ED KUEPPER & JIM WHITE – After The Flood – LP – Vinyl

LP – Black Vinyl.

Debut album release for these titans of independent Australian music. Reimagining tracks from Kueppers career as a Saint, a Laughing Clown and long-standing solo performer. Jim White of the Dirty Three, and a multitude of other projects, brings his own personal magic both as a fan and collaborator.

In the final days of February 2022, Brisbane received approximately 80 per cent of the citys average annual rainfall in a mere 72 hours. Upstream, Wivenhoe Dam, the citys main flood mitigation strategy, received close to three Sydney Harbours worth of water in less than three days. Nearly 3000 Brisbane streets were flooded and highways were closed for days, isolating some communities. Thirteen people lost their lives and over 23,000 properties were flood-affected.

Lets go back in time. Back in the mid-90s the Dirty Three opened for Ed Kuepper in Melbourne. Thats when Ed and Jim first crossed paths. Jim of course was well-aware of Ed; who wasnt? This was an artist who had redefined Australian music not just once with The Saints, not just twice with Laughing Clowns, but was at it again for a third time. under his own name. For his part Ed was watching Jim play and making a mental note.

Time passed a lot of time passed. Jim left the country with the Dirty Three and built a formidable reputation as a collaborator and sideman. Ed was in his pomp, touring and releasing albums, building a remarkable body of work that now stands at over 50 albums.

Roll forward to 2020. Time became malleable, even these most industrious of artists found themselves with time to kill. Jim was unexpectedly back in Australia, in fact stranded in Australia. Despite all the complexities of the pandemic Ed recognised an opportunity to capture the collaboration hed long had in mind.

The original idea was for the two of them to do a few shows together. It would be casual. But it proved to be anything but. Amidst the on-off restrictions and the threat of the virus the tour was a turbulent ride. They performed two sold out nights at the Sydney Opera House and fluked the only gig at Rising before the Melbourne Festival was cancelled. Other gigs were blown out and plans would be changed at the last minute. Touring was precarious with Ed and Jim unsure when restrictions would be announced, leaving them high and dry or forcing them to drive cross county late at night to cross state lines before the borders were closed. Ed refers to them at one point operating like a guerrilla outfit on the NSW/Queensland border.

In amidst this turmoil a musical bond was forged. Ed appreciated Jims rhythmic intent. Its intuition based he explains. With Jim theres an overlap of influences but Jim has his own character.

The duo grasped an opportunity to enter Melbournes Sound Park Studio. Working quickly over four days they captured the music they had been performing. We took what wed been doing live and brought it into the studio Ed recalls. It was important that we captured the immediacy of what wed been doing, that it wasnt laboured over. Everything was laid down live.

The resulting album features eight tracks that provide, as Ed puts it The broadest representation of what we did, with the most variety. The widescreen selection of songs gives a tracking shot of Eds career to date. The earliest song reimagined here is The Saints’ “Swing For The Crime”, which originally appeared in 1978 on the ‘Prehistoric Sounds’ album. Eds early 80s band Laughing Clowns is generously represented and rewired with the songs “Crying Dance”, “The Year Of The Bloated Goat” and “Collapse Board”. His solo career is deeply mined for reworked hidden gems; “Demolition” and “Miracles” (both from 2007s ‘Jean Lee & the Yellow Dog’) and “The Ruins”(from 2015s ‘Lost Cities’). “The 16 Days” originally appeared on Eds second album under his own name, ‘Rooms of the Magnificent’ in 1986.

More time has passed. Many of Eds long out of print albums have been reissued, his work with The Saints has been released globally as a deluxe boxed set. There has been associated touring with original Saints drummer Ivor Hay, Mick Harvey (Birthday Party/Bad Seeds), Mark Arm (Mudhoney) and Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys) joining Ed on the road. (The towering impression left by the nights proceeding? That Kuepper is a motherfucker of a guitar player, his sound just as molten and unrelenting as back in the day – Uncut UK). Jim White remains as prodigious as ever, releasing his debut solo album, rekindling the Dirty Three for their biggest Australian tour and highest charting album. Creatively restless as ever he has recently worked with The Hard Quartet, Marisa Anderson, Bill Callahan, Myriam Gendron and Xylouris White.

Deep into their careers, at the top of their game, ever curious, changing and searching, Ed and Jim reach another high-water mark.

Tracklist:

1. The Ruins
2. The Crying Dance
3. The Year Of The Bloated Goat
4. The 16 Days
5. Demolition
6. Swing For The Crime
7. Collapse Board
8. Miracles