We have an interview with Frances Walsh - Author of "Inside Stories: A History of the New Zealand Housewife 1890-1975" - a compendium of domesticity sourced from the many women's magazines and pages of the period. It reveals as much about how women pitched themselves and their job, as their relationship with magazines which delivered up a promiscuous mix of genres and views. Wednesday, May 4, 2011
On the Adventures of the CoffeeBar Kid (New Time 7.30 Thursdays)
We have an interview with Frances Walsh - Author of "Inside Stories: A History of the New Zealand Housewife 1890-1975" - a compendium of domesticity sourced from the many women's magazines and pages of the period. It reveals as much about how women pitched themselves and their job, as their relationship with magazines which delivered up a promiscuous mix of genres and views. 
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Groove Book Report: "How to Make Gravy: A mongrel Memoir" By Paul Kelly - Penguin Books rrp $60.00
This is a Transcript : It will be aired on Thurs 21 April from 6 PM
Paul Kelly is like that cool, slightly unsettling uncle that turns at Christmas, off the back of a world tour, having played all the best opera houses and nightclubs, with a bag of presents and a mixtape of the best music you never heard. On the other hand, he's got those albums that hang around my studio, never really played, despite me knowing that within those cardboard sleeves lie delicate tales of love, hope and desperation. But, because Kelly was an Australian, I never afforded him the revery lavished upon Dobbyn or the Finn brothers. A missed opportunity - almost.
'... Gravy' started in a festival tent, in Melbourne in 2004, when Kelly undertook four nights of 'never-to-be repeated' performances based on a idea of singing 100 of his songs in alphabetical order, each night being the aphabetical progression of the last. To this, Kelly added storytelling for theatrical effect, and as the shows hit the road they were recorded for a CD with linear notes. Then the 'beast', as Kelly referred to it recently, took hold and a book finally emerged.
Not just the book of the tour, this is a self confessed mongrel biography and bloody good read. even if you aren't true blue. These are the observations, hymns, paens and a loose history of the Australia that lies under the surface. Not deep and sleezly, like the stories in the 'Underbelly' crime series or the manufactured love dramas of shows like 'Offspring', or even the suburban whines of 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away'. No, these are the collected thoughts of a close relative, a cobber or some joker you met on the plane on the way over. Kelly writes with the care and passion he applied to his music, telling from A-Z tales and annecdotes behind each of his songs. Sometimes the narrative is personal, like "From St Kilda to Kings Cross', which is a brief reflection on his journey from Melbourne to Sydney, at a time when he was unknown and cutting his teeth as a musician. Others, like "Leaps and Bounds", an early hit, are fleshed out, revealing more than what I assumed to be simply boyhood nostalgia.
'... Gravy' started in a festival tent, in Melbourne in 2004, when Kelly undertook four nights of 'never-to-be repeated' performances based on a idea of singing 100 of his songs in alphabetical order, each night being the aphabetical progression of the last. To this, Kelly added storytelling for theatrical effect, and as the shows hit the road they were recorded for a CD with linear notes. Then the 'beast', as Kelly referred to it recently, took hold and a book finally emerged.
Not just the book of the tour, this is a self confessed mongrel biography and bloody good read. even if you aren't true blue. These are the observations, hymns, paens and a loose history of the Australia that lies under the surface. Not deep and sleezly, like the stories in the 'Underbelly' crime series or the manufactured love dramas of shows like 'Offspring', or even the suburban whines of 'Neighbours' and 'Home and Away'. No, these are the collected thoughts of a close relative, a cobber or some joker you met on the plane on the way over. Kelly writes with the care and passion he applied to his music, telling from A-Z tales and annecdotes behind each of his songs. Sometimes the narrative is personal, like "From St Kilda to Kings Cross', which is a brief reflection on his journey from Melbourne to Sydney, at a time when he was unknown and cutting his teeth as a musician. Others, like "Leaps and Bounds", an early hit, are fleshed out, revealing more than what I assumed to be simply boyhood nostalgia.
Kelly's actually from Adelaide, a town I know well. Though, not as he did. He was the plaid flannel ache of bored a youth hell bent of getting out and heading for the big smoke of a Victorian Capital. Mine was the wide-eyed awe of a city dedicated to riverstone architecture, exquisite wines, exotic food and culture. It's funny how living and visiting are different things. Which to some degree is the underlying point of this rambling memoir.
I should point out he doesn't entirely dis Adelaide, with a fond memory to it's past in a song of the same name and a brief historical pastiche in "...Gravy" about the Capital's famed hills.
On another level, his undying love of cricket is evident all over the show, especially in Aussies unofficial national anthem, "Bradman'. And it's here our boy goes to town. Did he sleep with a Wisdens under his pillow? Surely the bulk of the book brought on migranes, or was it the insurgence of batting averages and player lists?
Some songs took me surprise, like finding out the truth behind the disturbing story of a murdered girl in Everything's turning to white', that one in particular felt like a personal memory. I was almost crushed to discover Kelly stole the plot of a favourite author.
On another level, his undying love of cricket is evident all over the show, especially in Aussies unofficial national anthem, "Bradman'. And it's here our boy goes to town. Did he sleep with a Wisdens under his pillow? Surely the bulk of the book brought on migranes, or was it the insurgence of batting averages and player lists?
Some songs took me surprise, like finding out the truth behind the disturbing story of a murdered girl in Everything's turning to white', that one in particular felt like a personal memory. I was almost crushed to discover Kelly stole the plot of a favourite author.
One constant is Kelly's love and respect of 80's trailblazers like Died Pretty, the Go-Betweens and the Triffids. These are all bands that circled around him during his early days, emerging in pubs and working man clubsand inspiring his own songs, challenging him to go on. In describing the origins of "Careless", Kelly talks first about the influence of these bands before flying out on an obscure trajectory about the importance of writing a good 'circle song'. This is a song that is useful in a jam session with strangers because it's repetitive. On goes the yarn to include an all out WOMADelaide jam session on the Nullabor plains. Add in failed sessions to learn said Go-between numbers, a touch of african drummingand an interlude with despression and then he skillfully, the trail cycles back to how "Careless" got written. It's this free, pseudo-rambling prose that makes reading this book such a joy. It's not prescriptive or even ordered, aside from the alphabetising. Ideas just seem to pop in and out like christmas tree lights, yet some how it all, unexpectantly, comes together.
Kelly has charted the human condition like no other with songs like "Dumb Things" and the tear jerker "To her door", which he outlays his decision to tell a tale of a broken man and his climb back to the love of his wife and family. But at times he's chooses political subjects like Aboriginal land rights, as in "From little things, big things grow". Outside Yothu Yindi and Midnight Oil few artists would take on Australia's bigoted 80's White man culture. It's in the book we find out more about the history behind the history. The unofficial and the personal history of these landmark incidents. For that alone, he deserves praise this side of the ditch.
When Kelly tours he's always asked about his involvement with heroin. At the book launc in October, (http://www.theaureview.com/sydney/paul-kelly-how-to-make-gravy-book-launch), he remembered “I wanted to write about it, as being addicted to heroin is very different to using it on and off for a very long period of time”. He claimed he didn’t need it, not like an addict, yet it affected those around him and his life anyway. Such revelations seem more honest, than the overbloated excesses of America's glam musos and England's lad rockers simply because he seems to be such a down to earth kinda guy - someone you may know or know off.
When Kelly tours he's always asked about his involvement with heroin. At the book launc in October, (http://www.theaureview.com/sydney/paul-kelly-how-to-make-gravy-book-launch), he remembered “I wanted to write about it, as being addicted to heroin is very different to using it on and off for a very long period of time”. He claimed he didn’t need it, not like an addict, yet it affected those around him and his life anyway. Such revelations seem more honest, than the overbloated excesses of America's glam musos and England's lad rockers simply because he seems to be such a down to earth kinda guy - someone you may know or know off.
And that's what makes this memoir special. He could be you or me, only more poetic and articulate. Kelly's contribution, to Australia's cultural cannon owes more to the pioneers like Norman Linsay, than, say Nick Cave or Baz Lurhman. As a unofficial, published history of a life well documented, I'd recommend this to anyone with one caveat - make sure you at least listen to "Post" or "Under The Sun" and while you're reading it!
For more information Check out : http://www.paulkelly.com.au/ or http://www.penguin.co.nz/afa.asp?idWebPage=30233&ID=2005127&SID=859660932
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Groove Book Report: FAB - An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney by Howard Sounes - Harper Collins rrp $40.99
This is a Transcript of a review broadcast on 7 April 2011
I never really liked McCartney's music post Beatles, except for Wings' epic Band on the Run, which still maintained some of that great late fab-four zaniness. Yet reading this epic 634 page tome it's hard to contest that, in the words of David Puttnam, McCartney is a man of "immense, immense, immense talent". It's just that somehow he seems unable, or unwilling to make that crucial transformation from merely good to exceptional. All through this biography author Howard Sounes keeps poking the cynical stick. "Was it that it was too hard, was it that it was too challenging? Or was it that he was a reasonably contented guy and he didn't think it was worth putting himself through that amount of pain?" What he seems to have missed, I believe is that creative rivalry between McCartney and Lennon, between te Beatles and the Beach Boys between Wings and the Plastic Ono Band. McCartney's best work was when he was challenged, threatened even. Obviously McCartney's a natural musician, with extrodinary writing capabilities. Songs like "Yesterday", "Honey Pie", "Blackbird", "The Long and Winding Road"are beautifiully written, so simple they can be peformed by everyone from a punk band to a reggae dub collective. It's virtually impossible for even the Ekatahuna 1st Grade Recorder Ensemble to stuff up one of his compositions. But yet the post Beatles era is bland. Still nice, but without that creative edge. In Beatle days, the schoolmasterly George Martin was always in the control room, pushing the boys on. Afterward, McCartney seems to have shunned all advice. Wings were essentially a Band on the Payroll, not the Run. Poor old Linda was as musically witless as they come. And the truckloads of narcotics they consumed surely dumbed down their critical faculties. Linda even arrived at one of their many court hearings "stoned out of her mind", according Len Murray, their long suffering lawyer. But if this was Iggy or Bowie the creative juices would be flooding the studio floor. Nope. McCartney chose to drift gently down stream, strumming and humming in the summer breeze. Puttnam and Murray are just two of the 220 people author Howard Sounes canvassed for their for what he believes is "a better-balanced, more detailed and more comprehensive life". Interestingly, though he doesn't directly speak with the man himself. The early sketches by those around in the heyday of Merseybeat, friends, neighbours and fellow-musicians all offer insights, annecdotes and evidence. And others(Ravi Shankar, John Tavener, Carla Lane), mostly industry types provide further pieces for the jigsaw yet the some like Ken Dodd, Bruce Forsyth, Jeffrey Archer simply offered nothing bt extra pages, void of editorial rigour. Personally, I found the memoirs of Astrid Kirchherr and Jûrgen Vollmer fascinating. Although a quick web search roves this material s hardly new. The 'explanations' from Imelda Marcos are most certainly enlightening, given the treatment of the Beatles in the Philippines led to their decision to quit touring.
Alas, those most likely to add to the story – Ringo Starr, the McCartney children, Jane Asher – remain silent. Incidently, it's amazing Asher has said nothing since 21 July 1968 when, questioned about her engagement to McCartney, by chat-show host Simon Dee, she replied: "I haven't broken it off, but it's finished." Maybe she's forgiven him for that dscretion, despite her family looking after him, and McCartney's pressuring at the time for her to give up acting.
I'm always suspicious of authors who use source notes rather than numbered footnotes. And there's nearly 20 pages worth here. They simply, disguise Fab as an exceedingly thorough cut and paste job with a heavy reading of Barry Miles's authorised biography on the side. I could certainly do without the supermarket trash moments and tittle tattle around McCartney's marriage to Heather Mills, and the the overvalued implosion that followed. Still, it's a good airline book, assuming you're planning on several trips to the UK non-stop in the next wee while. While, hardly academic, Fab ticks off as a definitive re-work on McCartney, not entirely original but meaty, exhaustive and the most up to date thing you'll find on the shelves at present.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Listen to This - Alex Ross
The latest Groove Book Report is online : Head over to the Adventures of the Coffee Bar Kid - http://adventuresofthecoffeebarkid.blogspot.com/
... And don't forget to check us out Thursday Nights from 6 PM only on Groove 107.7FM.
... And don't forget to check us out Thursday Nights from 6 PM only on Groove 107.7FM.
Groove Book Report: Listen to This - By Alex Ross
Originally broadcast on 3 March 2011
Listen to This - By Alex Ross (Pub. Fourth Estate) RRP $39.99
In his first book The Rest is Noise Alex Ross took on the history of Music in 20th Century. This time the premise is that music, no matter what kind, is still just 'music'. So put away your clasifications, your little baskets and board up those pidgeon holes. Music in it's own context, in it's own space is just that - Music. It livens the senses, recalls the memory, enthralls us, creates critique and narative to our lives.
Opening with his own background, Ross talks about his early dalliances with the Classical Genre and pledges his allegiance to a label he, himself, struggles to identify with. As a critic with the New Yorker it seems Ross has been thrown up against the literary wall a few times over the years and challenged to defend the psuedo-snobbery and faux-haute that surrounds classical music. A term, Ross acknowledges, looks to the past and discounts all the recent composers of the genre such as Phillip Glass. It is from this position that Ross embarks on his sprawling journey with out a map and no intention of stopping to ask directions.Essentially "Listen..." is a collection of essays covering the question "What is Music?" from a vast array of view points. The answers come from the most unlikely set of respondents: The late Mezzo-Soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson tears out her metaphorical heart over a Bach Cantata. Bob Dylan arrives gruff and abusive to a collective of inebriated Minosotans and loose hippies. Why can't they just accept artistic directions change and go electric like him? There's a predictably nerdy piece about a Vermont based band camp for Chamber Musicians - minus any flute jokes, thank goodness. It's almost twee in it's praise of the students plaid and polyester dedication to their cause, but he's forgiven on that! Then, just to prove his hipness, Ross stands in the rain at a Radiohead gig in Oxford to check out the origins and output of the new "brainy' pop the kids are listening to these days.
All this proves what a great party guests Ross could muster the next time there's a few cocktails at his Manhattan Loft. But, intellectual pursuits aside it seems Ross has, as an essentially Classical critic, missed the boat when it comes to measuring the cultural weight that modern music has impacted upon us all. Now more, than any time music, especially those elements that could loosely affiliate with the classical genre, have found ways into every crack of our lives. From advertising to movie soundtracks to mobile phone tones, there is some kind of music invading the silence, telling us what to think, how to behave and even when to wake up. Ross does briefly look at the impact of the recording industry on how we listen to music and how we consume it. And further hints come with his experiments with an ipod shuffle, allowing Steve Jobs to randomly DJ mix "The Rites of Spring" with Louis Armstrong. But what misses is a companion essay on how it 'consumes' us.
Ross is most comfortable talking about how artists and composers borrow, steal and beg from the genres, as if we hadn't noticed this before. Yet the diversication of musical consumption in the 21st century can not be dismissed, no matter how fervently one writes about Bjork's primal associations with Callas or the adoption of atonal music into pop by The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth. Where is the reviews of composition for computer games, ringtones, or other digital medium? Perhaps the windows in the offices of the New Yorker are a little foggy up there in those lofty ivory heights.
Still, down on the street I can't deny this is a great cerebral work out. Ross is a literary craftsman. His turn of phrase and depth of knowledge into all his subjects makes this a pleasure to read, even if you don't come from a classical background. Entertaining, witty and overflowing with insight you will listen more closely and more widely after reading this. And that has to be a good thing.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Mercury Crowe
‘Set Your Mind to Fly’ – the new album from Wellington’s Mercury Crowe was released in May 2009 to over 600 eagerly awaiting fans in both Auckland and Wellington. Recorded mainly live over three days, the self-produced album sinks comfortably into a range of styles – spanning filthy blues riffs, Beatles-esque harmonies, story telling ballads and foot stomping rock. It also marks a new rough-edged sound for the Crowe who wanted to convey the energy and space of their live shows on the new album. “This time we all set up to record in the same room”. Says drummer Nick George. “We made sure the guitars were bleeding into the drum mic’s etc – which allowed the whole sound to breathe the way it would live.”
The nine-track album credits song-writing from all four band members and features long time collaborator Ed Zuccollo (Harbour City Electric) on Hammond Organ, and the phenomenal Lisa Tomlins (Fat Freddies Drop, Hollie Smith) singing backing vocals. “We’ve always loved the gospel backing vocals of The Black Crowes and Ryan Adams”. Adds singer Allan Mansfield. “So it was good to get that side across on the record.” It’s a big step forward from their debut e.p ‘Mercury Crowe’ (2007) and, while both were similarly produced, mixed and designed by the band themselves; it’s clear the year-and-a-half between was spent honing their craft from the stage. The result is nine well delivered, road tested, sing-able rock n roll songs. “We all feel really good about this one”.
In 2008, the band invested in a 1986 Hi-Ace and set out to play as many gigs as they could book. “We would basically drive ten hours to Auckland after work on Thursday night, play two shows on Friday, one on Saturday night, then drive back for work on Monday”. says Mansfield. “There wasn’t a lot of sleeping going on.” Among the sixty-odd shows that year the band notched up a few South Island tours including orientation week (playing for The Datsuns after party), and even a rooftop gig in Dunedin. “It was touch and go because it was about five degrees and raining on-and-off but we were stoked to have our Beatles moment.” The Crowe also kept well busy performing live on Radio Active, VBC, Access Radio, Alt TV and Good Morning. The song ‘Carolina’ gained nation-wide radio play on The Rock and a second run of their debut e.p sold out completely.
Currently Mercury Crowe can be found between tours at Wellingtons Cavern Club playing acoustic arrangements of old songs, testing out new songs and covering anything from Hendrix to Ryan Adams. “The Cavern gigs are great for working out harmonies and new songs, but it also gives us the chance to stretch out on blues tunes and play a few covers, which is good for any band to do.” Says George. “It keeps us on our toes.”
http://www.mercurycrowe.com/
The nine-track album credits song-writing from all four band members and features long time collaborator Ed Zuccollo (Harbour City Electric) on Hammond Organ, and the phenomenal Lisa Tomlins (Fat Freddies Drop, Hollie Smith) singing backing vocals. “We’ve always loved the gospel backing vocals of The Black Crowes and Ryan Adams”. Adds singer Allan Mansfield. “So it was good to get that side across on the record.” It’s a big step forward from their debut e.p ‘Mercury Crowe’ (2007) and, while both were similarly produced, mixed and designed by the band themselves; it’s clear the year-and-a-half between was spent honing their craft from the stage. The result is nine well delivered, road tested, sing-able rock n roll songs. “We all feel really good about this one”.
In 2008, the band invested in a 1986 Hi-Ace and set out to play as many gigs as they could book. “We would basically drive ten hours to Auckland after work on Thursday night, play two shows on Friday, one on Saturday night, then drive back for work on Monday”. says Mansfield. “There wasn’t a lot of sleeping going on.” Among the sixty-odd shows that year the band notched up a few South Island tours including orientation week (playing for The Datsuns after party), and even a rooftop gig in Dunedin. “It was touch and go because it was about five degrees and raining on-and-off but we were stoked to have our Beatles moment.” The Crowe also kept well busy performing live on Radio Active, VBC, Access Radio, Alt TV and Good Morning. The song ‘Carolina’ gained nation-wide radio play on The Rock and a second run of their debut e.p sold out completely.
Currently Mercury Crowe can be found between tours at Wellingtons Cavern Club playing acoustic arrangements of old songs, testing out new songs and covering anything from Hendrix to Ryan Adams. “The Cavern gigs are great for working out harmonies and new songs, but it also gives us the chance to stretch out on blues tunes and play a few covers, which is good for any band to do.” Says George. “It keeps us on our toes.”
http://www.mercurycrowe.com/
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The CoffeeBar Kid is back
oo
Back and refreshed the CoffeeBar Kid is back and raring to go. This week we have blues/alt country artists Mercury Crow in the studio and with guitars in hand. Check out their new single "Kiss Me or Kill Me" sounding like early Stones or Black Crowes they are all swamp rock and down home blues.
See their website: http://www.mercurycrowe.com/
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