Noise 2- Music Isn't Noise!

There's a new move to get recognition for inner-city venues, in a similar vein to the now-defunct Fair Go For Live Music initiative of a couple of years back.
At the moment all it really is is a website, and a Facebook group, and the whole thing is a bit Fitzroy-centred, but hey, if you go to see bands there (and I'll put my hand up to being an occasional visitor, particularly to the Old Bar) you may want to lend some support. If you don't want to, that's fine, but please hold your whining when your favorite venue gets closed by noise complaints. Just a thought.

Witch Hats- "Cellulite Soul" album launch 23 March

This promises to be a stormer.

I've had the album for a while now, and it's an amazingly assured piece of work. It summons up memories of a lot of my favorite sounds from the past, but in ways I can't quite put my finger on. There's nothing exclusively sonic, just more of a general feel. You can clearly hear the bands' willingness to push boundaries and play with elements, but still keep sticking in great hooks and choruses. As far as debut albums go, it's up there with the best.

They are planning launches in most capital cities, as well as a US tour later in the year.

Oh, and this is happening at the Northcote Social Club, if you were wondering.

HushHush 3

Dolores San Miguel probably has hosted more live gigs than you've had hot dinners, and she has another one lined up this weekend.

HushHush invades Cherry Bar with a spectacular night of home grown rock 'n' roll!
Featuring the 2008 return of The Fearless Vampire Killers, playing tracks from their soon to be released debut E.P, along with The Breaks and the kaleidoscopic sounds of Tonight is Like Space Invaders. Discs will be spun by the iconic Cherry D.J's, well into the wee hours.

I've been to both of her previous Hush Hush nights, and they were very good value indeed. This one goes in til dawn, at Cherry Bar, and may well become a more regular, semi-permanent thing soon.

Pink Fits hit

Wollongong's excellent Pink Fits make a lightning visit to Melbourne this weekend, but still manage to cram three shows into two days.

I've heard the new mini album, just out on Off The Hip, and it's excellent. I missed them last time around, won't be making that mistake again. And that Tote afternoon show is with the Ooga Boogas, too. Tasty.

Don't lose it.

If you read that Kylie post from a while back, you'll notice that they prohibit mobile phones and cameras being taken into the preview, which I guess is fair enough.
But the letter I got this week with a recent promo- a promo single at that, with only one track on it- goes a fair bit further.

There's a second page, which is meant to be signed and dated and sent back to someone whose job title is given as "VP, anti piracy" to signify agreement.
It's all a bit over the top, really. I wasn't planning to upload it, or to sell it, just listen to it a few times before chucking it on a shelf. As far as I can see, they expect me to adopt the fucking thing.
I just hope, for the seller's sake, that the world's greatest music collection, currently for sale on ebay, doesn't include any EMI promos.

She's back

Detroit bad girl Niagara is back in town this week, with a new show opening at Outre Gallery on Saturday 16th. February.

Sadly, though, only Sydney get to see her play live, in front of the Hitmen, next weekend on 23rd February.

She and her co-conspirator in all things art and rock, Colonel Galaxy, are two of the nicest reprobates you could ever hope to meet. Get along if you can, and remember:.

Malvina Reynolds

It's not often I listen to folk music, but this has really caught my ear.
Issued by the enigmatic and esoteric Omni Corporation, it's an extended version of her John Hammond-produced LP, "Malvina Reynolds Sings The Truth", which first appeared on Columbia in 1967, and it really is excellent. She seems to have been quite a woman.
At times her voice sounds cracked and parched, at other times she gets some real fire and sass going. She can really make that guitar ring, too, in a way that reminds me of Leadbelly at times.
And yes, the lyrics are laden with mid 60s social concern, but she writes a mean line when she wants to, as in "The Devil's Baptizin'". The added live tracks were recorded between 1965 and 1977- but they show that she could still cut it, even aged 77.
Some samples of her music are available here, though sadly it doesn't include any of the tunes she wrote for "Sesame Street".
There some sort of circular irony at work when you consider her best-known tune, "Little Boxes", now gets regular airing as a TV show theme, but at least it's the theme for a show about subverting suburbia. I think she would have appreciated that.

Harem Scarem- reissue and reformation

It's about time this thing got a run.

The good people at Atzec Music have just reissued Harem Scarem's astonishing 1986 LP, "Pilgrim's Progress", and its great to hear it again. It's been remixed, includes extra live tracks, b-sides and other good stuff, and also has a fat booklet of liner notes, including some very interesting observations from singer Chris Marshall, although no one's ever been able to explain that cover art to my satisfaction. I've had it on high rotation for the past week or so. The band are reforming for one show only (or at least, no other shows have been confirmed as yet) at the Corner Hotel on March 29th.

Anyway, another dig in the archives brought this to light:

Forgive my bias when I say that B Side was Australia's best fanzine for much of the 1980s. The Harem Scarem piece mentioned on the cover is an interview that the lovely Caroline Birkett, assistant editor, did with Chris about a month before the album came out, and is still a pretty good read.






As ever, just click on those images to enlarge.

Rock 'n' Roll Outlaws photo exhibition

Rock n Roll Outlaws is a photographic exhibition featuring live images of some of the most rebellious & outrageous performers in this land; wild childs, rock icons & legends.

Featuring work from Liz Reed, Jo Richards, Gary Hallenan, Tracey McLaren, Andrew MacColl, Paul Jones, Victor Joubert, Heather Venn, Ben Swinnerton, Melynda and Nicole Cleary.


This is running at Brightspace in St. Kilda from 7th-16th February. On Sunday 10th February, there will be live performances at the gallery between 2.00 and 6.00 pm, by Kim Volkman, Penny Ikinger, Lookout Mountain and Gary Hallenan & Co.

Brian Hooper pic by Liz Reed, Chrissy Amphlett by Heather Venn

The death of the GaragePunk.com forums

One of the first links I put up here was to the GaragePunk.com forums- a truly international forum where fans could trade knowledge, music, stories and insults, all based around a love for rock and roll- and a very broadly defined rock and roll, at that. They were part of a site which among other things also hosted (and still hosts) excellent and frequent podcasts covering a range of music just as broad, too.
Recently, the guy who runs the site, Jeff "Kopper" Kopp, upgraded the forums, and created the Garage Punk Hideout. It's a different kinda place, with more functionality, and is more akin to a social networking site. So far, so good. He closed the old forums down to new posts- again, so far so good: they were still there, still searchable, if you really needed to know what was on the b side of the original 7" of "Green Fuz", you could find the answer there, or at least find someone who was willing to tell you.*
But now the link to the old forums has been taken down, and so that huge backlog of knowledge is unavailable.
Don't get me wrong- it's Kopper's baby, no one paid to use the forums, and no one has any right to expect him to maintain them indefinitely.
But part of me thinks it's a real shame that such an excellent online resource has gone.

*it was "There Is A Land", if you were wondering

Recommended listening.

This guy is indeed a goddamn legend, and it's great to see him clock up a milestone like this.


Neil Rogers Anniversary Special
Celebrating 25 years of supporting Australian music on The Australian Mood

A legend in Australian public radio, Neil Rogers celebrates 25 years of broadcasting an Australian music show on January 31, 2008. Tune in to Triple R for a three hour special featuring live performances from some fantastic Australian acts including Perry Keyes, Liz Stringer, The Darling Downs and Harem Scarem.

The Australian Mood showcases the best in local and Australian music playing both new releases and retrospective work. Over his 25 years of broadcasting there would be few Australian bands Neil Rogers hasn’t interviewed. His passion for Australian music has seen him involved in broadcasting, events, touring bands, managing bands including the Cosmic Psychos and playing bass himself for 15 years in The Bo Weevils.

You've got to love a DJ whose playlists range from the Lizard Train to Lisa Miller.
Available via streaming from 3RRR, Thursday 31st January, 7.00 til 10.00pm local time, for those of you who are out of town.

The old rogue.

I've mentioned Nick Cave here a couple of times previously.
By an interesting coincidence, the same week as I was considering going to the current exhibition on his life and works at the Arts Centre here in Melbourne, I was also doing some digging through the Honeysuckle archives- a vast underground complex, under a hillside in a secret location somewhere on the edge of town.
And I found this:

Hmm, they all look very young there.
Keith Glass, of Missing Link Records, gave me a few of these promo shots years ago. I got this signed after a show one night- at either the Ballroom or at Hearts, I can't quite recall. And I'm not sure why Mick Harvey signed it left handed, either. And no, it's not for sale- it's been framed and is now hanging up in my house.
I also found a couple of other interesting bits and pieces- more to come.

Greatest (non-blog) hits, part 1

Hello.
Here's something I wrote a few years back, for my good friends at Pyssedas Heavy Industrial.
It's the itinerary for the Melbourne- well, South Melbourne- leg of the Great Intercontinental Pub Crawl.
They run this every year- click that link to sign up for 2008.
Anyway, here it is.

1-Palmerston Hotel- cnr Kingsway & Palmerston Cres.
In the early 1860s Lord Palmerston amassed a fortune importing the famous “parmesan” cheese, which still bears his name, to Melbourne - this pub is a fitting tribute to a great man. Not to be confused with the Pink Palace, across Kingsway (which offers a "Saturday Special $49.00 nude hand relief", if you are running early).

2-Rising Sun Hotel- cnr. Eastern Rd & Palmerston Cres.
A taste of Deep South Melbourne in the famous House of the Rising Sun! The only things you will need are a suitcase and a trunk, apparently. Sin and misery on tap.

3-Cricket Club- cnr. Clarendon St. & Thompson St.
Memorabilia galore to admire here, where the Don used to come to get blotto and fight after every MCG Test Match. Important- actual crickets, grasshoppers, locusts etc NOT welcome in the front bar.

4-Lewis’ Emerald Hill Hotel- cnr. Clarendon St. & Raglan St.
A short walk down the yellow brick road of Clarendon St. to the Emerald. This is a quiet old-school boozer, so no mucking round. Drink up and get out. Now. You’re barred, the lot of you.

5-Limerick Arms- cnr. Clarendon St. & Park St.
A pause to compose a special Intercontinental Pub Crawl limerick. Or at least a rousing song, perhaps to the tune of the Spongebob Squarepants theme, which we can sing/bellow for the rest of the crawl.

6- Town Hall Hotel- cnr. Moray St. & Bank St.
This place has somehow slipped downhill from its original position and is now nowhere near the Town Hall! What's the story? 10 points for each correct answer, judges' decision final.

7-Bell’s Hotel & Brewery- cnr. Moray St. & Coventry St.
Huzzah for Bells Brewery, where they make the scotch! Och aye, laddie, we'll have a wee dram the noo...what? Oh. Sorry, no, apparently this is where beautiful beers are brewed by intelligent women, and vice versa. Dream on fellas!

8-Maori Chief- cnr. Moray St. & York St.
Nothing to report. Sorry.

9- Golden Gate- cnr. Clarendon St. & Coventry St.
Just how did a pub in Melbourne get named after a bridge in San Francisco? It’s a long, sorry tale, involving a gullible landlord and a fast talking American conman with a bogus title deed in his pocket. And a suicide. Don’t dwell on it.

10-George Hotel- cnr. Coventry St. & Cecil St.
Windows could do with a clean. Looks like a good place to stop and watch a bit of footy. Also has pub TAB for horse tragics.

11-Market Inn - cnr. Cecil & York St.
Another in the "Pubs of the Commonwealth" series, this is mainly English-ish, due to the current plague of backpackers. Why are there no Canadian or South African theme pubs? Don't those guys drink or something? Discuss.


12- Southern Cross, cnr. Cecil St. & Market St.
The antique Haig’s ad on the wall gives this ageing bloodpit a raffish air. Despite the chic new umbrellas & cafe seating outside, don't linger after dark.

Then onto tram 112 up Clarendon St. and into the city for the grand finale/vomiting etc.

13- International Backpackers, cnr. Flinders St & Spencer St.
Bit optional this one- but anyway, after avoiding hideous decapitation at the helipad, why not slip in here for a cheeky $2.00 pot? They also run a backpackers’ job agency here, so your dream career in apple picking or IT temping may be just around the corner.

14- Waterside Hotel, cnr. Flinders St & King St.
Ah, if these walls could talk…they would spout a load of toothless drunken gibberish, probably. Recently renovated, and now said to be murderer free.

15- the Joint, cnr. Elizabeth St. & Flinders Lane.
Last one standing is crowned Drunkard of the Year, and moves into the semi finals. Huzzah! Enter chorus, all sing "It's A Small World After All", curtains close.

Details:
Start- 12.00pm at the Palmerston. Trams 3, 5, 8, 16, 64, 67 & 72 from the city all stop at Domain Interchange, a block away. Don't be late.
Melways map ref. 2K H3

Timing- ½ an hour per pub. No arguments, no time wasting. Get in, get one down you, then get cracking, we have a long way to go today.

Food- you will need to eat something. Most locals seem to exist on a diet of focaccia & coffee, but there are many other options. The famous South Melbourne Market dim sim is in season, and is easily caught using a net or the traditional blowpipe & dart. All the pubs to be visited offer expensive potato chips in ridiculous flavours like gingered oyster or goat cheese & ketchup. There is also a pie shop. Remember that citrus fruits are illegal south of the Yarra.


salut!

I'm not sure

For various reasons, I'm not sure I want to do this any more.
If that matters to you, let me know.

Oh, yeah

It's not all about me and the Hound this week. But having said that, there doesn't seem to be a great deal going on.

TheTri-State Lovers are launching their excellent (if sadly post-humous) album, "No Love" at the Tote on Saturday, with support from Digger and the Pussycats, the Ooga Boogas, and Jacky Winter, all for only $10.00, with a free BBQ thrown in.
There's a semi-literate review of the album here, by the way.

Also on Saturday, Spencer P Jones from kicks off a December-long residency over at the Edinburgh Castle , 681 Sydney Road, Brunswick, from 5.00 til 7.00. It's free, too.

I can't see there's much happening on Friday or Sunday though, and

the exhibition that features this picture of Mirka Mora's underwear doesn't start for a couple more weeks, sadly. Maybe stay in, do a bit of tidying up, send some Christmas cards out nice and early? Up to you.

Last word on the Greyhound?

Well, despite earlier posts and news, it looks like it's fallen through. From this week's local paper:

I got asked to leave the Hound at the end of the Sixfthick show in the front bar there last Sunday, by the way. The two events are not necessarily connected, of course.

Pick a nerd and save the country

or something.
One excellent election night show: Mink Jaguar at Pony, with a few others

Or another- the return of Sixfthick over at the East Brunswick Club

The choice is yours.
Personally, I'd prefer to be down at the beach with Mirka Mora. It looks like a lot of fun.

She has great taste in swimwear, that's for sure.

This weekend- art or Ooga?

There are two interesting things on this weekend- unfortunately they kinda clash.
For those of an artistic bent, the Missing Chord art exhibition is being launched at the St. James Gallery on Friday.

An exploration of the rock n’ roll heart of Melbourne

The interaction between fine art and rock n’ roll is comparable to the intertwining strands of DNA. At times the brutish simplicity of garage rock n’ roll can seem completely in opposition to the exquisite works hung on the rarefied walls of a fine art gallery; yet the complex tones and textures of many rock and indie bands can seem completely at odds with the naïve Art Brut style of so many contemporary artists.
This exhibition explores that symbiotic relationship and draws together 11 indie musicians who are also accomplished artists in their own right. The broad spectrum of bands the artists are involved in is also reflected in the variety of media, which includes works on paper, mosaics, photography, drawing and painting.
The artists include Ben Montero (Treetops), Jim Murray, James Ratsasane (The Rumours/J Hawk), Si Francis (Wagons), Kirsty Stegwazi / Rene Schaefer (Hand Hell), Ned Larnach-Jones (Ned & The Meds), Alana Cromwell (Sir), Mikey Stabbs (The Currency), Shags (The Smallgoods) and Rui Pereira (ex-The Drones).

For those of less refined taste, the Ooga Boogas, Exotics and Frowning Clouds play at Bar Open on the same night.

It's meant to be the launch night for the Ooga's new single "The Octopus Is Back", but apparently they will only have 35 copies on sale (and ten t-shirts) so get there early if you want one.

Regardless, all things being equal, I also plan to celebrate the arrival of the warm weather by BBQing the first rack of ribs of the season. But you're not invited to that, sadly. Maybe next time.

UPDATE: After seeing an excellent set by Darling Downs in the backyard of Pure Pop Records, I finished this off- 3 kilograms of boned pork shoulder, smothered with home made BBQ sauce and given 3 hours on the Weber with plenty of hickory chips:

HOT: Kylie pre-release exclusive.

Where were you today at 10.00am? In a record company boardroom, being guarded by goons and listening to a preview of the new Kylie Minogue LP?

Don't ask me how I came by this, but I can assure you it is 100% legit. And 100% industry bullshit, at the same time.
And no, of course I didn't fucking go.

No Time Wasters

One of the few joys of Melbourne's street press is the fake classified ads that appear in Beat magazine each week- often they are the only thing I read, the same way Fred Negro's "Pub" comic strip is often I all bother reading in Inpress.
Regardless, the genius behind them has now collected a year or so worth in book form-drop him a line for a copy. Highly recommended. Some samples:







as ever, click to enlarge