The Thousands

History comes to us in fragments. We never receive it complete. Too often documentation of important and fascinating scenes are lost, destroyed, forgotten or simply never created in the first place.

So, when we are presented with ephemera of the past in such an in depth fashion as Circa 1979: Signal To Noise, there is reason to be excited.

Circa 1979: Signal To Noise focuses on two distinct points in the history of modern music; Sydney/Australia in the late 70s/early 80s and New York in the 60s/70s. The mythology and cultural significance of the latter are widely known, the former less so.**Taking the form of a series of free lectures with notable figures of the Sydney scene at the time, performances by Severed Heads and The Reels, an exhibition of fanzines, photography, audio and archival video footage, Circa 1979: Signal To Noise rightfully rectifies this knowledge imbalance.
 
Additionally, with the keynote speech by John Cale on proto-punk, Warhol and the New York avant-garde, as well as a concert performance by Cale, Circa 1979: Signal To Noise may just be the most important event at this year’s Sydney Festival.