| #638 |
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2003 |
Perilous 638 The new year is here and I’ll try not to be so cynical over 2003 but with the war machine fired up and rolling its not looking like 2003 will bring much good. Problem is, once the juggernaut starts rolling it gets very hard for even those at the helm to stop it. And its not even as if the USA needs the oil that lies under Iraq (the US is well enough supplied by its own reserves and those of Central America which it keeps under its thumb). . . . more that the US needs to ensure that Middle East oil is routed through US corporations rather than allow any kind of Middle Eastern nationalism (except Israel) to grow and potentially usurp control of oil (and its prices) in the region. There don’t eve have to be any conspiracy theories, its all out in the open. On the music front January is traditionally very quiet as record labels take a break and shops try to clear all the excess stock they bought in before Christmas. Somewhat depressingly it looks like all is not well at Fish Records with it going into voluntary administration before Christmas. The loss of this large chain will hurt a lot of the independent distributors and labels in Australia if it does go under, not to mention the many musicians who work as staff in the stores. Prepare for big ripples across the small pond . . . . More positively there are some exciting shows to distract you from the things that matter this week. Kraftwerk clashes with Gonzales and Japanese dub crew Dry & Heavy on Thursday night, then Chicks On Speed on Friday night. Then if you still don’t feel too old then you’re probably heading to the Big Day Out. And possibly Vibes. With so much being spent going to gigs is it any wonder that records shops are having a hard time selling records? Even better, there are some excellent local releases emerging in the next few weeks. Clue To Kalo (formerly Superscience) from Adelaide finally has his second album out this time thru US label Mush as well as Leaf in Europe/UK. And new Groovescooter signing Amphibian should have an EP out soon along with the Don Meers Trio, plus the long awaited (and excellent) new album from The Herd, plus a remix collection from Tim Koch to sit beside his recent minidisc only release for n5MD. More on those next time. Frigid returns to the Hopetoun on Sunday Feb 2nd with a crazy concept night hosted by bootleg/mashup king Dsico and Mute Freak in his Bunny Attack guise. Unlike a normal Frigid this is a karaoke Frigid to launch the new year. Sing-a-long to bad pop songs, see terrible video clips, and hear them all get mashed up live courtesy of some super whibang laptop programming. And you also get to hear the rather stunning Puzhaki (from Brisbane) who if you even remotely like Squarepusher you need to come and hear. Yellow Peril (www.snarl.org)  Goto
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