soundtrack album and his review of the recent Michael Nyman concert
Thanks John
The Michael Nyman Band with William Barton.
QPAC Concert Hall. 25th July 2009.
A Blog to share the sometimes rare, sometimes unusual, but always sublime music from Australia, from the 70s to now. With a particular interest in Brisbane Music
What a great talent and Generous soul Matt is, this is a fantastic
album and wonderful example of Australian folk,
download it and let Matt know what you think.
Hi Bob
It was such a nice surprise to see little songs up on your blogspot
and I hope people enjoy it and I thank you very much.
Its so nice to be able to share my songs with people, the cds I
make are all handmade jobs and the only ones in circulation
I have sold while busking, and I dont do much of that anymore.
Heres another little collection for you hope you enjoy.
These are the ghosts of bathurst they speak for themselves.
Thanks again Bob
best regards Matt
And from a friend of Matts, Gavin we fill in the gaps and
get a lot of insight into Matt
Cheers to you Bob!
Its so good to see someone bringing Matthews songs to a wider
audience.I saw him play at the wiradjuri river dreaming
festival here in Bathurst, he is a great peformer and amazing
story teller.I first met him in 1987 he was setting up emergency
accommodation for prisoner release and for visiting families
to the bathurst gaol, he became heavily involved in
reconciliation in the local area, but I think it broke his heart.
He had a close friendship with one of the local wiradjuri elders,
the old black man, who features in many of his songs.
His songs are full of characters and events that are a very
real part of his life, and they become a reoccuring theme, so
his songs are like one story one song.
What many people may not know is matthews personal heritage.
a great, great grandfather [George Yates] who arrived at
Morton Bay in the 1840s with a violin he had learnt to play
on the voyage over. After arriving, being shocked by the
treatment of the local people by the new settlers,
George went bush and ended up traveling through the back
country with a young companion from one of the South East
Queensland tribes, ending up in Victoria. Georges son
[George Yates jnr] arrived in the bathurst area after gold was
discovered at hill end. John Meredith states in his collection of
"folk songs of ustralia and the men and women who played
them" that Henry Lawson in his story "the songs they used
to sing" heard bullock-driver Jimmy Nowlett singing with
gusto the song "all around my hat" to a George Yates tune.
The third generation of this wonderful musical family can
be heard in the Joe Yates collection archived in the national
library of Australia, with Joe at the age of 91 performing some
150 tunes and songs from his father and
brothers Tom, Bill and Arthur. Bill yYates went to the
Kimberleys and lived and worked with a local tribe there for
43 years. when he died they put him in a canoe and let him
float of into the bye and bye, sending home his only
possessions, a coat a pipe and a ten pound note.
Matthews mother Ena Yates, another wonderful musician
and singer, carried on this wonderful tradition,
this is where Matthew got his grounding in the art of song.
his father Jack Williamson was the last surviving member
of the Ben Chiffly cabinate.
When he died a few years back Matthew said to me that we
not only destroy the most natural and oldest living culture
on earth, but that we continue to destroy our own.
Over the years I have known Matthew he has always given his
time and his home to those members of our society that most
of us choose to ignore. In recent years Matthew himself has
become reliant on welfare after years of hard work and raising
a family, yet he still carries himself with a quiet dignity and
a sense of humility.
I believe he is a true folk song writer in that his songs are so
contempary and as I understand it, all of the music of his that
you have posted has been put together by some wonderful
people on nothing more than a handshake,
he gives special mention to a true friend, pix vane-mason a
recording engineer from Maleny.
it would be an honour for me to sit down with Matthew over
the coming months and help him to archive his songs
and if you are willing, to share them with a wider audience.
There are some you have here that I have never heard,
and there are many I have heard that are not here.
So i will finish up with a verse from one of my favorites from
the late 80s,
"Lucky Man"
So what of our forefathers
tied up in chains
do we feel weve redeemed them
with the things we have gained
now what of our brothers
held up in gaol
life can be hard
yet its easy to fail
lets hope there redemption
comes soon at our hand
cause the only true freedom
is found in each others hands.
Thank you Bob
Cheers Gav!
August 6, 2009
Download Here
For anyone who has made any requests, Questions
or anything recently, My Computer got a real nasty
virus and is out of action at the moment.
This has lead to a modernizing of all things computer
round here so I'm making this post from my new
Lap top, on the new wireless network.
So anyone who has requests ect, please make them
again, use the comments here and I shall get on to them.
This 22 track compilation includes tracks from bands such as
Civil Dissident,The Vicious Circle, Murder Murder Suicide,
End Result,The S·C·U·M, Royal Flush, I Spit On Your Gravy,
Charred Remains, The Bodies, Permanent Damage
and Madflowers. It comes to us from Colin from Tassie
who has generously shared this gem with us
Thanks Colin, now lets hear from Colin.
Another beautiful haunting album from the master
Louis Tillet. Soliloquy released in 2006 is his most recent
offering, I don't know much more about this record,
but Louis sure sounds like Chris Abraham's piano.
It is as John puts its great to hear Louis strip it back
to just him and his piano.
Thanks to John for this little gem and helping to
complete my Louis collection.
Track List
01.An Ancient Song
02.Bitter Pill
03.Dead End Street In The Lucky Country
04.Hold Me
05.Liferaft
06.From Me To You
07.Morning Light
08.Teary Eyes
09.The Devil Knows How To Row
10.The Tempest
Download Here
Chuck brings us this single of Melbourne’s St Kilda band
I Spit On Your Gravy. They existed between 1983 and 1988
and released this one single in 1987.
Clownfishdesign has added this information
They did release two albums, and two tracks on the
"Eat Your Head" compilation.
Their first album "St. Kilda's Alright!" was notorious for being
confiscated by the Vice Squad a week or so after it came out.
I bought my copy under the counter at Polyester!
It was later reissued after a court case.
Thanks Clownfish
And thanks Chuck
Download Here
In keeping with the Irish/Australian vibe of the last post,
Tim has shown us the way to more joyful music to drink
Jameson's to and that's my favorite drink.
So raise your glass to Tim and enjoy.
This is a great band of whom I knew nothing.
Thanks Tim.
Roaring Jack - The Old Divide and Rule
Roaring Jack is an Australian Celtic punk/Folk punk band
of the 1980s and 1990s. The band formed in 1985 and played
their first shows in Sydney in 1986. Original members were
Alistair Hulett (acoustic guitar and vocals), Dave Williams
(bass), Steve Thompson (drums), Bob (Rab) Mannell
(electric guitar and bouzouki) and Hunter Owens
(accordion/mandolin and vocals).Owens was later replaced
by Steve (Steph) Miller on the same instruments and on vocals.
Rod Gilchrist replaced Steve Thompson on drums after the
recording of their first album.
The band built a cult following by playing the Sydney pub
circuit eventually scoring regular slots at the Harold Park
Hotel in Glebe and the Sandringham Hotel in Newtown.
Their music had a strong political focus with emphasis on
Scottish sectarianism, Aboriginal Rights and union activism.
In keeping with this the band gave many benefit performances
for a diverse range of left wing causes, including the workers
of Cockatoo Island with fellow rebel rousers Urban Guerillas,
Tim Anderson and against the first Gulf War.
The band went on to support the likes of Billy Bragg,
the Pogues and The Men They Couldn't Hang during their
Australian tours.
Roaring Jack recorded for independent Sydney label Mighty Boy
Records. They released the Street Celtability mini-LP in 1987,
The Cat Among The Pigeons LP (1988) and
Through The Smoke Of Innocence LP (1990).
German label Jump Up Records released all of these as
The Complete Works, a double CD package, in 2002.
The band split in 1992. Alistair Hulett now has a successful
solo career as an internationally recognised folk musician.
Steph Miller formed his own band, The Wickermen in 1991 and
spent most of the 1990s as a multi-instrumentalist in the
successful Sydney band, Eva Trout. Steph released a solo CD,
Strange Sea, in 2004.
Download Here
John from here in Brisbane has ripped and uploaded this rare
and fantastic piece of Brisbane's musical history.
Popproperly are a name I haven't heard in such a long time,
I'm sure I saw them somewhere, the Maleny folk festival is
a possibility. I love the story of how John came to know this
band and have to tell that I saw Bob Geldolf play in the car
park at Dooley's many years ago, a great time indeed.
Many thanks John for bringing this back to life.
I discovered Popproperly by accident.
One Sunday afternoon in the very early 90's
I was bored so I decided to try and find some music
to listen to. I had thought that Jazz would be the go,
no complaints there as I like jazz, but instead I ended
up at Dooley's Hotel in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley
and got the shock of my life to find a well packed Irish
bar with a slate floor thick with split Guinness and
a slightly Pogues sounding band thrashing it out to the
dancing crowd. I watched a great folk/bush/pop band
playing a mix of covers and self written material having
a great time and the crowd also downing beer and
dancing and singing along. I was hooked and made sure
that I went every Sunday afternoon whenever I could.
Later I got chatting to a band member, sorry no memory
who, and he told me that the band had had it's genesis during
Expo 88 as side walk balladeers and had been at Dooley's
for a good while.I have no memory of how much longer
Popproperly played their residency, it is a long time ago
and many a brain cell has been fried, but in the end it did
sadly end. They went on to make a couple of albums and
tour Europe with a very different lineup than the one that
had the Sunday residency.
This EP was sold at Dooley's and contained their signature
tune of the time, Working For A Living.
A terrific song live that had the crowd dancing, singing
and drinking. Great times. Please enjoy a rare EP from one
of Brisbane's better but sadly unknown folk bands.
Download Here
‘The direct defense of wilderness will take courage
and restraint by a great number of people.
Most of all, we must be peaceful’’
Bob Brown – Franklin Campaigner
After spending a little time getting back to