Other: Refund 'Hill' & 'Gem'

Refund is Melbourne electronic musician/artist Matt Refund. Seems Matt has been recording a bit of late and has served up some goodness via Soundcloud. Breakcore? Noise? IDM? Modular Synth Worship? We'll leave that up to you.

Trade stock: South Saturn Delta 'Experience The Concreteness' (Cold Spring Records)

For this week's trade box selection we've got the psych-noise live album from South Saturn Delta from Cold Spring Records.

Something of a Japanese supergroup, South Saturn Delta bring together the iconic Maso Yamazaki (Masonna) with with Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C. and Astro)—with an appearance from drummer Nobuko Emi on 'Rocket Incantation'.

These are all live recordings, collected between 2003 and 2005, which lends an aggressively primitive feel to proceedings. It's a great head cleaner.

We've got two copies left.

$12 post paid within Australia
$17 post paid to the rest of the world

PayPal to sbbtcl@gmail.com.

Documentation: Nomex, 29 January 2011

Last month's Nomex show we put on was one of the finest we've had the pleasure of being involved in. Every set was the best we've seen from each of the artists involved and our hats go off to them all. Many thanks to all who performed and to the folk at KIPL, who have continually supported our efforts here at Sabbatical.

The excellent photos below were taken by Grandpa Shea. Check out his illustration work at www.grandpastudios.com.


MV


Default Jamerson


Marco Fusinato


Nomex



There is video documentation of the night that will hopefully surface soon, along with a possible cassette release of Nomex's stunning live set.

Dead Boomers launch 'Family Money'

This Thursday, 25 February 2010, Dead Boomers launch Family Money, the latest Sababtical series release. Cut from an extended live session recorded for Paul Kidney's Ear of the Behearer show on PBS FM, Family Money is the first full length recording of the recording duo of Mark Groves and Leith Thomas.

Sabbatical will be launching this gloriously low-brow release at the new (as yet unnamed) gallery from the former operators of Gulag Projects, one of our favourite former DIY gallery spaces. The show is part of a series of No PA shows the boys are doing in the lead up to the spaces' opening.

Dead Boomers Family Money album launch
No PA Show
136 Roden Street, West Melbourne
with Snuff Budgies, Ian Wadley and Yev Kasem
Doors at 7pm, six dollars gets you in

New release: Dead Boomers 'Family Money'

The fifteenth release in the Sabbatical CD-R series is out now.

Dead Boomers is a duo comprised of Mark Groves and Leith Thomas, both members of True Radical Miracle and operators of the Sabbatical label. Conceived initially as an easy outlet for the duos interest in contemporary nasty noise and binge drinking, recent activity has expanded the sound palette to take in additional repulsive capabilities of the selected instrumentation. This instrumentation is essentially comprised of accumulated analogue junk and garden variety rock apparatus. The resultant smut is centred squarely on metal abuse and screaming distortion, with cruelly minimal compositional ideas employed to establish structure. Family Money follows a short run, no sold out double cassette on Sabbatical from 2009, titled Sharon Stone/Michael Douglas. Expanding on ideas from this earlier release, Family Money is comprised of edited live takes recorded at Melbourne’s PBS Studio 5 for broadcast on the program Ear of the Behearer. Recurrent throughout these pieces is a sinister narrative concerning a boomer seachange, and the abuse of privilege.

Available now on the Sabbatical website or via the PayPal button below.

Available in shops around Australia in coming weeks.

You can listen to the track 'Tight and Fearful' on the Sabbatical Myspace page.

Documentation: 21 January 2010

Some shots form our last monthly show at the Old Bar.

Recent UK import MV brought the beautiful analogue sounds of the cassette. The buzz and hiss of the multiple walkmans was woven together beautifully.



Sean Baxter schooled everyone in the possibilities of the drum kit. The master extended technique percussionist highlighted you don't need big amps or manic flailing to create intense sounds, bending enamel plates and creating tuned rumble from the skins of the drums.



Ethic Cleansing, the first time collaboration between Screwtape and Ebola Disco, brought an angry, confrontational edge to the evening with their painfully descriptive explanation of the horrors of dementia.

Watch the video here.



Rounding out our final night at the Old Bar was the now iconic Australian grind trio, Agents of Abhorrence. Flat out grind for 15 minutes. Nothing more to say.



A big thanks to all the folk at the Old Bar for the last year and bit. The boys have been huge supporters of what we do at Sabbatical, first hosting our monthly shows at their previous venue, The Afterdark, giving Sabbatical a monthly platform to present the various musical happenings we were interested in. Thanks for everything.

We will continue to present shows at various spaces around town and will soon find a new home for regular nights. Watch this space for all the news.

Sabbatical presents: The Emergency

Beats. Noise. Beats. Noise. It's hard to choose so we've put together four of our favourites to create a delicious and diverse night out.

The Emergency - first-time percussion set and a new album about to drop on eXO
Nomex - one NZ's finest aural export (read: brutal)
Super Star - space loops to infinity
Anon - one of the best things about Sydney

Six dollars entry, doors at 8.30pm.

As always, Sabbatical items will be available to purchase on the night.

091107 Documentation

Scratchplate


Mitchell Brennan & Lachlan Gale


James Rushford & Joe Talia


Abela/Baxter/Grabowsky Trio


Lucas Abela


Paul Grabowsky

Sabbatical presents: Bonnie Mercer

Coming up this month at our regular Old Bar show is a stellar line-up of individual artists.

Bonnie Mercer - Grey Daturas powerhouse freed from the shackles of a band
Galactagogue - solo outing for the incredible Mark Skelton
Matthew Brown - synth warrior extraordinaire
Eko Eko Azarak - sounds like the opening to the best Goblin song you've never heard

22 October 2009
8.30pm

The Old Bar, 74-76 Johnston Street, Fitzroy

Six dollars entry

Sabbatical presents: Heil Spirits

Earlier this year, on tour as a guest member of Aktion Unit, the standout was undoubtedly Heil Spirits, the one-man audio storm of Eli Partridge (formerly of hardcore act The Stockholm Syndrome). Based in Lismore, northern NSW and the power behind the CD-R label Glacial Avatar, Partridge creates shuddering, visceral aural nightmares that deliver a punch straight to the solar plexus.



As such, it is with great anticipation that Sabbatical presents Heil Spirits this month at the Old Bar:

17 September 2009
The Old Bar - 74-76 Johnston Street, Fitzroy

Heil Spirits - turbulent waves of sound
James Rushford & Joe Talia - labyrinthine aural pieces from this incredible duo
Anekantavada - abrasions form new Melbourne resident Mitchell Brennan (Brassskulls)
Laral - despondent sounds for the low-spirited

Doors at 8.30pm, six dollars gets you in.



While down south Heil Spirits will be doing a bunch of shows across Melbourne. Click the flier for details.

Sabbatical presents: PIVIXKI

It is with much pride that Sabbatical presents the launch of PIVIXKI's highly anticipated debut release. The fourteenth release in the Sabbatical series, the self-titled work will be launched at the Empress Hotel on Saturday, 15 August.

PIVIXKI
Blarke Bayer
Robbie Avenaim/Lloyd Honeybrook
Shit to the Spirit

The Empress Hotel, 714 Nicholson Street, North Fitzroy

Show starts at 8.30pm sharp, six dollars gets you entry





About PIVIXKI:

PIVIXKI is a world-first melding of physical pianistic acrobatics and blitzing grind drumming, courtesy of musical chameleon Anthony Pateras (Tzadik, Editions Mego) and Max Kohane (punk/grind royalty from Agents of Abhorence, Cut Sick, George W Bush and Far Left Limit). From spacious doomscapes to blasting textures, this disc presents a unique take on the jump-cut duo format, exploding with ear-wrenching intensity and classy performances. Recorded at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s studios in Melbourne by master Melbourne avant-engineer Chris Lawson, and mixed by Chicago legend Casey Rice, this is a must for those who love their music fun, confronting and slightly insane.


PIVIXKI's self-titled release is available from the Sabbatical web store.

Sabbatical presents: Aux Assembly

This month's show sees the welcome return of one of Sabbatical's groups, Aux Assembly. Dimitra and Elise will bring their beautiful, haunting soundscapes to the Old Bar as headliners of a diverse night including Kristian Roberts (harsh solo noise), A. Wallace & Tom Hall (found sound experiments) and J.L. Dimmick (endless saxophone excursions).

Sabbatical presents:

Aux Assembly
Kristian Roberts
A. Wallace & Tom Hall
J.L. Dimmick

The Old Bar - 76-78 Johnston Street, 76-78 Johnston Street, Fitzroy

Doors at 8.30pm, first act on at 9pm.

$6

Documentation: James Rushford & Joe Talia launch

Witness Girl


Fourth Impact


Anthea Caddy & Thembi Soddell


Jame Rushford & Joe Talia

Sabbatical presents: Heirs, 19 March 2009

Thursday 19 March Sabbatical presents a diverse collection of performances at The Old Bar, including the rich analogue electronics of Matthew Brown, the anxious noise of Absoluten Calfeutrail, the feedback worship of The Carrier (a solo project of Ben Yardley of Laura) and new four piece Heirs, offering up sledgehammer riffs, industrial pummel, and incense shrouded low-end incantations. Doors open at 8:30pm, with the first performance beginning at 9pm.

Cyclic Defrost reviews Juarez's 'Revontulet'

Cyclic Defrost has reviewed the debut Juarez release, Revontulet. Here's what they had to say:

The opening piece Favourite purposely pisses you off, a low repetitive cyclical drone begins, forcing you to adjust the volume and then a short abrupt aggressive jolt comes unexpectedly at a ridiculously higher volume. It’s music that doesn’t want to be friends with you, and it’s a highly provocative act that is a sledgehammer technique devised to make you uneasy.

To read the full review and many others go here.

Revontulet is out now in indie stores across Australia and via the Sabbatical online shop.

090217 Documentation: TRM at hellosQuare Showcase

Here are some shots from the hellosQuare Recordings showcase at the East Brunswick Club last week. It was a great night or really interesting piano-based music. Many thanks to Shoeb from hellosQuare for inviting True Radical Miracle to perform.

True Radical Miracle
In the absence of guitarist Scott O'Hara the group performed using samples of his guitar work in an improvised set based around the building piano wanderings of Evelyn Morris. Crashing key work met high-pitched oscillations and low end rumble for a set inspired by their Roaches EP on Sabbatical.

Austin Benjamin Trio
Semi-structured modern jazz compositions met with extreme musicianship in this tight set. Clearly a musical forced to be reckoned with the trio would routinely snap from moody solo pieces into cacophonous, bass-driven riffs accompanied by virtuosic percussion work.

Klumpes Ahmed
Bringing things back into the 'noise' realm, hellosQuare label boss Shoeb Ahmed and pianist Adrian Klumpes stuck a perfect balance between melody and terxture, tone and dischord. Recreating their debut release, In Bed We Trust, the duo performed a set rich in both texture and depth. A real treat for the brave Tuesday night audience.

Video documentation from 6/7 February shows

Over the course of last weekend's Brassskulls and Chrysalis shows, Andrew of Screwtape fame captured sections of these incredible shows on camera. They are presented below for your viewing pleasure.

Marco Fustinato from Friday night at Pony.


Ebola Disco at the Gulag Projects warehouse.


Chrysalis vs Absoluten Calfeutrail cage match.


An interview with the incredible Brassskulls inter-cut with footage from their Gulag Projects set.




To view all of Andrew's videos check out his YouTube Channel, Lamronormal.

Sabbatical presents: Crab Smasher

Thursday 19 February at the Old Bar Sabbatical Presents welcomes a number of interstate artists, and a couple of familiar locals. Opening the show is Automating, the solo project of Sasha Margolis (of Y35.3). Second up is a solo performance from JK Fuller (of Zond and Mum Smokes among others), followed by Scissor Lock, a Sydney based project of one Marcus Whale. Closing the evening is Newcastle based ensemble Crab Smasher. Doors are at 8:30pm, with the first performance kicking off shortly after 9pm. Entry is $6.

090207 Documntation: 46 degrees heat

Brassskulls

Chrysalis vs Absoluten Calfeutrail

Ebola Disco

Screwtape

Thanks to all who braved the heat and came down to this show, it was a great afternoon.