Crab Smasher: Impossible Possible

MP3: The Moon Rattled Inside Her

One of this year’s most pleasant surprises for me has been Crab Smasher’s latest 3-inch release, Impossible Monsters, although ‘pleasant’ isn’t a word I’d generally associate with Newcastle’s noisiest duo. However, it was perhaps with good reason that Grant Hunter, the act’s hack of many trades, described this as their ‘top 40’ release.

One of the few genuinely interesting acts around town, Crab Smasher usually specialise in the creation of improvised, often harsh, noise soundscapes with both traditional and non-traditional instrumentation. I’ve likened them previously to ‘Black Dice on a lazy Sunday’ but I’m not sure that really applies here. ‘The Moon Rattled Inside Her’ is the third track off Impossible Monsters and it’s a driving, vaguely Kraut-rock, pop song. It’s one of their more conventional songs, and it’s all the better for it.

It’s coming up to the end of the year, and you know what that means. Lists. Too many, really, but I’m not one to complain (unless it’s about the vapidity of Q Magazine or Mojo Magazine’s Top 50 albums of 2007). I’m partial to making the odd list, I must say. But you can’t rush these things – often I don’t discover my annual favourites until well into the next year! Anyway, I was rushed into conceiving my top 5 list for Reverb Magazine. Deadline and all that.

I’m already having doubts about the list that was published. I mean, it was only mid-November and I’d only just heard Burial’s imperious Untrue. Anyway, this is what I submitted:

1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch [Paw Tracks]
MP3: Good Girl / Carrots

(Do I get extra scene points for having the same number one as Tim Hoey from Cut Copy?)


2. Deerhunter – Cryptograms / Fluorescent Grey EP [Kranky]
MP3: Fluorescent Grey


3. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime [Kompakt]
MP3: Silent


4. M.I.A. – Kala [Interscope]
MP3: Paper Planes


5. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga [Merge]
MP3: Finer Feelings

See, small lists are troublesome; I think my verdict was clouded by my notion of the magazine’s readership. This is Newcastle, remember. Pandering to a largely mainstream audience, I perhaps took a conservative line. With so few spots up for grabs, I guess I also wanted to showcase ‘the great expanse of my listening habits’. The top 3 will probably remain, but Kala and Ga x 5, I fear will drop. Both are great albums, no doubt about it, but probably gained their lofty positions for reasons already noted: M.I.A. shows my cultural sophistication, Spoon that I’m still down with your standard indie-rock…etcetera.

So I’m gonna put together a more extensive list. In time, of course. Off the top o’ me noggin, artists likely to feature prominently include: No Age, Shocking Pinks, Kes, Black Dice, Fabulous Diamonds, A Place To Bury Strangers, Future of the Left, Beirut, Electrelane, Feist, Patrick Wolf, Clipse (2006?), Kevin Drew, Jens Lekman, Animal Collective, Black Lips… I should stop ‘cos I’ll probably forget more than what I post.

Think I’ll make a list of my favourite older discoveries too, and maybe even favourite songs of '07.

OH, LISTS!

Party Time! Party Time!

I was at a party the other night, not a particularly cool one. To mask my indifference, to show my disaffection, I spent a lot of time watching futbol on the pub’s big screen. I did eventually get talking to this guy, though, who may or may not be a member of the Hillsong church. Anyway, that detail is just an aside. Speak-shouting, as we were, over the top of some bad DJ – my inner cynic nicely numbed by alcohol, he simply Mr. Nice ‘Teetotaller’ Guy – topic turned to music.

Now, I feel I gave him a pretty good ear-bashing, the type that invariably gets no reply or at best a polite ‘I have to go over hear now’. I don’t know the teachings of Hillsong (is Australian Idol really a subject for preaching?), but it must breed tolerance. Like Jerry Seinfeld attributing his funniness to Scientology, let me just thank Hillsong for this inane blog entry!

Seriously, the guy’s honesty was refreshing. It takes something to sidle up to me, dressed in my finest indie-chic, and proclaim yourself a ‘teeny-bopper’ (his words). A married man, too! ‘S Club 7, Britney, Christina… ,’ he went, on first-name basis no less. Fair ‘nuff. You can like what you like. We then talked about music downloading as a social phenomenon. I pointed out the disparate views from artists. Some, like Radiohead and plenty of indie artists, can encourage the act: to be heard as opposed to simply bought and sold. Not so major labels etcetera, who take the opposing view and shout ‘creative rights! ownership! moneys!’ at all sorts of inopportune moments. This is the only point over which Mr. Nice Guy and me really clashed. What he said was unforgivable but, more importantly, a sign of the black-and-white times we live in.

‘It’s like all the good artists want their music only to be bought, while the bad ones will just give there’s away.’

Oh my. In type, that probably doesn’t look too bad. But the way it was said, with one of those laughs that suggests the speaking of unarguable fact, really grated. Thing is, he doesn’t know better. It’s not his fault. I do wonder whether these ‘good’ artists have no objections to the buying of votes i.e. the buying of cultural capital i.e. Australian Idol.

Here you are, my friend, some super-duper songs redone quite poorly by struggling artists:

Bonnie Prince Billy - The World's Greatest (R. Kelly cover)
Nouvelle Vague - Dancing With Myself (Billy Idol cover)

And when she talked about a fall, I thought she talked about Mark E. Smith

I’ve thought for a while now that The Fall could be my ideal band – if only I could get started on their lengthy back catalogue! And that’s just the problem! From what I can gather, their output is remarkably consistent with something like 26 studio albums spanning three decades. Not that the band’s personnel has been at all stable: vocalist, lyricist and leader Mark E. Smith ('the most hated man in Britain' or angry enigma, take your pick) has been the only constant member, with there having been around 58 line-up changes. Smith, a notorious cynic, once quipped 'If it's me, and your granny on bongos, it's a Fall gig'.

It has always seemed to me that The Fall has no Daydream Nation or I See a Darkness; no definitive introduction album, nothing concrete for which I could test my compatibility with such a prolific artist. But I knew it must be. Being a fan of so many bands influenced by Smith and co. – Art Brut, Pavement, McLusky – as well as contemporaries of a sort, like Wire and Gang of Four, I knew. Plus the Jens Lekman lines featured in the title above have proven handy for name-dropping!

Having read so much about Smith’s unique lyrical style – apparently a heady mix of social realism, brutal criticism, surrealism and absurdism – I really shouldn’t have left it so long. I may be exposing a gaping hole in my indie-cred but it was only last week that I purchased (yes, this was far too important for downloading) my first Fall album. I settled on This Nation’s Saving Grace, which, along with Hex Enduction Hour and Perverted By Language, was one of three that I had narrowed my selection down to. And, whaddya know, I’m hooked-uh (in true Mark E. Smith vocal style).

Please, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favour:

I am Damo Suzuki
Bombast

Every Breath You Take

I was just watching an episode from the second series of Love My Way; it’s the one where Tom (Brendan Cowell) has a go at his brother Charlie (Dan Wyllie) for owning a Sting CD. To paraphrase, Tom states the obvious – Sting in the Police equals cool, Sting solo, uh, not so cool. Charlie bites back, arguing that the album in question is Sting’s first outside of the Police. Tom argues that it doesn’t matter; the CD would not have been around at the time, it clearly would have been vinyl. This, he contends, settles the issue, and he threatens to throw the offending piece out the window.

There’s something in this exchange that really emphasises, for me, the dynamic relationship between music and technology. This blog was established for my Technology, Media, and Culture class at university on the basis that it would provide a web log of my thoughts and experiences on an aspect of culture and its connections with technology. That I chose to focus on music looks, in retrospect, to be a bit of a cop-out. As a heavy peruser of blogs, music ones especially, I am aware of what is already out there and, while I have felt an urge to join the Mp3 revolution, for the benefit of my course I have attempted to avoid this line of posting (not to say it won’t happen in the future!). So far as technology goes, I have attempted to showcase the human aspect; in particular, the ways in which advancements frame our listening and consumption habits. How important is it to stay on top of things? At what point does society (or at least e-society) deem something uncool or outdated? Who exactly dictates these trends? When does borrowing become stealing and how does technology facilitate such acts? Questions no-one can answer, true, but they sure make for interesting discussion.

Class is winding up for the year and this is my summarising comment. What’s ‘round the corner? You'll have to wait and see.

Before You Was Famous

Marj Kibby, in her as-yet-unpublished article ‘The practice of music fandom on the internet’ (2006), reasserts the long-held notion that cultural capital is central to music fandom, and examines the ways in which intimacy and authenticity can heighten musical experiences.

She goes on to talk about how new technologies of communication, such as the Internet, have led to disintermediation in that they enable a connection between producer and consumer, musician and fan, without the need for an intermediary. And it’s true. Nowadays many ‘stars’ have blogs or treat their official web site in a less than official manner (check out The Whitlams’ Tim Freedman and his attempt to get back at the Chaser boys). As Art Brut say in 'Formed a Band': ‘It's not irony / And it's not rock and roll / I'm just talking / To the kids’.

It may be stating the obvious but is there any better way to feel a connection to music than to be somehow in direct contact with it? Like talking to your favourite artists or having semi-famous people reply to your blog. I don’t think there is, although sometimes, such as when it comes to friends’ band, it helps to have a little distance.

Funny I should write all this. Yesterday my sister pointed me to the MySpace front page, where it appears my girlfriend has become the face of the Laneway Festival. Now, there’s no way we’re going to miss that!

Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills

Come Away With...ESG

I must sound like a broken record going on about this kind of stuff, but…I must sound like a broken record going on about this kind of stuff. I mean, someone has got to say it. At the moment my musical taste is just so sample-driven. Call me a product of the digital age, I don’t care, but I dig the re-appropriation of sounds – old, new, borrowed and blue. Whatever. Except mash-ups which are 98% lame.

Well, on to today’s history lesson: ESG. The four Scroggins sisters - Deborah (bass, vocals), Marie (congas, vocals), Renee (vocals, guitar), and Valerie (drums) – simply have to be amongst the coolest coolsies of all time (please, please, please ignore what has to one of the most unappealing promo pics ever, above). Back in the late ‘70s, when all were teenagers, their mother (add her to the cool list) bought each of her daughters an instrument to keep ‘em away from the trouble of the South Bronx streets.

Somehow, almost certainly not by design, ESG became flag bearers for post-punk, no wave, hip-hop and house music. According to AllMusic, the group's only aspiration was to play their music – simplistic in structure and heavy on rhythm – and sell lots of records. And despite borrowing heavily from their influences, such James Brown and Motown, when it came to originality, the girls had it goin’ on: figuring people would know when they screwed up a cover, the group decided to write their own songs in order to sidestep audience knowledge of when mistakes were being made. Through a mixture of ignorance and bluster, ESG have been responsible for some of the most dance-able and purely enjoyable music out there. Their full-length debut, Come Away With…ESG (1983), is a classic, but the critical admiration never transferred to commercial success. ESG disbanded shortly after that high-point but reformed, to great surprise, in the early ‘90s.

And yet the monetary reward still wasn’t forthcoming. In their absence, their music had become popular amongst hip-hop artists on the look-out for samples. The likes of TLC, the Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys and J Dilla all made use of ESG rhythms and beats, often uncleared, and the Scroggins were left uncredited and out of pocket. The gals (by now middle-aged mamas) addressed the issue in the coolest of ways: by naming a 1993 12” EP Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills.

I don’t really know if I’m helping matters by posting mp3s of their work but I see it is as spreading the good word. I’ll be knocking on your door come Sunday. Anyway, this is a victory for the little guys. Check out a couple of tracks from the band, as well as one from indie-rockers Liars which borrows, uh, liberally from ESG’s ‘UFO’.

ESG – Dance
ESG – UFO
Liars - Tumbling Walls Buried Me In The Debris With ESG

When it’s all over we still have to clean up the mess

So, yeah, it looks like Mess+Noise, inarguably the finest free music mag devoted to Australian content, will no longer exist in printed form. It’s a shame; not only because I’d just recently started contributing but rather as the physical form has always seemed to me to carry a sort of reverence, I guess in some way linked to disposability.

Talk is there will be a substantial boost to online content and, hell, it ain’t even official yet (and may not even be the full story). This supposed move does speak volumes for the lure of the Internet though. Music criticism and journalism, if you’ll allow it to be known as such, are so integral to the culture cycle that it’s always a shame to see a genuine outlet fall by the wayside. And I’m sure you can bring the whole ‘online democracy’ debate into this mystifying episode but truth is anyone can blog, anyone can review. But I, for one, don’t want to read it all. Anyway, I’m sure M+N will maintain the high quality product it has become known for.

I’ve got fond memories of trips to Sydney degenerating into hunt for M+N goose-chases, and it’s true that, 15 bi-monthly issues in, my coffee table will never look the same again. It’s not the end, in any case. You can always print your own copy, right?

DIY: Damned If You do? Damned If You don’t?

Stolen picture!

Technocrats are always arguing the social networking capabilities of the Internet and, yeah, it’s difficult to not see the benefits of a connected society. But, for all these advancements, how much better off are we? I mean, Facebook costs employers countless amounts in earnings and lost productivity, MySpace promotes the collecting of fake friends, illegal downloading is destroying the music industry, legal downloading is plagued by DRM locks... and it all becomes clear the Internet is not quite the democratic utopia that many claim. I do not subscribe to the notion that the Internet is detrimental to music, the universal human practice, only that it impinges on the industry of music as we have come to know it. But I’m not writing here to launch a tirade against said industry; that’s all be said and done. I’m more interested in music’s role in the shaping of self and group identity, and how this has been affected by increased commodification and the growth of online practices.

I, like many, view music as an aestheticisation of experience. That is to say, through listening to music – and interacting with other people, their experiences and opinions about music – I establish, form and maintain elements of my social identity. As Frith says, ‘the experience of music is an essentially humanising experience, a kind of ideal of sociability, a way of making us feel what it is to be engaged with other people’ (Frith, 2001: 28). Online, I align myself with several web sites, tastemakers if you will, from which I also form part of an imagined community, made up of likeminded individuals. It is this point that greatly interests me.

There are some that view these new online music communities as an extension of older movements. For instance the late 1970s New York punks or the Bronx hip-hop scene of the same time; the former who communicated through handmade fanzines, and the latter who copied and traded tapes. This notion sits well with me, especially due to my participation in a number of identifiable subcultures.

More and more I find that I align my identity with the do-it-yourself ethic, which first came to prominence in the punk movement in the late 1970s. Maybe it’s the sincerity of unmediated wares that allures me, or that I’m simply defining myself by what I’m not (i.e. commodity fetishist), I don’t know. Perhaps I’m over-analysing things – as I am quite prone to do.

Back to this idea of online social networking, I’m interested to see where the traditional values of D.I.Y. fit in. As noted, I regularly attend D.I.Y. shows at warehouses and art spaces, which, despite a lack of conventional promotion, draw reasonable attendances. This Wednesday I will be attending a gig by hardcore act La Quiete from Italy, at Newcastle’s Sushi + Cigarettes gallery. Shows like these, and the small-time bands involved, rely heavily on the Internet, in particular networking sites like MySpace, which “provide an outlet for groups and artists to promote their music to a wider audience” and build up vibrant culture of online discussion about music where fans and artists of specific genres seek out likeminded individuals (Bennett, 2005: 338). The Internet, then, can be used to impart and obtain cultural capital, upon which communities can be sustained on- and off-line.

Obviously bands have been doing the whole D.I.Y. thing since before MySpace was even a twinkle in Rupert Murdoch’s overpowering eyes, so what else does the Internet give us? I suppose there is wider access to information for a wider population. And every so often, you’ll come across a site that will offer something innovative. Take the FatCat DIY Resource, for example. FatCat Records, on of the most respected indie labels, have designed a site to ‘help new artists and labels find out what they need to know to get their own work out into the world’. The resource features a large, UK-centric database containing information on various areas such as mastering, manufacturing, distributing and legal, including lengthy contact lists. It also includes interviews with noteworthy D.I.Y. acts, helpful links, step-by-step guides and the opportunity for artists/companies to upload their own data. It’s far from exhaustive but then you gotta take whatever help you can get.

[Bennett, T., (2005) ‘Editorial’ in Popular Music and Leisure Leisure Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4, 333–342, October 2005.]

[Frith, S. (2001) ‘The Popular Music Industry’ in The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Eds. Simon Frith, Will Straw and John Street. Cambridge University Press: New York, pp 26–52.]

***

I watched with interest part one of Marcus Westbury’s new documentary Not Quite Art, which aired on the ABC last Tuesday. Westbury travelled to Newcastle – his home town, my adopted home – to take a look at the art culture emerging from outside the supposed proper avenues. He contrasted our fine city with that of Glasgow, Scotland, and it wasn’t exactly pretty. The latter have experience a transformation from industrial city to a hub of youth art in Europe. We, well, we’re still waiting. Nice glimpse of Sushi + Cigarettes, though.

Part two of three will air Tuesday Oct 23 at 10pm. You can download this first episode here.

Dance to the Underground

According to this, a Sydney nightclub promoter has started a campaign to ban a style of dance that he says is a danger to other patrons. Apparently, 'shuffling', a 'mix between the moves of one-hit wonder MC Hammer and the frenetic steps required by dancing machines in amusement arcades' has long been a staple of the Melbourne rave scene but is only now taking over Sydney.

"It used to be in those clubs where people stood two metres apart from each other and they were all on ecstasy, so if they bumped into each other they'd give each other a hug," he [Tim Sabre, nightclub promoter] said.

"In Sydney, on the other hand, they try to do it on a crowded floor while drunk.

"You need precision and when you're drunk you lack that, so when somebody goes staggering around and hits the wrong people … it's not good."

Well, booze + dancing = dangerous. Obviously... WRONG! says DJ Peter Glass.

"That's their self-expression, that's what dancing's about," he said.

Duh, ain't you never watched 'So You Think You Can Dance'? That's an art. I'm quite pleased that this long-overlooked form is finally being recognised. Don't believe the smear campaigns.

Bad dancers: danger to society. Keep children away at all times.

Workinonit!

Sometimes at night, especially when I have things on my mind, I like to set aside time just for listening to music. I lay myself down in a darkened room just before bed and listen through headphones to an album in its entirety. The past few nights I’ve found myself returning to the same two albums: J Dilla’s Donuts, a new purchase that has hit me immediately, and Prefuse 73’s One Word Extinguisher, an album from my collection I’ve neglected for far too long.

The two are linked stylistically, both working as complete works as opposed to collections of disparate songs. I don’t want to go into back-stories too much but it is obvious that these two albums were pieced together with the utmost care. Donuts, particularly, runs like one long song. Now, I don’t claim to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to hip-hop – in fact it is the main genre where subserviently I seek recommendations – but these two make a progressive impact that I cannot ignore. Approaching some sort of post-modern urban terrorism, each album relies heavily on samples – vocal snippets, chopped up instruments, glitchy beats – but the heart remains in traditional hip-hop. The results haven’t changed so much as the methods. Much could be said of today’s shorter attention spans but in cases like these we have an intriguing statement for the value of unrest in the digital age.

I’ve been sleeping well, baby. Enough said.

[No, I’m not going to post mp3s because that would do both artists an injustice]

BUY J Dilla - Donuts BUY
BUY Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher BUY

***

In other news I have a couple of reviews up on Mess + Noise.

Big Pay Out!

With tickets to the Big Day Out music festival going on sale in just a few days I’m bracing myself for the inevitable torrent of slang-ridden MySpace bulletins cursing scalpers, and blaming everything from alarms clocks to online queues for denying one’s God-given right to acquiring tickets.

Spare me the sob stories. I’ve seen it all. Well, almost.

You see, in yet another attempt to circumvent scalpers and online reselling, the organisers of the festival have imposed a limit of two tickets per customer for the Sydney leg, held January 25 at Homebush. In the other five cities, punters will be able purchase up to four tickets at a time.

I don’t know just how good an idea this is. While the line-up this year is actually almost worth paying for, and I hate getting ripped off as much as the next person, it is a no-brainer that the festival will sell out and, yes, hearts will be broken, friendships expired etc. What I’m saying is, I much prefer a bit of people power!

An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald, entitled Fans sabotaging scalpers' auctions, claims “music fans, incensed at the apparent inaction by governments, event promoters and eBay in preventing ticket scalping, are taking matters into their own hands.”

Enraged fans, blinded by their own fury, are actively sabotaging auctions by placing fake bids seconds before they close. With very little legislation protecting us genuine fans from these dirty dealers – their actions being the very definition of un-Australian – obviously eBay, the bastion of free trade, is where we should vent our anger!

Seriously, what can be done? They’re talking about sending unique barcodes to buyers’ mobile phones but I’ve seen first-hand the trouble that even Moshtix - a relatively tame form of digital ticketing - can cause.

Is this a case of technology proving just as much a hindrance as a help? I even miss those middle-aged pommy geezers spruiking tickets outside the venue. Oh, the still exist. Somewhere in this digital world…

'Kin A! Making 'Head-ways

Anyone with an ear to the wind will know that Radiohead, Best Band in the World™, have a new album on the way – due to drop, in just a few of days, on October 10. With the sudden announcement of record number seven, In Rainbows, I almost feel old hat commenting on it.

That said, Thom Yorke and co. have well and truly pulled the wool over the world’s eyes with this, their latest party trick. I suppose not being signed to a record label, they can do anything they like – and it sure doesn’t hurt being the critically and commercially adored megabrand that they are.

The lowdown is, In Rainbows will be released in at least two but almost definitely three forms. The first to see outside light will be a digital download in which the customer, free-minded beings like you and I, will be able to name their own price. The most exciting format is a “discbox” including the In Rainbows CD, a bonus CD from the recording sessions, a two-record vinyl edition of the album, and a hardcover book. The discbox is available for pre-order from the band’s web site, costing £40 or close to $100 AUD, and every buyer gets access to the download. In Rainbows also looks likely to be released as a standard CD in early 2008 but, pfft, that ain’t innovative and this is Radiohead we’re talking about!

Lazy, I? No, just a little different

So, yeah, wow. I don’t really know what to think and I’ll reserve my judgment for the actual music but still it’s a pretty bold move. As the lad at Pitchfork says: only a band in Radiohead’s position could pull off something so audacious. And as I say: what does it mean for future album releases? In effect, the band have made a mockery of the usual PR circuit – isn’t it requisite nowadays for bands to get their promo on, only to have their music leaked at some inopportune time? Haven’t they effectively leaked it themselves, and asked us to pay for it (if we want to)? Subversion of the highest order! Or is it?

I've Lived On A Dirt Road All My Life

It seems like an age since I've been on the Internet but, at the same time, the past week has just flown by. It began with three shows in three nights - Battles/My Disco, Front End Loader (talk about piggy in the middle!) and M.I.A. - with some TiNA-related madness somewhere in the middle, and a heap of travelling. I presently find myself in Orange where I've had the chance to reclaim my thoughts and heal my body.

Now, I thought I'd post my playlist from Noise Annoys last Thursday, just to keep yezall in the loop.

• Battles – B+T [from EP C/B EP, 2006]
• James Dean – In The Hospital [James Dean CD-R, 2007]
• British Sea Power – Atom [Krankenhaus? EP, 2007]
• My Bloody Valentine – You Made Me Realise [You Made Me Realise single, 1988]
• Fabulous Diamonds – 2.03 [Fabulous Diamonds 7”, 2007]
• Matthew Dear – Deserter [Asa Breed, 2007]
• M.I.A. – Paper Planes [Kala, 2007]
• ESG – Dance [Come Away With…ESG, 1983]
• M83 – Run Into Flowers (Abstrackt Keal Agram Remix) [Run Into Flowers single, 2003]
• Caribou – Irene [Andorra, 2007]
• The Field – Silent [From Here We Go Sublime, 2007]
• Future of the Left – Manchasm [Curses, 2007]
• Eucalypt – Kepéla [Eucalypt/Sophora split, 2006]
• Warren Ellis interview:
• Dirty Three and Cat Power – Great Waves [Cinder, 2005]
• Dirty Three - Long Way To Go With No Punch [She Has No Strings Appollo, 2003]
• Alps - I Burned An Australian Flag [Alps of New South Wales, 2006]

And yes, despite it being possibly the worst show evah, from next week I will be returning to a regular slot of Monday 4-5pm - with a strict no longnecks policy...

Please people, stay tuned because this week is going to throw up some seriously good blogging. I can feel it.

What Light?

James Dean, the good Samaritans that they are, have allowed No 'Round The Corner to post another exclusive track from their James Dean CD-R release. Scroll back a few posts for an updated link for 'In The Hospital'. CHEKKIT!

At the (Radio) Dept. of Missing Songs

In late breaking news, I will be taking my Noise Annoys radio show to the airwaves this Thursday 27th from 8.30pm. The show will air on 97.9FM in Newcastle as part of the wonderful This Is Not Art festival. If you're out of town you can stream it from TiN radio.

Worth tuning in for - hopefully!

Like a child's broken toy!

I count myself fortunate to have been amongst the all too few to have seen and appreciated the post-hardcore stylings of Newcastle’s The Let-Go!. The band sadly broke up earlier this year, just as they were approaching some semblance of notoriety. A limited edition cassette and as yet released EP may be the only remnants of a brief but blistering existence, yet it is the blurry memories of a slew of late-night gigs that I will cherish mostly.

Fast-forward six months, and three-fifths of The Let-Go are now James Dean. With a new drummer and an altogether stronger sense of unity, the band has honed a more refined sound; still confronting, but with the onus on atmospherics and dynamics rather than the all-out aural attack of previous work. Only a few shows into being James Dean are already proving a caustic célèbre on the local DIY scene.

The first fruit of this new legacy is out now. The James Dean CD-R comes packaged in a delightful handmade cardboard sleeve, limited to 100, and the music contained is just as roughly hewn.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on the band as they recorded the five tracks in the studio a couple of months ago. I was also there on the night of their first show when they received a copy of the first mix, only to come away disappointed and somewhat disenchanted with their recording experience. So on to the drummer Travis' house (affectionately known as Tighes Hill Bakery) they went – where I was inexplicably absent! In one night the band came away with a self-produced product infinitely more satisfying than the one they had spent several hundreds dollars on. The results are spectacular.

With a 7-inch to follow soon, as well as a show with Italy’s hardcore heavyweights La Quiete and a slot at Brisbane’s No Culture Festival, James Dean look likely to forge a reputation as rebels with a very good cause.

James Dean - In The Hospital (mp3)
James Dean - Turn This Iron Handle (mp3)

James Dean @ MySpace

Money, it's a gas.

Today I felt a little frivolous and treated myself to a SpeckTone Retro iPod Speaker System (see below). Now, apart from its stylish veneer, it also sounds pretty good – but not too good, if you know what I mean. This guy knows ; it isn’t going to replace my conventional stereo anytime soon. It’s a little bit weak, a little too quick to distort.


That said, the Specktone certainly beats the old pair of speakers I’ve used for my computer for years. And in addition to an iPod dock – which charges and plays at the same time – the product also has an auxiliary input so I can plug in my computer.

It’s strange how the mediums in which we listen to music impact on our experiences. In the Apple store I tested the SpeckTone with three different songs – attempting to cover my musical spectrum. These were M.I.A.’s ‘Bamboo Banga’, The Notwist’s ‘One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You’ll Understand’ and Spoon’s ‘The Ghost of You Lingers’, however, I realised afterwards that I should have tried something heavier as that’s where it struggles a bit. But I’m happy. The friendly storeperson was happy. The best thing was he recognised the music I was playing…and there began the start of a beautiful relationship (one I paid heavily for!). Music, bringing people together.

OK, the real best thing is that now my girl and I can now cook in the kitchen to our favourite tunes. It’s hard getting a good sound through thick brick walls, so that’s where the new purchase comes in. Now we’re cookin’ with gas!

Double Yr Panda

Hear, hear. As if last week's Panda Bear love-in wasn't enough, I thought I'd direct your eyes to an article I found rather interesting. A few weeks ago, The Guardian in the UK asked Noah Lennox what his favourite piece of technology is, and the answer? Read here or simply read on...

What's your favourite piece of technology?
The Boss SP-303 Sampler.

Is it good for your art?
Most definitely. I had to rethink ways of songwriting because of it - in a good way.

When was the last time you used it, and what for?
I used it - actually two of them - in Vienna two nights ago to play some music with Dave and Brian from the band.

What additional features would you add if you could?
First off, I'd make them way tougher and more heavily built. I'd also want to upgrade some of the inboard effects a little and I'd improve the time-stretch quality for sure.

Do you think it will be obsolete in 10 years time?
I think it's obsolete already. Boss has a new version out, the SP-404, and the 303s use an already obsolete card technology called SmartMedia.

What one tip would you give to non users?
I'd say give the 303 a try if you're looking for a cheap machine that can do a lot with just a little.

Do you consider yourself to be a luddite or a nerd?
Well, I don't know what a luddite is so I'll go with nerd.

What's the most expensive piece of technology you've ever owned?
My iMac 65 cost me about €1,500. I'm not too big on mega expensive or fancy things, really.

Mac or PC?
Mac, but mostly because I'm used to it. I'd get a PC no problem. To be honest, I'm really, really excited about the fact that the next Mac OS will run Windows at native speed.

What song is at the top of your iPod's Top 25 Most Played?
I don't know for sure because I don't have it with me but I'm positive Amazing by George Michael, Tessio by Luomo (the Vocalcity version) and Il Grande Silenzio By Ennio Morricone are way up there somewhere.

What piece of technology would you most like to own?
I'd really like one of those top-of-the-line, classy coffee-makers because really good coffee is totally worth it for me.

So it seems fair to say that at the heart of the most innovative album of this year laid "obselete" technology. O how fast the world spins!

Pandas in the Wild

Animal Collective 'jamming'

Lately I’ve been listening with great intent to the new Animal Collective album, Strawberry Jam. Not only are they one of my favourite bands but they are also one of the most intriguing acts around today. There’s a tribe-like charm to the band, only strengthened by the knowledge that Panda Bear, Avey Tare, the Geologist, and Deakin have been friends since childhood. This sense of togetherness endears their musical meanderings, no matter how far off the beaten path they tread.

Strawberry Jam, which is only now seeing official release after months of Internet leakage, certainly takes the Collective in brave new directions; in some aspects it is their most conventional effort and yet it could also be classed amongst their most abrasive works. Unlike the band’s two most recent albums, Feels and Sung Tongs, it relies more on ramshackle electronics than abstract folk-interpretations. Among the other most noticeable developments are clearer, more discernable vocals from Avey (aka Dave Portner) and Panda (Noah Lennox), which results in fewer sweeping soundscapes, as instruments are crowded out by a more traditional fronting of voice.

Person Pitch

For me, it makes more sense to consider Strawberry Jam as some sort of progression from Panda Bear’s stunning solo record of earlier this year, Person Pitch - although Avey Tare, as main songwriter, may disagree. One of my favourite albums of 2007, it is a true backward-borrowing, forward-looking masterpiece. It seems many people share my love for it. Befitting the sound-file era it has arrived into, the album was not so much played out but meticulously assembled from disparate digital media. Lennox innately transferred his passion for modern DJ culture into something timeless, culminating in a sound not quite electronic and not quite analogue. It’s been described as a 21st Century Beach Boys album, and the back-story is almost as intriguing as any of Brian Wilson’s escapades. As Lennox asserts, it began with the trawling of the Internet for sound samples:

They’re all off the Internet. Almost all of them, something like 95% I just got from free sound FX sites and things like that. I’m kind of psyched about it being this real digital, internet age sort of album. And at first, I was like, ‘I’m definitely not going to release this on vinyl’. But now lots of people have been asking about it’s vinyl release so we probably will.

(taken from Rosequartz blog)

I can’t help but take inspiration from Person Pitch. The Internet is such a valuable resource for music-making, yet I still find amongst a large proportion of musicians an aversion to computer-generated pieces – as if it flies in the face of rock ‘n’ roll tradition or something. Noah Lennox, however, has shown in his work with Animal Collective that he’s not just some hunched laptop chancer – a stealer of ideas, some would have you – but a truly innocative artist.

Noah Lennox/Panda Bear

Have a listen to a few tracks:

Animal Collective - 'Peacebone'
Panda Bear - 'Comfy in Nautica' (legal mp3s courtesy of Insound)
Panda Bear - 'Bros (edit)' (courtesy of Pitchfork - note: you need to hear the full 11+ minute version)

[Panda Bear's Person Pitch is out now on Paw Tracks/Mistletone]

[Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam is out 17/09/07 on Domino/EMI]

Digital Handshake

A long held hate of mine – and let’s not even touch on my disregard for the term “pet hate” (one so skilfully avoided in this piece!) – is bad headphone etiquette. It’s everywhere. And getting worse.

Nothing pains me more than to have to unnecessarily raise my voice in order to penetrate the pounding din of another’s “private world”, or to witness a family on a Sunday outing having to drag along their disaffected “pride and joy”, who has not only lack of kind words for his parents, but no words at all, just a head full of “crazy rap music”.

When I plug in, plainly said, I’m considerate of others. That’s not to say music doesn’t override my social interaction but it certainly doesn’t make me unapproachable. A recent chance encounter with an acquaintance of mine furthered my thoughts on the matter of headphone etiquette:

Scene: Markettown, Newcastle

[Eye contact is immediately assumed]

Me: “How goes it?”

[We shake hands, unplugging headphones as we begin to converse]

Unnamed acquaintance: “All good, all good.”

[We both discreetly place our Mp3 players on pause, maintaining proper discourse]

Me: “What are y’up to, ol’ son?”

U.A.: “Just doin’ some shopping, and uh,” pausing for David Brent-like effect and nodding to his pocket, “listening to some Klaxons… You?”

Me: “Yeah, same – except,” pausing to add an air of superiority, “I’m listening to Art Brut.”

U.A.: “Never heard of ‘em.”

Me: “Well, you should.”

[We stare at each other for a moment, before coming to an unspoken agreement that headphones are to be returned to ears]

U.A.: “OK, see you later man.”

Me: “Yeah, take care.”

[Each pressing play, the conversation is officially terminated]

As you can see, correct procedure was taken in considering each other. Curiously, however, topic never strayed from the music playing on our devices, but who/what can I blame for that? Um, television?

Pull up the people, pull up the poor

I just want to add something in regards to my M.I.A. blog entry below. This forum thread should hopefully clarify a few of the points I've made. I don't know, some of it is still a bit shady - and can we have an interpretor for Diplo? Please?

Tha man, who in other news has done a kickin' mix for Pitchfork, does make a few good (intelligible) points:

• 'Mango Pickle Down River' was only meant to be a mixtape cut from the beginning.
• M.I.A. obviously never went to work with anyone in Australia.
• It was record label Interscope's idea to put the track on the album. "i wasnt into it.. they really like to play up the ethno world poor diaspora bit on this release..."
• The "real crook" in this whole situation might be another super-producer, Timbaland, "cause after down river with a rap had been in the cut as a demo last year.. snoops [dogg's) album had a track that was exactly like it.. beat box and didigeridoo. someone in australia pointed it out to me.."
• M.I.A. never had bad intentions for the project. The royalty splits on the track are apparently 85/15 in Morganics' favour. And finally...
  
• "m.i.a. says dumb stuff in public sometimes tho, gotta love her!"

The track as it appears on Kala:


And the Wilcannia Mob original:


The Internet brings a whole new meaning to the term "collaboration".

“I put people on the map who have never seen a map” – M.I.A. ’20 Dollars’

Sri Lankan-born rapper Maya Arulpragasam, or simply M.I.A., is castigated by some for her eclectic approach to music, which embodies the odd dichotomy of political/fashion statement, but generally it’s A-OK with me. With the recent release of her second album Kala, M.I.A. has continued to ooze Third World appeal while aggressively – albeit sometimes vaguely – addressing issues of racism and inequality. And she can speak, being the daughter of a Tamil activist-turned militant!

It’s all very post-colonial – taking in grime, hip-hop, dance-hall, baile funk, and bad Bollywood to name but a few genres – and, unsurprisingly, polarising. Kala was apparently borne from a world-trip, from which M.I.A. and producer Switch (and a few more names, admittedly) were basically able to appropriate the much-maligned ‘World Music’ label into something rather cool. One track on the album called ‘Mango Pickle Down River’ will resonate particularly with Australian listeners. Didgeridoos? Check. Cute anecdotal rapping from Aboriginal kids? Check. Crackly Keith from Wilcannia Street? No, it couldn’t be?!

But, yes. ‘Mango Pickle Down River’ is in fact a reworking of the Wilcannia Mob’s JJJ-loved ‘Down River’ of a few years ago. And by reworking I mean it’s basically the same song, as originally produced by Aussie Morganics, with some non-sensical M.I.A. vocals thrown into the mix. It’s all rather strange.

Now, as far as I know Morganics passed the track on to M.I.A. and her people (most likely mega-producer Diplo, who had a big hand in her previous album Arular and is involved with the Heaps Decent initiative to assist indigenous and underprivileged Australian musicians). I’m not one to point the finger but, reading overseas reviews, it doesn’t seem as though Morganics and the Wilcannia Mob (a number of whom are now behind bars, I’m told) have been appropriately credited. I could be off the mark but for an artist who has enjoyed serious exposure through affiliation with Third World struggle, it would be shameful if any exploitation has occurred. M.I.A. has had this to say in the past:

“It’s really weird when I did the Big Day Out Tour, in January (2006), we ended up meeting some aboriginal kids in Adelaide, so we took them to my show…and we made them watch The Stooges. I hung out with them all-day long. To me, there’s something about them that reminded me of Sri Lankan people…it was the first time I realised how difficult it is for Aboriginal people in Australia. Even to get them into the Big Day Out after party, me and my brother practically had to get into a fight with people to get them in…just the amount of segregation between black and white Australia is really crazy. I met this guy called Morganics, who’s this white guy (hip-hop producer) who’s a social worker, and he originally made that track as a social work project that he set up in the bushes with these kids who come from a really hard part of Australia. I think two of boys are in now in a juvenile detention centre. It’s really difficult for certain groups in Australia…because I got to see them first hand, this sounded like the most perfect thing I’d ever heard and I really wanted to put it on the map.”
[From Fact Magazine]

Now, hip-hop is all about appropriation – just witness Kanye West’s decrepit take on Daft Punk’s ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ – but it’s different when the subject material is unknown and, quite frankly, there for the taking. Just to clarify, I don’t think M.I.A. would blindly rip-off artists in such a way. I am, however, amazed that of all the international reviews I have read of Kala that none have acknowledged the fact that the song already existed.

It’s all very post-modern to me. In a way it seems as though time and space has shrunk, and what we have now is some sort of global meta-culture. Perhaps M.I.A. is a symbol of these changes. The very next song on Kala quotes the Pixies and samples New Order, so she definitely knows where her bread is buttered (indie-nerds like me FYI!)

Well, she’s touring again soon and I’ll be attending – I wonder if there’s any chance of an onstage reunion?

[M.I.A.'s Kala is out now on XL/Remote Control]

Nice Guys Finish Last.fm

As previously stated on this 'ere blog; the Internet, through advances in compression, data storage, and transmission technologies, has granted me independence in my pursuit of music. Excluding live concerts, no medium since the heady days of listening to JJJ on the way to high school has been able impart such a sense of shared listening experience. The choice back then was whether to tune into a certain station or change; most of the choice was abdicated, as Duncan and Fox (April 2005) state, to the programmer. It didn’t worry me so much back then, but therein lays the reason that I don’t listen to radio anymore.

For me, listening autonomy is the key. But it’s not the safety of my own collection that I crave but the danger of exploring new music. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that reading blogs and reviews can only get so far – and that, well, listening is the key to discovering music! Deep!

So lately I’ve been using the wonders of the interweb for purposes of good and not evil. Despite years of me dismissing it as a throwaway gimmick, I must say I’ve finally come around to Last.fm. It’s mainly the “similar artists” radio function that has sucked me in: it’s like radio that, more often than not, I thoroughly enjoy. I’m only a few weeks into my latest obsession and already I have upgraded the likes of Pere Ubu and Jim O’Rourke from my “yeah, interesting” list to my long, long, long “must-hear” list.

Oh, and I’ve added a little Last.fm sidebar to my page. Keep up-to-date with my musical life!

[Ref: Computer–aided music distribution: The future of selection, retrieval and transmission by Nancy Bogucki Duncan and Mark A. Fox First Monday, volume 10, number 4 (April 2005)]

...and the bleat goes on

I’ve observed with interest discussion in the music forum over at Drowned in Sound about, yep, downloading. This particular debate places emphasis on how this fine art affects small music labels. When it comes to downloading music files, I’m not completely sure where I stand. I sometimes feel as if I really am part of the minority who uses the act in the “try before you buy” sense. As a few posters remarked, there seems to be a mindset ingraining itself in people, particularly the young, that music should be free.

Me? Well, the Internet has allowed me to broaden my musical palette whilst limiting my consumption to mainly just the music of my choice. The process usually follows that I download an album or track from an artist, and if I like it enough I will buy it (I’ve always been a moralistic gent). And if I don’t, well, it simply isn’t worth having and I delete it. Looking back, if I was just relying on the radio and television, as once I was, I would not have found most of my favourite bands and musicians. Who loses in that? The Internet is a great promotional tool, so should artists expect there to be a "catch"?

I’ve been doing some reading in relation to this topic. Rojek (as cited in Bennett, Oct. 2005, Popular Music and Leisure Leisure Studies) draws continuities between file sharing and other traditions of resistance to dominant institutions of power in society. I can see that – and, like most acts of subversion, downloading has been coopted by the power holders (in this case iTunes and the like). But, come on, I will never pay for an mp3! Never! It’s all very well that music is floating between the virtual and the physical, and, yeah, it all opens up questions about copyright ownership etcetera – but no-one owns an mp3.

When you talk about your music collection, do you refer to your giga-bytes of digital squirt? No, thought not. Just like money can’t buy you love, mp3s can’t buy you kudos.

BANG! BANG!...Rock 'n' Roll!

I recently traded in my old PC for a MacBook. There are plenty of pros and cons flying my way, though thankfully more of the former. One of the big bonuses of the change has been the inclusion of GarageBand software.

Back in high school I dabbled in AcidPro, EJay and music-making programs of that ilk. Mind you, this was before the Evry1 can b a DJ!!1 age. A friend and I collaborated under the moniker of Stylus to self-release two sub-Avalanches/DJ Shadow cut’n’paste masterpieces.

Since then I’ve had limited experience with the gear that every musician loves to hate (and vice-versa): ProTools. It’s fun.

I was thinking of all these programs in relation to my last blog post. While they may not have the romance of the ol’ four track or dictaphone (!), these tools do breed a certain DIY ethic. Again, there are pros and cons, and it all comes down to the statement “anyone can make music”. Cool, my girl and I can record our gratuitously lo-fi demos with a minimum of fuss and technological know-how, and my punk neighbour can record his gratuitously swear-filled diatribes. Power in the wrong hands…

I’ve heard stories about how some high-profile bands have recorded entire albums straight to computer. I don’t know where I stand on that. All I know is that it is rather easy. Below is a song I wrote, recorded - and promptly forgot about - in under an hour. I might update it later.

Music scene is crazy, bands start up each and every day

When browsing the interweb, as I do too much, you’re bound to come across bands. Band and bands and bands and bands. For the tireless critic it becomes an endless task cutting the credible from the in-crowd cool, extricating the extraordinary from the everyday expanses. Some bands you won’t look twice at, and I would argue that the Internet has bred this dismissive streak in me.

Of course, I can hardly remember a time without the Internet. My musical coming-of-age has coincided so uniformly with the arrival of the digital era, that for as long as I can remember I have been tempted to find a way of successfully incorporating the stuttering sound of a dial-up modem into the perfect three-minute pop song.

Indie-media, forums, blogs, it is all second nature really. I have favourite bands in Sweden, Germany, Japan and Iceland, which is a great advertisement for globalisation yet still I sometimes pine for the simpler times - like the ones much-loved by Today Tonight viewers. Reading Michael Azerrad’s ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’, however, it becomes clear that while theoretically simpler these times were in no way easier for aspiring bands.

Azerrad’s book chronicles the careers of a number of American indie underground acts between the years of 1981 and 1991, including such luminaries as Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jnr. and Hüsker Dü. Most of these artists had little mainstream success at the time, but were later credited as having had an enormous influence on what is now deemed alternative or indie rock. Any recognition was attained through largely DIY means; that is, constant touring and independently released records.

Now, the Internet has opened up a whole new avenue for promotion. Everyone knows the stories behind web-sensations like Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen. With new technologies it seems, just like anyone can be an author, anyone can be a musical artist.

A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of interviewing the venerable Warren Ellis, the violinist renowned for his contributions to the Dirty Three, Nick Cave’s Grinderman and Bad Seeds.

The full story can be found here. I also put together a piece for my TiN Radio show featuring sections of the interview interspersed with the music of the band. I figured I’d let the world listen in, whilst at the same time testing out some new alien technology. Win-win, really.

Have a listen.

There is no around the corner anymore…

Well, that was a misleading headline wasn’t it? I can assure, I ain’t goin’ nowhere fast.

But the time has come for me to justify the existence of this web log.

First of all the title, No ‘Round the Corner, is taken from a song by The Evens, comprising of none other than Ian MacKaye (of Fugazi, formerly of Minor Threat) and his partner Amy Farina. For me, the said track has connotations lamenting (and lambasting) the effect of globalisation on many aspects of modern society. The digital age has made it so easy to traverse the world that what’s local can be overlooked and, indeed, the concept of what is around the corner has changed dramatically.

In February of this year I was lucky enough to witness the band when they put on a small show in my hometown of Newcastle. There, in the DIY surrounds, the seeds of this blog were sown, but it wasn’t until much later that they came to fruition. In fact, it’s fair to say I’ve been forced into it! (What would Ian think?)

My writings here will take on a predominantly musical bent; with further emphasis on the meeting points between technology and culture. As a student, part-time writer, and full-time citizen of the Internet, I feel I have something to contribute.

In introducing myself, let me point you in the various directions of my scattered soul:

• I have a weekly radio slot on TiN Radio called Noise Annoys.
• I regularly write for FasterLouder.
• I also contribute to Newcastle's own Reverb Street Press.

And that's just the start!

Join me as I explore ALL corners.

"I yank my eyebrow into a question"

Everyone in the blogosphere (and beyond) knows by now that the new Liars album has leaked. What many may not know is that the band don’t really care. Last week I had the amazing honour of interviewing Angus Andrew, the six-foot-beyond Melbourne-born, singer and general noise-bringer of the three-piece.

Among other things he touched on the early leak of Liars (due out 20/08/07 on Mute Records). I asked if the circumstances frustrated him it all:

No, not at all. It’s actually a pretty nice thing to happen I think. It’s cool that people care enough to want to get in early, I suppose.

I guess it used to be like you were excited that a record was coming out and you’d got to the store and buy it straight away, but that’s just changed. Now people are excited about when they can get it leaked first. I think it’s just the changing way that people look at music.

So much for downloading killing the record industry, huh? But then, I guess Liars have never really been the norm. Although, from the interview, it does seem Angus and co. have tired of the "difficult" tag. This definitely comes across in the new album.

I’ll post the full transcription at a later date, but let me just say that Angus is a dude. Such a nice guy. Which contrasts nicely with the tortured artist image you might gather from the trio’s sonic palette. He is a worthy read, I tell you. The full story will be available in a few places so I’ll keep you all informed.

For now, watch the new video for the ‘Plaster Casts of Everything’ single and be excited, very excited (assuming, unlike me, that you haven’t heard the leak):



[Liars is out 20/08/07 on Mute Records]
* Photo Credit: Joe Dilworth (2007)

Brought to you by the letter W

Last night on the train home from Sydney I got thinking about my travelling habits, which, naturally, started me thinking about my listening habits. My trip was slap-bang in the middle of peak afternoon thoroughfare so I, being the savvy, disaffected youth that I am, put the headphones on and plugged into some musical escapism.

My mp3 player (which is not actually mine but that’s another story, and quite possibly another blog entry), however, is nearing the end of its tether. Buttons are sticking and navigation is only possible in an upward song-by-song fashion. Usually I just stick it on random and hope that my music taste doesn’t let me down, but this time I felt the call of the full album experience.

The two hour and 43 minute journey tested me, though I didn’t flinch in the face of technology. I fell asleep, read Catch 22 and the street presses, and did not press a button – and it was all brought to me by the letter W.

The playlist went something like this:

Why? > Wire > Witch Hats > Wolf Parade > The Wrens

As I reached my front door, the final strains of ‘This Is Not What You Had Planned’ from the The Wrens’ marvellous Meadowlands album faded out, and I was left admiring my ability to compartmentalise my music collection.


The Wrens at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ (photo: Patrick Glennon).

The Wrens Mp3s

Oh Lord! When? How?

I'm not much for greetings, but this here is a blog, or more specifically the first post in a blog.

HELLO

As with many things in life, I'm a little late to the blogosphere, especially given that I enjoy music and write endlessly. But I've found my calling. Which means you have too. Check back for words and goodies.

Regards,
Carlos