Easter is, ultimately, a time of celebration. To some, the symbol of death, resurrection and rebirth is paramount. This week, I’m considering all three in a little news wrap-up of recent events.
First, the announcement that Ultra Music Festival is to feature in Melbourne next year. This is the sort of news that you greet with a tangible mixture of burgeoning possibility and utter dread. The burgeoning possibility of an incredible array of artists (and decent sideshows, with any luck) gracing our shores. And the utter dread of this being infested with those Stereosonic acolytes (a problem that parent Ultra Music Festival in Miami unavoidably experiences). I recoil a little at the thought of oversaturation, and we can only hope Ultra doesn’t strictly pander to the popular. A bit of local representation would surely not go astray, either.
The Sydney Opera House and its increasingly open approach to bookings has been one of the most refreshing developments amid, let’s face it, a very sobering couple of years for music venues in Sydney. Underworld recently brought the sheer euphoria of rave to the Concert Hall, and Vivid promises Richie Hawtin [above] in a more intimate approach to his craft and creative process. What does this mean for electronic music? A new audience and demographic, for starters!
When it comes to clubs, Marrickville’s Ricardo’s and Darlinghurst’s The Bunk3r feature as two bright spots in the evolving landscape of Sydney music nightlife. And yes, it is evolving. And it will recover and be as bright and wonderful and diverse as it ever was. It’s important to consider our ageing population, of course, but in equal parts, Australia is still a young and modern culture with a rapid rate of population growth. With designs on three Sydney city hubs in the coming decade, there’s an incredible wealth of creative opportunity just waiting to be realised.
Finally, most who know already know that Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi recently passed on. And what an incredible figure in modern music, let alone electronic music. In an ideal world, we might loft his legacy further in the public arena. Vale Ikutaro, and may your life work remain untarnished by a bloated marketplace of Roland remakes.
This week’s playlist
Underworld’s live Everything, Everything performance – it’s fair to say I’d actually forgotten just how versatile this group really was across genre, without ever steeping themselves too heavily in any one camp. Cobblestone Jazz’s Northern Lights EP is another beauty I’ve admired for a while now – beautiful shimmering Rhodes keys drift across 11 minutes of evolving bassline. Mathew Jonson (as part of a trio) is of course all over this.
Recommended:
FRIDAY APRIL 21
Tempent #006 – feat. French Prints, Rogue Gentleman @ Secret Inner West warehouse
SATURDAY APRIL 22
Record Store Day Out 2017 @ The Record Store, Darlinghurst
SATURDAY APRIL 29
Sounds Of Afrobeats Festival 2017 @ Greenwood Hotel
Jeremy Olander @ Goodbar
FRIDAY MAY 19
Youngsta @ Metro Theatre
FRIDAY MAY 26
Front Left 1.0 First Birthday @ Red Rattler
