Mutiny - Folk Punk for Punk Folk

So, here it is finally - the first cassette by the wonderful Australian folk crusties Mutiny. And like many things that you spend years looking for - this one took me around 15 - it's not quite what I was hoping for. Their second tape, the cult favourite "Rum Rebellion", is a non-stop barrage of uplifting, passionate punk rock songs about (in)equality, struggle and facing the odds, which can stand next to any Pogues record without anything to be shy about. This one, however, is a much more low-key affair, with more minimal playing, mostly slower tempos, and somehow much less of that magic that made "Rum Rebellion" absolutely essential. Maybe this one's charms are more hidden, and maybe I'll discover them after a few more listens? Still, even as it is for me now, it's a good tape and you should hear it if you have any interest in the flannel-clad acoustic punks that have been spreading like the plague for the last couple of years. Just make sure to hear "Rum Rebellion", too.

P.S. The sound quality is far from great but I did everything I could to at least make for somewhat consistent listening - the original files I got through SoulSeek had every song at its own volume and bass/treble levels.

Track listing:

1. Folk War (3:33)
2. Animal Farm (2:45)
3. Turn It Around (3:54)
4. If You (1:39)
5. Common Cause (2:51)
6. We've Won (5:02)
7. Environmental (3:00)
8. Dinner with Kerry Packer (2:06)
9. Medieval (2:40)
10. God, Queen & Country (2:57)

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Radio Birdman - The Essential Radio Birdman Disc 2

Some years ago Sub Pop has released an anthology of the great Australian punk rock pioneers Radio Birdman, an excellent release with one major flaw: why compile HALF of a band's recorded output and call the thing "The ESSENTIAL Radio Birdman", when the half you left off is no less essential than what is on it? Why not do a nice double-disc anthology of both of their excellent albums, padded out with the few EP's and live recordings that feature non-LP material, and end the story once and for all? But, as Sub Pop was too cheap to do this (and it baffles me because the thing they did put out is quite lovingly and nicely packaged), now you have to chase the original albums on Australian websites, pay excessive prices for them, and, in the case of the second LP "Living Eyes", accept the inferior version without the corresponding EP tracks as the earlier one seems to be out of print. So, for all of us who own the widely available Sub Pop package, I have compiled the remainder of the material recorded during their original run (there was a reunion which spawned an album called "Zeno Beach" and I believe several live discs; a B-side from this era, "Rock Bottom", is included here, too), designed to be a bonus disc to the official "Essential" one. Have fun with it!

Track listing:

1. More Fun (1:59)
2. New Race (4:28)
3. 455 SD (2:44)
4. Dark Surprise (3:35)
5. Iskender Time (1:48)
6. Burned My Eye (1:50)
7. Monday Morning Gunk (3:05)
8. Breaks My Heart (3:01)
9. T.V. Eye (4:21)
10. You're Gonna Miss Me (2:41)
11. Didn't Tell The Man (3:14)
12. I-94 (2:48)
13. Death By The Gun (3:02)
14. Alien Skies (3:15)
15. Anglo Girl Desire (3:23)
16. Do the Movin' Change (2:27)
17. Hit Them Again (4:28)
18. If I Wanted To (3:06)
19. TPBR Combo (2:12)
20. Smith & Wesson Blues (3:02)
21. Rock Bottom (4:35)
22. Burned My Eye (live) (1:43)

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Crime & the City Solution - Zivi v Ljubljani

Same story as yesterday, a Birthday Party offshoot performing live in Ljubljana during the latter part of the Eighties - this time, featuring Mick Harvey, and having featured Rowland S. Howard (he was out before this show). This show was recorded on September 16th 1988 if the Internet is to be trusted, the cassette rip is rather nice sounding (although there really is no need for the FLAC format I found and kept it in, because some people prefer hissy unlistenable bootlegs to be preserved in 10 MB-a-minute formats), so enjoy.

Track listing:

1. All Must Be Love (5:42)
2. The Greater Head (4:24)
3. On Every Train (3:37)
4. Angel (6:09)
5. Stone (4:20)
6. New World (4:43)
7. Hunter (2:45)
8. Dangling Man (4:47)
9. Encore (3:49)

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Download part 2

Cosmic Psychos - Live at the Zoo, Brisbane, 23.06.2007

A good-sounding live set from Australia's ugliest band (and that's saying something!). Fourteen songs, fifty-two minutes, no big surprises but tons of classics.

The Cosmic Psychos have been the world's least nice band for nigh on thirty years, issuing wonderful examples of regular-guy misanthropy towards the world for the whole time; "I'm just a man who drank too much", "Damn, I shot the neighbour's cat" and "I don't think the neighbours like me" are all choruses from the same album. If you have managed not to find out about them yet and you do like no-bullshit working class rock, hurry up and hear what you've been missing.

Track listing:

1. Pub (4:09)
2. Mortician (2:51)
3. Lead Me Astray (2:24)
4. I'm Up, You're Out (4:08)
5. Dead in a Ditch (3:54)
6. 20 Pot Screamer (4:28)
7. Dead Roo (3:17)
8. Custom Credit (5:43)
9. Goin' to Hell (3:23)
10. Quarter to Three (4:16)
11. Bee Sting (4:15)
12. Back in Town (2:44)
13. Lost Cause (3:33)
14. Rip 'n' Dig (3:16)

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