Gathering Magic – 13th October 2024

Connections form between young and old
As the tribe gathers at these tables
Every nugget may not be gold
And truths told as if they are fables

The dining room, like a rush-hour train
A gaggle of gossip between gulps of water
The old folks never tire to explain
Love for their new grandson and daughter

Two hands touch to make a familiar bond
Share secrets down the generations
Soft in comfort where love belongs
And meets all expectations

Shared with WDYS #257 picture prompt and also submitted for an assignment at AllPoetry.com as follows:
Write a 12 to 24-line poem in any style that uses simile. Keep the imagery consistent and clear. Make sure that you use two clear examples of simile in your poem using the words ‘as’ or ‘like’ as discussed in the lesson. Try to write in the present tense and incorporate at least one concrete use of the senses in addition to imagery and metaphor, which was covered in the previous assignment.

Keeping up with tenzenmen – 16th February 2013

Why are you receiving this email? Probably because you downloaded something free from the tenzenmen bandcamp! Feel free to unsubscribe but please don’t register complaints indicating you were never asked to join this list 🙂

Tough Life
After a six week break around October last year it’s been really tough to get back into the swing of things and it’s only now I’m starting to get back on top of it all. There is a LOT in the pipeline for this year (and as you can see below there’s been quite a few releases already!) so I think this newsletter will probably be quarterly this year to save me a little more time! Keep up with the latest news in all the usual ways – at the website, facebook etc.

Skip Skip Ben Ben – Sacrifice Mountain Hills CD
Out now!
Ben Ben (Boyz & Girl) heads out with her new band, release and familiar dreamy fuzz-pop.

Cartavetro – Here It Comes, Tramontane! LP+CD
Out now!
Italian DIY indie rockers recruited Mike Watt for help on this great slab of vinyl.

Fun – 1/3 7″
Out now!
First of 3 7″s from our fiendish noise rock drinking buddies in Finland.

The Gar – The City of Burning Identities CD
Out now!
The Gar are legends in Beijing and finally produce a new 6 track EP for your listening pleasure.

Chui Wan – White Night CD
Out now!
Experimental psyche rockers from Beijing with their debut release.

Nick Van Breda/zzzounds – Split 7″
Out now!
Two super famous Sydney rockers go acoustic for a clear seven inches. Also available in black.

Noise from China- 2xCD
Out now!
Only the 2nd ever collection of experimental noise from China, compiled by legendary organiser Yan Jun from Subjam.

Dear Eloise – I’ll Be Your Mirror wood backed 7″
This sold out on the day of release but you can still listen and download digital

Daighila/Grinding Halt – Split 7″
Out now!
Malaysian screamo legends Daighila team up with the Netherlands noise monsters Grinding Halt

Birdstriking – CD
Out now!
Debut album from Beijing Indie punks Birdstriking – vinyl soon available thru Anton Newcombe’s A label.

Mr Graceless – The Tree Ever Green CD
Out now!
Dynamic Beijing indie that sold out quickly – now back in stock.

White+ – CD
Out now!
Beijing experimentalists with one of the most appreciated CD releases of 2012 – easily the biggest seller so far!

X is Y – Never Sever/LP CD
Out now!
Double disc from this mathy Shanghai trio – brings to mind Pinback and other Rob Crow genius.

Bamodi – Smell Heaven LP
Out now!
Crazy Japanese influenced Perth punks. FFO: Rudimentary Peni

Quiet Steps – Dying Livers/Secular LP+CD
Out now!
Brisbane’s Quiet Steps come from a long line of Brisbane indie bands wowing Aussie ears over the last 5 years.

Michael Crafter/SMG – split 7″
Out now!
Malaysian grindcore legends meet Aussie semi-legends! Mad thrashing!

Stellarium – CD
Out now!
Debut album from Singapore freak out psychedelic fuzzlords!

Eurpides Berserker – digital discography
Out now!
Made when Dave Drayton (Milhouse, zzzounds etc) was just a baby, banging out ideas quick smart!

Fat City/LuXinPei – Super Split CD
Available now!
Two exciting Chinese experimental groups across 2 discs. FFO: xNOBBQx, Breakdance the Dawn

New photographs
Ted Danson With Wolves at Black Wire
My pictures are pretty much up to date these days!
Check them out and post some comments to let me know what you think.

You can find all my pix here.

Packaging options
Maybe you didn’t know that tenzenmen also stocks Stumptown Arigato packs for CD, tape and 7″!
Plenty of stock available again now!

This month’s special

Hinterlandt – Migration Motion Movement
Get yourself 50% off Hinterlandt’s beautiful CD Migration, Motion, Movement. 3 long pieces that never sit still taking you on the journey of the artist moving from Germany to Australia. Enter the code ‘mmm’ at check out!
Offer valid til 1st April 2013.

Keeping up with tenzenmen – 15th August 2012

New titles

Snapline – Future Eyes CD
Out now!
Martin Atkins (PiL/Pigface) produced sophomore album for Snapline

Snapline – Phenomena CD/LP
CD out now!
Snapline’s darker re-imagining of their sophomore recording. Vinyl coming soon.

Make More – Less Deaths digital single
Available now!
Precursor to a full-length vinyl release from these Brisbane favourites.

Automating/Torturing Nurse – Contest to Kill 100 People tape
Out now!
Australia’s Automating offers up drone whilst China’s Torturing Nurse bursts forth with harsh noise in a contest to kill everyone!

Jagernaut/Terlarang – split 7″
Out now!
Two crusty thrashers from Greece and Malaysia and available on 3 different coloured vinyls!

New photographs

IDYLLS at Hamilton Station Hotel
I actually managed to get quite a few new sets up last month!
Check them out and post some comments to let me know what you think.

You can find all my pix here.

Packaging options
Maybe you didn’t know that tenzenmen also stocks Stumptown Arigato packs for CD, tape and 7″!
Stock is getting low so get in quick!

This month’s special

V/A – Give and Take
Get yourself a whopping 80% off the Give & Take compilation from Malaysia – a great and varied mix of alternative music from the heart of South East Asia – I really wish I was going there again this year! Enter the code ‘givetake’ at check out!
Offer valid til 1st September.

Your feedback is always appreciated.

Keeping up with tenzenmen – 4th July 2012

New titles

Duck Fight Goose – Sports CD
Due: July
After their white vinyl 7″ here’s an album full of the wonder of Duck Fight Goose.

Low Wormwood – Lanzhou Lanzhou CD
Due: July
Low Wormwood’s 2nd album for tenzenmen is dedicated to their hometown.

Dear Eloise – Beauty in Strangers CD
Due: Mid July
A more subtle and nuanced outing for their second album on tenzenmen.

Boyz & Girl – CD
Due: July
Taiwan’s Boyz & Girl bring you their noisy shoegaze psychedelia.

Xiao He – Silly’s Ballad artbook with built in mp3 player
Due: July
The extra special Xiao He makes 100TZM extra special with this beautiful book containing audio and video!

Various Artists – Give & Take CD
Due: July
Co-operative release of 22 Malaysian punk and hardcore bands.

New photographs

Zita Grimm at Black Wire

As mentioned last month, I’m a little slow at editing the pictures I take but I had to get a recent batch out whilst they were hot as I had such a great time at this particular show which was to say Bon Voyage to Mitzi (Zita Grimm, Thylacine, Bare Arms) as she heads over to Europe to get some culture.
Check them out and post some comments to let me know what you think.

You can find all my pix here.

Packaging options

Maybe you didn’t know that tenzenmen also stocks Stumptown Arigato packs for CD, tape and 7″!

This month’s special

Scul Hazzards – Landlord
Get yourself the 45% off the SCUL HAZZARDs ‘Landlord’ CD by entering the code ‘scazzards’ at check out!
Offer valid til 20th July.


It’s pretty crazy this month at tenzenmen – there’s probably a few other releases making their way into the catalogue too so check back often!

Vote for your favourite release for the first half of the year here at the tenzenmen facebook page and add your voice to the conversation – your feedback is always appreciated.

Recent posts at tenzenmen.com

mere women ‘old life’ launch shows
idylls oz/south east asia tour for ‘farewell all joy’ lp
nikko shows for ‘gold & red’ album release
sunken seas – paid your price video

Mere Women tour dates
07 July Gasometer MELBOURNE
08 July Ritual Records MELBOURNE
12 July Terrace Bar NEWCASTLE
21 July The Waiting Room BRISBANE
26 July FBI social SYDNEY
11 Aug Yours and Owls WOLLONGONG

Idylls tour dates
07 July Crown & Anchor ADELAIDE
08 July Squatter’s Arms ADELAIDE
15 July SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
17 July JAKARTA, INDONESIA
18 July DEPOK, INDONESIA
19 July CIREBON, INDONESIA
21 July KLATEN, INDONESIA
22 July SEMARANG, INDONESIA
23 July JOMBANG, INDONESIA
24 July BLITAR, INDONESIA
25 July SIDOARJO, INDONESIA
27 July KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
28 July TEMERLOH, MALAYSIA

Hira Hira tour dates
20 July The Square, Haymarket, SYDNEY
4 August Venue TBC, MELBOURNE
5 August Venue TBC, MELBOURNE
11 August Yours & Owls, WOLLONGONG

Nikko tour dates
6 July Turbine Platform, Brisbane Powerhouse (6pm start)
7 July In-store at The Time Machine, Nambour (midday)
13 July Turbine Platform, Brisbane Powerhouse (6pm start)
14 July Waxing Lyrical, Brisbane Powerhouse (acoustic)
20 July Turbine Platform, Brisbane Powerhouse (6pm start)
21 July In-store at Tyms Guitars, Brisbane (afternoon)
27 July Turbine Platform, Brisbane Powerhouse (6pm start)
6 September The Phoenix, Canberra
7 September The Lass O’Gowrie, Newcastle
8 September FBi Social, Sydney
20 September The Empress, Melbourne (acoustic)
21 September The Old Bar, Melbourne
22 September The Metro, Adelaide

Music is great! – 2nd December 2004

frequency lab with grey daturas, hit the jackpot, vincent over the sink

waiting waiting waiting at the airport – finally a customs guy finds us and wants to know why jj, yukari and koji have equipment with them – i just tell him they were recording before and have come back to sydney for one night before flying back to japan.

eventually limited express (has gone?) come out and we sheepishly load up the car and drive into the city to frequency lab.

we take everything up and vincent over the sink start pretty soon after – these two guys are great but we only get to check out a couple of songs before hunger calls.

we make it back to see hit the jackpot who are another wonderfully simple band – playing with a complete disregard to anything at all – they’re cool! i’m running around wondering if everything will be ok as the place fills – it looks to me as though the equipment is ropey and the drumkit will fall apart but it’s all there is…grey daturas manage to crank everything up a notch and chris on sound manages pretty well with the noise.

the place is packed now and no one else should be allowed in but it seems the place is getting more and more full as people squash right up to the microphones. a 10 second soundcheck and limited express (has gone?) special show time begins once again with ‘free style riding’ and ‘aloha!’

the grins are wide on everyone around and people are climbing over each other to get a view. the enthusiasm is running both ways as the band crank up the tempo, heat and intensity. jj makes his way into the audience during stop-go and yukari during tiger rock.

limited express (has gone?) finish special show time with another crazy run through ‘talk to me, all right’ and a ripping version of spy which disintegrates into a squall of noise before a jj jump to full stop.

the audience won’t let them go though and beg for more so get treated to a beautiful rendition of ‘drawtoborn’ and another quick run through ‘free style riding’ after which jj and yukari get carried through the crowd to rapturous applause.

everyone is happy!
everything is good!
limited express (has gone!).

jj – “thank you sydney audience! thank you punk rock! we are rock and roll! certainly we will come here again”
yukari – “it is no problem, language or different country, music is great!”
koji – “tonight we rose to the occasion and the last show of the tour was a great show”