right here

DE CE M BE R ED IT IO
N 20 11
2 Editorial – Dave Houchin
57 swan st richmond, melbourne
corner box office 11am - 8pm mon - sat
phone bookings: 03 9427 9198 or online:
www.cornerhotel.com
4 Talking Movies with Margaret & David – Richard Watts
8 In No Particular Order
12 Bee News – Ben Birchall
14 From Archie & Jughead’s to Missing Link: The First Decade of An Institution – Woody McDonald
16 Case File RRR: A Freudian Psychoanalysis of the Lime Champions – Anonymous
17 Triple R Program Guide
21 A Nice Gesture – Superlinguo
22 Headspace – Lauren Taylor and Simon Winkler
24 Festival Fever – Brian Wise
27 The Women’s Room – Karen Pickering
COMING UP AT THE CORNER
. KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS usa . GANG GANG DANCE usa . MUDHONEY usa
. OFF! usa . DIG (Directions In Groove) . FUTURE OF THE LEFT uk . THE DEAD
SALESMEN . DAN AND AL . THE TOOT TOOT TOOTS w. CASH SAVAGE & THE LAST
DRINKS . GEOFF ACHISON and CHRIS WILSON . EASY STAR ALL STARS jam/usa
. DUM DUM GIRLS usa . GROUPLOVE usa . MOUNTAIN MOCHA KILIMANJARO jap
. HANGGAI ch . DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE usa w. JOHN MAUS usa
. TUNE-YARDS usa . THE KILL DEVIL HILLS . TWIN SHADOW usa . WASHED OUT usa
. ANNA CALVI uk . GIRLS usa . GIVERS usa w. PORTUGAL. THE MAN usa
. THE CLOUDS . ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI usa . BLACK LIPS usa
. WILD FLAG usa . ROKY ERICKSON usa . CHARLES BRADLEY usa . ELECTRELANE uk .
see www.cornerhotel.com for more details
28 Underground Resistance – Ennio Styles
32 RRR Photos
34 Incoming Class of 2011 – Anita Nedeljkovic
36 Triple R Off Air – Dave The Scot and Denise Hylands
Editor: Kate Blanchfield
Design: Actual Size
Advertising: Kate Blanchfield
[email protected]
Printer: Bambra Press
TripLE R Staff
Station Manager: Dave Houchin
Program Manager: Mick James
Music Coordinator: Simon Winkler
Administration: Lyndal Peake
Resources and Venue Manager:
Brian Driscoll
Sponsorship & Promotions: Nik Tripp,
Suzie Morris-Ashton, Lauren Taylor
and Sean Simmons
Accounts: Phillipa Overgaard
Reception: Apryl Bjork
Saturday Reception: Tim Thorpe
Production: Archie Cuthbertson and
Dan Moore
IT and Multimedia: Phil Wales
IT Support: Adam Chamberlin
Talks Producer: Rose Callaghan
Live-to-Air Coordinator: Jacinta Parsons
Volunteer Coordinator: Kate Blanchfield
Breakfasters: Fee Bamford-Bracher,
Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
Technical Consultants: Bill Runting and
Rob Wanless
Trip Volunteer: Samson McDougall
Transcribing: Olivia Johnson
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Cover Photograph
Jess Rizzi
Triple R Broadcasters LTD holds an
educational community broadcasting
license and transmits in stereo on a
frequency of 102.7 MHz on the FM band
from Mount Dandenong. The licence is
operated by a Board of Directors made
up of members of RMIT, the University of
Melbourne and representatives of the
station. The Board appoints the Station
Manager to manage the day-to-day
running of the station by a small, dedicated
team of staff and over 100 volunteers.
Triple R Mission Statement
‘To educate, inform and entertain by
drawing upon appropriate community
resources; to develop a critical approach
to contemporary culture.’
COMING UP AT THE NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB
. LOON LAKE . AXOLOTL . THE BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER DEC. RESIDENCY
. NEW NAVY . CARUS THOMPSON & BAND
. FELICITY GROOM . UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
. MUSTERED COURAGE W. THE DAVIDSON BROTHERS
. INNERSPACE W. JESSE MITCHELL . DARREN HANLON XMAS SHOW - SOLO
. THE RECHORDS MATINEE . MONIQUE DIMATTINA
. THE GIN CLUB XMAS SHOW . FLAP! . BOB LOG III USA
. ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER USA . AUSTRA CAN . FIRST AID KIT SWE
See www.northcotesocialclub.com for more details
PLEASE NOTE
Parental discretion is advised. The authors of these articles are adults writing for a largely adult audience.
Where possible we have avoided censorship of the authors and those they’re quoting, so some content may
be of an adult nature and contain expletives.
Program Sponsors
The paper used in the magazine is
Australian made under ISO 14001 EMS
accreditation, using PEFC certified pulp.
Printed using vegetable based inks.
The Gig Guide is sponsored by Coopers, handmade by the Coopers family since 1862.
Smart Arts is sponsored by Cervesas Moritz.
Eat It is sponsored by Hairy Canary and Aperol Spritz.
1
Dear Triple R subscribers,
sounds of summer programming, so
we figured we would just put in a
short-term fill and see what exciting
options might arise.
established and newer programs,
reflecting the diverse range of tastes
and ideas you’ve come to expect.
Editorial
Editorial
Thanks for your support during
Radiothon 2011. Choose Your
Destination was the most successful
Radiothon campaign in the station’s
history – it’s great to know, and
amazing to witness once again, the
level of goodwill the station holds in
the hearts of our listeners!
Our volunteer
numbers swell at
Radiothon time,
so in addition
to the efforts of
our broadcasters,
station volunteers,
and staff the year
round, a massive
thank you must go
to our Radiothon
phoneroom
volunteers who took
all of your calls over
the 10 days.
Our core focus, of course, remains
what’s happening on-air. While Kim
Jirik and Woody McDonald are still
just getting settled back into the
program grid, Brendan Hitchens has
announced that it’s time to wind up
Bullying the Jukebox. Brendan has
been presenting the show since back
in April 2007, and for four and half
Hopefully you’ve
checked out the
website recently and are enjoying
the benefits of our new Radio on
Demand service. If not, you mightn’t
know that you can now listen to all of
your favourite Triple R programs any
time you like. We’ve also introduced
a new interactive track-listing system
on each of the program pages. This
system contains more song and artist
information, and includes images and
videos. Keep your eyes peeled for
further web developments to follow
in the coming months including a
mobile site to access the new website
features on your phone or tablet.
The unofficial summer programming
period offers the station a great
chance to make air-time available
to deserving people and ideas that
we can’t regularly accommodate
Since Radiothon we’ve been busy
running two further series’ of
live-to-air performances from local
artists including Collider, Laura
Jean, Lost Animal, Montero and
RuCL to name a few, plus a healthy
number of performances
from touring artists too – all
made exclusively available to
Triple R subscribers free of
charge. We’ve also been on
the hunt for other subscriber
benefits, offering a plethora
of gig and festival giveaways,
and subscriber-only film
screenings over the last few
months – just to say thanks
for all of your support.
Editorial
years has been supplying the latenight punk and hardcore feast our
diet has required. Brendan started
with Triple R after broadcasting
with Melbourne’s youth station, SYN.
Thanks for all of your work on the
program, Brendan, the show will
be missed.
We haven’t made a permanent
replacement for Bullying the Jukebox
at this stage. Over the next couple
of months a number of our regular
programs will go on hiatus for a few
weeks, to make room for the exotic
throughout the rest of the year
(or who may not be available for
an ongoing show) and is a chance
to experiment with program ideas
without committing them to the
regular grid. The summer grid may
also offer you the opportunity to
hear who else is hanging around the
station, potentially waiting for their
chance to present a regular show in
the future.
Hopefully we’ll see you
down at CERES to celebrate
the start of summer in
char-grilled fashion with
Eat It, Dirty Deeds, and JVG
broadcasting live from BBQ
Day on Sunday, December 4th.
Jenny O'Keefe is a civil celebrant & can make it happen.
For a ceremony that is truly you,
get in touch with Joyful Ceremonies.
Hand-crafted commitments, weddings,
naming celebrations AND memorials.
0434 821 168 [email protected]
www.joyfulceremonies.com.au
Also, the Breakfasters will be closing
out their year with an outside
broadcast from 6 to 9am on Friday,
December 9th.
Take care over the summer months,
have fun, and keep listening.
Dave Houchin
[email protected]
I think the station’s programming
is looking really healthy as we wrap
up 2011 and look forward to 2012,
with a really nice balance of well
PROUD
SUPPORTERS
OF 3RRR
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2
CRUMPLER.COM/DRYRED
By Richard Watts
Over the seven years I’ve been presenting SmartArts on
Triple R, I’ve interviewed some remarkable and amazing
people: filmmakers and actors, playwrights and artists,
puppeteers and carnies. Some of them have been
charming, some difficult, many I’ve been excited to meet,
and one or two I wish I’d never had in the studio in the
first place.
Talking Movies with
Margaret
& David
But of all the hundreds of guests I’ve spoken with over the
years, film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton
are truly in a class of their own.
Australian television royalty and screen culture legends,
Margaret and David are so well known that they no
longer need surnames – like Kylie, they’ve transcended
normal nomenclature.
For a quarter of a century, the pair have amused,
informed and entertained audiences, critiquing films,
trading quips, and occasionally violently disagreeing:
first on SBS with The Movie Show from 1986, and since
2004 on the ABC with At The Movies. Their banter, their
passion for cinema, David’s dry wit, Margaret’s throaty
laugh, her earrings, his loathing of hand-held cameras;
the quirks of this truly remarkable televisual couple as
well known as the pair themselves, are admired.
When they came to Melbourne in mid August to launch the
ACMI exhibition Margaret and David: 25 Years of Talking
Movies, there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity
to interview them; and from the moment I sat down with
them, I was enthralled. What you see on television is exactly
what you get in real life – a raised eyebrow or a rolled eye
from David as Margaret waxes lyrical, a sentence started by
one completed by the other, a gentle disagreement, and a
real warmth and mutual respect.
Happy 25th anniversary, Margaret and David – may
there be many more years to come.
4
Richard: To begin with, how does it feel
to be looking back at your lives in such
a structured way [as this exhibition]
with photographs and video and so on
from the past, really just laying your
lives bare over the last 25 years?
David: Really strange.
Margaret: Yes, it really is almost
surreal that experience, it’s like your
past has come back to confront you,
and with all those bad hairdos…
(laughs)
D: You now say they’re bad, some of
them?
M: No, I mean look, really you change
over the years and I imagine it’s just
that you’re not often confronted with it.
You can look at photographs from the
past but it’s not like moving images.
Moving images have got something
else going for them I think (laughs)
R: So, was there a degree of hesitancy
agreeing to the exhibition knowing
that you would be looking back at
yourselves, looking back at picking your
own faults because you’re both people
with a finely tuned critical facility?
So looking back for example, at old
footage of the show to begin with and
thinking about interviews that went
wrong, thinking about early set design,
was there any nervousness there?
D: I think there might have been
some nervousness, but we were, I
anyway, was so honoured by the idea
of an event like this, that I couldn’t
have possibly said no to it. It is a
wonderful thing that ACMI has done.
So even though I knew there would
be moments when I would feel like
disappearing through a hole in the
wall, it was worth it.
M: I didn’t even think about it, I mean
you can’t regret those things, they
were all part of the development of
where we are now. I mean it wasn’t
always perfect. We’re not perfect
(laughs) but it’s interesting seeing
the process and as I say, you’re not
often confronted with what you were
25 years ago in such a way so that
everybody else can see it too (laughs).
R: Continuing on from the process of
reflection I wanted to ask with some
of the many, many film reviews you’ve
done over the years, have there been
occasions when you’ve gone back
and revisited a film that perhaps you
originally gave five stars to, or one star
to, or even no stars to in some cases,
have you ever gone back and revisited
any of those films and changed your
opinion of them dramatically?
D: I quite often revisit five star films,
or four star films, or even three star
films, not so often two and one or
zero, but I have to say I don’t know how
this sounds but I have to say I don’t
think I have ever changed my view.
What really surprises me when I look
at some of the notes I wrote when I
was very young, when I was about 12
years old, which is about the time when
I started writing, basically they’re not
that, I mean they’re not well written,
and they’re not very interesting, they’re
sort of very basic, but…
M: They’re most probably very
opinionated (laughs).
5
D: Well they are, and they’re not that
far off the mark, if I see those films
again. So I must say, on one of my
regular trips to JB HI FI, I just picked
up a 1951 film with Tony Curtis and
Piper Laurie called The Prince Who Was
a Thief, which I have not seen since
1951, and I’m very curious to see what
it looks like now because I thought it
was very cheesy in 1951…
and you come back here and you’re
trying to sort them out in your head
and you think, ‘Okay, I really do need to
see that again.’
M: It sounds like it’s going to still
be cheesy…
D: Well, I do take notes but they’re no
good because I can never read them
afterwards (laughs). If I’m at a festival
and seeing four or five films during the
day, I tend to get up early in the morning
and the first thing I do is to write the
notes of the films I saw the previous
day. So I include all things like the
running time, which is why I always stay
to the end because I need to know the
running time so that if, when it opens in
Australia, it’s a different running time,
we say, ‘Ah hello, there’s something
funny going on here’. I write quite a long
review, I would never use that review
as it stands later on, but at least it has
all the things that impressed me or I
want to remember, not necessarily well
written but just there so that I can refer
to that when I do have to review the
film (which might be anything up to a
year later). So there’s enough there that
it brings it all back to me. So I do that
assiduously.
D: I think it’s still going to be
pretty cheesy…
M: To tell you the truth, I don’t have
much time to revisit films. David
is much more a compulsive film
viewer than I am. He gets withdrawal
symptoms if he doesn’t see at least
one movie a day. He went to Alaska for
a holiday and you know it’s the search
for the town with the cinema. But I
don’t think that I have, I mean you
might change and think something’s
not quite as good. I didn’t think
American Beauty was quite as good
as I subsequently think it is. Looking
at something and thinking, ‘No, it’s
actually better than I thought it was’,
maybe those sorts of things happen,
but not very often.
D: I think you find new things every
time you see a film again.
M: Well decent ones, absolutely.
D: Probably bad ones too, but I think
there’s always more to discover
because on one viewing you can’t
really take everything in, I don’t think.
M: No, I mean that’s the disadvantage
of being a film reviewer or a film critic:
that you get to see a film once and
you’ve got to write something based
on that experience, when in effect it
would be much better, and I do if I can,
to see a film twice. Particularly films
that we’ve seen at overseas festivals:
we might see fifty films in ten days
6
D: But that’s why I write the notes that
I do. You don’t do it in quite the same
way as I do, do you?
R: So, you sit in the cinema taking
notes in the dark?
M: He does. I don’t do it quite so
assiduously but when you do it, it’s the
right thing to do.
R: Given the sheer number of films you
would see, an average of what, five or
six films a week?
M: At least I would say.
R: Are you still fans of film? Or is it
possible to be both a critic and a
devotee?
M: I don’t think you could do this job
without maintaining the passion,
really, because there are too many
bad films around and you have to
sit through them. So you have to
have that expectation every time the
lights dim, that you’re in for a good
cinema experience. I just think you
would go crazy if you didn’t have that
enthusiasm for film.
R: Over 25 years there have been some
memorable disagreements on-air
between the two of you, do you think
you disagree more or less now, over
that extended period of time, now that
you’re clearly much more comfortable
with each other, you know each other
well and you have a very strong
chemistry, are you free-er to disagree
more or more vehemently?
D: I don’t know, when we have had
a disagreement it’s always been a
genuine one, I mean we’ve never
manufactured disagreements for the
sake of making interesting television
or anything like that. What you see is
very much what you get.
M: I can’t remember the film now, but
David said in the discussion (he was
more dismissive of the film than I was),
‘Can I get a word in edgeways?’ and
I went, ‘No!’ and boy did the viewers
respond! I got rapped over the knuckles
for that one I can tell you! But I most
probably wouldn’t have done that ten
years ago. Maybe there is that ease
of the long-term relationship that is
making me go over the edge a little
bit on occasions (laughs). I don’t know,
what do you think?
D: I don’t know either. Luckily you don’t
do that sort of thing very often. I’m
trying to think what the film was, but I
can’t – you were pretty bad (laughter).
R: Margaret, I recall seeing a quote
from you somewhere a couple of years
ago that said you may go a bit softer
on Australian films than foreign films
out of a sense of support for the
local industry, was that an accurate
representation of stance?
M: Pretty much. I think you only have
to be around to know that films are
made with a great deal of commitment
and passion in this country and they’re
really, really hard to get up, they’re
really hard to make, and they don’t
have the publicity budget that the
big American films do. They are really
suffering at a disadvantage in our
marketplace. To tell you the truth I
would rather see an Australian film with
Australian landscapes, Australian stories,
Australian accents, that’s mediocre than
a mediocre American film. It’s always
going to have that edge for me, the fact
that it is Australian, that it represents
something that resonates within me,
even if the story isn’t that great or the
performances aren’t that great, there’s
something in it for me. It’s terribly
important for me to have a film industry
in this country. I want to see Australian
films up there on the screen.
R: Do you think it does the audience a
disservice by going soft on Australian
film, in that they go in with higher
expectations?
M: Oh come on, you know, I mean
alright you go and spend a little bit of
money on a film that you maybe don’t
think is so great, I mean there are
worse things in the world. Our industry
needs supporting, it needs Australians
to go and see it.
D: Margaret, see I think this is not
a simple thing. I share with you the
feeling that I actually prefer... I look
forward to, Australian films probably
more than I do most American films,
or many American films, but I think,
you say that it doesn’t cost much to
buy tickets, but it does. I mean, cinema
tickets are expensive, especially if
you’re going out with a couple. It
wasn’t expensive when I was young
and I could go and see a lot of stuff,
but today it is expensive and I think
there is this thing that as much as we
want to support the Australian film
industry, which we both do, I think at
the same time, as reviewers, we do
owe it to our viewers to give them
an honest opinion and that’s a hard
line to straddle, it’s a very hard line
to straddle. I must say I think we both
really try to do it. We’ve both said
negative things about Australian films.
One of the most difficult reviews I ever
had to do was a film by Paul Cox, who’s
a wonderful filmmaker and someone
that I know well and am very fond of,
but he made a film called Salvation
which I didn’t like and you know, you
sort of have to call it how it is.
M: I don’t think that I say this is a five
star movie when it’s a one star movie I
don’t think say that…
D: No you don’t.
M: …but I try to be gentle with
Australian films. I’ve got a passion
for it, I need it and I sort of think
everybody else shares that passion but
obviously they don’t.
R: Something else you’re both very
passionate about and have been for a
long period of time, as well as cinema
in general, is opposing unnecessary
censorship of film. David, the clip that’s
included in this exhibition for example,
of you on This Day Tonight from 1967,
and just next to that we have a sample
of your ASIO file, were you aware at
the time that ASIO were keeping tabs
on you?
D: No, of course not. No I wasn’t at all. I
don’t know whether they were keeping
tabs on me because I was making a fuss
and causing some strife over censorship.
I mean the thing about that was that in
those days, in the mid-1960s censorship
was secret. Nobody knew what was
happening – if the distributors had a
film cut they weren’t going to advertise
their film saying, ‘You are seeing an
abridged version of Bonnie and Clyde,’
of course they wouldn’t and the censors
were not obliged to say anything either,
so nobody said anything. When I arrived
in this country from Britain where the
censorship situation – I mean there
was censorship in Britain, but it was
very different, and organised differently
from the way it was here – it just got
up my nose what was happening here:
the fact that some of my favourite films
like Charles Laughton’s wonderful film
The Night of the Hunter or Bunuel’s
Viridiana (which had won the Palme
d’Or in Cannes) Godards, À Bout de
Souffle (Breathless), I mean one of the
most seminal films of the period was
banned. Those films were banned in
this country, I could not believe it and
what I couldn’t believe either, was that
nobody was talking about it, nobody was
saying anything about it. The Director
of the Sydney Film Festival at the time,
who I challenged when I went to my first
Sydney Film Festival and saw films that
I had seen in England with great hunks
cut out of them, his attitude was, ‘Oh
well, censorship’s a good thing, it stops
us having to see…’ It was an amazing
attitude and it got me angry, really
angry. So yes, I started making a fuss. I
managed to persuade the Sydney Film
Festival to take a stand against this and
not only on behalf of the Festival but
also on behalf of the general public. I, as
a cinemagoer, wanted to see Bonnie and
Clyde in its full version, I wanted to see
The Wild Bunch in its full version, not the
abridged versions that were shown here
originally. I also said that this should be
public, people should know what they’re
missing out on. So yes, that probably got
me noticed by the government, I didn’t
think about that at all and I certainly
had no idea that ASIO was keeping a
track on me going to the Soviet Embassy
in Canberra. I went to get a visa in order
to attend the Moscow Film Festival. I
don’t know how I would have felt had
I known at the time, that people were
taking photographs of me leaving the
Embassy. I don’t know how I would have
thought about it but I didn’t know. I
didn’t know for years afterwards until
someone said, ‘You should check on this
through Freedom of Information.’ That
was the way things were then, I mean,
things were very, very, very different
then. I think if anybody asked me what
I’ve achieved in my career, I think one
thing would be the censorship fights
that we had in the ‘60s and early ‘70s,
which led to the introduction of the R
rating in 1971. The other would be the
programming of great films on SBS for
many years.
R: Margaret, you too have been
very vocal in opposing censorship,
the banning of Ken Park being a
prime example.
M: Yes, that was most unfortunate. I
am certainly one of the people in this
country that believes that adults should
have the right to read and see and
hear what they want – they deserve
to be treated like adults. I think most
people want to make up their own
mind. I think they need information
about what they’re likely to see so if
there’s content that they might object
to, you know language, sex, violence
whatever, they can make a decision for
themselves not to go and see it.
R: An informed choice.
much more common, we’ve seen VHS
now DVD now Blu-Ray, where do you
think cinema will be in 50 years time?
D: 50 years that’s a long time.
R: Well perhaps even another 25 years.
D: Even that, I don’t know. I won’t be
around to see it I’m sure.
M: That shared experience, I think is
really important. You know being able
to sit in a cinema with a whole lot
of other people who are preferably
not talking or eating noisily. To have
that common experience, that public
experience, of a movie, I think is unique
and you’re not going to get it just
sitting at home with your own fabulous
home cinema system. I’ve got my
fingers crossed that cinemas still exist
and that great films are still made.
D: I think cinema may be on the level
of theatre now: a much smaller, more
specialised kind of thing that people
will go, hopefully, to the cinema… but
mostly people will see films on iPhones
or whatever iPhones are in 50 years
time, who knows?!
M: We’ll be seeing it on a postage
stamp sized thing and think we’re lucky!
M: Yes. Exactly. The whole issue of the
Internet and access to material on the
Internet, I mean it’s an explosion, it’s
uncontrollable and even a classification
or a board is not going to be able to
deal with it. But what I think they can
deal with, is to give as much advice as
they can about content so that people
are actually warned.
D: They’ll be implanted into our brains!
(laughter) Downloaded images into
our brains!
D: Without giving away too much of
the plot. Sometimes some of those
advisory things will reveal things about
the plot you know ‘suicide themes’ you
know, come on! That’s a key point in
the film! Don’t give it away!
M: It’s amazing isn’t it?
R: Just a final question. Cinema has
changed enormously over the last 25
years, digital projection has become so
R: Well it’s been a pleasure speaking
to you both, thank you very much for
your time.
M: Thank you
R: And congratulations on 25 years.
D: Thank you Richard, it’s been very nice.
Richard Watts presents SmartArts,
Thursdays 9am-12pm. You can hear
the full interview via the Audio Archive
section of the Triple R website –
rrr.org.au.
7
In No
Particular Order…
Favourite things from the year 2011
Lauren Taylor and
Simon Winkler
Breaking and Entering
Mondays 4-7pm
Here's a list of our favourite tracks
from the year…
Gang Gang Dance – ‘Mind Killa’
Shabazz Palaces – ‘An Echo’ /
‘Are You... Can You... Were You...’
The Horrors – ‘Still Life’
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
(the whole record)
Dream Kit (Faux Pas remix) –
‘Cosmic Strut’
Annette Party ft Anita Coke –
‘Moreno’
Young Montana – ‘Sacre Cool’ /
‘Suchbeats’
Oscar and Martin – ‘Recognise’ /
‘Do The Right Thing’ / ‘Oyster’ /
‘Chain Maile’
Little Dragon – ‘Brush The Heat’
Joakim – ‘Forever Young’
Ne Noya – ‘Ne Noya’ EP
(Daphni remix)
Twerps – ‘Dreamin’
Adele/Jamie xx – ‘Rolling In The
Deep’ (Heatwave refix)
Jamie xx – ‘Far Nearer’
Lost Animal – ‘Buai Raskol’ /
‘Sundown’
SBTRKT – ‘Pharaohs’
Mo Kolours – ‘Bakiraq’
HTRK – ‘Eat Yr Heart’
Metronomy – ‘The Look’
Maria Minerva – ‘These Days’
Part Time – ‘I Wanna Take You Out’
8
Nicole Jones
Local &/or General
Mondays 8-10pm
Fee B-Squared
Breakfasters
Weekdays 6-9am
It's been a great year for Australian
music, with many artists offering
free downloads of their tracks
online. Lucky us! Here are my top 11
free local downloads of 2011.
My ‘Doing-Top-10-Lists-Makes-MeVery-Punchy’ Top 10 (or so) instead
of or maybe 15 Albums Of The Week
so far… and did I mention I hate
doing lists?
Bare Grillz – Bare Grillz
bare-grillz.bandcamp.com
Adalita – Adalita
Yes, I love Adalita and Magic Dirt, so
when Adalita put out her debut
solo effort, I was bathing in sweet
anticipation and quiet nervousness.
How would it compare, if at all? This is a
beautiful, raw and contemplative album
with a heart resting unabashedly on it’s
gorgeous album sleeve.
Lower Spectrum – ‘HHHH’ EP
lowerspectrum.bandcamp.com
Yes/No/Maybe – ‘Enough Germs to
Catch Pneumonia (ILL)’ EP
yesnomaybe.bandcamp.com
Terrible Truths – ‘Terrible Truths’ 7"
terribletruths.bandcamp.com
Peak Twins – ‘I'm Out’ EP
peaktwins.bandcamp.com/album/
im-out
New War – ‘Ghostwalking’ 12"
fastweapons.bandcamp.com/album/
ghostwalking-12
Danger Beach – 'TV Glow’
(TV Colours cover)
soundcloud.com/danger-beach/
danger-beach-tv-glow-tvcolours
Andrew Sinclair – Evil Summer
andrewsinclair.bandcamp.com
Dro Carey – 'Promothug'
soundcloud.com/ramprecordings/
dro-carey-promothug
Guerre – ‘Darker My Love’ EP
yespleaserecords.bandcamp.com/
album/guerre-darker-my-love
Dip – 'Dreams'
soundcloud.com/diptracks/dreams
Laura Jean – A Fool Who’ll
I honestly believe Laura Jean is still,
to this day, an incredibly underrated
Australian talent. Adding an electric
guitar to her folk sensibilities and
personal tales was totally inspired.
With the incredibly talented (and also
underrated) Jen Sholakis and Biddy
Connor forming the trio, this album is
a freaking joy.
Royal Headache – Royal Headache
This was a no brainer for me really, for
a number of reasons. It’s a bit
fo-fi, rough and honest. Count me in!
Unknown Mortal Orchestra –
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
As soon as I heard this album, I got
a happy on. There’s something fun,
summery and shimmering about its
vibe.
Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
While everyone was banging on about
Tyler, The Creator, former ‘cool like
dat’ rapper from the Digable Planets,
Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler, changed
his name to Palaceer Lazzaro, got a
little cooler and darker as Shabazz
Palaces, and wrote a stack of tracks
with weird titles. ‘An Echo From The
Hosts That Profess Infinitum’ is one of
my favourite tracks this year.
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Ah Polly Jean. The end.
J Mascis – Several Shades of Why
Debut solo album love. Sometimes
less is more.
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx –
We’re New Here
So Jamie xx seemed to be everywhere
for a while, which was not a bad thing,
particularly on this album. It makes
me happy somehow that ‘bluesologist’
Gil Scott-Heron was introduced to a
whole new audience just before his
passing in May this year, largely due
to the release of this album.
The Orbweavers – Loom
Marita Dyson and Stuart Flanagan
write about some of Melbourne’s
history in the most gorgeous of
ways. Seeing them live is a treat too,
especially when Marita regales us with
tales between songs. She will charm
the gloweave shirt right off you.
The Black Angels –
Phosphene Dream
At first you think, ‘Bong on man,’ but it
really is way more refined than that.
James Blake – James Blake
I’m surprising myself here because
I’ve chosen a few very mellow albums
and I tend to bore easily when things
are too mellow. This just has some
really beautiful singles that even I
can’t deny.
Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine
Chazwick Bundick is one funky dude.
Jeff The Brotherhood –
We Are The Champions
Teeth & Tongue – Tambourine
Crystal Stilts –
In Love With Oblivion
Alicia Sometimes
and Lorin Clarke
Aural Text
Wednesdays 12-2pm
Sweet reads of 2011.
Anna Funder – All That I Am
(Lorin)
I went off reading fiction for a while. I
figured there was sufficient, real-life
stuff about which I was thunderously
ignorant and that it would be reckless
to replace that ignorance with
anything other than cold hard facts.
There's a horrifying inevitability to the
events that take place in this book (all
based in reality) but the characters
propel you to the end, at which point
you put the book down and feel like
you've learned something about
history by accident. The perfect result.
Sophie Cunningham – Melbourne
(Alicia)
Is Melbourne really a city that lives in
its head? Read this book on a tram
or at Marios whilst wearing black. It
is the cultural attaché you absolutely
need to carry with you.
Rosalie Ham – There Should Be More
Dancing (Lorin)
A weary but witty and deeply
suspicious elderly woman deals with
getting old and coming to terms
with her family's hidden histories.
Some lovely writing and quiet little
observations about people and talk
and what goes on in Brunswick.
Gig Ryan – New and Selected Poems
or
Cate Kennedy – The Taste of River Water
(Alicia)
Both collections of poems rock it. Both
are a must have.
Anything by Dave Barry
(Lorin)
An American humorist, Dave Barry
writes about his kids, his dogs and the
ludicrous things he reads in the paper.
He won a Pulitzer. He also has a band
called The Rock Bottom Remainders
with Stephen King, Amy Tan and Matt
Groening. He once made me laugh
cake onto a lady on the tram.
Miles Vertigan – Life Kills
(Alicia)
Pop culture terrorism and delicious
bubblegum horror. Takes place on
a plane, I read it on a plane. You do
the math.
Alan Bennett – Smut
(Lorin)
A dreadful title designed to test
even the most loyal Bennett-lover.
Nevertheless, these are two beautifully
crafted stories about the same things
Bennett stories are usually about:
class, social expectations, elderly
ladies being more interesting than
we think they're going to be, and, as
always, crushing embarrassment.
Nicki Greenberg – Hamlet
(Alicia)
Vacillating has never been so cool.
Drawn exquisitely. Greenberg is so clever.
Christos Tsiolkas – The Slap
(Lorin)
I know, I know. I'm a bit slow. Whatever.
I'm having heated conversations
with myself around the water cooler
about it.
Dave Graney – 1001 Australian Nights
or
Tina Fey – Bossypants
(Alicia)
1001 Australian Nights for the longest
sentence you’ll ever read. It is a super
ride with loads of long musical tales.
To get inside of Tina Fey’s head is a
treat. I want to go to there.
Cameron Smith
Eat It
Sundays 12-1pm
You can get a lot of gadgets and
fluff for the kitchen (avocado slicer
anyone?) Here are 10 things you
can't do without.
Knives
The interface between you and your
food. I prefer stainless steel as it’s a
whole lot less hassle. There is a saying
that you only cut yourself with dull
knives, I know this from bitter (and a
bit of bloody) experience.
Chopping Board
There has been a move towards poly
boards, I prefer a nice big wooden
board (no bigger than your sink
otherwise it's a real hassle). Your
knife has a much nicer feel on wood
compared to plastic, which seems to
grip the blade. For goodness sake do
not buy a glass board for cutting.
Microplane
One of those ‘what-ever-did-we-dobefore’ inventions. Leaves those old
four sided graters in their rusty dust.
Zesting citrus fruit, grating things like
nutmeg, cheese – all super easy.
A Modern Non-Stick Frying Pan
Good ones aren't cheap and
they won't last as long as our
aforementioned ‘super pot’ but they
work so well.
The Tree of Life
Equal parts the most stunningly
beautiful home movie ever made,
and to 2011 as 2001 no doubt was
to 1968.
Square Griddle Plate
I love using my little square griddle
plate. There are a lot more expensive
options but I picked mine up from
Victoria Street. for next to nothing. It's
a fantastic way to cook various meats
and grill mushrooms and veggies like
asparagus.
At MIFF:
Peter Tscherkassky
A wonderfully urbane, droll and
generous festival guest whose
masterclass in the techniques and
philosophies underpinning his
unique brand of dark-room voodoo,
alongside screenings of his incredible
CinemaScope trilogy, delivered a clear
highlight of the 2011 MIFF.
Sharpening Stone and a Steel
Some think that a sharpening steel
will put an edge on a dull knife. Oh
no! That's what you need a stone for.
The steel will only hone a knife that
already has an edge. They make a
dynamic duo that you can't do without.
Thermometers
I reckon you need two: one for
roasting to tell you exactly where your
roast is at and one so you can do the
occasional deep frying with safety
and control.
Lastly, a good wine glass (filled) for
your friends to toast you while you
produce your latest culinary triumph.
One word of advice, make sure it’s
all metal construction. There are
some that have the metal grater
surrounded by plastic. This will last
about a year and then snap. There will
be tears.
A Good Peeler
I know it's a bit of an indulgence
but hey, I reckon you're worth it! The
difference between cheap peelers
and a nice one is amazing. They feel
good in the hand and are a beautiful
thing to use.
Cerise Howard
Film Reviewer on
SmartArts
Thursdays 9-12pm
A Silicone Basting Brush
The wonder plastic for the kitchen.
Makes basting a roast soooo easy,
also doubles as a pastry brush.
In Release:
Snowtown
A forthrightly harrowing, nasty, nasty,
nasty piece of work. Astonishingly
accomplished.
A Nice Big Stainless Steel Pot with a
Good Thick Bottom
A good one will last a lifetime. How
else are you going to make those
fabulous stocks, soups and stuff.
Personal screen cultural highlights
for the year to date.
I Love You Phillip Morris and
Bridesmaids
By quite some margin, the two
greatest comedies released in
cinemas in Melbourne this year.
Surviving Life (Jan Švankmajer)
and Fruit of Paradise
(Věrá Chytilová, 1970)
MIFF pandered to my Czechophilia
this year (and how!) with the singular
new feature by legendary Czech
surrealist animator Jan Švankmajer
back-to-back with one of the more
free-form and beautiful highpoints of
the Czechoslovak New Wave.
The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr)
An epic piece of transcendental
miserabilism, with long takes, if you're
like me, to die for. (And if you're not,
perhaps instead to die from… of
boredom.) An exquisitely beautiful
account of the most hardscrabble of
lives eked out amidst a wind storm in
the middle of nowhere. It was parodied
by one of this year's MIFF trailers equal
to the task. (Geoffrey Rush in codPolish, and with relish: ‘I have peeled
one potato.’)
Las Palmas
(Johannes ‘Puppetboy’ Nyholm)
Ingenious and absolutely hilarious. A
baby, cast as an appallingly behaved
tourist, does its inexorable utmost to
terrorise the stoic marionette staff of
a beach resort bar...
Documentary:
Autumn Gold
Wonderful. An inspirational and
very funny doco about elite geriatric
athletes and the rivalries between
them in the lead up to an Olympiad
for the elderly in Finland!
Extra-Cinematic Good Times:
Visiting Bruges
After adoring Martin McDonagh's In
Bruges (2008), this was a necessary –
and wholly enjoyable – pilgrimage.
A bonus: there's quite the range of
Belgian beers to be sampled there...
The Macula
I've only recently got hip to the
amazing world of video mapping.
Czech outfit The Macula are perhaps
the standard-bearers, and their
projections upon Prague's Old Town
Hall in celebration of its Astronomical
Clock's 600th anniversary this year
form a jaw-dropping AV tribute to the
six centuries to have passed before
its clock face. Find it on YouTube and
be amazed!
Mark Eisenberg
Politics segment on Spoke
Tuesdays 9am-12pm
Top 10 political moments of 2011.
At Home with Julia
This year saw our Prime Minister made
to feel less-than-welcome on the Alan
Jones Show, and was filmed looking
like a bit of a dill waiting outside the
First Bloke’s shed. At least she wasn’t
portrayed as having had sex while
draped in the Australian flag.
There Will Be A Carbon Tax
Despite the rhetorical best efforts
of Tony Abbott, the ‘Ditch the Bitch’
rally, and that Cate Blanchett ad,
the carbon tax made it through
Parliament. Look for the sky to fall
from July next year.
There Won’t Be A Malaysia Solution
Against the government goliath,
David Manne’s successful High Court
challenge put the kibosh on offshore
processing of refugees. And perhaps
the career prospects of Julia Gillard.
K-Rudd 2.0
This year saw the return of Kevin
Rudd from a leaky heart valve to his
scheming, smarmy, sneaky, leaky-tothe-media best. Beware Julia, just as
with The Terminator, K-Rudd 2.0 could
be better than the original.
9
Wayne Swan
Crowned Euromoney magazine
‘Finance Minister of the Year’,
Treasurer Wayne Swan’s win was
reminiscent of Brad Hardie snagging
the 1985 Brownlow medal.
The Greens
In July this year, The Greens, for the
first time in their history, gained the
Senate balance of power. Now, for the
first time in their history, they will be
held to account for their policies.
Marrickville
Marrickville, NSW was the heated
scene of a Greens candidate proposal
for a boycott of Israeli-made goods. At
the State election, a majority of locals
voted for the right of Max Brenner to
occupy their territory.
News of the World
When the News of the World scandal
rocked Britain, our government took
this as the opportunity to threaten
Murdoch newspapers with a media
inquiry. Despite this, the Murdoch
press continued to perform its Fourth
Estate role of serving up a whole lot
of right-wing attitude. And Phillip
Adams on weekends.
Osama Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden, the world’s mostwanted terrorist, was found in his
Pakistan hideaway compound with a
large cache of weapons and a sizeable
porno stash. The Health Services
Union denied use of their credit card.
The Arab Spring
First it was Tunisia, then Egypt and
Libya. While it is still unclear what the
eventual outcome of the ‘Arab Spring’
revolutions will be, expect Gaddafi’s
female bodyguards to find gainful
employment with Silvio Berlusconi.
Neil Rogers
The Australian Mood
Thursdays 8-10pm
This year has seen a stack of great
Australian albums being released –
so much so I couldn’t do anything
less than a ‘Top 30’! (Adalita, Ron
Peno, Jordie Lane, Twerps, Geoffrey
O’Connor to name a few). Therefore,
I thought I would compile a
different list: 10 albums that may
have fallen through the cracks that
I think are worthy of a revisit.
10
The Garden Path – Take It All Back
Formed in Adelaide in the mid-‘80s,
they released three albums – all
packaged up in this 2CD reissue. Great
‘60s-inspired, moody, jangly pop/psych.
Cockfight Shootout – Asleep In Exile
Local band that have released the
best stoner/hard rock album that I
have heard this year.
Fred Smith – Dust Of Uruzgan
Canberra based singer-songwriter
who was one of the first foreign
diplomats to go back into Afghanistan.
Very powerful lyrics and great folk
based songs.
Fourteen Nights At Sea –
Fourteen Nights At Sea
Local band that have released a
beautiful deluxe 2 LP set of sonic
instrumental sounds.
All India Radio –
The Inevitable Remixes
Martin Kennedy, never happy with the
band’s first album, has revisited and
remixed it. Amazing ambient sounds
with the odd bit of beats thrown in.
Young Modern –
Live At The Grace Emily 22/12/10
Great pop band that formed in
Adelaide in the late ‘70s, re-formed in
2007 for a new studio album and now
have released a terrific live recording
that captures the band in fine form.
Iwantja – Palya
New band from the northern part of
South Australia. A really diverse album
with a mixture of rock, reggae, hip
hop, blues, but it all hangs together
incredibly well.
Wendy Saddington &
The Copperwine – Live
Aztec music have reissued this very
hard to find album that was originally
released in 1971. Wendy is a fine
blues/soul/rock singer and song
interpreter – one of this country’s best.
Dom Mariani – Popsided Guitar
Fine double album collection of
Dom’s work with The Stems, DM3, The
Someloves, Majestic Kelp etc.
Tracy McNeil – Fire From Burning
A wonderful collection of folk based
tunes from a great singer-songwriter.
Richard Watts
SmartArts
Thursdays 9am-12pm
From theatre to cabaret, circus
to cinema, there’s a lot of art to
ingest in Melbourne every year. It’s
impossible to get to everything (I’m
still kicking myself for missing Back
to Back Theatre’s Ganesh vs The
Third Reich) but here are just some
of the highlights of 2011.
Circus Oz – The Blue Show
Back in January, Melbourne’s iconic
Circus Oz regaled audiences with an
‘adults only’ take on their usual larrikin
tricks as part of the Midsumma
Festival. Sexy circus up close in a
Speigeltent? More please!
Save For Crying
This remarkable production at La
Mama – written and directed by
Angus Cerini – was a compelling
exploration of the marginalised and
the monstrous. The best piece of
independent theatre I’ve seen all year.
Sunstruck
A collaboration between
choreographer Helen Herbertson
and designer Ben Cobham as part of
Dance Massive, Sunstruck – ‘a poetic
elegy for light, dance and sound’ –
was simply sublime.
New Art Club – Big Bag of Boom
From the sublime to the gloriously
ridiculous, Big Bag of Boom
was inspired, side-splitting
stuff: contemporary dance as
comedy, performed by two trained
choreographers and presented at
the Melbourne International Comedy
Festival. Absolutely brilliant.
Nederlands Dans Theatre I
In July, the Dutch troupe acclaimed as
the best dance company in the world
came to Melbourne for an exclusive
season at the Arts Centre. Suffice to
say, they lived up to the hype.
Le Gateau Chocolat
Headlining the second annual
Melbourne Cabaret Festival, this
literally larger than life Nigerian born,
English-raised performer seduced his
audiences with his wit, warmth and
remarkable baritone. Drag has never
been sexier, or more exciting.
Big hART – Namatjira
Regular SmartArts listeners would
know that it’s not uncommon for me
to cry in the theatre, but rarely have
I been so affected by a work of art as
by this soulful, significant work at the
Malthouse about Indigenous artist
Albert Namatjira.
Bunny
Comedian David Quirk played it
(relatively) straight in this dark
suburban drama written and directed
by Benjamin Cittadini and presented
as part of the Melbourne Fringe
Festival. A stripped back, hyper-real
play about masculinity, loneliness
and desire.
Room 328
On paper, this immersive theatrical
response to drunken violence on the
streets of Brisbane sounded earnest.
In real life, it was exhilarating. Keep
an eye out for a new work by the
creators of Room 328 at the 2012
Next Wave Festival.
Aftermath
This documentary theatre work from
the USA about the impact of invasion
on ordinary Iraqis was achingly good,
and definitely my 2011 Melbourne
Festival highlight.
Steve Cross
Beat Orgy
Saturdays 6-8pm
10 Tracks for 2011.
Lost Animal – ‘Lose The Baby’
Been holding out for this since Jarrod
Quarell used to perform it live with
St Helens. Something desperate
and perhaps not entirely socially
acceptable is going on here, and the
narrator’s world offers no options.
Quarrell should be writing novels.
Dick Diver – ‘Head Back’
Just when I’m thinking there’s no hope
for the aged body of the Velvets, early
Go-Betweens, Modern Lovers, Flying
Nun sound, Dick Diver slouch in from
the frayed edges of the Melbourne
‘scene’ and breathe joyous life in to it.
The Field – ‘Is This Power’
With one foot on the dance-floor and
the other in the clouds, Sweden’s Axel
Willner blithely envelops out-of-body,
ketamine flavoured techno in a woozy,
off-kilter My Bloody Valentine haze.
Scores bonus points for the massive
Jah Wobble-esque bass line.
Salem – ‘Till The World Ends’
Maybe I’m over intellectualising, but
in disassembling Britney’s hit these
Michigan degenerates wikileaked
the actual ‘Dance while Rome burns’
relationship between the vacuous
state of American pop and the
apocalyptic cornerstones of US foreign
policy. Also sounds great loud.
EMA – ‘California’
Perhaps a little sonically trapped in
the ‘90s but EMA’s total dedication to
long, slowly unravelling, linear songs
(disregarding choruses, middle eights
and solos) makes her kinda irresistible
to me. Think Patti Smith’s ‘Birdland’
set amidst the suburban meth plague.
the
I
blues
train
q
J
UI
Stag Hare – ‘Lavender Raven Tears’
My golden rule for 2011: don’t trust
artists in face paint, claiming to have
been raised in the wild and ascribing
spiritual value to their work. They
mainly sound like the Thompson Twins.
Stag Hare made me a hypocrite.
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Twerps – ‘Who Are You’
Something of a sibling to Dick Diver,
sharing musical bad posture, mumbled
social ineptitude and a lazy distain.
Oh and great songs and deceptively
wonderful arrangements, singing and
playing (i.e. sounds a little sloppy but
I’d bet it’s anything but).
Eternal Tapestry and Sun Araw –
‘Night Gallery III’
Cameron Stallones jams (yeah, really)
with like-minded Portland types,
drawing a line back to La Monte
Young and John Cale’s pre-Velvets,
drone-fests in NY lofts in the mid-‘60s.
Stallones plays keyboards and flute
(normally I’m flute intolerant), Eternal
Tapestry infuse narcotic guitars.
1 steam train
Dinner & show
Dirty Beaches – ‘True Blue’
Owing a huge debt to Alan Vega,
Dirty Beaches mutates a hybrid of
late night ‘50s Americana through a
vintage car radio playing on a dark
highway in a David Lynch movie. Plus
he has immaculate hair. What’s not
to like?
Trouble Books and Mark McGuire –
‘Floating Through Summer’
Emerald’s guitarist collaborates with
like-minded fellow Ohio duo, drawing
a line back to Harmonia and Eno’s
(healing) crystal voyaging in Forst
in the mid-‘70s. Meditative, warm
and interwoven. ‘Jams’ was the most
abused term of 2011, here it’s entirely
appropriate.
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b
By Ben Birchall
There's a buzz in the air, and it's not
just the bees gathering at the top
of a stop sign outside the swimming
pool. A crowd of people stands around,
keeping a polite distance from the
cluster of bees.
Looking up at the clump of insects,
I'm thinking, 'Of course, it’s swarming
season'. I'm thinking, 'Probably some
hipster who got a hive to go with his
penny-farthing doesn't know how
to manage the bees.' I’m thinking,
'They'll just scoop this swarm into a
container and as long as they get the
queen, they'll stay there happily and
will probably be re-hived safely.' I'm
thinking, 'Well, isn't that a good sign for
this season – in the face of threats to
biodiversity, the extra rain has brought
quite a few swarms this season.'
And then, I'm thinking, 'How the hell do
I know so much about bees?’
The answer is Bee News.
I read the news on Breakfasters and
every morning, the last story in the
6.30am bulletin is about bees.
It started as a joke. Every morning, we
come in, we check the news wires and
we compile the news that is relevant
to the RRR audience. In June and July
2010, there was a lot of news about
bees. A LOT.
I thought it must have been a slow
news week, and that the lazy media
were reaching for anything, ANYTHING
to write about. Bees. Please. So I
did the story in what you might call
a 'mocking tone'. The next day, I did
12
e
it again. The next day, another. I was
on a roll. A hilarious roll. The listeners
must have been loving my witty view of
the world. My droll take on the media
making a mountain out of a beehive.
Which is when we received this email:
------------------------------------------------From: Gordon <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 5.55 PM
Subject: The Honeybee
To: [email protected]
Hi Guys,
Although I'm fast asleep when this
happens, I have been told that you are
discussing the plight of the honeybee
without giving it the appropriate level
of gravity.
I can't tell you how to run your show,
but I think you should do some
research before mocking this issue.
Thanks. Otherwise love your show.
Cheers,
G.
------------------------------------------------I scoffed at the email. 'Mocking' the
'issue', Gordon? Please. I was making
light of the lazy media. Lighten up
Gordon. Lighten up. Before I sent
him a faintly condescending reply, I
thought, I might actually… you know…
do some research. So I looked it up.
And it turns out it was an issue. It also
turns out it was news.
The first big story was Colony Collapse
Disorder. CCD is exactly what it sounds
like – when whole colonies simply die.
e
In the northern winter of 2007/2008,
36% of hives in the US simply
disappeared. And it’s not just the US.
In 2002/2003, 38% of Sweden’s, 36%
of France’s and 20% of Germany’s bees
disappeared. In November 2007, the
UK’s farming minister told parliament
that the entire British bee population
could be gone in 10 years.
The cause is still a matter of great
conjecture. Mobile phone signals are
one cause thrown up. Industrialised
beekeeping is blamed in the US, where
hives of bees are hauled around in
trucks to pollinate crop after crop –
avocadoes one week, almonds the next.
Changes in climate have been cited;
smog and other forms of pollution;
pesticides used carelessly.
But the general consensus seems
to be a confluence of all of these
factors. And all of these factors seem
to be man-made. We have caused
CCD. Put simply, bees are a story of
climate change, conservation and the
collision course we are on with reality.
They’re the modern canary in the cage.
Increasingly, they’re tits-up at the
bottom, legs akimbo.
So what does it matter if bees
disappear? No honey? No biggie. How
about no avocadoes? How about
no carrots? Or nuts? Or peaches?
Or apples? Or basically anything
except for wheat and rice? Because
bees pollinate one in three of every
mouthful of food we eat. It’s an
industry that’s worth $60 billion a
year globally. With global food security
looking shakier than ever, our future
might very well rely on bees.
news
The second big story was the Varroa
mite, a microscopic bug that feeds on
bee blood. Touted as a possible cause
of CCD, the mite moves into a colony,
feeds on the larva, lays eggs, causes
deformities within the population and
eventually kills off the hive. One UK
beekeeper came up with an ingenious
solution – sprinkle the hive with icing
sugar. Bees are meticulously clean
creatures. Sprinkle them with harmless
sugar and they will clean it off, eating
the microscopic mites at the same
time. It also provides a handy food
source for the bees. Genius.
The Varroa collided with local
news earlier this year when it
was announced that the Federal
government had decided to axe the
Asian Honeybee Eradication Program.
Asian honeybees are known to carry
Varroa, and were discovered in Cairns
in 2007. Apparently they came in a
hive on the mast of a yacht. Since
2007, they have spread inland as far
as Inisfail and there was a program in
place to find them and knock them out
before they spread further south. The
program cost less than $10 million
and was aimed at preventing losses
to the Australian plant industry worth
between $21.3 million and $50.3 million
a year over the next 30 years. The
government decided to call it off. That
was until the beekeepers got involved,
descending on Canberra and serving
a morning tea replete with delicious
honey products. The government
changed its mind (with help from
Greens senators) and the program
was saved.
That was a big week.
And that’s without getting into the
funny stuff. Like Lisa Schluttenhoffer,
the US Honey Bee Queen in 2010.
Lisa wore the crown with dignity,
travelling to agricultural fairs and
schools to talk about bees and
the honey industry. Her successor,
Teresa Bryson, seems to be doing
a fine job, but her name isn’t
particulary funny.
So now I know a lot about bees. I
know that they have an amazing
sense of smell and can be trained
to detect explosives in a fraction
of the time it takes to train a dog
to do the same job. I know that
they’re excellent filters, and we can
read air pollution from the levels
in their honey – they do this at
German airports. I know that bees
do something called a ‘waggle dance’,
waggling their tiny behinds to show
the rest of their colony where food
sources and safe nesting places are.
So thank you, Gordon. You made me
dig deeper into the world of bees
and made me realise that they are
news – you can listen in to hear
Bee News most mornings at 6.33am.
Ben Birchall presents Breakfasters
along with Fee B2 and Jess McGuire
Monday-Friday, 6-9am.
At the Breakfasters end of year OB (Dec
2010) Ben performed a song he called
‘Buzz Buzz Ohio’: his ode to Bee News.
Here are the lyrics so you can sing it
yourself. He’s also annotated it so you
can fully understand his lyrical depth!
13
From
Archie & Jughead’s
to Missing Link
By Woody McDonald
The First Decade of An Institution
3
1
2
The importance of the independent
record store is on par with venues and
community radio: pillars of our music
community. The past decade has seen
the majority of our iconic stores close.
From Hound Dogs Bop Shop to Central
Station, Raoul, Au Go Go, Gaslight,
Synaesthesia, the list goes on.
4
7
5
6
1. Keith Glass at Archie & Jughead’s 1977
4. Archie & Jughead’s 1977
7. Paper record bag
2. Archie & Jughead’s – Manchester Lane,
Christmas 1971
5. David Peperell and Keith Glass 1974
3. Keith Glass in the original Archie &
Jughead’s shop – Metropole Arcade 1971
14
6. 40th Anniversary of Archie & Jughead’s/
Missing Link Records
The closure of music venues has
been a hot topic of late. The story
went beyond the band scene to
become a mainstream concern.
Rallies, newspaper front covers and
documentaries ensued. Some lost
the battle, whilst some notable cases
such as The Tote, fought back and
won. Public outcry played no small part
in this. The ‘people passion’ for the
issue was astonishing. So it comes as
a surprise that another battle – that
of the independent record store – is
fading out quietly.
Photos courtesy of David Pepperell
It was terribly sad to see each of these
stores close, but for me, personally,
there was none more disappointing
than when Missing Link ceased
operations (in it’s current incarnation)
on October 7th, 2011. An institution for
underdog music, after 33 years in the
biz, is no longer.
Missing Link went far beyond being
just a retail store. It was the first
dedicated ‘import’ store in Melbourne.
It was a place to make friends, form a
band and whatever extreme style of
music you were after, chances are they
were the only ones who stocked it.
I planned an on-air tribute to the store
earlier in the year. As part of it I spoke
with its founders Keith Glass and David
Pepperell. Glass called from his new
home of Mobile, Alabama while Pepperell
drove across from his bayside home.
It is impossible for me to tell you the
definitive Missing Link story. Between
the two conversations I racked up a few
hours worth of material, no-one checked
the facts but here is a little paraphrased
history of Missing Link and it’s founders.
The Beginning
Melbourne in the mid-’60s was hipper
than most Australian cities thanks to
one man – the legendary DJ Stan Rofe.
That’s the story I’m told by those who
grew up on Stan ‘The Man’ playing the
then obscure American R&B on 3XY.
There was Thomas’s and Discurio, the
granddaddies of indie record stores
in Melbourne. To start a record store
you applied to the record companies
and they dictated what you stocked. It
was chart hits only, sold right next to
the toasters.
The beginning of Missing Link was 40
years ago and it was in the form of the
store Archie & Jughead’s. Two fanatics,
Glass and Pepperell figured they knew
every ‘good’ record on the market. If
one didn’t know it, the other would.
Glass had recently starred in Hair
the Musical and used the money he
earned to rent a spot in what was the
Metropole Arcade off Bourke Street
for five bucks a week.
They ordered records appealing to
the untapped ‘youth’ market. Glass’s
next-door neighbor wrote for The
Sun. He wrote a story the day they
opened and by close they didn’t have
a record left. I imagined racks of
Beefheart, Velvets and Stooges. But
as they both pointed out, what the
majors disregarded back then were
also quite mainstream sounds, like the
burgeoning singer-songwriter scene
(Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and James
Taylor were an early specialty for
them). ‘Prog’ was in and A&J’s might
have been the only place a local stoner
could pick up the new Yes gatefold LP.
There’s Youtube footage of them being
interviewed for GTK where you can spot
John Coltrane’s Sun Ship next to The
Kinks’ Something Else. They were the
first to stock David Bowie and blasted
Hawkwind loud in the store while other
stores refused to play rock.
It wasn’t long before every record
company threatened them with legal
action. Claims of them failing to meet
import laws didn’t get them to court,
nor did their range of illegal live
bootlegs. Their only court appearance
was hilariously due to the supposed
copyright infringement of displaying
international record company logos
on record sleeves. The court ordered
them to put black marks over the
logos and they could go on selling the
imported discs.
They became friendly with another
young guy in the UK who loved
bootlegs and krautrock who owned a
similar store called Virgin. His name
was Richard Branson and he asked
them if they wanted to distribute
his first label release. The record
was Tubular Bells – they went on to
distribute the album across Australia.
According to Pepperell they made
quite a lot of money in their prime. He
estimates somewhere around a few
hundred thousand per year by today’s
standards. He talks of an excessive
lifestyle fit for a rock band of the day.
Other stores caught up with the sound
of the young ‘70s and soon the hippies,
folkies and prog rockers had other
options. The name Archie & Jughead’s
had symbolised the goofy, hippy days
and they felt it needed a change. They
began trading as Dr Peppers as their
audience began to shift.
1978 – Beginning of Missing Link,
Store, Label and Punk Rock
One thing that kids loved but the
mainstream didn’t was punk and as
Dr Peppers turned into Missing Link, it
became the flagship store for punk rock
in Melbourne. The name came from
Oz ‘60s heroes The Missing Links, the
ultimate Australian cult band and proto
punks themselves. They also started a
label, issuing records on the Missing
Link label with #001 being ‘Too Drunk To
Fuck’ by Dead Kennedys. They released
local punk groups and local pressings
of cult overseas bands. Pepperell had
been chatting with two guys named
Nick and Mick who needed a drummer
for their band. He suggested the guy
that worked upstairs at the hairdressing
salon – Phil. It was Phil Calvert and the
band was the Boys Next Door (later
Birthday Party) who Glass went on to
manage and Missing Link released.
Ron Rude, Go Betweens and Laughing
Clowns found their early homes on
the Missing Link label while seminal
records by The Residents, X Ray Spex
and Young Marble Giants were issued by
them locally. When the local Virgin office
passed on Flying Lizards’ robotic take
on ‘Money’, it ended up as a Missing
Link top ten hit. While tough punk and
hardcore sold a ton, Glass gives the
impression his customers were also
keen on the weird stuff: post punk,
reggae, early goth sounds. I can imagine
The Ghost picking up a Cabaret Voltaire
record for his first graveyard some time
around then.
They offered to pay Bruce Milne the
same wage he got on the dole and he
became the guy out the back, ordering
the records. At the time Bruce was also
doing radio at 3RRR as well as the Fast
Forward fanzine. Music was his life 24/7
and he couldn’t have been happier:
flicking through early catalogues from
Rough Trade and wondering, ‘What do
the Raincoats or Swell Maps sound like?’
At this stage, Pepperell grew
disheartened by their increasingly
narrow audience and soon left the store
solely to Glass to run.
By the early ‘80s Missing Link was well
established – the punk rock one-stop
shop. Glass had worked for a decade
straight – building the shelves, taking
buying trips, dealing with customers and
fighting record companies. The punk
rock ‘nihilism’ had become tiring as theft
became commonplace and customers’
tastes narrowed even more. Glass loved
Elvis and Sex Pistols. There was a past
and he dug it as much as the present.
The punks knew nothing before ‘77.
The way Pepperell described the ‘70s
sounded like any music fan’s dream
life but he also suggested it lead to an
excessive and exhausting existence. On
top of the store, the label took time and
money, especially as they began to invest
heavily in the recordings of the acts they
signed directly.
Glass took his young family on holiday to
Noosa. As he sat on the beach, he realised
he had absolutely no ability to relax. He
was constantly thinking about the store.
Upon his return he decided to sell the
store to Nigel Rennard, who owned the
store until it was sold in the merger with
Collectors Corner earlier this year.
After Glass, Missing Link continued to
be Australia’s number one store for
punk rock, expanding as punk became
everything from grindcore to ska-punk
and moving away from punk in the
2000s back to its original vision of the
‘best of all genres’ kind of store.
The name Missing Link was finally
retired after 33 years (40 if you count
Archie & Jughead‘s). However the store
will continue in some form as Collectors
Corner-Missing Link open a new shop on
Bourke St.
After leaving Missing Link, David
Pepperell started a ’60s retro store
before working everywhere from
Discurio to the first Virgin Megastore.
He tried retail again with an ill-fated
jazz store in the mid-‘90s. He is now
retired and mostly listens to bebop.
Keith Glass had a country music store in
Elsternwick for a while. He continues to
play music and lives in Alabama, mostly
buying and selling records.
Woody McDonald presents Primary
Colours on Mondays, 2-4pm. You can
find his Missing Link special via the
Audio Archive section of the Triple R
website – rrr.org.au.
15
Case File RRR
By Anonymous
We know them from their
outrageous antics on a Monday
night between 7 and 8pm but how
much do we really know about
Lime Champions stalwarts
Damien Lawlor and Josh Earl?
On first meeting, ‘cute’ might be an
adjectival impulse, or ‘charming’, or
‘sweet’ but underneath that ‘butter
wouldn’t melt in their mouth’ façade
lies the minds of men who find
enjoyment in the ridicule of their
fellow Triple R broadcasters. Perhaps
you’ve heard Simon Winkler’s GPS,
or the Breakfasters ‘Um’ skit, or
Luke Pocock's looped laughter and
his program re-edited to highlight
errors, EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
A Freudian Psychoanalysis
of the Lime Champions
Josh
Damien
After great investigation, I tracked
Damien's mum, Judy Lawlor, down
at her home in Nunawading. The
sweetness of our conversation
over the phone couldn’t hide her
obvious pain. Here was a woman who,
through sheer determination, raised
her three boys to be upstanding
Australian citizens. When pressed
to describe the moment her son
changed from a sweet, loveable child
who had a stick collection called ‘stick
collection’ and an imaginary friend
called Beebutz, to the comedian we
know him as today, there was one
16
So, where do men who have
imaginary friends, stick collections,
a violent dislike of vegetables and
propensities to harass a Nana, leave
us? It leaves us with victims. Victims
who, week in, week out, are subjected
to ridicule. And if I have learnt
anything from Law and Order, I know
victims have a right to be heard:
Victim Impact Statements:
Ben Birchall: Um...being...um...I
guess...’celebrated’ on...um Lime
Champions has....um...been a real...
what would you call it...wake up call...
um...about my broadcasting. I...um....
would like to thank...um...Josh...and
Damien....for their...um....um....
Week in, week out they target
and stealthily prey on another
innocent broadcaster.
So what motivates two seemingly
pleasant men to rob the
aforementioned innocence from their
fellow community broadcasters?
Inspired by the brilliance that is CSI:
Miami I set about to construct their
psychological profile. Freud would
attest that all the answers lay with
their mothers.
teenagers. But Josh decided to
leave a message on Nana’s lawn
that had neighbours and strangers
alike tooting and beeping at poor
Nana Beryl. ‘Merry Christmas’ was
brazenly cut into the lawn and
mowed into the comedy history
books. Josh had had his first taste.
incident that stood out. It was year
11 and Damien had a presentation
at school, the details are now a
little sketchy, but when Damien
opted to use an inflated oversized
‘comedy’ hand as a prop (which was
eventually cut off), Judy admits that
the little boy who loved wearing his
lederhosen never came home.
Josh’s mum, Lyn Earl, was a little
harder to track down, but I found
her just before her aerobics class
in her hide-out in Burnie, Tasmania.
As the conversation warmed up, the
similarities between the two master
criminals began to add up. Like
Damien, Josh was a lovely young
man and like Judy, Lyn was none
the wiser that Josh would one day
come home and tell her he was a
‘comedian’. Except for an outright
denial of vegetables, that if required
to eat them, would involve large
bouts of ‘sooking’, the exterior life of
Josh seemed ‘normal’.
His obsession with dressing up as
Mr T, Mr Squiggle and Dame Edna
Everidge seemed normal, even
natural, but it was again another
early brush with comedy that
sealed Josh Earl’s fate as a funny
man. It was around Christmas
and Josh had been asked to help
his sweet little Nana Beryl by
mowing the lawn – a simple and
possibly treasured task for most
Simon Winkler: Being on Lime
Champions has opened me to
previously unimagined careers,
including being one quarter of
currently inactive experimental
proto/post-everything act Broken
Local Enter Generals and being a
GPS voice.
Luke Pocock: ....lowering the bar
even further every episode.....
Nicole Jones: I have followed the
Lime Champions with Local &/or
General on Monday evenings since
2009. Over this time, The Lime
Champions have ruined my life.
They once told listeners that I butt
cigarettes out on people's eyeballs
and that I reek of heroin. Now, no-one
talks to me at Triple R events. I blame
the Lime Champions.
4pm: KINKY AFRO
7pm: THE HEATHER’S ON FIRE
6pm: BEAT ORGY
12 noon: EAT IT
The Leng special, a mixed bag of musical
sweets and treats.
Karen Leng
To set the heather on fire is to cause
excitement, whether you are at home for the
night or getting ready to go out after the
working week, The Heather’s on Fire will bring
you an eclectic mix of music to heat up your
evening. Old and new, of home and afar we’ll
guide your weekly grind to a halt and get your
weekend off to a blazing start.
Dave The Scot
Cosmic slop from the wrong side of the
tracks. Verdant sounds from the long grass
in witchood. Strawberry statement straight
from the bop gun.
Steve Cross
Food for thought: recipes, hints and tips,
interviews and a market report.
Cameron Smith and guests
7pm: MAX HEADROOM
Live-to-air replays, interviews, specials and
program features.
Rotating presenters
8pm: THE AUSTRALIAN MOOD
Two hours of Australian music, playing the
best of the new releases and the best from
the past! Plus feature interviews, news,
views, reviews, in studio performances,
as well as regular guest Jeff Jenkins (InPress).
Neil Rogers
10pm: SON OF CRAWDADDY
Blues and its roots!
Max Crawdaddy
10pm: TOP BILLIN
Representing the best of local and
international Hip Hop. First Friday of every
month highlights the best of the Australian
Hip Hop scene. Interviews, freestyle sessions
guest sets dropped Melbournes best DJs.
Sheriff Rosco and Lee Rawls
Midnight: The City Rises
8pm: Hellzapoppin'
Tune in to Hellzapoppin’ for two hours of wild
vintage and neo-vintage toe tappers. Swing,
Jump Blues, RnB, Rockabilly and more.
Eli Schoulal
10pm: Livewire
A show that celebrates live gigs past, present
& future. Featuring relevant births, deaths &
marriages. From local pub debuts, through to
major stadium tours, and everyone in between.
Pauly P, Genny B and Nereaders Digest with
a rotating cast of thousands
1pm: DIRTY DEEDS
Talking all matters horticultural in unique
Triple R style and taking your calls seeking
green fingered advice.
Digga, Olive, Laurel and the Dirty Deeds team
2pm: JVG RADIO METHOD
A personally biased, thematically blended
hotchpotch. 2.30pm: Fuller Shit: Keith Fuller
pontificates. 3pm: Warner Corner: Dan Warner
delivers a thematically appropriate ditty. 3.304pm: Live Action. e: [email protected]
Jonnie Von Goes
4pm: DELIVERY
All instrumental, locally focussed, genre jumping
sounds to soothe the soul and clear the head.
Owen McKern
Talkback discussion on a large variety
of subjects with a series of experts
encouraging an exchange of viewpoints.
Headly Gritter and DD
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Traipse the neon-lit dance-floors of the imagined
future and the transcendent come-down of
cosmic after-parties from Musique Concréte to J
Dilla, Model 500 to Flying Lotus, Theo Parrish to
Floating Points, Maurizio to Burial and beyond...
The City Rises: Music for Future Souls.
Rambl, Martin L, Dan Dare and guests
FRIDAY
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
SUNDAY
Explorations of musical worlds, multi genre
clash, deconstruction, live mixes, and all
musical colours and palettes thrown onto the
radio canvas.
Jonathan Alley
SATURDAY
6am: VITAL BITS
8pm: TO AND FRO
Music that's so laid back it's almost horizontal.
Occasional guests and each week Monique
diMattina writes a song based on a listener's
concept.
Tim Thorpe
Cosmic esoterica, warped psych/folk,
vocoder chiptunes, haunted house, protodisco and Journey.
Dave Slutzkin and regular guests
10pm: NOISE IN MY HEAD
9am: RADIO MARINARA
Noise in My Head is a weekly freeform sonic
excursion that seamlessly time travels from the
fragile dawn of Earth, to an industrialised era of
weeping machines. Committed to uncommon
grooves rarely heard on the airwaves, Noise
In My Head digs deep with regular mixes
and interviews from various Australian
and international artists, DJs, label heads,
compilation selectors and record collectors of
unknown and well-respected renown.
Mike Kucyk
Midnight: FRANK
Sinatra to Zappa skirting the Middle East to
the MidWest.
Hugo Spiceland
6am: BREAKFASTERS
Music, news, sport, weather, information, special
guests and regular segments each morning.
7.35 Surf with Andrew Hanson 7.45: Touch My
History 8.15: Monthly segments: Superlinguo
with Georgia Webster / Total Eclipse of the Art
with Henry Wagons 8.45: Dave’s Shed with
Dave Lawson
Fee B2, Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
9am: ON THE BLOWER
Brunch dahling? Shut up, I’m on the
blower. Talkback RRR style, music freestyle,
presentation Tony Biggs style.
Tony Biggs
12 noon: STYLIN’
Ennio Styles searches for the connections
between spiritual jazz, earthly rhythms,
future funk science, headnod soul and raw
club beats. Occasionally he succeeds.
Ennio Styles
2pm: FAR AND WIDE
New British and European independent guitar
and dance releases, news and interviews.
Steve Wide
4pm: SKULL CAVE
The Ghost who talks, interviews, previews
and reviews. All the platters and chatter that
matter. Segments: 6pm The Quiz.
Stephen Walker
6:55pm: GIG GUIDE
6am: Vital Bits
Features Paul Harris with Film Buffs Preview,
regular visits from Namila Benson and
Elizabeth McCarthy, 'Bike Bits' with Marcus
Walker, and 'Dirt' (gardening and life on the
land) with Bohdan. The odd musician also
drops in and regales us with a chat and a tune.
Tim Thorpe
Midnight: THE PARTY SHOW
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Music program featuring a weekly special
with news, interviews, reviews and regular
local and overseas correspondents including
Billy Pinnell.
Brian Wise
The team continues the great Marinara
tradition of bringing you a quirky but
informative look at all that is marine. Get to
know all things wet and salty.
Bron Burton, Dr Beach, John Ford,
Anthony Boxshall, Dr Surf, Dave Speller
and Angeline Tew.
Plus regular segment presenters
Jeff Maynard and Hilary McNevin.
12 noon: FILM BUFF’S FORECAST
10am: RADIOTHERAPY
9am: OFF THE RECORD
The cutting edge of contemporary and
historical cinema/film, TV, video, laser disc
reviews, plugs, local and overseas guests.
Paul Harris and Team
2pm: TWANG
Alternative country and roots influenced music.
Denise Hylands
4pm: THE Drift
Left-field jazz, global sounds and avant-pop.
The Drift explores the intersections of jazz,
ethnic and improvised music. Follow the
unpredictable traces of traditional and
improvised sounds through the modern music
that they've inspired and informed. Rather
than attempt to pin down origins, definitions
and derivatives, The Drift chases the rhythms,
timbres and moods of jazz, improvised and
traditional music. In the words of James
Brown, ‘what it is, is what it is.’
Kim Jirik
Explores the lighter, more eccentric side
of medicine. A team of irreverent doctors
lampoon sacred medical cows, and shed
light on a range of medical and psychiatric
conditions with special guests from around
Australia and the Globe.
The team includes Dr Mal Practice,
McZiff, Dr Malice, Dr SK, Annabolics,
Dr Autonomy, Backman, BulkyBill,
Deep Thought, Retina and The Tallman.
6pm: UNDER THE SUN
Midnight: Summer programming
New presenters trying out new show ideas
until April.
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
11am: EINSTEIN A GO-GO
Dissection and discussion of science and
science issues made digestible for public
consumption.
Dr Shane, Dr Andi and additives
PROGRAM GUIDE
Dec—Mar 2011-12
PROGRAM GUIDE
Dec—Mar 2011-12
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
6am
6am
BREAKFASTERS
VITAL BITS
VITAL BITS
Music, Talk, News & Guests
Saturday Morning Coming Down
Sunday Morning Coming Down
RADIO MARINARA
9am
9am
Marine, Surf, Environment
THE GRAPEVINE
SPOKE
detour
SMARTARTS
ON THE BLOWER
off the record
RADIOTHERAPY
Talkback – RRR Style
Music & Interviews
Medical Issues
EINSTEIN A GO-GO
10am
11am
Science
12pm
ROOM WITH A VIEW
RMIT Media Studies Students
1pm
ZERO G
Banana Lounge
Broadcasting
AURAL TEXT
Spoken Word & Performance
get down
STYLIN’
Soulsonic street grooves
Sci-Fi
2pm
Primary colours
The Good, The Dub
& The Global
NEW & GROOVY
ALL OVER THE SHOP
Groove & Funk
FAR & WIDE
British & European Pop & Dance Music
Releases
EAT IT
FILM BUFF’S
FORECAST
Food For Thought
Film Interviews & Reviews
DIRTY DEEDS
TWANG
Alternative Country & Roots-Influenced
Music
12pm
1pm
2pm
JVG RADIO METHOD
Thematic Music Selections
4pm
4pm
Breaking and
Entering
set it out
INCOMING
KINKY AFRO
SKULL CAVE
The Drift
DELIVERY
Jazz & Global Rhythms
Australian Instrumental
gig guide
gig guide
6pm
7pm
arts diary
arts diary
gig guide
gig guide
Lime Champions
THE ARCHITECTS
BYTE INTO IT
MAX HEADROOM
LOCAL &/OR GENERAL
Superfluity
New Oz Music
Archipelago of Sound
THE INTERNATIONAL
POP UNDERGROUND
THE AUSTRALIAN
MOOD
Worldwide indie-pop
Interviews & Retrospectives
8pm
gig guide
the heather’s
on fire
BEAT ORGY
UNDER THE SUN
8pm
Hellzapoppin’
TO & FRO
10pm
10pm
RESPECT THE ROCK
No Way Back
Riffs‘n’Licks
12am
MUSICALLY
INCORRECT
O’Tomorrow
The Golden Age
of Piracy
thanks and praise
SON OF CRAWDADDY
TOP BILLIN
Blues & R‘n’B
Hip Hop
FRANK
Metal
2am
THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Music all night
The City Rises
Livewire
NOISE IN MY HEAD
THE PARTY SHOW
summer
programming
Discussion & Talkback
With Special Guests
12am
2am
MONDAY
6am: BREAKFASTERS
Music, news, sport, weather, information, special
guests and regular segments each morning.
7.15: Tom Elliot with Finance
Fee B2, Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
9am: the grapevine
Discussion and interviews on topical issues
from the community Grapevine. Including
the monthly on-air bookclub with Josh Earl
and Paula Kelly, local koori and national
indigenous news, guests with a green
perspective and DIY goodness with a
tapestry of crafty types. Plus a weekly Heads
Up on local happenings and regular live
performances for Day Job, where
musicians talk about life on and off stage.
All stitched together with a mixtape of music.
Kulja Coulston and Donna Morabito
12 noon: ROOM WITH A VIEW
Student pieces and music.
Presented by RMIT media students
1pm: ZERO G
Science Fiction, fantasy and historical. Popular
culture, TV, books, magazines & toys.
Rob Jan
2PM: PRIMARY COLOURS
The punk rock family tree. Heroes, nobodies,
punks, hippies, winners and losers; tunes
from the grave and nuggets from now. Small
label releases, re-issues, etc.
Woody McDonald
4pm: Breaking and Entering
Like a trend forecasting futurist from the
land of tomorrow, Breaking & Entering is
focused on the new and the next. Current
and upcoming music releases across a
broad range of genres are played and
reviewed, and relevant, related material
from the past is also featured and
discussed. Interviews, live performances,
and guest dj selections form part of the
mix as well.
Simon Winkler and Lauren Taylor
6:55pm: ARTS DIARY
7pm: Lime Champions
A stylish sketch radio program for men
and women.
Damien Lawlor, Josh Earl and Libby Gott
8pm: LOCAL &/OR GENERAL
Quality, new Australian music program
focusing on local emerging artists, with
interviews, live in-studio performances
and regular guests.
Nicole Jones
10pm: RESPECT THE ROCK
7pm: THE ARCHITECTS
4pm: INCOMING
Riffs, licks, rock gossip, air guitar, plus the gig
guide, and a revolving list of segments.
Nicole TadPole
A weekly discussion show talking about
Architecture, Sustainabilty and Design.
Simon Knott, Stuart Harrison &
Christine Phillips
International Correspondent
Rory Hyde
New Australian music with gig previews, tour
info and interviews.
e: [email protected]
Richard Moffat
6:55pm: GIG GUIDE
8pm: Superfluity
7pm: BYTE INTO IT
Midnight: MUSICALLY INCORRECT
Metal – local, overseas, demos, interviews,
news and reviews.
Simon Lukic
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
TUESDAY
6am: BREAKFASTERS
Music, news, sport, weather, information, special
guests and regular segments each morning.
7.45: Books 8.45: Suzie Morris-Ashton with
Diet Schmiet
Fee B2, Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
9am: SPOKE
A weekly conversation about a range of social
issues; from sustainable living and human
rights to local and international current
affairs. Plus interviews and chatter covering
books and music, arts and events – all thrown
together with music new and old. Spoke.
Because Speaked isn’t a word.
Michelle Bennett
12 noon: BANANA LOUNGE
BROADCASTING
Focusing on contemporary music. Across the
genres. Just for a stir. Elizabeth likes all kinds
of stuff from all over the place. Except reggae.
Does not resile from anything alt and post.
Dave favours Australian music or failing that,
music with a dance beat, jazz, hip hop, reggae
or country. Nothing alt or post. Interviews and
guests as well. If they don't know what to play,
Elizabeth goes for track eight, Dave favours
track one, or six.
Elizabeth McCarthy and Dave Graney
2pm: The Good, The Dub & The
Global
Explores the differences between traditional
and contemporary global rhythms, the
goodness of dub and other tasty treats that
fall into the description of Good! Expect music
from all corners of the planet near and far
and a healthy bassline to kick the day along in
a musical stylee.
Systa BB
4pm: SET IT OUT
Set It Out takes in the filthy, the raw, the
benchmarks and the newborns coming
together with more flow than Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi. A wild ride for the long haul
and a clear passage for the passer by. From
the Malian desert to R Kelly's closet, no genre
is out of bounds.
Luke Pocock
6:55pm: ARTS DIARY
PROGRAM GUIDE
Dec—Mar 2011-12
What good's a desert island if you are all
alone? The Superfluity team and guests share
and discuss the music that moves them.
Casey Bennetto, Christos Tsiolkas and
Scott Edgar
10pm: No Way Back
A weekly broadcast observing the mutations
that lie in the nether regions between the
genres of dance. House music as you've never
heard it and disco most unlike the kind you
roller skated to. Backwards is the best way
Forward, Babes! With weekly guests, pests
and the rest.
Andee Frost
Midnight: O’Tomorrow
Outsiders, The Avant-Garde, Noise,
Experimental, Folk, Jazz, Pop music.
Underground and other suppressed and
forgotten sounds from all over the world.
Music is everywhere. From the past to the
future. From Brunswick to Burma. From
innovators AND idiots… It’s midnight.
Tomorrow has arrived.
Patrick O'Brien
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
WEDNESDAY
6am: BREAKFASTERS
Music, news, sport, weather, information, special
guests and regular segments each morning.
7.45: Public affairs guest 8.15: Dave The
Scott with Vinyl from the Vault
Fee B2, Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
9am: detour
Taking an alternate route to investigate
ideas and issues that concern the everyday.
With interviews and segments that travel
into the heart of topics ranging from
education to philosophy, science to families.
Mapping out new pathways to unknown
destinations and visiting stories from our
vast local community.
Jacinta Parsons
12 noon: AURAL TEXT
Words, text, books, writing, local and
global hybrid spoken word. Book reviewers:
Adam Ford, Anna Hedigan, Misha Adair and
Rebecca Lister.
Alicia Sometimes and Lorin Clarke
2pm: NEW AND GROOVY
Electronic space bag, soul / fondue, funk /
jetset jazz and the bongos of your mind!
Johnny Topper
Computer news, reviews and clues. Tech
talk and opinionated chat with feature
interviews and regular guests covering
games, Linux and Open Source, legal, new
and social media, gadgets, Apple and more.
Georgia Webster, also Mike Bantick,
Ed Borland, Andrew Fish, Keren Flavell,
Charles Tetaz, Byron Scullin, Jay McCormack
8pm: THE INTERNATIONAL POP
UNDERGROUND
Unpopular pop-music at its most pretty and
profound. Artistic expressions and stylish
transmissions from around the corner and
around the globe.
Anthony Carew
10pm: The Golden Age of Piracy
Joins the dots between the new and the old,
charting a course through the influences that
shaped the sound of today's artists. Special
guests share the songs that guided them to
play the way they do, and provide a unique
insight into the songwriting process for any
music completist.
Tristen Harris
Midnight: thanks and praise
An assortment of musical numbers from The
Dead C to Dead Prez, Ricardo Villalobos to The
Replacements, Big Star to Big L and beyond.
Ollee Palmer
2am: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
THURSDAY
6am: BREAKFASTERS
Music, news, sport, weather, information, special
guests and regular segments each morning.
7.45: Film with Thomas Caldwell 8.15:
‘Birdman Goes Wild’ with Sean Dooley
Fee B2, Ben Birchall and Jess McGuire
9am: SMARTARTS
Visual art, theatre, film and literature.
Richard Watts
12 noon: GET DOWN
Get Down to the funky sound. Get Down
to lots of vinyl, Get Down to your community,
Get Down for arts and music news and
interviews, Get Down to get up again!
Chris Gill
2pm: ALL OVER THE SHOP
In their reclining years, two old gasbags
have a scratch and a cack while firing up
and kicking back. Subjects – media stuff,
real life and anything in between. Music –
see title for details.
Stew Farrell and Leaping Larry L
A
Nice
Gesture
by Superlinguo
Triple R communicates all sorts
of special stuff to the people of
Melbourne. Programs offer inspiration,
education and entertainment to the
ear-holes of thousands each day.
What’s really special is the connection
that’s made between broadcaster and
listener using only aural information.
It’s quite a feat given that the
vast majority of our normal daily
interactions, for those of us who have
sight, involve information-rich visual
cues in addition to the speech sounds
we hear.
Gestures aren’t part of the radio
experience, yet they’re a huge part
of communication. Let’s take a
moment to applaud each other as
lovers of radio for the effort we put
into listening without visual cues.
(There’s an interesting flip side to
this – if a presenter is doing a radio
show all by themselves in an empty
booth they’ll almost be guaranteed
to still gesture. Your favourite
Triple R voices are likely being
accompanied by some kind of hand
signaling or nodding. It’s so deeply
a part of our linguistic practices we
can’t help it. Even a person blind
from birth who has never seen
another person gesture, will still
make gestures.)
Some research has shown that if
you suppress people’s ability to
gesture by asking them to sit on
their hands, or tying them up (if
you like your research kinky) that
they become less fluent in their
speech. Preventing gesture mainly
interrupts mental retrieval of
nouns as opposed to another word
class. This is why you’ll find most
broadcasters flailing their arms
around in an empty room, or why
we gesture while talking on the
phone to someone who can’t see our
emphatic hand movements.
Gestures add expression and
emphasis to our spoken words. There
are other types of gestures that can
exist independent of speech – for
example, you don’t need to say
anything when giving someone the
finger! And of course sign language
uses only gestures, but it does
it with far more complexity than
gestures you make with speech.
Early language development in
children has a lot of gestures
involved. What we associate with a
baby’s ‘one word’ stage is 99% of the
time 1 word + 1 gesture, so kids are
able to say a lot more than they’re
verbally saying, but gestures are such
a natural part of the conversation
that it doesn’t really register.
It’s accepted that gesture is
universal, but different speech
communities and cultures use
gesture differently. Knowing the
right gestures can be as critical as
knowing the religious sensitivities
of a culture for travellers, diplomats
or second-language learners. For
example, in Laos it’s common to
use the lips and the gaze to point,
rather than the fingers. Lip pointing
is also a characteristic of some
Australian languages. There’s a
taboo on pointing with the left hand
in Ghana. In Nepal and India, shaking
one’s head for ‘yes’ is the accepted
gesture (confounding those of us for
whom the head-shake is a definitive
‘no’). In Italy, big sweeping gestures
are the norm and create dramatic
emphasis and expression.
For some people, gestures are their
main language system. Whenever
people are unable to use speech,
gestures usually come to the fore
as the predominant communication
mechanism. This might be for
environmental reasons, ritual reasons
(for example in some communities in
central Australia during cultural rites,
or in monastic Christian orders where
speech is prohibited by religious
rules), or because of physiology
like deafness.
Here it’s worth noting the amazing
unintended petri dish that is the
development of Nicaraguan Sign
Language: a group of deaf kids
who traditionally were raised at
home were brought together for
schooling for the first time when the
government changed its policy in the
late-’70s. In order to communicate,
the kids started creating their
own language together. A new
language emerged and formed a
deaf community in Nicaragua that
previously hadn’t existed.
We also see some interesting
gestures in specific industries where
talking isn’t an option. For example,
scuba diving has a restricted set of
gestures that are critical for survival
in this high-risk leisure pursuit.
Technology is a new frontier for
gesture-based interaction, and
computer recognition of gestures is
becoming ever more sophisticated. If
you think of the way we flick through
‘pages’ and pinch images to resize
them on our newfangled mobile
and tablet devices, we get a strong
sense that integrating this part of our
communication armory with computers
is a burgeoning challenge (and
opportunity) for computer engineers.
Here at Triple R, we give two emphatic
thumbs up to gestures, even if we
can’t share them over the airwaves.
Superlinguo is Georgia Webster and
Lauren Gawne.
For more grammatical and linguistic
discussion, tune in to Georgia’s
monthly segment ‘Superlinguo’ on
Friday Breakfasters.
Georgia also presents Byte Into It
alongside a cast of many others,
Wednesdays, 7-8pm.
21
By Lauren Taylor and
Simon Winkler
It’s been an eventful and incredibly
successful year for the British
musician and producer James Blake.
Previously, following the release of
several highly acclaimed but relatively
small-print singles and remixes, James
Blake had developed a strong support
base for his inventive and original
style of dubstep-derived music.
Following the release of Blake’s debut
album in February 2011, however, a
new and much broader audience was
suddenly introduced to his distinctive,
and evolving, sound. His global tour
brought James Blake to Australia
during July – we were fortunate to
speak with him about his music.
Head§pace
Lauren Taylor: It’s interesting to read
that when you approach songwriting,
you don’t go in with any real motive.
It’s interesting because a lot of
other artists might approach it in a
different way. Can you explain the
importance of not having a motive?
James Blake: I think there are two
different stages. One stage normally
involves a kind of lonely train journey,
or being on a plane. For example when
you’re taking off, you’ve got to put all
your electronic devices away and you
have to sit there and think for a bit.
In this day and age there’s not many
times, when you’re not connected
to some sort of technology. At those
moments I normally start writing lyrics
on a little notepad. For some reason
that sort of capsule – you know, the
air’s dead, there’s nothing going on –
I actually find that to be the perfect
environment for focused thinking.
That’s when I can write poetry.
So that first stage has a motive,
because that’s where I’m really talking
about something that’s important like
a moment or a feeling. Then, when
I’m actually writing a track at home, I
look through what I’ve done and I try
to piece a melody to those lyrics. Then
the motive is just purely to make music
and I suppose in that way, there is no
motive when I’m actually producing
those tracks. It’s kind of music for
music’s sake, trying to make sounds I
haven’t heard before, or mixing things
that sound kind of strange to me at
the time but maybe using them in a
way that makes them sound like they
work with what’s going on.
22
LT: You’re certainly an artist who is
never afraid of reinventing yourself
or exploring new sounds – which is
really exciting to watch and to hear –
is that intentional or is it that you get
bored easily?
JB: Yeah, the search for something
that feels uncharted, for me, is
the thing that inspires me, and so
naturally and possibly not even
intentionally, my sound changes all
the time. But I think there's a common
thread. Just like you get a lot of artists
through a whole career who might
have records that sound completely
different, normally that’s because
they’ve been united with producers
who are of a different background, or
have a different influence. I suppose
what I’ve done is kind of like the sonic
changes of a career artist compressed
into one or two years, because I have
gone through those stages myself,
production wise, and I am my own
producer I suppose.
Simon Winkler: Looking at the idea of
change in your work, it seems like you
have a lot of different interests as a
producer and as a listener as well, but
when you view the progress of your
career do you see any pattern in it, or
any particular grand design?
JB: Yeah I do now. I think my manager
Dan saw a grand design before I did.
It's been more of an influence on my
career really, even more than the music
I make because he kind of structured
how it came out, and he was bang on
the button about when things should
come out. For example, I didn’t really
even want ‘CMYK’ on the ‘CMYK’ EP…
SW: Really?
JB: No I didn’t. Because when I first did
it, I thought it was just a laugh. I did it
and I knew it felt fun, but I didn’t take
it seriously. I took it as something that
was kind of really gratuitously euphoric
at the time, but actually when it was
translated to a club, it totally worked.
I didn’t really realise that. Dan was
the person that just said, ‘No that is
definitely going on and not only is it
going on there but it’s going to be the
title track of the EP’. So that second
opinion really is what has structured
my entire career really.
SW: There is that interesting narrative
that’s been created through your
partnership, but are you therefore
conscious of being in the middle of a
narrative and now, in a sense, plotting
where the story goes?
JB: Well, I think it’s actually got a lot
more fun now, because now I can do
things like release ‘Pan’ and ‘Order’
on Hemlock, which is basically a
vocal-less, chord-less 12 inch, with
just beats. I can do stuff like that and
I can really change the way people
actually view me. Because you know,
for a while now, I’m sure there have
been a lot of people who’ve been
going, ‘What’s all this singing shit?
Make some dubstep beats again.’ And
you know, those people don’t realise
all this music’s being written at the
same time. I didn’t go into a studio
and write a vocal album. I wrote ‘A
Milli’ remix the same time I wrote
‘Unluck’. I did ‘CMYK’ the same time I did
‘Measurements’. There’s no timeline
for me in that sense, they’re not
written chronologically. I think what a
lot of people don’t realise is, I have a
kind of thirst for search: I have a few
different avenues of expression and
they all have to be serviced or else I
get frustrated.
LT: How do different environments
impact on your writing process?
JB: Previously when I wrote, I wrote
with no one else around in space. I’d
go home to the house I grew up in
and it’d be completely silent with
no one else around (apart from my
parents maybe) and at night I’d just
make tunes. There were no other
sounds going on. So for me, you know,
it wasn’t like, ‘I’ve got three hours to
get into the studio, I’ve got to make
some tunes’. I would sit there just in
that space. That headspace is what
made that sound. Now all my tunes
don’t sound like that because I’ve been
on the road getting in and out of tour
buses, doing promo, staying at venues
from about 2 o’clock in the afternoon
til 11 o’clock at night and not having
any break from sound; going to
festivals, and even in your fucking
band room, you’re hearing the thud of
the kick drum from whatever band’s
on. So my music since I’ve been writing
on the road has been chaotic. There’s
been none of the kind of ‘I Only Know’
style silences, none of that, and that’s
just because of headspace.
LT: You’ve spoken before about the
space and darkness in dubstep. Is that
what attracted you to the genre in the
first place?
JB: Yeah, but I also think rhythmically
dubstep was far more interesting
than anything else I was hearing
at the time. For example, just the
drum programming of some of the
producers that were making tunes at
the time – Skream, Mala – there were
just very subtle movements of like, a
shaker, or something that would drive
something forward so much and it
would give it swing. I admired the fact
that all these producers cared about
where that shaker was, you know, they
actually cared about that tiny little
detail, ‘cause I really care about that.
The attention to detail in that music is
really quite something.
LT: With the album, even though as
you were saying, it was a different
sound than some people were
expecting from you at the time, you
said with the record, you felt like you
were being totally honest. That idea
of honesty and not compromising
is something that seems really
important to you…
JB: Yeah it is. It’s the only thing
you’ve got. There has to be a level of
resoluteness about what you actually
put out and whether you feel like
you’re being true to your own plan
I suppose. I mean, when someone
says, ‘These tracks are great, they’re
great demos, we could get you with
a producer who’ll make these sound
really good’, especially when you’ve
produced them yourself, it’s not really
what you want to hear. If you then say,
‘Yeah ok, let’s go and get it produced
by somebody else’, then what are you
doing? You’re just giving up half of
what you’ve done; you’re giving up
the entire process. Being just you is
what characterises the whole music
and if you give that up then it’s not
just a compromise, it’s flat out suicide,
creative suicide. So if I had said yes
to that, then yes, that would have
been dishonest ‘cause that’s not
what I want. I don’t think everyone’s
always in a position to do that, and
sometimes there’s so much pressure
for people, especially when they’re
not necessarily in the same position
as I am, to actually get their songs
produced. To me that's the real bane
on new artists and the real failure of
the industry, you know, it’s not people
making money or not making money,
or having digital downloads, or people
not buying records – that isn’t the
failure. The failure is in the source,
which is when music’s made and
remade – that’s a joke. That shouldn’t
happen. Sometimes it works out really
well, but I’ve seen it happen a lot, and
I was determined it wasn’t going to
happen to me.
Simon and Lauren with
James Blake (centre)
This is an edited version of Lauren
and Simon’s interview with James
Blake. A full version can be found
via the Breaking and Entering page
on the Triple R website – rrr.org.au.
Lauren Taylor and Simon Winkler
present Breaking and Entering,
Mondays 4-7pm.
23
Left to right:
The Greencards
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Charles Bradley
Mavis Staples
Joseph Arthur
FEsTIVAL
FEVER!
By Brian Wise
September 14, 2011. San Francisco. I
am in the same queue at immigration
as Kevin Rudd and Kim Beazley. I smile
at Kev. He smiles back and salutes me!
It is a knowing look, as if my warm
recognition has really said, ‘You’ll be
back in charge soon.’
A security guard suddenly realises that
I am not a visiting diplomat (perhaps
because I am the only one not in a
suit) and orders me into another line.
‘Now I am behind everyone else!’ I
complain. ‘I don’t appreciate being
talked to like that,’ says the agent. I
shut up as he points to a shorter line.
It’s not that long a wait – 17 minutes
to clear immigration and customs. Is
that a record?
24
I easily make my connecting flight to
Austin and I am eager to get there. I
have two nights before Austin City
Limits Music Festival (ACLMF). Time
for some gigs, some shopping and
acclimatisation. I really should not tell
you too much about the city but it is
too late to keep it a secret because it
is growing too fast. By 2030 Austin is
going to have 2 million people – still
less than half the current population
of Melbourne. One of the announcers
on KUT-FM (the excellent college radio
station) recalled that when he arrived
20 years ago, he saw the sign on the
outskirts of town read, ‘Population
180,000’. Two main freeways run either
side of the city – the I-35 and the
Mopac – but if you keep off both, the
traffic is fine.
The politics of Texas worries me but
Austinites try to reassure me that they
have a liberal town. Mmm. Governor
Rick Perry talks about executing 235
people in 10 years as if that’s a good
thing. Then, in a debate amongst
Republican candidates, he is vilified by
the others for providing education to
the children of illegal aliens as if that’s
a bad thing. The debate is a scary one.
It seems that most of the Republicans
are all slightly unhinged. On the other
hand, the members of the Tea Party
are completely insane. Pray for all your
worth that Obama gets back in!
The ritual on arriving in Austin is simple
and is always the same: check into the
Austin Motel on South Congress (the
only place to stay). Walk up the hill to
Guero’s for a marguerita, the free dips
and maybe a meal. It is Bill Clinton’s
favourite Mexican joint and has
ambience galore but the appetisers are
much better than the mains. Walk back
down to the legendary Continental Club
for a gig. Tonight it is the Tom Waits of
Texan rock – Jon Dee Graham with his
Fighting Cocks. Loud and proud. There
is jazz in the gallery upstairs if you
want a nightcap. Wander back over the
road and fall into bed around midnight –
some 33 hours after leaving home.
On the intersection of 6th and Lamar
Avenue is a truly great indie record store
in Waterloo Records, while opposite is
Book People, the great indie bookstore
where I saw Steve Earle launch his book
in May this year. (US Postal Service has
the wonderful flat rate box and a few
days later I send back 6kg of books
and CDs for US$52.50!) On the other
corner is the huge Whole Foods store.
Everything you could possibly need at
one intersection!
Austin is almost the ideal sized city:
big enough to have a great music
scene and all the accompanying
benefits, including great restaurants
of many cuisines (especially Tex-Mex)
and cafes (including Jo’s opposite the
motel). They love their coffee in Austin
as much as we do in Melbourne.
The dollar is riding high. If CDs and
books were not cheap enough, you can
pick up a six-pack of Lone Star at Whole
Foods for US$5. In May I bought two
bottles of Californian wine and realised
I needed a corkscrew which cost me
more than the wine! America is one of
the cheapest places in the world to be
an alcoholic and a smoker (as long as
you do not need health care).
For the first time ever, I managed to
get into the Austin Motel for ACL. They
only take phone bookings 3 months
ahead and because I was in the USA
at the time, I miraculously managed to
get through. And, thankfully, the large
outdoor pool is open until 11.00pm.
Texas has just endured the hottest
summer since records began in the
late 1800s and there has been no rain
for months. The Pedernales River near
Willie Nelson’s ranch is as dry as a
bone with houseboats stranded along
its banks like hundreds of beached
whales. A week before I arrive it is
108F (42C) and they claim to have
had 94 days straight over 100F. That’s
not hot, that’s hell. I don’t need to
turn the hot tap on in the shower the
whole time I am here. A week later,
when I am sitting at Jo’s café doing an
interview it is 103F.
September 15, 2011. Austin bills itself
as the live music capital of the world
and it is easy to understand why. There
are gigs everywhere – although maybe
not as many as Melbourne on any one
night – and most are within a $10 cab
ride. The list of musicians who have
lived and got their careers started
here is stunning: Roky Erickson & The
13th Floor Elevators, Townes Van Zandt,
Willie and Waylon, Jerry Jeff Walker,
Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie
Dale Gilmore, Stevie Ray and Jimmie
Vaughan, Ray Benson and Asleep at
the Wheel. There are still plenty of big
names here. Ian McLagan lives just out
of town, while Kevin Welch and Slaid
Cleaves live in Wimberley, an hour away
along with a host of other musicians.
Patty Griffin is here and the big news
is that apparently Robert Plant has
just moved to town. Jon Dee Graham,
James McMurtry, Junior Brown, Dale
Watson and the great singer Toni Price
(almost unknown outside Texas) have a
residency at the Continental Club.
Thursday night is a typical one. I see
the great Ray Wylie Hubbard in the
‘beer garden’ at Threadgill’s and enjoy
a chicken fried steak in the restaurant.
Then I scoot back up Congress and
catch Alejandro Escovedo and his
band doing their annual ACL show
with Jon Dee Graham guesting on
great versions of the Stones’ ‘Beast
Of Burden’ and ‘Miss You.’ If only Max
Crawdaddy was here!
A few years ago musicians such as
Lucinda Williams were on the tribute
album Por Vida to raise money to pay
Escovedo’s hospital bills when he had
Hep C. These days he’s looking good
and sounds great. He loves surfing
25
Blake was outstanding though a
man wearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt
walked away muttering, ‘This sucks.’
Young local bluesman Gary Clark Jr
was terrific. Charles Bradley channeled
Otis Redding. Mavis Staples was
inspirational. The Secret Sisters were
charming. Ray Lamontagne was soulful.
The North Mississippi Allstars were
outstanding. I decided to give Kanye
West and Coldplay a miss and headed
back to the motel and The Continental.
Left to right:
Trixie Whitley
Jack Ingram
and Australian music. Aussie producer
Dave Boyle, who runs the Church House
Studio, introduced me to Al when he
was playing keyboards in his band. Al is
elusive. I had spoken to him a few times
by phone trying to organise an interview
and remind him. Tonight he promises to
ring me the next day. Needless to say, he
doesn’t. I’ll persevere.
I have rented a car because I am going
to New Orleans for a few days straight
after ACL. I ordered a compact car but
Enterprise on South Lamar (always
very helpful) give me a 6-cylinder
Chevy Impala – about the same size
as a Commodore. I decide it is too big
and bring it back the next day. They
think there is something wrong with
me, offering an array of other vehicles
just as big. Finally, I have to get them
to show me the smallest car they have
– the Corolla-sized Chevy Aveo – I point
to it and I tell them that is what I want.
The staff glance at each other as if I am
some sort of security threat and they
need to administer a psychological test.
A smaller car? Is this guy crazy? This is
Texas where at least fifty per cent of the
vehicles seem to be pick-up trucks. ‘It
doesn’t have central locking,’ says Bobby,
thinking he has steered me clear. ‘I’ll take
it!’ He reluctantly hands me the keys.
26
Earlier this year when I told musician
Sam Baker that I was driving a Hyundai
he looked at me, put his hand on my
shoulder and said, ‘Brian, that is not a
man’s car.’ I decide I will not tell him
about the Aveo.
September 16, 2011. ACL Fest is one
of the most eclectic music festivals
around. It is also just about the best
organised events that I have ever
attended. Set in Zilker Park not far
from the centre of town, it draws
75,000 people per day with a line-up
that caters for most tastes and is
non-discrimatory of genre and age. It’s
a cross between The Big Day Out and
Byron’s Bluesfest. I reckon the two
main stages are about 600m apart –
quite a hike – and there are five other
stages scattered around. At either end
of the site, the music never stops.
The weather on the first two days is
perfect – heavily overcast and cool
(though I never thought I would call
97F cool). A brief rain shower later
in the day got applause, just like the
cloud that scudded across the sun a
few years ago when it was 104F, got a
standing ovation.
Asleep at the Wheel kicked it off as
usual with some Texas style music,
including a few Bob Wills covers. James
September 17, 2011. Daniel Lanois’
Black Dub were the highlight on
Saturday with singer Trixie Whitley
(Chris’s daughter) showing she will
be a star someday. She sings, plays
guitar and percussion and has a really
strong stage presence. Someone said,
‘Isn’t it great to hear a woman sing as
powerfully as a man?’ The day after the
festival, Trixie went into Dave Boyle’s
studio to record a solo album – that
will be something to hear. Lanois
played some lovely pedal steel in the
‘cinematic portion of the show’ as he
called it, but Trixie was the star.
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings battled
sound bleed on the small stage in the
roots tent but that didn’t seem to worry
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The
Del McCoury Band who followed.
The headliner was Stevie Wonder,
who impressively entered playing a
‘keytar’ but there was no way I could
get anywhere near the stage. The PA
was unusually insipid and drowned
out by My Morning Jacket way back
over the hill on the other main stage.
I retreated there, got a seat about
150m away and enjoyed perfect sound
and the sight of the Preservation Jazz
Band guesting.
My Morning Jacket are definitely the
loudest band I have ever heard at any
festival – but the sound was perfect. Just
like their Corner Hotel appearance some
years ago when they became the loudest
band I had ever heard at a club gig.
Afterwards, I rushed off to Threadgill’s to
see the Travelin’ McCourys (minus their
leader Del) and the Lee Boys, a sacred
steel band from Florida. They called it
‘sacred grass.’ Max, where are you?
September 18, 2011. The final day and
much hotter and humid but survivable.
Mariachi El Bronx, including David
Hidalgo’s son, (coming for the Big
Day Out 2012), are very entertaining;
Australia’s or Austin’s own (depending
who you talk to) Greencards; Joseph
Arthur in a great solo set; local country
singer Jack Ingram and Randy Newman,
who had everyone chuckling.
But for me, the highlight was Ryan
Bingham & The Dead Horses, now with
Australian Liam Gerner playing guitar.
On the large stage their sound was
huge. Bingham sings with such an old
voice for a young man – like an early
Kris Kristofferson. Great anthemic
songs that everyone seemed to know
the lyrics to and with which they could
identify. Great band. Great on-stage
persona. A few years ago he did a short
solo acoustic tour here supporting
Kasey Chambers. She’s a good judge:
his career has kicked on since his work
on the movie Crazy Heart.
September 19, 2011. On Monday I
head on out of Austin for New Orleans.
The plan is to interview Jon Cleary,
Roger and Gregory from the Dirty
Dozen Brass Band and Allen Toussaint –
all in the Legends of New Orleans tour
arriving in Melbourne the day after I
get home.
After that it is back to Austin for a
few days and on to San Francisco for
the amazing Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Festival featuring a Who’s Who of roots
music. But that’s another story.
You can hear Brian Wise presenting
Off The Record, Saturdays 9am-12pm.
By Karen Pickering
The
s
’
n
Ladies
e
Wom
Room
The Women's Room is a novel, by the
American author and theorist Marilyn
French, that became a feminist classic.
I read it for the first of many times
when I was 18 but I definitely wouldn't
have unless someone close to me had
furiously insisted that it was important
and what's more, I would love it. She
was right, on both counts. Reading
that book probably did more to make
me a feminist than any other single
event (with the possible exception of
my birth). But I'd never have discovered
it unless somebody I trusted had
recommended it to me so urgently. I
was scared of ‘feminist’ writing and
The Women's Room provided that allimportant 'way in'.
The Aural Text segment of the same
name seeks to do something similar.
By revisiting some of the key texts
of feminism on-air, I'm hoping to
reconnect some erstwhile feminists
with work that helps us engage
actively and critically, and also provide
the curious listeners with some good
entry points into feminist debates.
Feminist theory has a reputation
for being difficult, impenetrable,
and extremely radical. Some of it is,
pleasingly so, but some of it really is
awful. Still more though, is surprisingly
straightforward and relevant to
everyday life for both women and men.
The feminist writing I love the most is
really about the constraints we put on
both genders and how we might
unpack these to make things better
for all people. The best stuff is often
good-humoured, and always stunning
in its clarity and simplicity - a clear
statement of irrefutable facts and
a simple call to arms; this injustice
matters and you really can help.
So far we've talked about The Women's
Room itself, The Female Eunuch by
Germaine Greer and A Room of One's
Own by Virginia Woolf. My shortlist for
the future includes works by Emma
Goldman, Naomi Wolf, Betty Friedan,
Dorothy Hewett, John Stuart Mill,
Molly Lambert, Jean Devanny, Mary
Wollstonecraft and Ariel Levy. It seems
unlikely that I'll ever run out of amazing
texts to discuss but if you have
any burning suggestions or special
requests, do please contact the station.
‘Reading-up’ on any subject can be
daunting and unrewarding without a
good map (or a Sherpa). I've read and
taught a lot of feminist writing and
I've often fantasised about the perfect
reading list for an imaginary Cool
Feminism 101 (at my very own university
in the clouds at the end of a rainbow).
‘The Women's Room’ is my attempt to
share that daydream with RRR listeners
and maybe, mint a few new feminists
along the way. Hey, always be hustlin'.
'S'hard out here fo' a feminist.
Karen Pickering volunteers at RRR and
presents ‘The Women's Room’ on Aural
Text, Wednesdays 12-2pm.
27
Underground
Resistance
28
By Ennio Styles
The founder of Detroit techno
collective Underground Resistance,
Mad Mike Banks returned to Stylin’
for an extended interview along with
three of the current members, DJ
Skurge (Milton Baldwin), Atlantis
(Cornelius Harris) and Esteban Adame.
I aired a 2 hour special with most of
the interview on October 7th, 2011.
Here are some of the highlights.
WHERE IT STARTED,
MOMMA’S BASEMENT
Ennio Styles: So I’m going to bring up
this picture on the computer, from
the Galaxy 2 Galaxy: A HiTech Jazz
Compilation which came out on CD and
had a bunch of pictures in it. There was
a track called ‘Momma’s Basement’ and
the idea was that this was where these
tracks started, it’s where people started
making music and there’s a picture of
your momma’s basement in 1985.
Mad Mike Banks: Yeah, everything
happened down in most guys’ family
basement, nobody had enough money
for their own studios and stuff like
that so, yeah that’s where it went
down. In back of there it’s a weight
set. All my boys would come down and
be lifting weights and planning their
nightly scandalment, whatever they
was goin’ to get into, probably be a
couple of beers in there. My mother
would just be happy if we wasn’t in
the street. And she really loved Jeff
(Mills – co-founder of UR), still do to
this day, ’cause Jeff was always about
his work and doing his music. She liked
him because he was a refined young
man, he had class and still does, a very
classy brother man, that’s one of my
really good friends.
THE BIRTH OF
UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE
MMB: Jeff was a professional DJ who
worked at a radio station. Jeff was
producing some industrial music as
Final Cut. And basically he got to this
point with Final Cut that it was time
for him to get signed and all these
industrial labels was like, ‘Well yo man,
there ain’t no black dudes making
industrial, you need to add some white
dudes in the band.’ Jeff moved fast,
he’s like, ‘Hey man, this is wack, I’m
fittin’ to do something else, fuck that!’
I had came from a semi-professional
thing, I can play instruments so I used
to do sessions and I saw how fake the
R&B industry was. They had these big
old fat girls out there singing the real
stuff, the girls who really had the talent
and then they bring the skinny girl in
who do 1000 sit-ups a day and put her
picture on the record. So that was wack
to me, it was fake, so I was just like, ‘I’m
gonna go underground with this man,
ain’t nobody going to know what we look
like’. We was just angry with the music
industry. And then they was taking ‘The
Electrifying Mojo’ (Detroit-based Radio
DJ) off the air, black people had to have
pointy noses and straight hair to get on
in the ‘80s. You know, you see all these
mugs with these stupid perms and stuff
and so it was like, ‘Man this shit is wack,
real wack!’
So we just went all the way, dug a
hole and went real low with it. We
just decided we’d put it out and do it
ourselves then. We had no idea that
there was so many people that really
appreciate an effort like that, ’Cause I
didn’t think the records was that great,
I know they wasn’t ’cause Ron Murphy
(sound engineer) would say, ‘These
records are terrible, what do you mean
people buy this stuff?!’ But I think it
was just the raw effort of it, that we
was that brazen to step out there. But I
mean we had some great influences, we
had Berry Gordy and we had Coleman
Young as the Mayor who would tell
other mayors to kiss his ass! He wasn’t
a real politician he just was like, ‘Yeah,
kiss my ass!’ And, ‘I’m gonna tear this
building down’, it was a historic building,
he’d tear it down! So we had some
great inspiration to be that raw. Detroit
got guys like that. I mean Derrick (May)
was brazen, Juan (Atkins) was brazen,
you know, you didn’t think you could do
nothing like that, so actually they were
some pioneers.
FROM MASKS TO CHAMELEON WARRIOR
MMB: We never knew what The
Residents looked like, or what
Kraftwerk looked like, we thought
Kraftwerk was robots, so we didn’t see
no need for anybody to know what we
looked like.
At the time I was doing evictions in the
daytime, like throwing people out their
crib, right? And a lot of people was,
you know, left over music rejects from
Motown or funk, and their whole hook
up not to get put out was, ‘I’m famous,
I’m famous’, you know? It’s like, ‘Dude
that has no bearing on the situation
at hand my man. You gotta roll out
’cause I need this paper.’ So I seen real
quick that being famous didn’t mean
shit. It meant nothing. I saw it, live,
in technicolour. And also it seemed
like when people get so big that they
become bigger than their music and
they lose that humility, like tearing up
hotel rooms and living in extravagance,
all kind of ridiculous cars. The more
ridiculous you get the more people are
like, ‘You know what man, fuck that
dude, motherfucker’s wack, man!’
29
And when cats get like that it seems
like they stand in front of their music,
so by us putting on the masks we never
could come in front of the music, we
was always behind it. Even now, to this
day, you know the media keeps putting
pressure on me to be somebody. Man,
I’m not your hero, I ain’t noboby man.
I can’t save you, you got to have your
own life. If the music help you through
a situation, or do something for you
spiritually, good. But I don’t want to be
in front. To me, it’s not the place for
me. Some people have that much spirit
like Derrick and Carl (Craig), they’re
good guys man, they can stand up
and speak and they’re right there with
their music. Somebody like Elton John
or my man from Queen, I mean these
people are entertainers, they can go
out there and they are a personality
but you know, you got a dude that used
to do evictions man! You really don’t
want to know me man, I’m telling you,
you don’t want to know me. As long as
I’ve got some cheese in my pocket and
can get a Burger King I’m alright. Soon
as it get tight, you might be a victim
of something, you know, so better not
to get too close. I try to be nice with
people man but it’s the reality of it.
This is a blessing and I’m just a
vessel of transfer for something
bigger, some bigger energy, that for
whatever reason picked me to do all
the technical stuff to make the energy
transfer. That’s all it is, I don’t need
nothing else. The cellphone technology
killed the mask ’cause cats was just
getting all kinda sneaky pictures but
they never understood why we did
it, the purpose was so that we didn’t
become nobody of consequence.
Right now, you wanna get like that?
We gonna get dirtier with it: hidden
in plain sight. Now you figure it out.
I’m gonna stand right there and you
still don’t know me. I can be invisible.
Chameleon Warrior.
It’s difficult man, I wanna have a life,
and I don’t wanna end up like Michael
Jackson or all these other people
30
‘cause they ain’t got no life and I think
it’s just sad that anybody can worship
a human being. I have people like that
come into the building and they wanna
be on some real spaced out crazy ‘I
love you’. They don’t get it, and they
in danger when they come around
me with that ’cause I don’t like it and
I be like, ‘Hey man, back up, just back
up dog, I don’t know what you talking
about. I ain’t feeling you’. I got kids and
people that I gotta take care of, not no
grown people that don’t get it.
PLAYING SESSIONS IN THE ’80S
Ennio Styles: You spoke about your
time as a session musician, you
were playing guitar, and keyboards
and bass?
MMB: [I’d play] whatever I could to get
the cheese, I’d take your job [if] you
couldn’t play the part with the red light.
When the red light go on, cats would
choke. They might be real good players
but they lose their timing or they choke
so the producer would call in somebody
else and he’d get the job done. So
yeah, I played guitar, keyboards… Amp
Fiddler was one of the best at it. Amp
Fiddler was the man. Amp used to be
there in the studio doing sessions the
same place as we did. That dude got
iron nerves man, he don’t miss. So Amp
was a real good session cat, he played
on many, many people’s stuff. Not just
Funkadelic, just all types of people
man, gospel, rappers, hip hop, whatever,
you know, and we was the same way.
You know, the reason we was doing it
was because we wanted to get into
that big studio and be near that gear
and learn how to work it so we would
trade our session skills for hours in
the studio later on. It was a real good
guy in Detroit that a lot of people don’t
know, his name is Don Davis and he was
a session musician and he played on
‘Cool Jerk’ (The Capitols) and many other
hit records, but at the time he owned
United Sound Systems and he would let
us in there on the gear.
P-FUNK
ES: One of the label messages I want
to ask about was on Red Planet 6. One
of my favourite tracks from that series
is ‘Starchild’ and it says on the label
‘Produced by the Martians and Starchild
on the Mothership LMNO-Funk’. I
wanted to ask whether ‘Starchild’ is
Garry Shider from Funkadelic?
MMB: Wow, that’s all I got to say. Wow,
that’s deep. Him and Juan (Atkins)
is tight. Garry to me was the driving
force, he was a really important
member of P-Funk and he just left too
early. But bad boy man, bad boy. I’m
sure he’s up there making some funk
somewhere wherever he may be in the
universe, he’s doing his thang.
THE UR ‘BOOT CAMP’
For many years, UR has served as a
training ground for Detroit producers,
DJs and musicians, a bit like a
techno version of Art Blakey’s Jazz
Messengers.
MMB: I could see that all the good
producers and the good DJs was getting
sucked out [of Detroit] by these booking
agents. I mean these dudes were
brilliant producers man, in their prime.
If you really look at it it just got sucked
up out the city man, like a vacuum got
‘em. So I decided to build the building
(Submerge) and kinda make it like a
‘boot camp’. Rob Hood came up through
there and Rob caught hell. You know,
that’s my boy. I still, to this day, use Rob
as an example for all the other guys
’cause Rob worked hard. He really shared
it, he really dug in deep, he found his
self. You know when you find yourself
musically you know you found yourself
so you can flare up at me then. Once I
see that confidence in you, you kinda
like a teenager in my house then it’s
like, ‘Alright dude time for you to move
on.’ We joke about it, but it be a little
more critical than that but I push people
to that ’cause I don’t have much people
skills, I really don’t. So it don’t last too
long before something physical’s gonna
go down. So then eventually you know,
I find another talented person, maybe
Drexciya, or somebody, and they’ll drop
their stuff and we’ll work on it and get
some thangs together and so, I’m really
proud of our, if that’s what they call it, a
‘boot camp’.
URBAN REALITY
ES: How much of it is what you hear
in the potential of the music itself and
how much is it what you see in the
actual individual, it in the person and
their attitude?
MMB: To me UR stands for three or four
different things, I’ll give you a clue. Of
course, Underground Resistance, but
one of them is ‘Urban Reality’. So like
a criminal has a different view on life,
they listen to different sounds, they
treat the machines different, they look
for criminal things in the machine, or
how to trick the machine. Some of the
guys, I wouldn’t leave them alone with
your sister, you know what I’m sayin’?
But these guys got a sound, a vampire’s
got a sound, all this is part of the urban
reality I live in. You know, my man, he
ain’t gonna make it ’cause he on drugs.
I know he on drugs, he ain’t gonna
make it, but, ‘Dude that moment you’ve
got right there, that’s phat, you should
leave that for your kids ’cause you ain’t
gonna make it, you do realise that?’ And
cats be like, ‘Yeah man I know, take that,
that’s tight, that’s my best.’ I got some
people’s best like that. So I don’t turn
you down ’cause you on drugs or you
a vampire or whatever your problem
is. I got a guy on the label, certified
government crazy, veteran soldier, Floyd.
My man, I think he’s the first mentally
unstable artist, maybe, I don’t know if
we got a first there. But I know can’t
nobody duplicate his sound, because he
stone crazy! So to me, it’s really unique
and he is a part of the environment.
He’s walking around and you got to
deal with him so yeah, the urban reality
of it makes a difference.
And then, a lot of times, I like cats
with concepts, whether they’re
imaginary or real. You just can’t walk
up to me, as a zero, and be like, ‘I
just made this ’cause I want to go to
Europe and be a DJ’. That ain’t gonna
get it. I’m like, ‘Dude, wack man,
that’s wrong ass.’
I like guys that have some really
warped out, messed up thoughts. I
think that’s what’s interesting about
Detroit: people don’t get to travel too
much so some people have a hell of
an imaginary world. You know, it’s like
a cat in prison, he got imagination on
fire. So that translates into the music.
That’s the edge I think, the records
got in ‘em.
HIP HOP
MMB: I was able to help more the hip
hop dudes than the techno dudes
’cause all the techno dudes wanted to
go overseas, hip hop mothers wanna
sell records at the crib, anywhere they
could, you know, they hustlers they
ain’t got no particular destination
where they wanna go, they like, ‘Dude
I wanna get this paper man.’ And
Waajeed, Yancey (J Dilla), Keith Butts
and George Taggart who they call
P.Gruv, them guys made some bad
stuff, and Dez, all them cats man,
Kenny Dixon, Omar, I hollered at all
of ‘em man, like, ‘Dude make your
record, put a price on that mug and
sell it. And don’t let nobody else put
their name in there, if you can help it
man.’ They kinda followed that, it took
that long to say. It wasn’t no big plan
or business college or nothing. Them
guys actually did it and I’m so proud
of ‘em and half the time man, when
people was telling me about all these
Detroit hip hop guys, I didn’t even
know we had sold their records. A lot
of ‘em we sold first.
THE FUTURE
MMB: I just wish we had more
(young producers). It’s a danger for
Detroit to get completely erased
out of music. To call people legends
when they’re in their 40s, I don’t
think it’s fair, when the younger guys
on my label is making some really
relevant music. We got some tracks.
Skurge got some hot stuff, Jon Dixon,
Esteban (Adame), these guys got hot
stuff man.
It’s very difficult and very ironic,
because I do understand we made
history, I understand that we’re
making history, but I don’t want
nothin’ to do with history, ’cause
it’s futuristic music. I believe in
constantly investing in the future.
I’m trying to invest in these new
guys, I really got a lot of faith in
them, I got all my faith in them, and I
think they gon’ win.
Ennio Styles presents Stylin’,
Fridays 12-2pm.
You can hear the full interview via
the audio archive section of the
Triple R website – rrr.org.au.
Thanks to Kevin Karlberg,
Starr Guzman, Kano Hollamby
and Olivia Johnson.
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Around the Station
Radiothon 2011
1Banana Lounge Broadcasting's
Elizabeth and Dave with Tommy Hafey.
8Breakfasters’ Ben Birchall with
Dave Lawson.
11Phoneroom volunteers ready to take
your call.
2Golden Age of Piracy's Tristen Harris
with Steve Kilbey.
9Front desk volunteer Maggie Topliss
making paper planes for Radiothon.
12Luke Pocock from Set It Out with an
under-dressed Shags Chamberlain.
3Lime Champions live-to-air in the
Performance Space.
10Hellzapoppin's Eliana Schoulal totally
frocked up and ready for travel.
13Nicole TadPole and Zoran Ilievski
Respecting The Rock and Radiothon all
at once.
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4Luke Pocock from Set It Out with
New War.
14 Zero G's Rob Jan ready to take flight.
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15The Radio Marinara crew.
16Get Down's Chris Gill receiving a foot
massage mid-broadcast.
17 Somehow Radiothon Graveyarders
Jen Sholakis, Jen Cloher and Andrea
Summer manage to still be smiling
at 4am.
5Detour's Jacinta Parsons with
Graeme Base.
6Primary Colours' Woody McDonald with
Lou Barlow.
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7Karen Leng from Kinky Afro with
Jello Biafra.
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RRR PHOTO§
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By Anita Nedeljkovic
In 2010, Incoming launched a dedicated, fortnightly segment searching high and
low for the next wave of new bands with tunes too good to only be the domain of
their inner circle. The segment profiling a handful of acts each time was anointed
‘Class of 2010’ and in its first year, we found it near impossible to keep up with all
the great music right here on home soil, some of which included Bleeding Knees
Club, Lanie Lane, Oscar + Martin, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Jonny Telafone, Luke
Million, Boomgates, Jinja Safari plus bucket loads more.
The segment returned as ‘Class of 2011’ this year; that is, after a little back and
forth with a TV station launching a Heartbreak High reality inspired program by
the same name. A javelin throwing competition sorted this out.... behold, these
wireless highlights over the last 365 days or so.
CHET FAKER
The Chet Faker moniker is inspired by,
and a play on, a famous jazz dude,
Chet Baker. His ma passed on a love
of all things Motown and it was this,
coupled with a head for jazz and a
voice for soul, that formed the basis
for Chet Faker’s down tempo, indieelectronica R&B sound. His cover of
‘90s track ‘No Diggity’ hit number one
on Hype Machine, but his original
creations ‘Jeans & Wallet’ and ‘House
Atriedes’ make the ears feel just
as nice. EP ‘Thinking in Textures’ is
scheduled for release in early 2012.
34
DUNE RATS
Comprising Danny Beus (Villains of
Wilhelm) and BC Michaels of The Cairos,
this surf duo make ramshackle-party,
yet melodic tunes. The guys are big
fans of DIY as well as Bee Gees and
Elton John, so endeavour to put a pop
sensibility to their sound. With titles like
‘Rat Bags’, ‘Lie and The Liar’ and ‘Wooo!’
they’re a lot of fun and can be enjoyed
on their current EP ‘Social Atoms’.
stella
FORCES
Peering through the lens of early
digital sampling technology and
analogue electronics in the hope of
finding new channels from which
to craft their sound, the duo create
worlds influenced by minimal
electronic, industrial, new beat and
techno. Having already racked up
supports with LA Vampires (including
a request by the artist to remix her
tracks), Gang Gang Dance, Jack Ladder,
My Disco, Total Control, Geoffrey
O’Connor plus more, their forthcoming
releases will be out via Midnight
Juggernauts’ label Siberia Records.
Forces
SPEED PAINTERS
Simmering, slow-burning house
music directed by the syncopated
imagination of Tig Huggins – joined
by brother Nick, Jon Tjhia and trumpet
whisperer Oscar O'Bryan. This outfit
have transformed Melbourne's bars,
band rooms and rainy backyards into
messes of dancing bodies and beating
hearts, alongside the likes of Virgo
Four and artists from Melbourne's 'This
Thing' collective. Currently, the quartet
are working on their first album, due
out in 2012, tending a landscape of
house, disco and motor soul.
FLUME
A local Sydney beatmaker – think
lush pads, chopped and chipmunked
vocals, saw synths and awesome
percussion to impress any fan of
Hudson Mohawke, Flying Lotus, Seekae
or Space Dimension Controller. Flume
fact of the day – he got his first taste
for producing at age 13 from the most
unlikely of places: a music production
program he found in a cereal box.
Flume’s EP ‘Sleepless’ is out now via
Future Classic and has caught the
attention of XlR8 and Pitchfork.
THE JUNGLE GIANTS
These new kids on the block form an
indie-pop quartet with an average
age of 17.5! The single ‘Mr Polite’ is a
catchy, cute ditty and one has to fight
big time not to hum and clap along.
One would have to surmise these
well adjusted, happy sounding peeps
weren’t bullied in school. The single is
available from the band’s debut selftitled EP, out now. They’ve scored tours
with The Medics, Ballpark Music, Last
Dinosaurs and were invited to perform
at Big Sound 2011.
GUNG HO
A Brisbane posse doing their updated
take on Beach Boys with slacker surfer
vibe and some funk (minus the slap
bass). If you need some small talk
material for when you next run into
the guys, Gung Ho crush on Seinfeld
and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Their debut
EP is due for release early next year via
Future Classic and in their short time
kicking around, have shared the stage
with The Holidays, Papa vs Pretty,
Bleeding Knees Club, Velociraptor and
Jinja Safari.
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
(try saying that five times) hail from
Anglesea and make music to rob banks
to. Their take on DIY guitar sound sits
alongside bands like The Twerps and
Boomgates. The dudes have had a busy
year putting the final touches on their
debut EP ‘Willoughby’s Beach’ (now
available), as well as prepping for their
performance at Meredith Music Festival.
JON LEMMON
Enlisted with modus operandi to
concoct a summery pop song for a
compilation, kiwi bro Jon Lemmon
ended up penning a tune about the
end of the world instead. Despite the
apocalyptic lyrics, ‘Let's leave this dying
world behind/Sail through those starry
lights and see what we can find’, the
track ‘Exodus I’ is lush and filled to the
brim with enigmatic, honky-tonk piano
and synth bass. In the fine words of
one Mister Molly Meldrum, ‘do yourself
a favour’ and grab the album now via
artist bandcamp.
Gung Ho
MILLIONS
Millions make tunes with rock ‘n’ roll
swagger, lo-fi garage goodness and a
touch of the Arctic Monkeys. Millions
came together over a shared love for
‘90s hip hop, but don’t play any. Millions
enjoy girls, swimming, cannabis, FIFA
and Curb Your Enthusiasm. They’ve
supported Bleeding Knees Club, Gold
Fields and Velociraptor and they
opened the main stage at this year’s
Splendour in the Grass. They’re putting
finishing touches on their debut EP
out this Christmas and it’ll certainly be
a better option for a present than a
‘Zumba’ DVD.
NIGHT HAG
Think frantic hardcore with hints of
furious black metal o’clock. They don’t
sport corpse paint, haven’t murdered
any band mates or burned down any
churches in Norway or Adelaide, but
they sure make an unholy cacophony
of doomy goodness. Reminiscent of
metal from Mayhem and Dark Throne,
and hardcore of Converge, their album
Gilded Age is out through Clarity
Records. Broootal!
SNAKADAKTAL
These Steiner school buds formed in
2010 to make dreamy indie-pop and
have already played with Canyons,
Northeast Party House, RedBerryPlum,
Strange Talk and Red Ink. This band
not only wins the prize for ‘Best Name
To Search Via Google’, but have also
recently joined the I OH YOU family
alongside Bleeding Knees Club and
DZ Deathrays. Their debut single
‘Chimera’ has clocked up an impressive
70,000+ views on vimeo and this damn
essential listening can be lifted from
their self-titled EP out now.
STELLA ANGELICO AND
THE WILHELM SCREAM
Born to a magician father and a
chanteuse mother (Peaches La
Crème), music and performance course
through Stella Angelico’s veins. A lady
who sings because she must, her
onstage presence is an explosion of
the untamed feminine. A strange blend
of psych/exotica and soul, Angelico has
a penchant for spectacular costumes
and violent hip shaking. A gig at the
Grace Darling saw Angelico playing the
bongos with a scimitar balanced on her
head. The outfit has played with soul
sensation Clairy Browne & the Bangin’
Rackettes, plus they’ve had shows as
part of the Melbourne International
Jazz Festival and Melbourne Festival.
An EP and debut single is on the
horizon for early 2012.
THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON
Armed with only an acoustic guitar
and channeling the beautiful melodies
of Laura Marling, The Trouble With
Templeton is the moniker of singer/
songwriter Thomas Calder. He has
supported Big Scary, Skipping Girl
Vinegar and scored a spot on this
year’s Peats Ridge Festival. Debut
album Bleeders is out now.
THE RUBENS
Three brothers, plus an additional
brother, however, from another mother.
They cite influences of The Jimi Hendrix
Experience, The Black Keys, The Rolling
Stones and aim to bring a sense of
the Wild West, with lots of reverb and
tremolo, but with strong soul/blues
influences. With a little beer drinking
and body relaxing on the side, the
guys are currently in studio working on
their album and will be using vintage
recording techniques.
TERRIBLE TRUTHS
Post-punk-funk goodness meets
abstract dream pop. Terrible Truths
say they *heart* ESG and Delta 5. Nice,
nice. In 2011 they released a tasty
split 7” with Hissey Miyake which was
mastered by Eddy Current Suppression
Ring’s Mikey Young. The band includes
members of Bitch Prefect, Kitchen's
Floor and Rites Wild.
WOLFWOLF
This is one for peeps who like DamFunk! Some new sex-eh music from a
dude in a cool wolf mask. Look at how
hairy those wrists are – definitely a
wolf. All the better to play a sampler
with, my dear. Wolfwolf not only scored
a slot at this year’s Parklife festival,
but also decided (being a mad fan of
hip hop) that with the release of Watch
the Throne it was time to pay homage
to some classic Kanye and Jay-Z tracks
by remixing their work over tracks from
his album Happy Heart Breaks. The
remix tape and album are available for
free via digital download.
Stay tuned to hear ‘Class of 2012’ as it
continues fortnightly on Wednesdays,
6.30pm on Incoming.
For segment updates follow via twitter
@anitawot and listen to mix-tapes via
soundcloud.com/way-over-there/sets.
35
Triple R Off-Air
Denise Hylands
Twang
Saturdays 2-4pm
The best gig you’ve ever been to?
Are you kidding, there’s no one
best gig.
Dave The Scot
The Heather’s On Fire
Fridays 7-10pm
Describe the state of your bedroom in
five words or less...
Sewing machine and overlocker.
Birthplace?
Northern Ireland.
Person you would most like to
interview and why?
Johnny Cash but that ain’t gonna
happen. And why? Because he was
The Man.
Birthplace?
Paisley, Scotland.
Who do people say you look like?
Elvis Costello, Ben Elton, Graham Coxon.
If you could present anyone else’s
show at RRR, whose would it be
and why?
Detour, I love the breadth of guests
that JP has on, but I’m not sure I could
handle the preparation needed every
week. But maybe for one week it would
be ok. Art, science, music and TV all
blended up – good stuff.
The best gig you’ve ever been to?
So many to choose from but the first
ones that come into my head are:
If you could present anyone else’s
show at RRR, whose would it be
and why?
I’d present Chicken Mary so we could
hear it again on Monday arvos.
Finish this sentence: ‘I really hope that
tonight I …’
Go honky tonkin’.
You’re heading into the middle of
the desert for six months and you’re
allowed to take three CDs – what do
you take?
Well, of course I’m going to cheat
big-time and take the complete
Hank Williams recordings including
The Unreleased Recordings and The
Complete Mothers Best Recordings...
Plus! That would do me. I could have
Hank all day for six months easy.
Favourite place to hang out
in Melbourne?
Mi Corazon on Lygon Street, East
Brunswick for its killer margaritas,
amazing fish tacos and great latin
sounds. You can pretend to be in
Mexico. Oh Mexico!
Most over-rated artist in music
right now?
I don’t pay much attention to music I
know I’m not gonna be diggin’.
Describe the state of your bedroom in
five words or less...
Cowboy hats, shirts and boots.
Who do people say you look like?
I’m always being mistaken for
someone’s sister’s cousin’s
neighbour’s friend.
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Best on-air experience?
Every one of the Grand Ole Twang
programs. It was an idea I wanted to
do for so long and in the past couple
of years have had the pleasure of
presenting four shows. Pretty much
like the Grand Ole Opry but on a much
smaller scale. It’s a totally live, two hour
radio show with a live audience and
all totally live performances from the
wonderful house band and fantastic
guests including Justin Townes Earle,
Caitlin Rose, The Felice Brothers, Van
Walker, Those Darlins, Wilson Dixon and
loads more. We’ve pulled it off every
time. Of course, that’s been possible
because of a great cast of musicians,
staff and volunteers who help to put it
all together on the day.
Worst on-air experience?
Having a coughing fit in the last few
minutes of the show while trying to get
through the gig guide. You know you
have to finish what you started, the
show’s about to end and you have to
say goodbye. At least people were kind
enough to call to check if I was alright.
Is your on-air name your real name?
Yes, unfortunately.
Which reality TV show would you like
to participate in and why?
Masterchef if the theme was Mexican
cuisine, Survivor if you were stranded
on a beach in Mexico on the coast of
the Carribean and So You Think You
Can Dance if it was in a Honky Tonk
dance barn in Austin, Texas.
Finish this sentence: ‘I really hope that
tonight I …’
Don’t fall asleep on the couch.
You're heading into the middle of
the desert for six months and you're
allowed to take three CDs – what do
you take?
1) Anthology of American Folk Music –
Edited By Harry Smith
2) Live/1975–85 – Bruce Springsteen
3) Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the
First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968
What’s the guiltiest secret in your
CD collection?
I don’t believe in guilty secrets and
will go into bat for anything in my
collection. It all has some value.
Favourite place to hang out
in Melbourne?
Most of my hanging out is done at The
Standard Hotel but on the other side
of the bar. Other than that, Edwardes
Lake Park.
Most over-rated artist in music
right now?
Whoever is on the cover of this
week’s NME.
Bruce Springsteen – Edinburgh ‘96,
Melbourne ‘03 and Cardiff ’08.
Velvet Underground –
Edinburgh Playhouse, 1993
The Proclaimers – Usher Hall, 2008.
The Stone Roses – Glasgow Green, 1990.
Person you would most like to
interview and why?
Tom Waits to convince him to do a
ten-night residency at The Forum.
Best on-air experience?
So far it would have to be the
experience of my first Radiothon –
so much love in the room and in the air.
Worst on-air experience?
The night the transmitter went
down, Mr Houchin (Station Manager)
who arrived as quickly as he could,
obviously saw my need for a beer
which he remedied quick smart.
Is your on-air name your real name?
Part of it is.
Which reality TV show would you like
to participate in and why?
Actually I’m working on one at the
moment. The working title is A Dave
In The Life. We follow various Dave’s
around for a day. So far I’m looking
at Dave Houchin, Dave Graney, Dave
Lawson, Dave Slutzkin and my good self.