Vassilieff

Theoretical Matter
Neil Taylor

I like discovering new things I know nothing about. Anyway me and the Mrs went to Heide Museum of Modern Art the other day. There's cool stuff there like the sculpture (particularly Rings of Saturn and Theoretical matter),

Rings of Saturn
Inge King

gardens, architecture and of course great Australian paintings. So there was a lot to see but the main exhibition wasn't so great I liked half of it the other half was well...... shite, The Mrs didn't like any of it one bit. I've even forgotten his name Willdon or someone. Next was some great photos by Albert Tucker of his friends, artists, bohemians and family. Including one pic of a young Mirka Mora being v raunchy Then we went into the modern architectural house which is incredible in itself then I started noticing the art on the walls and was loving it. I was thinking it was probably by all sorts of different famous artists but no it was all by one Danila Vassilieff a Russian guy who came out to Australia to live in 1935 He spent some time in Sydney doin urban pics in Surrey Hills and some bush paintings then by 1937 he started painting Melbourne urban street scenes in Fitzroy & Collingwood many with people in them. It was all soap box derbys, corner shops, school playgrounds, paperboys and even a great one of Victoria Parade. This was the world that my great grandad, grandpa and my Dad were part of. I was lovin it. Then in another room I noticed in the corner of a painting the Avoca Paddle Steamer which meant he'd spent time in Mildura and by the looks of things he didn't dig it too much. I was really starting to feel this guy. He got a job in the mid 50s at Mildura High School. Some of his most disturbing work comes from this era as well as time spent in Swan Hill. By the 70s & 80s when I was living there I don't think it had changed much from when he spent couple of years there. There was a creepy and violent vibe of conformity. Anyway I bought his book can't wait to read it all. I think maybe he was torn between urban life and the bush. It's good to see that Mildura Arts Centre owns some of his pieces. I wonder how well his art went down at the time? So it was a great discovery for me and a little excitement. Oh and the food was great too.

Blue Shop
1938
I'm guessing somewhere in Fitzroy/Collingwood

Mildura Wedding 1954
I've been to a few. Not as dramatic as this though.

I walked down there today
Victoria Parade 1937
Hasn't changes that much really.

Lets Get Fonky

More Fonky Disco here. I wasn't gonna do another bass line post coz nobody seems to have joined the party. Anyway Check this, Probably my favourite library musician on the funky side of things created this astonishing bass line

ALAN HAWKSHAW

ODD BALL 

How about that then?!!!!

ALAN HAWKSHAW

DAYTRIPPER

*Sorry for my illiteracy lately. Spellcheck's back thank God.

The Atemporality of Australian TV

RE: TV Retromania, I thought of a couple more American tv shows that were always on: Lost In Space, MASH,  F Troop, Hogan's Heroes, Mr Ed, very vague recollection of Cisco & Pancho. Then Into the 70s Brady Bunch never seemed to go away and Happy Days. This and the aforementioned shows in the previous post were just on in the 70/80s along with whatever 80s shows were on but it was all the same. Nobody as far as I could remember was placing more value on the new over the old. It was just Telly. Almost forgot about the cartoons of Warner Bros- Roadrunner, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester & Tweety, Pepe Le Pew and The one about the Rooster and the dog. Not forgetting others like Felix the Cat, Quick Draw McGraw & Al Kabong (were they one and the same?) Gumby, Tom & Jerry, Top Cat, Captain Caveman, Roger Ramjet, Huckle Berry Hound &Yogi fuckin Bear. Most of these were constantly on our screens for decades.

They weren't fixed in a time! Who knows when they were made between the 50s and the 80s I guess. Having a quick look on the net though reveals that some had their origins as far back as the 20s. We didn't care we didn't know any better. There were only two channels in Cardross right up until who knows when as I left in 1989, but I think not that long ago. These are only the shows I was allowed to watch as I came from a very strict catholic background. No Sullivans or Young Doctors for me Let alone Prisoner Cell Block H. When The Young Ones came along No Chance! God wait there's more: fuckin Lassie, The Littlest Hobo, Skippy & Flipper which I believe all had the same premise just with a change the animal. The funny thing is I'm not really feelin nostalgia for these shows at all. I like Skippy on a purely aesthetic level. It was shot on film and really captured true Australian light, sun and bush landscape. It was beautifully filmed. Out of the rest of this lot I'd probs only wanna watch Al Kabong, Captain Caveman, Roadrunner, Gumby & Roger Ramjet ever again just out of curiosity. A lot of it gives me a slightly bleak mildly bored feeling. I was probably only watching them because it was too hot outside to play.

What a great concept for a quasi-super hero.
Cape & Mask with Guitar as weapon!
The Mrs doesn't believe this was a tv show.
I guess it does sound quite absurd.

It doesn't inspire me like it does the British who seem to revere (they do make exceptional telly) their shows and their soundtracks, a lot of which we didn't get here (We got Dr Who, The Wombles and The Magic Roundabout of course) or I just don't remember. We didn't have our own Oliver Postgate either. I can't see an Australian equivalent of Broadcast or a label like Ghostbox making music inspired by 2nd hand often 2nd rate American TV. Although the music was often awesome on some of those old American cartoons-quite Avant and mental. Try to play a Carl Stalling compilation to someone, they'll immediately get it and go "oh yeah old cartoon music cool" but by about track 6 it's like "ok enough of that." Weird huh? So it's ok with the visual craziness but as a pure listening experience they cannot handle it. Maybe the BBC Workshop, Oram, Derbyshire, Baker and others like Vernon Elliot and the like were more accessible as music to just listen to whilst  still being Avant-Garde and alien. My friends would be able to sit through a BBC workshop compilation much more comfortably than a Stalling one. I do remember some cool music from 70/80s Aussie wildlife documentaries which was probably library music or hopefully commissioned work and yet to be rediscovered, sad to say the former is probably true. We can still hope though.

Delia soundtracking the future

 

Bambino Melbourne Music Mafia

I was gonna go on an all Aussie trip with the bassists and there did seem to be a particular Australian style but the youtube's  annoying me. Maybe another time. Sorry Grant McLennen, Chris Walsh, Ian Rilen, Mark Lock, Mark Ferrie & Brian Hooper.  Geez how's that for a list. They will all eventually be members entered into my Aussie bassplayer phonebox of fame

A few years ago now I don't remember the exact year (2008?) but it seemed like Melbourne rock was really goin' great guns with top records by Beaches, Eddy Current, Ooga Boogas, Witch Hats, The Drones, Fabulous Diamonds all in the same year. Not forgetting the old garde Mr Cave & Mr Graney as well, who delivered the goods too. It seemed like it was gonna go through the roof in the following years but it didn't. Anyway no need to dwell on such ideas. Looking forward to new records from Ooga Boogas and Beaches if they still exist
.

Anyway it seems like there is a bambino Melbourne music mafia now. Twerps, Toatal Conrol, Eddy Current, Dick Diver, UV Race etc. You know they're all playing on one anothers records or producing them. Like the old Melbourne Music Mafia. The bambini have their own scene/quasi sylee/monopoly of cool/uncool now. Anyway I'm also even enjoying a Lost Animal track at the moment. The UV Race have become my favourite post Eddy Current Suppression Ring Band and I mean that as a compliment. Maybe the Melbourne scene will eventually go bananas like the old days, I hope so there seems to be some great talent about. The Bambini Rock (well some of em do).

The UV Race of the Bambino Melbourne music mafia with country connections.

                                                           

Martin P Casey Bassman

Shit I totally forgot about him. There's probably hundreds of tracks he's done and he's usually playing something beautiful, melodic and understated but he can also burst into the spotlight and be bass king. On early tracks like Native Bride, Dear Miss Lonely Hearts and Beautiful Waste he is doing the sweet and melodic thing as well as subtly driving those songs forward.

He's definitely the star of the show on that one. How evocative is it?! Also always reminded me of Blondie for some reason. That bass and keyboard combo is the sound of Australia's debilitating midsummer heat.

Hell Of A Summer

The Triffids

Here is Martin upfront again with a splendid jazzy almost fever like thing goin on.

My Baby Thinks She's a Train

The Triffids

Marty starting to get downright dirty and a little fonky. Totally fuckin suits him.

Property is condemned

The Triffids

Grinderman

I Don't Need You To Set Me Free

Not a dissimilar bassline to that Bad Seeds track Messiah Ward but this one is more to the fore.

Casey could come round and play that bassline for an hour and then I'd still want an encore. Kinda psychedelic, swirling and circular. His style is definitely unique and very versatile. You'd want him in  your group for sure. So cool.

* I could go on posting Triffids/Bad Seeds/Grinderman tracks all day. This is just a sampler of the great mans work that came off the top of my head. I didn't even get to Born Sandy Devotional or Let Love In.

Dull Smug Mum & Dad Mortgage/Renovation Rock

I'm on holidays at the moment so I decided for the first time in about a year and a half to put the radio on. The second song was by the Melbourne indie band (I think) The Twerps who I gave a go to once, couldn't see the point, kinda 80s Aussie/NZ indie vibe but I gotta say I quite liked it.

The Twerps: I don't hate them!

 Later on though I heard the worst fucking song ever. It was a boring schmindie tune. The lyrics were like some middle class turds explaining their 1st world problems to you. They were singing about paying the mortgage and not being able to go on a Bali holiday. Then I think there was a bit about ripping up the floorboards perhaps renovating. It was a bit like watching Getaway interspersed with a bank loan ad followed by one of those renovation shows. This was the pits. It wasn't funny. It wasn't angry. I couldn't detect any irony. They were just gonna write a song about their boring lives and sing and play it in a boring way. I don't think there was any art project pretention about it whatsoever. This is how rock has ended up right where it was supposed to take you away from ie.the domestic drudgery of ordinary daily life. Yeah I know MX80, Devo and Talking Heads sometimes sounded vocally bored but they were funny and the music was always fucking excellent, electrifying & exciting. Ordinary things have been subjects for rock many times before but never this badly and witless. I get the whole inverting of rock: Debbie Harry's awkward dancing, Elvis Costello lookin like a nerd, new wavers putting their knees together, cuties acting pure, virginal and innocent, the faux naivety of Beat Happening and Jonathan Richman. I still like glamour, weirdness, sex, gender issues, creatures from outer space, drugs, seedy stories, love, lust, creepiness, celebration, heartbreak, mentalness, the unthinkable, awkwardness, fantasy, the dodgy, being wrong, politics, cars, strange theories etc. This can all still be done in new and non-cliched ways. But fuck me if I ever wanna hear a song that sounds like a conversation at my friends house on a Saturday morning unless it's really bloody funny or is set to the the most incongruous music imaginable. I don't know what that band was called but I hate them and their dull smug mum and dad mortgage/renovation rock.

MX80 SOUND
At their funniest/most exciting when sounding bored.

Killer Bass

I don't mean to be so obvious but how could you go past this and didn't it get sampled a couple of times.

Bass Most Awesome!

Liquid Liquid

Cavern

Probably not an obvious choice but I used to love the bass in this.

Disappointingly the real clip not available.

The Buggles

Video Killed The Radio Star

I couldn't sign off without the greatest funk bassist of them all. It starts off slow then his bass starts bubbling up unexpectedly then eventually goes intergalactic by the end of this epic. Timeless bass gold.
Bootsy's Rubber Band
Munchies For Your Love

Gimme More Bass Man

Here's some more bass classics over at Blissblog

God I could on forever. Don't get me started Peter Hook, Tina Weymouth, The Contortions, Gang of Four, The Fall, The Moodists, ESG, The Slits, Ian Rilen, The Pop Group, 70s reggae, PIL, liquid Liquid, Joseph K, Can, every band from the 60s, Michael Henderson, Bootsy fuckin Collins, every soul/funk band from USA in the 70s, Paul McCartney, Fire Engines, Minutemen, Jon Entwhistle, Died Pretty, Pete Wells, Gary Gary Beers, Mark Ferrie, James Freud, Steve Hanley, Andy Rourke, Bruce Lose/Will Shatter, Debbie Googe, Grant McLennan, Steve Kilbey, Kim Deal........somebody stop me.

Just one Fleetwood Mac track

Me & the Mrs agreed on this one.

The Chain

Now this one is a bit more complicated because there' kinda 2 basslines. They're both great but that synth bass wow. Fucking awesome Nick Launay production and performances from Duffield and Freud.

The Models

I Hear Motion

Tracey Pew Bass

I Haven't read the new Wire issue yet on bass but I thought I'd put my Tuppence worth in anyway. Immediately what sprang to mind was Tracy Pew of The Boys Next Door/The Birthday Party. There's a reason why he's on the cover of that HITS compilation because he was the heart and soul of the band. He drove them and without him on bass they would have been nowhere and nowhere near as fucking great!

The first one I love is The Friend Catcher particularly when the guitar/clarinet/sax(?) end up following his bassline every now and then. I could post entire LPs but I'll spare you. Mr Clarinet and Happy Birthday are much tighter and clipped but no less effective. A Catholic Skin is so good for the most part it is just one bass note propelling the song forward. Hats On Wrong is a much looser Pew and an indication of what was to come, geez he was good.

Then there's The Red Clock where Rowland S Howard does the old Ozzy Osbourne trick of following his vocal melody with whatever Toni Iommi guitar is playing (or was it the other way around?), except with Rowland's vocals it's to Pew's bass.

King Ink is possibly Tracey Pew's finest moment of bass glory. It's just so fucking grimey, muck is pouring from his fingertips. Human Skin and electricity fusing for a pure expression of filth. How does he keep playing that bassline amongst the rest of the shitstorm that is going down in this song.

Zoo Music Girl's bassline is just dirty funky fun for all the family. I could go on. Tracey Pew's bass on Nick The Stripper and Figure of fun are killer. 

Lastly there's Yard off Prayers On Fire. This is fucking incredible. Pew plays the bluesiest and most lonesome bass I've ever heard in my life. I think it's the only time he ever played double bass on a Birthday Party record.                                                                            

John Whitney's Matrix III

John Whitney

Matrix III

1972

I was on a blog the other day and I never watch youtube clips of things I've never heard of, anyway this caught my eye. It was from 1972 and looked like something they might have shown down at the old Melbourne Cinemateque, then housed in a crappy little theatre at RMIT, in the early 90s. So I checked it out and it was incredible. So if you're only gonna watch one youtube clip from my blog this year make this the one. So this is some kind of Avant-Garde 70s Graphic Cinema. John & his brother James had started this kind of thing in back the 1940s. Take the trip man!

John Whitney

Permutations

1966

This one is six years earlier but just as nifti. Don't drop the brown acid man. John was quite famous I think and influential in computer graphics etc. and ended up interested in Eastern philosophy. Using mandala like meditations for his films. They're mesmerising! Great colours, circles, lines and dots.