STACK Aug #154

NEWS MUSIC

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Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age

B eethoven once professed that in 1798, he flew into a violent tantrum after he was interrupted in his work – probably by some poor charwoman or the girl who emptied his enfouled chamber pot – and fell over in a rage. When he picked his pantaloons up, he couldn’t hear any more. Historians have variously attributed his hearing loss to lead poisoning, typhus, syphilis, and any of the now defunct diseases which Jenny McCarthy wants to reintroduce to the population. “In my profession it is a frightful state,” the composer wrote to a friend in 1801. When I touched down in Sydney to interview Dave Le’aupepe, frontman for our cover band Gang Of Youths, I discovered I couldn’t hear. Though I’ve since learned the cause

was two blocked Eustachian tubes hurried along by a latent cold (so totally temporary), I lamented all the symphonies I hadn’t written, all the time I hadn’t spent with Haydn, and all the tantrums I hadn’t thrown. I hope our cover interview (page 16) is an illuminating sojourn, worth my 24-hour panic jag – Le’aupepe definitely made me forget I’d ever almost been deaf, and the band’s new album Go Farther In Lightness might make you feel as if you’ve had the cotton pulled from your ears. Our Tim's album review is on page 23. We also spoke to Dean Fertita of Queens Of The Stone Age (their new album Villains is super stunning), Avey Tare, Jen Cloher, Oh Wonder, The Preatures, and Matt Okine, who's the 2017 OXJAM Ambassador. Zo ë Radas (Music Editor)

SampaThe Great at The Zoo, sketched by Cookie. Flip to page 07 to see Cookie's other live gig illustrations for the month.

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24/7/17 3:00 pm