Charles Du Cane: an overview, a review, a eulogy

At the end of last year, It was pretty saddening to learn that Charles Du Cane -- the psyudenom of Launceston-based musician/creator Fred Showell -- would be finishing up. Ceasing to exist, hanging up the boots, &c. It's all for a good reason, mind you. Let's celebrate.

He was one of a few early artists who defined local music for me while I still in those teenage years. I started listening to Charles Du Cane in high school. I can't remember how, but I used to trawl through a combination of MySpace and this new Triple J Unearthed website thing, searching for TASMANIAN acts. From memory, MySpace was easier to navigate (yes, queue laughter), but you could download the songs for free from Unearthed! What a revelation. I nabbed the available tunes and threw them onto my Lexar 256MB MP3 player, and listened to those three 128kbps badboys on the walk to school.

The three tracks, of course, were lifted from Charles Du Cane's debut. Tomahawk was the quirky electro-indie-pop thing that sat distanced from any other local 'indie-pop' I had encountered. The sample-based makeup of the album was a personal point of interest after having gone through a dance/electronic music phase the year before, but it was all tidy and structured and just nice, which wasn't something I found in most of my music collection at this time (it was probably filled with indie-rock, Sonic Youth/Joy Division stylee, that's how the end of high school goes right?). 

I came back to Tomahawk after high-school, when in college I broke the same MP3 player and ended up defaulting to the trusted Discman. It forced me to choose a CD and stick with it - carrying extra discs was inconvenient and changing albums was clumsy. So it was, Tomahawk spun through my College days, studying/procrastinating in the library. It wasn't as twee as indie-pop could get (although definitely the most twee of all Du Cane records) but still mighty accessible in its approach to electronic pop music. It was fun ('Don't Sit The Woofer Near Your Wham! Tapes, Sweetheart'), light-hearted ('We'll All Be Together') and  varied; a subtle antidote to that Year 11 boredom. Crayfish Legs came for dinner and we got to know each other.

Of the three Du Cane albums, 2009's Poets is both my personal favourite and, if I've surveyed critical reception correctly, his most popular release. (By "critical reception" I should really say 'judging from my friend's reactions', really.) Poets starts off incredibly strong with 'Granny Smith' before shifting into a few guitar-lead rock numbers, then landing on 'Judgement Day', an engaging, memorable song that shows off a darker and more lyrical Du Cane.

 

"I'm a nationalist, I'm a patriot / I'm a believer, I'm a believer," rang out opening number 'Granny Smith'. Poets, I think, has a lot to do with identity, and the identity of history. With my limited historical knowledge, much of the content could be all mock and I wouldn't know. His third record, Port & Rail, is heavily entrenched in true history, a retrospective world where war tempers the usual topics of art, love, life, et cetera. I never managed to grasp much of the historicalities of Port & Rail, but where I found Poets succeeded for me is that it didn't dwell in the details. It created this painted pastiche of a setting (inspired by a creatively rich jaunt in India) that strayed far from the positively electro-pop juts of Tomahawk, and perhaps further than any Australian pop artist of the time.

In about April-March 2011, I wrote 700 or so words for a review for Port & Rail that never found publication. The review felt unfairly finished, neglecting any appraisal of the lyrical content. The lyrics, full of their historical nuances and World War references, appeared delicately sweated-over; and passing over such a central part of the album irked me. Around the same time I got an email from Fred asking if I wanted a CD copy of the album, and I enquired about a possible lyrics sheet. He responded:

"The CD doesn't come with lyrics, but they're all up at http://charlesducane.net/port-and-rail-lyrics if you're interested. I actually considered adding footnotes & a bibliography at one point, as it's pretty dense with references that may not be apparent, but want to leave at least a touch of mystique to the whole thing."

The URL is now dead and the lyrics can now only be found in the songs (where they should be, really) and not in a booklet or webpage for me to obsessively/compulsively align some abstract review with; but looking back this exchange lead to the clarification of my criticisms. Whereas Poets' referential delicacy in its construction allowed for an unspoken mystique, Port & Rail was too concrete, too indebted to history to ever craft this same touch. If it helps, though, you can now tackle Port & Rail with new linear notes, which act as a kind of guide for those who want to dig a little deeper into the record. It's probably worth it.

Charles Du Cane - Call You My Own
 
It seems that Port & Rail is the point where Fred Showell, kingpin of Project Charles Du Cane, had learnt all he could in the realm of sample-based, beat-inspired pop oddity. It feels a deliberate step away from the inventiveness of earlier work and towards a more naturally instrument-based construction. It's his guitar album, you could say. In a way, it was dually ambitious and laconically accessible: ambitious in its attempts to converge the Du Cane pop universe with heritage rock; yet laconic in its championing of the latter's tropes and conduct. This could be an exaggeration on the whole, as several songs from the record are propelled by those trademark sample-heavy beats, but sometimes even the sampling feels especially fitted for the occasion, with lively 1930s carnival brass filling out 'Best Bent Wire'. As an album that leaned towards this heritage rock, the album material was far more viable to perform live than earlier tracks. Although I think I've only ever seen Charles Du Cane in solo karaoke mode once, the Port & Rail band outshines the funny phoenix singing along to his own backing track via laptop.

I remember the first time I met Fred - a week after our email back-and-forth - in which he gave me a copy of Port & Rail on CD and excitedly remarked on how the recycled digipak stock smelled like wood. In this old-time record set with the task of summoning an era far before digital - a time of port and rail - it was genuinely delighting to its creator to have this physical analogue. This authenticity that Charles Du Cane had worked towards in the writing, conceptualising and recording of the album was evident in the music, and this little wooden aroma of the packaging was a validation of it all.

Listening to the newly released Rarities collection, the contrast between demo tracks and finished album arrangements is staggering. These early takes aren't simply skeletons, but that doesn't make them mere stepping stones in a grander scheme. They're vague shapes of eventual pop beauties and though these demoes It's exciting to imagine the work gone in to reconstructing these malleable walls, framework piano/guitar mixed down (or out) and replaced by plasters of considered sampling. The clear, sometimes gaping gap between early and final version is indicative of the talent at work here. Fingers crossed we hear something from Camp Showell in the future.

On Rarities, one of the unheard covers is "Make Your Own Kind Of Music". It kind of epitomises the reason Charles Du Cane ever existed in the first place; a manifesto of sorts. I don't think you could ever slight Charles Du Cane for having tread in unoriginal art – this was wholly unique, enjoyable pop music. Stylistically, it stands up on two feet as its own kind of music. It faltered at times, sure, but the three solid, individual albums are all something to be proud of; all something to sing along to.

"You've gotta make your own kind of music, 
Sing your own special song,
Make your own kind of music,
Even if nobody else sings along."

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Join the final Du Cane bows at the MONA FOMA Festival Club @ the Grand Poobah tonight. $10 entry / free if you have a ticket to Girl Talk. Capacity will be tight so get in early, doors at 10:30pm.

You can now download the entire Charles Du Cane discography for free on his website. 

Long live Charles Du Cane.

Unsolicitied MOFO Mixtape 2012

A sampler of a few artists appearing at this years' MONA FOMA - the Museum of Old & New Art Festival Of Music & Art. You can find all the details here (it kicks off tonight if you didn't already know) but I'm just going to leave you with this totally hot MOFO mixtape. This doesn't represent even a third of the lineup but hey, take it as it is. Mediafire for authenticity. RIP Death Grips.

1. Donny Benét - Sophisticatd Lover
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3. Amiina - Over and Again
4. Julianna Barwick - Sunlight, Heaven
5. Pierre Henry - Sacrifice
6. The Dresden Dolls - Shores of California
7. Prince Rama - Golden Silence
8. tUnE-YaRdS - Gangsta
9. Paint Your Golden Face - Caroline Cuts Hair For Cider
10. Girl Talk - Tragedy
11. Lawrence English - Droplet
12. Ryoji Ikeda - Headphonics 0/1
13. Senyawa - Tenah

Photos by T. Randall, design by A. Bennetts.

Download here.

Full MONA FOMA program (.pdf) here. Ticket info is over here.

Oceans / Native Cats (VIDEOS)

Just a small new year treat for you, a video of a full 14 minute set from noise artist Oceans at The Brisbane Hotel, utilising a contact-mic'd steel bowl; plus a live rendition of "Wearing The Killer" by The Native Cats in the Grand Poobah's side-room. Fun stuff.

Noise, Etc. Live #2 with Gutter Parties, Transcription Of Organ Music, Oceans

The second Noise, Etc. Live show in what should be the start of a few more monthly/bi-monthly gigs. But for now, the difficult "follow-up" album effort features the talents of...

Gutter Parties
Transcription Of Organ Music
Oceans

Noise, Etc. Live #2 is on Wednesday 11th January from 8:30pm, the last Wednesday before those MONA FOMA bastards chew yr brain off. $5 entry. Facebook event page right over here.

It's the answer to all your problems. Three quality acts, yet all completely different. That's the beauty of the Hobart music "scene". Diversity. Regardless of personal taste, you're bound to adoringly love at least one of these bands. Or maybe two! You'll love all three, even, if you’re a total legend. You’re a total legend, right? Anyway, you know what they say, variety is the spice of all the top MasterChef finalists. Variety. Sprinkle it all over your body. It's Noise, Etc. Live #2.

GUTTER PARTIES will set you into a tropical trance (not the malaria kind), before whipping you straight out and onto the dancefloor with some killer-python pop melodies. Equatorial grooves make way for snaking synth lines. Psychedelic instances with innumerable ethnic influences that you’d probably just call me racist if I tried to pinpoint any. See him before he saunters off to blow minds at Camp A Low Hum in New Zealand.

The irreplaceable TRANSCRIPTION OF ORGAN MUSIC is a thing of honest beauty. I don’t really know anyone who thinks even slightly ill of this music, and for a good reason. Damon Bird crafts humbling, nature-filled folk songs that are outstandingly good; etcetera. A voice from heaven. Close your eyes and just listen for forty five minutes.

And just to scare off anyone interested in traditionally structured ‘music’, the night’ll open with experimental luminary OCEANS. Often noisy, but sometimes equally subtle, Oceans is the art-fag-noise-art guise of local dickwaver Jordy Marson (Paint Your Golden Face, Naked). I can’t tell you what it’ll sound like because its different each time, but expect something ‘challenging’. The front bar’s just over there, y’know. As a good friend once said, “it made my head want to explode”.

The Brisbane Hotel
Wednesday 11th January
$5 entry
8:30 start

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Noise, Etc. Live is the extension of a small-time blog dedicated to presenting and promoting underground Hobart music. Because words and videos can only do so much, actually hosting live music shows is the obvious next step in supporting niche local music. Noise, Etc. Live aims to push the unseen talent of Hobart and surrounds; those artists who don't share their wares as often as they should, or any totally new and untested musical ventures.

VIDEOS: Hey Mook @ the Grand Poobah

Just two short videos of Hey Mook performing at the Grand Poobah last Saturday, in support of Sand Pebbles from Melbourne. Didn't take any video of Sand Pebbles because they were a wee bit shit and the bass player told totally boring self-indulgent stories between songs.

I'm sure I'll have another post on Hey Mook when I buy a CD, I'm so behind on these guys. Great band.

Hobart mirror talk: A response to Brian Ritchie

In a recent Q&A with MONA FOMA curator Brian Ritchie over on The Thousands, published on the 17th of October, the topic of the perception of Hobart arose. In this discussion, 'events like MONA FOMA' are held up as the shining light which will help Hobart avoid the stereotype of being little more than a cultural ghetto. Therein, Brian Ritchie makes a few claims about Hobart that I'd like to disagree with. Here’s the final question and answer from that piece (read the full thing here), copied wholesale for some necessary context:

Do you think that events like MONA FOMA are changing the wider mentality of people in Hobart?

Tasmania has an endemic inferiority complex, which I think is being dispelled because of the stuff that we are doing. We're also not by any means the only thing happening. There are great places here. There are a lot of excellent art galleries and music, and a few night clubs with original music. I think it's maybe changing the attitude of the Hobartians. They are actually really proud of Tasmania, but kind of afraid to say so. People ask me: "Why did you move to Tasmania?" and I say, "Well, you know why. It's beautiful, the food is great, the people are really friendly." Maybe there's a certain amount of affirmation going on as a result of the museum being open and a result of people like me and other foreigners and mainlanders coming down and saying: "Wow, this place is great!" It's also giving some of the young people a reason to hang around. Tasmania uses the young population at a greater rate. I've talked to booking agents about this; you can book acts for really young people, and for older people, but you can't for 25-40 year olds because they've all left. There's a whole, like, lost generation in Tasmania. I think that maybe having a little bit of critical mass on the creative side of things is providing different possibilities for young people. Maybe they can stay here and even have an art practice here. It's not a pre-requisite for them to think that they have to leave. We've actually had some people moving here because of what's going on. It's changing.

Firstly, I feel this response is quite condescending. The idea that the Hobart arts scene can only appreciate itself or realise how good it might be after the validation of outsiders is a little offensive. That only through the affirmation of 'foreigners' and 'mainlanders' taking an interest in our city's culture, we can then ourselves know its worth a dime? I don't buy it.

I've probably blown his comment way out of proportion, but I think its an interesting issue nonetheless.
 
Ritchie refers to Hobart as having an “endemic inferiority complex”, but I don't think that's a fair judgement of Hobart's self-perception. Hobart is small. We're a city of 215,000 people, and we don't have the critical mass to support a glut of music venues or a huge arts scene. Hobart is small. Is it an inferiority complex if we accept that we're small or 'inferior'? In terms of critical mass, infrastructure, diversity of arts community etc, we are – purely in quantitative terms – inferior. We are small. A little isolated, even. But... so what? I see Hobart as more a city of realists than one with an endemic inferiority complex. People create art for themselves and for anyone who gives a damn, and hey – sometimes those people who give a damn live in Melbourne or Chicago. 
 
I don't think Everett True's stamp of approval on Hobart group Naked made much of a difference in the band's profile or perception in their home town. People already appreciated the band and if anything, this tiny little piece of blog buzz just made those same people turn their heads, nod and say “yeah, we know”, and then go on with their lives. If you're invested in it, its exciting when it happens; any kind of recognition is welcome and makes you feel good about your band/the local scene. I'd debate that it's more “hey, other people like what we [Hobart] is producing, that is nice and makes me feel good”; rather than “hey, other people like what we're doing in Hobart, I didn't realise we were good!”

Bad Luck Charms - I Need to Get Out by Noise, Etc.

Side-stepping for a second, one thing I don't understand is this quote from Ritchie, in which he talks about these bastions of great local culture as a reason to live in Hobart:
 

There are a lot of excellent art galleries and music, and a few night clubs with original music. I think it's maybe changing the attitude of the Hobartians. They are actually really proud of Tasmania, but kind of afraid to say so.

Who is honestly afraid to say they're proud of Tasmania? Tasmania is positioned as an underdog for many reasons – it's size, mostly – but I don't have any explicit memories of any Hobart artists who would be embarrassed of their home city. I'm fucking proud of Hobart and that's why I started this dumb blog, so people both in- and out-side of the local arts community could read about and listen to Hobart music. I'm curious who these people are and why they're afraid to be proud of Tasmania.

The Hobart scene is notorious for falling into, at times, little more than an incestuous circle jerk. Circle jerks are fun, mind you, but they are also exclusive cliquey things that reject outside (i.e., the mainland) influence. We already realise we have something great going on here and maybe that's what Ritchie wanted to express. Hobart can be indignantly alone in a kind of fuck-you-'mainland'-I-can-do-this-on-my-own way; the isolate State proving it can make it on its own terms. Its what happened in the past few years when many reviews from Melbourne and Sydney outlets would cite 'isolation' as a thematic constant in many Hobart music releases. “How dare they! We can fly across Bass Strait whenever we want! We have the internet!” we'd beckon in a kind of self-assured unison. While isolation is, I think, a reoccurring element in Hobart music circa late 2000s (Ivy St., hey), the local scene didn't want to be boxed in this way. You can't tell us what we are; we aren't small! It was a shrug at outsider labelling, whether misinformed or not. This attitude is kind of in opposition to the one Ritchie discusses; and while I could just be viewing everything from my seat in the alternative music arena (the outsiders of the outsiders) rather than just a general 'Hobartian' stance (the outsiders), I don't think its completely off.

In my short experience, Hobart arts isn't as concerned with outside validation as much as Ritchie implies. As far as I can tell, while reaching for a wider, national audience is something many artists and musicians desire (and sometimes achieve), Hobart is not tied up in some bizarre notion of “we're only valuable if someone outside our city tells us so.” That's backwards.

I don't think I can speak on behalf of anyone in the arts / music community because, for the most part, I act as little more than an observer, a promoter, a documenter. I'm just a youthful little shit with an internet connection and an(other fucking) opinion to throw into the wind, but I think its a discussion worth igniting again. What do you honestly think about yourself, Hobart?


Criticism encouraged.

alexanderbennetts@gmail.com

On the radio - Return To Oz

Starting 7pm this Wednesday, I'll be hosting Return To Oz, the weekly Australian music program on Edge Radio 99.3 FM in Hobart. The music profile will be similar to what I feature here, but from all over Australia (and maybe even New Zealand). New, underground pop/rock/experimental/electronic music from around the traps. Each week there'll be a featured album, label, band, city, blog, whatever; I'll try not to make it so rote or predictable.

Expectedly - and relevant to this blog - I'll be playing a couple Tasmanian songs each week, in the least. New recordings, retrospective tracks, whatever fits. I'll still only play what I find interesting or enjoyable, but if you want to send yr CDs in, station info is available here, or as below:

Edge Radio, Music Department, Private Bag 44, Hobart 7001.
Make sure you include a bio and contact details, all the usual stuff really.
Mark it ATT: name of presenter or program.

I'll probably maintain playlists/show information on a page here, along with on the Edge Program hub etcetera. Social network information below...

Here's a Facebook page you can admire and all that: www.facebook.com/returntooz

Join the conversation / request tracks on my personal Twitter: @NoiseEtc

& bookmark the digital stream for future use, hey: www.edgeradio.org.au/listen-popup.php

Return To Oz on Edge Radio 99.3, Wednesdays 7-8. Feel free to listen in.

Interview: Wormwood Grashopper Records

Wormwood Grasshopper Records is the baby of Hobart musician Ben Mason (Drunk Elk / Que / The Breeze). So far, it has proven itself to be a small boutique label releasing underground pop music from Tasmania and beyond. That kind of pop music that gets called 'demented' in PR, with an apparent heavy influence from New Zealand pop. Wormwood Grasshopper looks to be focusing on recordings of both the past and present, with previously unreleased material from defunct Hobart bands like Que, Wendy In The Mountains And The Caves With The Salves and Hammering The Cramps either already released or in the works.

I recently briefly spoke to Ben Mason about his new label, and where he plans to take it:

What have you released so far on Wormwood Grasshopper?
So far it's been predominantly the Drunk Elk LP [Under Neon Lights] and Mad Nanna 7", although I did put a Wormwood Grasshopper logo on a few CDRs for Julian Teakle's music stall a while back (The Que's Fern Tree Recordings and Drunk Elk's "Pieces Of People...").


What are the future plans for Wormwood Grasshopper?
Just around the corner would be the Hammering The Cramps LP, which has been in the works for some time now and it looks like it's nearly there. I can't wait to release this one. They were an incredible Hobart band that, I think, are totally underrated.  There's vibes of Roky Erickson, Xpressway bands and - the best song in the world - Brian Eno's 'Here Come The Warm Jets'. After that would be some tapes from Wendy In The Mountains And The Caves With The Slaves (first one was sent off to be duplicated today!). I wouldn't mind doing another Drunk Elk 7" soon, and hopefully we'll get our act together and record a Breeze EP. There's also a couple of projects I'm toying with that aren't Hobart bands, but I need to figure those out a little more still.


Hammering the Cramps - Jesse's Vampires by Wormwood grasshopper

Beautiful punk - Bears, SDS, Treehouse (VIDEOS)

Three totally different punk bands played on the top of the reservoir tanks at the Domain in Hobart last Sunday; almost in celebration of the free Hobart punk compilation that launched last week (it was actually a triple tape launch, but you know, horses). Best gig location or best gig location?

All video by Chris Valentine.

Bears

Social Death Squad

Treehouse

Sound Summit 2011 - VIDEOS

A few weeks ago I went to Newcastle for a few days as part of This Is Not Art / National Young Writer's Festival. If you want to know how the Writing festival went, go and read the numerous blogs other cool people posted or just ask me. I found some time while wearing my Writer's wig to head across to Sound Summit festival on the other side of town and I filmed a few of the bands. Now separate from the rest of the This Is Not Art festival umbrella, Sound Summit has grown into its own dedicated entity. Sound Summit 2011 is a little bigger than last year, but its distance from the rest of the long-weekend Newcastle art community (among other reasons) meant the attendance was a little underwhelming. I only made it tow three gigs and no panels/other events, mind you. The venues were all well-organised and within walking distance of each other, etc, etc.

Here's some footage of Australian bands. I saw and filmed a few other bands but most of that footage sucks even worse. Guerre was beautiful and Kitchen's Floor were awesome (if a little detached from the audience) and Iowa's Wet Hair lived up to my expectations. For what its worth I adore this Fabulous Diamonds song below.

Fabulous Diamonds

Horse Macgyver


Superstar

Dead Farmers

Scattered Order