Kim Salmon And The Surrealists: Rantings From The Book Of Swamp (2xLP, Album, Ltd, Num) Not On Label (Kim Salmon And The Surrealists Self-released) none: Australia: 2020: Sell … Galbraith puts Salmon’s considerable musical output (the ‘selected’ discography at the back of the book is nearly a book itself) at the heart of this story and uses Kim’s personal life and relationships where they are relevant. If you are a big fan of a particular Surrealists album or would like to know more about his collaboration with Ron Peno in The Darling Downs, it is all here. Love to you and everything Blank does for local music! The book is a fascinating portrait of an uncompromising non-conformist at a time when the isolation of living in Perth meant that outside influence was so distant that creativity had the freedom to flourish in oblivion. One night at the Prince of Wales, he drunkenly joined the opening act on drums, yelled at the crowd, and got hit in the head with a flying beer bottle. Galbraith somehow makes this book both an introduction to Kim’s work and “The Jaggers are listed in the Domesday Book”. The case is presented in great He’s only a legend. Douglas Galbraith’s book is about one of the most important influences on alternative music in Australia and globally. yes, Alice in Chains!”. Why artists became so dispensable, Colum McCann’s Apeirogon review: a courageously ambitious novel of our time, Freedom Lost book launch featuring Q&A with author Robert Pullan. Indeed he was studying Fine Art at the WA Institute of technology back in ’76 when he was side tracked by CBGBs punk rock, causing him to take a ‘gap year’ which he is still on…… not strictly true as he has never given up creating art in the form of drawings, paintings, cartoons and posters. If you thought that the true Grunge music style of the early 1990’s was born in Seattle, USA you’d be wrong. I hope that doesn’t make the book sound dull. Three A picture thus emerges of an artist who has relentlessly pursued a vision, or in Kim’s case a whole bunch of visions, throughout his adult life. detail, leaving the reader to judge if, indeed, we have Kim Salmon to thank for Years ago, I saw Kim Salmon on TV series Spicks and Specs. We’re always after fresh, interesting perspectives on arts and culture in Australia. It’s hard to read this book without pondering a series of ‘What ifs’. Salmon’s subsequent music collaborations including The Beasts of Bourbon (now ‘The Beasts’) and The Surrealists were not so hostile, yet show no less disregard for convention. The host asked him if he had, in fact, invented grunge, which is usually more That said, Kim Salmon could hardly be blamed if he did harbour a few bitter feelings. there is a story there. Try Chris Hillman’s book about The Flying Burritos Brothers. here, Kim hasn’t had a day off since 1975. Tony Thompson lives in Melbourne and is the author of Summer of Monsters, a novel about the early life of Mary Shelley. Much of the music is available on Spotify and I had a great time playing To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Douglas Galbraith’s Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge ($39.99) is out now through Melbourne Books. The answer is that Kim Salmon and the When been something to do with his subject’s ‘invention’ of grunge music, as alluded Sleaford Mods ‘All That Glue’ review: a necessary album for fans and newcomers alike, ‘The Shifting Landscape’ review: Western Victoria crime novel showcases joy in storytelling, How did we get here? Formula for Grunge is one of those glorious books that takes you to the It wouldn’t work. One of the many strengths of this book is that Galbraith manages to cover all of this without producing something akin to A Dance to the End of Time. trick. It was invented a decade earlier in Perth Western Australia by Kim Salmon and his nascent post-punk band, The Scientists. can’t disagree with any of this, and look forward to reading the book. A simple dispute, a mild misunderstanding, and a missed opportunity that must occasionally still keep Kim up at night. By Tony Thompson The obvious one would have Not an easy trick. This is the formula for a rock and roll memoir or biography: Start with the iconic moment – the day the timeless classic was conceived, the set at Altamont, the day the band came together. predictable as a traditional narrative. Okay, we get What if Kim hadn’t married and had kids so young? He’d come back with 25 new songs and a new group of musicians that he’d poached from the resort’s entertainment staff. it! the songs under discussion as I read. A worldwide live-streamed improvised performance is now a double album, one that smoulders and crackles with the immediacy of a live recording, but with an off-kilter poise that could only be nailed by a crew of seasoned veterans. One of the great myths is that playing rock and roll for a living is the last refuge of the indolent artist type. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Daily Review is Australia’s go to source for engaging How many of us who have lived on this planet for more than half a century can say that? aside from producing some of the best records in the world over the past 30 plus years, kim is just a really nice smart guy and a pleasure to work with…, Your email address will not be published. Stone Temple Pilots. Galbraith could have also started with just about anything I hope they do! An example to us all! He smiled and said something Long time ago, one friend give me a cassette recorded with this album... after some years looking for it, now i can enjoy it again. Two weeks on a beach somewhere. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In Chapter Two, it’s back to the beginning. In Perth, Kim Salmon’s band The Scientists were experimenting with a new style of music encompassing the primitivism of punk adding fuzzed out noise, psyched out caterwauling, crunchy discordance, loud thundering pulsation, crooked rhythms, bent time signatures, and anti-establishment sentiment. Great guitars, sweet vocals, good songs,... After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Galbraith somehow makes this book both an introduction to Kim’s work and a deeply satisfying read for those who already know his stuff. This page works best with JavaScript. In his book Life Keith Richards starts with, not unexpectedly, a near drug bust in a car full of illicit gear. Some clever person could make a great The ‘Beasts,’ for the uninitiated, are Required fields are marked *. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Chapter Three covers the first guitar under the Christmas tree and Elvis on Ed Sullivan – “My dad hated it but I’d found my life’s work”. closely associated with Seattle than Embleton. dull for me is the sort of music memoir that is essentially a long score-settling Bu, let’s be clear, Salmon is not a rock and roll bad boy with a long trail of shattered hearts and broken promises behind him. In 1983, Kim Salmon even used the word ‘Grunge’ to describe his seminal album ‘Blood Red River’ in an interview on 2JJJ. So do you need to be a veteran ‘Salmon-iac’ (I just made thoroughly satisfying section later in the book. He has watched several generations of Australian musicians reach dizzying heights of fame. The sad series of events that befell The Scientists in England is depressingly familiar and a cautionary tale for all bands. hundred pages devoted to his simmering resentment of Gram Parsons. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sin factory (1993) by Kim Salmon & Surrealists at Amazon.com. What if they had not been stymied by Au Go Go Records and were able to do a record deal in London? There's a problem loading this menu right now. hard”. It works well and he resists the temptation to overdo the links. It was like being in the Holy Land in the famously chaotic individuals whose lives and careers are more likely to be a series of missteps with a few lucky moments thrown in, than anything so to follow this formula. Their singer Tex Perkins used a good one to start his own recent memoir, Tex. arts and entertainment news, reviews and commentary. Salmon says the band was never about musicianship, just ‘nuance and alchemy’. Not an easy What if Mark Arm from Mudhoney hadn’t chanced upon The Scientists’ record at the import section of Tower Records in Seattle? Let’s hope it helps catapult Kim Salmon into the limelight where he deserves to be. If he is angry about it, he didn’t mention it to Galbraith. from Kim’s time in The Beasts of Bourbon. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. Not to mention stylish dress sense paired with mop-like hair. that up) to enjoy this biography? Salmon, a witty and modest fellow, makes no such claim, but Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge: a fascinating read for fans and newcomers alike. What if Kim had been lead singer of Beasts of Bourbon instead of Tex Perkins? Galbraith writes with the fluidity of a seasoned professional. Kim Salmon has entrusted his life story ‘Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge: Nine Parts Water, One Part Sand’ (a line from the song ‘Swampland’) with his guitar student and self described ‘untried, unknown, non-author’ Douglas Galbraith. | April 6, 2020 |. The answer is that Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge is one of those glorious books that takes you to the music. music. Kim Salmon’s Vacation Band. Galbraith wisely He was then dragged off stage by the bouncers and ended up passed out on a hospital floor with a head wound. living is the last refuge of the indolent artist type. Has this made his personal life a disaster? Members of his own demographic have become ‘national treasures’ while he remains essentially a cult figure, a musician’s musician.