‘The abandoned ice hockey rink (in summer)’

Abandoned and/or disused recreational facilities have a deep melancholy. Their usage long since passed, the screams and shouts have long ago faded and they often stand in lonely remembrance of good times and lives that have now disappeared, or at least changed forever, moved on.

Amusement parks with their fading rides, cracked fibreglass animals suspended in slow decline; boarded up boardwalks, ice cream shops shuttered forever against the bloody sea wind;  old sporting amenities, the arena of minor legendary feats remembered by maybe only one person on earth, their paint peeling and with weeds now ruling the roost.

One such of the latter is an old ice hockey rink near Hämeenkyrö in Finland, in the grounds of what used to be a school, and which is now the Arteles Arts Center. A further tone of poignancy is provided by the fact that, in summer, an abandoned ice hockey rink seems even more redundant.

Some images of that… (Click on images for larger versions)

‘I Will Always Go Seeking Water’ (even in Finland)

My desire to find a body of water in which to immerse myself – or just to simply look at – is one of the strongest I have.

Even whilst in rural Finland, many miles from the sea, I still feel the urge to find water. Of some description.

‘Empty Bars’: a traveller’s lament

Seeing as though I have returned to Finland, here is another reprise of something I did here last year.

Empty Bars…

Finland revisited – ‘The Last Tim Tam’

I am heading back to Finland in a few hours’ time – and here’s hoping it is warmer than when I was last there in February last year. It was minus 25, so ANYTHING will be an improvement. This is a video that captures the sense that I was far far away from home…

‘Ode to a cup of tea’, reprise

Reprising a work from a year or so ago, because winter has come to Sydney and we all need to warm up right now.

‘Founders and Survivors’ – new track

A project pulled together by Mick Thomas, in conjunction with his brother Steve, ‘Founders and Survivors’ looks at the history of Convict settlement in Tasmania. An amazing project in text on the web and in song on record/online, it seeks to trace the stories of convicts who came to Tasmania and who survived to have families whose descendants went on to form an integral part of Tasmanian society.

Mick asked me to pen something for the project, giving me the case of one Beni Griffiths (pictured) to take on in a bid to create something out of his story. That I did, and Mick and I ended up ‘co-writing’ what I feel is a top little tune, with key vocals from Alannah Russack throughout.

Called ‘Can you see across the sea’, it can be heard here …

http://www.founders-storylines.com/accessible/index.php/storyline/id/startingwithmurder/songline

Enjoy!

Oncoming trucks

Oncoming trucks – the truest view of an Australian desert drive

New Aerial Maps video clip

A new video clip to the Aerial Maps’ tune ‘Some Other Dream’. This song was on the first album ‘In the Blinding Sunlight’, but this is a different version to the album track. The video clip was shot in Shanghai. A Shanghai … surprise.

Aerial Maps gigs: ‘February’s Fortune’

As the new year grinds into the reality of February, as the cogs of Australia start to lock into action, as the coastal caravan parks empty out, the holiday houses are locked, the kids head back to school and as the populace in general returns to Real Life, so too will the Aerial Maps be moving into action.

Yes, it’s been a considerable while, but the Maps are gearing up for a run of shows that will herald the start of, hopefully, a busy year of gigs. We’re tweaking things a little, gonna play old stuff and new stuff, with a stripped-back lineup, and generally mix things around. There will however, of course, still be stories of coastal drives, of barefeet and bindi-eyes, of London in the night, of the Great Dividing Range, of the search for the greatest neenish tart and of loves long lost and of those recently found, and more… Some ‘February Fortune’…

So we invite you to join us for one or more of these occasions. The first is a Sydney show supporting Mick Thomas and the Roving Commission at the Coogee Diggers on Friday, February 15; a show we would attend even if not playing, so to play is an absolute pleasure and a bonus. Mick has always been a great supporter of the Maps and we’re very happy to be playing this show.

Following that, it’s off the Melbourne the next weekend, where we are honoured to have been asked to support the fabulous Livingstone Daisies, a group consisting of the likes of Van Walker, Liz Stringer, Cal Walker and Michael Barclay. It’s their album launch and with such personnel onboard, the music is truly rather special indeed. That show is at the Northcote Social Club, a damn fine place for a band and a beer.

The following day, Saturday, February 23, we are doing an afternoon show at the iconic and downright wonderful Pure Pop Records in St Kilda. We’ve played there on our first tour of Melbourne a few years ago and it was one of the highlights of our year.

There’s another show on the drawing board for the Sunday arvo or evening at the Post Office Hotel, but details of that aren’t finalised yet. Also not finalised yet are a long-prophesized Brisbane run of shows. We’re still working on that, but will announce the details if/when they come to hand.

So, anyway … please join us on the ‘February’s Fortune’ tour and come along to any or all of the shows you can.

Precis of the details …

Friday, February 15, at the Coogee Diggers Club, Coogee, Sydney, supporting Mick Thomas and the Roving Commission, 8pm.

Friday, February 22, at the Northcote Social Club, Northcote, Melbourne, supporting the Livingstone Daisies, 8pm.

Saturday, February 23, at Pure Pop Records, St Kilda, Melbourne, headline show, 3pm.

Sunday, February 24, at Post Office Hotel, Melbourne, before Mike Noga, afternoon set, 4pm.

More specific details soon…

30 Days of Summer*

In winter I did a project which signified the beginning of winter … it was called “30 Days of Winter”. Whilst I have slightly missed the boat with the start of summer a few days ago, I am going to start a new summer-specific project now.

The idea is to do one “finished/complete/tied-up-nicely” piece of “artwork” a day. The winter effort threw up some interesting things, some pretty shit, some ok, and some that I felt were good and that have formed part of ongoing work.

So I tried to do a summer version … the first instalment is here, Saigon Teapot

* But due to various circumstances, this project was not completed.  Summer is about ennui, and it sure hit me. Thus, non-completion. Oh well.