Ian's Top Fifteen of 2009...

...sort of. These are my favourite heavy/metal releases of the year in no particular order:

• Converge – Axes To Fall - Great band delivers yet again.
• Jesu – Infinity/Opiate Sun - One hour long drone jam and one pop EP; both releases find Broderick back on-song abet working on the opposing margins of what he does.
• Mastodon – Crack The Skye - People almost seemed put off by how over the top this album was, not me. I want my stadium metal godz to get as epic and weird as possible and things got very epic and very weird here. (Almost excluded due to mispelt album title)
  
• Ben Frost – By The Throat - In my wildest fantasies my bass always sounds like bass does on this record.
• Moss – Tombs Of The Blind Drugged - 'Exactly right' is as good as innovation. Doom craftsmen?
• Mount Eerie – Wind’s Poem - Black metal and Phil both live in the woods musically, thus this record strangely makes sense. What made it great was the songs, some of his best.
  
• Grief No Absolution – Eurostopodus Argus / Crypsis - Pitched as 'bleak metal' but something I ended up listening to more than you (or I) would expect. One LP that is a brutal snowstorm of hiss and crackle + a 7" that's sharper and altogether nastier.
• Black Boned Angel – Verdun - Essential doom made right in our backyard (sort of).
  
• Secret Birds - Asleep On The Dragon - Friends delivers a fine sounding album. A very personal take on a a very broad range of psych ideas and flavours and much more cohesive than expected.
• The Nation Blue – Rising Waters - Australia's best band deliver a dense and completely fucked up classic. Maybe a career high and if not, too close for me to care.
• Om – God Is God - New drummer, new textures and that riff. I never really tire of it.
• Part Chimp – Thriller - A slightly underwhelming album from a completely overwhelming band. So a technical win and thus still essential listening in 09.
  
• Them Crooked Vultures – S/T - One of the better Queens of the Stone Age albums and how could it not be. A lot of fun but too long.
• Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions - What is there to say about this? It's good. It introduces a whole new realm of possibilities for the band. And it's brutally heavy.
• Tom Hall & Bonnie Mercer – MIDweekMID - Two giant lava flows built out of guitar and electronics. This tape is just completely untamed. I feel like I'm forever turning it DOWN when I've got it on. Love it.

Photos from the other night...

...by the guy I kicked off stage. Sorry guy (i.e. Stephen Goodwin)! Unfortunately Stephen momentarily entered the Triad of Pwnage and it made things feel weird. BUT, the photos are radical and we like them a lot.

Free Show This Week

We're playing a free show this Friday night for

our good friend Cam Smith at Incremental Records

(i.e. the guy who has made nearly all of the NA records).

Ian's Inspirations...

A lot of times when we're in the middle of an epic 20+ minute doom haze, I just zone out and think of things.

Things like this...

No Anchor... 3

Six Hands To Hurt You

We're happy to announce that we've got a third No Anchor now, Donovan Miller. Donovan currently plays in Butcher Birds and Die On Planes as well. Busy guy. But not too busy to bring the brutal with the No Anchor hobby apocolypse.

He also seems to like the band. Here is a photo of him moshing the fuck out at our Halloween show last year:


Also note: That's Zombie-Tom Hall on the far right and just over Donnie's shoulder you can spot Amelia Golding of The Rational Academy dressed as a pirate or Nadine from Twin Peaks, I forget which.

In other news I put out a press release before updating our blog so by now you may already have heard that we've got an unreleased track call 'Wolves Bite And Disappear' coming out on forthcoming compilation of FSS. Recorded by Todd Dixon in a disused museum and mixed by Lawrence English, sounds pretty good.

We've also started writing our new album. Alex and I wrote quite a bit of new stuff post-Steam (like Wolves) but a lot of now seems destined for B-Sideville. New stuff sounds - to me - a bit like 70s occult metal and bit more out and out doomed up. Maybe we weren't joking when we told every0ne we were a doom band?

Best. Blog. Ever.

A few posts back, I mentioned LA rock juggernaughts Tool and their prominent role in my suburban heavy metal dreams. Now let me even up my street credit a little by mentioning that after Tool (and Helmet) came a lot of amazing Australian heavy music that few people ever talk about but completely rocks. When I was eighteen, everything became about Budd (I still think their early work is probably the archetypal Australian sludge sound - it's my archetype anyhow). After Budd came Au-go-go Records' Magic Dirt and Midget. After them came S:Bahn, Ricaine, 2litredolby and Tweezer. Then The Nation Blue.

And what gives me call to mention all this is that some radical adult has started a blog that shares some out-of-print goodness from many of those above bands. The good/bad news is that almost all of this work is out-of-print so whole discogs are up there. Visit and see here: The Lost & Found Music Library.

What I recommend in order is:

1. El Cabalero Rojo by 2litredolby. This album is a dead certainty, it's amazing. Ask anyone anywhere who worked in an independent record store in the 90s and they'll back me up. Download it now.
2. Total Abandonment of Better Understanding by Midget. Australian noise-rock of the highest calibre. My copy of the CD looks like it's been in a 1000 backpacks because it has.
   
3. Stock Footage by S:Bahn. Fractured, fucked up noise-pop music. Golden. Said blogger has very wisely appended two killer comp tracks to this EP download.

The rest of it is good too: early Gerling (when they were an indie-guitar band), impossibly rare 7s from Midget and 2litredolby, Sealifepark, Purpelene and even some super, super rare Heinz Riegler.

Best. Blog. Ever.

PS: Speaking of rarities, my cousin and I are trying to track down a good quality boot of Magic Dirt Live-At-The-Wireless circa Friends In Danger / Young & Full of the Devil era. We both had it on cassette but have both lost it. It's fucking ruling...they play Sparrow, Babycakes, Choker, Rabbit With Fangs and maybe Friends In Danger (?) but it's with Dave Thomas instead of Raul. If anyone has this and can send me a link to it, I'd flip out I'd be so happy.

Next Show: Nov 27th.

In The Front Bar of The Stepp Inn Friday, November the 27th.

First show with the new guy.

Also playing are:

The Rational Academy (http://www.myspace.com/therationalacademy)
Yout Dem (http://www.myspace.com/youtdem)
Whyte Lightning (http://www.myspace.com/zachariasszumer)

Starts 8:30pm. Costs $8.

Mix Tape #1: Urban Divinity Canyon

Mix Tape #1:
'Urban Divinity Canyon'

Tracklisting:
1. Wind's Dark Poem by Mount Eerie
2. White Bears Of Norway by The Rational Academy
3. Farewell by Boris
4. Minerva by Deftones
5. Wolves by Jesu
6. Parabol / Parabola by Tool

Compiled by:
Ian

---

A Note About This Mix:

Made a mix for Cousin James. Years ago he made me a mix. It was his post-rock mega-mix. It had five songs on it and it was totally, totally awesome: I think side B was entirely taken up with a single Mogwai track. This brutal 36 min beast is dedicated to him. It's also for him but you can download it too. Comes down the internets as one big MP3 and is mixed and mashed a little by yours truly.

A Note About Tool:

Carrie Brownstein once pondered a man who walked around Portland with a rat on his shoulder. She thought/wrote about what music this man listened to and decided it must be Tool. She was probably right. When I was 17 I used to go round my friend Paul's house and we'd listen to Tool's first album 'Undertow' and hang out. It was a total self-contained activity. Unlike Brownstein, I didn't grow up in close proximity to the American Northwest music scene in the 90s, nor did I recieve my guitar lessons from the guy from Sunny Day Real Estate. I learned how to play the guitar from Paul in his rompus room. The first thing he taught me was drop D. That said, we never walked around town with rats on our shoulders.

To Download:

Click here

It's True, We Played A Show...

Hair farmer.

Guy who takes photos of himself during soundcheck and posts them on the internet.

The Coronet. I love you but I hate you too.

None of this gear is recommended or endorsed, except the Tym Guitars Big Bottom and the Green Big Muff. The Leem channel splitter is a goddamn piece of shit. Worse than the Ibanez Soundtank Delay, so that's really saying something.

John Mercer's sweet sweet Gallien Kruger bass amp. Haven't played on one in years. One of the best. Solid-state and brutal, like Greg Ginn but more reliable.

Undead Apes. Even if they weren't good I'd probably still like them just for the name. But, they're good. Thanks also to The Sips and D.Black. My photos of those dudes sucked but they ruled it on the night.

Upcoming Show Coming Up...

That's next thursday. We're probably not going to be playing a whole lot for the remainder of the year (maybe once a month or so). We're digging into the practice room to write album #3.

Some of those previously mentioned tracks will surface soon also.

Fire Flood & Acid Mud

I noticed recently that someone is selling off a copy of Fire Flood & Acid Mud on eBay. Sweet, good luck to them but it's a bit pricey, I wouldn't pay that. Seeing as I was in Missing Link yesterday and they still have a copy on the shelf. So if yr looking for it, buy it there. They deliver world wide.

Wanted: Second Bass Player

^This Could Be You^

(This is a serious post) We're looking for a second bass player to join No Anchor; thus taking the band into rock's rich history of outfits with two bass players (Girls Against Boys and Pre.Shrunk). In short, we want to be simpler - dumber, if you will - and a second bass player seems like a good idea.

The ideal applicant must meet the following criteria:

• Selection Criteria One: No fuckwits! That means no regular fuckwits (homophobes, misogynists, racists, thugs) and no unique and wonderful fuckups either (substance abuse issues and seriously unresolved life bullshit not allowed). Alex and I are in our thirties, in long-term committed relationships and are - for want of a better term - dorks. This band would suit someone in a similar situation/state-of-mind. You can be in another band, that's totally fine.
  

• Selection Criteria Two: Melvins! You have to at least pretend to like the Melvins at all times whilst within our presence. Why? Because The Melvins are our sort of punk band: killer songs, funny, brutal and opened minded. (NB: We're happy to school you but either way, at the end of the day you have to know it.)

• Selection Criteria Three: No Fingering! You have to play with a pick.
  

• Selection Criteria Four: No Stupid Looking Basses! You have to own a decent bass guitar and a decent bass amplifier. By decent I mean, your bass guitar cannot - in any way - resemble a potato or something Prince or Bootsy would play (all respect given of course). Absolutely no glitter finishes allowed. It's fine for you to come to practice for a few weeks with whatever piece of shit you have lying around but you are NOT getting onstage with us with something that is an eyesore. That said, decent doesn't mean expensive: I currently play a Fender Squire P-Bass I bought from Tyms for $180. It's great.

• Selection Criteria Five: Find Your Own Way Home Already! You have to have a valid drivers licence. Preference will be given to applicants who can transport themselves and their gear around.

• Selection Criteria Six: No Rubbing It! One of the things we like most about our band is that we work comfortably with very simple ideas. This goes 10 fold for the bass guitar. Occasionally, I might throw down a riff or something fruity but go listen to the records: MOST of the time, I am Thor swinging Thor's hammer. You don't play stupid tapping solos on Thor's hammer. Instead, you hit Thors hammer on the ground and a mountain turns to dust! Unless you like playing the same note/chord over and over again really, really loud, don't even think about joining this band.
  

• Selection Criteria Seven: Must Like 'Good' Music! Alex and I both agree on certain things: The Melvins and Nirvana, Boris and Sunn O))), The Nation Blue and Shellac, Black Sabbath and Neuorsis. We also like a much, much broader selection of music too long to list here (everything from experimental noise through to shiny indie-pop). We respectfully disagree on a few things: Kyuss, Led Zeppelin, U2, late-era Sonic Youth, Arab Strap or Malcolm Middleton and Mastodon. You should probably pick a side on all those before coming to the first practice.
  

• Selection Criteria Eight: Must Be Good At Being In A Band Like No Anchor! We don't tour a great deal. Instead we practice once a week, record a couple of times a year and play most of our shows with friends around Brisbane. We're actually fairly ambitious but not for any type of career or legacy. We just wanna do our thing, exactly our thing and have only a passing interest in anything else. To us it's fun but it might not be for everyone.

No exceptions!

Email us at noanchorband [at] gmail.com and tell us what bands you like. We'll email you back if we're interested. If we don't email you back, you should start you're own doom/sludge/noise band and take your revenge. We'll probably book you even though you're hell-bent on vengeance.

- Ian

Stepping Up

I for one am totally into the other three bands playing this gig. What a way to come back from vacation!



Posted by: Alex

Hibernation

A bit of a follow up to the 'End Of Financial Year Post'.

So No Anchor has officially put it's feet up and is currently sipping a nice hot chocolate. Ian has picked all the scabs off his wounds from our last show in Toowoomba two weeks ago and Alex (me) is officially on holidays from the world and work.

Ian and I were in the studio demoing some new songs over the weekend just past. These will see the light of day some time if we decide to put a bit of spit and polish on them. Otherwise you'll hear them live upon our return in a few months time.

We however do want to keep you abreast of what's going on so stay tapped into AxxOnn here: AxxOnn Do NOT however stay tapped into AxxOnn here: Patio Furniture it's a whole world of wrong!

AxxOnn have a "making sure they leave the country" gig next week. You can wish Tom and Ian a fond farewell or you can just try to steal their return tickets.



As for Alex (me again), I've got an exhibition of my art coming up. It opens on Friday 17th july at the Nine Lives Gallery. If you're around (unlike Ian and Tom, slackers) come by, have a look and say hi. I've made a blog with stuff from the show on it so you can preview bits and pieces there: Against The Grain



Alright then. Until we return. Have fun and we'll see you around.
Alex & Ian.

Ahhhh.... The Memories

Everything You Say



The Song formally known as: K



These were from the Quickening's awesome album launch, June 2009. You can go to You Tube to see them in a bigger fashion.

Thanks heaps to Yudis for capturing the action (and chaos)

End of the Financial Year

The financial year means nothing to us. Nothing! But things happen to be happening with us at the end of the fourth quarter of the 08/09 financial year / beginning of the 09/10 financial year. 

This is what's happening:

1. No Anchor are playing two more shows this financial year before going on a short hiatus (see the sidebar for deets). Mostly because I'm going on tour overseas with my other project (AXXONN) but we need a rest anyhow. We've blazed through 30 shows, 2 mini-tours and 2 albums, 2 comp tracks and a split seven-inch in a little over a year and...I dunno, I'm scared the next thing we do might suck if we don't breath some new air for a few months. We'll probably be back in action  in October 09. 
2. While I'm away Alex is just chillin' and watching TV. Just kidding, as if!  He has an exhibition of his woodblocks and prints happening at the Nine Lives gallery July 17-19.  It's called 'Against The Grain' and you can read all about it here. Those of you who purchased a physical copy of our Steam album will have seen a piece of this work - the skeleton guy on the horse, yeah, Alex made that. Nice huh. 
3. We're recording again in June before I go. Just a clearing out of what's lying around. One track will almost definitely appear on a upcoming compilation by the wonderful FSS label.  The remaining tracks / demos are just gonna lie there. They might appear on a later album or they might get temporarily forgotten. 
4. We've just contributed an older track (Drone Me Out) to the ongoing Droning Earth series. The compilations are both FREE to download and 100% legit. You can find Vol. 26 with us on it here. I'm downloading my copy now - and quite frankly, who wouldn't wanna hear what a band called 'Goat Tunnel' sounds like? (I'm hoping for Goat era Jesus Lizard meets Fudge Tunnel).
5. Alex is listening to The Quickening. I'm listening to Sonic Youth. 

Peace out, see yrs at the shows or on the internet or in the summer time.

- Ian / No Anchor

I Heart Sydney

Last weekend No Anchor went to Sydney to play shows with our Melbourne cousins Aktion Unit. The weekend was a blast leaving us wishing we could magically go back on tour this weekend...

Alex: Sydney is not Brisbane. Marrackville is not The Valley and this is not the Brunswick St Mall. It is however the path leading to Dirty Shirlow's where we played on the Friday Night.


Ian: Heil Spirits ruled. His shit broke but I got a good enough dose beforehand to get hooked. That thing on the table is a spring rigged up to (presumably) a contact mike. When he hits it, it sounds the devil's dinner bell or some machine working in the engine room a ship.


Alex: This is punk, Sydney style. Walora who I thought were great.


Alex: This is controlled chaos, Melbourne style. Aktion Unit!

Ian: Good dudes. And I've met a lot of dudes who don't give a fuck (or pretend not to) but never quite like these guys in this band. They booked a tour (and the Static Age Festival itself), drove all the way from Sydney and organised a bunch of other stuff (inluding us), then at show time they step up and do 10-20 mins of wacked out guitar lava, feedback and 'show-boating' (their term) and say that's that. I loved it.


Alex: When we were playing I knocked my ride cymbal over which made half of the sound disappear. I didn't know what had happened at the time. I was informed later on...

Ian: ...that he had disabled half the band in one cymbal raid. But what are the chances that a falling cymbal stand will exactly hit a guitar lead like this:


Alex: Crux! worth coming to Sydney for.

Ian: Agreed. Amazingly diverse doom punk.



Alex: Who said punk rock was all angsty and angry?


Alex: After the show we all split up, got lost, found each other on a street corner and phoned a friend to find out where the hell we were.



Alex: Once we found the HQ, good times ensued... (note: the grin on everyone's face and the empty bottle of Vodka in the foreground)

Ian: Cake Tin, Brute Force, keep it real. Were we drinking vodka and water? I think we might have been. Sorry edgers.


Alex: Saturday we didn't have a show so I went to Maggotville to see Wolora & Scum System Kill. I wish we had bands (& warehouses) like this in Brisbane!



Ian: Meanwhile I went to Hopetoun and saw The Laurels (because I am an indie-wuss and because they're great) and later I caught Straight Arrows and Repo Man at The Sando. Great night sans seeing the guy from Repressed getting brained with a milkcrate in the pit. That'll teach me for choosing venue punk over warehouse crust.

Alex: Sunday arvo we played Serial Space in Chippendale. Young Lion's opened. Lizzy made really beautiful music (even with an out of tune piano).


Alex: We played. We played well. Playing the last song 'K' however got hard once I'd done this to the tom...


Ian: Oh my god, these dudes are awesome. Cougar Flashy & His Spooky Adventures aka Short Stop and Thin Man aka Grant and Zac. They do this early Sebadoh meets Butthole Surfers type pop music (to my old ears). They're soon to be Brisbane residents for a few months from May 21st (book them yo). One of my favourite memories of this trip was Grant's arguement with a security guard at the Townie: 'How do you feel about letting me use the bathroom? No! How about a bar stool, just a stool, I'll just sit! What! How about a fucking ashtray man, it's just a fucking ashtray!'


Ian: More Aktion Unit. This was the better of the two shows; they slayed at Serial Space. Again it was 10-20 mins of wild improv but totally personable and charming.



Alex: with all commitments over, we got lost again, found again and ended up in a little but great Thai resturant.

Ian: What am I actually doing in this photo? I have no idea. I think I might be growling at that girl's hat.


Alex: Then the 13 strong gaggle headed to FBI where Aktion Unit were getting the late night interviewing treatment.

Ian: After FBi wouldn't let Cougar Flashy and No Anchor crash the scheduled Aktion Unit interview (fair enough too), Grant followed through on his threat to 'draw dicks on everything' (which is also fair I think).


Ian: Oh god. I have only the dimmest memories of this. Things got loose. But don't we all look relaxed and happy to be rock and rollers.



Thanks to Dan (x10), Rene, Leith, Marcus, Anna (& Crux for gear), Louise, Grant, Zak, Marnie (for drums), Brute Force, Cake Tin (and housemates), Dirty Shilohs and Serial Space for an awesome weekend!

Everything You Say (Alt Mix)

Our friend Cam Smith over at Incremental Records has posted his alternate mix of 'Everything You Say' on his myspace profile. Incremental Records is Cam's studio/online record store - it's where we recorded both Steam and Fire Flood & Acid Mud, so go check it out.

Peace
- Ian

PS: As a life-long Superchunk fan, the band's recent canonisation as bona fide indie-rock gods is starting to freak me out now. Check this out.

Wha' Happened?

The weekend was large. Spread across five shows in three nights, I managed to see these bands:

HITS
Giants of Science
Ouch! My Face (Melbourne)
The Rational Academy
Nova Scotia
Adriatic
May (Wollongong)
Citizen Loud
Do The Robot
Secret Birds (solo)
Good God
Blank Realm

So everything from expository thru to garage rock. No Anchor played twice in amongst that mess. On Friday night we opened up for Giants of Science (who were as great as ever) and on Sunday arvo we played with tech-metal heads May (who were also great - thanks yo). There's some photos of us from the Giants show here.