blessed is an open head...

CISTERN CORRUPT. ok, so um...yeah, it's been awhile. no excuses really - well maybe a few: band committments, head buried in books during a brutal and somewhat depressing newcastle winter that only encouraged such isolationist behaviour (not a bad thing always - sans the anti-social part) and well, a girl (i know - senger's losin' his edge), but the plus to these supposed minuses is that we have organised a bunch of shows here at the shop, and i've accrued quite a few records, tapes and zines since last post...so, i should have more to type, correct? we'll see, we'll see, friends and enemies...



ROBERT POLLARD. i waltzed into jbhifi several days ago, curious to see whether it was as shite as whence i last waltzed in (and you never waltz out, fuckin' security will do everything bar searching your orifices for stolen goods, though they're mostly very polite about it). i found a small bin of cheap cd's and...three dollars (!) thank you very much for "from a compound eye" by mr. ROBERT POLLARD, formerly the main songwriter of GUIDED BY VOICES and a man whose philosophy to songwriting : 'why write one tune, when one hundred will give you more to choose from?' is, for once, as an exception - the ONLY way to create and continue to release fuckin' grand and consistent albums. the GBV m.o. is ever present: short songs that you wish were just that little bit longer and resolved (the secret, of course), riffs that are uncannily similiar to each other, but spaced out enough from one another for you to not fucking care (and i wouldn't anyway) and a voice, oh, a voice, that effortlessly finds THE perfect melody for each song it graces, and the delivery of which is no doubt god's (if there was one) fucking gift to us all, spawning love, warmth and babies the world over. i honestly cannot stress how beautiful and right-on POLLARD's pipes are, smooth and crackly when need to be, infectious beyond belief, absolutely gorgeous in their limited scope - pop innovation at it's best, because all the best pop music is at once freakishly familiar, an improvement of one's inspirations, while paying respect to them and molesting them at the same time. twenty-six songs in all, "from a compound eye" obviously has it's high and low-lights, but to pick apart an album such as this is to miss the point. just let it FUCKING play man, and learn to love it's inconsistencies, like i have and you will - especially if ya pick it up for three bucks. in summary, more keyboard strings, a more supposedly 'mature' palette, a little less noise, and less idiosyncratic lyrics - though by no means any less interesting. or maybe i'm getting old, fuck off.



DUNGEON TAXIS. a label of the aforementioned name got in contact with us recently, and thank fuck they did, because we have been hipped to what is to these eyes and ears anyway, the most interesting new-ish (mostly) tape imprint out there at this time. in this age of 'boutique' cassettes with ten dollar price-tags, DUNGEON TAXIS is a fresh of breath air (not dyslexia - thank you jason!). for a start, though not cheap, these tapes are beautiful, really, the packaging needs to be seen and held to be believed - but what about the sounds? pretty on the inside? the answer is an emphatic 'yes', not a dud release has passed these ears so far : xNO BBQx/BRUCE RUSSELL (seriously, the former's best and most brutally realised release, whlie BR is in fine, fine form - a limited but beautiful(!)investigation of sine tones and feedback), FUTURIANS (brilliant weirdo rock shit, live, buried beneath flange - why are people clapping?), STUART MCKAY (wonderful finger-picked acoustic guitar patterns, with a classic home multi-tracked background of television mist and unidentifiable noises, just the way it should be), ADAM WILLETTS (synth upon synth, dusty and clear meditations on an idea that should be played out, but most certainly isn't in the hands of said human), MUURA/PLANTATION (matt earle again, this time in his minimalist form, again pulling a rabbit out of a hat the smells like weed and is seemingly bottomless, while PLANTATION first came to my attention via BREAKDANCE THE DAWN - i have no idea who they are, but their usual improvisational fog is impeccably recorded here, and all the better for it). i could go on, but i shall not - just pick this stuff up if you can (though be quick, i doubt there are many copies of each cassette) and be stoked on tapes the way one should.



THIS IS NOT ART. newcastle's festival of well...it can be a shit fight up here over grand final weekend, with the football contingent having discovered methamphetamine and all, but we have decided to provide an antidote to disappontment and smashed faces. three days, 1pm to 7pm - live music at VOX CYCLOPS! our address is 515 hunter st. newcastle nsw 2300. these bills are confirmed and final, so please do not ask us if your band can fit in. there are other shows though and thus, other opportunities to play. anyway...enjoy! (note: artists are not in playing order, this will be worked out soon - all shows are all ages)

friday october 1st
1pm to 7pm
DEAD BOOMERS
SPARTAK
RSI
INAPPROPRIATE TOUGH GUY BEHAVIOUR
PSYCHWARD CULT
BAT YOGHURT

saturday october 2nd
1pm to 7pm
PATHETIC HUMAN
BUTLER/BRENNAN DUO
DO NOT RESUSCITATE
PREHISTORIC FUCKIN' MORON
MURGH'TERR

sunday october 3rd
1pm to 7pm
HORSE MACGYVER
RATS WITH WINGS/RDUNCAN
ANAL CUM WOLF
CISTERN CORRUPT
DEFAULT JAMERSON