ThreeThousand

Intro:

Wednesday 26th July – 2nd August

Lately, it looks as though Melbourne has been hit by the plague. Immune systems are down and red nosed people are coughing, spluttering, sneezing and wheezing to the point where they could be dying.

ThreeThousand Issue 065 encourages sick people to stay indoors so that the rest might survive. To make this easier we feature something to read in the form of The Believer’s music issue, something to buy without leaving the house in the form or Radioactive Babushkas from Everlab, somewhere to shop online in the form of Via Alley, and something to listen to in the form of Swedish band Envelopes debut album Demon.

For the healthy, we have the usual array of amazing exhibitions, movies, gigs, and places where you can drink to your own health.

ThreeThousand Issue 065 – bring out your dead

Cover photo by Max Olijnyk. If you would like to submit a cover photo, email photo@tinanded.com.au

Average Shoveler
Beirut (the band)
Fresh Kills
Umbuster
Indie Blockedappella
720 dunks
Prada Marfa
Talking dogs
Young Turks

Tell us what's cool cool@threethousand.com.au

Mediocrity
War
Murder
Feather dusters
Road blocks
Andrew Gaze
Supre
Killing cats
Baby boomers

Tell us what's fool fool@threethousand.com.au

Bus Gallery's corridor space is about as wide as the email/website you're reading, but as Alice Lang's bulbous and grotesque Supple, you'll feel like you're communing with an alien god in an uneasy ceremony somewhere in deep space. Three portraits of the art-parasite in symbiosis with a willing participant sit on the left of the gallery space, while the thing itself sits ominously at the rear, pulsating and coruscating with equal parts sensuality and dread.

The work has the rare quality in sculpture of giving an instant physical reaction; except in this case, you are never sure if your spine is tingling, or, getting ready to merge with it.

Supple shares Bus Gallery with Claire Watson's Jellybean Lab: Order and Caprice, a saccharin-sweet explosion of colour and flavour. The combination of edibility and indistinct horror make for a confounding visit.

What:
Supple

Where:
Bus Gallery, 117 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

When:
Until the 5th August
Wednesday-Friday 12-6pm; Saturday 12-5pm

How much:
Free

Contact:
9662 2442 or email or online bus117.com

Image by:
Alice Lang

The Cold War may be over but this doesn’t mean our world is free from nuclear threat. With Saddam allegedly hiding WMDs, and Uranium mines in our backyards, Radioactive Babushkas from Everlab are cute reminders of an ugly problem.

Decreasing in size until no bigger than George W Bush’s brain, Everlab have taken a traditional doll and made it both contemporary and infinitely cool. With both hope and fear in their eyes, these radioactive babushkas will make sure that you never stop thinking of the children.

What:
Radioactive Babushkas

Where:
Everlab
click here for an order form

How much:
$90 US + postage and handling

Contact:
info@everlab.com

Shopping on the Internet can be intimidating at the best of times. A dark and dangerous place, objects and clothes beckon without context, devoid of history, personality and relevance.

Fortunately, Via Alley changes your online shopping experience by providing information on the designers and the objects so that your decision can be educated and regret free. Stocking a vast range of products from artists and designers from both near and far, Via Alley pride themselves on being a portal to the international design community. Although based in Sydney, Via Alley is like a part of our CBD on the web, encouraging you to explore its laneways to find both the interesting and unexpected. Go forth and plunder.

What:
Via Alley online store

Where:
viaalley.com
or if you’re in Sydney,
2/289 Liverpool St Darlinghurst

Contact:
here

Stocks:
Charles and Ray Eames, Josh Petherick, Marcel Dzama, Mike Mills, GAS, Yoshimoto Nara, and many others.

The Believer is a magazine premised upon giving books and people the benefit of the doubt. Stating clearly that their features are not always timely, this title is a refreshing change in a publishing world largely driven by PR-led editorial. As part of the McSweeney’s stable it is not surprising then that The Believer looks at all things, including music, from a different angle.

The 2006 Music Issue is a publication that will give hope to all those depressed by the stagnant nature of music press. With features such as Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips) in conversation with Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) about major labels and indie music, and authors Greil Marcus and Don DeLillo discussing Bob Dylan, it is easy to see that The Believer know how to simultaneously intellectualise and have fun with the world of words and music.

If this is still not enough to make you drool then the issue also comes with a CD with songs from Calexico, Feist, Destroyer and The National and an article on the Numa Numa dance movement. The Believer – it’s not a cult, but it should be.

What:
The Believer – The 2006 Music Issue

Where:
Hopefully somewhere local but if not, definitely the McSweeney’s Store

When it comes to forming an indie sensibility, many bands attempt to channel the talents of their idols, deconstructing popular sounds and influences and reconstructing them in ways that are all too often thin or predictable. This faux-formation of authenticity is becoming increasingly transparent as music listeners get fatigued by repetition and more wary of checklist bands.

Holding obvious influences such as Pixies, Pavement, The Velvet Underground and The Magnetic Fields and with contemporary comparisons to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Modest Mouse and Belle & Sebastian, it would be too easy to just lump Envelopes in this category.

However, laid down in a rented house in rural Yorkshire, Demon (Swedish for demo) conjures up all the enthusiasm of a first and somewhat experimental recording without compromising on the professionalism necessary to be taken seriously. Alongside The Shout Out Louds and The Figurines, Envelopes will be definitely one of the most interesting Nordic bands of 2006 and hopefully beyond.

What:
Demon

Who:
Envelopes

On:
Brille / EMI

Myspace:
here

Maybe it’s just seeing the opening credits of The Wonder Years too many damn times, but there’s something automatically nostalgic about Super-8 footage. In the skater documentary Fruit Of The Vine, it’s like we’re watching images downloaded straight out of someone’s fading memories.

The film chronicles dedicated skaters scouring America for drained, empty swimming pools to ride during a hot summer in the late 90s. They effortlessly win the moral high ground through the maintenance they perform when they’re trespassing – cleaning out all the leftover dirt and broken bottles before they can begin.

Rather than just being an endless series of stunts, Fruit Of The Vine spends time letting the skaters give context to these days in their own words. While the skating is pretty spectacular, the cracked and washed-out footage gives the film extra kick – as though it’s documenting a scene that is now extinct.

What:
Fruit Of The Vine (Super Sk8mm + Mixed Cheese Bits)

Where:
As part of MIFF

When:
Sat, July 29, 5pm
Buy tickets
Fri, August 11, 2.45pm
Buy tickets

Unlike Sydney, Melbourne doesn’t have a RSL culture where young and old collide in a haze of pokies glamour and cheap schooners. Instead like most comparisons to Sydney, our city RSL is more understated, without the flashing lights - or people boozing simply because there is nowhere else to get a drink.

The Melbourne RSL, or the Duckboard Club, is a true tribute to battles fought and includes a Navy Museum and other historical artefacts that are more interesting than an NRL game on a plasma screen. They also serve up some mean meals weekdays between 12-2pm including fish and chips, bangers and mash, Aussie burgers and corn beef all for just $9.50. If you want you can fork out an extra dollar for the chicken parma or just go there for a beer and a chat. Just don’t forget to sign the visitor’s book. It’s tradition.

What:
Melbourne RSL (Duckboard Club)

Where:
91 Flinders Lane, City

When:
Tuesday – Friday 12-8pm (closed Mondays)
Meals served 12-2pm

Contact:
9654 5576

What:
Skid 180

When:
July 27 – August 5

Where:
Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall

How much:
$28.00 (25 and older)
$18.00 otherwise
tickets through EasyTix

Description:
Presented by the Arena Theatre Company, Skid 180 fuses live BMX, video art and sound to tell a story set in the Manchester underground. Win tickets here or buy some here you cheapskate.

What:
Design = Innovation

When:
Thursday July 27, 5.30 – 7.30pm

Where:
The Age Theatre, Melbourne Museum

How much:
Free

Description:
For those that want to feed your brain instead of damage it on a Thursday night lab 3000 host Design = Innovation, a forum that looks past the jargon and discusses the importance of design on – you guessed it – innovation. Registration required, so register here.

What:
To All The People We Love

When:
Saturday July 29, 9pm til very late

Where:
Backstage (above Portland Hotel), corner Russell St and Lt. Collins

How much:
$10 at the door
$5 after bands

Description:
If one thing is clear it’s that Melbourne is in desperate need of a new Saturday night where there are no queues when the venue is empty, and where the average age is older than 17. Monthly night To All The People We Love starts up this Saturday with bands Children Collide, Dance With Voices, the Phillips Sisters alongside Disease DJs, (the amazing) Vinyl Richie and Bromance. There are also free pots of beer from 9-10. Let the games begin.

What:
Branedance V0.8

When:
Saturday July 29, 10pm til late

Where:
Loop Bar, 23 Meyers Pl, City

How much:
Free

Description:
Branedance’s latest instalment of music ‘made with electricity’. Featuring Not Happy Jan, Mittons, Futuretron, Glitch, Toupee and Zero Dollars. All for zero dollars.

What:
Ned Collette

When:
Sunday July 30, doors 7.30pm

Where:
The Rob Roy, 51 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

Description:
Ned Collette plays his last show before heading overseas with City City City. He is supported by Paper Crane and Brillig from Adelaide. He will be back in September to launch his new album Jokes and Trials.

BMX biking is not generally perceived as the most poetic of activities, until now. Combining the styling of Melbourne’s Arena Theatre Company and Manchester’s Contact, SKID 180 tracks a group of urban BMX riders in a performance that integrates live video, poetry, art and sound. Set on a stage of constructed ramps, screens and images that recall modern-day Manchester, you can catch it from July 27 – August 5 at the North Melbourne Town Hall. We have five double passes to giveaway. Just answer the following question.

This week’s question:
The year 1983 is most famous for…

a)	Bjorn Borg’s retirement
b)	Kellogg’s introducing Crispix cereal
c)	The film BMX Bandits
d)	Mandatory seatbelt use initiated in the UK

Congratulations to last week’s WordandPictures winners Johanna and Martha. This week it might be you, or it might not. To be in the running send your answer to win@threethousand.com.au

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, photographers, sub-cultural attaches and a large troupe of monkeys who enjoy working for peanuts.

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 funded in full by one advertising partner per issue. We warmly invite advertisers who see the benefit in speaking to Melbourne through a trusted and targeted medium to contact Francesco at frunch@rightanglepublishing.com

Editorial Submissions:
The editorial team at ThreeThousand may know a lot - but they don't know everything. Feel free to send information on events, venues or anything else to chris@threethousand.com.au

Feedback:
Heap praise, sling abuse, ramble inanely – if you have anything to say to us please send it directly to 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.

We Built this City on Rock n Roll

Right Angle Publishing:
ThreeThousand and TwoThousand are published by Right Angle Publishing.

Right Angle Publishing:
Level 6, Curtin House
252 Swanston Street
Melbourne, 3000
(03) 9662 1657

Group Publisher:
Barrie Barton
03 9662 1657
barrie@rightanglepublishing.com

Editor:
Chris Barton
chris@threethousand.com.au

Deputy Editor:
Nadia Saccardo
nadia@threethousand.com.au

Design Monkeys:
tin&ed
www.tinanded.com.au

Contributing Monkeys:
Josh Gardiner
Jessie French
Remi Carette
Luke Brown
Jonah DeMallory
Lauren Hawthorne
Reuben Ruiter
Tom Jackson
Kath Loftus
Charlotte McInnes
Nigel Carboon
Martyn Pedler
Woody McDonald
Christian McCrea

ThreeThousand's MySpace:
myspace.com/threethousand