Buttercup Metal Polish Tonight

Interesting gig tonight – here’s the info

This friday at downtown gallery (opp. grace emily hotel) on waymouth st. we’ll be presenting Buttercup Metal Polish from Switzerland. one half of the all-percussion duo Nicolas Field played adelaide last year in the noise duo The Same Girl, with Gilles Aubry on laptop. the duo was one of the best things we’ve seen for a long time, and Buttercup is set to go off. the reference points fo these guys are tricky to pin down. while there’s a free jazz/free improv thing going on, Field and Alexandre Babel, with just two un-mic’d drumkits, let fly with some impassioned playing that sounds alien at times, and is certainly unique even in the weirdest of free-music registers. check them out on myspace for a taste. truly captivating and unrelenting sounds. we guarantee yr jaws’ll drop at these guys. anybody who’s seen The Necks and Tony Buck in particular will get very excited by Field and Babel.

since Buttercup Metal Polish is gonna be drummy we thought we’d put some drummy locals on as supports.

Skeletons – post-punk quintet, young and exuberant, at times quite funky, elements of skronk and noise.

InterZone eXpress – dan and pat’s heavy psych/drone exchange with ryan manolakis on drums. mano has played with a bunch of bands and we reckon he’s one of the best drummers going.

mutual loathing – guitar and drums duo debut. two cranky buggers.

so once again:

Buttercup Metal Polish (SUI)
InterZone eXpress trio
Skeletons
mutual loathing
DJ simos playing totally out music
Downtown Gallery Waymouth St. City (opp. Grace Emily)
Friday July 20
Doors 8pm
$10

Festival of Ideas: Recommended Listening

Radio Adelaide have started broadcasting recordings of sessions from the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, and many are now available for download, all of the details are here.

I would like to make some recommendations based on session I attended, or have downloaded and listened to. I will update this as I listen to more of them, though I don’t expect to get through all of them, so don’t read anything into the absence of a session from my list. All broadcasts are on 101.5 FM in Adelaide. Also, all sessions are available on cd from Radio Adelaide. All downloads are in mp3 format.

Updated 12/7

  • High and Dry: John Howard, Climate Change and the Selling of Australia’s future with Guy Pearse. A compelling account of the Howard government’s failure on the issue of climate change from a Liberal party insider. To be broadcast on Wednesday July 18 at 12 noon, or download it (17.0MB).
  • Drought Proofing Australia: Heroic Fantasies and Sobering Realities with Peter Cullen. An account of Australia’s water situation from a top expert who is also an excellent speaker who tells it straight. Download it (15.9MB).
  • The Joy MacLennan Oration – Beyond the Long Age of Forgetting with Simon Longstaff. I managed to completely overlook this one on the weekend so I’m glad it was available for download. Longstaff very eloquently pinpoints the substitution of institutional tradition for ethical thinking as a key problem in our society. Download it (16.6MB).
  • Trading places with John Connell, John Buchanan, Tim Harcourt, Colleen Ryan. This one didn’t leap out at me, in fact I wasn’t entirely clear on what it would be about, but it turned out to be probably my favourite group session which I attended. The reason is that I felt that the speakers all has something different to contribute, but it all fit in well with the overall topic, which was essentially the future of trade. Download it (29.3MB).
  • What to Eat: Personal Responsibility vs Social Responsibility with Marion Nestle. An excellent speaker on a topic which effects us all on a daily basis, giving the insight that comes with being at the forefront of the fight for good nutrition in the USA (listen for how she “hurt sugar’s feelings”). Very entertaining and informative. Download it. (15.8MB)
  • Lifting the lid on whistle-blowing with Julian Morrow, Guy Pearse, Norman Swan, Marian Wilkinson, Paul Chadwick (PC). This one was full and I couldn’t get in but now I’ve had a chance to listen to it. A fascinating, and important topic with an impressive and diverse group of speakers … I probably should have realised that it would be popular. Download it. (31.8MB)
  • Mumbo-Jumbo, Snake Oil and Other Delusions with Francis Wheen. I plan to soon write a post about some of the ideas in this one, which is an amusing summary of the main ideas of the speakers latest book about the resurgence of superstition at the expense of critical thinking. Download it. (16.6MB)
  • Survival of the Fittest, Survival of the Richest or Survival of the Thinnest with Norman Swan. The ABC’s medical expert gives an interesting perspective on the factors affecting life expectancy. This has already been broadcast, so if you want to hear it you have to download it. (16.6MB)
  • Troubling times: Dissent and democracy in Australia with Sarah Maddison. Details the approach of the Howard government to dealing with dissent and the implications for democracy. Recommended for anyone who’s views have been dismissed as those of a “Howard Hater”. To be broadcast on Sunday August 26 at 12 noon. Download it. (14.9MB)

Some Ideas for the Festival of Ideas

In a session yesterday Tim Harcourt commented on how great it is that Adelaide people can simultaneously be big fans of sport, and big fans of ideas & the arts. I’ve been putting this to the test personally by seeing how well I can take in ideas at today’s sessions after staying up until 3am watching rugby and cycling, and whether having taken in these ideas I’ll still have the energy left to support some local artists (the Sea Thieves & The Silvermine Tapes) playing a gig at the Prince Albert (oops, that was the Grace Emily) later … oh,yes, and watching stage 1 of Le Tour afterwards.

I have taken my leave from the festival a little early, having absorbed just about all the ideas I can take for now, but perhaps foolishly, rather than getting some sleep before the evenings activities I’ve retired to Le Rayon Vert’s on site office to write a bit about the festival while it’s fresh in my mind. I’m not going to write about the content of the sessions at this point, maybe I will later, but for now you can check out the three “official” blogs – Blogocracy, Public Opinion and Pavlov’s Cat – for some thoughts on specific sessions (and sometimes I’ve had something to say in comments). Each one already has multiple posts on the festival and no doubt there will be more when they’re not too busy attending the festival to write about it. Also, Radio Adelaide are broadcasting all of the talks and are making them available for download. Details aren’t up yet at the time of writing, but when they are I may make some specific recommendations based on the sessions I attended. This is a wonderful service that they are providing, and if you make use of it then you should consider a subscription to help them out.

For now I have some ideas about the festival itself. I should preface all of this by making it clear that these are just minor gripes, and I consider the festival a great success. Continue reading →

[gigs]

Quite a few new things this week, how about I let the people behind them describe them in their own words.

Firstly a perfect gentleman named Karl writes about the Prince Albert tomorrow:

we all thought the the ever brilliant (well, potentially brilliant…) career of garage rock fat boys,
TERRANCE DICKS, had come to a crashing halt following their performance at MELVOFEST 07 back in
january. well, it didn’t.

they all kissed and made up and have spent the good part of at least three hours, in the last few weeks,
getting drunk and tightening their sound. now they’re ready to share the love with you. once again.

join TD’s this friday 6th july at the prince albert hotel (wright st adelaide) as the beginning of the end
celebrations for the mighty prince albert. TD’s will be sharing a schnitzel with the ever glorious AVIATOR
LANE.

& there is a probable chance that THUNDERBOLT MELVIN will sneak on stage just before RADZ ‘n’ ALICIA
(aka AVIATOR LANE) and play some songs by other people. we ain’t gonna promise nothing tho…

of course, entry is free.

the show is also the OFFICIAL NO THROUGH ROAD END OF TOUR PARTY.

Secondly, here is the rundown on Saturday night at Urtext from the Engineers Without Borders:

Dance for Development

8 ’til late Saturday 7th July
Urtex- Level 2- 14 Grenfell St City
tix $8/$5 members
licenced bar

Get your dancing shoes on!

EWB-SA is throwing a Dance for Development on Saturday 7/7/07 – a fun filled night of groovy tunes and funky beats fit to blast away the winter blues. Featuring bands:

No Through Road (party set)
Play Play Go (instrumental rock-soul)
plus DJ’s Curtis, Lucky K & Mike Manequin
and projections by Seb Carboncini

For further details check out the attached flyer.

All funds raised on the night go towards supporting EWB-SA projects in Cambodia.

Finally, Lenin Simos on what’s happening Monday night at Urtext:

dan v, pat and i are putting on a very special show on Monday July 9 at Urtext (Level 2, 14 Grenfell St. City) Doors 7:30pm.

we’ve managed to get legendary Swiss multi-disciplinary artists Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock and Dave Phillips to come over, on their first visit to australia. these guys have for the past 20 years as part of the Swiss-based Schimpfluch-Gruppe presented noise/avant-garde music, performance art, installations, actionism (kinda like experimental theatre), audiovisual art and more. they are Very respected in the underground in music and art. they have shocked and invigorated a lot of people with their sometimes wild performances and i Guarantee Nobody will leave their performance unscathed. their defining principle is in “psycho-physical tests and trainings”. expect all yr senses, and yr consciousness to be affected. they will both present solo sets, accompanied by visuals, and might even perform an impromptu group action. obviously i can’t
speak highly enough of these guys. if yr up for something different that you won’t forget in a hurry, please join us.

support comes from:
InterZone eXpress (pat and dan’s heavy psych drone/rhythm project last seen supporting autistic daughters from austria/new zealand)

J-lo Biafra (our friend Dase Beard from Melbourne, ex-Whitehorse post hardcore solo guitar – think growing/godspeed you black emperor/ennio morriccone)

Marden (Fjorn ex-Adelaide and Chunder Mountain art space. she’ll be doing primitive composition and oration with encouraged group input. certainly something we haven’t seen around here for a long time)

Mourgos Grund (yrs truly – solo lo-fi tape compositions)

i’ll also be spinning tunes of the weirder variety.

we hope to see you there. this is a grass roots DIY venture (as always) and we appreciate yr support. without you guys there would be no shows.

Also, a couple of other shows added this week that I’d like to mention are Nick Cave’s Grinderman at Thebby in October, and Zulya & the Children of the Underground at a church down the street from where I live. In Adelaide you get used to all sorts of things being in converted churches, including a few music venues, but note that this is an actual church.

JULY

  • 6th – Cosmic Psychos and the Celibate Rifles at Jive.
  • 6th – Terrance Dicks and Aviator Lane at the Prince Albert.
  • 7th – No Through Road at a fundraiser for Engineers Without Borders at Urtext.
  • 8th – The Silvermine Tapes and the Sea Thieves at the Grace Emily.
  • 9th – Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Dave Phillips, InterZone eXpress, J-lo Biafra, Marden and Mourgos Grund at Urtext.
  • 12th – Hit the Jackpot with Quebec at the Exeter.
  • 13th – Dinosaur Jr at the Gov.
  • 13th – Black Boned Angel (NZ) at the Crown & Anchor
  • 14th – Macromantics at Rocket with Birth Glow.

AUGUST

  • 4th – The Shins at Thebarton Theatre.
  • 6th – The Cure at the Entertainment Centre.
  • 9th – Mountains in the Sky are playing with Gotye at the Gov.
  • 9th – Pretty Boy Crossover at the Jade Monkey.
  • 17th – Zulya and the Children of the Underground, The Trinity Sessions at the Church of the Trinity, Clarence Park.
  • 21st – Bob Dylan at the Entertainment Centre.

SEPTEMBER

  • 23rd – Parklife Festival at Botanic Park featuring Adam Freeland (England), Ajax, Busy P (France), DJ Craze (USA), Derrick Carter (USA), Digitalism (Germany), DJ Delicious, Freq Nasty (NZ), Goose, Greenskeepers, Justice (France), K.I.M, Lyrics Born (USA), M.I.A., MSTRKRFT (Canada), Muscles, Riot in Belgium, Scratch Perverts, Shapeshifter (New Zealand), Stereo MCs (UK), The Herd, The Sounds, Yacht, Yelle

OCTOBER

  • 19th – Grinderman at Thebarton Theatre.

On the Stereo

  • Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet – Live in Lisbon cd (Clean Feed)
  • Tripleplay – Gambit cd (Clean Feed)
  • John Medeski, Matthew Shipp – Scotty Hard’s Radical Reconstructive Surgery cd (Thirsty Ear)
  • <Trio x 3> – New Jazz Meeting Baden-Baden 2002 cd (Hatology)
  • Fridge – Happiness cd (Temporary Residence)
  • Mouse on Mars – Glam LP (Sonig)
  • Richie Hawton – DE9: Closer to the Edit cd (Novamute)
  • Various – Studio One Dub 2LP (Soul Jazz)
  • The Chills – Heavenly Pop Hits cd (Flying Nun)
  • Times New Viking – Present the Paisley Reich cd (Siltbreeze)

All Aboard the Bike Bus (updated with Adelaide BUG news)

[youtube mZjksHLyCvg]
Now you know what a bike bus is, if you live in Sydney you can join one, check out the details at http://www.bikebus.org.au/I don’t know of any operating in Adelaide, though with the smaller volume of traffic, and generally better conditions for cyclists there may be less demand, though I expect that it’s only a matter of time before they get going here.
Via Pedaller.

Update: Not a bike bus, but there is something happening in Adelaide that’s worth mentioning, a Bicycle Users Group (BUG) is being established for the Western Suburbs, read about it at the What’s On in Adelaide blog. Not my area, but there has also recently been established a BUG for people like myself who work in the North Terrace precinct (ie the Universities, RAH etc). You can sign up to the mailing list here if that sounds like you.