You may have seen them handing you a six foot high stack of records at Butter Beats or rocking at one of the Asylum parties – TIAMOS & RABBIT join forces to post five hardcore tunes.

1. The Playah & Neophyte – I’m In A Nightmare (Rotterdam Records): A hard-hitting tune from two of the biggest names hardcore has ever known.

2. Amnesys – Elevation (Traxtorm): Traxtorm Records newcomer Amnesys raises the standard of Italian hardcore with this pounding track.

3. Spinecode – Who’s Twisted Now? (Brizcore): Brisbane’s very own Spinecode brings it fast and brutal for Brizcore records, putting a new ‘twist’ on an old Korn track.

4. Angerfist & Predator – Legend (Masters of Hardcore): Oldschool hardcore legend DJ Predator teams up with Angerfist to deliver a very powerful track with undertones of the battle between dark and light.

5. Amnesys – 4D Future (Traxtorm): Another track from Amnesys that won’t become history for a long time.

Check out www.butterbeatsrecordstore.com and www.myspace.com/brisbaneasylum for more information.

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The ARIA Awards will take place at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday Nov 7 this year, with two new categories added to the awards list – Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album and Best Adult Alternative Album – and for the first time ever, there will be four public-voted categories. Channel Ten will be broadcasting the gala-styled ceremony and performances.

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Rock and sky-diving? Hey, why not at the debut of the Equinox Rocks Festival at Ramblers Drop Zone, in Toogoolawah (near Esk). From 2pm in Saturday Oct 16 you can catch Angry Anderson, new resident of the Gold Coast Dallas Frasca & Her Gentleman (pictured), punk ladies Legless, the acoustic stylings of German Robert Carl Blank and many, many more. It’s all ages, and tickets will be available next month from www.equinoxrocks.com – and there’s also info about booking into a tandem dive.

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Far North Queensland Indigenous roots and reggae band Zennith (pictured) are embarking on a tour to celebrate the September release of debut album Nothin’ To Lose. They start at The Globe on Thursday Jul 29 (with Darky Roots and Chocolate Strings) before hitting Splendour on Saturday Jul 31 and the Gold Coast’s SoundLounge on Friday Aug 6. The album gets an official launch at Cairns’ Reggaetown on Sep 11.

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Photo: David Burness

As the double ‘80s-nostalgia package erupts at The Tivoli, I can’t help but think someone else has booked the Kedron-Wavell tonight. Back in 1986-87, Wa Wa Nee’s teen idol Paul Gray used to pack the Boondall arena; these days, they barely fill three-quarters of The Tiv’s bottom floor. Long shorn of the notorious mullet, Gray mock-wistfully groans “my hair ... what was I thinking?” in between rocking his keytar. The jobbing rhythm section providing a fat backbeat, hits I Could Make You Love Me, Sugar Free and Stimulation are still quite funky in that oversaturated ‘80s way, however the covers medley of KC & The Sunshine Band’s Get Down Tonight, Michael Sembello’s Maniac and Van Halen’s Jump feels simultaneously half-arsed and cheesy.

Eric Weideman is also sporting a different hairstyle these days (dreadlocks), but otherwise he’s hardly changed since 1927’s glory days and his voice is in a great nick. With Gray on keyboards, 1927 Mk. 2 perform their 1989 multi-platinum debut ...ish in its entirety; alas, the majority of those upbeat pop-rock cuts don’t stand the test of time very well. Flickers of old magic finally appear on Compulsory Hero and That’s When I Think Of You, while the immaculately-performed Aussie classic If I Could has numerous couples swaying and singing along. You can’t ruin a good song.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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(Shock)

Nephew of Paul continues his eccentric pop vision

It’s interesting that Dan Kelly is the nephew of Paul Kelly – not because they are both singer-songwriters, but because they are both complete opposites of each other when it comes to penning a tune. Not that Paul Kelly is a humourless writer (far from it), but Dan uses humour and quirky observation as his bread and butter, as opposed to Paul’s earnest character studies. This is none-more-evident than on his new album Dan Kelly’s Dream, which gets the balance of humour and solid songwriting just right. The lyrics aren’t so ‘wacky’ as to overshadow the value of the tunes. At a recent gig, he even self-deprecatingly described daffy sing-along Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam as “the stupidest song I’ve ever written” – it’s to his (and the audience’s) benefit that it’s also accompanied by a classically winning pop hook. Other highlights include the jaunty shuffle Read All About It In The Catholic Leader, the uncharacteristically psychedelic Hold On I’m Coming On and his “fun apocalypse song” Dan Kelly’s Dream (perhaps one of the only songs to claim both Schapelle Corby and Stereolab as influences).

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MATT THROWER

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