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.

Dead Moon rising

Word has it that Pierced Arrows - two-thirds of the legendary Dead Moon, surely the last word in DIY bands - are Australia-bound. Fred and Toody Cole broke up Dead Moon in 2006 after many moons (sorry) but reconstituted with a new drummer in Portland in May. Here's a taste of what they're up to in their new band, taken from a San Francisco show.

"I'm making $5000 baby - so screw you!"

That quote will be familiar to anyone with a copy of Metallic KO, half of which comes from the final Raw Powerr Stooges show. Here's proof that five-grand was indeed the Stooges' going rate.

ReV RuSSeLL (not his real name) of New York City started his music industry career working at the Michigan Palace in the early '70s and happened to souvenir this contract for a Stooges gig at that venue.

Now working as a guitar tech for a number of bands he'd rather weren't named, he saw the Stooges in all their decadent, burning-the-candle-at=both-ends, desperate glory an enviable 13 times in the Michigan area. The gig that the contract is for pre-dated his working at the Palace.

ReV RuSSeLL has been out to Australia as a touring band crew member and knew this piece of memorabilia would strike a chord.

Click on the document for a detailed look. Then drool at the thought of the shows he saw that you and I missed.

Halfway Round The World

Been a long time between posts but don't take it personally. The Barmaid and I have been holidaying overseas, paying a visit to London, France and Kruger Park in South Africa just to mix things up.

In London, I was lucky enough to hook up with an ex-flkatmate Captain Philpott, my Birdman-obsessed Pom mate Jelly and Carlton Sandercock of Easy Action Records. Pints of beer were consumed.

In Paris, we were scheduled to meet up with Eric and Vinz of Holy Curse only to spot them in the unfamiliar vicinity of the Picasso Musueum, running an errand for Radio Birdman, believe it or not. We went to a dinner party hosted by Vinz and his wife Sophie and populated by heaps of mutual friends, and I caught Vinz playing with Dimi Dero Inc the night after. Dimi Dero Inc supported The Drones on European and Australian tours in 2007 and will be back in Australia in March '08.

A side trip to expat Aussie Greg Bowen's Funhouse Pub in Morlaix, on the Brittany coast, was a diverting cultural experience (piss up.)

As for the African leg of the trip, visit the blog of noted Australian author and our hostsAfrica Man and his wife Africa Woman for details. Suffice for me to say that you've not lived until two lionesses have sprung up out of the grass 30m away from you while you're on foot and all wine, beer and spirits should always be a third of the price it is back home.

Closer to home, the Klondike's North 40 CD "The Straight Path" was launched via gigs in Sydney and Melbourne while I was overseas. Thanks to all concerned. The album is available in the I-94 Bar Shop and all good retail stores.

Further afield, lovers of Detroit music will doubtless be interested in The Metro Times' lkist of the Top 100 Detroit Songs here. These lists are always academic but this one does give a measure of the quality of the music that's come out of the Motor City down the years.

And in a similar vein, the next album from trans-Atlantic (that'd be Michigan-via-Sweden) soul big band The Solution is out on December 27. This is the band led by Hellacopters guitarist Nick Royale (behind the traps) with Scott Morgan on vocals. I've been lucky enough to hear an unmastered version and it smokes.

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