Music

In addition to making comics, I also write and record my own music, occasionally in collaboration with others, but for the most part it is a solo undertaking. Below is a discography of all the recordings I have produced so far. They appear under the following artist names:

Lounge Act
My first band, which lasted from 1994 to 2004 and best described as 'acoustic folk-punk', although we used electric guitars from 1998 onwards. From 1997 it was a duo with my cousin Phil on drums and percussion. We recorded 12 albums on cassette, with numerous covers, demos, rarities and practice tapes.

China 5
An electronica side-project I started in 2002 while living in Japan and still going! It was only ever supposed to be a one-off recording project, ostensibly for a soundtrack for a video game that didn't exist, but has now become my main band.

Pierre La Cœur
This French alias of mine is the name I use for recording low-tech cover versions. The recordings are all fairly rough and by no means perfect. Recordings are spontaneous and often with inaccuracies left intact.

Cologne
I record more electronic music under the name Cologne while experimenting with loops and samples. The difference from China 5 is that all the Cologne songs are instrumental. Graphic designer and friend Chris Koch has collaborated on Cologne tracks in 2012.

The Cataracts
This was a cover band, and another duo, where I played drums and did the vocals while my Japanese friend Yoji Katsumata played guitar. All the songs we recorded were covers, and we recorded them in 2007 while Yoji was living in Melbourne. We did a 'reunion session' when Yoji briefly visited Melbourne in 2010.

Please note that none of these recordings are professionally manufactured or commercially available! They were all made at home, wherever I happened to be living at the time. And they were duplicated on cassette in the early days, and given away as digital files these days, all for no cost. It's all for fun, basically!


CHINA 5 Albums

This is a listing of everything China 5 has recorded. It's not yet complete; there are some tracks yet to be categorized, but they will be added as the blog progresses. Annotations are by the Evil Mastermind behind China 5 (and host of the band's podcast), the one and only Uncle Nutzy.

ALBUMS

1st album: PARADISE (2002)


Tracklisting:
1. Mad Science (Roger And Out)
2. Inner City
3. Punk
4. Castle Of Happiness (Waltz #1)
5. Aquatic
6. The Vineyard Song
7. Urban Pirates
8. Turkish Delight
9. Ambient Möbius
10. Pacific
11. Yellow Field
12. Palace Of Emptiness (Waltz #2)
13. Theme From Juliet Prime
14. Ignorance Is Bliss
15. 24
16. From Above
17. Recycled Head

Geeknotes: The first album, where the band were still learning how to use loops and samples. Notable for having mostly being recorded in Japan, where Pete was living when these whole 'China 5' shenanigans started. Quite a lot of songs were re-recorded when he returned to Australia. The vocals are a bit rough in places, but we still have a soft spot for this album. It's pretty good.

It includes an unlisted and untitled 18th track, where Pete recites some bizarre poetry over backwards vocal loops and strange music. The song doesn't have a title because the idea is don't think, just listen. Simple, eh?
  

2nd Album: BATTERY (2004)


Tracklisting:
1. For Gifu
2. Modern Music Is Bland
3. Generic J-Pop Song
4. Labyrinth
5. Dream Vanilla Soup Mix
6. Pluto's In The Feedway
7. Nuit Magique (Waltz #3)
8. The Sinister Flying Pyramid
9. Forget Me Paradox
10. Asteroid Transmission Over Neo Shanghai
11. An Experiment W/Nitro
12. Ephemeral Tango
13. Nonsuch
14. Broadway Peabrain
15. Blizzard
16. Sleep Your Way To The Top

Geeknotes: On this second full-length effort the band tried to throw in a few actual instruments amongst the electronica. Lyrically, it's a real downer. Our favourite track is the final one, which has both electric and acoustic guitar on it. It was recorded about a month after Paradise was completed!

Includes an unlisted 17th track of a short segment of Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" being played on an organ to serve as the "Outro".
  

3rd Album: HYPNOTIST (2006)


Tracklisting:
1. I Like Mondays
2. Space Requiem (White Wear People)
3. Bigger Than The Jungle
4. Ghost Rock
5. Pigtail Lady
6. Happiness
7. 7 Is A Number
8. Nothing Good
9. Every Time A Coconut
10. Orchards Of Neptune (Waltz #4)
11. Greener Than Red
12. Drifting
13. Audio Genocide! (Atari Complex?)
14. Don't Leave Me Standing In The Rain
15. When You Go Awaye
16. Only The Young Die Young

Geeknotes: By now, Pete had moved from Perth to Melbourne and this ended up being a whole bunch of different styles. There's Bollywood music samples, distorted guitars, bell sounds and vocals sung through a megaphone. Ridiculous, really. Also, the sound quality is really bad. Live and learn, I guess.

Includes an unlisted 17th track, "Sad Are Known Or Car Beneath", which is actually the school song (but different music) of Takatori High School in Nara prefecture, Japan, with mangled English lyrics.

"When You Go Awaye" and "Don't Leave Me Standing In The Rain" are songs by Pete from his old band Lounge Act, written in 1998 and 2001 respectively. "7 Is A Number" was written for Pete's side-band The Blackberrys; the lyrics were changed a bit.

4th Album: REPUBLIC (2008)


Tracklisting:
1. Arabian Sleepwalk
2. The Knife
3. Crocodile
4. I Think That I
5. Balthasar
6. I've Got A Camel
7. We Don't Like Your Kind Around Here
8. 808
9. Mint City Anthem
10. Spank The Eighties
11. Oh No
12. Chinese Schoolgirls
13. Soda Cream Moon
14. Trust In Me (Waltz #5)
15. Soldiers
16. I Can Live

Geeknotes: This one sounds a lot different because Pete and Lychee were now using new software to put the songs together. And since the program they used on the first three albums was only a demo version (cheapskates), it didn't allow you to save. Consequently, they had to do all the songs in one take. Not any more, pal! Now they could actually work on the songs over a period of time. And how! I think "Arabian Sleepwalk" took around four months to see completion. Not much thought went into the lyrics this time; music took priority. Well, stuffing around with yet more samples.

Includes an unlisted 17th track called either "Playa" or "The Robafeller Skank", featuring vocal contributions from Chad "Gunman" Inn. Also, "Waltz #5" breaks the instrumental waltz tradition by having lyrics. When will people learn?

"I Can Live" is Lounge Act's 1999 song "Ball Of Fame" with slightly different lyrics. "Chinese Schoolgirls" is also a Lounge Act song, from 2002.


5th Album: QUARANTINE (2010)


Tracklisting:
1. Contra
2. State Of Flux
3. Too Many Sushi
4. Anna Wilde
5. Shield Your Eyes From The Horrible Truth
6. I Can't Sleep At Night
7. Midnight Aquarium (Waltz #6)
8. Pharmacy
9. Song For Singapore
10. Tetris
11. Constantinople
12. 1994
13. Don't Give Up

Geeknotes: Whereas on Republic Pete was trying to throw many different genres into one song, this time around every genre got a song of its own. We've got punk, analogue electro, alt-rock, Euro-pop, acoustic folk and insta-geek on this one. Give it a listen, it didn't turn out too bad! Especially now, since the audio of every song has been fine-tuned and sounds better.

Includes contributions from additional China 5-ers Mari Awesome (vocals on "Anna Wilde") and Yoji Katsumata (guitar on "Constantinople").

"Tetris" is from a solo recording Pete did in 2009 called Food And Science; this version has different drumming and vocals, and less feedback.

6th Album: SAFARI (2012)


Tracklisting:
1. Neon Feather
2. Lava
3. London Drugs
4. I Have A Life Outside Of You You Know
5. She's Got Fangs
6. Latin Lover
7. Pharaohs
8. We Are Dead, But You Already Have Cancer
9. No Friday
10. Piece Of Mind
11. Ninjas Make Vinegar
12. Everything's Finished
13. The Wandering Polymath (Waltz #8)
14. Nine Seconds To Go
15. Hyperspace
16. China 5 Forever

Geeknotes: Inspired by Pete's trip to the USA from November 2011 to January 2012. Many of the songs were written while he was there. Pete and Lychee slaved away on this one, but had a lot of fun recording. Obviously, the best China 5 CD so far! If you haven't heard one, this would be a good one to start with.

Includes guitar contributions and co-writing from Dan Cunningham on the song "Everything's Finished". Also, the song "Nine Seconds To Go" has been officially cut and doesn't appear on any copies apart from the ones owned by the band themselves. They took it out because it made the album too long, or something.

"Lava" is a song written by Pete in December 2008 and recorded for this solo thing he did, an album called Food And Science. I think it's the song of his that's been recorded the most times; this is the fourth and, dare I say it, definitive version.




COMPILATION TRACK

"Crocodile"

A slightly different and longer version of this song from Republic appeared on the compilation Vs The World Volume 4, released by Quickstar Productions of Baltimore, USA in 2010. It's track 13 of 22. As the name suggests, there are acts on this CD from a diverse group of countries and cultures.

China 5 were glad to be included. Thanks go out to Danny Bryant!


OTHER RECORDINGS

FRIENDS OF CHINA 5 (2002)

In the early days of China 5 this was just a hand-labelled CD-R in a cardboard slipcase featuring rough versions of the songs that ended up on the first album. The tracklisting changed depending who was receiving it, but "Mad Science", "Inner City", "Aquatic" and "Pacific" were sure to be included.

ICHINEN (2005-2006)


Tracklisting:
1. May
2. June
3. July
4. August
5. September
6. October
7. November
8. December
9. January
10. February
11. March
12. April

Geeknotes: In May 2005, Pete got the idea to do a "song calendar": an album of 12 instrumental songs, one for each month. To make sure the mood of each month was captured, each track was recorded during the month it was written for, so the "May" track was recorded in May, and so on.

All the songs were supposed to be recorded on the same date each month, so the first 5 tracks were recorded on the 19th of the month. But Pete's trip interstate for a school reunion in October meant all subsequent songs were recorded on the 27th. As you might have guessed, it took a year to record. "Ichinen" means "one year" in Japanese.

Ichinen is only a de facto China 5 album since Lychee was not involved and Pete composed the whole thing. But nobody cares, all the songs sound like China 5 songs anyway!

COLONY (2002-2006)

Tracklisting:
1. Idiotic
2. Lost In The '80s
3. Brain Blast
4. This Is The Ghetto
5. Evil Jumpin' Dudes
6. Kaboom
7. Ginza Boogie
8. Freedom Of Choice
9. Trippin' On Tea Leaves
10. Enthusiasm
11. WTTF
12. Drug Addicts Are The Luckiest People In The World
13. Me And My Big Mouth
14. Takatori High School Song
15. Cut It Up
16. The Horror

Geeknotes: A collection of songs the band didn't include on the first three albums. The first five tracks are the first five songs ever recorded by China 5, in the same order they were done, on the first day of the band's existence. Very rough and sometimes crackly, this is Pete solo, and later the band, just getting used to a new style of music.

"Takatori High School Song" is just "Sad Are Known Or Car Beneath" with the proper Japanese lyrics, and slowed down a tad.

OUBLIETTE (2008-2011)

Tracklisting:
1. You Don't Say
2. Junebug
3. Nutmeg Agency
4. Get To The Point
5. Justice
6. Millennium (demo)
7. Science
8. Pumpkin Town
9. I Need A Better Friend
10. Lava
11. Sick Of Being Pushed Around
12. Angel Dust
13. Hardley Normal
14. Pete's Song
15. Barracuda

Geeknotes: Another collection of leftover tracks. "Millennium" is a song written in 1999 for Pete's old band, Lounge Act. He thought that it would sound better in China 5 style. It never got further than a demo, so draw yer own conclusions. "Angel Dust" is also a Lounge Act song from 1999; this one actually sounds better than the Lounge Act guitar n' drums version.

The version of "Lava" that appears here was recorded in 2010; it's not all that great, and the band opted to record it (yet) again for Safari

AMBULANCE (2002-2010)

Tracklisting:
1. Inner City 2002 (original version)
2. Mad Science (long version)
3. Waltz #1 (original version)
4. From Above (original version)
5. Ignorance Is Bliss (alternate version)
6. Aquatic (early demo)
7. The Vineyard Song (alternate version)
8. Akihabara
9. Trippin' On Tea Leaves (Kickbox Mix)
10. Waltz #2 (Yamato Mix)
11. From Above (Bank Foyer Mix)
12. Sleep Your Way To The Top (Requiem Mix)
13. Nonsuch (Snow Dance)
14. Pluto's In The Feedway (Losing My Mind And I Don't Mind Mix)
15. For Gifu (For Aichi Mix)
16. Sad Are Known Or Car Beneath (slow version)
17. Crocodile (Etchasketch Mix)
18. We Don't Like Your Kind Around Here (Speak And Spell Mix)
19. 808 (Interstate Mix)
20. Chinese Schoolgirls (Ballroom Mix)
21. Mint City Anthem (Rock The Sky Mix)
22. I've Got A Camel (I've Got A Gamelan Mix)
23. Anna Wilde (long version)
24. Song For Singapore (early version)
25. State Of Flux (rock version)

Geeknotes: Hey, it's a bunch of remixes and alternate versions. Whoo. Anyway, give this a listen and you'll see how weird "Aquatic" used to be. Not even like a song at all. Just very weird. "Akihabara" is an early version of the song "Punk".

Comes in a digipak (of someone else's CD) spraypainted black, with the band's name in yellow. ¡Viva D.I.Y.!

MUMMIFY (2012)


Tracklisting:
1. Titanic Century (Waltz #7)
2. French Punk
3. Canadian Golfball
4. Snow
5. Retarded Ear
6. Walk Don't Walk
7. Shitty Advice
8. The World Gets Me Down

Geeknotes: A short EP of songs recorded alongside the Safari stuff. Hey, that's where that seventh waltz went!

Comes in a spiffy card slipcase with a photo of you on the back. Possibly.



GALAXIES (2012)

Tracklisting:
1. Aquatic
2. Sleep Your Way To The Top
3. Inner City
4. Yellow Field
5. Mad Science (Roger And Out)
6. Generic J-Pop Song [2012 Version]
7. For Gifu
8. Space Requiem (White Wear People)
9. Pluto's In The Feedway
10. Ghost Rock
11. 7 Is A Number
12. Theme From Juliet Prime
13. Bigger Than The Jungle [2012 Version]
14. Pacific
15. From Above

Geeknotes: A collection of old recordings given an audio dust-off and new vocals recorded by Pete (in two days!) in May 2012. Tracks 6 and 13, as you can see, are re-recordings. The re-recording of "Bigger Than The Jungle" was so problematic that it caused Lychee in a fit of rage to rip out Pete's keyboard during a software crash and kick it to bits. He didn't fork out for a new one, either.


Paradise (2002)
I took to using electronic loops and samples for the first time and liberally slathered them all over the 18 songs on this album. Notable for having mostly being recorded in Japan. The vocals are a bit rough in places, due to the unfamiliarity with recording methods. Most of the songs on here are fast and incorporate samples from TV and classical music.

Battery (2004)
From here the convention began of naming China 5 albums with a single three-syllable word, as well as making an album every two years, and including an instrumental waltz on each album. We tried to throw in a few actual instruments on this downbeat and melancholy second album. It does open with "For Gifu", an ode to public transport and life in the titular Japanese city, and ends with "Sleep Your Way To The Top", which has both electric and acoustic guitar on it.

Hypnotist (2006)
By now, I had moved from Perth to Melbourne and this ended up being a whole bunch of different styles. There's Bollywood music samples, distorted guitars, bell sounds and vocals sung through a megaphone. Very rough and sometimes crackly, this is the least polished China 5 recording.

Republic (2008)
This one sounds a lot different because I was now using new software to put the songs together. And since the program I used on the first three albums was only a demo version, it didn't allow you to save. Consequently, I had to do all the songs in one take. But now, I could actually work on the songs over a period of time. Not much thought went into the lyrics this time; music took priority.

Quarantine (2010)
On Republic, I was trying to throw many different genres into one song, this time around every genre got a song of its own. We've got punk, analogue electro, alt-rock, Euro-pop, acoustic folk and insta-geek on this one.

Safari (2012)
Several songs on this album were inspired by my trip to the USA and Canada in 2011-2012. Songs were written specifically about cities: "No Friday" (New York City), "She's Got Fangs" (Boston), "I Have A Life Outside Of You You Know" (Seattle) and "London Drugs" (Vancouver), while opening track "Neon Feather" is dedicated to Hong Kong, which I also first visited in 2011.

Widdershins (2014)
Taking its title from an archaic word meaning 'anti-clockwise', this 7th China 5 album took longer to make than any other album I've made. The first song for it was recorded in May 2013 and the last (as a very late substitution) in late April 2015, a timespan just a fortnight shy of two years. It's a mishmash of recording styles and arrangement phases. Some tracks are pure electronica wile others are lo-fi guitar, bass and drums. In that sense it's very like the Lounge Act album I've Got A Porsche (coincidentally that was also 'album number 7').

Tigerbear (2016)
Hard to believe we are now in the 14th year of China 5's existence! The best album I've done to date, in my opinion. The whole album has a travelogue theme, with lyrical references to voyages and other countries and cultures.


PIERRE LA CŒUR Albums

Save The Blackberrys (2005)
Because the 'covers side project' was to be in the guise of a band, this album was initially credited to The Blackberrys (hence the album title). Mostly recorded in Perth in 2005, it contains covers of old songs like "Early One Morning", "Yellow Bird", "Spanish Eyes" and "Big Rock Candy Mountain". It also contains a cover of "I'm A Bus" by Turnstyle, and Adem K from the band heard the tape I sent him of it. He told me his wife said that was how the song should have sounded all along!

Griffin Crescent [EP] (2008)
Recorded using Yoji's guitar and distortion pedals during downtime from The Cataracts, these are newer versions of existing songs, mostly. The China 5 song "Lava", which eventually appeared on Safari in 2012, makes its first recorded appearance here.

Food And Science (2009)
This album is a collection of mostly new songs performed on guitar, bass and drums. Notable for the tracks being sequenced in alphabetical order, from "Auburn" to "Zeroes Instead Of O's". "Lava" also appears here, as does the Lounge Act song "Millennium".

You Lose You Lose You Win You Lose (2012)
The second covers album, containing covers of They Might Be Giants, TISM, Tripod and Scared Weird Little Guys. Dan Cunningham joins in for an acoustic cover of "Jump" by Kris Kross, performed in the style of Macromantics' cover.

12/12/12 (2012)
A collection of 18 classic Lounge Act tracks recorded somewhat spontaneously.

Bottlerocket (2013)
Mostly new material here, it does also have alternate versions of some China 5 songs that later appeared on Widdershins.

Lounge Act 20th Anniversary (2014)
This special recording features all 13 songs on Lounge Act's 1994 debut release re-recorded in their original style, using my first acoustic guitar (also from 1994) and the primitive percussion we used back then, such as an ironing board for the snare hits and a small trampoline for the kick drum sound.

Napoleon Time (2015)
Third covers album, named by musician friend Ian Roure. Covers of They Might Be Giants, Jonathan Coulton, Scott Edgar, Tripod, theaudience, Turnstyle and more.

Cette Fois, C'est La Guerre (2015)
Fourth covers album, with covers of My Little Airport, The Shamen, Big Audio Dynamite, Chumbawamba and more.

Mount Waverley Is One Big Building Site (2016)
Fifth covers album, featuring covers of Rammstein, Weird Al Yankovic, Allan "The Singing Postman" Smethurst, Green Day, Ween, XTC, TISM, The Living End and more.



COLOGNE Albums

A Year In The Life Of Cologne (2006)
In May 2005 I got the idea to do a 'song calendar', an album of 12 instrumental songs, one for each month. To make sure the mood of each month was captured, each track was recorded during the month it was written for, so the "May" track was recorded in May, and so on. As you might have guessed, it took a year to record. This album was initially planned as a China 5 album, but has since been retroactively credited to Cologne, as it is all instrumental.

2012 Overture (2012)
With input from Chris Koch on some tracks, I wanted this to have more of a symphonic feel in the samples and instrumentation used. Twelve tracks of undeniable instro-electro goodness, complete with sweeping finale in three movements!


THE CATARACTS Album

Tokyo Sucks! (2007/2010)
The sole recording by Yoji and I was named after a slogan he had on a T-shirt, while I named the band itself ('cataract' in the sense of 'waterfall'). It contains our own punky takes on songs by Nirvana, Ash, Hi-Standard, B-Dash and Snail Ramp, and even the Border Security theme tune!


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