Yawning Without Guilt

Big Yawn are a duo out of Melbourne that delve deep into the darker, inflamed realms of electronic sentience. Their Hash Matters/Lowlite 7" (out now through Fallopian Tunes) is crafted to find the holes in the digital age and plug them with jagged ephemera and pummelling hypnosis. The band call themselves "electronic/doof/industrial/miscellaneous" - that should placate the pigeonholers, at least until they take a tab of Big Yawn. It becomes indecipherable static thereafter, of course - after all, the rest is noise. Or is it? It's the febrile mix of slight, layered abrasion and percussive asphyxiation that makes Big Yawn anything but.

Big Yawn are currently in Brisbane, having played a famed Real Bad show out at Moorooka on Sunday (alongside the likes of X In O, Screaming Match and Slurpee). Tonight they are playing at The Hideaway for Guilt Retreat #4, a 4ZZZ connected show (presented by Makeda from A Guilt/All Day Breakfast Enterprises, which is also featuring Sky Needle/6majik9's Michael Donnelly and the Fun Police DJs (AKA Brainbeau), so you know it will be sensational). You can buy Hash Matters/Lowlite here.

All Day Breakfast comp

 

Midday Music is a compilation showcasing much of Brisbane’s underground music scene was put out last year on cassette. Handcrafted (featuring tactile “fried eggs” – white and yellow Blu-tac, on the outer sleeve) and collated by 4ZZZ presenter Makeda Zucco and her project All Day Breakfast, outlet for the documentation and exploration of music and that which pertains to it, the 25-track compilations covers the gamut, from experimental synth pop (Shooga, Brainbeau, Scraps), nihilist rock aggression (Per Purpose, Sewers, Slug Guts), avante-garde noise (Cured Pink, Sky Needle, Multiple Man), unhinged guitar pop (Blank Realm, Heart Flew, Old Growth Cola), slacker malaise downers (Kitchens Floor, Martyr Privates)… In fact, although there are a few bands on the release (X In O, Fig, Perpetual Nervousness) that I haven’t actually caught or even heard much of, the cross section of bands here is pretty indicative of what I immerse myself in here. It is all lo-fi recordings, as you can imagine, but if ever there was a document detailing much of the diversity of the scene (without going into the Long Gone, Lofly or Lost Race crews), this is a mighty fine one.

 

Unfortunately all the cassettes are sold out, but you can download the compilation for free here. Do so – there are some artists here that never get exposure, either because of their standing, their sound or because they never put out that much music for private consumption – then get out and about, supporting these bands in the live arena.

Knee Chin – Thrall Of It All
Greg Boring - Tomb
Cannon – I Should Be In A Fucking Museum

The Year Of Rebel Birds - Ack Ack Ack!

There once was a dude called Oli, who decided that living a normal, safe life wasn't for him. So he gave everything up - during the global financial crisis - and started an independent record store. Good move... Actually, it's worked out pretty well. Ack! Ack! Ack! Records in Middlesborough is a helluva solid store, with a beautifully selective yet diverse range of gear. If you're in that neck of the woods, definitely go there and blow your dough!


But he didn't want to stop there, having started his own label. Ack!Ack!Ack!'s first release is this 12" split for The Rebel (AKA Ben Wallers from Country Teasers alongside Sophie Politowicz) and newbies on the block Year Of Birds. The Rebel's side is called Pre-Pub, offering five slices of incredibly warped pop that mirrors Dan Melchior in sound and in content - which is basically saying it sounds like stripped back Country Teasers on crack... 'Pubgrub' even has pokies/tabletop video game music at the beginning, whilst most tracks use electronics in such an archaic way that it feels like you are in a carpeted bar from the early 80s - albeit with robotic, sex-crazed druggies with Casios being the barflies of choice... Then Oli's own project Year Of Birds attack with their abrasive and frenetic Blocker For Coinslot EP. Man, I really liked this. Think The Intelligence/A-Frames style blitzkrieg garage punk, but with a balance of dingy rust and debonair panache. Each song is bite size, and there isn't enough time to digest these bitter pills before the end is in sight. Then the drugs kick in, and you'll want to flood your senses with these tunes all over again...

You can grab this 12" here. Since this, Oli has put out a split cassette between Year Of Birds and Girl Sweat (get it here) and a compilation tape that includes Brisbane's own deconstructionists Sky Needle amongst many others. Expect some pretty rad things from Ack!Ack!Ack! in the near future...

The Rebel - Ball Breakers On Parade

Year Of Birds - Jab At The Brow
Year Of Birds - Our Ink
Year Of Birds - Great Plunges