Saturday, 11 August 2012

WANTED: MUSIC FROM CHRISTCHURCH ALTERNATIVE MUSICANS FOR A COMPILATION CD


The Concept: A Compilation CD featuring alternative music from Christchurch, one where the bands market the music and reap the rewards. A sort of ground-roots musical cooperative, where we have local bands working together to market their talent.    


What’s it going to be called?:  ‘They Crawled from The Rubble’  


What do you means by ‘alternative’?:  This CD will offer an avenue for artists who wouldn’t normally get a look-in in the commercial world. I welcome bedroom, dodgy garage recordings, taboo subject matter etc. It just has to be ‘interesting’ and provocative. Google: ‘Natures Worst’ and you’ll get the gist. Kindly: for Christ’s sake no rap, middle of the road cobblers or death metal.


So how do I get on this CD?: You send me the MP3 to whenpa at gmail. If I and my elite team of musso’s don’t like it, please don’t take it personally. I have had CHART Disc turn-down my own music. It's part of the scene. Send us something else that may pass muster.   


What am I signing up for?:  The last thing I want to do is commit my own money to a CD, then be left to marketing it and having a 100 CD’s left in my study to get rid of, when I only have so many relatives to give-to at Christmas into that sort of shit. Remember this is a cooperative effort – not just ‘my baby’. By submitting a MP3 you acknowledge you will commit to purchasing a minimum of 10 CD’s. That’s loosely $75 to $100 (the exact amount will vary depending on the number of artists, standard of packaging etc) Note: I will need this money up front to get the CD’s printed. 


What’s in it for me?: (a.) You get something ‘out there in the market’. Band ‘A’ may sell their CD to Punter ‘X’ who thinks “boy I like that song by Band B” and come to your next gig or buy other stuff you have floating around. We feed off each other talents or lack of them! (b.) You get a CD at wholesale rates to sell for what-ever you can get. You can order as many as you like as long as you pay for them in advance (c.) This is a ‘no brainer’: the whole thing about playing in a band is playing to, building an audience.    

Will it be on Bandcamp?: No, but it will be in our two remaining record shops.   


What is in it for you?: Not a cent, the knowledge I assisted local musicians, bought a smile to a few dials, is enough for me. Plus it's the only way I can get my own band 'out there'.   


Who the hell are you?: Paul Gilbert from WhEn PEts ATtacK!  


When will it come-out?: Roughly March 2013. Good things take a bit of time, it’s not going to be easy bringing this altogether. Don’t sweat it if it takes longer. Delays will not be down to me, rather artist apathy.  

Oh yeah: There will be an album launch gig, where we’ll have as many bands as possible playing a short set of stuff including their mega-hit off the album.

Who is going to promote this?:  You! Spread the word! Tell othere about this grand co-operative project  

Got a Question?: Then why not place it in the comments section below? Other artists may have a similar query. Please no anonymous comments. Tell us who you are.

Monday, 16 July 2012

R.I.P JON LORD: DEEP PURPLE IN CHRISTCHURCH 1975



The first album I ever purchased was ‘Deep Purple in Rock’. The year was 1972, the price was a staggering NZD 7.99 – which probably coverts to NZD 50.00 in current terms. I still have this album 40 years later. I also managed to see DP live in 1975 at QE2 Stadium here in Christchurch. This was a controversial concert which had the local Press’s ‘Letters to The Editor’ deluged with complaints about the noise. Deep Purple was the first major concert in the stadium which had hosted the Commonwealth Games the year prior. The band arrived into Christchurch in a 707 ‘freighter’ chocker on a Sunday with what was then amongst the world’s loudest sound systems. Almost certainly ‘the’ loudest PA to ever land in Christchurch. Anyway rather naively the bands speakers were set up facing into the cavernous main stand from midway across the grass infield. Aided by the ever present easterly wind and the ‘shell’ of the stand, the band could be heard clearly all over the city that Monday evening (17th November 1975) My parents could hear them playing in Burnside which is approx. 10kms east of QE2. For those like me with tickets in the said stand the sound was deafening. How deafening? Well the next day I had to go home from school because I couldn’t hear a bloody thing! My mates cousin drove me to the concert and on the home journey none of us bother to speak because we weren’t trained in lip reading! Local residents to QE2 wanted further concerts banned, but settled on the reduced sound levels. Footnote: QE2 Stadium was decimated by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and is due to be demolished sometime shortly.   The doco gem below was from the concert they did in Auckland a four days previous to Christchurch. Set-list of the N.Z Tours songs here.  


               

Thursday, 12 July 2012

Behold: Kiwi T.V Advert Re-Makes


The Registered Sex Offenders have re-made a couple of evergreen Kiwi TV Commercial staples.

So which is better?


The original or the piss-take re-make? 


 




   
  
 



Tuesday, 5 June 2012

Mekanik Kommando



There’s a comment below the video for this on You Tube for ‘Stop and Play’ (1982) that states succinctly my own thoughts about this era of music. 

“Pull the fuck up and DROP ME OFF somewhere between "1979- 1983" and DO NOT fucking EVER ALLOW ME to LEAVE!!!...” 

The Dutch bands Mekanik Kommando original lifespan was 1980-88, but they recently reappeared a few years ago with some new material, even a myspace site. MK have been loosely dubbed a New Wave band in the music press, but they certainly have a ‘harder’ industrial sound to the stuff I’ve heard & couldn’t be say compared to Devo or Brit Synth acts. New Wave is such a broad term akin to placing all the global religions under the same banner. I prefer this bands early darker, more experimental stuff. Heaps more on You Tube. Well, well worth an ear-wig, so let me leave you with this one for example. 


Monday, 28 May 2012

Katrina and The Waves on Steroids


I spotted Auckland band The Raw Nerves debut single over at Undertheradar. My ears immediately picked-up their song ‘Steroids’ has an identical riff to the bubble-gum hit by Katrina and The Waves ‘Walking On Sunshine’ and so will yours. So go have a squizz, tweek about with these You Tubes below and you too can synchronise both tunes, one a cover of the hit, to sound all but identical. The bass and drums especially.


   

Thursday, 17 May 2012

SEXY ANIMALS, MONSTA MACHINE, SQUIRM AT DUX LIVE 16/05/2012

It was a 'school night' as my wife eloquently put it i.e. Wednesday.

I got home at 2.

Pissed.

Which may account for the blurred photo's!







Tuesday, 15 May 2012

The Good things happening to ear-drums on Ground Zero Radio



You need to listen-up, in a biblical sense of the term. 

There’s over 350 Kiwi songs currently rotating their bits-off 24/7 on the one and only Ground Zero Internet Radio.    

It’s high time you got inquisitive and goose-bumpy about the prospect of listening to:
     
?Fog Enterprises
Anthesiac
Artisan Guns
Atomic Blossom
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Cat Venom
Cool Cult
Cut Off Your Hands
Die! Die! Die!  
Eight Living Legs
Froithead
Edwards Gains
Full Moon Fiasco
Futuresports
God Bows to Mat
Hiss Explosion
Dr Kevorkian & The Suicide Machine
Lontalius
Lovehaters
Killing Bear
The Puddle
Bob McRob
Mammal Airlines
Mestar
My Deviant Daughter
NRA
The Shocking Pinks
Red Steers
Spacedust
SPUD
Steffan Van Soest Hit-Machine
Substandard
T54
Triffids
Wilberforces
Yokel Ono  

Heaps, heaps more I’m simply way too lazy to type out. 

Besides I don’t want to spoil the surprise by listing all 350 plus songs, now do I?    

Seriously where are you going to hear this stuff if you aren’t listening to GZR?  

Rhema?