NEWS: my novel "Beef" is published!

In super-exciting news, my satirical sci-fi romance novel "Beef" has been published, through the Amazon Kindle thingie whatsit!  Yes!  Here's what it says on the Amazon Kindle thingie whatsit page:  

"Can an affair be non-physical? Is infidelity really just about meat slapping together? Or is what goes on behind the meat actually more important? ‘Beef’ is a contemporary satire about love, meat, and infidelity, set in an Australia of the incredibly-near future. It is a multi-generational tale of unseen consequences, and the pressures of leaving a legacy. But most of all, it’s the rollicking story of an awkward middle-aged sociophobe’s attempts to be a good partner and a good father and a good son, in the context of desperately trying not to have an affair with a wildly attractive psychic… a psychic who insists they are going to end up together, like it or not, because “it’s destiny”.

From one of Australia's most-awarded comedy writers, ‘Beef’ explores desire and faithfulness in a dystopian future Australia where bizarre cults thrive, where music is advertising, where psychics are out of the closet, and where meat is no longer murder."

So, yes.  You can now purchase futuristic virtual copies of the novel to read on your fancy electronic reading machinery, for the price of a sandwich.  Awesome!

Getcha Virtual eBEEF here!

Print-on-demand physical papery copies of the novel coming soon, once I work out how to push the right buttons.  Booyah!

REVIEW: Various Artists – (no)Signal Sound Art Compilation Vol. 1

Review of the nifty little USB-inside-a-matchbox that came from no(signal), filled with a buncha cool stuff (and some not so cool stuff).  Reviewed for Heathen Harvest and barely edited at all by Sage Weatherford.

"If I had to make a general rule about the compilation, I’d say that I enjoyed almost all of the music and found almost all of the visuals a bit lame.  But, given that this is a first release by a relatively new collective of mostly inexperienced artists, I’m not going to be too critical here.  Overall, I got a lot out of it, and even with the duds plucked out, it’s still a mighty impressive body of work."

Various Artists – (no)Signal Sound Art Compilation Vol. 1

REVIEW: Boris & Merzbow – Gensho

The heavy amp-worship of Boris and the megalomaniacal chaos of Merzbow, together again - but this time you can mix your own adventure.  Review written for, and published in, Heathen Harvest, expertly edited by the rather competent Sage Weatherford.

"Not only did it create a ‘phenomenon’ where the two sounds meshed in artistic space, but it created a tangible ‘space’—a triangulated three-dimensional field in which I could roam, my own input-orifices live-mixing the audio signals as I turned and perambulated within and without the space created ... The whole experience is really just a lot more intense when it is experienced as a proper 3D sound space you can wander around in." 

Boris & Merzbow – Gensho 

REVIEW: USHERsan & HIV+ – Black Monolith

A review for the potentially-quite-interesting-but-kinda-sorta-not-actually duet of Ushersan and HIV+.  Reassurringly edited by Sage Weatherford and published in Heathen Harvest.

"As the pulse races on, like a silver mercury heartbeat, living organisms writhe and rant over the top, and all the while alien textures swirl, fizz, and sluice all around in a thick futuristic fog.  This piece does all the things that the rest of the EP fails to do. It evokes, engages, and throbs electronically without sounding cheesy; it doesn’t undermine its extraterrestrial potential with ever-so-Earthling artefacts; it grabs me and drags me along with it, eager, engrossed and out of this world."

 USHERsan & HIV+ – Black Monolith

REVIEW: Amalgamated – Spark II

Review of Amalgamated, an experimental-type band interested in nu-kraut explorations, that kinda almost got there but didn't quite.  Published at Heathen Harvest and clemently edited by Sage Weatherford.

"[It] felt tentative as though it was scared to really explore places interesting and new, preferring to circle the same safe neighbourhoods of well-worn genre tropes.  There was nothing wrong with what was offered, certainly, but for my personal tastes (and what I suspect are the experimental goals of the Amalgamated project), there was nothing innovative or exceptional."

Amalgamated – Spark II

REVIEW: Ethereal Mist – Wandering through the Void

Sorry, Ghoul, but your meandering "dungeon synth" doesn't move me.  Review published by Heathen Harvest and gingerly edited by the tireless Sage Weatherford.

"These eight indistinguishable pieces of synth-driven noodling could have been played by a curious cat: indeed, if there was something in the liner notes about how these pieces were actually played by a curious cat, I’d probably be right into this album, in the same way as I am excited by Hatebeak or Caninus (grindcore bands fronted by, respectively, a parrot and a dog).  However, the liner notes omit any such feline interaction, suggesting instead that the tracks are actually played by one ‘Ghoul‘ (whom my research suggests is an Adelaide-based fully human artist who also plays in black metal band Entsetzlich—hopefully not keyboards)."

Ethereal Mist – Wandering through the Void 

REVIEW: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress

The Godspeed comeback album is solid, dense, and compact.   Review published by Heathen Harvest and probably slightly-over-edited by Sage Weatherford.

" Instead of building from whispered beginnings, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress starts with a massive kick to the head then slowly peels back to almost nothing for two tracks (literally—the second and third pieces here are almost nothing, consisting of just low feedback drones for over a quarter of an hour, spiced with other occasional sounds) before roaring back into ferocious gear again for the fourth and final act, exploding into triumph."

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress