Apologies for the lack of posts recently. It seems that most of my time these days is spent either attending album launches or ensuring that the album to be launched makes it to said launch.

Rainbow Danger Club’s new album, Where Maps End (download here), left the Luwan Rock mastering suite in late February and was released unto the world a few weeks later with a great show at Live Bar. I was doing sound that evening and I received some compliments but honestly I didn’t do very much. Most of the EQ knobs (the green ones) spent the evening turned to the left – anything else produced feedback. You can see it in the only photo I took that evening. The idea is that you photograph the desk or write down the settings as they change between the bands. I just stood back and let the bands work their magic.

Only a week later, Moon Tyrant launched their new album, Future Superhuman, mixed and mastered at Luwan Rock. The guys, along with Friend or Foe, Dragon Pizza and Weghur, put on a great show at YYT. They really got into some cool costumes that included lots of silver face/body paint. Here’s singer, Ivan, looking gruesome -

And then last weekend was the AM444 launch at Shelter. I didn’t make it to the event but Jake Newby just alerted me to the fact that you can listen to it online here. I had nothing to do with this album but don’t let that stop you listening. It’s really tasty.

This weekend sees the final Luwan Rock release for 2011 first quarter – Break For Borneo’s Life Gets In The Way. This album was made over two periods – the first batch of four songs completed around a year ago and the second batch of five wrapped up in December. I really like this record a lot and find the songs quite infectious. I guess that’s going to happen after listening to anyone’s music a few hundred times. See if it works for you – download it for free and then come and sing along at their show at Yuyintang on Saturday night along with a heap of other bands and DJs including Duck Fight Goose, Boys Climbing Ropes, Rainbow Danger Club and Acid Pony Club. (BTW I know what the new cover is. I merely used that image above to alude to the fact that they’re making a new cover for the album, as it’s actually been available for a while on the bandcamp page with an older, soon-to-be-replaced cover.)

So what’s next? I’m currently working really closely with The Fever Machine to complete their full length record in the coming months after working with them last year on some demos and doing sound for them at many shows. Dan Shapiro and I recently did some vocal sessions at Simply Sound near Suzhou Creek. It’s a great facility and comes highly recommended from both of us. Here’s some action shots courtesy of drummer, Miguel.

And when the Fever Machine’s album is done, I’m looking to start work on the second album of my favourite band named after a large, extinct reptile-like thing.