Category: Ω And much, much more!

“Les Thomas makes me want to be a better person . . . he’s a bloody good singer-songwriter.”
— Timber and Steel

“In the folk tradition of Woody Guthrie, Les Thomas doesn’t simply sing a story about a stranger, he learns their story, helps give them a voice and uses the medium of music as advocacy. Currently a lot of people get named and promoted as the next great folk artist, but it is people like Les Thomas that keep the origins of folk forefathers alive and true.” — Lauren Duiker, The Orange Press

Local troubadour and activist Les Thomas is pleased to announce his ‘Survivor’s Tale’ album launch at Thornbury Theatre at 7:30pm on Friday September 20 with Justin Bernasconi and Cat Canteri (The Stillsons)!

Tickets options include $15 standing room only, $20 seated show and $55 dinner and show – plus booking fee at http://tickets.oztix.com.au/?Event=37334

Les, already well known for his activism through music fundraisers like These Machines Cut Razor Wire, in support of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and as the founder of Unpaved, a Melbourne music website dedicated to supporting great original music, is excited to release his first long player. The focus of the album is on strong lyrics that hold up as poetry, complemented by a world class lineup of supporting musicians.

Last month Les released a stunning film clip for the first single to be lifted off of the album ‘Song For Selva’, based on a letter from an asylum seeker who suffered 37 months in detention away from family. The film clip, which features Collingwood Football Club champion Harry O’Brien alongside, has reached thousands of people with its humanising message. Here’s the link to the clip: http://youtu.be/k-So-f80DNI.

‘Survivor’s Tale’ is focused on telling human stories of enduring adversity and injustice. Although his subject matter is often serious, there are playful moments throughout the album and Les manages to transform painful personal experience into beautiful melodies throughout.

The title track of this album is a moving gesture of love from father to son, that addresses the reality of divorce, but offers strength from knowledge of and connection to family and history.

‘Free Ranjini’ is a direct call for the release of Tamil refugee and mother of three currently held in indefinitely in Villawood Detention Centre.

Recorded over two years with help from world class musicians like Jeff Lang (three-time ARIA Award Winner), Ben Franz (The Waifs, The Stillsons), Ashley Davies (drums) and more, these songs are almost ready for release, but help is needed from people like you to reach the $7000 funding target!

Please hit the Pozible campaign link below to be part of this evolving story and to pre-purchase your ticket to the CD launch now.

http://www.pozible.com/lesthomas

Marlow is thrilled to launch their new EP ‘Seven’ through MGM from 2 August, just in time to kick off the Seven Tour!

‘Seven’ has already spawned two singles I Can Breathe and Always There which were added to rotation across the country on both Austereo and DMG Radio, Their third single Maybe In Time finds them poised for even broader success.

Formed in 2008, Marlow has evolved over the years, perfecting their carefully crafted sound and their incendiary live shows, selling out iconic Sydney venues like The Bald Faced Stag and The Annandale Hotel. The band have previously toured the country with the likes of Closure In Moscow, Sleepmakeswaves and Jericco.

Marlow is:

Travis Wall on guitars

Kiel Van Daal on drums

Matt Grosbernd on bass

and Blake Galera-Hollis on vocals

2013 saw Marlow take the crowd sourcing route via Pledge Music, meeting their initial fundraising target in less than 10 days and then exceeding it by a further 50 percent!

Kiel says : “That was really gratifying to get such a positive and generous response from our fans. Pledge Music was a great tool for us to release the EP”.

Matt: “After working on Seven for so long we’re really looking forward to taking these songs on the road and having them grow in the live environment”.

Blake: “We’ve chosen Maybe In Time as the shining beacon of this EP. This song has been with us for a while, but the final arrangement only came together towards the end of the Seven sessions. The heartbeat pulse was always the base of the song and we’ve built and rebuilt from that starting block”.

Download the entire press kit here: Link is http://www.marlowtheband.com.au/press-pack

Don’t miss them on tour at these venues:

Thurs Aug 15 – Karova Lounge in Ballarat VIC (with Jericco)

Sat Aug 17 – The Empress, Melbourne VIC

Fri Aug 23 – The Basement, Canberra ACT

Sat Aug 24 – Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully VIC (with Jericco)

Friday Aug 30 – Spectrum, Sydney NSW (with Warchief)

Sat Aug 31 – The Wool Exchange, Geelong VIC (with The Getaway Plan, Jericco, Empra & more)

Fri Sept 27 – Tempo Hotel, Brisbane QLD (with Greenthief)

“This band has secured a healthy middle ground between progressive and alternative” -Mike Hohnen, Musicfeeds.com.au

“Marlow are one of those bands that are part of the changing of the guard in the Aus music scene” -Corky, 90.7 CrowFM

“Marlow take you on a journey of twists and turns with their unique brand of psychedelic grunge” -Robyn, Sludgefactory.com.au

Visit Marlow at www.marlowtheband.com.au

.

While politicians try to outdo each other in a race to see who can be the toughest on asylum seekers, Melbourne singer-songwriter Les Thomas’s “Song for Selva” poses a more humane question: Can Australia offer compassion and see these people as worthwhile human beings?

Originally commissioned by Trevor Grant, a long time sports journalist and refugee advocate, the lyrics to “Song for Selva” are based on a letter from a Tamil asylum who had been detained for 37 months at Broadmeadows Detention Centre.

Thomas recorded the song in early April with help from three time Aria winner Jeff Lang in April and has received excellent support by Melbourne community radio stations 3CR, 3PBS and 3RRR.

The film clip that accompanies this song was made by Snowgum Films (directed by Daniel Knight) and includes a group of people from refugees backgrounds, Tamils, West Papuans, Hazaras as well as Collingwood Footballer and human rights advocate Harry O’Brien, whose father fled war and persecution in The Congo.

You can view it here:

Radio announcer Forrister Jenot of Southern FM was so moved by the power of this song that he felt compelled to read out all of the lyrics on air before playing the track. Other musicians have already started covering the song, but, most impressively, Selva’s supporters believe the song was decisive in him being released into community detention after 37 months in detention. Les is humbled and heartened to know that “Song for Selva” is also listened to regularly by detainees at Broadmeadows Detention Centre to boost morale.

While Selva is no longer in detention, like many others he is still facing great challenges in community detention with no right to work and his future is not certain. It’s hoped this song will help tell the real stories of asylum seekers and give the issue a human face. It begs the Australian public to see them as the worthwhile human beings.

Les Thomas launched These Machines Cut Razor Wire in 2011, holding music fundraisers in support of asylum seekers. Proceeds from the sale of the song go directly to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

www.lesthomasmusic.com

Les will be launching his debut CD in September.

Thursday 25 July Brothers Hand Mirror bring their notoriously wild live exploits to upstairs @ The Tote to celebrate the launch
of their new ep!

Nothing under the moons glow will make you want to dance more than the duo’s forthcoming EP “Picture Tape!”

The EP has been personally selected by Paul “PBDY” Young (who works on alongside Flying Lotus on his label Brainfeeder) to hold the honor of being the first release on his up & coming record label TAR!

And now you’re feeling giddy & glitterish, we can assure you that supports for the launch will be fulfilled only by the gnarliest of musical creatures/friends. It goes without saying such an extravaganza would not be the same without BHM’s sibling dance troupes The Sissies & Always Crew in effect! That’s nine, count e’m NINE amazing entities pliant like a new born saplings and shimmered out like a mirror ball mid-make out with candy colored strobe light!

Brothers Hand Mirror is the team-up of Oscar Slorach-Thorn (Psuche, Oscar + Martin and solo project Oscar Key Sung) & Grant Gronewold (previously known as Cougar Flashy, Fulton Girls Club and currently making music & illustrations under the name HTMLFlowers). The Melbourne based duo have built a reputation for bombastic performances (with the help of the afore mentioned dance squads!) equally known for their poetic wordplay and their ability to invoke dance from even the most stagnant of crowd. Applying traditional hip hop philosophies with thrashing tape loop beats and fast mouth tricks.

Since the release of their first e.p. in 2010 Brothers Hand Mirror has made leaps forward in their sound; releasing several ‘name your price’ EP’s such as 2012’s Muddy Now & 2011 Our Will along with a string of other one track free to internet exhaltations. Oscar’s new breed of beatmaking rooted firmly in the practice of tape loops offers fresh colours in the refractions cast through the diamond that is Hip Hop while Grant searches for his own gentle equilibrium between his organically electric cadence and the craft of storytelling through song.

$10 on the door

Thurs 25 July w/
Fox & Sui
Banoffee

The Tote
71 Johnston Street (Cnr Johnston & Wellington St), Collingwood

GOOD NEWS FOR FANS WHO MISSED OUT ON TIX TO I THANK YOU POWDER MONKEYS / TIM HEMENSLEY 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIG!

On July 21 exactly ten years since Tim departed, the annual Hemensley Cup footy match will kick off the day’s celebrations at Victoria Park in Abbotsford from 11am.

There will be two short footy matches –
Ladies game followed by The Rockdogs vs The Rat Bags (captained by the Age’s Martin Boulton and made up of music journos)

Half time entertainment: THE POWDER MONKEYS WITH GUEST SINGERS
(approx 30min set)
Entry: Gold coin donation

As we all know, I THANK YOU: The Powder Monkeys / Tim Hemensley 10th Anniversary Gig at the Tote with 20 acts over 2 stage totally sold out within 4 hours of tickets going on sale – but we have good news for those who missed out.

Everyone now has the opportunity to see an abbreviated version (approximately 30 minute set) of what will be served up later that night at the Tote when the Powder Monkeys with guest singers, including Adalita and others will perform at half time. Yes, really. Just for the price of a gold coin donation which will help cover the staging of the event.

The show is a very special one off celebration of the life and music of Tim Hemensley who passed away on July 21, 2003. Tim was the frontman of the legendary Australian rock band the Powder Monkeys and before that a member of teen sensations GOD. His music lives on. The surviving members of the Powder Monkeys, guitarist John Nolan and drummer Timmy-Jack Ray are reuniting for the first in over a decade with their friend Mike Findlay from Dukes of Deliciousness on bass.

The just reissued Powder Monkeys debut ‘Smashed on a Knee’ was Triple R’s album of the week. The band has a new generation of fans who never saw them live because they were simply too young.

Singer and bass player, Tim Hemensley was a little man with a big heart who lived for rock’n’roll. He hated AFL football but loved the Community Cup. The Tim Hemensley medal is awarded each year at the end of the game to the most ‘rock’ Rockdog on ground.

The Hemensley Cup was born 4 years ago a northside alternative to the Community Cup which is played south of the river. It seemed fitting to name the match in honour of Tim who was generally based north.

The Hemensley Cup as well as the massive show at the Tote is proudly part of the Leaps and Bounds festival which celebrates the music scene within the City of Yarra. Supercharged bands such as the Powder Monkeys who regularly played the Great Britain Hotel, the Tote and across the river in the Prince of Wales Piano Bar fortify Melbourne as the live music capital of Australia.

The inaugural Leaps and Bounds Music Festival runs from Friday 5 – Sunday 21 July.

Check www.leapsandboundsmusicfestival.com for more details and information.

Find your way around the festival with Music Victoria’s free Melbourne Music City app available on iTunes or Google Play.

Leaps and Bounds Music Festival is proudly presented by City of Yarra, Music Victoria and media partners Inpress, PBS and themusic.com.au.

The closing weekend of the inaugural Leaps and Bounds Music Festival (July 5 – 21) coincides with the opening weekend of the sixth Gertrude Street Projection Festival (July 19 – 28) and as a result there will be illuminating collaborations in the common cultural precinct.

Late night bar and music venue Yah Yah’s, at 99 Smith Street in Fitzroy, will be hosting cross over events with the projection festival from dusk until dawn. Live music and local visual artists will come together for some unique events which are all free entry.

Money For Rope will be performing a silent show at Yah Yah’s between 6pm – 8pm while artist Joel Zika provides the visual backdrop. The band will only be audible to those wearing the special headphones (available for free at the venue) while they are rocking out on stage. Taking the ‘silent disco’ concept and adapting it to a live band that has two drummers and is known for their energetic live rock and roll show. This is a one off one time only event. All six members of Money For Rope will be using all electronic instruments which will be plugged in directly to the sound desk and transmitted to a headphone frequency to be enjoyed exclusively by headphoned fans while the group perform in cinematic mode. The show is free entry and will be visible through the Yah Yah’s front window to passers by who will be drawn to the wild display.

At 9pm Yah Yah’s will continue to be a multi-media gallery of sound and light when progressive eletro rock combo Black Cab present their club show with visuals by VJ Melt Station who has collaborated with many musicians and festivals for an enhanced sensory experience.

SUNDAY 21ST JULY
AT YAH YAH’S
99 SMITH STREET, FITZROY
LEAPS AND BOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL & THE GERTRUDE STREET PROJECTION FESTIVAL PRESENT:
6PM – 8PM, FREE ENTRY
MONEY FOR ROPE – SILENT GIG WITH VISUALS BY JOEL ZIKA
9PM – 12AM, FREE ENTRY
BLACK CAB CLUB SHOW WITH VISUALS BY MELT STATION
12AM – 5AM, FREE ENTRY
LEAPS & BOUNDS MUSIC FESTIVAL CLOSING PARTY With late night rock, soul, garage, surf, exotica tunes
For more information go to www.leapsandboundsmusicfestival.com and www.gspf.com.au

If only the walls of some of our venues could talk! Melbourne’s unique and robust live music scene is world renowned. So many great talents have been nurtured in our small venues before making it big on the world stage.
As part of the inaugural Leaps and Bounds Music Festival there will be a series of Q&A sessions with well known musicians and connoisseurs. Paul Stewart, Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie, Chris Gill and Angie Hart will be looking back and sharing their own stories and insights about the local music scene. These relaxed chats will take place in front of a live audience with a local music journalist asking most of the questions.

PAUL STEWART

Musician, journalist, activist and transplant survivor who was included on the Leaps and Bounds web videos will be offering more colourful stories which particularly focus on the Richmond area. Paul formed the Painters and Dockers in 1982 and is also a member of the Dili Allstars, an Australian and East Timorese reggae and ska band.
In conversation with esteemed Musicologist Bruce Milne:

MONDAY 15TH JULY
The Great Britain Hotel
447 Church Street, Richmond
6.30pm – 8pm
Free Entry

BOB “BONGO” STARKIE

Guitarist from legendary Australian group Skyhooks who ran the Jump Club in Smith Street, Collingwood thirty years ago and continues to play live regularly around Melbourne.
In conversation with Paul Cashmere (Noise 11)

THURSDAY 18TH JULY
Yah Yah’s
99 Smith Street, Fitzroy
6.30pm – 8pm
Free Entry

ANGIE HART

As a teenager Angie performed in pubs around Fitzroy with the band she fronted Frente before they were catapulted in to mainstream success and relocated overseas, which didn’t happen to many Australian indie groups in the early 90s. Angie has continued to work as a musician as well as a writer and is sure to offer a unique perspective on growing up in the inner north.
In conversation:

WEDNESDAY 17TH JULY
The Workers Club,
51 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
6.30pm – 8pm
Free Entry

CHRIS GILL

Funky community broadcaster with RRR in the Thursday afternoon slot with show ‘Get Down’ and independent record store owner is an aficionado of funk. His store Northside Records has been dealing vinyl for ten years and Gill recently started a record label with the same name as his store which has over the years become the hub of the local soul and funk scene which has was established a couple of decades ago and is only now being given the attention it deserves.
In conversation:
SUNDAY 21ST JULY
Northside Records,
236 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
6pm – 7pm
Free Entry

The inaugural Leaps and Bounds Music Festival runs from Friday 5 – Sunday 21 July.

View film clips about the musical history of the City of Yarra here: https://vimeo.com/68028263

Check www.leapsandboundsmusicfestival.com for more details and information.

Roger Knox is an Australian country singer known as the Black Elvis and the Koori King of Country. He is a Gamilaroi man (a group of Indigenous Australians), was born in Moree and grew up in the Toomelah Aboriginal Mission near Boggabilla near the border between New South Wales and Queensland.

The talent, music and voice of Roger Knox is known, loved and respected around the world. His most recent album Stranger In My Land was released by Chicago’s Bloodshot Records, home to some of the finest alternative country releases over the last two decades from many artists including Justin Townes Earle and early Ryan Adams.

Bloodshot artist Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Brothers) met Knox on a visit to Australia several years ago. When he heard of Roger and the potentially-soon-to-be-lost subculture of this utterly unique cultural collision, Langford knew he had to be involved. The result is the album Stranger In My Land.

Stranger In My Land is a collection of songs originally written by Aboriginal artists who were Knox’s peers and predecessors; some tunes previously recorded but difficult to find as well as several unrecorded, handed-down folk songs (which without this recording, could have been lost forever). It is powerful and moving material, heartbreaking and hilarious, downtrodden and uplifting, suffused with longing, alienation, resilience and hope; universal themes arising out of largely unexplored context.

Stranger In My Land features guest vocals and instrumental performances from Bonnie Prince Billy, Kelly Hogan, Dave Alvin (X, Blasters), Sally Timms and Jon Langford (Mekons), the Sadies, Andre Williams, and perhaps the last known recording from Charlie Louvin of the Louvin Brothers. All this star power is backed by The Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a loosey-goosey musical collective plus Australian’s Neville Anderson, Buddy Knox (Roger’s son), Jason Walker and Steve Newton.

Special guest is Toby Martin from Youth Group playing a solo set as well as touring member in Roger Knox’s band for this tour.

ONLINE LINKS FOR MELBOURNE GIGS:

JULY 16 – Northcote Social Club – facebook.com/events/437608816346152/
JULY 19 – Caravan Club, Oakleigh – facebook.com/events/134743620065854/
JULY 21 – Yarra Hotel, Abbottsford – facebook.com/events/190445681117481/

Leaps and Bounds Music Sites Bus Tour with guide Bruce Milne

Tuesday 9th July 2013
Wednesday 10th July 2013
Tuesday 16th July 2013
Wednesday 17th July 2013

The Leaps and Bounds Music Festival is thrilled to present this very special tour to celebrate Yarra City’s musical history.

Climb on board and join in the fun as we explore both forgotten and well-known music sites and share some stories along the way.

Tour guide is Melbourne’s very own musicologist Bruce Milne, who founded the Augogo Records store and label, managed the Blackeyed Susans, ran In-Fidelity Records, and was licensee of the iconic Tote Hotel (as documented in the film Persecution Blues).

The Leaps and Bounds Music Sites Bus Tour will take you all over the City of Yarra including sites such as:

-Missed venues of yesteryear (The Punters Club, the Much More Ballroom, Hearts, -etc.) and existing venues.
-Important Indigenous music spots. -Film clip and movie (Dogs In Space) locations.
-Places the public doesn’t normally get to see – recording and rehearsal studios.
-And oddities from the Nylex Clock sign to the Young Talent Time School to old shared musician households.

Bruce will keep the tour lively with plenty of little known facts and tales.

The city of Yarra area includes Abbotsford, Alphington, Burnley, Carlton North, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Cremorne, Fairfield, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Princes Hill and Richmond.

All tours depart from the Corner Hotel front bar and arrive at the same location at approximately 4pm. The Corner Hotel, 57 Swan St, Richmond)

All ages with bus wheelchair access

Each bus tour is limited to 15 passengers

* There will be a couple of stops on tour

Tickets $15 BOOKING LINKS HERE – make sure you pick the date that suits you. (All tours go to the same spots)

The Leaps and Bounds Music Sites Bus Tour (1pm – 4pm) – 4 opportunities: Very Limited – to 15 spaces on each tour.

Don’t miss out!
Book now.
Bookings are essential.

BUS TOUR 1 – Tuesday 9th July, 1pm – 4pm
Booking Link: www.trybooking.com/DCZG

BUS TOUR 2 – Wednesday 10th July, 1pm – 4pm
Booking Link: www.trybooking.com/DCZH

BUS TOUR 3 – Tuesday 16th July, 1pm – 4pm
Booking Link: www.trybooking.com/DCZI

BUS TOUR 4 – Wednesday 17th July, 1pm – 4pm
Booking Link: www.trybooking.com/DCZJ

Leaps and Bounds Music F estival is proudly presented by City of Y arra, Music Victoria and media partners Inpress, PBS and themusic.com.au.

For the entire month of July, Brothers Hand Mirror are bringing their notoriously wild live exploits to upstairs @ The Tote every Thursday evening.

Nothing under the moons glow will make you want to dance more than the anticipation of the duo’s forthcoming EP “Picture Tape!”

The EP has been personally selected by Paul “PBDY” Young (who works on alongside Flying Lotus on his label Brainfeeder) to hold the honor of being the first release on his up & coming record label TAR on the final thursday of the residency!

And now you’re feeling giddy & glitterish, we can assure you that supports will be fulfilled only by the gnarliest of musical creatures/friends. It goes without saying such a prolonged extravaganza would not be the same without BHM’s sibling dance troupes The Sissies & Always Crew in effect! That’s nine, count e’m NINE amazing entities pliant like a new born saplings and shimmered out like a mirror ball mid-make out with candy colored strobe light!

Brothers Hand Mirror is the team-up of Oscar Slorach-Thorn (Psuche, Oscar + Martin and solo project Oscar Key Sung) & Grant Gronewold (previously known as Cougar Flashy, Fulton Girls Club and currently making music & illustrations under the name HTMLFlowers). The Melbourne based duo have built a reputation for bombastic performances (with the help of the afore mentioned dance squads!) equally known for their poetic wordplay and their ability to invoke dance from even the most stagnant of crowd. Applying traditional hip hop philosophies with thrashing tape loop beats and fast mouth tricks.

Since the release of their first e.p. in 2010 Brothers Hand Mirror has made leaps forward in their sound; releasing several ‘name your price’ EP’s such as 2012’s Muddy Now & 2011 Our Will along with a string of other one track free to internet exhaltations. Oscar’s new breed of beatmaking rooted firmly in the practice of tape loops offers fresh colours in the refractions cast through the diamond that is Hip Hop while Grant searches for his own gentle equilibrium between his organically electric cadence and the craft of storytelling through song.

$10 on the door

Thursday 4th July w/
Electric Sea Spider
The Townhouses

Thursday 11th July w/
Angel Eyes
Hyperborea

Thurs 18 July w/
Outerwaves
Habits

Thurs 25 July w/
Fox & Sui
Banoffee

The Tote
71 Johnston Street (Cnr Johnston & Wellington St), Collingwood