China 5's 20th Anniversary!

It was 20 years ago today that I started China 5, my alternative/electronica music project. I was living in Japan at the time, and had to find an outlet for all the bleep-pop Fruityloops stuff I was doing on my little Fujitsu Biblo laptop. China 5 was only intended to exist for one album (a soundtrack to a video game that didn't exist), however it lasted ten whole albums (Paradise, Battery, Hypnotist, Republic, Quarantine, Safari, Widdershins, Tigerbear, Confusion and Anarchy) and a few collaborators before I decided to retire it in 2020. Goodbye, we are gone, see you later, see you never...

Here's a video I made for a song called "Brain" which appears on the final album, Anarchy. It was created back in 2020 using the Chrome Music Lab, a website that lets you experiment with making songs and whatnot. That's where I nicked the graphics from, as you can probably tell. As it turned out, "Brain" was the very last China 5 song to be recorded! It's only 35 seconds long, so as the concluding entry in the canon, it's quite satisfying.

I was about to add that "Brain" is also the last China 5 video too, but that's not quite true – I was working on another video after that, and had most of the footage for it, but never finished editing it. Oh well. If I ever get round to finishing it, you'll see it right here.

China 5 – "Crocodile"

Hey, a new China 5 video? Really and for true? Well, no. China 5 ceased operations in 2020, and thanks so much to the 46 people out there who listened to our songs. Well, I'm sure it was more than 46 – one of our songs ("Too Many Sushi") got nearly 10,000 plays back in the MySpace Music days...

Anyway, this is a video for the song "Crocodile", from the 4th China 5 album Republic, from 2008. This is the only China 5 song to have appeared on a compilation album! It was called Vs. The World Volume 4 and it was released in 2009.

So, why make a video for an old song from days of yore? Well, the video was originally made in 2008, but the edit was only recently completed due to the finding of some lost footage. It was a real mind trip to see this old rubbish valuable material from the past again, and has finally been reinstated into the video which it belonged.

Because of the delay in this video's release (13 years isn't that long, is it?), the version of the song isn't the one that appeared on Republic, nor is it the version that appeared on Vs. The World. It is a remastered version – Republic was remastered in January 2020, and that's the version you'll hear in this video.

Thanks to all who helped me make the video: Alfie, Leftie Lampton, Gripper Stebson, and Dougie.

Moon Zero Two – "La Planete De Agua"

It's very rare that I record a song and make a video for it on the same day, but today it happened! Actually I just edited the footage today; it was filmed at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium on May 21, 2021. This song will appear on the second Moon Zero Two album, due for completion later this year. Give me the sea life matey, that's the life for me.

 

Moon Zero Two – "The Light No One Sees"

Moon Zero Two, my electronic 'space music' project, was named after a film made in 1969. That film is set in the year 2021, so that's enough reason for a second Moon Zero Two album, right? This is the first video from the as yet untitled album, filmed at Scienceworks in Melbourne on March 26, 2021. The song itself was recorded on May 9, 2021, which is the same date an opening scene in the film is set on! Confused? Just watch the video, you'll be alright.

 

Here's a screenshot from Moon Zero Two (1969) showing today's date. Amazing.

Moon Zero Two – "Portals"

Here's the second music video by Moon Zero Two for the song "Portals", from the 2019 self-titled album, written for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Filmed at home during lockdown on April 29, 2020.

 

China 5 – "Nightingale"

Hey, here's a new music video I made! It's for the 2018 song "Nightingale" by China 5. Filmed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in July 2018. The song appears on the 9th China 5 album Confusion.

China 5 – "British India"

 Music video for the song "British India" by China 5, from the 8th album Tigerbear (2016). Obviously we didn't film it, we just nicked the footage from vintage sources. Cheers!

 

Moon Zero Two – "Hovercraft (Space Hotel)"

Here's a music video from Moon Zero Two – my new electronic 'space music' project. The very first Moon Zero Two video, in fact!

The song comes from a self-titled album from 2019, made to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The name Moon Zero Two is also the title of a film made in 1969, the year of the moon landing.

This video was filmed and edited by my good friend David Piper, who went to great lengths to capture the beauty of the natural world. Many thanks, Dave! Oh, and see if you can spot Ronaldo.

China 5 – "Lonely!"

Hey, what's up kids. Here's a new music video I made, and spent more time than is healthy in editing it. It's for for the song "Lonely!" 

It was filmed (mostly) on November 27, 2019 and was directed and edited by me. Special thanks must go to David Piper for the mask dance performance and assistance with the shoot. He went right ahead with my weird ideas without hesitation. Thanks Dave, you're a dude.

"Lonely!" appears on the 9th China 5 album, Confusion. Yes, the exclamation mark is part of the title.

 

Music Video: Ratcat - "That Ain't Bad" (1991)

"That Ain't Bad" by Sydney band Ratcat was on an EP called Tingles which was released in 1990.

Back then there were two types of album/singles charts; one that counted EPs as singles and one that counted them as albums. Rage's music chart counted them as singles and that's the only one worth bothering about.

The song had a very simple video, and its EP flew up the charts and hit number 1 in no time. Unfortunately, Ratcat's record label (rooArt) decided to stop pressing Tingles while it was still at number 1 (couldn't they have waited a few weeks?) so promo etc could be centred on the forthcoming album. It worked, and both the album and follow-up single were both number 1s and Tingles dropped like a stone from the charts, only having had two weeks at number one.

However, Tingles got to have its moment of glory in the year-end charts for 1991, where it ranked number 2. Number 1 was that godawful Bryan Adams song from that Robin Hood movie which stayed at number 1 for 11 weeks, but I think it could have easily been overtaken by Ratcat had rooArt not ceased making the EP.

I couldn't believe it when a few months ago a shitty cover version of "That Ain't Bad" was used in a tacky Bonds TV ad. Simon Day, Ratcat's singer, was even in it. Nothing pisses you off more than an awesome song from your teenage years being bastardised for the sake of some lame commercial two decades down the track.

I remember watching the year-end countdown on Rage in 1991 with some others and we were all blown away when we saw Ratcat at number 2. The sliding volume knob on the clapped-out Mitsubishi TV was pushed all the way up and yanked off.

Enough talk. Watch the video, turn the sound up, and jump around like a rhesus monkey on crystal meth. Just like we did in '91.

China 5 Album 5

Since today makes 8 years since I started my band China 5, I'm posting one of our music videos here for you to watch. It's a song called "Spank The Eighties" and the video, made last year, explores the wonderful world of puppetry. Enjoy!

Below is a preview of the cover image for the fifth China 5 CD, due for home-made release on 10/10/10, if we get it finished by then. You can also see it here as part of my deviantART gallery, added last August. You'll notice there is no title put in yet because I haven't decided on a typeface. It's called Iran in my dA gallery, but the real album title is being kept secret for now. We're all mysterious like that in China 5, you see.

For more about China 5, head on over to our Myspace Music page, why don't ya.

Music Video: World Famous Supreme Team Show - "Operaa House" (1991)

Hey, remember this?

I know it's a low-res image, but seeing this on a large screen was incredible, a standout pop-cultural image from the early nineties. (They're all people in coloured costumes, if you can't tell.) It's from a 1991 video by World Famous Supreme Team Show, headed by Malcolm McLaren, who died earlier this month. It was also used in a British Airways commercial. Track down said video and marvel at it, even if you don't like opera/hip-hop fusion.

Music Video: Korn - "Twisted Transistor" (2005)

Last post was about a song I like that was let down by its video; this one is about a song I'm not all that keen on but which has an amazing video. Basically, the four members of Korn are played by rappers Lil' Jon, Xzibit, Snoop Dogg and David Banner. You can tell they had a good time making it, and play their roles really well. In one scene when David's face gets cut during a video shoot, manager Little Sterling Assoff says "He's the only good looking guy in my band, mate!" You get to see the real Korn at the end posing as record label execs, writing off the rappers' efforts.

I haven't included a link to the video – get on Youtube and find it yourself. What am I, your mum?