World Wide Woozle episode #630

Hello enormous listening world; the World Wide Woozle continues to roll on. Thanks for tuning in.

It's Sunday morning here in Canberra on a long weekend. DJ HamerTime and I were meant to be doing some cycling this morning. Unfortunately he's under the weather. Also, I've just looked out the window and thick fog means that I can't see far at all. I've done plenty of rides in less than ideal conditions but today doesn't need to be one of them. The sun will eventually come out and I can enjoy riding hard without being cold and wet.

Amon Amarth - Put Your Back Into The Oar - https://youtu.be/vYNAEzgKNec

I am hugely grateful to my good friend Jess who hooked me up with a last minute ticket to see The Whitlams Black Stump on Friday night. I'll happily admit that I have never been a huge fan of the band in the past but the opportunity to attend a show in the company of other people absolutely made my day. 

I've written in the past about how awkward I feel going to see gigs by myself. It's all good when the band is playing because I'm pretty much totally engrossed in watching and listening. Standing or sitting around waiting or between sets really makes me uneasy. I remember putting on my big boy pants and dragging myself to Smith's Alternative to see Don McGlashan play a while ago now. I was sitting waiting for the gig to start and two punters asked if the seats at the table were free. When I welcomed them to have a seat one of them asked me if I didn't have any friends. It was meant in jest but I almost went home. 

Don McGlashan - Hold Onto Your Loneliness - https://youtu.be/0Z17b76HKAI

Friday night was at Tallagandra Winery which is about 30 minutes from my place out in the country. They certainly attract a wide range of great Australian artists. I just wish that you could book single tickets rather than having to find a group of people who want to go. Anyway, that aside, it's a good venue. The band was Tim on keys/vocals and Ollie on guitars and pedal steel. They played a lot of tracks from the new album and I enjoyed them a lot. Tim is a great storyteller through his lyrics and has a talent for making the everyday seem interesting. I was transfixed watching Ollie play the pedal steel guitar; it's a true art form. And I did laugh at the end when Richard and I were singing along to I Make Hamburgers and someone shouted at us to shut up. Sorry mate, we were having a great time. If you want to listen in peace and quiet then you've got the CD I'm sure. Actually, given the demographic I'm sure that punter had the album on limited edition, gold plated vinyl to play in his dedicated listening room whilst sipping Grange. Maybe that was a bit judgmental. Oh well, it's my blog. Here's my absolute favourite song from the night, even if they did play their fabulous new interpretation of You Sound Like Louis Burdett.

The Whitlams Black Stump - The Day John Sattler Broke His Jaw (live) - https://youtu.be/scGdLU83JLw

Tim Freedman has a very distinctive voice and I think that's a key for success in popular music. So does Colin Meloy from The Decemberists. I noticed that they have a new long player due to be released in the near future. There are four tracks available online. Maybe it's an EP or perhaps they are building the album one song at a time. Regardless, they sound great. This one has what could be a New Orleans jazz feel along with the band's very recognisable style. See what you think.

The Decemberists - Oh No! - https://youtu.be/pAmJYu2UVyU

It's time for some good, solid rock music here on the World Wide Woozle. I've played you all The Southern River Band before. Remember them? They're from Western Australia and clearly love any number of classic rock bands. What I like is that The Southern River Band, whilst clearly paying homage to their elders, put their own twist on things. I imagine that this is a band best seen live whilst surrounded by like minded individuals having the time of their lives. There's so much energy in their latest track...

The Southern River Band - Vice City III - https://youtu.be/jjTwRBBJswk

Let's keep that energy going for a few minutes because Amyl and The Sniffers are back. oh boy are they back! This little Aussie band has already scored support acts with Foo Fighters and Jane's Addiction and are another take no prisoners act. I'm getting tired of reading articles and comments from people who think that rock music died years ago. This track shows a clear development for this band. They've grown as songwriters and the Iggy Pop-esque groove on this track is a ripper.

Amyl and The Sniffers - U Should Not Be Doing That - https://youtu.be/jCxgUPFVFkA

Mark Seymour is a storyteller too. While many of you will be aware of his history with the band Hunters and Collectors, the man carries on in style. His latest album, The Boxer, is well worth your time. Songs about real people and real life. And, yes, another distinctive voice.

Mark Seymour and The Undertow - She Burned Her Bridges Down - https://youtu.be/Rj_oTuYFO3M

It's been a challenging few months for me at work. Many of you will know that earlier in the year I was fortunate enough to be selected to act at the next level up. It was always going to be a challenge for me to see if I could get back to working at a higher level. My brain doesn't work the way it used to but I've been doing my best to improve that. Sadly I had to admit that it was all getting a bit much and I wasn't coping well. My managers have been very understanding and essentially I'm returning back to the job I did before I was acting up. I won't lie, I was pretty devastated about having to admit this and also a bit embarrassed. Now that I've had a bit of time to reflect and get used to it I am OK. I can't suddenly go back to my brain running on all four cylinders but I can do my best to keep it improving. Thank you to the people who responded when I told them what was going on. I know that in situations like this it's hard to know what to say and I appreciate that. You don't have to say much but just know that when someone tells you something sad, personal or challenging that getting no response can be very upsetting.

Stryper - Calling On You (acoustic) - https://youtu.be/fjdKE5sZu_4

So, Stryper (above) has released an unplugged album. It's called To Hell With The Amps. I love the band and I have since I was in high school but I was skeptical about them ditching their amplifiers and electric guitars. I needn't have been. The songs sound fresh with this approach and the fact that Michael Sweet's voice is still very strong make the album a great listen. The band are on a US tour at the moment and although I'd still really like to see them rocking out in their full yellow and black stage gear, the acoustic show would also be a lot of fun. There's a livestream concert from this tour coming up soon and I'm hoping it works well enough for them to consider a release onto BluRay or at least a streaming version.

Finally, a live show that is pure gold. George (watch out for his new album, The Call To Home Symphony, hitting the airwaves on June 1) gave me a copy of the Alchemy live DVD by Dire Straits. More and more I find myself listening to (and watching) Mark Knopfler play guitar. I recently reflected with a few of you that in the 80s his red guitar and sweatbands were some of the coolest things I knew. He's one of the reasons I chose the red electric guitar that's been with me since 1987. Putting the DVD on made me think about how well it is produced. Although the video footage suffers a bit from a combination of not enough lighting and watching on our modern high definition TVs, the audio is superb. Through my old 2.0 stereo system it sounds huge. This is a concert released in 1984 and the warmth and bottom end are great. I found as well that through watching the concert a couple of times, I have had my ears opened to songs I didn't pay a lot of attention to previously. 

Dire Straits - Telegraph Road (live) - https://youtu.be/EX2n2ftbdZU

Keep smiling brothers and sisters,

The Woozle

"Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinkin' down
And I'm all strung out on heroin

On the outskirts of town..."

Warren Zevon, Carmelita, 1976

World Wide Woozle episode #629

Thanks for tuning in. It's raining quite a lot here at HQ World Wide Woozle. Although I'd rather be outside on my bike, the precipitation does indeed provide an atmosphere conducive to reflection and writing so here we go. And more about rain later on.

The National Film and Sound Archive has an online exhibition now celebrating 100 years of radio. I'll probably take a look over the weekend. Radio was a huge part of my life for many years, I loved to scour up and down the dial searching for stations from far flung places. When I was in the Army and still living on base, I was once called to see the Intelligence Officer to explain why Radio Moscow was sending me a programme schedule! I like old radios too. Although I don't have heaps of room here to collect them (probably a good thing) I do have an old National Panasonic receiver that was converted to a Bluetooth speaker by a mob in Geelong. Very cool. If I could fit a couple of cool ghetto blasters in here I certainly would. Radio was where we heard new and old music. The local community station, 3GCR aka Gippsland FM was an integral part of my education. While commercial channels played the hits, community stations played everything. In the space of a few hours I'd hear folk music, music in languages other than English, old time rock and roll, polkas and the weekly heavy metal show. Of course radio is still around but I must admit I generally only listen in the car. Then again, if I invested in a shortwave receiver I could go back to my days of searching for Voice of America or something more exotic. Yeah, it's all on the internet but that's no fun.

The Sports - Who Listens To The Radio - https://youtu.be/wNjFdWrv3Fs

Last weekend I was in Mudgee with my good mates Toddo and Davey for a cycling event. The Mudgee Classic has been held four times and I've ridden them all. Getting away for the weekend, talking nonsense in the car for 5 hours each way, hanging out at the local RSL Club and getting a solid 120km ride done all added up to a top shelf weekend. We missed seeing Ken Sutcliffe, "the male model from Mudgee", starting the event but we did stop in his home town of Oberon to visit the dunnies and the bakery. If you're even a casual cyclist then I couldn't recommend this event highly enough. There's gravel/dirt rides on the Saturday and road cycling on Sunday with distances from 35km up to 170km. It rained, hard, on Saturday which wasn't that much fun for those riders. We got a bit of a shower on Sunday but nothing too much. We did need a loud rain and thunder playlist in the cabin though as SOMEONE who isn't Todd or I snored louder than two chainsaws! Seriously though, I'm very grateful to the lads for being such awesome friends.

Judas Priest - United (live) - https://youtu.be/6DmZUAbeWlM

The Woozle and Toddo in Mudgee.

A long time ago now I played in a band called The Dark Violence of Beauty. Our bass player, G-man, went on to play in a few bands and he's in one called Tundrel. They've just released their latest track, and video clip, and I'd really appreciate it if everyone out there clicked the link to check it out. I know at least two people in the clip and if you're from Canberra then there's every chance you'll recognise a couple of locations. Regardless, check it out and support local music.

Tundrel - Mechanical Sympathy - https://youtu.be/MeyJklUas7g

Roxette are coming back to Australia in 2025. I saw them here in Canberra at the Royal Theatre on 29th January in 1995 and it remains one of the best rock and roll gigs I've ever seen. I'm serious. I'll have to think long and hard about the 2025 show for a while. Per Gessle is a fantastic songwriter who has that knack of writing great hooks. He also loves classic guitars! This is my favourite song from the Crash Boom Bang album that they were touring back in '95. The jangly, swirling guitar in the verses and the overdriven sound in the bit before the verses...this song has it all.

Roxette - Fireworks - https://youtu.be/EvpYdXjE0Rc

When I first got a CD player, I thought CDs were expensive. These days they are on the way to silly prices. $50 for the latest Pearl Jam CD? Oh dear. I remember early on getting a CD called The Superior Sound of Elton John. I guess it was meant to be some of his best tracks remastered so that they sounded better on the new media. Other than playing Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting far too many times the rest of the album didn't really interest me. Then about ten years ago I put it on and really enjoyed it. Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding became a particular favourite. It's long, it has many different parts and, in the middle it rocks hard. I've heard Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) doing a great live version of it and Dream Theater do as well. Recently Elton John and Bernie Taupin were awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Songwriting and there was a series of well known artists including Annie Lennox, Garth Brooks and Joni Mitchell playing in tribute to them. They were good, better than good, but then I saw the link for Metallica playing. Seriously, their obvious love for the original song is clear and whilst making it their own, Hetfield and co. show plenty of respect. Listen carefully for when James sings, "just a fan". Those are Bernie's lyrics but the timing of the delivery is pure Metallica.

Metallica - Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding - https://youtu.be/CUI24ZZ4ksA

Canberrans, what is happening? We're being inundated with great heavy metal bands visiting our humble town. Triumph of Death, Unleash The Archers, Temtris and Cirith Ungol are all coming in the near future. Amazing. Listening to these bands along with some others pointed me towards the brand new album from Darkthrone. Now there's a band that care not a dot for what is popular, trendy or will make them money. Their albums range from the seminal Norwegian black metal releases A Blaze In A Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger through to the Priest/Maiden influenced The Underground Resistance and now It Beckons Us All which is pretty traditional metal but with folk elements and a song about the bird people of Nordland. The latest album is dark, loud, heavy and simply awesome. 

Darkthrone - Howling Primitive Colonies - https://youtu.be/6mGn2OBHCYk

For those following along on Spotify, my regular listening playlist has had a complete update. You can get it here and you don't need to pay for Spotify to listen to it. I do try to keep it quite varied. Where else will you get Faith Hill, Amon Amarth and Hockey Dad in the same place? Here's one from that playlist that I was reminded of when driving home from Mudgee. 

C.W. McCall - Convoy - https://youtu.be/Uxp6OG8izQg

Keep smiling everyone,

The Woozle

"It's hard to make believe everyday.

Things are not always the way they should be.

Words come easy if you try.

Hiding in the shadow of your eyes."

Mi-Sex, Blue Day, 1983