Yeah, I know, Falls was a billion year ago. But that doesn’t mean you can’t check out our gallery, okay? Props to Olivia Blackburn for the rad pics….

So, Meredith, how does it feel to be 21?  Did you have a good time? Oh…you don’t remember much? I didn’t think so…you were pretty messy. Let me fill you in.

You were up early (really early) on Friday. You said it was worth it to get a great campsite, but in the end you were pretty spoilt for choice. Would it be the brand new Tom Mankey’s – with its awesome stage views – or the ever dependable, yet potentially mud soaked bush camp?

But who cares where you decided to leave your bags, the action was going on at your, ah what do you like to call it? Oh yes, the  ‘Supernatural Amphitheatre’. Supernatural is perhaps a bit rich Meredith, there was nothing paranormal going on just yet – although some mysterious vanishing acts were performed on the contents of my wallet. 7 dollars for a slice of pizza?

King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard rocked up first, crashing through the door and greeting you with a loud ‘Cheers!’.  Everyone was pleased you invited Kurt Vile along, ‘Jesus Fever’ gave us all a good dance. Someone told me he gave up his job as a forklift driver to play music. That’s pretty cool, Meredith. I’ll tell you what else is cool, those hippies having a piñata party in the bush camp. Do you remember that?

I know you love your costumes, but this year you went all out. Pope Benedict? SCUBA gear? Sumo Wrestler? Hell, I even saw you in an adult diaper at one point. Where the hell did you find that?

You did a little flirting on the first evening. Explosions in the Sky told us that they had ‘heard good things’ about you. That’s pretty flattering Meredith. They kept to themselves after that…didn’t say a word actually. But you had a gift for them, a golden sunset. I think the two of you were meant to be.  Oh, and did you see Ladyhawk? She might be a bit tacky sometimes, but she sure turned some heads when she passed by.

Even though you stayed up late, getting filthy with Harmonic 313, you were up early to greet Oscar + Martin – those strange kids that you can’t quite pin down. Are they cool because they are weird? Or weird because they are cool? Who knows.

Man, did you see Mudhoney covering, ‘Fix Me’ by Black Flag with Keith Morris on vocals?! Surely you couldn’t have been behind that little surprise.

Of course, being your 21st, Saturday night had plenty of time for some of the oldies to get up and say some words. Icehouse prompted a few respectful yawns, but Cut/Copy’s youthful exuberance got everyone up and about. You gave us a quick shower to cool off before Grinderman, which was lucky, because Nick Cave seemed to want to be close enough to smell you – getting right up in your grill and yelling ‘give me all your money’. After a set full of gleeful, crowd-grasping insanity, he gave you the shock of your life by saying ‘that’s it’ for Grinderman. Please say it ain’t so Meredith?

The morning after was a little awkward. No one wanted to admit to dancing to Big Freedia, in fact I heard a lot of people wanted to punch him. Luckily, Eagle and the Worm shook off the hangover and got everyone grooving again.

As usual, you had one final gift for us, although this year ‘the gift’ was a little different. Your new friend Dennis Cometti certainly made us laugh, and yet again all those wangs flapping about in the wind made us cry.

Well that’s about it, I think everyone would agree that you were in pretty good form. They say 21^sts are all about coming of age, and Meredith, you have aged oh so well.

All images courtesy Chip Mooney

Only in its second year, this year’s lineup is loaded with gigs, events, seminars, workshops and films, so trying to whittle down the 170+ acts to a Top 5 was pretty damn hard…so I took the easy way out and opted for the best-looking-slash-performers-I-like-and-I-don’t-care-if-you-don’t-like-them approach.

Here we go…

KUBIK Melbourne
DJ Krush, Cut Copy DJs, Midnight Juggernauts, Lewie Day, World’s End Press, Gaslamp Killer, Alexkid…anything at Kubik, really…

Have you seen this thing? Constructed by some clever design people in Berlin, the travelling open-air pop-up venue is made from industrial water tanks which light up in sync with the performance. Video mapping and sound design complete this truly immersive musical experience, a visual and aural (and delightful) feast for the senses.

Details and tickets via Kubik and peep the vid below to get a glimpse of Kubik in action.

kubik hamburg 2009 from Balestra Berlin on Vimeo.

Live Music Safari
Joelistics, Spiral Stairs & Wally De Backer, Puta Madre Brothers

So the purpose of MMW’s Live Music Safari is thus: a huge spread of free gigs, DJs and seminars will be splayed across Melbourne for one day only and your mission is to traverse the city and get to as many of these gigs as possible. Kick off at 1000£ Bend for an up-close-and-personal conversation with Spiral Stairs and Wally De Backer and make your way to venues like Revolt in Kensington, Roxanne Parlour, Cherry Bar and The Toff in the CBD and the Town Hall Hotel in North Melbourne until the wee hours of the morning. Put your running shoes (or rocket boots) on!

Giant Theremin – Move’n’Mash-up
Dexter

Oh, this reminds me of that time when I saw Dexter on the 109 tram. In real life, he is every bit as freakin’ cool as you would expect him to be. Dexter will be hosting a workshop for sampling and sound design enthusiasts. Warning: there will also be some hip-hop dancing, krumping and breaking involved so make sure you bring your sickest moves with you, yeah?

Face The Music

This two-day workshop focuses on every single behind-the-scenes facet of the music industry including recording, production management, PR, festivals, touring and record deals and is a must for both bands and anyone wanting to break into the industry. Some of the most influential local and international figures will be holding seminars and workshops and sharing their experiences with the audience with one of the highlights being a keynote speech by Brent Grulke of SXSW.

Ponyfish Island Presents Aesthetics of Sound

Over the course of Melbourne Music Week, bars, cafes, galleries and retails stores around the city will interpret Aesthetics of Sound by way of live music, installations, exhibitions or product offers unique to their venue. Ponyfish Island will host a series of live music gigs by artists including Isaac De Geer, Hiatus Kaiyote and Yeo.

For all the details including dates, venue info and ticket prices, hit up the Melbourne Music Week website

Joelistics image: All Aussie Hip Hop

Gaslamp Killer image: I Heart Comix

When a couple of Scottish pastoralists chose Werribee Park as the site for their glorious Italiante mansion, you have to wonder whether they could have ever imagined that, well over a century later, it would become a backdrop for a Canadian electronica band with the not-so-subtle title of Holy Fuck.

This premise of ‘unfamiliar location = unfamiliar festival’ seems to be the overriding ethos of Harvest, the trendy new kid on the already crowded summer festival block. Described by event organisers as a ‘civilised gathering’, Harvest’s obvious appeal is as a kind of hipster haven, an escape from the pre-teen parade that is Big Day Out and the bogan beat-down of Soundwave. With an IBPSQM (ironic beards per square meter) rating that was simply off the charts, and plenty of 90s nostalgia in the air –Harvest set its sights on the diverse, yet difficult to please crowd of culture vultures and fashionable flaneurs.

Despite the crotch sniffing canines at the gate, the lavish gardens of Werribee Park made for a shady, comfortable and altogether enjoyable setting in which to take in the range of avante guard and alternative entertainment on offer. Although frequent glimpses of bare-arsed patrons relieving themselves in dense shrubbery belied the ‘civilised gathering’ tagline, Harvest managed to achieve its goal of providing an atmospheric environment, that often felt more like a picnic in the park than a typical music festival.

Ignoring the warm Spring weather, Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen sweated through his bands energetic set wearing a suit jacket. Elsewhere, TV on the Radio proved to be one of the festival’s more popular acts, drawing an enthusiastic crowd to their late afternoon timeslot. Indie rock staples Bright Eyes started well, but suffered from the inevitable rush to the amenities that tends to occur before the headline acts begin. One festival-goer remarked that most of ‘the gathering’ tended to occur around the food and drink coupon tents, with many of the lines eclipsing the crowd numbers at some of the smaller stages. To say Harvest was under-catered would be a severe understatement – the kegs were dry before the sun was down and the wafts of fried food from the Brazilian BBQ stand were quickly replaced by the scent of manure from the surrounding paddocks.

While Harvest will probably cop its fair whack from bloggers and forum-goers about these issues, the reality is that it did nothing to detract from the quality of some of the headline acts. The wonderfully understated Mogwai unleashed a tsunami of noise that was only broken by guitarist Stuart Braithwaite stopping to thank the ‘wild animals’ at nearby Werribee Zoo. Over on the main stage, The National’s moody anti-theatre gave way to Portishead, whose return after a 13 year absence had the crowd hanging on every one of Beth Gibbon’s soulful words. With the Werribee Mansion now lit up behind the band’s spartan visuals, the stage was well and truly set for a balanced setlist that would satisfy die-hards and newcomers alike. Moving from the peculiar psychedelica of Sour Times to the electo-assualt of Machine Gun (complete with apocalyptic visuals that featured Tony Abbot shooting lasers from his eyes), the band’s no fuss stage presence allowed Gibbon’s delicate (and often complicated) melodies to soar. Then, just as the final, breathless, verse of Roads moved many to tears, The Flaming Lips appeared from a giant vagina.

Yes, a giant technicolor vagina. Playing just over five songs, and firing enough confetti into the air sink an aircraft carrier, The Lips again showed why they are festival pros. Despite a less than spirited crowd (the mood was not helped by frequent transport announcements during the set), the nonsensical She Don’t Use Jelly and The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song brought plenty of smiles – as did the party atmosphere on stage – which was filled with colorful dancers that had been hand picked from the crowd. The spirited set concluded with the anthemic Do you Realize?, which prompted a mass exodus from the Windmill paddock. After the bottleneck to end all bottlenecks at the tiny exit – the ‘stationary, unmoving line’ motif returned again in the carpark. But where many festivals would spiral out of control at this point, Harvest seemed to remain…well…civilised, a festival that, despite its problems, offered something pretty unique.

All images courtesy Jo Stewart

Yep, I’m aware Falls Festival happens over New Year’s Eve. And yes, I also know it’s only October. I do realise the tickets for the Lorne Falls have sold out HOWEVER, as we’re sooooo excited about the lineup, we thought we’d try and convince you to buy a ticket to Falls in Marion Bay. So for those of you playing at home, here are the Top 5 Reasons Why You Must Go To Falls…

#5: It's an overseas trip

Tassie is over the Tasman Sea, is it not? One of my gal pals missed out on Lorne tickets last year and took off to Marion Bay instead AND LOVED IT. Yes, folks, Tasmanians cop a lot of shit for being…Tasmanian…but let’s throw them some props for a change. Also, did I mention Lorne has sold out? So if you wanna go to Falls, you don’t really have any choice BUT to go to Tassie.

#4: Falls Fiesta

It’s a legit excuse for you to wear WHATEVER YOU WANT INCLUDING YOUR BIRTHDAY SUIT*. Is there a better way to bring in the New Year than a spectacular fancy-dress fiesta? I think not. AND there will probably be conga lines. A lot of them. Did I just hear you say “Hellz YEAH!”?

#3: Falls Films

Exclusive to Marion Bay is the Madman equivalent of Movie Night. And because it’s Madman, it will probably involve anime, samurai, zombie ninjas, robot pirates, Robot Chickens, Happy Tree Friends…you get the drift. So bring your deckchair and your esky and settle in for what’s sure to be less awkward than a couple on their first date at Moonlight Cinema.

#2: The Lineup

I’m not really sure what to say here, other than: Aloe Blacc, Kimbra, Alpine, Crystal Castles, The Jezabels, The Kooks, The Naked & Famous…I can’t go on, I think I’m having a minor heart attack from the excitement of even mentioning these names.

#1: Because this dude is playing….

I mean really, REALLY…do I NEED to say anymore?

If the above five reasons don’t cut it, there are plenty more on the website. Or you can just sit at home or whatever.

Buy Marion Bay tickets here.

*I’m just kidding, don’t wear your birthday suit…that’s just gross.

When asked to contemplate his decision and its impact upon his enjoyment of 2011, the ever-so-thoughtful frontman explains, “I sort of split the year into two as to how I remember it. Embarking on the solo tour was the first big thing. I had to learn how to hold my own without three of my best friends behind me. It was a challenge that I was up for.”

While the deceptively shy song-smith knew he needed to step out of his comfort zone, the move was never motivated by a desire to ditch his close pals, but rather develop a greater understanding of his own onstage persona and to better his already amazing songwriting. He notes, “I think I kind of worked it out by the end of the tour. I worked out how to present my songs on my own, which was really satisfying to be able to play those songs in their most basic form and see how people react to them. It is a privilege that not many band guys get to have. I was so fortunate to have been able to do that. By the end of it, it was guiding me as to how I want to write in the future.”

With Oh Mercy all set to close the year with the release of Gow’s favourite song on the record, the chirpy, Blue Lagoon – and a set of full-band dates – Gow is clearly relishing being back with his buds and focusing his efforts firmly on the future for Oh Mercy.

“I guess the second half of the year has been spent writing new material for a new album. I’m having a lot of fun doing that. It is going to be a marked difference from the last one. I will always try to make one album different from the other. I am not interested in making the same album twice. I also don’t think fans are really interested in hearing the same album twice,” says Gow.

While he is not an artist who criticises the work of others, he has clear aspirations as a songwriter that he feels some of his contemporaries lack. Without any hint of malice, he sighs, “Some bands have had wonderful careers out of making the same album ten times, but it doesn’t suit my interests.” While he is determined to make album three a different kettle of fish to Great Barrier Grief, he is currently not in a position to raise expectations. When asked to define his intended differences, he is only able to point to the fact that “the last album was quite romantic, so this will be a little less romantic.”

With the taste buds wet but wanting more, we switch our focus from his writing spree to the year that was. When asked about his highlight of that year that was (and still is), the sincere songwriter pauses. Not wishing to offer a flighty misrepresentation of his year, he takes his time and seriously thinks about what really has meant the most. He finally arrives at his answer. “I suppose my highlight of the year is being asked to join my favourite Australian band on stage at the Queenscliff Festival in November,” he offers.

“I am getting to play a selection of early The Triffids singles. I also get to be one of the guest vocalists with the band themselves. I guess my appreciation and admiration for that band make it such an incredible honour. I am just so excited.”

Like a child in a sweet shop, Gow, despite his own incredible success, is all beady-eyed at the prospect of joining his own heroes. Completely void of any ego or expectation, the musician has already started his prep to ensure he does not let his own idols, or himself, down.

“I have a had a bit of a fiddle around on my own. It has been pretty liberal about which tracks we can choose. There are a couple which I am really dying to do. One is called Revelry and another called Spanish Blues. I started looking at ways we can do it that are different to the original, so they suit my voice and the band.”

Though he concedes that the final decisions about who does what are yet to be made, the humble soul is happy to have been selected and is not about to push to the front of the queue with a list of demands. With a real innocence, he states “there are lots of vocalists who have already worked with The Triffids and I so I am quite happy to wait my turn at the end of the queue. I don’t necessarily have a favourite track. I am yet to find out which song I am going to do as a guest vocalist. But I guess the early stuff is my favourite, so I hope I get to do one of those.”

Oh Mercy will play the Queenscliff Music Festival, 25-27 November 2011. Their album, Great Barrier Grief is out now through EMI Australia.

ohmercy.com.au

All Images Copyright Jeremy Williams

This year we be going all cultural and stuff (that and the Editor totally didn’t get her shit together to organise any Fringe viewing. Sigh.)…

When the Laneway writers were asked to choose their festival shows – one of them came back with “It looks really arty. I’m scared.”

He probably won’t be going along this year.

In the lead up to the two-and-a-bit-weeks festival, here’s a handful of shows (out of the very huge program) we can’t wait to see…

Half-Real
September 28 – October 15
Malthouse Theatre

In this twisted murder mystery, the audience decides who killed Violet Vario.  Using real-time tracking, 3D video mapping and projected images, the audience participation will decide the outcome of the story. Huh? I know right? Crazy!

Assembly
October 06 – 08
Melbourne Recital Centre

Famed choreographer, Gideon Obarzanek, presents his final work for Australia’s foremost dance company, Chunky Moves. In this massive collaboration between Chunky Moves and The Victorian Opera, it will surely be one of the most  powerful and epic performances of the year.

Tom Tom Crew
October 4-23
Forum Theatre

Blending acrobatics, hip-hop and percussion, Tom Tom crew are sure to set the Forum on fire with their beatboxing, breakdancing, and “gravity-defying manoeuvres”. Its mashup of dance and music makes Tom Tom the mass appeal circus of the 21^st century, for lovers of dance, theatre and music alike.

Journeys of Love and More Love
October 11-16
Arts House Meatmarket

Described as being “an edible, three-course journey through a tale of migration, homecoming and cookery”, Journeys of Love and More Love is Ali Zaidi’s life tale, taking us from Bombay to London and beyond. Using intimate storytelling and video documentary, each of Zaidi’s tales are matched by dishes formulated from the time and setting of which each event took place.

Aviary
October 19-23
North Melbourne Town Hall

Between the twitchy agitation of British New Wave, recordings of birdsong and the paradise of the New Guinea jungle, this is a dance performance of uncommon adornment and flamboyance.

BalletLab’s acclaimed choreographer, Phillip Adams, brings us a Aviary, a soaring spectacle inspried by the competition and exhibitionism to be found in the avian world.

For more information on these shows and more (including free performances throughout the festival), hit up the Melbourne Festival website. We’ll be posting up a bunch of reviews and interviews with some of this year’s performers so watch this space or follow us in the Twitterverse @lanewaymagazine.

Happy Melbourne Festival!

The day started off with a bang. Armed with an iPhone, I was ready to do my live-tweet from the front row of as many Parklife acts as possible. Unfortunately my phone died after an hour (damn 3G phones and their power draining), but luckily for you, our friend, Jeremy Williams was at hand to take some amazing shots. Plus my tweets are boring. And annoying. And is anyone even on Twitter? Don’t answer that, because yes I know, there are millions and millions of people on Twitter.

ANYWHO. My aim of getting to every single performance was of course, never gonna happen. Highlights that we caught included the legendary Diplo; NYC’s, Duck Sauce; Melbourne boys, Strange Talk; Brooklyn hip-hop slash funk queen, Santigold; Sweden’s, Little Dragon; “our” Kimbra and London dubstep princess, Katy B.

I’ve never been to Parklife before, so I really can’t say if it’s getting better or worse. I CAN say, however, that this year’s Parklife definitely makes me want to go back for more. The acts were fantastic, the crowd was good – everyone was having a great time – and the vibe was pretty relaxed. After a long day in Melbourne’s usual weather tease of it’s-sunny-now-it’s-freezing-now-it’s-sunny-again-and-now-here’s-an-arctic-gale, and having spent sixty bucks on two drinks, a gourmet snag and a bucket of chips, it was time to leave. And seeing as my music reviews consist of stuff like “Diplo was sick as f$#%”,  I’ll just leave you with the picture book version instead. It’s way better.

Images of Digitalism and Simian Mobile Disco courtesy Fuzzy Entertainment.

All other images courtesy Jeremy Williams Photography

With their soon-to-be-released, long-awaited debut album set to drop in the next few months, our prediction is that Kitchen Knife Wife are about to be catapulted along the fast-track to fame. Jeremy Williams sits down with Dom Milbert to talk the tales and travels of a band on the brink of stardom.

“I’ve never actually done an interview before!” laughs Dom Milbert, the most recent, though no longer new, addition to Melbourne quintet Kitchen Knife Wife as we sip coffee in South Melbourne. Having just finished a photoshoot down a laneway nearby, Milbert has been deserted by his band mates Paul Luczak, Bernard Czaplinski, James Fleming and David Mudie, who all have other places to be – giving Milbert free reign to talk about their current single, the super catchy Happy and the dynamic group’s impending plans. But before we talk about the now, Milbet quickly fills me in on why he was added to the line up.

“The guys have been together since 2008 and they released, I think, two EPs. So this is not the first recording, but they wanted to fine-tune a few things. I was added into the line-up earlier this year to fill it out. Now we are a fully blown Kitchen Knife Wife live outfit.”

Having made a name for themselves very briefly on these shores some two years back, the then-quartet quickly disappeared to Europe for a support slot on The Wombats tour, but are now firmly back on home ground and ready to rock. For Milbert, the transition from mate of the band to bandmate was not necessarily the most straight forward, with the rest of the band set in their roles and Milbert needing to fight his forward to establish himself. However, rather than dwell on the initial teething problems, Milbert is clearly loving every minute of his now more rounded role.

“If you forget about the records and trying to be succesful, you are hanging out with your mates playing shows. You are not hurting anybody, you are drinking a lot of beer and it is a lot of fun.

“The hope is to get one or two strong singles. To get a bit of airplay.”

Having started working towards their as yet untitled debut album in December 2010, the troupe are more than excited to be able to finally unleash it to their fans come February 2012. But while their focus is firmly on their debut, the forward thinking group are following Calling All Cars lead and have already started contemplating its follow-up.

“We are already looking forward to the second album, so hopefully this one will give us a good platform to build on and go from there.

“There are few, they are all works in progress” says Milbert.

Though he concedes that by talking about the difficult second album he is inferring that the process has already kicked off, it soon becomes clear that album number two is very much in its early stages. However, like any band dedicated to an end goal, Kitchen Knife Wife are clearly playing close attention to the process and learning lessons from mistakes.

“I think the one thing about the process of recording this album is that it has given us more confidence in our ability to actually write songs. Touring as well has been good for the creative output in a way.”

While their current single Happy may be garnering praise from all corners, Milbert is seemingly realistic about the future. Rather than getting lost in a romanticised notion, he appears to accept that Melbourne is swarming with good bands and while they may put in the hard yards, it does not necessarily guarantee them success.

“It has always been a dream for all of us I think. But obviously so many people share that dream, so it is hard to strike that balance of a realistic career path and doing something that always pays the bills. Full credit to people who fully dedicate themselves to music, doing the honourable thing. I think the number one aim is to have fun. Number two, if that leads to a full time career then great, but if not, at least we are having fun.”

Kitchen Knife Wife play Revolver with Chk Chk Boom, The Hondas and Asami on October 01. Their debut album is slated for a late-2011/early-2012 release date. Stay in the loop via their website.

All Images Copyright Jeremy Williams

The name Randy Newman will set alarm bells ringing in everybody’s head.

The American composer has become synonymous with the children’s animated film, with six Disney-Pixar scores under his belt – yes, that does include Toy Story – the one-time singer/songwriter has, in the last couple of decades, redefined his career and now boasts cross generational appeal. It is therefore little surprise to see the State Theatre packed to the brim with an audience whose age range is approximately 4-100 – a feat that is impressive on its own. However, with accompaniment from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Newman ensures that his set satisfies not only the Disney fans.

A mild-mannered and well-humoured humble soul, Newman excels at relaxed banter and works his way through a diverse collection from his back catalogue, with the inevitable highlights Political Science, You Can Leave Your Hat On and You’ve Got A Friend In Me proving audience favourites.

However, at times the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra are left in the shadows, with Newman preferring to perform as a soloist. The decision is met with mixed emotions. Having been billed as a collaboration, Newman’s insistence to go it alone has initial appeal, but his solo sound is at times too soft for such a large forum.

Equally perverse is the minimal focus on his scores. Though four make the bill, they are positioned as the mid section and might have benefited from spacing. That said, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra work their magic and they would easily have stolen the show had it not been for the late minute inclusion of encore closer I Think It’s Going To Rain Today, which allows Newman to do away with his comical tone and try a little tenderness. For three minutes, not as much as a head turn as chills were sent down people’s spines. Proving his original rendition still beats all the covers, Newman ends his set on a high and is met with a much deserved standing ovation.