STACK #194 Dec 2020

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MUSIC NEWS

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it,” he admits. “But the last show I saw was probably right before COVID hit – it was the artist Devin Townsend, he did a one-man acoustic show at a small venue in Fremantle. I took my wife to see that, and it was absolutely mind- blowing – the guy’s a genius! He even played one of his songs from his [extreme metal act] Strapping Young Lad days – a very, very heavy song – with just his acoustic guitar. It was really quite amusing.” Simon's top 2020 releases go thusly: Mr. Bungle's ruby red vinyl edition of The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo (see pic), the seventh album from Finnish seven-piece Finntroll (“I’m not even going to try and pronounce the name of the album – I could spell it to you! It’s kind of folkish

metal”), the MMXX EP by Eskimo Callboy (“It’s kind of pop-infused metal, it’s strange – if you get a spare five minutes, just for a laugh, google their song Hypa Hypa – it’s hilarious”), and the mighty Rise Radiant by Brissie prog-metallers Caligula’s Horse. Those titles have been added to Simon’s massive, 700-plus-piece music collection (comprising CDs, vinyl and cassettes), which he admits he ‘box-checks’ regularly to ensure his genre-alphabetical- chronological filing system is neat as a pin. Meanwhile, things are getting decidedly Christmassy in-store. “We’re starting to get traction on the Christmas CDs,” Simon says, adding that Mandy denizens are really chomping through the new AC/DC, “both on CD and vinyl.”

SHOP TALK

W hen it comes to admitting the circumstances of your first-ever deliberate live music experience, some of us want to put our hoodies on backwards and change the subject. Simon McLeish, however, doesn’t seem to have any cheesy dance-pop skeletons in his closet. “It was probably Fear Factory,” the Media Co-ordinator of Mandurah JB says – but he isn’t crowing it over you. “I’ve gotten less and less cool as I’ve gotten older, unfortunately!” he laughs. If that’s true, at

1. AC/DC PWR/UP 2. Kylie Minogue DISCO 3. Something For Kate The Modern Medieval 4. Bruce Springsteen Letter To You 5. Sticky Fingers Land Of Pleasure/Caress Your Soul 6. Queen Greatest Hits 7. Midnight Oil The Makarrata Project 8. Various The Rocky Horror Picture Show OST 9. Tyler, The Creator Igor 10. Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald Push The Blues Away

Then of course there’s the country folk – “yeah, there’s a bit of a country crew down here” – who might be interested to learn that Troy Cassar-Daley has his first ever Christmas album out right now! (NB: Simon doesn’t love country, but he thinks Troy is a genuine dude.) But if you’re more of a Grinch than a Who, don’t worry – Simon’s got your back. “I always just gravitate towards the people who are just standing in front of the heavy metal section,” he grins. Get into Mandurah store today, to talk all things metal, live, and vinyl with Simon!

Simon McLeish at JB Hi-Fi Mandurah,WA

least he has plenty of company: Simon has been a big metal-head and enthusiastic live music attendee in and around Perth for many years, a scene which is more of a community. “It’s very, very tight knit,” he says. “A lot of the people I’m seeing at gigs now, I was seeing at gigs in the early ‘90s.” And who, exactly, has he been seeing on the stage? “Well, it’s been a bit of a bugger for that one this year, hasn’t

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28 DECEMBER 2020

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