Recently, The Daily Telegraph berated NSW Premier Nathan Rees for opting to spend taxpayer money on a three-week music festival helmed by Brian Eno, rather than a three-day visit by star golfer Tiger Woods. Readers were asked whether they’d prefer Eno with the snide tagline: “Nothin’ packs ’em in better than the father of ambient music” or Woods (tagline: “how is this even a question?”). At the time of writing, Woods is at a strong lead with 562 votes, while Eno languishes with 181. At Cyclic Defrost, we have our fingers crossed for an Eno victory, though it looks unlikely. Teeth grind in anticipation.
It’d be easy to say this populist attitude hinders Australia’s experimental music, but exploration still prospers on the fringes. In this issue, Queensland sound artist and painter Eugene Carchesio discusses the differences between his audio and visual art from his hometown, Brisbane, a city reputed for conservatism but also home to a burgeoning underground experimental scene, a community that fellow Brisbanite Anonymeye – also covered here – would be familiar with.
Ghosts lurk elsewhere: the spectres of early 20th Century ballroom jazz haunt V/VM’s The Caretaker project, while Emmy Hennings speaks to Jim Jupp: co-founder of the Ghost Box label and brain behind Belbury Poly. Richard McFarlane looks at the sudden resurgence of the cassette and wonders why – in an age of unprecedented access to digital music – anyone would choose to disseminate music on an obsolete format. Issue 22 also includes a very special Selects by Melbourne author Christos Tsiolkas. Be sure to take a long hard look at this month’s cover design by Sydney’s fabulous We Buy Your Kids.
Matt, Seb, Shaun & Lexi
Editors
