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OLIVIA WIK HAS ALWAYS HAD A LOVE OF MUSIC. SHE LIKES TO JOKE THAT SHE WOULD SING MORE THAN SHE WOULD TALK. HER LIFE WAS A MUSICAL!
WHEN SHE PICKED UP A GUITAR FOR THE FIRST TIME AT 8 YEARS OLD, IT WAS LIKE A LIGHT WENT OFF. SHE KNEW THAT THIS WAS WHAT SHE WAS MEANT TO DO! AS SHE GOT OLDER, OLIVIA BEGAN TO THINK MORE SERIOUSLY ABOUT A CAREER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND BEGAN GOING TO CONFERENCES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY WHEN SHE WAS JUST 16. HER HARD WORK GARNERED HER MANY AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS. OLIVIA IS A 2014 EDMONTON MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEE (ARTIST TO WATCH), 2014 ACMA SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINEE AND 5-TIME ACMA NOMINEE FOR FEMALE ARTIST & FAN’S CHOICE.
LISTEN
https://distrokid.com/
“Visual images do not merely replace words but do things that words cannot do.” – Ivan Durrant
Ivan Durrant, a leading exponent of photorealism, and natural raconteur, will be celebrated in a major survey paying tribute to five decades of his extraordinarily diverse career since the 1970s, at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 1 May 2020.
Ivan Durrant: Barrier Draw is the most comprehensive survey of Durrant’s work to date. Featuring over 100 multi-disciplinary works from the Melbourne-born artist, the exhibition will also unveil a new larger-than-life sculpture inspired by his controversial back catalogue. Drawn extensively from Durrant’s personal collection, the exhibition also includes major works from public and private collections from across Australia.
‘A prolific artist and provocateur, Ivan Durrant has created one of the most audacious bodies of work in Australian art,’ said Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV. ‘With his work first exhibited at the NGV in 1979, we’re delighted to welcome Ivan back to pay tribute to his extensive career and provide a platform to unveil an unmissable new work.’
The exhibition chronicles the evolution of Durrant’s diverse career, including his earliest folk paintings depicting an idyllic childhood in the countryside, which were a sharp contrast to his own experiences having grown up in an orphanage; his realist paintings, short films and sculptures of the 1970s and 80s, including his race track and movie star series; politically motivated installation works including Butcher Shop 1977/78, held in the NGV Collection; and more recent evocative ‘soft-focus’ paintings of the 1990s and 2000s.
A large proportion of Durrant’s later works employ a technique the artist refers to as ‘supraphotorealism’ – an abstract-like technique which mimics an out-of-focus photograph through the use of vibrant colours, softened edges and select focus, extending beyond the traditional parameters of photorealism.
Inspired by the deliberate intention to shock, Durrant first achieved public notoriety in 1975 when he deposited the carcass of a cow in the NGV forecourt. Soon after, media began referring to him as the ‘enfant terrible of Australian art’. Struck by the apparent double standard whereby people could buy, cook and eat meat but could not acknowledge where it came from, Durrant hoped to highlight the hypocrisy of killing an animal for human consumption.
The artistic context for Durrant’s work in the 1970s related to the distinguishing shift in Australian art with a new generation of artists beginning to explore socio-political issues and experiment with artistic mediums and techniques. Durrant was inspired by the potency of performance art and its ability to make a statement and elicit emotional responses in an unconventional way. Durrant also harnessed the power of the media to promote his work on a broader scale outside the traditional confines of the gallery space.
In ‘The Severed Hand Happening 1975’, Durrant generated the perfect media storm when he drew on his skills working in a prosthetics laboratory at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and exhibited what appeared to be a severed human hand. Coming under police investigation, he revealed the hand was actually an intricately detailed resin sculpture.
Ivan Durrant: Barrier Draw includes a mini-documentary featuring an exclusive interview with the artist. The film will be exhibited alongside newspaper archives contextualising the Australian media’s response to Durrant’s most notorious works and the artist’s enduring fascination with playing the role of the larrikin.
The NGV will publish an exhibition catalogue featuring contributions by Australian playwright and actor Barry Dickins, writer and curator Rodney James, and NGV exhibition curator David Hurlston.
Ivan Durrant: Barrier Draw will be on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 1 May to 25 October 2020. Free entry. Further information is available via the NGV website.
Brace yourselves, Hideous Sun Demon are back with some of their most punishing and electrifying music to date. The Melbourne-based group, who made 2019 their own through the release of their EP Good Time and over the course of extensive bouts of touring, announce their newest Australian tour venture for April and May.
The brand is hitting the road, coming to some of the country’s best venues, brandishing their new single ‘Gimmicks’. Best believe, the song comes packing a serious punch. Arriving with the type of self-confidence that would make anybody envious, Hideous Sun Demon’s latest single is a furious snapshot of the trio operating at their crazy best.
Of their upcoming Australian tour, the band is chomping at the bit to reconnect with fans and introduce the public to their rejuvenated and hectic sounds. “We had grown pretty bored of our old sound. We had kinda gotten into this formulaic approach to songwriting that was defined by fuzzy guitars and doomy riffs. We were eager to adopt a wider breadth of influences, especially since Jake and Vin had bonded over their love of post-punk and new wave in their youth. We’ve started playing with cleaner guitars, writing songs that have a higher focus on tight playing rather than balls to the wall noise, as well as reimagining and broadening what our sound can be.” Hideous Sun Demon
Throughout last year, Hideous Sun Demon were honing their craft on stages throughout Europe, with the Good Time EP bringing them to the radars of many. Following on from 2018’s FAME, EROTIC, DREAM album (the band’s third), their 2019 material showcased a band that was further exploring their sonic identity. Heading into 2020, Hideous Sun Demon are flexing their songwriting and live muscles more than ever.
PRAISE FOR HIDEOUS SUN DEMON
“Hideous Sun Demon are both the odd kid on your street burning their toys with a magnifying glass and the warped, melting plastic figures themselves. Reckless abandon and gleeful horror all at once.”
Triple J Unearthed, Dave Ruby Howe
“A young band kicking genre’s expectations in the teeth.”
The AU Review
“Hideous Sun Demon have a solid sound that makes them stand out in the most beautiful way possible…they are easily one of the most exciting and interesting bands around.”
Beat In My Bones
Welcome this new chapter with the guys at a venue near you this Autumn – we dare ya.
HIDEOUS SUN DEMON AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Friday, April 3rd The Curtin Melbourne
Tickets
Saturday, April 4th The Eastern Ballarat
Tickets
Saturday, April 18th Lord Gladstone Sydney
Sunday, April 19th North Gong Hotel Wollongong
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Thursday, April 23rd The Northern Byron Bay
Friday, April 24th Vinnie’s Dive Gold Coast
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Saturday, April 25th Bearded Lady Brisbane
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Saturday, May 2nd Exeter Beer Garden Adelaide
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Saturday, May 8th Mojo’s Bar Fremantle
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Sunday, May 9th Lyric Lane Perth
Tickets
New Orleans punk band Pears have an announced an Australian tour for May of 2020. Pears will be touring their brand new self-titled album Pears, to be released March 6 on Fat Wreck Chords.
Head over to the Fat Wreck Chords YouTube page right now to listen to “Comfortably Dumb!” It’s a ferocious first taste of their ripping new full-length.
This is their third proper full-length and was recorded with Chris Fogal (The Gamits) at Black in Bluhm Studio in Denver. PEARS will take their latest effort on the road extensively in the coming year, with tours in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South America.
Full Australian tour details below.
Some of history’s best punk bands came and went before they had a chance to get comfortable (and boring), so it’s not surprising that PEARS frontman Zach Quinn had doubts when it came time to record the band’s third full-length. While PEARS have only existed since 2014, maybe a couple LPs and hundreds of explosive live shows were enough?
“I was perfectly prepared to have my Blue Album already,” Quinn says, laughing. “That whole fucking cliché of ‘Our best record’s behind us.’
With the imminent release of PEARS (March 6, Fat Wreck Chords), Quinn says, “Maybe not!” But there’s no maybe about it. PEARS is a significant step forward for a band that has grown by leaps and bounds on each album.
Recorded with Chris Fogal (The Gamits) at Black in Bluhm Studio in Denver, PEARS is 14 songs and 31 minutes of the band’s signature hardcore: heavy, melodic, blistering, pointed, and surprisingly catchy. While it continues down the path set by Green Starand 2015’s Go to Prison, PEARS finds the band taking a different creative approach.
“The last PEARS record, almost every detail was worked out before we ever stepped foot into the studio,” Quinn explains. “This record, we went in with skeletons of songs and put things together on the fly. ”
“We never could afford the studio time to be in there 24/7,” adds guitarist/vocalist Brian Pretus. “A couple of songs ended up being stuff that we wrote on the spot.”
Those include “Naptime,” which moves from loping pop to group-chant hardcore in the space of two minutes, and penultimate track “Traveling Time,” which Pretus describes as a “palate cleanser.” Basically, a midtempo pop song, “Traveling Time” began as a Quinn solo track but found its way onto PEARS thanks to the band’s more open studio approach.
“Collectively, we figured we’ve danced around pop music our entire career so far,” Quinn says, “but we were like, ‘Let’s just do a full-on fucking pop tune. Why not?”
“Full on” is a good descriptor for PEARS in general. The album opens with feedback at the beginning of the riff-heavy “Killing Me” and closes when the even riff-heavier “Cynical Serene” (whose opening plays like Nirvana by way of Hum). In between are 12 songs that shake with can’t-sit-still energy, as the band—rounded out by the ace rhythm section of bassist Erich Goodyear and drummer Jarret Nathan—shifts on a dime between parts and sounds. Elements of prog and grunge intermingle with classic hardcore and hook-laden rock—and it can happen in the space of one song. (In this case, “Worm.”)
Atop all of it are Quinn’s voice and words, which took a different approach as well on this album.
“I thought that I was going to continue the absurdist poetry thing that started with Go to Prison and amplified on Green Star,” he says. Describing Green Star as “The Iliad with shit and cum,” Quinn notes that this time, “The songs are about shit.”
Not shit in the “shit and cum” sense. Quinn writes directly about getting older (“Traveling Time”), moving past anger (“Nervous”), and the prospect of never having a family (“Daughter”), among other topics, all with the wit and candor PEARS fans have come to expect from the explosive frontman.
“It makes perfect sense that this is the third act, but it’s not what I would have predicted it to be,” Quinn says. “I wouldn’t have guessed that the album would end on a bittersweet note. It’s more uplifting than either record that we’ve done, but it’s not a happy record.”
PEARS – AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2020
May 28 – Singing Bird Studios, Frankston
Tickets
May 29 – Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
Tickets
May 30 – Hotel Metro, Adelaide
Tickets
May 31 – The Den, Perth
Tickets
June 1 – Margaret River Football Club, WA
Tickets at the door
June 3 – Transit Bar, Canberra
Tickets
June 4 – Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle – Free Entry
June 5 – Bearded Lady, Brisbane
Tickets
June 6 – Vinnie’s Dive, Gold Coast
Tickets
June 7- Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney – Free Entry
Tickets on sale now.
For complete tour and ticket information, visit:
pearstheband.com
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Art Of Fighting & Youth Group – Co-Headline Tour
Fri May 1: Grace Emily – Adelaide
Tickets
Sat May 2: Howler – Melbourne
Tickets
Sun May 3: The Bridge – Castlemaine
Tickets
Thur May 7: La La La’s – Wollongong
Tickets
Fri May 8: Marrickville Bowling Club – Sydney
Tickets
SATURDAY MARCH 28TH 12PM-10PM
FULL LINEUP:
Theo Parrish, Sister Nancy, Mella Dee, Anastasia
Kristensen, C.FRIM, Cassettes For Kids, Lord Echo (LIVE),
JESSB, Mildlife, Mwanjé, Pink Matter, SK Simeon, Sophie
McAlister, Wax’o Paradiso
Get connected:
https://www.facebook.com/untitledgroupau/
Untitled Group are the group behind Beyond The Valley and Pitch Music & Arts Festival, the collective also represents boutique event brands Ability Fest, Grapevine Gathering and Melbourne electronic hub XE54.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/crownrulers/
Between acts like soul-jazz icon Roy Ayers, Detroit house godfather Theo Parrish, and Chicago dance luminary Larry Heard, the Crown Ruler name has become synonymous with soulful underground music.
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We’re serving up the third iteration of Slice Of Pie, and are chuffed to share two live videos performed by Courtney Barnett and her band at our Pieater HQ ‘BellBird’ in Collingwood. Watch ‘Sunday Roast‘ and ‘Everybody Here Hates You‘ now.
The idea behind Slice Of Pie is to bring together the communities of Pieater and the performing artist, to break bread and enjoy the open studio space. In the crowd you’ll spot some familiar faces from the Milk! Records crew (Jade Imagine, Evelyn Ida Morris), the Pieater family (Tom S from No Mono, Simon from Slow Dancer, Jo and Ted from Big Scary) and more good friends (Thelma Plum, Ali Flintoff aka Denise Le Menice, Thommo from Camp Cope, Thomy from Batpiss, and Thommy from Gumboot). Thom On!
We had our guests film the performance on their smartphones, in turn becoming the co-directors! Unseen but not unloved is Tom Iansek – upstairs in the control room helping the takes sound incredible.
The CB4 (including Bones Sloane on bass, Dave Mudie on drums and Katie Harkin on keys) delivered the sentimental album closer ‘Sunday Roast‘ from Tell Me How You Really Feel, plus the swampy single from 2019 ‘Everybody Here Hates You‘.
COMING UP FOR COURTNEY:
Courtney has just wrapped up a solo tour of the USA, and (let’s be honest) the more-profesh live session for MTV Unplugged has just been released on vinyl! Order it here. This May she’ll be opening solo for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in the UK and Ireland.
Slice of Pie
(Live and Co-directed at BellBird)
featuring Courtney Barnett tracks ‘Sunday Roast‘ and ‘Everybody Here Hates You‘
Stay connected with Pieater:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Soundcloud | Bandcamp
Japanese Modernism is an exclusive exhibition by the National Gallery of Victoria showcasing more than 190 multi-disciplinary works created during the first half of the 20th century, featuring Asian Art Deco paintings, prints, design and fashion.
Created during a culturally formative period in Japan between the catastrophe of the 1923 Kanto earthquake and the devastation of World War II, the exhibition will present traditional Japanese motifs juxtaposed with modern designs, highlighting two rare large-scale works by exceptional yet under-recognised women artists and leading avant-garde designers and illustrators of the era.
Showcasing rare paintings and colour woodblock prints, street posters and magazine designs, Japanese Modernism will also highlight innovative fashion – including kimonos for women and men displaying playful contemporary designs – as well as accessories embracing Art Nouveau and Art Deco design elements. Decorative arts objects will be presented across beautifully-crafted glassware, lacquerware and bronzeware, with over 100 pieces of Japanese cut glass on display, with geometric and nature motifs inspired by Japanese traditional design.
“The culmination of a five-year collecting period by the NGV, Japanese Modernism offers exclusive insight into an era of Japanese art that is yet to be widely discovered by Australian audiences. With all of these works being exhibited in Australia for the first time, this vibrant collection of modernism captures the spirit of a rapidly evolving country and its exuberant youth,” said Tony Ellwood AM, Director, National Gallery of Victoria.
In the 1920s and 30s, Japan underwent major redevelopment and its cities were filled with department stores (including the iconic Mitsukoshi), cafés, teahouses, movie theatres, ballroom dance halls and modern transportation, catering to a new generation of urban pleasure seekers. With an increase in international travel, the influence of new technologies from abroad and a lively consumer culture took hold of the country. In Tokyo, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial Hotel – which survived the devastation of the city’s great Kanto earthquake in 1923 – provided the backdrop for the reconstruction of a modern capital that delivered a new-found sense of optimism to its younger generation.
In 1924, Japanese publisher Hoshino Seki (of the Gahōsha publishing house) commissioned The Great Taisho earthquake and fire, a set of 36 colour prints created by six different artists, depicting scenes from the aftermath of the earthquake. Three years later, the fast-paced development of Japan’s capital was celebrated by graphic artist Hisui Sugiura in his iconic work The first subway in the East 1927, which paid tribute to the opening of the first subway in Tokyo and Asia.
In 1935, Japanese artist Taniguchi Fumie created her trailblazing work Preparing to go out (Yosoou hitobito). Taking inspiration from the 17th century Matsuura screens, the artist created a large sixfold screen capturing changing attitudes towards women, consumerism and fashion in the early 20th century. Despite making huge progress in her artistic practice during the 1930s, Fumie had her burgeoning career cut short after she evacuated to the countryside to escape the final bombing raids of World War II. Leaving Japan in the early 1950s, Fumie was never known to paint again and eventually settled in Los Angeles, where she found work as a waitress, seamstress and maid.
With life progressing at a rapid pace, women relocated from rural areas to the cities to secure jobs and a liberated lifestyle. This transformation of Japan’s social norms led to the first generation of financially independent women and female artists being recognised in Japan’s traditionally male dominated art world. The self-assured, highly fashionable women of the modern era were captured in many artworks of the time including Tea and coffee salon, Sabō 1939 by Saeki Shunkō and Waiting for Makeup 1938 by Negishi Ayako.
Japanese Modernism will be on display at NGV International from 28 February – 4 October 2020. Free entry. Further information is available via the NGV website.
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Old friends and new promises of the scene will make its rounds in Pacha Barcelona’s stage… March will be hot in SIGHT! After a huge homecoming in February, to its rightful place in Pacha Barcelona, March arrives loaded with house and techno beats. For the third month of 2020, SIGHT brings some of the most loved artists by SIGHT’s crowds, along the most interesting promises of the European circuit. Five dates and a special bonus this next Friday, March 6th, that will make March one of the most special months of the year… TICKETS: https://pachabarcelona.es/es/events |
Vintage Culture released new track ‘Deep Inside of Me’ on the 17th Janurary 2020
With hundreds of millions of streams amassed across streaming platforms, Vintage Culture regularly performs sell-out shows across South America. Vintage Culture is clearly a highly skilled and talented DJ and this latest track blends the perfect mix of dance music and house influences to appeal to a huge audience evidenced by his headline slots at some of the worlds most acclaimed dance festivals such as Tomorrowland and Lollapalooza. The monotonous and hypnotising beat to this track goes hand in hand brilliantly with its video, which was produced by Zombie Studios who have previously been affiliated with Gorillaz.
Chris Scholar and his new track ‘Northside’ released Febuary 21st 2020
Chris Scholar has an impressive career history in music, writing for artists such as Chris Brown and French Montana, and yet these accolades don’t define him. Chris is very much forging his own path in music and is certainly generating headlines of his own with his multi talented capabilities across all media. In this track Chris demonstrates his vocal talents by switching from his incredible high falsetto range to his R&B style spoken verses. The track supports a narrative style video which Chris also directed all himself.
The visual for Northside is a coming of age love story, taking place in Richmond, Virginia, the hometown of Chris Scholar. Directed and edited by Chris, with shots coming from his crew of friends, the video depicts cultural landmarks packed with dreamy effects.
Vincent Darby breaks BBC Radio 1 with ‘Baby Oh I’
Vincent Darby is a fast rising recording artist with certain star potential. He has consistently demonstrated his incredible vocal capabilities and has featured on a vast spectrum of genre types and can adapt himself to suit any track needs. His dominant top line vocals and songwriting combined with his vibrant and exuding energy as a person makes him a very sought after artist to work with in the music industry.
His latest release ‘Baby Oh I’ achieved BBC Radio 1 airplay right off the bat and was featured as track of the week on 1xtra. Vincent works closely along Toronto artist duo Locals Only Sound and this track was created with the help of them.
This is a great track from Vincent and has set him up for an incredible year of releases.
Lauren Mayhew, Kymber McClay & INViDA release their joint single ‘Lies’
This great sounding commercial record has been crafted by three established names in the music industry, Lauren Mayhew, Kymber McClay and INViDA. The track conflates Pop and EDM in a clever and alluring way. INViDA produced the record and along with the help of Lauren Mayhew- a singer and DJ who got her first deal with EPIC Sony at just 13 years old and Kymber McClay who is a musician and fashion designer. The track features soaring flamenco guitar solos and a driving rhythm that encompasses a modern collaborative EDM style.
The Mercy Stone released ‘Here and There’ on January 31st 2020
The Mercy Stone return with groundbreaking track ‘Here and There’, complete with soothing vocals and eclectic instrumentation. The group has had notable success via Spotify with 24,000 monthly listeners tuning in. Dive into ‘Here and There’, it rewards.
Reece Lemonius wows with Body language
Returning with Body Language, the track is lighter than Reece Lemonius’ back catalog and discusses light hearted themes. With gorgeous layered vocals and arpeggiated synths, the track is reminiscent of 00s feel-good Pop RnB which really showcases Reece ‘s versatility.
Posh Chocolates hit out with GAUDY
Supported by BBC Radio 6 Music via Tom Robinson’s introducing mixtape, Posh Chocolates discuss the the liberal eco-elite, in jest. Hailed by BBC Introducing’s Shell Zenner as ‘One To Watch’ in the Manchester scene for 2020, the band are gaining traction, and fast.