Wednesday 7th May
Jefferson Airplane once advised we go ask alice and feed our heads. Tumble down a rabbit hole every once in a while. Remember the glory days of Ultravox! and lose yourself in kaleidoscopic wall hangings. Listen to stoned bursts of noise, wake up and then go touch someone. We’re not endorsing hallucinogenic substances. But we encourage you to go learn about them. After all, thinking there are poodles talking to you from a car window can’t be healthy.
Issue 154 – feed your heads.
Cover shot by Sean T. Barnes. If you would like to submit a cover photo, that would be rad. Email photo@threethousand.com.au.
Wheeled turtles
Luuk
Chat plates
Walking online
Sylvia Tournerie
Defendius door chain
Sushi pillows
Santogold
Will Rigby
Farewell Books
Oogabooga
Uniqlo
Twin Vickers
Tell us what's cool
cool@twothousand.com.au
Turtle Remake
Donny
Dog plates
Walking offline
Geri Halliwell
Reputation defender
Geisha facials
Gold sundae
Eleanor Rigby
Farewells
Happy countdown
Bulgarian asylums
City Slickers
Tell us what's fool
fool@twothousand.com.au
WON Magazine issue 02
What:
WON Magazineissue 02
Where:
See here for distributors
When:
Issue 02 available now
How much:
Free to pick up, $8 to order online
If you’re reading WON Magazine, wash your hands before you touch your face, or you will end up with gridiron style under-eye war paint. Yes, WON is constructed of humble newsprint and is absolutely free (where you can get it), though its content is no hastily slapped-together assemblage of sensation like our daily rags.
Inside Issue 02 (Autumn 2008) is enough magic and mystery to compensate for all the art openings and gigs you’ve been too lazy to attend in the past six months. As well as news on the Arthur Russell film and a revelatory chat with CAN’s co-founder, Holger Czukay. Other illustrious interviewees include Thomas Baldischwyler and Vernon Treweeke in conversation, Daniel Wang and Will Sweeney.
Format: Magazine
Motivation: Improves creativity by osmosis
Keywords: Now Now
Nouns, No Age
What:
Nouns
Who:
No Age
MySpace:
Here
Win:
We have one copy of Nouns to give away. For your chance to win email win@threethousand.com.au with subject line 'stoned bursts of noise' and your postal address
The summer release of Weirdo Rippers saw No Age bring together a collection of songs that had spanned five independently released EPs, as kind of an introduction to the band. Soon after, the ever attentive ears of Sub Pop picked up on the LA duo and have now released their first full length album Nouns. Although slightly smoother around the edges the band have still captured and delivered their delicious mix of stoned bursts of noise and straight up West Coast punk, with all the fervour of their previous release.
The new album is unpredictable; never remaining static for too long. As the compositions switch between noise and punk the instrumentation and vocals promptly follow suit. Guitars are rough or warm, the drums thrashing or nonexistent. Throw into this the use of wired loops and sonic pedal effects and the album becomes a noticeably ambitious affair. Quite an achievement for just two people. What does remain a constant throughout though is the positivity and upbeat tone. Winter will undoubtedly be long, cold, and lonely, but Nouns will prove to be the perfect companion.
Release: Album
To Cure: A quiet weekend
Iron Man
Bruce “My Parents Are Dead!” Wayne has great toys and fashion sense, but crippling angst. The first act of Iron Man, though, is packed with such gonzo joy that you’ll want to be a drunken arms manufacturer when you grow up.
The movie keeps Stark out of costume as much as possible, but when he gets into the Iron Man suit it feels suitably heavy – made of metal, and not shiny, physicsless CGI. There’s not the same directorial stamp of Burton’s Batman or Lee’s Hulk or Singer’s Superman here, as – like in most monthly superhero comics – the character eclipses everything else.
This movie belongs, without question, to Robert Downey Jr. He gives Stark a breezy credibility without compromising the film’s fun B-grade feel, and holds together its schizophrenic pro- and anti- positions of military might in the Middle East. (The answer? Superheroes, not soldiers.)
It's fitting that Marvel's favourite billionaire – a cool exec with a heart of steel – gets his own decadent blockbuster, and it’s one that’s deserving of your cash.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Epic
Keywords: Robert Downey Jr., Marvel
Ken Done for Vice T-Shirts
What:
Ken Done for Vice T-Shirts
Where:
Here
When:
Until they run out (this might happen soon)
How much:
$55 + $5 postage
Ken Done has said, “In the times in which we live it is far too restricting to say that art can only be found in art galleries and not touch people's everyday lives... I want to use any means that are necessary to communicate to people what I feel about things.” And he’s following right through on that, communicating to us via the medium of Vice t-shirts.
If Ken Done has touched your life so far only through his pavilion sign at Expo 88 and the shower curtain your Mum won’t throw out, it’s time to reconnect. These t-shirts are really kind of unreal and they’re limited edition, which always puts a shine on things. Get one of the hundred in existence while they’re still available. Some of the proceeds go to Unicef. So, not only will Ken be touching you, but also you will be touching the children.
Product: Clothing
Theft: Theft is inevitable: Buy two
Tiny Moving Pictures
What:
John Foxx’s Tiny Moving Pictures
Where:
ACMI, Federation Square
When:
Fri May 9, 9pm
How much:
$13/$10
Win:
We have two double passes to give away. For your chance to win email win@threethousand.com.au with subject ‘fossilised audio’
John Foxx’s bucolic audio-visual collage in Tiny Moving Pictures reflects his entire career. His past musical and cinematic influences, from Ultrovox! to his genre-rattling, cross-medium conceptions, surface to weaken the post-‘90s wave of raveless new rave with history and explorative depth.
Foxx’s Metamatic was heralded as a new rave blueprint with its analogue, minimalist attributes. But since then he’s worked with the likes of Tim Simenon, Aphex Twin and Louis Gordon.
Tiny Moving Pictures celebrates this calibre of artist through layers of fossilised audio that Foxx performs live to video. Super 8 films of surveillance-camera city vignettes pivot on references to Kerourac, JG Ballad and TS Eliot. In a recent interview, Foxx explains that the appeal of shooting on Super 8 is to show "raw beauty…from an unrecognised, parallel world". Tiny Moving Pictures is like an encyclopaedic account of Foxx, teaching us that John Foxx kept himself busy after ‘Vienna’.
Medium: Mixed
Plane
What:
Plane
Where:
143 Chapel Street, Windsor
When:
Mon-Thurs 10.30am-5.30pm, Fri 10.30am-6.30pm, Sat 11am-5.30pm (subject to change - call ahead 9521 3307)
How Much:
T-shirts start from $20
One man had a vision, and that vision was that the good people of Melbourne would abandon their consumerist label-whoring and embrace good old fashioned quality basics. From this lofty ideal came a store, Plane, which houses a broad collection of plain (get it?!) clothing from all over the world. One of the few places to stock American Apparel before their flagship opened, Plane also stocks an array of wardrobe staples …sans pretentious faux-French graphics and whatever else kids are wearing on their clothes these days.
Most of the buzz generating about the store at the moment relates to their impressive collection of canvas shoes, which take care of all your multicoloured plimsole and Dunlop Volley needs. Owner Tristan is doing a big makeover in the coming weeks, so look out for more up-and-comer locals like Minty Meets Munt, tailored pieces from cult NY label 429, and an organic clothing range to grace the shelves in the near future. Already you can get super-softies which seem to be made of bamboo. I know – as if the Pandas haven't suffered enough.
Product: Clothing
Anatomy: Hip pocket
Keywords: Windsor, American Apparel, 429
Drugs: a social history
What:
Drugs: a social history
Where:
Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton Gardens
When:
Friday May 9 – Sun Sept 21
How much:
Free with museum entry
Win:
We have a double pass to Drugs: a social history to give away. For your chance to win email win@threehousand.com.au with subject ‘those round-table sessions taught me everything I know’
We’ve come a long way since prescribing heroin to pregnant women. And Queen Victoria isn’t around to smoke a joint with her tea. Nor is Baudelaire chewing cannabis with Flaubert. But pre-pubescent kids are still getting the “it’s okay to try it once” pep-talks from their folks. Spanning a history longer than a Turkish hookah pipe, there’s more to learn than knowing your parents took every hallucinogenic trip available in their heyday.
Melbourne Museum’s newest exhibition is as fun but more informative than those round-table bong sessions during school hours. Legal and illegal drugs, sly-grog and safe injecting; this exhibition won’t be full of school tours but will teach you everything you need to know. There will be no taste testers.
* This ThreeThousand writer, for the sake of her parents’ sanity, never took part in round-table bong sessions. In fact, she doesn’t even know what a bong is… *pulls at collar*
Ambience: Indoor
Difficulty: Won't hurt a bit
Keywords: Melbourne Museum
white rabbit Record Bar
Where:
176 Bellair St, Kensington
When:
(Winter opening hours)
Tues-Wed 11am-8pm, Thurs–Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-6pm
Contact:
9376 5441
Alighting from Kensington station, you may be forgiven for thinking you had been transported to the other side of the looking glass with Alice. Bellair Street abounds with creatures of small stature talking gibberish (kids) and happy hairy animals (dogs mostly) and, well, people eating mushrooms (brunch). Tripping over the leashes and manoeuvring through the obstacle course of prams toward the end of this small strip of cafés, the unmistakable sound of vinyl through speakers will lure you to the second-hand record shop, bar, café and music venue.
Settle-in to watch the passing parade of Connex and V-Line trains out the front, or select a quiet corner in the back courtyard. The split-level interior of white rabbit houses a tiny kitchen serving bagels, pancakes and snacks with a bar full of imported beers to accompany the DJ sets and bands on a weekend night. Be warned that this Kensington haunt is no drug-fuelled wonderland where tea-drinking weirdos get high off mercury-laced headwear. But it is comfortable with all the cosy fittings: a fireplace, couches and dimly lit lamps of the retro-persuasion.
Venue: Bar
Meal: Where everybody knows your name
Keywords: Kensington
USvsTHEM First Birthday
What:
USvsTHEM First Birthday
Where:
Roxanne, 2, level 3, Coverlid Place, Melbourne
When:
Friday May 9, doors 9pm
How much:
$15 for one night's entry or $35 for the three-week season.
Win:
We have one double pass to this week's USvsTHEM. For your chance to win email win@threethousand.com.au with subject line 'chalk and cheese smoothie'
Description:
UsvsTHEM is all about bringing chalk and cheese together to make a surprisingly delicious chalky-cheesey-smoothie. To celebrate their one-year birthday USvsTHEM will be pulling together bands with different sounds in one explosive line up over three weeks. The Vasco Era, have played alongside The Black Keys, The Violent Femmes and You Am I. And this Saturday they play alongside Melbourne super group The Ooga Boogas. The Ooga Boogas are the offshoots of other Melbourne bands, Eddy Current Supression Ring, The Sailors and The Onyas to create a sweaty mash of 60s garage beat-rock mayhem. Thrown in the mix are the runts of the Melbourne band scene, The Frowning Clowns; enough clashing flavours to please everyone.
Event: Bands
Stimulus: C
Keywords: The Vasco Era, Roxanne, Us vs Them
Warehouse Clearance Sale
What:
Warehouse Clearance Sale
Where:
The Empire Warehouse, 30 Kerr St, Fitzroy
When:
Opening VIP night: Fri 9 May 6pm-9pm, Sat 10 and Sun 11 May 10am-5pm
How Much:
Tees from $5!
Description:
With rising petrol prices putting even the most dedicated chromers out of action, and the cost of your gluten-free organic spelt bread through the roof, it's no wonder you're often mistaken for a homeless person on the tram. Dressing yourself can be expensive, especially when it's winter and those burlap sacks look like such a good option. It's timefor some new threads - on the cheap - courtesy of The Empire, who are holding the final weekend of their street-wear clearance sale this weekend. With tees from Boxfresh and Obey starting at $5, you'll have enough food stamps left over to get yourself a $40 pair of jeans, and a $30 hoodie. They may revoke your Choir of Hard Knocks membership, but at least you'll be warm.
Event: Sales
Stimulus: S
Keywords: Warehouse Clearance Sale, The Empire
The Emergency and Always at Collectors’ Set
What:
The Emergency and Always at Collectors’ Set
Where:
Recorded Music Salon, 11 Collins Street, Melbourne
When:
Sat May 10, 8pm
How much:
Free
Description:
After a culinary nip-tuck and a few spatial touch-ups, The Recorded Music Salon hosts the newly established Collectors’ Set. This Saturday The Emergency link arms with Always and massage the space with the stuff from their trunk. in Collectors’ Set’s words, this is “a rare opportunity to dig deep into their collections and deliver sets that transcend the pressures of the dancefloor”. Entry is free and so finding the courage to request Banarama.
Event: DJs
Stimulus: A
Keywords: The Emergency, Always, Recorded Music Salon
‘The God's Mistakes' Trimapee party
What:
‘The God's Mistakes' Trimapee party: Milk Shoppe Gang's first Birthday!
Where:
‘Secret warehouse location revealed upon ticket purchase'
Tickets from The Milk Shoppe Gang, 78 Johnston St, Fitzroy
When:
Sat May 10, doors 8pm
How much:
$15 presale only, which makes sense you know, because otherwise you won't know where it is
Win:
We have two double passes to give away! To enter, email win@threethousand.com.au with the subject line ‘I have not been invited to kick back with the Ksubi DJs in a VIP beachfront basement'
Description:
They at Trimapee have it right: you can go to Sydney Fashion Week but in everyone's interests, it's just better to have the party in Melbourne. This is the label's ‘Fashion Week Melbourne Party' combined with the first birthday of their Fitzroy shop, The Milk Shoppe Gang. (Some Sydney residue remains, being that it is in ‘a secret warehouse location'. People: chillax, Melbourne will go to your party even if it's not secret, what else do we have to do? No kicking back with the Ksubi DJs in a VIP beachfront basement options.) The DJs are an awesome, classic Lounge / Revolver throw-back line up: Spacey-Space, Sunshine and Mugen.
Event: Party
Stimulus: E
Near Your House EP launch
What:
Near Your House EP launch
Where:
The Great Britain, 447 Church St, Richmond
When:
Sat May 10, doors 9pm
How much:
Free!
Win:
OMG we have a copy of the EP to give away. To enter, email win@threethousand.com.au with the subject line ‘eyeshadow is not a shortcut to disco punk'
Description:
When you love a band this much, writing up their shows becomes a new kind of challenge: a quest, in fact, to be quoted in their press releases. So, here goes: Near Your House are the antidote to every other band who puts ‘post punk' in their MySpace genre listing then slaps effects over their lyrics like it's as easy as stealing their sister's eye-shadow. They are true disco punk icons, taking up where Bowie left off while retaining enough balls to boost the sale of hairspray in the male 18-25 demographic. They are not the bastard children of anyone; they are better than Duran Duran crossed with Muscles in a multi-billion dollar NASA-sponsored lab. If they weren't near my house, I would pay a premium international airfare plus cab and a $10 tip to get to their house. Jeez, just go see the show. They're launching their first studio-recorded EP, We are Near Your House, with support from The Genie.
Event: Launch
Stimulus: E
Keywords: Post-punk, Near Your House
Wednesday 7th May
In June last year collective Alberts Basementrounded up 15 bands to play in some dude’s bedroom. If you’re thinkingsome hippies lined their walls with egg cartons, set up a tape deckand bashed their knuckles over a few fashion keyboards, read further. Spear-headed by MichaelZulicki, the Alberts Basement movement has put together gigs, fundraisers, parties and exhibitions. Their latest achievement is this fine record. It's the first of the series and features: Great Earthquake, Humansixbillion,Patinka Cha Cha, Low Rise Estate, Fulton Girls Club, Extreme Wheeze, Popolice, Touch Typist, Guns For Saint Sebastion, Seagull, Johnny Saw Horses and Oscar's Psuche. We have one record to give away
This week’s question:
Where exactly is Alberts Basement?
a) under some crazy lady’s staircase. Albert is a one-eyed ragamuffin who was left on the porch many moons ago.
b) some hippie’s egg-carton hovel in Preston
c) an underground room packed with musicians lit by the flicker of one fluorescent light.
d) an illegally run bar in 1920s New York. Albert is bootlegger with loose women and looser morals.
To be in the running send your answer AND postal address towin@threethousand.com.au. Winners will be notified by email. NOTE:Subscriber only entry. Not a subscriber? No sweat. Sign up here.
ThreeThousand is a weekly snapshot of Melbourne's subculture, fired by email into the loving arms of people who realise that the best things in life are often hard to find. It is compiled by an amorphous gaggle of writers, stylists, designers and photographers who all like huddling under that big umbrella we like to call creativity. Without editorial independence ThreeThousand has nothing. All editorial you read is featured because it's worth it - not because it's paid for.
Advertising Partnerships:
ThreeThousand is a trusted and proven medium for advertisers to engage with Melbourne's most elusive individuals - our subscribers. Each issue offers one advertiser the opportunity to have sole presence in the e-newsletter. A variety of placements (three, to be exact) are also available on threethousand.com.au. For more information on advertising with ThreeThousand contact Francesco at frunch@rightanglepublishing.com and Robbie at robert@rightanglepublishing.com.
Feedback:
Have something to say? Then say it by emailing talk@threethousand.com.au
Disclaimer:
The information in ThreeThousand is subject to change. Although we attempt to ensure that the content at the time of publication is correct, we do not guarantee its accuracy or currency. Right Angle Publishing accepts no responsibility to you or anyone else arising from any use or reliance on the information contained in ThreeThousand or any inaccuracy in the information. The views and opinions expressed on material included in ThreeThousand may not reflect those of Right Angle Publishing.
Contact:
Right Angle Publishing
Level 6, Curtin House
252 Swanston Street
Melbourne, 3000
+ 61 3 9662 1657
ThreeThousand's MySpace:
myspace.com/threethousand
Group Publisher:
Barrie Barton
barrie@rightanglepublishing.com
Editor:
Penny Modra
penny@threethousand.com.au
Acting Editor:
Isabel Dunstan
isabel@threethousand.com.au
Acting Assistant Editor
Sophie Gaston
sophie@threethousand.com.au
Film Editor:
Martyn Pedler
martyn@threethousand.com.au
Music Editor:
Mark Gomes
mark@threethousand.com.au
READ Editor:
Kirsten Law
kirsten@threethousand.com.au
Design Monkeys:
tin&ed
Image and Web Monkey:
Remi Carette
Taran Hubbert
STREET Pics Monkeys:
Mia Mala McDonald
Jamima Wu
Contributing Monkeys:
Nadia Saccardo
Gabriel Knowles
Chris Barton
Kieran O'Shea
Mike Harrison
Check out our 'Meet Me for a Drink' column in The Age EG liftout every Friday...
Meet Me For a Drink Monkeys:
Kirsten Law
Penny Modra
Simon Godfrey
Mark Gomes
Matt Hurst
Josh Gardiner
Isabel Dunstan
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