Christmas is fast approaching.. For me its another sunny one. I wonder if I'll ever get used to it!? Dont get me wrong though..i am not complaining about spending another festive season in the sun on a beautiful beach at the bottom of the world. Though it is always tinged with the yearning for the dark,dank streets of London strewn with coloured lights and drunken sinners..
Anyway, I digress..
Compilation: you can find two of my songs on the summer indie folk compilation with World Sweet World magazine.
Want it now? Download the album for free right this minute at http://worldsweetworld.com/music
While you are waiting check out the rest of the site and find a good reason not to order a copy of the magazine for NZ$8! Nice one!
A gig at an art space: BareBones and Cabaret are playing at the opening night of Scott Serjeant's Painted Games exhibition at the Laundromat Art Project on 2nd Avenue,Tauranga on Thursday, December 17th.
Dave Rawlings: finally has a solo album out. Just go buy it! Seriously.
Merry Xmas

In or around May 2009 Glen from BareBones.. and I sat down with acoustic guitars,a harmonica and a couple of mics. Inspired by some Tabla Drums and a bunch of records on the floor we christened the recordings 'Tabla Motown Sessions'. The material lay in a cool,dark place for months on end. Until yesterday.
In the audio player you can find three songs from this session.
Save The Day.
Twisted.
Long Gone Lately.
If you would like to download these songs please let me know and I will make them available for free.
Nice eh?

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark,
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones.
twas then he felt alone and wished that hed gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate.

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin bright.
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate.

A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walkin by the arcade.
As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin up,
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate.

He woke up, the room was bare
He didnt see her anywhere.
He told himself he didnt care, pushed the window open wide,
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks,
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailers all come in.
Maybe shell pick him out again, how long must he wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate.

People tell me its a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.

Bob Dylan.

If you have not yet heard the acetate versions of Blood On The Tracks let me know.
I might be able to help you. MAn.. It never fails to make me shiver in my skin.

Hey! Whats new with you baby blue?

Here..it's September..it probably is there too? Am I right?
Well, it's fast approaching summer..thank god.. Personally I am over the winter.
It hasn't been too harsh..nothing on my old English winters of course..but the sun certainly will be appreciated! Speaking of sun and summer... BareBones and Cabaret always seem more of a viable option when the sun is shining!! Not that we aren't in the winter but the lack of activity in this ever expanding beach town through the cold months is enough to put a man off of life altogether!! That said..

We have a gig at The Waihi Beach Hotel on September 24th.
It's going to be great. The support act is undecided right now but will be announced a.s.a.p. Keep an eye out.

As a band we have all had our issues to deal with this year. I reminder that we are but pieces being played in a game of enormous proportions!!

The past few sessions that we have managed to claim have produced alot of material and a slightly different sound.. a more guitar driven crunchy psychedelic minimal approach.As well as the acoustic folk that is ever present..lurking in the shadows as we storm through rock n roll workouts and crowd favourites like 'Tired Of Waiting' 'NewSongNumberOne' and the occasional foray into motown(Dancing In The Streets), albeit more like Crazy Horse or The Clash than the likes of Martha And The Vandellas or Smoky Robinson!

I was lucky enough to recieve quite a superb present from my old ma in the mail!
Nuggets Volume One. The tasty box set version.
For the most part of this year I have found myself trawling through old psychedelic and modjazz/beat compilations seeking inspiration from a bunch of bands ranging from the commonly known to  the rare as rocking horse shit!! An unlikely hobbie that happened before I knew it! I strongly recommend you try the same!! I am currently listening to..

Nuggets Volume One.
13th Floor Elevators - Sign of the 3 eyed men promo.
Kent - Mod Jazz volumes 1 & 2.
Rosewood Thieves - House Of Decker e.p
Neil Young - After The Goldrush.
Paul Weller - The Heavy Soul e.p's.
The Coral - The Invisable Invasion.
Ocean Colour Scene - You Got It Bad e.p's (standard and ltd edition versions).
Josh Rouse - Nashville.
The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup.
Vetiver - Tight Knit.
The Meters - Rejuvination.
The Yardbirds - Roger The Engineer.
Graham Nash - Songs For Beginners(an album only just getting recognised as a classic)
Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra - Fairytales & Fantasies.
Booker T & The MG's - Green Onions (1962 album)
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969.

Thats just about where I am at.

Much Love

Matt

This different colour clickable thing below is ...
The BareBones and Cabaret Myspace link.  

Hey! Whats new with you baby blue?

Here..it's September..it probably is there too? Am I right?
Well, it's fast approaching summer..thank god.. Personally I am over the winter.
It hasn't been too harsh..nothing on my old English winters of course..but the sun certainly will be appreciated! Speaking of sun and summer... BareBones and Cabaret always seem more of a viable option when the sun is shining!! Not that we aren't in the winter but the lack of activity in this ever expanding beach town through the cold months is enough to put a man off of life altogether!! That said..

We have a gig at The Waihi Beach Hotel on September 24th.
It's going to be great. The support act is undecided right now but will be announced a.s.a.p. Keep an eye out.

As a band we have all had our issues to deal with this year. I reminder that we are but pieces being played in a game of enormous proportions!!

The past few sessions that we have managed to claim have produced alot of material and a slightly different sound.. a more guitar driven crunchy psychedelic minimal approach.As well as the acoustic folk that is ever present..lurking in the shadows as we storm through rock n roll workouts and crowd favourites like 'Tired Of Waiting' 'NewSongNumberOne' and the occasional foray into motown(Dancing In The Streets), albeit more like Crazy Horse or The Clash than the likes of Martha And The Vandellas or Smoky Robinson!

I was lucky enough to recieve quite a superb present from my old ma in the mail!
Nuggets Volume One. The tasty box set version.
For the most part of this year I have found myself trawling through old psychedelic and modjazz/beat compilations seeking inspiration from a bunch of bands ranging from the commonly known to  the rare as rocking horse shit!! An unlikely hobbie that happened before I knew it! I strongly recommend you try the same!! I am currently listening to..

Nuggets Volume One.
13th Floor Elevators - Sign of the 3 eyed men promo.
Kent - Mod Jazz volumes 1 & 2.
Rosewood Thieves - House Of Decker e.p
Neil Young - After The Goldrush.
Paul Weller - The Heavy Soul e.p's.
The Coral - The Invisable Invasion.
Ocean Colour Scene - You Got It Bad e.p's (standard and ltd edition versions).
Josh Rouse - Nashville.
The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup.
Vetiver - Tight Knit.
The Meters - Rejuvination.
The Yardbirds - Roger The Engineer.
Graham Nash - Songs For Beginners(an album only just getting recognised as a classic)
Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra - Fairytales & Fantasies.
Booker T & The MG's - Green Onions (1962 album)
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Live At The Avalon Ballroom 1969.

Thats just about where I am at.

Much Love

Matt

if you click this link it will take you to...
The BareBones and Cabaret Myspace link.  

Well, I've been living here on the beach...for a while now...
Yet those seagulls are still out of reach...
Nothing really changes.. Not anymore..

How are you? Hows your part of the world? Let me know.. I am genuinely interested!
Me? I have been working on the songs for 'The Garden Path' ep.
As well as the two that are streaming on my-space.. ie - 'Shipwrecks' & 'Lose Control' I have completed a version of 'To The Light' which I am really happy with.. albeit ten minutes long! Glen and I recorded the base acoustics and vocals in a kind of improvised jam session - add drums,electric guitar,bass and a splash of rhodes piano... Its done.

There are other tracks.. 'My Love' , 'Twisted', 'Long Gone Lately' ... another sparse acoustic number which has yet to be named... It's shaping up. I am pretty happy so far.

It's always hard to decide where to go with some songs. BareBones And Cabaret are just such a good band..then I would say that...I do struggle to decide which format the songs are best to take.. solo or band. Then again, I do tend to write alot of songs so its all good. There always plenty to go round.

'The Leaves - Acoustic Demo' - which can be heard over at the band page it my currant favourite.
We are going to work on that as a band. I am excited about that. It should be good.

In other news.. We are going into the studio soon to record our debut ep as a band!
Hopefully we will get what we are after from it... nothing synthy or crap. Just pure music. A few full on Rock n Roll numbers, A few down-tempo tracks..and yeh - Whatever else works!

So, Lately I have been listening to...

The Sonics - BOOM!
The 13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere.
Moby Grape - Self titled debut.
Jimi Hendrix/Stephen Stills - Basement tapes.
The Who - Live At Leeds.
Marvin Gaye - Whats Going On.
Gram Parsons - Another Side Of This Life.
The Rolling Stones - Rolled Gold + Exile On Main Street.
Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs.
Doves - Lost Souls.
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks / Blood On The Acetates(New York Sessions).
Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell prt1.
The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday.
The Jam At The BBC.

Reading...

White Bicycles(making music in the 1960's) by Joe Boyd
Exile On Main Street(A season in hell with The Rolling Stones) by Robert Greenfield
A Syd Barrett book that I forget the name of..and authors.. oops!

I'll leave it there. I need another coffee and cigarette.

Love
x