Bailter Space - Phoenix Festival, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. 17-07-1994

While we're on the subject of Bailter Space. This live recording from 1994 is also a cracker (another one sent thru by my UK dealer) and worthy of your attention. Mostly featuring tracks off the 'Robot World' and 'Vortura' albums. 

Their 'Robot World' album is, in my opinion, the closest they ever got to sounding as they do in concert. Wind up said record so loud that the walls are vibrating, windows start cracking, neighbours eight miles away call the police to complain about the noise and small animals are being found knocked unconscious in your vicinity.... then you'll have the general idea. 

The original recording on this was lacking in the bass department so I tweaked the EQ slightly to put John back in the mix. Also chucked on a couple of ripped B-sides as I made myself a CD with all this stuff on it and then thought, what the hell; let the general public get the whole shebang. Share the love.....❤

And remember, you can support these guys on Bandcamp. 

In Wav or Mp3 format.

Bailter Space - John Peel Sessions

 

Ok who knew this existed? 

I didn't until very recently when out of the blue, an English NZ music enthusiast sent me a load of files and this was among them.... seriously a treat for those of us who love this band. Great recording and the band just smash it. Four songs here and also included, an unreleased song called 'Place'.

During the 90's I was lucky enough to be living in Christchurch (Bailter home turf) so saw them play numerous times & every gig was amazing. I think I even saw them three times in a week once? Canty Uni plus some other shows in the city? Durham Arms.... an outdoor gig at the Dux..... that rings a bell.

I think the first time I saw them was the old Subway in 1990 or 1991. Mostly stuff from 'Thermos' on the menu from memory so that makes sense time wise. The Canterbury Uni Ballroom was always a bit hit and miss for sound but when Bailter Space played there it always seemed to work somehow. Just a massive wall of droning noise in this cavernous barn of a room where everyone was shitfaced on cheap jugs (of whatever spewed from the taps in that place) and there would be condensation dripping from the ceiling into your jug too if it was a packed house.... yum yum gimme that ceiling dew.....! At some point Canty uni started shutting the bar early after various complaints about drunken revelry after shows and I recall a Bailter Space gig where this was the case and a friend of mine (John) kept yelling out 'Open the bar!' in between songs which was pretty funny. Eventually one of the band members actually went out and got him a can of beer from their rider and threw it to him in the audience. Hilarious. Everyone was cracking up.... not yr typical BS show. Something tells me that out of the hundreds of shows those guys have done, they will remember that one. 

Anyway, enough with the stories. Merry Xmas and enjoy the download. 

Wav

Mp3

And if you like this stuff, support the band & buy something on Bandcamp!

Human - Things that make you go......

Now that it's nearly Christmas time, here's something suitably blasphemous for your stereo. 

Humans' first cassette release from 1993. 

Heavy as fuck and funny as shit 'Monty Python Death Metal' (as I believe the band used to refer to themselves as) good enough to scare the shit out of your neighbours with. Those of you who come here for the jangly guitar noodlings of Flying Nun's uglier cast offs might want to ignore this one. Those who dig heavy sounds, jump right in.... it's warm in here! Napalm Death / Entombed fans rejoice......:)

Even this first cassette release shows a band in fine form. I saw them play live several times over the years and they were always formidably well rehearsed. I think they were practising three times a week even when Vaughn was in the Panthers, so they were no slouches! This release also features Matt Alien on Vocal duties. A bit of history; later in the 90's I was approached by Matt who thought we should get together & have a jam. Vaughn (Human bassist) also showed up for that session and that was the beginning of The Black Panthers. So we were essentially half of this lineup. Vaughn gave the Panthers a much heavier bottom end with his top string being tuned to a B. Changed the band dynamic considerably.

If you dig this stuff then check out their back catalogue. Quite a few recordings there. Here's a live vid for your perusal..... What you see is what you get! 

Downloads in either Mp3 or WAV.....

Human Mp3

Human WAV

Hi Vaughn!

Amen Brother......

 

I don't usually post stuff that's legit but in this instance, I'm going to. 

It's hard to get an original piece of this here Krautrock and in my opinion, it's a necessity for anyone's foray into such mentioned vein of German musical history. 

Lately I've been thrashing the Can / Faust / Neu! / Kraftwerk but it's nothing new on the platter. Bought my first 'Can' record in the 80's (Landed) but since having digested Neu! and Faust more recently, it's bought all this stuff back to the fore and then this album came on the radar. I've been aware of it for aeons but never given it a decent listen so henceforth, I started searching for an original vinyl copy but they are so intimidating in the wallet department that I would probably have had to burgle half of my suburb to be able to afford one. Thankfully Lynton came to the rescue and loaned me this nice 1978 German reissue on the 'Strand' label which sounds darn fabulous so I ripped it using my practically brand new Ortofon Red stylus. This combined with a tidy, scratch free disc, has left us with something download worthy.

Loaded up here as separate WAV and MP3 downloads. 

Way ahead of its time......... 

Beyond the ridiculous....

On another  level.........

Fucking amazing.

An ode to Music World's 80's punk pressings.

 

During the early 80’s (‘82 to ‘83 respectively), Christchurch’s 'Music World' label published two dozen or so hardcore punk oddities on cassette & vinyl which is pretty bizarre considering their general (and considerable) output mostly consisted of run-of-the-mill acts the likes of Suzanne Prentice, Shakin’ Stevens, Conway Twitty and piles of compilation albums covering everything from religion (‘Jesus Loves Me’ - 20 Sunday School Favourites) to sex (‘Double Sexy - 30 Naughty Favourites’ )- complete with a nude cover pic & enticing ‘Adults Only’ sticker ). 

So it’s a strange juxtaposition to see things like ‘Chaotic Dischord’ and the ‘UK Subs’ suddenly appear in their repertoire in the early 80’s alongside the Sunday School faves & Conway Twitty's.....      Slightly different audience.....! Those Sunday School kids would lose their shit if they heard (or saw) this lot.

I’ve managed to find quite a few of these releases over the years. Some of them I wouldn’t bother with but there’s some that are dear to my heart. The first two Punk & Disorderly comps are good value in my opinion. No volume three though sadly (maybe the Nazi flags on the front cover were a discouragement?). The 7” singles are a real oddity and are the hardest to find. Music World generally focused on LP’s and Cassette’s and only a handful of 7” releases exist throughout their entire back catalogue. I’ve got two of the three ‘No Future’ singles they released. Still looking for the Peter & the Test Tube Babies one. Often these records don’t state made in NZ either but are identified by the distinctive labels and catalogue numbers. Unique South Pacific Island Punk Pressings….!

Here’s a definitive (could be a few missing) list of the Punk vinyl they released under licence from other labels. Not necessarily in chronological order. 

Attak - Murder in the Subway 7"

Blitz – Warriors 7”

Peter and the test tube babies – Run like hell 7”

Peter and the Test tube Babies - Pissed & Proud (LP & Cassette)

Punk and Disorderly, Vol. 1 (LP)

Punk and Disorderly, Vol. 2 (LP)

UK Subs - Recorded 79 – 81 (LP)

Punk Revival (Punk Now) – LP Comp (An NZ only release).

Blitz - Voice of a generation (LP & Cassette)

Blitz - Second Empire Justice (LP & Cassette)

Abrasive Wheels – When the punks go marching in (LP & Cassette)

Riotous Assembly – LP Comp.

The Vibrators – Guilty (LP)

The Ejected – A touch of Class (LP)

Dead Kennedy’s – Too drunk to fuck (EP 12”)

Angelic Upstarts – Reason Why (LP)

The Partisans – (ST / LP & Cassette)

Attila the Stockbroker – Ranting at the Nation (LP)

Attak - Zombies (LP)

One Way System – All Systems Go (LP)

Chaos UK – (ST / LP)

Chaotic Dischord – Fuck Religion etc. (LP)

The Varukers – Bloodsuckers (LP)

One Way System – Writing on the wall (LP)

Motorhead – Live (LP)

Vice Squad – Last Rockers / Resurrection (12" EP).

Alien Sex Fiend – Who’s been sleeping in my brain? (LP)

No Idea - Wotsoever

I grabbed this download off some NZ punk blog years ago but now that seems to have disappeared so I've thrown it back up because it's one of those lost beauties that deserves to be spread about liberally like peanut butter & tomato sauce on toast, salt on chips, or even a nasty contagion on the loose (how topical).

I don't actually own this tape but do own the elusive 12" EP they put out in 1985 which is also a great listen. They don't really put a foot wrong this band. All their songs are great & the band are a tight unit with a rhythm section that just smash it. Wish I'd seen them back in the day as it would have been a formidable live concert no doubt.

They also featured on NZ's infamous 'Radio with Pictures' at least once. May have been the first time I came across them come to think of it. From memory the video was for the song 'Wotever' and the footage was all taken from a live show. I've searched for it on Youtube but can't see it anywhere. Someone should upload that if they have it in their archives (along with the fabulous Henchmen's 'Bitch Goddess' video which is also missing in action). Go digging in those dusty VHS tapes people! There's gold in there!

There's plenty of angst and anger in here along with much political commentary on the state of the country (most of which still seems pretty relevant today) but also heartfelt songs like 'Josephine' which defy the general punk politiking and could be either a love song or a social statement..... or both.....

I'm also including the two tracks that featured on the compilation 'The Harder The Edge The Rocka The Roll' as a bonus. Great comp if you can find it. 

Here's a bit about the band from the 'Up the Punks' wiki page.

Download Here.

Pavement / 3Ds Live at Warners Hotel 11.06.93

                                   

This was a memorable gig. Tall Dwarfs, 3Ds and Pavement all on the same bill. Who could resist?

I remember rocking up to the pub and there was this weird guy near the entryway handing out bits of apple to those who entered. He didn't look familiar but I figured he was just some local weirdo. No apple for me thanks, I'm here for the Guinness (Warners Hotel Guiness was excellent & I believe at that time, imported from Ireland. Very welcoming in the middle of a Christchurch winter believe me). In the end, the apple giver turned out to be Gary, the drummer from Pavement. Maybe he was feeling fruity? Who knows.... It was the start of what was to be, a very excellent evening of good vibes, too many beers & a lot of fucked up noise. Good choice!

The Tall Dwarfs were up first, then 3Ds. Pavement were top of the bill of course. 'Slanted and Enchanted' had only come out the year before and I'd been giving it a good thrashing. I immediately picked up on the 'Fall' references in their music but they had their own thing going too. Just a heavy nod towards the Mark E Smiths song writing book there....not a bad thing for a Fall fan....They were big fans of NZ music too & the video link above will reveal such ties. Love their youthful enthusiasm!

After I'd recorded the 3Ds set, Chris Knox came up to me and said 'Oh I see you're recording the bands.... but you didn't record us did you?' looking me straight in the eye in a vaguely threatening manner. I quickly replied that I already had all his stuff (not a complete lie) and that was the reason why. He glared at me a few seconds longer and then sauntered off to harass some other poor soul. Phew, got outa jail that time! Tall Dwarfs were great too of course. I was just more interested in capturing the main act.

Again recorded on my trusty Sony walkman, this is relatively raw but there's enough detail in there to keep it interesting. Pavement sound a bit more dynamic I think because the 3Ds were so blitzingly ferocious that my walkman could barely cope with the onslaught. It didn't cope well with the high frequency guitar noise sadly. The 3Ds were really a force to be reckoned with in the early days of their existence. I saw them at Crown Hotel in Dunedin around 1991 it was just fucking insane. White noise.... white heat... you couldn't move in that bar, it was that jam packed full of crazed, wasted fans. If you never experienced that, this will give you some idea of what we endured that night.

Pavement were beyond great. They were just so happy to be there. Drinking on stage and just really relaxing into the south sea island vibes. I left quite a bit of stage dialogue in the final mixes as it really helps generate the feel of the evening. You can tell these guys are having fun. Took me a while to figure out what all the songs are (one of them is a Silver Jews cover) but I still have my old Pavement records to reference and of course youtube helped with the more obscure tunes. Some of them are earlier versions of songs they recorded later too so not quite so recognisable. The last song is from the EP 'Watery Domestic' which Nans from Kate in the Lemon Tree gave me one time. I refused to take it but he insisted!  'Texas never whispers' is probably my favourite Pavement song ever. Sadly the tape runs out on it..... that's the way it goes folks. 

In two downloads:

Pavement here.

3Ds here.

Bob Cadillac - Black dash Light

 

Toot toot......! (That's the sound of me blowing my own trumpet). 

Shameless self promotion here people. Peddling my own wares like Steptoe & Son.

Another dodgy rough as bags home recording I've been slaving over the last few years has finally been laid to rest like a free range egg.... rolled out of my very own bedroom studio workshop and splattered onto the unsuspecting public's face. 

Have a listen here on Bandcamp. A download will only cost you only $5.00..... mere chickenfeed......    I need to retire next year and those Gold Coast bowling clubs have fees! How else am I going to pay my bar tab?

There's also a run of 20 x Chrome Cassettes of this album courtesy of Lynton who rescued them from landfill & then also helped me dub them with his stack of vintage tapedecks. Much gratitude due to Lynton who also played drums on two tracks and recorded a few other tracks for me too. James Greig & Kat Black also feature on Guitar and Vocals respectively. Joanne Billesdon makes an appearance on Vocals (recorded by John Billows) and even my wife Jane jumped at the chance to sing on one track (ok I had to drug her and tie her to a chair for three days but in the name of rock 'n' roll, it was necessary folks.... (she doesn't remember it anyway).

The Dashboard picture used for the cover features a 'Magic Ribbon' type of speedometer from a 1959 Buick Lesabre. Some of these also changed colour as the speed changed. My dad had a Vauxhall in the 1970's with a Magic Ribbon that would start off at green, then change to orange as you accelerated until it finally hit the red (dad drove like a maniac so it was usually in the red). The 70's was when I also learnt first hand about the necessity of the seat belt. Dad came to a screaming halt one day & I hit the windscreen like a child projectile with my head. After that I didn't need convincing as to their usefulness :)

Buckle up and take a listen. 

Dead C. - Perform DR 503b

 

A while back I managed to score a copy of the elusive Flying Nun DR503 vinyl. A nice mint copy too....had to pay through the nose for it but that's how it goes these days if you want to buy a 30+ year old record from the venerated Flying Nun back catalogue. I was lucky enough to be around NZ buying up Flying Nun goodies back in the 80's and 90's so most of them I paid standard retail for and there's not much else I really require from that golden nun period thankfully but on occasion one will crop up that is a necessary addition to the shelf. Gotta have those Nun oddities!

Flying Nun (and spending too much on records) aside, this tape isn't DR503 as such. It's a live document from around that time including much of the material from the said LP plus or minus a few bits. A very different listening experience to the LP structurally & tonally of course but if you understand Dead C speak, you'll dig it. Yet another tape from the James Greig archives. Upload comes with artwork & details of where & when these recordings took place. 

Another Xpressway cassette rarity you need to get you hands on. Ripped at 320kbps and only volume balanced for that natural magnetic tape sound.....

Get it here: Perform DR 503b

Supertanker & Vortex - Live at the Dux de Lux, Christchurch 05-06-93

Ok this tape gave me heaps of trouble. It just refused to budge. I even transferred the reel to another case to see if that would work but no, nothing. It would play for 10-15 seconds and then start jerking around, spit out some horrid noise & the come to a halt. Finally I had enough of messing around with it & handed it over to Lynton who has several tape decks and the know-how to get things workin & though he also had a few issues, he got it ripped so you can thank our resident tape expert Dr Lynton Von Denhoven for this baby. Glad it finally gets to see the light of day!

Supertanker were one of the 'fab five' shall we say that made it onto Rob Mayes' 'Avalanche' compilation (Sept, 1993) which was three songs each from five Christchurch bands which were basically the biggest crowd pullers in town at that time. For good reason too, they all fucking rocked. This compilation put them on the map almost instantly. Student radio ran with it and the bands had multitudes of fans nationally almost overnight & garnered some international attention too.

'Vortex' were the support band for this gig and I managed to get most of their set as well so that's present in a separate download. Really like the first song which is a reference to the Close Encounters movie. Someone had a decent reverb unit in that band!

Supertanker were sort of in the middle of the scene stylistically I suppose, not too heavy / not too light, clever and emotive songs with twisted fuzzed out lead breaks and wall of sound distorted rhythm guitars. Nearer the 'My Bloody Valentine' or 'Ride' end of the pop spectrum to my ears but don't forget that in NZ we have our own home grown influences as well & The Straightjacket Fits / Flying Nun back catalogue would be buried deep amongst the subconsciousness of these youngsters without a doubt. That and the influence of the southern alps, the bleak winters, the rising damp, the prevailing easterly wind, the hostile locals..... the fact nobody even knew where NZ was....definitely defined the character of a local sound.

The early 90's were so much fun there.... too many good bands to count... parties & gigs every week....nobody seemed to have a real job.... just a great scene of creative types spending their money on amplifiers & booze instead of food.....

It's a pretty low-fi recording & not the entire gig either but whatever, this is free shit people! Really you should be paying me for dishing out this rare and wonderful stuff.

Supertanker Download Here.

Vortex Download Here.

And here's a video of Supertanker to wet your whistle. This song is also one of the live tracks in the download.

Live Dead C. X/WAY 1

When it comes to the numbers, the previous Dead C. Live recording by James Greig has racked up nearly 700 downloads (currently on 682 as I write this so I may as well bump it up to 700 to make myself look more important) and so it is by far and away thee download king of this blog and rightly so as it's a bloody good recording.

So the story goes, James Greig rolled up the other day with a bag of drugs and a couple of rare and unusual Xpressway tapes to tinker with. James has also received the blessing from label curator Bruce Russell for this upload just in case you were wondering.
Thanks Bruce!

I have a few Xpressway vinyls which are very dear to me. One I really regret not getting back in the day is the now extremely rare Plagal Grind EP. Practically worth it's weight in gold these days. 
If you're not familiar with the back catalogue of this label, get a move on and start digging through it because it's basically Flying Nun's better cousin. The compilations are a good place to start. I'm playing 'Pile=Up' right now in fact. 'Making Losers Happy', a singles collection released on 'Drag City' also incredible listening and a good place to start your collection.

The Dead C. Live is exactly what it says it is. A selection of early live recordings circa 1987.

I've uploaded it with the tape artwork too so you have all the relevant details.

So here you go all you greedy Dead C. fans.....

The Live Dead See.

(Oh and it was a complete lie about the drugs by the way).

Tinnitus

Want some ringing in your ears? Then look no further people...

The entire works of Tinnitus have been re-mastered and are up on Bandcamp awaiting your download for very reasonable prices.
I purchased the entire back catalogue but if you’re not as keen as me, I would suggest starting with Tape 12. Also known as ‘Futures Past’ as released on CD by Flying Nun in 1992. A collection of works starting with an almost 40 minute live set, it’s a good place to start delving into this deviant crew.

Dark, ambient, atmospheric, drone……experimental stuff that’ll make your hair stand on end. These guys could easily have just made horror movie soundtracks for the rest of their lives.

There’s a good write up on the history of the group here.

And to show off my own nerdish behaviour, I burned all the albums onto CD and made my own Tinnitus box set……

Wasn't lying about the box set......

See you in the hearing clinic :)

Hampster - Live at the Dux De Lux 15-11-93

Hampster were an adventurous Jazz combo from Christchurch who were regulars at the old Dux De Lux in the early 90’s (sadly another Chch venue lost to the 2011 earthquakes). Jazz has never really been my bag but these guys were anything but standard Jazz and they added a great sense of fun to the mix so a good time was had by all regardless of your musical leanings. Jazz, pop, funk, fusion.... experimental.......good.
There's a moment where they talk about one song being like something off the soundtrack to Betty Blue. I get that, it does sound like something from that film. Most of the track names I've picked out but there's a couple that remain unnamed. Feel free to enlighten those of us in the dark.
The best show I ever saw them play though was at the laid back Orinoco music festival in Motueka (summer 1994 by my reckoning). Certainly the best festival I’ve ever been to. A wild mix of bands ranging from metal to folk to…..god, even Jazz! The bands played on a small makeshift stage amongst the hills, surrounded by bushland in the middle of nowhere over two (or perhaps three) days. Some 2000 people max in attendance. The weather was fantastic & everyone seemed to have a blast. Hampster were one of the highlights. I still remember they played some song about NZ Telecom which was a dig at how poor their service was at the time. Got everyone laughing. One hardcore Metal band played and there were a couple of little kids up on the stage dancing hence the singer kept cracking up laughing….hard to be seriously nasty ‘metal’ when there’s a couple of kids jumping round in front of you. Ha.
This was recorded at the Dux on my trusty Sony Walkman (again) and on this occasion, I also used a decent cassette instead of the old bottom of the barrel type and hence the sound is pretty sweet & quite listenable (albiet still Lo-fi). I wish back in the day I had spent some good money on a decent stereo portable tape unit & a good stereo mic but there’s wishful thinking for you….didn’t happen. More than likely I was behind on the rent and could barely afford to buy groceries let alone fancy hifi gear.
The other thing that helped boost this recording was that there was a ledge above the bar on which I could leave the tape running. Hence it has a good room sound…..some audience noise but it’s not too imposing. So all up, what we have here ladies & gentlemen is a rather plum live recording! Those who were regulars at the Dux will probably appreciate revisiting this exceptional group.

Get it here: Hampster

303 Concrete Method - Live at The Harbourlight, Nov 6th, 1993

The Harbourlight Theatre was a beautiful old building in downtown Lyttleton which hosted many an event over the years until it was irreparably damaged by the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 & sadly, had to be demolished.  
This particular gig was recorded at said venue on my trusty Sony Walkman (mono) which I used to carry about religiously for a while in the early 90's. It's not a bad outcome either. A few edits, some EQ, a bit of boot polish & hey presto, rough as bags live recording ensues.....!
I had a vague memory that my friend Greg Cairns (drummer) had been involved with this project & he recently confirmed that yes indeed, that was the case. Also included were Sean O'Reilly, Alf Danielson and Brian Crooks. Talk about a sterling line up....a Dunedin super group no less!
There's also a few songs by Alastair Galbraith (same bill, same night) which shall be included here in a separate download. Great versions of his songs too. One of them is a version of Plagal Grind's 'Midnight Blue Vision' (speaking of Dunedin supergroups...) another is 'Warden Tye' which appeared on the fabulous Siltbreeze 7" 'Gaudy Light' and the other two I'm not sure of the names of. David Mitchell joined Alastair on stage for the version of 'Warden' as well. Seriously demented guitar playing... that could only be Mr Mitchell torturing those poor strings surely.
According to Greg, there is also a studio album by 303 Concrete Method that has never seen the light of day and remains un-mixed. 
Whoever has possession of that tape... time to get a move on! 

Oh and a couple of the 303 songs are cut short.... I think it was tape run out...

deal with it......:)

In two downloads......


303 Concrete Method

Alastair Galbraith

Tony Valens and the Incisions

Finally.....

A new entry....

And a treat for your ears dear customers. 

A volatile, heady brew of NZ r'n'r craziness to cheer you up on these wintery days happening right now.

And 'Deadly Lethal' was what was happening right now back in Christchurch in them late 90's. 
'The Incisions' were a  suspect bunch of dodgy local home-brewers (probably lacking in training) but without a doubt, much ambition to slay the audience attending with whatever they had up their sleeves. 

I saw these kids at the old Provincial Hotel one night where they blew my head off with their instrumental  ballistic missiles.... they really were Lethal.... and Deadly.....and for want of a better metaphor, like a giant spew on the rock'n'roll red carpet of improvisational rock. As if you'd eaten a Thai green curry with a side order of beetroot salad...some greasy chips....a three litre cask of white wine....and a cheesecake for dessert.... yes that kind.....of puke... the one you don't want in your bed.
A psychedelic cataclysm of garish garage garbage that you wished you'd come up with yourself but didn't have the nous (or the bravado) to dabble in. 

It fell off the back of a truck and you were on your bicycle behind it dear fool..... 

A shocking fright to the system.... 

Can u dig it? 

Probably not :) 

Get it  HERE