News:
· Puff 'n' Stuff
Everything that's happenin in Adelaide this fortnight.
· Industry
The latest from the music industry.
· Puffio
Theatre news.
· Dance
Dance and electronica news.
· Metal
Updates from the wide world of metal.
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Puff 'n' Stuff.
Congratulations are due to locals The Hot Lies who have just signed on the dotted line with Liberation for their forthcoming album. Of course, Puff knew they were destined for great things: you don't get on the cover of dB Magazine just because you have interesting cheekbones, now do you? Even if you don't have Puff's amazing gifts of foresight, you might have gotten a hint about how rad the 'Lies were if you'd caught them at the Big Day Out: guitarist Benjamin Pix wasn't going to let a little thing like a dislocated knee stop him from a-rocking. And a-rock he did, even as the painkillers wore off and he spent the day on crutches. Kudos, lads.
Sydney trio Gabriel's Day are making their
first visit to Adelaide in support of their debut album 'Anthems
& Intimacies': south-eastern readers can catch them at the Sir
Robert Helpmann Theatre in Mt Gambier on Tues 22 Feb, while
their metropolitan brethren can do the same at the Grace Emily
on Wed 23 Feb.
Are your ears ringing, dear reader? You bet they are, and it's because of the veritable explosion of CD launches that are happening in Radelaide in the next little while! Reckon that sounds a little far-fetched, even metaphorically? Then you reckon wrong, you damned cynic. Maybe if you took a moment to listen, instead of getting all up in Puff's face about whether or not the beginning of this paragraph made the slightest bit of sense, you'd see what Puff's getting at. For starters, there's Double Dragon, who are launching their debut at the Enigma Bar on Fri 11 Feb, along with Later That Night, Murder Hill and Equal Minded.
"But Puff," you might reply in that plaintive
whine of yours, "one CD launch does not a metaphorical explosion
make." You'll get a taste of the back of Puff's hand if you
keep on like that, you know: Sat 12 Feb is like an entire year
of CD launches crammed into the one night. First up, STR launch
their 'Hopes For Hire' album at the UniBar; meanwhile, the lovely
Ms Cookie Baker launches her debut CD-EP 'Pocket Edition' at
the Fad Bar & Gallery with Tom Barnes, John Woods and DJ Tr!p
in tow while Hit The Jackpot launch their second CD-EP at the
Jade Monkey with local pals Sweet Raxxx and Brutal Snake play
interstate visitors Kiosk and Death: Wolf!, and finally The
Trafalgars launch their double a-side single Sit With Me / Sunnyside
Drive at Jive with Russian Teammate and interstaters The Hovercrafts.
And that's all on the same night! Take a bite of that, skeptical
reader. What's it taste like? Puff'll tell you: it tastes like
a town chock-full of talent, dedication, can-do spirit and perhaps
a hint of cinnamon, just to bring out the earthy flabours -
and don't try and tell Puff any different, unless you're looking
for some sort of no-holds-barred slapdown. Yeah, you heard right.
Anyway, here's Ms Baker looking simply adorable.
And you think that's it? Not by a long shot. There are also CD launches coming up for Badtaste (at The Underground on Sat 26 Feb, with Stolen Youth, The Brews and Trashlife) and Heather Frahn (Fri 1 March at the Jade Monkey), and expect word shortly on launches for the likes of Bad Girls Of The Bible and The Zero Kelvins.
One band who won't be launching a CD for
a while is Sumi, but that's only because they're only just about
to hit the studio; catch them in pre-recording mode at the Enigma
Bar on Sat 12 Feb along with Tiltmeter, Liability Of My Own
and The Open Season.
Local mainstays Gumbo Ya! Ya! have just dropped their new CD: it's called 'Overnight' and they'll be spruiking it at the Sempahore Workers Club on Fri 11 Feb and at No Liezz on Fri 25 Feb.
Speaking of great things that are going on in this town of ours
- because that's what Puff likes to speak of, you know - it
seems like Adelaidians are actually heeding Puff's words and
getting out of the house: not only did the Big Day Out sell
out ages in advance but tickets for shows like The Shins and
Mudhoney have been going like particularly alluring hotcakes,
perhaps with some sweet, sweet syrup thereon. May this wonderful
trend continue: remember kids, the more we show promoters that
we'll buy tickets, the more tours they'll send our way.
And that's worth remembering since there are even more bands giving us the arse: despite rumours to the contary The Firey Furnaces will not be gracing Adelaide with their presence on their "Australian" tour, while Death From Above 1979 are doing the same in late February. Thanks guys. No, really, thanks.
Stuff from Puff: as we all know, these days
a band's only reason to split is to reform a bit down the track.
After all, can you conceive of a reason that Puff would ever,
ever mention Buckcherry except in the context that they've reformed
after three years (well, two of them anyway: the creative powerhouse
of vocalist Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson) and are recording
their third album? Of course you can't... Nickelback's drummer
Ryan "Nik" Vikedal (could we describe him as the man who put
the Nik in Nickleback? Oh, never mind) has left the band, seemingly
on good terms. It looks like he'll be in Australia shortly in
his other capacity as a member of the Corb Lund Band while his
erstwhile bandmates work on their fifth album... US metallers
Lamb Of God are supporting Slipknot on their US tour later this
year, except that they have been banned from playing at LA's
Great Western Forum in April: the venue is owned by the Faithful
Central Bible Church who've decided that a band who once called
themselves Burn The Priest had no business playing in their
venue. Spoilsports... A They Might Be Giants tribute album is
on the cards, with contributions confirmed to come from Frank
Black, Steve Burns, The Wrens, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow
Players and (possibly) Reel Big Fish... And now it's time for
Puff's Legal Corner, with a hearty "welcome back" to everyone's
favourite precociously talented alleged junkie thief nutcase,
Pete Doherty. It's been simply weeks since he's been in any
legal hot water, making it an unusually drama-free period for
the Petester (well, apart from causing a riot at the last show
on the Babyshambles UK tour by not showing up, seeing his former
band The Libertines split up and losing a drummer due to disputes
with management: still, quiet by Doherty standards). However,
he spent a weekend in jail after failing to raise the necessary
£150,000 bail after being arrested on blackmail and robbery
charges apparently after paying a visit to Max Carlish, a documentary
maker who filmed Doherty and Babyshambles for a forthcoming
film... Legendary producer Phil Spector, meanwhile, is on the
receiving end of a wrongful death suit over the shooting of
Lana Clarkson in Spector's mansion in 2003. The actress's mother
is bringing the suit against Spector now in order to comply
with the statute of limitations on wrongful death suits, although
the criminal case against Spector is still proceeding (he's
pleaded not guilty, incidentally, and is currently at liberty
on $US1 million bail)... The Inc.'s mastermind Irv Gotti, however,
spent Australia Day surrendering to the FBI on charges of money
laundering. US authorities charge that Gotti and his business
associates used the hip-hop label (home to the likes of Ja Rule
and Ashanti) as a front for a criminal empire that dealt in
drugs and ordered assassinations of rivals and are moving to
confiscate the label's assets. Representatives of corporate
owners Island/Def Jam (Univeral Music Group in Australia) are
confident that Gotti will be vindicated... And Snoop Dogg has
just been slugged with a sexual assault suit by a woman he's
previously accused of trying to extort $US5 million from him.
The unnamed woman was allegedly drugged and raped by Snoop and
his associates backstage after a taping of the US TV show 'Jimmy
Kimmel Live'. She's suing the station (ABC), its corporate owners
(the Walt Disney Company) and Snoop for a total of $25 million:
there's been suggestion that both Snoop and ABC have been paying
her expenses in return for her keeping mum about the assault...
But finally, let's look at the opportunities afforded to rock
folk by retirement. Since Guided By Voices split for good late
last year, founder/frontman Robert Pollard now has an opportunity
to kick back and take things easy. He's still keeping his hand
in, mind. There's a limited run of 500 copies of some of his
favourite stage rants from GBV shows (charmingly entitled 'Relaxation
Of The Asshole'), and a new solo single, Zoom, in April. Oh,
and some GBV reissues, like a limited vinyl run of 'Forever
Since Breakfast' and 'Propeller'. And an EP by Moping Swans,
the band he formed with ex-GBV rhythm section Greg Demos and
Jim MacPherson. And a new album by Circus Devils (Pollard and
producer Todd Tobias). And a CD release of the previously vinyl
only debut for Pollard's rock combo Hazzard Hot Rods ('Big Trouble'
will be 'Bigger Trouble' on CD, with seven bonus tracks). That
should clear the decks for the mid-year release of 'From A Compound
Eye', Pollard's proper solo debut. It's a double. And then there's
the archival material from Acid Ranch, his pre-GBV project.
Oh, and then there'll be 'Suitcase II', another collection of
100-odd unreleased Pollard songs, following the 2000 release
of 'Suitcase'. It's nice to see him finally slowing down.
Could it have been a year already? Apparently so: DJ Ian Bell is celebrating one year of BANG! at Fowlers Live: that's 52 Saturdays-worth of indie-club goodness (not to mention the many other events: the tribute nights, the New Years extravaganza, the Eurovision spectacular... so many memories...). In any case, Sat 12 Feb marks the milestone so get along and set the scene for year number two.
Adelaide's local musical folks are turning
out in force to raise some dosh for victims of the Asian tsunami.
Fowlers Live plays host to 'Local Live and United: the Asian
Quake & Tsunami Benefit Gig on Sun 13 Feb: Snap To Zero, Red
Monika, Illicit Eve, Insect Seeking Technology, A Tribe Is Forming,
Mission Hall (featuring former members of Avon, fact fans),
Lifter, Catholic Altered Boys and Unrest will be a-rockin' from
2pm to 11pm with all proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross
Asia Quake and Tsunami Appeal. Dig deep and rock hard. Right,
Snap To Zero?
And that's not the only fundraiser a-happening: The Underground is hosting a show to raise money for the Eyre Peninsula Bushfire Appeal on Fri 11 Feb: Paradise Burning (and no, the irony's not lost on them), A Thousand Nightmares, The Dukes of Haphazard, Fighting Words and Before It All Ends. Get along and support the good work.
On Sat 19 Feb the Entertainment Centre will
be filled with bold warriors, spell-wielding clerics, noble
elves and evil trolls as bands of travellers seek to find hidden
treasure and do battle against... oh, sorry: it seems that Puff
misunderstood the principle of the D&D Ball: apparently it doesn't,
in fact, stand for Dungeons and Dragons. However, the Desperate
& Dateless Ball does boast live entertainment from Taxiride
(who are currently recording their third album), Andy Van and
DJ Lorne, as well as the chance to meet the lass or lad of your
dreams in a flirt-friendly environment. Best to get your tickets
shortly, swingin' readers: and remember to frock and/or suit
up (just to reiterate: that's suit as in "dinner", not "of armour").
Put on your dancing trousers, Adelaide: The Bird are bringing their sassy beats and funky electronica to the Rhino Room to launch the Adelaide Comedy Festival on Fri 18 Feb.
This month's Daggerz Sound System is a celebration
of the heavy arts with Los Diablos (consisting of former members
of The Ghouls, Captain Cleanoff and Unit 11/74) and This City
Dynamite (which is turn made up of ex- Eyes Like Black Stars
and Love Like Electrocution folks). They'll be loudening up
the Crown & Anchor on Thus 10 Feb.
Wishlist have undergone something of a change with the addition of new vocalist Matt Holland. They want to show him off, but don't want to the usual gig thing, so they're holding a special band re-launch at the Adelaide Skate Park on Fri 18 Feb (across the road from Fowlers Live, geography fans). Naturally it's entirely free, so get along and welcome the new-look band.
James Meston, aka Sweet Baby James, is hosting
the Fad Bar & Gallery's weekly blues jam every Thursday night
- so if you reckon your chops are up to it, get along and jam
it up. Backline is supplied, so just bring your instrument/sticks/self.
Fruit's new album is mere seconds away from being released, so don't expect to see them lurking about Adelaide all that much - however, you'll be able to catch them at the Gov on Thurs 10 Feb, supported in fine style by Women In Docs.
The Panics are also sneaking into our town
for a show at the Gov on Sat 12 Feb, along with touring buddies
Faker and the Bank Holidays, as well as locals Hunting Season.
Killing Heidi are also swinging through town on Sun 20 Feb for a show at the Governor Hindmarsh.
Bit By Bats were the band to watch in 2003,
and then went on to ink a deal with Architecture, release a
well-received CD-EP, become Triple J darlings and Rolling Stone
picks for the future and the support of choice for all sorts
of rad bands. Wolf & Cub were the band de jour in 2004, subsequently
signing with Dot Dash, releasing a well-received CD-EP and becoming
one of Triple J's buzz bands. Pharoahs have barely played any
gigs and are already attracting fiercely loyal fans, played
a hell of a set at the Big Day Out and look set to be the band
to watch in 2005. Hence, there's going to be a veritable beehive
of buzz going on when all three bands join forces at the Jade
Monkey on Fri 18 Feb. Right, Pharoahs?
Got a thang that needs shaking? You'd want to take that thang to Fowlers Live on Sun 20 Feb then, since that's when Endorphin will be mixing up beats that could best be described as "phat".
Remember, if you've been looking for an excuse
to hit the west coast then you're unlikely to get a better one
than Wildeloo: Spiderbait, Killing Heidi, Rocket Science, The
Hot Lies, Snap To Zero, Mirrorline, Everest and Big Day Out
stars Smack Granny will be a-rocking like rocky things on Sat
19 Feb.
Roar! Shadows Fall are likely to tear Fowlers Live a new one when they land on Tues 22 Feb, supported by the no-less aggressive As I Lay Dying and Parkway Drive.
You still here? After all that? Surely by
now you'd be itching to...
Get Out Of The House!
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