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.

Secret Chiefs 3 will be playing along side a newly reformed Primus (minus Herb) at the  Festival Tribulaciones Live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The band will also include original skinsman Danny Heifetz on drums with heavy hitter Peijman on percussion. The event takes place on the 3rd of December.

There’s a bit of info at the official FB event page or check out the official web page for more details.

I’ve also read the Zu Patton Quartet are playing the festival as well, can anyone confirm this/have any info on this?

UPDATE (27/10): No Patton/Zu Quartet because Patton is busy with the Chile FNM Second Coming Finale gig, and I’ve received  word that Danny will not be accompanying Secret Chiefs 3 at the Festival Tribulaciones 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

Hanging out backstage at the Hordern at the FNM after party has it’s benefits. The following is some info I picked up from various convos I had during the party.

Mike Patton:

On the new Mondo Cane album – May release date for hopefully June and July tour

On the Paris Mondo Cane show situation – He is not happy with the way the French venue handled the Mondo Cane show by selling tickets before he had actually confirmed the show. He is looking at other possible venues and mentioned that the Sydney Opera House was a good possibility as they had approached him to do a Mondo Cane show there

Jon Hudson:

On new material and Faith No More‘s future – He has no idea what is going to happen post second coming completion. None of them have discussed it yet. The plan was to do Europe and Australia and finish up with a few US shows. With the tour nearing completion they will get together at the end and work out where they go from there.

On the reunion - They just all got together to see how it felt. He said if anyone had actually heard them the first time they played together again, he is sure no one would have wanted it to happen

On the festival tour Scene – He much prefers the intimacy of smaller venues like the Hordern as you can see and interact with the crowd. Festivals (such as soundwave) feel like you are just playing to a giant faceless blob

Gregg Turkington:

On faxed Head – Has put together an albums worth of Faxedhead stuff. Trey has expressed his enthusiasm for the new album, but Gregg is struggling to pin him down to record it and make it happen.

Billy Gould:

On Faith No More returning to Australia – He said if it is going to happen it will happen sooner rather than later because he is getting too old for this sort of thing (so probably very unlikely to occur)

Danny Heifetz:

Current Projects – He recently recorded drums for the upcoming as yet untitled theHead album. Danny toured with theHead in support of “Cubic Meters” back in 2003.

And care of the Horden, the Faith No More setlist from the Hordern show………They were going to play As the Worm Turns!

Oh yeah and this guy is one of the nicest guys around. Thanks Billy for an amazing night

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.”

It’s the party end of the year (well it was when I started this post) and it’s time for the first ever inaugural Stubbadub top 10 albums of the year list!

Even without any significant contributions from Mike Patton this year, which can be directly attributed to a certain reunion tour, there have been many great Stubbadub related releases to tickle our ear drums.

So lets get started. Counting down from 10 to 1:

10.  Zu – Carboniferous (Mike Patton) - Italian metallers Zu released their latest album Carboniferous via Mike Patton’s label Ipecac Recordings. Mike appears on a couple of tracks (Soulympics and Orc) along with Buzz from the Melvins (Chthonian).

09. Shrinebuilder – Self Titled (Dale Crover) - Featuring Dale Crover of The Melvins fame on drums and Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly on Guitar, Shrinebuilder released their stoner fueled debut album in October.

08. MadLove – White with Foam (Trevor Dunn) – Trevor Dunn’s Rock Album. Nuff said. Go get it.

07. Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine – The Audacity of Hype (Billy Gould) – The latest installment from outspoken ex-Dead Kennedys’ vocalist, Eric Reed Boucher aka Jello Biafra is a kick in the sack from start to finish. The album features Billy Gould on bass and one has to assume that he would have toured with the band if he hadn’t been side tracked by the recent reformation of Faith No More. Hopefully he can make the next tour (and they bring it to Australia )

06. Chuck Mosley and the VUA – Will Rap over Hard Rock for Food (Chuck Mosley) – It’s been a while since Chuck released anything of significance, but it was worth the wait. A good album over all and the rework of Faith No More’s We Care a Lot (Featuring special guest Mr Roddy Bottum on keys) is very interesting and worth grabbing the album for alone.

05. Umlaut – Self Titled (Bar McKinnon) – Bar’s first release since becoming an Aussie. Recently toured with Les Claypool. A very tidy album all round with some very nice Bungle-esque/Secret Chiefs 3 moments.

04. Isis – Wavering Radiant (Ipecac Recordings) – The latest installment from rockers Isis as usual does not disappoint.

03. Secret Chiefs 3 – Traditionalists : Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini (Trey Spruance) – The newest SC3 album took everyone by surprise as Trey bucked his usual trend of announcing an album release and then missing that date by large margins. A great release by sub band “Traditionalists”, but leaves you hanging for the next book release.

02. The Fantastic Terrific Munkle – Music to Dance To (Danny Heifetz) – It is very difficult to keep up with what Danny is working on nowdays as he does not have any established online presence, but the best thing he is involved with at the moment is the Munkle band. Check this album out

01. John Zorn – O’o (Trevor Dunn) – The latest in Zorn’s “Romance” series and the follow up to 2008′s “The Dreamers”, this is an amazing record and by far my album of the year.

Honourable Mentions:

• SUNN O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions (Timb Harris, Eyvind Kang)

• Crank: High Voltage Soundtrack (Mike Patton)

Hopefully next year we will see the highly anticipated release of Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane, possibly Crudo and fingers crossed another Fantomas would be most welcome.

Also March 23rd sees the release of the Dillinger Escape Plan‘s latest album, Option Paralysis, and from the new song making the rounds (Farewell Mona Lisa), it’s gonna be kickarse.

Feel free to post your thoughts on albums in this list, or your own top 10 lists in the comments or in the forum.

Happy New Year Stubbers!

And the winner is!!!!!!!

Number 14: @fun9us.

Thanks all who entered. Better luck next time

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To celebrate anything and everything and the fact that I’m in a ridiculously happy mood lately due to some recent good news, or more specifically the recent releases of Suit of Lights (Bacteria), The Fantastic Terrific Munkle (Music to Dance To) and the Kids of Widney High comic book along with the fact that Dillinger Escape Plan are working on a new album (titled Option Paralysis), Stubbadub have a whole bundle of stuff to give away to one lucky stubber! The prize pack consists of:

1. Suit of Lights – Bacteria, featuring Trevor Dunn on Bass
2. The Fantastic Terrific Munkle – Music to Dance To, featuring Danny Heifetz on drums (fully signed by the band!)
   
3. 3 x The Kids of Widney High comic books (Issue 1)
   
4. 2 x Dillinger Escape Plan Ire Works posters

To enter simply follow us on twitter (@stubbadub) and tweet:

Follow @stubbadub and retweet to enter the stubbadub Epic Give-A-Way Competition Thingy. More Info: http://bit.ly/1Cz1CH

Once you have tweeted the above I will send you a number. You may only enter once but feel free to retweet as many times as you want . After a little while I will close the comp, generate a random number via random.org and announce the winner.

Any questions hit me up here

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.

Hardtimes.ca just published a long interview with Trey Spruance. Check it:

Secret Chiefs 3 Interview HARDTIMES . CA