Happiness Is Luxury--Tunes For A Recession Mix Tape--Making Losers Happy--Xpressway Singles 1988-1991

There was a time when I was completely obsessed with New Zealand Rock. I was buying music from Flying Nun records directly. I probably would have bought a lot more, but back then it was difficult to buy things overseas. I had no idea how to get New Zealnd dollars to buy things. This was before Paypal, and before this outfits were accepting credit cards. I used to go to Pier Platters in Hoboken and go upstairs and pick through the Kiwi vinyl, of which they had an extraordinary selection. Today I wish I had bought music more blindly--I stuck to things I had heard of, mostly.

Somewhere I found out about the Xpressway label run by Dead C stalwart Bruce Russell. In a way it was an island of misfit toys for New Zealand artists who were no longer part of the Flying Nun group. After a beginning of being a diverse potpourri of worthy artists, the label was concentrating on more melodic artists. I had picked up the Peter Gutteridge tape Pure probably through a Flying Nun catalog I had and sent a later out in snail mail fashion as was popular in those days. Probably three weeks or so later I received a letter from Mr. Russell, beginning with the depressing words.

Dear Fred, Sadly, Xpressway is no more.....He went on to explain that he had founded a new label Corpus Hermeticum that would be devoted to more improvisational forms of music, in effect, going in an even less popcentric direction than Xpressway. I was disappointed as I had hoped to get some more things from their small catalog. I picked up some interesting items from CH over the years, which were fairly interesting but maybe not the sort of thing I found myself listening to repeatedly. Fortunately at least some of my Xpressway fix was sated through compilations, one of which is Making Losers Happy.

While the classic recording is the awesome Xpressway Pileup, there is much to enjoy on Making Losers Happy, which contains 14 tracks from rare singles and Eps recorded between 1988 and 1991. These recordings came out originally in batches of only 500, so this Cd is really indispensable to any fan of New Zealand music. This comp was released in the US on the musically adventurous and eclectic Drag City label out of Chicago. A great grouping of innovative artists are represented here, who create challenging music that never fails to be interesting.

The album begins strongly with a fairly tuneful (for them) Bad Politics by the Dead C, one of the great noisy experimental bands of New Zealand. A fairly grim pop tune with a nice driving beat to it. Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats have two others here also, one of which, Angel, is a favorite of mine. "Turn off the sun, and dance, forever..." A slow insular stoned out beginning descends into white noise and hypnotic drum patterns. A song of pure noisy beauty. Crazy I Know has an almost jangly pastoral quality to it. Saw Dead C at Maxwell's in Hoboken years ago, with Thurston Moore and drummer Tom Surgal doing an opening improvisatory set. They are a really interesting live band, masters of controlled feedback on stage. I recall one of the guitarists raising a huge squall by playing the guitar flat on a table similar to a pedal steel.



Alastair Galbraith is also represented, an artist that more people should know about. He collaborates with Graeme Jefferies (Cake Kitchen, This Kind of Punishment, Nocturnal Projections) on modern sea chanty Bravely Bravely and the grand, shimmering Timebomb. He also is here as a member of Plagal Grind (as was Peter Jefferies, Robbie Muir and David Mitchell), performing the album closer, the smoldering instrumental Blackout and also the elegaic Receivership.

David Mitchell of the 3d's is also here, with the jittery South Island raga Dead Dog in Port Chalmers. Dogs is a mesmeric noisy almost disco pop tune. He performs also Grey Funnel Line supporting the lead vocals by 3d bandmate Denise Roughan. The Terminals are represented by the Kiwi classic The Deadly Tango. The b side is the equally awesome and aggressively punky Do The Void.



Finally, one of my favorite artists, Peter Jefferies is here performing with Robbie Muir. What an amazing and incestuous bunch of musicians you find from this small scene. Jefferies Last Great Challenge in a Dull World is a special album for me, with great piano. On Making Losers Happy he performs the noisy invigorating Catapult. On a different tack, The Fate Of The Human Carbine is a dour sarcastic ballad with clever lyrics, quite in line with his work with This Kind of Punishment.



Making Losers Happy is a nice introduction to some of the standout artists on the Xpressway label. Once you hear this or Xpressway Pileup you will probably want to further explore the discographies of these musicians.