New Zealand Songs of F*cking Angst pt. 3

Ah, now here we go kids, here we go.



A bitter, nasty little song from Supergroove, a NZ funk band better known for far more "cheerful" fare. They put out a EP called Tractor many years ago, full of twisted ditties which explore various aspects of isolation, disenfranchisement and the gnawing maw of depression. Its very rare, this EP, and almost impossible to find. I am lucky I have a copy. Bought it back when it was released, I was really young.
Anyway, Scone Farm. One of the darkest slices of raw funk you'll ever hear. Scratchy guitars, walloping bass, nasty brass, yelling about being "skullfucked".
And Jesus H. Christ, the drums on this track sound MONSTROUS.
I LOVE IT.
"Welcome to the factory, I wanna smash its skull."

Scone Farm by ChloeKovac

Here's a link to another Supergroove song, the best audio quality of a Supergroove song I could find on youtube. Features co-vocalist Che Ness (now known as Che Fu), one of the best singers to come out of NZ, in my opinion. I link this to you for the purposes of displaying a different side of this band. You might recall my cousin whinging about what Che has become, in her guest Randomitronica post from a while ago.

I understand there is also a funk band called Supergroove from Brazil. Is that correct?

xo Chloé

The Power of the Dark Crystal

There is a sequel to the classic 1982 fantasy movie The Dark Crystal in the works, and speculation is rife over whether or not it'll turn out to be any good.
The Dark Crystal is a film that is dear to the hearts of quite a few folks (myself included), so fans of the film are naturally concerned about its good name being tarnished by a potentially less than spectacular sequel. But at this stage its all conjecture isn't it?
Personally, I feel that The Dark Crystal worked fine as a one-off, and the notion of a sequel is a pretty redundant one. The film certainly doesn't need a sequel. And I'm not the only person to have this view. According to the IMDB entry on The Power of the Dark Crystal, when asked his feelings about a "Crystal" sequel by the San Francisco Chronicle, co-director and puppeteer of the original Dark Crystal, the legendary Frank Oz, had a one-word answer: "Why?"

So yeah... why indeed?

Well, lets look at the facts about the sequel, as they stand at the time of writing. The film's screenplay has been written by Craig Pearce, (he wrote the screenplays for Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet, so, herrrrrmmm) It is slated to be directed by The Spierig Brothers, Peter and Michael, and by the sounds of it they're big fans of the original, and are going to treat the material with the respect and care that it deserves. The Spierig Brothers directed Daybreakers among other things.
To allay confusion, the IMDB page for TPotDC currently lists Michael Gracey as being the director, but the page hasn't been updated since the May 4th announcement of the Spierig Brothers taking over.
Genndy Tartakovsky was once slated to direct, but I guess that fell through. Too bad, that could have been awesome.
Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and Jason Lust* will be producing. Keeping it in the family, that's something, right?
And it will be filmed in Australia, which makes sense, as the directors are Australian, and filming over there might be more cost effective in general.

The biggest news for me though is original conceptual designer Brian Froud is on board for this sequel, so at least the film's design will look good.
The intention is to film the movie in stereoscopic 3D, the same 3D technique used for Avatar, along with using traditional puppetry and animatronics. So this mix of techniques and approaches could end up being a garish visual mess, or something really lovely.

Here's an excerpt from the press statement, which gives a brief outline of the plot:
"Set hundreds of years after the events of the first movie when the world has once again fallen into darkness, Power of the Dark Crystal follows the adventures of a mysterious girl made of fire who, together with a Gelfling outcast, steals a shard of the legendary Crystal in an attempt to reignite the dying sun that exists at the center of the planet."
A girl made of fire! Coooool!

I guess it all remains to be seen whether or not his sequel is a good thing or not. I really hope they don't fuck it up.


*what a cool name.

~Chloé

HAPPY SYNTHESIZER

Its like a window directly into my brain. Thanks to Patrick for the link.
What would undead Robert Moog think of it, I wonder?

Proper Randomitronica posts resume next week.

~Chloé

The Guy What Throws Cards

I need this guy to come and work for me.

Gone Emo (Not Really)

Because I'm a rather small, fairly thin, floppy-fringed git, I was recently approached by the local emo band (the "Suitably Allienated & Downcast Suburban Anguish Quartet", or "SADSAQ" for short) to be their lead singer.
I'm certainly capable of "singing" in a whiny, nasally voice, and regular readers of my entries here will recognize how adept I am at grizzling about things. Besides, if that woman from Paramore can do it then so can I (which doesn't mean I should do it, but oh well).
The band had some songs but no lyrics. Those were left for me to write. I decided to come up with some song titles first. All modern emo bands need "wacky" song titles. Just like all 80's hair metal bands needed at least two members who sported permed and feathered mullets.
Most of these song titles aren't examples of great work on my part (they were all dreamed up during a 20 minute car ride). But there are a couple I quite like.


I'm Straight Edge But I'll Meet you At The Whinery

Razor Scars On Your Arms As A Fashion Accessory [actually, this one seems more suitable as a Locust song title]

Obligatory Girl's Name

Yet Another Ridiculously Long Song Title That Has Nothing Remotely To Do With The Song's Lyrics Or What The Song Is About

I'd Like To Sleep With You But Your'e So Pretty And I'm So Shy So I'll Just Stay In My Room And Have A Cry And A Wank Instead (Doing Procreation A Favour)

There's A Good Reason These Monkeys Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet

I Have 37 Fall Out Boy Songs On My itunes But Not One Song By Planes Mistaken For Stars

13 years Ago We Would Have Been Rapping Over Downtuned Guitars

We Love E And A Pentatonic-Based Riffs, That's Why All Our Melodic Guitar Parts Sound Like They're Been Played By Heavilly Intoxicated Members Of Iron Maiden

I Like To Wear Clear Plastic-Lensed Spectacles

glassJAw Eats Bands Like Yours For Breakfast

The Only thing XXX About You Is That Porno Your Mom Made

I'm worth $750 000 But I Still Ride The Bus To Band Paractice Cos Its Congruent To My re-re-Recycled Punk Principles


Sadly, these genius song titles never got used. I ended up getting replaced by the town drunk, as he proved even more pathetic and incapable of Shutting The Fuck Up than even I.

:'( Chloé

Valentine's Day song.

So Valentine's Day is once again upon us. Personally, VD means nothing to me. I'm sure there is some semblance of romantic thoughts and feelings inside of me, but they're buried way down deep, under a writhing, sticky pile of cynicism and half-digested candy.
It would take a pretty special (and congruent to me and my lifestyle) person to pull any genuine romantic affection out of me; such people are mighty thin on the ground 'round these parts.
Most years Valentine's Day is merely a mild irritant. Not this year though, for this time around I couldn't care less.
So to mark the occasion this year I will leave you with a song, which pretty much sums up my thoughts on the day and what it (has come to) stand(s) for.



Let the dead rot
Where they fall
You know sometimes I need a crutch
Just to crawl
So
Loathsome
So loathsome down inside
My heartstrings
They ain't yours to pull
Cops in latex gloves trying
To search my skull
So
Loathsome
So loathsome down inside

I FEEL SO LOATHSOME DOWN INSIDE.

Rancid junk-thought
Elephantitus of the mind
Rancid junk-thought
Elephantitus of the mind
This is my
Escape art
Exhibition
This is my
Escape art
Exhibition
Escape art
Exhibition
Escape art
Exhibition
And I'm never coming back.

♥ Chloé

New Zealand Songs of F*cking Angst pt. 2

With all the hubris and hollow back-patting of the Grammys upon us I think its high time for another post that focuses on music. So with that in mind, welcome to part deux of New Zealand Songs of Fucking Angst. This time around we have a lovely track from Wellington band Shihad, who were once very good.

Shihad: Derail
This is a song from Shihad's 1993 album Churn, which is quite frankly a flat-out monster of an album. It was the first album for the band (their only prior release being the 4 song speed metal EP Devolve) and is permeated with various themes; that of isolation, of being trapped within the machinations of modern society, and of the dehumanization that has come about due to the state of modern life. its a very reactionary record, that rips and gouges with cold steel pincers at the rotting underbelly of human existence and the lies that fuel our lives.
Not that I wish to paint this album as being all about doom and gloom, verily there are glimmers of hope that shine through the crushing derision inherent within this album. Like a flower growing up through a crack in concrete, to use a hackneyed simile.
But what I love about this album the most, aside from the music, is it completely uncompromising and bilious attitude towards the piss-poor state of the falsities humans have built up around life; the perfidiousness of the media, the consumer-driven materialism and the uncompassionate "me first" human extrapolation of the apophthegmatic "survival of the fittest" that is so ubiquitous in the collective mindset of humankind. To name but a few issues explored on this album.



In other words, an album that the likes of I can certainly get behind.
Here's track 7 from the album, unedited and presented in its full glorious entirety, the mighty Derail.



I'm putting this song up online as a public service really, as the only way to listen to this song online otherwise is to watch the official video clip on youtube, which has poor audio, poor picture quality and has been edited so the entire middle 8 of the song is not included. Hopefully me putting it up here is OK with the karma of the world.
As an added bonus, here are the lyrics to the song:

Abrasive to the touch.
All in all in all the same thing now.
We are gathered here in nonesuch.
Hooks back to the line.
And I trip over myself here
and I trip over myself.
Something's stuck in me here
and I can't get out.

Some in paint.
Some in blood.
Some in makeup.
Derail me.

To everything -
churn, churn, churn
There is a season -
churn, churn, churn
There is a reason -
churn, churn, churn
This ain't the time or the place.

I am sick of walking into rainbows.
I am sick of plugging into rainbows.
I am sick of tuning into rainbows.
I am sick of turning into rainbows.

If you enjoyed that wee ditty I urge you to track down a copy of the album, its definitely well worth it.

♫ Chloé