 PENNY IKINGER
Solo artist, Sacred Cowboys guitarist
ex-Wet Taxi
Gigs
The Bewdy of Speed -an eclectic musical event curated by Arbiter of Elegance Dave Graney featuring music by hip hop trio Plutonic Lab; Snowman guitarist and singer Joe McKee; yours truly backed by the Lurid Yellow Mist, who also played their own stuff (featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore of course), with a feast of film from the archives of Sydney underworld art libertarian think tank the Mu-Meson Archives. One off performance at the Victorian Arts Centre. Inspired and brave.
Grinderman - The Forum, Melbourne. Sonic onslaught.
John Cale - The Forum - A real eye opener for me to hear his music done in new ways with that supercool rhythm section
The New Christs - The Espy, Melbourne. Explosive!
SALMON - Big Day Out, Melbourne. Would have left a few youngsters scratching their heads...
John Nolan (ex Powdermonkeys) returns to the rock'n'roll fray playing guitar with Spencer P Jones at The Greyhound Hotel, Melbourne
Documentary
(ACMI, Melbourne): Scott Walker 30 Century Man
Theatre
La Mama, Melbourne. "The Jerilderie Letter" by Ned Kelly. Actor Peter Finlay and musician Malcolm Hill bring to life Ned Kelly's written testimony describing his version of the story. Now if his parents had just given him a guitar ...
Albums
Heaven and Hell - Kim Volkman. Really interesting debut from a late starter in his solo career . Well worth the wait.
Little Animals - Beasts of Bourbon - great songs, playing & retro sounds. Thank you Beasts.
ROBERT LASTDRAGER
I-94 Knife in a Toaster columnist
Stiff Kittens
drummer
 Bonnie Martje our second beautiful daughter arrives in November. Amazing.- Rocky Velvet- It came from Cropseyville. Fabulous new long player from New York State’s finest rockabilly, rock and roll four piece.
- Hex Dispensers- Hex Dispensers. I’d love to see this Texan trio head this way. Sweaty, loose, wild and gritty freefall rock and roll with all the little hooks that keep you coming back for more.
- Supersonicos- Neptunia. These Uruguayan cats have the best take on rockin’ reverb soaked spooky sci-fi surf pop bar none.
- Mojomatics- Songs for faraway lovers. From Venice Italy, this two-piece does the white boy R&B power pop blues groove thing better than anything I’ve heard in a long time.
- Lisa Miller- Morning In The Bowl Of Night. This is the sweetest cure for any kind of hangover you may be experiencing.
- Squires Of the Subterrain- Big Boy Pete’s Treats. From Rochester New York. These guys put the acid back into dreamy and beautiful psychedelic rock and roll.
- Kozel Premium- Czech Beer of champions. I am hangover less on this fine ale. I’m serious. Hoorah!!
- Rumble Skunk Magazine- Greece. I’ve always loved the underground garage, rock and roll zine scene and this is a fine example of all things new, loud and lo-fi.
- Bloc Party- Festival Hall, Melbourne. I’ve got a mate in the UK who is a guitar tech to a lot of the big acts from the Rolling Stones to Tom Jones and everyone in-between. He’s on a constant diet of airplane food and booze year round and mid winter rang me short notice with some guest passes to this sold out show. Now let me tell you I hadn’t even heard of this band, so I listened to a few tracks on Myspace and thought, ”Why not catch up with an old pal, and sink a few during and after the show”. I really enjoyed the gig, loads of good energy and the young crowd were so pure and positive in their adulation I found it all a bit weird. Ha ha. I told my mate they sounded like Blur on speed. He told me the boys got a good laugh out of that.
- Control - For me Anton Corbijn’s beautifully sad B&W biopic wins “movie of the year” hands down.
- Melbourne’s community radio stations 3CR, PBS and RRR. I’ve never had the urge to listen to commercial radio, and that’s bloody comforting.
RIP - Karl Beavis, Lobby Loyde, Billy Thorpe.
ANDREW MOLLOY
(singer,guitar player in Budokan/Bum,i94 bar contributor,postal
worker)
Not a great year for new releases in my opinion but here goes in no particular order:
Ian Hunter-Shrunken Heads (Yep Roc)
Still got it at 67 !
Star Spangles-Dirty Bomb (Tic)
Awesome tunes, bratty vox, slightly disappointing production.
Powertrane-Beyond the Sound (Motor City)
Scott Morgan is on fire these days.
Hold Steady-Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
The hype (at least in the UK) is justified in this case.Anthems, kids.
Detroit Cobras-Tied and True(Bloodshot)
No messing with the formula but when you've got Rachel Nagy's pipes why bother ?
Betty Lavette-The Scene of the Crime (Anti)
Soul vet finally gets her big break.
Chesterfield Kings-Pyschedelic Sunrise (Wicked Cool)
These guys never get enough recognition for their songwriting chops.
Mary Weiss-Dangerous Game (Norton)
What a comeback from Shangri-La.Outstanding backing and songwriting contributions from Greg Cartwright and the Reigning Sound.
Mainliners-s/t (Crusher)
Huge,epic Swedish hooks.
Bruce Sprinsteen and the E Street Band-Magic (CBS)
Huge return to form. GM Place, Vancouver, B.C. March 31st - I am there.
Reissues/Archival Releases (a good year for them):
Dictators-Every Day is Saturday (Norton)
Demos,outtakes,radio ads, a goldmine. D.F.F.D.
Iggy Pop-1977 (Easy Action)
More goodness from the Easy Action archives.
Flying Burrito Brothers-Gram Parsons Archives Vol. 1:Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969 (Amoeba).
Two full soundboard sets that put the spotlight squarely on that voice.
Mott the Hoople-Fairfield Hall, Live 1970 (Angel Air)
Legendary show finally gets complete release...and it's barnstormin'.
Ron Wood and Friends-First Barbarians: Live at Kilburn 1974
(Wooden)
Woody releases oft-bootlegged debut solo
gig w/ Keith,Rod et al. on his own label w/ bonus dvd. Raggedly beautiful.
Sly and the Family Stone-all the reissues (Epic)
Can't really pick a favourite.
 STEVEN DANNO-LORKIN
I-94 Bar reviewer
(pictured at the Sheek the Shayk reunion show with one of the Royal Camels)
Not in order:
1) Hitmen at The Gaelic Club. Australia’s most hated band demolishes Sydney.
2) X at The Excelsior & The Sandringham. Both gigs killer! Ian Rilens music lives on as long as X are performing.
3) The Unheard at the Lansdowne. Not many bands can play this kind of music (stompin 60s garage R&B) but these guys nail it.
4) Summer Heights High. Controversial Australian comedy.You ether love it or hate it.
5) Radio Birdman at the Annandale. RB are always god-like in these smaller venues.
6) Sheek the Shayk reunion at Il Lupo's Birthday. Now !! ... I am loathe to include my own musical performances in my Top 10s but during this one-off reunion my guitar playing was simply breath taking and stunning. I looked really good too.
7) Do the Pop Redux. Dave Lain-compiled 2 CD comp of Oz Rawk.
8) Thought Criminals with TV Smith at the Annandale. Especially great was TV Smith's Adverts set backed by the TCs.
9) White Stripes. Icky Thump. 2LP. Simply a great piece of work, try and have a listen to this.
10) Hitmen reissues on Shock/Savage Beat. Long overdue reissues, great bonus tracks. Mr Laing has done a most excellent job in putting this together.
Honorary mentions: Rough Tough + Real – 3DVD set of Australian 70s Wrestling, X At Home With You reissue , Sex Pistols 30th Anniversary vinyl remasters , Dictators 2lp Every Day Is Saturday, My Divinrites Christmas comp, Lethal Weapons CD , Roxy London WC2 6 CD SET, Shutdown 66 live. Birdman / Gurus / Stems at the Enmore. Shabby sound but a good night anyways. Saints I’m Stranded Great Australian Albums DVD.Bargearse DVD, Australian public sack that yuppie bastard John Howard (too bad he still gets paid)
 MURRAY ENGLEHEART
Sydney rock writer
Columnist, The Brag
Loves, hates and horrors of 2007
1) The death of Lobby Loyde continued a deeply disturbing trend among the Oz rock old guard. Loyde pioneered the use of volume as both a tool and texture in much the same way and at much the same time Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were on the other side of the planet which was a hell of a long way away in those pre-Internet and MySpace days. More importantly, Lob understood music, how it breathed and moved and knew how to make it do both as his own production work showed over the years with everyone from X to The Sunnyboys. Of course had he gotten the gig to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple he many never have gotten to show his production hand at all...
2) News of Billy Thorpe’s sudden death stopped me in my tracks when I heard very early that morning. Thorpe seemed immortal and unstoppable. He was “Mr Loudness” in the seventies, the king of Sunbury, an Australian cultural icon who’s fifth career in the business was powering along when I last sat down with him in December 2006. He was the guy who commandingly organised benefits for others, the last man leave the ship, the rock, the grounding point but was unexpectedly ushered upstairs several months before his life long buddy, Lobby Loyde who had been ill for some time. That really gave me pause for thought.
3) I was never a huge fan of Syd Barrett’s much acclaimed solo work to be honest. But it was a great shame that his amazing talents as a guitar player, as evident on Floyd’s Piper slab, was seemingly lost in the endless coverage of his troubled, fractured times in the wake of his passing. The fact is that as a guitar player the man was every bit as innovative as John Coltrane was on sax. Go listen again and see for yourself.
4) The Saints’ reunion at Pig City in Brisbane. Simply too cool. Ed Kuepper’s guitar sounded like a World War two bomber. No small feat.
5) Comets On Fire’s performance at the Gaelic Club in Sydney was some wild, wild stuff. They moved way beyond any (pre Weirdness) Stooge influences into a blissful soaring guitar interplay of incredible ever heightening intensity that was closer to the three guitar front line of a Free Birding Lynyrd Skynyrd tackling the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s jaw droppingly intense, Inner Mounting Flame than anything else. Truly exhilerating stuff.
6) We hope that 2007 will mark the end of the use of the term “indie”. As a musical descriptor, what on any God’s earth does it mean? Anyone? Hmmm?
7) I’ve never been a huge fan of Ronnie James Dio era Sabbath - way too much fluff and dungeons and dragons’ drama for this aural palate - but the Heaven and Hell show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre was some powerful and impressive shit. The sound was such that, like starting near a huge fire, you could actually feel it on your face and in your gut and the staging with, at one point, a castle with cross shaped windows that had light pouring through them, were the studs on a very full metal jacket.
8) The pre 2007 Stooges had it all didn’t they? Three of the most perfect moments of gleefully thought free, totally instinctual, ID and superego driven rock n’ roll slabs of all time. Then came the reunion effort, The Weirdness and we winced and shook our heads in disbelief. Those who wildly applauded what was basically an average Iggy solo effort with The Stooges as backing band as some glorious - and of course utterly impossible - return to Funhouse form couldn’t possibly have been listening too hard in the first place.
9) The New York Dolls’ show at The Metro in Sydney proved two things. One, if it needs restating, “legends” who have been a massive “influence” simply don’t place bums on seats, a fact sadly evident by the somewhat undignified last minute ticket cost cut for this show. Two, put out a comeback slab if you want but please don’t think for a moment that that’s what people wanna hear in large consecutive helpings on what was your first ever tour of this country. Thank you.
10) Led Zeppelin from all reports and sound I’ve heard, were loud and hungry and brave at their much, much, much anticipated reunion show in London. The band that in their day could reportedly - and to Jimmy Page’s dismay - effortlessly outsell The Stones but were nonetheless forever positioned in the number two spot below Team Mick n’ Keef could have taken the soft option and gone for the relative hits and distilled Kashmir and Dazed and Confused into a neat five minute medley. Instead, they went the full nine yards and then some. And that kinda massive go forward has always gotta be respected. Not sure that taking that fire breathing dragon on a full tour is the way to go though. Hugely successful one off events maybe should be left as such. Legends are fragile things you know.
 ASHLEY THOMSON
Sydney punk rock nosebleed,
Kelpies drummer and
occasional I-94 Bar reviewer
Dimi Derro @ the annandale: i saw the first 3 gigs in australia by these french cunts, 1st small room, was good, 2nd little bigger venue band upped the stakes a bit, 3rd blew me away, at the annandale, nice and loud, these guys mix caveman beats with some very original riffs, best french band i ever saw along with holy curse.
Leadfinger at the hopetoun: well, i've seen a lot of bands, and a lot of bands are great bands and songwriters, but the big difference with lead is his master work playing rock n roll guitar, this guy is 100% musician, he plays lead like rabbits fuckin, he can really fucking play and really fucking rock, and he's a great songwriter, inspiring.
you tube: i find so many great videos on you tube, the yesmen, proton energy pills etc etc, i spend fucking hours watching and listening to stuff on there.
the death of the record industry: madonna dumped warners, she doesn't need a record label as they are antiquated, this signalled the end of the old music business, and the punk do it yourself ethos has come full ore, you don't need a label, you don't need radio, you don't need no mtv, god i love the internet.
my kid doing led zep's the rain song for his high school music exam: he sang and played it, some note perfect and other parts his own notes and arrangement, i was covered in goose bumps, well done pig.
emusic: the 2nd biggest online retailer for music, 40 songs for 10.00 US, and a great place to find hard to find stuff. i run about 50/50 steal music/buy music, pretty much the same as ever, like back in the 70s i always had tapes of mates records and ran off tapes for mates, i never buy CD's anymore, always hated em, MP3 and vinyl all the way for me.
led zep reunion: finally they did it, and with bonham's kid drumming, i still hate plants lyrics, and i hate him, but along with the beatles and skyhooks they were my most listened to band as a kid.
mitch hedberg, american comedian: so so cool, and pretty fucked up in his own way, god i loved his stuff, great fucked up personality, you tube him. course he's dead now, wonder if he's hangin out with bill hicks . . .
spokesmen for the NWO, my kid's mate's band: they have the best new singer in australia, and the best drummer, the bass player and guitarist are shit hot as well, they mash tool with punk and grunge, awesome live band, plus they think i'm cool for an old cunt :)
my life partner in crime, the indestructible carol: as many of you know i'd be fucked with out her . . .
 VINZ
Holy Curse and Dim Dero Inc bassist
2007 tops :
lp : -Beasts of Bourbon - Little Animals
song : - Poker Hearts - Driving
show : - Radio Birdman in Freiburg - including the drunk asshole... but
hey, he had bought us tequilas, before starting the trouble, right!?!
And no-one was hurt.
show (bis) : - The Drones, Corner hotel, Melbourne, March, 31st.
venue : the Annandale.
bar : World's end, Camden Town. We drove 250 miles to just drink there...
party : show and aftershow, Sandringham, supporting X with Dimi Dero
Inc, march 17th-march18th
beach : Redleaf pool, Woolharra... (Hey Ash, we're coming again, that ok?)
2007 flops :
music : the... what's the name of the Iggy and the Stooges record, btw ?
seriously : me prez! don't say "Sarkozy goes to Disneyland", say
"Mickey comes home".
PATRICK EMERY
Melbourne's most prolific bicycle-riding rock critic who's unafraid not to draw the line at Celine Dion
1 Pixies, Northcote Social Club, April. I refused to see a gig for ten days afterwards, the high was so strong.
2.King Brothers, Exile on Smith Street, April. Extreme rock’n’roll in its most deranged form. Link Meanie says he feels sorry for anyone who wasn’t at this gig – and he’s right.
3.Johnny Casino, anywhere, anytime. This man has one musical fault – he’s too fucking good. Special mention to the North Melbourne Town Hall gig – tiny venue, enthusiastic crowd, and Mr Casino in blistering form. Ouch.
4.Finally doing the three gigs in one night, all on the trusty deadly treadly through the backstreets of the inner north suburbs of Melbourne. Dead South (Rob Roy Hotel), Double Agents and Celibate Rifles (Corner Hotel), Shooting at Unarmed Men (Tote). There’s a full length review of this night somewhere on someone else’s hard drive. Good environmentally friendly stuff.
5.Crosby, Stills and Nash, Rochford Winery, December. Not a particularly impressive gig – Stills is eons beyond his best (and the less said about his physical appearance, the better), Nash is delightfully English (in all that phrase’s scathing euphemistic intensity) and Crosby seemed bemused by the whole thing – but to listen to Crosby singing Cut My Hair while my four year old son perched on my shoulders was a bonding moment I’ll never forget.
6. The Scientists, Esplanade Hotel, April. We’d gone to see Rodriguez on his first Australian tour in decades, and come away as disappointed as humanly possible. Determined to have something to remember the night, we jumped on our bikes and rode to St Kilda to catch the last half of The Scientists’ set. The wall of swamp mangled fuzz that greeted our arrival was almost enough to diminish the emotional pain of Rodriguez’s shithouse performance.
7. Modern antipodean psychedelia – Love tones, Dolly Rocker Movement, Sand Pebbles, Belles Will Ring, 3DTV and the rest. I’ve given up on my theory that psychedelia is the Hillsong Church for the inner urban punter, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of what’s on offer.
8.Celibate Rifles, Ten Thousand Days. Five discs of unadulterated excellence, and still it’s missing some classic Rifles moments. I’ve now met five fellow punters whose lives (like my own) were irrevocably changed by encountering the Rifles – and no-one’s complaining.
9. Some choice local releases – Downhills Home, Minor Birds (is country the new black?), Double Agents, Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (and it’s still fucking good idea to put this record on), Ed Kuepper, Jean Lee and the Ragged Dog (Ed is the man), Love of Diagrams, Mosaic (mathematical brilliance in a post punk guise), Johnny Casino and the Secrets, Old Clothes, New Shoes (it was good when I first played; it’s fucking superb on subsequent listens), Hitmen re-releases and Do the Pop! redux (someone give Dave Laing an Australia Day award, please) .
10. Ooga Boogas. The troglodyte progeny of The Sailors, Eddy Current Suppression Ring and the Onyas, playing music that’d make a grown rock’n’roll paleantologist cry.
JUAN MARI ITURRATE
Bang! Records co-owner, Aussie music fanatic and notorious 4am mobile phone caller from Spain (pictured above left with Kim Salmon)
Mmm... not easy to choose only 10 matters which caused a personal effect in my music world, but anyway, here they go... only 10 and not necessarily in this order:
THE SCIENTISTS: April in Madrid, The Scientists do what´s for me and many mates I know the best concert of the year. I remember a guy in the audience saying "hey!, it is impossible that they could do it better in 1986!!!" As well we had the opportunity to work the new brutal stuff from SALMON and Boris Sujdovic. Flames come out of the stereo when they sound WOW!!! And soon Tony Thewlis´ new project The Scoundrelles. Exciting!!! A toast for the legendary Scientists.
THE BEASTS OF BOURBON: It seems like in this decade of band reunions things are not really succesful (I could name sadly my favorite band ever´s new work... but I better forget it) But The Beasts Of Bourbon have delivered one of the hottest albums and best live performances in my head. Barman... what can I say? I feel an insane love for this band! They burn! (in and out of stage, they really burn!) Cheers!
BRIAN HENRY HOOPER: Thee Titanium Phoenix has recorded a new album with musician friends Mick Harvey, Spencer P. Jones, Tony Pola, Steve Boyle and Dan Luscombe (check that band!!!) It could/should be out already but it is delayed (put the blame on their fucking label) The new album is soooooooo good... A toast for Hoops (and no more drunken fistfights, I promise)
JERRY TEEL: I am, since long ago, a big fan of this fablous blues-noise master. Check this career: Honeymoon Killers, Boss Hog, Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls etc. A few months ago we met in NYC (see pic below) and we agreed to work together. Soon you will know the result in the shape of cd and thick acetate, doing his new swamp country hillbilly blues project, The Big City Stompers. A toast for Jerry, Pauline and Sadie.
PENNY IKINGER: Recently I had the news that she´s back in the studio. For us, her music lovers, this is fabulous. The Queen of Swamp Pop finally will deliver more music. Can´t wait to listen to it. I think she´s one of Australian music best kept secrets. A toast for Penny (if she´s not taken the whisky away in Heathrow airport again...)
JOHN NOLAN AND STEWART "LEADFINGER" CUNNINGHAM: These two legendary monsters of high energy guitar have given me some of the happiest moments of the year by letting me know that they are back. Due to different reasons they have been appart of gigs life for the last few years. And now they´re back (can you imagine John Nolan as sideman of Spencer P. Jones??? I can´t but looking forward to). And Stewart Cunningham´s new stuff burns intensively. A toast for these R´N´R animals.
LIZ REED AND JANINE BUBB: These two Melbourne ladies, with their encouraging support have been so helpful for our label! They are an example of what R´N´R work is out of stage. In fact, they have more guts and R´N´R than most bands I know (and I am very serious about it) Barman, please serve 2 drinks for my beloved ladies and 1 for me and let´s toast.
DRONES AND DIMI DERO INC.: From opposite parts of the world, but in my head very related and close. Besides of their personal friendship it feels good to see how the combination of talent and hard work still functions. In these days of internet downloads, record industry chaos and overinformation (in most of the cases bad information), The Drones are getting it and Dimi Dero Inc. is going to get it soon. A toast for these true musicians.
X: Steve Lucas, Cathy Green and Kim Volkman keeping the vibe alive. I haven´t seen them live but I have been told it is pure X at their best, and maintaining the deserved respect for Ian Rilen. You know, whenever I hear Neil Young´s "hey hey my my" and comes the sentence "the king is gone, but he´s not forgotten" I cannot help but thinking about Ian Rilen. A toast for X and Ian Rilen (wherever you are)
As previosly exposed, shame it´s only 10, otherwise I would include James McCann´s new gem recorded, The New Christs back in the studio, John Lennon sounding non stop all along the year in my stereo, Led Zeppelin´s return, Mick Harvey´s "two of diamonds" and a few more...
Cheers and Merry Xmas.
 LOU RISDALE
Gun Australian music publicist, Aztec Music staffer
Top Tens......
1. New York Dolls, Hi Fi Bar & Ballroom, March
2. Pixies secret gig, Northcote Social Club,April
3. Listening Post CD store, Johnston Street, Collingwood (Melbourne)
4. Greville Records, Greville Street, Prahran (Melbourne)
5. Motorhead, The Forum Theatre, Melbourne
6. The Drones/Witch Hats, Corner Hotel, Melbourne
7. Bellrays at Golden Plains Festival, March
8. The Stabs at Cherry Rock Festival
9. Witch Hats - everything they do, but specifically their Before I Weigh CD single.
10. Cold Harvest - Sacred Cowboys CD
Honorable Mention and 2008 prediction : Midnight Woolf...best band in
Australia right now.
 MICKSTER BATY
Off the Hip Records (label and record store),and father of two (Jack Link and Art Wylde)
1/ KING KHAN "WHAT IS?"
2/ JOHNNY CASINO AND THE SECRETS "NEW CLOTHES"
3/ THE STEMS "HEADS UP"
4/ HOLLY GOLIGHTLY "YOU CAN'T BUY A GUN"
5/ BLACK LIPS TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
6/ BELLRAYS LIVE AT THE TOTE
7/ JON AUER "SONGS FROM THE YEAR"
8/ BACKDOOR MEN "SODRA"
9/ THE HITMEN 2XCD RE-ISSUES
10/ CLASH OF THE TITANS TOUR
 THE BARMAN
"Whose shout is it?"
The following are in no real order:
New Clothes Old Shoes CD + Cowboys and Indians EP - Johnny Casino & The Secrets (Off The Hip)
Classy, rocking and cinematic. A sweeping vision.
Return of the Hitmen
Deluxe double CD re-issues of "Hitmen" and "It Is What It Is" (Savage Beat/Shock) plus they could be got live if you wanted. Hard to beat.
Again... - Mink Jaguar (Stop Records)
Mighty fine follow-up to their first.
Fuzz Machine - Boris Sudjovic (Bang!)
Experiments in fuzz by a Scientist. Monstrous EP.
The Straight Path - Klondike's North 40 (I-94 Bar Records)
Some background weirdness in the business world doesn't detract from this being a melodic and rockin' disc that covers lots of turf.
No Rest For The Wicked EP - Project Mayhem (self released)
Perth punks. Best "new" Oz band.
Do The Pop Redux - Volume 1 - Various (Savage Beat/Shock)
A reason to be.
X + Penny Ikinger Inc at the Sando
Superb bill. X, even without I.W. Rilen, cut a swathe. Penny backed by most of Dimi Dero was a revelation.
The Earth Is Shakin' - The Hydromatics (Suburban)
Will Not Be Televised - The Solution (Wild Kingdom)
Beyond The Sound - Powertrane (Motor City Music)
Triple punch of varied but great albums. From soul (The Solution) to crunchingly great rock and roll (the others.) Common denominator: Scott Morgan. Say no more.
Last Night I Met The Devil - James McCann (Bang!)
James McCann & The Dirty Skirts live at the Hoey
I've been under a rock. Both of the above were a revelation.
Live at the Esplanade - Lime Spiders (Figtree)
About time! An absolute monster recording.
Most People Are Nicer Than Us - Hard Ons (Chatrterbox)
Another monstrous effort. Harder than The Barmaid's logic. More abrasive than The Barman on a bender.
Heads Up! - The Stems (Shock)
Comeback of 2007. The Titans support in Sydney was super, pity I missed the Gong show and initimate Hoey gigs due to being overseas.
Various Live
Leadfinger, The Unheard, Johnny Casino & The Secrets, Radio Birdman
Various on Record
SALMON - Salmon, Jean Lee & The Yellow Dog - Ed Kuepper, From One To Another - The Darling Downs, Antipodean Screams vol 2 - Various, El Sol - The City Lights, Little Animals - Beasts of Bourbon
Various Other Shit
Jagging a Paid Redundancy, Bagging a New Job, Leaving On a Jet Plane, Birdman making the H of F, Good Times
|
 CLARE MOORE
Aussie drummer extraordinaire,
Solo artist and accompanist in Dave Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist
The Wagons Curse of Lightning cd...brilliant.... again
The Brunettes live at The East Brunswick...they did "Born to Run" as
an encore ...scoreboard!!!
Snowman and Batrider at Rubys Belgrave .... Hills folk didn't know
what hit'em
The Bewdy of Speed at the Black Box Victorian Arts Center........high
and low falutin' futurist carry on
The Darling Downs Ruby Belgrave........(see snowman)
Mark Fitzgibbon Trio at the Paris Cat...speaking from a musicians
point of view.... makes one want to pack it in
Grinderman/Nick Cave at the Forum superb!
Tex Perkins and James Cruickshank at Rubys Belgrave ....utterly
delightful, a top night out.
Mick Harvey Brisbane Festival ...too good.
Stu Thomas Brisbane Festival...pokerfaced in Brisvegas
SIR DAVID GRANEY
Eternal Oz King of Pop
The Brunettes, "structure and cosmetics". Genius lyrics and tunes and
the duets between Jonathan and Heather are great. They namecheck Alex
Chilton in "road song" which is the best road song ever written. (A
man and a woman keep waking up in new motels in the desert
surrounded by cute animals and playing music, sounds great!)
Paul Westerberg, "stereo/mono" I know its a few years old but it
will always be a classic. The voice, the lyrics. What a man can do
with rock basics, if he's got the mad spark to lift it to another level.
Barrage "hero or dirt", classic Melbourne 90 pound weakling with a
casio keyboard and a laptop.
the Wagons, "the curse of lightning" . How great a singer is Henry
Wagons? And such a band of characters.
Queens of the StoneAge, "era vulgaris". They can turn on a dime and
they have such great tunes and dynamics and lyrics.
The White Stripes," Icky Thump", I love that mad Arabic feel he gets
out of his guitar and the pumping Zeppelin like compression they get
happening.
Loretta Lynn, "Van Lear Rose". Another White Stripes project. And
another out of 2007 selection. I'm late on the band wagon.
Plutonic Lab, "codes over colours". Fantastic Melbourne hip hop
producer and drummer. Mostly instrumental.
Seeing the new York Dolls. I always loved David Johansen's solo stuff
(pre-Poindexter) and I learned a lot from him so I loved finally
seeing him perform.
Kaye Louise Patterson, International travel". A Melbourne piano
playing singer songwriter. i94 barflies can handle this sort of west
coast magic can't they?
Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby , " vol 1 , the new mixes". Music from a
seventies tv show with Quincy getting all these hot funk players
together to jam on the themes. I got this when I was looking for the
theme to "Ironside" which I am addicted to watching on Cable. (In the
first episode Ironside is shot by a mad modern artist and he has to
watch Tiny Tim perform in a dingy freaks bar as he looks for the
perp. Gold!)
All the best for 2008 to all you bar peeps!
Dave Graney
ROBERTO CALABRO
Freelance journalist, rock’n’roll soldier, I-94 Bar man in Southern Europe!!!
• THE ZEROS at the “Road To Ruins” festival in Rome. Long awaited first Italian show for the “Mexican Ramones”: what a gig! Fast, fun and energetic. In a simple word: GREAT!
• RADIO BIRDMAN “secret gig” in Tuscany. (Pictured above) Have you ever taken part in a secret show? And have you ever seen a concert in a straw warehouse? Well, it’s where the Birdmen took a weird and powerful concert last October. I was one of the 40 lucky people invited to the event…nice, isn’t it?
• THE HYDROMATICS “The Earth Is Shaking”: Scott Morgan is one of the most underrated talents of the last 40 years. The older he gets the better he is. The new Hydromatics’ album – along with Powertrane and The Solution’s ones – shows Scott at his best. In “The Earth Is Shaking” there’s Celibate Rifles’ Kent Steedman on guitar too!
• BEASTS OF BOURBON “Little Animals”: a great comeback! Dark, raw and inspired, “Little Animals” is one of their best albums!
• LEADFINGER “The Floating Life”. I’ve always considered my mate Stew “Leadfinger” Cunningham as one of the most talented Australian musicians and songwriters. His long career – Proton Energy Pills, Brother Brick, Asteroid B-612, Challenger 7, Yes-Men – is a proof! With this long awaited solo effort Leadfinger shows us his intimate and acoustic side. Beautiful songs played in the loneliness of the Sydney suburbia: pure poetry!
• THE STEMS “Heads Up!”: another great comeback! Power-pop maestro Dom Mariani gathers his old band-mates to put out a collection of 10 great tunes. 20 years after their masterpiece “At first sight”, The Stems are back. Looking forward to see them live!
• WILD BILLY CHILDISH “Punk Rock At British Legion Hall”: another garage-punk gem from this legendary and prolific British musician, painter and poet. “Joe Strummer’s Grave” should be an international hit!
• THE MAHARAJAS “In Pure Spite”: another great but underrated band. Swedish outfit The Maharajas are one of the most interesting/inspired 60’s oriented bands of today. They got songs, they got style, they got feeling. Do you wanna more?
• DOME LA MUERTE & THE DIGGERS: first album for the new project of the “Italian Keith Richards”, legendary Dome La Muerte (former Not Moving, the best Italian r’n’r band in the 80’s). This eponymus album is a mix of garage, r’n’r and punk with a touch of psych: quintessential rock’n’roll!
• “DO THE POP Redux Part One”: as always, another labour of love by Dave Laing who collected the best of the Australian hi-energy rock’n’roll from 1976 to 1981. A double-Cd full of known and unknown nuggets: 62 fantastic tunes by real Aussie underground legends. It’s a must…so buy or die!
With Klondike, post secret gig.
JEFF JAREMA
I-94 Bar columnist and Ugly Things regular
Jeff's column is here.
 EARL O'NEILL
I-94 Bar What The Fuck columnist
1 - Twilight Singers at the Metro, 13 Jan - Fantastic swinging energy and deep personal resonance, this was possibly the single greatest gig I've ever caught. Left me feeling particularly disinclined to go to any others.
2 - MC5 movie - A labour of love, a near archetypal tale of the rise and fall of the greatest rock and roll band to ever walk the face of the earth.
3 - Gallery of the Absurd - Satirical celebrity website by 14, an artist of great skill (check the botanical paintings and the pastiches of Toulous Lautrec, Bacon, Picasso) and wit, leavened with a degree of compassion you don't usually find in celebrity satire.
4 - No Country For Old Men - The best moviemakers around film a book by one of the best authors. Beautiful, powerful, deeply felt. "It starts when you begin to overlook bad manners."
5 - Philip Island Moto GP - Great getting there (from Sydney), being there, getting back. All the way back to Melbourne from the Island, there were more bikes than cars on the road, a brief glimpse of a better world.
6 - Soul music - I was finally able to listen to it again. My heart leapt for joy.
7 - Lauren Bacall is the most beautiful movie star who ever lived. I've been pondering this one for years and finally came to the conclusion in November.
8 - I moved into a really cool house, all polished floorboards and good furniture. All my mates who've come around say "Wow, this is a really nice house, you've done well" except for my mates with lots of money who already live in really nice houses and liked my old place cos they could ash on the floor and spill beer and know that it didn't matter.
9 - Decline and Fall, by Evelyn Waugh - laugh out loud funny and a beautifully elegant style of writing, so redolent of another, more gracious age.
10 - Speaking of laugh out loud funny, I got a laugh outa that election and the idea that replacing one conservative Christian with another would actually mean something. I got an even bigger laugh outa this. See you in church.
JOSS HUTTON
Occasional I-94 bar contributor, self-retired music writer, veteran DJ, guitarist with The Stripchords () and all-round r’n’r enthusiast. Visit his myspace for blogs and tunes…
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"You wants any chickun wid dat?”
1) Roky Erickson @ The Royal Festival Hall, London
What’s normal, anyway? That’s what I found myself asking when a beaming Roky took to the stage of the South Bank Centre, receiving a standing ovation from the capacity crowd, all of whom’s synapses were simultaneously fired by the world’s fave alien boy (sorry, Mr Hunter) and the Explosives. I burst into tears at the beginning of Splash 1, and have still scarcely recovered from the boy’s declaration that, “My name is Roky Erickson. I’m very happy to be here.”
2) Eye Mind: The Saga of The 13th Floor Elevators by Paul Drummond
Kool yule reading matter, in excelsis! Prior the arrival of the boy Drummond’s tome, which reveals 1000% more info than has ever been available about the ‘Elevators before, my personal ‘year of the Rok’ frenzy was fuelled by his June gig, the DVD of Kevin McAlester’s documentary flick, You’re Gonna Miss Me, and copious explorations of the CD wares provided by the much-maligned Roky web forum. I shall say no more, buy Drummond’s labour of psychedelic lurve, NOW!
3) The Tearjerkers @ The Buccaneer Lounge, Memphis
Shambolic? Yus. Kick-ass? Indubitably. The best live rock’n’roll band in the world? Deffo, along with the Reigning Sound, longtime MIA nutzoids The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and yer vewwy own You Am I. A wonderful nite of free-flowing suds (Pabst Blue Ribbon for that gaseous haze!), hilarious bon mots from Mr Ross Johnson, good good friends and a rendition of the masterful Find My Way Back Home. Who could ask for more? Buy the Flipside Kid LP…
4) Zoot suit madness
The above pic may make me look like Col Sanders’ retarded cousin, but the purchase of that zoot suit is one of the best things I ever did. Following a turn around the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (Yowza! Wayne Cochran’s jacket! Yimminy! Johnny Jenkins’ guitar!) in Macon, I purchased said acreage of dogtooth polyester finery from a lovely Palestinian fella for £50, and a pair o’pimp shoes from his dad. Reet! The Slim Gaillard revival starts here, y’hear?
5) The Bad Detectives on TV
I wuz pleased as punch to see my cousin Henry’s band, The Bad Detectives – who have been going since 1975! – on the regional TV news this Autumn. The BDs were shown playing their top tune Surfing On The Severn Bore, as folks rode past the camera on the reverse tidal wave which shoots down the river Severn to the sea several times per year (and prompts much drunken malarkey). Proud, proud, proud I wuz! Check ‘em out at www.baddetectives.co.uk
6) Losing my job
Not summat that peeps would normally put in their rundown of the year’s best moments, I know! I gots laid off WHILE ON HOLIDAY IN MEMPHIS, returning to a letter that was sitting alongside the utility bills on the doormat. Gah, you coulda knocked me down wiv a feather. However, a few hard months later, I’m now looking back on losing that nightmare job as a kinda once-inna-lifetime favour from the numbskulls who ran the company, especially when I’ve now got the first really good job I’ve ever had. Schweet!
7) Fender Champion 600
Want amazing tube amp tones at front room-friendly volume? You do? Then dig that two-tone tolex, check the price twice, and plump for Fender’s awesome reissue of its stack-killing, single-ended, 6” speaker combo from 1949, the precursor to the evergreen Champ. Chinese-built, with the crappy tubes that entails, but here’s a whole loada Class A sound for £100! Add a reverb pedal and, with single coil guitars, it’s tone heaven – responsive ain’t the word!
8) The Only Ones @ Bristol Academy
Oh, my gawd, were they ever great! Peter Perrett now looks, as my pal Andy put it, like an old Italian lady of indeterminate age, and his voice has gorn whispery from crack abuse, but he still commands the stage with ease. Mike Kellie, who’s gotta be pushing 70, appears like a cigar store Injun made flesh, whereas Alan Mair is remarkably well-preserved, and John Perry IS Farmer Giles, but all of The Only Ones’ beauty, cruelty and flair is still intact. The last song of the encore: Why Don’t You Kill Yourself. Oh, how we laughed, not least for Perrett’s pre-tour revelation that he’d kicked out houseguest Pete Doherty for being too much of a junkie, quipping, “In my day, being a drug dealer was a respectable fuckin' profession”! Now, that is class, of a most peculiar sort!
9) The house of ROCK!
Since I left home, I’ve moved 18 times. And seeing as most of wot I own is books, rekkids and music equipment, that ain’t no bleedin’ fun! After a year of ups, downs and sideways moves, Mizz Nadia and I finally managed to get on the incredibly expensive UK property ladder, buying a lovely little two-bed Victorian terraced house in Bath. And it’s made of ROCK!!!! No brick for us, nossir, just Bath Stone!!!! Now we’ve gotta spend the next 25 years paying for it…
10) Songs The Bonzo Dog Band Taught Us – Various Lunatics
As befits a man of indeterminate age, with absolutely no interest in reading music press gunk like MOJO, et al, my diet of sounds during 2007 has been wild’n’wooly, limited by a shortage of funds and a disinclination to leave the house. Car boot sales, charity shops, web lists and the odd trip to a strange little backroom rekkid fayre in Bristol have turned up a cornucopia of rhythm’n’blues, reefer jazz and oddball soul 45s & LPs, but this comp of 1920s & 30s British dance band ditties has informed the whole of my annum. From the simple, joyful strains of Hunting Tigers Out In India (Yah), to the frankly worrying The Flies Crawl Up The Window, a whole alternate universe awaits within!
CHRIS "KLONDIKE" MASUAK
Guitarist Hitmen, Klondike's North 40 and Radio Birdman. Australian Music Hall of Famer, Rock God.
Worst Fucking Year in History... Divorce, death(s), debacle, betrayal, tragedy, infamy, scumbaggary, and the like. Alhamdulillah!
Best gigs... The Hitmen. If you weren't there, Shut The Fuck Up!
Nicest musical surprise of the year... Mick Medew and The Rumour. Power, grunt and grunge...the oomph of the new with the magic of old.
Playlists of the year... Punker and Kenzo's compilations. Magical, exciting, reinvigorating.
Reunion of the year #1... Andrew "Mort" Bradley, in Texas.
Reunion of the year #1 too... Kenzo, in San Diego.
Troupers of the year... Dollhouse in Europe and The Lazys in Oz, who played each, every, and any gig like it's the biggest of their careers. Thanks for the jams!
Hardest Working Man in Showbiz... After 15 years in the boondocks it's still Johnny Kannis. Rivets popping out and all. Anyone who says otherwise is A Complete Piece Of Shit.
DVD's on high rotation... The complete series of Black Books.
On the turntable... Madeleine Peyroux.
Equipment wish... A wall of Fender Vibro Kings. That don't blow up after three consecutive gigs. And, the money to pay for the Lake Placid Blue Jazzmaster that they made for me, once and for all. Hint.
Tossers of the year...Publishers. What do they actually do, anyway????? They could kick in for aforementioned guitar, at least.
Joys in a year that truly sucked...My fantastic boys, being dumb ass lucky to be playing guitar in some seriously rocking bands, digging everyone that had a great time listening to it, and my precious handful of friends and lovers. As salaamu alaikum.
Way cool situation to be in...Copping great reviews for all three bands in the same year: Klondike's North Forty, The Hitmen, and Radio Birdman.
Superhero of the year...Engineer Greg Clarke, for pulling the KN40 project out of the crapper and proving that you can raise the dead.
RON SANCHEZ
Donovan's Brain bandleader
Career records co-honcho
Philip K Dick – Voices From The Street
Who would have thought there was yet another unpublished PKD novel. It takes place in Berkeley, not far from where I worked for a while. In the 70’s, when I first discovered PKD, I found myself traveling many of the same paths around the Bay Area. He was always “coming soon” to Dark Carnival, the local sci-fi shop. Of course, he never did. PKD and Jimi Hendrix are the two most prolific dead guys I know.
Christopher Hjort -Strange Brew Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom 1965 –1970
One of those massive labor of love day by day accounts of the Brit Blues scene. A period I’ve always had a big interest in, detailed with first hand accounts from the players and fans. The interview I did with Hjort turned into a 9 part, three hour radio series. I just asked the questions and dropped in the music.
Radio Birdman – Bluebird, Denver
A good excuse to get out and see this part of the wild west. The band played like they cared, and the audience went nuts. The stay at the Halliburton Motel in Pinedale, WY was an experience. “The motel at the edge of town with no sign” we were told. Neat and clean, and very expensive. The grand tour of the National Parks was a major gas. Ever seen what a grizzly bear can do to a buffalo carcass?
Built To Spill – Gallatin Co. Fairgrounds
My third try to see BTS is results is actually getting to see Doug Marsch and co., This time just a block from home. We successfully avoided Camper van Beethoven, the night’s opening act. Don’t like ‘em at all. BTS did not disappoint, but it wasn’t the life-changing event I had hoped for. A great cover of Third Uncle and the drummer taking his kit down before the last song was over were the highlights. I’ll keep buying the records.
I think these were the only two shows I saw this year.
The Man reissue program from Eclectic.
My old pals finally get the proper historical treatment. Loads of live material and outtakes to flesh out the original UA releases. I was interviewed for a doc some guys are doing about these Welsh Wizards too. Great music from a load of incredible, underrated musicians. These efforts are dimmed, knowing Micky Jones will never play again, or share a drink as he’s incapacitated by a brain tumor. Fuck.
Free Bootlegs on the internet
I see some of my tapes being traded around, so I have no guilt downloading as much unofficial music as I can manage. I’ve also stumbled on some official things I didn’t know about, which I promptly order from ModLang.com or the artists. Gene Clark at Ebbetts Field is one of the major finds.
The Who – View From A Back Stage Pass
Don’t know if they got it right, yet. This first offering from the vault gathers a load of unreleased live material, and some things that are on official releases. The result is a killer double cd spanning the good years. We can only hope this is the first of many more It’s not like the Who mixed up their set list much after 1969, but when they were good, there was no one better. I could rant and rave about the Who for hours, but then you might mistake me for some crazy like Dr Billy. Best band ever…I got two of Moon’s drums sticks to prove it.
Robert Wyatt – Comicopera
Someone else name checked this one. Ever since I saw Wyatt and the Softs open for Jimi Hendrix, I’ve been a huge fan. This one is better than the last one, which seemed a bit random. This one is back on form. Why worship dead artists like Nick Drake and Skip Spence, when we have a live one here?
Vinyl finds
Karen Dalton for $.50 was a nice score, but the Dillard and Clark in the same stack was a welcome find. I don’t know why I didn’t by Fantastic Expeditions when it came out, or soon there after. The Larry Williams single for 35 cents wasn’t a bad deal either
The warm reception Roy Loney’s record has received.
We knew it was good, but the reaction has assured me and Den we still have ears when in the studio.
Karen and Ron Sanchez with Jim Dickson in the middle.
 PAUL BERWICK
Guitar/Vocals
Happy Hate Me Nots
1. John Howard gone
At last we were all looking in the same direction! I really felt relieved on the Sunday after it happened.
2. Beasts of Bourbon/Magic Dirt/Rowland S Howard - ANU Canberra
RSH was so good, just solo on an electric gtr...still unique and a really significant figure. MD were scarily awesome. BoB made me feel good and dance around. There were also some very funny Johnnies-type moments involving spittle...geez, they've "maintained", haven't they?
3. Bellrays - Gaelic Club
Jaw-droppingly good show. Such precision and passion!! All they need now is a killer single and world domination will occur (in a fair world)...Pink Fits very ably supported that nite too.
4. The Kelpies and Trench Gashes - Both at the Excelsior Hotel (on seperate nights)
2 reformation gigs by bands I saw a lot of back in the day when there wasn't much else going on in the inner city. Some footage of the Kelpies here. Another one from both of you please - maybe soon? What about Queen Anne's Revenge?
5. Team America - World Police (uncut)
I know this movie is old, but I just bought it last week. I laughed so hard (again) I was crying. Have you seen the spew scene?
6. Rockbottom James and The Detonators
I saw this band at the Empire Hotel in Annandale and was really impressed by their pub r'n'b . Double bass, a stripped down drum kit, gtr and singer/harp player, and they can all play really well...a couple of beers later you are in heaven and have no intention of going home. Rock and Roll like this always cures what's ailin' ya.
7. The Best Of Chess - Jazz
I was recently in a second hand shop in Fremantle and heard this being played. Asked the shopowner what we were listening too and if I could buy it, and was told it was a cassette and it wasn't available on CD. I wrote the title down and when I got home, ordered it thru amazon and it came to me a week later (on CD!) from a shop in Hollywood with a hand written thank you note included. The world is small now, isn't it?
8. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
First heard "rehab" and thought, hullo, here's something. The title track is altogether something else tho...excellent! I wish people in the media would get off her back.
9. Groove Armada - Get Down
Obviously not a rock type tune but its got something that draws me in. I feel like its the sound of walking down George Street (either that or those guys just like the sound of amusement arcade machines!), either way I figure its good street music
10. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
I love it that Bruce is still going! Radio Nowhere off this one has the same effect on me as IOU from The Replacements' Pleased To Meet Me...just amped up and sounding great!
 SIMON LI
Veteran I-94 Bar writer, troubadour, fledgling producer/engineer, (fairly) working stiff
Top 10 for '07 (in no particular order):-
X and Dimi Dero Inc @ Sandringham Hotel, Sydney :
A triumphant return by X at The Sando with new bassist Kim Volkman with support from surprisingly impressive Scientists/Beasts inspired/infused sounds from Dimi Dero (with guest Penny Ikinger) whose alumni/friends Holy Curse whom couldn't quite manage to gain a similar response from this veteran Bar staffer during their tour a few years ago.
X - At home with you double CDLP :
An incredible re-release of X's - At home with you, a truly classic Australian rock-n-roll album.
The Chosen Few - Really gonna punch you out 2xLP/Slimey Characters CDLP :
Long awaited for this Bar staffer with more previously heard and some unheard 'Few classics on 'Really gonna punch...' double LP with the entire Children of Tomorrow gig in Adelaide in the late '70s and on 'Slimey Characters', the line-up which appeared at the band's late '90s reunion gigs delivered some old and new gems.
The Pink Fits - Live 2007 : Having released their Fuzzyard Gravebox CDLP, the band built upon its live reputation at a number of inner city Sydney venues and proved to be one of (if not) the best rock-n-roll combos from/working around the 'Premier' state.
The Specimens @ Excelsior Hotel, Sydney 2007 : Two incredibly memorable shows at the Excelsior; where the band's respective rhythm section duo Adam and Brent, challenged guitarists Tim and Terry to show some energy.
UK Subs @ Empire of Annandale Hotel, Sydney :
Thanks to one of the female workers (whose fledgling young all-girl punk band this bar staffer later produced some demo recordings for and guest played guitar on demo recordings that he produced) at where this (fairly) working stiff earns his slavings, he was advised by the female worker to see the 'Subs whom were comprised of the original 'Subs vocalist and a local (Melbourne-based?) backing band and proved quite memorable.
Steve Young and Mary Gauthier @ Harp Hotel, Sydney :
Two incredible performances from two great singer/songwriters, the legendary Steve Young, the Alabama born and Texan-bred country/folk singer/songwriter (writer of songs recorded by country legends such as Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr and a-hem... The Eagles) on his third visit to Australia and the amazing Mary Gauthier from Louisiana on her first visit to Australia whom has fast built a following in the contemporary singer/songwriter scene.
50 Million Beers - Ashfield Skyline CDLP / @ Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney (Ashfield Skyline CDLP launch) :
One of (if not) Sydney's best/best named and most long standing roots music band release their classy third CDLP and launch the aforementioned CDLP in memorable style in person (and apparently for all the online world that managed to tune in via the bands website on the day).
The South Sydney Rabbitohs making the finals in the 2007 NRL season and Melbourne ('News Limited?') Storm then defeating (some bunch of scummy beach boys err...) Manly (whom defeated South Sydney in their only appearance during the NRL finals in 2007) in the NRL Grand Final.
The end of the disgrace that has been the conservative Liberal Party/National Party coalition government in Australia (for now).
RIP - Lobby Loyde, Dead Moon (bring on The Pierced Arrows), The Hellacopters, James Brown, Ike Turner, Buck Owens, Porter Wagoner, Hank Thompson.
Honourable mentions :
Wanda Jackson @ Gaelic Theatre, Sydney; New York Dolls @ Metro Theatre, Sydney; Dale Watson and his Lone Stars @ Bridge Hotel, Sydney; Fred Eaglesmith and The Flying Squirrels @ The Vanguard, Sydney; The Darling Downs @ The Vanguard, Sydney; Airborne @ Annandale Hotel/Gaelic Theatre, Sydney; The Sure Fire Midnights @ Lansdowne Hotel / Treat Me mean (?) CDLP; The Unheard (CD launch) @ Lansdowne Hotel; Radio 2SER FM show - 'A View from the Hill'.
TIM PITTMAN
Feelpresents promoter/record label honcho
Most played songs (old and new) this year
Amon Dull 11 - Archangel Thunderbird
The Church - Louisana
Dinosaur Jr - This is All I Came to Do
The Horrors - Sheena is a Parasite
Daniel Johnson - Honey I Sure Miss You
Toots & the Maytals - Funky Kingston
Pissed Jeans - A Bad Wind
The Shins - Phantom Lib
Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
Tumbleweed - Healer
Most played albums (old and new) this year
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Built to Spill - You in Reverse
The Church - Deep in the Shadows (The Classic Singles Collection)
Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
Ed Kuepper - Jean Lee & the Yellow Dog
LOW - Drums & Guns
Menomena - Friend & Foe\
The Saints - Prehistoric Sounds
Spoon - Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga
Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971
 KEN SHIMAMOTO
Part-time scribe
Full-time resident of Fort Worth
Shimamoto Five-Oh
I turned 50 years old this year, and celebrated by playing a show with a Stooges cover band I'm in at my favorite rawk dump (which closed its doors three months later). I turned down umpteen invitations from a 'net bud to see the actual Stooges because I'd rather play than watch anybody, but this year I also started scribing for the I-94 again on an irregular basis, and reviewing local CDs for iloveftw.com . I would have seen Radio Birdman, but their Dallas show got cancelled and I don't make pilgrimages to see bands anymore. This has been a big year for contemplating mortality here, with the closing of several local spots, my dad ailing, and the death of a beloved pet. Watching the gentrification and yuppification of my town, and wondering which way the dice are gonna roll. But there's always music. In no particular order:
Stooges – The Weirdness (Virgin).
Others here might disagree with me, but if Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Thunders had made it to AARP eligibility, would we begrudge them the fact? I think not. Here we have the sound of the bemused Alfred E. Neumann, all grown up (um, old) but with his wiseass sensahumour and keen observer's eye intact. You should care because the Asheton brothers can still rip it up like no one else, which is why we're all here. Isn't it?
Carey Wolff – I'm Still the Darkness.
Scribing for the local giveaway rag here in Fort Worth, Where the West Begins a few years back allowed me the experience of being transported by music made by people I know – a rare privilege, I think. Former frontman of Fort Worth alt-country icons Woodeye, this crusty curmudgeon packs more pure emotion into his songs than any ten more "sensitive" singer-songwriters, moving folks of whom you wouldn't think it was possible to tears. His absent-dad saga "Nineteen Years" is my song o' the year, and the rest of the songs on this EP aren't far behind. Check him at myspace.com/careywolff .
Nitzinger – Kiss of the Mudman.
The guy who provided the behind-the-scenes songwriting punch for Bloodrock and wowed 'em at festivals like Mar Y Sol back in the early '70s is back, after surviving a stroke and cancer, with an album of hot playing and smart versifying (one smart scribe dubbed him "Texas rock's answer to Dylan Thomas") with production values worthy of his former employer Alice Cooper back in the Killer/Billion Dollar Babies time. A Big Rock Record for an era where such things seem anachronistic. Cop via myspace.com/nitzinger .
Patti Smith – Twelve (Sony).
When I saw La Smith at the Gypsy Tea Room (RIP) in Dallas back in Y2K, she made me a believer with a spiritual presence equal to the toonage – Jimi's Electric Ladyland and Trane's A Love Supreme – she spun before taking the stage. This album of covers -- including bedfellows as strange as JH's "Are You Experienced," Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," George Harrison's "Within You Without You," and Paul Simon's "Boy In the Bubble" – has that same presence.
Dan McGuire – Phosphene River (Prestidigitation).
Ohio poet of Unknown Instructors fame overdubs even-more-daring verse over mind-melting, guitar-driven heavy psychedelia of varied provenance. Cop via myspace.com/poetryrock http://myspace.com/poetryrock .
Dennis Gonzalez Yells At Eels – Geografia (Inner Realms Outer Realms).
I met Dennis Gonzalez, the Dallas-based musician-poet-graphic artist-educator, almost 30 years ago, and this year I played on a gig by a free improv outfit with one of his sons. Since the late '70s, Dennis has been traveling the world, performing music in the spirit of '60s free jazz innovators like Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. One of his groups, Yells At Eels, includes his sons Aaron and Stefan on bass and drums. Away from their dad, they play thrash/punk as Akkolyte. With him on this disc, the first release on Aaron's label, they demonstrate the maturity and depth they've gained since their last release (2002's Pictogram/Home Away from Home). Cop via jujuspacejazz@aol.com.
Little Brian – Thrash Funk.
The title is self-explanatory: instrumental Zappaesque jazzy funk by a Denton-via-Austin, Texas band that approximates what the Red Hot Chili Peppers would sound like if they were trying to play like they had big brains instead of big dicks. With a mind-melting Krautrock coda. Cop via myspace.com/thrashfunk .
Robert Wyatt – Comicopera (Domino).
Idiosyncratic but not obtrusively so, this quiet album of well-crafted songs by the ex-Soft Machine member and longtime politico-experimentalist contains the least strident and most eloquent musical statement against the Iraq war yet committed to shiny silver disc. Among other things.
Japrocksampler by Julian Cope (Bloomsbury).
More than any book since Clinton Heylin's From the Velvets to the Voidoids, this exploration of Japanese rock 'n' roll through the mid-'70s (by the author of the equally earthshaking Krautrocksampler) makes fandom (and record collector-dom) seem like a good idea again. This is musical archaeology of the highest order. Hear Flower Travellin' Band, Blues Creation, and Les Rallizes Denudes first and thank him later.
Wasted Orient DVD (Plexifilm).
American filmmaker Kevin Fritz's documentary about the first national tour by Beijing-based punk-rockers Joyside captures the thrilling release that rock 'n' roll was always supposed to represent, particularly meaningful in a country where capitalist consumer culture and "freedom" are only phenomena of the last decade or so (and where it's probably not even possible to view this website).
Also-rans:
Blood of the Sun – In Blood We Rock (Brainticket), PPT – Tres Monos In Love (Idol), Unknown Instructors – The Master's Voice (Smog Veil),
Addnerim – The Potential Threat, Fellow Americans – The Search for Numb (Big BOOM), Om – Pilgrimage (Southern Lord), Hydromatics – The Earth Is Shaking (Suburban).
Shows (all in Fort Worth):
Me-Thinks and Gideons, the closing weekend of the Wreck Room (RIP); Bindle, "live rehearsal" at 6th Street Live (pukka show is 11.16.2007); The Great Tyrant, Halloween at the Chat Room Pub; Kamandi at 6th Street Live; Stoogeaphilia on my birthday at the Wreck Room. (Yeah, I played on the last two. Whatever.)
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Are They Dead Yet?