• The Valley’s eclectic BarSoma looks set to host another interesting night of live music on Thursday Nov 27 when gritty post-punkers Sweetness Sweetness return to the live arena, accompanied by the latest configuration of New Manic Spree and Repeat Offender spin-off act The Arctic. Doors at 7.30pm.
• Miss Bertie’s cabaret and burlesque mini extravanganzas are on at the very cosy Smoking Joynt in West End once again, with the latest featuring a Best Little Whorehouse In Texas theme. Check it out the evening of Thursday Nov 27.
• Don’t forget experimental math-rock types Pivot are set to play at The Zoo on Friday Nov 28, supported by the raw and minimal My Disco and Brisbane doom rock collective Secret Birds. All three acts have acclaimed recent releases floating about, and this gig looks to be heaven for the experimental rock set. Start stockpiling earplugs, candles and angular dance moves now.
• Orange-based singer-songwriter Amber Cashell visits Brisbane for two shows next week, playing songs from her debut album One Iota & Everything That Follows one more time before completing work on her second album. You can catch her at West End’s Lock’n’Load on Saturday Nov 29 (with Aaron Wynne) and at The Troubadour on Sunday Nov 30 (with Madeleine Page and Aleesha Dibbs).
• Many-limbed Israeli funk act Funk’n’stein are about to embark on their inaugural tour of Australia, the 8-piece band pulling into The Zoo on Wednesday Dec 3. Head along to see how they bring the funk in Tel Aviv. (www.myspace.com/funknstein)
• Sydney indie types The Devoted Few, featuring Sarah Blasko-backer and Purple Sneakers DJ Ben Fletcher, are hopping in the van to play a few shows up the east coast, stopping in at the Step Inn on Friday Dec 5 with a local indie all-star support line-up of Rocketsmiths, Grand Atlantic and Hungry Kids Of Hungary. They’ll be playing tracks from their new album, Baby, You’re A Vampire, due out February next year.
• www.Brismetal.com Records are launching a new compilation CD on Friday Dec 5 with a launch show as part of Rosie's Live. It’s $15 entry from 8pm, and the line-up includes Born From The Ashes, Paroxysmal Descent, Sedition, Limb From Limb, The Dead and Bonesaw.
• Brisbane alternative pop outfit The Quills are bypassing a studio debut and will launch their first live record on Saturday Dec 6 at The Globe, supported by The Frets and The Travelling So & So’s. A Thought In Your Head: The Quills Live In Concert showcases songs from their debut EP Some New Place as well as new material, eventually to turn up on their first studio full-length. Recorded live at The Zoo, the two disc CD/DVD is a perfect introduction to the band, and should appeal to fans and newcomers alike.
• The Gin Club will play their 4th annual Xmas party on Saturday Dec 13 at the Old Museum, Bowen Hills, accompanied by Jacob S. Harris, Aerial Maps, Texas Tea and Clinkerfield. Tickets are $17+bf and available now from www.oztix.com.au

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• P!nk continues to steam roll the BEC box office, as news of a fifth Brisbane show breaks. The new date for the Alecia Beth Moore show is Sunday Jul 26, 2009.Tickets hit Ticketek Friday Nov 21.
• The final line up for Festival Of The Sun has been announced – cast you eyes right to check out the Concert Calendar’s full listing for the Port Macquarie housed event, running Dec 12 and 13.
• Saul Williams and The Red Paintings have added a Great Northern date to their tour – stopping by the Byron Bay local Saturday Dec 6, before hitting The Zoo Sunday Dec 7.

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Everyone’s favourite guru-touting troubadour, Ben Lee (pictured), is teaming up with the Queensland Orchestra to play a very special one off performance at the Brisbane Convention Centre Sunday Nov 23. A far cry from his stripped back Splendour headline slot earlier this year, this is a performance fans cannot afford to miss … and besides, orchestras are the new black. Grab one of the few remaining tickets through Ticketek.

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Land Cruiser Park - Fri Nov 14 - Sun Nov 16

A near full moon makes navigation and tent-pitching an easy task for those arriving Friday evening, but I still hear stories of nightmare five and ten-hour trips courtesy of some misleading directions posted mysteriously on the web. We set up our swags and camp by a billabong under the shade of a gum tree – with beats at our back, a fire, and a waterfront setting resplendent with shimmering moon; life is grand. Though some durable attendees spend their Friday night absorbing the beats, most snuggle in their tent, dreams enlivened by relentless electronic music chorused by resident frogs. A morning foray reveals market stalls, a rave safe tent, a lounge area with mellow beats, and clusters of campers scattered over a vast, picturesque landscape. The day is hot and punters strip bare and find sanctuary in the turbid billabong. At dusk, a woman meditates in front of a psychedelic animal skeleton in the man-made bush hut adjacent to the stomp floor. She’s still there six hours later, oblivious to all around her. The night comes to life at 9:30 when One Tasty Morsel belt the first real psy tunes of the event followed by Neuron Compost (a late swap with Sensient who plays a thumping set 11:00am Sunday). Artifakt’s staggering, choppy set seems somewhat out-classed by increasingly impressive local CY and his belting, mechanical audio experience. The much-anticipated Commercial Hippies are intensely brilliant and by now a communal jug of liquid promising psychedelic effects, circulates the sun-drenched dance floor. Mark Henning’s Sunday afternoon set is an interesting aside to the predominantly psy-based main stage acts and, even after the massive night, people are highly appreciative of his work. Overall the event is brilliant. The sound is flawless. Dogs and kids mingle with colourful characters of all shapes and sizes, and the freedom of alternative lifestyle is encapsulated and constrained only by respect for one’s peers.

TIM RETROT

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(Lost Highway/Universal)

Another month, another Ryan record…

…Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but only a slight one! Ryan Adams continues his prolific output of music in a manner that is not conducive to the ambitious plotting and marketeering that accompanies the success of most mainstream records. But for what it’s worth, Cardinology finds Adams with regular musical accompanists The Cardinals, creating some of the most radio-friendly material he’s made since commercial breakthrough Gold. The first half of the album is especially crammed with drivetime country rock tunes, smooth melodies and harmonies married to beefy, ringing electric guitar and atmospheric pedal steel. Born Into A Light and Let Us Down Easy are two of his most hummable creations to date, while the short sharp power pop burst of Magick is a brief, thumping treat. His melancholic ways are still present, with the blackened soundscapes of Cobwebs reminding one of Adams’ despairing magum opus Love Is Hell. At its best, Cardinology is quite masterful, particularly the superb Natural Ghost which has a haunted, David Crosby-esque character, before ending in a coda reminiscent of That’s The Way from Led Zeppelin III. The album doesn’t maintain this compelling quality all the way through, dipping into slower, more contemplative territory towards the end – still lovely, but it’s the first three-quarters or so that leave the strongest impression. Cardinology will prove yet another solid entry in this man’s ever-expanding back catalogue.

***½

MATT THROWER

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