A bit like last year, this one was pretty rotten.  Anyway, here's a short list of bands I saw that I rate very highly.

If you have the chance, the opportunity ... don't be wedging your sweaty dewflaps to the couch and watch the cricket or footy or some TV series fuck up their “story arc” (ie, find more reasons to extend the season - will it ever, ever end?) ... but do what I couldn't do this year... 

Fear and Loathing

Forklift Assassins

Gravel Samwidge

Anything with Josh Lord

The Paul Kidney Experience

Kraftwerk

Sacred Cowboys.

The Saints ’73-’78.

Mark Steiner and Pavel Cingl

Anything with Ash Wednesday

If some of these outfits aren't local, bring 'em to your burg. 

What else? 

These are my favourite r 'n' r books I've read this year:

Chris Charlesworth: “Just Backdated. Seven Years in the Seventies” (Spenwood Books Limited)
See the review - it's an exhausting, thrilling read, and if you have any - that is, any - interest in the period, this needs to be on your shelf. Follow it up with: 

Allan Jones: “Can't Stand up for Falling Down. Rock'n'Roll War Stories” (Bloomsbury,  2017)
Laugh-out-loud-on-the-bus material, coupled with awe at the vast quantities of booze and substance abuse. Jones' book is a bit after Charlesworth's, but the same music paper. He witnesses infamous and bonkers biffo between Lou Reed and David Bowie. Falls unconscious at the feet of Al Stewart. Is socked in the face by a variety of band-members. Now, can you tell me: which rock 'n' roll star, of who you will have several albums, once sawed a sheep's head in half with a hacksaw? (Yes, the animal was still alive). I'll leave it to you to work out which rocker is the most deranged.  

Dave Goodman: “My Amazing Adventures with the Sex Pistols” (Omnibus, 2007)
If you're a Pistols fan, you need to read this. Plenty of stuff in here you don't know about. He denies that he released the “Spunk” bootleg (and I believe him) although he recorded it. If nothing else, it'll send you on a chase to grab all the boots that he recorded. And he recorded a lot of live tapes (some of which, from the earlier part of the “Anarchy” tour, he hints were stolen from him by McLaren).

Marc Almond: “In Search of the Pleasure Palace. Disreputable Travels” (Pan, 2004)
In which Almond deals with his 40-year itch, and scratches it amidst pondering what the hell, and why is ordinary life so shit. 

Keiron Pim: “Jumpin' Jack Flash. David Litvinoff and the Rock'n'Roll Underworld” (Cape, 2016)
The ’60s as they've never really been revealed, through the eyes of a modern Alice as Pim (with a beard, I believe) who plunges down a horrendous rabbit-hole chockas with blind alleys, switchbacks, confusion and occasional elation. Puts a context to our lives in a way very, very few books do. 

Karl Bartos: “The Sound of the Machine. My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond” (Omnibus Press, 2022)
A classic tale of “what was I thinking” which makes you wonder why the fuck he stayed so long, and far more emotional and upsetting than you'd think. The hippies weren't all naif squirrels hopping about looking cute.  

Lastly, but not by any means leastly, there's bakeries.  Some I have been to (and more than sampled the wares) while others I would love to visit - with the latter, I'd be staying in the area for a week or two so as to get the full impact... I mean, who knew I now want to visit Blackbutt, Queensland? 

Blackbutt Bakery (Qld)

Jarrods Bakery, Bairnsdale (Vic)

Bairnsdale's Bakehouse (Vic)

Big Bear's Donuts, Lakes Entrance (Vic)

Port Elliot Bakery (SA)

Lobethal Bakery (SA)

Vilis Cafe (SA)

Honourable mention to burger/ fish shop Fat Chicken (SA) and hot dog and toastie caff Smokin' Joes (SA).