Thursday, November 5, 2009

Oceanic Confessions

Confession: back in the day, I used to plaster up photocopies of shipwrecks and my own mediocre oceanic poetry on the city walls at night. I think, for a moment, the empire literally shuddered as I smashed the state through my images and words of maritime disaster. Heaps punk. Or not, depending on how punk you think oceans and shipwrecks are... but, damn, for a period that was what it was all about for me. People dragging themselves from the ocean. Survivors. Immensity. Around this time June of '44 were releasing oceanic themed albums, the Shipping News formed from June of '44 and released two epic seafaring records, and Dirty Three's Ocean Songs and the Boxhead Ensemble soundtrack to Braden King and Laura Moya's Dutch Harbour could be heard burbling away in the loungerooms of inner city Melbourne. Now it's all cowboys or discos with the kids, but since my heart is still verging on the oceanic, and, again, in the spirit of excess, I thought I'd leave out one of my old posters...

1 comment:

Glendyn Ivin said...

Great post Rhys. I remember sitting crossed legged on the floor watching Dutch Harbour projected on a sheet above some Bar in Brunswick street way back in the day!

May I contribute to the list of great Seafaring albums. Mastodon's 'Leviathan', a big concept album about big men, big boats, big seas and a really big white whale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkimIxWne30&feature=related

Also if you ever want to stick poetry up in the city again, give me call! VIVA THE REVOLUTION!