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big al creed

  • big al top ten 2018As another year draws to a close, your friend and mine, Mr. Craig T. Barman has requested I compile my top ten list for 2018 to be published on the esteemed I-94 Bar.

    So, I turned my mind to the events of the year – and there have been as many standouts as low points – however, I think a lot of those have already been covered in a very heartfelt way by some of my compatriots here.

    Needless to say, the loss of so many great musicians this past year – and the stellar support lent to those in dire need of it – has exemplified the way the “rock n roll community”, both performers and punters alike, pull together and lend of themselves a little bit more for who and what they love when the going gets tough. It’s been both saddening and heartening in one.

    Now onto the list: I was reading a recent post on the social medias about a study that posited most people ceased seeking out new music around the age of 28-years-old. “What bollocks!”, I exclaimed to the socials.

    Well, this may be true of a lot of people – but not the kind of people I know (and I’m sure not you, kind reader, being a lurker on the I-94). These are the ones who are forever curious; always hungry for the new; always the ones with the gleam in their eye when they are telling you about some new band or artist “you’ve just gotta hear!”; the ones who never declare “rock is dead!” or “there is nothing new that’s any good!”

    I thank all of those people for keeping me in the loop of what’s going on because I too crave and thrive on new music; whether it’s all new or undiscovered (for me) gems from bygone eras.

  • crawling back to youCrawling Back To You – Stu & The Connections (Crankinhaus Records)

    There’s a lot of ground covered on this mini-album (digital only) from Stu Wilson and his all-star collective The Connections. The drummer with Lime Spiders, New Christs, The Crisps, Loose Pills, Leadfinger, Aberration and Chris Masuak & Dog Soldier, Stu contributes lead vocals, keyboards harmonica, drums and percussion..

    Looking at his c.v., you might have certain expectations. Leave your preconceptions at the door. This is a cohesive collection of  seven songs that cajole and captivate rather than assault. 

  • trauma magnetTrauma Magnet – Van Ruin (Crankinhaus Records)

    It has been an explosive 12 months for Van Ruin, a band formed in Sydney only a year ago that almost immediately began recording their first mini album. Band leader Phil Van Rooyen had a batch of deeply personal songs he had written about his years of counselling substance abuse in the underbelly of the city's Northern Beaches.

    Phil threw himself into a flurry of  writing and recording, working with his decades-long mate and Al Creed, of local legendary bands like Dr Fruitworld and Panadolls,as well as the New Christs.

    Enter Stuart Wilson (Lime Spiders, New Christs, Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier and The Crisps)on drums. There were a couple of the raggedy, under-rehearsed gigs that were hanging by a thread at times, and as thrilling as they were they did not capture the brutal darkness and brilliance of what would the debut EP,  “Jails, Death and Institutions”.