rip, such a great guitarist
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 12:35 (fourteen years ago) link
Such sad news. Junkyard & the Bad Seed & the Mutiny! EP & even Prayers on Fire - these records kind of changed my life when I was in high school.
― Herodcare for the Unborn (J0hn D.), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:12 (fourteen years ago) link
The last SST record I really loved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyfUFMrIKnE
― bendy, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:22 (fourteen years ago) link
whenever i was in crappy bands, i'd always dream they'd sound as terrifying as the live versions of "hamlet (pow pow pow)" that i managed to hear, and roland s. was such a huge part of that. so gutted two members of that band are now groovin' in heaven (hopefully).
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:24 (fourteen years ago) link
RIP Rowland.
― dad a, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:34 (fourteen years ago) link
"Catholic Skin": the man could do things with treble. That song starts out like it's reverberating from a cathedral crypt, and ends with the sound of Satan loosing a fiddle contest. One of the first guitarists to say things with tone alone, notes nearly arbitrary.
― bendy, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:43 (fourteen years ago) link
RIP. What a phenomenal guitar player.
― Fetchboy, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 13:47 (fourteen years ago) link
well FUCK
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 14:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Nick otm
Nick Cave said: "This is very sad news. Rowland was Australia's most unique, gifted and uncompromising guitarist. He was also a good friend. He will be missed by many."
― Who was that Christmas-jumpered man? (onimo), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 14:45 (fourteen years ago) link
rip
― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 14:55 (fourteen years ago) link
Sharp fella:
Howard's slashing, reverb-drenched guitar style with The Birthday Party and Boys Next Door, and then offshoot outfits including Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls, influenced by jazz, blues and avant-garde music, inspired new generations of Melbourne guitarists.But the gaunt and stick-thin musician recently told The Age that he would prefer it if young bands were inspired by his attitude, not his sound.''Usually when people say to me that a new band sounds just like me, I feel that they have missed the point entirely,'' he said.''It's not just about being noisy and aggressive, it's a whole aesthetic, trying to meld genres into something new. So doing something that is based on that 30 years later is fairly redundant.''They [young bands] should be looking for something that is of their own.''
But the gaunt and stick-thin musician recently told The Age that he would prefer it if young bands were inspired by his attitude, not his sound.
''Usually when people say to me that a new band sounds just like me, I feel that they have missed the point entirely,'' he said.
''It's not just about being noisy and aggressive, it's a whole aesthetic, trying to meld genres into something new. So doing something that is based on that 30 years later is fairly redundant.
''They [young bands] should be looking for something that is of their own.''
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 14:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I was hoping to see him one more time in HTRK. Their album just missed my top 100 this year - HTRK - Marry Me Tonight (Blast First Petite). Check it out in his honor!
― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Ok, someone suggest a best-of post-Birthday Party tracklist for dear Rowland. I'm not familiar with enough of it to make a suggestion.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 17:02 (fourteen years ago) link
honeymoon in red - done dunhoneymoon in red - dead in the headhoneymoon in red - come fallfad gadget - ad nauseumlydia lunch and rowland s howard - i fell in love with a ghostlydia lunch and rowland s howard - some velvet morninglydia lunch - still burningcrime and the city solution - the kentucky clickcrime and the city solution - adventurethese immortal souls - marry me (lie!, lie!)these immortal souls - hiderowland s howard - white weddingrowland s howard - pop crimeshtrk - disco
― stirmonster, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 17:51 (fourteen years ago) link
Anyone know why the wedding imagery shows up so much in his writing?
― bendy, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 18:18 (fourteen years ago) link
This is such a terrible shame. I loved this man. Birthday Party was one of my first 'gateway drug' type bands & it was Rowland's stuff I sought out obsessively – Crime & the City Solution, his album w/Lydia Lunch – before I ever got into Nick Cave's stuff. Rowland was also just the most insanely gorgeous man in the world circa TBP. He will be missed.
― I X Love (Abbott), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 20:22 (fourteen years ago) link
I need to hear some RSH-era Crime & the City Solution. I only know the stuff from the line-up after that (i.e. Bronwyn Adams, Mick Harvey et al)(which is all totally gorgeous btw).
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 21:03 (fourteen years ago) link
"room of lights" is on spotify if you have access to that.
― stirmonster, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 21:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Thanks! Am checking it right now (why does a picture of Buddy Holly come up when you look up C&TCS?)
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 21:17 (fourteen years ago) link
there was something about RSH that just talking about his unique tone doesn't cover. I never really worked out how to describe it, but he seemed to have access to something the rest of us don't.
The sudden lurch into that sprawling alien riff in the middle of 'Deep in the woods' can actually warp reality... it was even more so live, the earth did indeed move, or at least the floor would tilt in a crazy chaotic fashion because of what was coming out of his guitar.
― Sandy Blair, Thursday, 31 December 2009 04:56 (fourteen years ago) link
Nice live recording from last year here: http://proskynesis.blogspot.com/2009/12/rip-rsh.html
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 31 December 2009 05:21 (fourteen years ago) link
" . . the floor would tilt in a crazy chaotic fashion because of what was coming out of his guitar." OTFM - Best description I've read!
― Soukesian, Thursday, 31 December 2009 13:13 (fourteen years ago) link
yup, great description sandy. i've quoted it in something i wrote about rowland's passing. i have had "honeymoon in red" and "room of lights" on rotation all day. might try to squeeze in watching "wings of desire" again before i go out.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 31 December 2009 16:26 (fourteen years ago) link
Why are so many people I care about dying this year! Between him and Asheton my two biggest guitar heroes have died and just fuckkk
― retrovaporized nebulizer (╓abies), Thursday, 31 December 2009 18:01 (fourteen years ago) link
RIP dude :(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeu0R73PJbQ
That pseudo-major-key-whatever-it-is guitar part that comes out of nowhere is so cool
― retrovaporized nebulizer (╓abies), Thursday, 31 December 2009 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
This may just be the video to close thread with...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si85s8dvKWI
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 1 January 2010 23:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Trailer for a documentary now up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cpspS8i3mI
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 February 2010 22:11 (fourteen years ago) link
(And Nick Cave's look is essentially Gene Simmons with a mustache at this point.)
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 10 February 2010 22:14 (fourteen years ago) link
the hospital scenes are mad creepy
― twice remembered / twice removed (electricsound), Wednesday, 10 February 2010 22:32 (fourteen years ago) link
I've been digging into Howard's stuff -- mostly cause of this thread. Man, I totally took that guy for granted. It's hard to think of another artist who is as uncelebrated as he is innovative.
Curious to tap the mob brain: What are your all time fave tunes/performances?
― Chonus, Friday, 12 February 2010 14:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm really digging the HTRK. Knew nothing about it 'til this thread.
― bendy, Friday, 12 February 2010 19:51 (fourteen years ago) link
It's good shit, for sure. Druggy and dubby, for those who like such things
― Chonus, Monday, 22 February 2010 01:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Whats the string music in that doco trailer? Its so melancholy.
― ABBAcab (Trayce), Monday, 22 February 2010 02:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Shit, I put on Teenage Snuff Film today for the first time in ages, was googling Rowland and somehow totally missed that he had died! RIP a year too late
― puff pastry hangman (admrl), Thursday, 6 January 2011 00:04 (thirteen years ago) link
I will always cherish the memories of listening to the Birthday party for the first time at age 14 or so. It almost felt like I was hearing people break laws on a cosmic level. The Immortal Souls albums also have a special place in my heart; they pick up where the Doors left off and do it 1000 x better. Such a shame that he passed when he was still in great form; "Pop Crimes" is a blinder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ReL0oMZZP0
― Franklin_The_Turtle, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 23:42 (thirteen years ago) link
rowland doc is due to be out august this year apaz
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Autoluminescent-Rowland-S-Howard/180950885269740
― australian rules football quarterback (electricsound), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 23:43 (thirteen years ago) link
I went on a Lydia Lunch listening spree last week and ended up playing (and researching) a lot of the '82 sessions that became Honeymoon In Red and Some Velvet Morning, I never knew the complicated twists and turns of those sessions or that parts of HIR were even FROM back then, I remember it coming out new in 87. Also never knew the SVM 4AD 12" was from the same sessions. And damn there's some of the dude's finest work tucked away in these two obscure gems, controversy over remixing/rerecording aside.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 23:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Sounds interesting, got any links? I've just been listening to Honeymoon, I had no idea there were demos like that floating around
― Franklin_The_Turtle, Thursday, 10 March 2011 01:16 (thirteen years ago) link
oh sorry, I just meant the Honeymoon LP and the SVM 12", another master reel has apparently been lost forever.
― sleeve, Thursday, 10 March 2011 01:29 (thirteen years ago) link
more info from Discogs:
Recorded @ Game Studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg in Jun/Jul-82 and @ Cold Storage Studios in London Aug-82, except for track 2 recorded @ New York City,Brooklyn,BC studio in May-87.
Initial mix by Steve Montgomery in London in Aug-82. Personnel in 1982 (at various intervals, but never all together): Lydia Lunch, Genevieve McGuckin, Murray Mitchell [13.13], Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard and Tracy Pew.
Personnel in 1987: Lydia Lunch (voices)/ Thurston Moore (guitar/voices) and Clint Ruin (a.k.a. Jim G. Thirlwell) (loops/treatments).
Recordings with members of the Birthday Party, which were at the time deemed inferior to the "Some Velvet Morning" single recordings. This record was supposed to be released by People's Records (run by Michael Schäumer & Michael Voigt [Monogam Records]) in 1982, but the label went bankrupt and the tapes were lost for years. One of the master reels has been lost forever. The surviving tapes were remixed by Jim Thirlwell and some guitar overdubs were done by Thurston Moore @ the BC studios in Brooklyn,New York in May-87. Released in this form without the consent of Nick Cave and Mick Harvey (they are listed on the album with aliases) because of the remixing which didn't leave many of the originals intact. Only "Dead River" and "Done Dun" were left fairly untouched and are also available on Lydia Lunch's "The Crumb" 12" (UK Widowspeak -WSP 13)["Dead River"(2:19) on this release is shorter and with less overdubs].
― sleeve, Thursday, 10 March 2011 01:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Watched the Autoluminescent documentary last night. HFS at all the old footage!
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 19 June 2014 19:43 (nine years ago) link
A smallish envelope came in today's mail from a Mr H. Howard. Looking through the book I can tell you (a) the neck date of RSH's Jag is April 1969, (b) it's completely rewired, new cheap pots on the lead circuit but the originals on the rhythm circuit, and (c) RSH's Twin is a 1972 master volume (tail logo). It's a nice little book but expensive for what it is. I don't mind in the least, it's supporting Harry.https://i.imgur.com/ZBoe3bw.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/jUN78iB.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/rymP95p.jpg
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 21:22 (four years ago) link
Harry's Near Death Experience albums are late great additions/editions of the greater B Party legacy.
― Julius Caesar Memento Hoodie (bendy), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 23:09 (four years ago) link
How much is the book?
I saw the RSH show in London a few weeks back. It was quite something and Harry was on great form.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 26 March 2020 04:11 (four years ago) link
$30 AUD plus $9 Aus / $15 ROW for shipping. At the current AUD exchange rate it's approx 2 pieces of pocket lint anywhere else in the world.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Thursday, 26 March 2020 05:02 (four years ago) link
http://ledatape.net/lto/product/this-guitar-belongs-to-rowland-s-howard/
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Thursday, 26 March 2020 05:21 (four years ago) link
Thanks.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 26 March 2020 05:26 (four years ago) link
thanks for this
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 26 March 2020 06:48 (four years ago) link
I saw a phto from the tribute concert which had JB Shilo, a guitarist playing what looked like a white fender jaguar. Was that the same actual guitar that Rowland had as his sole one?
It's in the review in Uncut. It mentions him playing Rowland 's original guitar parts but not that it's his guitar. So wondering if it was or just a lookalike.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 26 March 2020 08:19 (four years ago) link
The pic of Shilo on the Getty Images site shows a white Jag without a rose decal near the jack, so I’d say not.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Thursday, 26 March 2020 09:48 (four years ago) link
i had heard it was one of Roland's guitars, though not the one he was best known to play. JP Shilo totally nailed it at that concert though.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 26 March 2020 13:55 (four years ago) link
Based mostly on my age, timing, general blind spots and where I picked up the story, I never really understood the whole Bad Seeds timeline and extended family tree. For example, I knew of the Boys Next Door and Birthday Party and their influence, but never really listened to them, and never really considered who was doing what on each album. Kind of the same for the Bad Seeds; I knew a lot of people rotated roles or went in and out (Blixa, Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson) but didn't mine the credits for exactly who was doing what on which albums. Likewise I knew of Crime & the City Solution and These Immortal Souls, and knew they were connected to the Bad Seeds in some way, but never really listened to them or knew how. I've never even seen "Wings of Desire." But I just saw the Roland S. Howard doc and it filled in a lot of gaps for me. Got some catching up to do!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 January 2024 17:32 (two months ago) link
I watch this live video of his "She Cried" cover about once a week. The thudding bass, his Jaguar cutting your head off, it's perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nr5DyVLiW0
― papal hotwife (milo z), Tuesday, 23 January 2024 17:58 (two months ago) link
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/autoluminescent
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 January 2024 19:42 (two months ago) link
If you really want to hear what he brought to the group, start with Door Door; he isn't even on the first side, recorded before he joined, and while it's not as terrible as some say, it's unfocussed. Side 2 isn't that big a leap in quality, but Howard seems to have had more a vision pushing the band towards what they became than any of the other members. Not just his guitar playing, but his songs, his voice, even his saxophone.I've had his vocal on "The Red Clock" from the Hee Haw EP going through my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKh_TssFHDY
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 25 January 2024 01:05 (two months ago) link
Odds and sods These Immortal Souls album coming out, previewing with Rowland's arrangement of Alice Cooper (originally from a SubPop tribute covers EP)
https://theseimmortalsouls.bandcamp.com/album/extra
― bendy, Monday, 29 January 2024 17:12 (two months ago) link
both These Immortal Souls albums getting a reissue too.
― stirmonster, Monday, 29 January 2024 17:31 (two months ago) link
I ordered a copy of that upthread This Guitar Belongs to Roland S. Howard book, because it seems like a cool document. The exchange rate is also in my favor, lol, and I further saved a lot on shipping by just sending it to family in Sydney to be united with at a future date.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 29 January 2024 17:53 (two months ago) link
Glad it's still available, thought it had sold out! It's nice, and feels like the right memento to keep.
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 29 January 2024 21:30 (two months ago) link
I don't know how many are available, to be honest. There is a music shop in Melbourne selling it, that was the only place I saw it selling. Not hyper priced or anything.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 29 January 2024 21:51 (two months ago) link