CfMRF... is sleeping...

Champignons for My Real Friends... has ended.

Please find the sequel at Ringo Stalin's Curios (and other oddities).

Much obliged.

- Ringo Stalin

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Let's just say... 'Smell ya later'.

Hi folks.

The end has come. I'm putting CfMRF... to bed. I've decided to leave CfMRF... where it is, and create an altogether new blog, one not just dedicated to music but to other curios that I've got lying around the house. Rest assured, however, that I will still be posting music and blatantly self-promoting my own work.

So check out Ringo Stalin's Curios (and other oddities)

But beware: NSFW, smut, 'blue' themes, and other ribald and unsavoury tales are contained herein.

So let's not say goodbye. Let's just say...

Be seeing you.



- Ringo Stalin

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Iron Maiden Special!!!


Earlier this year, I went to see my all-time favourite band of ever, Iron Maiden. I've loved them since I was 11 years old, and pencil-cases dating back to then will attest to this, being covered with very bad renderings of Eddie, the band's mascot.

Here's a truncated version of the evening I had:
- I probably should've stayed with the 3 guys from Newcastle I'd met at Redfern Station. They seemed to have the most fun out of everyone there.
- Sydney audiences are weird: screaming their heads off for one song, dead silent the next. For the record, I sang along, as loud as I could, to every song. I'm one of those people, and I'm not ashamed.
- Seeing Iron Maiden without any friends there to sing along with was kinda disappointing.
- The chorus of Aces High is actually quite hard to sing along to, if you're not a professional singer.
- As much as I wanted to watch the dynamics of the whole band, Bruce Dickinson is a commanding and captivating frontman and had my attention from beginning to end.
- The Iron Maiden plane is AWESOME.
- Was it a robotic Eddie, or a guy in a gigantic hydraulic suit?
- Eddie played bass. That made me smile.
- Janick Gers does amazing guitar acrobatics.
- I'm really glad Adrian Smith came back into the band.
- Steve Harris is my HERO.
- Bruce said that Maiden will be back real soon. I will be there.
- I should've bought the Medium t-shirt, and not the Small. What was I thinking? I still wear it though.

It's Xmas Day today, and for Xmas and birthdays, my brother and I always make each other awesome mixtapes. His one complaint, though, was that I never put any Maiden on my mixes. The reason for this was that one day I knew I would be able to make him a truly incredible epic mix. And this year I did; a three-disc extravaganza full of Maiden goodness. (In keeping with my namesake, I have revised the Maiden history to never have included the 'Blaze Bayley' chapter. I refuse to acknowledge its existence in the canon.)

Also, for his birthday this year, I bought him an Iron Maiden 'Somewhere In Time' coffee mug* and he felt bad drinking out of such a mind-blowing mug without actually owning the album. So that's another part of his Xmas present this year. I would've liked to've picked up a vinyl copy, for the full effect of the artwork but he'll just have to squint to make out the details on the CD version.

And for the rest of you, I've compiled a few of my favourite Maiden moments:

Iron Maiden - From the legendary Soundhouse Tapes, the first Maiden recording, with Paul Dianno on vocals, Doug Sampson on drums, Dave Murray on guitar and Steve Harris on bass. A piece of real history.

Running Free - From the Running Free single, another Paul Dianno-fronted track. When I was being introduced to Maiden, and heard some of Paul's work, I thought it was awful. But I've grown up now and realise that Paul was a seriously brilliant singer. Mea culpa, mea culpa.

Murders In The Rue Morgue - Despite not being a big fan of Paul initially, I always had a soft spot for this track. It also inspired me to read more of Edgar Allan Poe's work. I also found out what the word 'gendarme' meant.

King of Twilight - A B-side from the Aces High single. This is a Nektar cover. I know nothing about Nektar but I like this track. For some reason, it makes me think of King Crimson.

Stranger In A Strange Land - From Somewhere In Time, I'm sure this is the first song I heard where I realised what a bass guitar was and what it sounded like, and inspired me to learn the bass myself. I love this track.

Reach Out - A B-side of Wasted Years. I'd never heard this until quite recently, and I'm glad I found it! This one was penned by Adrian Smith, and the recording is Adrian and drummer Nicko, playing all parts, and then Bruce came in and added some backing vocals.

The Wicker Man - The first single released after Bruce came back into the Maiden family, and proof that, despite the extra wrinkles, this band could rock harder, more intensely than any other. Check out the video, too.

Blood Brothers (Orchestral Mix) - From the Wildest Dreams single. For my brother. Not particularly subtle, I know.

Can I Play With Madness - My favourite Maiden track and my favourite song of all time. For my very last show after 3 years of hosting a show on a local radio station, I signed off with this song, and stated my love of it, all time favourite, and all that. Later that week, I was sitting in a pub, and a young guy asked me if I was Ringo Stalin, who hosted 'Down With The Kids' on Three D Radio. I'm not sure how he recognised me, radio being a non-visual medium and all, but I wasn't going to pass up a little rockstar moment! He thanked me for the show, said he listened all the time, but was that song really my all time favourite??? He seemed disappointed that I genuinely love that song, with no trace of irony at all. Ah well, you can't please everyone.

Hallowed Be Thy Name - Totally Radd!! - Maiden in a Nintendo style! Totally Radd is not just the band name, but it also sums up this 'cover' perfectly.

BTW, I got most of the B-sides, and the Soundhouse Tapes from: Lagrima Psicodelica. I also urge you to go out and get the albums for yourselves. A Maiden collection cannot be truly considered a collection without the artwork.

However you choose to spend today, I hope you enjoy yourselves and keep safe. Thanks for reading!

- Ringo

* Iron Maiden mugs and other awesome merch can be bought from Eddie's Megastore! I already have the Seventh Son mug, but I'd love some more. Maybe The Trooper, if you're thinking of getting me an Xmas present. Or the Mexican tour t-shirt, with a Mexican version of the Stranger In A Strange Land cover. That'd be cool, thanks! And I'm a Medium.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

One for the Freaks - Halloween Special


(These are my last three Halloween efforts and the inspiration behind them)

As promised, here's a special treat for Halloween!

Here's a Halloween compilation I put together just for the readers of CfMRF... using songs that were in my library or that I've gleaned from other blogs and sources over the years. Special mention must be made of some of the blogs you'll find in my 'Links-u-like' menu, to the right of the page, in particular: Vinnie Rattolle's Records, Digital Meltd0wn, The Manchester Morgue, The Inferno Music Crypt, and From the Negative Zone. Head over there for further Halloweeny goodness.


One for the Freaks - A Champignons for My Real Friends... Compilation
1. Psycho (live) - Die Haut: The Bernard Herrmann classic theme, from the album 'Sweat', recorded 1992.
2. Horror Movie - Skyhooks: an Oz rock classic.
3. The Monster - Shower Scene from Psycho: I remember seeing a clip of Melbourne's SSfP on Rage and it blew my mind. More info about the band and the EP 'Cooking with George' HERE.
4. Werewolf (Loose In London) - Meco: from the 'American Werewolf in London' soundtrack, which Mr Rattolle has put up HERE, with a bit of information. It's kinda awful and kinda magnificent at the same time.
5. Polly - Animal Collective: a cover of the Nirvana song. Psychological horror.
6. Hostage-O - Warren Zevon: Revelling in psychological horror?
7. Sick Child - Siouxsie & The Banshees: the other week, some friends and I watched 'The Craft', from 1996. I might've enjoyed it more if I was a 14 year old girl, but the only redeeming feature of the film, apart from its high camp factor, was the all-too-brief use of this track.
8. Gloomy Sunday - Anton LaVey, vocals by Blanche Barton: urban legend has it that this song is the most depressing song in history and is the cause of numerous suicides, and there are many many versions of it. This version is one of my favourites, alongside Elvis Costello's.
9. Dance on My Grave - Danny Elfman: this comes from the unreleased soundtrack to the unmade film 'Little Demons'. From the narrative I've pieced together using the other songs available, this would be an amazing film, it's a shame it will almost certainly never be made.
10. Why I Practice Stabbing - Horrahedd: I already told you about the brilliance of Horrahedd.
11. Skulls - Misfits: it's not Halloween without the Misfits.
12. See You In The Boneyard - The Flesh Eaters: brilliant punk rock from Chis Desjardins, and members of X and Los Lobos.
13. Zombie Girl - Baterz: I already told you about Baterz too.
14. Seis Seis Seis - Brujeria: can you count in Spanish?
15. Devil Doll - X: okay, so the subject of the track is actually a feisty vixen lady-type, not a possessed ventriloquist's doll hellbent on revenge, but I gotta take the oppportunities, no matter how tenuous the horror/Halloween link is.
16. All Murder, All Guts, All Fun - Samhain: Samhain are Glenn Danzig's post-Misfits, pre-Danzig project.
17. Pass the Shovel - Gravediggaz: I have a book that's the companion piece to the BBC series 'Clive Barker's A to Z of Horror', which I admit I haven't seen but have read the book cover to cover numerous times. There's a chapter dedicated to Gravediggaz. I always found it kinda weird.
18. No Exit - Blondie w/ Coolio: the inspiration for me to create this compilation comes from 4 comps that Vinnie Rattolle put together, and that's how I found this little gem. I would link to the comps, but it seems they've been taken down from the site, which is a damn shame. Ah well, the man's made over 60 posts in October already, I'm sure there's lots of stuff you can find there is just as good.
19. Doomed Man's Party - Cheekyboy: mashes Halloween favourite, Oingo Boingo's 'Dead Man's Party' with Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s 'Doomed Now' and it's not bad. Not bad at all.
20. Force of Fear (Scream and Scream Again) - Ringo Stalin: I've said it before, I'm not afraid of blatant self-promotion.
21. Le Notti Sexy Beat (Demo) - Marcello Giombini: a wonderful little ditty, to round out the compilation. This is from Le Notti Erotiche Dei Morti Viventi, aka The Erotic Nights of the Living Dead.

Caveat: I haven't changed the bitrates for any of the tracks, so the quality differs from track to track.

Get the zip of the compilation HERE (96.8mb) and have a good Halloween!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Horrahedd


(the real Horrahedd)
Halloween approaches! Closer to the date, I will be doing the same as thousands of other bloggers and putting up my own Halloween mixtape.

But for now, what better way to get in the mood for my favourite time of year than settling down with my favourite Adelaide schlockmeisters, Horrahedd?

Mr Glenn has been so kind as to make the entirety of Horrahedd's latest album available as a free download and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

As for what it sounds like, let me put it to you as Halloweeny as I can:

Imagine biting into an apple. Mmm, delicious! Wait... What's that? Oh dear lord! It's a shard of razor blade!! Oh god it hurts!!! Wait... this razor blade is made of caramel!! Delicious!! But my mouth is still full of blood... And my blood tastes like pepperoni. And pepperoni, caramel and apples is a remarkably tasty combination... so we take another bite of the apple. It's then we find the worm...

Okay, equating 'taste' with 'sound' is a little awkward, but it's the whole 'running the gamut of a myriad of emotions' thing that I was going for... Shut up.

Here are a few teaser tracks from the album:

Horrahedd - Knife Stinks of Art

Horrahedd - Transparent Man


Click the pic for the megaupload link for the full album.

Click here for the Horrahedd site, which also has a lot of great mp3s available to download.

- Ringo Stalin

Saturday, October 4, 2008

War of Confusion - Pass it on

Damn, it feels good to be angry again.

I just watched Virtual DJ's War of Confusion clip and I needed to share it with you all. It's too easy to become complacent. It's good to get a metaphoric (and sometimes literal) smack in the face to wake you up, every now and then.

And it's too easy to dismiss mash-up artists' work as novelty tunes, but Virtual DJ reminds us that music and subsequently, the subversion of music can be an incredibly powerful tool.



Thanks for watching, spread the good word and keep fighting the good fight.

-Ringo

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

ReeeeeeeeeMIX! And Cadavers The Blue Mask.


(Me & Captain Howdy love a remix)

Just when I thought my remix challenge had prematurely done its dash, I received another submission! This one is from Frankie Teardrop, and it's a sweet club anthem, maybe something for the recovery lounge...

Dead Bodies On The Dancefloor (Frankie Teardrop Mix) - Frankie Teardrop

'Frankie' is also known as Wolfgang, and is also known as Danny, aka Daniel, who also fronts the band who were The Blue Mask, then Trade Your Heroes For Ghosts and finally settled on Cadavers. Which is a name they better keep now, 'cos I'm not changing the file names again!!

(EDIT: One minute. ONE MINUTE after I clicked 'Publish', Danny informed me they are back to The Blue Mask. *sigh* That's okay... I like that name best anyway.)


Cadavers
The Blue Mask take me back to the Proscenium, the only Goth club in Adelaide, way back in the days of yore. It closed down years ago, but it left one hell of an imprint on the psyches of many of us. Be it a story of filthy deeds in the alleyway, the bathrooms or on the dancefloor, pole dancing, the Gothic Two-Step, Enzo, those horrible "Fashion Shows", or that shitty shitty watered-down rust piss they called beer, we all have a story to tell about the Proscenium.

I first met Danny there, a long, long time ago.
Cadavers
The Blue Mask are based in Sydney now but I know the germ of
Cadavers
The Blue Mask came from the filth-ridden carpet of the Proscenium.


Cadavers
The Blue Mask - Rains Again


Cadavers
The Blue Mask - Like Flies


Cadavers
The Blue Mask - She's Left Behind

I got these from the band's Myspace, and there are several more there too.

- Ringo Stalin

Sunday, August 17, 2008

SA Great - The Long-Awaited Second Part


You know the great thing about this blog? I have absolutely no responsibility to update on a regular basis and no deadlines. That's so cool.

So here's the second part of my SA Great series.

In an earlier draft of this post, I went on a bit of rant about the current state of music, not just in Adelaide, but on a global scale. Rather than posting that and adding one more voice to the spleen-vent that is Teh Internets, I thought it best to add to the small percentage of what's good on said tubes.

So here are some past and present bands that have made South Australia great:

(click pics for pages, where possible)

MEGAFAUNA

Mostly slow, stoner rock, with simple melodies. Contains members of Hit The Jackpot, Lindsey Low Hand, Sweet Raxxx, Trip Up From Mission Viejo, Hardy Coxon... The list goes on.

Megafauna - Starling

MATT'S LITTLE BROTHER

That's Steve on the right, shaking hands with Australian children's music icon, Peter Combe. I haven't seen much of Matt's Little Brother, aka Stevie B, in a while, as he's been focusing on a film project entitled, aptly enough, "Adelaide". I really hope he gets back into music soon, as he's damn talented. The following is an old track from 2001.

Matt's Little Brother - Away

SWEET RAXXX

Many things can and have been said about Sweet Raxxx. Some of those things were complimentary. Some weren't. But there is one thing that could be said that cannot be denied: they always put on an amazing show. This is their Toto Coelo cover:

Sweet Raxxx - I Eat Cannibals

AVANT GARDENERS

Avant Gardeners are a gigantic collective of musicians, ruled by the gentle iron fist of Sandy, a former member of The Moonies. Past and present members include people from: Roo Shooter, Hit The Jackpot (again!!!), The Moonies, Les Goolies, No Through Road and many more. AG perform every year, at an event called 'Really Good In Theory', which is a celebration of all things local, with stalls set up during the day, selling homemade food, zines, 2nd hand goods, and basically hawking their wares. In the evening, a long list of bands play until the wee hours and a good time is had by all.

Avant Gardeners - Really Good In Theory

BATERZ

Baterz passed away in 2002, aged 33. I don't really feel I have the chops to discuss Baterz' life, as I only met him once and it was a very brief encounter, but his music and legacy definitely deserves to be recognised. Baterz had caustic wit, absurdist humour and heartwrenching balladeering down pat, sometimes even in the one song.

Baterz - Goth
Baters - Fifteen (Live)

FIVE! NOW YOU'RE TALKING

(I couldn't find a picture of them online, but this came up when I image-searched 5nytk)
Five! Now You're Talking, aka 5!NYTK, made a name for themselves as being the most irritating band in Adelaide for the short duration of their existence. Personally, I think we're all better for it. And if you recognise the vocals in this track, it's because one of the singers in 5!NYTK was a pre-No Through Road Matt Banham.

5!NYTK - Digital Love

THE ANGELS

Oz rock legends The Angels started out as The Moonshine Jug and String Band in 1970 until they picked up electric instruments and became The Keystone Angels in 1974. In 1976, now using the name 'The Angels', they released the Oz rock FM radio classic 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?', to which every true Aussie knows the reply: "No way, get fucked, fuck off!". We're a classy bunch.

As an interesting sidenote, my late father used to be friends with singer Doc Neeson, back in the Moonshine Jug days. Unfortunately, I was never able to substantiate the claim, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing Dad would've lied about. Additionally, Doc's mother was my mother's midwife, present at mine and my brother's birth (3 years apart, for those keeping count). Aaaaaand, Jimmy Barnes' mum was a nurse who used to work with Doc's mother. Adelaide is a small town.

The Angels - No Secrets

AC/DC

Yeah, Bon Scott was born in Western Australia, but we all know they came from the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The story goes that Angus & Malcolm Young, and Phil Rudd met Bon at the Old Lion after he left Fraternity. They then went on to have their first jam session at the Bridgeway Hotel in Pooraka. Hits you right there, doesn't it?

Rather than post an AC/DC track (let's face it, they're not hard to find), here's ECC's infamous 'Rocked By Rape', which samples US anchorman Dan Rather, and does interesting things to AC/DC's 'Back In Black'.

Evolution Control Committee - Rocked By Rape