Debut LP by Brisbanes brilliant Greg Hilleard, who we first heard when he was part of the incredible Lost Domain. The Sheik is a solo album that makes us think of a summit between the Gibson Bros and Parachute-era Eugene Chadbourne (or something equally far-fetched). Pretty amazing by any yardstick. Anyway, Greg had a few words he wanted to share. - Byron Coley.
"Here they are: Celebrating 200 years of rock n roll. Former "leader" of Brisbanes premier room-clearers Strontium Dog (apologies to PORK), whose one and only record is terrible beyond belief (all surviving members agree). Shortly after the timely demise of SD, Gregory was asked to sit in with the Invisible Empire -- Brisbane (possibly Australia)s, number one improv juke jumpers. John Henry decided being named after a dodgy pope was not very RnR and promptly renamed him Papa Lord God (apologies to the deceased). Evidence of the first meeting of minds is on the sadly unavailable Jeezly Fishcakes cassette. The Grubbage album was also recorded around this time. At some point one of the other more urbane members suggested that being named after the KKK (smash the invisible empire) wasnt maybe the best idea for impressing foreign investors and the name was changed to the Lost Domain. For 20 glorious years we free rocked the bars and verandahs of Brisbane to little or no response. Then Dave died. The guru, teacher, leader and philosopher (pre-war RnR division) was no more. This didnt sit well with Papa. Working in a gang made for light lifting and, being naturally work-shy, a solo thing wasnt really on the cards. Depression, madness and homelessness ensued. A period of semi-Calvinist sobriety followed (not recommended). Slowly muscles were stretched and strings were bent. A strong urge to avoid "tuneage" meant there would be no "writing". Freedom was the score and sound the means. Here is the first evidence for the prosecution/defense: Acoustic tracks recorded mostly first thing in the morning, in bed (Hello Furry Lewis!). Electric guitars recorded at the SweatLodge. Freedom yelps from the creek. Wordless protest. Dig in..." - Feeding Tube.
After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.
This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).
Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.
Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.
Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
