Thomas William vs Scissor Lock is a unique collaboration between two prolific Sydney producers.

Thomas William is a fixture of Sydney’s experimental music scene, shapeshifting through many guises as a musician, teacher, and director of artist run initiative, Serial Space. His blend of shifting synths, broken percussion and unstable tunings has so far featured on three full-length releases, two as Cleptoclectics, and a third most recently on Melbourne’s ‘This Thing’ imprint.

Marcus Whale’s relentless restlessness has seen him present a unique combination of manipulated voice, feedback and laptop processing under his Scissor Lock pseudonym, as well his much-lauded Collarbones project with Travis Cook (aka Cyst Impaled) and his debauched faux R&B boy band Black Vanilla (formed with Guerre and Marseilles).

The pair gave audiences a first glimpse of their project with a face-to-face match at New Weird Australia’s ‘Unpopular Music’ event in 2010, and then in March 2011 they visited us on New Weird Australia to play a short live live-to-air set and to talk about the genesis of their collaboration.

DOWNLOAD: NWA Podcast #21. Thomas William vs Scissor Lock, Live-to-air Set & Interview

Subscribe to our podcast feed by using this URL:  http://newweirdaustralia.libsyn.com/rss or click here to subscribe directly in iTunes.  You can also download our Podcast App for iPhone or Android which includes an archive of all podcasts to date, plus automatic updates of all new podcasts as they are released.  Check the Podcast Archive for download links for all previous episodes.

Photo by Miles Matignoni.

Artist: Thomas William vs Scissor Lock
Title: Jewelz
Catalogue Number: NWAED09
Released: January 2012

Free Download

Limited CD $10

Tracklisting:

1. Cadillic 05:12
2. Jewelz 08:15
3. Omega 09:22
4. Qusqu 09:33

All music by Marcus Whale & Tom Smith.
Mastered by Tom Smith
Sleeve design by Heath Killen.

Sleeve Notes: January 2012

One of our most anticipated releases in the New Editions series, Jewelz is the result of a long-term collaboration between two prolific Sydney producers, Thomas William and Scissor Lock. The pair gave audiences a first glimpse of their project with a face-to-face match at New Weird Australia’s ‘Unpopular Music’ event in 2010. Since then they have retired to the studio, throwing around both their unique sounds, and the occasional battle analogy. Parrying each other’s blows with hooks and counter-punches – they have delivered an expansive album laden with texture, unexpected hooks, and broad temporal arcs.

Outside of this collaboration, both producers have developed signature sounds and individual styles. Marcus Whale’s relentless restlessness has seen him present a unique combination of manipulated voice, feedback and laptop processing under his Scissor Lock pseudonym, as well his much-lauded Collarbones project with Travis Cook (aka Cyst Impaled) and his debauched faux R&B boy band Black Vanilla (formed with Guerre and Marseilles). In the other corner, Thomas William is a fixture of Sydney’s experimental music scene, shapeshifting through many guises as a musician, teacher, and director of artist run initiative, Serial Space. His blend of shifting synths, broken percussion and unstable tunings has so far featured on three full-length releases, two as Cleptoclectics, and a third most recently on Melbourne’s ‘This Thing’ imprint.

In Jewelz all of these ideas and elements are naturally and effortlessly combined, a true representation and culmination of their stellar endeavours to date – an undeniable knockout.

Press:

“Jewelz is aptly named—a little treasure. But not in the shiny conspicuous way of precisely cut and polished gems, rather the intrigue comes more from the strange geological forces at work—the melting and compression—that has gone into forging each of these raw sound compounds. Each sonic fragment making up the music is a curiosity, the samples alluding to something—a song, an instrument, a texture—almost recognisable but ultimately remaining elusive. These are then crafted into a set of songs that have enough angularity to offer a challenge, but essentially are still a pleasurable listen.”
Real Time Arts, March 2012

“The product of a collaboration between Sydney producers Thomas William and Scissor Lock – the former a Director of a contemporary art space and the latter one-half of experimental beat outfit Collarbones – Jewelz is, rather unsurprisingly, completely surprising. The four-track EP, of which most songs are over eight minutes long, is a testament to artistic sonic exploration and blissful beat craftsmanship.”
Rave Magazine, February 2012

“the perfect antithesis to Phil Spector’s endeavour to write and produce the ‘perfect’ pop song. On their first collaborative EP Jewelz they pursue an imperfect pop implosion … Like a many-layered trifle, William and Scissor Lock have produced a never-ending vista of microcosmic moments within an expansive audio-phonic universe. Get your spoons out and dig in.”
The Thousands, February 2012

“The entire thing is rounded out by the shimmering bliss of Qusqu, a track that comes the closest to a traditional sense – like Sigur Ros mixed with Pimmon with Birchville Cat Motel producing the most wonderful chill out experimentronica. I love this sort of music – both transcendent and challenging, Jewlez is a very fine release indeed.”
Ducks Battle Satan, February 2012

“Forget what you know about music associated with Cadillacs. You’re not going to see David Banner, Outkast nor the shortas ridin’ to this. Instead this can be heard as what might be mating calls of the Sorns [from C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet]. With the scattering of various tones from what could only be described as bent and twisted array of stem whistles these two Aussies Thomas William and Scissor Lock have painted a landscape of deep jungle rhymes.”
Head Under Water, February 2012

New Editions, the label imprint for New Weird Australia, winds up its first series of releases with two new albums on January 4th 2012 – from Thomas William vs Scissor Lock and Strange Forces.

Since launching in 2010, the series has released albums and EPs from Caught Ship, Blake Freele, Paneye, TANTRUMS, No Zu, Kris Keogh, Forenzics and Spartak.  Each release has been available in both physical and digital formats.  The final two releases in the current series see Sydney artists Thomas William and Scissor Lock coming together for their debut collaborative release, ‘Jewelz‘, as well as the first Australian physical release for Brisbane psych-rock ex-pats Strange Forces, who have been tearing up a storm in Berlin over the last two years. Listen to preview tracks from each release in the players below.

Both releases will be available on January 4th 2012, with pre-release physical copies available in CD Digipak editions at the Unpopular Music 2011 event on Saturday 17th December. New Editions will launch a second series of releases in 2012.

img: Secret Birds

Unpopular Music returns to Sydney on Saturday December 17th, raising cash for FBi and featuring eight bands over two venues. Unpopular Music 2011 sees four of Sydney’s underground & experimental music promoters working together for the first time – New Weird Australia, Octopus Pi, Sound Series and Refraction – staging two shows in one evening.

The late show (9pm) at Dirty Shirlows in Marrickville features Brisbane psych-rock ex-pats Strange Forces (back on Aussie soil after tearing up a storm in Berlin over the last two years), Sydney drone-grunge four piece Zeahorse, former Brisbane residents Secret Birds (one of the last artists, and few Australians, to feature on Pitchfork’s now defunct Altered Zones blog) and Scattered Order (fully re-energised and at a new creative peak, following the addition of Shane Fahey to the lineup earlier this year).

At 6pm, the early show at Hardware sees Thomas William and Scissor Lock launching their debut collaborative album ‘Jewelz‘, with support from Melbourne’s Monlith, Und and Anna Chase. The event also features DJs Paul Gough (Pimmon), Jack Shit and Octopus Pi, with a ‘Magical Audio Tour’ between venues, leaving Hardware at 8:45pm. Tickets are $12 on the door (which gets entry to both shows).

You can download a free compilation featuring all the artists playing at Unpopular Music 2011 – including exclusive unreleased tracks from Zeahorse and Thomas William vs Scissor Lock at newweirdaustralia.bandcamp.com.

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

Click on the image below to view flyer at full size:

New Weird Australia at FBi Social, Thursday 21 April 2011.

Artitsts. Underlapper (album launch), Cleptoclectics vs Scissor Lock, Edwin Montgomery. DJs Stupid Canon & Kimb Galercan. Visuals By Jeronimo.

Details. FBi Social. Kings Cross Hotel. 248 William Street. Kings Cross. Doors 8pm. Tickets $10 on the door.

Description.

New Weird Australia & Octopus pi present the first in a series of New Weird Australia live events at FBi Social in Kings Cross on Thursday 21st April 2011.

The night sees the long-overdue return of Sydney six-piece Underlapper, celebrating the launch of their third album ‘Sofly Harboured’ – an eclectic mix of post rock, experimental pop and downbeat electronic music, and the follow-up to the widely acclaimed 2007 album ‘Red Spring’.

In support, Sydney producer Cleptoclectics faces off against local compatriot Scissor Lock (fresh from the launch of his Collarbones collaboration), in the latest in their ongoing bouts of noise battles taking place in dark rooms across the city. Opening the night, solo artist Edwin Montgomery presents an inspired psychedelic tread through original songs, instrumentals and ambient textures. DJs Stupid Canon & Kimb Galercan fill the spaces along with projections from visual artist, Jeronimo.

Doors 8pm. Tickets $10 on the door. New Weird Australia at FBi Social (Kings Cross Hotel) is the first in an ongoing monthly series – the next event takes place on May 19th 2011 and is a showcase gig for our recent ‘New Young Canberra’ compilation, featuring Savages, Kasha, Reuben Ingall, DJ Shoeb Ahmad – more info to be announced, follow us on Facebook for updates.

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE for New Weird Australia at FBi Social: Underlapper (album launch).

–

Title: Unpopular Music 2010
Catalogue Number: NWAUM002
Released: March 2012

Free Download

Tracklisting:

1. Thomas William vs Scissor Lock – Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 22:25
2. Melodie Nelson – Meditations On The Sun (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 04:28
3. Stitched Vision – Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 20:27
4. Mere Women – Sun Rising (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 03:31
5. Scattered Order – Eat At Joes vs Why (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 05:49
6. TANTRUMS – Ships (Live at Unpopular Music 2010) 06:04

Sleeve Notes:

On Friday 3rd December 2010, New Weird Australia presented the second annual Unpopular Music event at Sydney’s Red Rattler, a benefit for the not-for-profit community station, FBi Radio. Since July 2009, FBi has supported the New Weird Australia project by broadcasting its two-hour show every week. Via this platform, New Weird Australia has given exposure to over 400 innovative and experimental artists from around the country, and Unpopular Music represents the chance to give something back. All of the artists donated their time for the gig, with all proceeds going directly to FBi, helping to ensure the ongoing survival of Sydney’s home of new music.

The six-act line-up was headlined by Scattered Order, one of the most unique players in the history of Sydney’s experimental and electronic music scene – founders of the M Squared record label in 1970s, a home for artists such as Systematics and Makers of the Dead Travel Fast, and a beacon for emerging underground artists around the country. Reforming their original line-up in 2009, Scattered Order played ‘Unpopular Music’ in support of their new album, ‘Adjust The Terminology’.

The bill also included:

• Tantrums – four-piece midi-evil disco outfit from Melbourne, whose debut release ‘Anomie’ was released via New Weird Australia’s label imprint, New Editions
• Thomas William vs Scissor Lock - two of Sydney’s best known experimental electronic producers went head-to-head for the first time at Unpopular Music
• Melodie Nelson – Moonmilk’s Lia Tsamoglou in warped, alt.pop mode
• Stitched Vision – solo synth / noise / drone project from Newcastle’s Jason Campbell, founder of cassette-label Eternal Solitude
• Mere Women – dark, minimalistic pop & post punk from recently formed Sydney trio, who previous projects include Ohana, Little A, The Thaw & Bare Arms

FBi Radio is a not-for-profit community radio station and is 100% independent. It relies on the generosity of its supporters to keep it on air and to thus maintain its support of innovative local music.

Press:

On Friday December 3rd, New Weird Australia presents the second annual ‘Unpopular Music’ FBi fundraiser featuring experimental, underground music from Sydney and beyond.

SCATTERED ORDER
TANTRUMS (Melbourne)
SCISSOR LOCK versus CLEPTOCLECTICS
MELODIE NELSON
STITCHED VISION
MERE WOMEN

Friday 3rd December 2010
The Red Rattler Theatre, 6 Faversham St, Marrickville, Sydney
Doors 7:30pm

Tickets $12 on the door, all proceeds to FBi.

Poster artwork by Heath Killen

We’ve recently posted a number of new podcasts and vodcasts, as well as changing our Podcast server (and thus getting a new Podcast feed address – update your bookmarks!).

Our new content includes two radio interviews & live performances from DANGER BEACH and COLLARBONES (the collaboration between SCISSOR LOCK & CYST IMPALED), as well as three video recordings of live sets from New Weird Australia events – ambitiously dubbed ‘NWA TV’.  The recordings include KUSUM NORMOYLE and HORSE MCGUYVER (pictured above) from Refraction vs New Weird Australia back in June 2010, and ERASERS from the New Weird Australia at The Red Rattler gig in July.  Expect more podcasts and vodcasts soon.

NWA TV: Erasers
NWA TV: Kusum Normoyle
NWA TV: Horse McGuyver
NWA Radio: Danger Beach
NWA Radio: Collarbones

Title: Unpopular Music 2009
Catalogue Number: NWAUM001
Released: April 2010

Download

Tracklisting:

1. NICK WISHART, Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (04:22)
2. ANNA CHASE, Lines (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (04:52)
3. SCISSOR LOCK, Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (12:08)
4. ANON, Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (16:29)
5. kyü, Sunny In Splodges (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (05:19)
6. MANDALA TRAP (Pimmon & Jeff Burch) - Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) (7:02)
7. PIMMON, Untitled (Live at Unpopular Music 2009) 6:13

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan.
Artwork by Sopp Collective, soppcollective.com.
Recorded live at The Red Rattler, Sydney, November 2009.
Recorded and mixed by FBi Radio 94.5FM.

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music copyright of the artists, all rights reserved.

Sleeve Notes: April 2010

Three FBi radio shows, New Weird Australia, Unputdownable & Sunday Night At The Movies, came together in November 2009 at the Red Rattler in Sydney to present ‘Unpopular Music’ – a benefit to support their station. They pooled their collective networks and gathered twelve of Sydney’s innovative, experimental artists – all of whom donated their time, with all proceeds going directly to FBi, helping to ensure the ongoing survival of Sydney’s home of new music.

‘Unpopular Music 2009, A Benefit Album For FBi Radio’ collects seven exclusive tracks, recorded live at ‘Unpopular Music 2009′. The album includes music from:

- PIMMON, an artist that has forged an international reputation for creating dense, challenging and engaging electronic music
- MANDALA TRAP, a new collaborative project between PIMMON and JEFF BURCH, solo artist and one quarter of Sydney band, SONGS
- kyü, an experimental pop outfit, building a reputation for their original and innovative sound
- ANON, aka noise artist, musician and label manager Anna Vo
- SCISSOR LOCK, an experimental project from musician Marcus Whale
- ANNA CHASE, a multi instrumentalist and vocalist who weaves melodies into familiar yet dreamy pop constructions.
- sound artist, musician and chronic circuit bender NICK WISHART – long-standing member of Toydeath

New Weird Australia broadcasts a weekly show on Sydney’s FBi 94.5FM – an independent, community-based radio station, delivering the best in new music and emerging culture. FBi plays 50% Australian music, with half of that from Sydney. As a not-for-profit entity, FBi relies on the financial support of listeners in order to stay on air, primarily by subscribing as an FBi Supporters. For more information, visit fbiradio.com.

Press:

Title: New Weird Australia, Volume Four
Catalogue Number: NWA004
Released: January 2010

Free Download

Tracklisting:

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.

Press:

Cyclic Defrost “favourite of the series so far… some brilliant music from both known and unknown artists always lurking around the corner”

Now Like Photographs, Minneapolis – Record Of The Week “If you need a primer on what is fresh from Australia’s music scene, look no further than New Weird Australia.”

Electrorash “More eclectic, eccentric and often amazingly beautiful tunes … pick up the whole shebangabang for $0.00 AUD. That spells value in 4568 of the approximately 5000 recorded spoken languages known to linguists.”

Daily Beatz (on Tantrums from NWA4) “Could New Weird Australia be the Australian counterpart to Ann Arbor’s Ghostly International? Based solely on this song, I would say yes.”

Throw Shapes Interview