LTH merch frenzy.

The Last Tram Home marketing team over at Heywood Industries have come up with some ace new LTH stickers:

Printed on the finest vinyl available, you can expect to see them on lamp posts, car bumpers and pub toilet walls all over the place in weeks to come. If you'd like a few, to help spread the word, either ask me for some or drop me an email.
Tshirts and coffee mugs are...not likely to ever happen, I'm afraid

**UPDATE- A few orders have come in and been sent off. Yes, these are free. There is a limited supply sitting on the counter at Off The Hip Records if you are quick**

Muff (SFW).

The eleventh Melbourne Underground Film Festival kicks off tonight. The big ticket item is a guerilla screening of Bruce LaBruce's "LA Zombie", recently pulled from the Melbourne International Film Festival. Details of when and where that's happening are still a secret.

But I like the look of the Mini MUFF- a series of six short film nights that's running at 1000 £ Bend in Little Lonsdale St.

Those three stills are from three different shorts. I think.

Vote for something.

I have better things to do on Saturday, so I already voted, at a little place I know- only in Melbourne can you find a polling booth down a laneway off the arse end of Bourke St. I just hope nothing too shocking emerges between now and then- on the form of this campaign so far, I shouldn't expect anything will.
Anyway, I'm more an MC5 guy than a Billy Bragg type when it comes to politics in music, so that's enough of that.
Although the theme is unavoidable this weekend. This looks like a good place to lose your shit over the ranga v. ratbag battle:

Though I can't find out what that costs, I'd guess $12 or $15 would cover YIS, Dynamo & Legends Of Motorsport.
Then a massive Off The Hip party at the Tote on Sunday, to drink away your hangover:

Australia's premier garage rock label and record store - Off The Hip Records - celebrates it's 100th release with a party Sunday 22nd August at the newly re-vamped, re-opened Tote Hotel Collingwood. All punters will receive a free 24 track Off The Hip Records label sampler when they join the festivities starts at 1pm!Featuring-
LOS CHICOS [Spain]
JOHNNY CASINO AND THE SECRETS
MIDNIGHT WOOLF
RUSSIAN ROULETTES
LITTLE MURDERS
THE CHEATS
MASS CULT SUICIDE
WRONG TURN
THE LIVING EYES
SOLE STICKERS
BURIED HORSES
And again, no price details to be found. Chance it anyway.

Housekeeping.

If you are a regular you may have noticed that my Twittering had died off a bit. I couldn't be arsed, really. I did briefly consider the option of giving someone else more interested the password, but in the end just stuck a blog feed link in there. So now you can read the same thing twice, on two different platforms, AT NO EXTRA COST.
Anyway, the place is due for a revamp soon. It may even happen in time for my forthcoming adventures- perhaps this weekend, while I am stuck without a lighthouse to look at.

Centralised.

There aren't many reasons to live in Collingwood, but if you are a/ a resident of Melbourne's black & white suburb, and b/ a music fan of similar tastes to me, you have a bit of a dilemma this Friday.
On the one hand, a fine line up of the Models is playing in the Gershwin Room at the Espy in St. Kilda, along with the Dames and the Minibikes.

Should you choose to go about the same distance north instead of south, however,the East Brunswick Club is hosting the Puta Madre Brothers farewell show before an overseas tour:

Supports there are the Ukeladies, the Red Brigade,and the Toot Toot Toots.
Tough call- the 246 bus or the 86 tram?

Accept no imitations.

Hmm.

I guess I should be flattered.

Last Tram Home presents...#5

Sorry for the short notice- it took a while to get this one all squared away:

LAST TRAM HOME PRESENTS... #5 featuring:
YIS: over educated brat rockers, no doubt 'busting out' their hit track ''Terry Black's Rubbish Bins'', or whatever it's called.
Wrong Turn: two young men with a hundred years of playing experience behind them.
Cash Savage & the Last Drinks: there is no last drink on the Last Tram Home.
And of course me, playing a load of my tatty old Australian vinyls til 3.00am.
Old Bar, 30 July, doors at 8pm, $10 entry.
This will sell out, as usual, so you may want to get there early. And buy me a beer, perhaps.

Richmond Station special.

Guh. How could I forget this?


Graveyard Train, Melbourne’s own chain smashing, foot stomping, horror country pioneers are launching their third album "The Drink The Devil and The Dance" at the Corner Hotel on Friday the 23rd July. Special guests on the night will be Melbourne rockers the Dacios as well as the psychedelic bluegrass crooning of Little John.

The album’s out on Spooky Records, of course, and you can snag free downloads of the single ‘Mummy’, as well as another track, 'Run, Billy, Run' right here.
And if you happen to be passing the Rochester Castle in Johnson St. Fitzroy, anytime soon, do stop and admire the striking artwork currently adorning an unused billboard on the side of the building.

Full house.

For various reasons, I won't be able to get out and enjoy any of the rich salty goodness thats on offer this weekend- but if I could, I'd hit all of these, hard.
My favorite improv squawkers, Aktion Unit , along with my favorite acid-tinged psyche outs, the Paul Kidney Experience, are launching a split CD at the Old Bar on Friday, with a couple of friends:

Special things are planned. That poster is a pretty good visual representation of what you can expect- mushrooms, vaginas, fluffy clouds, etc. etc. etc.

There's the chance to contribute something back to the local music community on Saturday, when the Oldie (again) hosts a benefit for 3CR's "Burning Vinyl".

Little John, Matt Bailey, Sianna Lee and Danny Walshe start things off from 6pm (this is the quieter part of the evening, setting the mood as the sun sinks low)... And then: Lamefoot, Howl At The Moon, Matt Sonic and The High Times, plus head-turning headliners The Toot Toot Toots rocking out the second half of the night.
Every cent of the $10.00 entry goes straight to the station, by the way.

And on Sunday, the 6th annual "Wash Winter's Willies Away With Whiskey" is on at the Tote.

The list of artists this year once again features a wild variety of Melbourne’s current crop of great alcohol inspired acts- Clinkerfield, Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders, Chris Altmann & Que Paso, Little John, White Elephant, Tracy McNeil, The Re-Chords, Roller One, and The Bakersfield Glee Club.
Clinkerfield frontman Jimmy Clinkers is just recently back from an overseas break, and is ready to play for a hometown crowd again. These things are always a bit special. And a bit drunken, too. Be warned. Enjoy.

Ben & Bodies.

Bodies say they recorded their album in one night, and mixed it in six hours- Eddy Current, eat your hearts out. They are launching it at the Arthouse on Friday, with their buddies Fourteen Nights At Sea, Buried Horses and the Spinning Rooms:

That's a very reasonable $8.00 at the door- and an extra $10.00 gets you a copy of the album, too.
On Saturday, why not make the effort and actually go to the Tote, to see Gentle Ben and His Sensitive Side, down from Brisbane for one show only?

Support comes from Precious Jules and Nathan Hollywood's new project, Romance, a two piece electronic thing. I think this is only their second show, and I'm kinda keen to get along and check them out.

Do you know this man?

If not, you may soon.
That's Patrick "Paddy" Donovan, erstwhile music writer for the Age, and now the first CEO of Music Victoria.
I think he'll find it a tough change to make initially, despite the level of public support and interest live music in this town currently enjoys. Political bodies can be notoriously difficult to navigate, and this one has a widespread brief, too. But Paddy's got plenty of ideas, and plenty to say for himself, and he knows what he's on about, too, so I reckon he's way ahead of the public service pack already. Personally, I wish him all the best, and hope he does well.

Gig of the year?

Probably.
Kim Salmon (in Precious Jules mode), Joel Silbersher (backed by the Baggage Handlers), and...Mark Lanegan. In a room with about 150 people.

Damn, it was good.

Late-week rush job.

Some good stuff on offer right now. But I am short of time, so will keep this brief.
Anyway, there's a big night on at the Old Bar:

What's that, 10 bands for $10.00? Bargain.
Or you could try going up the road a bit to the Bendigo for some rockabilly- a recent change of management means it's not as shit as it used to be.

I do like them Greasy Hawaiians.
If culture is your thing, you can take a bit of a trip down memory lane- which may or may not be terrifying, depending on whether or not you are old enough to remember the sharpies' 70s heyday:

Sam Biondo presents:
Skins n Sharps exhibition 2010
Relive Melbourne’s 70s sharpie culture with a spectacular new exhibition of vintage fashion, artefacts, photos, art, music and footage on display. At Kustom Lane Gallery 8 Luton Lane, Hawthorn. Open daily from 12 noon to 6pm free admission
I myself will be attending what sounds like the gig of the year on Saturday. If you are there, I will see you there. If not...then I won't.

No winter blues.

Hmm, after last week's blowout, pickings are kinda slim this week. But not to worry.
Hobart's Native Cats are at the Birmy, with their buddies the always-excellent Super Wild Horses and the always-unpredictable UV Race.

Not sure what that costs, but it'd be worth a look. And you can pick up a copy of the Cats new album at the show, too.
Otherwise, you can catch up on your Tim Burton big screen experiences, at ACMI.They are having a retrospective of all his movies in conjunction with that exhibition that's on there right now. I actually saw "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" at a cinema once, for some unknown reason.

A couple of things.

Well, that Community Cup was fun.

That's me telling off a photographer, for snapping me while I was asking that homeless guy for a cigarette. And I got to see my old mate Phil Bryant (of the Corpsegrinders) dressed as a woman. And the right team won, too- the RRR/PBS Megahertz got up by one point.
Also- I have recently been asked to get involved with a new blog hub thing, you gonna get it. So (most) of what goes up here will also be found there, alongside a bunch of other folks' stuff. Mostly music based, mostly Australian. It's a cool idea, and there are no ads or fine print. If you have a blog, drop them a line.

Don't call it a festival, don't call it half-cocked.

But it's not just about the Tote here in Melbourne.
Look at this- the Birmingham's second birthday, a bunch of strange noisy Brisbane stuff at the Gertrude Contemporary Art Space under the "Psycho Subtropics" banner, and the Community Cup have all aligned.this week.
This means that there are thirty five bands playing, over two days, at three unrelated events, for a grand total of $5.00- which is what it will cost you to get into the Cup. With a game of football thrown in, too.
Here, I've put them in alphabetical order to make it easy for you, with a note of who's on where:

Abject Leader GCAS
Alex Cuffe GCAS
Baptism Of Uzi Birmy
Big Smoke Birmy
Chaos Kids Birmy
Chloe Cogle GCAS
Cured Pink GCAS
Danni Zuvela GCAS
Dead Farmers Birmy
Dick Diver Birmy
Dozers Birmy
Gerald Keaney GCAS
Greasers Birmy
Grizzly Jim Lawrie Band Birmy
In Tongues Birmy
Joel Stern GCAS
Keggin Birmy
Little Freddie & the Pops Community Cup
Madonna Birmy
Nick Barker & the Reptiles Community Cup
Ross Manning GCAS
Sarah Byrne GCAS
Scale Free Network GCAS
Scraps GCAS
Ship's Piano Birmy
Sky Needle GCAS
Swamplords GCAS
Teen Archer Birmy
The Black Hill Five Birmy
The Blackeyed Susans Community Cup
The Living End Community Cup
The Priory Dolls Birmy
The Stabs Birmy
This War Birmy
Wil Wagner & the Smith St. Orchestra Birmy

And here are the relevant artworks/handbills/scrawl for each one, too:



I've gotta say, things like this make combing the fine print of street press listings kinda redundant.

Art double.

Lauren Bamford and Karl Scullin are both pretty well known around town as photographers, appearing in and on media ranging from street press to album covers. It's good to see them together in a formal, themed exhibition, opening tonight (Wednesday 23 June) at the C3 Artspace :

The gallery is a bit hidden, being round the back and underneath the main building- come along and spot your friends.

I got in

before Bruce Milne handed over the door stamp to the new management:

So, yes, it was a good night. Pretty much everyone I expected/hoped to see there was there, the sightlines in the revamped bandroom are much better, and the beers were free. The new carpet and lack of stuff on the walls was the only noticeable difference, really.
I don't know if this is the official end of an era, or the official start of a new one. But it's the Tote, and it has bands on again.

Thanks to Carbie for the pic.

Super secret special show.

One of the "perks" of this blogging lark is that occassionally it gets you in the door to good stuff. That was the case this week- I've scored an invite to some kinda VIP/media preview of a new venue. So new it doesn't even have a name yet.
I can't tell (yet) how widely the invites were spread, but in any event, no one seems to be talking about it- which is odd considering the recent fuss made over the place in question.
For now, though, I'll just say that I won't be at home if anyone needs me on Thursday night.
More details to follow.

Adam D Mills.

Music journalist Adam D Mills died last week.
There is a very good tribute here, which was put together by Anwyn Crawford and Shaun Prescott. They were friends (and admirers) of Adam's, and it shows. It will tell you all you need to know about the way he affected people he knew and worked with.
I never met him- our contacts were confined to various electronic formats, including a recent massive email exchange that seems to have already entered Australian music folklore.
But it seems pretty clear to me, in these times of digital downloads, fragmented markets and increasing industry dependence on manufactured "stars", that we cannot afford to lose anyone with Adam's degree of passion and commitment.
The man sent himself broke, and stayed on the breadline far beyond any reasonable measure, in his determination to keep putting out the music he loved and wanted to be heard by others.

RIP ADM.