Monday, December 29, 2008

Adam Askew - Death Mix

The lucky last Death Mix of 2008!.

Brought to you by the letters W (wisdom), T (teeth), S (surgery) and P (painkillers). A big shout-out to all the maxillofacial surgeons in the house!

'Death Mix' by Adam Askew (direct link)

TRACKLIST:
The Big Pink - 'Crystal Visions' (House Anxiety)
Deadline - 'Gammatron' (Celluloid)
Red Krayola - 'Say Hello To Jamie Jones' (International Artists)
Fujiya & Miyagi - 'Uh' (Regal)
Koto - 'Japanese War Game (Mega Track)' (ZYX Records)
Jamie Lidell - 'Little Bit Of Feel Good (Mr Oizo mix)' (Warp)
Nocturnal Emissions - 'No Separation' (Concrete Productions)
Mahjongg - 'Problems' (K)
Mekon - 'Blood On The Moon (In Flagranti rmx)' (Wall Of Sound)

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Death Of A Disco Dancer - Eartha R.I.P.

I first clocked sight of US performer Eartha Kitt watching reruns of '60s action comedy Batman. Kitt was Catwoman, of course. And, with apologies to Julie Newmar, Michelle Pfieffer and Halle Berry, she always remained Catwoman to me. The political significance of a black woman taking over a role originally cast as white was lost on me at the time, nor did I know then that the reason I'd not heard much of Kitt until that point was that she had been quietly blacklisted in the late '60s due to her anti-Vietnam War stance. However, in the '80s the woman who had already conquered Broadway, films and mainstream music success, went clubbing. She scored big with hi-NRG cut 'Where Is My Man' ("with a big big big... yacht!") and then replaced the late Divine as guest vocalist on post-Jimmy Somerville Bronski Beat's 'Cha Cha Heels' (a tribute to John Waters' film Female Trouble). Kitt toured Australia on the heat of her career revival and the concerts were a cut above - reclining on a chez lounge attended by a strapping waiter who kept her champagne topped up on stage - she purred through classics such as 'I Want To Be Evil', 'C'est Ci Bon', 'Let's Do It' and 'Santa Baby'. Coincidentally, the woman who gave us the Xmas classic 'Santa Baby' passed away on Xmas Day, age 81.

Eartha Kitt merchandise

Eartha Kitt & Bronski Beat - 'Cha Cha Heels':

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Neighbourhood Watch - French Rockets, WA

As the inevitable backlash unfairly sets in for Perth psych export Tame Impala, the industry part of the local 'music industry' knows that means crossover success is just around the corner (when early adopters turn on they adopted early it means the suburbs are buzzing so the EAs need to find a new obscurity to celebrate until the cycle starts moving round again... and, so on). So, of course, we return to Perth for the Next-Could-Be-Big-Thing. Enter: French Rockets. With just enough psych-influence to be tarred with a brush that can have us screaming, "Perth's the new San Fran," this trio actually lean a little (okay, A LOT) toward the post-nu gaze scene (take note of their influences as listed on MySpace) and, in a darkened room with a handful of Qaaludes, can at times remind us of classic Mebz old gazers Ripe.

So, folks are sniffing around and soon another west coast trio should be hip to a hipster label. But because there won't be any new material just yet, familiarise yourself with the kinda tuneage that got 'em noticed in the first place.

French Rockets - 'Scopin' The Radar'

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Neighbourhood Watch - Reptiles, Vic (08 Edition)

There are Reptiles loose in Melburn'z backyard again. It's happened before. Back in the late '80s a Nick Barker-led group of Reptiles crawled out from under the swamp blues rock that the town's underground scene was built on back then. Barker was a one-time member of recently-reformed The Wreckery (with Hugo Race of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fame). At one stage, I'm fairly certain the band were known as Reptile Smile as they slowly mutated from the proto-grunge mud slingers into chart-dwelling bipeds with a keen ear for a good cover (they found their biggest success de-glamming, but not defiling, Cockney Rebel's 'Come Up And See Me Make Me Smile').

The latest bottom-of-the-garden dwellers dig from the same mire Barker's critters initially wallowed in - loose, dark, intense, noisy splashes of musical mud. That stains. They pick up where the Gun Club and other ye olde Slash Records' bands left off - hopefully they won't derail like that US alt.band scene and turn into arena-embracing REMs. Having built a reputation as a live powerhouse (or should that be powersquatters, their's is so the soundtrack of every '80s squat party), the '00 Reptiles have allowed a six-track EP to slither out on its own (close-to-the-ground) legs. It's worth grabbing by the tail, even it's just to admire their scaly song titles: 'Chainsaw Sally', 'Drank Bleach', etc.

Reptiles - 'Smell My Skin'

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Out In The Sticks - Death Mix

Too hot to handle, too cold to hold - a brand new 30min master mix from Sydney production unit Out In The Sticks. I can't tell you too much about these guys... all I know is that they smell like Eucalyptus and wear alot of corks on their hats.

'Death Mix' by Out In The Sticks (direct link)

TRACKLIST:
Paperclip People - 'Throw' (Open)
LeoZero - 'Pull Up' CD-R
Timmy Thomas - 'Why Can't We Live Together? (AA edit)' CD-R
Rhythm Control - 'My House' (Catch A Beat)
Logic - 'The Warning' (BITE Records)
The Revenge - 'Night Flight' (Jiscomusic)
The Joubert Singers - 'Stand on the Word (HC edit)' CD-R
Out in the Sticks - 'In the Dark' (Five20East recs)
Out in the Sticks - 'Forget M'edit' (Disco Deviance)
Out in the Sticks - 'My Super Lady' CD-R
Out in the Sticks - 'Keep on Dancin' CD-R
Congos vs George Kranz - AA edit CD-R
Village - Untitled (Big Bear)
Altz - 'Jino' (Bear Funk)
Mr Fingers - 'Stars' (Jack Trax)
Joie Noire - 'Jammaster (Joie Noire re-edit)' (D-Classics)

Out In The Sticks debut 12" is set to drop on UK label Disco Deviance early net year. Keep your eye on Five20East for more new OITS music.