After nine years of sailing through the harbour on New Year’s Day, this time around Spice will be staying on dry land – however, as per usual, the lineup is all killer, no filler.

Headlining proceedings with be Norway’s Finnebassen alongside internationals Lovebirds and Björn Wilke. Melbourne’s Andras & Oscar will be making their live Sydney debut while locals Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe, Michelle Owen, Phil Smart, Ant J Steep and Mike Witcombe round out the bill. It’s going down on the open air terrace of Café del Mar on Friday January 1.

If for whatever reason you can’t make it to Harbourlife, or perhaps you just want to continue partying well into the night, my favourite act on the bill Bicep have locked in an extended club performance. The UK duo of Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson are responsible for some of the most jackin’ house music of the past decade, with releases on the ilk of Aus Music, Let’s Play House, Rvng Intl., Wolf Music and of course their own Feel My Bicep imprint. They’ll be joined by Motorik Vibe Council, Stereogamous, Vivi, Francis Xavier and CSMNT61 when it goes down on Saturday November 21 at Oxford Art Factory.

One of the world’s foremost tastemakers – Gilles Peterson – will play his first Sydney show in in over seven years in December. Starting off in pirate radio, over the course of his career Peterson has been a DJ and broadcaster for the likes of Radio One, BBC 6 Music, Kiss FM, Jazz FM and Radio London, curates his own event Worldwide Festival and runs his own label, Brownswood Recordings. Get prepared for a schooling when he’s joined by Parallel People, Boogie Monster, Soul Of Sydney DJs and Edseven on Thursday December 3 at Oxford Art Factory.

The founder behind the famed Opal Tapes label, Basic House, will play a last-minute headline show this weekend as part of his debut sojourn Down Under for the Liquid Architecture festival. Known to his parents as Stephen Bishop, he’s released productions for the likes of Prostitutes, Xosar and our own Tuff Sherm, and is revered for his own output of forward-thinking experimental electronica. He’ll be supported on the evening by Thomas William, Ben Fester, T-Mingus and Adrian E. It’s happening this Friday October 2 at Goodgod Small Club.

Tour rumour: what’s this I hear about David August & Ensemble coming to perform live in Australia? Oh, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the return of Mathew Jonson sometime soon.

Best releases this week: The first compilation from the label Rutilance has dropped and it’s got some absolute fire releases from the likes of Janeret, Théo Muller, Marotti and John Jastszebski. Other goodness includes L NeilsBeta (on Echovolt), The Mystic Jungle Tribe’sSolaria (Early Sounds), Gonno’s Remember The Life Is Beautiful (Endless Flight) and Marco Bernardi’s Spoken Word Of Lie (Brokntoys).

Recommended:

FRIDAY OCTOBER 2

Basic House @Goodgod Small Club

SATURDAY OCTOBER 3

Maurice Fulton@Chippendale Hotel

French Fries@Burdekin Hotel

SUNDAY OCTOBER 4

Marco Resmann@Home Nightclub

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17

Norman Nodge @Burdekin Hotel

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25

Public Possession@Harpoon Harry

Daniel Bortz@Greenwood Hotel

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30

DJ Nobu@Bridge Hotel

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31

Baauer@Oxford Art Factory

Mr. G, Fur Coat, DJ HMC@Greenwood Hotel

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14

Nina Kraviz@Greenwood Hotel

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20

Lapalux@Chinese Laundry

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21

Bicep @Oxford Art Factory

Justin Martin@Chinese Laundry

THURSDAY DECEMBER 3

Gilles Peterson@Oxford Art Factory

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 27

Eric Cloutier, Peter van Hoesen@Marrickville Bowling Club

Rødhåd @Oxford Art Factory

FRIDAY DECEMBER 4 – SUNDAY DECEMBER 6

Subsonic Music Festival: KiNK, Dop, Rick Wade, Roman Flügel + more@Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops

SUNDAY DECEMBER 13

Wolf + Lamb @Café del Mar

FRIDAY JANUARY 1

Finnebassen, Lovebirds, Bjorn Wilke + more@Café del Mar

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