By Christ, this is worth diarising

The New Christs are undertaking an Australian tour (well, East Coast at least) and that's news in itself. Here are the dates:

Friday August 7th – The Espy, St Kilda
Saturday August 8th – The Tote, Collingwood
Friday August 14th – The Step Inn, Brisbane
Saturday August 15th – Del Plaza, Gold Coast
Sunday August 16th – Winsome Hotel, Lismore
Friday August 21st – Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills

Support on the Brisbane and Gold Coast shows is Mick Medew & The Rumours.

If you want a copy of the latest New Christs album "Gloria" (or the Mick Medew & The Rumours CD) then hop on over to the I-94 Bar Shop.

Beefheart's Ten Commandments For Guitarists

If you play guitar you could do worse than read Electric Mud: Captain Beefheart's Ten Commandments For Guitarists. So there.

What most of us missed last weekend

Two Groovies with the A-Bones:

Pizza Hut Calling

Fancy copping a look at Mick Jones' leftover pizza boxes from his days on the road with The Only Band That Matters? I can't help but feel that the B.A.D. man was the Bill Wyman (as in ephemera-gathering pack rat) of the Clash. All is explained here.

Someone bring them to Australia!

We are now entering the Commercial Zone: Party with these Playboys

An unashamed plug for the launch of the latest album on I-94 Bar Records. The album is out in the first week of August, the show is on August 15.

This CD is primo stuff for fans of fuzz and Hammond organ throb. We're taking pre-orders here and you can read more about the Intercontinental Playboys here. Stay posted for sounds, but meanwhile here's a taste of what to expect:

William Shatner does Rocket Man

The 40th anniversary of man walking on the Moon deserves a musical tribute and this is it. Props for Joy Cornish for the heads-up.

Drunk & Disorderly Episode 23

Just in case you were wondering why it was quiet around here, there's a stack of new CD reviews live at the Bar and the latest episode (number 23, no less) of the Drunk and Disorderly Podcast is available here. You can also click on the title of this post.

Here's the tracklist:

Drinking Much Too Long - Russian Roulettes (R & R/Off the Hip)

It's Not Your Fault - Sonny Vincent With Members Of Rocket From The Crypt (Sonny Vincent With Members Of Rocket From The Crypt/We Deliver the Guts-Cargo)

I Love Your Neurosis - The Nervebreakers (We Went And Recorded It Anyway/Brutarian Quarterly)

Hardly a Sane Man's Wallpaper - Apa State Mental (The Reunited Heavy Metal Sounds of Apa State Mental/The Mighty Kong)

The Escape - Radio Moscow (Brain Cycles/Alive)

She's Bad - Nathaniel Mayer (Why Won't You Le Me Be Black?/Alive)

It's All Getting Too Much - The Intercontinental Playboys (Hymns of the Flesh/I-94 Bar Records)

New Bully In The Town - Laughing Clowns (Live at GoMA/Prince Melon Records)

You Can't Sit Down - The Purple Hearts (Before Birdmen Flew/bootleg)

Liberty Lovers - The Dacios (Monkeys Blood/Solarsonar)

American Bandstand - The Seat Belts (We Went And Recorded It Anyway/Brutarian Quarterly)

Big Shot - Bunt (Birdland/Turbo Nun)

Surfin' Armageddon - Jukebox Zeros (Rock 'n' Roll Ronin/Rank Outsider)

Slappin' My Balls - The Meatbeaters (Carry On Tuggin'/Pressed Meat)

Special Kind of Man - Apa State Mental (The Reunited Heavy Metal Sounds of Apa State Mental/The Mighty Kong)

Grammar of Misery - The Barracudas (Mean Time/Big Time)

Down & Out Downunder 3

Episode 3 is up. All Aussie, all Rock Action and all here.

James Williamson returns to live music...without the Stooges for now

His rejoining the Stooges still isn't finalised with a planned rehearsal put back from July to August but James Williamson is stepping onto a stage and playing guitar live for the first time in 35 years in San Jose, south of San Francisco, on September 5.

James will play with country-rockers the Careless Hearts at the Blank Club.

"Get there very, very early as it's a tiny place. Also be nice to me (as) I'm very, very old," James says. "But I'm kind of rockin' pretty hard these days." So there.

Check out the Careless Hearts here. They're a little different to the Raw Power Stooges but that shouldn't be a surprise. James' guitar tastes are quite eclectic these days with a focus on slack key guitar.

In case you were wondering, after a long career as a Sony electronics executive, James is retired and spends his time between his home north of San Francisco and a holiday place in the Hawaiian Islands.

And look-out below. It's James with ex-Pistol Steve Jones (left) at a recent Iggy show in L.A. Robert Matheu took the happy snap.

Aussie in punk rock shock in Indonesia

And they used to throw claims of militarism at Radio Birdman. Indonesia's latest punk rock discovery uses gun-shaped guitars, wears camo clothes and is fronted by an Australian. They sing songs about KFC, religion and the local army. More here.

Punksalia have a MySpace too.

Having the hots for Nirvana

I suppose it's playing into their hands linking to the story but national yewf broadcaster Triple Jay annually compile a list of the Hottest 100 songs of the year. This time it's the Hottest 100 Of All Time and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" tops the poll.