We moved

We virtually moved. You may now keep up with Soft Abuse in a blogging atmosphere here: http://softabuse.tumblr.com/.

2013 in review: Chris Berry

New / Reissue (in no order)

Dick Diver - Calendar Days (Chapter)
The Mantles - Long Enough to Leave (Slumberland)
Steve Gunn - Time Off (Paradise of Bachelors)
Scorched Earth Policy - Going Thru a Hole in the Back on Your Head (reissue, Siltbreeze)
Hurray - More Opiates & Bike Song (Self-released)
Jon Collin - High Peak Selections (Winebox)
William Tyler - Impossible Truth (Merge)
My Bloody Valentine - mbv (Self-released)
Ignatz - Can I Go Home Now? (Fonal)
The Garbage & the Flowers - Eyes Rind as if Like Beggars (reissue, Fire)
Lorelle Meets the Obsolete - Corruptable Faces (Captcha)
Endless Boogie - Long Island (No Quarter)
Wolf Eyes - No Answer:Lower Floors (De Stijl)
Sean McCann – Music for Private Ensemble (Recital)
The Howling Hex - Best of Howling Hex (Drag City)
Neil Hagerty & the Howling Hex - Hildreth Tapes (Golden Lab)
Eat Skull - III (Woodsist)
Julian Lynch - Lines (Underwater Peoples)
Human Expression - Love at a Psychedelic Velocity (Mississippi)  
Nathan Bowles & Scott Verrastro ‎– Polar Satellites (Mie)
Anonymous - Into the Shadow (reissue, Macchu Picchu)
Counter Intuits - s/t (Pyramid Scheme)
Josephine Foster - I'm A Dreamer (Fire)
The Date Palms - The Dusted Sessions (Thrill Jockey)
Destroyer - Five Spanish Songs (Merge)
Tim Coster - A Moment's Ornament (Room40)
Satanic Rockers - Fu Kung (Black Greasy Basement)
Primitive Motion - Worlds Floating By (Bedroom Suck)
Bill Callahan - Dream River (Drag City)
Roach Clip - Discovery Park (All Gone)
Peter Jefferies - The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World (reissue, De Stijl)
Frog Eyes – Carey’s Cold Spring (Self-released)
Henry Flynt – Graduation (reissue, Superior Viaduct)
Cass McCombs - Big Wheel & Others (Domino)
Tim Hecker - Virgins (Kranky)
Bob Dylan - Another Self Portrait (Columbia)
Spider John - s/t (reissue, Nero's Neptune)
Messages – Message Bag (De Stijl)
The Woolen Men - Dog Years (Dog's Table)
Androids of Mu – Blood Robots (reissue, Water Wing)
Mick Turner – Don’t Tell the Driver (Drag City)
Sky Needle – Debased Shapes (Bruit Direct)
Black Twig Pickers - Rough Carpenters (Thrill Jockey)
Ono – Machines That Kill People (reissue, Priority Male)

Singles / EPs (in no order)

Exiles From Clowntown - No Original Thort (Ever/Never)
Dick Diver / Lower Plenty (Matador)
Sic Alps – She’s on Top (Drag City)
Wild Child - Demo (Fashionable Idiots)
Raw Prawn – None Left (RIP Society)
Mole House – Be Around (All Gone)
East Link – Angel Gun (In the Red)
East Link – Wild Dog (Aarght!)
Marie Davidson – s/t (Holodeck)
Graham Lambkin ‎– Abersayne / Attersaye (Kye)
Connections  ‎– Cindy, Jeni & Johnny (Anyway)
Cured Pink ‎– Body Body Body I Need It I Need It I Need It (Black Petal)
New Bums – Slim Volume (New Bums)
Helen – Felt This Way (Meds)
Real Numbers – Only Two Can Play (Three Dimensional)

2013 in review: Pat O'Brien

Top 10 2013

In no particular order.

Anton Heyboer - Rules Of The Universe (Kye) - This one kind of leaves me speechless.  Recordings of one man's raw expression for himself and his loved ones.  Beautiful. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp4VERxNphw

Satanic Rockers - Fu Kung LP  (Black Greasy Basement)
One of my favourite bands from Australia or anywhere.  Really proud to say I had a hand in the issuing of this record from this now defunct band.  Look out for Encounter Group records in 2014 and beyond.   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xp3is-kxms

Mad Nanna 2013 tour of the USA and Europe.  1 month in the US, 1 in Europe.  Met so many beautiful,  generous people, played with some amazing bands.  Special mention to Chris Berry, Shannon O'Brien, The Bibs, Sky Needle, Nick from Golden Lab, David and Angela in Berlin, Bill Direen, Brian Turner and WFMU, Jason and Maya in Philla, Sweat Tongue, Olivier and Marion in Briquebec, Steve Marreyt and Kraak, Denis Tyfus, Smoke Jaguar, David and Heather Leigh at Volcanic Tongue and all the drummers that joined in.  New record out soon on Golden Lab.  Live at Volcanic Tongue.  Sorry to anyone I've forgotten. 

Minimum Chips reformation gig at the Edinburgh Castle.  
This was only in the last few weeks.   One of my favourite Aussie pop bands.  Was a real treat to see this very rare performance.  It'd been a long time.   Unfortunately, the recordings never really captured that live sound.  But still, these recordings are gorgeous.   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJBEt4CTxis

Howling Hex - The Hildreth tapes (Golden Lab)
Live recordings from New York over a 10 year period, recorded by fan, Jim Hildreth.  Monster package with great liner notes.  An essential document of a band that I may never actually get to see live.   
http://goldenlabrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hildreth-tapes

So much love for Lou Reed, the rarest of men.  Do a young person a favour this Xmas and give them a Lou Reed record.
http://www.easthamptonstar.com/Obituaries/20131031/Lou-Reed

Astor - Inland LP (Kye)  Marky Harwood's second LP on the incredible Kye records is even better than his first one.   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDnVUNKwL70

The Invisible Hands - The Invisible Hands LP (Abduction)  Alvarius B with a couple of egyptian friends.   A beautiful double LP with the songs on the first being sung in English, and on the second, re-recorded in egyptian.  Gorgeous arrangements, and some really weird lyrics, make for an unforgettable record. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4XQNsDlG3M

A Band Called Life 7" on Albert's Basement.  Weird rantings over broken sounds.   Intimate and damaged.  
http://albertsbasement.bandcamp.com/album/a-band-called-life-ep

Rob and Stefan - Manic Guitar Session Cassette (Albert's Basement.
Ok, so I believe this one actually came out in 2012, but I didn't get to do a best of list last year so I'm putting it in now.   2 guys jamming in an apartment in Christchurch back in 92, 93.  2 guitars, two jars.  More catchy than the flu.
http://albertsbasement.bandcamp.com/album/rob-stefan-manic-guitar-sessions

Best wishes.

Pat

2013 in review: Michael Zulicki

-The Curse at Long Play cinema, and seeing them a few times this year, they're first show at Grosvenor St actually..

-Drunk Elk at the Gasometer

-A Band Called Life 7" and gigs at Empress/Northcote Social Club

-Satanic Rockers LP on Black Greasy Basement, the whole putting it together charade with everybody

-Crude gigs

-Heather Leigh at Volcanic Tongue, Conic Hill, Smoke Jag boys and the trip from Bristol to Glasgow and on to Amsterdam/Tilburg in general

-Seeing Sky Needle bend, and put out a great record

-The bibs at Cat Science Necromansion

-Bill Direen at Instants Chavirez

-Discovering and listening to Rentboy

-O'Tomorrow every tuesday night

-Mark Harwood dj's in London

-Briquebec Farmhouse, the greeting and the farewell

-Things being ok despite the madness of the world, and being involved in the madness

- Sweat Tongue at The Audacious Art Experiment, Sheffield

-Photographs, Graham Lambkin/Jason Lescalleet, even though I've only heard the 1st CD once quietly and late at night in Ashfield.

-Listening to Garam Masala all night in Richmond

-Kitty Somerset

-Eli and Bev at house show.

2013 in review: Andrew Robinson

no particular order -

-  friends everywhere, family, freedom and the great outdoors.

-  venom p stinger - waiting room 12" - thought this would languish as obscure small run cd only footnote forever: even tho its up there with their finest…damn fine indeed.

-  mad nanna - nectarine tree 7" - very nice - thanks to michael for giving me a copy when i ran into him at repressed recs

-  graham lambkin 7" - more relaxing music that doesn't bore from a modern day master 

have also had lambkin and lescalleet's 'breadwinner', neu! II and wire 'pink flag' on rotation in car cd stacker thingy for the last few mths - variation with no need to change.

-  https://soundcloud.com/soottyb/scary-nest-176 - speaks in volume for itself.

-  walking past a hindu temple in malaysia and heard (what sounded to me like) wild free jazz blasting from within...went in and was transfixed by these two for 40 odd mins...filmed the last minute and a half. 

-  being rick feedtimes pickup band for a night with no practice and no idea of what he or we was gonna do… 

-  thrash'o'matic - doing super fast down stoke only 'surfin' bird' and more. same night as above (no vid unfortunately). 

-  picking up el cheapo 'hawaiian holiday with...johnny pineapple and his orch' lp - luv that laid back slack key feel. 

-  hearing masters of forthcoming efc soft abuse lp. 

-  ever/never