One of the major perks of living in Melbourne for me is the popularity of, and therefore easy access to fringe artists and events. Recently, I experienced both the negatives and benefits of living in a larger city with a greater tolerance for ‘weird’. After playing to a half empty room at Woodland the night before, Dan Deacon’s Melbourne show at The Corner Hotel (as part of Mistletone’s Fright Night) was in contrast played to a full house in a larger venue. The atmosphere of the Brisbane show however far out-trumped that of the Melbourne show: The drink queues were shorter, there was more room to dance, run, and follow whatever bizarre direction Dan Deacon gave us, the ‘famous’ people on stage appeared more accessible. It made me realise in a way how good we have it in Brisbane. Knowing that only 100 or so people would go to shows meant not worrying about pre-sales, no lining up, and a decent view of the band. Even in cases of sell out crowds, the venue is most likely smaller and more intimate than those in Melbourne or Sydney. It sometimes even results in cheaper entry than in neighbouring cities.There’s something nice about all this.

There’s also something pretty awful about them as well though. You worry whether the band will ever come back to Brisbane. That possibly they’ve lost money. In some cases there is no atmosphere at all for the band playing to feed off which perhaps results in lesser quality performances. As the opening local band you feel a sense of guilt for not bringing in more people despite the hefty ticket prices that put off fans and friends who aren’t already fans of the headliner as well. You worry about getting booked again by the promoter and feel guilty for invoicing them for money. It’s really no surprise that international bands seem to be favouring playing festival circuits for agreed fees rather than risk the potential loss of money involved in planning their own tour. Which is a shame.

Then there are events like Sugar Mountain which I suppose is a ‘Festival’ also. Sugar Mountain however takes everything you like about music festivals minus (almost) everything you hate about music festivals.  Sugar Mountain is a music and visual arts event running from 6pm – 1am across three different stages at massive CBD venue ‘The Forum‘. The headliners for this years event were Deerhoof, tUnE-yArDs, Thee Oh Sees, Shabazz Palaces, Prince Rama, Sun Araw, John Maus and Julianna Barwick as well as a decent smattering of local bands. None of these acts receive high rotation on Triple J or mainstream radio, instead this event focuses on bands with cult following built on the back of community radio/ social media/ blogosphere. The closest event we have in brisbane is the incredible Frankly Festival curated by Lawrence English. Now in its second year, Sugar Mountain expanded to incorporate some bigger overseas headliners. I know several friends from Brisbane who flew down to Melbourne specifically for this event; a sign that organisers are tapping into a certain type of audience. At $95 it was also reasonably priced. It was indoor with plenty of room to move and plenty of seating if you needed a break. The only cons were the expensive drinks (no doubt this cost was set by The Forum though) and the lack of food outlets (the previously planned street vendors had to pull out due to melbourne City Council red tape). The highlights for me were tUnE-yArDs, Thee Oh Sees and Prince Rama but the local bands as well were exceptional. The scope of material and courage to take risk by these locals are what most impressed/ inspired me upon first moving to Melbourne. They were not easily able to be placed into a particular genre or scene and seemed to take cues from a broad range of artists. I had seen and/ or recorded footage from all these bands for the blog throughout the past 6 months, and to see them all together playing to large crowds was another shot of inspiration. Here are some videos of these bands along with my brief appraisal of each:

Pets With Pets – Played early and filled the cavernous Forum main room with psychedelic kraut shoegazer bliss. What makes this band stand out to me is that the songs seem to have ‘soul’ or at least ‘emotional weight’. It’s not a case of playing fashionable abstract music to impress hipsters, although I’m sure the band have been accused of this by some people. Frontman Zayd Thring’s primal and at times bizarre vocals may come across as alienating to others but to me they come across as a way of expressing the bizarre and unspoken moments that we gloss over in our everyday life. It seems the perfect antithesis to the safe teenage altpop currently being championed on Triple J. Which is fine, but feels to me to be so temporary and impersonal.

Fox & Sui – Part of a new wave of abstract RnB gaining popularity through acts like Oscar + Martin, Collarbones and the Yes Please crew. Again, this music has ‘soul’ or perhaps more appropriately ‘substance’ or ‘nutrition’. While Top40 style RnB continues to grow more manufactured by the day, these kids know their limits, and channel only selected cues from their influences. Ones that suit their pesonality, upbringing and musical tools and ability. The result is effortless, slightly strange, but always distinct pop music. I’m highly anticipating more recorded output from these guys in 2012.

Absolute Boys – Played a set of lethargic dubby post punk in a dark theatre against a backdrop of projected static video. I want to go to there. I cannot wait until these guys put out something that goes for at least 45 minutes so i can properly absorb the denseness through headphones every day.

World’s End Press – First time I saw these guys i knew they were too good to be playing the tiny half empty venue they found themselves in that night. The fact that they continue to improve every time I see them indicates world domination is surely not far away. Amazing throwback dance-pop tunes with a distinct Madchester/ disco/ house and plastic funk vibe.

The Harpoons – To me are fascinating. They play fairly rudimentary Motown/ Soul/ Garage tunes that are fairly inoffensive and cute. They could for all intents and purposes be a covers band…. they’re not, but their songs/ prgressions are clear homages/ borderline rip-offs of 60s RnB tunes. The big surprise to me is that the few times I have seen them has been to a room FULL of young kids. Young people getting down to motown? It’s awesome, but not something I could have possibly imagined seeing in Brisbane. Having spent the latter days of my teenagehood obsessing over the motown/ stax/ atlantic RnB discography I copied from the University library, this pleases me greatly…. despite the fact they aren’t really bringing anything new to the table.

The B-side is the beautifully lo-fi “The Rounds”.

Re:Enactment – Too Much by lofly recordings

Get your free copy here.

You can now order Mr. Maps’ labyrinthine instrumental math-rock monster of an album on pristine white vinyl. To sweeten the deal you also get a CD of remixes by artists such as ReSTReAM, Collarbones, Hunz, and Tara Simmons.

We have a very limited quantity of these treasures, so don’t wait around! Head to the Mr. Maps Bandcamp to get yours.

The single drops officially on January 9, 2012 but you can get a sneak preview of it below.

Re:Enactment – Too Much by lofly recordings

Sydney folk can catch Re:Enactment live this Friday, January 6th, at Fbi Social, Kings Cross Hotel, w/ Dream Delay & Arundel.

Mr. Maps play 9pm Friday 11 December at this awesome event:

CROSS-STITCH: You Are Everything I Want You To Be

Start Date : 08/12/2011

End Date : 09/12/2011

Presented by Metro Arts & curated by Daniel Santangeli.

“I”: Dot A.Y. | Sarah Winter | Lawrence English | mI_Ke (of My Fiction fame) | Melissa Ryke for inbetweenspaces | Yvette Turnbull | Leena Reithmuller | Liesel Zink | Eloise Maree | MakeShift | Matt O’Neill | Ben Schostakowski | Timothy Tate and more to be announced…

“You”: Perfect

The final CROSS-STITCH of 2011 presents two nights of live music, visual art, performance and live art. Climb to the top level of Metro Arts and sink into a handpicked selection of Brisbane’s best offerings.

This is art that looks you right in the eye, always says hello or, at least, gives you a kiss on the cheek before you walk out the door.

And this kind of love doesn’t come at a price. CROSS-STITCH is totally free… Except for the bar.

When: Thursday 8 & Friday 9 December, 7:30pm – 11pm
Where: Level 1 – Level 4, 109 Edward St
Cost: Free

Please note our bar is cash only. ATMs are located next door in the Victory Hotel or across the street at 7/11.

Location Details:

Metro Arts Building, 109 Edward Street, Brisbane, 4000

Time: 7:30pm

Cost: FREE

aheadphonehome support Skypilot at Ric’s

Re:Enactment – Higher Duties single launch (Melbourne) The Workers Club 6PM – 9:30PM w/ Toy Balloon and Cat Full of Ghosts

I was lucky enough to play a show with them in March at The Workers Club (the same venue as this video). At the time i was instantly struck by how precise and personal it seemed to be, while at the same time being so easy to lose yourself in. It reminded me a lot of Durutti Column and Brian Eno at the time. More than six months later, Leigh has really stepped up his production values significantly. Slick mixing, intricate programming and warm washes of sound. It looks as though the next Townhouses release will be out on the Yes Please label, also home to Guerre, and Oliver Tank; two of Australia’s most promising young acts.

This performance was part of the Novevmber “SYN Approved” show which takes place monthly on a Thursday night at The Workers Club. SYN is a volunteer youth based radio station in Melbourne.

Exciting times loom for The Townhouses in 2012:

Facebook / Bandcamp / Soundcloud

For more videos head to loflyTV youtube channel or www.blackburstsounds.tumblr.com

Saturday December 17: This is gonna be one hell of a party.

To celebrate the end of a great year, and the final episode in our series of Hangar the Beetle shows, we’ve pulled together a line-up that promises smiles all round.

You’ll find us at Beetle Bar, on Roma st, Brisbane. Entry is $10, bar prices are cheap. Free festive cheer on entry.

We are also running our lofly store door deal! If you buy anything from www.lofly.com/store between now and 17 December, you will get half-price entry to the lofly Christmas Party! It’s a perfect opportunity to get some Nova Scotia vinyl or a Mr. Maps CD under the tree for that loved one with great taste. All you need to do is make a purchase and you’ll automatically go on the half-price door list!

Coming from Sydney is the slightly absurd but definitely brilliant Donny Benet. He is signed to the excellent Rice is Nice label, and he delivers smoothly gelled funk bass grooves and sweet soulful croonings the way only a sexy gent with receding hair and and a grand moustache can. It’s somewhere between Prince, bad karaoke and Everything is Terrible. Amazing.

If that’s not enough to pique your curiosity, we introduce Boss Fight. Celebrated Brisbane composer Thomas Green leads a team of talented musos and geeks who combine their love for live electronica and dubstep with their fondness for video game music. Previously they’ve played under the alias “Praxis Axis“, but their new creations are taking on a life of their own, enough to warrant a whole new identity for this band. Expect Nintendo nostalgia and uncontrollable dancing. Boss Fight will be opening so get there early!

In between we have a couple of Brisbane legends. Dot.ay is a unique mainstay on the Brisbane scene, and the city’s top chip-tunes pioneer. He uses gameboys and other bits of electronic oddities to create brutally ecstatic dance music. Dot.ay is gathering a serious following online and recently rocked the official afterparty of Tokyo’s Blip Festival – come and see what all the fuss is about.

He’ll be following a rare performance from M. O’Neill – an artist who seems to be talked about as much as listened to. Brisbane creative dilettante and Matt O’Neill (Citizen Loud, The Holy Cow) is setting out to explode the conventional understandings of what is meant by Australian hip hop. Think cut-and-paste beats, dense walls of sound, and sprawling rhyme-schemes.

Warm up for the Harvest Festival in style at the sixth installment of Hangar the Beetle.

You’ll find us at the Beetle Bar on Roma Street from 8pm, Friday 18 November, along with a general surplus of good times and some incredible music. Here’s what we’ve got:

Epithets
Epithets have now pulled together a couple of collections of literate indie pop with an eye on the trials of romance. Their recent release “Year of Glad” sparkles with focused power and beautiful instrumentation.

Extrafoxx
Frontman Conwae Burrell’s songwriting is a pure pleasure, quite literally. From guitar/synth pop, through alt country rockers and
beyond, Extrafoxx dishes up simple, hook laden genius, untouched, memorable and humble.

Nite Fields
New stuff, these guys take the epic MBV inspired wash of Loomer and channel it into neat packages of nearly naive pop. Nite Fields’ ability to explore many different aspects of their grand sound makes them one of Brisbane’s most exciting prospects.

Steven Francis
Steve is one of those lucky songwriters – he has a genuine voice. He’s a young Brisbane local whose songs will appeal to fans of Bigstrongbrute, McKisko and Tom Cooney. This is one of his first shows – come and say you saw him when.

There’s a facebook event here for that new age fun with a vintage feel.