Post Cyclic launch on Thursday I’m off to Canberra to play at the long-running Ug Beats. Stay tuned for grime, breaks, dancehall, disco and downtempo techno.

At 30-something, Triple J’s been a crucial part of Australia’s music landscape for a long time now, certainly since the early ’90s alternative explosion. But there are signs of discontent, with people harking back to that golden era – which they were also doing at the time, it must be said. The fact that it commands a huge amount of power in the industry is an important piece of the puzzle: people at indie labels say getting the nod from Kingsmill at one of his all-too-brief listening sessions can make or break an artist.

That role came out in blog posts on Melb band The Basics and their persistent failure to attract Triple J interest, despite boasting JJJs fave Wally ‘Gotye’ de Backer in their numbers. The post attracted fierce debate on Mess+Noise‘s typically polarised forum – which divided along fandom boundaries: boring or marginalised.

The national radio station was designed to give the audience an outlet for music and radio-making that was different to the rest (i.e. commercial radio), according to Kingsmill, in an interview with Eliza Sarlos for M+N last year.

Eliza made the obvious comment that:

When what you’re defining yourselves against is as stagnant as it is (non stop blocks of rock, or manufactured pop, on repeat 24-7) the space offered to create an alternative is huge, and the places you can posit yourself are endless. I don’t want to be a hater, because I’m not – I think Triple J occupies an important space in Australian culture and the luxury of having a national youth broadcaster shouldn’t be undervalued – but I do feel that there are unnecessarily imposed limitations to the music that Triple J covers. According to my interviewees I’m not the only one.

Eliza’s firmly of the community radio/grass roots alternative take on radio – that it should be supporting interesting, exciting music. (That’s probably where I’m at too). But at the other end of the spectrum, Michael Tunn (“Tunny!” – former presenter who inspires emotions at both extremes) appeared in Crikey today (subscriber-only), lambasting the station for being alternative at the expense of its audience.

On the back of poor ratings performances in Newcastle and Darwin (six and five per cent respectively), and capital figures drifting around the bottom of the pack, according to Tunn, as well as the annual Hottest 100 number one position being taken out year in year out by commercial radio hits rather than Triple J faves, Tunn complained that:

Triple J, in its ivory tower at 700 Harris Street in Ultimo, sees no reason to respond or adjust to its target. Triple J believes it sets the agenda on what is cool.

There’s a remarkable par in Eliza’s piece that seems to articulate Kingsmill’s position:

“I think there’s a lot of people who will ignore the great work we do. They’ll never look at the effect that we’ve had and the bands that we’ve championed… I think there’s a certain amount of jealousy about Triple J and what we do. There are a lot of people in the press who are jealous of what we do who would like to work here who don’t work here who kind of think they could do a better job than what we do and so they’ll criticise us.” Kingsmill knows his words most likely apply to me, and they do in part. Although I don’t think I’d do a better job, just different.

Tunn says Triple J should:

Stop being scared of being mainstream, there is still a gulf of difference between Triple J and everyone else on the band, narrow it down, play a song because it appeals to your audience, not to the tastes of a desperately aging staff trying the maintain the coolness.

But that’s never been Triple J’s role. It’s not another commercial station, it’s to ‘entertain and inform’.

I doubt anyone sees Tunn as an impartial observer – Crikey gives David Flint column inches too – but Tunn may be right in saying that Triple J should be more like its “older sister” (ABC Local), though maybe less in terms of content, and more in terms of having local stations, local reporters and presenters who play a role in their local areas.

In EMF’s immortal words, “It’s Here,” or was it, “They’re here”? I’m leaning to the latter, but in this case, it’s the latest issue of our semi-regularly scheduled publication that’s here and ready to read.

Full to bursting with interviews – Aleks & the Ramps, Chris Smith, David Thrussell, Christopher Willits, Jeremy Dower (our guest cover designer – see ghostly gamer below), Mira Calix, Panda Bear, Underlapper, Sam Amidon, Victor Xray Sound System and Warren Burt – plus the usual sleeve reviews, Selects with Unkle Ho and a new regular section Storm the Studio with Tony Dupe.

It’s pretty much all online already, where Scot McPhee has already picked up a bit of creative licence on my part, along with a few extra interviews – Anthony Pateras, Cocorosie, Erdem Helvacioglu – and stacks of reviews. The PDF will be online on Thursday.

Come to the launch on Thursday August 2 and pick up a copy. The wonderful Francis Plagne is launching his new album (Synaesthesia/Mistletone), Cleptoclectics (aka Cyclic writer Tom Smith) is playing. And Seb and I will be spinning tracks between acts. 830pm start. $10/$8 concession.

Interesting article on Australia’s small press scene that’s available from Arts Hub if you’re a subscriber (I’m not) – Brisbane music writer/blogger/event organiser Ben Eltham wrote the piece, quoting Graham Nunn (Small Change Press), Nathan Hollier (Small Press Underground Networking Community), Ronnie Scott (Lifted Brow zine) and me (Cyclic Defrost).

Sydney-based independent music publication Cyclic Defrost is a one example of the sort of quality that can be found in the independent publishing sector. From its beginnings nine years ago as a zine handed out at Sydney’s long-running electronic music club, Frigid, the publication has evolved into the home of some of Australia’s best contemporary music writers.

Cyclic’s 17th issue is out next week!

AR Kane – Butterfly Collector
Disco Inferno – Love Stepping Out
The Trammps – Disco Inferno (J-Love Hot Panties Edit)
Jungle Wonz – Bird In A Gilded Cage
Marshall Jefferson – House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)
Adonis – No Way Out
Armando – Pleasure Dome
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Power of Love
Huey Lewis & The News – Power of Love
Jennifer Rush – Power of Love
The Zero Kelvins – Hero Boy
Dee-Lite – Power of Love
Peter Cetera – Glory of Love
Chicago – Street Player
Bucketheads – The Bomb (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)

Well associate editor at least.

Andrew P. Street’s in the studio tonight for Join the Dots (9-11pm on FBI 94.5). Former editor of Adelaide’s db mag (here‘s an interview he did at the time), he’s spent time in bands and the public service (same thing, right?) and plans an extended vamp on the power of love.

Congratulations to the team behind Ug Beats – five years of funk in the nation’s capital – it’s crazy that a shambolic night like that can hold together so long (techno, funk and hip hop, trance, jungle, breaks and whatever else get a spin on the decks) but it’s arguably been a huge influence on shifting the ACT’s music scene away from pointless technical skilz and into dope music and wild parties.

Doing more to warm up Canberrans than ug boots since 2002. I’ve even played there. I may even be at the next one.

Presto – Nitty Gritty
Equills – Forward
Nick Sweepah & Aux One – Ghostmutt
Julez – News
The Tongue – Bad Education
The Sewing Circle Mentality ft Julez and Dragonfly – Beef City
Briztronix – Axel U
Monster Zoku Onsomb – Monday Mornin’ (Croxton Mix)
I/O – The New Risk
Object – [Before]
Lawrence English & Ben Frost – Anyone Can Sing
Lawrence English & Ai Yamamoto – A Silent Kouta (edit)
Oren Ambarchi – Lost Time Not Found Again
Object – Having Been You
M.Rosner – Kobenhavn
Object – Did They Speak
Object – So Be
Young Marble Giants – Eating Nodemmix
Robin Fox & Clayton Thomas – Bird Song
Open Duo – Green Man, Red Man
Jade Macrae – I’m Alright
Informal Troupe – Flying Against The Wind
Prop – Portal
Coda – Gonna Run U Over
Holly Throsby – Come Visit

(APRA week)

I’ve spent hours thinking up ways to get 4WDers. Racing past the lumbering beasts on a Vespa scooter, I come up with ideas ranging from the imaginative (witty slogans on stickers) right through to martyrdom (steering into the thing’s side). As a once upon a time geologist I know they have their place, but it seems ridiculous that these ostentatious things chew up fuel, take up parking space, endanger the lives of those around, and, to top it all off, they get a tax break. They’re not the worst of the worst, in fact, I’ve gotta hold my tongue on a regular basis, but they’re one of the more overt displays in these self-obsessed times.*

The NY Times reports that vandals attacked a Washington man’s brand new Hummer, slashing the tyres and scratching the body with the statement: “FOR THE ENVIRON.”

That it’s got to the point where people are acting out these impulses reflects the developing orthodoxy around climate change, but, along with closed communities, these vehicles are anti-social behaviour in the most basic sense. How can you not react to that?

*Typed straight-faced into my blog, and possibly facebook.

This blog made the buggerall-AustralianBlogs top 150 noisiest bloggers list (noisy = back-linked like an academic citations rating). There’s a crazy range of bloggers listed, 1299 in total! From pro-bloggers covering cars, photography and cooking, to political ones (Antony Loewenstein, Tim Blair) and music heads like Boudist.