Author Archives: Stu

[gigs]

JANUARY

  • 23rd Wiley at the Adelaide Uni Bar.
  • 24th Melvofest 09 at the Metro with the Fkn Tutts, Stephen P Atkinson, Megafauna, Ringo Stalin and the Weary Dunlops.
  • 26th – Leonard Cohen with Paul Kelly & Augie March at Leconfield Coonawarra Winery & Vineyards.
  • 30th Big Day Out, at Wayville Showgrounds, with Neil Young, Arctic Monkeys, The Living End, The Prodigy, Sneaky Sound System, My Morning Jacket, Pendulum, Bullet for My Valentine, TV on the Radio, Simian Mobile Disco, The Ting Tings, Tiki Taane, Cut Copy, Cog, Birds of Tokyo, TZU, Eddy Current Suppression Ring.
  • 31st Hit the Jackpot and Useless Children at the Metro.

FEBRUARY

  • 7th Laneway Festival. Stereolab, Daedelus, Fourtet, Pivot and many more. Lineup here.
  • 10th Primal Scream at HQ.
  • 17th Chick Corea and John McLaughlin at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
  • 20th and 21st Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

MARCH

  • 6-8th Womadelaide.
  • 21st Blackeyed Susans at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

On the Stereo

  • Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane 2cd (EMI)
  • Go-Betweens – Bright Yellow, Bright Orange cd (Trifekta)
  • Spiritualized – Songs in A & E cd (Sanctuary)
  • Earth – Hex: or Printing in the Infernal Method cd (Southern Lord)
  • Flying Saucer Attack – Distance cd (VHF)
  • Harmonia – Live 1974 cd (Water)
  • Various – Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals 2cd (Skull Disco)
  • Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) cd (RCA)
  • Matthew Shipp – Piano Vortex cd (Thirsty Ear)
  • Dave Burrell Full-Blown Trio – Expansion cd (High Two)

ATP – Day 1

Here are some photos from day one of All Tomorrow’s Parties at Mt Buller (AKA the greatest festival ever). You can read a lot more about it on this thread at Mess & Noise.

The main stage


This was quite early on, hence not so many people. Overall the numbers weren’t huge anyway so there was not much lining up for anything or any trouble getting a good view of the bands. Note also that it is on a mountain – so there were great view everywhere. Also there was a chairlift between stages which was very cool!

Myself and The Don (his thoughts here and here) had great accommodation at the Abom which was right next to the main stage. We coudn’t believe how good it was when we arrived (and still can’t).
First act I saw were Psych-rockers Dead Meadow, their set was an enjoyable enough intro to the festival, sitting back on the grass and trying to get our heads around how incredible the whole setup for the festival was, but didn’t blow me away. By all accounts their set at the Abom the next day was absolutely mind-blowing but I was too busy with other acts and missed it.
Bill Callahan


I was wondering whether Bill Callahan would be solo or with a band, and was very happy to see him take the stage with the Tren Brothers (Mick Turner & Jim White). His show at the Jade Monkey just over a year ago was the best I’d seen by him and this one was just as good, made of mostly recent material (from his excellent albums of the last few years) like Our Anniversary, In the Pines, Diamond Dancer and Sycamore, plus one classic older one, Cold Blooded Old Times.

Primitive Calculators

Only caught a bit of the Primitive Calculators, they seemed well aware that they were a bit old for such angry young persons music, and decided to just have fun with it. It was good to see a bit of the electronic side of Australia’s post-punk scene on display, unfortunately I left just before their cover of Shout but could still hear it as I headed down the hill.

James Blood Ulmer

I hadn’t heard Ulmer before, but did recently read an interview with Ed Kuepper where he said he was keen to see him. I can see why – his unusual guitar style is clearly an influence on Ed’s playing (particularly some of his 90’s solo stuff). I’m not usually that into blues, but found this compelling enough to not worry about rushing off to find out who the mystery act was.
Grinderman

This was the mystery act. The most obvious choice really, and that was fine with me. The first of three Nick Cave / Warren Ellis appearances over the weekend.
The Necks

Given that I see the Necks pretty regularly, and that they were sharing a bill with lots of acts I’ve never seen and may never see again, I sort of took it for granted that they were playing and wasn’t too fussed about it, but as the time approached for their set I found myself really keen to see it and made sure I was at the amphitheatre stage for the whole thing. It was a good move – not only did they play a great set, but seeing them play on top of a mountain really made it something special. I was keen to see them again on Sunday night back in Adelaide, but after the long trip back from Mt Buller it just wasn’t possible to get there in time.
Fuck Buttons

I hadn’t heard the Fuck Buttons until they were announced on the bill and I borrowed their cd off The Don. I was very impressed with it, and live they pulled it off well. I missed the start as I was still watching the Necks, but could hear Sweet Love for the Planet Earth as I walked up the hill and it sounded great. It was even more epic than usual in the mountainside setting. The rest of the set was excellent, and also provided a bit of variety by being rather more modern than much of the rest of the lineup.
Silver Apples

I certainly never expected to see Silver Apples live! I was reminded of just how strange Simeon’s music is. There was a bit of a more modern update, with the use of electronic percussion rather than live drums, and a few songs didn’t quite work for me but classics like Oscillations, A Pox on You and I Have Known Love were quite incredible. It was amazing to think that he’d been playing the same electronic music live 40 years ago! Many in the crowd seemed to not quite know what to make of him though.

Next was The Dirty Three playing Ocean Songs. Or at least most of it, since they ran out of time (or possibly misread the timetable since I thought they still had something like 20-30 minutes scheduled when they left the stage). They were joined by Nick Cave who was certainly making the most of his curator status (and good on him). To be honest OS was never my favourite album of theirs, I would have been perfectly happy with a regular set with a selection from a number of their albums, so that aspect didn’t particularly excite me, but the Dirty Three live are always a great live experience anyway.
The Saints

The last act on the main stage was The Saints. That is the proper, original Saints, as evidenced by the presence that chap playing guitar on the right by the name of Edmund Kuepper. With them advertised to be playing a Don’t Look Back set of (I’m) Stranded at a couple of other appearances I thought we might get the same at ATP but was hoping not since I really love the other two albums as well. I wasn’t to be dissappointed as they played a wide selection, including many tracks from the oft overlooked Prehistoric Sounds. Hearing these songs played by the Kuepper/Bailey lineup complete with horn section was fantastic, with highlights for me being All Times Through Paradise, Nights in Venice and Know Your Product. At times they were not particularly tight, but that’s not too unreasonable for a band who have played one gig since 1978. Of course, for Ed Kuepper fans this was only the beginning ….

But before day two there was more music care of DJ’s Guy Blackman & Ben O’Connor at the Abom bar. There was a nice ATP moment with the Tren Brothers going nuts on the dancefloor as the Velvet Underground were played on the stereo. When things wrapped up at 3am I really appreciated the fact that my room was in the same building (especially since the temperature was dropping down towards an overnight low of 1°C)
To be continued …. (Update: finally continued about 11 months later here)

Favourite Music of 2008

As usual (for those who used to read the old gig guide emails) this is music new to me in 2008 rather than new releases. Not in any particular order and put into some rather ad hoc groupings to make the whole thing a bit more manageable.
Old Favourites
There were a number of great releases from perennial favourites, these artists mostly make my end of year list every time they put out a new release.

  • Autechre – Quaristice
    As usual, a new Autechre album takes a while to get your head around, but it worth the effort.
  • Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Lie Down in the Light
  • Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy with Alex Neilson and Harem Scarem – Is It the Sea?
    Two great releases from Will Oldham, I’d have trouble picking a favourite between them. Hopefully we’ll seem him back in Adelaide this year.
  • Ed Kuepper – The Prince Melon Bootleg Series Vol. 2
  • Ed Kuepper – Live at the Judith Wright Centre
    There were three editions in the Prince Melon Bootleg Series, all great, but I’ve picked Vol2 due it featuring a lineup that I didn’t get to see live. The opening track, a piano driven version of “By The Way” is a standout. The JWC one is a download from the Prince Melon Myspace page and is from around the time of the launch of Jean Lee & The Yellow Dog (my favourite album from a couple of years ago). There is a horn section which allows Ed to bring out a few rarely played classics, plus some great versions of material from Jean Lee, particularly “Real To Me”
  • Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Real Emotional Trash
    Has Mr Malkmus forgotten Australia? This could well be the best of his solo albums, but why so long since we’ve seen him down under?
  • Mouse on Mars – Live 04
    Finally got hold of this and it just made me wish I’d had the chance to see Mouse On Mars play live. Essential for all MoM fans (and if you’re not a MoM fan it’s time to have a long hard look at yourself … and your record collection)
  • Silver Jews – Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
    There are two bands whose albums I look forward to more than any other and they both start with Silver. As usual David Berman did not dissapoint. Once again I’m left asking – where is the Australian tour? I really got my hopes up with this being released in Australia by Spunk.
  • Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band – 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
    This is the other silver band. Didn’t blow me away like “Horses in the Sky” (my favourite album of 2005) but still very good. An amazing band, I think better than Godspeed You Black Emperor (who they sort of grew out of) but never seem to get as much attention.
  • Stereolab – Chemical Chords
    It’s probably a long time since Stereolab would have featured in one these lists (maybe 1997?) but I’ve really been getting into their recent stuff and find myself eagerly awaiting their appearance at Laneway next month.

Live Highlights
I buy a lot of music based on gigs that I like, here are a bunch of things I got at or soon after great gigs and went on to be amongst my favourites last year

  • Guy Blackman – Adult Baby
    Saw him at Rocket Bar, unfortunately not many other people did. Great songwriter, have listened to this album a lot.
  • The Devastations – Yes U
    For ages I’d been hearing that I’d like these guys, never got a chance to see them until Laneway. I’d found quite a few of the bigger acts to be not so much to my liking, so seeing these guys last saved the day to some extent. Bought this album soon afterwards.
  • Robert Forster – The Evangelist
    I was a pretty late convert to The Go-Betweens, and had not gotten as far as solo albums. When Robert Forster played one of the shows of the year at the Gov I realised my mistake and got started with this, his latest album.
  • ii – Landlakes
    Hadn’t heard of these guys until they played a gig at Felt Space (the first time there was a gig there). I was very impressed, and bought this album off them.
  • Philip Jeck – Sand
    I’ve been a fan of Philip Jeck for years but don’t come across his albums very often. Not only did I get to see a great live performance at the Jade, it also gave me a chance to get this, his latest album (also #2 in The Wire’s 50 albums of the year)
  • Machine Translations – Seven Seven
    I was very fortunate to catch MT in Melbourne, where they played one of the best shows of theirs that I’ve seen. The new lineup is great, I was expecting a tour to Adelaide but it never happened. It’s a shame because this album is as good as anything they’ve done and deserves more promotion.
  • Pimmon – Your Drone’s Got a Little Machine
    As with Philip Jeck, I’d been listening to one or two Pimmon recordings for years, with no opportunity to see him live, and few opportunities to buy more cds, so I was very happy to get the chance to see him twice and to buy a number of cds off him including this one, which comes in beautiful packaging, with each copy featuring a different design.
  • Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
    As featured in the previous post. I hadn’t got around to buying this album before so I went out the day after the gig to get it.

Folk
Last year I was getting into more and more folk artists from the 60’s & 70’s, the highlights were

  • John Fahey – Red Cross
    While he made his name in the 60’s, this is actually his final album from the early 00’s. Not exactly folk either, but seems to fit in together with fellow guitarists like Jansch and Graham. I plan to dig into his older stuff when I get the chance.
  • Davey Graham – Folk, Blues & Beyond
    The title describes it, a groundbreaking clash of folk, blues, jazz, world … with the sensational guitar playing of Graham.
  • Shirley Collins & Davey Graham – Folk Roots, New Routes
    Here Graham teams up with Shirley Collins, another big name in adventurous 60’s folk.
  • Bert Jansch – Jack Orion
    I’ve been looking out for this one for years, only just came across it recently. The epic title track is a particular highlight.
  • Various – Early Morning Hush
    Excellent psych-folk compilation.

New Weird America / Free Folk
Also continuing to catch up with the newer folk influenced stuff coming out of America

  • Christina Carter – Electrice
    Solo album by member of Charalambides. I really like the guitar style which reminds me of some of the stuff I used to do a long time ago.
  • Charalambides – Likeness
    I saw some reviews that didn’t compare this latest album favourably with their early stuff. Being fairly new to the band’s music I wouldn’t know too much about that, but I thought this sounded great.
  • Josephine Foster – This Coming Gladness
    I saw Foster play live a couple of years ago, but this is the first time I’ve heard her on record. It’s an excellent album that is hard to describe in simple terms – a very distinctive sound.
  • MV & EE with Bummer Road – Green Blues
    Finally caught up with MV & EE who I’ve read a lot about. This leaves me keen for more of their stuff.

Dubstep
This year imports from the USA tended to be better value than those from the UK so I slowed down a bit on dubstep (particularly vinyl), but did still get into a few things

  • Burial – Untrue
    One from many 2007 lists, Burial continues to push in new directions beyond the basic dubstep template.
  • Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
    Not exactly dubstep, to me it sounds somewhere between Burial and Amon Tobin. I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to see him in Adelaide this weekend as I’ll be at ATP.
  • Pinch – Underwater Dancehall
    Before hearing this I knew the track “Qawwali” which was one of my dubstep favourites. It turns up again here as “Brighter Day” complete with vocals which was a bit of a surprise but I’ve really warmed to this version. Both vocal and instrumental versions are included anyway, so you can choose either. Lots of other great stuff as well, including the closing track “Lazarus”.
  • Skream – Skreamizm Vol 4
    Excellent 6 track EP from Skream (despite my copy getting a bit warped after I accidentally left it in my pannier  overnight). Includes “2D” where Skream moves in the direction of Autechre-style electronica.
  • Various – Mary Anne Hobbs presents Evangeline
    I’m still yet to come across the highly rated “Warrior Dubs” compilation, but this follow up seems to be more widely available. A survey of the current UK electronic scene taking in dubtep, grime and similar sounds. Former Adelaidean Ben Frost turns up as well.

Local
I feel like I’ve seen a bit less of local bands this year, but there were a few releases that I enjoyed (all with excellent album launch gigs too)

  • Hit the Jackpot – Soul Money, Gang Vibe
    This is HtJ’s best release yet, sadly I seem to have missed all of their gigs since the launch as I always seem to be otherwise occupied or out of town. That probably goes for their upcoming BDO appearance too since it clashes with TV on the Radio. Oh well, just as well they put out this cd then. For some reason there was a brief period when I always had “King of the Pool” in my head at the supermarket. Rather a good thing considering the crap that gets played over the stereos in supermarkets actually, but I don’t imagine it was conceived as grocery shopping theme music!
  • Satan’s Cheerleaders – Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea
    Simon “The Talented Mr” Ridley and co. finally put out their long-time-in-the-making album. Definitive versions of all the old favourites for those of us who’ve been going to their gigs for the past few years. Huge album launch, but I think a later gig with a smaller crowd at the Rhino Room was even more fun.
  • Sea Thieves – Hiding in the Shade
    It seemed to take ages for this to come out, I imagine that Zac got quite sick of me asking when it would be released every time I went to the Jade Monkey for about 6 months. After attending many of their gigs (even if they aren’t too often) I had most of the songs in my head already, but great to get them on cd as well! Only slight disappointment was to realise that “Eve of Acid Rain” was already put out on an earlier disc that I don’t have – but there was consolation in the form of it being dedicated for me at one of their gigs.

Jazz / Improv
Reading The Wire continues to help me to explore the huge world of Jazz & Improv. I’m getting into a lot more contemporary stuff rather than the 60’s recordings that used to dominate my jazz favourites lists.

  • Charles/Grydland/Wallumrød/Zach – Dans Les Arbres
    This recent improv release is part of the massive ECM catalogue which I’ve never got into before. Given that this is one of the best improv discs I’ve heard it’s probably about time that changed.
  • Philip Clemo – Ambiguous Dialogues
    Don’t know much about Clemo or this release (yes, I know about google – sometimes a bit of mystery is good though). It came out a few years ago now, features an unusual mix of 70’s Miles Davis fusion and string compositions and is rather brilliant.
  • Flower and Corsano Duo – The Radiant Mirror
    I saw Chris Corsano play a stunning solo set at the Jade Monkey back in January 2008, but this is a little different, with his drumming accompanying Mick Flowers’ “Japan Banjo” – an instrument about which I know nothing. Damn good and rather fiery set.
  • Sun Ra – The Magic City
    The sole representative of the original wave of avant garde jazz from the 60’s on this year’s list.. A large ensemble set that’s up there with the classics of the genre like Trane’s Ascension and Alan Silva’s Seasons.
  • Supersilent – 4
  • Supersilent – 8
    I’ve been getting into this Norwegian improv quartet in a big way. Fascinating and original music. I especially like the bits that sound like the BBC Radiophonic workshop!
  • David S. Ware Quartet – Renunciation
    Ware’s quartet had very quickly become my favourite contemporary jazz group in recent years so it’s rather sad that this is their farewell – but on the good side it’s a fantastic album showing them off at their best. I’m sure there’ll still be plenty more releases by the members of the quartet to listen to in the future anyway (to start with there’s Matthew Shipp’s Piano Vortex which I bought in Brisbane but haven’t listened to properly yet).

Noise/Drone/Minimal

  • Burning Star Core – Challenger
    I’ve been hearing about BSC for some time (as any fellow Wire reader would as well) but this is the first time I’ve heard anything and it’s really blown me away. Not just me, this is well up, if not at the top, of many end of year lists. I think this post on the noisenoisenoise blog sums it up pretty well – It’s drone, it’s noise, it’s ambient but it’s not, it’s modern composition, it’s fucking amazing.
  • The Dead C – Future Artists
    The Dead C are well known for some of their early 90’s work, particularly Harsh 70’s Reality, this recent release (they’ve released a newer album I don’t have yet) shows that they are still going strong and showing the newer generation of noise artists how it’s done.
  • Earth – Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method
    I’ve been looking out for this for years but never see it in stock anywhere – at least until I happened to wander past Brisbane’s Rockinghorse records and couldn’t help having a bit of a look inside. They are known for being one of the originators of the sludgy, drone metal sound that’s developed into it’s own genre of late, but by this album had moved on to produce a sense of doom with a much sparser sound palette. The soundtrack to the darkest, bleakest Western you can imagine.
  • Stars of the Lid – The Tired Sounds Of …
    Another group I’ve been meaning to listen to for ages. They produce achingly beautiful drone soundscapes – the opening Requiem for Dying Mothers alone is good enough for me to recommend the purchase of this double cd.

Miscellaneous Others

  • Bracken – We Know About the Need
    Haven’t caught up with the Anticon label much lately, but this solo project from one of the members of Hood which they put out a few years back is a real winner. Certainly essential for Hood fans.
  • Department of Eagles – In Ear Park
    This has some sort of link with Warp band Grizzly Bear – actually, I like Department of Eagles even better. A very old fashioned sound (reminds me of the likes of Mercury Rev or M Ward in the incorporation of pre-rock’n’roll influences) which is very distinctive. I think this one will be a bit of a grower and might still get more attention than it has so far.
  • Four Tet – Ringer
    A kind of back to basics 4 track ep from Kieran Hebden with fairly minimal krautrock-y beats. I always liked the concise nature of the EP format, it’s very successful here as he develops some ideas that might have outstayed their welcome over a full album.
  • Harmonia – Live 1974
    Speaking of krautrock, this recently recovered live recording is incredible. Maybe I’m particularly interested because it reminds me of music myself and Nick used to make back before I ever knew what krautrock was. I’ll be experiencing Harmonia Live 2009 in a couple of days and can’t wait.
  • Seefeel – Quique
    A fairly recent reissue (maybe in 2006?) of a 90’s classic that I missed out on back in the day. Shoegazing meets Artificial Intelligence. If you like Slowdive & Aphex Twin then give Seefeel a listen if you haven’t already.

I may get around to posting a best gigs of 2008 list but given how huge this one was I have to admit that I probably won’t get around to it. If you’re hungry for more 2008 lists check out Utility Fog, Syscrusher and noisenoisenoise.

It Takes a Nation of Millions …

On Sunday night at the Summer Break festival Public Enemy played an unadvertised “Don’t Look Back”  – the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. I have doubts sometimes about the Don’t Look Back concept, but as with Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation earlier this year, sometimes it’s so good that you forget about all that. Here are some highlights from the album.
[youtube TL-sD0ENUNY]

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plus they finished with this

[youtube M_t13-0Joyc]

Leaving New Zealand

Haven’t been able to post for a few days, combination of being busy and not having internet access. Will post photos and fill in all the gaps when I get back to Adelaide (after a few days on the NSW central coast). Right now I’m at Auckland airport waiting for my flight to Sydney.

Punakaiki

My efforts at travel blogging are being slightly hampered by troubles with getting photos onto this blog. Since I’d forgotten to charge my camera battery I don’t have any photos from Punakaiki so I may as well just write about it then anyway. I’d link to some pictures someone else took but a strange feature of this computer is that it won’t allow multiple windows open (and I’m stuck using silly Internet Explorer rather than Firefox) so I’d have to log out of WordPress to find a link and then log back in …. so I’ll leave it to you to type Punakaiki (or you could try “pancake rocks”) into your favourite search engine.

Punakaiki is up the West Coast of the South Island, about 50km north of Greymouth. It is famous for the rather strange geological structure known as the pancake rocks. Along the coastal cliffs the eroded rocks reveal a layering structure that does indeed look like pancakes. There is also a blowhole, and all of the usual spectacular sights you get on limestone coasts, though for me the effect was enhanced by the unfamiliar plant life as well.

I stopped off there on the Intercity bus between Greymouth & Nelson. This is a regular bus rather than a tour, but it stops long enough for a 30min walk to see the pancake rocks, which was a pleasant surprise, I had no idea about it beforehand. I’d expected that the scenic part of the journey would be the train to Greymouth, but Punakaiki, plus the coastal road from Greymouth and Westport, and the mountains and gorges from Wesport to Murchison rivalled the sights on the train journey.

[gigs] DJ gigs in the New Year

A full gig guide is too much of a hassle from here, so just a brief mention of a number of DJ gigs coming up

  • New Year’s Eve – Mr Scruff playing a 6 hour set at Rocket (I think my last NYE set was only about 4 hours so I take this as a challenge).
  • 3rd January – Nu-Mark (from the J5) at Electric Light
  • 3rd January – N-Type (dubstep/drum’n’bass) at Rhino Room.

On the Stereo
The Bats, The Clean, The Chills, Look Blue Go Purple, The Tall Dwarfs, Straitjacket Fits, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, The Gordons, The Dead C, The Verlaines, The Able Tasmans, The Sneaky Feelings, Bailter Space etc. 

Arthur’s Pass and the West Coast

Very quick post (have to get back on bus shortly) – went across the mountains from Christchurch to Greymouth via Arthur’s Pass on the Tranz-Scenic train. Fantastic views, highly recommended to anyone who visits Christchurch. After that I’ve been heading along the west coast on the way to Nelson, I didn’t know what to expect from this and it has been a great surprise. The winding road hugging the coastline and then up a river gorge has been spectacular.