The Formative Years – Marginal Man

Marginal Man were a five piece hardcore punk band from Washington DC that rose from the ashes of Artificial Peace’s breakup, whose emissions were more on the rudimentary end of the spectrum, and one of the first hardcore bands from the DC scene that featured two guitars.

Marginal Man’s their first LP, "Identity" was released on Dischord Records in March 1984 and while getting exposure and appreciation, remains one of the more underappreciated and overlooked records in hardcore punk history. 

Marginal Man combined the unbridled, raw energy of bands like Minor Threat and Crucifix and paired it with varying artistic influences of Dead Kennedys, straddling the line between the aggressive style of first-wave ferocious hardcore and the more melodic, thereby providing fertile ground for slow grinding emotional struggles that records like Black Flag’s My War riffed on long before “emo” became a thing.

Marginal Man’s Identity album, the primary theme of which is the existential quest for one’s purpose and place in society, stands out from Dischord Records’ flawless discography in that it captures the imagination and wiry agility of hardcore punk yet pulls back to delve into more refined realms substantiated with unrivalled melodic sensibilities and incredible guitar work that was way ahead of its time.

The Formative Years – Trio

Neue Deutsche Welle not merely dominated my youth but my childhood as when it first emerged, much to my delight it was omnipresent both on mainstream radio and TV.

Trio was a German, formed in the town of Großenkneten in 1979 and three years later they created a world hit with what became their signature and most memorable song, i.e. "Da Da Da".

What resonated instantaneously with me was not merely the primal, stripped down nature of Trio’s songs, devoid or any ornamental flourishings but their strange sense of humour and their quirky, Dadaistic appearances on prime time TV with the lead singer, droll voiced Stephan Remmler, playing pre-programmed simplistic ditties on a Casio keyboard backed by the disinterested drummer playing simple beer garden rhythms singlehanded while eating an apple with the other one. 

Essentially, Trio presented a deconstructed version of rock’n roll and with their idiosyncratic personalities appeared otherworldly doing so. 

Depending on your point of view, it could be classified as highly conceptual performance art or alternatively as nonsensical minimalism reminiscent of the Plastic Ono band – a comparison that is given a further dimension by the fact that their overlooked classic first record was produced by Beatles collaborator and ex-Manfred Mann bassist Klaus Voormann.

Trio’ first album is essential for anyone interested in late seventies and early eighties new wave with punk, post punk, rockabilly, comical Schlager, reggae and synth pop sensibilities as it managed to artfully merge the aforementioned influences to an explosive melange that while showing appreciation also poked fun at anyone taking the individual genres too seriously.

A unique, fun and essential album.

Water of Life – Bakery Hill MMXXIII

If you happen to even remotely follow this series, you could not be blamed for finding the sheer range of activity within the confines of the Australian distillery landscape overwhelming, especially given the large number of new entities popping up on the radar on a regular basis and the exponential increase in international accolades being bestowed on them.

While there is merit in innovation and the creation of new products along with the inevitable declamatory noise via social media channels, there are distilleries that just seem to have gotten it right from the start.  Focussing their efforts on finetuning their craft centred around the creation of meticulously distilled drops, they let their liquid emissions speak for themselves.

One of those distilleries is Bakery Hill.

Having incarnated twenty-three years ago and thereby being one of the oldest distilleries on the mainland that is terra australis, what was originally founded by David Baker in the Eastern part of Melbourne has established itself as a widely esteemed, veritable heavyweight internationally based on the father / son duo’s long-term vision, product development and trust in the process.

My first exposure to Bakery Hill was via their core expression, i.e. the Classic Single Malt. 

Clocking in at 46% ABV, I vividly remember how immensely more-ish I found what tasted like a lighter style of a malt centred expression, with delicate nuances of drying oak and spices enriching the finish.

Needless to say, being a hopeless Islay head, I fell head over heels for Bakery Hill’s defiantly peated Sovereign Smoke expression, which as the telling name suggests, rules supreme in the realm of deliciously phenolic and bonfire goodness.

What I found interesting about Bakery Hill’s approach, apart from them doing their own milling, was their focus on American oak ex-bourbon casks instead of an over reliance on wine casks and longer maturation periods compared to other Australian contemporaries, which results in cleaner, undiluted from overly tannic flavour profiles with the limelight set on the malt.

Having perfectioned its core portfolio, Bakery Hill’s special releases are never not a special treat and it took until 2023 that I finally got a hold of the much fabled about Blunderbuss 2022 expression.

If you follow our “Thus Let Us Drink Beer” series, you would be familiar with Hop Nation’s Imperial Stout beer that goes under the moniker of The Kalash, the flavour profile of which is informed by having spent significant time in Bakery Hill barrels. 

Now that the barrels have been returned, Bakery Hill in turn refilled them with their six year old Bakery Hill Classic whisky. 

With a powerful ABV of 58%, this little number proves to be an example par excellence for a dense complex tour de force: Aromas of dark chocolate and coffee with highlights of orange peel tickle the nostrils, before honeyed stout flavours flanked by a natural ocean taste materialize on the top of the mouth. 

The finish is an elongated affair, meandering between savoury and sweet terrains, eliciting a Pavlovian reaction.

Beautiful.

Given all of the aforementioned, it would be highly concerning if I did not love Bakery Hill’s vibrant Peated Double Wood expression: Having undergone a maturation period of five years in American oak before seeking further refinement in fifty litre French Oak barrels, earthy peat aromas lure one in.

On the palate, smoky peat serves as the foundation on which tobacco and floral citrus notes dance against a backdrop of oaked sweetness. The long and elegant finish rounds things out with spirit driven reverberations.

Things get interesting with the High Seas expression as it is the result of what commenced twelve years ago when a barrel of Scottish whisky was sent across to the Southern hemisphere to be decanted and filled with Bakery Hill’s peated single malt.

The amber coloured drop brims with maritime aromas and flavour-wise navigates around chocolate milky caramel territory, candy and clove flavour notes reminiscent of honey and rum. The finish culminates in the delicate and balanced marriage of peat and vanilla without either constituent overpowering the other.

Finally, I was lucky enough to sample a dram of one of Bakery Hill’s future releases, i.e., Muscat Cask, which as the name suggests, after maturation in the American oak ex-bourbon casks spent a year in ex-Yarra Valley Muscat Casks before being returned to American oak again.

The result does not disappoint: With vanilla, cinnamon and apples prominent on the nose, a multi-layered tapestry of rich dark fruits and cocoa is unveiled to culminate in a crescendo of rich, oaky spicy highlights.

Despite being pronounced on the flavour front, I like the subtle sweetness and lingering hints of muscat of the finish. Another winner that will hopefully see the light of day sooner than later.

Mayhem
Sydney, Australia 
Factory Theatre
19 January 2023

Having missed out on previous live incarnations of Mayhem over the years and given both the immense influence they have been exerting on the metal landscape at large since their original inception almost forty years ago along with much fabled about notorious live performances, it felt like it was high time that I finally got to experience one of the most prominent Norwegian black metal bands in the third dimension.

The packed out Factory Theatre was visibly brimming with excitement as to how the ever unpredictable entity known as Mayhem was to continue their legacy with their hostile sounds. 

Instead of resting on their laurels, it was great to see an unsanitised, righteous version of the band, showcasing both their opaque facets with searing borderline cacophonous unrelenting noise parts, their trademark all out metal onslaught as well as their atmospherically theatrical, ethereal side substantiated by the ever morbid and melodramatic histrionics of frontman and accomplished vocalist Attila Csihar.

What I have always loved about Mayhem is their raw, stripped down, dirty and distorted punk rooted approach, which was not merely integral to the first part of their career but was front and centre tonight, aiding in making the full force of their primal overdrive physically tangible.

Garbed in a tattered, multi-layered cloak and corpse paint at the beginning and undergoing quite a few costume changes throughout the evening, conducting the tight band with a cross made of bones and later on channelling Macbeth with a cranium, Attila’s ghoulish vocals were clear and severe, as he spearheaded the horde reminiscent of a devilish pope alternating between serenading and threatening the unfaithful. 

The appreciative and enthusiastic crowd lapped up the ritualistic ceremony, which was staged in differently themed parts with a well-curated setlist that made it a thrilling exercise for both the old school aficionado as well as the large number of younger aged attendees.

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photos by T

Thames & Hudson

Ernst Wurm, Francis Bacon Camera and Letters from M/M

If you harbour a weak spot for illustrated books in visually creative categories -  be it art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, or the performing arts - you will find yourself hard pressed to not find an array of delightful releases once you delve into the portfolio of the independent, family-owned Thames & Hudson publishing house, which is comprised of over two-thousand titles in print.

Needless to say, I am beyond excited when Thames & Hudson announces new releases on my favourite artists, e.g. Francis Bacon, as I have yet to encounter an occurrence where the fruit of their curated titles proved to be redundant.

In Camera: Francis Bacon by Martin Harrison examines Bacon’s approach to him channelling his alchemy in the creation of his wickedly energetic, darkly distorted depictions of the world, human anguish and the brutality of his methodology.

What makes the opulently illustrated book a treasure is that it zeros in on both the ephemera found in Bacon’s working documents in his studio as well as photographs, newspaper clippings and art books that have inspired his paintings, despite him having done his utmost to pretend that his paintings came to fruition fully formed.

By doing so, it is endlessly fascinating to be taken on an artfully reconstructed journey that tracks Bacon’s inspirations and reference points and once one is aware, it is hard to unsee how the master recycled them and took cues from the withering and damage photographic prints as they suffered over time.

Ahead of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ descent on terra australis, it is only appropriate for Erwin Wurm and his reimaginations of sculptures through performance via a myriad of media to be graced with a book celebrating his oeuvre from the mid-1990s to the present day.

One Minute Forever sheds light on Wurm’s evolution over three decades and paints a holistic, interweaved picture of an artist that has mastered the craft of the creation of an immersive, participative playfulness that interrogates the way we live, how we view and interact with the world.

Apart from Wurm’s widely known One Minute Sculptures and iconic works, the book features less known emissions and allows one to dive into the rich tapestry of the diverse media he used to create art that in its absurdity never seems to arrive and accomplishes the feat to be constantly in flux, thereby serving as fertile ground to never lose relevance and turning the audience into both an active ingredient and a sculpture itself.

Change of gear - the omnipresent impact of the art of type facing and its omnipresent impact. 

Chances are that if you are into iconic fashion brands or music part of which artwork plays a prominent role, you would have come across a brand that was founded three decades ago in Paris, i.e. Mathias Augustyniak and Michaël Amzalag’s M/M. 

Heavily infused by graphic design, what started with a focus on the creation of hundreds of unique typefaces has over time evolved to a multi-disciplinary practice and the creation of M/M’s own delightful and endlessly inspiring microcosm.

Thames & Hudson’s take on the duo is through the prism of typographical creations, which upon closer examinations appear put together and pigmented not unlike paintings of centuries gone by, thereby creating their own language.

Arranged in a chronological manner and framed by commentary by collaborators such as Björk, this beautifully arranged tome microscopically examines the details of what makes the typefaces standout, thereby creating a reference point that should prove to be highly relevant for anyone dabbling in the realm of visual culture.