Monday, April 29, 2002     John Peel's Record Box I would love to be able to paste all the info straight here for you so you don't have to click about to find it. Usually it's a waste of time on the internet telling people to go here or go there for some amazingly useless piece of information. For true lovers of the latest in underground sounds and especially vinyl there's only one place to go in the UK that's going to give you a wide and trusted selection of music, some of it may be incomprehensible, some of it may be unlistenable but here is a man who has over forty years experience and an ear for perfection. This is the man who introduced us to the Undertones, the Fall, T-Rex, Joy Division and so on and so on. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have heard "Lord Lucan" by the Dodgems or Tube Disasters by Flux of Pink Indians. Explore his record box where he selects the previous month's best music . When will they understand that there is only one way he should be honored, none of this Sir John rubbish, just give him a Nobel Peace Prize. Whilst on the subject. Australia has her own John Peel. He is a bit over excitable and he doesn't have the depth to choose from but Richard Kingsmill's been at it since 1991 with his Oz Music Show. It's where you'll have heard the Avalanches or the Vines long before the rest of the crowd started talking about them. Like John, Richard seems somewhat divorced from the rest of the radio station at which he works, Triple J . He'll tell you about bands like Tracky Daxx or Melbourne Hammond rockers, Rocket Science and there's always his Live at the J's where the new and interesting are given a go in the ABC studios. The Oz Music Show       [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 07:37]   Sunday, April 28, 2002    Jesus Action Figure Purchased last year in New York the Jesus action figure with "poseable arms & gliding action" has been a big hit with 12 Apostles and friends. Presented in packaging with a wonderfully peaceful looking Jerusalem in the background this item is a must buy for all those with an interest in the New Testament. Learn more about this great gift here.       [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 03:00]    ROC - New 12" Coming Soon Yes we'll promote bands as well. Why... well in this case we know ROC and as they are under appreciated by corporate record companies and the public at large, we like them even more. They've just released a 12" remix of I Want You I Need You I Miss You with the help of Solah, the production guise of deep/tech house DJ Nicky Holt. What's it like.. well in short, as always they retain their pop sensibility whilst being mixed up. No dreadful 4/4 thump either under or over the song as per that appalling remix of Monsoon's Ever So Lonely. Instead in each mix there is actually a weaving together of pop song and dance floor. Radiohead, Danni Minogue & Orbital have said nice things about ROC. If only Ibiza, Miami and Haad Riin reverberated to this warmth rather than the junk foisted upon the young by those corporate emissaries (read DJ's) who are happy feeding the masses in return for $'s. 12 Apostles looks forward to ROC becoming one of the chosen 12.       [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 02:45]    Screaming Jay Hawkins & the Case of His Missing Chidren Screaming Jay Hawkins to those who remember, died on 9 January 2000, and one of the more interesting uses of the internet has been to use a website to trace his many offspring fathered during his travels. Children who have been located were all found via the website, www.jayskids.com, which was launched in March 2000 by his friend and biographer, Ms. Maral Nigolian, to search for, and bring together, Hawkins' children. The internet search for Jay's kids has been on-going since Jay's death early 2000 with the express purpose of giving them the opportunity to meet their half-brothers and half-sisters, as per Hawkins' last wishes. Hawkins died in Paris at age 70 following emergency surgery to treat an aneurysm. Here are some of comments sent to the website by people establishing their credentials as either ex lovers or children of the "I Put A Spell On You" songsmith and performer. HD Barberton, Ohio birthdate 6-12-81 Well, I look exactly like all of the pictures that I have seen of him, and my mother once said that she went to one of his concerts and went backstage… RJ New Orleans birthdate 12/24/64 He's my father. My mother had a brief relationship with Mr. Hawkins in early '64. She said he "put a spell" on her. JD Juarez, Mexico birthdate 11-22-77 Well, It was a time when Jay used to come to the south border and party, He usually attend to the same bar, (sometimes he spend 5 consecutive days in the same place) so that's where he met my mother... i think the only thing Jay said is "Viva el tequila" SP F#ck i just want the cash JJ Orange CA birthdate 07/03/75 Well, i'm fully white and i know who my real father and mother are....but if there is money involved i'll be anyones kid! MP Korea birthdate 11-11-67 Screamin' Jay had a tour of duty in Korea. My mother didn't speak any English but they spoke the international language of rhythm & blues & love. I was put in an orphanage and later adopted, but not by Woody.       [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 02:10]   Thursday, April 25, 2002    Got a question about the Jewish faith? Head on over to Ask Moses. Recent responses of note include the answers to 'Do angles have freedom of choice' and 'I don’t owe God anything, because he created me without consulting me and he hasn’t given me that great of a life. I did not ask him to create me; now that I’m here I shall do as I please.'       [posted in Bow :: London at 12:34]   Tuesday, April 23, 2002    Representatives of 12 Apostles were in attendance at last weekend's All Tomorrows Parties festival at a sunny and relaxed Camber Sands. 12 Apostles highlights from the three days included great sets from Oxes, Rachel's, Dianogah, Shipping News, Blonde Redhead, Dead Moon, Shellac and standout performances from Wire, Zeni Geva and High Dependancy Unit. Congratulations to the the hard working ATP crew and Shellac for putting together a top weekend (though possibly not as broad a musical church represented as in previous years). Be interesting to see who next year's curators Autechre line up.       [posted in Bow :: London at 13:19]   Sunday, April 21, 2002    The Wonderful World Of Religion On The Internet 12 Apostles by its very nature adores religious developments on the internet and endevours to keep all our users up to date with the latest and funniest stories. We found this one on Peter's Net a Christian Search engine. Yes the Pope uses the language of the Middle Ages to embrace the 21st Century. Next they'll be hacking the Haj. Holy Father Encourages Church To Embrace Internet Creatively. Your Eminences, Brother Bishops, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 1. From the five continents you have come once more to Rome for the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. I thank Archbishop John Foley for his gracious words and for the leadership he has given as President of the Council, with the able cooperation of Bishop Pierfranco Pastore. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Council as a whole for the help you continue to offer me in my apostolic ministry. In today’s world, how is the Successor of Peter to accomplish his mission of preaching the Gospel and strengthening his brothers and sisters in the faith if not also through the media of social communication? I am deeply conscious of this, and therefore most grateful to you and to groups like the Knights of Columbus who generously support your work. The media and the new evangelization: concrete plans for the future 2. I welcome the theme which you have chosen for this Plenary Meeting: "The Media and the New Evangelization: Current Activities and Plans for the Future". For it is essential that we see our engagement with the world of the media as a vital part of that new evangelization to which the Holy Spirit is now summoning the Church throughout the world. As I stressed in my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, we must devise "a detailed pastoral plan...which will enable the proclamation of Christ to reach people, mould communities, and have a deep and incisive influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture" (No. 29). It is not enough to wait for things to happen or to act in a random way: now is the time for concrete and effective planning of the kind you are undertaking at this Plenary Meeting. The special challenge before you is to find ways to ensure that the voice of the Church is not marginalized or silenced in the modern arena of the media. You have a role to play in ensuring that the Gospel is not confined to a strictly private world. No! Jesus Christ must be proclaimed to the world; and therefore the Church must enter the great forum of the media with courage and confidence. Evangelize the media: provide the Church with inspiration and ideas 3. Not only must we use the media to communicate Christ to the world, but we must preach the Gospel to the world of the media itself. What I have said elsewhere of the Internet is true of the media as a whole: it is "a new ‘forum’ understood in the ancient Roman sense of... a crowded and bustling urban space, which both reflected the surrounding culture and created a culture of its own" (Message for World Communications Day 2002, 2). This media culture must itself be evangelized! And you are called to provide the Church with inspiration and ideas for that great work, drawing upon the highest standards of professionalism and the deepest resources of the Christian faith and Catholic tradition. This is a task to which the Pontifical Council has given itself with great energy. During this Plenary Meeting, for instance, you will publish two important documents which have been in preparation for some years: "Ethics in the Internet" and "The Church and the Internet". These are signs not only of your professional creativity, but of your commitment to preach the Good News in the fast-moving world of social communications. A genuinely human ethic will foster communion around the person of Christ and thwart alienation 4. The Gospel lives always in conversation with culture, for the Eternal Word never ceases to be present to the Church and to humanity. If the Church holds back from culture, the Gospel itself falls silent. Therefore, we must be fearless in crossing the cultural threshold of the communications and information revolution now taking place. "Like the new frontiers of other times, this one too is full of the interplay of danger and promise, and not without the sense of adventure which marked other great periods of change" (ibid.). For the Church, the adventure is to bring the truth of Christ to bear upon this new world, with all its promise and all its searching and questioning. This will especially involve the promotion of a genuinely human ethic which can build communion rather than alienation between individuals (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, 43), and solidarity rather than enmity between peoples. However, the fundamental question is this: "From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard?" (Message for World Communications Day 2002, 6). For in all our planning, we can never forget that Christ is the Good News! We have nothing to offer but Jesus, the one mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim 2:5). To evangelize is simply to enable him to be seen and heard, for we know that if there is no room for Christ, there is no room for man. Therefore, dear Brothers and Sisters, I urge you, in all your planning, to make room for Christ. In the print media, in radio and television, in the world of cinema and the Internet, seek to open doors to him who so mercifully is the door of salvation for us. Then the mass media will be a world of genuine communication, a world not of illusion but of truth and joy. I pray fervently that this will be so, and I entrust your work to Mary, Mother of the Word made flesh. I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing to all involved in the work of the Pontifical Council, as a pledge of Christ’s presence among you and his power upon all that you do in his name. © L'Osservatore Romano, Editorial and Management Offices, Via del Pellegrino, 00120, Vatican City, Europe, Telephone 39/6/698.99.390.         [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 04:12]    Unknown & Unsung Part 1 Ed Kuepper formally of the Saints and the Laughing Clowns made his annual foray down to Sydney from Brisbane last night and played with his new outfit , Ed Kuepper & the Exploding Universe. Compared to his last Sydney visit a year ago where he played solo at the Opera House the audience wouldn't have got a sense of the complexity and soul in his songwriting as the Exploding Universe if anything, imploded his songs. In the eighties whilst the NME was singing the praises of the other great Brisbane songwriter, Robert Forester, the co-founder of the Go-Betweens; Ed Kuepper was roundly ignored. This for the man who gave the guitar sound to one of the great punk bands, The Saints who penned the fabulous, Know Your Product and the classic I'm Stranded . Then again in the eighties whilst the rest of the world was running around with foppish hair and experimenting with cheap synthesizers. His band , The Laughing Clowns ran in the same direction of innovators such as the Raincoats and the Pop Group experimenting with difficult rhythms, horns and funk punk bass. Into the nineties and he's a one man band, touring and producing without much help from the wider world. If Nick Cave is ever asked to curate for the South Bank annual I suggest he pay for Mr Kuepper's airfare and put him on. Here's just a small sample of his work. Ed Kuepper's punkiest outing: I'm Stranded The Saints 1977. Best Cover : Highway To Hell 1995. Best Rock Singalong LP : Everybody's Got To 1988. Solo Genius LP: Honey Steel's Gold 1991.       [posted in Bondi :: Sydney at 03:29]   Monday, April 15, 2002    12 Apostles Chart :: Top Twelve 12"s  I Feel Love   Donna Summer   Miss You   Rolling Stones   Papua New Guinea   Future Sound of London   Tainted Love (Dub Version)   Soft Cell   Perfect Day   Visions of Shiva   Come Together   Primal Scream   Private Psychedelic Reel   Chemical Brothers   Passion   Gat Décor   Unfinished Sympathy   Massive Attack   Blue Monday   New Order   Police & Theives   Junior Marvin   Every Man & Woman is a Star   Ultramarine        [posted in Bow :: London at 20:31]   Saturday, April 13, 2002    Current viewing :: Papermag's online guide to NYC record shops. I'm not giving away where I go. Record stores on the lower eastside almost outdo west London http://www.papermag.com/guide/music/record_stores.html Shift magazine online from Tokyo http://www.shift.jp.org . It's in English too so we foreign devils can read it too. Articles crossing the lines and shifting the edges between art, design & music. Go to the borderworld with monthly updates from all the hip cities worldwide. Finally some soft porn for fashion heads in the form of Tokyo Cutie Girls who all look like nice girls and I hope are earning all that money they spend on those clothes. Jesus Christ Superstore http://www.jesuschristsuperstore.net the t-shirts aren't bad although not anywhere near the class of the forthcoming 12 Apostles line. Still I like their approach and the Christians aren't the only ones to suffer ho! ho!       [posted in Bow :: London at 08:32]    Religious songbook :: Here are some flimsy and not so flimsy religious song connections we thought of in the bath A) Judas Iscariote - Misty in Roots - Live at the counter eurovision 1979 B) WHATS THE NAME OF THE SONG SEAN?? - According to "Rise Up Singing" published by Sing Out publications the song was first printed in "English Country Songs" by Broadwood and Maitland in 1893. Here are the lyrics: - This song is sung by scouts One is one and all alone and evermore shall be 2, 2 the lily white boys, clothed all in green-o 3, 3 the rivals 4 for the Gospel makers 5 for the symbols at your door 6 for the 6 proud walkers 7 for the 7 stars in the sky 8 for the April raiders 9 for the 9 bright shiners 10 for the 10 Commandments 11 for the 11 that went up to heaven 12 for the 12 Apostles C) Fisherman - The Congos - Heart of the Congos 1977 D) Hostile Apostle - 311 - LP Choas Lyric extract " Hostile Apostle who are you following - negative energy that you're swallowing" E) Apostles Warning - Mobb Deep - LP Hell on Earth Lyric extract " Uhh God, uhh, y'know what we all gotta do son y'knowhutl' msayin? Word up! F) God Only Knows - The Beach Boys G) God Save The Queen - Sex Pistols (as it is the year of the golden Jubilee)       [posted in Bow :: London at 08:28]   Friday, April 12, 2002    Current viewing :: 404 pages, ever noticed that's double 202 or half 808 there's got to be something going on between drum machine manufacturers and the web's cul de sac. Learn more about 404's their history, design and more at http://www.plinko.net/404/       [posted in Bow :: London at 08:04]   Thursday, April 11, 2002    Welcome to the 12 Apostles experience. The search for 12 suitable Apostles to be part of this great adventure is now underway so if you like where we're going and wanna get involved then let us know. So far we have takers for two of the 12 slots and four others expressing an interest - we'll keep you all posted as things progress.       [posted in Bow :: London at 12:32]   [news archives]