Magical Thinking - The Dangermen (Swashbuckling Hobo)

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By The Barman

The Barman

02 January 2018

Hits: 4786

Being a punk rock institution in Brisbane and six bucks might buy you a banana thickshake in Brunswick Street Mall. Reality is that you’re as likely to lock ears with the harsh blare of techno as dirty rock ’n’ roll in today’s Fortitude Valley. 

That’s why you have to admire the underground rock and roll scene in the capital of Australia’s sub-tropical north, for its quality as much as its resilience.

Which nicely segues to The Dangermen, whose 17-year existence must qualify them for rock and roll’s version of seniors cards. Which, along with their Brisbane Institution status, should at least get them that thickshake at a discount.

• brisbane
• dangermen
• swashbuckling hobo
• magical thinking
• mucho larmus
• zoltane the maniac
• sven switchblade
• dr rock

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Chris Masuak's Dog Soldier to assault French stages

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 December 2017

Hits: 6896

Chris Masuak is embarking on his first French tour in three years in January 2018 with a new band, Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier.

Masuak carries one of rock 'n’ roll’s proudest pedigrees, his musical history reading like a “Who’s Who” of the Australian underground, so he should need no introduction around here.

The Canadian born Masuak first achieved notoriety as the teenage guitarist for legendary Radio Birdman, the torch-bearers of punk rock in Australia.

He subsequently went on to form The Hitmen, played in the New Christs and the Screaming Tribesmen and now lives in Spain where he plays and tours regularly.

Dog Soldier celebrates and preserves that proud tradition, with members from Europe’s underground and cult elite.

Bruno Mondo, bass player from The TV Men, Gunners, Trotskids and The Outside, is a veteran of France’s punk rock scene. Juan Martinez El Karaq is the drummer, from Spain’s hardcore elite and Masuak's power-punk trio, Viveiro Wave Riders.

JANUARY
10 - Paris/Montreuil - Armony Live
11 - Le Havre - L’Escale
12 - Brest - Le Ptit Minou
13 - Rennes - Mondo Bizarro
14 - Vannes - Jam Session
15 - Rennes - Ty Anna Tavarn

• french
• tour
• chris masuak
• 2018
• dog soldier

City Primeval. New York. Berlin. Prague. Curated by Robert Carrithers and Louis Armand (Literaria Pragensia Books/ Univerzita Karlova)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

27 December 2017

Hits: 4815

You may, or may not, see this book in shops. If you do, buy it. Most of the readers here will want to read the New York section. So don’t hesitate.

But I’m s’posed to be a critic or something and The Barman wants to know: how many McGarretts?  In spite of the several things which annoy the hell out of me, "City Primeval" rates a mighty Three McGarretts. Yep: 100 percent..

Why so high, Grand-dad?

Well, the concept alone is mighty. And it could’ve been seriously terrible. But "City Primeval" is one of those unique, slanted historiography things which are invaluable to any music/ culture enthusiast. Sure, the book could’ve done with a decent editor, and sure some of the people writing here don’t usually write so it’s not the smoothest. 

But that’s not the point, at all, and in fact is part of the charm. Reading "City Primeval" doesn’t just give us a bit more context, but part of the "ah-HA!" understanding which so many outsiders to any florid scene lack.

• nico
• rowland s. howard
• city primeval
• fuzzrtones
• marcia resnick
• victor bockris
• penny arcade
• nick zedd
• mark steiner
• lydia lunch

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Adelaide's Mike Drive Show a microcosm of the changing face of music consumption

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

27 December 2017

Hits: 5600

Is community radio the new face of music consumption for people who care about music? ROBERT BROKENMOUTH thinks so in this appraisal of the format, with a special focus on Adelaide station 3D Radio and its Mike Drive program.

Napster, eh? Who remembers those sites? Where - wow - you didn’t have to pay for your music (if the site had it). Assorted court cases and many decades later we are stuck with several sad truths.

The first, and most obvious, is that "file sharing" and "streaming", "burning" and "ripping" are as ordinary an activity as picking the newspaper off the lawn used to be. 

The difference is that theft is now so common that it’s not comprehended as either theft, or wrong. 

• radio 3D
• robert brokenmouth
• mike drive show
• community radio

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Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (Rezolution Pictures)

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By General Labor

General Labor

22 December 2017

Hits: 6949

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” ― Upton Sinclair

Some chipper go-getter types, reportedly, have had wonderfully gratifying early educational experiences, they seem to remember fondly. They are most often, obedient Ken & Barbie yearbook committee types with prominent last names, from bigass two storey homes nestled behind many old trees, and have nice cursive handwriting and strong math skills, own a lot of golf shirts in at least 31 various shades of Baskin Robbins, dutifully participate in sports, roller-skate, cheer-lead, earned many merit badges, and have already memorized the entire big bamboozle bullshit whitewash Murkkkan history that photo-shops all the hard and painful facts about this violent blood soaked empire settler colony that was built on the genocide of natives with the labor of slaves.

• jimi hendrix
• rumble: the indians who rocked the world
• link wray
• robbie robertson
• sundance

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Time for two Aints encores before going into the studio

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 December 2017

Hits: 2764

The Aints, the powerhouse vehicle of singer-guitarist Ed Kuepper, bassist Peter Oxley, drummer Paul Larsen and keyboardist Alister Spence, will encore in Sydney and Melbourne in March, ahead of new recordings with producer Phil Punch.

The band will be joined by the three-piece brass section to play material by Kuepper’s adolescent band The Saints (’73-78).

Underground legends feedtime are on the undercard in Sydney (The Manning Bar on March 9) and Melbourne psychedelic five-piece Sand Pebbles will complete the line-up in the southern capital (Thornbury Theatre, March 23).

Tickets for Sydney and Melbourne are on-sale now. 

Negative Fun - The Fiction (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 December 2017

Hits: 4862

It could have been called “Short Lives Of The Poor and Obscure”. 

Like Reals, Negatives, Young Charlatans and News/Babeez, The Fiction is but a footnote in Melbourne punk’s earliest days, briefly existing from 1978-79. They released a posthumous EP under the name Little Murders, kickstarting that enduring brand and the career of its leader, Rob Griffiths.  They also enjoyed the patronage of the rightly-lauded Melbourne punk mover and shaker Bruce Milne and Pulp, the zine he ran with Clinton Walker. 

The Fiction had a loose affiliation with those glam-sheep- in-punk-wolves clothing, La Femme, sharing a practice space and a manager. Musically, The Fiction seems to have been drawing more from bands like The Who and the Small Faces, although there’s undoubtedly a bit of Bowie in there, too.

• punk
• melbourne
• rob griffiths
• the fiction
• rob wellington
• negative fun
• dumbworld

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Cordyline Australis - Michael Canning (Ghostjogger)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

21 December 2017

Hits: 4105

Looks like I was premature the other week when I listed my fave ten or so for 2017. “Cordyline Australis” should have been there.

And I have to say I envy all of you - you haven’t heard this yet. The first listen  - if you put aside the hour and turn it on - you’ll be damn impressed. This is one hugely groovy disc.

You don’t know Michael Canning from a bag of chops, of course; he’s on Facebook as Michael Sea, and I did a review of his band’s last EP, “Mass Spectrometer”; I should also point out that Canning has released one earlier solo LP, and a slew of other music with other bands. Hassle the man on FB, but also go here.

• michael canning
• cordyline australis
• ghostjogger

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Back Behind The Kit - TV4 documentary

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By General Labor

General Labor

16 December 2017

Hits: 7218

So as a person with an extremely limited disposable income, I am unaccustomed to experiencing so much high quality entertainment in a short period of time.

A family member tripped across some kind of free trial TV subscription service and I keep binge-watching music flicks-witnessing one marvelous show after the next, kind of glimpsing how so many of my former peers are able to stay apolitical, apathetic, suitably sedated in their consumer hypno-spells.

• stiv bators
• lords of the new church
• nicky turner
• 69 eyes
• back behind the kit

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