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Getting set to move offshore again, further afield still (though bizarrely closer to town). Next fortnight will be shaky and simple online here.
Wednesday April the 20th ~
Swingin' at the Speakeasy has Bridie King live between 7 and 10 then myself winding digital wheels til around 2 in the morn. Entry to our secret subterranean place is always free. Dress fancy.
Friday April the 22nd ~
The Gum Ball at last returns to Dashville, a family farm just outside of Belford, up in the Hunter. Definitely the best all-ages BYO music festival in NSW, this is a chance to lap up the fresh air and soak in the heat of some of the most colossal public fires you'll ever encounter.
Day one rolls through a few luminaries (like Kim Salmon after sundown) before ending up with a cray segue from Jazzparty's climactic live set into the legendary Silent Disco (as helmed by ex-Sydneysider, now Newy-based Urby and myself). It's a World (Bar) Party in the bush, from midnight til 2!
Saturday April the 23rd ~
After a diverting for front-yard echidna excursions and a wild wedding (see my footage of the supergroup who performed at the reception here), happily affording all and sundry another opportunity to experience the empathetic radiophonic style of Jonny Seymour on Jack Off last week, I return to the air (with awesome new producer Luce) between 3 & 5 this Saturday arvo, direct from forested fields up north.
Thereafter you'll find me washed and besuited atop A by Adina in the CBD to spin suave songs & twinkling tunes to the skyline at Dean and Nancy on 22. It's free of charge but wise to book. 9PM til 12.30AM.
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Escape the cycle of strife via these slices of life.
Wednesday April the 13th ~
Stroll down to Swingin' at the Speakeasy then shake a tail feather free from the mire of the modern era. Live music from Queenie and The Cavaliers between 7 and 10 then yours truly til about 2. Always free.
Thursday April the 14th ~
I'll be back at Palmer & Co to sling a slightly more sedate sunset bracket from 5 til 7, just as the loooong weekend gets underway. No charge for entry.
Saturday April the 16th ~
By the weekend proper I'm kinda clocking off for once, dedicating my time to wedding high jinks and leaving our ultimate Uncle (Jonny Seymour) in charge of the signal of FBi Radio for Jack Off, 3 til 5PM.
Take care all. Plenty more to share in days to come.
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Hacks to help break the skyhog night cycle of shite.
Wednesday April the 6th ~
The long-awaited return of The Roslyns was postponed just prior to last week's Swingin' at the Speakeasy but they are set to make a styling return to our strange hidden cellar tonight between 7 and 10PM. I'll spin antique audio thereafter until around 2AM. All are welcome and entry is always free.
Thursday April the 7th ~
The Powerhouse tonight celebrates its Electric Keys exhibition with a diabolical line-up of live talent including Indira Elias, Pookie, Rainbow Chan, Corin and Ziggy Ramo. I'll be playing a five hour set to theme from 4PM. Once again there is no charge.
Friday April the 8th ~
Multiple moon madness may manifest at Maybe Sammy (if last week is anything to go by) when I reprise the 9PM til 1AM set of wildly diverse musical cues for savvy drinkers and diners. Gratis!
Saturday April the 9th ~
After a revelatory return to hosting live guests (following a pandemic-driven lay off of two years) Jack Off is this week back to transmitting non-stop music alone. There are astounding artists scheduled for the weeks and months ahead but if you missed Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock et al) playing Eagle Rock live on the 50th anniversary of it's release, or Johnny (from Fascinator and Children Collide) debuting a tender new love song last week you can catch the lot on-demand here.
On Saturday night I cordially invite you to a Bondi Block Party in Dudley St, helmed by The Vidiot (who will also perform) and featuring tunes by Maya Gold from Honeytrap Sound System. Hopefully the endless tantrum from the sky might have abated a bit by then but the place will be equipped for any weather regardless. I'll play a seriously spirited set for stepping from 9 til 11. Of course it's free for all!
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Too despondent to write whilst the levee is breached again in Lismore. I'm grateful for the security we have here in Sydney presently but just cannot truly contemplate the scale of suffering up north now, not to mention the deeply dire prospects for the future.
Wednesday March the 30th ~
Poor Pia has come down with the dreaded virus so The Swingin' Kitten is taking time out from her enduring care of partner Limpin' Jimmy to play the deejay brackets between The Aston Martini's live sets from 7 til 10PM for Swingin' at the Speakeasy tonight. I'll do all thereafter til 2 or so. Entry is free.
Friday April the 1st ~
Somehow Stefano from Maybe Sammy has managed to make a guest appearance in Dubai. I'm so relieved that man has at last had the reward of a (working) holiday after the last few years of toil, upheaval and postponements/cancellation.
Dunno if he'll be back by Friday but I'll be flying my freak flag high to buoy the spirits of all between 9 and 1 regardless. This too is free.
Saturday April the 2nd ~
Jack Off will likely be a purge of political pain, anger and anguish plus an incendiary escalation of personal aspiration for ethics and actions beyond. You can hear it live between 3 and 5 or on-demand whenever via FBi Radio.
My mad mate Georgia has carved out a nutty niche for herself throwing kids' discos on the Northern Beaches but since the pandemic she has been craving an adult experience of dancefloor delirium.
I could hardly say no, especially when I discovered it was to be held in the sacred space of the Newport Surf Club. If yr up that way or fancy a drive for a seaside sway at a ballistic beach ball join us for Club Boogie between sunset at 7 and midnight.
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Apologies for the lack of communication of late, got myself a case of the old COVID and am just emerging.
Wednesday March the 23rd ~
First cab off the rank is Swingin' at the Speakeasy, with The Roslyns performing live from 7 til 10 then myself taking over from Pia on the decks until close around 2. Sing and dance to yr heart's content at this hidden subterranean gem. Entry is always free.
Friday March the 25th ~
As the weekend begins I'll be back in the front bar of The Paddington, spinning heartfelt pop songs of yore and deeper current cuts from across the globe. Food is fab, street view for social drinkers fine too. All welcome. No charge. 9PM til midnight.
Saturday March the 26th ~
It will be a solace to return to the FBi airwaves to host Jack Off, after you-can-never-really-retire ex Executive Producer Isabel Phillips was drafted to do a sterling job in my absence last week.
Afterwards I'll be bolting to a certain clifftop bowlo to at last enjoy the thrice-postponed US soap-themed 50th for a fantastic local film-maker.
I'm well aware that many reading this will be battling the virus as we speak and am sending you solidarity and healing hopes. Hang in there. Soon you'll be able to enjoy relative immunity and freedom for a good few months, more so than at any time in the pandemic thus far. You will prevail.
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'Scuse me while I diss the sky...
Wednesday March the 9th ~
Swing at the Speakeasy from 10PM til 2AM. Free.
Thursday March the 10th ~
Thursgay at the Hotel Gosford. 6 til 10PM. Shows from Midas, Mya Motions and Anita Drink. Gratis.
Friday March the 11th ~
Maybe Sammy between 9PM and 12.30AM. No charge.
Saturday March the 12th ~
The Heaps Gay Party at the Sydney Park Brick Pits is cancelled now (not just postponed like last time), along with all the outdoor stages of the King Street Carnival, due to saturated turf and hell on Earth.
Jack Off floats on from 3 til 5PM via FBi Radio.
Dean and Nancy on 22 gets u high: 9 til 12.30. Free
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I'm watching the news again out of necessity. What could bump both the pandemic then the most appalling invasion and conflagration in Europe since last century as a more urgent story? More local natural disasters of a never-before-witnessed scale.
These floods are beyond belief. They come so sly yet sudden, obliterating lives and livelihoods. Leaving the poorest so much poorer. My heart goes out to those I know and don't know amidst the displacement and chaos. It's especially hard to appreciate from here but I hope a brighter day will come soon.
Wednesday March the 2nd ~
I moved anything half valuable (there's not a lot to be honest) out of our back shed where the creek is last night, expecting the worst to arrive here by morning. It has just begun. Seems tonight and Thursday morning will now be the most perilous.
Given I've gotta drive in to the city to play Swingin' at the Speakeasy I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and assess on my return tomorrow. You'll find me spinning (out) for free in the sandstone cellar of Palmer & Co, mere metres above the hidden rage of the subterranean Tank Stream, from 10PM til about 2AM, after Sarah O'Connor live.
Friday March the 4th ~
A year or three back I started a weekly residency at Sydney's iconic Hollywood Hotel, the very week that it's founding matriarch, Doris Goddard, died. Yesterday would have been her 92nd birthday.
To lose such an iconic personality from the helm of this one-off community enterprise was devastating for all concerned. The licensee Mark bravely battled on through the aftermath of this traumatic loss, emerging from lockouts only to hit a pandemic. Last year he finally passed the baton on, choosing the new owners, from a field of many, based on culture rather than capital. I played a raucous closing-night party then the old girl closed for some much-needed TLC.
After a fastidious and honourable restoration that has been faithful to the unique public house Doris forged in this often-tawdry etch-a-sketch of a town (see The Lansdowne), the Hollywood has reopened and once again begun programming some of the liveliest musical acts available. I'm stoked to say that I will also be returning to that hallowed bar this Friday evening, relaying a five-hour set from 9PM that will incorporate threads from the oft-unseen fabric of personalities and places that truly exemplify Sydney's greater nature. Free, for all.
Saturday March the 5th ~
On Saturday you'll hear more resonant selections of sound fashioned into something of a story sequence on Jack Off, stripped of most interruptions to let you soak in your own reflections. That's 3 til 5PM.
By 9 that evening I'll again be snug within the opulent surrounds of Dean and Nancy on 22, sharing songs to galvanise and bear up our shocked spirits at this awful time. Solidarity and peace people x
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Licenses to be killed available on application from the bureaucrat at the top desk. Good times!
Wednesday February the 23rd ~
After yet another sudden government edict extinguishing our core practices during Swingin' at the Speakeasy the time has come to switch the lights back on and revel in singing and dancing once more.
Queenie and the Cavaliers featuring guest George Washingmachine will be live from 7 til 10PM then I will dish up beats and melodies til 2 or 3AM. Free!
Thursday February the 24th ~
As we are plunged yet again into endless European wars of delusional empire and intractable ego I will spin sonnets of bittersweet sorrow and lyrics of lament for the early 5 til 7PM set at Palmer & Co.
If you are heading to see Springtime at the Recital Hall this will serve as the ideal intro, serving to bathe and fortify all internal organs. Hear here.
Friday February the 25th ~
As the weekend begins again I'll ascend far above the city streets to gaze in wonder at the temporary towers of our powers, all the while courting and collapsing the capital that lures everyone in.
Join me aloft at Dean and Nancy on 22 for a sanguine summer evening of informed entertainment, from 9PM til 12.30AM. Entry is free. Bookings recommended.
Saturday February the 26th ~
This little snail will then wind up to transmit another Jack Off on FBi Radio between 3 and 5PM before quickly reconvening in Marrickville to play my dear old-school-mate Jessie's 50th birthday.
Time, gentle friends - it resists and persists.
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On this Eve Of Destruction we take our places amongst the absurd and unsustainable metrics of man, playing the fool and fiddling with firesticks.
Wednesday February the 16th ~
Swingin' at the Speakeasy is recommended for cellar dwellers on the make, like me. 10PM til 2AM. Free.
Thursday February the 17th ~
Palmer & Co from the get go. 5 til 7PM. Gratis.
Friday February the 18th ~
My final audio introduction for the Open Air Cinema season starts as the stunning sunset colours emerge at 6, running til darkness descends at 8.30, so as to enable the evil House of Gucci to emerge.
Saturday February the 19th ~
Jack Off somehow survives by ducking and weaving punches from the tattooed fists of LOVE and HATE. Butterflies and the knees of bees make inscrutable musical maps from 3 til 5 via FBi Radio.
The final act of creation and continuity for this week will proceed apace at Maybe Sammy, where all that was stable shall lift and skip aside as impossible audio trajectories undermine the paltry defaults of servers and selectors elsewhere, instead elevating adventure and engagement always. There's no charge to join the fray. 9PM til 12.30AM x
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Had such a stunning trip south to play the EwFimism wedding in Daylesford. Stunned and grateful to travel again, especially to connect with country I've missed so since the cessation of Meredith and Plains (where I first met said conjugal pair).
Smashed with city obligations now of course, so this edition will again be a little brief. My head and heart are still out amongst the springs, lakes, creeks, birds, trees and insects of the bush.
Wednesday February the 9th ~
By the way all of the pics in today's newsletter were snapped in an hour's stroll out near Glenlyon. We'd had a great tip to lunch at the General Store there on our country road ramble back to the airport and found there was a waterfall 5 minutes up the way upon perusing some maps. Words cannot describe!
Sandstone in proximity to the storm water remnants of Sydney's fabled Tank Stream may not sound like a compelling urban alternative but you would only think that if you have never experienced Palmer & Co. Tonight I continue the umpteenth year of my Wednesday residency on the decks from 10PM, following on from the gentle giant that is DJ Soup.
Friday February the 11th ~
Whether small sulphurous springs, large lakes or wild river waterholes are yr thing you'll come closer to nature in the Backyard at The Alex.
Hear me play a pre-sundown set for free (as per all of this week's gigs) from 4 til 6PM, no doubt highly excited for the two sets of actual live - and always mystical - music from The Necks at the Opera House directly afterwards.
Saturday February the 12th ~
I'll have several week's worth of wonderful discoveries to share with you on Jack Off between 3 and 5PM on FBi. Heartfelt thanks to Jonny for his custodianship of our aberrant spot on the grid.
My final destination for the working week will be on the 22nd floor of a CBD skyscraper, scattering strange and soulful sounds from across the globe into both the dining and cocktail bar sides of the building as the last light leaches from the twilit summer sky. Playing at Dean and Nancy on 22 is always rather a romantic swoon of an evening.
I pinch myself at all of this. I'm so glad to be alive, free, loved, healthy and able to share the work of artists of such spirit.