Assetstripper....Back At The Magic Shop

  Here's yet another installment of unashamed digital self promotion. I'm posting this as I think it's quite a spirited set with some exciting under-rehearsed newbies. Over practising sometimes kills the initial spark so we hardly do that sort of thing, we hardly ever play as well. Keep it fresh!
  So there's heaps of "mistakes" of which I believe adds character......I'm not in it for the money so I can afford to shun professional musicianship. We did get sixty bucks from this show(thanks Michael Zulicki!) which helped us buy some chips....
  Every band I play in seems to have a venue or two as it's home base for showing off-Assetstripper's is Alyssa McBain's shed out in Whittlesea and local magician Dane Cerificate's small theatre in Coburg. Encounter Group's performance platform was a yuppie meat ranch in Fitzroy and the Satanic Rocker's hot night spot was IDGAFF(I Don't Give A Flying Fuck) which kinda summed up the lack of audience attendance.
  The audio file plays as one long track as I didn't want to edit out the audience enthusiasm, so I'll list of the tunes further down. Thanks to Tommy Gun for taking the photo of us near the venue and Carly for placing the Zoom H2N somewhere so the recording could be made....sorry for lack of writing in regards to the other bands but I was in my own fantastic rock and roll bubble and selfishly didn't check out the other performers properly in order to do them critical justice.....
  BACK AT THE MAGIC SHOP

Setlist........Rational Cannibal, Instrumental, Don't Forget To Chew, Walking Wounded, Constant Renovator, Drunk But Enthusiastic(glitter glam version)

in(COMPLETE)in

  Here's an old tape I would've forgotten about if I didn't have an archive....recorded on Boxing Day 2003 at Lisa Preston's practice space in Shadbolt House, Lyttelton. I believe they knocked it down after the Christchurch earthquakes a couple of years ago. I always liked this building and used to do a weekly experimental radio show on the fourth floor (I'll post about that soon...). Independent Fisheries owned it but now the main inhabitants were Radio Lytteltion, a small soap business, something else and a bunch of weed smoking weirdo jammers below the floors. Lisa named her practice space the Lunar Lounge.

Here's Shadbolt House pre-demolition.

                                                                 in(COMPLETE)in
  I was about to move up to Wellington so we had a party jam with most of my friends present. There'd been several jams here earlier but I think this was my last one here. The recording was made using a sony minidisc player and was also edited/looped using the same device (the minidisc was great for making seamless loops!). I supposedly made twelve of these a year or so later and the rest are who knows where...Because the night was well fuelled my recollections are a bit skewered so I'll just list the instruments and those persons who were generally hanging out near them...

  GUITAR: Kyle Denovan, Richard (Ricko) Neave, Lynton Denovan
  BASS: Kent Roper, Isolde Cumberbeach, Lynton
  VOCALS: David Kahn
  DRUMS: Rustle Covini, Joanne Billesdon, Lynton, Kyle
  KEYBOARDS: Lisa Preston, perhaps Lynton and anyone's guess!

  Of particular fun is the guest singing of David Kahn from local industrial band Leonard Nimoy. He did a great falsetto that night and his improv tune "Dumb White Trash" works a treat for me.                                              
              It's only ten minutes long so put it on random play and get a good half hour out of it...Get your pig on!

                                                               in(COMPLETE)in

P.S. Thanks Breeze for taking photos of the cover and tape for me...x

TONY VALENS and the GHETTO GHOSTS (live at the Wunderbar)

  This is a recording of a cold Saturday night down at Lyttelton's premiere underock venue the Wunderbar. Nick renamed us (the rhythm section) as the "Ghetto Ghosts" for this performance which he recorded in hard stereo on an overdriven old tapedeck. Unfortunately the tape runs out just before we finished our second set. It's a good representation of what this line-up sounded like if you bothered to come out on such a chilly night....
  I think I was a bit drunk before we even set up, we had two drumkits (no it wasn't double vision) so I set up the black superkit. At one point on the tape you can hear my 360 degree drum fill. Dan the bass player and I kept the bottom end for Nick to rip distorted shards from the guitar.
  We had a special guest play saxophone that night too-not sure where he came from but he kept going on about "kiwi's being too shy" and hitting on Dan's girlfriend while we were busy being loud. Although he was born here his American accent cut through everywhere-apparently he'd just come off touring with Blondie's band in the States and I thought he was coming off a cocaine habit or something thereabout's and flashy. I found it all amusing! Through the haze I remember him poking his brassy horn over the top of my superdrums and honking in my face like a horny big old duck! Anyhow we didn't give him a lot of room to move and if you're not worn out by hearing fatigue you might hear some sax popping through on this recording every now and then...
  Having a break between sets just allowed me to get more fuel into my system so these are my only memories except the last tune where our good friend David Kahn joined us on vocals for "Blue Moon". This old romantic ballad was a suitable end to the night....and off we went.

Nick Harte-guitar

Lynton Denovan-drums

Dan Brady-bass

David Ironside-saxophone

LOUD AND PROUD!

P.S. The title photo was taken by myself some years later after the earthquakes of 2011 had decimated the inner city of Christchurch. The concert was recorded sometime during 2001(probably winter) and the tracks are only separated as "set 1" and "set 2". Refer to the tape cover for song titles and play loud with a speaker in each ear!

ASSETSTRIPPER live at Paddockbash 2015(full set)

  Here is the full set that we did at Alyssa's recent Paddockbash. It's a bit of an annual event with no holds barred. Free liquor behind the stage, lush sound and lighting rig(thanks Zen and Tareq) and an illegal bonfire! Firemen visited with a pissy little hose and some paperwork the following morning...out of control fires have been a real danger up here in the past.
  Bands came from up north, west and right here to get drunk and party out on the farm at Whittlesea, Victoria. No sleep until the next day or so......you get the idea. I have to thank Alyssa for repeatedly hosting this amazing event on her property and bringing together some amazing acts. She's a repeat offender of awesomeness!!
 This recording may be a bit blown out in places(but not so much as the last concert I posted). My suggestion is to have a couple of your favourite beers on hand and turn the stereo up.
  Live and whinging in the tent....
  (I have forgotten who took this picture of us so if you know fill me in and I'll put your credits up)

ASSETSTRIPPER "Alive and Complaining"

 Here's three tracks recorded live at Dane Certificate's Magic Shop on the 10th July 2015 when we supported excellent Tasmanian band the Howling Gruel.  I decided to put only these three tracks up as the rest of the set was a bit lame......also expect a lot of distortion as my sound mixing skills are very elementary, although  I reckon all the oscillating bass frequencies add to the rhythm.
 Assetstripper is my current brand of band and features Peter James on drums, Breeze Powell on bass and myself(Lynton) on vocals/guitar and samples. It's really just a vehicle for one great sonic whinge!
 The pics were taken by Stuart Page(top) and Matt Kennedy(bottom) at our friend Alyssa McBain's horse shed out in Whittlesea,Victoria.
 Recorded on Zoom H2N and fucked up further with Protools.

Click And Drag

Into The Void live at the Wunderbar,Lyttelton, Christchurch 14/06/14

 The first time I saw Into The Void was back in 1993 when I was eighteen and had just embarked upon my flunked out studies at Canterbury University. I used to get drunk on three pints of DB Draught and would feel like I was committing a crime every(and it wasn't many) time I went to the bar to spend my measly student allowance.....anyhow I learnt a few things there and quite a few things since....
 I gotta say that the Void are one of the only bands I still like from way back then and it's a bit of a religious pilgrimage for me to see them-they have lasted the distance thus far. When they're not damaging their cochlea's these gents kill time by selling records, loaning books, etching, nursing and making modern art.
 This is not the whole concert; just my favourites including a few from their first album put out by Frying Nun Records and some very new numbers that I enjoyed on the night....
 Have a listen!

ENCOUNTER GROUP (under this bridge) Live Brisbane 14/09/14

A couple of weeks ago Bearded Iris and Encounter Group flew up to the sunny city of Brisbane to play a couple of shows, the final show was powered by a two-stroke generator under a bridge near Goma art gallery in South Bank. Thanks Gerald of Gerald Keaney and the Gerald Keaneys who also performed and provided the generator.
Apparently cops are a problem in this part of the country and fortunately none paid us a visit, we did get some curious park goers and three wasted mates from the homeless shelter check out the happening. They seemed to have the best time!

The recording is drum and vocal heavy with the bass and guitar being murked out via the resonant echo that dominated the space. It gives this document a kinda rap style vibe with beats and singing to the fore (alongside profuse use of the "f" word!)...The last track called "Rock Keep Rolling" features special guest Matt Earle from xNOBBQx on extra guitar. Clocking in at over twelve minutes I manage to squeeze the lyrics out right at the end.
Marek took the photo of us (thanks!), also thanks to Mark Spinks and Sleepy for helping transport the borrowed equipment.
All in all a nice day in the sun spent defiantly molesting a bottle of stone's ginger wine. I may post some of the other performances after getting permission in the near future....
UNDER THIS BRIDGE