Dolphins Into The Future

A Star maker, Strange Dreams & Clairvoyance

Also very diggin this. This could be my favourite Dolphins Into The future tape (well i-tunes download) ever. All sorts of alien bird calls and some kind of spectral communication via song. I don't know if it's coming from the depths of the earth's deep ocean or I'm hearing some intergalactic language. I can picture scuttling electric sea creatures from the darkest depths of an alien deep sea. Sometimes its eeriness is almost cute. I reckon kids would love it. The bands name for the first time makes perfect sense to me. At the start of side b there is some lovely soothing music of what sounds like Aboriginals or South Pacific Islanders with just their voices looped, which is three minutes of pure enchantment. Then it's back to the music of aquatic neon creatures having fun and games in the endless night. This is Dolphins most sparse, clear recording so far and an absolute peak. Bliss.

BEBETUNE$ aka Jimmy Ferraro

BEBETUNES

Inhale C - 4 $$$$$

This is another pseudonym for James Ferraro. I'm diggin this way way more than his LP as Bodyguard Silica Gel which I am struggling to like at all. As one of the tracks says on this record 'It's everything time'. That about sums it up. All channels open, whatever blows in, passes by, nothing off limits, an endless sea of flowthrough. Quite a trip. This is crazy there's track that sounds like I dunno Usher or someone of that ilk and prime Jarboe in band era Swans.  Fucking deranged but Jimmy does it again and remains an enigma. I don't read interviews by musicians, I find them tedious-let the music do the talking. Which makes me think he must be pretty interesting. I don't wanna ruin it by finding out he's a big tool but sometimes you have to be to create/channel art. Also lovin that cover. Track this one down it's a gas man.

Larry David Moments

I've been having a few recently. I was in a very good restaurant the other day and right in my eyeline was a guy sitting across from his lady friend but every time he bent slightly as he had a mouthful of something I could see his bum crack. It was putting me off my very expensive lunch! I was in a fragile state (family stuff) so lucky for this guy coz he was get an earfull from me Larry David Stylee.

I've had some real Larry moments, best not to go into those as I don't want to incriminate myself. I'm nice really well............It's something I strive for.

There is an episode of Curb Your enthusiasm where Larry goes mental trying to open packaging. Nowadays some things are like Fort fuckin' Knox, particularly electronic objects which are so sealed I don't think you are actually meant to get into them. Today it was Premium crackers you cant get into them now without some implements. Actually most packaged foods require scissors now. Even the humble footy card can't be opened by hand, scissors required. uuuuuuurrrrrrrrgggggggg!!!!

You didn't need scissors back in those
days plus you got a stick of bubblegum!

How good is the episode of Curb of the last series with Ricky Gervais? Gold! It makes me wish Steve Coogan had played himself in the episode he was in.

Myf Warhurst & The Elephant & Beards & The 60s &..

Shhhh it's the ABC we can't acknowledge we live
in a capitalist society! It's not nice..

Don't get me wrong I love Myf (Australian TV peronality in her late 30s), she's a very nice unpretentious person and a self confessed dag. But the tv show Nice and Trendy last night had me perplexed. where was this show sitting? Somewhere between a Sunday magazine article, something a little more intellectually in depth or just a bit of nostalgic fluff where she got to meet some famous people. I was getting frustrated at the beating around the bush of why fashion is cyclical. She nearly got there by asking 'Aren't we going to proverbially eventually disappear up our own fashion arses? Meaning where is the new? how many times can the 20s, 60, 80s even 90s keep returning How the hell are they gonna rehash  the 00s? Anyway are people too scared to hear the truth? It's the ABC (Austaralia's Government owned Broadcastor ala BBC) for Christ's sake, nevertheless the real answer wasn't forthcoming. It was a bit like the Elephant in the room, but we're all too apathetic to acknowledge our own complicity so we just ignore it. People in fashion need to keep making money so predict, go random or rip off the hipster setting trends on the street and then convince a lot of us 'this is what's happening now'. It's an massive industry - the magazines, the models, the designers, the sweat shop owners, they're all in it together. If you have 6 pairs of skinny jeans how are they gonna make money from you next season? They need to tell you that the flared pant is fashion forward. We're not all blind Freddy though but most of us seem to just follow along.

Alistair O'Neill in his book London-After A Fashion said "the demand forever evolving newness forced a distraction from innovation & invention towards a plundering and interpretation of historical styles". So apparently retro/pastiche/postmodernism in fashion started in full around 1966/67. So is this when modernism died? apparently in 1966 A shop opened in London Called Granny Takes a Trip (what a fucking great name) that sold antique clothes as well as new clothes inspired by the past. There were other shops too Cobwebs, Past Caring, Biba, Antiquarius et al. They all sound like shops that could now be in Brunswick St, Gertrude St, Greville St, North Melbourne, Northcote, Brunswick and enter new hip new hip Melbourne suburb here___________. I love those names of the shops. Anyway it looks like we've been disappearing up our proverbial fashion arses since at least 1966.



There is a granny! She's probably more likely to be trippin' over
 than droppin' acid but you never know?



Interior of biba Art Deco met the 60s

Here's my theory - Think of the worst item in fashion (that's not been revived for at least 10 years) in living memory or the living memory of your Mum or Gran and it'll be back sooner than you think. It works with music as well. Many years ago I thought there was never gonna' be any redemption for Elton John then BANG Almost Famous came out as did the Scissor Sisters & other acts that were influenced by him.

He was not so bad after all.

 Here's a personal example around 1999/2000 I decided as a tribute to my idol Dennis Wilson circa 1970s to grow rough beard and sport grown out short hair. Let me tell you people thought that was weird people didn't know how to react to me. The only other beards at the time belonged to old men. A few years later some groups and singers started doin the same. Now bloody footy players are doin' it and people whose heroes don't even have that look.



Didn't go as far as the overalls though.

Another music example is house and techno. About two years ago I thought that was finished and never coming back. I said it to a friend I'll never listen to that stuff ever again. Now it's all the rage again. I'm even listening to a bit of myself admittedly mostly of the vintage variety but I like some of the new old stuff. This is ridiculous!

Breaking Bad

Pretty funny!

Sad thing is I don't have cable!

Great Plains

The Way She runs A fever

Great Plains

From The Mark, Don & Mel EP

Why wern't they as Famous or as popular as REM or Camper Van Beethoven,  their songs were just as good and probably more catchy. Anyway what a great unknown band of the early to mid 80s. They were a rockin' unit of  pop distinction. Highly talented legends from Ohio! Pop heaven.

Letter To A Fanzine

Great Plains

From Naked At The Buy, Sell & Trade

More joy from Ohio. This one all about haircuts. There should have been more songs about stupid hair doncha think? Pretty funny probably the only song to contain these subjects in one song - 4AD, New Wave Girls, Nick Cave, SST Records and Homestead Records.

70s USA Film

Where's Mr Oates?

There he is!

Kowalski

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