Few words, strong sounds, sites that saw eyes...


Wednesday February the 19th ~

Neighbourhood night at the exquisite and ever-inclusive Hollywood Hotel, where storylines circle and punters praise melancholy. 9.30 til midnight. Come one, come all. No door charge. No fear.

Thursday February the 20th ~

Eyes are aloft even when dreaming, deep in the night at Palmer & Co. Antique audio from 10 til 3. Free.

Saturday February the 22nd ~

After our humane, humorous and harrowing conversation with Sarah Mary Chadwick last week (where it was revealed not one person in the media had enquired about Sarah's deliberate declaration that she tried to kill herself last year, til then) we return to the delicate, oscillating, air - hoping for more spiritual sincerity and the magic of music to bear us through. This transmission is dedicated to my closest kin, as we straddle the globe and transcend time together.
It may be that we are visited by Drab Majesty live. Tune in to Jack Off between 3 and 5.

Sunday February the 23rd ~

Tapes decay so don't pay to play. Come outside and listen for free - to real surround sound: a sultry environment with songs stirred in to accompany the mystery of Sydney during summer's demise. Drink well and look up. Petersham Bowling Club. 3 til 6PM.

Pain and it's killer - death - blossom endlessly. In yr eyes, on yr devices, throughout yr social life.


Wednesday February the 12th ~

A new residency focussed on locals & neighbours of the Hollywood Hotel. Free entry. 9 til midnight.


Thursday February the 13th ~


A consequent rebound to Thursdays at Palmer & Co follows. Free from 9PM til close at 3 or 4AM.


Friday February the 14th ~


Valentines Day at Ciccia Bella in Bondi combines somewhat sardonic love songs (across genres as diverse as dub, post-punk and boogie) from me and a set menu of Italo dining from chef Mitch Orr.


Saturday February the 15th ~

Jack Off will go deep into the vortex of matters mental and mortal via the immeasurably honest art of Sarah Mary Chadwick. Tune in to FBi Radio between 3 and 5PM to be stripped of artifice forever more.

Afterwards drown yr sorrows or enable yr morrows by leaping through the portal that is Cottonmouth Records in Enmore. I'll spin (poor quality op shop and flood-damaged) vinyl-only between half 9 and midnight. It might just make everything alright.

Hear there and everywhere in between.

Wednesday February the 5th ~

Skip down the lane through the dappled light to Palmer & Co to discover Queen Porter Stomp live and Miss Pia on the decks, from 7 til 10PM for free at Swingin' at the Speakeasy. After that carouse til the early hours as I spin more free vintage audio til close at around 3 or 4 in the morning.

Saturday February the 8th ~

Jack Off may yet join the dots on a long and lonely London cab ride, from a school and friends I dearly loved, to Heathrow airport to fly my gravely ill brother home for good. I was a little kid adrift in fields of depth. Golden Brown came on the radio. I have never forgotten that sound, that transparency. All the doors and windows shaking and shifting again, as they do now. The Stranglers live between 3 and 5, if we're lucky (and we may not be, so...).

Afterwards I play by the Oxford Street pavement of The Paddington from 7 til 10, open-hearted (& free).


Sunday February the 9th ~

With Mardi Gras season here (and the air thankfully cooling) I'm grateful to again be floating atop the iconic Imperial Hotel in Erko, spinning an extended set of soft froth and bitchy bubble to match the bittersweet nature of our time/s and place/s. Join us from 2 in the arvo til the sun starts to set at 8. Entry is free and the rooftop space is a beauty.

Thank you Andzej. I love this place.


Thursday January the 30th ~

Slight delay in my Palmer & Co routine this week so as to enable the long drive north. Back on deck from 10PM til close at 3 or 4AM tonight. Free.

Friday January the 31st ~

Amazingly The Paddington has invited my historic-but-not-so-stately self back already! Catch me there gratis between 7 and 10 this evening.

Saturday February the 1st ~

Jack Off in peace and comfort from 3 til 5PM.

Sunday February the 2nd ~

Things have turned turtle with Laneway now located in the Domain (go figure) and a consequent shift of my bad self from the beautiful, cool, PIP within the old College of Arts to relative unknown of the House of Rounds, where I will provide corrective aural surgery in half hour bursts at 2.45 and 6.30PM.

Old copies & new titles, free as audio translations.


Wednesday January the 22nd ~

Mary Heart's band beats out a rhythm live from 7 til 10 for Swingin' at the Speakeasy - with Pia on the decks between sets then myself til at least 3 after.


Friday January the 24th ~

Ponder existentialist angst whilst I play a rare short set at The Paddington from 10 til midnight.


Saturday January the 25th ~

Thursday Island's Mau Power brings his hard-won wisdom to Redfern on the eve of Invasion Day.

Following his appearance on Jack Off he'll feature in the Sunrise ceremony via NITV/SBS/10 the next morning. Catch his hard-hitting and healing hip hop first on FBi Radio between 3 and 5PM.


Sunday January the 26th ~

Head to Yabun if you really wanna know the score and be in this country for real on a grim, grave day of mourning and sorrow.

Once you've recognised the spirit and survival of indigenous people there you may or may not stray a few suburbs west.
If you do you'll find us continuing community vibes outside at the Petersham Bowlo - where I'll be playing songs by aboriginal artists and egalitarian Australians of differing descent.

It means a lot to me to have the chance to temper the bogan nature of much of this day with signs of the place and people/s I love.

Join us if the chance arises. All ages are always welcome. 3 til 6PM. See you then!

Sure sonic footholds for perilous positions.


Tuesday January the 14th ~

Celebrate the belated lifting of the city's lockouts with Christa Hughes' C-Bombs (featuring the astronomical rhythm section from The Cruel Sea) plus Suzie St James, Melissa Evans and moi at the Hollywood Hotel for free from 7PM til late.

Wednesday January the 15th ~

Swingin' at the Speakeasy revives the roaring twenties with the ice cool Crawish Po' Boys live from 7 til 10, Pia Andersen on the decks between sets, then old Shitty heating things up all the way til close at 3 or 4 or whatever o'clock.

Saturday January the 18th ~

Jack Off goes rogue with another unmoored immersion in the liquid language of music from 3 til 5PM.

Thence we drop science for pure hokum in the salubrious surrounds of Jacoby's Tiki Bar in Enmore, rendering a 5 hour set for the heads from 9PM til 2AM. See things differently. Entry be forever free.

Sunday January the 19th ~

Lastly we emerge from below bars and ascend the stairs to the stars, taking to the rooftop of the Imperial Hotel for another instalment of our monthly musical mirage.
This bracket is even more distended - being 6 hours in length from 2PM on. It'll be free, freaky, fab and fresh - a perfect place to land this Sunday.

Medical music for the clear-eyed and full-hearted.


Wednesday January the 8th ~

Swingin' at the Speakeasy is back and bubbling over with life-affirming infusions that will uplift even staid souls laid low by the ennui of old.

As this century's twenties kick into gear we can only hope the vim and zest of last time will be reprised. Sure as shit ain't no time to lose!

Join us at Palmer & Co each Wednesday from 7 til 10PM for three sets of live music (from Andy Baylor and band tonight) with Pia Andersen plying her trade in vintage tunes on the decks, then my bad self all the way til close at around 3AM. It's forever free.

Saturday January the 11th ~

Jack Off has been eviscerating our piss-ant pollies and broadcasting eerie improvised live fare that entirely matches our unique emergency and toxic atmosphere. You can listen back here.
This week we had hoped to have our only guest from the virtually stripped-of-music Sydney Festival program (William Tyler was originally confirmed for next week's program but was later cancelled by organisers) in Regurgitator's crazy kids project the Pogogo Show - however a vastly more vital cause has interceded at the last minute, as they prepare to play this Bushfire Appeal Concert at the Metro.

You can still get tickets for their shows at the Spiegeltent between Friday and Sunday and I strongly suggest parent who want to crack up as much as their kids get on it. Hopefully we'll find a time to share the air on the wireless in future.

So Saturday's show remains a mystery. Usually this allows whatever bubbles to the top to best reflect the moment - and fuck me are we amidst a moment.
I hope you are hanging in there despite the carnage and the fear. Community is coming to the fore - and perhaps in an equally unprecedented (and imperative) manner. Please always feel free to send word by reply here or via any other means you wish.
We will get through this.

2020 vision/s in a time of mortal peril. Birds sing of crisis. Leaders flee. How do we even begin?


Friday January the 3rd ~

After escaping the usual frame via a sober and sedate NYE so as to head into the new era with as clear a head as possible, it is curious that my week is essentially a reprise of the last of last year.

It starts with an epic bracket of exotica, anthems and curios at Jacoby's Tiki Bar - all the way from 9PM til as late as 2AM. This is possibly the only joint in town still going off despite the exodus and apocalypse. It's a true tonic. Entry is always free.

Saturday January the 4th ~

On Saturday I'm stoked to welcome ex Captain Ahab member and current Clipping mainstay Jonathan Snipes to Jack Off on the station that (a few years back) placed the Clipping song Wriggle on playlisted rotation one week - before banning presenters from playing it the next!
Jonathan is here to soundtrack the Sydney Festival production Joan Didion's The White Album. He will treat us to a live performance of some improvised noise and ambience somewhere between 3 and 5PM.

Sunday January the 5th ~

Thence it's back to balmy Bondi for a dip in the turquoise sea and a three-hour set at Anchor Bar and Restaurant, right at the top of Campbell Parade.

My dear mate Martin (Purple Sneakers founder PhDJ) tipped me to this joint recently - and as I had far more time on my hands over the break than usual I thought I'd reach out about possibly playing a set there.

Little did I know that the owner Steve has been a huge fan of my radio show for countless years. Nor that the staff are amazingly musically-literate across the board (though somehow long-term manager Ayla had never heard her namesake song by Flash and the Pan).

We all enjoyed last Sunday so much that we're doing it all over again, particularly to farewell Ayla during her final shift. Have a dip then pop up for dinner. It's absolutely free. The air is pure and cool. Atmosphere ace. 6 til 9PM. See you then!

Only taking a moment of this precious lull in the churn of info and obligation. Please forgive me for interrupting at all. Wherever you are and wherever yr heading I wish you peace, safety and progress.


Friday December the 27th ~

New beginnings as the old year ends. Playing my dear old mate Pasan's relatively new space - Jacoby's Tiki Bar - just a few blocks from his best-known venture, Earl's Juke Joint.

Jacoby's just scored a 2AM licence so DJs are at last on the cards - and the roster is as solid as it gets. Tonight will be my first outing there.

You can expect a wild span of sound and vision as we try all sorts of styles on for size. 9PM til midnight. Entry is absolutely free!


Saturday December the 28th ~

Jack Off extends itself obscenely this Saturday, absorbing the entire Purple Sneakers timeslot as that mob take a break. Hear uninterrupted selections from the outer edges of everything, sent (and meant) from the heart. 3 til 6PM on FBi Radio.

Afterwards I'll rekindle the audio adventures at Jacoby's, from 9 til at least 11.30PM. Free again.


Sunday December the 29th ~

My final gig before the decade desists is also aptly far-flung and fresh. Find me putting out all the hope and love I can muster ahead of the do-or-die 2020s at Bondi's Anchor Bar from 7 til 9 for free.

Thank you to each and every one of you for yr ardent attention as listeners, music fans, truth-tellers, colleagues and friends this year. The shit really is about to hit the fan and few are under any illusions as to the scale of the imminent impact any more.

How we conduct ourselves in relation to each other and our home planet will determine whether we and our descendants will survive, let alone thrive.

I'm not fucking around when I say we'd best ensure every decision we make from now on reflects this grave gravity. Whether or not we prevail en masse, the quality of our remaining time together will be defined by our dedication in this regard.

Yesterday I was reminded, via a heartfelt post made by selector sister Hip Hop Hoe, of this astonishing phrase by Sydney's dear-departed poet Candy Royalle.
I vaguely recalled it crowning her head in this exquisite, now-vanished, memorial artwork - behind the street party we had in front of The Hub on election night. I'll not forget again.
'Loving instead of hating living instead of waiting'

Diabolical events - fit for the endless apocalypse.


Wednesday December the 18th ~

Santa had heatstroke and his reindeer were immolated after losing all sense of direction in the smoke haze. One of the only places semi-safe for an apt Xmas memorial is the sandstone cellar of Palmer and Co, just above what once was the Tank Stream.

Dance to The Dovetails and shimmy to the selections of the unflappable Pia Andersen between 7 and 10PM - then extend yr limbs and embrace the collapse of civilisation with old Shithead here til close at 3.

If the world still exists next year Swingin' at the Speakeasy will be back mid-January but if you wanna guarantee bacchanalia before the lights flicker out for good best make a move tonight. Entry is free.

Friday December the 20th ~

Many missions coalesce to varying amounts of acclaim, as I first play a private party celebrating the 30th birthday of All Buttons Great and Small, then kick on to spin for the punters of The Paddington from 10PM til 2AM. Also free.

Saturday December the 21st ~

As a terrifying combination of fierce winds and extreme temperatures sweeps Sydney I'll be ensconced in the Redfern studios of FBi Radio, transmitting an exceptionally dense program that will feature a plethora of live guests. We'll begin with the sublime minimalism of N.Y.C.K., transpose to little-known wanderer Hugh F, then hopefully hear from Darren Hanlon at the death. Jack Off from 3 til 5PM.

Sunday December the 22nd ~

The best way to wrap up this week - and another year of monthly residencies at the Petersham Bowlo - will unfold between 3 and 6 on Sunday arvo.

The joint always closes before Xmas and I usually do the final week of each month so I'm stoked to at last get to play not only in December but over the final few hours of trading for the year.

There will be a brilliant array of bands inside from 2 including The Sticks, Richard Cuthbert, Melodie Nelson, Dance et Al, Evan Lock, Magnetic Heads and Lewis Goldmark.

All of that is absolutely free, as are all the tunes I'll be relaying out by the greens from 3. By 6PM everything will be shut up til the new year. Join us to make the most of our time together, while we can.