The Ubiquitous Slug

I keep seeing artwork by a guy called Slug.

I have seen pieces in Dee Why, Brookvale, North Balgowlah, North Sydney & the City. One of my friends has also seen pieces in Surrey Hills \ Darlinghurst. My favourite one was in Manly Vale however when I went past on the bus today someone had painted over it - BOOOOO!!!

The style of each of piece varies; some being small hand drawn with paint pens, others are large done with spray cans. Apart from tags I have seen around the place, most incorporate some whacked out monster head.

Here are a couple my friends & I have been able to snap on our travels. Keep up the good work Slug!!!

Jay Reatard

I saw Jay Reatard play when he came out about year ago. He just came on, started playing & ploughed through his set. It was a pretty cool show, including a few tracks from his Blood Visions LP that I had been listening to. The bass player didn't stop rocking out once.

I just saw this documentary on him on the Mataor website. Pretty good insight into where he came from. I like th footage of the instores. Good to see they are the same all over the world. Memphis sounds like a pretty f*cked up place. I still wanna go their sometime.

Seeds

Just got a sweet reissue of the first Seeds LP - awesome.

Also just heard the singer died recently - bummer.

I swear I am gonna start wearing a cape.

Subtopia by A.L. Milne

I became a member of the local library the other day & borrowed a book by an Aussie author: Subtopia by A.L. Milne. I really enjoyed the Slap by Christos Tsiolkas so I wanted to read another 'new' Australian author. Subtopia engrossed me. For a long time I was saying to myself I didn't like the novel, but then I could not put it down. I had it finished in a week.

The narrative follows the friendship (actually I am not sure if you can call it that) of two boys brought up in the Melbourne suburbs. Born in the late 60's & old enough to get a little more out of the 80's than us anyway. The story follows the progression of their lives primary school to high school to university to overseas. It details small episodes in their lives & then jumps years with the turn of a page. I think it was the detail that brought me in. It felt like I was there. Like I knew the characters. Their are lots of references to Australian music especially to Birthday Party, the Bad Seeds & St Kilda which I enjoyed . The book dances around mental illness & how it manifests itself. There is a great segue way into a book that the main character is reading - a book within a book if you like - this was something that the author the author of the graphic novel The Watchmen uses to great effect. Anyway I enjoyed it.

Gatefold Part 2

I have been looking through my collection for more gatefolds & I have pulled out some of my favourite LP's of all time:

• MC5: High Times - This is the LP I reckon they always meant to make. It is so f*cking cool. I rember when I bought it the guy behind the counter said "it's kinda cosmic". After about 1,000,000 listens I know what he means
  
• Black Sabbath: Paranoid - I always thought the cover looked kind of crap with the dodgy super-naught samurai blurring on the front. Then you open the cover to see boys from Birmingham looking super cool
• Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation - Kim & the band came & played this awesome record from start to finish about a year ago. Awesome to see all these songs I have been listening to for so long. One of my all time favourite songs Teenage Riot.
• John Coltrane: Love Supreme - This was one of the first LP's that I heard & started to get jazz. All the musicians sound so committed to what they're doing. Coltrane himself looks so earnest on the cover.

There's heaps more in the collection, but thats enough for now.

Pink Eyes

I like my punk rockers articulate!!!

Gatefold Part 1

I love records. I love listening to them. I love buying them. I love playing them. I love talking shit about them. But I must admit I have a weakness for one type of record in particular - THE GATEFOLD!!!! I am not sure what it is about them, I just reckon they look ace. Whether it is an early edition of a record that I have found after some serious crate digging or a flash new LP where the band\label has put in the extra effort & pressed on 120gram vinyl & packed it into a gatefold - they are all cool. If I am really lucky some of them even house a double LP's for my listening pleasure.

I have a bunch of gatefolds in my collection. I have taken some photos & have posted them below. I will post some more in the next couple of days. Some of my favourites include:

• Turbo Negro: Appocolypse Dudes - Not only one of the most rockin' LP's ever, but you open it up & the colours of the photo are just mesmerising
• Big Borther & the Holding Company: Cheap Thrills - I think Robert Crumb got paid something like $50 for his efforts on cover of this classic.
• Trapdoor Fucking Exit: Crooked Life - The 3rd LP (& best in my opinion) from these Swedes who named themselves after a super obscure New Zealand noise, art band

Long live the gatefold!!!!

Remember the 90's??

Well I used to be in a band in the 90's. I found a video tape with old footage & got a friend to dub it to DVD for me. I have now uploaded it to YouTube. Thats me screaming at the front. What I wanna know is why does some one have a construction helmet on in the crowd?

Collaborating

I drew this picture on a whiteboard the other day. When I came back it had turned into the second picture. The additions had been made by other people. I liked talking with them after about what they drew & why. The main thing that prompted their drawings was the stressed, concerned or even guilty look of my first drawing. I like the final product.

Madvillain - All Caps

I really like this song by Madvillain (a collaboration by MF Doom & Madlib). The samples looping in the background have a real hypnotic feel. The clip looks awesome too. I love it when he opens the casket & the Madlib alien is inside!!!
                          

Great Movie this Wednesday Night

One of my favourite films from the last 10 years, Ghost Dog, is on SBS this Wednesday night. This film by Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Night on Earth, Mystery Train) follows the life of an assassin living in LA who follows a strict samurai code whilst working on a 'retainer' for an aging mobster. Sounds like a strange story - it is. Forrest Witaker is awesome as the wise, yet humble Ghost Dog. 

The soundtrack, put together by Rza (Wu Tang Clan) and is the perfact back drop to the film. I wasn't even into hip hop when I originally saw the film, however I went out & got a copy of the soundtrack. 

I won't give too much away, check it out - Wednesday night.

Paper Mache Man

I went to an art exhibition on the weekend & two pieces really caught my eye. They were boxes with paper mache people on stuck on the top. The looked great. It got me thinking that I had never made anything out of paper mache. The next day, over a a large vege breakfast, I discussed the ins & outs of the paper mache process with a number of artistic relatives. With belly full of eggs & head full of ideas I headed down to the local hardware to buy some supplies - namely some malleable wire & some chicken wire mesh.

Back home I quickly sketched the man \ monster that I wanted to create. My next step was to start making a basic frame from the wire. I then wrapped the chicken wire around the frame to give it some bulk. I donned some gardening gloves for this part of the process as the chicken wire was pretty sharp after I cut into smaller pieces.

Then it was onto the creating the glue. I was going to use flour & water, however I cheated & poured some wood glue into water & dipped in strips of paper, which in turn wrapped my wire man with. Once had dried a little I painted him with a lacquer. 

I am still waiting for him to fully dry. My next steps will be to paint & then mount him (he is having a few issues standing up by himself). I will post an update when I am done.

Where the Wild Things Are Movie

I had heard that there was going to be an adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. I loved this book as a kid. Actually I reckon all kids wanted to be Max. I still have a copy, but I must admit I re-bought it a little later in life, as I have no idea where my original went. I reckon Maurice Sendek must of sold a guzillion copies. 

The trailer reminded me of the Michael Gondry film Endless Sunshie on a Spotless Mkind. I am not sure why, maybe the texture with of the light in the sunrise. 

Jimi Thinks

So I worked on another canvas recently. I must admit I have been really getting into painting canvases, there is a real sense of accomplishment when you complete one & then hang it on your wall. I used a bunch of different methods to create this latest one, which I have named"Jimmy Thinks". To create the finished product I followed these steps:

1. First of all I found a photo of Jimi Hendrix on the web & put it through Photoshop to create a black white image. I then traced this image with architects paper & cut it out using a scapel to create a stencil. 
   
2. I then spray painted the canvas silver to prime it. 
3. Using the Jimi stencil I created earlier, I spray painted the image onto the canvas
   
4. I then used masking tape to plot out some straight lines, for a rising sun effect. You can see the tape in the image below
5. Using a brush & acrylic paint, I added the red.
6. Once the red paint was dry, I pulled off the tape, which left dead straight lines
7. All done & ready to hang

GOD - My Pal

Last week two of my firends mentioned the track 'My Pal' by the Melbourne band God. Two random & unrelated conversations both involving a 20 year old song - I love it when that happens. Anyway the track rules, here it is:

Suicide S\T

So Suicide had been one of those bands that I had read about over & over again in books such as Please Kill Me. I knew they were from New York & had started at the same time as the Dolls. I also knew that no one liked them until punk broke & even then, they were meant to be hard to take. I was then given a copy of the Fear of Music by Gary Mulholand. This book talked in glowing terms about the first Suicide album that mixed uber primitive synthesizers with bent rockabilly vocals - I was intrigued. 

I then got a lead that there was a vanyl copy at a new 2nd hand store called All Time Record Emporium up at the Balgowlah shops. It turns out the shop was run by Mick who has been selling quality 2nd hand records at markets all over the Northern Beaches for years. Anyway he had a mint UK pressing of the Suicide LP. I laid down my hard earned cash, took it home & the LP blew my mind. The synthesizers were so relentless. The vocals were also truely twisted. Gary Mulholand mentioned that both Bruce Springsteen (on Nebraska) & Lux Interior from the Cramps had been influenced by Alan Vegas vocals & he wasn't wrong. A bizarre echoing Rockabilly. I realised half way through the first listen just how much Spacemen 3 (another band I am taken with at the moment) been influenced by Suicide. 

After constant rotation for a week on both the turntable & my headphones the Suocide LP has now rocketed into to my all time top 10 albums (for this week anyway). It is definately not for everyone though - I can see how people didn't get them in early 70's, as I have played it to people now & some of them struggle. But who cares what they think this album rules - long live Martin Rev & Alan Vega. 

Radio Show

My mate Wardy does radio show every Wednesday on 2SER called Sideways Through Sound. It is a mix of phsycadelic, folk, drones & other rumblings. I always enjoy the eclectic mix & generally check out at least one or two of the bands I hear on the show. This weeks show was pretty phsycadelic so I dug it. I reckon the pick of this weeks show was Serpintina Satelite, some wierd trippy pshych from Peru. 

To find out some more about the show & check out some podcasts go to the Sideways Through Sound website. 

BTATD - Upstream 7inch

The other day I picked up the latest EP from Between the Devil & The Deep called Upstream.BTATD are great local (Sydney) 4 piece playing punk\post punk. This recording sounds just like the guys live. I am not sure who to compare this band too, however I do think they have a similar feel to Grand Fatal with the way they can change tempo, have great guitar hooks & chorus' that stick in your head. 

The EP has a track each side (a: Upstream - b: 3 Months). The packaging looks great too, printed on recycled card & blue vinyl. I also liked the touch of having a CD included for my Ipod. Good deal for $7. 

I also framed the monkey screen print I posted the other day. I went to my favourite Variety Store, purchased a frame & some black card to make a boarder. That afternoon it was hanging in my office at - job done.

Rage Drones

I couldn't sleep the other night & ended up watching RAGE at 4 a.m. & saw this track by the Drones. I must admit I had never checked them out as Triple J bands are never really my thing. However this song is ace. I have since sort out the LP, called Havilah, that the track is on & it is also worth a listen.
                          

Screening Posters

Beyond printing t-shirts I am really interested in screen printing posters. I just really like the aesthetics of screen printed poster. After printing an Iggy t-shirt a few weeks back I used the stencil to also make a poster. I used some heavy card that I had purchased from the art supply store. All I did to prepare the card was screen print a circle onto it using a mixture of red & white water-based ink. 

I followed the same process after I had screen printed a t-shirt with a stencil I had made of an APE. I have copied photos of the process into a slide below. What you can see is: 

• The  set up I use for screen printing - basically a jig I bought of ebay which has ben screwed onto a table
  
• The screen with the stencil taped to it
• The ink I used & the squeegee
• The final product

I reckon it came out ok. I will post again when I have both the APE & Iggy hanging on my wall. 

                                

T-Shirt Printing

So we moved to a new house at the end of last year (2008) & it had a working studio out the back. Now I have never really done that much art in the past. I think the closest thing to art was creating flyers for gigs back in the 90's. I used to use photocopiers, scissors & a lot of UHU glue. Even with this limited experience this space was just too good to waste.

So over the last few months I have been busy painting canvasses, screen printing, making stencils & trying to get my creativity flowing. 

Below is some examples of t-shirts I have printed so far. To make the stencils I have been tracing the images onto architects' (transparent) paper & then cutting them out by hand. I have been using both the water-based ink & also the super-cover (to varying degrees of success).