Marianne Faithfull - Tivoli 30-01-10

I know, she's not Australian but I can't help blogging
on a superb concert. I've seen Marianne twice before,
the first time was as part of the Brisbane Biennial and
she performed Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weil's
Three Penny Opera. The second was her 20th Century
Blues tour. Don't get me wrong they were great shows but
she didn't have a full band or perform the songs that made
her, tonight was different.



This her "Easy Come Easy Go" tour, while focusing on the new
album of the same name, had both a full band and songs spanning
her entire career.
The band was a fantastic 7 piece band which effortlessly played
with tremendous talent and moved through various styles of
music gracefully.



I've been a long time fan from when I heard Broken English, back
when I was something like 16. I've followed her fascinating career
ever since, so to see these songs performed was a long held ambition.
Judging by the age of the audience I'd say some discovered her back
when she started, the year I was born.
From the opening song "Times Square" it was a fantastic evening,
we heard the Classics like, Lucy Jorden, Broken English, Why didya
Do it, As tears go by, Strange weather and Sister Morphine.
As well as plenty of "newer" ones like Crazy love, Solitude, Hold on,
Kimbe, Sing me, Dover, The Crane wife and Easy come easy go.

Check out the comments to see how Mr K found the show.

Now I just need to see Tom Waits to die happy.

Marianne faithfull " Sister Morphine " @ Cité de la Musique Paris June 18th 2009

Laughing Clowns - Laughing Clowns live Tivoli 25_01_10

Chuck's recording of perhaps The Laughing Clowns last performance
is here. Chuck had a bit of trouble with his settings and thinks
that Turn it up has a better recording.
You can find that recording here
As well as the Dirty Three.
Turn it up is one of the greatest Brisbane blogs so check it out.
Thanks Chuck!

Check out Andrew Millen's excellent review at mess and noise
here

Thanks Andrew

Tracklist
01 Introduction
02 Theme from Mad Flies, Mad Flies
03 Every Dog Has Its Day
04 Holy Joe
05 Sometimes
06 The Laughing Clowns
07 Ghost Beat
08 I Want to Scream
09 Clown Town
10 Everything That Flies
11 Collapse Board

Download Part1
Download Part2

The Laughing Clowns - Every Dog Has Its Day - Live @ The Tivoli - 25 Jan 2010

Chuck Managed to video this song on Tuesday night from
out in the crowd. My personal favorite
"Every Dog Has Its Day"

The Dirty Three - Live At Tivoli 25-01-10

The 2nd band for the Don't Look Back 2010 Concert was
in legendary Dirty Three, performing their seminal album
" Ocean Songs"

Released in March 1998 and recorded by American recording
engineer Steve Albini, Ocean Songs was the fourth album to be
released by the Dirty Three and was their recorded highlight
to that date. As suggested by the title, the sea provided much
of the inspiration for the album and the ebb and flow of
the tidal currents made their impression felt via songs
The Distant Shore, Sea Above Sky Below
and the epic Deep Waters
- all sixteen minutes and 30 seconds of it.






Well the Dirty Three were magnificent!
They are a band like no other, masters of improvisation
and masters of their instruments. Their compositions
are showcases for dynamics, they soar, they whisper
and they slowly change into this wall of sound that is
frankly breathtaking.



Warren is a genius, he is the greatest violin player I have ever
witnessed, but it would be a mistake to think that he was the
sound. Mick Turner and his guitar is majestic, as John said to
me after the show, he adds more to the band than you'd think.
Jim White is an incredible drummer, both him and Warren
often play off each other, so much so that its rather hard
to get a photo of Warren facing the audience.
I enjoyed the band, I'm not a fananic, I think I have one
album, but live they are something else.
Tim sent me a great link here
to a podcast in which the Dirty Three join Sarah Ashley from
Radio National's The Deep End to perform live in the studio
and talk about the making of Cinder.








Authentic Celestial Music Live

Laughing Clowns - Live at the Tivoli 25-01-10

Well last night the Laughing Clown returned to Brisbane for the
Don't look back concert series

Performing their early 'hits' package 'History of Rock n' Roll
Volume One', in its entirety.
Yep, the same line-up that emerged after a 25 year hiatus to
perform at this years inaugural Australian All Tomorrow's Parties
Festivals - Kuepper, Wegener, Elliott, Miller and Spence
- will join forces once more time to put new life into old classics
such as Holy Joe, Sometimes (I Just Can't Live with Anyone)
and Everything That Flies.



And what a performance it was, a great collection of songs including
many that I wished for last time. The band playing even better than
last year, Ed in a jovial mood , what more could one ask for.
When I say the band was playing well, they were all fantastic.
Louise and Jeff particularly on fire and everyone playing
of each other.
Ed was in fine form in the bad joke department, at one time telling
a long story about razorback pigs and Jeff drum brushes.





My personal favourite "Every dog has its day"
was amazing with its incredible bass line ,
"Holy Joe" squawked and soared,
"Sometimes",which is perhaps their best song blew me away,
Jeff let loose like a drummer possessed on "The Laughing Clowns"
"I Want To Scream" surprised me sounding so fresh after all this time
but the 11.30 min version of "Collapse Board" was something else.
It was as if they had decided to take it to the same place Eternally
Yours went and turn it into the extended hyper-ballad that song
is live. I didn't even miss Eternally yours after that.





A fantastic night but its not over yet, The Dirty three follow.
I shall post on them next.
I got to finally met up with both Chuck and John,
both SSS blog contributors and we all had a fantastic time.
I know many more readers were there, but it was crowded
and once I settled in a good spot I didn't move around much.
I also picked up two live clowns cds how the Prince Melon
bootleg series.





And this rather blurry photo is Chuck trying to get a bit of video,
he has recorded and its all good I hear.
The sound on the night had a few issues with distortion and
feedback, so he's trying to overcome that.
I also got 3 songs on video,
they will take longer to get up to posting stage.
As by coincidence today is the SSS blogs 2nd birthday
and I can think of no better post to celebrate

Charlie Owen - Vertigo & Other Phobias

This rare and out of print 10 track album is from the
acclaimed Charlie Owen.
Charlie Owen is an Australian guitar player and producer.
He is a member of Tex, Don and Charlie, The Beasts of Bourbon,
Tex Perkins and The Dark Horses, Maurice Frawley
and The Working Class Ringos, Tendrils, the Divinyls and
Tex Perkins and his Ladyboyz and was previously a member of
Ninja Skill, Charlie Owen Quintet, Tango Bravo, The New Christs,
Paris Green, Louis Tillett and His Cast of Aspersions and Catfish.



Owen has produced albums by The Plunderers, Louis Tillett,
Louis Tillett and Charlie Owen, Tex Perkins and Penny Ikinger
and has contributed as a session player on albums by many artists
including Tony Buck, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Robert Forster,
Spencer P. Jones, The Cruel Sea, Steve Prestwich, Conway Savage
and Don Walker.

And he still found time to record his own cd,
this was released in 1994.
Its an excellent guitar based rock/blues
instrumental album, his guitar skills are of
course fantastic and its not hard to see why he's
such a sought after session musician.

Thanks to Chuck for this little beauty


Download here

Xiro - Cassette releases - Half The Profits / Religious Wars

A re-post of Xeros 2 casette releases now I have the
art work thanks to Mat Mawson and Ian Thomson.
Ian to has copies of the JFK cassettes which I'm
really looking forward to.
Thanks guys.

Xero (also known as Zero, Ziro and Xiro) was a Brisbane band from
the early 1980s.When bands like Whirlywirrld and the Primitive
calculators were doing the electronic punk thing in Melbourne,
Xero were doing a similar thing here in Brisbane.
The band is said to be named after the character
Xero from the book The Atrocity Exhibition by J G Ballard
but that seems to be incorrect

I don' think the ballard reference is accurate -
it was zero as in the anarchist thing, and then
when we needed to change it it became the
shortening of xerox (the artists' friend of the early 80s).
then xiro was just indulgence i guess.
that's the way I remember it anyway . . .
JW

The initial lineup was Irena Luckus, Deborah Thomas, Vic Allen and
Lindy Morrison, soon joined by John Willsteed.
Lindy Morrison was later replaced on drums by Steven Pritchard.
The band split when Irena left Brisbane.
Lindy's involvement predates her joining the Go- Betweens,
and as far as I know this is the first band of note that
John Willsteed is part of, John goes on to join bands such
as the Go- Betweens and The Apartments
One of the most popular bands of the era,
they existed between 1978 and 1983.
The band went through many different phases:
starting off as an all-girl anarcho-feminist punk band doing
covers of Patti Smith and Slits songs, to developing their own
sound that echoed the likes of The Pop Group.
This was when the band were under the spelling of Zero.
As Zero folded after the Dayboro Music Festival show,
Irena and John came Xiro, releasing a cassette a week for two weeks,
Half The Profits and Religious Wars.
With the subsequent addition of Toe Suckers drummer
Clare McKenna, they became Xero. With McKenna's departure,
in 1981 they added a bassist in Tony Childs
and ex-Swell Guys drummer Steven Pritchard to
record for Sydney's M Squared label.
The end product became a 12" EP entitled Lust In The Dust,
the first independent Brisbane outfit to do so.
Sorry no artwork , if anyone can help.



Xiro
cassette compile 1980






"Religious Wars"
1. Say It Before The Music Stops
2. Behing The Chagall
3. A Little Slip Of Paper In Mid-Air
4. The Confessions...



"Half The Profits"
1. Just A Nite At Another Party
2. O.D
3. D.K
4. 2,4-D Pelaco

Their album Lust in the Dust has been posted a while back
so that leaves these two recordings to track down which
are talked of in some discographies.

• Leaving Home For The Party On The Roof cassette (independent, 1980)
• Xiro Live At The Cement Box Theatre CD (Ten Of Cups, 1998)

If you can help with this I'd be very happy

Matt has posted this video of the band live at Easts Leagues Club,
Brisbane, 1986, performing as part of the IMA's
"Know Your Product" retrospective

Download Cassettes here with artwork

Eds big collection

A rolling stone article from 1994 that Chuck sent me
to attempt to appease Ed.
It appears Ed has a bigger music collection than even
Chuck. We all here at SSS blog are of course very excited
as it only one more sleep till the Clowns return to Brisbane.

Lets hear from Chuck.

A nice article for your eyes ...
or another nice post to help promote good ol Eds' gig..
I figure he is less likely to kick me in the nuts if he
catches me taping for stripey uploads...
if u help with some free promotion.. :)

Click on images to enlarge