Well it’s that time of year again, that time where we all put our hands up and rejoice at the coming of the Sydney Festival and this year’s offerings are proving to be some of the best so far.
Apart from such amazing acts as The Bays, Cinematic Orchestra, Bon Iver and others playing across Sydney, but once again the Becks Festival Bar is offering a veritable smorgasbord to ‘feed’ your musical appetite.
With Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Mr Scruff, Java, Metronomy, Pivot, Throwing Muses and Uber Lingua having already trodden the boards like the juggernauts they are, Music Feeds gives you a run down on what’s left to get your panties twisted.
Z TRIP
January 22
The mash-up maestro will be bringing his legendary live show to the Becks Bar, and if you’re into hip hop dance or anything really you’ll get you’re ass down there quicker than an executive can plead the fifth.
Joining him for the “trip” will be Aussie hip hop part starters TZU, keeping the Z theme alive and blasting the crowd with their tasty beats and wild rhymes.
DISCO NOUVEAU w HOLY GHOST!
January 23
NYC Disco/Indie lords Holy Ghost! are one of the most exciting electronic acts out there at the moment. Signed to DFA (the home of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip) this dynamic duo have been earning themselves quite a rep from their powerful live shows and pumping remixes of artists like Cut Copy and In Flagranti.
Joining them will be UK Disco/House scene veterans Idjut Boys (aka Phantom Slasher). Having helped define what we now know as House and Disco be sure to catch them as they bombard the Becks Bar with their genre bending groove led dancefloor hurricane.
Also Theatre Of Disco will be there as well as Future Classic DJs, including Nathan McLay, top it off alongside a DJ set from psychedelic 60’s meets NuDisco posse Canyons (Hole in the Sky).
HYPER DUB
January 24
Guest curators Inertia and Void program a night of deep future dub, with The Bug featuring Warrior Queen.
When it comes to making beats, The Bug is as prolific as he is diverse. He runs his own Pathological Records imprint; for over 2 decades he has collaborated as The Bug and under various aliases (Techno Animal, God, Ice et al) with the likes of El-P, Kevin Shields, Antipop Consortium, Ricky Ranking (Roots Manuva), Flowdan, Spaceape and Killa P.
Berlin outfit Rhythm & Sound’s stripped down, rootsy, hi-tech dub/techno has earned them legendary status – Mark Ernestus and Tikiman (Paul St Hilaire) bring the sound to Australia for the first time.
Joining them are Mark Pritchard, Sub Bass Snarl, Victim, Garage Pressure, MC’s Ozi Batla and Steve Spacek.
CAMILLE
January 27
So French that US won’t let her in the country, Camille promises to be a highlight of the Beck Bar this year, bringing her own unique brand of music the audiences down under.
Avant-garde more in delivery than sound, both her recorded compositions and powerful live performances explore the human voice and body in all their infinite music-making possibilities.
A capella, beat-boxing, sighs, vocal interpretations of real instruments and beat sequencers, animal noises, body percussion, even hiccups combine with intelligent lyrics, French chanson storytelling and 60s folk and 70s soul influences to produce Camille’s truly original sound.
She’s joined by freeform jazz-electronic band Entropic and DJs Bentley, Trevor Parkee and James Locksmith.
FBi NIGHT w FOUR TET
January 28
Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) makes machine-based music with acoustic warmth as evidenced by his remixes of Beth Orton and Radiohead. Drawing on jazz, soul and folk and pitching it against intricate, funky rhythms he’s created a new genre of music.
Kieran Hebden’s Four Tet project balances organic and programmed sounds. Live, he improvises in real-time, drawing on and feeding back the energy of his audience.
Joing him will be local sonic voyager Qua. Crafting joyful sonic vistas that simultaneously tug on the heartstrings, while sending appreciative shivers through the brain, his work uses field recordings as much as guitar, noisy software as much as the sound of delicate acoustic instruments, and rich spatial environments as much as the digital frenzy of an array of sound-plugins. Drawing upon elements of world music, folk and rock to create his incredible fusion, Qua makes electronic music that defies pigeonholes.
DJs Lorna and Bec Paton complete the line-up for this evening of sonic bliss.
ALICE RUSSEL
January 29
Blessed with a lavishly soulful voice that tugs at the emotions and raises hairs on the back of the neck, Alice Russell’s sound is both unmistakably modern and classically timeless. Her style is a predominantly bluesy, soul lament but encompasses everything from funk to gospel to jazz and beyond.
Dubbed ‘a Herbie Hancock for the new millennium,’ New Zealand-born, UK-based musician and producer, Mark de Clive-Lowe stands at the forefront of the nu-jazz movement, blending jazz, ethnic music and urban grooves into a fresh 21st century flavour. He leads his dancefloor-oriented jazz, funk and soul session with UK singer, songwriter and performer, Vanessa Freeman.
Armed with an impressive catalogue of self-penned neo-soul, RnB and pop tunes and a remarkable vocal range, Christine Eva joins forces with hip hop turntablist Mickey Morphingaz as well Sydney-based music fiend DJ Huwston to round off the night.
FBi NIGHT w BURAKA SON SISTEMA
January 30
Buraka Som Sistema (DJ/MC set, Portugal) – aka Lil’ John, Riot and Conductor – fuse the wild traditional beats of Angolan Kuduro music with 21st century electronics to create a distinct adrenaline-soaring sound.
The band draws influences from the music of their youth in the Lisbon suburbs, fusing it with the inspiration taken from genres as diverse as drum n bass, hip hop and dance. A revolving cast of talents complete the picture for Buraka including past collaborations with guest vocalists/MCs Petty, M.I.A., Pongolove, Kalaf and DJ Znobia.
Renowned for their high-energy shows, KillaQueenz has emerged as one of Australia’s most exciting hip hop acts. The rhymes, beat boxing, dancing and raw power of their live performances have earned them a well-deserved reputation for being one of the ultimate crowd party rockers.
Individually they are Jimmy Sing, Moriarty, Sleater Brockman and Spruce Lee but combine to form Ro Sham Bo. Four upstarts with a taste for good party music, Ro Sham Bo’s shows focus on the more incredible side of music made for the club, everything from crunk from the Dirty South, funk from the favelas of Brazil, the freshest Jamaican dancehall, the rougher electro sounds from France, the loudest club they can find in Baltimore, UK grime, ghettotech, reggaeton, and whatever else they can find.
Stalwart of the Sydney scene and member of local troupe Peace Out, tha Fizz will also lend their eclectic feel to the night.
MAD RACKET w DAEDELUS
January 31
Daedelus, the eccentric, electronic and Victorian costumed maestro of Ninja Tune is not your average cookie-cutter musician. One of LA’s most daring and prolific new artists, Daedelus chops and splices disparate acoustic sources into incredible works of contemporary resonance.
His trademark musicality contrasts IDM styled, left-field hip-hop cut-ups with samples from the 30s and 40s, the resulting style of honeyed melody and avant-electronics having no imitators. Daedelus’ reputation is long since established through collaborations with MF Doom, Madlib, Busdriver, Radioinactive, TTC, Mike Ladd and Taz from Sa-Ra, playing alongside Justice, DJ Assault and Two Live Crew and a guest appearance in Erykah Badu’s latest video.
The musician’s engaging live set brings much genuine dynamism to the sometimes-static world of performed electronic/dance music. Racketeers Simon Caldwell, Jimmi James, Ken Cloud and Zootie round off the night.
