Abercrombie Hotel Gig

MySpace Tracks

As per below, we're in the final stages of completing our latest 'release' - Wheat and Nerve. It's a compilation of material culled from our last 2 sessions, some of it over 2 years old. Rob has mixed these to perfection, I've done some final tweaking and naming and I have an image in mind but the photos have yet to be taken.

I've added three of these tracks to our MySpace page so please have a listen and let us know what you think.

"Huge Whopper (Dedicated To)" is an hommage to Hugh Hopper - the recently deceased bass player from Soft Machine: a touchstone band for all 3 of us. It's a slowed down section of another piece and sounds uncannily like the tones that Hugh created on his great solo albums like "1984".

"Platform 5" is a very eerie track with foghorn tones, pulsing guitar and a dark, enclosing feel. If memory serves me, this was fairly similar to how it sounded live.

"Another Wall" is a bit cheerier. Based around a rhythmic patch I created on the Ion (but have failed to replicate since) it has Ian soloing on a Roland and Rob confounding us all with swathes of guitar (see A Laurie Driver).

No Night Sweats

Due to Bigpond's disdain for it's customers I've move the NNS website to



http://www.nonightsweats.com/



Please let anyone with any interest know about the change

Very, Very Slow

We're finally getting close to finishing the tracks that came out of last 2 recording sessions. It's been a tortuous, interupted process but Rob has found some time and, more importantly, a bundle of energy to apply his many and varied skills to the raw sounds.

My memories of these sessions are quite hazy as they happened so long ago but I think we all had a great time (that's not unusual) even if the resulting recordings weren't quite as immediately exciting as the others.

Even so, there's enough good material for Rob to weave his magic, resulting in about 60 mins of stuff. The tracks are quite dark and gloomy once again - more discordant than ambient. We're reasonably happy people, especially when playing together, so I have no idea why this side of our personality shines though so often.

The last listening session is on Monday, then track naming, etc, etc. Stay tuned...

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An Explaination

Here's Tim's explaination of his performance at Clifton:

1. Q: Three Tugs on, are they riven? A: They are three tugs on a river.

2. AKA "A Slow Rip"

3. or   an exercise in tactile synaethesia

I hope that clears it all up.

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The Clifton Gig

The day was gorgeous as you can see from the shot of the venue above. The hall itself was smaller than I'd remembered but it was perfect in any case. Tim's PA and nous with sound were likewise. Annette slaved over a hot entry with Drosma at her side and vowed never again. The crowd was hearty (a surprise in itself), welcoming and appreciative. Set 1 was only slightly prepared - start with a drone, perhaps? Oh, OK! There were some lovely sections - Ian as T. Riley is always a joy - but Rob slayed them with his manic display towards the end. Timmy Tugboat's project was secret even from us (especially from us, in fact). The river display with 3 plastic boats was fine but we couldn't see how the scrolls of material fitted in. They were miked up and pulled at and, eventually, rendered apart by hand - A Slow Rip indeed. The 2nd set was more prepared with a rhythm backing track (unusual for us) that worked pretty well overall. It segued into a soft padded 2 chord progression, simple yet meditative. Mr Mesmer made an appearance - hurrah.

Photos here: At Facebook

Musical Excerpts can be found at MySpace

An Afternoon At Clifton

Yes! It's finally on. Here's the promotional guff:

“A Slow Rip” are hosting a Sunday afternoon of experimental music on the gorgeous Illawarra coast of New South Wales.

Venue:

The “Clifton School of Arts” is a small art space located just south of the newly erected tourist mecca - the Sea Cliff Bridge. It's a lovely room, full of history and faded (if renovated) elegance, and we hope that its relaxed atmosphere will inspire the players and invigorate the listeners.

Performers:

“A Slow Rip” are an improvisational trio steeped in their love of Krautrock, Musique Concrete, Drone, Post-Punk, Prog and Jazz. Since 2004 they have created 7 CD-Rs of material, the best of which was compiled onto the 2008 Endgame 2CD release “For The Time Being”. This is their 3rd live performance.

“Timmy Tugboat – Top Secret Project #2” is provided by one of Australia’s most respected sound engineers. Although the details must remain hush-hush, we expect frivolity and stern discipline in equal measure.

+++ possibly more to come

The Details:

Clifton School of Arts

338 Lawrence Hargraves Drive

Clifton NSW 2515

Australia

Southern Hemisphere

Earth

The Galaxy, etc

Sunday May 3rd 2:30-6:00 PM

$10 at the door (kids - whatever)

Bring A Cushion!!! [there's no seats]

Getting There:

Train: From Sydney Central departing 12:40, arriving at Scarborough 1:56. From the Gong trains arrive at Scarborough 12:42 and 2:42 so, if on the early train, you may want a refreshing beverage at the Scarbrough Hotel. It's a short walk north to the venue from the station.

Car: travel along the "Great Coast Road": the venue is just south of the Sea Cliff Bridge.

I hope you can all make it.

Recharge

ASR music used in a short film

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Tops at WRUW

Fantastically popular with the DJs at WRUW. Thanks to one and all for the airplay.

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Review at Temporary Fault

In the summer of 2008 Australian label Endgame published For The Time Being, a 2-CD compilation by a trio “from the Northern beaches of Wollongong” named A Slow RIP, the last word an acronym for R(ob) Laurie, I(an) Miles and (P)hil Turnbull. These gentlemen, who definitely don’t look like snotty kids on the press release photos, express themselves through a whole array of instruments including guitars, bass, percussion, analogue synthesizers, winds and a few vocalizations. 

They have been releasing quite a number of self-made CDRs over the years, from which the best tracks for this set were selected. Except for a couple of episodes overly tending to a kind of noisy psychedelia that conclude the first disc and sound positively second-rate, the experience of going through the entire set was mostly enjoyable. Avoiding the help of MIDI or any other electronic facilitation, ASR are heavily into stratifications of echoing resonances, arcane repetitiveness, revelatory ceremonials for jangling guitars and hypnotic keyboards; blurred terms of reference could be Pink Floyd circa A Saucerful Of Secrets, Djam Karet, early Aidan Baker, early Philip Glass and a chunky list of German cosmic couriers, with particular relevance to Ash Ra Tempel. 

Considering the great diversity of the artists’ backgrounds (all multi-instrumentalist protagonists of the Australian alternative scene, from experimental jazz to post-punk), the record is surprisingly coherent with a poetry of the non-attack, a pleasurable journey indeed. Recommended for those who still like their dose of lysergic trance in the middle of an otherwise regular evening: certain chapters – “The Freeway Temple” and “Look Back” come to mind – are alone worth the price of admission. 

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