Syd Barrett has died.

This weekend I broke with my recent hermit-like habits to go to some gigs. Friday night was Becus at the Old Bar, Saturday was The Beautiful Few/Dandelion Wine at the Rob Roy and this evening my mates in Laura launched their superb debut album to a packed crowd at the Corner. Great stuff. I was on driving duty all three nights so I was able to continue my life-style revamp which hasn't made me feel outstandingly better in general but has meant nights out are considerably cheaper.

More significant for me personally was a purchase I made on Saturday morning for my guitar duties in Tugboat. A Fender Telecaster Custom '72 reissue. What a gem of a guitar. Much fun to be had there. Finally I have a decent electric of my own. I'm running the Tele through a Fender Super 120 amp with an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail, Boss PN-2 Tremolo/Pan, Guyatone MD-3 Delay and ProCo Rat in the effects chain. I have a few other pedals lying around including an EH Small Stone but four is more than enough for the moment.

What else? Not much of note. Still hopelessly infatuated with the New Order record. No surprises there.

Date:	2004-11-28 17:37
Subject:	sunday meme
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	u2

Quite a good weekend, excepting the hangovers.

Things that made me happy:

- Finding a copy of Harmonia's Deluxe on CD at Greville Records
- Harold Budd's La Bella Vista (the first half anyway)
- Season at the Espy on Saturday night
- The Sand Pebbles at the Espy on Saturday night
- Catching up with friends on Saturday night and Sunday

Not to put too fine a point on it I have been drinking rather too much of late. Again. I was in my usual extremely bad mood at work today and then I found out a good friend's contract is being terminated at the end of the year. Put things very much in perspective. I'm an obnoxious cunt a fair percentage of the time, there's no two ways about it.

Today I picked up some rather wonderful photos of the Corner Hotel/AoF gig we did at the start of last month. Might post one or two. I hardly ever post pictures. They're really good. I enjoyed that show. Was nice to play to a lot of people. Even if half of them were probably not listening. Which is understandable.

Harold Budd, unquestionably one of my musical heroes. After a rather stressful week at work I spent the evening listening to several of his albums on headphones. I now feel considerably more relaxed and as if the week just gone was some sort of mirage. In true High Fidelity style, my top five Budd albums...

1) The Pearl - Harold Budd/Brian Eno, 2) The White Arcades - Harold Budd, 3) Lovely Thunder - Harold Budd, 4) The Plateaux of Mirrors - Harold Budd/Brian Eno, 5) The Room - Harold Budd

Of the Budd recordings I own, probably the one that has never really grabbed me is The Pavillion of Dreams. The Serpent (In Quiksilver) is pretty good, but only an EP. The album he did with the Cocteau Twins, The Moon and Melodies probably deserves a mention but to my ear doesn't quite fulfill it's potential. If the album comprised nine tracks of material in the vein of "Memory Gongs" it would be a different story however.

A few more to add to the list...

13. Torlet = Toilet
14. Fillums = Films
15. Youse = You all, eg. "Oi'd like to fank youse all for coming"
16. "th" to "f" syndrome, ie. sumfing, anyfing, nuffing

From kineticfactory...

17. "i" to "oi" symdrome, ie. "C'noi", "oi arsked you"
18. "t" to "d" syndrome, ie. phodos

From miss_anathema...

19. Vunerable = vulnerable
20. Secatry = Secretary
21. "ing" to "nk" symdrome, ie. sumfink, anyfink, nuffink

From iamthewitch...

22. Irregardless = Huh? A double negative?!
23. Deteriate = Deteriorate

And another especially infuritating one.

24. Alot = A lot (Written rather than spoken)

Keep them boganisms coming in... I think my fave so far is "irregardless". Exactly what the fuck is that supposed to mean?!

And not forgetting a rather quaint turn of phrase you hear from time to time: "Are you joking me?" Errrr.

Date:	2003-04-21 23:39
Subject:	The Red Telephone
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Kelley Stoltz - Antique Glow

I saw Arthur Lee & Love at the Corner last night. And I am still buzzing. Incredible. One of the best things gigs I've ever been to. Nearly all of Forever Changes sang by the man who wrote it and backed by a band who oozed vitality and enthusiasm, backing Arthur up all the way. His voice is in great shape and from underneath the hat and behind the shades he exuded a truly magnetic, charismatic presence. Reflecting on a gig like that it's tough to pick out favourites. "A house is not a motel" blew my head off. When the rhythm section kicked in my jaw was on the floor. It ended up spending most of the evening there. "Maybe the people would be the times or between Clark and Hilldale" was also brilliant. The Bryan MacLean tunes like "Old Man" and "Alone Again Or" came across very well also.

Beyond words really, just plain awesome. Wow.

Sand Pebbles were great in the support slot playing two sets of slow-burning psych-rock that fitted the mood of the evening nicely. The other support band, Devil Dolls, were painfully loud and not a good choice for the bill. The lukewarm applause between songs said it all really. Even with earplugs in the vocals were causing me some discomfort.

It was Arthur's night though. After a career of mishaps, self-destruction, incarceration, mayhem and sporadic genius you can't begrudge him that. Certainly not when he's in that kind of form.

Date:	2003-04-17 18:15
Subject:	Dusseldorf
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

My life feels like it has gone a bit nuts of late. With the impending trip to Europe in about three weeks, finalising Heligoland album/artwork stuff and work being completely insane it's almost enough to do my head in.

But even so, there has been some fun stuff happening along the way. Heligoland played at the Adam Cole album launch last weekend which was a super-fantastic evening. One of those nights where every time you turn around you see someone you know. Needless to say I caught up with a bunch of people and had a great time. I thought Adam's band were sensational, best I've heard them, and they always sound good. J. Walker was also very enjoyable doing some extremely nifty stuff with looping pedals.

surfacenoise passed on a couple of Durutti Column CDs (many thanks!) that became the soundtrack to the week since the gig. Seems I can never get tired of listening to Vini.

On Monday I bought my ticket for Europe (ouch!) and the el cheapo bass I will be taking along... which is actually rather good, and sounds far better than it's price tag suggests it should. In the process of paying for everything I unfortunately had to part with my Rickenbacker bass. I tried to sell another of my basses, a 1972 Fender Telecaster but couldn't find a buyer. As the most recent addition to the "family" I hadn't become as attached to the Rick as I am to some of my other guitars. It's gone to a very good home though, so on balance I'm a little disappointed but I can live with it. I'll get another one at some stage. Or a Fender Jazz... I'm a complete sucker for old basses. And vinyl. I've doubled my collection of New Order "Procession" 7"s in the last month... only 3 to go.

There's been plenty else happening, but I'm starting to get tired fingers, so I might leave it at that for the moment. Apologies to anyone I've been in email conversation with for the breaks in communication these last few weeks.

Date:	2003-04-12 15:45
Subject:	Hmmmm
Security:	Public
Mood:	relaxed
Music:	Interpol - Turn on the bright lights

One of the oddest websites I've come across in a while... it's proving so popular it's had to be relocated to its own server.

Date:	2003-04-12 15:27
Subject:	Bliss
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	The Durutti Column - A night in New York

The version of "Jacqueline" on A night in New York may well end up becoming one of my favourite Durutti Column moments. Brilliant. The rest of the album is good also, although the vocals are mixed perhaps a smidge high in places. It's not that I don't like his singing as such, more that I prefer when it's mixed as another layer in the sound a la "My Country" and "The Missing Boy". The obligatory liner notes from Anthony H. Wilson are quite amusing.

My dream band would be a quartet comprising Liz Fraser (vocals), Vini Reilly (guitar/piano), Peter Hook (bass) and Bruce Mitchell (drums), Eno (producer).

Date:	2003-04-07 21:21
Subject:	When grunge becomes retro
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Interpol - Turn on the bright lights

I saw a band recently who I really liked, but midway through one of their songs I realised the bassplayer had inadvertently copied the bass riff to "Come as you are" - admittedly a very simple kinda riff... got me wondering if the young-uns these days still listen to Nirvana. I'd place a bet on most music fans my age spotting that from a country mile away. I never liked Nirvana much, fucking hated them mostly to be honest... but they were so goddamn omnipresent. Growing up in the musical wasteland that was Launceston, Tasmania you only heard stuff once it was huge elsewhere, somehow missing the bit in between obscurity and mass popularity and the similar type bands around beforehand. Hearing dozens of hack cover bands in pubs attacking the musical output of the grunge luminaries was a pretty potent disincentive to listen that genre... but still it's funny how things stick in your head.

One of the worst things I have ever heard at gig was, now that I think of it, at one of the first live gigs I ever saw, at the Great Northern Hotel in Launceston. The persons responsible were a band from Flinders Island on tour (what the!?) doing a cover of "Creep". Their rendition (on guitars so plastic looking they must have been going soft under the stage lights) bore so little resemblance to the original they could have claimed it as their own.

Date:	2003-04-06 23:49
Subject:	IK+
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Bert Jansch - Jaco Orion

I'm liking the new International Karate CD a lot.

Date:	2003-04-02 23:03
Subject:	Good news
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	The Beautiful Few - Metal for Melbourne

Apparently the mastering went well. Can't wait to hear it.

Date:	2003-04-01 23:33
Subject:	Oh dear
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	The Orb - Adventures in the Ultraworld

Seems like the Empress is in a bit of trouble. Only takes one irate resident to fuck things up for everybody...

A lot of bands would struggle to stay under 85DBA, but I think we'd be lucky to get past 80DBA. Our amps only go to "2".

Date:	2003-03-28 23:13
Subject:	Genre cross-overs / Mastering ain't cheap
Security:	Public
Mood:	mellow
Music:	Seaworthy - It's humbling when two saints meet

On Sunday both the bands I play bass with will be playing one after the other at the launch of a friend's record store in Collingwood. This has happened on one occasion previously where both bands were on the same bill and it was pretty interesting (if a bit draining), mainly because the two bands in question are almost polar opposites, totally different genres.

While March has been pretty quiet, I'm really looking forward to the next month or so, my diary is bulging at the seams with rehearsals and whatnot. There's a benefit gig for the Dandelion Wine European Tour next Friday (which will hopefully help us scrape together enough cash for a ticket for our engineer/tour guide), then mid-month Heligoland are opening at Adam Cole and the Pollen Choir's CD launch, which I have been looking forward to for absolutely ages. Adam's band have been sounding superb of late, so that's shaping up to be a top evening. At the end of April, our favourite Adelaide-ians (if that's the correct terminology) Brer Mouse return for a couple of shows, at one of which Heligoland will be opening for them and Sodastream.

The Heligoland album is booked in for mastering on Wednesday. Fingers and toes crossed it will be a fairly straight forward process.

The European trip with Dandelion Wine in May is still seeming just a bit too surreal to really grasp. Earlier in the week I filled out visa forms for Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania. I have never travelled farther than Sydney or Adelaide so it's a bit mind-bending. I've just about got my finances sorted, and I emphasise the *just*, so it's all looking reasonably good. I still need to pay off the last hundred or so bucks on the el cheapo bass I'm taking and find some sort of flight case for it. A new camera and minidisc would be awesome, but I don't think my funds are going to stretch quite that far.

Saw 24HrPtyPpl for the second time on Friday, and it held up admirably to a second viewing. I picked up a few things I either missed or didn't quite pick up the significance of when I first saw the film before, eg. the flying saucer hovering over the young Shaun Ryder emitting the "Hallehlujah" chorus.

What a film... brilliant. There's so much potential for disappointment and resentment when someone makes a film about your favourite bands (and label).

Picked up another copy of the New Order "Procession" 7" (FAC53) yesterday. Still another five different coloured sleeves to go before I'll have all the variations... I can tell this is going to take a while...

Date:	2003-03-16 04:49
Subject:	NYC
Security:	Public
Mood:	relaxed
Music:	James - Laid

Went to see Gangs of New York last night. Was quite looking forward to it, but came away a bit ambivalent. Daniel Day-Lewis was excellent, a captivating performance. Leonardo di Caprio on the other hand, was very bloody ordinary attempting a role beyond his limited skills. Yet another "name" actor whose pulling power at the box office is way out of proportion to what he can actually deliver in a role. The movie itself was possibly about half an hour too long, but was visually quite enthralling if a little heavy on the blood and gore. Several key moments seemed to lack impact and explanation, including the climax where the gang's turf wars are overtaken by history. The significance and import of the events portrayed in that section don't really make much of an impression amidst all the explosions and fighting.

Not too bad, but not Scorsese's best. Why the hell did he cast Leo though?

Date:	2003-03-15 01:37
Subject:	Uncle Syd
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired
Music:	Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs

...
Floating, bumping, noses dodge a tooth
The fins a luminous
Fangs all 'round the clown is dark
Below the boulders hiding
All the sunlight's good for us
...

I've been on a bit of a Syd Barrett kick this week...

That and endless web design... my eyes feel like they're about to fall out of my head. So far this week I've built one site from scratch, reworked another site entirely, half-finished a third and continued adding functionality to a fourth. My head's about to explode from all the EMR. And I used to think web design would be a fun job...