New Weird Australia | Volume Three

November 12th, 2009 Stu

(cross posted from newweirdaustralia.com)

The old adage still holds true – one man’s meat is indeed another man’s poison. Divert the same philosophy to music and the song remains the same. One woman’s rock is another woman’s roll – or thereabouts.

We make this point to simply note that our definition of ‘weird’ is purely subjective – and we make no claim otherwise. The artists that represent Volume Three of New Weird Australia truly stretch, invert and redefine the notion of ‘weird’. To some, this selection might well be perilously unlistenable, to others we’re toying dangerously with pop at various flash-points throughout the compilation. And therein lies the point.

Our mission is not to meticulously scope and define what is to be ‘weird’ (#FAIL). Our mission rather is to map out a loose terrain – one that skirts around the topological spread mapped by mainstream alternative media, and one that sits both simultaneously in and out of reach. New Weird Australia is designed as a bridge to reach fresh pastures – at some points that journey might feel familiar, at others it might be terrifyingly new.

Given that we’re now on our third volume, we understand that in order to go deep, we also have to go wide – which means fucking with the boundaries at both ends of the spectrum. From Zeal’s quasi-Anticon hip-pop to Anon’s 14-min noise excursion, Volume Three does indeed traverse considerable distances – along the way winding via Lecter Macabre’s pitch-black slow-mo roar to Pompey’s steel-drum romp that winds the set towards a final, optimistic flourish. We could obviously go much wider and much deeper yet – there lies new worlds to conquer in future volumes.

For now, for this month, this is our definition of New Weird Australia. Some you’ll adore, some you’ll abhor – and with that very disagreement, we’ll all find common ground.

New Weird Australia Volume Three, November 2009, NWA003

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & ARTWORK):
Standard Quality, 160 kbps (90MB) | Higher Quality, 320kbps (164MB)

1. JEFF BURCH, Untitled 1 (The Western Hour) (3:44),
from ‘As I Remember, If I Remember Correctly, I Arrived Sweetly’
2. AFXJIM, Through The Woods (6:08), from ‘POWWOW Eight (Blackout Music)’
3. 48/4, Hlibt (3:39), previously unreleased
4. THE SINGING SKIES, September (2:52), from ‘September Sky’
5. K MASON, Of 2 Evils (7:15), from ‘2 (Evils)’
6. ALPS, Goosebeak Whale (2:21), from ‘Alps Of New South Whales’
7. DRIVE WEST TODAY, Anthropology (4:37), previously unreleased
8. ADAM TRAINER, Corrosion Party (4:22), previously unreleased
9. COMATONE, They Fall Freely (6:05), previously unreleased
10. ZEAL, Wasps (2:34), previously unreleased
11. NAMATOKE, A Mountain With A Secret (4:53), from ‘Chiaroscuro’
12. LECTER MACABRE, Granelli (New Version) (2:43), previously unreleased
13. BUM CREEK, Fast Forrest (5:13), from ‘Bum Creek’
14. ANON, Quiver Crura Quaker (13:46), previously unreleased
15. ERASERS, Lost///Found (4:26), from ‘Erasers’
16. POMPEY, Actual Locks (3:20), previously unreleased

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz
Artwork by Lee Tran Lam, www.leetranlam.com

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.

New Weird Australia is a not-for-profit initiative established to promote eclectic and experimental Australian music. Free compilations are available to download every two months from www.newweirdaustralia.com. Contributions from Australian musicians and designers are welcomed and encouraged – submission details and terms can be found on the About page.

Tags: adam trainer, afxjim, alps, anon, bum creek, comatone, drive west today, erasers, fortyeightfour, jeff burch, k mason, lecter macabre, namatoke, new weird australia, pompey, the singing skies, zeal

Posted in Mixtapes. | No Comments »

Discontent | All That Glitters Is Gold

September 19th, 2009 Stu

Looking back at the collection of mixtapes that adorn the elongated top shelf of my CD stack, it’s fascinating to watch genres, trends and styles come and ago. As much as the mixtapes pin down flashpoints in time and space, they also reflect a linear narrative of sorts. Buried in between the idiosyncratic choices that I’ve made, are signals that indicate a broader passage. Some genres bleed in slowly over months or over a sequence of multiple tapes, others crash in without much warning, overtaking everything in their path. However, it’s often hard to distinguish whether I’m being pulled, or I’m doing the pulling. Am I responding to signposts in the ether, or am I fashioning my own?

Certainly on ‘All That Glitters Is Gold’ artists such as Gary War, Cold Cave, Oneohtrix Point Never and Best Coast (a post-Pocahaunted project for Bethany Cosentino) are garnering an increasing recognition factor from blogs worldwide, however Australian artists such as Cabaret Callado, Pompey, Hi God People or the newly reissued Pelican Daughters (Itch-E & Scratch-E’s Andy Rantzen in experimental / post-punk mode) remain almost entirely obscured from view, even in their home country. So, is this my story, or someone else’s? Truly, like all good mixtapes, it’s an eccentric combination of both.

What surprised me when pulling together this selection was the complete absence of remixes or covers. Instead, this is (with one slight exception) the original instance of all the tracks represented, not a reversion in sight. Perhaps the seemingly unstoppable glut of remixes and bootleg versions over the years has finally taken their toll on me – I need to return to the source. This theory is bourne out by events in my life – twelve months ago I was running down a clu-de-sac flogging ‘global ghettotech’ on Fat Planet, today I’ve reconnected with what drove my love of music in the first place: free experimentation, unbridled by a sense of scene, or notions of taste. Whether this is symptomatic of a wider condition is unclear, but I defy anyone to send me a bootleg electro remix via email and expect to see it cropping up on a mixtape anytime in the next era.

The title reflects this – these tracks shimmer and glow in their own right, with no need for spit or polish from any third party. It’s also a phrase culled from the closing track (the caveat mentioned above) – Buttress O’Kneel and Lucas Darklord’s destruction of the Led Zeppelin classic. In Lucas’ own words, this is not so much as a remix, as a “ruin”. And it befits a mixtape whose underlying purpose (initially unbeknown to me) was to draw a line, to ruin the past, and to plant a signpost for a different kind of future.

Discontent – All That Glitters Is Gold | download [Rapidshare, 105MB]

1. Pink Priest – Field Of Orgasms [U.S.] 2:02
2. Teeth Mountain – Black Jerusalem [U.S.] 5:42
3. Lucky Dragons – Power Melody [U.S.] 3:46
4. Gyratory System – Cargo Cult [England] 4:34
5. Blank Dogs – Set Living [U.S.] 3:18
6. Peace In – Candy Rug Lizards [U.S.] 2:52
7. Oneohtrix Point Never – Zones Without People [U.S.] 4:00
8. Cabaret Callado – Ware [Brazil / Australia] 2:56
9. Gary War – Good Clues [U.S.] 2:51
10. Cold Cave – Life Magazine [U.S.] 2:56
11. Flight – Flowers [U.S.] 2:51
12. Hi God People – Thunder On The Way To Funan [Australia] 8:24
13. Pelican Daughters – The Haywain [Australia] 3:38
14. Zaza – Sooner or Later [U.S.] 5:06
15. Pompey – Hands Miniature [Australia] 2:56
16. Best Coast – Something In The Way [U.S.] 2:11
17. Polyfox & The Union Of The Most Ghosts – Cross Boa Tangles Gently Around Polyfox [Australia] 3:02
18. Fol Chen – Cocktails at Shadeland [U.S.] 0:59
19. BOK Darklord – Stairway to Heaven [Australia] 2:12

img | anniewong

Tags: best coast, blank dogs, BOK, cabaret callado, cold cave, flight, fol chen, gary war, gyratory system, hi god people, lucky dragons, oneohtrix point never, peace in, pelican daughters, pink priest, polyfox, pompey, teeth mountain, zaza

Posted in Mixtapes. | 5 Comments »