December 8, 9 & 10, 2017
Meredith Supernatural
Amphitheatre

ANOPLOGNATHUS; TWENTY SEVEN.

Well. That was some of your very best work. All thanks to everyone who came, played, worked, took part, fell apart, got back together and rolled with it for the weekend. And to everyone else as well. Just wonderful.

As always – your feedback is important, we’d love to hear it.

Photographic highlights from across the weekend can be viewed here and below, with thanks to Steve Benn and Craig Johnstone.

And as always, if you are not already, we invite you to Become A Subscriber. It’s free and easy.

Until 28.

 

Aunty

POSTCODE 3333

Meredith started in 1991 as a one-off blow out for a coupla hundred free-wheelin’ friends. So much fun was had that she just kept on keeping on.

26 years of collective know-how married with wild ambition means that sweet little parcel of land is now maturing into Everything We Hoped She Would Be.

Uncle Doug and the Supernatural Custodians have spent years refining The Sup’ into a purpose-built Underground Wonderland, where needs are fully met – early and often – so the focus can stay on all flavours of fun.

Antennae tuned fine to the freakwency.

 

WHO'S PLAYING?

Our eternal quest is to convene a crack squad of artists, each of whom issues both a remarkable live experience and music that escapes limits, and seamlessly weave them into the vast evolving atmospherics of the Supernatural Amphitheatre. Artists who, over three days and two nights, will engage different parts of your anatomy, feed your psychic apparatus of choice, and free your mind in expert and unexpected ways. From stupefying discovery to trusty reverie, from somnambulistic epiphany to wild, sensual indulgence, and anything in between. From a toe dipped in the aural bath, to waves of energy washing over you, and complete immersion. Then re-emergence. And a bucket of chips from the Tucker Tent.

Silence Wedge
Todd Terje & The Olsens
Noname
ESG
Total Control
!!!
Future Islands
Warpaint
Downtown Boys
Mark Seymour and The Undertow
Aldous Harding
Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda
Amyl and the Sniffers
Big Thief
Pissed Jeans
Various Asses
Japanese Breakfast
RVG
The Teskey Brothers
Sleep D
The Senegambian Jazz Band
Rings Around Saturn
Kikagaku Moyo
Late Nite Tuff Guy
Miss Blanks
The Stevens
The Exotics
Ross McHenry Trio
Emma Russack
Moopie
Suss Cunts
Meredith Sky Show
City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band
Master Song Tai Chi
Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Silence Wedge

In his 2001 book, The Art of Looking Sideways, Alan Fletcher discusses the importance of exemplifying ‘space’ as a substance:

Space is substance. Cézanne painted and modelled space. Giacometti sculpted by “taking the fat off space”. Mallarmé conceived poems with absences as well as words. Ralph Richardson asserted that acting lay in pauses … Isaac Stern described music as “that little bit between each note – silences which give the form”. The Japanese have a word (ma) for this interval which gives shape to the whole. In the West we have neither word nor term. A serious omission.

Silence Wedge omit seriously. They connect Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Todd Terje & The Olsens

In Todd We Trust.

Saturday night primetime, all Supernatural roads and paths lead to This. 

Magic O’Clock.

The lord of space disco. Performing with a crackajack live band for the first time on Terra Australis. 

Imagine these tracks, powering up The Sup’ for blast-off on an intergalactic joyride.

Inspector Norse could be our planet’s official party anthem.

Jump in. Delorean Dynamite.

Terje in stere-yay.

Johnny and Mary with Bryan Ferry. Find certainty without all the running around.

It takes about five seconds to feel the fun in Todd’s music. But, like a comic genius with an elite IQ, there’s a deep understanding informing the enjoyment. A decade ago, disco underwent a revitalisation. Funky electronic music became exciting again. Weirdly or not, Norway was the epicentre from which new space disco emerged. From pioneer in a heady underground scene, Todd has become an elite songwriter and supreme live experience maker, rightly sitting in the top drawer of bigtime musicians in the world. A fresh classicist.

These are big cosmic disco jams to have a ball to. And some down-tempo dreamers too. His refined big bouncy colourful grooves have started millions of parties. The song-like Norwegian language seems to be echoed in his playful, melodic music.

“I like my music very fruity,” Terje told Resident Advisor.

In terrific news, it seems there’s a new album on the way.

Play.Todd.OlsenQspiral

Extra staff have been rostered on at the Massage Tent for the two hours before Todd plays to cope with the demand for foot-loosening rituals – people preparing to dance the floor off The Sup’.

This will be his first time in this country playing with a live band – Todd Terje & The Olsens. We’ve dreamt of this for ages, tried to make it happen many times.

Under the big Saturday night lights. Let’s jump in the intergalactic jalopy. Cruise through time and space together.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Noname

For the first time in Oz, from Chicago, we are beyond proud to present Noname at Meredith Twenty Seven. She’s just simply so great. Her vibe is soulful hip hop, millennial soul, music as personal gospel – melodic, reflective, luminous, numinous.

Noname has a relatability that is magnetic. Her followers adore her.

She’s made one record – the cult classic Telefone: “a long time coming for those who first heard her crushing, heartache-filled verse on Chance the Rapper’s ‘Lost’’’ (they forged a friendship as teens in the Chicago Public Library). “Telefone feels like that same freedom; dancing and floating righteously amid unrest.”

Telefone sounds breezy, but carries so much substance, depth and soul – it is music as healing; a fuzzy hug with remarkable powers. Listen, listen again, re-listen, infinitely. She pours joy and devastation into it. She’s aware of the burden, but hopeful, optimistic.

Noname will be performing with a small band. There’s vulnerability, and so much charisma. It just beams out of her. Her small army of followers will bring the energy to The Sup’. They love her. They’ll know all the Word.

“Literature is everything to me”

Apart from her music, there’s not a lot out there about Noname. Her life and career are relatively undocumented. There are no slick videos, no major label pumping that stuff out. Just a lot of love for her.

Noname delivers to The Sup’ on Saturday. Get a soulful.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

ESG

New York City, 1978. Crime is rife, the city is broke, infrastructure is falling apart. In the baddest badlands of the South Bronx projects, a mother scrimps and saves to buy musical instruments for her three teenage daughters – to keep them off the mean streets. Forbidden to play amid the peril and trouble beyond the front door, they play inside. They make music.

Outside, the social chaos acts to incubate one of the most fertile periods in music history. Music is just exploding; hip hop is born, disco takes over radio, punk and no wave dominate lower Manhattan.

The sisters call themselves ESG and, inspired by their mom’s James Brown records and The Jackson 5 on the TV, they create previously unimagined cosmic grooves which leave home, mix it with the no-waving punks downtown, become classics in underground disco and go on to be some of the all-time most sampled sounds in rap history.

They tour on a fantasy punk-funk bill with The Clash and Grandmaster Flash and, across the Atlantic, Tony Wilson signs them up to Factory. Their records are released alongside Joy Division and New Order. They play on opening night at The Haçienda – one of the most iconic clubs of the ‘80s. Inventor of garage, Larry Levan, chooses them to play the closing night of the famed Paradise Garage. They make music history.

ESG.old.colour

Mainstream media now describe ESG frontwoman Renee Scroggins as “the leader of one of the most sampled groups in hip hop and dance music history, the matriarch of a 20-year-old band entirely made up of female Scroggins family members, the singer and co-songwriter of a band who uniquely straddle the points where funk, punk, hip hop and disco met, before they all inevitably merged and created what we now know as dance music. The name of her band is ESG, and they are one of the greatest bands alive that almost no one has heard of.”

Their bio says “ESG thanks their fans for 39 years of fantastic support”.

It’s a family affair. A funky family affair. It’s the South Bronx. The South South Bronx. One of the most sampled groups in history – the iconic space funk of ESG. It will light up The Supernatural Time Capsule Club forever on Friday night.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Total Control

THIS is a rarity. The chances of a Total Control tour usually register, in their own words, ‘slim-to-none’.  

Few Australian bands could claim the cult status of these cats. They seemed to begin as a concept-heavy side curio (was it dance music devolved or future days punk?) and then evolved into a bonafide hero band in their own right.

They last joined us in 2012 for GP, although most members have left their mark here in between times (Eddy Current, Dick Diver, UV Race etc). You can listen to them on the verandah, you can dig them in a club. Meaning they’re especially well suited to The Sup’, which doubles as both.

Their two albums are modern day classics. Total Control are several bands at the same time, veering on a new-wave, between synthy pop and hardcore. Dense stompers sit alongside G.NEU-manesque trax. There’s a troubling amount of gloom to the lyrics, yet the sound (dystopicana?) is irrepressible, especially when things go live.  

They are playful:

My reception to things is to allow them to crush me

And even laconic:

Broken porch light, shattered sense of self-worth.  

They pull in various directions at once, building imperceptibly from nothingness to deep triumphant joy, like a waking blankness that becomes alive to possibility and pleasure, without any obvious turning point. Total Control go off, with authority.

Many of you have badgered Aunty about getting them back. With good reason.

Catch this rare bird as it spreads its wings, struts about, and disappears again.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

!!!

Designed for celebration. Built for energy generation. Engineered for euphoric elevation. Tested in all atmospheric conditions. Certified to issue failsafe moodproof bigband surefunk dancepunk. In poolboy shorts.

Any beat that moves you is fuel for their six cylinders: twitchy R&B, queasy dub-disco, discotheque disco, romantic house, any quality propulsive groove. They turn any space into a dance club, as anyone who witnessed their legendary set at the very first Golden Plains way back in 2007 will attest.

If you aren’t familiar with their vibe, check out One Girl/One Boy, Slyd, Must Be The Moon, Freedom ‘15 or Dancing Is The Best Revenge.

If you aren’t familiar with their name, it was inspired by the subtitles of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, in which the clicking sounds of the Bushmens’ Khoisan language were represented as “!”. The band says !!! is pronounced by repeating thrice any monosyllabic sound.

Friday Night peak hour. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Future Islands

For most of us it began with that famous Letterman appearance:

The veteran host thought he’d seen it all … till that moment.

“OH BUDDY! COME ON! NICE GOING! HOW BOUT THAT! I’LL TAKE ALL OF THAT YOU’VE GOT! THAT WAS WONDERFUL!

It struck like something from a parallel universe, and made Future Islands an instant global phenomenon.

Seasons change,
And I’ve been trying hard just to soften you

In reality, the unlikely heroes had been writing songs together for ten years, releasing records on cult indie Thrill Jockey, and touring incessantly. It was preparation meeting opportunity.

Cos I’ve been waiting on you-ooh-ooh

“Art should be polarising, at its best, and draw people in different directions”, says frontman Samuel T. Herring. “You can’t make art for anyone but yourself, and the hope is that it connects with people. We’ve found that, if you do what you love, there will be people that feel the same way”.

It’s clear they love it; the line between frontman and fan blurs when Herring starts going. He’s dancing to the band like the rest of us. Both a conduit and a conductor. Lightning rod and bolt for the energy in the room. Kinetic, elastic, pelvic, and emphatic. Like the most passionate teacher you ever had – he NEEDS his class to understand. Whether the class is poetry or aerobics is unclear, and unimportant. Pathos rules.

Ran, from new album The Far Field.

It’s not easy, just being human
And the lights and the smoke and the screens
Don’t make it better
I’m no stronger than you and I’m scared …
But we can pull through – together
Together
We can pull through

Live, the kinship between band and audience is set up like a vast trampoline: everyone twists, flips and double-bounces their heart out.

Future Islands have now delivered so much joy to so many people across the globe.

A synthpop blissbomb right when you need it on Saturday evening.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Warpaint

An LA rock band.

Love is to die, love is to not die, love is to dance
Love is to dance

Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa.

You wouldn’t know it but you’re really in your prime
Is there a question not answered in your mind?

Warpaint is a formidable unit. Live is where it happens – part seance, part dance party. Their spooky, expansive free form jams conjure great swirling tempests of shimmering syncopated rock circuiting up around you, while a beat underfoot shifts from a pulse to a stomp to nothing and back again. Being inside one of their shows is being sucked into a nebulous aural atmospheric system that, by its end, could land you miles from your starting point.

New album Heads Up is trippy, muscular, polished, powerful, and narcotic. It’s the sound of spirits being raised – Warpaint digging being Warpaint.

“We all love to dance. We didn’t want to take away from the emotion or the core feeling of what our band is all about – but we wanted to bump the speed up and have a little bit more fun.”

They write democratically – it’s a four-quarter performance, egoless and uncanny. Check out the breadth of Love Is To Die, New Song, Whiteout, Disco//Very, Elephants, Undertow and Billie Holiday.

There’s just some things I don’t need to know.

Friday night happening. The One and Only Stage as ouija board.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Downtown Boys

The United States’ myriad inequalities, hatreds and phobias are painfully evident in 2017, offering proof that the age-old dichotomy of “political bands” versus “apolitical bands” simply doesn’t exist. Either you are comfortable and unfazed by the current reigning power structures, or you use your music as a vehicle for the dismantling of oppression and the creation of something better. No matter what your songs are about, you are choosing a side.

Downtown Boys are a ferocious, politically charged punk band, from Providence, Rhode Island. They’ve been described as the ‘most naturally insane joyful angry thing’. They state it plainly: ‘Fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it!’. But they take the kind of considered approach that ensures fun and inclusion.

… the root of their music … (is) the sense that each song will incite the room into action, sending bodies into motion that were previously thought to have atrophied … there is no compromise to their righteous assault and captivating presence. Like the socially conscious groups of years past, from Public Enemy to Rage Against the Machine … We should all do well to take notice!
 – Matt Korvette from Pissed Jeans

They’re a punk band, but it’s a different kind of bent. Hardcore with horns, a little X-Ray Spex.

Like their finest punk-rock forefathers, the music cannot be separated from the message. But the music is no mere servicing soundtrack – this is a red hot machine, crushing choruses as it does fascists, wild horns galvanised to hardcore power, each member bringing something vital to the joyful aggression. The fierce, fearless Victoria Ruiz leads from the front.

There are songs about walls, about history not just happening, but being made, and remade, about incarceration and deportation. There’s a clarion call, but it has teeth, being situated in their own labour struggles and communities that feel the brunt of market forces and political decisions. Their concerns aren’t merely topical, they’re structural; among them, the prison-industrial complex, racism, queerphobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom; societal elements that the oppressive and corrupt seek to exploit in an attempt to close minds, eyes and hearts.

Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto produced their new album, Cost of Living, and it sounds gigantic.

Downtowns Downunder – for the first time. Their energy is extraordinary. Let it energise you. Join in. Dance. Tear down A Wall.

How much is enough? And who makes that call?

You?

Saturday arvo.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Mark Seymour and The Undertow

We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started

The unmistakable voice and songwriting might of Mark Seymour.

Do You See What I See?, Throw Your Arms Around Me, True Tears of Joy, Holy Grail, Everything’s On Fire, When The River Runs Dry, Westgate, Home Free, Say Goodbye, Talking To A Stranger, The Slab, Where Do You Go?, Blind Eye, Football Train, Castlemaine, and so many more.

Mark started out in Benalla, north-east Victoria. There must’ve been something in the water at the Seymour’s. He’s been on the road for over thirty years; it’s time it led him to Meredith.

Woke up this morning from the strangest dream
I was in the biggest army the world has ever seen
We were marching as one on the road to the holy grail

He is linchpin and frontman for the unique, adored Hunters & Collectors, whose legendary live shows (rare since their retirement in ‘98) were ritualistic, raw and delivered at full intensity – never a drop left in the tank. Mark a human spark plug, eyes locked in that steady gaze.

Hunters started out as an experimental rhythmic underground collective (named after the song by Krautrock heroes CAN) and went from critical darlinghood to crossover success with 1986’s Human Frailty, followed by a string of multi-platinum albums which made them an enduring, emotionally Connected top tier icon of the aussie mob.

I’m still here
I’m still a fool for the Holy Grail

Holy Grail is a genuine national anthem. It has been belted out in venues of all sizes, from bars to stadiums, and bolted onto any number of causes and ventures. The beloved Throw Your Arms Around Me must be one of the most-sung songs in our country’s history.

I will come for you at night time, I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places, as I go running along your street
I will squeeze the life out of you, you will make me laugh and make me cry
And we will never forget it, you will make me call your name
And I’ll …

Like the Chesty Bonds singlets he wore so well, the music of Mark Seymour is impervious to the frivolities of style or fashion. He’s now three albums in with experts The Undertow, who are lifers like Mark. With occasional family visits.

Saturday evening in The Supernatural Arms Hotel.

… shout it to the blue summer sky.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Aldous Harding

Here is your princess

And here is the horizon

A new sort of magnetic. Beyond mere performance.

All my life (hey!) I’ve had to fight to stay
You were right, love takes time, hey, hey

The depth and breadth of Aldous Harding’s brave new world is astonishing.

Her first record, brimful with sublime folk and gothic tales, hinted at star potential. But this new one, Party, well … this could be anything. She is going for it, in every way. We’re right with her.

Intensely personal, universal, emotive, funny, dark, shape shifting. Every song a different planet, Aldous inhabiting each completely, pushing deeper and further into new realms, to the point where you wonder why more artists simply don’t go this far. It is frankly thrilling, absolutely committed and realised with the panache of a great. Different in each song, each video. Chameleon-like, yet always undeniably her.

The real rewards lie beyond first impressions. Her songs are … well … what to say? Sublime, beautiful, catchy, meditative … I’m throwing my hands up here. Sometimes cat-hair soft, embroidered minimal clarion calls, sometimes pulsing plaintive … ah gee there’s no point. My lord, it’s beautiful. I recommend you just watch her videos, listen to her songs, see her perform, and feel alive to the wild possibilities offered up by creative expression.

She has pushed us all further out into it, and made us float.

I broke my neck
Dancing to the edge of the world, babe

A new natural resource for a depleted planet.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda

A welcome return for the Bravado Boogie Lords.

Last time they played The Sup’, Harvey Sutherland gave us our first glimpse of Bermuda – the fully flexxed triad featuring drummer Graeme Pogson and electrified strings wiz Tamil Rogeon. The have gone from Coast 2 Coast, and strength to strength since – circling the globe, storming dancefloors, winning hearts and, remarkably, boots (in rural Wales of all places).

Fortune favours the funky, but Bermuda is no fluke. This group is truly something special. The recent streak of records, on Harvey’s own Clarity Recordings, speak for themselves. Emotive, immaculate and extravagant. Rich hues in Widescreen.

Live, they zero in on true grooves, and let them swell, and swell, and swell … adding flourish and subtracting the limits … until the beat snaps back.

Set the coordinates for another dizzying ride, this time at a brighter time, in the full December daylight, right in the middle of the festival. Feel the heat of Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda in The Supernatural Triangle, at the apex of Saturday afternoon.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Amyl and the Sniffers

I’m not a fan, not a fan of traditions,
I just wanna get pissed here in my kitchen

A paean to urban life. Pub punk has a long tradition of messing with tradition. Paying homage to your ancestors whilst kicking them in the teeth. The Sniffers fit nicely into this lineage.

People look at me like I’m a hooker
I just want to be a venue booker

Here’s a taste.

The band formed, named themselves, recorded and released their first EP in one afternoon. Their second came out earlier this year and has gathered quite the following. They have that Prince of Wales 80’s sound. Nothing is foregrounded because everything is upfront. Frontwoman Amy Taylor is a blast from some never was past.

I’m headin’ to the shops feeling flirty, flirty

Southside pride. Kicking off the whole thing, Friday afternoon. Start as you mean to go on.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Big Thief

I’ll be your morning bright goodnight shadow machine
I’ll be your record player baby if you know what I mean
I’ll be your real tough cookie with the whiskey breath
I’ll be a killer and a thriller and the cause of our death

Timeless, glorious, sublime, slowburn, ethereal but grounded, tough, angelic, melodic. Restrained power is hard to do. They nail it. So much space – it’s the space between the notes where the music happens.

Big Thief show the gentle side of being ripped open.

New album Capacity was recorded in a snowy winter nest in upstate New York. Bonfires built each night. A month of meals prepared and shared. Maple water from a tree tap each morning. Everyone helping feed the sheep, chickens and angora rabbits on the farm.

Characters in the songs are often spooked and then soothed in a remarkably short length of time, regenerating back into a state where they can once again be vulnerable. The band breathes with this swell, gasping in synchrony, hyperventilating with volume, and when the crisis passes, exhales in mutual relief.

Don’t take me for a fool, there’s a woman inside of me,
There’s one inside of you too

I am running out of adequate descriptions but … this band, these two albums … do not be fooled into thinking you have heard this before. They are … exquisite, a candle, a bruise healing into a strength … the restrained power, bizarro sounds, pure voices … the subject matter … holy smokes … Shark Smile, Mary, Paul, Capacity, Haley, Pretty Things, Mythological Beauty, Coma – I dig all of it basically. My blood is electric at the prospect of seeing this band play these songs.

I know there’s a lot of music in this letter, it’s a lot to take in. But I urge you to let Big Thief in.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Pissed Jeans

Are a band we always get asked for. Been holding on so long. Straight up hi-energy rock from Allentown, Pennsylvania. They have been asked to tour Australia so many times and it hasn’t happened until now. They are five albums in and haven’t made it here yet. We are so stoked to be able to present them.

They are cult. They are amazing live. A great singer. Electric. Inclusive. Funny (how good is their photo?). People love ‘em.

Latest Sub-Pop album, ‘Why Love Now’, co-produced by Lydia Lunch, is perhaps their most polished and hi-fidelity recording to date. But don’t be mistaken … one listen to tracks like ‘Ignorecam’, ‘Love Without Emotion’ and ‘The Bar Is Low’ and you’ll understand that they’ve hardly got designs on some kind of surprise crossover move any time soon.

PissedJeans_WhyLoveNow_R7

Influences to the fore include early 80’s hardcore (Black Flag, Flipper) and 90s noise rock (The Jesus Lizard) but dynamic frontman, Matt Korvette, claims he had a moment of realisation many years ago when he came across a YouTube clip of The Birthday Party on a German TV show.

“I saw that video and I’m like, I’m just gonna steal everything in this … and I’m gonna do it bad enough that it’ll become my own thing, you know … and people won’t just say ‘oh, you stole that’ because I’ll just do such a poor rendering of it.”  Just one of many contradictions at play within this band: success as failure … failure as success … with thrilling results!

Pissed Jeans. Not for the first time at Meredith, I imagine.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Various Asses

An all-consuming dance experience from the local scene. Hip hop inspired club music. Bouncey. Mighty.

Various Asses creates powerful, drop-it-low, delicious dancefloors. Fusing high sheen bass, bent trap rolls and percussive rhythms, her vibes are badass. Capturing the ghosts of dancefloors past, releasing them into a liquefied future. Joined on stage by professional dancers, Various Asses has been one of most talked about electronic acts on the scene this year. Not a party you want to Miss.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Japanese Breakfast

A new menu for Sunday in The Supernatural Recovery Lounge.

Japanese Breakfast is the solo musical project of Michelle Zauner, travelling with her band to Australia for the first time.

It’s hard to put a finger on Michelle’s music, despite the distinguishing marks. Several things are in orbit at once: zigging, zagging, hither and yon. That she manages to hold it all together is awe-inspiring. A self-taught master’s apprentice.

Her debut was forlorn and heartbreaking, dealing with the personal by retreating into the confined space of bedroom sounds.

Can I get your number? Can I get you into bed?
When we wake up in the morning
Will you give me lots of head?

On her 2017 album, ‘Soft Sounds From Another Planet’, the horizon expands, mainly up. It’s the sound of a songwriter ascending – literally and figuratively – via an album about travelling to the stars to find solace in outer space. A cosmic perspective on the earthly and everyday. Songs of hope and human resilience.

“I used the theme as a means to disassociate from trauma,” she explains. “Space used as a place of fantasy.”

The distinctive notes range from modern pop production to 60’s nostalgia, all the while being rooted in that grand ol’ American indie rock format. It’s one of the most rewarding full album experiences we’ve had this year.

Hearing this song one morning on the radio inspired me to write Michelle some fan-mail and ask her if she’d come over and play with us in The Sup’. And blow me down, she said yes.

YT comment: My cat likes this music. It’s the only music that got her attention. She stares at the speakers.

Late Breakfast Sunday in The Supernatural Space Station.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

RVG

I hate common sense.

Adored, beloved, and causing quite the stir. RVG are Gus, Marc, Reuben and Romy. Romy had been making ‘half-tempo’ country ballads on her own for a while. Getting the ‘band treatment’, they’ve become more than the sum of their parts. Big, vicious, beautiful songs.

We’ve never even met before,
but you want first dibs at my corpse.

Mid-80s underground heroes occasionally ghost through the sounds and style, but RVG are idiosyncratically RVG. Local and post-punk, but international and contemporary.

I have no evil in me.

It doesn’t take long to realise there’s something mercurial going on here.

Their album, A Quality Of Mercy, is laced with melancholia, yearning, an inner strength, and an open heart. The title track was recorded at The Tote the day Bowie died.

“What makes these songs so moving is not Vager’s voice itself but her delivery. Her fierceness, her flow and how clear it is she’s singing about what she knows.” – Kate Hennessy, The Guardian

Seeing them perform That’s All live is one of the more powerful and emotional things Melbourne’s bandrooms have seen this last year.

Saturday afternoon.

BTW, Mark, the drummer, just happens to be one of Chris Nolan’s carers. He’ll be on stage, looking toward the Nolan Stand, rather than vice versa.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

The Teskey Brothers

Got this email from a music-head friend recently:

Subject: Teskey Bros

are actually quite amazing.
elite quality i reckon.
like all-time quality.
dude can sing but the feel of the band is the real star.

Yes, all the way from the Warrandyte Delta, The Teskey Brothers are something very special.

These charming, fanatical musicians have been embraced by the soul scene. They keep adding and selling out shows, without the backing of youth radio or a major label. This kind of quality just shines through – into the lounge rooms and earphones and car stereos and backyard speakers of connoisseurs and casual listeners alike. It cannot be denied.

Sam and Josh Teskey discovered American soul music of the 1960s via their parents’ record collection and were immediately taken. As teenagers they jammed night after night in the bungalow behind their family home on the outskirts of Melbourne, devouring the R&B songbook and absorbing the tricks of the blues trade. The covers made way for originals and, in 2016, the band recorded and self-produced their debut album Half Mile Harvest.

Nobody could quite believe this was the work of four young mates out of the Yarra Valley as opposed to that of Stax Records alumni in Memphis, circa ‘67. The sound so authentic, the songs so original.

As Donald says, there’s a lot of fake blues around. “These guys are the real deal” – Brian Wise, RRR.

In the late afternoon sunlight of Saturday, in the Supernatural Soul Club.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Sleep D

The Jackal, of genus Canis. Mammals of omnivorous tastes, most commonly sighted in pairs. Proficient scavengers with long-distance endurance, these are crepuscular animals – most active at dusk and dawn.

Natural habitat then. These Frankston Jackals were last seen in The Sup’ as a live act at GP9, and they’ve not slowed down since. Butter Sessions, Domestic Documents, a bunch of 12″s. Guiding dancefloors all through the night, at clubs throughout the world. This duo is prolific, pacemakers of the local scene.

From explorations in techno and house, Corey and Maryos let new ideas and sounds dust their palette – finding links in dub and ambience, psychedelic noise, and on the 1200s – plenty of brightness, pumping rhythms and big tunes.

We are thrilled to welcome back Sleep D, in deejay mode. Leading us into the Supernatural Sunrise.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

The Senegambian Jazz Band

This is a real gem, with an undeniable lustre that is becoming precious to more people by the week. TSJB has been packing out bars all over Greater Melbourne, conjuring rapturous dancefloors and turning passers by into devoted fans.

They are locals, from all over – a band that cuts across divides whether cultural, national, genre(al). Even their hardware defies categorisation. The kora, a double-bridged-harp-lute instrument, forms the centrepiece. It has a long history, worth a proper read if you’re feeling studious. It’s the traditional story-telling instrument of the Griot, who doubles as historian, praise singer, poet, musician and all round bard in many west African communities (lead man Amadou Suso surely has ’showman’ on his business card).

The six pieces of the band hail from Gambia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Ghana and Australia, but all now call Melbourne home. They make some type of jazz music, with an African kick.

We are always looking for different ways to dance; rhythmic variations that propel limbs and brains and spirits into a divergent looseness. TSJB are sophisticated and intricate, and the open ear will be rewarded with ample opportunity to open everything up in a new way.

Kora-led jams, with Amadou Suso singing in his native Mandinka.

Afro-jazz, deep ecstatic beats. Very very funky.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Rings Around Saturn

In the early days of our solar system, Saturn lay unadorned. But such was its gravitational force, that comets, asteroids and moons were eventually pulled into its orbit – colliding, fracturing and forming Saturn’s rings. Countless icy particles, locked into grooves like a giant record in the sky.

It’s a fitting moniker for Rory McPike, and just one of many circling aliases he uses to launch his sounds into the cosmos. One of Melbourne’s most prolific producers, McPike channels a retrofuturist vision through thoughtful hardware explorations.

From woozy lo-fi to sci-fi hi-fi, it’s Far-Out Fonk, Dark Matter Dub, all at its finest.

Break a beat, break a sweat, and look skyward. Beaming down light years to 37°50’44.9″S 143°55’54.5″E, planet earth, live, at the close of Friday night.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Kikagaku Moyo

“I wanted to make a band that didn’t make much sense. Gather some members: dancers, artists, foreigners, and put them in the band. Even if they had no skill it was fine, I wanted them to do what they loved”.

Kikagaku Moyo are Go, Tomo, Daoud, Ryu and Kotsu. They hail from Tokyo. Their name translates to “geometric patterns”. Makes you wonder what they teach in maths class in Japan.

They’ve fast become a fixture of psychedelic happenings around the globe. They fly frequent and long, visiting all corners, including our little pocket of geometric space.

They make heavy use of repetition, creating free-form buildings without scaffold or planning permit. It’s psychedelic rock that has nuance.

2016 release, House In The Tall Grass, was an om-age of sorts, zen-rock that tunes the frequency to the meditation station in your brain. Their more recent EP, Stone Garden, suggests they don’t mind smashing out a few huge acid rock blasters as well.

YT comment: whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  amazing D::!!!!!   im flying on the universe !!!!

Picture yourself in The Sup’, by the Yarrowee River. Kaleidoscopic rock, non-Euclidean, Friday evening as the clock melts.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Late Nite Tuff Guy

Carmelo Bianchetti: undisputed icon of Australian dance music. Hailing from Adelaide, he brought his RaVEY acid-Tekkers-HOUSE vibes to the world back in the early 90s as DJ HMC.

The past decade has seen him renew his International Legend status as the Late Nite Tuff Guy. As the disco edit game became saturated, the Tuff Guy was turning on the jets. From simmer to boil, some of the hottest cuts around. Three decades of dance floor rocking gives him that feel for what the party needs.

He isn’t afraid of a BIG tune. He has reworked trax like Burning Down The House and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. Re-working them into outer space. He gets deeper too.

The best of the best play his jams, from Laurent Garnier to Jazzy Jeff. New Order and Royksopp have commissioned remixes.

Tuff, dark and handsome – LNTG is a night over night disco babble sensation that is the result of a tub of oil, a fear of daylight and a secret love for all the other Jacksons.

After Todd & The Olsens. Satdee night.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Miss Blanks

Fledgling and ferocious. Sunshine State bomb ass beats and bad ass raps. MISS BLANKS

We’ve already proclaimed our love for the new school in the domestic rap scene and Miss Blanks is another name bringing the new wave heat. Taking from the trap, the club and, ultimately, herself.

The live show is a straight up party. No backpacks or head nods here. It’s in your face, upfront and confident. The lineage runs from Queen B and the Diamond Princess. Raw, explicit, empowered. Positive, humorous, cathartic. And all about you getting down and clapping your…

In her own words, Miss Blanks wants people to “shake their ass, party, have sex, and chill with their friends”.

Get familiar with Clap Clap  and Skinny Bitches.

Saturday evening. Temperature rising for the XXXX-rated Miss Blanks.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

The Stevens

The Stevens are Travis, Matt, Alex and Gus. Instead of choosing a name suited for a rock group they instead chose one typically suited to a single human. Although in their year of birth (2011) Bentley and Greyson were popular names – this group opted for the more old fashioned Steven. 

Their music is a dense, noisy variation on guitar pop. The Stevens compositions are hooky and largely high spirited affairs, often clocking in around the two-minute mark. The lo-fi aesthetic sometimes obscures how big the songs can be but these jams run free. They’ve released no less than 49 of them to date, many via the eternally reliable Chapter Music.  

The Stevens.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

The Exotics

Unsung heroes. One of Melbourne’s best rock ‘n’ roll combos, period. Longstanding staples of the pub scene. Ask a gig pig and many will recall a wild night spent with this shack-shaking, chicken foot and bottle o’ beer rawk ‘n’ trash combo. They don’t release rekkids very often so you gotta see ‘em in the flesh.

The Exotics formed some 27 years ago. Back in the glory days of Sin Kilda music scene. They took rock ‘n’ roll’s head, put it in a pot, and cooked up a potent brew of primitive blues, lewd rockabilly, classic R&B and crashin’ surf reverb. They punk it up and serve it grease ‘n’ all. Tony & Sue Shaw are a bit like our own Lux & Ivy. Legit.

SURRRRFFFFFINNNNNNNNNN birds – Sunday before the Gift. Git down.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Ross McHenry Trio

The second act on the 2017 bill to hail from the City of Churches, We first came across Ross McHenry as bandleader for the Shaolin Afronauts, a group heavy on afro jazz vibes.

The trio takes us somewhere more traditionally ‘jazz’, however you define it. Ross believes the members are connected and understand the international history of jazz but ultimately feel like outsiders. Adelaide isn’t known for its jazz scene but the trio believe this serves them in the quest for their own unique sound.

The album was made with Myele Manzanza on drums, Matthew Sheens on piano and Ross McHenry on bass (maybe we can pre-announce them on stage like that, jazz radio style?).

They are up to record number three, all released on London’s First Word Records. The music has a beautiful tension to it, never quite settling on one scene. The dedication to their craft and a deep understanding of each other as players is evident.

Coming overland along the Western Highway. 7 hours, 12 mins from driveway to driveway. A beautiful entrée into Sunday morning at Twenty Seven.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Emma Russack

Emma Russack first caught our ear on If You Could See Me Now, her local radio hit from 2016. The plain-spoken honesty of this song set her apart from the singer songwriter mould. It’s got a sarcastic humour to it; an intriguing insight into her anxieties perhaps. And her ambition.

This style is again reflected in her most recent jam, Everybody Cares. It’s a cool track about missing a house party. There’s also the delicate ballad Free Things, a song that seems to float on its own poignancy. We can already hear it drifting amongst the Blue Gums.

“For the first time in a long time, the songs came out of contentment and reflection”
– Emma on her latest rekkid

Her latest LP stays true to her sound and lyrical style (albeit with some space-age bachelorette pad muzik vibes that grabbed our attention). It’s called Permanent Vacation. Give it a whirl in anticipation.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Moopie

A Colourful Storm is forming on the horizon. Aunty is stoked to welcome label boss and prince selektah, Moopie, into The Sup’ for Saturday night. Bringing disorder to the middle order.

Moopie will convey a colder, cleaner and more twisted mood, complimenting the brighter bounce of D & Tuff Guy. From jagged techno bits and junglist meditations, to EBM and IDM. Known for his considered selections and ear for high-tech emotion, he doesn’t come with a genre tag ‘cept for the one that reads “sounds like Moop dawg!”

Night of the living bass head. Moopie.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Suss Cunts

Anaemic Boyfriend, Shit Friend, Get Laid. The song titles give you an insight into what you might be in for with this cheekiest of garage groups.

Cheekiness is defined by “showing a lack of respect or politeness in a way that is amusing or appealing”. Yep, that’s Suss Cunts.

The band formed while they were all working at the same cafe – a single-origin story. Hospo punks with energetic jams that let rip into anthemic territory. Rousing, direct, peppered with zingers, and a heap of fun.

Kicking off with Amyl and ending with the Cunts: a nod to the proliferation of killer new punk groups round town and a surefire way to bookend Twenty Seven.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Meredith Sky Show

There will be a Show in the Sky above The Sup’ late on Saturday night. Be in it.

 

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band

Those magnificent men and women in their almost-flying machine.

Now over 125 years old, and a popular fixture at Meredith since 2005. Starting with a march through the campsite, incorporating the Bugle Corp, then onto stage for a romp through old and new hits like Gonna Fly Now (Rocky theme), Bob The Builder, maybe something from Queen and a contemporary hit or two.

Their membership has maintained the status quo and still sits around the 30 mark, with an almost even distribution of male and female members.

Here is some footage from 2008:


 

This year the band has had a fairly quiet year compared to other years.  During the year the band has played at various regular gigs such as Ballarat’s Heritage weekend in May, as well as other community events.  A new gig this year was the Munstar Arms Hotel in Ballarat where the band was asked to play for the official opening of Ocktoberfest 2017.  The band had a ball and now even have a dedicated music folder just for German pub music. The gig was held on the official Ocktoberfest date in Germany (Sat 27 September 2017) and the Munstar Arms even cracked a special keg that is only brewed in Germany for the Ocktoberfest period. We look forward to more of these type of gigs as they are great fun and the audience just loves live German Brass Band music.

The band’s music repertoire is ever expanding and not only are we getting into the spirit of German music but also more of the old classics (Beatles, etc) and current era music as well. Bob Pattie will again play some jazz as well as the band knocking out a lot of popular music from various eras.

Looking forward to another highly successful Meredith Music Festival.

Cheers from Chris
Secretary Ballarat City Brass Band

Ballarat_Munstar Arms Ocktoberfest 2017

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

Master Song Tai Chi

Sunday morning at 9am, the Amphitheatre becomes a giant Tai Chi class. Patrons and workers alike down tools and enjoy a demonstration by world-renowned Tai Chi expert Master Jin Song Han. Master Song first graced the Meredith stage back in 2001, when we picked the first name out of the phone book under “Tai Chi” and gave him a call. Turned out he was the former National Coach of China. Yes, he should bring his ceremonial weapons and give a demonstration. Yes, playing his music would be possible. No, he didn’t need to bring a tape player.

Silence Wedge. Todd Terje & The Olsens. Noname. ESG. Total Control. !!!. Future Islands. Warpaint. Downtown Boys. Mark Seymour and The Undertow. Aldous Harding. Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda. Amyl and the Sniffers. Big Thief. Pissed Jeans. Various Asses. Japanese Breakfast. RVG. The Teskey Brothers. Sleep D. The Senegambian Jazz Band. Rings Around Saturn. Kikagaku Moyo. Late Nite Tuff Guy. Miss Blanks. The Stevens. The Exotics. Ross McHenry Trio. Emma Russack. Moopie. Suss Cunts. Meredith Sky Show. City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band. Master Song Tai Chi.

MOTION PICTURES

Some of Twenty Seven's crack squad of sonic mavericks in various types of action.

INSPECTOR NORSE

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SEASONS

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WAVE OF HISTORY

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THROW YOUR ARMS AROUND ME

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BLEND

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JOHNNY AND MARY

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DELOREAN DYNAMITE

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HOLY GRAIL

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PAUL

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MYTHOLOGICAL BEAUTY

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THE BAR IS LOW

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NEW SONG

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BILLIE HOLIDAY

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MOODY

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RAN

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DIDDY BOP

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FLESH WAR

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DANCING IS THE BEST REVENGE

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SMOKE AND MIRRORS

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LET'S ROLL

The supreme enjoyables that made that first one are still in abundance in 2017: One stage, BYO, free range camping under the stars, the No Dickheads Policy, a complete absence of commercial sponsorship, and the magical mix of music, nature and weird and wonderful humanity at its finest.

IT'S IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE NOTES

That the music happens. Attractions, not distractions. The Meredith GiftRed TreeSunset StripArch of Love, The Boot all just happened and kept happening. Not programmed or curated. No arts application required. Start your own religion. Celebrated or private. Come as you are.

Three Days and Two Nights

Is a wonderful amount of time to spend on Serious Fun in the Greatest of Outdoors.

To assist, Pocket Companion has everything you need to know: playing times, maps, handy tips, what to bring (eg. spare clothes), what not to, and a handy origami menagerie.

What Was Said

Here is some of what was said about Meredith Twenty Seven.

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COMES WITH LIFETIME WARRANTY

Thanks to all the feedback and ideas from you and your friends, Meredith self-propagates. We guarantee we will continue to listen, fix things if they don’t work, not fix them if they do and Keep On Making Meredith Meredither.

Thanks for reading this far,

Aunty

Aunty Meredith
and The Supernatural Custodians