIES Answered by: Beth Stephen
CHART-TOPPER
THE CASUARINAS
With a career spanning two decades, Lloyd Spiegel is no stranger to this music game. His latest album Tangled Brew proves he’s onto bigger and better things, with no signs of stopping. Don’t miss him at The Loft, Gold Coast, 14 Dec.
Name: Noel Mengel Band: The Casuarinas What is it about the venue that makes you want to a run of shows there? We’re playing the Junk Bar in Ashgrove, a beautiful intimate venue where people can hear every word of the lyrics. That suits our music. Same set every week or mixing it up? We mix it up every week, introducing new songs fresh from the pan and sprinkling with a few covers by people we love like Gene Clark and George Jones.
‘TIS THE SEASON
THE NAME GAME
Friends Of Ben have chucked together a self-titled debut EP, due to be released in February. In the meantime, Black Bear Lodge is hosting a launch for the band’s single, Summer. It’s weatherappropriate and happening 4 Dec.
Marshall Dawson Okell, or just Marshall Okell to fans, was so-called in honour of Jimi Hendrix’s and albino Texan shredder Johnny Winters’ middle names. Cool, huh? Put a name to a face when he plays The Loft, Gold Coast, 13 Dec.
Any special guests going to make an appearance during your tenure? Just us. Favourite position at the venue when you’re not on stage? At the bar near the turntable, perusing the cocktail list. When are you in residence? Every Wednesday night until December 11, two sets from 8pm. The Casuarinas play Junk Bar, Ashgrove every Wednesday until 11 Dec.
Album title: Diamonds For Your Tea Where did the title of your new album come from? It’s a song that sums up the last couple of years for Byll in particular, becoming a parent for the first time and serving another little human on a level never imagined. How many releases do you have now? This is our third full length studio album after Love Your Band (2009) and Attention Shoppers (2011). We also released a live album earlier this year, and an EP back in 2006. How long did it take to write/record? This album took us a year to make. Byll gave birth to her first child and I went back to uni to complete my Masters. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I think it’s safe to say that at least half the album is directly reflective of my nephew’s arrival and the effect he’s had on our whole family. What’s your favourite song on it? One that people have started to ask about a lot is Shattered Dreams. It’s the story of our nana’s life.
TRIPLE THREAT
TODAY’S SPECIALS
Blake Saban 3 have just released their third single, Gotta Rise, from album, Rise Above. They’re playing The Loft, Gold Coast, 6 Dec and in this case, two may be company but three is a more-than-welcome crowd.
Street Pieces will take over The Zoo, 27 Nov, to mark the release of their latest single, Run. It’s the first taste from their forthcoming EP, expected early 2014. War On Sara and Modern Strangers will whet the crowd’s appetite on the night.
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Will you do anything differently next time? We learnt a lot from the making of this record. We learned that we can play just about any instrument given the time, and that was a really empowering experience. We look forward to making more albums with this attitude in the future. The Little Stevies play Old Museum on 22 Nov.
CAFÉ - BAR
321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY 20TH OF NOVEMBER
KING KONGO (10:00PM) + THE PLASTIC FANGS (9:00PM) 21ST OF NOVEMBER
BRUTET BEN (10:30PM) + WAAX (9:30PM) + DJ VALDIS (8:00PM - LATE)
VALLEY FIESTA @ RIC’S LIVE MUSIC FROM 2PM INSIDE AND OUT 22ND OF NOVEMBER
THE STIFFYS (9PM) + DJ VALDIS (8:00PM - LATE) - DOWNSTAIRS. DJ RYAN (8:00PM - LATE) - UPSTAIRS 23RD OF NOVEMBER
INSIDE 9PM – LOVE HATE REBELLION
DJ VALDIS (9:00PM - LATE) - DOWNSTAIRS. DJ CUTTS (9:00PM - 5:00AM) - UPSTAIRS. OUTSIDE 5.30PM – AMY DREW 24TH OF NOVEMBER
HEYZEUS (4:00PM & 5:00PM) FOXSMITH (8:00PM) - DOWNSTAIRS. WHILE DJ CHRIS WILL BE WORKING HIS BEATS ON THE BACKYARD DECK FROM 3PM -10PM 25TH OF NOVEMBER
LANE-HARRY X IKE CAMPBELL (10:30) + SARAH FRANK (9:30) + TOMMY SHEEHAN (8:30) 26TH OF NOVEMBER
BEN KELLY (9:30PM)
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THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 57
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
EP FOCUS
FUTURE SOUNDS
THE OCEAN PARTY Name: Snowy Nasdaq Album title? Split Where did the title of your new album come from? Named after one of our favourite tracks on the album, the title Split also summed up the writing style and range of sounds and vocalists on the album. How many releases do you have now? Split is our third LP, following Social Clubs and The Sun Rolled Off The Hills. How long did it take to write/record? Our guitarist, Curtis, got back from New York early this year and we wrote the album in the four or so months after his return. We recorded the album over a weekend in May. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The new approach to writing as a group, working on all five members’ individual songs was exciting and made for interesting results. Recording the album on a farm in rural NSW which was great too. What’s your favourite song on it? The first (Quarter Life Crisis) and last (Outside) are both exciting, personally, for different reasons. Will you do anything differently next time? Most definitely, but who knows exactly what the approach will be. Anything that will push us to try new musical ideas and moods is worth a go. The Ocean Party play Beetle Bar on 22 Nov.
58 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
THE SINKING TEETH
GRAVITY-DEFYING
EP Title? White Wizzle My Nizzle
The happy-go-lucky fellas from Slip-On Stereo have a lot to smile about lately. The release of their So Long Gravity EP will go down (or will it?) at the Joynt, 5 Dec and Solbar, Sunshine Coast, 6 Dec. Sandra Bullock does not feature.
How many releases do you have now? This is our debut release. One clam in the pan. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Living in terrible share houses and all the crap that comes with that. Fat beats and mean streets. What’s your favourite song on it? Our favourite sizzle is White Wizzle My Nizzle. We’ll like this EP if we like... Refused, These Arms Are Snakes, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Bronx, Brand New, fairy floss, long walks on the beach, slow dancing close, real close. The Sinking Teeth play The Hi-Fi on 22 Nov and Coolangatta Hotel on 23 Nov (both shows supporting Bodyjar).
ROCK THE HAUS
FOR THE TROOPS
Twin Haus will perform their final show of 2013 alongside Moses Gunn Collective and Junior Arcade at The Zoo, 5 Dec. The band then go into lockdown to make their first EP, so get in before they blow up.
Fred Smith combines his musical talent with real experiences from Afghanistan on his latest album, Dust of Uruzgan. He playsy two powerful shows at the Maleny Community Centre, 27 Nov and the Queensland Multicultural Centre Theatre, 28 Nov.
TRUE BLUE(S)
BIN THERE DONE THAT
The first Australia Day North Coast Rock ‘n’ Blues Event in Caloundra touches down on 26 Jan, with The Mason Rack Band, pictured, Devil’s Kiosk and Bluesville Station. Tickets, $20. National pride, priceless.
Three seems to be a lucky number this week with Papa Pilko and The Binrats announcing the launch of their new EP, Third Time Lucky. Hear the wild blues and swinging country at The Joynt, 17 Jan.
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ALBUM FOCUS
FUTURE SOUNDS
AURORA JANE Name: Jane Hole Album title? Holding Pattern
WANNA BE LIKE YOU Having recently finished shining their sonic nuggets with acclaimed producer Magoo, Bandito Folk will show off the four-track The Embankment 12 Dec at Black Bear Lodge with special guests Malo Zima and Angharad Drake.
ON THE MUSIC STEREO In Stranger Times EP JEREMY NEALE Let It Be THE REPLACEMENTS No Pocky For Kitty SUPERCHUNK Rooms Of The Magnificent ED KUEPPER Highlights Of A Dangerous Life THE JOHNNYS
UNDER ONE ROOF
LET’S STICK TOGETHER
Queensland folk pair Cole & Van Dijk have just been added to the Festival Of Small Halls bill with Jordie Lane and Rose Cousins, playing 29 Nov, Sandgate Town Hall, 1 Dec, Eudlo Hall; and 22 Dec, Mt Mee Public Hall.
If you’re keen for a free rock’n’roll Sunday set then head to Ric’s Bar, 8 Dec, where Northern Territory’s finest Unbroken Expanse will whip some sweet licks out while they’re in town. No bullshit necessary.
God’s Got It! REVEREND CHARLIE JACKSON Paddington Workers Club DOLLAR BAR Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) WU-TANG CLAN Separation BALANCE AND COMPOSURE Common Courtesy A DAY TO REMEMBER
CASUALLY NATURED
HUMPTY DOO
A hectic year for The Elliotts will culminate in Queensland next month, with the Melbourne indie pop trio performing at Ric’s Bar, 19 Dec; The Loft, Gold Coast, 21 Dec; and The Brewery, Byron Bay, 22 Dec.
If you’ve got a Wednesday spare between tonight and 11 Dec get along to Junk Bar where The Casuarinas have a short but sweet residency. Enjoy the stripped-back country fare and jaunty guitar on show, with a mid-week tipple in hand.
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Where did the title of your new album come from? Holding Pattern is a lyric from the opening track Arrival. It represents the human condition and the finite balance between dream and waking life. How many releases do you have now? This is the fourth full-length album and the fifth release from Aurora Jane. How long did it take to write/record? Most of Holding Pattern was written and recorded over two months this winter. Previous recordings and a truckload of inspiration from the preceding year touring provided plenty of momentum once the creative floodgates were opened. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Being told by some doctors that I’d never play music again due to hand surgery instilled a new passion, honesty and openness into my songwriting. Written like my life depended on it, from the heart. What’s your favourite song on it? I really love the opening track Arrival, musically it encapsulates the free creative space we traverse as a trio. Will you do anything differently next time? This process was very fast paced (exciting 15 hour days,) so next time I would like to have more reflective time for the tracks. Especially during mixing. Aurora Jane play The Rails, Byron Bay on 24 Nov and The Joynt on 28 Nov. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 59
opinion
OG FLAVAS
ADAMANTIUM WOLF
ROOTS DOWN
URBAN AND R’N’B NEWS BY CYCLONE
METAL, HARDCORE AND PUNK WITH LOCHLAN WATT
BLUES ‘N’ ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON
M.I.A.’s delayed fourth album, Matangi, named for the ambiguously beheld Hindu goddess of music (and speech) as well as Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam herself, has flopped in Australia. The rap-singer, now exclusively on Universal’s roster, has received dismal promotion. Arulpragasam was a bigger priority when with indie Remote Control. Ironically, Matangi is compelling. Arulpragasam has always been an outsider in urban music, her surprise US breakthrough 2007’s Paper Planes. Yet Matangi has input from Kanye West’s sidekick Hit-Boy and Doc McKinney, formerly of Esthero. Arulpragasam has also reunited with Switch, still her chief collaborator. The record has a troubled history. The Danja-designed hit, Bad Girls, dates back to a 2010 mixtape. Arulpragasam’s American label, Interscope, initially rejected Matangi for being “too positive”, indirectly pressuring her into dubstep. Meanwhile, this ‘public enemy #1’ cameo-ed on Madonna’s Give Me All Your Luvin’ (alongside Nicki Minaj) and caused outrage for ‘flipping the bird’ at the Super Bowl. Matangi is transgressively dark. Arulpragasam explores the spiritual side of her Tamil heritage. She flips Drake’s acronym YOLA (You Only Live Once) on her latest single, YALA (You Always Live Again). As pop noize, Matangi might keep Yeezus – another polarising rap-punk protest LP – company. MIA – (im)pure heroine?
M.I.A. 60 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
The latest Bluesfest announcement is all about blues and, while there are fewer household names, it’s an announcement that’ll greatly appeal to those who connect with the music that has always driven this event. A DAY TO REMEMBER
Chances are you’ve seen the second Soundwave announcement by now – and I have to say things are looking pretty sick. I didn’t get the chance to see Gojira when they came a couple years back due to their early set time, but I’m not going to make the same mistake next year. Suicide Silence are gonna be bringing the slam. As the band has only just entered the studio to start tracking their fourth album, it’s looking like Australia will be the first to see their new incarnation. In recent months I’ve warmed to second announcement headliners A Day To Remember somewhat, so I’m looking forward to seeing them with more open ears, and if Mastodon might finally get their live vocals in tune then I’ll be stoked to give them another chance on the stage. No one expected Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Hacktivist are proving that a band can really go places without anything more than an EP and a slick cover, The Dillinger Escape Plan have rejected their frontman’s words about wanting to return on a club tour instead, Satyricon make up the corpse paint contingent, while HIM will keep the mall-goths happy. Devil You Know will be playing their first-ever run of shows – a new band featuring Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), Francesco Artusato (All Shall Perish) and Australian drummer John Sankey (Devolved). I’ve seen some people complain about their addition based purely off the fact that they are a brand new band, but in my opinion I think it’s pretty cool that Australia gets to be the first to see it.
Speaking of Australia, the local contingent has grown significantly – we got Dream On Dreamer, Thy Art Is Murder, Deez Nuts and In Hearts Wake joining the previously announced Nancy Vandal. There’s a third announcement on the way, which is said to be “mostly locals”. King Parrot were confirmed via Aj Maddah on Twitter to at least be playing Melbourne, so with any luck we’ll see them on the full tour. The Bennies also announced that they were playing well before the first announcement even happened, so maybe they’ll be confirmed. Make Them Suffer have been hotly rumoured. Maddah also tweeted that Ne Obliviscaris are an “amazing world class band” that he would love to have on the bill. Aclose source may have mentioned that I Killed The Prom Queen are hotly tipped to play. As it stands we’re looking at around ten or more home-grown acts on the bill for 2014, as opposed to 2013’s four, and one in 2012. Maddah has previously gone on the record to say that Soundwave is not “Australia’s Got Talent”, but it would now seem that the festival’s aim has changed somewhat. There’s definitely been world-renowned Australian acts since popular music began, but it is true that especially within punk, metal and hardcore, Australia really does got talent. Aussie gig goers love to see local bands getting a leg up – despite the fact that they can see them at smaller pubs and clubs. Whatever the reasoning, I am very much looking forward to the third announcement, and salute AJ and Soundwave for a crazy good second announcement, and for getting on board with locals more than ever before.
Buddy Guy’s first Bluesfest appearance was shaky, but each time he has returned he has delivered more than before. His 2012 appearance was nothing short of life-affirming and his live record from last year, Live At Legends, is truly worth getting your hands on. James Cotton is 78 years old; he was Howlin’ Wolf ’s harp player in the early ‘50s and then hooked up with Muddy Waters later that decade. He’s a true blues legend and hasn’t let debilitating throat cancer prevent him from touring hard. Don’t miss him. Booker T Jones played on so many great Stax records in the ‘60s and his latest record is among the best R&B albums of the year – no joke. Add in that unforgettable MGs material and you’ve got one of the true greats. Charlie Musselwhite and Eric Bibb feel almost feel like old friends, though I’ve never met either, and manage to blow me away every time I see them and the return of the North Mississippi Allstars and Candye Kane will have many Bluesfest regulars thrilled. Finally, it’s great to see the great Walter Trout (Canned Heat, Mayall’s Bluesbreakers) making the trek to Australia – his health has been shaky of late, but hopefully a trip to Byron will help put him on the road to recovery.
BUDDY GUY
opinion
ARE YOU LOCAL? BRISBANE SINGLES AND EPS BY CHRIS YATES
BITTER LUNGS THE Urge To Kill... Rising DANGERMEN Independent Gold Coast screamy hardcore merchants are excited about Stephen King’s sequel to his novel The Shining which is called Dr Sleep. Instead of naming it after any of those things they have instead named it after the line in The Simpsons’ Treehouse Of Horror pisstake of Kubrik’s film of the same name. Stephen King hated the movie as I recall, but he probably liked The Simpsons version, and he would definitely like this track. While King may have gotten softer with old age, these dudes are heading in the other direction, with their sound becoming more and more refined it really feels like it’s building up to something exciting.
Everybody/Executive 7” Swashbuckling Hobo The Dangermen come out hard and put some runs on the board before you even put their new seven-inch on the turntable on account of the brilliant cover illustration featuring a bunch of cats and dogs who are partying hard: one of the dogs has overdosed and a cat is smoking a bong. It does an adequate job of setting the scene, with both tracks delivering the party as much as these guys can take it. This is stereotypical Brisbane garage punk, but the reason it’s a stereotype is because these dudes practically invented it. Everybody is the pick of the two tracks, but that could just be because the cat with the bong is on that side.
THE LOOKING GLASS A JOURNEY THROUGH ARTS WITH HELEN STRINGER Here’s a test of your value as a human being. If I started singing “oooo-eee-oooooo, da da da, da dada daaa-dadi da da da” and in response you immediately explained how and why the space time continuum is about to be fucked then we should probably be friends. This would mean that not only were you aware of the malleability of said continuum but also that on 23 November, the BBC will air Day Of The Doctor and – in what
will be the closest Whovians ever get to time travel – will be simulcast worldwide at exactly the same time and date the original premiered 50 years ago. To demonstrate the significance of the event, remember the reaction to Barack Obama’s first term election? This is the nerd equivalent only times 12 million. There’s not a soul in the world who knows what a sonic screwdriver is who will not wake
MAJOR LEAGUES
COLUMBIA BUFFET
Independent
Independent
The buzz for Major Leagues is not without warrant, but it’s quite incredible how much interest they have received before even putting out a proper release. Silver Tides is bathed in all kinds of shimmering indie pop. A super cute pop song heavied up with layers of guitars and watery effects cascading everywhere, Silver Tides avoids falling into a mess of production despite how much is going on.
The guitar riff that opens Shapes could have been lifted from The Replacements when they went a bit more moderate rock towards the end. They actually mention that band later on in the song, so it’s clearly no accident. The lyrics shamelessly reflect on growing up in Queensland and the video follows this cue, alternating between a dude skating around familiar spots and a kid tearing it up to rock’n’roll in his bedroom.
up at whatever time necessary just to ensure they witness what will no doubt go down in history as the best day ever. Any good day you’ve ever had will pale in comparison: Game Of Thrones finale? This is better. Miley Cyrus twerking? Still better.
the greatest, most complex TV character of all time. Behind that childlike exterior is the lone survivor of genocide; a Time Lord whose morals are tested by his love for humanity.
Silver Tides
The uninitiated like to denigrate Dr Who, dismissing it as a children’s show where a strange man runs around abducting females, befriending small children and breaking every rule about the passage of time he’s espoused for the past 50 years. Yes, it should be noted that occasionally writers discover they’ve overlooked some truck-sized holes in continuity, like previous series indicating that the Doctor can only regenerate 12 times after which he’ll actually die. The producers just slipped in a little line that vaguely suggests the regeneration limit is incorrect. Problem completely solved: Doctor Who lives forever. Contrary to popular belief the Dr doesn’t merely walk around wearing a fez and declaring that bow ties are cool; the Doctor is
Shapes
The Daleks may no longer be cool, but who cares about robot Wiggles when you’ve got the weeping angels, those beasts that feed on time energy and can only move when you’re not looking at them? Thanks to Dr Who, the moment I look at a statue I think, “don’t blink”, back away whilst prying my eyes open and repeatedly praying that there are enough people in the immediate vicinity to perpetuate a quantum lock. Anything your average young adult fiction has thought of barely registers a blip on the scary fiction for children radar. And how’s this for cred: the Doctor’s latest companion, Clara, is dating Rob Stark. Eat shit JK Rowling. I’m setting my alarm for 6.50am November 24. I’ll start crying approximately three seconds in. Luckily nobody will notice because I’ll be wearing my voice-distorting Dalek helmet. THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 61
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
THE MUSIC PRESENTS Mullum Music Festival: Mullumbimby 21-24 Nov Patrick James: Black Bear Lodge 27 Nov The John Steel Singers: The Spotted Cow 28 Nov, The Zoo 29 Nov, Solbar 30 Nov Philadelphia Grand Jury vs Feelings: The Rev 5 Dec The Nerve: The Northern 5 Dec, The Tempo Hotel 6 Dec, Kings Beach Tavern 7 Dec Festival Of The Sun: Port Macquarie 13-14 Dec Pond: The Zoo 14 Dec
Half Moon Run: Solbar 2 Jan, Old Museum 3 Jan, The Northern 4 Jan Wire: The Zoo 19 Feb Future Music Festival: RNA Showgrounds 1 Mar Mikhael Paskalev: Alhambra 4 Mar A Festival Called Panama: Tasmania 8-9 Mar Billy Bragg: The Tivoli 20 Mar Steve Earle & The Dukes: The Tivoli 15 Apr Allen Stone: The Zoo 16 Apr
Bonjah: Solbar 28 Dec, The Northern 29 Dec
Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm 27-21 Apr
Woodford Folk Festival: Woodfordia 27 Dec – 1 Jan
KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli 19 Apr
WED 20
Mojo Webb: The Joynt, South Brisbane
Tom Kline: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Open Mic Night feat. various: The Loft, Chevron Island
The Kite String Tangle + guests: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Nathan Pursey: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Jam Night feat. various: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta Locky: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane The Casuarinas: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Jessica Mauboy + Nathaniel: Jupiters ( Jupiters Theatre), Broadbeach Charley Pride: QPAC Concert Hall, South Bank
Tempo Acoustic Sessions with Jye Whiteman + Rene Ranke + Matt Duke + The Deep End: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Lesyah: The Vault, Southport The 6 O’Clock Knock + Hugo Slide + All Out Rescue: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
THU 21
GIG OF THE WEEK BRITISH INDIA: 22 & 23 NOV, THE ZOO
Asher Chapman + Mia Wray + Mark Moroney: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa
The Merrys + Asher Chapman + Ziggy Alberts: Solbar, Maroochydore
Prom Night: Graduation Ball + Rhys Bynon + Scott Cleaver + Sammy Owens + Del Moro + Matt Kent + Six Shooter + The Jock: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Swamp Thing + The Rolling Wheel: The Joynt, South Brisbane
Jabba: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane Jazz QLD 30th Anniversary Party feat. various: JMI Live, Bowen Hills
We The People + Bad Pony + Alaska Homer: The Loft, Chevron Island Ty Fader: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Pete Hunt Quartet: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
The Music Kitchen feat. various: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Ballad Boy: Loving Hut, Mount Gravatt
Jill Scott: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Open Mic Night feat. various: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Madcouch: Queen Street Mall (Visitors Information Centre), Brisbane
Seabellies: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Mark Sheils: Royal George, Fortitude Valley
Holy Holy: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Nila Bonda + Junior Danger + Nikolaine’s Blue Honey: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Moonsorrow + guests: The Hi-Fi, West End
Wild Silk: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Jacques Lu Cont: Oh Hello!, Fortitude Valley
Bjorn Again: Nambour Civic Centre, Nambour
Frazer Goodman + friends: The Vault, Southport Jakarta Criers + Shady Bliss + Sons Of The Morning + Settling: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley Snitch feat. Neck Deep + Trophy Eyes + Malibu Stacey + Hometown Heroes: X&Y Bar, Fortitude Valley
FRI 22
Friends feat. Stonefield + She Rex: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Daylight + Post Blue + Milestones + Deer Lord: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Cosmic Dolphin Party feat. The Babe Rainbow + Salvadarlings + Audun + Rhys Bynon: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Valley Fiesta feat. The Creases + Young Franco + allthingslost + Watch Your Step + Greaves + more: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct, Fortitude Valley Peter Cupples: Gazebo Restaurant, Hotel Urban, Brisbane Trainspotters feat. Bad Vision + Turnpike + Caroline: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane B-Rad + Jabba: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane Rohan & The Staplers: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End DJ Turhan: Love Nightlife, Broadbeach Strings For Ammo + Locky: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Rapskallion + Mzaza: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
The Ocean Party + Nathan Roche + Thigh Master + Dag + Blonde Tongues: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
The Little Stevies: Old Museum, Bowen Hills
Tom Kline: Bon Amici Wine Bar, Toowoomba DJ Jahzen + Massroom + DJ Wintex: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Karm Aggression + Chasing Closure + Commonside + US of OZ: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 62 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
Paul Van Den Hoom: Coorparoo Bowls Club, Coorparoo
Go Van Go + more: Arena, Fortitude Valley
Mikal Cronin + Tiny Migrants + Lovely Legs: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
CARL CRAIG: 22 NOV, BOWLER BAR
Darren J Ray: City Golf Club, Toowoomba
Sonny & The Sunsets: QAGOMA (QLD Art Gallery), South Bank Green Jam Sessions with + RiffRaff: QPAC, Southbank Darren Marlow: Saltbar, South Kingscliff The Willow Seed + Katherine Cooper: Shady Palms, Stones Corner Kingfisha + Noah Slee: Solbar, Maroochydore
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au The Perch Creek Family Jugband + Daniel Champagne: Soundlounge, Currumbin The Slow Riots + Columbia Buffet: The 3unker, Woolloongabba
Lizzard Wizzard + Adnate + The Vanguard Tic + Plainview: Fat Louie’s, Brisbane
Bodyjar + The Sinking Teeth + Luca Brasi: The Hi-Fi, West End
Valley Fiesta feat. Architecture In Helsinki + Dune Rats + Alison Wonderland + Jackie Onassis + Andy Bull + Citizen Kay + The Cairos + Gold Fields + The Swiss + more: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct, Fortitude Valley
Quarry Mountain Dead Rats: The Joynt, South Brisbane
Berst + Locky: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane
Bec Laughton + Bec Whitehead + Lady Grey + Sarah Frank: The Loft, Chevron Island
Kinky Friedman: Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi
Jessica Mauboy + Nathaniel: The Events Centre Caloundra, Caloundra
22 Hotels: The Plough Inn, Southbank Malakyte + Hobo Magic + Gorefield + more: The Sands Tavern, Maroochydore Like Thieves + Bellusira + These Four Walls + Far From Paris: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Carl Craig + Cosmo Cater + Fuzion + more: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley Jazz & Shriaz feat. various: The Vault (4pm), Southport
Bec Laughton: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End DJ Turhan + DJ Luke Peters: Love Nightlife, Broadbeach Alter Egos + Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane DieVsCity + Jackson Dunn + Blest Ozhiphop + 4Fingerdiscount + A-Dubb + Elegal Liquid: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Bjorn Again: QPAC Concert Hall, South Bank
Wayne Foster: The Vault, Southport
Singout Sista feat. Sue Ray + Emily Foster: Queensland Multicultural Centre, Kangaroo Point
Windrest + Mayan Fox: The Waiting Room, West End
Terry Clark: Ric’s (4.30pm), Fortitude Valley
British India + Lunatics On Pogosticks + Fox & Fowl: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Simon Meola + Archie Rye: Saltbar, South Kingscliff
Neck Deep + Forever Ends Here + Trophy Eyes + Sunsets + Let’s Jump Ship + Here’s To Neverland: Trinity Hall (all ages), Fortitude Valley Bjorn Again: Twin Towns, Tweed Heads
SAT 23
Mikal Cronin + Dead Beat Band: Alfred’s Apartment, Broadbeach
Jericco + Breakaway + Barefoot Alley + The Iron Eye: Beetle Bar, Brisbane DJ Nato: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Thriller/Valley Fiesta feat. Tilian Pearson + Dollarosa + Burning Brooklyn + Midwest: Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley Bodyjar + The Sinking Teeth + Luca Brasi: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta FMX Summer Jam feat. The Living End + Pez + Violent Soho + Yacht Club DJs + Dune Rats + more: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Saturday Night + Taya Mills + Giv: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
SUN 24 Rock n Roll BBQ feat. Six Ft Hick + The Chooky + Bad Vision + Hightime: 633 Ann (2pm), Fortitude Valley Kinky Friedman + Desert Blues Cartel: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Canta La Tumba + DJ Solafreq: Cafe Le Monde (3.15pm), Noosa Zac Gunthorpe + Shannon Carrol + Pete Cullen: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Courtyard Day Party feat. David August + Flex Cop + Manesh Magan + Adam Swain + more: Capulet, Fortitude Valley
Valley Fiesta feat. Cub Sport + Paulini + Kingfisha + MKO + more: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct, Fortitude Valley Darren J Ray: GeebungZillmere RSL, Geebung Wasabi + Ragdoll + Mick McHugh: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane Strings For Ammo + Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Astrid & The Asteroids + special guests : Shady Palms, Stones Corner The Strangest Dreamers: Solbar, Maroochydore
Phil Barlow Band: Coorparoo Bowls Club, Coorparoo
Kid Mac: Surfers Paradise Beer Garden, Surfers Paradise
Western Front + Amorina: Dowse Bar (Iceworks) (4.30pm), Paddington
Orphan Ann: The Hideaway, Fortitude Valley
The Hello Morning + Go Van Go + The Floating Bridges + The Strangest Dreamers: Eumundi Live, Eumundi
Caroline Hammond: The Joynt, South Brisbane The Sunday Session with Maybe Logic + Four Zero One Four + Redstarborn + Kip Casper: The Tempo Hotel (4pm), Fortitude Valley
MON 25
Raul Midon: Brisbane Powerhouse (Powerhouse Theatre), New Farm Rob Hackwood Duo: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane
TUE 26
Justin Bieber + Cody Simpson: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall
Woody Lives Here: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane Lauren Lucille: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End The Bug feat. Mama Juju: New Farm Bowls Club, New Farm Ben Kelly & Band: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley Phil Smith: The Scratch, Milton
Kid Mac + guests: Solbar, Maroochydore The Other Side feat. Stonefield + Ash Grunwald + The Vernons: South Stradbroke Island, Stradbroke Island Flavour Machine + Go Go Fish: Southside Tea Room, Morningside Choon Goonz: The Joynt, South Brisbane Claude Hay + Cleveland Blues + Kenny Slide: The Loft, Chevron Island 3 Thieves: The Plough Inn (afternoon), Southbank Rockford: The Plough Inn, Southbank Waax! + The Frail Marys + Go Van Go + The Stiffys + The London Cartel: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Nina Las Vegas: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley Lesyah: The Vault, Southport British India + Lunatics On Pogosticks + Fox & Fowl: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley Jake Nauta: Trinity Hall, Fortitude Valley Stonefield + She Rex: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013 • 63
tour guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
INTERNATIONAL
Whitley: Alhambra Lounge Nov 28, Woombye Pub Nov 29, Coolangatta Hotel Nov 30
Icehouse, Models: Southport RSL Jan 17, Eatons Hill Hotel Jan 18
Jill Scott: The Tivoli Nov 21
Circles: Transcontinental Hotel Nov 29
Hunters & Collectors: Sirromet Wines Feb 2
Neck Deep: Snitch Nov 21, Trinity Hall Nov 22 (AA)
Machine Translations: The Hi-Fi Nov 30
Miami Horror: Oh Hello! Feb 7
Mikal Cronin: Alfred’s Apartment Nov 21, Black Bear Lodge Nov 22, The Northern Nov 23
Closure In Moscow: The Spotted Cow Dec 5, Alhambra Lounge Dec 6
Josh Pyke: Old Museum Feb 15
Moonsorrow: The Hi-Fi Nov 20
MAYHEM: 12 JAN, THE HI-F
Carl Craig: Bowler Bar Nov 22 Sonny and the Sunsets: QAG Nov 22
David Dallas: Alhambra Lounge Dec 19
Justin Bieber: BEC Nov 26, 27 (AA)
Waka Flocka Flame: The Hi-Fi Dec 21
Dale Watson & His Lonestars: Black Bear Lodge Nov 28, Morningside Services Club Nov 29
Ben Caplan: Black Bear Lodge Jan 2
Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing: Waiting Room Nov 29, Real Bad Nov 30, Time Machine Dec 1 City and Colour, Twin Forks: Brisbane Riverstage Nov 30
Half Moon Run: Solbar Jan 2, Old Museum Jan 3, The Northern Jan 4 Babylon Circus: Solbar Jan 3, The Brewery Jan 4, Alhambra Lounge Jan 5
Toby Keith: BEC Mar 14
Colin Hay: The Tivoli Dec 5
Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails: BEC Mar 17
Philadelphia Grand Jury, Feelings: The Rev Dec 5
Sebadoh: The Zoo Mar 23
The Nerve: The Northern Dec 5, The Tempo Hotel Dec 6, Kings Beach Tavern Dec 7
Thirty Seconds To Mars, White Lies: Brisbane Riverstage Mar 30 (AA) 3 Inches Of Blood: Crowbar Apr 10 Steve Earle & The Dukes: The Tivoli Apr 15
Earthless: Crowbar Jan 3
Allen Stone: The Zoo Apr 16
Leonard Cohen: BEC Nov 30
Deafhaven: Crowbar Jan 8
Kataklysm: Crowbar Dec 4
Paramore, You Me At Six: BEC Jan 9
KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli Apr 19
Cave: The Zoo Dec 4 Insane Clown Posse: The Hi-Fi Dec 5 Steel Panther: Riverstage Dec 6 Guitar Wolf: Beetle Bar Dec 6 Passenger: The Tivoli Dec 6, Dec 7 (AA) Taylor Swift: Suncorp Stadium Dec 7
Daughters: Crowbar Jan 9 The Crimson Projekct: The Hi-Fi Jan 11
Michael Buble: BEC May 12
James Blunt: BCEC Jun 2
We Are Scientists: The Zoo Jan 22
Ellie Goulding: BCEC Jun 5 (AA)
Periphery: The Hi-Fi Jan 31
Dragon: Kedron Wavell Services Club Jun 20, Twin Towns Jun 21
The Locust: Crowbar Feb 5
Melvins, Helmet: The Hi-Fi Dec 8, The Northern Dec 9
Selena Gomez: BCEC Feb 6
Deerhunter: The Zoo Dec 9 Muse: BEC Dec 10 (AA)
The National: Riverstage Feb 11
Peter Murphy: The Hi-Fi Dec 10
Ed Kowalczyk: The Tivoli Feb 12
Metric: The Tivoli Dec 11
Wire: The Zoo Feb 19
Sage Francis: The Hi-Fi Dec 12
Eminem: Suncorp Stadium Feb 20
Alicia Keys, John Legend: BEC Dec 13
Kylesa: The Hi-Fi Dec 13 Hopsin: The Tempo Hotel Dec 13, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden Dec 16 Chris Lake: Family Dec 13, Platinum Dec 20
Fleshgod Apocalypse: The Hi-Fi May 14
Misfits: The Zoo Jan 16
Joey Bada$$: The Hi-Fi Dec 7
Bob Log III: Alhambra Lounge Dec 13
KT Tunstall: The Zoo Apr 30 Jason Derulo: BEC May 5
Mayhem: The Hi-Fi Jan 12
Dash Berlin: Riverstage Feb 9
Tumbleweed: The Tempo Hotel Dec 5
NATIONAL
Jessica Mauboy: Jupiters Casino Nov 20, Caloundra Events Centre Nov 22, Empire Theatre Jan 8; Lismore Workers Club Jan 10
King Parrot, Gay Paris: Commercial Hotel Dec 6, Thriller Dec 7 Courtney Barnett: QAG Dec 6 I Exist: Sun Distortion Dec 6 (AA) The Screaming Jets: Eatons Hill Hotel Dec 6, Coolangatta Hotel Dec 7 Birds Of Tokyo: Coolangatta Hotel Dec 11 Guineafowl: Alhambra Lounge Dec 12, Beach Hotel Dec 13 The Tiger & Me: Beach Hotel Dec 12, The Joynt Dec 13, Solbar Dec 14 The Gin Club: Cafe Le Monde Dec 12, Black Bear Lodge Dec 13, The Spotted Cow Dec 14 Gareth Liddiard: QAG Dec 13 Charlie Horse: The Spotted Cow Dec 13, Ric’s Bar Dec 14 Battleships: Solbar Dec 13, The Hideaway Dec 14 Katie Noonan, Abby Dobson: Old Museum Dec 14 Pond: The Zoo Dec 14, The Northern Dec 15
Pete Murray: The Tivoli Feb 22 Kerser: The Hi-Fi Feb 22 (AA and 18 + ) Caravãna Sun: Beach Hotel Feb 28, Solbar Mar 1, Brunswick Heads Hotel Mar 2 Christine Anu: Southport RSL Mar 7, Old Museum Mar 8 Sunnyboys: The Northern Mar 14, 15, The Tivoli Mar 28 Baby Animals: Eatons Hill Hotel Mar 14, Coolangatta Hotel Mar 15, Racehorse Hotel Apr 4, Alexandra Hills Hotel Apr 5 Kate Miller-Heidke: The Tivoli Apr 5
FESTIVALS
Mullum Music Festival: Mullumbimby Nov 21-24 Valley Fiesta: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct Nov 22-24 The Other Side: South Stradbroke Island Nov 23 OzManouche: Brisbane Jazz Club Nov 28-Dec 1 Warped Tour: RNA Showgrounds Nov 29, Coffs Harbour Showground Nov 30 Stereosonic: RNA Showgrounds Dec 7-8
Seabellies: Alhambra Lounge Nov 21
Clairy Browne: The Hi-Fi Dec 19
Dolly Parton: BEC Feb 21
Sal Kimber & The Rollin’ Wheel: The Joynt Nov 21
Tkay Maidza: Alhambra Lounge Dec 19
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: BEC Feb 26
Holy Holy: Black Bear Lodge Nov 21
Joride: Bowler Bar Dec 19
Woodford Folk Festival: Woodfordia Dec 27-Jan 1
The Wonder Stuff: The Zoo Feb 27
Stonefield: Alhambra Lounge Nov 22, Villa Hotel Noosa Nov 23, The Northern Nov 24
Miami Horror: Oh Hello! Dec 21
Falls Festival: Byron Bay Dec 31-Jan 3
Darren Hanlon: Black Bear Lodge Dec 23
Beachlife: Surfers Paradise Beach Jan 4-5
Bonjah: Solbar Dec 28, The Northern Dec 29, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden Dec 30
Boys Of Summer: The Rev Jan 8, Eagleby South School Hall Jan 9 (AA)
Joe Robinson: The Brewery Jan 3, New Globe Theatre Jan 4
Big Day Out: Metricon Stadium and Carrara Parklands Jan 19
Mango Groove: Eatons Hill Hotel Mar 1 Brian McKnight: QPAC Mar 2
Jack Johnson: QPAC Dec 14
Charles Bradley: The Hi-Fi Mar 4
Chic featuring Nile Rodgers: The Tivoli Dec 15
Mikhael Paskalev: Alhambra Lounge Mar 4
Todd Terry: Cloudland Dec 15
Neko Case: The Hi-Fi Mar 5
The Brian Jonestown Massacre: The Hi-Fi Dec 15, The Northern Dec 18
Neil Finn: Nambour Civic Centre Mar 6, QPAC Mar 7
Bon Jovi, Kid Rock: Suncorp Stadium Dec 17
Public Enemy: The Hi-Fi Mar 7
Mac DeMarco: The Zoo Dec 18
Yo La Tengo: The Zoo Mar 11
Bruno Mars: BEC Mar 7
Bodyjar: The Hi-Fi Nov 22, Coolangatta Hotel Nov 23 British India: The Zoo Nov 22, 23 The Living End: Eatons Hill Hotel Nov 23 The Hello Morning: Eumundi Amphitheatre Nov 24 Patrick James: Black Bear Lodge Nov 27
Mi-Sex: Woombye Pub Jan 9, Eatons Hill Hotel Jan 10, Coolangatta Hotel Jan 11
Air Supply: Jupiters Casino Nov 27
Kingswood, Calling All Cars: The Northern Jan 10, The Tempo Hotel Jan 11, Solbar Jan 12
The John Steel Singers: The Spotted Cow Nov 28, The Zoo Nov 29, Solbar Nov 30
Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus: Marquee Jan 11, Coolangatta Hotel Jan 12
Iced Earth: The Hi-Fi Mar 14
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 64 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
The Angels: Harrigan’s Drift Inn Feb 15, Caloundra RSL Mar 28, Coolangatta Hotel Mar 29
Festival Of The Sun: Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park Dec 13-14
Laneway Festival: RNA Showgrounds Jan 31 Soundwave: RNA Showgrounds Feb 22 Good Life: RNA Showgrounds Feb 28 Bluesfest: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Apr 17-21 Groovin’ The Moo: Townsville Cricket Grounds May 4
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the end
ARIA AWARDS PAST AND THE WINNER IS
Australia, of course. The ‘70s had the King Of Pop awards and the ‘80s had the Countdown Awards. In 1987 we got a serious peervoted award. We do miss the ‘70s crowns though.
1987
BEST NEW TALENT Won by New Zealand-led Crowded House.
HIGHLIGHTS Hair. It was the year the guys out-bouffanted the ladies. Best Female Jenny Morris was no match for the winning locks of INXS and John Farnham.
LOWLIGHTS First ARIAs and a clean sweep set up the voting pattern for decades to come. Farnham ‘did a Gotye’ at a time when ‘The Voice’ referred to a less scary concept than now.
HALL OF FAME This was the pre-HoF era so let’s honour a man who has never won another ARIA, Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson.
AND THE WINNER IS The new guard of local rock. Or so it was thought when major gongs went home with You Am I and Dave Graney
1996
BEST NEW TALENT Monique Brumby. The Victorian singer-songwriter beat Human Nature in this category.
HIGHLIGHTS Nick Cave winning Best Pop Release. ‘Twas one of three he won for Kylie collab Where The Wild Roses Grow.
LOWLIGHTS Does anyone still have a copy of Best Comedy nominees The Vaughns’ Who Farted?
HALL OF FAME Australian Crawl and Horrie Dargie were inducted. Both oldies and kids got to ask, “Who?”
AND THE WINNER IS Rebel Wilson. As the award ceremony famously derailed she was the only presenter who owned the mayhem. Consider this her VMAs audition.
BEST NEW TALENT Now known as the Breakthrough award, Washington won over Cloud Control, Tame Impala, the Phillys and Amy Meredith.
HIGHLIGHTS Angus & Julia Stone battled the crowd noise at the outdoor event to quietly thank their pets as they took out every award except…
LOWLIGHTS Best Children’s Album. The Wiggles! Again! Their ninth. So, in 2013, as in 2010, don’t put money on Jay Laga’aia or Justine Clarke, okay.
HALL OF FAME The Church, Models, John Williamson, Johnny Young and The Loved Ones. Respect.
66 • THE MUSIC • 20TH NOVEMBER 2013
2010