Patrons of last year's Splendour In The Grass festival have no doubt come across this most unsubtle Jagermeister installation before - a full-scale indoor festival bar, themed as an alpine hunting lodge replete with fireplace, wood panelling and (of course) mounted animal trophies. Well, they've patched up the floor and shipped it to Sydney for inclusion at 2012's Sydney Festival Garden. Every night throughout the festival there's free music (live and otherwise) and lotsa Jagermeister to drink.... just don't ask for any shots/bombs/shooters/nips. This is Sydney Festival don't ya know, not Creamfields. Last night's launch saw Tim Finn perform a bevy of original, Split Enz and Crowded House tracks to a very 'adult contemporary' crowd of Cool Dads and me. There's great music on til late throughout Sydney Festival at the Jagermeister Hunting Lodge including performances from Brous, Josh Pyke and Emma Louise. Wednesday January 11 6.15 & 8:30pm Tuba Skinny perform on the verandah 9:15pm: DJ Tyson Koh in the Lodge Thursday January 12  5.15pm: Gramophone Man - Free entry subject to capacity. 8.30pm: Emma Louise. Capacity to this show is limited - entry is via ballot. Enter online by 4pm January 8 9.15pm: DJ Steve G - Free entry subject to capacity. Friday January 13 9:15pm: DJs in the Lodge - Free entry subject to capacity. Saturday January 14 8.30pm: Josh Pyke. Capacity to this show is limited - entry is via ballot. Enter online by 4pm January 8 9.15pm: DJs in the Lodge - Free entry subject to capacity. Sunday January 15 8.30pm: Brous Performance - Free entry subject to capacity. 9.15 : DJ Tyson Koh in the Lodge - Free entry subject to capacity. Tuesday January 17 5pm - 9pm : Jack Shit Sensational 78's - Free entry subject to capacity. 10:30pm: DJ Jack Shit - Free entry subject to capacity. Wednesday January 18 DJ Jack Shit - Free entry subject to capacity. Thursday January 19 Performance to be announced 9.15pm: DJ Emma Swift - Free entry subject to capacity. Friday January 20 9:15pm: DJ Meem in the Lodge Saturday January 21 Performance to be announced 9.15pm - DJ Emma Swift - Free entry subject to capacity. Sunday January 22 Performance to be announced DJ Emma Swift - Free entry subject to capacity. Tuesday January 24 DJ Tyson Koh in the Lodge Wednesday January 25 5.15pm: Salvation Street Shout 9.15pm : DJ Meem - Free entry subject to capacity. Thursday January 26 DJs in the Lodge Friday January 27 DJs in the Lodge Saturday January 28 8.30pm: Ray Beadle - Free entry subject to capacity. 9.15pm: DJ Hot Grits (Stevie G) - Free entry subject to capacity. Sunday January 29 DJ Hot Grits (Stevie G) - Free entry subject to capacity.

DS has returned safe and sound from a little Christmas holiday and is diving head first into some new drinking spots. When the post-holiday depression sinks its teeth into your Jugular, one thing that may cheer you up is a visit to Glebe's new kid on the block, The Little Guy. Positioned on the always entertaining Glebe Point Rd, which never fails to disappoint in the people-watching stakes, The Little Guy is a welcoming spot for casual drinks and a banter over an Old Mount Cider or two. Their hand-written cocktail list changes daily, Thursday could find you sipping on a Jäegermelon (Jäegermeister, Chambord, watermelon and basil), or perhaps on Saturday nights it might be best to knock back one of our favourites, the Scottish Granny, made with freshly squeezed Granny Smith apple juice, Scottish whiskey and mint. We're sure Gran would approve. A few thick slices of truffled salami or a wedge of Woodside Capricorn Goats Brie make a perfectly acceptable dinner any day of the week, and the potted duck rillettes spread on slices of sourdough is rich, creamy and quite perfect, especially considering the lack of kitchen. Above the bar hang pots of ferns and herbs, and there is plenty of room to pull up a stool at the bar if the couple of spaces out the back are a little tight, or there are a lineup of seats looking out the windows. Did we mention there is complimentary spiced popcorn?  It's addictive. They might be small, but The Little Guy will be elbowing the big kids out of the way in no time. Especially if they keep those smiley faces up. The Little Guy 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe www.thelittleguy.com.au anna@thelittleguy.com.au Tues-Fri: 4pm-12am Sat: 1pm-12am Sun: 3pm-10pm Sophie McComas www.twitter.com/sophmccomas

A truly independent film event for Sydney flicker-philes. Newtown Flicks has been giving voice to emerging filmmakers since 2005. Organisers have put the call out for entries, giving aspiring Hitchcocks and Hitchc*nts (RUDE!) until the 6th of July to get their abbreviated celluloid phantasms onto DVD and in the mail. This year's hook: "Get the inside out" Here's why they reckon you should enter: - Thousands of dollars of both cash and prizes for the winners - No restrictions on film themes or age - Each entry can be up to 20 minutes in length - Only Australian films are showen - Winners will be part of a touring collection DVD - Included film makers will receive 20% of all income from the collections – we have returned over $2,000 to film makers to date - Judging panel will include such Australian stage, media and film icons as Genevieve Lemon; Garry Maddox; Bruce Beresford as well as TV star Ada Nicodemou - Winning entries will be included in the international film archive for people from all around the world to view through the International Federation of Film Societies Also if you win you'll receive VIP bicycle rack privileges at the Courthouse Hotel, priority access to the balcony at Dumpling King and a two week extension on your next NEIS assignment. Entries are now open, and will close on 06th July 2012. Good luck!  

Australia’s premiere one-day festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures is back at Victoria Park on the 26th of January and celebrating its 10th birthday Yabun showcases the breadth of indigenous creative talent in our own backyard, with performances, exhibits, food, workshops, traditional displays and forums This year Jessica Mauboy, Dan Sultan and Christine Anu take to the stage alongside the best of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait performers More info on Yabun's Facebook page. WHAT: Yabun WHEN: 10am - 6pm, Sat 26th January WHERE: Victoria Park, Broadway HOW MUCH: Free and open to all Here's a short teaser trailer:

Oliver Tank, the man who crooned his way into your sense of social justice with this video, is releasing his new EP Dreams on Yes Please! Records at the suitably ethereal confines of Paddington Uniting Church. Dreams EP out now http://yespleaserecords.bandcamp.com/album/dreams by Oliver Tank    It's also the debut of his new live show - get in at the ground level with a Sydney artist DS guarantees will be soundtracking the death of a major character on Grey's Anatomy sometime this year. WHAT: Oliver Tank EP Launch w/ Winter People WHEN: Thursday, 9th Feb WHERE: The Paddington Uniting Church, Oxford St HOW MUCH: $10 - more info here

Classic bike enthusiasts / free beer connoisseurs should pedal down to The Standard at Taylor Square this evening for the opening of On The Down Low, a custom bicycle show celebrating lowrider culture. There's a range of chromed-up bikes, Rat Rods and accompanying artworks by Peque, Scram and Kerupt. Oh, and there's FREE ASAHI for all from 6pm. WHAT: On The Down Low WHERE: The Standard, Level 3 @ Kinselas, Taylor Square, Darlinghurst WHEN: Tonight, Thursday 5th January HOW MUCH: Free

  I had the pleasure of seeing you guys playing at Peats Ridge last week, how was the festival experience for you guys? Have you done many gigs like that before?   It was our first time playing at a major festival, and we had an absolute blast. I was the only one legit enough to camp out for the whole three days, the others breezed in on the last day for the show! Kid attempted to stay but couldn’t find our campsite at 1am and opted to drive home instead. True story.   You have such a unique sound, very different to most other bands that were at the festival, particularly playing in that tent. How do you describe your music?   I’m always tempted to go along with this current obsession with coming up with wacky genres but it’s kinda ridiculous...oh fuck it, we’re ‘surfgaze’.   Do you make your music with a certain genre of person in mind? For example, if you could pick the perfect listener for your music, who would it be, or what group of people?    Probably the people who listen to Adele and Coldplay...cash moneyyyy! For real though, anyone who is moved by us. That always makes it worth it, having someone genuinely affected by what we do.   What does 2012 bring for Sleep Makes Waves? When will we see you next?   2012 is shaping up to be a big year for us. We’re kicking things off with our (hello) Australia tour in February which will take us across the country and back, including several places we haven’t been before. Then we’re headed to Austin TX in March to showcase at SxSW festival with some other cool aussie bands including Kimbra (call me, Kimbra). After we get back we’ll take a couple of weeks off before jetting off to Europe for a month to play some shows around there, including Dunk! Festival at Belgium. Whew.   Click here to listen to free music online by sleepmakeswaves   Emily Eskell emilyeskell@gmail.com

  I must say, this festival was hands down incredible.   From the music, to the festival grounds, to the dread locked hippies and NYE costume parade- Peats Ridge Sustainable Music Festival really was one of the best imaginable ways to end a phenomenal year.   Matt Grant has been organising this festival since 2004 and it still remains the only festival in the world that's run on 100% renewable energy (click here to read our interview with him). It's about time more festivals followed in their footsteps. And more people like us support them: do it, you won't regret it. Promise.   Festival highlights:   *Sleep Makes Waves: This is a really unique band with an awesome mostly non- vocal sound. They absolutely ripped the head off the tent they were playing in and it went from 20% to 80% capacity in about 5 minutes. Impressive. Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with the boys from the band!   *Ball Park Music: This is a six piece indie rock band from Brisbane. Discovering this band over this 3 day bliss out absolutely floored me. These guys make your skin tingle when they play. I also think there's something in their music that heightens the serotonin in your body. Seriously. I went mental when they played.   *NYE Costume Parade: Everyone looked bloody amazing and really got into the spirit of things. There's something about dressing up that makes everyone a thousand times more amped for a pending party. If you plan to go next year, make sure you've packed something suitably outrageous to get you in the mood.   *Gotye: His set was from 11.30pm until midnight, on either side of the new year countdown. On top of the fact that it was always going to ground breakingly awesome (purely because of the time slot) this man can really play. And sing. And rev a crowd up. 'Somebody that I used to Know' played right as the clock struck midnight. The crowd was paralytic. I am in awe of this musician, he gives a good name to what an artist should be. I also very much enjoy that he chose to play at Peats Ridge, particularly to encourage and support all the wonderful things these guys are doing.   I don't know what it was about this festival, maybe its the energy efficient air, or maybe it's the relaxed limbo these events put you into, but this one in particular was overflowing love and kisses. Even the food vendors with 10 minute coffee line waits were all smiles... Now that's telling you something..   Be there next year. Or miss out on the single best way to spend New Years in Australia. [gallery]     Emily Eskell emilyeskell@gmail.com

So Matt, you've been putting this together since 2004 and the festival itself has seen an incredible evolution... What are the changes and transformations you're most excited about this year?  There's lots of great new stuff this year, we’re launching a new outdoor fully decorated electronic stage at the Festival which will feature cutting edge sets from some wicked producers and DJs, we’re organising it in conjunction with the crew from Noisy Chicken. We’re also launching a new mobile Eco hub at the heart of the Ecoliving Village. It’s an amazing structure that we’ve designed with a team of architects and which is manufactured out of recycled Aluminium agricultural pipe. We’ll be taking it around to other events to educate people about sustainability. Our arts programme is always a highlight, rich and diverse and kooky, this year we’ve partnered with Alchemical Cabaret and will be bringing a full black-out Theatre dome, with full theatrical performances during the day and which we’ll be turning it into a fully themed nightclub at night. The Children’s Festival has a great headliner this year, the Drumming Monkeys and we will be improving ‘The Swamp’, which is our area dedicated to teens, with lots of workshops and live performance. And of course over 140 musical acts, with an outstanding line up of Australian and international acts. Gotye will be playing the midnight set, that’s a real coup, and we have an amazing selection of up and coming Australian talent to give everyone a chance to discover a new favourite act. It’s going to be wicked this year! Tell me where the inspiration for you to create a sustainable music festival sprung from. I had wanted to organise a Festival since 1994 but it wasn’t until I took a Permaculture design course in 2000 that the concept of marrying sustainability and a Festival together emerged. I had felt an obligation up until this point to work within the field of sustainability as I could see from a logical point of view that we were heading towards issues with resources on the planet, but I wasn’t sure how to implement this obligation. I had competing pulls between the urge to work in sustainability and the passion to create a Festival. Once the idea of combining both came to me everything just seemed to flow naturally, although I have to say at the time everybody thought I was mad.   When we made the choice in 2005 to run the event entirely on renewable energy (100% biodiesel fuelled generators) nobody had done this before and a lot of people said to me you’re crazy to take the risk, but from my information there wasn’t such a risk and it was something I really wanted to do. We’ve run the Festival on renewable energy ever since and to be honest we’ve never had any problems. We’re still the only Festival that’s 100% run on renewable energy and we’re constantly looking for new technologies to decrease our impact on the planet. We report on everything we discover through our Model Event program which is all the information we discover about running a sustainable event that we give away via our website. Why Glenworth Valley and why the illustrious dates over New Years Eve? Well, it’s stunning there. Driving down into the valley is an experience in itself with the Festival appearing below you. Also it’s really close to Sydney, which is a definite plus. New Year’s Eve – because it’s the only time of the year where pretty much everybody takes at least a week off and you can get everybody into the most relaxed frame of mind. Who are you most excited about hearing play in this year's line up (I'm personally going numb with excitement over Gotye)... LTJ Bukem, is my personal hero there is no better DJ for stepping out big time on the dance floor, also Oliver Tank will be wicked. Stanton Warriors and Dum Dum Girls will also be well worth checking out. I see you very much as a pioneer in this field, particularly leading the way in terms of generating sustainable and viable ways to create events and festivals globally, I have to ask though, (it must get hard at times) what keeps you motivated to bring about sustainable changes in attitude in other people?  Good question, probably at the end of the day I’m a stubborn bastard and I rise to challenges. There’s no doubt at all that organising Peats Ridge has been a huge challenge - emotionally. physically, mentally and financially but what I do makes people smile and creates positive change in the world. The Festival is an inspiration to many and it teaches people great things and even in the hardest moments I have never lost my enormous faith in what the Festival stands for in this world. PEATS RIDGE FESTIVAL WHEN: 29th December- 1st January WHERE: Glenworth Valley (1hr north of Sydney) HOW MUCH: For 3 days of music with camping included, it's a steal at $350 per person Emily Eskell emilyeskell@gmail.com

The self-proclaimed "Most electrifying man in Dance Music today" Smokin' Joe Mekhael is attempting to DJ for 7 days straight at the Empire Hotel in Kings Cross. Currently 64 hours into his ordeal (and it is an ordeal, he's already looking a fair bit less than smokin'), the DJ has to beat Brazilian jockey DJ King's record of 5 days and 19 minutes to take the Guinness World Record. Catch all the streaming action on MyDJSpace  right now Smokin' Joe took out number 37 in the InTheMix 50 top DJs of 2011, but more recently made headlines after being embroiled in a fraud scheme targeting high school formals. Check out his official statement, you'll kinda get what he's all about. More updates on the Smokin Joe record attempt as it comes to hand.

New Weird Australia’s Unpopular Music parties return on tomorrow, Saturday Dec 17, raising cash for FBi Radio. There'll be 8 bands over two venues at 6:00pm and 9:00pm. The late show (9pm) at Dirty Shirlows features Brisbane psych-rock ex-pats Strange Forces, Zeahorse, Secret Birds and Scattered Order. At 6pm, the early show at Hardware has Thomas William & Scissor Lock, with support from Monlith, Und, Anna Chase, and DJs Paul Gough (Pimmon), Jack Shit and Octopus Pi. There’s a 'Magical Audio Tour' between venues, leaving Hardware at 8:45pm. Sounds interesting, nay, delightful! WHAT: Unpopular Music 2011 WHEN: Saturday 17th December WHERE: Hardware Gallery + Dirty Shirlows HOW MUCH: Tickets are $12 on the door, which grants entry to both shows. Free compilation CD included.

Beats in Space founder and all-round disco heavyweight Tim Sweeney goes a few bouts at the Marrickville Bowls Club tonight courtesy of HAHA Industries, the young chaps bringing you the Versus series of parties (Robin Hood, Kenny Larkin, Glimpse). If you're not familiar with Beats In Space, it's one of the most highly regarded radio shows in the world, playing host to every single producer worth their needle from across the world over the past decade... but then you're probably not reading this post if you're unfamiliar with Tim's little podcast. Meta. A few tickets still available online, so if you're hitting a Christmas party tonight make sure to snag a ticket for this afterwards - HAHA promises they'll be heaving until well late. WHAT: Tim Sweeney (DFA / Beats in Space) WHERE: Marrickville Bowling Club WHEN: Tonight HOW MUCH: $20 presale / $30 door - Tix here