An Evening Visit From The Apartments

As the sweeping melahancholia of Theme de Camille by Georges Delerue (from Jean-Luc Godard's Le Mépris) fades out of the stage speakers, it's here in cloudy Sydney where the Apartments reveal themselves once more in their home country. A Saturday night in Marrickville after a long, moody day of dark clouds and a reprise of suit weather brings forth a stage-shy band and a faithful seated audience for only their third show in this town in over twenty years.

A lot has happened in this time; some things remembered for eternity and others best forgotten. And so it seems the veil of silence has been lifted with the release of a new single, Black Ribbons and a show in Melbourne a month ago in November. Or was it October? When it comes to the Apartments, time brings all things to pass.

Left to right on the plainly-lit stage is guitarist Eliot Fish, and beside him is Amanda Brown on her violin and tambourine. Behind her on piano is George Bibikos. In front of him and beside Ms Brown is chanteuse Christine Jane in her second appearance with the thousandth Apartments line-up. And on the far right - on a matching stool - is Peter Milton Walsh with a voice and an acoustic guitar.


Eleven songs are played. The arrangements and instrumentation resemble that of their last album Fête Foraine - exercising the intimacy of song without its pop and stripping colourful arrangements down to small flakes and piecing it all together again - no horn, nor drum. And in this supper-club space without cutlery, every word and note behind it demand a sense of attention. With Walsh to the far right, he looks to his and conducts the band through his softly tinted glasses and tapping feet.

Before the songs are played, some stories are told. And some tales. A little insight that takes you further inside the tunes than a lyric sheet or a liner-note could attempt. There's talk evil men, seduced women, the son of a French banker with symbolism in his veins, a record company and a river city he left thirty years ago.


And so the Apartments reopened for another night, checking out to sign in again at an unknown time and place. In the last thirty years, there's been more silence than sound. Songs are played or recorded when they're ready. This isn't anything new, it's just how it is. And as the show ends with one last song, it leaves us with two questions; and the curtain falls.

Where are the parties that were never held? Where are the snows that never fell?

Setlist: Thank You For Making Me Beg/All You Wanted/Knowing You Were Loved/World Of Liars/Sunset Hotel/All His Stupid Friends/Mr. Somewhere/On Every Corner/Things You'll Keep/Black Ribbons/Twenty One



All images and words - Donat Tahiraj. Brisbane.

Only The Lonely - John Kennedy

I just discovered this and have to tell you all,

the fabulous John Kennedy has a new 6 track ep,

Sons Of Sun, which includes this cover of the

Roy Orbison classic and reinterprets it as a reverb

drenched dreamy ghost track.

The video was shot in St Stephens Cemetery in Newtown,

Sydney on bright winters day in June 11 by Al Yung and

edited by him in Hong Kong

I'm off to Itunes now!

Triffids & friends - Mick harvey - Kelly's Blues

I had a great time at the Powerhouse the other night - only managed to get one video as staff were  ever vigilant.. .

.

the sound isnt perfect but you can catch some better quality sound of the night H E R E !

Costar / David McComb - Unreleased Tracks

One of the songs of David McComb that was played on Thursday

night was the track 'The Good Life Never Ends'

Its a beautiful track that was recorded by David's last band

Costar. It was part of what was to be a single or Ep for the

band, it was never released.

Graham Lee talks here of those final years

"I spent a lot of time with Dave, not enough obviously

but can't worry about that now. He wanted to release

the costar stuff, but he really needed to get himself

back on an even keel physically and mentally before

anything great would happen musically,

although he was writing constantly and certainly

hadn't lost his strength in that area.

The New Year's Eve that brought in 1999 was the last

time I stood on stage with him at The Standard Hotel

in Fitzroy, Melbourne. He was very ill and

it was almost too much to bear."

Track List

01 - I Kept My Eye On You

02 - Murder In The Dark

03 - Lucky For Some

04 - The Goodlife Never Ends

05 - Devil Please

06 - The Good Life Never Ends

07 - The Good Life Never Ends (minus intro)

Download Here

And here Oh Mercys Alex Gow performs

The Good Life Never Ends.

Mark C Halstead - Before And After Love

Mark Caulfield Halstead - more affectionately known quite simply as Marko - released this album through W Minc in 1994. No-one really payed too much attention to it at the time, and people still haven't really taken the time out to discover this (still in print) album.

Marko's career began in the mid to late 1970s Brisbane. And like many of his musical peers of that era, he found himself playing guitar in a host of punk bands centered around Roma Street's Curry Shop and away from pub venues. The unrecorded The Disposible Fits and the Fuji Angels are but two. An early artefact from his punk/new wave days comes from an unaired TV pilot centered around Brisbane music called Exposure. His band the Hostages were featured alongside JFK & the Cuban Crisis, The Repairs and Ninja Skil (featuring a very young Charlie Owen). This excerpt from the 1981 show is the only studio recording made by this band. The featured song is the Halstead composition Tremble; recorded at Basement Studios in Roma St by Colin Bloxsom.



By 1983, he joined Tex Deadly and the Dum Dums with fellow Fit Cyril Culley when the band moved to Sydney. Marko's tales of wagon wheels and other past curios are written in good detail in Clinton Walker's Stranded book. An example of his song-writing at the time is documented on the 1st Beasts of Bourbon album in the form of the closing track from The Axeman's Jazz, Ten Wheels for Jesus.

[Photo by David Macpherson of Tex Deadly and the Dum Dums l-r Tex Perkins, Greg Wadley, Des Johnson, Marko]

Marko also played in the Kingswoods and Kingswood Trio around this time who existed between 1983 and 1986 released a couple of singles, namely Purty Vacant, which appeared on a FABRICLIVE mix CD put together by DJ John Peel. The trio - Peter Kroll, John Downie and Halstead concurrently played in the Pineapples From The Dawn of Time.

By the early 1990s, Halstead moved to Melbourne where was an adjunct member of the McComb-led Blackeyed Susans and their trio offshoot on vocals and mandolin; and appeared on the bulk of their All Souls Alive album. He also played alongside Graham Lee in the Paradise Vendors, performed in the Disappointments, sang on Robert Forster's I Had a New York Girlfriend album, et cetera.

And of course, he's a part of the current Triffids touring troupe, offering what Rob Snarksi described at their recent Brisbane show as a 'man mountain' with his rendering of Bury Me Deep In Love.

I could go on forever with this biography, but I won't. The aim here was an attempt to bring this album to an audience who may not be aware of who he is, and why this album might actually be worth sinking your teeth into.

This album came out when alt-country was still wondering whether Townes or Earle was better than Guy Clark. Even his appearance on the Ernie & Denise show didn't seem to cement the fact that this man's baritone is a national treasure. And due to its lack of commercial esteem, Before And After Love remains as his only solo release after being a vital conduit for so many musicians and bands since Australian punk's first wave.

Try it out here, but I highly suggest buying this album seeing that's easily available.

Here's a video filmed at the Standard Hotel in Melbourne for Whiskers in the Sink; a song written about his old musical cohort, Cyril Culley.

The Triffids - Brisbane, Powerhouse 24/11/11

Its been 23 years since I saw the Triffids play one magic night

and that long since they played in Brisbane.

A lot has happened since then, the band split up in 1989

and some 10 years after lead singer and song writing genius

David McComb died a few days before he was to turn 37.

For the last 5 years Evil Graham Lee (above) has been at the helm

of keeping Davids legacy alive, along with releases of the Triffids

recordings there has been the reformation of the band and many

gigs around the world. Starting out as a tribute concerts called

'A Secret in the Shape of a Song' and end up as this, The Triffids

and friends. This was a particularly important performance

as it was the first time ever, anywhere that the band had played

their seminal first album ' Born Sandy Devotional'

And what a night it was, I was up front with Carmen and Chuck,

some of the best musicians in the world, Like Martyn Casey (above)

originally the Triffids bass player, now days in the Bad Seeds,

or former Bad Seed himself Mick Harvey (below)

Young Melbourn band Oh Mercy did a fine job opening with a few

early Triffids songs. Lead singer Alex Gow returning throughout

the night to perform on a few other songs.

Then former manager 'Handsome' Steve Miller took the stage

as master of ceremonies.

The Blackeyed Susans took to the stage with the added treat

of Mark Dawson on percussion, it was one of my favourite

moments of the monumental 3 hour show.

Especially 'Ocean of You' which was incredible.

Rob Snarski who shared lead singing in the Susans with David

has an incredible voice and he retuned throughout the evening

also to sing different songs.

And of course Mick Harvey was brilliant,

you should heard Kelly's Blues.

Also Simon Breed English singer guitarist was brilliant

'Lonely Stretch' being a stand out.

And I was very excited when Jill Birt took up the mike to sing

her classic Triffids tunes like Goodbye Little Boy and Raining Pleasure.

And I must mention Graham Lees wonderful vocal work too

especially on one of my fav tracks Jerdacuttup Man .

Born Sandy was a joy to listen to, truly one of the greatest

Australian albums ever recorded.

The highlight of the night was Bury Me Deep In Love

sung by Mark Caulfield Halstead one time Brisbane boy

who was in the Kingswood Trio and The Pineapples from

the Dawn of Time. He has a solo album I

think I must get. He has the most incredible voice and

when Rob Snarski followed him he said, "Thanks Marko

you man mountain I'm gonna sound like a smurf after that!"

It was a concert that was one of those you walk out of bewildered

by how exceptional it was.

There's more dates to follow throughout Australia so if you have

even a passing interest in the songs of David McComb,

don't miss it!

The Apartments

Readers of That Striped Sunlight Sound will hopefully not need an introduction to this band as I haven't prepared one. Nevertheless...

The Apartments return to Sydney for the launch of their new 45rpm single, Black Ribbons - a taste of what's to come from their forthcoming album - their first since 1998's Fête Foraine.




The sound and image below are from the Melbourne launch for this single:

The Apartments - All Your Stupid Friends @ Toff In Town, Melbourne (23rd Oct 2011) from Carbie Warbie on Vimeo.

The band's line-up for this show includes the electric guitar of Elliot Fish, the vocals of Christine Jane and the violin of Amanda Brown.

Below is a TV commercial for the show which you may have seen during prime time programming...




The Apartments with special guest Peter Fenton (Crow)

Friday, December 9th

The Factory Theatre
105 Victoria Road, Marrickville
Box Office: Phone (02) 9550 3666
Fax (02) 9550 2990
Email: boxoffice@centuryvenues.com.au

Triffids at the Powerhouse update

Guests have been announced and look at the line up!

Rob Snarski

Alexander Gow

The Blackeyed Susans

Oh Mercy

Mick Harvey

Simon Breed (UK)

Also the night will feature the classic album Born Sandy

Devotional from go to woah and they're saying this performance

is the first time the whole album has been played live in its

entirety!

Its gonna be a great night indeed!

http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/view/the-triffids/

Dave Steel & The Welcome Wagon - Been On This Road Too Long (2004)

When I think of Australian Blues Dave Steel is the first

to come to mind,he is the most spellbinding artist to see

live and he is a master in his field.

He's been around a while so I guess he has had the time to

hone his craft, Dave started out in the acclaimed Australian folk

rock band Weddings Parties Anything as their original guitarist.

Since he has forged a solo career and been a very much in

demand session/touring musician.

7 Solo albums which are impossible to find are on my list

of recording to find

The Welcome Wagon is a 3 piece comprising of Dave on Guitar,

Sandy Brady on both upright and electric basses and has

worked with an impressive array of artists,

notably Tiffany Eckhardt, Cyndi Boste, Michael Thomas

and the Sure Thing, Enda Kenny, and Broderick Smith

And J.P(John Parry) known as 'the Charlie Watts of the South Coast'

for his backbeat drumming style. He also has worked with many

artists including Jeff Lang, Bob Brozman,

Chubbie Ray and the Elevators, and The Mongolian Fishmongers.

Download Here

Rowland S. Howard - Studio 22

I've been hearing good things about the recent movie - "Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard" bio pic.



Directed by Richard Lowenstein of "Dogs in space" and "Falefel" fame...
You can find more detail and lots links here - https://www.facebook.com/AUTOLUMINESCENT.RowlandSHoward

I've been listening alot lately to an old ABC tv show - Studio 22 - Rowland S. Howard from 1999 and thought it would make a timely audio only post

Download Here

the band features Rowland S. howard
                          Mick Harvey
                          Brian Hooper
                          Edward Clayton Jones

songs include - She Cried
                       Dead Radio
                       Exit Everything
                       Shivers
and                  White Wedding