~LIMITED PRESSING OF 100x QLTY BLACK 7" RECORDS, MANUFACTURED IN MELBOURNE, AU - INCLUDES DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD, SMALL TEXT INSERT ON GREY XEROX PAPER & TRANSPARENT c.i. STICKER w/ PRO-PRINTED FULL COLOUR WRAPAROUND COVER ART ON SMOOTH SEMI-GLOSS PAPER, BACKED WITH EXTRA-THICK TEXTURED OFF-WHITE CARDSTOCK AS A PROTECTIVE LAYER [FOR BOTH RECORD+COVER ART]. CHEM IMBAL EMBOSSING ON THE BACKSIDE, PLUS ZIG-ZAG TRIMMED EDGES - ALL SNUGLY STORED WITHIN CLEAR QUALITY PLASTIC SLEEVES ..
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Includes unlimited streaming of Amateur Childbirth: 'Final Dust' single
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Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
AT LAST, IT’S HERE, THE FIRST EVER LABEL RELEASE ON 7” WAX! HURRAH! Super excited / highly recommend [No bias, I don’t push trash. Haven't worked as a janitor in years. Sorry...]
the bittersweet ear candy found within the grooves of this sweet black 7” vinyl single, entitled ‘Final Dust’ is the latest offering, from talented QLD based wordsmith Ivan Matthew Hicks, perhaps better known as Amateur Childbirth… a very Brisbane-esque DIY folk flavoured release from Amateur Childbirth. If you’ve been in a coma for almost a decade – he has furthered his original 1 pissed-off bloke, a mic in which seemingly breathlessly vents out all his bottled up frustrations not attempting to be a showpony by hitting high or low notes just lets ‘em spurt out in his poetic, monotone, notably Australian voice whilst strumming the shit out of a cheap-ish(?) acoustic guitar as heard on his debut 2010 self-released LP ‘Brighter Futures Dialysis’.. expect a slightly more "polished-off" version then previous/early musical explorations into the dark, doom-y side of existence. There is a certain (at least in my head..?) underlying nod to the “neofolk” genre.. introduced to many of us via classic mid/late 1980s-era Death In June – think; the guitar-based tracks heard on ‘Nada!’ [1985] or ‘Brown Book’ [1987] albums - don't know if this is intentional or a happy accident, not that it matters, but to me is a big plus, resulting in highly listenable tune/s for those of you more inclined to throw the TV at the wall when hearing Pharrell Williams “Happppyyy” song fuckin’ play for the billionth time, dammit! Listening to this may offer up a dose of reality-syrup and provide the gloomy, dark-tinged feeling from within you. Dope, loner party-of-1 B@NgAh whilst sitting in the darkness, as you sip away your sorrows with a bottle of whiskey and an overflowing ashtray of durries. Mmm. So much that you are able to remember back to when the aforementioned “Happy-man” was producing quality material in the Neptunes or N.E.R.D. & not pumping out cringe-worthy ear bleeding commercial radio formulated records. “A curious aberration” perfectly sums up the spectral dissonance evident throughout the 2-track 7" single. Highlighting darkness like verbalising an open wound, here Amateur Childbirth aurally challenges its listeners with his downer/frustration filled signature monotone “ocker” vocal style, often with a bit of tongue-in-cheek or piss-taking thrown into the mix, perhaps hinted by the cheeky/hilariously titled B-side track ‘Flowchart For Royal Incest’ but still an overall feeling of misery, displayed across each.. in the best way possible that is *NOTE; suitable sub-sub-genre i've heard this being referred to as 'Death folk'* which seems rather suitable – yet it’s easily one of the most “accessible” chem imbal label release to date [just in case anyone who might immediately assume it’s some harsh noise/ sinecore/ field recording of insects / broken, wonky not-quiet techno beats or any other improv “hippie/weirdo/drug fried people" smashing glass or whatever! It’s not!] Ya Mum might even not hate it so buy her one for mother’s day then play/keep for yourself as she politely says “Oooh that’s nice. Thank you..?” & sure to have you spinning it on high rotation after a listen or two.. fellow contemporary BNE underground acts seem to do this ["sad" &/or "pissed off/at breaking point" music] very well, think the Wonderfuls/ D.McGirr solo; Kitchens Floor; Extrafoxx; Gravel Samwidge; Scrabbled; Meat Thump, Bremen Town Musician to name just a few others off the top of my head.. maybe there’s something In their water which counteracts with their anti-depressant meds or perhaps it's the humid heatwaves / bushfires & floods / boredom, isolation or unemployment / mixed with booze & other self-medication.. pills 'n potions of choice, trying to numb /block out the sometimes repetitive internal dialogue patterns of negative dark thoughts with no pause button, when left alone with oneself and leads to self-reflection/ overthink about life/ past fuck ups/ thing's out of one's control to change, only to left to dwell. these are a couple of "anthems" to accompany this moment, when stuck in that wave of negativity but being unable to stop heading further 'n further into that dark rabbit's hole!
...Anyway, just look through previous album’s track titles/listen to lyrics & you’ll soon get the idea… he’s slowly gathered the title to international audiences as “’Straya’s Best Kept Secret” which has captured the attention [though deserves a lot more!!?] of “bigtime” O/S labels like London’s Blackest Ever Black, with the now more fleshed out, refined 3-piece band version… on this recording he is accompanied by Benjamin Casey on synth and Nicholas Rowan on drums, as opposed to his prior 1-man-band. Perhaps a lazy comparison but to the uninitiated Amateur Childbirth is QLD’s answer to Melbourne’s LAKES [ie. Sean Bailey], yet A.C. still in his prime taking his time to perfect something worth releasing, particularly when on beautiful warm fuzzy vinyl <3
ONLY 100 COPIES MADE. RUUUUUUUUUUUUN TO GET ONE NOW OR CLICKEDYCLCIKCLICK TO ORDER ONLINE.
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*Thanks to K. Neil for the initial words.. then were given the unnecessarily long ramblin' rants of a borderline unstable humanoid, aka done sum ch3m umbalanceingz. and voilà!
CH.IMB.103
- A massive thank you to Ivan! -
credits
released April 23, 2019
" amateur childbirth - final dust
two songs about time travel paradoxy
------------------------------------
ivan matthew hicks - guiro, words & guitar
nicholas rowan - drumkit
benjamin casey - synthesizer
marly luske - recording & mix
mitch soden - art
the year - 2019 "
Sydney based DIY outsider label/ ltd edition tapes, CDRs, vinyl etc/ OZ+NZ "experimental" sounds/ est
2015
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