December 2006

Hey, Seasons greetings to you all,

Actually, I kinda lean towards the view that Christmas nowadays is about profit margins and kids greed, but hey, people finish work and get to relax and spend time with their loved ones if they have any and that can't be too bad... For me, it often means a time of intense work, due to the schedules of films, but my daughters are off school, so I try to find some balance between studio and just bumming around... and of course the RRR christmas show and a day at the cricket...

Have a look at the www.wantokmusik.org website... We are all hoping the Wantok Musik Foundation kicks in over the next twelve months.It will be an organisation worth supporting.

I just watched this most beautiful film, “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” directed and acted in by Miranda July. It was strangely affecting, oscillating between making you feel like our lives are so pathetically pointless and then bringing out the beauty of human relationships, and then the end credits music was one of my favourite pieces of music by Virginia Astley. I watched it with my ginger cat, Manfred, sitting on my lap. It all worked perfectly on a Thursday night. Sometimes things fall into allignment... the right movie for the right evening. I thoroughly recommend it. John Hawkes, the man with the strange eyes (not as strange as Steve Buschemi’s though) plays his part very well. A bit dark, a bit whimsical, a lot about the human condition. American independent cinema has many wonderful films. Michael Andrew did the soundtrack, all analogue keyboards, but stronger than the Australian versions... might try and find the cd.

The other film I'd recommend is Dito Montiel’s “A Guide to Recognising Your Saints...” great story, independent US film set in Astoria NY, has Robert Downey Jr. in it who ain't bad, and the score is wonderful.

Karin Berg Memorial
When Michael Hill, a friend from Hoboken, New Jersey and who worked at Reprise with Karin, contacted me to tell me the sad news of Karin Berg’s passing a few months back, it didn’t completely surprise me, but it did stop me in my tracks. Karin was a one off and a close personal friend which is a rarity for a person who you work with from a record company.

Karin had been troubled by respiratory illness for the whole time I had known her since 1988. She danced at the back of a South by South West solo gig complete with nebuliser handbag like hanging off her shoulder. She was fiercely independent and would not allow the illness to prevent her from doing her thing. When she died aged 70 she had probably run her course. Continuing on would have compromised her. She would have had to move in to assisted living. She wasn’t about to move out of her apartment in Greenwich Village, Her memorial was held on the day the Democrats won back control of both houses, and Donald Rumsfeld resigned... She would have liked that.

Karin was the A&R woman at Warner/ Reprise who signed and championed NDW. She remained a great friend to me long after NDW were unceremoniously dumped from that label (through no fault of Karin’s... I think bean counters proved our demise)... Karin was also a social activist involved in the civil rights movement, the Tibetan freedom cause, and had a firm belief in social justice and change through art and civil disobedience. She had an amazing record as an A&R person. She was atypical. Not a corporate rubber stamper, not shy in offfering up an opinion regardless of consequences. She was directly involved in the signings of artists such as Television, Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, John Cale, B52s, New Order, REM, The Chills, Phillip Glass. The Church... At her memorial, a CD was given out with songs from many of the bands she signed... Thomastown was on it... probably one of the proudest musical moments of my life... It was a very rainy day in New York, the St Marks hall was old, musty and beautiful... full of friends of Karins, not just from the music industry but from her days in Ohio... it was a special afternoon... Patti Smith sang Wings... Look up the song if you have it in your CD collection... I also got to see Rik flying back from my three days in New York (thanks to Tim Perell, the producer from the Myth of Fingerprints who let me stay with him in Park Slopes Brooklyn...)... Twas a sad reason for going, and there aren’t too many people in the world I'd travel across the globe for a three day visit, but Karin was worth all of this... She believed in me and I thank her for that.

Vanuatu... Fes Napuan with Telek
After the somewhat typical mayhem pre tour of not being able to get Glen Low into Vanuatu due to a lost passport (bribe money was sent to pay off the PNG constabulary! but even that failed, we arrived in Port Vila to stay at Mele village with Peter Kailap as a replacement on bass, Phil Greg, Ben Hakalitz and of course George (however, even George was slightly problematic... he missed his first flight!!!...)

The festival was amazing... the highlight of which had to be the return performance of The Immigrantz, the NZ based Samoan hip-hop outfit led by MC Arme and Alpha who I have to say delivered the concert paerformance that I would rate as the best live musical experience I've had in many a year (even better than Doves)... Melbourne hip-hop band Diafrix also performed as did Kulcha Riddim Klan from Vanuatu who werent hip-hop but an interesting blend of skinned percussion, trad ni Van vocals, violin... and many other Vanuatu reggae and stringband outfits. Vanuatu stringband music is wonderful stuff. Another highlight was Phil and I drunkenly singing the song Gel Pentikos with the Nasonal Local stringand band at a salt bath hotel on the far side of Efate, the main island of Vanuatu (See it on Youtube...)

Home Improvements
The album artwork is complete, all systems go. Tim made a saturated colour 16mm film-clip with us performing the single Home Improvements in a stall at Camberwell market complete with Elvis impersonator and the horde of Cake gigs playing bit parts... Twas a fun clip to make and works methinks... RE the song, Home Improvements, if you are interested have a read of the this...

The Cake gigs have given the songs their first outings and by the end of the tour we finally hit our straps... The second East Brunswick Club and Newtown and Tilly's saw the songs finally gel as a band (finally nailing those background vox which are littered throughout the new record) and we very much look forward to the album's release and the tour in April/May. In Sydney and Canberra, we saw the sunrise both nights and all I can say is that Greg Patten is evil. Much fun had... Beware the short tour!

RAN
Was rapt the RAN soundtrack won three AFI awards including best drama, script and actor for Susie Porter and at the APRA /AGSC awards it won best soundtrack... Kadu performed Gormi Ama, and it was due recognition for artists such as Seamna Dan, Albert DAVID NORAH BAGIRI, Biston Special and all the other contributors on the soundtrack. Special mention to Tim Cole who worked a lot on the hours of music required over the 6 hours of television that RAN was... Fine work Mr Bo. The highlight of the APRA night was Peter Best’s speech for winning the International Achievement Award with wonderful dry wit he likened scoring to house painting!

RRR 30th at the spacious Forum...
Phil Wales got me to play in the houseband with Jonny Von Goes on guitar, Dave Vutterworth on bass and Daddy Cools legendary Gary Young on drums and of course Phil as our esteemed musical director as we learnt our way through veritable RRR standards such as GOD’s My Pal sung by Kat Spazzy, Kim Salman’s Swampland sung by Adalita from Magic Dirt, TISMS Deficate On My Face sung by Tony Biggs and the Wolfgram Sisters, Kerri Simpson's version of Johnny Cash’s The Mercy Seat, Robby Craw’s belting version of Eternally Yours by Ed Kuepper and the highlight of performing with Ron Peno on Died Pretty’s Everybody Move. The Models headlined and were fantastic... Great achievement of RRR to hit 30. They of course are a major reason why Melbourne is the music and cultural centre that it is (alongside PBS and 3CR and KND)... I shall return for my RRR Christmas Show this year from 2 pm til 6 pm and I reckon after that banana kick goal and Phil's snap that I'm up for one last year of footy in the Community Cup.

The Australian Government refused the visas for a travelling West Papuan band, Tumbuna, last week is this the outcome of the defence treaty with Indonesia which outlaws any speaking out against the Indonesian occupation of West Papua. Would Black Paradise have been prevented from touring here for the Morning Star Concert if this arrangement had been in place then?

Hey, Paul Kelly has produced a CD whereby a whole bunch of artists have recorded Kev Carmody songs... Have heard the Pigrams doing "Eulogy for a Black Man" and John Butler doing “Though shalt not steal”... tis a really strong msuical project.. saw Kev at the Making Poverty History concert which was good... He has arthritis and is playing less and less but what this project nails, is the amazing body of work that Kev has written over the years. One of this country’s most important artists...

Had the real pleasure of recording with the Pigrams up in Broome for the soundtrack to the  series “The Circuit” (dir: Catriona McKenzie, Richard Frankland) which like Remote Area Nurse is a 6-part one-hour SBS series set in the legal circuit of the Kimberleys. It, like RAN, captures a sense of place. It stars Aaron Pederson, Kelton Pell and Gary Sweet. I have always held the Pigrams in high regard, so to spend three days in the studio with them working up score, as well as eating mangoes, was a bit of highlight for me. Also headed out to Beagle Bay to record with he wonderful Kerrianne Cox who has  a new album, produced by Mark Punch due next year (www.kerriannecox.com).

At this stage, the plans for next year are:
Jan-Feb: soundtrack to "The Circuit" and "Dark Science"
March: start writing for new solo record
April-May: cake tour aust
May-June: "The Absinthe Drinkers" John Jopson soundtrack in Italy, Fance and Yugoslavia (hopefully some euro gigs as well.. maybe UK)
June-July: "Sport" Bill Bennett feature
July: Sing Sing, Queensland Music Festival, Darwin Festival w Moab Telek, et. al.

Books of note
Running With Scissors - Augusten Burrough
The Infernal Optimist - Linda Jaiven
Underground - Andrew Mcgahan
A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil - Christopher Brookmyre

CDs of note
Eleni Karaindrou... my absolute fave album of this year... thoroughly recommended

Others of note
Saltwater Country and JIIR by The Pigram Brothers
Tom Waits: Bawlers, Bastards and Brawlers

Of the CDs I judged for the AMP prize, my favourites were...
Tom E Lewis:  Sunshine After Rain
Mr Wednesday: The Garden Where Parties Grow
Jen Cloher and the Endless Sea: Dead Wood Falls
Francesca Mountfort (yep... Helen’s niece): Nervous Doll Dancing
Custom Kings
The Church: Uninvited, Like the Clouds

Websites faves
Adbusters.org
Masalai I Tokaut - PNG Forestry Corruption
Chris Rainier Photography
Monbiot.com Blog

Happy New Year!
DB