Come Easy - Run Tings & Liftin' Spirits

Didn't Know this track until I bought that excellent Suburban Base Compilation last year. It just came up whilst I was on me pushy today. Gee there's some great choppage happening in there. Then you've got those strings which are just lovely and that quintessential female voice. Mmm.....me like a lot. Don't know anything about them except they, Run Tings, had a run of 5 or 6 records on Suburban Base. This did lift my spirits today. I don't know if it's like a split single deal or a collaboration. So I checked out the flipside (below) Invincible which is more your pure dolphin jungle but that's not a bad thing with me. I quite like it. There's a nice dark bit in the middle. It's hard not to resist that drummage, no matter how absurd and fusion e it is.

Computer On The Blink

There may not be any posts for a while. My computer is dying. Here a a great pic to tide you over.

..........or maybe not.....not allowing pictures from files which actually may have disappeared. Fuck! What's going on? Hang on it's letting me have a tune. Unfairly maligned in their time 1985/86 by like serious rock people man, you know the type, Bob fans coz he's so authentic man. Like he wasn't contrived or anything man. This is great pop. This is what my computer needs ie. Stimulation. Is it even Stimulation by Wa Wa Nee? My computer won't tell me. A late Australia day entry for all you punk rockers.

Industrial By Alessandroni

Totally love the cover.

I think I have about 8 of Alessandoni's solo library records, some Spaghetti Western soundtracks and a horror OST. He was also behind Braen's Machine who have two albums Underground (1971), that one is a particularly great groovy fuzz rock monster of an LP, and Temi Retmici E Dinamici (1973) and of course he was a frequent collaborator with Ennio Morricone. He also used the alias just Braen on the occasional collaborative library LP like two of my all time favorite library albums Biologia Marina (1973) on the Rhombus imprint and Ittiologia (1973) on the Cardium label. So it turns out he's in my record collection way more than I ever thought. I think the record company Dead Cert are claiming that Industrial is unreleased stuff from Alessandro. He did have an LP on Coloursound called Light And Heavy Industry from 1982 and Ritmo Del Industria from 1969. This LP does appear to be from 1976 and no tracks as far as I can recall I've heard before but I have a feeling this material was circulated in 76, probably in a very small quantity as I think I've seen copies on the interweb. Anyway this was a happy little surprise waiting for me in the morning. It's good stuff too. Industrial is a soundworld where acoustic and electronic instruments collide to create a wonderfully unique record. From start to finish the edgy intensity never dips below maximum. This is not easy listening library music which Alessandro Alessandroni is quite capable of and exceptional at. It's the opposite ie. not for the faint of heart or listener not willing to be challenged. Intense swirling electronic pulses, mental pianos, dissonant scrapes, repetitive violins, distant clangs, bubbling synthesisers, wayward dark bass throbs, weird percussion and tense guitars all add to this dramatic and incredible LP. Avivcendamento sounds like 3 different tunes playing at once and it's fabulous. A bit of atonal noise here, a little bit of discordance there. Horror motifs raise their zombie heads as do minimalism's, all with a Euro/Italo vibe and then some of it is quite uncanny, unlike anything he'd ever done before. This is incredibly outre and innovative music. His guitar playing in particular is mesmerising, strange, suspenseful and idiosyncratic. It's beautifully recorded and produced. Only a few listens in but its gotta be one of the best archival releases of the year already.



This is from his terrific Light & Heavy Industry LP from 82 and sounds not dissimilar to some of the tracks on Industrial By Alessandroni (couldn't find any of them one the youtube).

Leather In Rock

Well after Dave Graney's triumphant quintuple leather outfit in that previous post I was wondering if anyone else had been so audacious in their lifetimes to attempt such fashion highs?

Marlon Brando. Wild One leather.

Jimmy Dean's iconic leather, fag, hair, t-shirt, cheekbones......

Who are these guys? That's a lot of leather.

Jim Morrison owner of the world's most famous leather pants although apparently v stanky.

Jim in contemplating leather.

Lou Reed. 70s Heroin Chic leather.

Older clean Lou rides bike in leather. RIP in leather.

The Stooges. Not as leathery as one would have thought.

Elvis Presley. 68 Comeback leather. Was this leather's finest moment? He was hot ie. sweating it out for fashion. That's leather dedication!

Elvis in 70s King leather. 

Keef in leather/hair combo.

Suzi Quatro. The ultimate 70s woman in Glam leather.

Suzi lying down in leather jumpsuit. Nice.

The Ramones. 1976 New York Punk leather. Great leather/denim combo uniform. Very contrived, military-esque, I like.

Johnny Rotten. Can't really tell if this is leather. He was more fond of a sports coat albeit usually a mangled one, like his dog ate it.

Sid Vicious. Sex Pistol on his way to the grave in leather.

Michael Jackson. Billie Jean leather. Dancing in leather pants i would imagine is hard. Doing Michael Jackson dancing even harder. This could be quadruple leather? What if there's a glove on the hand in the pocket though?

Couple of faces later leather. You like my shoulder leather.

Melle Mel. Street corner hood leather. The last great icon of leather?

Blixa Bargeld. Strange German leather. Lederhosen-esque leather.

Dave Graney. Quintuple leather. Still the leatheriest I do believe. You are a champion of leather! I think MJ was Dave's only possible real competition and well he's dead now so game over.

*Later on twitter Dave replied:
honoured to be in the golden age of leather

Australia Day Melbourne Special

Total Control are a current Melbourne supergroup. You Know people from 'The Melbourne Bambino Music Mafia' This one is so much good, it was in my best choonz of 2014. Rock's not fully dead yet!

This tune was from Ooga Boogas excellent LP from 2013 Ooga Boogas. Guitarist Mikey Young is in the above Total Control rock group as well as the Eddy Current Suppression Ring rock band. Leon Stackpole singer, guitarist and keyboardist is an enigmatic man walking the earth and bringin back his casually odd tales for you to enjoy with an incredible backing band of course.

Now this is a Melbourne (Is there a Geelong connection? I don't know. Danno why don't you let us know?) smash from 1987. I think the members of God were all teens at the time of this recording. They did an LP too but nothing can compare to the teenage kicks of My Pal. I cannot believe how fucking good this song is to this day! That intro, that riff, that singing man, those words, this song. Similar themes to the previous Sunnyboys tune I posted but this friend doesn't even like him. Members went on to be in bands Hoss, Powder Monkeys, Tendrils, Philistines, Bored and more. My Pal would always be the best thing they would ever be involved with despite how talented they were/are or aren't. Two of the members of God have now passed away both, I think, of heroin overdoses in the early 2000s. The Melbourne rock scene loved their heroin, hello Birthday Party. RIP Tim Hemensley & Sean Greenway. 

The title tune from Dave Graney's awesome solo cd, Knock Yourself Out, from 2009 is so great. So Dave tells us how fucking great his songs are and how great he is in true boxing/hip-hop narcissistic boasting sylee and it's infectious as hell. Then there's that great bit where he sings in French, Belgian or Dutch I don't bloody know but i can't get enough of that bit. Knock Yourself Out makes you wanna get out all the great tunes of his that he mentions during the song like There He Goes With His Eye Out, Night Of The Wolverine, I Got Dimensions etc. The video kind of fades out though when there's still like 2 minutes of the track left which is a shame. You gotta see the film clip though coz it's so Melbourne hipster it's hilarious. Then there's Mr Graney the one and only charismatic star who, as the rap kids say now, 'is in his own lane'. What's this look he's got goin? Some kind of double leather or hang on is it triple because of the hat? Wait are his shoes leather too?, if so that'd be quadruple leather. That would be Avant-garde couture almost would it not? Jesus I was just getting used to double denim as a concept. It's a bit Melle Mel meets Lou Reed 70s heroin chic in a Belgian sailor's bar. The full version of this tune is below because it's such a great song. You should also check out the entire album as it's a peak in his incredible career. Possibly his finest.

Phew that's it for Australia Day now. Jesus there were some odd selections there, huh? Strange. Well what did you expect? Did I post any Church? I've been listening to them all day anyway........ so....oh well next time.

Oh...... here's the full version of the tune Knock Yourself Out. Dunno 'bout the video.

Australia Day Part 3

I wanted the original version of Rock n Roll Is Where I Hide from the Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes LP The Soft'n'Sexy Sound but it's not on the youtubes but this is a pretty bloody good version though. It's the title track of a 2011 cd Graney released of reworkings of classic Coral Snakes tunes but with a different band, I mean apart from his Mrs and himself that is. I also wanted to put up Morrison Floorshow from the same LP but that's not available either. Anyway enjoy this one. Dave's an Australian showbiz maverick. My mother in law once described him as a bit like George Melly. Compliment or put down? I've never heard Melly's music but I have his book Revolt Into Style and that's a brilliant pioneering work of music writing.



This is from Sunnyboys self-titled debut LP from 1981 that was in my best reissues of 2014. Sunnyboys was produced by the legendary Lobby Loyde of Coloured Balls fame. This tune, along with most of the others on the record, takes on a whole new significance when you've seen the documentary 'The Sunnyboy' about singer/songwriter and guitarist Jeremy Oxley and his mental health issues. He's a sweet guy though, when you get down to it.



I could post the whole album but this one is particularly fine. Sydney was such an exciting place in the late 70s and through the 80s for all sorts of music. Apparently there was music on every corner and in every pub and a lot of it was free or like a dollar, so I've been told. The Sunnyboys LP peaked 13 on the national charts and was the 67th biggest selling album in Australia in 1981. It came in just below The Beach Boys Greatest Hits which is rather fitting as Oxley and Wilson both had siblings in their bands, had troubles with life, were both recluses at certain stages and both were possibly geniuses.

Australia Day Part 2

My Wife's Experience Part 2

Who'd have thought I'd like a Silverchair song but me and the Mrs both loved this. This is 12 years after their breakthrough Tomorrow from the 95 debut LP FrogStomp. It's an inspiring song from I think their 4th album 2007's Young Modern which was mainly psychedelic and I didn't really dig but the Mrs loved it. I love the MBV-esque outro on Straight Lines. Singer Daniel Johns has starpower and seems like a really top bloke who's had some health issues. So this tune is him fighting back against arthritis and anorexia.

Australia Day/Invasion Day Part 1

MY WIFE'S EXPERIENCE

Australia Day is usually my excuse to post great Australian music usually rock from over 25 years ago but we'll get to that later........My Mrs who gets a bit of mention here & there on me blog immigrated to Australia in 1987 when she was 13. She was from a lil' ole town in North Wales called Colwyn Bay which according to my vintage poster is the gateway to the Welsh Rockies. I didn't know they had a 'Rockies', neither did Emma, but there you go. Anyway on the plane on the way over she first encountered Johnny Farnham (Above) on one of those headset channels. The LP Whispering Jack apparently had its own station. She played the album several times on the long flight. It was a pretty big foretaste of what was to come because he ruled the airwaves and charts for the rest of the 80s. Whispering Jack sold a lot of units it's probably the biggest selling Aussie LP of all time. I did work experience in a record shop in 1987 and it outsold everything 50 to 1 and I think it had already been out for a year. Anyway I think even Coldplay did a cover of You're The Voice. I've heard this song so many times I don't know if I like it or hate it.

This was her next experience of liking Australian rock. Crowded House were a Melbourne band believe it or not. They lived, formed and played in Melbourne. At the start they went by the name The Mullanes. Emma got really into their 2nd and best LP Temple Of Low Men. Her favorite tune was Into Temptation. Funnily enough it was mine too and on a good night I can do a great version (well back in my drinking days). Yeah sometimes I'm a dag!



Now one of my wife's faves is Kasey Chambers who's an accomplished and popular country/pop singer/songwriter in Australia. This song Guilty I believe is a cover though but I don't know who by. It reminds me a little of INXS at their most rockin. Kasey is at her best when the guitars are really heavy. I think it's her dad who plays the axe on this one and he is a hell of a guitarist. I like a lot.

Edgar Froese - Epsilon In Malaysian Pale

I've been listening to this today for obvious reasons. It's Froese at his most serene and beautiful which is all I can handle at the moment. This was the second LP in his classic Brain trilogy that began with Aqua in 1974 and ended with Macula Transfer in 1976. I think I love these three LPs more than anything he did with Tangerine Dream. These were released on Brain the German label but I think Virgin licensed Epsilon In Malaysian Pale in 1975 for the British market. Parallel to this Froese purple patch was another for Tangerine Dream. During this same time frame Tangerine Dream released 3 classics too. They released 3 of my 5* favourite TD records. In 74 it was Phaedra and then in 75 they released two masterworks Ricochet and Rubicon. That's a hell of a few years for Froese. What a synthesiser legend. He was also pretty handy on the ye olde guitar. Thank you for the magic you created with your synths.

*The other two Tangerine Dream classics in my book are Zeit from 1971 and Atem which was released in 1973. Hey some of his soundtrack work was good too, solo and with Tangerine Dream. Stuntman was a great solo one. Tangerine Dream had some bewdies Sorcerer, The Keep and Thief were outstanding. Apparently he did a soundtrack for one of the very recent Grand Theft Auto's which I've never heard. Froese had a couple of other good solo records too in particular Ages (1978) and Pinnacles (1983).

I really liked it a few years ago when it was like everyone was influenced by Froese and Tangerine Dream. It was like the future had finally arrived and it was as Froese and co had predicted with those records by Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, Mark McGuire, Panabrite, Steve Hauschidt, Outer Space et al. It was all really cool music. That must have been flattering for Froese.

I'll leave you with a quote from the Kosmische musician himself:
"There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address."

John Carpenter - Lost Themes

WHAT THE FUCK???

What a nice surprise to brighten the gloom of my past week or perhaps add to the gloom but that will make me happy. Why didn't someone think of this earlier? Just get John Carpenter the music composer to do albums without the films. The films, have been nowhere near as brilliant and influential as his scores. I don't necessarily hate his movies but I think his scores are 20th century masterpieces. I dunno if I've heard anything by him from this millennium, though. Anyway lookout Zombi, Pye Corner Audio, Drokk and Umberto the real deal is here to give you a run for your money as just a recording artist. I'm a little excited by this prospect I must say. Halloween 1, 2 & 3, Escape From New York, Assault On Precinct 13, Christine, The Fog and Prince of Darkness are among my favourite pieces of music of all time! I'm not the only one who thinks this. Check out industrial music, 90s Memphis Rap, Techno, Doomcore et al. as well as 21st century genres like Deep-Tech and Ratchet. I was only saying the other day right here on this blog that John Carpenter might be the most influential musical artist of the 21st century. His music is universally adored and held in high esteem. Let's hope this record lives up to our expectations. If not, don't worry there will be another Umberto record around the corner (I hope) and whoever else Carpenter is currently influencing like Xander Harris, Gesaffelstein, Shay & Sinista etc.

This sounds very good indeed. It more than makes up for the lack of a new Umberto album last year.