...CURRENT AFFAIRS...last updated 280508

IN WITH THE NEW AND OUT WITH THE OLD.

It certainly looks like 2008 will become the busiest year in dualpLOVER history, we have already released two great records in Kevin Blechdom & Ad Hawks's ode to child rearing - the childrens suite 7" and Sissy Spacek's French Record (see reviews below) we are now putting the final touches on another 3 albums.

Now estranged from their parents Toxic Lipstick's have left home and their new found maturity shows on their third album Poopin. Purple ducks debut akbum Duck side of the Moon is the first of many albums which appreantly will all have the word dark changed to duck like say the duck crystal genius! I'll have more on them soon so watch this space.

If that lot is not enough we also have other impending releases with a Captain Ahab album (Touring in October), Menstruation Sisters DVD, Toecutter album and Justice Yeldham DVD all slated for release by the end of the year (possibly more!).

It's a good thing too as we've been running out of alot of shit lately, After some sterling reviews of naked on the vague's Blood Pressure Sessions (see below) combined with them touring the states for SXSW and the siltbreeze vinyl release supply has nearly run out as demand in the US builds. So if you havn't picked up one yet do so quickly (although i do expect we'll repress at some point) other titles that have either sold out or are almost gone now include Toxic Lipstick - Proisoner of Hormones, Volvox - Bad Earth, Al Duvall - The Timid Mischeif and would you believe it after 10 years we are finally down to our last copy of Deano Merino!

SISSY PRAISE

the first couple of reviews for Sissy Spacek's French Record have arrived and so far so good.

WIRE

If your budget will only stretch to one disc, go for French Record instead, a superb set of 14 relatively brief pieces in which Wiese and Ronnau are joined once again by Ott and Hall, with Kevin Drumm opening and closing proceedings and a crunchy cameo from C Spencer Yeh. Here in all their glory are the recycled waste products of a doomed civilisation - fragments of Metal guitar fuzzed into oblivion, snippets of easy listening beaten to a bloody pulp - but they're meticulously catalogued and cunningly sequenced to lead up to and away from the central ''Really Into The Haters'', a veritable minor masterpiece in which an ominous drone emerges from behind a wall of shattered sonic debris and alternating hard-panned thwacks. The cumulative effect is overwhelming and - paradoxical though it may seem - refreshingly musical. - Dan Warburton

MUSIQUEMACHINE (also published this great interview with John Weise)

The French record finds Sissy Spacek returning to more noisy terrority after the often improvised and more subdued California Ax box set, but like the box set this often walks new and adventurous ground twisting their sound into new divine sonic mayhem.

Opening things up we have Scorpion Whip which uncovers a clear love of metal, but of course very bastardised and bent- it’s basically a series chugging of rock/ metal riffs running blurring and distorting into each other though noisy it’s still a surprisingly musically touched opener. As the album progresses the improvised elements from California Ax pop up here and there, but in shorter more jarring and noisy pieces before jumping head long into noise roars, manic fall down the stairs percussive cut-up and searing feedback smarts. But the thing that keeps surfacing all the way through is how varied, concise and approachable the tracks are here- sure there still noisy and brutal but there traces of melodies,rhythm and really creative flare through-out. All making this the most approachable Sissy Spacek album thus far.

Like all of Sissy Spacek albums this functions best as a whole-a near on 40 minute sonic rollercoaster ride though a few stands out moments come in the form of; Flood with its landscape of feedback swipes and wraps, juddering stop/ start percussions and tight guitar strip picks all coming off like coarse, demented and slightly bloody cartoon music. Really into the haters that loops, layers and builds the sound of shovelling junk/ steel with rising mechanical background drone and junk yard percussions to build a hypnotic textural rewarding track that seems to completely surround you. Deep water with its sped and screwed up harmonic textures that feels like been throw one ball screwed musically snippets after another, but before you mind can un-screw them you’re thrown yet another one.

Though I enjoyed and treasure California Ax it’s a complex and challenging beast of a release which I’m still fully trying to get my head round. The French Record finds them distilling, polishing and defining their sound- it’s jarring, manic, playful and damn creative. One of the noise records of the year and a great starting point for those unaccustomed to both Sissy Spacek and the noise genre- really high end creative noise madness.

Rating: 5 out of 5

VAGUE PRAISE

Also getting some late but not never reviews for naked on the vagues the blood pressure sessions.

SKYSCRAPER REVIEW
Australia’s underground scene might be known internationally for its blazing punk rock (The Saints, The Birthday Party, X), and that stuff’s great, but an equally astounding scene of arty weirdoes came up in the late seventies and early eighties, where names such as SPK, the Slugfuckers and Systematics churned out some of the best D.I.Y. music of the decade. Naked on the Vague are as clear a torchbearer of this tradition that I’ve ever heard, as ‘The Blood Pressure Sessions’ is a gorgeous, disconcerting event that grows deeper and more addicting with each listen. Sirens wail, drum machines wheeze out simplistic taunts, and old keyboards blow their cowebs in the listener’s face throughout each of the tracks contained within. Imagine Young Marble Giants in a post-Internet landscape and you’ve got an idea of what Naked on the Vague have achieved. This is the type of noise that compels people to cut themselves, writhe on the floor, dance and laugh, all within the same moment. Iwasn’t even looking for a new band to absolutely flip my lid, but I found that with Naked on the Vague. Allegedly, ‘The Blood Pressure Sessions’ will be pressed to vinyl by Siltbreeze later this year, and I will certainly be first in line.

Mathew Kosloff; SKYSCRAPER magazine.

PITCHFORK rerview
You could argue that Sydney, Australia's Naked on the Vague are a bit of a 1980s-retro band, but only if you're thinking about the dark side of the decade-- no wave instead of new wave. Their first full length, The Blood Pressure Sessions, is mired in Reagan-era dread. Released last year on the Australian label Dual Plover and now given a U.S. vinyl treatment by Siltbreeze, the record drips with hollow contempt and dull scorn. It's the Southern Hemisphere's dark photo-negative answer to Times New Viking's Paisley Reich.

Comprised of keyboardist Lucy Cliché, bassist Matthew P. Hopkins, and a drum machine, Naked on the Vague churn out stripped-down and monotonous post-punk. The rhythms are primitive; the most animated songs rely on little more than the incessant thud of a bass drum. Likewise, any pretense of harmony is chucked out the window. As a result, it's easy draw a straight line from a Naked on the Vague song like "All Aboard"-- with it's slanted riff and stone-age drum loop-- to the esoteric scuzz of the past. But although Naked on the Vague wear some influences on their sleeves-- whether that's downtown noise, Flying Nun Records, or Huggy Bear LPs-- The Blood Pressure Sessions is more than just skilled homage. The band's take on post-punk is familiar but also tight and contemporary.

Naked on the Vague aren't abrasive in the Dead C sense, out to fully lobotomize their audience with skree and treble. In fact, when compared to the production value of other records released on Siltbreeze-- a label whose reputation was built on shrill hiss and white noise-- The Blood Pressure Sessions is startlingly clear and intensely silent. "All Aboard" is sheared down to the most meager of ingredients-- one circular drumbeat, a bass riff, and a and a malnourished keyboard melody. There's nothing else, not even amp hiss. But all of the negative space enhances the pervading sense of desolation. None of the instruments resonate and each lyric hangs in the air for only a moment before vanishing back into the void, as if the band are performing in a vacuum chamber.

Naked on the Vague also have a penchant for dubby textures that have more in common with the current Fuck It Tapes school of psychedelic music than to no wave. "Brown Sun/Sydney Lane Road" is six-minutes of clanking abstract percussion and flat vocal drones. There are accordion trills and lonesome trumpet farts thrown into the mix, but the sounds are hardly lush. Rather, they're restrained, like something from a claustrophobic horror-movie soundtrack. These moments alone don't divide them from the weirdos of yesteryear. Where no wave had a marked self-important streak, Naked on the Vague are self-aware. Although dark, their lyrics seem to drift around at the edge of black comedy. "Horse, he's sick/ Horse so sick," sings Lucy Cliché during the appropriately titled "The Horse, He's Sick". We're talking some distance from Michael Gira yelling, "All I can do is kill" in straight-faced earnest.

It's stupid to dismiss or embrace Naked on the Vague as merely the product of their influences. The Blood Pressure Sessions is an enhancement of an idea started a long time ago. During the 80s, bands responded to poverty, vacuous culture, and bad government with music that was appropriately nihilistic. It's not surprising that Naked on the Vague have been able to tap into that mindset 20 years later; the more things change, the more they stay the same.

-Aaron Leitko, April 17, 2008

dualpLOVER is bringing wednesday back!

thats right every wednesday night club consolador de dos caras will be changing the lyrics of that easybeats song as midweek becomes the minds principal night of longing. Two rooms of week in week out fun, the front room (which incidentally is absolutely free!!) will be armed to the teeth with an erratic array of all music presented by regular DJ's smallcock/ bambi and the bambis/ toecutter & BOG + weekly guests like openings nights dj rainbow ejaculation (check out the video). it will also be hosting a DIY market place for independent music labels/ publishers and fashion designers so please feel free to bring your wares.

back room is a minimal charge (usually gold coin but may vary depending on touring acts)check this page for up and coming artists .

In the spanish 1/4, Sydney city, opens 8pm runs til late (live acts over by 11pm).

booking a wee weekly can be a little ominous so please dont be afraid to ge in touch if you'ld like to have a go on the decks or out the back, at dualpLOVER we're up for anything!

FUNNY SHIT ISSUE 3 AVAILABLE NOW.

Funny shit almanac is now finished, the total sum of all installments of poo hijinx from around the world. Encompassing such previously forbidden areas such as showers and shit, bubblegum ice cream and a thesis on why shit isn't funny you will have be foolish indeed to not get this. all this for a mere $5 at our gift shop.

Trash maths issue 1 and 2 is also still available (a collection of mathematical dilemas designed for the seedy underbelly of life), for the low price of $3 + postage.

Australia's funniest home police record of interview tapes

A future project we desperately need your help with is the 'australia's funniest home police record of interview tapes' compilation album. were after submissions of those amusing recordings the cops give suspects after interviews, for a good example check out the shafted track on rebirth 3 by question mark (available for download at myspace). if you or anyone you know has something remotely similar to this please send it along, alternatively feel free to ask dodgy looking people if they are willing to sell police interview recordings we will pay top dollar for funny ones you may even win a home entertainment system.

JUSTICE YELDHAM: CICATRRIX: CD & BIRTHDAYS LP.

CICATRIX : After a five-year glass munching junket spanning four continents Justice Yeldham has finally put together ‘Cicatrix’ his first collection of material available on CD on Melbournian imprint Sweatlung.

The disc is presented in four distinct parts.

Part ONE: Studio Recordings - first glass recordings ever made without an audience present, the four takes on the disc are the best cuts taken from a half day session engineered by Chris Townend at BJB studios in late 2006.

Part TWO: Digital Soundchecks – Captured during Justices short lived digital period, where he used a laptop with a max MSP patch (built especially for him by Robin Fox) instead of analogue pedals to process the glass. He only did 25 or so shows with this set up while on tour in Europe in late 2005. During the tours soundchecks he used the technology to record the sounds he played in order to listen back and EQ before shows. A year later whist cleaning out the harddrive he rediscovered these forgotten chucks of audio.

Part THREE: Live - 4 live recordings from Zurich, Sydney, Sydney again! and Toronto.

Part FOUR: Video - the video that Youtube rejected for inappropriate content from Bologna Italy.

REVIEWS.

"the integrity and obsessiveness with which Abela pursues his unlikely artistic vision can't be questioned." - The Wire.

"So weird, and so goddamn awesome." - Aquarius

BIRTHDAYS: consists of two live sets by maverick amplified-glass player Justice Yeldham recorded during his & Keg's recent tour of Europe. If you've never heard of the guy you are in for a bloody treat. Using concert-grade piano contact mics, he amplifies a sheet of glass and plays it with his mouth and face, processing it with pedals attached to his belt, usually barefooted. The results are unworldly, and hearing it you would never imagine what created it, something an Aussie could especially achieve. Like careening assaults of insect spaceships, he transports the listener to other worlds of sound, ending most often in a crash of the glass upon his head. He survives, bloody but alive, never worse for wear in the morning.

Side A was captured in Marseille on the eve of Justice's 35th birthday while side B was recorded on Kegs birthday in Porto (for a preview listen at myspace.com/justiceyeldham). And to top off the birthday cheer Keg also did the cover illustration as a gift for Justice's Birthday. Mastered by the god-like Rasheed of Dubplates (Berlin), the record has been collaboratively released in an edition of 600 copies across the world by Anarchymoon Recordings (North America), Turgid Animal (Europe) & All Thumbs Press (Australia).