Scissor Lock is an experimental project of Sydney musician Marcus Whale, exploring the tension between organic and electronic elements in sound, utilising guitar, reeds, voice, piano, singing bowls and bells along with somewhat lo-fi digital processing. In this interview (originally broadcast 12th November 2009), Marcus discussed his latest remix project, ‘Now’, featuring contributions from Raven, Shoeb Ahmad and Pimmon. The podcast also includes an exclusive, in-studio performance of ‘Out By Holy Land (Scissor Lock vs Pimmon vs Scissor Lock Remix)’.

DOWNLOAD: Podcast Four: Scissor Lock (40:25)

The New Weird Australia Podcast Series features selected interviews and exclusive, in-studio recordings from our FBi radio show.  Subscribe to our podcast feed by using this URL: http://www.cpod.org.au/feed.php?id=211 or click here to subscribe directly in iTunes.

SEVERED HEADS are regarded as being one of the most influential experimental and electronic bands in Australia, pioneering the use of tape loops and samples in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and forging an innovative career that has stretched across three decades.

Returning for a special ‘grand finale’ show at the 2010 Sydney Festival, Severed Heads’ mainman TOM ELLARD joins Stu & Danny on the latest NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA Podcast for a look back at their career, playing highlights and rarities, and finding out what’s in store for the Sydney Festival gig.

DOWNLOAD: Podcast Three: Tom Ellard, Severed Heads (51:38)

Gig Info: sydneyfestival.org.au
Tom Ellard’s ‘Behind The Scenes’ Blog : tomellard.com

The New Weird Australia Podcast Series features selected interviews and exclusive, in-studio recordings from our FBi radio show.  Subscribe to our podcast feed by using this URL: http://www.cpod.org.au/feed.php?id=211 or click here to subscribe directly in iTunes.

img: test render from ‘Sevs In Space’ (via tomellard.com)

New Weird Australia Volume Four, January 2009, NWA004

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & FRONT COVER ARTWORK):
Standard Quality, 160 kbps (83 MB) | Higher Quality, 320kbps (146 MB)

DOWNLOAD FULL SLEEVE ARTWORK: Jpeg (1.2MB)

1. TEXTILE AUDIO, Some Kind Of Mininova (5:32)
2. PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE, Television Is About Picture (4:12)
3. REUNION SACRED IBIS, Sing It To The Mountains (2:11)
4. TANTRUMS, Beat The Happy Pavement (4:08)
5. SCATTERED ORDER MK 1, Ruined By Me (5:44)
6. ALISTER SPENCE TRIO, Two Halves Of The Moon (3:26)
7. SCISSOR LOCK, Codify (2:05)
8. GUTTER PARTIES, Sashi (2:15)
9. NO ZU, Lay Of The Land (4:25)
10. THE TOWNHOUSES, Jigsaws Under The Clouds (4:08)
11. SEAWORTHY, They’re Cicadas You Know? (3:55)
12. GENTLEFORCE, Our Last Day Together (4:30)
13. GOLD TANGO, Telescope (3:26)
14. ALPEN, A Meditation On Flight (3:16)
15. RED_ROBIN, The Surveyor (4:36)
16. AUTOMATING, When Use Becomes Abuse (9:19)
17. SILVER BULLETIN, Minding Time (4:13)

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz.
Artwork by Anna Vo, annavo.wordpress.com.

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.
All tracks previously unreleased, except: 6. from ‘Fit’ ; 8. from ‘Marooned EP’ ; 9. from ‘Graffiti EP’; 13. from ‘Gold Tango EP’.

Sleeve Notes, January 2010:

What’s in a name?

In attempting to find answer that question, and thus establish a title for this very project, there was a solitary guiding idea – that the artists shared a deep common bond, beyond just an experimental approach to music making. In their own unique ways, we believe that each artist on New Weird Australia shares a disdain for any cabals of musical ‘authority’, an irreverence to established industry etiquette, a rejection of art neutered for acceptability, and ultimately a dismissal of ‘rules of behaviour’ in contemporary music practice. Their music exists in an autonomous zone of their own construction, unburdened by any sense of what ’should’ or ’shouldn’t’ occur.

In broader Australian culture, the comedic variant of this sensibility is often referred to as ‘larrakinism’ – characterised by the mischievous or outlandish ‘larrakin’, who gleefully flaunts regulations and standards set down by society. The nemesis of every po-faced ‘do-gooder’ in the country, the larrikin takes the piss, flaunts convention, and pushes buttons and boundaries with great abandon.

Although this action is universal, the word ‘larrikin’ is perceived as a quintessentially Australian definition, with roots as far back as the 1860s. In one of its earliest occurrences, the larrikin is beautifully cited as a “young urban rough”, although its lexicological roots suggest it was born of a conjunction between ‘leery’ (‘wide awake’ or ‘knowing’) and ‘kinchin’ (‘youngster’). Most of its recorded use in the late nineteenth century always seemed to involve both thievery and mischievousness.

Transgressions against boundaries or conventions, rejection of norms and standards handed down by an authority, all wrapped in a roughish youthful spirit – whichever way you cut it, the larrikin sensibility is writ large in New Weird Australia. No more so than in this particular volume – where Textile Audio takes both classical and operatic blueprints, and weaves them around found sounds and abstract electronica; Tasmanian duo Paint Your Golden Face rethink and reshape the fundamental essence of the male voice choir; Reunion Sacred Ibis cuts a sharp sheath through archival sounds in a spirited slice of plunderphonics; Gold Tango reinvent Kraftwerk with an unexpected tribal swagger; and Scattered Order stick two well-placed fingers up against the very idea of ‘heritage rock’, their original line-up reforming after over 25 years, with their innovative touch still absolutely to the fore – delivering an exclusive cut from their (very) long-awaited new album.

This entirely Australian larrakin paradigm – an irreverence to a learned authority, maverick thievery, a rejection of etiquette – it may help to explain why ‘New Weird Australia’ is ripped directly from ‘New Weird America’, a phrase coined by Scottish journalist David Keenan in 2003 to define a new breed of American psychedelic folk or ‘free folk’. Since then, ‘New Weird America’ has been used in a variety of ever changing contexts – cited in artandpopularculture.com as “[finding] inspiration in such disparate sources as heavy metal, free jazz, electronic music, noise music, tropicália, and early- and mid-20th century American folk music”. Any perceived rules of definition are clearly dubious.

‘New Weird Australia’ does what it says on the tin. It’s new, weird, Australian music. Thus, we felt compelled to appropriate (nay, thieve!) Keenan’s nomenclature for our own ends. Sure, it’s a bastardisation. Sure, it’s wrong-headed. But if in the rejection of a guarded sense of ‘what is right’, we put even more noses out of joint, then more power to us. And while the odd prude may cry ‘plagiarism’, they might well be missing the point.

Consider it even more broadly, reduce it to its simple acronym. The letters N,W and A. And, there once again, for a second time over, we steal where we shouldn’t steal from, we tread on toes that we shouldn’t tread on – in fact, we clearly reject any notions of what we should and shouldn’t do. An ideal I’m sure both the American freak folksters and the late Eazy-E would readily connect with.

New Weird Australia is a not-for-profit initiative designed to promote and support new eclectic and experimental Australian music. Our current projects include a free compilation series (available to download every two months), a weekly show on Sydney’s FBi Radio and an irregular program of live events. Contributions from Australian artists are welcomed and encouraged -submission details and terms can be found on the About page.

Since August 2009, New Weird Australia has been broadcasting weekly on Sydney’s FBi Radio – playing two hours of new, experimental and ecelctic Australian music, from over 300 artists to date. NWA also features regular guest performances, playing exclusive in-studio sessions – many of which are previously unreleased. This free download collects together seven of those sessions from Morning Stalker, Cleptoclectics, Scissor Lock, Go Genre Everything, Random Acts Of Elevator Music, Afxjim and The Ghost Of 29 Megacycles.

New Weird Australia, Broadcast One, NWAB001

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & ARTWORK):
High Quality, 320kbps (130MB)

1. MORNING STALKER, The Bohemian Grave (7:56)
2. CLEPTOCLECTICS, Mr Convex (5:38)
3. SCISSOR LOCK, Out By Holy Land (Scissor Lock vs Pimmon vs Scissor Lock Remix) (13:25)
4. GO GENRE EVERYTHING, Livetoair17sep2009 (Showw) (8:34)
5. RANDOM ACTS OF ELEVATOR MUSIC, Lunchtime Meditation Session (8:13)
6. AFXJIM, The Chris Jericho Diaries (8:05)
7. THE GHOST OF 29 MEGACYCLES, Leelo (Part 1) (8:22)

All recordings previously unreleased.
Originally broadcast on New Weird Australia on FBi Radio.
Stream FBi Radio at fbiradio.com, or listen in Sydney in 94.5FM.
‘New Weird Australia’ broadcasts every Thursday at 9pm (Aus EST).

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz.
Artwork by Rebecca Macdonald.

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.

New Weird Australia is now podcasting, featuring selected interviews and exclusive, in-studio recordings from our FBi radio show.  Subscribe to our podcast feed by using this URL: http://www.cpod.org.au/feed.php?id=211 or click here to subscribe directly in iTunes.

You can also download each episode directly (click on the title below), if you’re commitment-phobic.

One: Mitch Jones, Scattered Order

MITCH JONES stands as one of the key figures in the history of alternative music in Sydney. Together with Michael Tee, Jones founded M-SQUARED Records – home to a cluster of now seminal local post-punk artists such as SYSTEMATICS, THE MAKERS OF THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST, YA YA CHORAL, PROD and their own band, SCATTERED ORDER. Nearly 30 years after the fact, SCATTERED ORDER have reformed their original line-up, and are both playing live and recording once again. Mitch Jones joins Stu and Danny on NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA to talk about the past, present and future of SCATTERED ORDER.

Two: Jeff Burch

JEFF BURCH is an American born New Zealander now based in Sydney, Australia. Besides his solo work he also runs independent Imprint/Record Label THE SPRING PRESS (Bruce Russell, Psychic Ills, Magik Markers, The Bats etc.), has a duo project MADALA TRAP with PAUL GOUGH / PIMMON and is one quarter of SONGS. In this podcast he discusses his various projects with Stuart Buchanan and Danny Jumpertz from NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA.

Please note due to licence restrictions, pre-recorded music cannot be made available at full-length on these podcasts, and appears here in an edited form.

img: gingerbeardman

New Weird Australia Volume Three, November 2009, NWA003

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & ARTWORK):
Standard Quality, 160 kbps (90MB) | Higher Quality, 320kbps (164MB)

1. JEFF BURCH, Untitled 1 (The Western Hour) (3:44),
from ‘As I Remember, If I Remember Correctly, I Arrived Sweetly’
2. AFXJIM, Through The Woods (6:08), from ‘POWWOW Eight (Blackout Music)’
3. 48/4, Hlibt (3:39), previously unreleased
4. THE SINGING SKIES, September (2:52), from ‘September Sky’
5. K MASON, Of 2 Evils (7:15), from ‘2 (Evils)’
6. ALPS, Goosebeak Whale (2:21), from ‘Alps Of New South Whales’
7. DRIVE WEST TODAY, Anthropology (4:37), previously unreleased
8. ADAM TRAINER, Corrosion Party (4:22), previously unreleased
9. COMATONE, They Fall Freely (6:05), previously unreleased
10. ZEAL, Wasps (2:34), previously unreleased
11. NAMATOKE, A Mountain With A Secret (4:53), from ‘Chiaroscuro’
12. LECTER MACABRE, Granelli (New Version) (2:43), previously unreleased
13. BUM CREEK, Fast Forrest (5:13), from ‘Bum Creek’
14. ANON, Quiver Crura Quaker (13:46), previously unreleased
15. ERASERS, Lost///Found (4:26), from ‘Erasers’
16. POMPEY, Actual Locks (3:20), previously unreleased

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz
Artwork by Lee Tran Lam, www.leetranlam.com

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.

Sleeve Notes, November 2009:

The old adage still holds true – one man’s meat is indeed another man’s poison. Divert the same philosophy to music and the song remains the same. One woman’s rock is another woman’s roll – or thereabouts.

We make this point to simply note that our definition of ‘weird’ is purely subjective – and we make no claim otherwise. The artists that represent Volume Three of New Weird Australia truly stretch, invert and redefine the notion of ‘weird’. To some, this selection might well be perilously unlistenable, to others we’re toying dangerously with pop at various flash-points throughout the compilation. And therein lies the point.

Our mission is not to meticulously scope and define what is to be ‘weird’ (#FAIL). Our mission rather is to map out a loose terrain – one that skirts around the topological spread mapped by mainstream alternative media, and one that sits both simultaneously in and out of reach. New Weird Australia is designed as a bridge to reach fresh pastures – at some points that journey might feel familiar, at others it might be terrifyingly new.

Given that we’re now on our third volume, we understand that in order to go deep, we also have to go wide – which means fucking with the boundaries at both ends of the spectrum. From Zeal’s quasi-Anticon hip-pop to Anon’s 14-min noise excursion, Volume Three does indeed traverse considerable distances – along the way winding via Lecter Macabre’s pitch-black slow-mo roar to Pompey’s steel-drum romp that winds the set towards a final, optimistic flourish.  We could obviously go much wider and much deeper yet – there lies new worlds to conquer in future volumes.

For now, for this month, this is our definition of New Weird Australia. Some you’ll adore, some you’ll abhor – and with that very disagreement, we’ll all find common ground.

New Weird Australia is a not-for-profit initiative established to promote eclectic and experimental Australian music. Free compilations are available to download every two months from www.newweirdaustralia.com. Contributions from Australian musicians and designers are welcomed and encouraged – submission details and terms can be found on the About page.

Unpopular Music, A Benefit For FBi Radio.

With: 
Pimmon & Jeff Burch (Solo Sets & Debut Live Collaboration as Mandala Trap), Comatone, Kyu, Anon, Scissor Lock, Anna Chase, Nick Wishart with DJ Sets from Kevin Purdy (Tooth), Tim Ritchie (Sound Quality, ABC Radio National) and Tom Smith (Cleptoclectics).

Saturday 7th November 2009
Red Rattler, 6 Faversham Street, Marrickville
Entry By Donation ($10 Minimum)

Three FBi radio shows, New Weird Australia, Unputdownable & Sunday Night At The Movies, come together to present ‘Unpopular Music’ – a benefit to support their station. They’ve pooled their collective networks and gathered twelve of Sydney’s innovative, experimental artists – all of whom are donating their time, with all proceeds going directly to FBi, helping to ensure the ongoing survival of Sydney’s home of new music.

Sydney design crew Sopp Collective have also jumped on board by donating their unique design talents for the event poster and flyer, featuring a unique series of ‘Unpopular Creatures’ – the degenerate ‘yin’ to Yo Gabba Gabba’s ‘yang’.

Full line-up details and more info >

Mess and Noise today published an in-depth review of the New Weird Australia live show at Sound Summit:

“A picture of the Pope is propped on a ledge behind the stage at Newcastle‘s Renew Church. People drift in from the rain outside and sidle quietly into chairs. Trapped within the cheap frame, bathed in mellow red stage lights, the Pope watches on, fading even further into weary benevolence.

“It’s Sunday afternoon and the church is home to the second installment of New Weird Australia’s artist showcase at Sound Summit. It’s a dry and comforting space and there’s no reason to be here but to sit and listen. No bar, no smoking area, no swelling rumble of chatter.”

Continue reading at messandnoise.com

Above: Photo of Kyu by Eliza Sarlos

Thanks to everyone who came down to the New Weird Australia mini-fest at last weekend’s Sound Summit in Newcastle NSW.

Over three spaces, we presented eleven artists: Lucia Draft, Polyfox & The Union Of Most Ghosts, Brutal Hate Mosh, Go Genre Everything, Kyu, Alps, Moonmilk, Blastcorp, Castings, Gugg and Holy Balm. Special thanks to Grant Hunter for the Arthive event and to Eliza Sarlos, Andrew Tuttle and the Sound Summit team for pulling it all together.

If you took photos at the event, please get in touch such that we can collate them all together.

We’ll be announcing our next show – in Sydney – in the next few days.  As for the next compilation in our series, New Weird Australia Volume Three will  be released in early November.  Join our email list to keep in touch with releases and events.

NWA was featured in today’s Mess & Noise, ahead of this weekend’s Sound Summit Showcase, in a Q&A article by Kate Hennessy.

“New Weird Australia (NWA) slipped onto the scene in July 2009, releasing Volume One in a compilation series featuring new, eclectic and experimental Australian-only music. Available for free from the NWA website, it has so far racked up 3000 downloads, with Volume Two released this month.

“There’s no specific theme or genre. Bluegrass glitch and free-jazz nestle alongside “sprawling sample ephemera” and psychedelic folk on the two compilations, which total 31 tracks. If it’s fucking with conventions, NWA founder Stuart Buchanan will give it a discerning ear.”

Click here to continue reading on Mess & Noise.