Two Bright Lakes :: Sugar Mountain Festival

		Described by Pitchfork as "the best band in the world", DEERHOOF (USA) have been creating cutting edge, inventive art-pop music for over sixteen years. One of the most unlikely success stories in contemporary music, Deerhoof made some of the most difficult and unclassifiable noise of the mid-nineties, before unexpectedly rising to international prominence as one of indie rock's most renowned and influential groups. Deerhoof have influenced the sound of many of their contemporaries, including Xiu Xiu, Dirty Projectors, Ponytail, Of Montreal and St. Vincent. Renowned for their musical innovativeness and the ability to constantly reinvent their sound, Deerhoof have toured the world over and have performed with the likes of Radiohead, Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips. Their eleventh full length album Deerhoof vs Evil, which was released earlier this year, encapsulates Deerhoof's exuberance and impressive sonic abilities.

		Seattle’s enigmatic, avant-garde hip hop trio SHABAZZ PALACES (USA) are lead by Palaceer Lazaro, also known as Ishamel 'Butterfly' Butler of Digable Planets. The project emerged onto the scene bearing a sense of mystery about them, much like the magnificent electro-synth taps and unhinged drum beats which lay amongst their cryptic lyrics. In Seattle, you can’t escape the hype surrounding Shabazz Palaces and their bold new release Black Up, although a long time in the making, is an astounding record proving them to be more than worthy. Often considered to be art-rap, Shabazz Palaces are forward thinkers who remain nostalgic for a sparer time and have worked to take hip hop to an unearthed height.

		Possessing an expansive sound that marries a coarse folk ingenuity with the bold pop sensibility of an R&B siren, TUNE-YARDS (USA) is the project of Merrill Garbus. Neither digital magic trickery nor auto-tuned dazzle need be applied; Tune-Yards music is made by human hands and possessed of a distinctly human touch. This is music created piecemeal, smashed apart wholly, then reassembled tenderly, gaining complexity as the layers stack up. From a croon to a shriek to a rap to a hum, the vocal gymnastics of Tune-Yards songs remain front and centre. Now, add a beat, one full of soul and swing and wonderful imperfection. That voice infiltrates your mind, shoots down your legs and converts any ground into a dance floor.

		THEE OH SEES (USA) are the current offering from underground musical mastermind John Dwyer, formerly of Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, and Hospital. Formed initially as a vehicle for the experimental compositions that Dwyer was recording in his home studio, Thee Oh Sees eventually morphed into a full band. Thee Oh Sees filter 1960s Californian harmonies through a dark hindsight filter. Reverb-soaked vocals and bombastic drums venture well beyond nostalgia or revivalism into pure territories of artistic expression. Described as "a bit like the Mamas & Papas run through a seriously bent garage blender", Thee Oh Sees are all about vintage garage-rock cheekiness, folksy psychedelia and manic on-stage antics.

		Minnesota native JOHN MAUS (USA) composes music that taps into melancholic fantasy and affirms that we are all truly alive. Questing synthesisers, tensely strung bass lines and chasing drum machines provide the perfect backdrop for John's deeply resonant reverb-drenched vocal. John Maus first gained notice ten years ago, collaborating with Ariel Pink and Gary War in Haunted Graffiti, before releasing his debut solo album in 2006. Fast forward to 2011 with John releasing one of the year's best albums, We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves - a glorious, vibrant, futurist synth-pop record.The confrontation of punk, the fleeting poignancy of 80s movie soundtracks, the insistent pulse of Moroder and the spirituality of Medieval and Baroque music all find salvation in John Maus.

		JULIANNA BARWICK (USA) makes sublime, ethereal, pastoral folk music, with heavenly harmonies and weaving sonic architecture. Julianna's experimental soundscapes are in part informed by her experience growing up in Louisiana and Missouri, singing weekly with her church congregation and school choirs. Her loop-based compositions replicate the soaring textures of a large choral group using only her voice, a loop station and some occasional instrumentation. Her debut album The Magic Place is a nine-piece full-length album of magic and solace, bursting joy and healing tones. Like Sigur Rós’s ethereal glossolalia, there’s a very particular joy in listening to Julianna’s music. Free of the constraints of narrative and traceable language, it’s the same joy in giving yourself over to opera in a foreign language, of letting go of your pesky rational mind and allowing the feeling to come through in the voices and performance.

		Cameron Stallones began his musical career as a founding member of the experimental psychedelic rock collective Magic Lantern, before stepping out as SUN ARAW (USA). Since 2007, four full-length LPs, three EPs, and five cassettes have walked the mind-planes from psychedelic drone to melted afrobeat, and from warped dub to minimal composition. These releases were put out by unbelievably hip labels including Not Not Fun and Sun Ark, and were praised in Wire Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Uncut Magazine, Mojo, Pitchfork and beyond. Sun Araw has performed in the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand with hundreds of artists, including luminaries like Christian Fennesz and Konono No. 1. Sometimes compared to Animal Collective, Sun Araw's music is trippy, organic and deeply psychedelic, drawing on inspiration from afrobeat, west coast '60s psych, Neil Young and krautrock. But it's more than mere imitation: present is a real contemporary sense of inspiration, which is why Sun Araw's music is heads and shoulders above the pack.

		Comprised of sisters Taraka and Nimai Larson and their friend Michael Collins, PRINCE RAMA (USA) were raised on a Hare Krishna commune in Florida, educated at an art school in Boston, and now make noise in Brooklyn. The music of Prince Rama sifts through the global landscape of trance-induction, drawing inspiration from Krishna chants, horror soundtracks, revelatory psychedelic explorations, and the codeine drone of slowed and chopped rap. Their latest album Shadow Temple, which was recorded with Avey Tare and Deakin of Animal Collective,is an epic shrine of swirling synths, pulsing guitars and thunder drums. An ethereal chorus of voices and anthemic melodies create a reverb-washed mine of sonic artifacts drawing from southeast Asian rituals, krautrock legacies, chopped and screwed homages, hallucinatory operas and dance hall psychedelia. Prince Rama's live set, honed by ceaseless touring throughout the last three years, is a terrifying, celebratory and transcendent experience.

		WORLD'S END PRESS make widescreen pop music as danceable as it is loveable. Renowned for their wild live shows, the band create enough on stage energy to power a small nation. On the back of their single Faithful, World's End Press have been touring relentlessly, reducing every room to a seething mass of flailing arms, sweaty bodies and uninhibited movement. Powered by Sashi Dharann's insistent bass groove and the metronomic drums of Tom Gould, the band coalesce around the lustrous, technicolour sounds Rhys Richards wrests from his keys and synthesisers. It's all driven home by the mesmerising guitar and vocals of John Parkinson. Having traversed the country multiple times in 2011 as special guests of Cut Copy, Primal Scream, Little Red, !!! and Metronomy, World's End Press are one of the hottest bands in Australia at the moment.

		Comprising of Will Farrier (bass & vocals), Dennis Santiago (guitar), and Kino Verzosa (drums), Melbourne trio ABSOLUTE BOYS formed from the ashes of notable local outfits Ohana and Eucalypt. To date they have released two impressive 12 inches – the minimalist ‘Minimum Wage’ and hypnotic ‘Single Space’, with a debut album in the works. Drawing influences from Fugazi, This Heat, and Tom Tom Club, Absolute Boys sound has been described as “ridiculously good pop music”.

		DJ YAMANTAKA EYE (JAPAN) is the driving force behind Japanese psychedelic overlords BOREDOMS. A versatile yet instantly identifiable mixed-media artist, Yamantaka Eye has been involved in various collaborations and close associations with the likes of Sonic Youth, Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Gang Gang Dance, Ween, Battles, Beck, and John Zorn. Yamantaka Eye also famously orchestrated the ’77 Boadrum’ project, which featured a synchronized drum circle of 77 percussionists. Performing a DJ set at the 2012 Sugar Mountain Festival, Yamantaka Eye will play an unpredictable mix of dance music, punk culture, & popular retro rock, mastering a weird fusion of club experience and sound art performance.

		FOX + SUI is a collaboration between Melbourne beatmaker Andras Fox and Sydney musician Sui Zhen. After meeting at the Red Bull Music Academy in London 2010, they discovered a shared passion for the deep sea, bird sounds and outsider music. With influences including James Pants, Antena, and Arthur Lyman, Fox + Sui’s sound is somewhere between lounge, exotica, and dreamy pop. Fox + Sui will release their debut EP in early 2012 on Two Bright Lakes.

		LOST ANIMAL is Jarrod Quarrell, the former front man of prolific Melbourne oufits St Helens, and The New Season. 2011 has seen the release of Quarrell’s debut solo release Ex Tropical, an album that exudes heart, soul, flesh , blood, sensuality and reflection. Live, Lost Animal are visceral and sexy. Quarrell performs with a swagger and playful intensity that only emphasises the seminal resonance that is Lost Animal.

		Following the massively successful Saturday Aquatic Pixie Acid tour earlier this year, in which PETS WITH PETS sold out 2 Melbourne album launches, the 4 piece slunk back behind the curtain. Now with a spankin new line-up including members of New Zealand’s DFA Approved Shocking Pinks and local brats Teen Archer, Pets With Pets are back, smashing their romantically psychedelic dance bangers at a show near you.

		THIS THING is a Melbourne-based record label & artist collective, conjured up on a sunny afternoon in a North Melbourne backyard. The collective includes DJs, Producers, Broadcasters, and Graphic Artists, counting in their number some of the most important young producers at work in the scene. This Thing will take over The Forum Theatre for the last two hours of the festival, providing the soundtrack to the end of your night.

		The Straight Arrows started out with Owen Penglis yelling about getting dumped and kicked out of bands into a four track cassette machine in his bedroom, soon to be joined by Alex Grigg, Angela Bermuda, and Adam Williams, all friends with coloured musical pasts. Slowly the four honed their reverb-laden, catchy, fuzzed out punk garage into something barely listenable and less antisocial. Forward two years and no longer kids, now with two more international 7 inch releases sold out, tours and shows with, amongst others (friends, punk slime, and shitheads), Thee Oh Sees, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Black Lips, Jay Reatard (RIP), PLUS a whole cast of bands recorded by Owen in the same method as the early releases (to cassette, in a bedroom or loungeroom, just ask Royal Headache, Circle Pit, The Frowning Clouds, Dead Farmers, or a whole cast of others you haven’t heard YET), the Straight Arrows come forth with full length release “IT’S HAPPENING”.

		In the tradition of the great voices of Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, THE HARPOONS make some of the finest pop and R’n'B we’ve heard in a long time. Brothers Henry and Jack Madin write undeniable boppers and ballads that burst with harmony and a shared knowledge that only siblings can have. Bec Rigby’s arresting vocals are bellowing and heart-melting, and Martin King (of Oscar+Martin) provides the backbone for the songs. Having recently reformed after a brief hiatus, The Harpoons are a band not to miss at the 2012 Sugar Mountain Festival.

		VISUAL ARTISTS

		VINCENT MOON (FRANCE) - real name Mathieu Sura - is known the world over for his revolutionary music videos. Moon has worked with a number of impressive musicians including Arcade Fire, Clogs, Sylvain Chauveau, Barzin, The National, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, Grizzly Bear and Mogwai, and along with collaborator Chryde is responsible for the Take Away Shows project, a series of outdoor documentaries consisting of improvised video sessions with musicians from around the world. In four years, Moon has managed to shoot over two hundred music video clips and has also worked on various projects including a movie essay on The National, a 76 minute movie about Arcade Fire, Beirut's La Blogotheque and a gonzo film on the ATP Festival. Moon's 2009 his film La Faute Des Fleurs won the Sound & Vision Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival. Exploring new forms and territories, Vincent Moon has now been on the road for more than two years, exploring the world with a camera in his backpack. Moon is currently working on a new project, Petites Planetes, a compilation of audiovisual recordings from his travels. Moon also deals with visionary notions about images, society and new technologies on his blog (fiumenights.com).

		MAYA HAYUK (USA) is obsessed with symmetry and nourishing colour, played out in what might be views from the Hubble Telescope, airbrushed nail art, Ukrainian Easter eggs, chandeliers, mandalas, rorschach tests and/or holograms. Embracing sexuality and spirituality via symbolism evocative of radiantly woven geometries and beckoning parted orifices of the body, Hayuk's work attempts to decode a process towards continuity and wholeness while striking chords of pathological optimism. Along with her massive installations, Hayuk frequently collaborates with other artists and musicians. Her work has been exhibited and published extensively in galleries, museums, on the streets and in various printed and electronic media around the world. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Hayuk will join forces with Kyle Ranson to transform the inside foyer of the Forum Theatre. Together they will collaborate to create a grand and explosively colourful entrance to the Festival.

		With an encouraging hippie mother, KYLE RANSON (USA) began to draw and paint in early childhood. In 1994 Ranson moved to San Francisco and became a part of the underground punk scene, and has slowly become a pillar of the San Francisco art world. Kyle has created large-scale installations, exhibited his works in New York, London, Barcelona and Brussels, and has had several solo shows in San Francisco. Ranson's intensely intricate works embrace the dualities of man. Embarking on biblical and mythological themes, his works seek to remind us of the archetypes of our true nature. These dualities are often described within oscillations between figurative and abstract worlds where humans both intertwine and are overwrought in a violent blending of flora and fauna. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Ranson will join forces with Maya Hayuk to transform the inside foyer of the Forum Theatre. Together they will collaborate to create a grand and explosively colourful entrance to the Festival.

		BEN BARRETTO (PERTH) adds performance and sound to art-historical ideas of painting, drawing and sculpture. Baretto uses lo-fi technology, DIY building equipment and vibrant, commodity colour to update process-based action painting. His works are often 'assisted', produced by mechanised structures built by Barretto and sometimes exhibited as installations. Baretto was recently selected as a visiting scholar to the École Nationale Supérieur d'Art in Dijon, France, and has also travelled internationally as a sponsored skateboarder. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Barretto will share the stage with US musician Sun Araw. Barretto will construct a large scale 'assisted paintings' installation - a crudely constructed, large wooden frame through which paint will be poured. After passing over several materials, the paint will ultimately reach a canvas where it will be blended with fabric being rotated by mirror ball motors. The structure will be lit in direct response to the sound being performed by Sun Araw. This will add another element of colour to the work and unify these two processes on the one stage, providing a truly rare moment where art and music meet to create something very special, and definitely very strange.

		KIT WEBSTER (MELBOURNE) has gained wide recognition for his enigmatic audiovisual installations. Ranging from site-specific projections to digital sculptures, his works utilise precision programming and visualisation techniques to create captivating and immersive environments that challenge our sensory perceptions. By continually pushing the boundaries of technology and art, Webster is unafraid to present highly experimental concepts designed to expose the potential for the creation of a new audiovisual aesthetic. After rave reviews at Sugar Mountain 2011, Kit Webster returns to Sugar Mountain in 2012. Webster will deliver his signature, site-specific digital projection stylings to the Festival main stage, this time with added depth and awe. Webster will use sculptures to create an exciting, ever-changing, immersive environment.

		DYLAN MARTORELL (MELBOURNE) has been exhibiting and performing for over ten years. Central to his multidisciplinary practice is an intense interest in the full spectrum of music and sound sources, ranging from field recordings to ritualised performances. His work also draws on the rhythms and structures of the natural world, real and imagined histories, musical diaspora as well as the use of time, sound and light on sensory perceptions to create synaesthestic combinations of improvised colour, pattern, sound and line. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Martorell will transform one of the many upper nooks of the Forum Theatre. He will turn the room into an interactive, neo-tribal audio/visual sensation, with an animatronic backing band to surprise karaoke participants (provided by musicians on the Festival's musical lineup, and others).

		CHACO KATO‘s art practice involves many genres from process-based installation to improvisational drawing and picture book making. She is probably best known for her ephemeral, open-ended, playful installations, such as large scale string constructions, or dried veggie sculpture series. Site specificity, versatility, flexibility and providing a sense of humour or joy are key issues throughout her works, which also seek ways to transform the world we live in. Kato’s works are strongly influenced by the exhibition space and her relationship to this space. It is important for her to spend time to gain a gradual understanding of this environment, so that she can create a dialogue within each space. Her installations are very much about a creative and conceptual exchange which involves dialogues, between the artist and the space, between the artist and the materials and ultimately, between the viewer and the artist through the installation. Kato completed Fine Art degree, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She then finished her Master of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1999. She is a recipient of a French government scholarship, and the Paris Cite des Arts and a studio at Gertrude Contemporary Art Space. Kato has lived in Melbourne since 1996, and has exhibited extensively in various public/commercial spaces, such as the McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award in Melbourne, and 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo. She is a founding member of Slow Art Collective (SAC), an interdisciplinary artist group whose focus is on creative practices, environmental sustainability, DIY culture, and collaborative practice. SAC had participated in numbers of innovative projects such as Watershed (Moomba Festival), Shelter (McDonald Drive through, and Ian Potter Museum), Degavlas (National Institute for Experimental Arts, Object Gallery). :: Sugar Mountain 2012 presents :: CHACO KATO @ Chapter House Lane New installation work by Melbourne based, Japanese artist Chaco Kato Chapter House Lane Entry via Flinders Lane, Melbourne Opening night: Thursday 19 January, 6pm till 8pm Exhibition will run until Friday 27 January 2012 [ FREE ENTRY ] :: www.chapterhouselane.org.au ::

		Speakeasy Cinema presents *‘Grace Note’* an oversized video work by Keith Deverell on the big screen at The Forum Upstairs. Keith Deverell is a Melbourne-based artist who works with video, sound, photography, film, found objects and installation. He works with economic visual and aural languages to create ultra slow portraits of people doing what they do. He focuses on the seemingly ordinary and mundane, drawing attention to the depth of the spaces in-between. He likes to situate his work within spaces that are directly related to the subject to see how other activities and the physically of a space add meaning and context to a work. Keith’s recent work The Hawker’s Song exhibited at the 2010 Melbourne International Arts Festival and was then shown in Singapore as part of the exhibition ‘Video, an art, a history’ exhibition curated by The Centre Pompidou and Singapore Art Museum. Speakeasy Cinema is an independent film series that puts good films on big screens in the amiable surrounds of Melbourne’s best bars, cafes and creative studios. They screen titles that are overlooked or hard to find, often weird, always some kind of wonderful. As part of that they’re taking video art out of the gallery and into more cinematic and accessible contexts. At Sugar Mountain Keith will turn his lens on Australia’s most idiosyncratic musicians by creating ultra slow, super huge portraits of their unique gestures and stage antics. He’ll blow them up, out and loud, lending a new perspective to the art of musicianship. It’s a celebration of the unknown and a deconstruction of the overblown notion of fame. SCREENING: JAN 14 : ‘Grace Note’ @ Sugar Mountain Festival, The Forum Upper Theatre JAN 12 – 31 : ‘Grace Note’ @ Polyester Records, City Store

		Lucy Benson is a visual artist working with live media technologies, light and performance. Her work explores notions of identity, representation and perception. Sophisticated technologies are softened and tamed into intimate storytelling conduits, focused on human experience and emotion. Performances made with a collage of media and interactive tools tend towards the subliminal and sublime. Installations and performances by Lucy have featured at renowned cultural events such as Transmediale, Unsound Festival, Mapping Festival and Shift Electronic Arts. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Lucy Benson will provide visual projections specifically tailored for the performances of musicians Julianna Barwick and This Thing Presents, as well as adding a further visual element to the exciting collaborative performance between visual artist Ben Barretto and musician Sun Araw.

		Matsuri Yamana has created huge-scale interactive installation and exhibited her works in Melbourne: Art Melbourne 2011, Penthouse Mouse (PHM) AW11, NEWR11 AWARD and so on. Matsuri was born in Tokyo and began to draw and create sculptures in Art High School. In 2005, she moved in Australia to study art and also had an exchange program to Gritt Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam in 2009. She graduated bachelor of Fine Art Sculpture at RMIT University in 2010. Matsuri is interested in the relationships between the artist, viewer, and the work in a participatory way. The artwork creates a social environment in which people come together in a shared activity. Viewers could bring their own experiences into her artwork. Matsuri is interested in that moment, when viewers slip into their private imaginations or own memories through the physical immersion of her work. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Matsuri Yamana will contribute two of her imaginative, interactive installations, which will be hidden amongst the many upper nooks of The Forum Theatre, awaiting your exploration. One of the two installations – “Atmosphere”, will feature a collaboration between Yamana & Fashion designer Almendra Basurto.

		Raphael Rizzo and Rhys Mitchell are collaborative artists and friends. Raphael comes from an architectural background and is about to complete his Masters in this field. Raphael’s artwork is informed by his knowledge of this practice and one can notice an exploration of form, space and structure in his work. Rhys comes from a film background, growing up around the industry and has recently completely his honours degree in Film and Television. Rhys’ work is expressive and immediate and tends to focus on a narrative or a peculiar world and its inhabitants. Aesthetically their collaborative work is intricate and bursting with energy whilst simultaneously calmed by the holistic sense of balance and gentle movement. Their work celebrates eccentricity in a colourful and accessible manner, often utilising highly empathetic characters to act as the vessel for these explorations. Together they have completed artwork and art direction for musicians such as Kimbra, Northeast Party House, Ben Wright Smith, and Rhys’ own bands – Red Berry Plum & Mouth Tooth. During 2011 they were also Artists in Residence at Melbourne Grammar School, Grimwade Campus. At Sugar Mountain 2012, Raphael and Rhys will contribute an imaginative and vibrant backdrop and installation setup for the Mess & Noise stage, which will be on the mezzanine level. They will also create an interactive wall for the Three Thousand photography space.

		HEAD TO SUGARMOUNTAINFESTIVAL.COM FOR MORE INFO AND FREE THINGS...

Two Bright Lakes are very excited to be a part of the Sugar Mountain Festival, Australia's newest music and arts festival, which will take over the Melbourne CBD in January 2012.

Sugar Mountain will be held over multiple days, with the main event taking place at The Forum Theatre on Saturday 14 January 2012. The Festival will also utilise Federation Square, No Vacancy Gallery and ACMI to showcase a marvellous array of local and international creative talent.

Sugar Mountain celebrates creativity across multiple platforms. The Festival organisers are committed to creating an environment that is convivial and interactive, presenting engaging performances in intriguing spaces.

Curated by artist and festival creative director Pete Keen, Sugar Mountain's visual arts line-up will feature an array of truly talented local and international art makers. Stay tuned for the visual arts program announcement in October 2011.

Curated by To and Fro Family, Two Bright Lakes and Wing & Gill, Sugar Mountain's music and sound program is an inspired selection of local and international acts.

We are pleased to announce that the following incredible musicians and visual artists will be performing at the Sugar Mountain Festival at The Forum Theatre on Saturday 14 January 2012:

+ NO LIGHTS NO LYCRA DANCERS

CHECK OUT THE SIDE EVENTS FROM THAT ARE GOING ON JAN 12TH - 21ST HERE

CHECK OUT THE SUGAR MOUNTAIN WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO AND FREE STUFF HERE

Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster - www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100.
Tickets are $85 + bf and selling fast...

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