[gigs] Are DJ Food coming to Adelaide?

According to the JJJ gigs guide, and to this site, DJ Food will be at the Crown & Sceptre on May 26. At the moment there is nothing on the Ninja Tune site, and JJJ lists no other Australian show … so I’ll hold back the excitement as much as possible until further confirmation. Maybe Amon Tobin & Kid Koala put in a good word for the C&S back at the Ninja Tune HQ after their visit in December.
DJ Food was one of the aliases used by the Coldcut duo of Matt Black & Jonathon Moore while the Coldcut name was tied up in legal battles with their old label, but over time, as they became Coldcut again the name was moved on to the duo PC & Strictly Kev (hence “are” in the title), who have done some great stuff like the album “Kaleidoscope” and the brilliant first
volume of the Solid Steel series “Now! Listen” (together with DK). The latter is one of the best DJ mixes you’ll hear.

Also in May is the welcome return of Love of Diagrams. I was very, very impressed last time they were in Adelaide, since then I’ve got hold of a couple of their cds which have also impressed me and it looks like I’m not the only one since they’ve recently achieved world-wide indie fame thanks to a record deal with Matador. Not to be missed.
In other news, Melbourne’s Art of Fighting are to tour in support of their new album. The last couple of times I’ve seen them (at Jive 2 years ago and in Sydney last year) were excellent, I’m really looking forward to seeing them again.
APRIL
5th – Mike Cooper at Urtext with Daniel Varricchio.
8th – Taught By Animals at the Jade Monkey. (or perhaps not – see next post)
13th – Little Ice Age and Running With Horses at the Wheatsheaf.
13th – Satan’s Cheerleaders at FAD.
14th – Really Good in Theory at Urtext. Market from 12-5pm, gig from 8:30 including Home for the Def and Aviator Lane.
MAY
10th – Love of Diagrams at Jive.
26th – DJ Food at the Crown & Sceptre (?)
JUNE
1st – Art of Fighting and Subaudible Hum at Jive.

AUGUST
Maybe The Shins?
Last night I saw The Pixies at Thebby theatre. With reunions there is always a concern that maybe they’ll just be going through the motions … but I’m not even sure that would be possible for The Pixies. Their material is just so strong, and so distinctive … in particular hearing early stuff like Caribou drives home the extent to which they appeared pretty much fully formed as a band right from the start. The underground scene in the US was really strong in the 80’s and they came in towards the end, yet still found their own niche which set them apart from the others. An amazing band who I’d never expected to ever see live. Here’s the setlist:

Bone Machine, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Wave of Mutilation, U-Mass, Head On, Caribou, No. 13 Baby, Tame, Hey, Gouge Away, Mr Grieves, Here Comes Your Man, I Bleed, Planet of Sound, Broken Face, Debaser, Crackity Jones, Something Against You, Isla de Encanta, Nimrod’s Son, Vamos, Where is My Mind

Encore: La La Love You, Gigantic

I should also mention that I really enjoyed Jarvis Cocker‘s set. I never really listened to Pulp – not that I didn’t like them, it’s just that you can only get around to listening to so much music – but I had heard good things about his live performances, and he certainly lived up to what I’d heard.
Last weekend I saw GB3 at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Unfortunately there was a small audience, probably no more than 20. I’d put this down to the awkward time (7:15 Saturday night), the fact that it wasn’t listed in the fringe guide (not all events at the garden were part of the fringe) and another factor may be that quite a few Adelaide music fans had gone interstate to see the Pixies having made plans before the Adelaide show was announced.
Anyway there was a bit of a treat for those of us who did go. The GB3 material was very good, but for all of us Underground Lovers fans the highlight was the end of the show where they played a number of Undies classics. First was Weak Will, in a very different arrangement to the album version, with just Glenn Bennie on guitar and Phillipa Nihill singing. Then there were Losin’ It and Holiday which both had a bit of a country feel thanks to Graham Lee’s pedal steel guitar, and they finished with a version of I Was Right which was very true to the original. It was great to see Maurice Argiro with his distinctive technique of playing harmonics on the bass by rubbing the strings with a slide too.
On the Stereo
El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead cd (Def Jux)
Miles Davis – Get Up With It 2cd (Columbia)
<trio x 3>– New Jazz Meeting Baden-Baden 2002 2cd (Hatology)
Various – New Thing! 3LP (Soul Jazz)
Various – Studio One Women 2LP (Soul Jazz)
Hood – Singles Compiled 2cd (Misplaced Music)
Tortoise & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Brave and the Bold cd (Spunk)
Tunng – Comments of the Inner Chorus cd (Spunk)
Sonic Youth – s/t (Geffen)
Dead Kennedys – Plastic Surgery Disasters / In God We Trust Inc. cd (Shock)

Polar Bear Beat Up

Last night Media Watch had a look at the recent story about animal rights activists wanting to have a polar bear cub put down and found that it originated with a tabloid beat up that completely misrepresented the people in question. It seems that pretty much every week they have a story which has been passed around the world’s media without anyone checking the facts behind it (for example last week there was misrepresentation of the comments of an ADHD expert). Should every news outlet check out the details of every story they come across from the source? Well, can you imagine being the subject of a story that gains attention worldwide and having every newspaper, radio station, tv station, news websites ..etc contacting you for verification? Also it would be a huge burden for these people to check every single story that crosses the news desk by contacting the source, on the other hand they must bear responsibility for anything they present as news. I’m not sure exactly where a reasonable compomise lies, but I suspect that currently we are not there. For a start, if someone gets a story from another news source, perhaps they could at least find out whether that news source obtained it or verified it first hand. At the very least, in a case where the story involves something quite outrageous (like animal activists wanting to kill an animal) then it seems that extra checking should be done.
Media Watch had a particular interest in polar bears last night with another story about the questionable use of a photograph of polar bears. This is an interesting example as the photo illustrates a scenario which is predicted to occur (or possibly already is), but that is not what is actually depicted in the photo. The proper use of this image would have been to say that it was taken in summer, close to the coast, but to point out that under the predictions of climate models that this is a scenario that would be played out far from land, leaving the bears stranded. I note however, that those using the photo were not necessarily aware of this, so I’m not suggesting dishonesty. Essentially it is the same problem as above – something gets passed through enough hands that the origin is forgotten – so there is basically the same solution, given that it is such a striking image some investigation into its origin would have been wise.

[gigs] Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry cancelled !!!

According to Rip it Up the show on Sunday has been cancelled. This is a hell of a disappointment at leaves me quite …. well, upset is the appropriate word I suppose. Nothing on the Venuetix website yet but they are often a bit slow in updating. According to RIU those of us with tickets can get a refund at the city office in the Da Costa arcade.

Oh, well it’s not all bad. Despite persistant rumours The Pixies still seem to be coming next week, though there has been a change of venue – it’s now at Thebby Theatre. The Thursday V-fest show with The Pet Shop Boys et al is now at the Entertainment Centre.

Also, I’ve just heard that we have another visitor from overseas next week, not quite a big name like Lee Perry or The Pixies, but someone I am rather keen on seeing again. UK guitarist Mike Cooper returns to Adelaide with two shows. The first clashes with the Pixies so I’d be keen on the Thursday one at Urtext, which is a live score for a film. I saw Cooper play at the Ex once before and it was fantastic, he uses a number of unconventional techniques to produce sounds that you wouldn’t expect from a guitar. Well worth seeing, and as a bonus Daniel Varricchio is supporting, he is usually excellent as well. More info here.
The giglisting:
Tonight- Bad Seed Conway Savage at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
Tomorrow – GB3 at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Glenn Bennie from the Underground Lovers. $25.

APRIL
3rd – The Pixies with Jarvis Cocker and Phoenix at Thebarton Theatre. About $100.
3rd – Mike Cooper at the Exeter with Lenin Simos.
5th – Mike Cooper at Urtext with Daniel Varricchio.
13th – Little Ice Age and Running With Horses at the Wheatsheaf.

This week the footy season starts again and on Saturday there is a grand final replay – Swans vs Eagles, so I’ll dig out my pre-game assessment from last year. What does this have to do with music? Read on ….

The Swans vs The Eagles
Key players:
The Swans – Michael Gira, Jarboe
The Eagles – Don Henley, Glenn Frey

Their records:
The Swans – Cop, The Great Annihilator, Soundtracks for the Blind
The Eagles – One of These Nights, Hotel California, The Long Run

Style of play (from All Music Guide):
The Swans – Crawling out of the same noisy, arty New York underground that sired Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch, Swans created a dark, abrasive, murky, slowed-down noise rock that served as a starting point for their ruminations about alienation, depression, depravity, and the disturbing side of human nature.
The Eagles – Though most of its members came from outside California, the group was closely identified with a country- and folk-tinged sound that initially found favor in and around Los Angeles in the late ’60s, as played by such bands as the Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco, both of which contributed members to the Eagles. But the band also drew upon traditional rock & roll styles and, in their later work, helped define the broadly popular rock sound eventually referred to as classic rock.

Summing them up in the words to their “team songs”:

The Swans:
Nobody Beats Your Body Like A Cop In Jail
Nobody Burns Their Body Like A Cop
Nobody Burns Your Skin Off Like A Cop In Jail
The Heat Hurts
Humiliation’s A Disease

The Eagles:
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here

Prediction – A win for The Swans (Update: Damn! Wrong again)
On the Stereo

The Dead C – Harsh 70’s Reality cd (Siltbreeze)
The Pixies – Bossanova LP (4AD)
The Residents – The Third Reich’n’Roll LP (Ralph)
Robert Pollard – Not in My Airforce LP (Matador)
Aesop Rock – Bazooka Tooth cd (Def Jux)
Mr Lif – I Phantom 2LP (Def Jux)
Mr Lif – Emergency Rations cdep (Def Jux)
Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein cd (Def Jux)
Mira Calix – Peel Sessions EP (Warp)
Mouse on Mars – Radical Connector LP (Sonig)

Bruce Russell on The Fall & my general musings on The Dead C

From the Invisible Jukebox feature in the April edition of The Wire, the following quote from Bruce Russell of The Dead C:

They are one of the greatest things in rock music, ever, and I don’t think anyone can ever take that away from them. Who could not be profoundly influenced by The Fall? Only someone with cloth ears.

They also have a bit more to say about the excitement of The Fall’s NZ tour in ’82 and Russell also has some nice things to say about Sonic Youth.

It was interesting to find this feature in the magazine when I got home from work (it was delivered today), because just as I was leaving work, I had my computer playing random tracks on the hard drive and The Dead C’s “Power” from Clyma Est Mort came on, and I had to just stop and listen for its 7 minute duration because it’s so damn good. I really need to listen to them more. I first heard them many years ago at a friend’s place and they made a very good impression but I have no idea which album it was. I picked up the live album Clyma Est Mort on the basis of that prior encounter with their music, but have to admit that I didn’t immediately warm to the lo-fi sound (and also completely missed The Fall reference in the cover art, having not yet explored their massive back catalogue at the time), and the record sat amongst the rest of my vinyl half-forgotten. Yes, I know now that it is one of the holy grails of Dead C fandom and admit to an embarrassing lapse of taste.
More recently, having given up on it after an earlier search inspired by the wide held belief that it’s their best, I got the album Harsh 70’s Reality as it became easily available again, so I resumed my interest in the Dead C.

I’d already had them in mind just this week for another reason. I’d always imagined them to be outside the better known NZ indie scene of the 80’s, and certainly it sounds like they weren’t well accepted in that scene, but I hadn’t even realised that their first releases were on Flying Nun until recently. I just noticed the other day while listening to the Flying Nun 25th Anniversary comp that Michael Morley played in The Weeds together with Robert Scott of The Clean and The Bats, as well as Shayne Carter & John Collie before forming Straitjacket Fits. (More info here) Additionally, I only just foundout from The Wire article that Robbie Yeats was in The Verlaines.

Some of their recent activity is of interest. A couple of years ago they were featured in Fat Cat’s split singles series on a 12″ shared with Konono #1. The K#1 stuff is great, but not of too much interest if you already have “Congotronics”, but the Dead C tracks are well worthwhile. A nice feature is a number of locked-groove noise loops.
More recently they put out a 7″ called Relax Fallujah Hell Has Come which includes a version of “Power” mentioned above, which makes me interested, but I suspect I’d have trouble finding a copy. (Update: this isn’t hard to find at all actually)
This year they’ve put out a split 12″ with Australia’s Hi-God People which could well be worthwhile but is limited. I’ve got a H-G P cd somewhere I should dig out so I can remember what they sound like.

A new Dead C album will be out later this year.

You can read more about them at Wikipedia.

I want Phoenix & Janus on DVD

I’m not much of a DVD collector, but I like to get a few shows that I really like, especially if they are hard to come by on TV. I’m happy to see that series 2 of Twin Peaks is finally due for a (region 4) release in a couple of weeks but it reminds me of pretty much the only other shows that I could think of right now that I’d like to get (apart from Vol 3 of Harvey Birdman when it turns up) – those are two fantastic dramas which the ABC made in the early 90’s: Phoenix & Janus. Each consisted of two series of something like 13 episodes (rough guess, it was a long time ago). Phoenix series one followed an investigation by the Major Crimes Squad into a bombing that killed a police officer, and series 2 saw the same squad (with a few cast changes) investigate a violent armed robbery and sexual assault. One of the main characters was Sgt Peter Faithfull played by Simon Westaway. I remember it as being essential viewing. Each season had one long story arc and the whole thing was fantastically written and acted, and had a gritty realistic atmosphere that really made it stand out at the time and I have no doubt that it would still stand up today.
Sgt Faithfull returned in Janus which was centred on the court system rather than the police, with most of the action taking place in the courtroom as various members of the Hennessy family were put on trial. I recall not quite being into Janus as much as Phoenix but it was still really top class drama.

I was quite surprised when I did a bit of a search around the ABC & online DVD stores and found that these are not available (well, except for ABC program sales where you can get them for $1100 per season). Have you seen what is available? There are some pretty obscure things easily available these days – I find it amazing that the ABC can’t manage to release a couple of landmark shows in Australian drama. I also find it disappointing since I’d love to watch them again.

So does anyone remember these shows? Would you buy either or both of them?

UPDATE: Some good comments here and here on these series.

Published by , in TV.

I’m still here and this is what I’m listening to

Things have been quiet around here for a bit, I’m still trying to work out how to balance various sorts of work (both paid & volunteer), plus various other things that make Adelaide a busy place at this time of year (WOMAD, film festival etc), with blogging.

Tonight I’ve been at a public meeting about the SA Government’s plan for Victoria Park, hopefully I’ll get a chance to post on that soon (maybe if I get enough work done tomorrow), but in the meantime I’ll throw in a quick “what’s on the stereo” post to let you know that I’m still here:

The Fall – Reformation! Post TLC cd (Slogan)
Femi Kuti – Africa Shrine cd (uwe/mk2)
Etran Finitawa – Introducing cd (World Music Network)
Huun Huur Tu feat. Samsonov – Altai Sayan Tandy-Vula cd (Green Wave)
Zulya and the Children of the Underground – The Waltz of Emptiness (and other songs on Russian themes) cd (Unstable Ape)
Various – Flying Nun: 25 Years 4cd (Flying Nun)
Mars – The Complete Studio Recordings NYC 1977-78 cd (5rc)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation cd (Geffen)
Sonny Murray – Sonny’s Time Now cd (DIW)
The Necks – Hanging Gardens cd (Fish of Milk)

[gigs] Brunatex tomorrow

Between work and the film festival I’ve been very busy this week (might manage to write some film reviews sometime), so I haven’t seen the street press, but I have heard of one new gig this weekend. Adelaide band Brunatex will be playing at the Jade Monkey supporting Leigh StarDust‘s cd launch.

Also a few reminders

– Little Ice Age play tonight at the Wheaty

– Pivot play tomorrow night at Rocket.

– Yo La Tengo play next week at Fowler’s

– WOMAD is next weekend.

the full listing is a couple of posts down.

On the Stereo:

Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of this Country cd (Popfrenzy / Elefant)
Ned Collette – Jokes and Trials cd (dot dash)
Ned Collette – Test Patterns cdep (Holding Pattern)
The Red Krayola – Introduction cd (Drag City)
Various – Inner City Sound 2cd (Laughing Outlaw)
Cat Power – What Would the Community Think cd (Matador)
Silver Jews – Tanglewood Numbers cd (Drag City)
Various – Studio One DJs 2LP (Soul Jazz)
Leila – Courtesy of Choice cd (XL)
Bogdan Raczynski – myloveilove cd (Rephlex)

[gigs] Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry!

I was hoping for some artists from Jamaica as part of the WOMAD lineup but didn’t get any (though there is get a great dub producer in Mad Professor), but anyway, don’t worry about that because one of the greatest Jamaican artists of them all is coming to town the month after – while the legendary reggae producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry visits Australia fairly regularly, Adelaide usually misses out, so I was very happy to see this week that he’ll be playing at Fowler’s Live on the 1st of April. A famously eccentric character whose influence on modern music is enormous, he’s sure to put on an entertaining show.

I’ve decided to return to complete gig listings every week because otherwise it’s too hard to keep track of evrything.

Tonight – No Through Road and Straight to Video support Sub Audible Hum at Electric Light Hotel. Don’t know the headliners but both local supports are great, might check it out.
This Week
Wed 28th – Camera Obscura at Rocket Bar. Scottish indie pop in a style not entirely dissimilar to Belle & Sebastian.

MARCH
2nd – Little Ice Age at the Wheatsheaf. Great local band with a style reminiscent of the classic Flying Nun label sound.
3rd – Pivot at Rocket Bar. Sydney post-rockers who are well worth seeing.
8th – Yo La Tengo at Fowlers. US Indie rock stalwarts touring the excellent album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.
9th-11th – WOMAD with a great lineup including Mr Scruff, Mad Professor and Gotan Project.
16th – Little Ice Age at the Prince Albert.
30th – Bad Seed Conway Savage at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
31st – GB3 at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. An almost-reunion of one of the best Oz bands of the 90’s, Underground Lovers.

APRIL
1st – Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry at Fowlers.
3rd – The Pixies with Jarvis Cocker and Phoenix at Memorial Drive.

On the Stereo

The Handsome Family – Last Days of Wonder cd (Spunk / Carrot Top)
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice – The Flood cd (Toubleman)
Hall / Ranaldo / Hooker – Oasis of Whispers cd (Alien8)
Matthew Shipp – One cd (Thirsty Ear)
David S. Ware Quartets – Live in the World 3cd (Thirsty Ear)
Triosk – The Headlight Serenade cd (Leaf)
The Necks – Chemist cd (Fish of Milk)
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House cd (Warp)
Talking Heads – Fear of Music LP (Sire)
The Triffids – Treeless Plain LP (Hot)

My Turn to Have Fun with Conservapedia

Everyone’s been having fun with Conservapedia this week, for example Tim Lambert and Jon Swift, and I couldn’t resist getting a few choice extracts myself (note that the pages may have changed by the time you see them)
This is the entire entry on Stalin

Josef Stalin was an atheist communist Russian dictator during World War II. He was defeated by Adolf Hitler, despite Hitler also being an atheist.

Well … what else do you need to know?

Previously I hadn’t even heard of the Tennis Court Oath, but after reading the entry below in its entirety I now consider myself an expert on the subject:

The Tennis Court Oath was a oath made by the Third Estate of France in a tennis court.

It’s good that they leave out all of the useless extra information on the Wikipedia page.

Now for the entry on Homeschooling:

Homeschooling is opting out of formal public and private schools in order to educate children in the home or in specially arranged classes or cooperatives. Parents take a more active role in the education of their children when they homeschool.

The primary reason for homeschooling is to give the child a better education. A close second in reasons, however, is to avoid the culture of public school and its many adverse effects of hostility to Christianity and parental control, political bias, boredom, confusion, depression, etc.

Homeschooling is not new, and a disproportionate number of high achievers have been homeschooled throughout history. Here is a list of Christian homeschoolers:

I won’t give you the whole list but it includes the original Christian himself, Jesus Christ. Perhaps if he hadn’t been homeschooled he wouldn’t have been a christian.

Finally check out this entry on Jericho:

Jericho is a city in Palestine by the Jordan River.

In the book of Joshua, Jericho is taken by the Israelites with the help of God. Joshua 6.20 “When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.” When archaeologists excavated Jericho, they found that the walls had indeed fallen, not inward as they normally would because of battering rams on the outside, but outward. It is impossible for the walls of an attacked city to fall outwards without a miracle.

Unfortunately they don’t supply a source for that piece of archaeological confirmation of the Bible, though if it’s like anything else in the Conservapedia it’s probably in a book by Dr Jay L. Wile.