A gig #001

So it's pretty much uni holidays for me, which means that now i have some time to write. I've been back mixing at the Lizard Lounge for a few weeks now, and boy is it good to be back. So good i quit my other job! Ha ha... Anyway, i was mixing a very strange evening the other night. A young band called Goonslag (possibly the most offenisive name in Adealide at the moment) turned up to kick the night off in the small room. They fiddled with their instruments for atleast 15 mins after i'd finished checking them. They should have kept quite and burst on later because it drove people away. Perhaps I should have told them?

Anyway, I pop behind the bar, as i do, and serve a few drinks. By the time its time, the guitarist is drinking his second jug of beer out of the jug and i've noticed he has done some pretty black highlights on the veins in his arm. The Singer has done a clark kent somewhere and is wearing a white miny the moocher suit which, combined with glass of white, shows a stunning amount of forthought on his behalf. I had to ruin it though because the wine came from a bottle.

They played and i had to put in ear plugs. Noisy young music, a bit dark and showy is how I'd describe it, not my thing right now. They certainly put enough thought into their appearance. I saw some parental types around, jaws almost on the ground, looking horrified.

I didn't see them agian until the the next band, Satim Harem, who i quite like. I'm starting to get to know their songs now, which is a new thing. A lot of the time i just filter out bands as noise when i'm at work. The Goonslag boys were moshing away. Execpt it's not really a mosh pit, just a space vacated by people escaping violence.

Later Ventolin played, which i liked very much. In the other room, which is cavernous, a rather large Metal show was banging away. Blood Mason played and I watched as much as i could, they are awesome - good players with excellent songs. I don't know which kind of metal they are but i saw hands raised and fist pumping in the best possible way, a la Metal Glory, not Facist Rally. You have to laugh and appreciate it at the same time.

Record Counter Canon with a VCR!

Want to listen to Counter Canon but can't because you're asleep or not near a radio? Why not plug your radio into your VCR and program it to record?

If you have an older stereo set up, it's likely that you have a stand alone radio tuner. If it RCA out (red and white plugs) that go into an amp, simply plug them into your VCR input.

Program the VCR to record from about 11.55 pm to 1.05am on Radio Adealide 101.5fm on alternative friday nights.

Leave your tuner on before going out or to to bed and you can listen to Counter Canon for breakfast the next day!

:)

P.S
Leave comments if any of these instructions are unclear and use this handy calander to help you know then the show is on (we go to air at midnight on the red days)

Vinni : Patrick : Tyrell

This week, Stephen Whittington literally threw the floor open to whoever had the nerve to take it. The end results were contributions from three people about EMU: Vinni Bhagat, Patrick McCartney and Tyrell Blackburn (you can find them at http://shivnakaun.blogspot.com; http://subfonikexplorations.blogspot.com and http://tyrellbb.blogspot.com respectively)

So, first cab off the rank was Vinni who did a live performance of a song inspired by a jazz singer he'd encountered. Unfortunately she has declined to take part in the song which is a great shame. Apparently it wasn't her "style", which I find both frustrating and understandable. The performance consisted of a rather long introduction piece with live piano and manipulated, looped cymbals which then scooted into a more tangible eclectic computer composition.
[inspiration via the heavens is what we used to call creativity >]

I've often thought of my own music as procrastination music. It just happens when i sit down in front of a computer. So when I heard that Vinni had composed a song inspired by someone else, it made me feel like the world we live in is not such a bland un-inspirational place. In fact i know its not, but in this post modern world i often find it hard to draw inspiration outside of personal things which only i find interesting. It means though that my music means a lot to me, but absolutely nothing for somebody else; it is intended for my ears only if you like. Vinni however was inspired enough to produce something for someone else and i say thumbs up for that.

The unstoppable Patrick McCartney was next with another interesting idea. He's found a planetarium and wants to put on a benefit gig there. If you don't know what a planetarium is its a big domed ceiling that i'm lead to believe you can watch stars, and thus the universe, from. Its up at Mawson Lakes (university SA campus?) and there are people up there who know how to zoom in to different parts of space and the like. Sounds ace! Coincidently, if anyone is interested then contact him, via his blog (mentioned above). Patrick has also set up a charity which he plans to give whatever proceeds are collected though i don't know exactly what for. [this is a picture of it ^]

Finally it was Tyrell's turn to show us some music that he picked up from somewhere. It was from an artist called Ryoji Ikeda, a Japanese electronic composer working from New York. The music was very glitch/micro beatish and i'm sure that he's sampled beeps from either a sony walkman or minidisc. The music swung from micronic incomprehension to bare simplicities - sometimes with a sampled strings - it was intriguing, really. Stephan asked Tyrell why he liked the music and the response was cryptic to say the least. I do however understand, firstly it's hard music to categorise and this is mainly because it doesn't sit easily next to other genres. Although the glitch/micro beat genres are slowly penetrating wider consciousness they are still unfamiliar territory to most. I like it. Its a very different music, kind of ethereal in the same way Bebop is to swing. >>>