Guru: RIP

I was shocked to find out (by way the of the neighborhood graf below) that Guru of Gang Starr died from cancer in April. He was only 43. I first heard Gang Starr on student radio sometime in the mid-nineties. They had elements to them unlike any group I'd heard then or since: intelligent lyrics, flow, DJ Premier's beats and mix, etc. Their '91 LP Step In The Arena is one my favorite hip hop albums of the 'golden era'. Guru's voice is/was perfect. 

I'm strong / I'm like Hercules / you'll get hurt with these lines / close the curtains please

Silverbits tape

Thanks to everyone who came out to Sunshine & Grease for the Silverbits / Full On Idle tape launch last Saturday. I have a few left for sale ($5), or you can find them at Missing Link and Sunshine & Grease in Melbourne; Repressed Records (Sydney) and Vox Cyclops (Newcastle) by the end of the week. Dedicated blog coming soon.

Scul Hazzards @ the Tote 31.07.10

See, not everyone went to the Super Wild Horses launch

Three Comments From The Streets...

Silverbits Cassette Launch

Here's a flyer I made for Melbourne trio Silverbits' cassette launch. I'm putting it out on a tape label  called Full On Idle. More to come.  

Sonic Youth. Auckland Town Hall, NZ. 26.09.98

From the Thousand Leaves tour. Not their best album but a decent show with a very rowdy encore. How nerdy is the detail on this list? While on tour in July '99, SY's rental van and equipment were stolen and they lost all those guitars.

Menstruation Sisters

The first record I ever bought on ebay was The Menstruation Sisters' Holy Africa 45. It came out in 2005 on White Denim, an experimental / noise label from Pennsylvania. White Denim recently  put out the Mi Ami LP that I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to get anyone who'll listen into. 

The Menstruation Sisters are making a rare appearance this weekend in Melbourne so I just put Holy Africa on the platter and weirded out the whole house. The A-side has creepy Gremlin vocals with gradually rising cymbals and guitar squall. The B-side is better, with two shorter sketches of textural sound and a more hoarse Gremlin voice. Is the cover a symbol for the alien new world order? 

I dunno much about MS other than they're now a duo and feature, as always, Oren Ambarchi. Oren, 2002: "The Sisters come from a place where there is no language and no technique. One-string, Minnie Ripperton, a footprint, intuitive chants and two tree trunks." If that leaves you confused, check this illuminating live footage.

If you remain confused, this instructional video may be of help.  

Home Blitz MIx Tape

I'm on a Home Blitz / Daniel DiMaggio bender this weekend. If you're interested in the man's influences, check his mix-tape, complete with song notes, here.  There's some unusual things bumping up against each other on this one, but it's very listen-able from the half I've heard so far.

The New Folk Implosion. Corner Hotel, Melbourne. 18.06.03

Lou Barlow got real drunk on red wine for the encore...

Golden Sounds Beyond Reproach

Move Over Bitches has been listening to music! The top three contestants (excluding the LOL/ROTFL/WTF/OMG new single from Beaches) are listed below.

HOME BLITZ: 

Needed to kill myself this morning but put on Out Of Phase by Home Blitz instead. It's a musical opera of skateboard grind tunes for the dim-witted; meaning I am gobsmakingly in random fandom of its post-design design. You will be too if you just take the time. It's like Bruce Springsteen finally did it with the pre-cum-post-punk cognoscenti. 

The new Home Blitz 45, Perpetual Night, is the most spun and dried piece of plastic in my house and since a house is not a home, go here and see if you don't think the same. Single of the half-year. Where was I last year when I thought I could quit listening to rubbish music like this cos it'd all been done by someone like...

TY SEGALL: 

If I was a girl, and I wish I was more than you know, I'd be hard for Tyson Segall. Looks like he's dating a unicorn rug though. I was pretty x-cited to get a hold of this dude's third album, Melted (In The Red records). If you bit deep into last year's Lemons, me thinks you'll find Melted to be a vomit inducing wonderland of pop-psych spunk. Catchy songs, guitar overload, single key piano and hand claps on every corner. Is it the best thing he's done? Probably. Word to the Mama's and Papa's cos this kid's got the goods. 

HOLY COBRAS: 

That thing over there on the left is a cassette tape by a band from Ontario, Canada, called Holy Cobras. Its four songs explore the annals of corporate responsibility using technology developed in the production of unmanned drones. You'll appreciate this OOP tape being available as a guilt-free listen/ download at this site. Get into it dicks.