These photos were taken by Andrew Ross

These photos supplied by Meatbix. Ta.

We are missing photo's of Armpit, if anyone has any please email me the JPGs and I'll chuck em up.. Also if anyone has any other photos from Meatwaters that you think would look good posted here, then pass them on. Cheers. Kieran Meatwaters Trilogy 2004 By Dave Edwards It’s that time of year again – Meatwaters. I come in to Happy on Thursday as Disasteradio’s set gets going. It’s electronica that doesn’t go üns-üns-üns, but rather has a kind of bouncy swagger to it much like Luke Rowell himself. I can just imagine Mark E. Smith biliously toasting over it. One good thing about the Meatwaters festival is that the acts are all totally different from each other - while the umbrella of the festival shows that the differences are just fine detail, they’re all part of a wider canvas. The two members of Armpit come from opposite directions, Dunedin and Hamilton, and meet in the middle with a couple of nicely evocative feedback/atmos pieces. I like the first one better than the second but couldn’t tell you any more detail than that, this is music that lives in the moment. Throughout the festival, performers are accompanied by Mike Heynes’ video projections which alternate between imagery of blood, cadavers and meat in unsanitary-looking conditions on one hand, and light/colour/energy patterns on the other. Each band gets a different projection and they all seem strangely appropriate for the music. If I Had A Gun’s ‘good ol punk rock’ image belies the fact that they have a pretty good dynamic sense and range of moods happening. It rocks but could have done with a bit more volume to give it physical impact. Golden Axe then follow with the festival’s most spiritual/religious set, using keyboard synths and prams with fairy lights, and wearing full head bandages. It’d be great to come across them busking under a bridge or in a random dark alley somewhere. Then a perfectly-timed shriek from Diamanda Galas goes out over the PA after their set. It feels somehow cleansing. The Fingers finish off the night with a fascinating trawl through a range of rock styles, from New Wave to Chuck Berry to blues and a hint of Messaien, all without actually quoting any of them directly. Chris Palmer’s guitar and scat-singing shows an enormous range of musical influences being twisted 90 degrees and given a mainline caffeine injection, and festival curator Kieran Monaghan matches him all the way on drums. I’d buy their album for sure. The second night is the most epic in terms of length. The Nether Dawn’s set makes a good overture, Antony Milton starts with a nugget of singer/songwriterism and then blows everything up through a microscope to reveal the vast terrain of peaks & valleys on the surface of a seemingly flat piece of paper. Milton then joins the ten-piece Ascension Band, who have a seedy 70’s pimp look about them. About the only way they could be construed as a John Coltrane tribute is that they have no sax players. I can’t comment further since I was one of them – but if anyone’s found my clock radio (timing device) and electric razor (noisemaker through guitar pickups) please let me know. Campbell Kneale’s solo project Ming gets the award for the festival’s loudest act; I suspect some covert negotiation/bribery going on between him and the sound guy. I’m not sure the difference between Ming and Birchville Cat Motel, possibly this is less of a monolithic glacial drone and more a tapestry. It somehow has the texture of really good rock guitar and there’s a lot happening in there. The long comedown is just as important as the buildup, as the noise calms down and gradually resolves itself into sounds of laughter. Is the audience in on the joke? After this Backyard Burial’s metal set comes across as strangely peaceful. And then Gfrenzy’s alt-country is downright pretty, at least until they start singing about chopping people’s balls off. The Flower Orphans represent a new paradigm for many of the regular free-improv crew from the Space if you can remember that far back. This is no longer free music, it’s very structured but the lessons learned from long periods of improvising together have been taken into account and used as building blocks for something new. Their ongoing Thursday residency at Tupelo is taking on a legendary status of its own. And it’s great to see the way organist Nigel Patterson’s been branching out in the last year or so. Saturday night I start the evening with a trip to the Michael Fowler centre to see the NZSO perform Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’. It’s not strictly anything to do with Meatwaters but it could happily fit in. Squeezing the whole orchestra inside Happy might be a stretch though. With its sudden dynamic shifts, staccato bowing attacks on the strings, brass & percussion blasts, and unresolved tensions my Californian friend Jesse called it “the birth of heavy metal”. We head over to Happy where Cortina get the evening going with a cohesive set which benefits from Richard Falkner’s return from Melbourne. Ian Goldsmith looks like he’s having fun dancing, they should let him play an instrument next. Guitarist Ace Hurt, who bears a surprising resemblance to Peter Jackson, comes up to me afterwards to talk about William Blake. For his duo with Kieran, Jeff Henderson plays bass guitar, reminding us that he’s not just a brilliant breakdancer/saxophonist/pianist/everything-elseist. It’s aggressive distorted funk improv but doesn’t quite reach the heights of the San Francisco bass/drums duo Sabot who were here a while ago. The omission of saxophones throughout the festival is interesting though, given the strong presence the instrument has in the Wellington scene, and in an odd way helps define the festival through ‘negative space’. Go Genre Everything are the penultimate act, with some dirty surf rock that gets people dancing – so that’s what that short Aussie guy who was hanging around by the door the other night tape-recording conversations was here for. Then Meatbix from Auckland conclude the festival. As well as the inevitable cow getting chopped up and sped-up porno imagery, the face of Buckminster Fuller appears a few times on the video projector – another intriguing piece in the grand Meatwaters jigsaw. There’s a great Celtic feel to Meatbix’s music, which blends perfectly with the metal element. I’m impressed by Dogphart’s guitar playing, he sounds truly on fire – as you’d hope a man would be on his wedding night. He and vocalist Tenessee Pussy get married on stage a couple of songs in, making this September 11th a truly singular event and a celebratory high note on which to end the festival. Punk’s come a long way since the ‘no future’ days... Here it is, the line up!!! In no alphabetical order: Ascension Band Wellington Specially formed for Meatwaters, the Ascension Band brings together a number of Wellington's creative artists to see what they can come up with all together at once. Based on the premise that John Coltrane's late works have inspired players from all disciplines, with and without jazz training. Divided we stand, united we...? Members include Dave Edwards, San Shimla (The Winter, The Circus Machine), Antony Milton (Claypipe, Swagger Jack, the Pseudoarcana label), Sam Stephens, Nigel Patterson (Flower Orphans, Dirty Republic, Scherzanduo) and more tbc. Armpit Dunedin. Members: CJA & Sugar Jon - gtrs,loops,mikes,keyboards,organs,voices etc... releases: numerous cassettes, a handful of 7"s, 2 CDRs and 1 8" on Root Don Lonie For Cash (NZ), 20 City (Japan), American Tapes(US), Freedom From(US), Extemp.noise (NZ), Celebrate Psi Phenomenon (NZ), Insample (NZ) & Stabbies & the Rocket (NZ). "started in hamilton 93 thereabouts after listening to & falling in love with the 'lovechild does moondog' 7". had the idea of short drone pieces but ended up just having fun & making messes. armpit have tried rock lineups & enjoyed that too but always seem unstable & unruly, we always end up back to the original duo. we still find it hard to play together & hardly play live due to shyness & frustration. the best thing about armpit is now a couple US tape labels want to release our music, confusing & baffling americans & comparing us (unjustifiably) to a well known nz rock trio. we get nice reveiws on the internet. armpit have a forthcoming LP (yes real vinyl) coming out on freedom from records" Backyard Burial Wellington: Metal Metal Metal, it is an art form all of its own The Nether Dawn :Wellington One of the manifestations of Antony Milton Cortina Wellington Disasteradio WellingtonDisasteradio was formed in late 1999, and has made quite a stir on mp3.com and IUMA. Disasteradio consists of one man, adhering and innovating with the tradition of electronic pop music, using both software and hardware synthesizers. This is not drum n bass or trance. Luke was born on 30 March 1983 and is influenced by Jeroen Tel, Martin Galway, Science Documentaries, Logosounds, Electricity, Thrift Stores and Coffee. The Fingers Wellington: This installment: K Monaghan with the fantastic guitarist Chris Palmer The Flower Orphans Wellington GFrenzy The Band! Go Genre Everything Aussie-surf-goth-rock Golden Axe AucklandGolden Axe is an Auckland based noise/pop keyboard duo featuring the talents of Chris Cudby and Dave King. Their live shows have taken place both on the street and in venues, highlights have included: walking frames, fancy lighting, prams, a rotating AWESOME sign, unintelligible singing, plant life and elaborate headgear. Large chunks of the Auckland landscape have already been torn free by the catchy tunage and wave-form generosity of this battery-powered unit. Wellington's next. Don't be a sucka. Golden Axe's performance at Meatwaters will coincide with an exhibition of their work at Enjoy gallery running from 1 September untill 17 September. Their self-released CD "Golden Shakehands LP" is currently available. IF I had a gun...!? Wellington If I Had A Gun are a four-piece out of Wellington, playing what the band describe as, "a mix of fast as fuck thrash mixed with crust/grind influences and good ol' punk rock". Featuring ex- and current members of prominent Capital bands such as, Padded Cell, The Carnys, The Perpetrators and Hung Jury, If I Had A Gun also feature local legend Blair Jones (Padded Cell/Deaf Terrorists) on vocal duty. Kieran Monaghan/ Jeff Henderson Wellington Kieran Drums Jeff Bass improvise tones, textures, tempo's, terror Meatbix Auckland Idiocy and class are strange bedfellows, yet the combination has produced some of the greatest icons of human history. ITEM: Napoleon Bonaparte conquered much of Europe and yet was thwarted in his entirely feasible foray into Russia by virtue of his having outfitted his troops in uniforms with buttons made of tin. ITEM: Andy Warhol pioneered and popularised the use of LSD, but did crap art. ITEM: Sir Richard Hadlee claimed 431 test wickets in 86 matches for New Zealand at an average of 22.29. He also played 115 one-day matches, taking 158 wickets at 21.56. Knighted in 1990, he is now chief of selectors for New Zealand cricket. And he still has that moustache. ITEM: Meat-bix. Ming Lower Hutt ming is nowhere. ming doesn't need you. ming doesn't want anything. ming is not a t-shirt. ming is not a movie ming is not a security threat. ming is not funny. ming is not good. ming has not read 'Manufacturing Consent'. ming doesn't like noise. ming doesn't like quiet. ming likes Iron Maiden. ming likes Prince. ming makes you sick. ming makes you stupid. ming is a refund. ming is a dead rapper. ming is 5.30pm. ming is next. ming is last. ming was here. ming is over. Mike Heynes Video artist: Wellington