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THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2007 19 [email protected] comedy music film on line radio pop culture live downloads television DIVE DIVE DIVE: Sam Walsh, foreground, and Adam McKay nightlife captains of The Yellow Submarine. PICTURE: Bruce Mercer waikato Hannah Curwood and Simon Comber at La Commune. TONIGHT Ric Rush and Kellyn with a new The Big Pay Back at Sekure, with monthly event at The Loft Kellyn and Ric Rush. showcasing new and old house grooves, electro-funk and assorted Rubix Cuba (Australia), Dynamo beats. Go plus guests at Yellow Submarine (see main story). out of town TOMORROW (internationals) Evil, the new project from The 3Ds’ David Mitchell, at Ward SUNDAY Lane. Local support from Skelitor Bobby Brown, American R&B and Yokel Ono, door charge $15. singer, Energy Events Centre, Yellow Submarine Benefit Show Rotorua, tickets from Ticketek. (see main story). Kimbra solo acoustic show at La WEDNESDAY Commune. Regina Spektor, Russian-born Sophie serving up house classics, singer-songwriter, Bruce Mason rolling beats and funk at Sekure. Centre, Takapuna. Tickets from Ticketek. SATURDAY Unearth, Boston metalcore The Bleeders at Yellow Submarine exponents, The Studio. Tickets (see main story). from Ticketek. Paul Orion (Auckland) lashing Bobby Brown, TelstraClear Events out house, breaks and electro- Centre, Manukau. Tickets from styled tunes at Sekure. Ticket Direct. Email event info to [email protected] The submarine surfaces The Mole Music chaps are making a new stand for The Yellow Submarine. make it a nice environment to be in.” local music. “The scene relies on people coming to shows — even With a maximum capacity of more than 300 people Sam Walsh and Adam McKay, the 23-year-olds who when there is not 150 or 200 people there, even when — the bunker-like bar is deceptively large once you formed Hamilton’s fledgling Mole Music label, have it’s quite small,” says McKay. descend the stairs — McKay and Walsh are striving to taken control of the Ward St basement music venue “I think Hamilton needs something like this at the make The Yellow Submarine the city’s leading live music The Castle and renamed it The Yellow Submarine. moment,” says Walsh. venue. And as such, they’re open to hearing from any “It’s to provide a (performance) space in Hamilton “If we didn’t see the potential this place has, we performers looking for a place to play. everyone can use,” says Walsh of the new venture. wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing.” “We’ve got bookings from now until September, but “Whether you’re in a live band, want to play your “There is a bit of risk involved,” says McKay. “But there are still Thursdays and a few Fridays and Saturdays acoustic guitar, or play movies here, it’s going to be here we’ve spent hours and hours talking about this together, available,” says Walsh. for a long time — not just for two months, and then and with lots of friends and family. We want to renew “If you wanna play, we can shuffle things around with close down again.” the music and arts culture in Hamilton.” other bands, get you on their bills, and just see where The Castle closed in February after infringements of While there have been a few gigs already at the we can squeeze you in. We can also help with promotion liquor-licensing laws. Since then, McKay and Walsh renamed bar, tomorrow night’s Benefit Show — the ideas,” says McKay have been working furiously to re-open the venue, and first of two, the second happening July 27 — sees things For inquiries, email have formed a new company — Roots Cellar Ltd — to move up a gear. Tomorrow night’s event features sets [email protected]. operate The Yellow Submarine. from nine bands and performers, all playing for free, — Jeff Neems “I think after working on this for three or four months and proceeds will be put straight back into assets and There are four events on at The Yellow Submarine over now, trying to get it open again, it just became a thing equipment for the venue. then next three nights. Tonight, it’s Australian ska band we had to do,” says Walsh. “We couldn’t just stop.” “The big goal of these shows is to get a totally self- Rubix Cuba with locals Dynamo Go ($10, 9pm start). “We’ve lost lots of sleep, and lots of money,” says sufficient PA, so that reduces the costs for the bands, Tomorrow night is the first of the two Yellow Submarine McKay, who has gained a bar manager’s licence and also to do just a little bit of interior decorating to Benefit Shows, with Auckland bands Bear Cat, Infinite Flying Kick and The DHDFDs playing alongside locals specifically for The Yellow Submarine cause. make it our own space,” says McKay. “You can change Decortica, Rumpus Room, Gawj and Kimbra (also $10, The duo say they are trying to rebuild Hamilton’s the environment just by upgrading the lighting and 8pm start). On Saturday, The Bleeders’ current tour reaches gig-going culture, and get more people along to support putting in lots of plants and stuff, get some art on the The Yellow Submarine, with an all-ages show at 5pm and the local and national music they’ll be offering at walls, a wall dedicated to old show posters. We want to an R18 show at 9pm (both shows $15). albums pop Rihanna Kelly Clarkson Marc Almond GOOD GIRL GONE BAD MY DECEMBER (Sony-BMG) STARDOM ROAD (Sequel/Sanctuary) (Def Jam/Universal) It’s not common for the winner of an A man with a history, and well loved in the British Releasing a hit song with the key lyrics “under American Idol-style show to do very well music industry. Suffice to say Marc Almond has my umbrella” shows 19-year-old Barbados- in the music world after the initial hype had a career that has allowed him to survive pop born pop singer Rihanna has still got a hold has died away, as their skill at singing stardom in the ’80s, and progress nicely to the on the pop music scene after two hit albums. There’s a more other people’s songs on television never enviable cult status of now. This is a covers mature feel to the 12-track third album Good Girl Gone Bad, quite transforms into quality songwriting ability in the studio. collection, which in lesser hands would be a groan-inducing affair. and she is sounding more like Beyonce and less like the 17- No one has heard of Ruben Studdard for a while, and Clay Two elements lift this above that: clever selection of material, and year-old who first hit the charts in 2005 with the single Pon De Aiken was last seen singing at birthday parties for screaming Almond’s skills as an interpreter. The songs and the arrangements Reply. With songs written by Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo — middle-aged women. Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the very strike a vivid English pose, so you could imagine yourself in a very plus help from producer Timbaland — Good Girl Gone Bad is first American Idol, was an anomaly in that she not only smooth but ever-so-slightly seedy London nightclub with James Bond full of her usual radio-friendly hits. The first single, Umbrella, released a successful first album (Thankful), but followed in one corner talking to Ronnie Kray while Liam Gallagher plays features Jay-Z, and is hard to get out of your head with lyrics it up with an even more popular second album (Breakaway). billiards with Lord Lucan. If this is not your thing, then the smooth which seem to go round and round in circles, but do not say However, this latest effort, My December, leaves a lot to be jazz inflections, touches of brass band and cocktail-hour tempos a lot. She has just released the second single Shut Up and desired. Clarkson seems to have gone back to singing other might start to drag a little. But Almond can sing, infusing the right Drive, which is less repetitive but a equally catchy with a dance people’s songs, only applying her own words to make them amount of drama and glam into the material, and he really knows base. The problem is, outside the singles, the rest of the album sound original. A perfect example of this is the track Yeah, how to phrase a line. Yes, it’s camp, but as a contrast to a lot of the feels like filler. There are no other particularly memorable tracks, which sounds suspiciously like Joss Stone. Other tracks are overwrought nonsense that passes for “emotional” or “ballad” styles and she seems to have no point of difference from the raft of poor imitations and weak echoes, intentional or otherwise, these days, this is the how the rules should be written. Closing track other female pop singers in the charts. Rihanna has spent too of Ryan Adams and the Sugababes. Clarkson’s genre-hopping The Curtain Falls is the highlight: just voice, accordion and a much time trying to push her new, older, less-clothing look and third album is not just a disjointed and difficult listen however; traditional, sad tale of empty musical halls and faded glamour, all forgotten to spend time on her music — and as a result this it is also a tribute to a lot of the good, original music currently done with a knowing wink that neatly avoids the cheese factor and album suffers.

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