Showing posts with label Drummage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drummage. Show all posts

Saturday, 4 May 2013

Laughing Clowns - New Bully In The Town

Drummage: A Reprise




New Bully In Town
Laughing Clowns

The drums on this track are the hook, the...fuck let's face it they are the whole song. How did I miss the post-punk drummer of all post-punk drummers in the original Drummage blog conference/party started by Mr Simon Reynolds at the end of last year? Listening to the Ghost Of An Ideal Wife LP from 1985 the other other day New Bully In The Town stopped me in my tracks while I was doing the er... dishes. The drummage swings like mad and blew my mind and not for the first time. You could put more than half of the Clowns catalogue on here but this'll do for now. According to Ed Kuepper this is a humorous song influenced by 2 old songs. One was an old hillbilly instrumental and the other a 1920s blues track. Laughing Clowns 2 main players were Ed on guitar & vox and the incredible Jeffery Wegener on the drums with a revolving line up of other instrumentalists. Wegener even once played in a later/near the end line up of The Birthday Party, after Phil Calvert was no longer required, for some final live dates in Europe. Wegener even played in an early version of The Saints. If I recall this correctly early on at Laughing Clowns shows Wegener and his Kit would be front and centre of the stage. That's how important/integral Jeffery was to the band.


*Writing about drumming is really hard particularly if you're not a drummer. I had a few lessons at school in grades 5 & 6. I even once had to fill in at a rehearsal for my brothers band. I was in year 7 and they were all  form 6ers doing their HSC (year 12). Eventually though they got fed up as I really couldn't keep time. 

Saturday, 5 January 2013

Britt Walford

More Drummage

The drumming in Slint was awesome and the first Breeders record. Wasn't it the same guy? I think so. Britt Walford is his name plus he had  aliases - Mike Hunt and Shanonn Doughton. He was so versatile. One minute playing beautifully melodic rolls with great restraint then bangin his heart out in the heaviest possible way. He could build tension and atmosphere like no other.






Now I don't know if this is him in the film clip or not. I'm pretty sure he played on the track although it is credited to two different drummers. Anyway who cares this one is all about the drums. When I saw The Breeders live this was the highlight. Britt would often dress up in disguises. Was he embarrassed or something? Enigmatic master!

Surf influenced Drummage

Simon Reynolds is still bangin on about drums so here's a couple more. Well it's pretty hard to get heard behind the twin guitar attack of Masuak and Tek but here's some great drumming to go with those surf guitars. Ron Keeley with the sticks.


Then there is this which was all about the drums. Loved it the first time I heard it which was on the Countdown awards cica 84/85. This was power surf drummage! Mark Kingsmall on the skins.

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Jon Farriss - Black & White


This was some of my favourite drummage as a preteen. Particularly this 12" version. 8os Rota Toms I think they were. Dancing in the lounge room so our feet stay dry.

              

This shows Jon could cut it live too. Jon is a great drummer and shows us his stuff especially after the 2 min 30 sec mark! Hutch was a bit pitchy live wasn't he? Anyway it's all about the drums and they're pretty pretty good.

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Mick Fleetwood

Well I was trying not to be obv with my drums pick. Before I remembered that great Not Drowning Waving track It was The Chain all the way!


Well really it was gonna be Tusk but we thought that way too obv as well.

More Drums


It must be admitted here and now the Mrs a lovely Welsh lady was seen once air drumming to this track with a little help from her friends Death Proof stylee but it was only at home, not in a car so she didn't die.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Ultimate Drums


Sing Sing - Not Drowning, Waving

To me this is the ultimate drum tune. Not Drowning Waving were kind of an experimental ambient art rock pop band from the 80s in Melbourne. In 1988 they went to Rabaul in Papua New Guinea and recorded an LP with a bunch of locals. They had recorded this song before but nothing like this version. Beautiful, uplifting, scary and intense all at the same time! It still amazes me to this day!