Sydney folk, some good news on the live front! The Tango Saloon are set to play their first show in over a year this Friday (30th of September) at Camelot in Marrickville.

Astor Piazzolla meets Ennio Morricone in this tango-flavoured project with a twist of spaghetti western. Although they put on many great shows at Qirkz back in the day, this will be The Tango Saloon’s first performance at Camelot, as well as their first gig in over a year! In the meantime they’ve appeared on Spicks & Specks, as well as completing their third album (to be released very soon). Featuring members of Monsieur Camembert, Marsala, Samba Mundi, Darth Vegas and The Sluggs, plus special guest vocalist Elana Stone.

Supported by Ambre Hammond & Marcello Maio’s Piazzolla Project – “the brilliant virtuosity of Ambre Hammond on piano and the intense, romantic passion of Marcello Maio on piano-accordion, drawing us into the world of Piazzolla’s Tango…truly, a musical marriage forged in heaven!” – Dennis Koks, Vox-FM

Pre-bookings highly recommended, visit http://www.trybooking.com/WFK

Rumour has it that there is a new album on the way too….

Camelot: 19 Marrickville Rd, near Sydenham station
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158934440857892

Not long after Trevor, Trey and Mike were busy in New York together making spectacular musics at Zorn’s Masada Marathon, Danny and Bar are hooking up for one special night at the Toff!

Julian Curwin’s Mango Balloon (The Tango Saloon’s sexy cousin) will be joining Umlaut for a show tomorrow night at the Toff,  followed by a show the following day at the Evelyn supported by Angus Leslie’s Sex on Toast.

Meanwhile Umlaut are also busy working on a new album and prepping for the big South American foray with Trevor Dunn’s MadLove and Secret Chiefs 3.

The Mango Balloon also recently released their debut album “The Mango Balloon Vol 1“. Go check it out. While you’re at it, if you haven’t already, grab a copy of Umlaut’s debut from their store.

The Tango Saloon’s skinnier, more sultry cousin ‘The Mango Balloon’ have just released The Mango Balloon, Volume 1 and will be officially launching the album at 505 on November 12th:

“‘The Mango Balloon, Volume 1′ has been released! It ‘hit the stores’ at the beginning of the month, out through Rufus Records and distributed by Universal (also manufactured by them, and the packages look pretty darn nice if we do say so ourselves – check out Reanne Potter’s beautiful cover on the Rufus website: www.rufusrecords.com.au)

The album will be officially launched on November 12th at 505 (280 Cleveland St Surry Hills). The night will be opened by the awesome duo of Elana Stone and Brian Campeau, aka The Rescue Ships. And then The Mango Balloon, complete with the album’s special guest Eddie Bronson. We’ll also have a few surprises up our sleeves, most notably the unveiling of a brand new never-before-heard Tango Saloon tune from the forthcoming album (well, I guess that’s not really a surprise anymore, is it..?) Anyway, it’s shaping up to be a really special night, so we hope you can make it!”

“The Mango Balloon is a project developed in 2010 by Julian Curwin (leader of The Tango Saloon, also a member of The Fantastic Terrific Munkle, Monsieur Camembert and others). It is essentially a stripped-back chamber version of The Tango Saloon, distilling all of the elements of the larger band down to various smaller configurations, mostly quartets. At less than half the size of the full band, the sound is lighter and more laid back, with a style which adds lounge, exotica and continental jazz to The Tango Saloon’s tango/western blend.

The Tango Saloon has released two albums, displaying a wild mix of tango, spaghetti western and everything in between, with an array of musicians playing everything but the kitchen sink. The self-titled debut was picked up by Mike Patton‘s Ipecac label in 2006, and ‘Transylvania’ released locally in 2008. After these two multi-layered cinematic epics, Curwin felt the urge to explore some lighter textures before embarking on album #3.

And so The Mango Balloon was born. Aside from six members from The Tango Saloon, the recordings will also feature special guests, bringing their own distinct flavour to the music. Volume 1 features Eddie Bronson (from Monsieur Camembert) on clarinets, adding a touch of klezmer to the mix.”

Tracklist:

The Band:

Also, the Fantastic Terrific Munkle will be playing a show at the Colbourne Ave on the 25th of November. More info here. If you can make it to any of these shows then make sure you do, they don’t disappoint. As always (and luckily for us locals), Mr Heifetz will be performing at both the Mango Balloon show and the Munkle show.

Those crazy cats are at it again. Sydney based electronic band The HEAD (featuring D.Heifetz on drum duty) have just released their studio improv album titled ‘Trojan Jazz Festival’ as a free download.

“Last year, Kondor (Ben Turley) returned from London for a short while. An impromptu improv session at Troy Horse Studio in Sydney was recorded featuring Kondor on trumpet, bass and synths, Schmidt (Tom Taylor) on guitar and synths, Danny Heifetz on drums, and Rudi (Scott Herbert) on synths and bass.

It’s raw, candid and different from the recorded output you’ve previously heard from theHEAD, hearkening back to the improv of earlier live performances, and also previewing some of the so far unreleased tracks in progress we’ll release at a later date.”

Described by Scott as “Probably for people who thought the 3rd quarter of Disco Volante was good listening”, it sounds like it is well worth a thrashing by any Bungle fans.

Go grab it now

Seems the boys in the Tango Saloon have been busy. New album in the works, new website coming soon, a couple of gigs and a new sub-band aptly titled ‘The Mango Balloon’ which also includes our favourite bearded skinsman, Mr Heifetz.

The Mango Balloon is a stripped down quartet version of the Tango Saloon inspired TTS’s smaller  ‘cafe-style’ gigs.

Check them out here www.myspace.com/themangoballoon

And for the Sydney punters, a gig:

13th July, The Tango Saloon
Venue 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills – venue505.com

www.myspace.com/manwiththebongos

Ipecac recently tweeted news of a new Tango Saloon date:

“The Tango Saloon will be performing at 505 in Sydney, Australia on March 22, 2010.”

Sydney jazzsters The Fantastic Terrific Munkle will be playing a semi secret semi last minute show at the underground Sydney venue Qirkz.

The details:

The Fantastic Terrific Munkle + Flap! (Melbourne)
@ Qirkz, Thursday 3rd September, 9pm.

Hit up quirkz.com visit qirkz.com for more info and bookings.

On a side note stubbadub is brewing a competition featuring a fully signed copy of the Fantastic Terrific Munkle’s latest album, Music to Dance to along with a few other goodies I’m sure you’ll love .  Stay tuned for that soon!

I know this one is well late sorry, but if you’re in Sydney tomorrow eve (Thursday 23 July) go catch The Exiles playing The Annandale with our good friend Danny Heifetz manning the skins.

They hit the stage early for this one at around 8pm.

Word is that following that they will be entering the studio to do some recording.

The Tango Saloon will be playing at an underground Sydney venue called ‘Qirkz’ on the 24th of July, supported by Christa Hughes and band. Not really sure where this place is but apparently hit up their myspace for more  info and bookings.

The Fantastic Terrific Munkle are playing at the Sound Lounge on the 23rd July as part of the CD launch of Bud Petal. Munkle are 3rd band on and hit the stage at around 9.30pm.

Hey party people, it’s almost the weekend and to help get you through the working week here’s a few little tidbits of news not worthy of their own posts. A new Faith No More news site has now opened for business, FNM 2.0. Bad news on the Mondo Cane front, word is the album release has been pushed back till at least November. A nice review of the new Fantastic Terrific Munkle album, Music to Dance To, at dBmagazine. A new Kids of Whidney High comic book is due to hit streets shortly (more info on this to come soon).

A new mexican interview with Mike (headsup, it’s in spanish). An interesting excert:

Coinciding with his concert with Zu in the country, Mike Patton has spoken to Mexican newspaper La Jornada and given his first public comment on the Faith No More reunion. He said: “I wasn’t ready before, I had too many things to get rid of that I had inside of me. Now I am a different person, I have my own thing. I feel more comfortable about my past now, compared to my previous attitude, the “the fuck with this” attitude I used to have..well, in a way I still have. The article also mentions that Faith No More will likely play in Mexico and South America later this year or early next year.

Also keep an eye on the blog for the Umlaut debut album give-a-way (sorry for the delay, I’m so slack I know), my munkle album review, and possibly a Munkle album give-a-way as well (fingers crossed).

BTW, I got to see Munkle last night at the Basement in Sydney for their album launch. so good…..

On that note, here’s a goatee with a life of it’s own:

If you’re local and feel inclined, come catch Munkle down at the Basement just off Pitt St.

I have had the new album, Music to Dance to, for a couple of weeks and I love it. Have spun it at least once a day since I got it. I am in the process of writing up a bit of a review of the album which I had hoped to have had done by now before the show, but I failed. Anyway stay tuned for that over the next couple of days.

Gig info at moshtix
Munkle Myspace

Finally some Danny Heifetz related news! The Fantastic Terrific Munkle has a new album ready to go. Titled Music to Dance to, it is looking like it will be released late March through Jazzgroove Records. They have some previews up on their myspace, go check them out!

The Fantastic Terrific Munkle Album Launch: Music To Dance To
The Basement, Wednesday 25th March 8.30pm-late

“Jazzgroove Records is proud to announce the release of Music To Dance To.

Martin Kay – clarinets
Julian Curwin – guitars, banjo
Sam Golding – tuba, trumpet, flute
Danny Heifetz – drums, percussion

‘……erasing the line between satire and beauty, managing to be mock-serious and rather exquisite simultaneously.’- John Shand, SMH

This second album from Sydney based The Fantastic Terrific Munkle could be seen as dance music, from swinging romps to delicate waltzes. There’s also a bit of bluesy goodness, music from other lands and seemingly from other planets.”

www. myspace. com/thefantasticterrificmunkle