GUTTERS

Gutters is an on/off project between Hannah Scheifelbein (Acid Casualty, Teeth with Pussy, Radiation Nation) and Julia Norris (The Harpy Choir, Kitchen's Floor). No wave drums/guitar with dual feline vocals, what more could you want/need in a band. I filmed this when they were practicing under my house in July last year. The audio is a little out of sync but does not detract from it being worth your time.

JANDEK / BLANK REALM / THE LOST DOMAIN AT THE HI-FI BAR 21-03-10

The Hi-Fi Bar. It cost $6.50 for a can of Carlton Draught and I was dumb enough to buy 4. Besides that the show was quite good and it's a shame more people didn't come. I'm looking at YOU.



THE LOST DOMAIN



The Lost Domain formed in 1990 and this show was a 20th anniversary special performance of sorts. I liked it, one long jam that got more eccentric as it went on and by the end it nicely deteriorated into the band coercing the audience to yell 'MOTHERFUCKER' over and over again.


BLANK REALM



The constantly evolving musik machine that is Blank Realm play an epic set of good ol' fashioned stadium rock. It was great to see them play on a really big stage and it was easy to imagine them playing to hundreds of thousands of adoring fans crying from excitement and it's 1981, love is in the air and the world is ours to ruin.


JANDEK



Jandek is hard to describe. It made me feel very lonely, a mind fuck of sounds that lasted a little over an hour which was even more pronounced in the sparsely attended cavernous hi-fi venue. It was a very surreal haunting experience that won't be forgotten, very unique and amazing. Strangely enough I found myself afterwards at a party in his hotel room and we drank beer and ate cheese until 2am and he was a damn nice guy.



Black Widow also played and it was a great collaboration between Joel Stern and Rob MacManus but the footage I filmed decided to jerk me around and don't ya just hate that?

IVY ST. / PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE / CAUGHT SHIP AT THE BRISBANE HOTEL 6-03-10

The Brisbane Hotel is like the Hobart equivalent of the Tote, or maybe to a lesser extent the Step Inn in Brisbane. A bit of a shit hole but a good atmosphere and I didn't mind it. This was the launch of Paint Your Golden Face's new album.

IVT ST.





Ivy St. rule, they kind of sound like My Disco crossed with Die!Die!Die! but from their own unique point of view. A Hobart treasure, mate.


CAUGHT SHIP



Caught Ship from Melbourne play a set that mostly confuses the audience. I thought it was great, really strange. They had to fly back to Melbourne early the next morning so they stayed up all night and got really messed up but ended up missing their flight anyway and broke down in the airport terminal.


PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE



Paint Your Golden Face also kind of confused me. I enjoyed it but I wouldn't say I really 'got' it and that was a little frustrating. This was the first time I've seen them though and I haven't heard the album so give it time Matt, give it time.

NATIVE CATS / GLEN SCHENAU / DRUNK ELK IN HOBART 5-03-10

A few blocks walk from the city centre of Hobart is what's called the Winter Palace. It's a large old sharehouse with a revolving door of tenants and it's pretty much central to the Hobart music scene. The power went out mid show unfortunately but was hastily shifted to another house and all was won in Tasmania.

NATIVE CATS





I don't really feel smart enough to accurately describe Native Cats so I won't but some key words that come into my failing brain are "mind blowing" and "awesome".

Some trivia - their singer is also a stand up comedian. Who would have thunk?


GLEN SCHENAU





Glen Schenau of Per Purpose / Marl Carx / Kitchen's Floor fame finds time in his busy touring schedule to perform a solo acoustic set. First of it's kind and it's really good.


NOTE: AFTER GLEN'S SET IS WHEN THE BLACKOUT STRUCK. I HEARD IT WAS A POWER SURGE. I HEARD IT WAS A FAULT IN THE SYSTEM. WHATEVER IT WAS, THE FOLLOWING VIDEO OF DRUNK ELK WAS FILMED AT A NEW LOCATION LATER THAT NIGHT.


DRUNK ELK





Drunk Elk kind of sum up the idea of a band thriving in isolation. The new Tasmanian cult band = Drunk Elk. Get with it.

BREAKER MORANT / FRANCIS PLAGNE AT BAR OPEN 4-03-10

BREAKER MORANT



I've always respected this band. I might be a sucker but if I think a band is legit I'll fall straight into them like an ageing drunk stumbles into horrible health problems, awkward sexual regrets and difficult financial perplexions. Breaker Morant don't make me regret anything, they just kind of validate why I like watching bands heaps in the first place. Half of this band originate from Brisbane as well - home town pride ya'll.


FRANCIS PLAGNE



After the downward spiral of my pathetic decay from a week full of constant drinking this was needed. Totally relaxing nice life affirming musically ambitious sounds played by a band with talent yet still in touch with their imagination. Thankyou Francis.

SHARPIE CROWS / PARADING AT HORSE BAZAAR 3-03-10

Wednesday night at Horse Bazaar in the city of Melbourne. Traditionally the night is called 'Stutter' and reserved for more avant garde experimental acts, tonight it's mostly loud rock bands and I guess the small venue struggled with that. It had a designated smoking room about the size my bathroom which was hilarious. Wish you were there.


SHARPIE CROWS



The main focus in Sharpie Crows for me was their intense frontman. Chewed enough gum throughout the set to put Dave Grohl to shame and looked like he was eyeing a fight in the audience the whole time and/or planning his suicide later that night. Loved it, I saw the guy in the toilets afterwards and went to say hi but he ignored me. Instant respect. Awesome band.


PARADING



Enjoyed Parading a lot, almost came off as "shoegaze" but I would say it's a lot better than that. Would have liked to film more of their set as the song after this one stuck in my mind as being particularly awesome but the camera fucked up. Such is life.

DUD PILLS

Dud Pills are an off shoot of Bitch Prefect and this is almost as good as the band they sprouted from. This is a new music video from them and it rules. Stop reading my shittily vague writing and watch the video.

TERRIBLE TRUTHS / BATRIDER AT FORMAT FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT 27-02-10

Opening night of Format Festival in a neat art gallery. Good night, good times.

TERRIBLE TRUTHS



This was Terrible Truths first show but you wouldn't realise that given how awesome they were. Kind of sounds like Diamond Sea and Love Of Diagrams in places but it's unique enough for this band to stand alone. Really liked this.


BATRIDER





You'll be hard pressed finding a band more drenched in painfully raw emotion than Batrider. You could feel the hurt and sorrow pouring out of the speakers and damnit, I felt like giving them a hug. Very moving performance.

BITCH PREFECT / HIT THE JACKPOT AT SUPERMILD 26-02-10

I spent the last week and a bit on tour and had the privilege of playing with a lot of great bands. First show was in Adelaide at Supermild, a small dark club with insane drunk bar staff.

BITCH PREFECT





I've already tried to describe Bitch Prefect before, perfect simple pop music etc. I found myself really really excited to see them play and wasn't disappointed. Almost every song sent shivers down my stupid spine and that's a beautiful thing.


HIT THE JACKPOT



Hit The Jackpot are like Adelaide music royalty. They've been playing for years and are respected for being a decent band and good people. I last saw them play in Brisbane at a generator show in 2006 which ruled but I didn't have a video camera back then. This was a very minimal set and I sure do like my minimal.