Grrrr..that book

So they released this book a coupla' years ago 100 Best Australian Albums written by 2 old farts and some unknown guy and fuck me if at least 50 % of it wasn't pure shite.  So I'm gonna be quick because I don't wanna give these turds (er... authors) too much attention. Let's just start with the 'You Gotta Be Kidding Me' category.
#36 S/T-Savage Garden
 #39 Echo wa wa like a fuckn' baby- Something For Kate
 #97 Tea & Sympathy-Burn yer Fanny
 #96 S/T- Baby fuckn' Animals
 #93 Bear Witness- No I'm fuckn' Talking
 #91 Awake is The New Sheep- Ben Lee
 #89 Get Boon-Jet
 #86  The Sound of Shite er...sorry White-Missy Higgins
 #78 Highly Shite-The Vines
 #74 Suburban Shitebook-Bob Evans
 #57 The Living End-Will it Ever End
 #25 Neon Bullshit- Silverchair.

There's 12 examples there of pure shite. What no Uncanny X-men? At least they were fuckn' funny.

Next.  Can't comment haven't heard them category.
#19 Sarah Blasko-As Day Follows Night, finding it hard to believe that this is a better than The Saints classic debut I'm Stranded.
#30 S/T-Gurrummil ,finding it hard though to think this could be a better record than The Saints classic 3rd LP Prehistoric Sounds.
#47 Augie March-Moo, You Bloody choir, finding it hard to believe that this is a better record than Eternally Yours, the best Saints album (their 2nd) which is not even on this list.
#82  Bliss N Eso -Flying Colours, finding it a little hard to believe this is better than anything by Geisha, Electric Pandas, Cattletruck, 1927, Margaret Urlich or Gian.
#98 Kylie Minogue- Fever, finding it hard to believe this could be better than Collette.

The best Australian LP ever?

Are you sure you got their best album? category.
#94 X-X-Aspirations, At Home With You is also brilliant.
#87 Go-Betweens-Before Hollywood, I dunno I like Spring Hill Fair better.
#84 Tex, Don & Charlie, over the 1st, 3rd & 4th The Beasts of Bourbon albums. I don't think so.  Over Thug, no.
#72 Died Pretty- Doughboy Hollow, over Free Dirt and Lost. Not me.
#66 Paul Kelly-Foggy Highway, over all his 80s output (except Gossip) and  Comedy. Wrong.
#63 The Cruel Sea- Honeymoon is Over, over This is not the way home. No way.
#58 Barnesy-Working Class Man over his duets record. No.
#55 You Am I-Hourly Daily, over a bowl of turds, I doubt it.
#50 ACDC-Highway to Hell, Why aren't all Bon Scott era LPs here.  This is as high as Bon gets what a fuckn' outrage!
#45 Eddy Current Suppression Ring-Rush to Relax, over the first 2 records-nay.
#43 Powderfinger-Odyssey No. 5, over squealing possums that wake you up in the night. What?
#33 The Church-Starfish, I also love Of Skins and Heart, Seance and Heyday.
#26 Nick Cave- Boatman's Call, what about Your Funeral, My Trial, Kicking Against The Pricks or Henry's Dream ?
#17 Birthday Party-Junkyard, where's Prayer's On Fire ?
#3  Crowded House-Woodface, their worst album! Where's the debut?
#1 Midnight Oil-Diesel and Dust. What about Place Without a Postcard, 10,9,8.... or Red Sails mate?!
Next.
Category of their own.
#65 Hummingbirds - LoveBuzz.  I loved their early singles as well as this albums Blush and Word Gets Around but when I got the LP home I thought What the fuck's happened here?! The production was fucked. It sounded faulty and not in a good way. A lost opportunity!

Great tune.

This book just does not ring true.  It's like they've worked out what is going to please the lowest common denominator to get the most sales then chucked in a few cool bands The Drones and Beaches for a bit of cred. I had this idea to do Australia's best rock albums about ten years ago after remembering an excellent list in Edge magazine from maybe 1989-90.  I thought if I could get some of the cats who wrote on that article with some younger guys and me, it would be a great book.  I like to think it wouldn't have been anywhere near as faulty as this or as cynical. Another lost opportunity!

More on the glaring omissions soon. Most notably 3 artists who didn't make it in at all.

Where's this ya wankers?

Ron Peno & Mick Medew

* I didn't realise the connection at the time of writing the previous post.  I knew both Screaming Tribesmen and Died Pretty had origins in Brisbane.  I did not know that Ron Peno co-wrote Igloo.  You learn something everyday.  So Igloo was recorded in 1982.  What a tune! Anyway it's all a little bit confusing but I'll try and explain the connections.  Ron Peno (lead singer of Died Pretty) was in a band called The Hellcats circa '77 whose drummer was Mark Kingsmall (later of Hoodoo Gurus fame).  The Hellcats would sometimes support Radio Birdman in their heyday in Sydney.  Ron then turned up in a band in Brisbane circa'79 called The 31st who included Mick Medew (later of Screaming Tribesmen) on guitar.  This is when the two wrote Igloo and A Stand Alone.  Before Peno left they played their last couple of gigs under the name The Died Pretty circa early '81.  Peno left they became The Screaming Tribesmen.

There was another band in Brisbane called The End who contained Brett Myers (future Died Pretty guitarist/songwriter).  apparently Ron loved em and used to say you need a frontman ie. Ron Peno. Myers and Peno became friends.  To cut a convoluted story short The End broke up in Sydney.  Myers started a collaboration with keyboardist/music journo Frank Brunetti (future Died Pretty keyboardist) doing Suicide-esqe tunes they eventually became a band called Final Solution with Peno out front.  Ron then revived the name Died Pretty and the rest is history.  Clear enough?

Anyway the early singles, eps and first 2 lps Free Dirt and Lost are quintessential 80s Sydney rock.  When Brunetti left they were never quite the same in my opinion.  The convoluted prehistory of the band is explained in more detail in the liner notes of the Aztec Music deluxe reissue of Free Dirt (which pretty much contains everything they did from 84-86 ie. pure fuckn' gold!).

Shoulda' been in the book part 1

This is beginning in my series of albums that should have been in the top 100 Australian albums book published a couple of years ago.  As stated above pure fuckn' gold.  Mars Needs Guitars by The Hoodoo Gurus was included over this ?  That record was so disappointing after Stoneage Romeos, one of the greatest debut albums of all time.  I remember thinking at the time 'a coupla great tunes doth not maketh a good follow up album!'  Don't get me wrong it's ok but...... 



Errr....couldn't resist

Everybody Moves

Died Pretty

Classic!

Invasion/Australia Day

Happy Invasion Day.

Igloo

Screaming Tribesmen

Legendary.
When I first heard leaked demos of nevermind on the radio I thought fuck this reminds of that old Australian band.  That being The Screaming Tribesmen.

Also Legendary.

Died Pretty

Next to nothing

Alert! This one is an actual performance and a cookin' one at that!

Both tracks from when Sydney used to rock!

Just one more 60s Aussie classic, you say.

The Elois

By My Side

That's it for the 60s Aussie classics, coz none of 'em have bloody clips!

Anyway this is a bewdy!
Rock on Maryborough!

One more for Australia Day

Couldn't resist this Aussie 60s classic

The Throb

Black

It's a bewdy!

Cheap Shots II

Theses capture my second day of my commute shots.  From morning to evening.

Melbourne in August.

17/8/11

This one is Spectral!

I struck Gold here! Thanks to the Melbourne weather gods.

Cheap Shots

Here's some photos taken with my $50 mobile phone.

RE: knowledge is power!

"Knowledge is power, the power to maintain free government and preserve constitutional liberty"  This is actually a quote by American Senator Vorhees in 1880 talking about Libraries.  Now, do you reckon he was a communist or very dedicated to democracy?!

He would have been on the Megaupload don't you think.

This is all a bit serious.

What about another Aussie 60s Classic then? I hear you say.

The D-Coys

Bad Times

What a great pop song!

How about the clip?

Rock on Adelaide!

RIP MEGAUPLOAD!

Wow who'd have thought he was such a kook or is that the FBI's attempt at brainwashing us.  I think he's a fuckn' legend!  Maybe the FBI are workin' for hipsters, who were so mortified that everything obscure was now attainable thus losing their status as some kind of cultural gurus coz now we all know the score about everything.

You're downloading communism! Fuck off.  You were downloading the end of elitist pricks. 

Did you ever  borrow a book from the library? You didn't buy that book you enjoyed it for free along with hundrreds of others.  Have a little think about it.

Knowledge is power.

This is dedicated to my sister's flat in Bondi

She could do with some of these!

Did you know cockroaches fly?

I'm glad I live in Melbourne.

Kim Salmon
The Cockroach

Well what did you expect?

nobody here

Nobody Here

By one of Oneohtrix Point Never's side projects

This reminds me of John Oswald.

I dig this, but I can seperate this sample from its original context.

(It's become it's own song to me)

Something the Mrs can't, it makes her sing Lady in Red all day.

What do they call it ?

The sample stain or something?

Or is that the opposite?,

When a favourite old song is sampled by a modern act and then it ruins your enjoyment of the old tune forever.