The mirror is a short, punchy and wordy record.
It largely attempts to draw a parellel between nationalism and impersonalism, that is to say a link between walls and barriers that we erect between each other and walls we erect between ourselves and other countries / cultures. Strangely enough ‘the mirror’ then links this in with walls in personal relationships by serving it up to the listener in this guise. It is in essence a talking book black comedy for the literally and metaphorically blind, and general critics of human ‘civilisation’.
It has an amazing instrumental called ‘The Abyssobenthic Zone’ which is intended to describe the strangest creatures of the deep sea. The Mirror ends with ‘You’re in my mind’ which is just like too many neurons firing at once and ends with the line “tonights song has been brought to you by severed organ advertising” !
- 1:15The robot and the soul
- 2:35Cat ate my dogma [3.1MB]
- 2:33Islands [3.3MB]
- 2:58You let go of a classical fish
- 3:53Just for you
- 2:17The cocoon [2.9MB]
- 4:43The Abyssobenthic zone
- 3:41Far from something real
- 1:15Flee the beast
- 3:14I want you back
- 4:31You’re in my mind
32:55Total playing time
Archealogy has a great track called ‘walking the dreampath’ which encourages the listener to remember and follow their dreams. It is at once abstract and inspiring. Lines like “walking the dreampath tramples fears and diminishes the cage” are evocative of otherness and shamen – like states of mind. In contrast “what’s the Mish” (in actuality a cover of the theme from mission impossible) is ‘cooky’ and ‘nutzo’ with a vocal akin to William Burroughs after too much bad ice.
Here Benthe makes the Plastic fantastic (i.e. samples and synthetic sounds used in an organic way) and on tracks such as ‘Heart’, ‘Shine On’ ‘Leaving Limbo’ and ‘Free of me’ technology and human grooves are blended making archeaology a garden of diverse sounds and styles.
- 3:45Heart
- 6:16Walking the dreampath [7.1MB]
- 4:44Undeserving hands [6.0MB]
- 3:25Overactive imagination
- 1:37A higher Taste
- 2:02Astral love [2.6MB]
- 1:36Leaving limbo
- 1:49Aftermath
- 0:06Two minus two
- 2:22Smothered for tyrants
- 1:05Whats da mish?
- 1:00Untitled
- 1:38Underworlds
- 9:13Shine on
- 3:27Desert suspence
- 3:21Organodance
- 3:42Free of me
- 2:54Birthright
- 3:49Thing
- 5:14Omegahedron
1:03:00Total playing time
Methrapunge were an historical influential early nighties Australian hard core Band. Their own influences included Black Flag, Rollins band, Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More and Mr Bungle.
The record gets fairly “Anti” throughout. Anti-television, Anti-consumerism, Anti-marketeering, Anti-instant gratification, Anti-weakness and Anti- denial!
Essentially these songs are about getting past the worlds bullshit and facing your own issues head on. It could be difficult for the faint hearted to last a half an hour in the ring with the ‘Punge. They dare you.more…
- 3:38Dirt seed [4.6MB]
- 4:31Tear age [5.7MB]
- 2:43Fantasy
- 7:38Self erase
- 4:09Pearly
- 3:18Skafe
- 5:22Sensory lane [7.0MB]
- 5:1856 Flashes
36:37Total playing time
Sydney Band Cornbeef Curtains only existing CD
A dark psychedelic romance with your inner devil. A Live recording dressed up as a studio effort. Imagine satanic nursury rhymes sung over The Cure and Janes addiction on angel dust… live! Features Nat from Frenzal Rhomb on drums and Andy from Methrapunge on Bass and guitar by Bentos.more…
- 7:26The knife
- 6:58A simpletons joy
- 4:13Candos and the troubled mind
- 9:08My only Vice
- 5:58Fatale [7.6MB]
- 2:54Sunrise
- 7:55A sad exit [10.3MB]
- 4:57Ysuvious
- 4:47The train
- 6:09The dalk half
- 10:37The knife part 2 / the guillotine
- 6:35The frog and the scorpion [8.4MB]
:00Total playing time
Relentlesss and cheerful folk satire.
Paul Spencer is the Bob Dylan for the nineties and naughties except he is better because he’s hilarious. Now becoming politically aware can be fun! Paul’s albums come with a special songbook with chords lyrics and fingerpuppets. Paul wraps up every current national and global issue and exposes the truth by satirically parodying the prevailing propaganda in a jovial cheerful way. And the songs are very catchy and easily learnt and/or sung along to. Check out the sound bites for best description.more…
- It’s Really Bad [1.9MB]
- A Word for Freedom
- Axises of Evil
- Keep the Prices Low
- Please Do What You Can [2.6MB]
- Bare-faced Lie
- The Earth Will Rise
- You Can’t Just Winge
- A Supermarket Bounty
- Be a Crap Vegan [2.7MB]
- Unmarked Grave
- War’s a Game for Powermongers
- Wallaby Beside the Road
- Girls and Boys
- Fritter Our Freedom Away
- Come the Global Calamity
- Even That Takes a Revolution
53:39Total playing time
Paul Spencer records some of his songs here with the topical choir ‘Ecopella’
Songs praising freedom, co-operation and soil and generally denouncing power, greed roads traffic and authority! A punchy gritty passionate debut. Check it out.more…
- 1:35You Can’t Make Me
- 2:55Make Some Music
- 3:12Freaks
- 1:53The Adventures of Power and Greed
- 2:07Ode to Soil
- 4:17An Organism Called Earth
- 1:34Roads, Traffic and Authority [2.1MB]
- 2:06September 12 (when cops came out to play)
- 2:56Machines are Closing In
- 3:24Mainstream Australian [3.7MB]
- 2:42Green Like Me
- 2:29Don’t take it away
- 3:24Go to Hell
- 2:07Fear
- 2:39The Economic God Song
- 2:34Stand and Cry Freedom
- 1:35Co-operation Reigns [1.4MB]
43:37Total playing time
This surreal album has a mind bending vesion of Norwegian Wood (Beatles) as if it were performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Jeff Buckley with the worlds strangest, most brilliant arrangement. ’Bushfire’ is a folky 12 string tour de force with lush harmonics. ‘The Train’ is a piece of otherworldly folk rock about the need to pass the torch to the next generation because the species wont survive if we push a baby-boomers agenda.
‘The innocent beast’ has an eriee early Freddy Mercury type vocal over thumbed 12 string and accompanying spanish guitar that plays call and response to the vocal.
There are many futuristic instrumental interludes here which give the CD a dream-like quality.
- 7:51Norwegian wood
- 5:12Post new clear dream time [6.5MB]
- 3:49Get into it
- 2:49His impression of beautiful things
- 11:36The innocent beast
- 6:21Destiny ship [7.8MB]
- 3:00Drift wood
- 3:06Jewel box [2.8MB]
- 4:58The train
- 4:52Bushfire
53:34Total playing time
VERNe is a subcultural subpersonality. A humorous deranged gender shifting Anti-hero. An elusively diabolically warped compulsive masticator feasting on the shoplifted remains of an underground milkcrate empire and still managing to create another album.
Theres nothing quite like VERNe’s debut Volatile Cocktail. It’s twee, jaunty, it has sambas where there were none, sadhu wailing, poetic jouneys about snakes wanting to be men , a track that sounds like the The Jetsons gave The Flintstones a lift to hell, some confessional tales about sexual motives, a circus sideshow theme, three ‘Descendants’ style punk pop piss take anthems, a piece of speed up instrumental ‘Prince’ type funk that would be at home in a comedy porno and MORE !
VERNe has come to show us the way out of the hackneyed rehash genre pipe-dream tunnel and he’s going to do it by making us wee our pants.
It’s burroughs-beat, it s bad in the hood dub with space-born bass, it’s break-beat rhumbas, it’s in–flight lounge meets The Goodies over an absynth and anthrax laced martini, it’s covert accordions, Morrisery parodies, Cruel sea meets Devo in an elevator, and Beck meets Austin Powers and Dr Frankenfurter in an industrial mincer. It’s VERNe’s Classic. Discover.more…
- 3:17Sucker
- 2:12Your attitude
- 3:53Volatile cocktail [3.8MB]
- 1:27Renouce the world
- 5:53The Snake [7.0MB]
- 5:26Hell
- 1:58Motives
- 4:01Lazy fascination
- 4:00I love you baby (when this town gets me down)
- 0:36Jerk
- 2:31Sick
- 0:46Café de luna
- 0:46Mind
- 3:14Albatross [3.7MB]
- 3:16She-bear
- 1:30Circus
- 1:59Getting rude
- 1:11Acapulco ‘Amburger
- 0:56Funk off
- 1:58Thing
- 3:09Quest
- 3:24Spendor
- 4:29A tart with heart
1:02:00Total playing time
A case of deliberate second album syndrome as far as the world of VERNe is concerned. If there was a skeric of evidence to indicate what he meant when he gave birth to this one it has since been lost. It’s anyones guess. That’s not to say that its’s bad, it’s just that no one can tell whether it’s so bad its good , so good its bad, or so bad that it’s so incomprehensible. Anyway it seems well evidenced to me that VERNe thought if he was going to have second album syndrome, (seeing as his debut took 25 years to write and his follow up only two) that he may as well have it properly.
Highlights include the Benny-hill theme cum black psychedlic funk of the title track. Then the Datsuns meets Jet meets ZZ-Top on crystal meth litany of “Room Human” Followed by the gin and whisky fueled “cocks in frocks”. The sermon-like live track with guest appearances by Spencer Calvely, Graeme Ogle, Silence is Golden’s Dimitra, a hound with sleep-apnia and a german called Nelson who carved his own didgeridoo (track ten). Don’t mull it over in you head has some Police meets Pixies meets Ween greatness, and finally the answering machine message based weirdness of “we hope you play the guitar tommorow” features Kay the Catwoman, Lucia La Gitana and various ex-mothers of the author. All in all every track here has something to offer someone. The only question is ‘Where is that someone to be found??’.more…
- 1:19Hombre Blues
- 3:47Tropic Official [5.0MB]
- 3:36Don’t mull it over in your head
- 2:46Jupiters cowboy
- 1:48Life’s angry son
- 1:05In bed with grasshopper
- 2:37We hope you play the guitar tommorow
- 2:17Room human
- 5:30Funk off (full version) [6.9MB]
- 5:20Late on a Sunday afternoon
- 6:47Do, do, do
- 2:16Cocks in frocks
- 0:17Rural fact
- 2:16Lost
- 6:02Silly Girl
- 2:19Breakin’ all the rules [2.7MB]
50:02Total playing time
Here VERNe explores all the trappings and gimmicks of making a Landmark recording : backward masking, speed up sequenced key parts that could never be played in human time, four on the floor dance anthems, bizzare incidental instrumentals, songs about ferrets, cockroaches, birds and cats, parodies of speed metal and airport lounge music, surreal electronica, a piece of Jacksons style disco with some underground lo-fi mixing concepts, and a red-neck pop song.
Created almost exclusively in a janitors closet, VERNe Deluxe is that kind of post apocalyptic set of grooves which would appeal to the geek and groover alike. A soundtrack to a man coming alive as the others are dropping off like flies.
Highlights include ‘Talking in tongues’ (sixth sense of humour) with its backward vocal reaching a middle-eastern rapture, the rollicking sensual tale and general funkiness of ‘The Story of H&D’ and the swampy ‘Dogs in space’–like grunge of ‘Dead Cats’ VERNe Deluxe reminds us that its all about the journey not the destination. Explore.more…
- 2:38Talking in toungues (sixth sense of humour) [3.3MB]
- 5:44Fire proof suit
- 5:26I’m in the Nood for Love
- 5:15Ferret away my mum’s watch
- 2:08Stereo caravan
- 1:35Cockroach hoe-down
- 2:23Speed-metal smoothie
- 1:47Predatory games
- 2:52Airport [3.2MB]
- 1:50Surround me
- 2:30Red neck pop song
- 0:36You ran, you ran
- 2:29Crusin
- 3:46VERNe deluxe [5.2MB]
- 1:38Da Neighbourhood
- 1:17What’s changing?
- 0:40Pub with drunk band
- 1:47The tweetest thing
- 12:39The story of H&D
- 3:43Psari
- 3:01Be a Humane
- 3:49Dead cats
1:10:00Total playing time
