MR FREEDOM X

Been on a complete Miles Davis trip for the past few days broken up with bouts of Dio and Nocturnus. Been a fan of Miles for years. His career stretched from the alte 40's through to the tail end of the 80's. He played a part in almost every new stage of jazz if not influencing it himself. His backing band was made up of future greats and legends in there own right, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, JJ Johnson, Jack De Johnette, its a pretty impressive list.
Anyway, you can read all about him on the great man's Wiki page, I thought I would upload one of my favourites from his discography. On The Corner is, after Bitches Brew, his best known effort from his electric period.



Smooooooth

He claimed he was influenced by Sly & The Family Stone and Hendrix on this one. Infact there is a story about how in awe of Hendrix Miles was. To quote his biographer " he loved the way he was sticking it to whitey and the man with his guitar playing " Its claimed they even spoke about collaborating but obviously Jimi died. There is a rumour that they recorded some live stuff, I really like to believe that but then it more than likely would have shown up online by now. Just think about what it would have sounded like!
Check out this, I know its a Cyndi Lauper tune but Miles made this something else. The recorded version is good, but the live version is superb. There is a peak in the middle, and the note he hits at 5:40 that goes right through me. Superb.



Enjoy.

BACK IN THE HABIT..........

Fo Sho.....

Look how cool I am and the cool people I hang around with.
Real life is shit. Car problems, financial problems, health problems, I got problems coming out my ears. My nose as well if I didn't have this damn lurgy.
So some emotional, violent escapism with a message I reckon.

We3 is a awesome 3-part graphic novel I have just finished. The reliable team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely released this back in 2004 I believe. It tells the tale of 3 household pets. A dog, a cat and arabbit. Appropriated by the goverment for a research project. They are encased in high tech suits, armed to the teeth and deployed as a covert strike unit in dangerous situations. The story follows they're escape and journey home. Avoiding the military and other nasty stuff. Its been described as "Universal Soldier meets Homeward Bound" which is a pretty silly description but does fit it immensly. Its one of the nicest, most heart warming stories I have read in a long time. The range of emotions expressed by the animals in the few words they utter and the detail of the art stands out more than the sudden bursts of violent brutality. I hope you enjoy this....

WOOF WOOF BANG

Allegedly there is a script penned by Morrison being developed with a green light to begin shooting next year. Imagine that.
Cheers to Lucid Media for this one.

FROM THE VAULTS!

I have finally uploaded something that I highly doubt anyone has heard. other than those of us cool enough to get into it on its original release.
There used to be a guy called Kevin Stewart panko who wrote for Terrorizer and some other things. He is still alive, so don't worry. he had a band in his home country of Canada called Association Area. They had 2 bassists, released a 7" and EP, lost a bassist and then created this piece of "art".
Lothsome Deco is a strange beast indeed. Not aligning itself with any particular style. They have a free form approach to song structure. Mixing a huge noise rock element with snippets of grind, surf rock, white noise and whatever they fancied, leaving you with one of my most prized finds. As far as I know its still knocking around on some ditro's here and there and Lunasound Records may still possess copies. other than that, finding any information about them is pretty hard.



ASSOCIATION AREA - Lothsome Deco

Give it a listen, absord it and throw it up again.
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RETURN FROM TOUR....NEW THINGS

Tour was, as it always is, better than the rest of life. Despite being only 3 days long. We hit Edniburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow with the superbly heavy Diet Pills. Played with some awesome bands like Holy Mountain, Divorce and Loinstorm and got immensly drunk. We are all now broke and tired. But that is what its like being in a band and I would not change it.
I also got some new things to watch.....

Q The Winged Serpent : Larry Cohen's classic, slightly spoofy, non too serious monster movie. Giant, ritual killing, stop motion serpent terrorizes David Carridine and New York.
Salute Of The Jugger : Post-apocalyptic brutal sports with Rutger Hauer and Private Pile.
Alligator : Another classic from when I was kid. Giant alligator munches its way through the sewer system and eats lots of folk.
Nightmare City : Italian, low-budget disaster/zombie film with immensly shit make up effects but has a charm that I can't deny. Look how bad it is....

Scanners : The old Cronenberg classic on VHS, charity shop find.
Blood Camp Thatcher : a.k.a. Turkey Shoot. Australian, exploitation number. Future prison stuff, the rich hunting the unmates, Big brother, totalitarian society. Has Fifi from Mad Max as a prison warden.
And this horribly creepy rabbit mask we found in a fancy dress shop in Nottingham.
Superb work all round. The only problem is I can't afford to pay rent or tax now.
Thank you to my good friend Si for getting me into this one. Supremly heavy doom/sludge trio Warhorse. Heaven Turns To Ash.

Slow slow slow slow



Yeah
x

ALBUMS THAT SHAPED OLIVER #4

Just aquick entry before I go off getting tattooed today is this album by Bloodlet. They existed in the late 90's, released a few albums on Victory Records, split up, got back together and released another album before splitting up for the last time.
They where the black sheep of the Victory roster. Dubbed by many as "Evilcore", there sound was a mixture of slowed down hardcore, dissonance, technicality and something approaching noise-rock. Add to this the fretless bass, the lo-fi production and the hoarse vocals and you have an album that is still as impressive as it was when I first heard it all those years ago. Certainly a oddity in the hardcore scene but definatly one of the most influenctial bands for me.

DOGMAN WITH HORNS




YES
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EVEN WHEN ITS RAINING...........

.........The Polyphonic Spree are pretty good at cheering me, even if they are a bunch of hippies.

NEW PURCHASES

Yes. Arrived the other week. Here we go.
First off, The Last Dragon DVD. You can read my previous post about how much I love this film here so just take my word its sweet.

But slightly more exciting was the Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" 3-disc set. This is the best visual companion for the Dangerfield fanatic. Featuring all of his specials he did for NBC and Fox, a selection of his own show live from Club Dangerfield, the proving ground for many young stand ups. it features a young Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Hicks as well as the crude but good David Tyree. It also features the Dangerfield episode of This Is Your Life, presented to him live on stage during one of his performances. Its really nice and touching. Dangerfield, what a legend.

Here we go.....

I also purchased a new amp, but that is another story for another time.
I also have come across this on my internet travels that I will share with you.
Been digging this album loads recently. It shouldn't really need any explanation at all, The Butthole Surfers are legends in there own. If you like them then you love them, there is no middle ground at all. This is my favourite album by these oddball legends, the opening sample always raises a smile.

The Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technicain (1987)

Go and enjoy.
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HE TOLD SEVERAL OFF COLOUR JOKES........

They are everywhere.......... and wear tuxedo's.


x

Willpower

Well, Sean has done it recently and a fair few other folk I know, so Oliver thought "Why not, give it a try myself". "It" is hand made merch. Due to Ergon being in a situation where we ain't exactly rolling in cash ( I would be scared if we where) and all of us sufferring the financial strain placed on us by the goverment I got some ideas together and had a go at printing some shirts.
I studied textiles and fine art at College so I thought it shouldn't be to hard. AND IT WASN'T!

I decided on polo shirts with the ongoing horse head theme thing we have. Got some fabric paints, a roller, made the template and bob's your retarded uncle I had made the very first piece of Ergon merch. Silver on black.

There is also gonna be a olive green shirt with the print in black. These will be charged at 5 queen heads at the next lot of gigs we have coming up. So if your at the Melt Banana or Battletorn shows we will have them. As much as I can churn out in time.
Said show is going to be so good. I have played with Melt Banana almost every time they have been over. You can't fault this band at all. Proof.....



Do yourself a favour and check them out.