Bobbysix

Vice throws a Bondi party to launch Rdio in Australia!

2012-01-28T12:59:00.000+11:00

We've been to our share of Vice parties in our time, and they are always pretty frickin awesome, so we're looking forward to next Saturday (Feb 4th) where, to celebrate the launch of Rdio, they are taking over Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel and cramming it full of bands. Doing their thang will be Das Racist, Canyons, Alpine, Collarbones, Jonti and more. There’s gonna be DJ sets from Twin Shadow & Austra too.

There’ll also be a one-year Rdio subscription in it for one lucky punter, so head along to rdio.vice.com for your chance to get your hands on one of 300 double passes – and to grab your free 7-day Rdio trial.For those Aussie-based readers outside of Sydney, there’s even the chance to be flown (with three mates) to the show and to be put up in a hotel room – plus the free 7-day trial, too. Not bad, hey?

Wondering what Rdio is? Well, it's an ad-free music subscription service which allows you to play the music you want, when you want, discover and share music through friends, influencers, facebook and twitter, sync music to your iPhone, BlackBerry or Android and listen while offline.

Geoffrey O'Connor interview

2012-01-27T10:48:00.000+11:00

Geoffrey O’Connor - known for his work in Melbourne band Crayon Fields - plays this year’s St Jerome's Laneway Festival as a solo artist. Heidi Pett chatted to him about his various name changes, duelling synthesisers and a dream collaboration with Elton John before he loses his marbles:

You’ve previously released solo work under ‘Sly Hats’ - what sparked the decision to use your real name this time?
Sly Hats was a name I just came up with on the spot when I got my first gig. I gradually grew to regret it more and more. I just never really liked the name and I couldn’t see myself releasing albums as Sly Hats, so I thought I’d curtail that and use the name that my mother gave me.

It’s a very personal album in terms of lyrics, did this have something to do with your decision to use your birth name? I guess I’m asking because it might be expected that people distance themselves from the more personal aspects of their own life in their work whereas you’ve gone in the opposite direction.
For this record I actually wanted to make it quite personal. All the songs are based on both experience and observation, which I guess is still all experience. Just something I’m familiar with, really.

Do you find it difficult offering up these things that you’ve created? Knowing they’ve come from somewhere close to you?
Not at all. In drawing from personal experience I admit certain things and exaggerate other things to make out that I’m a bit of a better guy. There’s still a strong resemblance between the way the stories are told in the songs and what actually happened. I guess with songcraft and that kind of licence you can make yourself out to be better than you actually were in the situations. Little bit of fantasy and exaggeration.

Do you differ in your approach when writing your solo work as opposed to what you’ve done with Crayon Fields?
I guess with my solo work I’m able to chop and change things a little more. It’s a lot easier for me to rework a song when I’m doing it all by myself. When I’m working with the band I feel like I’m wasting everybody’s time. There’s different levels of preparation involved, different ways of approaching songs. I don’t have to be wary of other people as much when I’m writing for myself.

The latest album does feature a lot of collaborations, though, so how did that work?
I’d bring the songs fully formed. Usually I’d sing their parts first and ask if they wanted to sing the duets. There were a couple of times where somebody asked me if I wanted extra vocals on my records. It worked out really well cause I get a nice variety of different voices and instruments.

How do you set up your collaborations?
I’ve never approached someone. Never made the cold call. Usually they’re friends because I really like their music and their voice. Not that that’s the way I choose my friends! But that’s often how I get to know people.

Of course. Now, your latest album has been described as having a synthy, power-ballady vibe. Was that a deliberate nod to the eighties?
It wasn’t a deliberate reference, but I can definitely see where the comparisons come from. I did consciously set out to make a record that sounds very synthetic, which I guess is always going to evoke the eighties a bit. Although, I feel like in 50 years time when synthetic instruments become more familiar to people it will just be seen as another instrument. You know folk musicians use acoustic guitars and it doesn’t really evoke a certain period anymore whereas it might have 30, 40 years ago. It wasn’t a conscious thing, you know? I’m not going to be making a music video where I’m of surrounded by people doing aerobics or anything like that.

I was going to ask about your videos, actually. You’ve collected a fair bit of praise for your previous videos, are you working on some for your solo work?
I’m making a trilogy of videos, they’re all sort of thematically linked. They’re just fun to make. A little bit morbid but vaguely humorous as well, I hope.

What can we expect from your set at Laneway?
I’m bringing my band along, which is two synthesisers and this kind of laser machine which kind of acts like a drummer. And duelling synthesisers, which I really enjoy; they kind of flank me on stage.

It sounds like a military operation!
It is, yeah. *laughs* You should see the rehearsals.

So you’re quite precise in the way that you approach your music?
Yeah, I like to be thorough in that way, I don’t like to leave things to chance.

Speaking of leaving things up to chance, Laneway is certainly a large production. How do you feel about playing in that sort of environment?
To be honest part of what appeals to me about playing festivals is the freedom you have to miss bands as much as see bands you really like. There’s something really comforting and satisfying about drinking backstage while you can hear them playing faintly in the background and knowing you might see them next week. It’s a bit perverse really!

I guess when you’ve got any number of opportunities to see them play, you lose the urgency. Is there anybody you’re particularly looking forward to seeing? Making ‘friends’ with on the basis of their musical talents?
I doubt I’d hang out with them, I never approach my idols! It’s not that I’m shy or anything it’s just not something I’m comfortable doing. I’d feel like the really corny guy.

If, in a parallel universe that was totally socially acceptable, who would you like to work with?
I’d love to collaborate with Elton John to be honest. *laughs* That would do it for me. While he’s still got half a brain it’d be great. Him and Stevie Nicks, I think that would be a great balance.

If the idea of duelling synthesisers appeals to you, then get yourself along to the St Jerome's Laneway Festival where you can catch Geoffrey O’Connor alongside the likes of Feist, The Drums, Laura Marling and Yuck. For the full lineup and for news on ticket availability, visit lanewayfestival.com.au

Interview by Heidi Pett.

Krate Krusaders Volume 2 - When The Needle Drops

2012-01-27T00:14:00.000+11:00

Bobbysix.com's 25ThC gets his hip-hop on to review Krate Krusaders Volume 2. Here are his thoughts:

This is the second volume of featured artist releases from South West UK production duo Bad Habitz and 1 Step. It features a selection of well respected MC's from both sides of the Atlantic and, on the face of it, should be a good listen. However it falls down in a number of areas.

Hip-hop has always been about pushing boundaries, trying new techniques and sampling previously hidden sonic gems. The production here is pretty standard and on most of the tracks feels a little like hip-hop by numbers. There was very little head nodding going on at this end. On quite a few of the tracks the beat is far too prominent, meaning that the vocal is lost and it makes it difficult to follow the MC's flow. This may be simply a mastering issue but it does make it heavy-going. As a whole, it's unlikely to bear repeated listening and some tracks really grate on the ears.

Mamba has a nice laid back vibe. Sick Flow has a heavy beat and accordion sample which fit well with the vocals of Ramson Badbonez and Flitptrix. Put The Work In has a lovely Arabian feel and great lyrics from Sonnyjim. These are the few exceptions, but on a 17-track album, it's not nearly enough.

Review by 25ThC

Diane Cluck interview

2012-01-26T09:47:00.000+11:00

Bobby Townsend chatted to Diane Cluck about her Song of The Week project, in which she will devote six months to writing, recording and digitally distributing a new song to subscribers each week:

Hello Diane. Tell us a little about how you came up with the idea of Song-of-the-Week project...
I was packing up to move from New York and had a moment of panic around leaving my day job. I literally sat down on a rolled-up rug and began thinking out ideas for Song-of-the-Week. Initially, I thought I'd write one song per week for an entire year. Then I scaled back to six months, because from my experience so much can happen and change over the course of a year. Song-of-the-Week was born out of wanting to do some of the things I most enjoy: writing songs, singing & playing music, drawing... communicating.

How is it going so far? Have you had a lot of interest? Have any fans come up with weird and wonderful subscription ideas?
It's going really well! It's amazing! The project is more than 80 percent funded at this point. There's an option for people to create their own subscription plan, but so far, no one's bitten. I do want them to; I'd be so interested! Just a few days ago, some folks in San Francisco pooled together to subscribe at the "house show"-level... they'll be flying me out for a show this summer during LGBT Pride.

How about the option for people to have a song written by you about whatever they like... What kind of things are people requesting?
Ten people have commissioned songs so far. One woman asked me to write about her dog who recently passed away. She said, "The song doesn't have to be about a dog; it could be about a loving, compassionate being who shared her life with me." Someone else wants me to write about education. I'm not yet sure what that means. Most people haven't told me what they want their song to be about. Initially, we were all waiting to see if there'd be enough interest in the project, but now it's clearly definitely happening.

As someone who has always had something of a DIY dynamic, do you see this project as a fun challenge, as something that was born out of necessity, or as a combination of the two?
The Song-of-the-Week project is both a challenge and a necessity... I'm not just boiling that down to mean 'financial necessity'. For a long time, I've wanted to have more integration between my working and creative lives. I got to a point where doing jobs that weren't directly related to my life wasn't okay with me anymore. I had a talk with myself, like, "What do you most want to be doing right now?" The responsibilities involved with Song-of-the-Week are a good mix of just what I need. There are some things I already do well (songwriting and performing ) and other things I have less experience with or don't feel are my natural strengths, but want to develop (working with others in collaborative and technical capacities, and interacting on a personal level with people who support what I do). I feel very fortunate and happy to be where I am.

In many ways, I'm taking more responsibility for the outcome of my life. A lot of conventional music business protocol didn't make sense to me, and I spent more time reacting against a system I didn't like rather than laying the groundwork for my own. That's what I'm doing now, with help, and I think the times we're in now are actually fostering that growth in me, making it easier. Song-of-the-Week is helping me commit to more follow-through with my creative ideas. I'm discovering how helpful organization can be... and how much I've needed it for a long time. I'm learning to schedule my own work days as well as time off. My previous patterns were very inspiration-based, often not grounded by my tangible, physical reality. I think that's why a lot of great art is made by people in their twenties who then die at that age. I've become aware of my limits and enjoy the beauty of working with them rather than against them. There is more here to explore than I'd originally thought.

With the music industry in the state it is in, do you think this kind of thing is something that more bands will do in the near future?
For sure, it's already happening! I have friends in all sorts of places: from hobbyists to musicians on major record labels, and it's easy enough to find discontent at every level. What I like about this transition is that more people are realizing no one's handing out golden keys. Music is way older than 'the music industry'. The people I know who are happiest are pursuing lives and careers on their own, unique terms. My Song-of-the-Week project and hubs like Kickstarter are outgrowths of that... people working together for what they desire to bring into the world. A couple of years ago, I began learning about music business. It was and is challenging for me; it's not what I'm naturally drawn to. After putting some time into learning about PRO's, mechanical licenses, etc., the landscape's become easier for me to navigate. Many artists don't realize that as soon as they release recordings, even just over the internet, there are royalties accruing for them in various places that they'll never receive unless they, or someone on their behalf, fills out the paperwork. Dealing with some of this for myself (with help from friends) has been financially beneficial and personally empowering. I'm beginning to see how I might be able to manage without being signed to a record label. I do feel that society does musicians a great disservice by filling their minds with phrases like 'starving artist' or 'you'll never make a living doing that'. Comparing notes with friends who went to school for the arts, we all agreed that business courses were completely lacking in the required curiculum. It's quite pathetic, and I hope that's changing. I'm discovering how enjoyable and creative managing one's own small business can be, and have been advocating and taking a real interest in this as it applies to the lives of those around me. Too many people are suffering in 'jobs', or accepting the perameters of what's handed to them.

I interviewed award-winning English folk singer Laura Marling recently and she told me she was a big fan of yours. It must be nice to know that you are influencing artists like her?
Absolutely ! Laura's a graceful and talented woman and I'm proud that she'd consider my work influential.

What bands/artists are you listening to at the moment? Can you give us any recommendations? Hmmm...there are a few artists I'm always tuned into: Little Wings, Amanda Jo Williams, Cocorosie... recently I've been listening to Joan As Police Woman and Devon Sproule. And oh yeah! Shovels & Rope! They're the greatest. They're a wife & husband team (Cary Ann Hearst & Michael Trent) that make really vital/vitalizing country music. Check out the YouTube video of them singing Gasoline in a swamp. They're hot.

What happens after this project has run its course? Do you have other ideas/projects up your sleeve?
I'll probably put touring on hold while I'm working on Song-of-the-Week, but eventually I'd like to do more touring in the US. I've mostly hopped between its two coasts, but I'd love to play more shows in the out-of-the-way middle regions that we musicians tend to skip. As the US becomes more troubled, I find myself wanting to invest more energy in being here. I want to continue working as a people's musician. It feels important, and it's what I have to offer. Along/under/through this, I want to continue developing methods of reaching out to others through my art. I'm getting more oriented to the internet than I used to be. I don't necessarily support people spending more time there, but the connections I'm able to make through it (the kind that become real, physical events) are amazing. I'm very much into preparing food as medicine. I'm currently working on a website with a friend, and I look forward to organizing my thoughts around food and herbs as they relate to health. The U.S. medical system is very fucked at the moment. I like being able to share ways we can take care of ourselves and each other without relying on the pharmaceutical and insurance corporations.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. Find out more about Diane's project here.

41 Strings at Sydney Opera House

2012-01-25T17:30:00.000+11:00

Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeah's fame brought his ambitious 41 Strings project to Sydney's Opera House this weekend. The performance saw him play guitar while conducting an impressive line-up of acoustic and electric strings, ranging from violins to electric bass, with some drums and synths adding further layers

The composition used Vivaldi's Four Seasons as inspiration and was enhanced by visuals from acclaimed video artist Daniel Askill, which were projected onto the roof of the Concert Hall. The performance chronicled the ups and downs of the seasons in a mass of strings and percussion. At times pensive and moody, elsewhere brimming with joy, 41 Strings was beautiful and mesmerising. Zinner looked nervous and a little uncomfortable as he conducted the classically trained musicians that surrounded him (understandably enough - it would be pretty intimidating) but grew into his role as the music soared through the - criminally not sold-out - hall, to huge appreciation from the crowd.

However, while 41 Strings was wonderful, it was eclipsed by the night's first act, which was a special performance of companion piece, IIII, from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Brian Chase and Soft Circle's Hisham Akira Bharoocha and Ben Vida (all of whom co-collaborated on 41 Strings). A drum circle was led by Bharoocha and, again, was based on Four Seasons. Bharoocha, Chase and Vida were joined by Ryan Sawyer and Matthew Watson as they led 16 additional drummers. It was jaw-dropping stuff: a delight to the eyes and the eyes, as a stage full of musicians drummed in perfect time, teasing the audience with a composition that started slowly and built to a truly exciting and invigorating climax. This performance was, without question, the highlight of Sydney Festival so far.

Review by Bobby Townsend.

The Vaccines interview

2012-01-24T11:23:00.001+11:00

Bobbysix.com chats to The Vaccines about the Big Day Out tour in Australia:

“I'm terrified. I think it's going to be carnage,” The Vaccines drummer Pete Robertson says somewhat impishly. His band is in Australia for the Big Day Out tour in the knowledge that the festival has quite the reputation for bands getting together and letting loose. “I have heard that there is a lot of partying at Big Day Out,” he nods. “Everyone stays in the same hotel and everyone gets on and has a good time. Considering it's straight after Christmas as well, I don't think we're going to get much rest. It's going to be good.”

While they are still a relatively new band, their non-stop schedule means that The Vaccines are already well versed in combining travelling with partying. Their first time collectively in Australia was for the Splendour festival a few months ago and that proved to be a crazy experience. “I've got memories of not remembering a lot,” the drummer laughs. “It was pretty hectic and we had a little too much fun. Our summer was generally pretty insane and that was the most insane leg of it. We flew from England to Japan on the Wednesday and on the Friday we touched down in Brisbane, then went to Sydney for two days, then to Melbourne for two days. Then we flew to Chicago and then we did coast-to-coast in The States, all within about two weeks. It was fun.”

The reception they received on their first visit to Sydney – not least at their sideshow at a packed Metro Theatre – is something that has long since stayed with the band. “It was amazing. It was one of those moments. As individuals we'd been working hard in other bands and then collectively when we first got together a couple of years ago to make music that we thought could connect with people. When your music travels further than you ever have before, it's a rewarding experience.”

They'll be sideshows again this time round, as the quartet is set to support label-mates Kasabian. With The Vaccines having played countless live gigs in 2011, you can expect their turn in Aus to be something really special. Robertson is especially looking forward to playing to some big festival crowds. “We had an amazing festival season in our summer. We played just short of 50 of them, all over the world. So I think we're reasonably well schooled in it and I'm looking forward to getting back into it.”

Playing in front of audiences is what The Vaccines are all about and their sound lends itself to being played live, as that was how it was originally put together. “We wrote the record [debut album, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?] as a live band. We didn't have any recording facilities, so we used our resources the best we could, which was basically two guitars, a bass and a drum kit. We designed the music to be played live. Well, actually we recorded a live album, essentially.”

When The Vaccines first started out, they did so with no masterplan. Rather they simply enjoyed being in a band and all that entailed. One wonders whether a plan has since developed as they have continued to gain success. “The masterplan is very vague,” Robertson suggests. “We're all good players and Justin [Young, lead singer] is a great songwriter. We just felt that, between, us we could make some meaningful music. I think we're doing that and I think we can make more meaningful music. There's room to develop. That's ultimately it. To be the best we can.”

Interview by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.

Clytem Scanning - In The Lake

2012-01-23T23:11:00.001+11:00

Clytem Scanning is a Parisian songwriter who creates inventive, experimental, industrial, beat-driven melodies - all within the confines of her 10m² room. Her music is at times dance-ridden, elsewhere atmospheric and ruminative. This latest video, for In The Lake, falls into the latter camp. We're a little bit in love with her here at Bobbysix. If you want to find out more about her, then check out the interview that we did with her last year.

Big Day Out phone app now available

2012-01-23T10:16:00.000+11:00

You know what festivals are like. You lose track of who is playing where and when. Which is why, at one previous Big Day Out we were stuck watching fucking Jet while, unbeknownst to us, Billy Bragg was playing somewhere on one of the smaller stages. So, if you are heading to this year's Big Day Out, you should get yourself their super handy Mobile App.

Fully integrated with all your fave social networks, you can set your logins for Facebook and Twitter so posting pics and comments is easy. Click on any item in the Lineup to see a full bio and links to the artist’s website, iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more and there’s also the Big Day Out 2012 Video playlist where you can browse through artist videos and discover new acts. Of course the Event Maps will appear in the App in time for the festival so you can navigate your way from stage to stage and you can share your personal timetable with your friends on Facebook/Twitter and see what they have selected. That way, you won't be wandering round on your own like a loser.

Oh, and the Big Day Out 2012 App is FREE to download. Search the App Store for “Big Day Out” or visit the www.bigdayout.com to get everything you need to know in your pocket.

TUnE-yArDs and Wild At Heart wow the Honda Festival Garden in Sydney

2012-01-21T18:50:00.000+11:00

The Jagermeister Hunting Lodge and The Famous Spiegeltent in Hyde Park offered incredible free entertainment on Thursday night as part of the Sydney Festival. Firstly, America's tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus, pictured above) performed songs from her album BiRdBrAiNs. The show was massively inventive, with Garbus, as is her way, utilising the hell out of a loop pedal to create a layered, frenzied sound which transfixed the crowd. Most notably, the songwriter's vocal was really powerful as she built up tribal howls into something trance-like that got the girls in the front row dancing. She may be the subject of a huge amount of hype right now, but this intimate 45-minute show proved that she is worth it. Merrill Garbus is indeed a very interesting artist.

After this show in the Hunting Lodge, Wild At Heart (pictured, below), a band led by Holiday Sidewinder & Pia May of Bridezilla fame, provided a night of Lynchian delight at The Famous Spiegeltent. They performed renditions of memorable soundtrack titles from cult-classic films such as Wild at Heart, Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet and, boldly, Eraserhead, as well as the television series Twin Peaks. On a stage drenched in moody blue and red lighting, the group's performance was suitably atmospheric, with Sidewinder's voice beguilingly soaring across the ornate venue. Set-closer Wicked Game was a highlight, as was Blue Velvet. They are back at The Spiegeltent on Friday 27th January for another free show. If you like Lynch and/or good music, you would do well to attend.

Meanwhile, there is also more FREE goodness to be had at the Hunting Lodge. Just announced, Soft Circle will be playing tonight (Saturday 21st January, 8.30pm). They are Hisham Bharoocha and Ben Vida, who are in Australia for Sydney Festival’s 41 Strings by Nick Zinner. Like tUnE-yArDs, they offer layered effects of looped sounds, drums and vocals.

Also added to the schedule is Ngaiire, who came to Australia at 16 having spent a lot of her life living in the jungles of Papua New Guinea in a little grass hut with no electricity, television or internet. Her eclectic sound draws from influences as diverse as Sarah Vaughan, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley and the enigmatic Erykah Badu. You can see her on Wednesday 25th January at 8.30pm.

More details of the intimate free shows at the Hunting Lodge (like the one pictured above - which saw tUnE-yArDs receive a huge ovation) can be found at www.facebook.com/JagermeisterAustralia. Meanwhile, keep it Bobbysix for news on the awesomeness going on at The Famous Spiegeltent, the Sydney Festival, and, you know, just in life in general.

Words and pictures by Bobby Townsend.

Husky interview

2012-01-20T16:12:00.001+11:00

After a string of festival gigs over the past few months, Melbourne band Husky are closing out their Summer playing the national St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Heidi Pett spoke to frontman Husky Gawenda about his literary influences and thoughts on triple j Unearthed:

“I’d say we’re about songs.” It’s a deceptively simple explanation from Husky Gawenda when asked to define his band and their music. Variously described as indie folk and harmonic pop, favourably compared to the likes of Fleet Foxes and Boy & Bear, Husky have certain a knack for creating gentle melodies that nonetheless stay with you all day. Single History’s Door received extensive radio play on both triple j and Sydney’s FBi, as well as some recent lovin’ in the Bobbysix End Of Year Reviews, and with good reason: it’s an almost perfectly-crafted modern folk offering, sparking all sorts of comparisons with such a range of artists it leaves Gawenda faintly bemused. “I’m always so surprised by how people describe us and the different bands we’re compared to. I don’t always agree or hear the influence and sometimes it’s somebody whose music I’ve never actually heard, but I don’t think there’s any point being precious about it. People will listen to music and want to categorise it. It’s human nature.”

“I can say whatever I want about the songs I write and the sort of music we play, but in the end it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what you think, it matters what the people who come to our shows think.” It’s an almost postmodern attitude - the death of the author/songwriter in favour of the audience’s interpretation. When I mention this, Husky laughs and admits “Well my father’s a writer and my mother’s an English teacher, so literature and writing was a big part of my upbringing and part of my life as far back as I remember. I grew up reading the classics, novel-wise. Most of the 20th century classics, as well as 19th century English and Russian literature, and a bunch of poets - Dylan Thomas, Wordsworth, those sort of guys. There are musicians as well, who are as much poets as they are songwriters; Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, even Paul Simon.” These early literary influences certainly come through in his music, expressed through a strong lyrical component to the songs on debut long-player Forever So.

Recorded in a backyard bungalow in Melbourne’s northern suburbs which the band spent late nights soundproofing themselves with the aid of Youtube tutorials, it was an album Husky says, “we really wanted time and space to record”. Well, that and the fact that before scoring a spot at Pushover Festival thanks to a triple j Unearthed competition, Gawenda admits they were fairly unknown and thus hadn’t the cash to hire a studio and producer. “We wanted the luxury to be able to record songs that we won’t necessarily use. To take the time to write, develop and arrange the album. If we went into a studio and were paying by the hour we wouldn’t be able to do that. It was a mixture of getting the sound we wanted, and just not having the money to record in a proper studio.”

Looking back on their success over the last year, it seems Husky won’t be running into the same problems again. “I think what Unearthed does for bands like us is incredible. It does exactly what it’s supposed to, which is to bring bands to the attention of the public that otherwise nobody would hear of. That’s the beauty of the platform that triple j has, they can pick bands out of near obscurity, and put them on the radio.” Since the release of Forever So in late October, Husky spent some time touring before the busy summer festival season, where they’ve found the crowds, “really embracing and responsive”. Husky notes that the festival circuit is an equally important way for emerging bands to establish themselves. “You get exposed to people who might not know you that well or might not otherwise have come to your show. They discover you for the first time and you get to meet all these people that you otherwise wouldn’t have met. I think festivals are great for all bands, but especially for newish bands like us.”

Having seen them at Woodford Folk Festival over the New Year, I can attest to the fact that they put on a charming live performance which has certainly added to a fan base that has grown exponentially over the past year. Offering something a little different from the current crop of fingerpicking, harmonising folk acts, they’ve attracted praise from high places - triple j’s Richard Kingsmill, for instance, described them as “pure class.” This is something which Husky attributes in part to the varying musical backgrounds within the band. “I think the jazz training that they’ve done over the years have influenced them and it's certainly added to their ability as musicians,” he says of bandmates Evan Tweedie, Luke Collins and cousin Gideon Preiss.

Despite spending a lot of time together growing up in quite a creative family, Husky says he and Gideon, “didn’t really formally play music together until about three years ago. We spent a lot of time listening to music and going to gigs together, but he was on a different path for those early years. He was playing in a lot of jazz bands and I was kind of just writing songs. Then, about three years ago, we decided to get together and have a play and see how that went.” It seems things have panned out fairly well so far, and Husky agrees. “Even from the beginning it felt right, and it’s never stopped feeling like that.”

Interview by Heidi Pett. For more information on the St Jerome's Laneway Festival, click here.

Carsick Cars - You Can Listen, You Can Talk

2012-01-19T13:02:00.000+11:00

You might not know a great deal about China's Carsick Cars, so here is a quick history lesson to bring you up to speed. You Can Listen, You Can Talk is the Beijing band's second album – following their debut Panda Noise – and arrives on the back of their recent debut tour of this country. Produced by legendary producer Wharton Tiers (Sonic Youth, Helmet, Dinosaur, Jr), the album, which mixes English and Chinese lyrics and song titles, shows off the writing skills of frontman Zhang Shouwang in that it offers a complex combination of delicate, shimmering songs with exciting, almost chaotic eruptions of noise.

At times there is a shoegazey element to proceedings, like the fuzzy, six-minute long Invisible Love, which makes it easy to see why they were once hand-picked as a support act for Sonic Youth. Meanwhile, Big City Friend, with it's pretty melody and delightfully skewiff vocals, starts off sounding like Teenage Fanclub and The Velvet Underground having a cuddle, diverts into a full-on rock-out at the song's mid point before going back to where it started. This is a band that clearly isn't frightened to experiment with the structuring of their compositions. Elsewhere, the excellent Kill Tomorrow uses dense, layered guitars and pounding drums to create an intensely dizzying atmosphere akin to one of Nirvana's less accessible b-sides.

Perhaps being introduced to the cream of Chinese guitar-based indie music wasn't top of your list of priorities this week, but if you are curious to learn, then You Can Listen, You Can Talk is a good place to start. This is an inventive and rather fun record.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media

Nick Zinner interview

2012-01-18T13:17:00.001+11:00

Bobby Townsend interviewed Yeah Yeah Yeahs' guitarist Nick Zinner for Sydney's Drum Media about his 41 Strings project. Here's what he had to say:

It's been a long journey for Nick Zinner, from playing tiny, raucous shows with the fledgling Yeah Yeah Yeahs in New York City at the turn of the Millennium, to his self-penned orchestral piece being one of the main attractions at the 2011 Sydney Festival. While the musician has always been ambitious and inventive, it isn't a career trajectory that he gave much thought to, back in the early days. “I didn't think something like this would be possible at all,” he laughs. “It was the furthest thing from my mind.”

However, not only is it possible, but it is very much a reality. With two shows at The Opera House, 41 Strings is a piece written for acoustic and electric strings and percussion and is led by the versatile Mr Zinner, who plays guitar and conducts a four-part classical piece featuring guitars, violins, violas, cellos and bass. Oh, and not to mention three drummers and synths as well. Using the Four Seasons as inspiration, the music chronicles the ups and downs of the seasons and is at times dark and moody with hints of melancholy, while elsewhere full of hope and elation.“Essentially I was asked to create a composition to perform at a free event in New York that was a celebration for Earth Day,” he explains when asked how the idea came about. “It was the 40th anniversary and they just asked me to write anything I liked. I'd always wanted to create something like this. Although I had done a little bit of writing for strings for film soundtracks a few years before and also for Karen [O, singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs], I'd never done anything that was so open-ended and so big. It just seemed like an exciting project to take on. It was a great opportunity, to spend a lot of time thinking about it and working with those sorts of capabilities.”

And so, after a successful outing in the guitarist's home country, 41 Strings has now been given the opportunity to travel all the way across the world to Australia. It is a privilege not lost on the American. Zinner is generally a quiet, laid-back fellow, but there is an upbeat tone in his voice as he exclaims his anticipation. “I'm so excited and happy about it. It's truly amazing that I get to go over and to be able to perform something like this.”

While he will be taking along a bunch of musicians that performed with him in New York, including Hisham Akira Bharoocha (Soft Circle, The Boredoms), Ben Vida (Soft Circle), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and string arranger Gillian Rivers, Zinner has also been busy recruiting musicians from Australia. “We're using the Sydney Youth Orchestra and I've been searching for guitar players over the past few weeks.” Fortunately for him, and for the country's musical reputation, it has been a fruitful quest, with plenty of potential candidates throwing their plectrums into the ring. “So far, it's good. It's really good,” he beams. “There are a lot of great guitar players in Australia and I've just been getting recommendations from friends that I have over there. We've pretty much found everybody, which is very exciting.”

So, with the line-up of Team Zinner complete, he arrived a few days prior to his appearance at the Sydney Festival for some serious last-minute rehearsing (as well as a quick DJ set at the Hunting Lodge in Hyde Park). “We're looking at four days, which is good,” he says when talk turns to how much time he will have to turn his hotchpotch collection of talented mates and strangers into a fully-functioning orchestra. “Four days should be good,” he repeats. At first, it sounds as though he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else, but actually, it turns out that he is genuinely relieved at how much time he will have. Four days is double the preparation time he was afforded before 41 Strings' debut in The States. “It's really mostly for the guitar players. When we were doing the New York performance, we only had two days and that was really hectic. Everything about the performance was, like, trial by fire.”

Buoyed by the success of the New York shows, Zinner speaks calmly and with confidence about his turn at the Sydney Festival, where he will play and conduct, surrounded by the musicians, who will be, in turn, completely surrounded by the audience. However, when asked about the fact that he will be taking to the stage in the iconic Opera House, his nonchalance is replaced, once again, by genuine excitement. “It's unbelievable. I've never even been inside that place,” he buzzes. “It's a true honour and I feel really lucky to be able to have that opportunity.”

While the clamber for tickets to see 41 Strings from an intrigued Sydney public proves Nick Zinner to be a rather important figure in the music world these days, it seems hard to believe that it has been over a decade since he, Chase and O got together and started creating visceral, thrilling, catchy-as-hell New York punk rock. One wonders whether it feels that long to the guitarist. “Most of the time, no, but sometimes it does. Ten years is a really long time for a rock band. You know, most of them don't even last three years, so it's pretty incredible.” Even after ten years, the desire to keep on evolving and bringing out new material remains strong for the three-time Grammy-nominated trio. “We've been writing on and off for the past year or so. We have also been working on Karen's Stop The Virgens opera and now we're putting our heads together and working on some more Yeah Yeah Yeahs stuff.”

Whether he is exhibiting photos, crafting ambitious live orchestral pieces, working on film scores or collaborating with the likes of Bright Eyes, Scarlett Johansson, Damon Albarn and Santigold, it seems that Nick Zinner always has a hundred projects on the go at once. “I go crazy if I'm not doing something,” he admits. “I've just been writing stuff and I'm scoring a film right now. I did a photo show a couple of weeks ago.” However, the truth of the matter is that, while he is a creative soul, ever wishing to push his own boundaries and try new artistic ventures, he isn't the multi-tasker you might expect. Rather, he focuses fully on each individual project before moving on to the next one. “I feel like, whenever I'm working on something, I try to only work on that. When we're working on Yeah Yeah Yeahs, none of us can do anything else because we're touring or writing or recording and I try to give myself 100 percent to whatever project I'm working on.”

Zinner's dedication to his art bodes well for anyone heading to see 41 Strings at the Opera House. If his back-catalogue of diverse creations is anything to go by, it'll be absolutely fantastic.

41 Strings takes place on Sunday January 22nd at 5.30pm and 8.30pm. More information can be found here, and don't forget a limited number of tickets for both shows will be available at the Tix For Nix box office on Sunday morning.

Sui Zhen and Rainbow Chan double single launch

2012-01-17T17:42:00.000+11:00

If you like your music honest and inventive, then you'd do well to check out Sui Zhen (Melbourne) and Rainbow Chan (Sydney), who are teaming up to launch their respective singles from forthcoming albums. Sui Zhen's Little Frog takes a sideways look at her folk and country influences placing her somewhere between Joanna Newsom and PJ Harvey with stark and intricate arrangements produced by Tony Dupe (Holly Throsby, Jack Ladder). After her self-titled debut EP in 2007, Sui Zhen has earned a reputation for compelling, down-to-earth performances, supporting international acts such as Coco Rosie, our old mate Kimya Dawson, The Brunettes, and miserablist genius Malcolm Middleton. Little Frog is Sui Zhen's first release since returning from prestigious Red Bull Music Academy in London, 2010, and she will be accompanied by a live band for these special shows.

Rainbow Chan's Sweet Tooth is a sensual collage of strange and dreamy vocals and skittering electronic samples produced by the lady herself in her bedroom studio. Classically trained in saxophone, piano and choral music and fresh from playing at the Iceland Airwaves Festival thanks to FBi's Northern Lights Competition, Rainbow uses the darkest of beats, field recordings and a beguiling vocal delivery to craft intricate left-field pop songs. An impressive one-woman show, her live set includes a cover of The Cardigans' Lovefool.

Watch Sui Zhen's handmade music video here and Watch Rainbow Chan covered in 16L of melting ice cream in her wonderfully weird video for Sweet Tooth here.

SUI ZHEN AND RAINBOW CHAN - DOUBLE SINGLE LAUNCH
JAN 19, THE GRACE DARLING, MELBOURNE
JAN 20, FBi SOCIAL, SYDNEY

Justice at Festival Hall, Melbourne

2012-01-16T12:06:00.000+11:00

French electro duo Justice filled the Melbourne Festival Hall with lights and sound last Friday night, at a sold-out, all ages show. Jess O'Callaghan was there for Bobbysix.com:

The evening got off to a good start thanks to a solid set by Sydney five-piece Canyons (they play indie-club-pop with a saxophone!). Next, special guest Busy P somehow took us from Black Sabbath through Owner of a Lonely Heart to Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp, a feat probably made possible by his awesome French accent and lovely hair.

Melbourne Festival Hall was full by eight-thirty. To fill such a space with bouncing, singing-along bodies is no easy feat, but there were obviously a number of Justice die-hards present, with homemade fan-shirts and squeals of "this is actually happening," a constant throughout the night. Their songs may be sparse on lyrics, but the crowd knew them all (and belted them back) to the French electro duo (Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge), when they played to what has to be one of the most enthusiastic audiences I have ever been a part of.

Justice somehow combine a rock vibe with electro dance music, and do it all in a French, deadpan way, as if that’s how everyone parties. The mixes were different enough from their albums to keep the set interesting, but familiar enough to please the fans. While they didn't seem to care too much about working the crowd and were set back in the stage (unlike the warm-up benevolence of Busy P and his crowd-charming hair flicks), the focus was instead on the lights and making the audience jump about.

The lighting was almost as spectacular as the music and pretty theatrical at times, opening with an ambitious amount of fog and their trademark luminous cross in the middle of the stage. D.A.N.C.E saw beams of what seemed like sunlight coming through the bars of the backdrop and a faux organ, made of incandescent tubing, accompanied the second half of the set, sliding across the stage. By the encore - a spectacular version of Never Be Alone, I was well and truly a convert to the world of French electro.

Review by Jess O'Callaghan.

StereoStar Sixty-Nine - Ambulance Shotgun

2012-01-15T00:14:00.000+11:00

Jonjon gives StereoStar Sixty-Nine's album a listen. He's unlikely to do the same thing again:

What do you think of when you think French music? I think ofPhoenix, Air, Cassius and, if I must, the Plastiscines. Most countries would behappy with bands of that ilk representing their cultural exports. I don’t thinkany country would be happy with StereoStar Sixty-Nine. Perhaps it makes more sense from a French perspective, although I doubt it. It is difficult to describehow bad Ambulance Shotgun is.

How bad? If someone told me they were a Flight of theConchords-style comedy act, I could believe it, and if I didn’t know better Iwould believe it. But they’re not. They take themselves seriously. Very seriously. Apparently a conceptalbum, Ambulance Shotgun is the worstalbum I have heard in years, perhaps ever. I am not exaggerating. It’s not badin a “follows commercial music conventions” way, it’s just bad. Imagine theworst, cheapest 80s keyboard soundtrack, laughable autotuned vocals and cheapproduction - Blood on the Dance Floor for example (look 'em up, you can thankme later), except meant to be taken seriously by adults. What a concept!

This album has one good point - there are nine tracks, yetthe runtime is just over 28 minutes. Be thankful. I cannot recommend this albumat all.

Review by Jonjon

Yuck interview

2012-01-13T11:48:00.000+11:00

Bobby Townsend has a chat with Daniel Blumberg from Yuck about making music and living up to expectations at St Jerome's Laneway Festival:

"I have no idea what to expect."

Despite taking a trip there to visit family when he was young, Daniel Blumberg has few memories of Australia and little in the way of preconceptions of his band's upcoming debut performances there. He is looking forward to it though. "We toured with Tame Impala and they said it was really great. I've heard [Laneway is] a really good festival too."

Yuck are a four piece - sometimes a five piece - made up of London-based vocalist/guitarist Daniel and guitarist Max, bassist Mariko from Hiroshima, New Jersey's Jonny on drums and part-time fifth member Ilana, who joins brother Daniel for the harmonies on the album and occasionally live. Their record, self-produced and recorded in the homes of Max and Daniel, has received so much acclaim and attention that it has led to the band being on tour pretty much solidly since its release early last year. In May, they sold out headline shows at New York's Bowery Ballroom and the Scala in London, as well as making their debut TV appearance on Later with Jools Holland. Such a hectic schedule means they haven't had much opportunity to look forward to - or even think about - their turn at Laneway. "I need to check the line-up," Daniel laughs as we discuss who he is looking forward to seeing. "We haven't really had time to prepare. I know that it's coming, but we're on a three-month tour so I haven't been thinking that far ahead. When we come back from a tour, we're back for about a day or two and in that time we record a song or paint tour posters. Straight away from the airport I'd be setting up my paints for the poster for the next tour, or we'd go straight to the studio to record a song."

All of which means that, while they put out their own singles, there hasn't been a lot of time to think about a new album just yet. Considering the DIY ethic involved in the first recording, one wonders whether, now that they have a raised profile, they will do things differently next time round? Will they take themselves to a swanky studio in LA, or will it be back to Max's bedroom for a makeshift set-up? "It depends on the songs. Now, more people know our music so maybe there are more possibilities in terms of producers. I guess when we finish writing we will talk about it. But it won't be the same as the last album, because that was all we had equipment-wise."

The band's first record offers many reference points - all the while without sounding derivative in the slightest. For instance, Get Away bursts from the speakers with Pixies basslines, Sonic Youth guitars and Malkmus vocals, the outstanding Shook Down is Teenage Fanclub at their most romantic and Georgia is My Bloody Valentine mixed with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. It was clearly pieced together with a love of these kind of bands but, joyfully, still sounds fresh and exciting. However, Daniel admits that his interest in the music that influenced Yuck's sound came about relatively late-on. "When I was younger I listened to a lot of Blink 182. I'm not from a family that had lots of records lying about except for things like Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat and Elton John. I did find a Neil Young CD once, which was very rare. I discovered Harvest when I was about 17, and that was when I really started listening to music."

Stumbling upon Neil Young led the singer on all manner of musical paths. "First it took me to Will Oldham, Smog and Lambchop. I remember being blown away by those bands. Then it was Silver Jews into Pavement and then someone recommended Dinosaur Jr. Once you get into those bands, you start noticing the record labels that are putting things out." He starts listing other groups. "Neutral Milk Hotel, Sparklehorse, Royal Trux. There's a band called Video Nasties that changed a lot for me."

And so, influenced by these great sounds, Daniel and his chums crafted an album which has caused such a buzz that they arrive in Australia to a certain amount of expectation from attendees of St Jerome's Laneway Festival. However, the band aren't really feeling any particular weight on their shoulders. "I think I'm detached from those feelings of expectation. I just like the idea of putting on a good show," Daniel shrugs. "The music has gone so much further than we thought, but we're just doing what we're doing. If people don't like it, then we're not going to change. That's pointless."

So honest and exciting is Yuck's sound, it seems hard to imagine people not liking it.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. Find out more about St Jerome's Laneway Festival here.

Tim Finn opens the Jägermeister Hunting Lodge for Sydney Festival 2012

2012-01-12T10:26:00.000+11:00

On Tuesday night, Sydney Festival opened the Jägermeister Hunting Lodge, located in the Honda Festival Garden in Hyde Park, just next to The Famous Spiegeltent, with a VIP party which featured a 45-minute set by legendary singer/songwriter Tim Finn (above).

The rustic and enchanting pop-up venue is made entirely of logs, complete with a wooden deck, timber floor, stone fireplace and 12-metre-long bar and, between now and the 29th January 2012, the semi-permanent space will be home to a series of intimate secret shows and off-mainstage surprises from Sydney Festival music headliners, as well as one-off performances from Australian and New Zealand musicians including Josh Pyke, Emma Louise, Brous and many more.

Tuesday's VIP shindig saw Tim Finn (above) perform an eclectic 45-minute set which included his solo work as well as Crowded House and Split Enz stuff. Brown-suited, sweating under the lights, stomping around the stage and supported by a full band, his set was deliciously upbeat and - of course - ended with a singalong of the classic Weather With You. Well, you don't have the career that Finn has had without knowing how to please a crowd.

Pre and post show, the glitterati of the local music scene - including members of Cameras, Holy Soul and The Preachers - enjoyed Jägermeister cocktails in the cool evening air in the gardens outside the lodge. It was a lovely occasion, and typical of the kind of relaxed-yet-inventive offbeat charm that the Sydney Festival has always offered. If you want to head along to the Hunting Lodge for any of the amazing free events that they are putting on (like, ooh, I don't know, an exclusive DJ set from NICK ZINNER! This Saturday at 11pm), then ticket registration is required, full details of which can be found at: www.facebook.com/jagermeisterAustralia.

Words by Bobby Townsend. Photos by Eliza Sys (except for fireplace photo, courtesy of Jagermeister Australia)

Wintercoast - Home

2012-01-11T17:10:00.000+11:00

Victoria Gottschalk introduces us to Wintercoast:

Having just listened to the EP from Vancouver's Wintercoast, I sense big things for this alternative folk six-piece. Similar to We Were Evergreen, Wintercoast bring a multitude of fresh and exciting ideas to the table. While the EP's opener, Yukon, proves that sometimes there might be a little too much going on within the music, As Time Flies By is a catchy tune that has the ability to transport the listener to grimy, underground venues and huge arenas at both the same time. It's easy to imagine this song being played in both - it’s that versatile. Meanwhile Home (a rough and ready live version of which can be heard/seen above) consists of astounding lyrics (“I’m not hungry anymore, I’ve been fed too many lies”). The strongest track is left until last though. The lyrics and music of Brittle Bones work so well together that it’s the perfect ending to a great EP.I’d recommend it if you like dance-y folk music. An odd genre perhaps, but Wintercoast do it well.

You can download the EP for free, here (or throw Wintercoast a few bones, if you're feeling nice).

Steve Smyth interview

2012-01-10T10:54:00.000+11:00

Celeste Macdonald talks to Steve Smyth about his new album, his influences and his collaboration with Howling Bells' Juanita Stein:

Originally from the south coast of Sydney and based in London, Steve Smyth has returned home to the country he describes as the "endless summer." Smyth's passion for the country he was born and raised in is evident when he speaks of the way in which the Australian landscape has influenced his music. "This country doesn't do anything lighthearted in a lot of ways. Its weather, its landscapes that I've seen across here, from the dessert to the oceans and floods to the fires. It's very fierce."

Smyth was born with a case of wanderlust. As a child, his parents would tether him to a tree on family picnics to keep him from disappearing. He explains, "I get itchy feet, I love to travel, change is the only constant. I would just keep running against that rope. For some reason I just came out kicking and wandering. I'm still trying to find out what's round the next corner; I feel that kind of fire in me."

It's the fire inherent in Smyth that impacts on his songwriting and had an insurmountable effect on his first solo album, Release. It's a cohesive album, drawing on a wide range of musical styles and genres. He is reluctant to classify the album, stating that the outcome of a song comes down to when it's created. "You have to give a song what it wants, not what you want. It's shortsighted to aim for a particular genre. It has its own little formations and it begs for different instruments and arrangements."

Smyth once played with a band featuring men much older than him, men who he credits for teaching him much of what he knows about music. Realising that he couldn't expect them to travel long distances to play gigs for next to nothing, he began playing as a solo artist. "I went out solo and it made me work harder for the songs and for what I was trying to put across. I don't feel as though I'm letting people down at the moment, so I'm keeping it solo and seeing what the future brings up."

Along with Australia and his upbringing, Smyth is equally influenced by the musicians he was introduced to as a teenager. He mentions Howlin' Wolf and Leadbelly among others. It's impossible to avoid comparisons with artists like Tom Waits, especially evident in songs like Barbituate Cowboy and His Dark Horses. Smyth refers to his voice as a muscle that you exercise, with versatility as a key, saying he uses his voice as if it were an instrument, just like a guitar or a mandolin. "I found that you can really get across a lot more emotion and feeling and story of the song by going into different aspects of your vocal range."

The gorgeously delicate Stay Young features the gentle vocals of Howling Bells' Juanita Stein, a collaboration Smyth recalls happened in the studio late into the night when, "everyone was over-tired and cracking up." The result is definitely one of the standout tracks of the album. He also recently supported Howling Bells on their tour. "It was wonderful having her Juanita up every night, singing the song as it is on the record," he says of Stein, who he refers to as a wonderful friend. Howling Bells, he says, are an amazing band.

Steve Smyth has a number of dates lined up over summer and is excited about the release of his album in late January. He feels privileged for the experiences and opportunities which he believes have "flowed into the album." He adds, "It feels nice to let it go now. I'm hoping it'll get out to a few people and they'll appreciate the songs."

Check out Steve Smyth's Australian and European tour dates here.

Interview by Celeste Macdonald.

Sydney Festival First Night

2012-01-09T10:05:00.000+11:00

Sydney Festival kicked off on Saturday in traditional style, with a huge, city-centre party which was free for everyone. As is traditional with Festival First Night, the afternoon is for the families before the prams make way for the partygoers as the sun descends.

An early treat came in the form of the simply delightful Holly Throsby (below), who performed songs from her children's album, See! (which would certainly make a good companion to Kimya Dawson's cheeky yet life-affirming Alphabutt). Playing with a full band and with a couple of cameos from Darren Hanlon, the singer/songwriter found herself faced by an audience whose average age was about 20 years younger than her usual demographic. However, it was hard to believe that this was the first time she had ever performed such a show, as she managed to comfortably and completely engage the collection of toddlers that stood before her in wonderment.

Not only did she have their undivided attention for the duration, but she even evoked some enthusiastic audience participation. Her songs were educational, catchy and fun, while offering enough in the way of melody to keep the parents happy too. If you missed it, you can catch the show at The Famous Spiegeltent during the festival. If you have children/younger siblings, this would be an awesome first ever gig to take them to.

Bookending Throsby's wonderful show, Casper Babypants did a similar job in keeping the younglings entertained. Who he? Well, Mr Babypants is Chris Ballew, the twice Grammy-nominated songwriter and lead singer for the four-times platinum rock'n'roll band The Presidents of the United States of America. You know, Peaches and all that. He has since written four albums aimed at a new knee-high audience.

While his set was going on, across Hyde Park legendary UK DJ Norman Jay was getting the party started from atop his bus. His set - which ran from early afternoon until 11pm, would take in pretty much every genre imaginable and it didn't take long for a dance-off to ensue. While plenty fancied themselves as being a bit tasty on their feet, it was this dude (below), that stole the show. He stepped into the circle looking like a Mathlete yet emerged a hero, having busted some SERIOUS moves. Don't believe it? Just look at the faces of the people watching.

The day continued with all manner of street theatre while across the many stages was a broad spectrum of musical talent , including Washington, Manu Chao, Electric Empire and Jamaica’s mento masters The Jolly Boys (pictured, top). The festival runs until the end of January, so check out the full schedule of events here. Oh, and here are a couple of handy tips for you. Firstly, download the Sydney Festival app. It's good. Secondly, if you missed out on tickets to anything/are poor, then you should utilise the Tix For Nix booth in Martin Place. A limited number of tickets for EVERY SHOW (sold out or not) go on sale at 8am on the day of the performance for just $25. We lined up overnight to see Lou Reed a few years ago and it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

Here are a few more shots of the Festival First Night:

Words and pictures by Bobby Townsend.

John Martin - Apocalypse exhibition

2012-01-07T23:49:00.000+11:00

John Martin's Apocalypse is on at the Tate Britain for a few more days. Alice Parsons checked it out for Bobbysix.com:

THE END IS NIGH, YOU WILL BE JUDGED, REPENT!!! These are phrases that spring to mind when looking at a John Martin painting. You feel as if you could walk right into one of his works (some of his biggest paintings must be a couple of metres across each way) and stumble endlessly across the craggy, barren landscapes. Cutting your bare feet on the sharp rocks, dodging lava, desperate for an icy drink and salvation’s touch.

When I heard about his recent exhibition at the Tate, the first major collection of his works in 30 years, I knew I would be going and that I would inevitably be paying the £12.70 entry fee to get in (If that scares you, remember this is also the going-rate to see a film these days – Puss in Boots 3D anyone? No, I didn’t think so). The Tate eases you in with Martin’s gentler works. Serene scenes of Paradise, Eden, castles... nothing too sinister. However, on closer investigation, even the seemingly harmless depictions of London parks and British Tourist attractions harbour foreboding, swirling skies. Silent storms building up in the distance, hinting at what’s to come.

Then it starts to get exciting, John Martin’s ‘blockbuster’ oil paintings take over one room. In their day, they were the equivalent of going to see a new Bond movie. Belshazzar’s Feast (below - possibly my favourite) is breathtaking. I confess now, I wouldn’t have had a clue what was happening if not for the Tate's handy guide, based on Martin’s original descriptive catalogues. So, here follows my rough assessment: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are gently caressed by moonlight in the distance. To their left, the tower of Babel is caught in a raging, lightning-stabbed sky. In the foreground everybody else is running around like headless chickens (there is quite certainly more to it than that). The contrast of light is otherworldly and the Hall of Astarte (seen in the midground) appears to be never-ending. I love that; looking at a painting that doesn't have an ending, it has a story and a world of its own that has been playing out for untold years already and will continue to do so into the future.

In his lifetime Martin drew up engineering plans for the improvement of London’s sewers, the Thames Embankment and even a metropolitan railway, but his plans never got off the ground and were criticised by others. Shunned by the Royal Academy, who felt his ‘blockbuster’ paintings were not sophisticated enough for the elite of the art world, Martin was always something of an outsider. Looking at The Great Day of His Wrath, I really can’t imagine why.Martin’s final work, The Judgement series, is comprised of three large paintings. The Tate has set up The Last Judgement, The Great Day of His Wrath, and The Plains of Heaven on one wall facing tiered seating. Every 30 minutes the lights go out and an interesting experience takes place. Some kind of clever projection light-show illuminates different sections of the paintings and then slowly warps and distorts parts to mimic lava flow, earthquakes or ash falling. Little animated lightning forks poke about and the whole effect is rather hallucinogenic. Unfortunately the overexcited actors they’d recorded over the top narrating were indeed a bit over-the-top. But then I’d probably get carried away if you asked me to act out a bible-bashing Victorian pastor.

Martin’s figures are not great. They don’t have memorable faces, they’re a bit soft and squidgy and I sometimes felt that they spoilt what would otherwise have been a great painting for me. That’s not to say that I don’t think he should have painted people, full-stop. They are the best scale markers for his epic work imaginable. Without the tiny figures of Adam and Eve being cast out of Eden in The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (top), we would have no sense of their plight, of the fear they must have been feeling on seeing the expanse of dead land they had been cast into.

I want to wear John Martin’s paintings as fabulous evening gowns, swim in the still lakes and frolic in the green fields. Because not all of Martin’s paintings feature the end. Some depict the calm after the storm. The misty morning that marks the start of a new world. In Fantasia, the bit after A Night on Bald Mountain, when the devil hears the church bells and goes back to bed and all the nuns come down from the nunneries chanting Ave Maria... PHEW, safe again.

I celebrated my survival of the apocalypse with a suitably mammoth scone piled high with clotted cream and strawberry jam in Tate Britain’s very reasonable cafe.

John Martin: Apocalypse is only on at London's Tate Britain until the 15th of January, so don't delay. Admission is £12.70, while concessions can get in for £10.70.

Review by Alice Parsons. All images kindly provided by Tate Britain.

The Panics interview

2012-01-06T10:58:00.000+11:00

As The Panics prepare to play at St Jerome's Laneway Festival, Heidi Pett spoke to frontman Jae Laffer about Republicanism, Peter Garrett and, of course, their latest album:

Your latest album - and a lot of your output - has been described as cinematic and particularly Australian. What do you think it is about your music that creates this perception?
I don’t know! *laughs*. I can understand the cinematic thing, on a surface level we have a knack for making sparse and grandiose sweeping... well... pop songs. I kind of understand it and sometimes I think we could do a pretty good job of making a film soundtrack sometime.

As for sounding Australian, it’s kind of flattering. I guess it’s the occasional bit of language or the description of an environment. I don’t set out to write songs that are over-the-top Australian, I think it’s to do with that sparse guitar sound that a lot of Aussie bands can get and that the boys in my band do very well, and mixing that with a certain kind of lyrical delivery. I see where that comes from and it's something that I like in a lot of my favourite bands, so that’s cool.

Did you find there was a certain pressure after the success of 2007’s Cruel Guards? Did it alter the way that you wrote?
There’s always been far greater pressure from within myself and within the band. [The success of Cruel Guards] made the whole prospect of writing more songs quite exciting, because you get a taste for what it's like when you notice you’re being played in the shops or on the television and you get this great feeling that something you’ve been working on has somehow slipped into popular culture, you get to change the atmosphere around the place just in a small way. You start to think of the possibilities of how that must feel if it’s ten times the size - being played in taxi cabs in America. That kind of crazy idea is really exciting.

I’m in it for the long haul, I want to be making records for many years to come. I have great faith and confidence in what we’ll be able to achieve in the future, I don’t really feel the pressure at this point. I just keep striving to make that great record in my head.

This album was written in Salford, a very different environment to what you would have been used to. Do you think that in some way coloured the sound of the album?
I can listen to the songs and hear the main things that colour it and a certain feeling overall. I find it quite claustrophobic in a way. It’s very internal. It’s not always the most uplifting atmosphere that we create! The boys certainly counteract more moody lyrics with some really great and sparse and driving music and it creates this blend. The great thing about trying your luck with different places and different producers is that it all has a great effect on how the record finishes up. If we were recording at Woodstock out in the forest it would sound completely different, likewise if we’d produced it ourselves it would sound different again.

The first single, Majesty, has a certain pro-republican vibe. How have people responded to the lyrics in that one?
I’ve made a conscious effort not to make it too over-the-top. I don’t think I’m ready for a big political rant of any kind but it’s exciting to have lyrics that are not just about love for a change. I’ve done loads of interviews where suddenly people are asking me about my thoughts on the Queen, or religion or something and it makes life far more interesting!

It's nice to get to an age now where I feel comfortable talking about things in society that affect me and matter to me - to put it on the table. I’m not overly passionate about any particular stance, I just think it’s healthy for people to talk about such things.

It must be nice for people to see you as more than just a one-dimensional character?
Yeah well otherwise you’re just the slightly moody, inward-thinking kinda guy who writes songs about breakups and stuff. Sometimes I think my music doesn’t represent me very accurately. It’s funny that I seem to have so many songs that are so retrospective, when I’m naturally really positive and really opinionated.

No plans to be the next Peter Garrett though?
I’ve got a great respect for Peter Garrett. When it comes to that highly opinionated and highly political music, it's so hard to get right and I look up to them [Midnight Oil] very much. You don’t choose to go on that path though, you have to be called to it. Though I’d like to get to the stage that if I need to have a conversation on political matters on the television or something like that, I could hold my own. You need people on all sides of the spectrum speaking about what they think is right and what our generation wants to stand for - what we’re prepared to tolerate and not tolerate from politicians. We’re the generation that’s gotta look after the place, it’s worth talking about all things that we want to stand for.

Another thing you seem to be quite passionate about: you’ve mentioned previously that you like to help out other Perth bands, having recently toured with Split Seconds... Do you feel a certain responsibility to the next generation of Australian musicians?
Not so much responsibility, it’s just one of those things where it feels good to help people out. It’s a real tough slog being in a group, especially form Perth. You’ve gotta spend a lot to get over to the Eastern states and really try to get noticed by the rest of the country. We had a lot of troubles on our way so it's nice to even just be the band that helps out and lets people use your gear.

I spoke to the guys from Georgia Fair a while ago. They said they had a great time on the Rain On The Humming Wire tour, that The Panics taught them a lot and that you were very hands-on with your music. Can you tell me more about that?
*laughs* That’s a nice way of saying we’re absolutely in poverty and have to do everything ourselves. We lift every box and every amp and we set the whole place up. We like to be hands-on and feel part of everything that’s going on, and I think we just like to be busy, to tell you the truth! We’re very proactive with the whole show. We’re not just going to turn up at showtime, we like treating the whole thing as one big project. It’s good to be in a band that wants to be that hands-on.

I don’t have many rules to go by but all I know is we’ve been together... I don’t even know how many years. Our first EP came out ten years ago and whatever we’re doing we’ve generally done it right. We may not be mega-successful but we get to do things kind of on our own terms, we’ve stayed together and people seem to respect it. I’m very proud of the boys and myself for being persistent and keeping not just the dream but the passion at that high level. We don’t wanna let it get casual. We want to make another record very soon. We’ve managed to stick it out and learn a lot along the way, and we’ve set ourselves up to be in a position where... you know... I’d love us to be like R.E.M, making 20 albums, and maybe your 10th is your best. I love that idea.

The Panics play at this year's St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Interview by Heidi Pett. You can read her own blog here.

Caitlin Park and Oliver Tank to join Active Child at his Laneway sideshows

2012-01-05T15:44:00.000+11:00

We're big fans of Sydney's Caitlin Park (above) and Oliver Tank here at Bobbysix.com. Indeed, Park's stunningly beautiful debut album, Milk Annual, was one of the frontrunners in our Album of the Year poll (beaten to the prize by some bunch of chancers called Radiohead) and Tank also got a mention or two in our End of Year Review. So it is with excitement that we today discovered they will both be supporting LA resident Pat Grossi - aka Active Child - for a couple of sideshows to his St Jerome's Laneway Festival appearances in Australia this summer.

Intimately charting joy and heartbreak, battles with monogamy and love lost and rediscovered, Active Child's stories are tenderly delivered. From his father’s tenure at Priority Records (home to NWA and Dr Dre to name a couple), to his own choral experiences as a youngster, Pat draws from a wide range of inspirations including West Coast beats, soaring R&B and 1980’s New Order. He is unquestionably worth your attention.

As well as playing at St Jerome's Laneway Festival across Australia, you can catch Active Child headline a hugely impressive line-up featuring Caitlin Park and Oliver Tank in Sydney and Melbourne:

Sunday 29 January – Oxford Art Factory – Sydney
Tickets from Moshtix, online www.moshtix.com.au, by phone 1300 Get Tix (438 849), on your mobile via www.moshtix.mobi and Moshtix outlets.

Wednesday 8 February – East Brunswick Club – Melbourne.
Tickets from the East Brunswick Club, online www.eastbrunswickclub.com, by phone 9388 9794 and 57 Swan St Richmond, 10am-8pm Mon-Sat.

Picture by Bobby Townsend

Field Day

2012-01-05T11:49:00.000+11:00

Bobbysix.com's Editor headed to Field Day at Sydney's Domain on New Year's Day. Here's what he thought:

Right, let's make one thing clear before we start. If you're expecting a snobbish rant about the people who attend Australian music festivals, a la my Homebake diatribe last month, you're gonna be disappointed. Sorry.

Sure, there were the shirtless wonders in attendance, flexing their sizeable muscles, and there were girls with their arses falling out of the bottom of their tiny shorts, but the vibe of Sydney's Field Day was refreshingly chilled and the aggression that you will often experience at other one-dayers was joyful in its absence. Admittedly, many of the crowd looked like they belonged at that awful outdoor gym at Bondi Beach, but they were friendly enough to have come straight from an episode of Father Ted.

Maybe everyone was hungover/on pills/both but, regardless, as I wandered the sun-drenched festival site (ruing my decision to wear jeans and astounded by the fact that I had just paid $6 for a bottle of water), people were notably smiley and chatty. I actually made a few new friends. And anyone who knows me will tell you, I generally dislike people.

And so, amid a lovely atmosphere, a bunch of worldwide musical talent set about starting 2012 with a bang. Cloud Control were an early highlight, with their lovely-as-ever indie-pop. What a fine band they are. Soon after, Gotye - seemingly making his 2,467th festival appearance of the summer - played to a huge crowd. Despite its familiarity, Somebody That I Used To Know remains a brilliant song, and the crowd filling in for Kimbra made for one of those really special festival moments. The overall sound in his set (aside from a glitch at the end) was a zillion times better than at Homebake too. The best performance of the afternoon, though, certainly came from Metronomy (pictured below). With their infectious electro/guitar pop and their charming demeanour, they are surely the perfect band for a sunny afternoon. Radio Ladio, with its singalong chorus of "R-A. D-I. OHHHHHHHHH," is a belting way to end a set too.

As the sun set, the massively overrated Crystal Castles were typically uninspiring. Sleigh Bells are hardly the best band in the world, but, for my money, they piss all over this too-cool-for-school duo. Still, there was always excellent DJ Anna Lunoe to enjoy on one of the other stages instead.

Headliners Justice ended the festival. Bobbysix.com is reviewing their Melbourne sideshow later this week so I won't go into too much detail here, but let's just say that their light show was hugely impressive and, no matter how many times they play it, D.A.N.C.E. sounds fucking brilliant.

And so, as the night sky smothered The Domain and the temperature dropped considerably, even the most chiselled of blokes pulled on their singlets (I was now pretty happy to be wearing long pants) and boogied to some French electro. What an excellent way to ring in the New Year.

Review by Bobby Townsend.

Kill List

2012-01-04T11:26:00.000+11:00

Bobbysix.com's resident film buff, Neil Martin, tries to wrap his head around the uncompromising, brutal Kill List:

Ben Wheatley’s much talked about Kill List is a dark, claustrophobic and disorientating journey into hell. It follows the descent into madness of Jay, a man haunted by the violence he has seen and committed both as a soldier in Iraq and in his post military career as a hit-man for hire. Whether that descent into madness is internal or external is not clear and I will leave that up to you to decide. What is not in doubt though is that this is visceral, gut-wrenching, low budget film making at its very best.

The film starts relatively normally as a tale of domestic disintegration as Jay is still struggling to come to terms with a botched job eight months previously. The largely improvised dialogue and handheld verite style of the film place it firmly in the British social realist genre of Leigh, Loach and Meadows. Things soon start to take a turn for the weird as Jay and his partner take on a mysterious new job. It is at this point that the film really comes into its own as an exercise in creating a claustrophobic and unsettling atmosphere. Jay starts to unravel as things get increasingly out-of-hand and escalate towards a truly horrifying and upsetting denouement. Whether we are to take the events of the film literally or as some kind of manifestation of Post Traumatic Stress I am not sure and ultimately it does not really matter as, for me, it works either way. It is clear though that Wheatley has crafted a highly original and unsettling film that will undoubtedly become a cult classic in years to come.

Some have criticised Kill List as two different films clumsily welded together but the move from thriller to horror in the final act is a masterstroke and left me reeling despite expecting this change of focus. It will not be for all tastes and indeed some of the people I watched it with absolutely hated it. What cannot be denied though is that, love it or hate it, Kill List will undeniably stay with you long after it has finished.

Review by Neil Martin

Being Buffalo - Before We Fall Apart

2012-01-03T18:20:00.000+11:00

Victoria Gottschalk reviews the debut album from Being Buffalo, who are setting tongues wagging in the UK right now:

An album by a bandnamed after bovine? Really? Well, okay then.While electronic folk music is probably the best way to describe Being Buffalo, there’s no doubt that the Londoners certainly havetheir own sound. From the firsttrack, The Weather, to the last song, The Boatman and the Wife, there’s adistinct sound ringing through your ears; it’s not completely original but it’s certainly notmanufactured either.

Songs like Defend Our Night and I Don’t Want To Grow Up areeasy to imagine being played during a pivotal scene in the latest realitytelevision show (at the moment Caggie and Spencer FINALLY got together in Made inChelsea, Defend Our Night SHOULD have been playing. I’m certain of it). Butthen there are songs such as Grandad John that blow the contemporary folkmusic feel out of the water and make you want to grab a Scotch on the rocks andhang out with your grandparents for the day. I love that one album can make youfeel so many different emotions.

The strongest track on the record is probably April, simplybecause it combines everything Being Buffalo are about. It’s the kind of songthat makes you open a bottle of wine and reflect on every relationship you’veever had. Not negatively, but more in a “you know what, you’re an idiotbut I miss you” kind of way. “It’s not like I’ll ever want you back, but I misshaving you around,” is something we all wish we could say to the nice ex's that have graced our life andit’s the type of thing we all want said to us. C’mon guys, admit it, you’restaring at your phones right now, hoping a text pops up with those lyricsincluded…no? Just me then…

The only slight fault with Before We Fall Apart comes with the tracklisting. There’s a killer of a tune called Hope which is the fifth song. It should come last, because the lyrics sum up the entire album. Nitpicking aside though, Being Buffalo are exactly what the music industry has aspace for right now; honest lyrics, catchy tunes and a fucking ace album.

Review by Victoria Gottschalk. You can buy Before We Fall Apart for peanuts here.

Fox + Sui interview

2012-01-03T12:13:00.000+11:00

The wonderfully talented writer Jess O'Callaghan has recently joined Team Bobbysix. Here's her first interview:

Becky Freeman, half of Melbourne-based duo Fox + Sui, speaks just like she sings. Everything is wonderfully dreamy, and she doesn’t seem to find the intercontinental evolution of their debut EP nearly as astounding as I do. "Andy would make the music and send it to me wherever I was in the world and I would use Garage Band and sing over it." Where was she, when she was putting lyrics to Andras Fox’s already mesmerising music? "All over. San Francisco, London...Bahrain."

Becky (or Sui Zhen, as she is known when she is creating amazing songs like this one) and Melbourne beat-maker Andras Fox met at the Red Bull Music Academy in London. She calls the experience a "life-changing kind of thing. All expenses paid, access to all the equipment... They take every care out of you apart from making music." With every other care relegated to the real world, the only two Australians in the RBMA semester began to make brilliant music together.

Drawn together by speaking the same language and a love of psychedelic garage style music by James Pants, Becky and Andras began to produce demos and become friends. Fox + Sui combines Becky’s tinkling voice and dream-like lyrics with Andras’s talent for mixing garage house, and what comes out is somewhere between lounge, exotica and dreamy pop. "For the next six or seven months I was travelling around and Andy would send me instrumental tracks... He would be using obscure sampling, and making them in a really analogue way and I would just use the microphone on my laptop."

Does the influence of where she was show in the music they made? Becky thinks it’s inevitable, although don’t expect lyrics about Bahrain to be leaping out of the ether. The mystical quality of the music they make means that they could get away with their unique recording techniques, and create something incredible. And when they’re not travelling the world, playing psychedelic festivals and collecting records? Becky creates some beautifully homemade music videos. I ask about my favourite - the addictive stop-motion clip for her solo work as Sui Zhen Little Frog. "I’m glad that I did it," she says with a laugh, although admits it took a long time. "Actually, not a long time, a couple of weeks, but I didn’t edit it until a long time later."

With their EP to be released in early 2012, Fox + Sui are busy playing around Melbourne, including the Buffalo Club and Worker’s Club. They will play at the Sugar Mountain Festival on the 14th of January at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne. Apparently we can expect psychedelic muumuus. As if we need convincing.

Interview by Jess O'Callaghan. Find out more about Fox and Sui at their facebook page.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - The final results!

2012-01-02T10:15:00.000+11:00

Over the past few days we've brought you a whole bunch of 'best of' lists from 2011. In that time, the number crunchers in Bobbysix Towers have been busy totalling everything up in an attempt to draw some conclusions. As well as our knowledgeable writers giving their opinion and our industry buddies telling us what's on their stereo, for the first time ever we've invited the general public to contribute. So, if you don't agree with the winners of our End of Year Poll, don't blame Bobbysix.com, blame stupid democracy. Here goes:

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Album of the Year: RADIOHEAD - THE KING OF LIMBS

Of all of the categories in our end of year poll, Album Of The Year offered the broadest spectrum of nominees, as voted for by the readers and writers of Bobbysix.com. Varying degrees of folk were represented by strong showings for Laura Marling, Bon Iver and Caitlin Park, while chunky guitar riffs won lots of votes in the form of Foo Fighters and The Black Keys. Meanwhile, Veronica Falls and The Jezabels waved the flag for melodic indie. However, in the end, it was the ever-inventive, ever-relevant Radiohead (pictured, above) that were victorious, with their album The King of Limbs. Not only was it a quality record but, delightfully, it was given away for free on the band's website. On 18th February, with little fanfare and, indeed, a day ahead of schedule, guitarist Ed O'Brien posted online: "It's Friday... It's almost the weekend...It's a full moon....You can download The King of Limbs now if you so wish!"

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Song of the Year: CAMERAS - DEFEATIST

Husky's History's Door was popular, Kimbra was well-represented for Cameo Lover and for her collaboration with Gotye and Bon Iver received the biggest number of collective votes (but for different songs). But it was Sydney trio Cameras who received the most love for the fantastic Defeatist. Great song and a great video, in which The Preachers' Isabella looks simply beautiful. Bravo.

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Gig of the Year: THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney, 12th November

This was a three-way race between The Grates, Seeker Lover Keeper and Florence + The Machine. The Brisbane band eventually won it by a single vote. Here's our review the show in question:

In Patience Hodgson, The Grates boast one of the most appealing lead-singers in the business. She announced her arrival on stage by bouncing up and down on the spot like an over-excited kid at Christmas and was crowd-surfing by the conclusion of the second song. Looking splendiferous in a sheer blue blouse and red skirt, the front-woman constantly engaged the audience in banter, accepted roses from besotted fans, handed out glow-stick bracelets and got members of the crowd to make out. It was impossible to take your eyes off her. During songs, she bounded around the stage and danced like the biggest dork in the world, her limbs flailing in every direction. It is very apparent that Hodgson just wants to have fun, without caring a jot about being cool. And that, of course, makes her cooler than most. As Young Pricks brought the set to a frenzied end, the band's performance demanded an encore, which closed with the giant sweary singalong of Inside, Outside. With the beguiling combination of infectious pop, meaty post-grunge and a singer that owns the room with her utter lust for life, tonight once again proved that to see The Grates live is to best understand them (read the full review here).

"Oh wow," Patience tweeted having read our review of the night. "Perceptive review, I AM A DORK. It's undeniable, it's who I am. I drink Sugar Free Caffeine Free Coke = DORK." Not just any old dork either, Patience, but our favourite dork. And we can't think of a bigger compliment than that.

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Film of the Year - DRIVE

This was a close battle between Submarine and Drive, with the latter just edging it in the end. Two very different films - one sweet, charming and funny, the other edgy and violent. Both had good soundtracks though.

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So, that's it. Another year over. Thanks for reading in 2011. The site has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months and it's because of you. Well, actually, it's down to a small gang of people spending a lot of hours in front of the laptop, on the phone and in sweaty music venues, for no money, but simply for a love of doing what we do. But if you didn't read our words, then there would be no point in any of this. As the song goes, everything we do, we do it for you. In 2012, we're relaunching the site with a new name, more writers and a prettier, user-friendly look. We hope you'll join us.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Our showbiz mates

2011-12-31T12:49:00.000+11:00

We managed to round up a few of our friends from the world of entertainment and ask them to contribute to our End of Year Poll. Here's what they offered us.

Jim Bob
Jim Bob (above) has had a busy 2011, finishing his new book, doing stuff at the Edinburgh Festival and playing sold-out shows with his band, Carter USM. Here’s what he listened to/watched when he had some down time.

Top 5 albums
1. Good News - WITHERED HAND
2. Own Side Now - CAITLIN ROSE
3. A Creature I Don't Know - LAURA MARLING
4. The Life Equation - AKIRA THE DON
5. Distraction Pieces - SCROOBIUS PIP

Top 5 films
1. Submarine
2. Attack the Block
3. Animal Kingdom
4. True Grit
5. Another Year
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Amber Anderson
You may have first seensuper-talented actress/model/musician and all-round lovely human-being Amber in the Match.com ads. Since then, she has worked on a number of movies, campaigns and editorials and we predict HUGE things for her in 2012. For now, check out her top albums and films from this year.

Top 5 albums (in no particular order)
Ceremonials - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
21 - ADELE
Suck It and See - ARCTIC MONKEYS
+ - ED SHEERAN
The English Riviera - METRONOMY

Top 5 films (in no particular order)
The Help
We Need To Talk About Kevin
The Inbetweeners Movie
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
My Week With Marilyn
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Cameras' Fraser Harvey
Fraser (left in picture) is one-third of Sydney band, Cameras. Here, he tells us a little about the records he has been playing as his band has toured Australia and The States.

Top 5 albums
1. Blood Pressures – THE KILLS
I instantly loved every song on this record, but I kept liking it for different reasons every time I put it on. Plus, who doesn’t want Alison Mosshart to have her way with them and then sing you The Last Goodbye.
2. The Child EP – THE CHILD
We played a show with these guys in LA, they’re also on Manimal and right from the first song I was enamoured. The ditties sound simple, but underneath there are actually a lot of complexities that will pass you by if you’re not careful. Their drummer Norm recorded and mixed this. Bitchin’.
3. The King Of Limbs – RADIOHEAD
This was so much to swallow when I first heard it. They seem to make every single idea work, all at once – and this album leaves you discovering subtleties well into your 10th listen and beyond. Very few bands achieve this.
4. Let England Shake - PJ HARVEY
C’mon, it’s the Peej so of course it’s going to be good – but this was a particular slice of form. Plus I’m a sucker for some Autoharp.
5. Grinderman 2 – GRINDERMAN
I know this came out in late 2010, but I only got onto this in 2011, so it’s going on my list. I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy crude lyrics, and there are few better than Mr. Cave in this department. Fuck off Boy & Bear’s record was better than this.
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Clytem Scanning
Our favourite Parisian purveyor of beat-driven electro-pop melodies filled with dark ambiances sent us her top five albums and her top four films. “I couldn't find any 5th film cause I am pretty difficult with recent movies,” she told us.

Top 5 albums;
1. work (work, work) - HTRK
2. W - PLANNINGTOROCK
3. Absence - SNOWMAN
4. Faults - SEEFEEL
5. Wounded Galaxies Tap at the Window - CYCLOBE

Top 4 films
1.We Need To Talk About Kevin
2.The Murderer
3.Triangle
4.Meek's Cutoff
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Sienna Guillory
As well as filming the new Resident Evil movie and trying to get Stone Roses tickets (she did), Sienna has also become a Mum to twins this year. So she hasn’t had much time to watch new movies or to discover new albums. Here's the five artists she has been most listening to in 2011.

1. Neutral Milk Hotel
2. Caveman
3. Beirut
4. Waters
5. The XX
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Chicks Who Love Guns' Cass Navarro
Cass (front left in picture) is the frontman for awesome band Chicks Who Love Guns, who have been wowing crowds in Sydney with their high-energy punk amazingness. We reckon that 2012 is going to be a good year for them. Here are Cass' choices for records and moves of the year.

Top 5 Albums (in no particular order)
New Start Again - DICK DIVER
Exmilitary - DEATH GRIPS
Royal Headache - ROYAL HEADACHE
Ugly Animals - RETOX
Smoke Ring For My Halo - KURT VILE

Top 5 Films (in no particular order)
Autoluminescent
Submarine
Drive
The Inbetweeners Movie
Hanna
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Holiday Sidewinder
The Bridezilla frontwoman, solo-artist and long-term friend of Bobbysix.com didn’t have much to offer in terms of her top five lists. However, we very much approve of the one name she gave: “I actually haven’t done much watching or listening of new stuff, so aside from Twerps, I dunno.”
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Larry Heath

Larry (pictured with Bobby) is the brains (and hours and hours and hours of hard work) behind brilliant website, The AU Review.

Top 5 albums
1. Gloss Drop - BATTLES
2. Prisoner - THE JEZABELS
3. Simple Math - MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA
4. Don't Say We Didn't Warn You - DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?
5. Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS

Top 5 films
1. Drive
2. Midnight in Paris
3. Harry Potter 7.2
4. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
5. Super 8
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Colin Delaney
Colin is a music, arts, film and travel writer based in Sydney. He is also a fine fellow indeed.

1. BURNING MAN
Jonathan Teplitzky’s latest is inspired by his own experiences of love, loss and the downward spiral it can send a man on. Brit Matthew Goode plays chef Tom who struggles to juggle the various women in his life as it turns inside out from grief. It turns inside out for us too. Between Teplitzky and editor Martin Connor the non-linear storytelling proper fucks with you. The film is as brilliant as it is difficult to discuss without giving away some major plot points. Just go see it and sob like a baby.
2. BRIDESMAIDS
The girls out-bromanced the bros. If you didn’t like this film I hope you get diarrhoea in your wedding dress.
3. DRIVE
Speaking of bromance… if you’re a guy and you don’t get the whole Ryan Gosling thing yet, watch Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. A merciless prick on a revenge drive through Los Angeles, Gosling remains pretty under pressure, all to a cool yet soulless score by Cliff Martinez and College’s “A Real Hero.”
4. CAUGHT INSIDE
There may have been a better thriller made this year but this little Australian film, which was like Bra Boys meets Dead Calm as a chartered surf trip turns bad, scores points for the following reasons…
A) The film could have easily been another schlock teen horror but first time feature director Adam Blaiklock handled his script competently to find the right balance.
B) Made for just about nothing and filmed on location with a tight cast and crew of less than twenty, it’s an example of putting all your budget on screen. It should be seen by all aspiring filmmakers as fodder of what can be done on a limited budget.
C) Bon Oxenbould gives what will hopefully be for him a career-turning performance, ala Eric Bana in Chopper, to steer him away from his Nudge (yes, as in Hey Dad!) character.
D) Unlike every surf-based drama that came before it, Caught Inside doesn’t fall into a cliché trappings of the surf lifestyle. With Blaiklock a surfer, it was something he was all too aware of, both in story and filming techniques… as in, every actor had to be able to surf.
5. CATFISH
Another film that’s hard to talk about… This documentary about Facebook was certainly more affecting than The Social Network. Scary, sad, funny, we all know someone who thought to quit Facebook over a stalker. It took a lot of balls from the filmmakers to follow through with what they did. I’d have probably just quit Facers and reactivated my Bebo account.

Colin gives notable mentions to: Red State, Snowtown, Midnight in Paris, Hanna and The Tunnel.
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We'd like to thank our industry pals for taking time out of their schedules to tell us what has been floating their boat this year. And thanks to you for voting as well. Be sure to check back in to Bobbysix.com tomorrow for the grand results of our epic End of Year Review. We'll be revealing the overall best album, best song, best gig and best film of 2011.

Interviews by Bobby Townsend

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Heidi Pett

2011-12-30T20:15:00.000+11:00

We're just a couple of days away from the big announcement of Bobbysix.com's overall winner of best album, film, gig and song of 2011. Before that, Deputy Editor Heidi Pett talks us through her favourite things from this year:

You’ll note that these lists have not been numbered. That’s because I’ve been known to take days sweating over my Triple J Hottest 100 votes (should I vote for my personal favourite on the album, or the most popular single, propelling a worthy artist to a higher rank? Is that selling out? What about that little-known band who I love but that will never make it in, is that wasting my vote? And if I do that, will Art vs fucking Science achieve a better result than they would have if I’d voted for, say, The Grates instead?) etc, etc, until oblivion. And that’s an anonymous vote which doesn’t even have to be ordered. So in the interests of my continuing to exist as a functioning member of society, here are my top picks of 2011, in no particular order.

10 Albums/EPs
Bon Iver - BON IVER (pictured, above)
Crystal Theatre - BELLES WILL RING
Forever So - HUSKY
Carry On - PATRICK JAMES
The Josephine March - THE JOSEPHINE MARCH
Absence - SNOWMAN
Milk Annual - CAITLIN PARK
I Want That You Are Always Happy - THE MIDDLE EAST
Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES
Secret Rituals - THE GRATES

10 Songs
History’s Door - HUSKY
Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion - OLIVER TANK
Rose Coloured Glasses - THE JOSEPHINE MARCH
Falling Away - BIG SCARY
Wishingbone -WINTER PEOPLE
Warriors With Wild Hearts - CAITLIN PARK
Paper Thin - FLUME
Please You - PATRICK JAMES
Hector Myola - TIN SPARROW
Holocene - BON IVER

10 Music Videos
Bizness - TUNE-YARDS
Aroused - TOM VEK
Awkward - SAN CISCO
Little Frog - SUI ZHEN
Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - GOTYE
Cameo Lover - KIMBRA

Featherstone - PAPER KITES

Fat Monk - RAT vs POSSUM

Holocene - BON IVER

Defeatist - CAMERAS

5 Gigs

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE - Seymour Centre, Sydney

THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney

SEEKER LOVER KEEPER - St Stephen’s Church, Sydney

PATRICK JAMES - Hibernian House, Sydney

HOWLING BELLS - The Standard, Sydney

5 Books

Eating Animals - JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

All That I Am - ANNA FUNDER

Tall Man - CHLOE HOOPER

You’ll Be Sorry When I’m Dead - MARIEKE HARDY

Penguin Plays Rough - VARIOUS

5 Festivals

Woodford Folk Festival

TiNA/Emerging Young Writers Festival

Jaipur Literature Festival

The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival

Changing Lanes Festival

10 Blogs/Websites

I spend a fairly embarrassing amount of time jaunting around the internet, getting inspired by people who are making and doing things. Often I’ll read the entire archives of a blog and then forget to bookmark it for later reference, so here are a few that I actually remember:

suizhen.tumblr.com/

palahniukandchocolate.tumblr.com

thespitpress.com

reasonsyouwillhateme.com

heathenscripture.wordpress.com

thehairpin.com

mimihlvst.blogspot.com

thingsmypretentiousfriendssay.tumblr.com

http://ausreleases.tumblr.com/

raddestrightnow.blogspot.com

2011 in words

I started volunteering with FBi Radio in June and have finally found that community of beautiful, creative, interesting and interested people that I’ve been looking for in Sydney. Because, you know, I was starting to think this town was full of wankers and everybody was too cool for everything. These people give up their time and their skills out of love and passion and a desire to create, and it’s the best bullshit filter I’ve ever come across. What feels like forever ago, I spent two months sharing a backpack with my best friend as we travelled around India. Trains that were 19 hours late, colour and dust and beauty and heartbreak, escaping Darjeeling in the back of an army jeep, making dinosaur noises at leering men on train platforms, packing more books than clothes, dark green eyes and a hand on the small of my back. And the fact that when we got home we were too embarrassed to reach for the handles on the train, as we reeked of filthy Delhi bathrooms and four days of unwashed transit.

Heidi Pett - Deputy Editor
As well as being a fine writer, Heidi is an award-winning radio producer and presenter. She takes photographs through a plastic lens, drinks wine, listens to folk songs with gratuitous swears and can more often than not be found with her head buried in a book.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Neil Martin

2011-12-30T10:43:00.000+11:00

As we head towards the conclusion of our End of Year reviews, Neil Martin give his recommendations from 2011. Check back on New Year's Day for Bobbysix.com's overall winners of best film, album, gig and song:

Top 10 Albums
1. We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves - JOHN MAUS (pictured, above)
2. Space Is Only Noise - NICHOLAS JAAR
3. Wolfroy Goes To Town - BONNIE PRINCE BILLY
4. The Ship’s Piano -DARREN HAYMAN
5. Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS
6. The Last Of The Country Gentlemen - JOSH T. PEARSON
7. Ravedeath, 1972 - TIM HECKER
8. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming - M83
9. James Blake – JAMES BLAKE
10. All Eternals Deck - THE MOUNTAIN GOATS

Top 10 Songs
1. On Battleship Hill - PJ HARVEY
2. Believer - JOHN MAUS
3. Space Is Only Noise If You Can See - NICHOLAS JAAR
4. Found Love In A Graveyard - VERONICA FALLS
5. Boeing 737 - THE LOW ANTHEM
6. Love The Way You Walk Away - BLITZEN TRAPPER
7. Tree By The River - IRON AND WINE
8. Thou Art Loosed - JOSH T. PEARSON
9. Blue Suicide - COMA CINEMA
10. Replica - ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER

Films

1. Drive

2. Snowtown
3. The Guard
4. Troll Hunter
5. Small Town Murder Songs
6. The Future
7. Confessions
8. Tyrannosaur
9. Submarine
10. Attack The Block

Neil Martin - Contributor
Englishman Neil is a media teacher, musician and disc golfer - not necessarily in that order. He also knows more about films than you know about anything.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Andy James

2011-12-29T22:50:00.000+11:00

Continuing our series of End of Year Reviews from our contributors, culminating in a grand announcement of overall winners later in the week, Andy James gives us his top albums, song, tv shows and gigs:

1. The Whole Love - WILCO
The Whole Love weaves together great pop songs and alt-country in a real return to form for Wilco. From the opening electronic beats of Art of Almost to the 12-minute acoustic closer One Sunday Morning it’s a belter.
2. Let it Beard - BOSTON SPACESHIPS
A double album with little in the way of fat - a testament to Robert Pollard’s knack for never letting a song overstay its welcome. A guest appearance from J. Mascis is just the icing on the cake as the Boston Spaceships checked out on a real high.

3. Ashes & Fire - RYAN ADAMS

Having ditched the Cardinals somewhere on route, the lovely and restrained Ashes & Fire features some of Ryan Adams’ best material since Heartbreaker and The Suicide Handbook - and that voice just gets better and better with age.

4. Lord of the Birdcage - ROBERT POLLARD
Like much of Robert Pollard’s vast back catalogue, Lord of the Birdcage isn't immediate but grows on you with every listen. As his 4,537^th release is unlikely to win over hipsters or mountains of new fans - but like the Boston Spaceships’ effort it's a fine record nonetheless.

5. Smoke Ring For My Halo - KURT VILE
Philadelphia singer-songwriter Kurt Vile returned with a beautifully layered record which touches on slacker rock, Americana and psychedelic folk. A bourbon-drinking, Marlboro red-smoking gem.

Top 10 Songs
1.Tourist UFO - BOSTON SPACESHIPS
2. Art of Almost - WILCO
3. Defeatist - CAMERAS
4. Curtailed Dream - NICK WEBB
5. In a Circle - ROBERT POLLARD
6. Calgary - BON IVER

7. It's Real - REAL ESTATE
8. Runner Ups - KURT VILE
9. Benediction - THURSTON MOORE
10. Taken for a Fool - THE STROKES

Top 5 TV Shows
1. This is England '88
The second spin-off series from the 2006 film This Is England seemed more relevant than ever. Shit-awful Tory-led government running the show? Check. Disaffected youth? Check. Over-hyped England football team? Check.
2. The Killing
Far-fetched plot twists aside, when it comes to Danish-language police dramas with added knitwear, The Killing was in a league of its own.
3. Match of the Day
More metrosexual banter and perma-tan tension than the average Channel 5 reality show. Not even a 0-0 at the Britannia or Lawrenson's gloom could take the shine off Shearer's shirts.
4. PMQs
At times it seemed like Ed would never land a blow, but at least Cameron's own backbenches gave him the occasional kicking.
5. Treme
You don't have to be a lover of jazz to enjoy David Simon's Treme. The Wire creator's drama explored the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the working-class residents of New Orleans.

Top 5 Gigs
SUFJAN STEVENS - The Dome, Brighton
GARY PAGE - The Lamb, Eastbourne
EELS - The Dome, Brighton
NICK WEBB - The Lamb, Eastbourne
STOP THINKING RECORDS X-MAS SHOWCASE - Bibendum, Eastbourne

2011 in Words
Geopolitical turmoil and economic meltdown aside, on a personal level 2011 didn't feel all that remarkable and certainly wasn't a vintage for new music. Going back through my most listened to albums and tracks of the year it was amazing how few of them were released in the last 12 months. 2012 is already shaping up to be a better one - the first three months of the year see releases from Craig Finn, Guided By Voices, Nada Surf and Lambchop, plus there's the fourth season of In The Loop to look forward to.What else? Well, getting kicked into touch was the catalyst for living like a student again and I've spent more hours sitting around in my pants watching football than is healthy for any thirty-something. I didn't do enough travelling either - although crossing over the Bosphorus from Europe into Asia felt special (albeit with a driver determined to play Bruno Mars on loop).Lots of other high points though, not least spending a lot more time with close friends and family, and an office crush which saw me through the last few months. All in all, life's pretty good.

Andy James - Contributor
Englishman Andy has an impressive knowledge of indie bands that you have probably never heard of and can tell you quite a bit about football too.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Celeste Macdonald

2011-12-29T10:25:00.000+11:00

Having split her year between the UK, The States, Europe and Australia, Celeste Macdonald is well-placed to give her opinion on what's been the best of 2011. Check back on New Year's Day for the overall winners of best album, song, film and gig, as voted for by you:

Top 10 albums

El Camino – THE BLACK KEYS
Making Mirrors – GOTYE
Prisoner – THE JEZABELS
To The Horses – LANIE LANE
Come On Board – JEFFREY LEWIS
Bad As Me – TOM WAITS
Let England Shake – PJ HARVEY
Bon Iver – BON IVER
Rain On A Humming Wire – THE PANICS
I Want That You Are Always Happy – THE MIDDLE EAST

Top 10 songs

Video Games – LANA DEL REY

Lay It Down – THE RUBENS
Run Right Back – THE BLACK KEYS
What Do I Do – LANIE LANE
Somebody That I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra) – GOTYE
Golden Revolver – SAN CISCO
I Follow Rivers – LYKKE LI
Brother – MATT CORBY
Second Chance – PETER, BJORN AND JOHN
Tongue Tied – GROUPLOVE

Top 5 Gigs

JEFFREY LEWIS - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
DARK HORSES - Concorde2, Brighton
THREE TRAPPED TIGERS - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
PURITY RING - The Green Door Store, Brighton
CARL BARAT - The Prince Albert, Brighton

Highlight of the year
Having the privilege of spending nearly nine months of 2011 traveling around Europe and the United States, I stumbled upon maybe the greatest place on earth, Budapest. Added to its greatness, I had the pleasure of being there with Bobbysix himself.

2011 in words
Fantastically amazing year for music, incredibly disappointing year for Hollywood.

Prediction for 2012
After 2011 came out with the highest number of Hollywood sequels ever, (yes, EVER) Hollywood decides to stop making sequels and instead take a chance on original, independent and thought-provoking cinema...fingers crossed.

Celeste Macdonald - Contributor

Celeste likes to travel to world. She knows her stuff about music, movies and TV. She is deadly with a pool cue.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Victoria Gottschalk

2011-12-28T20:19:00.000+11:00

Bobbysix's latest recruit, Victoria Gottschalk, lists what has been pleasing to her eyes and ears this year. Check back in on New Year's Day for the announcement of the overall winners of best album, gig, film and song, as voted for by Bobbysix's readers and writers:

Top 5 albums
1. 21 - ADELE (pictured, above)
2. Take Care - DRAKE
3. Fairytales and Stepping Stones – TARA LONDON
4. + - ED SHEERAN
5. Who You Are – JESSIE J

Top 5 songs
1. Miss You – ED SHEERAN
2. Someone Like You - ADELE

3. Suburbs – CHARLIE SIMPSON
4. Til The Day We Die – ROX
5. Shake It Out – FLORENCE + THE MACHINE

Top 5 gigs
1. CHARLIE SIMPSON – Concorde 2, Brighton
2. JESSIE J – Brighton Centre, Brighton
3. THE SCRIPT – O2, London
4. PALOMA FAITH & FRIENDS – Union Chapel, London
5. EMINEM – V Festival, Chelmsford

Top 5 films
1. One Day
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2
3. The Help
4. Bridesmaids
5. Like Crazy

Top 5 books
1. One Day – DAVID NICHOLLS
2. How To Be A Woman – CAITLIN MORAN
3. Room – EMMA DONAGHUE
4. Before I Go To Sleep – S.J. WATSON
5. Postcards from the Heart – ELLA GRIFFIN

Highlight of the year.
The end of the News of the World newspaper. Here’s to PROPER journalism.

2011 in words
I dyed my hair green, found a long term friendship with vodka and my memory is completely shot to pieces. Obviously the latter has nothing to do with the 2nd point…

Prediction for 2012
Apparently 2012 will see in the end of the world. So on that note, drink up and make sure you have fun. Simple.

Victoria Gottschalk - Contributor

Victoria has a passion for attending gigs and digging nice and deep when she interviews people. Which makes her pretty much perfect for Bobbysix.com.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Alice Parsons

2011-12-28T10:17:00.000+11:00

Today, Bobbysix's resident artist, reviewer and all round lovely human-being, Alice Parsons, tells us about her 2011. Be sure to keep an eye on Bobbysix.com later in the week as we'll be bringing you the overall winners of album/film/gig/song of the year:

Top 5 Albums
1. Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS
Not that I need any more reasons to suspect that Dave Grohl is a god but, Rope and White Limo offer pretty conclusive proof.
2. Skying - THE HORRORS
Beautiful album cover and beautiful trippy sounds. Still Life in particular.
3. Queens of the Stone Age - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Avon do do do do do doooo
4. Suck it and See - ARCTIC MONKEYS
5. The Peoples Temple - SONS OF STONE

Top 5 Gigs
1. DISTANT WORLDS - The Royal Albert Hall, London
A full orchestra playing the haunting music of the Final Fantasy games. Yes I am a nerd... that is fine.
2. OK GO - Koko club, London
Two feet away from Damien Kulash *sigh*
3. CHASE AND STATUS- Brixton Academy, London
They really know how to put on a show.
4. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - O2 Arena, London
Okay haters, I agree about the new stuff but the oldies are still classic. Really strong performance, to my surprise.
5. TELEPATHETIC - various Brighton venues
Admittedly my brother’s band but brilliant nonetheless.

Album Cover of the Year:
Bon Iver – Self Titled LP. Artwork by Gregory Euclide

2011 in Words
In order to remember what I’ve been doing with myself in this the year 2011, I had to have a little dig back through the pages of my big wave calendar in search of clues for the exciting events and glamorous parties I have surely attended. I was surprised to find that my only engagement in March was a visit to the dentist (clearly this was a big month for me). Luckily I had been more diligent across the rest of the year in noting my activities. Here follow a few of my 2011 highlights. Excellent year!

Item of the Year:
My vintage Moroccan Rug from the Atlas Mountains (found in Brighton). I am in love with it. It is joy in rug form. Also my suede peep-toe cut out wedges in pale blue from Office.

Art Highlight
Visiting the Mucha museum in Prague was really inspirational for me. His work is incredibly iconic and seeing the original sketches and poster prints just made me appreciate his skill even more. He was also super prolific, how can anyone produce so much work and still each piece be unique and worth looking at? I lost a lot of money in the gift shop as usual.

Brilliant Event
My lady friends and I took in our first Chap Olympiad. What a day. Gentlemen and Ladies, all decked out in exquisite vintage ‘chap’ attire (and sporting well groomed moustaches, well the men were anyway) enjoying Pimms and tea cakes whilst sheltering under brollies to watch the chaps compete in a number of daring events including ‘Swooning’, ‘Shouting at Foreigners’, ‘Not Playing Tennis’ and ‘The Umbrella Joust’. A top day of japery and high jinks was enjoyed by all. I will see you at the next one!

Alice Parsons - Contributor
Not only is Alice a genius illustrator/artist (she came up with the fantastic blog header at the top of the page), but she can write too and has also been known to do a spot of modelling. Is there no end to her talents?

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - 25ThC

2011-12-27T20:30:00.000+11:00

In the latest of the Bobbysix.com End Of Year Review series, which will culminate in a grand announcement of the overall winners later this week, 25ThC - or Christos to those of us that know him intimately - tells us what has been floating his boat in 2011:

Top 5 albums
1. Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 - BEASTIE BOYS
2. From Africa With Fury Rise - SEUN KUTI
3. Battle for Seattle - LITTLE ROY
4. Hotel Shampoo - GRUFF RHYS
5. King of Limbs - RADIOHEAD

Top 5 gigs
1. Amon Tobin - HMV Forum, London
2. DJ Shadow - Dome, Brighton
3. Quantic and his Combo Barbara - Scala, London
4. Jehst - Fabric, London
5. Rodney P + Skitz - Concorde 2, Brighton

Top 5 TV shows
1. Angry Boys

2. Dexter

3. Frozen Planet
4. Top Boy
5. Choosing To Die

Highlight of the year.
That Channel 4 and E4 have finally stopped showing Friends after 16 years!

2011 in words
The year that everyone really started to realise what a bind money and lack of it can be.

Prediction for 2012That our world may well change beyond our comprehension come 21st December 2012 and the end of the Mayan calender.

25ThC - Contributor

As well as loving a diverse range of music, 25ThC is also an excellent photographer and DJ. He is the founder of the legendary Funky Junk nights.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year review 2011 - Jonjon

2011-12-27T10:08:00.000+11:00

In the second of our 2011 reviews - which culminate in a grand announcement of overall winners later in the week - Jonjon talks us through his favourite albums and speaks, brilliantly, about the year:

Top 5 Albums

The Look – METRONOMY.
How can something that sounds so simplistic and dated work so well? Nuwave/disco directly through a wormhole from 1982.
Welcome to Condale – SUMMER CAMP.
A vocalist that sounds like Debbie Harry, Kate Bush and Belinda Carlisle in one and the sounds of a never ending summer. If you can’t enjoy this we can’t hang anymore.
Within and Without – WASHED OUT.
Dreamy synth perfection forms the soundtrack for someone with a better life than ours.
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – M83.
Excessive and over the top, it shouldn’t work but somehow it does. God knows where they go from here though.
James Blake – JAMES BLAKE.
Disarmingly simple jazz and blues electronica that has/will end up as the soundtrack to dinner parties everywhere (but you’re still allowed to like it).

Top 5 TV shows

Community.
“Six seasons and a movie”. Never popular, it appears doomed so now is the chance to vent your frustration online as that always works.
Wilfred.
Yes it’s a remake of an Australian show. Also an improvement. Elijah Wood tries to kill himself and is introduced to a rather large talking dog. “Come on Ryan! These are big existential questions, best left for boring Russian novelists and teenagers on acid. Real people don't think about this shit!” Never a truer statement.
Archer.
Mix James Bond, Harvey Birdman and Arrested Development and you get this. Sick, depraved and very, very smart. “Just the tip?”
Beavis and Butthead.
“I’ll get a tattoo of a butt that has a butt-shaped tattoo on it, and I’ll get it right on my butt.” Don’t dismiss it out of hand as that won’t make you look smarter, no matter how many books you may own (but have never read).
Angry Boys.
There was the inevitable backlash against Chris Lilley but honesty is rarely popular. Terrifyingly accurate as always, it was aggressive, fearless, very dark and yet had a strongly emotional core.

Highlight of the year:

I don’t want todismiss the deaths of thousands in Syria, Tunisia, Congo, Egypt oranywhere else (well not on purpose, nor were those deaths a“highlight”) but I have to go with the Murdochs’ appearance atthe UK media phone hacking inquiry. The “Dirty Digger” (I neverwanted a job with News Corp anyway) being called to give evidence wasastounding. It didn’t achieve much but at least it happened. JamesMurdoch’s floundering was schadenfreude 101 and don’t forget thepie to the face. Will the UK media culture change? Not unless they’reall taken outside and shot. Will News Corp change any operationalstandards? I doubt it. But it was nice to see a parliamentarydemocracy actually doing something about an issue for however a shortperiod. Pity action on the economy seems beyond them.

2011 in words:

The year of protest(thanks for stealing my opinion Time Magazine). Whetheror not this signals real change is anyone’s guess. There haveobviously been some changes; however Egypt hasn’t exactlybecome a utopia following Mubarak’s removal, you’re a braveperson to protest in Syria and I doubt the Politburo in Beijing isquaking in their boots. Italy’s still screwed despite Berlusconiresigning, austerity cuts are occurring across all of Europe andPutin and Medvedev don’t appear to be going anywhere. In the US?Well the Occupy movement still exists... but proved in many respectsthat elements taken for granted in the US constitution mean buggerall. We fell in love with Julian Assange, Australians realised that as a nation, they’re still terrified of small numbers of brown people in ricketyboats appearing on the horizon, morons thought Lil’ Kim had diedand we didn’t get a chance to fall in love with Crownies.Because it was shite. What a year. What an absolutely balls year. Ohwell, at least some hippies/hipster student types got pepper sprayed.Hooray!

Prediction for 2012

We’ve got a USPresidential election to look forward to, more economic turmoil, BazLuhrman butchering The Great Gatsby and and, er, war withIran? Oh... good.

Jonjon - Contributor
Jonjon reviews albums with an iron fist. He has given up the Sydney sun to relocate to grimy old London. Absolute madness.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Bobby Townsend

2011-12-26T10:03:00.000+11:00

Over the next few days, all of Bobbysix's contributors will be sharing their highlights of 2011, culminating in the announcement of our overall album/song/movie/gig of the year later this week. Today, Editor Bobby gets the ball rolling:

Top 10 albums
1. A Creature I Don’t Know - LAURA MARLING
Marling's most expansive record and also her most accessible, it proves her to be one of the most honest, intelligent and breathtakingly talented artists in music today.
2. Twerps - TWERPS
Twerps is the sound of a band growing up and finding their sound. This is an album that could soundtrack long summer days spent falling out of love.
3. Bad As Me - TOM WAITS
Existing fans will love it, while newbies will find this the ideal place to begin their Tom Waits collection.
4. Ceremonials - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
The art-pop of Ceremonials exudes impressive confidence from a woman on top of her game, while retaining enough of a dark edge to keep it interesting.
5. Vows - KIMBRA
Vows is a soulful, textured, vibrant triumph of a debut which immediately establishes Kimbra as a unique and genuinely exciting new artist
6. In Your Room - CAMERAS
The most refreshing thing is that, rather than front-loading the big singles, as so many albums do nowadays, it ebbs and flows like a set-list and feels very much like a musical journey.
7. Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS
A beguiling, intriguing coming together of dark and light, it is really rather wonderful. Melancholy never seemed so much fun.
8. Milk Annual - CAITLIN PARK
The delightful truth is that the nuanced, beautiful and outstanding Milk Annual is actually a unique sounding record. And you can't say that very often these days.
9. Smoking in Heaven - KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS
If the rubbish that litters commercial radio station playlists had one-hundredth of the honesty, heart and soul that this record does, the music world would be a much more satisfying place.
10. Yuck -YUCK
This album doesn't sound derivative in the slightest, but rather is a fresh and exciting post-grunge offering with a DIY ethic.

Top 10 songs

1. Defeatist - CAMERAS

2. History’s Door - HUSKY

3. Cameo Lover - KIMBRA
4. Who Are You? - TWERPS
5. Walk Like Thunder - KIMYA DAWSON
6. Even Though I’m a Woman - SEEKER LOVER KEEPER
7. Found Love in a Graveyard - VERONICA FALLS
8. Back in the Crowd - TOM WAITS
9. Endless Summer - THE JEZABELS
10. Covered By Snow - DEAD LETTER CHORUS

Top 10 gigs
1. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE - Seymour Centre, Sydney
So magical was the atmosphere in room during this perfect occasion that to step back into the real world felt painfully mundane. This was a wonderful and unforgettable night.
2. DAVID FORD - The Empire Bar, Belfast
At the midway point, Ford ran down the street in order to play a song at Duke Special and Phil Jupitus’ gig. They passed him on the way and came to read some poems at The Empire Bar.
3. KIMBRA - The Metro, Sydney
Her effervescence was complimented by her band as finger-clicking, red-suited male backing singers boogied in the background. She even managed a mid-set costume change.

4.SEEKER LOVER KEEPER - St Stephen’s Church, Sydney

A night in a warmly-lit church watching three talented and charming musicians can be aptly summed-up in a single word. Lovely.

5. THE GRATES - The Metro, Sydney

With the combination of infectious pop, post-grunge and a singer that owns the room with her lust for life, tonight once again proved that to see The Grates live is to best understand them.

6. CAMERAS - Changing Lanes Festival, Sydney

While their atmospheric sound is best suited to playing in the dark, they still gave one of the performances - if not the performance - of the day (pictured, left)

7 SIMONE FELICE - The Vanguard, Sydney

His voice was beautiful, ethereal, transfixing and when he bowed at the end of the gig he did so with the awkward charm of a five-year-old having performed in the school nativity play.

8. KIMYA DAWSON & AESOP ROCK - Manning Bar, Sydney

It was a rare joy to see two such different artists sharing a stage and creating an evening of such eclecticism.

9. THE JEZABELS - Homebake Festival, Sydney

Singer Hayley Mary has something of the Kate Bush about her in terms of her vocal and the band's pop songs were powerful and engaging.

10. HOWLING BELLS - The Standard, Sydney

Simply, they sound like a proper band, with clean, strong guitar driven indie songs and an excellent vocalist in Juanita Stein.

Top 10 Films

1. Submarine

2. Bill Cunningham New York

3. Snowtown

4. Midnight in Paris

5. We Need To Talk About Kevin

6. Black Swan

7. Senna

8. Drive

9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

10. The Guard

Top 5 TV Shows

1. 24 Hours in A&E

2. Match of the Day

3. Boardwalk Empire

4. At The Movies

5. Q & A

Top 5 radio shows/podcasts

1. Kermode and Mayo’s Film Reviews - BBC Radio 5Live

2. Guardian Football Weekly Podcast

3. Arvos - FBi Radio

4. Desert Island Disks - BBC Radio 4

5. The Allnighter - FBi Radio

Favourite interview of the year

There were a few actually. It was a joy to chat to Florence Welch, even though it was at 7am and I hadn’t been to bed from the night before. I also enjoyed doing a face-to-face with Juanita Stein from Howling Bells. Our interview would lead to me drunkenly teaching her how to use the DJ decks at Sydney’s World Bar the next night. Speaking to Britany Nola was very interesting. I always enjoy interviewing models, as they have so much to say and are rarely afforded the opportunity. Her words about human rights and tolerance were inspiring. However, my favourite interview was with Laura Marling. I adore her work - firmly believing her to be the best lyricist of her generation - and I enjoyed catching up with her, as we first spoke over three years ago, when she was a shy 18-year-old. Though she is now a pretty big deal, it was lovely to discover that she remains as unassuming, polite and friendly as she was back then.

Highlight of the year.

Being able to attend the first Brighton & Hove Albion game at The American Express Community Stadium was an incredibly emotional end to a 14-year journey and something I will never forget. However, my actual highlight came at Sydney’s Metro Theatre in September. I was attempting to woo an especially beautiful lady when a young man came up to me and said “Excuse me, I just wanted to say I love your blog.” It is the only time in my life I have appeared cool and his timing was excellent.

2011 in words

Regina Spektor once told me that, "Man plans and God laughs." She could very well have been talking about my 2011. A fucked up fruitcake of a year, starting in the snow of England, ending in the heat of Australia, via Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eastern Europe. An era ending. Stolen moments in Budapest. A head resting on my chest in Sydney. Tourbus hilarity on the motorways of Britain. New friends on both sides of the world. A crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.

Prediction for 2012

Our new website is going to blow your fucking minds. Watch this space.

Bobby is the Editor of Bobbysix.com. He has written for publications and websites including CNN, Drum Media, Inpress, BBM, Time Off, Rip It Up and The Argus. He has also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC 7. He splits his time between Australia and England.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:43:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas from all at Bobbysix.com! We hope you get the boxset of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that you're hoping for. At Bobby Six Towers, we're looking forward to getting on the red wine and stuffing our faces full of yummy vegetarian food.

If you're lucky, we might phone you up later and drunkenly slur to you how much we "farkin larrrrve you, you farkin big carnt. You're the besht pershon in the whole farking wurlld." Hopefully we'll pass out before we reach that stage though. Regardless, wanna hear the greatest Christmas song of all time? Course you do. Watch the below video, fools.

A bit of Mariah Motherfucking Carey to ease you into Christmas Eve.

2011-12-24T20:00:00.000+11:00

Happy Christmas Eve everybody! We hope you've got all your presents bought and wrapped, and that you are looking forward to an day/evening in front of the telly/in the pub with a glass of red wine/Christmas ale/pint of vodka.

To get you in the mood for tomorrow, here is a bit of magic courtesy of everyone's favourite mentalist, Ma-to-the-motherfucking-riah Careeeeeeeey. Wrap your ears around this good shit. If you're not boogying around the room by the end of it, there is something seriously wrong with you

Death In Vegas - Trans-Love Energies

2011-12-24T11:37:00.000+11:00

Jonjon reviews the long-awaited Death in Vegas record. Isn't blown away:

I can’t honestly recommend this album. The first half has some excellent tracks (Your Loft My Acid springs to mind) but it certainly doesn’t break any new ground and the second half drags. I’ve had difficultly writing this review because the album was so “meh” (sorry). It isn’t bland but it certainly isn’t original. Neither do I loathe it but I can’t sing its praises from the rooftops either.

From what little I’ve heard of earlier Death in Vegas albums it doesn’t sound too similar to their back catalogue (Editor's note: it is the first record in which Richard Fearless has taken lead vocal duties). You can recognise the style but it has moved on (and one would hope so – how many people rate 1994 as a highpoint for music?). It’s certainly more “dance” than “indie”... if we can agree on their definitions (and we can’t). If you’re basically ignorant of their whole back catalogue this won’t blow you away. It ignores the current trends in dance, staying within the confines of “indie dance” (I’m not going to attempt a definition) and to my mind could have been released five or ten years ago to great acclaim.

Bands, especially when they’ve been around for any amount of time face a difficult decision – do they change their sound (and hope that audiences continue to accept their “sound” redone numerous times) or change direction and risk alienating their audience? For example, The Chemical Brothers changed their sound radically while maintaining the slimmest measure of popularity. Death in Vegas has more tinkered with their sound from their mid 90s beginnings rather than change to reflect trends. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it does seem they have decided to reward long terms fans rather than attempt to gain a new audience. It feels more like they’ve decided to go the Prodigy route and from this I wonder how far Death in Vegas can be from the nostalgia act at a festival.

There is still originality in their work but it's five or six years late. I don’t see many “dance” or “indie” (such vast genres/generalisations) fans that are into the direction those genres have moved in the last half decade being won over by this, either as an introduction to their earlier releases or as an introduction to the band. Trans-Love Energies has a sound that has been done earlier and to the same quality by others.Ten years ago it would have caused a stir due to the talent involved and the new direction it heralded, five years ago it would have stirred some interest due to the quality of some of the tracks, but now it just feels dated and tired.

Review by Jonjon
Read Bobbysix.com's exclusive interview with Death In Vegas' Richard Fearless here.

Georgia Fair perform on a tram

2011-12-23T10:56:00.000+11:00

Last time we took public transport, the only entertainment on offer was a kid who was referred to by his mates as Feral Justin and spent his time swinging from the hand rails. Oh and a woman talking loudly on the phone about her abortion. This is true. Jeez, how we would have loved to have instead been serenaded by Georgia Fair, as these lucky tram-users were recently.

We're partial to the Melbourne duo here at the B6. Heidi interviewed them and reviewed their album recently, so we recommend, if you live on Australia's East Coast, that you check out their upcoming tour. Oh, and ps, the chip shop you can see at the start of the video clip, Lord Of The Fries, is the absolute bomb.

Saturday 7 January - Club Sapphire, Merimbula NSW Tix from the venue / 02 6495 1306

Sunday 8 January - Bomaderry Hotel, Bomaderry NSW Tix www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

Thursday 12 January - Westernport Hotel, San Remo VIC Tix www.moshtix.com.au / 1300 GET TIX

Friday 13 January - Torquay Hotel, Torquay VIC Tix www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

Sunday 15 January - The Loft, Warrnambool VIC Tix www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

Thursday 19 January - Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour NSW Tix www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

Friday 20 January - Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta QLD Tix www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

Friday 27 January - Lizottes, Kincumber NSW Tix www.lizottes.com.au / 02 4368 2017

Saturday 28 January - Lizottes, Dee Why NSW Tix www.lizottes.com.au / 02 4368 2017

Sunday 29 January - Lizottes, Newcastle NSW Tix www.lizottes.com.au / 02 4368 2017

Tiger Lilly interview

2011-12-22T22:36:00.000+11:00

Bobbysix's newest contributor, Victoria Gottschalk, makes her debut by interviewing Tiger Lilly:

Meet Tiger Lilly, the chick who has been gracing my speakers with her Alanis Morissette-cum-Jewel like vocal tones for the past couple of months. As feisty as Morissette (although not so much “would she go down on you in a theatre?” and more “you live, you learn”) and with lyrics as hauntingly beautiful as Tori Amos, Tiger Lilly combines everything us music fans love about the women dominating the music industry these days. Grab a mixing bowl, throw in a tablespoon of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, a dash of pop princess, a handful of individuality, a big helping of ambition & kindness and a huge sprinkling of talent and you’ve pretty much got the perfect recipe for Tiger Lilly, the lady I spent some time getting to know.

"Let me paint a picture, show you who I am today. Let me make it clear, I've got no regrets or confusion cause I am who I am today and I am what I want to be."

“I’ve been writing music for years – it’s my therapy. I was bullied at school and the only way I could cope was by writing. I know that sounds cliché, but it was the only thing that helped. Eventually, my writing just turned into lyrics and it all suddenly began to make sense,” explains Tiger Lilly, when I ask her what inspired her to approach the music industry. A simple answer, an honest answer in fact and an answer that makes me believe music is instilled in Tiger Lilly. “When I was 26, I read a book called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. It’s all about the laws of attraction and that’s what encouraged me to turn my coping mechanism into a career.”

Her album, Reflections, was released in 2009 and, having just released a video to her song Promises, it is obvious music is a huge passion of Tiger Lilly’s. Not only being a means to cope for her, music has always inspired and captured Tiger Lilly’s attention. “When I was younger, Perfect by Alanis Morissette completely summed up how I felt about life. Now I’m much more positive and would say that I’ve used past experiences to help others and my own song New Life sums up my journey, so to speak.”

With an album, an EP and two singles all available on iTunes, three music videos under her belt and an upcoming album due for release in March 2012, it’s hard to imagine this rock chick being as driven about anything else, career wise. But with television shows like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent on the scene, I questioned Tiger Lilly as to whether she would ever consider taking part in a show of the same format. It must be hard being an independent artist especially in this day and age of ‘internet superstars’ (think Justin Beiber) and reality TV shows, like the ones mentioned above, that have been accused of ruining the industry. “I respect everybody who takes part in those kind of shows, but it’s not for me. I love watching them, regardless of what anybody says there’s no denying that they’re entertaining.” What about those artists that are a bit like Marmite, you either love them or hate them? “In all honesty, I think everyone has their own place and someone’s lark is another man’s crow so I do have a lot of respect for all artists. It’s hard to make it in this industry and if you make it, than good for you.”

Along with Tiger’s influences (Alanis Morissette, P!nk, Jewel etc), she’s made it pretty clear that her ideal collaboration would be with either Ed Sheeran, Jessie J or Kal Lavelle. “I love every single song on Jewel’s Spirit album and Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice is one of my favourite songs.”

“You have to be ready to step on board an emotional rollercoaster and you also have to be prepared to hear the word no,” says Tiger Lilly on the negatives of the music industry. Her advice to young people wanting to step on board the music scene train is to “keep going and keep loving it.” And there you have it: simple, yet powerful, instructions from one of the UK’s hottest independent artists. Surely with so much under her belt already, there can’t be much more for Tiger Lilly to do? “In three years time, I would like to have released at least 3 albums, received a few prestigious awards and formulated a plan that allows me to tour the world with my band and schmooze as best as I possibly can.” You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen, so I advise you to keep your eyes and ears peeled for Tiger Lilly in the future. Just like the greats that have strutted their stuff and sung about heartbreak in a fashionable manner, she is definitely not one to be missed.

Interview by Victoria Gottschalk. You can read her own blog here. Photograph by Vicky Baptiste,

Field Day ticket giveaway!

2011-12-22T15:42:00.000+11:00

What are you doing on New Year's Day? Are you sitting in bed nursing a hangover, or carrying on the party like a sick motherfucker? The answer, if you are a friend of Bobbysix.com, is, of course, the latter. We'll be at Field Day in Sydney's Domain, watching Calvin Harris, Example and French electro-kings Justice (pictured, above) doing their thang, as well as Modestep and a bunch of shit-hot Aussies, like Flight Facilities, The Aston Shuffle and Cloud Control.

We'll see you down the front for Metronomy whose latest album we loved, Crystal Castles, Gotye, our old mate Anna Lunoe and a bunch of cool other acts too. Check the full line-up at the Field Day website. If you haven't got your tickets yet, they're on on sale now and selling fast, so don't delay, fools.

Excitingly (thanks to our friends at Fuzzy) we have A DOUBLE PASS TO GIVE AWAY! All you gots to do is email info@bobbysix.com with the heading "Field Day Giveaway" or send a tweet to @Bobbysix (it can say anything, so long as it has the hashtag #FieldDay). We'll shove all your names in a hat and pick a winner (sorry kids, it's for over 18s only). Good luck dudes, get entering! EDIT: THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Mushu - Traps

2011-12-22T12:10:00.000+11:00

We get a lot of music sent to us at Bobbysix.com. CDs arrive in the mail all the time, our inbox is littered with bands pointing us in the direction of their soundcloud, facebook, myspace, youtube, bandcamp etc. We listen to absolutely everything that we get sent and the standard is generally very good but, sadly, we don't have the time to feature everyone as life, simply, is too short and sometimes we like to do other things than sit in front of our laptops.

However, sometimes a song just makes you sit up and pay attention. It happened last week with San Cisco, and it happened again today when we received a very polite email from a Sydney band called MUSHU asking us to check them out. We gave their above video clip a listen and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. So we're sharing it with you in the hope that you might enjoy it too.

We'll be keeping a close eye on these guys in 2012, and reckon you should as well.

Words by Bobby Townsend

Breaking M83, Anna Calvi and Twin Shadow tour news.

2011-12-21T15:09:00.002+11:00

Some Laneway sideshow news hot off the press is that pioneering solo orchestra M83 has added an extra date to his sideshow run. His mighty fine album Hurry Up I'm Dreaming has made a mark on countless best-of-2011 lists and tickets to his first two dates in Sydney and Melbourne have completely sold out, so you'd do well to make a note of the sales deets below. You snooze, you lose suckers.

Thursday 2nd February 2012Prince Bandroom, MELBOURNE
Tickets through Moshtix, online or 1300 GET TIX (438 849) and The Prince Bandroom, online or 03 9536 1168Tickets go on sale 9am, Thursday 22 December (that's tomorrow, by the way).

In other sideshow news, ANNA CALVI and TWIN SHADOW will be joining to forces and playing co-headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne (a coming-together of their previously-scheduled sideshows). Here's the score:

SYDNEY: Monday 6 February,Oxford Art Factory, Sydney. Tix on sale now from moshtix.com.au.

Tickets for Anna Calvi at the Metro Theatre will remain valid for the new Oxford Art Factory date on Monday 6 February, or customers can elect for a full refund. A Century Venues representative will be contacting patrons, or alternatively, customers can call (02) 9550 3666 to make arrangements.

MELBOURNE: Wednesday 1st February,Corner Hotel, Melbourne.Tix from Polyesters (City and Fitzroy stores) or cornerhotel.com

Tickets for Anna Calvi on Friday 3 February will remain valid for the new date on Wednesday 1 February or customers can elect for a full refund. The Corner Hotel Box Office will be in contact to make arrangements, or alternatively, customers can call (03) 9427 9198.

Set Sail and Holland at Oxford Art Factory, Sydney

2011-12-21T12:16:00.000+11:00

SET SAIL
HOLLAND
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, 15/12/11

On Thursday night, indie popSydney-siders Set Sail headlined the Chasing Summer tour at Oxford Art Factory. Despite Sydney's depressing, unseasonably shitweather, inside, the feel of summer flowed freely. If you closed youreyes you could almost taste the salt in the air and feel the sandbetween your toes.

I would be lying if I didn't admit thatpart of Set Sail's appeal is the fact that there's something on offerfor every teenage girl's tastes. Set Sail are an undeniably handsomeband. Each member sports a vastly different look but somehow theymesh together perfectly onstage to make beautiful, happy music. Commendations to the wonderfullyenthusiastic violinist who played with so much passion that severaltimes he snapped the bow chords and eventually, snapped the entirebow in half. As if it had happened hundreds of times before, withouthesitation he simply began to play the instrument like a guitar withhis fingers.

At one point, the band invited thesingle members of the crowd to pair up and dance on-stage. SetSail are certainly a group that know how to engage an audience. They managed tomake the night overwhelmingly fun and had everyonein the room singing, dancing, smiling and clapping, even with aremarkably upbeat rendition of the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony.

Usually I hate encores. They are acliché. They make me incredibly angry. But when three band membersremove their shirts for the encore, I can make an exception andapplaud along with everyone else in the room.

Opening for Set Sail were Brisbanefour-piece, Holland. Not much for small talk and playing to anaudience that started out more concerned with their position in lineat the bar, Holland were left to win over the room with nothing buttheir talent. Which they did. One of the things that sets themapart from your average generic indie-folk band is that frontmanJarryd Klapper can actually sing. Amazingly. When he hit each highnote, he managed to bring near silence to the room.

It was an all-round perfect summer night, abrief reprieve from the reality of the freezing wind and spittingrain on Oxford Street that no doubt made everyone in the room yearnfor the summer that us Sydney-siders have so far been robbed of.

Review by Celeste Macdonald

We need writers, photographers and a new name in exchange for free shit!

2011-12-20T18:09:00.000+11:00

Hello, it's Bobby here.

I'm excited to say that Bobbysix.com is soon to get a major relaunch. Over the past five years, the blog has grown from something I would muck about with every now and again to a site that is updated daily, has a team of excellent writers and that gets a mega number of hits. Basically, it's become a bit too much for one person to cope with. My inbox is like a war zone. Although, admittedly, for that analogy to work you'd need to replace dead bodies with unanswered emails, which isn't quite as dramatic.

Anyway, the point of all this is to say that, in the new year, I'm teaming up with my Deputy Editor (the awarding-winning Heidi Pett) to create something brand new and really fucking cool. It'll still have the same awesome contributors as the B6, but it'll be prettier, more user-friendly and with in-depth writing from all over the globe.

But, to achieve this, we require your help. The first thing we need is a new name for the site. Thus far we have come up with nothing (my only suggestion of heidi is shit dot com didn't go down too well). So, please give us your ideas, either in the comments section below or to info@bobbysix.com. Everyone that suggests a name will go into a prize draw and we'll pick a winner at random and give them some free shit (gig tickets, CDs, that kinda thing).

Also, we're on the look out for more writers/photographers to join our fabulous team. We can't pay you at this stage, but we can send you to gigs/festivals and throw some free music at you. Plus, you might get to interview/photograph your heroes. If you think you've got what it takes to write/photograph for us, then send an email to info@bobbysix.com - maybe with an example of your work. We are especially looking for people across the UK, Northern America (notably New York and San Francisco), Melbourne, Brisbane and all over Europe. So, yeah, if you are aspiring writer/photographer, then it's a good opportunity for you to get your work out there.

Also also, we need someone to help us design the new site. So if you're a bit of a spekky brainbox, firstly, you're our kind of dude, and secondly, help us build the damn thing and we'll ply you with booze/food/sexual favours/cuddles.

Once the new site is up, we're gonna have a massive launch party (infact, maybe even several launch parties across the globe). First though, please, for the love of God, help us think of a fucking name.

Getting To Know... Easy Star All Stars

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000+11:00

Michael Goldwasser from Easy Star All Stars tells Bobbysix.com a little about the band:

Easy Star All-Stars are what you would get if you took some great musicians from all different cultures, got them really high, and then shuttled them back and forth between Jamaica and New York until they didn't know where they were anymore.

Our new album is the reggae equivalent of Chinese Democracy by Guns and Roses, only really good. We've been telling the fans that we would have an album of originals for a long time now, and it's finally here. No Axl though....

We take inspiration from our families, our fans and local brews from around the globe.

In the past we hung out with Pink Floyd, Radiohead and the Beatles.

In the future... ??????

It might surprise people to learn that we've actually been around for fifteen years - slow and steady wins the race.

Our live shows in Australia will be psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop.

Here are Easy Star All-Stars upcoming Australian tour dates:
December 29, 2011 - The Falls Festival,Lorne, VIC
December 30, 2011 - The Corner Hotel, 57 Swan St Richmond, Melbourne, VIC
December 31, 2011 - The Falls Festival, Marion Bay, Tasmania
January 04, 2012 - The Factory, 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville, Sydney, NSW
January 05, 2012- The Zoo,711 Anne St Fortitude Valley,Brisbane, QLD

Interview by Bobby Townsend