Tag: indie

Every everything (The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #15) – 7th December 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

It’s taken me more than a year and a half to recover!

When I returned from the CELTA training course I found my brain had changed.  I seem to flip between data driven thinking and artistic thinking and often cannot find a good balance.  The training was very linear and intensive (as it should be) and on reflection now, some 18 months later, was easier to complete than I imagined beforehand and during.  The pressure to achieve was very high but that pressure mostly came from within.  Now, I realise that I can turn my hand to anything if I wish to.

Of course, the circumstances since the training have mostly helped me arrive at this conclusion.  First I started doing some free teaching with students from the local university.  This gave me a little self confidence though I was often shocked at the students poor language levels, in the language they are studying for their degrees, whatever the subject.  I can suggest to myself that I could probably easily complete a degree at the university here purely based on the fact I can use the language fully.  Anyway, that’s by the by for now as I’m not really considering that as an option at the moment.

After a few months kicking around and enjoying much free time I ended up working with Grade 5 students at a nearby provincial school.  I have a million stories from there, many which I would like to forget.  I soon discovered the crazy dysfunction in the education system here.  If it’s obvious to me, an unqualified teacher starting their first job then the system must be pretty poor.

I don’t intend to tarnish the education system as a whole as that would be unfair.  The circumstances I was in influenced a lot of my impressions and I try to understand that what I saw was not indicative of other places.  It was, however, the belief of many others teaching here that things are not much better elsewhere in the country.  There are a million reasons for this and books could be filled trying to explain.  The main down side for me was that I felt that I was unable to do a good job and provide useful learning for the students a lot of the time.  I hate doing a bad job – especially when eventually someone else is going to suffer for it.  So that was the other down side – watching willing students deal with the inadequacies of the system which lead to inconsistency in almost everything.  Frustrating beyond belief.

Beyond that though I have found myself with a passion and love for the students that has made me incredibly happy.  It’s a job that I really love to invest my time in and to go to work to do it.  I’ll talk more about this in future.

Just a short one this time as I push myself to get back into this.

“Every heartbeat, every movement, every moment, every sigh.”

Gratitude Journal

I am so grateful and happy to go to school on Friday, which was hard as I had been sick this week and had a bad experience on Monday. The kids also drove me crazy and made me quite angry but I survived and talked to Kru Noon about strategies to get them to listen more. I will take her advice and try this next week!

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #15

Music from Hamster Theatre, Super Thief, Infidel-Castro!, Arm, Kultur Shock, Captain Beefheart, Fugazi, Bogshed, Brainiac, Neon Rose, By The End of Tonight, Rafter, Huggy Bear, Jimmy Two Hands, Zu/Mats Gustafsson, Secret Hate and The Ex.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #14 – 30th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Music from Effigies, Cardiacs, mr sterile Assembly, Charlottefield, Goblin, Charming Hostess, Palberta, Lungfish, Yugen, Subway Sect, Helta Skelta, Hatfield and the North, Churn Milk Joan, Radio Delhi, Midori, Positively 13 O’Clock, Boy Wonder, Blood Brothers and Human Expression.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to the staff at the hospital this morning who took care of Amy after she fell over and hit her head. Nothing serious thankfully.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #13 – 23rd November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Music from DMBQ, Sebadoh, Belly Button, Units, Amateur Drunks, Round Eye, Blame Game, Minutemen, Ilaiyaraaja, Ween, Motorhead, Széki Kurva, The St Thomas Pepper Smelter, Hebosagil, Tall Dwarfs, DNA, The Milkshakes, Samla Mammas Manna and Pryapisme.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be working in schools and with a not so serious expectation of my teaching skills. Of course, I always try to improve but the fact it is a little more relaxed has meant that I can enjoy interacting with the kids more. I don’t see many of they other teachers getting involved in the same way so much especially not the Thai teachers. All the kids want to talk to me all the time. I feel like I am a great asset to the school. I hope the school feels the same.*

17th Apr 2021 – * – It didn’t.

The Chiang Rai Alternative Hour #12 – 16th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Music from Ibrahim Maalouf, Pm 7_Jupiter, Vialka, Doctor Coffee, The Fugs, The Fall, Pavement, The Dickies, Turnpike, France Gall, WannFunTastiKlons, uSSSy, Birthday Party, Ween, The Who and And So I Watch You From Afar.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that I have learned not to be afraid to stand up for what I believe in and also accept those consequences even if they are not in my favour. Others may do things differently and that’s their choice.

11th Apr 2021 – You’ll have to keep reading to find out more about those consequences – the period between September 2019 and March 2020 was very trying indeed! The last sentence mention of ‘others’ is just about the advice given by other teachers to me and how some considered that it is impossible for a farang to change and improve things within any Thai system. I fought against it and arguably, I lost – at least at the time. Longer term though I consider the minor changes I did create were worth the effort. Being a teacher is not about taking it easy for me, it’s a responsibility. I see others putting up and shutting up, but to me, that is just lazy. Never give up.

No Mandate – No Mandate/Scheme of Things – 1st December 2018

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Cat #: 196TZM

Mellow dub grooves, heavy desert riffs, and short bursts of angular punk. This is the sound of new Sydney trio No Mandate. Their debut double EP, “No Mandate / Scheme of Things”, will be released as summer breaks – December 1st, 2018, via Tenzenmen Records.

Moving freely across genres and boundaries comes naturally to the three musicians, thanks to their experience in forward-thinking bands such as Hinterlandt, SEIMS, Meniscus, and many more.

The eponymous No Mandate EP constitutes the band’s foundation: instrumental, reggae-tinged rhythms circle themselves and merge with psychedelic fuzz, ultimately culminating in brief explosions of irregular math-rock.

Scheme of Things takes the dub-punk formula a step further. Understated vocals lead the way into increasingly progressive song structures, ending with Manifesto, a 45-second slap in the face of mediocrity that wouldn’t be out of place on an early hardcore seven-inch.

Creating the two EPs was a practice of grassroots egalitarianism: Jochen wrote the music; Alex recorded it in Jochen’s living room; Simeon created the artwork, and recorded additional overdubs at his home under the supervision of Harry the cat.

Weight: 84.5kg
Resting heart rate: 58

Worlds Dirtiest Sport – Electroweak Phase Transition – 4th September 2018

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Cat #: 192TZM

Worlds Dirtiest Sport (USA/France) is a one-man-band playing space, psychedelic, folk rock inspired by a wide range of music from Spacemen 3 and Moondog to Captain Beefheart, Charles Mingus and Nina Simone.

With only one person onstage WDS still sounds like a full 4 or 5 piece band. Guitars, bass, voice, keyboards and other noise making devices sampled and looped live create an intense ambience.

Catchy songs and lyrics invite the listener into a surreal and very distinct world that WDS has created through years of experimentation and playing live.

The artist, Kevin Branstetter, has been a touring musician for 26 years with countless tours and festivals in America, Europe and Japan. A founding (and still current) member of lo-fi legends Trumans Water – John Peel favourites from San Diego, California, and also a member of The Bugs from Portland, Oregon, Kevin has worked with and inspired many different musicians, from Thurston Moore and John Paul Jones to Beck, Cat Power, Wire and The Boredoms.

Leavings – Sell and Shark – 21st November 2016

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Cat #: 189TZM

Leavings is a three piece punk band from Brisbane, Australia which takes cues from post-hardcore, indie rock, shoegaze, krautrock, and the vibrant DIY cultures of Australia, China, and South-East Asia.

Combining driving, aggressive bass and drums, shouted vocals, and wiry guitar with catchy, muscular hooks and cavernous noise and drone-scapes, the group’s songs generate a bold, vigorous energy that is both affirming and cathartic . 

RIYL: Unwound, Flying Nun records, The Men, Rosetta, Fugazi, Japandroids, Sonic Youth, Blank Realm, Neu!, P.K. 14, mewithoutYou, Turnpike, A Place to Bury Strangers.

Sell & Shark is Leavings’ debut release and the first single from their forthcoming LP.

On side A is “Sell”, a reckless punk rock clanger in which the band belts out grumpy yells drenched in reverb over the top of a collection of distorted major-key hooks played at full tilt.

Exclusive to the 7″ is a brooding slab of noise rock in the form of B-side “Shark”. The track begins quietly with a faint, nervous guitar riff and muted, tense drumming encircled by a menacing bassline which swims around them tightly until all three instruments attack each other, exploding into dissonant fuzz and dry screaming.

Together, the tracks represent the band’s response to the frustration of living in an Australia whose leaders become nastier and more cynical with each passing year. “Sell” is defiantly spirited while “Shark” is the band at their grumpiest, but not without a sense of humour. 

Both tracks were recorded in Brisbane at Tym Guitars with Donovan Miller (FOREVR, No Anchor) over one weekend in the winter of 2016.

For interviews, press, and bookings, please contact leavingsband@gmail.com.