that ain't no god, it's just a hedge on fire [playlist 15/11/05]

tim's absent this week just as i was last week. i don't think he's in kaikoura, though. let's kick it off with something geeky:

1. the advantage - batman-stage 1 [elf-titled]
2. the joggers - we've been talked down [with cape and cane]
3. giant drag - this isn't it [hearts and unicorns]
4. kiss me deadly - let's [misty medley]
5. the movies - timothy james [american oil]
6. deerhoof - running thoughts [the runners four]

deerhoof are rumoured (totally unsubstantiatedly) to be playing canterbury university orientation in 2006. they're definitley playing in auckland, though, and probably wellington too. there's an interesting list of theirs up at pitchforkmedia here.

7. rocketship - yr new boyfriend [a certain smile, a certain sadness - japanese version]
8. pony up! - matthew modine [pony up! ep]
9. the sea urchins - yr so much [stardust]
10. glo-worm - downtown [glimmer]

oh, all this glowing indie pop. listened to a lot of this on my holiday in kaikoura last week. such sunny weather! bad news for power supplies, though. ah, nothing better than talking about the weather. or writing about the weather. it's a canterbury thing...

11. the young tradition - california morning [northern drive]
12. ris paul ric - purple blaze [purple blaze]

that's the vocalist/guitarist from q and not u. so quite a dramatic departure, then, considering the post-punk, cacaphonic stylings of his band. it works suprisingly well.

13. the wrens - track 2 [the meadowlands]
14. cat power - the moon [the greatest]

that new cat power is being eagerly anticipated everywhere i'm sure. it's pretty good. what an intruiging character - i want to see a concert of hers. bound to be at least a little bit insane. continuing with the female singer/songwriter eclecticisms, thanks to the listener who emailed us with the following recommendation. she's vic chesnutt's neice. this is an interesting duet.

15. vic chesnutt and liz durrett - somewhere ["somewhere" - west end story compilation]
16. tortoise and bonnie "prince" billy - that's pep (devo cover) [the brave and the bold]

elsewhere on the album (it's all covers) tthis odd pairing set about covering bruce springsteen, the minutemen, lungfish, don williams, and elton john. fortunatly, it all works pretty well. it's going to be interesting how it's received critically, though. i'm just a sucker for devo.

17. biirdie - you've got darkness [morning kills the dark]
18. wolfie - i know i know i know [awful mess mystery]
19. honeybunch - hey blue sky [time trials: 1987-1995]

for fans of the lucksmiths, apparently. i can see why - wussy twee songs about girls and literate romance. kinda like the next band, although a little later on. "emma's house" is probably the best song on this two-disc compilation. perfect for any mixtape.

20. the field mice - emma's house [where'd you learn to kiss that way]
21. spearmint - a happy ending [my missing days]
22. ten words for sno - d-na [d-na]
23. the gerbils - sunshine soul [are you sleepy]

thanks to hat, rdu's station manager, for the recommendation of the gerbils. they're in a very similar vein to bands like the olivia tremor control, of montreal, apples in stereo etc. - all those great elephant 6 bands.

24. clearlake - finally free [amber]
25. p:ano - leave me with the boy [brigadoon]

time to get into rockier terrain, after the wuss-fest that was the show so far. sorry! all this sunny weather and all i can listen to is sweet twee pop. here's some more rockin stuff.

26. parlour - such (a one year stem) [hives fives ep]
27. head wound city - prick class [head wound city ep]

you've gotta love press releases. here's what head wound city's one says:

"welcome to head wound city, now die alone in the street, skull crushed flat by the bumper of that yellow cab you didn't see coming - the one with the wheels made of cyanide laced donuts, and gg allin's grinning ghost grinding the gears. jordan does the singing"

that's jordan from the blood brothers. he's joined by a yeah yeah yeahs member, and also someone from post-hardcore band the locust. scary.

28. the plastic constellations - sancho panza [crusades]
29. the mendoza line - golden boy (torture in the shed) [full of light and full of fire]
30. mommy and daddy - way west way [duel at dawn]
31. the chalets - kiss chasing [nightrock ep]

since yr already up

on a rainy sunday afternoon made quite beautiful by cat power's new album, the greatest, i don't have a whole lot to post, really. no new reviews or articles or anything extra-exciting to report. i did catch the joint (a super-cool show on rdu 98.5fm) on saturday from 3-5pm, though, after getting back from a few days in kaikoura (nice place, by the way - especially in such sunny weather). the chaps fraserhead and herbwhisperer were talking about the guitar media show - in particular, the giant drag album that i've been thrashing. it's called hearts and unicorns. i don't think i've actually played any on the show yet but it's over there (see? on the right) on the recommended listening section. it's pretty cool. will play some more this week, but there's a good write up about a recent gig in the states on fluxblog. and also, a track for you to download:

giant drag - this isn't it.mp3

also on this weeks show will be new music from the clientele's new tour record, it's art, dad, new bonnie "prince" billy with tortoise from their fourthcoming covers album, the brave and the bold, other unreleased stuff from the mendoza line, ten words for sno, ris paul ric(q and not u vocalist new project), clearlake, the advantage, head wound city (members of the locust and the yeah yeah yeahs), winter pils, as well as new cat power and new sun kil moon. it's gonna be a wild night.

don't forget about the low hum gig on in a few weeks, as well as the fifth mixtape connection, which is on the 2nd of december. plenty of indie hot love for you. more news on that later, though.

i've overmarried... steve earle + dukes/ alison moorer, live

so after having the 5th ticket to see him last time and being denied by the greedheads that constituted the Civic (home of the greatest fire rating in CHCH), I finally saw Mr Earl last night at the James Hay theatre. I will try and form a more coherent review later but these impressions, whilst my ringing ears are fresh, may suffice.

moorer opened the show, the pretty gurl with an acoustic guitar routine, and played some pleasant, if not somewhat bland, songs. her voice, however, was outstanding, and it is very possible that with a few more years under her hat she could deliver something outstanding... but for now I'd take a Lucinda Williams (or even Kathleen Edwards) CD over anything I heard from her (which may say more about my inclination towards the gritter side of the tracks than anything). special mention must be made however of her searing version of Carrickfergus (of which Van Morrison and the Chieftans did a sublime version on Irish Heartbeat), with eare on mandolin... there's something brilliant when traditional irish meets nashville and reminded me of bap kennedy's domestic blues, a wonderful irish/americana gem that earle produced.

earle was a pretty dynamic, if ramshackle, frontman who brought all guns blazing to the stage. amerika v6.0 was pretty dynamic, and there were plentiful highlights (guitar town, even - god forbid - copperhead road, but harlem man was up there as was many of the tracks off jerusalem), but more often than not arle was hampered by a sound mix that was as murky as american foreign policy. the guitars were too loud, earle's predisposition to mubly/ talk got lost in the mix, and I felt sorry for those who didn;t know the words as you wouldn't have been able to make out more than 20 all night...

throw in some heartfelt between song banter about the US, and NZ, with a dedication of the show to Rod Donald, and you walked away feeling that you'd seen steve earle in fine, beligerent form. And certainly when he dropped the electric for the acoustic and brought (new wife) alision moorer on stage to sing with him the band sounded as good as any I've heard.

but once again i'm left despairing over the shit quality of Christchurch venues. we need them to get these artists to come down, but i'm not sure how many people would want to step foot in the james hay again after last night's fisher and price my first sound desk mix.

enjoy the long weekend,

timmy d

strap on your ear goggles and you're ready to go - the postrawk special

hello all. richard's away in kaikoura chilling like bob dylan's subterranean homesick villians. but i, sir timothy dodgers esq 13th, and shea the indie kid are hereto bring you a night of predominantly instrumental audio sauce, what I like to call symphonic violence, but whatsome would call post rawk.

like the LMFAP said, that gum you like is coming back in style. let's rock...


1. Tortoise, Seneca (Standards)
2. Slint, Nosferatu Man (Spiderland)
3. (snippet) Hangedup, Powered By Steam (Constellation:Music Until Now)
4. Cluster, Hollywood (?)

some strange dreambreakers... pay thosebills and sell that coke jack white

5. Neu, Hallogallo (Neu! - 1972)

After leaving Kraftwerk Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother formed Neu! to extend their musical boundaries... and ended up being one of the greatest influences on Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" album... classic and timeless in it's simplicity.

Then on to Krautrawk's other genius standardbearers...

6. Can, Soup (Ege Bamyasi)
7. Sigur Ros, untitled ()
8. Bell Orchestre, Les Lumieres Pt 2 (Recording A Tape The Colour Of Light)
9. A Silver Mount Zion, Sit In The Middle Of Three Galloping Dogs (

the ads the ads the ads.

10. Pelican, Last Day Of Winter (The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw)
11. Dirty Three, I Remember A Time When You Used To Love Me (Horse Stories)
12. Spiritualized, I Think That I'm In Love (Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space)

hey would you like tomake your smile whiter? do you have an empty feeling inside that you;d like to fill by going to a drum'n'bass party??? etcetc

13. Mogwai, Kappa (Come On Die Young)
14. Godspeed You Black Emperor, Storm 1 (Levez Vos Skinny Fists...) - edit

15. Explosions In The Sky, Look Into The Air (How Strange Innocence)
16. Do Make Say Think, The Landlord Is Dead (Constellation...)
17. As much of the Diamond Sea by SOnic Youth as I Can fit!

thank you and gawdnight


timmy d

the brunettes - when ice met cream [ep review]

[Lil’ Chief, 2005]
***1/2

Fresh from tours with big-name US indie-pop bands The Shins and Rilo Kiley, New Zealand band The Brunettes are back with even more quirky and romantic material. It’s all sweet, bubblegum indie-pop with the usual irony and hints of sardonic wit that were more evident on Mars Loves Venus than the pure sugar-coated Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks. Retrospective to various degrees (mainly 50s and 60s), this six-track EP shows the Brunette’s sound evolving into something more mature, even if their shtick is fundamentally young and playful. The boy/girl dynamics are terrific as usual – Heather Mansfield’s voice is beautiful and works well with Jonathan Bree’s. Another great record for this summer’s soirees.

mixtape connection vol. 4 - 28/10/05 [photos]

you are full of shit (check out my sweet riffs) - [playlist 1/11/05]

it's really windy outside and everythings a bit askew. i have an exam tomorow afternoon - my last ever! yay it's finally yay.

1. black tamborine - for ex-lovers only [complete recordings]
2. the jesus and mary chain - just like honey [psycho candy]
3. the lassie foundation - come on, let your lime light shine [pacifico]
4. the detroit cobras - ya ya ya [seven easy pieces]

you can download this next track at said the gramophone. click on the song to go right to the download. i think this is a really superb reworking. been posting a few covers on the blog lately but this is definitly the best of the lot. gosh i love that most serene republic album.

5. stars - ageless beauty (the most serene republic remix)
6. the skygreen leopards - clouds through the sparrow's eyes [life & love in sparrow's meadow]
7. the young tradition - gone are the days [northern drive]
8. the handsome family - down in the valley of hollow logs [through the trees]

this playlist is shaping out interestingly. or just two-dimensional - it's indie-pop vs country. the battle is on!

9. cub - cast a shadow [betti-cola]
10. steve earle - ? [live album]

he's kind of like bill hicks, says tim: very left wing, very literate, very quick. tim also says he really must get his arse into gear and get tickets for this coming concert. time for richard's twee megamix. this summer's gonna be filled to the brim with mixtapes. and that means real tapes - casettes. none of this cd business.

11. heavenly - so little deserve [le jardin de heavenly]
12. honeybunch - hey blue sky [time trials 1987-1997]
13. another sunny day - the centre of the world [london weekend]

if you haven't ever listened to the next two bands, make sure you do - they're pretty seminal as far as a lot of indie rock goes these days. grandaddy have pretty much done their dash, though, i think. their new ep really is terrible. all the other material is worth getting. sparklehorse, another d.i.y. indie act of the 90s really were the biggest reason for my getting into indie-rock and stuff like that. thanks!

14. grandaddy - summer here kids [under the western freeway]
15. sparklehorse - hammering the cramps [viva dixie submarine transmission plot]
16. wolfie - hey it's finally yay [awful mess mystery]
17. spoon - merchants of soul [gimme fiction]

i <3 spoon. i <3 handclaps. i <3 writing i <3s.

18. the bank holidays - she's not into love [day for night]
19. the new pornographers - the jessica numbers [twin cinema]

this track's name sounds like it should be a sitcom, like the O.C.. or maybe just a band on the O.C. been catching lots of sitcoms on TV lately. the next band feature members from the pornographers, not too sure who though. i think it's the female vocalist. who knows - these crazy canadians. all their bands have too many members - look at the arcade fire, broken social scene...

20. immaculate machine - broken ship [ones and zeros]
21. dirty three - great waves [cinder]

ooh, cat power on the vocals here. check out this article for an interesting hint towards some feminist issues in indie rock, but some utter fucking bullshit words about devendra banhart. skip the first part of the article - this brent dicrescenzo guy really is a terrible writer. remember kids - just because pitchfork sez it doesn't mean it's true.

22. gravenhurst - velvet cell [fires in distant buildings]
23. explosions in the sky - yr hand in mine [the earth is not a cold dead place]

listen to guitar media soon for a preview of this post rock band's turn at the temporary residence series "travel in constants". not next week but the week after, cos i'll be away in sunny kaikoura. hehe. and i'll be listening to stuff like this next one:

24. the scotland yard gospel choir - ellen's telling me what i want to hear [i bet you say that to all the boys]
25. tim rogers - kalgoorlie [dirty ron/ghost songs]
26. acid house kings - a long term plan [sing along with the acid house kings]