Wednesday 29 July 2009

No No Zero Back! Majewski! Poster Show!


I didn’t want to prematurely announce that No No Zero were back before we had a show booked, just in case everything fell through and I looked like an overexcited moron. Now that we do have a show (of which more below), I am happy to announce that the band is back in gear & have been working up a blistering new set for the last month or so.

Perhaps the first thing you should know is that No No Zero is greatly reduced in personnel, at least for the time being – aside from yours truly, we have Zak Hanna on the guitar & Mark Jarrett on the drums. And that’s it! Maximum ARGH, minimum membership.

Alumni Josh Bauman (also of Quest For Fire) joined us for one jam while he was in town, and Greg 'Sweets' Sweetland has tried to make it back too, but is simply in too many bands right now for that to work. Jamie & Johnny meanwhile are still happily rocking away with Catl.

Will we be three at our first show back? Only time will tell. As to the show –- it is Poster Show IV, the last in a very successful series of events in which bands mingle happily with band posters, and both the eyes and the ears are left well satisfied. This year is supposedly the last ever, and is taking place Friday, September 4th at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall Branch 344, 1395 Lakeshore Blvd. W., Toronto (near the Palais Royale).


This is a special edition of an already special show, not only because it may be the last, but because it's honouring one of the best poster artists on the scene, as well as a hell of a great guy, the recently-deceased Michal Majewski. Proceeds are to go to Mike's family & loved ones. They'll be a display of his posters at the show, in addition to the usual amazing cornucopia of poster artists and their posters.

Mike was a musician as well as a visual artist, playing bass in the heavy, heavy FATO, and the musical bill at Poster Show IV is what has me most excited of all. The line-up is: The Ancestors, Sun RaRaRa, No No Zero, Quest For Fire, and finally those fabulous funky kings from Oshawa named Anagram.

This is a great, great bill, and I am really looking forward to seeing everybody play. If I weren't expected to actually, you know, perform, I know what I'd be putting under my tongue beforehand, and it wouldn't be a breathmint.

7PM
SEPT 4 2009
LEGION HALL
1395 LAKESHORE W

Saturday 18 July 2009

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Michal Majewski!


I was shocked and saddened tonight to learn of Michal Majewski's death over the past weekend, while hiking in Squamish, BC.
This news report has more details.

Michal was a really great guy & a lot of fun to be with, as well as being extremely talented artistically & a major asset to Oshawa's music scene. We've featured his poster work here before, and I would encourage anyone not familiar with his art to check out some highlights here.

Monday 13 July 2009

M.J. Harris & Bill Laswell - Somnific Flux


For those into drones and dark ambient, this 1995 collaboration should do the trick.

Two long tracks. Perfect for lonely nights. Play loud.

M.J. Harris & Bill Laswell - Somnific Flux

Friday 10 July 2009

Terminal Cheesecake - Pearlesque Kings of the Jewmost


Re-upped @ 320

The album sharity thing is not going so well here, I'm afraid.

The problem, such as it is, is that every album I consider including here - and I've gone through a good 12 or so in the last few weeks - winds up being available online somewhere else (and sometimes in better quality too).

It's a nice problem to have I guess, and it speaks to the wonderful times music fans live in these days, but it also means I've 'wasted' a lot of time looking into these records and finding links, only to toss them out as posts because I find a site already offering them.

With Terminal Cheesecake's "Pearlesque Kings of the Jewmost" (originally released on World Serpent in 1992) though, I may have finally cracked that elusive nut - the record is available at Sickness Abounds --

but in 128kps to my 192 320. Ha ha!

Oft compared to the Butthole Surfers, but with more of an ear to the dancefloor, these guys always came with mind-melting tunes & an all-or-nothing approach, but never quite as successfully IMHO as here. It's a real shame it's so hard to find.

I recommend clearing your plate & getting comfy before putting this on. You may even want to lie down.

From their MySpace page -

...the band were then back in 1991 with the heavy-heavy sound of 'Pearlesque Kings Of The Jewmost'. This album finally saw the band letting out all of their dub tendencies and tracks like 'Coils' and 'Drug' were pinned down by solid dub B-lines and grooves whilst the sample mayhem continued with tracks such 'Neu Seeland', a fine re-working of the Krautrock number (Neu! Seeland / New Zealand - geddit???!!!??), which saw Gordon's passion for late night talk-radio phone-in casualties being sampled and dispatched to vinyl for evermore.

The album also saw a more rocked-out side to the band as well, with tracks like 'Obscured' (another Pink Floyd cover - being a combination of two tracks from Obscured by Clouds) showing that Gordon (as Russ before him) certainly didn't fuck around when it came to playing the six-string. This album was put out on the reputedly dark surrounds of World Serpent (more known for it's EBM tendencies, Current 93, Sol Invictus, Nurse With Wound, etc than psychedelic drugged-out cockney dub fans) and this to this day is quite a rare find. Get the CD - it has an extra track.


I hope you enjoy.

Terminal Cheesecake - Pearlesque Kings of the Jewmost

Friday 3 July 2009

Pruane2Forever Vs. 50Cent!

You may remember Pruane2Forever, who appeared here last November? Well, believe it or not, someone has finally responded to the Sexman's criticisms and the responder is none other than 50Cent!