The Implicit Order - Drifters

 
Senseless murder might not be a theme that many musicians would base a work on, but then The Implicit Order (I/O) is not exactly your average concept. Disdaining any attempt at classification I/O is both highly original and constantly defying preconceptions. The most recent album 'Drifters' is dedicated to a young homeless woman called Sherry, who had been befriended by I/O. She ended up being murdered after being picked up by a drifter. So, why put out an album on such a subject?

I/O describes the album as a "cautionary tale to anyone who is down on their luck and looking for a place to belong". Sombre but never morbid the album touches the heartstrings without ever becoming sensationalist. The opening track 'Missing Youth' sets the tone with evocations of children, our children, and then counterpoints with hints of unrest. "Daily Dull Lives" hints at the mentally disturbed among us. Other tracks such as 'Every Year 1000's of Young People Disappear' and 'Small Towns Hold The Biggest Secrets' paint a picture of the darkness inherent in our societies. And the 9 minute 'Sherry (Car Wheels On A Gravel Road)' confronts us with the sadness of the knowledge that all victims leave families behind them. It is their suffering we find it hard to endure...

This is not the sort of music that one would play at a party, it may not even sit comfortably with a second listen, but it certainly is worthy of one serious listen, even if it is to remind ourselves that the world we live in can still be an evil place, and that great art is not just about entertainment, but enlightenment. A courageous, yet sensitive masterwork. Highly recommended...

You can check out The Implicit Order here...

Playing with Jeffrey's balls

Bob Georgeson, Playing with Jeffrey's balls, 200?, photomontage

Another forgotten one from the archive. I guess you have to know your Australian artists to get the sordid twist inherent here...

Truth or Dare?

Bob Georgeson, Truth or Dare?, 2013, Digital photography

It's a worry...old style arcade game next to automatic teller machines. Try your luck?

lost friends

greater the distances grow
between us
loyalty unknown
after brotherhood sown
closed emotion

friendships grow with years
and sink with tears

when respect turns to fear

Funky Bunny

Max Robinson used to spend a lot of time out in the shed in the back yard in Canberra. The shed was not only my son's bedroom but a gathering place and hang out for all the young crew in the Inner North. Among many unmentionable practices there was always a jam session going on. Max was one of those likeable young men, a little lost in direction but a great bass player, and always friendly, polite and appreciative of some home cooked spaghetti bolognese. He moved down to Melbourne, decided that having a regular job was not his thing and hit the centre of town as a street performer. The rest is history...

You can follow him on Facebook, and there are a number of other videos on YouTube. He has also been featured in an article published in The Australian newspaper weekend edition. Good on ya Max! So, nothing left to do but get down with da wabbit!

Gyges and the Lydian Queen

Bob Georgeson, Gyges and the Lydian Queen, 2009, Photomontage

What better way to start the merry month of May with the sordid little tale of Gyges and the Lydian Queen. According to Herodotus in his 'Histories' (c. 5th century B.C.) Gyges was right hand man to Candaules, king of Lydia, which sat in present day western Turkey. Candaules was enamoured of his wife's beauty, so much so that he insisted on Gyges seeing her naked. Gyges was reluctant, but the king insisted, so he arranged for Gyges to sneak into her boudoir to watch her undress. She spotted him in his moment of voyeurism, caught between reality and desire, and compromised him with the request that he kill the king and become her lover and usurp the throne, or she would have him killed. He reluctantly (?) chose to live and carried out the queen's wishes, banishing her sons to present day Cyprus. They grew into men and returned to Lydia, killing Gyges and their mother to reclaim the throne, and everybody lived happily ever after...

There are variations of this story but I like Herodotus's version in his tales of the Persians wars with the Greeks. It is interesting that Herodotus puts the cause of these wars as conflicts arising over a woman...

Point Danger

A visit to the far North coast and the co-joined twin towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta could not be deemed complete without visiting the iconic surfing breaks of D'bar and Snapper Rocks. Breeding grounds for many Aussie surfing legends and host to some of the biggest competitions in the world these two places flank Point Danger, named by Captain James Cook in 1770 after his ship the 'Endeavour' was forced further out to sea by shallow reefs. 

 

Grommets head to the breaks while the Mt Warning National Park can just be seen in the distance behind the high-rise holiday apartments in Cooly...


D'bar to the south on a beautiful autumn Saturday morning. A fairly small swell but that didn't deter 50 or 60 to go out. All of them seemed under 20 years old and all of them hot riders, with most probably starting surfing when they were 6 or 7. Crowded but still a little room to move, unlike...

 

Snapper Rocks where there was an insanely large crowd all vying for position along the formation known as the 'superbank'. Not only dangerous, but downright unpleasant. Late take-offs frighteningly close to the rocks were the order of the day, and if you were lucky enough to find yourself in the groove then threading your way through the crowd was nightmarish. Personally I thought something had gone terribly wrong here. The idea of surfing as being at one with nature and having a spiritual element had been lost. This was more akin to dodgem cars at sideshow alley. The less said about my local break on the far South coast, where 8 out is starting to seem like a crowd, the better.