Dogs On Swings

The internet is pretty good, yes?

Update:

There's a few things on the boil worth mentioning:

1. I'll be giving an artist presentation at this year's This Is Not Art festival in Newcastle as part of Sound Summit. My workshop will be at 4pm @ Renew Newcastle HQ (3 Thorn St). I'll be mainly talking about doom/drone and Ableton. It's going to be fun and easy-going; you don't need to be a druid or a computer person. I'll also be floating around the festival and popping up on a few panels.
2. My band No Anchor will playing that night as well at The Cambridge Hotel for the TINA showcase. (We're also supporting Zeni Geva on Sept 24th up here in Brisbane = MAXIMUM HELL YES!)
3. I'm working on some new stuff. I think I might put something out soon, something small and easy.
4. I'm going on tour again in November.

That is all.

Thank god.

And satan. And any other associated occult/spiritual forces that guide my hands across the midi-controller.

Currently Reading:

AXXONN Signs!

My friend/ally Tom Hall just signed AXXONN to local Brisbane label Useless Artists. This makes me pretty happy for a few reasons, let me list them:

(a) I used to play in AXXONN and when I decided I couldn't do it anymore, I didn't want the project to end. I just couldn't do it anymore. I haven't heard the completed album but some of it is taken from a sessions Tom and I did on tour in Rotterdam at WORM studios and some of it may even hark back to pre-tour session we did at his house. I've been trying to stay out of it; partly because I like surprises; partly because I think when you leave a band it's important to not be a fucking douche about it. You just gotta get on and let other people get on. Glad Tom got on.

(b) Useless Artists is partially run by Jesse from Fans and I like the guy. I would have signed up with him too. I now think of him as the foster dad of my child, the one I abandoned.

(c) Got pretty loose when the contract was signed:

Currently Reading:

I think my contribution to this is pretty self-evident.

Sodium-Vapour 24.7.2010 from Richard Byers on Vimeo.

Tourism #3 (The End)

# SYDNEY

Oh Sydney, you wretched drab weirdo, we meet again. It's been a good long while but I love you and I hate you and you love and hate me back don't you. Thankfully, I'm in the sheltered workshop of New Weird Australia. They treat me well, better than I play this night where unexpected (but not all together unwelcome) carnage visits my laptop and the PA. Stu tells me he likes it.

The Red Rattler is beautiful. And as I stroll down the rainy streets of Marrickville trying to find it, as the planes fly close overhead and the holes in my shoes let the damp in, I think it's been a good time this tour. Thank god/satan for Sound Travellers (RIP).

PS: In a room in Sydney city is me. There is - strangely - free internet access and a computer terminal in my room. Free pirated movies too. I check the internet history, I have to. It's a bad idea. The guy two nights back probably fucked a prostitute in my bed. That's what it says right there on the screen.

# DOCUMENTATION

Live At The Red Rattler (SYD)

Source: This guy.

Currently Hearing: 'Things We Lost In The Fire' by Low

This album really hots up on Side B.

Currently hearing: Numb by Nadja

There's a point in this 20+ minute epic where the drums start to morph and I feel like parts of my brain are sheering loose. It's a great feeling - not at all unpleasant. Nadja are a band that brutalise you in full colour.

This Sunday:

From the Facebook page:

SUNDAY ICE CREAM SOCIALIST / BASTARD THEATRE OF BRISBANE

SUNDAY JULY 18

A FESTIVAL OF THE BRISBANE UNDERGROUND, ALL AFTERNOON BEERS + BBQ IN THE TROPICAL WINTER SUNSHINE.

with

CURED PINK (SABBATICAL RECORDS TAPE LAUNCH)
CRAFT BANDITS
HEART FLEW
YOUT DIEM
KITTEN PARTY
SKY NEEDLE
6MAJIK9
PSY ANTS
AMBROSE CHAPEL
GERALD KEANEY + THE GERALD KEANEYS

SLUG GUTS SPINNING TUNES ALL NIGHT

and appearances from

OTHERFILM
THE NEGATIVE GUEST LIST
BEDROOM SUCK RECORDS
UNIQUE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS
REAL BAD MUSIC
BATS MAGAZINE

2 STAGES, MUSIC, ART, STUFF, SKATEBOARDING, BEERS, BEERS, BRING THEM.

2PM ONWARDS, $6 ENTRY. PUBLIC WELCOME.

#

Afterwards my band No Anchor is supporting Om from San Fran over at the Hi Fi Bar. It's gonna be a good day.

What Would Trent Do?

Interesting article over at Wired on Trent Reznor's work flow for How To Destroy angels. It's a step-by-step for a track and includes snippets of the work in progress. I thought the inital step was really great: Reznor and his producer work on two totally different projects then see what happens when they chop and change between then. Nuts. But you can totally hear how it ends up in the song.

I also read somewhere about KTL doing something very similar, with much less song-like results.

Ten Years of Bardo Pond

Dan Cohoon has been photographing Bardo Pond for almost ten years and has blogged about it here. Not only is the site a major Bardo-Dorkfest (that's a good thing), it's fun to watch Cohoon get better and better at his craft. His early work starts off fairly plain; the latest batch are tripped out and beautiful.

Favourite Records of 2010 So Far...

Amazon posted their Top 50 albums of the year so far here. I have listened to exactly none of these records. Are any of them any good?

Mess & Noise asked all the contributors to compile a list of what they liked this year. Here's mine:

Document 250407 by Whitehorse (Cassette on Sweat Lung / Sabbatical): Recored live back in 2007 but released earlier this year for the band's national tour, this tape destroys. I bought it on a whim but it hasn't left my stereo all year. My skull actually glows a little when I have it on.

The Witch Must Be Destroyed by Black Boned Angel (LP/Download on Conspiracy Records): This is a world of tar black, slow moving molasses but I can still listen to it on the bus. I'd like to think that says more about Campbell Kneale's ability to make drone/doom as exciting as it is monolithic but maybe I just listen to too much of this stuff and now have an unnaturally high tolerance for it.

Liars by Firewitch (CD on We Empty Rooms): A reissue but who doesn't wouldn't want to listen to dual bass stoner jams from Melbourne's yesteryear when they're as nicely presented as they are in this package.

Mid-Centuary by Do The Robot (Cassette on RR Records): Brisbane duo Do The Robot are a band perfectly suited to cassette. In the past their recorded output has lagged behind them, often documenting already obsolescent ideas and lineups. Here, they present almost exactly where they are and just as well, as their unique brand of dubbed out shoegaze has never sounded better.

We Have Secrets by Nobody Cares (CD/Download on Rice Is Nice) by Seja: This is the type of sunny afternoon synth pop I always imagined Seja played at home by herself for herself. Now we all get to hear it and thank god, it's beautiful.

Uhm?

Facebook made some interesting recommendations today:

If only all political decisions were directly dependent on someone liking Bill Murray. We should all follow Bill Murray. We should do as Bill Murray says. I've always said that.

Sydney Show:

My first ever Ambrose Chapel show in Sydney! Details are here and there's a Facebook page here. Should be a good night.

Lori? Is that you hanging out with Ringo?

Is this a photo of a future Melvins bass player? This person thinks so. So do I.

In 1989, Lori Black aka Lorax aka the daughter of Shirley Temple (yes, you read that right) joined the Melvins. To date, she is the only woman to have joined the band and she played on two of my favourite Melvins albums: Ozma and Bullhead. The little girl above - next to Shirley - does bare a resemblance to Lorax pictured here: