Illusive is excited to announce that acclaimed cult US rap group, Clipse, will be performing special sideshows in Melbourne and Sydney surrounding their hugely anticipated appearance at Meredith Music Festival in December. The Virginia-based rap duo will touch down on Australian soil for the first time after three classic albums and nearly a decade at the forefront of the rap music landscape.

The group, consisting of brothers Malice and Pusha T, first rose to prominence in 2002 with the release of their Neptunes-produced debut LP, Lord Willin’. The album is often credited as one of the finest releases of the decade, even landing inside hipster bible Pitchfork’s Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Shortly after the album’s release, the duo featured on Justin Timberlake’s first ever solo single, the Neptunes produced classic Like I Love You. Clipse took it to another level with 2006’s Hell Hath No Fury, which was recognised as a modern-day masterpiece and landed them a top 10 album of the year ranking by many of the world’s most credible sources, including Rolling Stone, Blender and Pitchfork. The album, also produced by The Neptunes, spawned two classic singles – Mr. Me Too and Wamp Wamp (What It Do). It became only the sixth album to ever receive a XXL (5 star) rating by hip-hop authority XXL magazine.

Clipse are internationally renowned for their live show - a seamless fusion of furious energy and ice-cold delivery. This is Australia’s first chance to experience the Brothers Thornton in the flesh. Do not miss it.

Tickets on sale Friday 17th September

CLIPSE: MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY SIDESHOWS

Thurs 9th Dec          MELBOURNE                            Prince Bandroom

Tickets from ticketek.com.au / 132 849, princebandroom.com.au / (03) 9536 1168, Polyester Records, Greville Records and Prince of Wales Public Bar

 Sun 12th Dec         SYDNEY                                    Metro Theatre

Tickets from ticketek.com.au / 132 849 and metrotheatre.com.au

Sweet Zombie Jesus, there's an election on. Oh, the horror! If this is your first time voting, or if (like certain RHUM Mag writers... or certain managing editors who may or may not have called my girlfriend for advice whilst in the 'vote early' polling booth line up today ) you are confused about how to actually vote (what the fuck is a preference when I don't prefer the others?!), here's a five minute primer.

House of Representatives

The House of Reps is the biggie in the sense that whichever party controls this controls the universe, or at least the bit of the universe that falls within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Government.  In theory, what you are actually voting for here is your local MP - not the person who you want to be Prime Minister, not a political party, but an individual who actually represents your electorate.  In reality, the party that your preferred candidate is standing for gets the benefit of your vote, which helps their chances of becoming the next government and thus the chances of their leader becoming the next PM.

There are a couple of very important things to know about filling out your House of Reps form: first, you must number every box next to the list of candidates.  If there are six boxes, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 all need to appear in the boxes.  If you stuff this up, your vote won't count.  It is not enough to just put a "1" next to your favourite. 

Second, the reality is that unless you're lucky to live in a handful of seats where minor parties and independents actually have a shot, the crucial thing is not who you give your #1 to, it's which out of the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Party you put above the other.  You can vote for the Cat Fancier's Association candidate at #1 and the UFO Skeptics Society candidate at #2, but in the end whichever major party candidate is ranked above the other will effectively get your full vote.  If you put the Liberal candidate 5th and the Labor candidate 6th, for example, the effect of this is almost certain to be the same as putting the Lib at #1 and Labor last - the higher ranked major party candidate gets your full vote (and vice versa, obviously).

Third, if you plan to "donkey vote" on the basis that they're all fucked, you should be aware that writing "1,2,3,4,5,6..." in that order will actually give your vote to someone, typically whoever happens to be lucky enough to be higher up the ballot paper.  Please don't do this.  It's stupid, and potentially cancels out the vote of someone who actually thought/cared about who they were voting for.  Someone wanting to donkey vote would do better to randomly scribble all over their ballot, or just leave it blank.  We don't advocate doing either of those things.

For more, see the AEC's handy HoR how-to guide here.

The Senate

The Senate is a different beast entirely.  You're not voting for your local MP - you're having your say as to which six people from your state (or fewer if you're in a territory) should get a seat in the Senate.  Controlling the Senate doesn't give a party the right to form government - but it does let them stop (or modify) proposed laws which they disagree with.  If you like a minor party, like the Greens, this is where your vote for them is much more likely to be effective. 

When you get your Senate ballot paper, you will be scared and confused.  You will receive a piece of paper approximately 2 metres by 4 metres (ok, maybe a little smaller) with about 45698 boxes on it.  You have two choices about how to fill it out: "above the line" or "below the line".

Voting above the line means you just write a "1" in one box at the top of the ballot form.  This gives your vote to that party.  The downside to this method is that if your preferred party is too weak and pitiful to actually win a seat, by voting above the line you have essentially said to them: "I wanna vote for you, and if you suck too much, I hereby give you my vote to pass on to whoever you want".  The upside to using your vote like an old couch you don't want any more is that you escape the labour (and counting) intensive process of filling out the whole ballot.

Voting below the line is for real men and women who refuse to let political hacks and insiders seal the fate of their precious piece of the democratic game.  It is also a very annoying and confusing process.  Basically, you need to do what you did in the House of Reps - but instead of filling in 5 or so boxes, you will need to fill in dozens and dozens.  If there are 60 candidates, you're going to have to write the numbers 1 to 60 in those boxes.  Miss one, double up on one, leave one blank, and your vote is potentially stuffed. 

All is not lost though - if you know the parties you like and hate, and want a hand with the box numbering ordeal (or can't count to 60 under pressure), help is at hand through this excellent website.  Arrange the parties in order of love/hate, and hey presto - a ready made, personalised "how to vote" card.

Mother duck's response to paragraph 1 ( Via Hunter below)

RHUM went last year, read about it HERE

Go to www.peatsridgefestival.com.au for all the rest

THE 20TH MEREDITH LINE UP:

DIRTY THREE / WASHED OUT / LITTLE RED / GIRLS / NEIL FINN / THE CLIPSE / CUSTARD / SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS / REVEREND HORTON HEAT / PANTHA DU PRINCE / C.W. STONEKING / EL GUINCHO / THE HEATWAVE / DJ HARVEY & DJ GARTH / SALLY SELTMANN / THE DEAD SALESMEN (DUO) / THOSE DARLINS / THE FIELD / BROADCAST / JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD / HOSS / RAT VS POSSUM / CLOUD CONTROL / COMBO LA REVELACION / CITY OF BALLARAT BRASS BAND / THE FALL

20th Meredeth festival tickets on sale September 7 at select stores, then September 9 online at www.mmf.com.au. Before then The Ballot happens, details at www.mmf.com.au