Beach House, Wintercoats

“Not every Australian band needs to be on Soundwave — Soundwave is something that you kind of are picked to do. It’s not like bands should feel “we’re Australian, so we deserve to be on Soundwave.” That’s a bit obnoxious.”

Since the lineup for Soundwave 2013 was announced earlier this year, the Internet has been flooded by Aussie fans bellyaching about the festival’s policy of booking — or not booking for the most part —Australian bands. The whole ordeal hasn’t been helped by festival main man AJ Maddah making the odd inflammatory comment and a handful of high profile Aussie bands speaking out against the festival’s booking policies.

One of only three Australian acts booked to play the national tour, when Northlane’s Adrian sits down to talk to OffStreet Press, the subject of the festival’s politics arises pretty quickly.

“Everyone can whinge and whatever if they want, but at the end of the day Soundwave is an international tour. The acts that people are coming to see are all international, and you have bands from all corners of the globe coming to Australia to play this one tour for a very, very reasonable price. Why would you complain about Australian bands not being on the bill when you’re going to shell out $150 or whatever for a ticket when you could go watch the Australian band you wanted to see at a local show for $20? I think it’s so much more worth it when there’s a lot of bands I might have never seen before or don’t get the chance to see very often together on a bill.”

The inclusion on the 2013 Soundwave lineup is just one of the major successes of Northlane’s whirlwind run over the last year. On the back of their debut full-length Discoveries, the band have been playing high profile support slots, recently opening for Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen on their latest arena run and generating a lot of attention for their prog-influenced metalcore. So what has been the shining highlight of the year for the five-piece?

“The craziest part for me of this year has been… and I know this might sound silly, but the craziest part for me has been realising that it’s all real, and that it’s not just a dream. It’s hard to believe, especially when you’re touring with bands like Parkway and August Burns Red. I consider myself pretty humble, so it’s just really difficult to believe all of this is actually happening. Day by day, month by month, crazier plans get made, a bigger vision and a bigger picture is seen, and it’s hard to believe all this stuff is happening for us.”

Not only has playing on these high profile billing helped Northlane introduce themselves to the Australian metalcore scene, it has also helped the five-piece develop a greater hunger when it comes to putting on live shows.

“Watching these bigger bands has helped us remember our place. We’re still an up-and-coming, growing band and we want to reach the level of some of the bands we’ve gotten to share the stage with. So when you’re watching them from the side of stage you can see everyone in the crowd screaming every lyric and going mental, and you kind of think to yourself, “that’s where I want to be. What can I do to get there?” And that just gives us the motivation when we hit the stage to play the best we can and have the most fun we can.”

Though it’s been a big year for the Northlane dudes, the frontman is quick to suggest that the band’s run is still only in its embryonic stages. A new album is already in the works and the band is going to be touring even harder in 2013. Talking about continuing what they’ve already worked so hard on, Adrian suggests:

“I fear these days that kids have a really short term view of the bands they listen to. One day this is their favourite band and then the next day it’s something else. I think bands can be kind of disposable these days, and we don’t want that. We don’t want 15 seconds in the limelight and then fade out into the ocean of history… Shit, we want to sail the ocean man and leave our mark.”

NORTHLANE play Soundwave 2013 with Metallica, Slayer, Fucked Up, Kyuss Lives! and a whole heap more. The festival hits the RNA Showgrounds Saturday Feb 23. www.soundwavefestival.com 

MEDIA RELEASE

 Statement of closure: OffStreet Press

In the six months since the closure of Rave Magazine, OffStreet Press has endeavoured to maintain diversity in Brisbane arts and music journalism. OSP has also supported the vibrant, vital and extraordinary artists and musicians who work in and visit Brisbane — a city we are proud to call ours.

It is with sadness that we announce the closure of OffStreet Press. It has been a busy and exciting six months for our volunteer editors and assistants, with nearly 150 interviews and reviews published. We are especially proud of the quality of each OffStreet article.

In July of 2012, the enthusiasm of our volunteer staff — the OffStreet Pressgang — got OSP off the ground, and gave it a name and a voice. Thank you — you worked tirelessly, and with passion.

We have been humbled by the support we’ve received from readers, artists, media representatives, venues, theatres, and our brilliant writers. Thank you.

We are delighted to report that OffStreet has been a very successful project, delivering free arts and music journalism to Brisbane. As a downside, OffStreet has become too big for its boots — a project simply too large for its small team of volunteer editors. (On that note, we would like to apologise if you haven’t heard from us in a little while.)

Thus we have decided to close up shop while the going is good. We are proud of the six months of love, energy and time we have dedicated to OffStreet Press, and to Brisbane arts and music. And we will always be grateful that you believed in us.

See you on the flipside.

Zenobia Frost
Arts editor

Denis Semchenko
Music editor

Download media release as PDF: OffStreet Press Farewell

Coming up with our annual best-of lists at Rave Magazine was always a challenge. How do we condense an entire year’s worth of artistic and/or musical output into a brief list? How do we justify what stood out above the rest? It’s Christmas and we are drunk; how do we remember what we’ve seen/heard? (That one is only really a little chuckle; it is the specialist role of the journalist to remember what happens while shitfaced.)

It seemed only right to continue the tradition at OffStreet. Brisbane conceives, produces and hosts hundreds of productions and exhibitions every year, many of them worthy of note. These nine productions (eight from Brisbane, with one sneaking in from interstate) make my list only because they’ve stood out so clearly in my memory; it feels like I sat in the theatre just yesterday (or never perhaps left).

THEATRE: The Raven — March, Metro Arts

Directed by Thomas Quirk. Produced by Laura Kwiatkowski.
I remember feeling cautious about this show, inspired by the work and life of Edgar Allen Poe, if only because I’d sat through so many undergraduate lit. classes where “The Raven” was the only poem most of us could name. But Quirk and Kwiatkowski’s production, delving into Poe’s mind, had me addicted. It was the first play I’d ever seen that scared me, and elements of its staging (the enstrangement of the Sue Benner Theatre, cold soil beneath our toes) will never leave me.

THEATRE: Vikram and the Vampire — May, The Old Museum

Produced by Zen Zen Zo. Directed by Michael Futcher and Helen Howard.
There’s something lush and dreamlike in my memory of this production, which morphed the Old Museum studio space into jungles, castles and boudoirs. Sandro Colarelli (the emcee in Zen Zen Zo’s Cabaret, in 2011) was suitably captivating in the eponymous role of King Vikram, and the episodic nature of the nested stories made this a production that rewarded multiple viewings. It was fantastic to see Lizzie Ballinger (the trickster vampire, Vital) again recently in Thérèse Raquin.

COMEDY/THEATRE: Australian Booty — May–June, Brisbane Powerhouse

Written and performed by Candy B. Musical direction by Busty Beatz.
Rarely have I left a show feeling so fantastic, especially regarding my derriere. Candy B. is a fierce and smart Australian comedian/activist whose rhymes and writing kick butt. Also, she had my mum shaking her booty to hiphop — that, right there, is an achievement. Australian Booty deserves to be enjoyed (and thought about, and discussed) by every Australian. I wish I’d seen it again when it dropped in at SYC Studios in December.

CIRCUS: Knee Deep — June, Judith Wright Centre

Produced by Casus.
My review of Casus’ debut production was one of those embarrassingly glowing ones. For me, Knee Deep hit circus in just the right spot: astounding, cheeky, intimate, and fresh, with an otherworldly ambiance. The troupe (who have companies like Circa, Flipside, Strut and Fret and Briefs on their CVs) are no circus spring chickens, but even so, their inaugural show (successfully crowdfunded) was disturbing flawless.

THEATRE: The Truth About Kookaburras — June, La Boite

Written and directed by Sven Swenson.
This production, refined and expanded from a 2009 season at Metro Arts, stands out as tearjerker of the year for me. The strong cast put the epic storyline (in three parts, over three hours) to work, making for a compelling thriller and a sharp examination of masculinity in Australia. Kookaburras also stands out as the most difficult show of the year to review without giving the game away, with more twists than a slinky.

OPERA: The Mikado — July, Griffith Conservatorium

Written by Gilbert and Sullivan. Produced by Opera Queensland. Directed by Stuart Maunder.
I openly admit that opera is an art form I’m still learning about, and the OQ brochure helpfully marked The Mikado as suitable for opera newcomers. (I have seen one other opera — La Bohème — but only with one eye, as I lost a contact lens on the way to QPAC. Hm.) Stuart Maunder’s direction reveals this very British comedy, written 100 years ago, to be every bit as absurd and relatable (and absurdly relatable) to Australian audiences in 2012. Eugene Gilfedder’s rendition of “I’ve Got a Little List”, with libretto rewritten just for us, was a highlight.

CABARET: Dangling My Tootsies — July, Brisbane Powerhouse

Written by Annie Lee, with songs by Agnes Bernelle.
Perfectly capturing the ambiance of Weimar-era cabaret, Lee paid tribute to Agnes Bernelle (1923–1999): a performer, translator, and WWII spy. I miss Berlin dearly, and for me this show was a chance to revisit the Berlin of my imagination. But, more importantly, Dangling My Tootsies opened my ears to the music and story of a heroine of cabaret subversiveness.

DANCE: fifteen — September, Queen Street Mall

Choreographed by Liesel Zink. Produced by Nicholas Paine.
I am certain that nothing quite like this has been staged in Brisbane before. For a week, Zink’s dancers weaved daily through peak-hour pedestrian traffic at the base of the mall, at the intersection of Queen Street and Edward Street. I was transfixed by interactions between dancers, passers-by and ticket-holders (all of whom were, simultaneously, performer and audience). Being so concerned with place, fifteen was a very fitting work to include in this year’s Brisbane Festival.

THEATRE/CABARET: JiHa Underground — September, Absoe car park, West End

Directed by Jeremy Neideck.
So, this is my show of the year. No surprises there. I expect the cast think I’m stalking them; I’ve seen the show, in its various manifestations, about four times. But who can blame me? 지하 Underground makes us happy to be alive. I’m grateful that art like this is being made, and I would’ve spent every night of Brisbane Festival partying in the Absoe car park mystery wonderland junk-bar if I could — restraining orders be damned.

That’s the year that was in Rave/OffStreet arts. Have a spectacular 2013. I charge you to see more art, make more art, and support more art. That’s how we keep each other’s brains and hearts alive (and, you know, fed and housed as well).

Dec 7–9, 2012

Review by Chris Harms

The Meredith Music Festival occupies a special place in the hearts of its regular patrons, many of them willing to trumpet its superiority to other Australian festivals at a moment’s notice and at surprising length. For outsiders and newcomers to Melbourne who profess to love music, attending at least one Meredith is an accepted right of passage.

Held over three days (and nights), Meredith is equal parts music festival, camping adventure and communal bonding session. The location of the site, in fact only about 90 kilometres west of Melbourne, feels remote enough that once you’ve arrived within its boundaries (something that takes time if you arrive during Friday’s peak hours of early morning and late afternoon) you feel like giving up the city and surrendering wholly to the countryside. Seeing as only Telstra phones get any real reception on site, that’s easier for many people than they might have expected.

With most of the pleasantly warm Friday devoted to arrivals and campsite set-ups, the music doesn’t really get underway until mid-afternoon. Arriving early means plenty of time to explore the five camping grounds and witness some of Meredith’s common sights, including The Meredith Eye (a Ferris wheel situated in prime position on a rise overlooking the main stage), magnificent lookout point Sunset Strip, and of course “The Sup’” itself – the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre. Soon to be covered in picnic blankets, eskies (thanks to the Festival’s convenient BYO booze policy) and fanned arrays of punter-provided sofas and couches, The Sup’ is peppered with trees that somehow, almost magically, don’t obscure the view of the surprisingly modest, one-and-only Meredith stage. In an era when music festivals seem to pride themselves on who can have the most number of stages and tents, Meredith is content to let its international headliners play on a single comfortably mid-sized platform. Given how happy the musicians are to play and the punters are to be there, it’s safe to say that no one minds the lack of arena-sized production. Thanks to the natural acoustics of the amphitheatre and the easy line of sight from most standpoints, as a performance proposition it’s hard to beat.

Friday’s warmth continues throughout the afternoon, providing a mild haze for Pond to kick off Meredith’s music schedule. The Tame Impala associates, and also recipients of NME albums-of-the-year kudos (#7 to Tame Impala’s astonishing #1) provide a pleasant backdrop of psych-rock for the crowds still carrying in their couches and cooler bags. Nothing they do today suggests they’ll be leaving the shadow of Kevin Parker’s main project soon, but there are certainly worse places for a band to be.

Meredith’s community vibe buzzes even louder during Snakadaktal, the young Melbourne act’s music providing a montage-friendly soundtrack to people strolling into The Sup’ and catching up with friends. The 2011 Unearthed High winners are cool and confident players, but some familiar Foals-lite guitar sounds and a number clearly influenced by The xx leave them open (at this admittedly still-early stage) to being accused of lacking an original voice. Winning a high profile radio prize can only sustain a band for a limited amount of time, so thankfully their playing talent suggests the best is yet to come.

Mid-afternoon brings the heavy instrumental psych of Californians Earthless. It’s time for intricate guitar freakouts and acid jams as Meredith punters really start settling in for the weekend. The sun is still high in the sky as the trio play a truly blistering set, with absolutely no quarter shown to the stragglers still spilling past the Pink Flamingo bar at the edge of The Sup’.

It’s psychedelia of a different kind as talented Melbourne songstress Brous appears on stage in a very impressive hat. Mining a vein of ‘60s sci-fi pop atmospherics and Ennio Morricone-influenced sounds similar to Alison Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain, Sophia Brous continues the Festival’s thus-far otherworldly vibe. While she spices things up with the occasional roller-coaster dip into Nina Hagen vocal territory, it’s the big diva-y chorus and girl pop la-la-las of single Streamers that really make an impression.

As the sun finally begins to set, The Sup’ is abruptly kicked into party mode by Grimes and her pair of Day Of The Dead dancers. Weaving around her synth/controller set-up and busting out the punk-naif dance moves for which she’s become known, Canada’s Claire Boucher sounds less childlike vocally than she does on record, although at times the reverb and delay effects are so heavy it’s hard to tell her voice from the music. The digitally mashed pop sounds of Visions singles Genesis and Oblivion get the biggest dance response from the crowd, while album highlight Circumambient retains its appealing glitchy coldness.

A trip around the apparently improved International Food Court (two sets of food trucks and stalls flanking The Sup’, this year including the justifiably famous Gumbo Kitchen alongside staples like the Taco Truck and Beatbox Kitchen) and a quickly downed Pink Flamingo – Meredith’s signature vodka and pink grapefruit cocktail – and it’s time to get in position for Spiritualized. Keeping in mind reports of the frontman’s diagnosis with liver disease around the release of Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Jason Pierce still commands a presence even though spending the entire set seated. Dark glasses in place, he leads his band through a blinding version of Electricity before alternating evenly between ballads and rockers from their most recent album and right back to the classic Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (including a lovely version of the title track). Equal parts surging and soothing, with a killer light show, Spiritualized could comfortably close the night – but there’s still plenty more to come.

Riding high on a wave of critical and popular success thanks to latest album Lonerism, Tame Impala play a crowd-pleasing selection of songs from that record and the preceding Innerspeaker. The countryside surrounding the site is bombarded with lights, guitar effects and the recognizably reedy vocals of Kev Parker. Why Won’t They Talk To Me, Elephant and Half Glass Full Of Wine stand out as highlights, but generally speaking, no fan is going away disappointed after this set.

For some, it’s time to head back to the campsite. For others, Syrian musician Omar Souleyman will be their guide into the wee hours. His Arabic dance pop easily crests the edges of The Sup’, almost as clear and loud at the far edges of the outmost Blue Gum campgrounds as it is in the amphitheatre. Kieren Hebden, aka Four Tet, follows up with an immaculate set of leftfield electronica, the throbbing beats and ethereal vocal samples of his music creating a surreal backdrop for a 4am, half-awake stagger through hundreds of tents to the nearest camp toilet.

With most Meredith campers forgoing any kind of sleep until around 6am, the following day gets off to a sluggish start. Saturday temperatures are meant to hit 38 degrees with possible galeforce winds, so people are clinging to the few hours of temperate rest they can get. Before too long clouds of dust are swirling between the campgrounds, and suddenly bathing seems like a good idea. Waiting in line 40 minutes only to have the powered showers cease working during an unexpected blackout isn’t a great start to the day, but exposure to the open air leaves the unwitting covered in a fine film of dirt anyway – meaning that we might as well all embrace our inner “Pig-Pen” (i.e. the dust-cloud covered kid from Peanuts).

Melbourne jangle-pop kids The Twerps open proceedings around midday with the kind of languid sonic grace that seems about as much as most people can handle at this point. All things C86 and Flying Nun are dutifully referenced in an excellent set, and one confirming, yet again, that The Twerps have become one of the country’s best bands.

An equipment failure means that Chet Faker’s last set of the year is more of a jam session than the culmination of 12 months of touring. They still retain a slickly modern R&B and soul sound, and reinforce how cleverly Meredith is programmed. (Soft tones are still needed to soothe sore heads this early in the afternoon.)

Royal Headache decide that it’s time to take things up a notch, playing a blinder of a set that singer Shogun seems convinced is sub-par. It sounds much better than that to the crowd, who embrace the authenticity of Shogun’s delivery and his band’s alt/punk and updated classic rock tunes. Honey Joy is a particular highlight, leaving plenty of dusty punters with smiles.

Much of the rest of the afternoon is lost in a haze of heat and dust, the wind speed slowly building during sets from sax legend Big Jay McNeeley, San Diego garage rockers Hot Snakes and beatbox original Rahzel. The Toot Toot Toots and Saskwatch bring some local flavour back to the stage as people begin reemerging from shady hideouts and collapsed gazebos, just in time for Regurgitator and an abrupt drop in temperature. (Within an hour it will have plummeted 18 degrees. When the Meredith organisers say “bring clothes for all seasons”, they really mean it).

The ‘Gurge have arrived at the “shut up and play the hits” stage of their career it seems, at least for this Meredith weekend. From Blubber Boy to Polyester Girl to Blood And Spunk, the boys are in party mode and enjoying themselves immensely. The only hint that they’re still looking to the future comes when they play a new song (albeit one debuted last year at Rave Magazine’s ThousandInTwenty gig).

The Ballarat Turbojugend (back-patches, flags and all) have staked out a key viewing position to the left of stage in preparation for the mighty Turbonegro. Despite possibly being the most incongruous act on the Meredith line-up, the Norwegian deathpunks do not disappoint, launching immediately into All My Friends Are Dead. Even with new Brit vocalist Tony Sylvester replacing Hank Von Helvete, the band are still adept at generating their unique mix of high camp, gut-level fun times. Tracks like Dude Without A Face rock hard, and Sylvester’s between song banter is archly dead-on. (“This is just like Altamont, except instead of Hell’s Angels, it’s full of web designers.”) Getting the crowd to chant the chorus to I Got Erection is definitely the most appropriate way to end the set.

For many punters, Primal Scream will share with Spiritualized the title of “Meredith Highlight”. Most recently here on their Screamadelica tour, the Primals are back with some new songs, some old songs, and a new bassist (Mani having been recruited back into The Stone Roses for the time being.) For a man of 50, Bobby Gillespie somehow looks at least 15 years younger, remaining whippet thin and completely comfortable pulling out his repertoire of rock star moves. The songs, as always, sound great, crossing Primal Scream’s various incarnations as acid travelers, ravers and blues rockers. Swastika Eyes is as punishing as it ever was, no doubt scaring livestock for miles, while Moving On Up’s gospel pop retains its ability to uplift under any circumstances. The freedom of this set allows them to play a variety of tracks like Trip Inside This House alongside Burning Wheel, Come Together, Country Girl and the inevitable Rocks, but it’s the blissful Damaged that really warms the now chilly Meredith audience from head to toe.

The Meredith Sky Show illuminates trees and passing clouds with lasers as hordes of Festival-goers head back to camp to refill their cooler bags or collapse into air mattresses. Itch-e & Scratch-e do their techno best to keep people in The Sup’ (although a heavily pitched up Sweetness And Light sounds more comic than danceable), while the following DJ set by Boredoms co-founder Yamantaka Eye ensures those still awake get their fair share of eclecticism.

After a couple of hours sleep it’s time to start pulling down the dustiest tents on the planet and fortify for the road with breakfast and coffee. The country-gospel tones of Fraser A. Gorman & Big Harvest provide a restful soundtrack for the long catering lines, and although the excellent Boomgates are dangling a big carrot in terms of reasons to stick around (not to mention The Gift, the annual nude footrace – this year hosted by a visiting JB Smoove), the idea of being stuck in a single-lane exit queue for hours with at least 6000 cars does not appeal to everyone. And so, with efficiency and haste, this year’s Meredith experience ends for at least some of its new converts.

Driving through the country lanes away from the site, covered in dust, sunburnt in unexpected places and barely awake after a combined four hours sleep over two nights, you might expect to think of Meredith as some kind of strange cultish ordeal. While it is in many ways a little strange, there is something unique about the vibe of the festival that leaves you thinking of it warmly. Much more than its quirks and traditions, Meredith is the kind of gathering that festivals like Splendour and Harvest want to be – something that fosters communal enjoyment and a sense of real escape. Meredith does it without barriers and security fencing, and minus the strident presence of alcohol marketing and other businesses looking for more insertion in the youth market. Unless it unexpectedly changes, that’s why Meredith will always have its chorus of supporters, and likely why once you’ve been, you’ll want to go again.

CHRIS HARMS is the former editor of Brisbane street press Rave Magazine. He’s now based in Melbourne where he drinks too much coffee and spends his days wondering what season it’s meant to be.

Queensland Ballet Company with QSO

Review by Krissi Weiss

The Sleeping Beauty, one of ballet’s most seminal works, was a striking choice to end the Queensland Ballet’s 2012 season and a fitting swansong for departing Artistic Director, Francoise Klaus. Klaus was first taught the original Marius Petipa choreography for the Fairies, the Rose Adage, the Bluebird and wedding pas-de-deux by Ballet Master Peter Appel. He is intrinsically connected to the work and this was blindingly evident in every part of the performance. The story is a well-known and well-worn one so there’s no need to go into that apart from to say there are but a few minor alterations in this version.

Ticking off the “outsider” boxes I first must mention tonight’s overwhelmingly beautiful set design and lighting. Obviously stunning, the set somehow manages never to overshadow the skill of the performances despite its artistic meticulousness.

Guest conductor, Andrew Mongrelia, paces the Queensland Symphony Orchestra through a measured and sublime delivery of Tchaikovshy’s stunning work and their presence lifts the performance beyond what one would expect. It’s hard to realise recorded music detracts from the beauty of ballet until an orchestra has filled the pit with their impeccable interpretation of the score.

Principal dancer Clare Morehen in The Sleeping Beauty

At every corner of the stage, there is beauty, flow and form – whether from the principals or corps de ballet – yet there is the odd moment where the notion of synchronicity seems to be completely forgotten. Somehow, all is forgiven thanks to the intense performances and the complex emotional story each performer conveys. Eleanor Freeman’s Carabosse brings a dramatic intensity and effortless skill that threatens to steal the show until Act 2 sees the arrival of Hao Bin’s Prince who appears to be able to float as well as fly. Act 2 has ironed some of the synchronicity issues out and the dramatic energy builds to a startling level of engaging precision falling down in just one simple way – it goes on for two long. Towards the end it’s hard to ignore the fact the story is no longer being served and at times, the performance near gratuitousness. Still, once the beauty has awoken, the marriage has been had, and the house lights go up, the audience is left speechless.

SLEEPING BEAUTY runs at the Playhouse, QPAC, until 19 December, 2012. Book here.

KRISSI WEISS is a writer, musician, wannabe filmmaker and science student — bores easily. A Rave regular, Krissi also writes about music and the arts for a number of interstate and international publications.

]]> http://offstreetpress.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/dance-review-sleeping-beauty/feed/ 0 Queensland Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty Principal Clare Morehen Lilac Fairy Pic Christian Aas Zen Principal dancer Clare Morehen in The Sleeping Beauty http://offstreetpress.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/arts-review-shop-pty-ltd/ http://offstreetpress.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/arts-review-shop-pty-ltd/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:00:55 +0000 fiercebeasty http://offstreetpress.wordpress.com/?p=1890 Continue reading »]]> Propriety Limited: Shop Pty Ltd

For one week in December, the businesses of James Street will be experimentally remodeled to investigate the way we invest our systems of branding with value and power, while also examining the way we consider art.

The triad of Queensland College artists putting on this show — Karike Ashworth, Cassandra Toscano and Jenna Green — are hyper-aware of the elements of play they are working with under the artist group name Propriety Limited.

‘This kind of idea is going on elsewhere,’ explains Ashworth. ‘This is effectively of the pop-up shop genre, similar to things that are happening a lot in New York and in Melbourne.’

What makes the show intriguing is the mimicry of the capitalist model, in a microcosmic form. Participants choose to engage in systems of exchange and barter, with all the tenets of capitalism, ranging from the exchange of goods and services, to corruption and manipulation.

The content of this show is different to a regular exhibition. By not showing artwork in a traditional, curated manner, people’s engagement in the system becomes the subject. In the same way that the viewer looks at art, participants view the commodities on show and the system in play. They see how they can benefit from both of these.

As the artists recognise, their work lacks value without the participants’ enthusiasm and willingness to play. Ashworth asks, ‘Are we trying to replicate real life? Are the participants going to behave the same in real life as they do in this space? There will be a mixture we feel: the rule followers and the risk takers,’ she says.

Arriving at the show on opening night, the once empty set of two shop areas was transformed into Propriety Limited’s vision: here, participants can sell their body, their secrets and their time to earn ‘units’ of currency.

As a participant, I engaged with all the processes of the system I was capable of. I wore a promotional shirt to earn more units for exchange. I discussed some secrets and my own sources of literary inspiration with Richard Bell, who turned my secrets into part of a chalk board image. I deposited some fingernail clippings for more units. And I bartered for the opportunity to purchase from a number of commodities on the sale shelf (from a Camargue bracelet to a ‘real’ artwork by Luke Roberts).

As I had hoped, I quickly felt a genuine rush at my burgeoning stack of units. Not only was I engaged; I was plotting how to better the position I was already in. As Jenna Green had explained in an earlier conversation, the project partially intends to devalue currency in order to draw attention to the strange phenomenon of the value we place in plastic money. ‘Money has become a shortcut to exchanges,’ Toscano ponders. ‘The system is the form of exchange. The activities we have laid out elongate these encounters and encourage people to be involved with others in an exchange of ideas and commodities.’

This pausing of the system makes the exhibit interesting and innovative. Shop Pty Ltd inspires a contemplative process, an opportunity to be suspended within the capitalist system and consider why we deem the valuable items around us to be so.

The Propriety Limited group are intently concerned with the potential criticism of this show. Fundamentally, there are so many things going on in Shop Pty Ltd. It can initially appear to be overwhelming. However, the elements of the show are no different to those we operate in everyday; we are constantly making choices within the capitalist system. By disrupting the daily activities of this affluent street to consider the process of the everyday, Propriety Limited turns the focus toward a society where value is based more on non-complicity.

Shop Pty Ltd will exist as an expanded research project until next Tuesday. During research week, Propriety Limited will be running a ‘Let’s talk shop’ session on Wednesday the fifth of December at 6pm, as well as one-on-one or group interviews with participants to get a thorough understanding of their experience from the night.

The artists behind Propriety Limited are determined to expand this initial project into other arenas. ‘No matter how the show is received, it will say something about the current climate where the value of art is highly commoditised,’ Toscano says. ‘If it is received well it will mean the possible opening up of more opportunities for Propriety Limited. If not, then it will still make a statement about the local art going public and how art is still seen in a traditional way.’

SHOP PTY LTD runs from Dec 4 to 11 at 65 James Street, Fortitude Valley.

CLAIRE HIELSCHER‘s work has been featured in Australian Art Collector, UN Magazine, Stilts and OffStreet Press. She is also Editor of a new Brisbane street press, GrandioCity.

I expect Zen Zen Zo to unsettle me, even without the aid of ghosts. Their trademark physicality, in whatever form it takes, always incites conflicting responses: at once beguiling and grotesque. What I wasn’t expecting, when I took my seat to watch their adaptation of Thérèse Raquin (a gothic novel written by Emile Zola in the 19th century), was to hear my heartbeat over and above the actor’s voices; to experience the cold kick of dread; and to need a calming hot chocolate afterwards.

In short, the play is terrifying. Zen Zen Zo’s contorted Butoh faces morph easily into the ghosts and demons (imagined or otherwise) that populate Thérèse Raquin’s world.

But it isn’t simply the physicality of these actors that turns the screw of this narrative — though it plays a large part. In tandem with this is the rich and intricate story-telling technique, guided by director Helen Howard, who worked with Michael Futcher to adapt this novel.

The laws and gravity of realism don’t restrict the technique of this play. Rather, what we get is a series of resonant images draped across the bones of the narrative, which is, indeed, quite bare. That the plot is slim, however, doesn’t detract. Zola himself considered the story simply a catalyst, an arena into which he could throw his characters — who are themselves nothing more than singular temperaments. Thérèse, played tremendously by Lizzie Ballinger, is “nervous”; she is a physical puppet possessed and completely determined by a single temperament: anxious, reactionary, hysterical.

Howard and Futcher understand this well, and, accordingly, all the characters move like they are ragdolls. You can almost see the strings rising from their arms and legs. This metaphorical human puppetry culminates in one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve witnessed in theatre. Thérèse’s comatose guardian, Mme Raquin (played by Louise Brehmer), is here turned literally into a puppet by the ghost of her dead son, who manipulates her arms and head. Brehmer’s eyes are wide and shining. Her bared teeth chatter. Her body looks like it’s made of wood. I couldn’t look away, even though I wanted to.

The lighting, managed by Jason Glenwright, beautifully compliments this mood of menace and isolation. Shafts of yellow light sporadically punctuate the gloom. Occasionally the set is washed entirely in dark blue, transporting the audience into the depths of the Seine.

By the same token the set design, by Josh Mcintosh, is sparse, cold, and alienating. Tiny chairs surround a huge table. Gigantic, empty, wooden doorframes make the characters appear tiny. A general air of dilapidation hovers over this set. My only criticism, here, is that I would have loved to see those giant doorframes used as guillotines.

Eugene Gilfedder shines as the anxious detective, Michaud, who also narrates the story. He slips effortlessly between narrating at the present moment, looking back, and participating obliviously in that past, where the murder takes place. He is at once completely aware and blind to everything, friendly to all and utterly menacing.

The play, unfortunately, loses momentum in its second half and seems to peter out towards its anti-climactic end. The narrator, Michaud, also, has a heavier presence in the second half, unnecessarily emphasising the characters’ collective blindness, when we can, ironically, see it all so clearly in front of us.

But these are small quibbles with what is a fantastic production. It punches you in the gut, winds you, triggers something primal in you; but it does so in a way that is at the same time creatively and intellectually complex.

THÉRÈSE RAQUIN runs until Dec 8 at the Old Museum Building. www.zenzenzo.com

JEREMY THOMPSON‘s work has since been published in Small Packages, Rave Magazine, Voiceworks, and Notes From The Gean. He is OSP’s assistant editor.

PETE WALSH explores the dreamy landscape of transcendent instrumentalism.

Martin Kennedy’s All India Radio are veterans of the underrated cosmic force that is instrumental rock, and Red Shadow Landing is yet another testament to their exemplary service record in the Australian music industry. The chilled ambient stylistics of the band have featured in many TV shows and films, and as their 10th full-length release, this album shows no sign of breaking from their well-crafted niche.

While many are overzealous in their use of the term post-rock (of which I take umbrage), there is certainly an aura of infinitude to the tunes that transcends contemporary forms of rock. Sounding remarkably akin to bands like Silver Ray, The Necks and less-heavy sleepmakeswaves, their latest album makes for an instrumentally cinematic experience.

Pulling in a swathe of influences and generic stylistics the lone star-spangled guitar strums on Golden lend a Western feel to the song — offset by dreamy triangle sections. The laidback discordant progressions of The Original are tempered by a mariachi snare backbeat and occasional castanets, creating a bizarrely delicate quasi-extraterrestrial quality. Meanwhile, the minimalist sections on Tomorrowland decorate the album with dystopian vibes, evoking a truly transcendentalist musicality which continues on the following track The Lie.

The real anomalies on the LP are the upbeat layers that can be found on Don’t Leave, resulting in what feels like the build-up to a ‘boy-meets-girl’ scene in a low-budget indie film. The concluding Afterlight is exactly what it offers: a delightfully meandering palate cleanser as AIR showcase their diverse talents.

PETE WALSH is an ex-Rave contributor and vagrant writer, a literati, music aficionado and coffee snob.

Talk about Peter Pan syndrome. Since their inception in the late ‘80s, Californian ska-pop-punk outfit Reel Big Fish have kept crowds and themselves grooving to songs about adolescent concerns like beer, partying and girls. Earlier this year, the band released their seventh record Candy Coated Fury. Their first new material in five years, the record managed to harness the youthful energy that featured on the band’s classic run of late ‘90s records.

A record that proves never growing up is going to sound awesome, Candy Coated Fury is a record jam packed with energy. Barrett weighs in on the new material.

“With our latest album Candy Coated Fury I kind of feel like we’re going back to the Turn The Radio Off days where we’re going back to the energetic, reckless abandon; not worrying about trying to get things perfect and being more focussed on trying to creating an energy that will hopefully make the audience want to get up and dance.”

Though Reel Big Fish seem resolute in their desire to never grow up, that doesn’t mean they’re ill-equipped to deal with change. Just prior to the Candy Coated Fury session, the band lost their trumpet player/second guitarist/hilarious onstage counterpoint to Barrett, Scott Klopfenstein.

“Scott contributed a huge amount to the band — obviously, as he’d been with us for 15 years. As far as his leaving the band, him and his wife wanted to start a family and he didn’t want to be a touring father; he wanted to be home. And being with the band for 15 years, he’d put in his time. His prison sentence was over. So it was definitely a loss when he left, but then we brought in a saxophone player and it kind of breathed a new life into the band. We’d always wanted to bring in a saxophone to help round out the sound of the woodwind instruments. It’s a bit of a different vibe, but that energy and excitement is still there.

“I guess the whole on-stage banter thing used to be a back and forth between Scott and myself, but now it’s more a whole band effort. It’s been a lot of fun to try something different.”

Discussing the band’s onstage presence, the conversation turns towards the band’s upcoming Australian run with fellow ska veterans Goldfinger. I ask Aaron how the seemingly perfect double billing fell together.

“I’d love to say that our bands got together and made plans for world domination or there was some awesome story like that, but honestly it just came down to AJ, the head of Soundwave — he loves both of the bands and put it together.”

As for the secret behind the band’s unfailingly youthful energy, Barrett reckons that a lot of that has to do with the crowds that turn up to skank with the Fish.

“I don’t know that we know how to play a show any other way than going completely insane onstage. And I think a lot of that has to do with us having these great, energetic crowds at the show so we can’t help but to go totally crazy ourselves. So bring your dancing shoes, and make sure you come hydrated.”

REEL BIG FISH play The Tivoli with Goldfinger and Zebrahead Thu Nov 29. Candy Coated Fury is out now through Rock Ridge Music.