Queen Victoria's Mash Up...

or the Susato Sandwich?

Have just returned from playing a 10-piece brass gig for the MSO which farewelled the Queen Victoria from the Melbourne wharf.

You know how certain club owners have to be asked a couple of times to switch the house music off because, like, the band is back on stage? Well, we had that on a large scale tonight. We were getting stuck into the hits of the English brass eighties with Susato Suite, Three (or Four) Brass Cats, and something by Ray Premru when the ship PA started blaring the hits of downunder out at the same time. Slim Dusty, Men At Work, Midnight Oil and some others I think.

Anyway, the client was nice enough to slop a bit of Yellowglen into our plastic cups and the band(s) played on, fought it out.

What did it sound like on deck? Was this Melbourne avant-garde at its best?

.....Bon Voyage

Delays with Practice Materials

Michael B and I are planning to put an entirely new book together incorporating all this scale stuff and more, and in greater detail. We plan to have this ready by halfway through the year.

In the meantime, I'll post slightly revised pages from last year's edition as soon as I can chop them up and save them for downloading etc. Please be patient - it's a slow job using a free blog, and a free fileserver....

Revolt Against The Pod: Part 1

Rediscover The Stereo

Bought a beautiful 1980s Luxman CD player at Savers for $17. Got the Harman/Kardon amplifier repaired, dusted off the Danish speakers, found the old Monster interlink and speaker cable.

Beautiful warmth, incredible clarity.

Conclusion:
Computer CD players sound bad, and MP3 should only be used if music merely serves as cheap sunglasses for the ears.

Flower Child

I've lost a dear friend and colleague through sudden and awful circumstances. The press are highlighting all the wrong things.
Thank you LE for everything you did for me in Hamburg. This is an end of an era. I'm glad your death was that of a rock star, though, and not a retiree.