BIOGRAPHY

The tradition of DIY is well and truly alive in New Zealand. One of it's most diligent and prolific protagonists is Dunedin based Matthew Middleton (34). Conceived in 1994, CRUDE is the working title for Middletons recordings - a universe of music and ideas concocted on a simple cassette 4-track recorder.

History:1994 - The first 'album' released was the lo-fi outing "The world is so you have something to Stand on", a neurotic yet promising collection of songs used as a demo and social ice-breaker..By chance Middleton hooked up with ChCh city underground band Space Dust via that very tape. Thanks to drummer Duane Zarakovs' impeccable and comprehensive record collection Middleton would come to appreciate the underground and avant garde on a scale simply impossible in his home town of Invercargill.

Freshly inspired, many more cassettes ensued during this ChCh period: examples of musique concrete: naieve sound sculpture, lo-fi punk, psych blues and bent pop songs. Titles from this period still exist and await transcription to disc. For an example of the work of this period, get a copy of Ecstatic Yods ' Refute a Myth Society' LP, and the critically acclaimed 'Inner City Guitar Perspectives' released by legendary label Flying Nun.

Moving from Chch to Dunedin in 1995, Middleton continued the sketchbook recordings and started bands like the Aesthetics.The move to Dunedin was pivotal, Middleton meeting and recording with industrial musician J-mz Robinson. The Crude sound evolved further - the range of instrumentation at the time was a chaotic and revolving mix of clarinet, saxophone, synth, piano, noises, voice, guitar, bass guitar, drums and percussion.

Noise, as a genre and mode of sociological attack crept into the picture around 1999. And soon after, dance music [in a raw and kitsch form] was utilized. but not to the extent of usurping the classic home-made kiwi-rock of old. The sound evolved embracing all influences. Another major turning point was Middleton’s decision to upload many tracks to the infamous mp3.com/mp3.com.au, pulling finger to many traditional forms of distribution and accounting. Middleton spent the early years of the 21st century uploading compulsively and blindly, perhaps excessively, knowing not where and to whom the music was reaching. He did not care. Bin Laden himself could be a Crude fan. At this point Middleton formed the Yahoo Group CrudeCat and managed to render the 65 title back-catalogue onto Cd-r format - both audio and data.
Many new alliances were forged at this point. The Mental Telemetry (now invisible generation)team assisted with an Aesthetics release and Crude 'artless intent' cd-r series.

In mid 2006 Matt Middleton had the good fortune of receiving a CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND grant to perform in New York City venues that November. This is only the second time he has performed overseas. It was , well, fun.

PRESENT : And now it's 2009, Crude marches on. In old, squelching, biege-hued vans. The Crude show is now a slick and surreal event, usually solo, with pre-prepared (usually crafted/treated the day of the performance)backing sounds, a precariously held together' juno 60' (roland) synth emanating a wierd alien 'cat mating' sound, primitivist percussive effects, and a crude, home-made shenai or shawm type instrument. Sounds almost hippyish i guess but I assure you, it ain't. The Crude sound of this era embraces the ideas of the new 'dark ambient' electronic movement, post-post glitch , angular and sparse horns referencing the new york no-wave, the vocals a drunken mix of un-pretentious nz accented dunedin sound/waitean/cavean growl/gurgle, vega-esque howl/yipe, sweet melody, esoteric chant and the drive of a younger, less horase amy winehouse. if i don't say so myself. Today the Crude lyrical pallette is quite acidic. A bit of spite there. Some dystopia, some utopia, but mainly toxin-filtered social commentary('dunedin warmth, dunedin hands' a good example). The CRUDE project has swallowed up or has been swallowed up by the BLOGGER phenomenon, and it is there that all crude's latest actions, recordings, thoughts and social experimentation takes place. If you gots something to show off, do it on A BLOG!.. It grows like money on a tree. ).The BACKCATALOGUE catalogue looks very 'healthy' presently, and since the Real Groove article in June 2007, and that LISTENER ARTICLE Crude's availability and purchasability is no longer a shadowy affair. You have no excuses now. You've been told it's interesting music. So, go on, go buy some. Hook a brother up. Buy me. ALSO - LOOK OUT FOR THE AESTHETICS ALBUM 'UGLY AMBITION' IN 2009!!!!

Matt Middleton, Ravensbourne, Dunedin.

. any questions, any interviews :::::please feel free to EMAIL CRUDE

CURRENT DISCOGRAPHY

CRUDE

7" Lathes   
 'Imbroglio' - Trinder Records 1995 
'Clarinet Exercises' - Dirtlove Records 1996
'Bradstreet' -Dirtlove 1996 
'Sexy Lady' - Dirtlove 1997 
'Pass Please' - Dirtlove 1997 
'Sexicon' - Dirtlove 1998

Triple 8"    Lathe 
   'Turbo Spunk' - Crawlspace Records 1998 

10" Lathe
  'Worlds Worst Saxophone Solos Volume 48' Crawlspace 1998 

12" Lathe 
'Beta Test' - Stabbies and the Rocket 1998 

12" Vinyl
'Inner City Guitar Perspectives' - Flying Nun 1996 
    'Refute a Myth Society' - Ecstatic Yod 1995 

Cassette - rare material distributed mid ninetees under Dirtlove Records 
y'know, those dirty little crude tapes u find in yer collections..
THE HOCKEN LIBRARY IN DUNEDIN HAS ALOT OF THESE TAPES ON FILE!
  
 'The World is So You Have Something to Stand on ' 1994 
   'Miscreants and Materialists '1995 
   'Selfless Songs to God' 1995 
   'General paralysis of the Insane' 1995 
   'Ebola Roller' 1995 
   'Vagabond Bagowind' 1995
   'Order' 1996 
'The End of the World' 1994 
'Stinkin' Hippies ep' 1995
'Matthew Middleton' 1995 
'Anorexic' 1996

NB:Many of the Cd-r titles listed below have been released on cassette at some point...

CD-R   
 [All released by 'Artless Intent' , titles recorded between    1995-2008] 
   'Bank'
   'Artless Intent Signatures Volume One' 
   'Controlled Payment Technologies'
   'Intelsat 707' 
   'C3' 
   'Death Satellite 2'
   'Stalino Cybernetics' 
   'Sci-fi Sound' 
   'CYP3A5' 
   'Proliferation of Drones'
   'The Stray [ep]'
   'Stand Your Ground' 
   'Auto Series Volumes One to Nine' 
   'Raytheon' 
   'Catalogues of Meaninglessness' 
   'Stored Value System' 
   'Nasdaq'
   'Crude Live' 
   'Mars'
   'Datastream Cowboy'
   'Special Tone' 
   'Popoular Source Codes' 
   'Slow Code' 
   'Special Edition' 
   'Informatik 105' 
   'Intelsat 703' 
   'New Fundamentals' 
   'Resistant Protein' 
   'Sax Serpentine' 
   'Sax Serpentine Remix' 
   'Marz Noiz'
   'The Mine' 
   'Notes From the Microcommunity' 
   'We Shall Nurture Solipsists' 
   'Order'
   'La Chaleur Basse di Fidelite Volumes one and two' 
   'The Gel' 
   'Rich and Dumb' 
   'Haus'
   'Hustler' 
   'End Times Jukeboxx' 
   'United Vidayo 1' 
   'United Vidayo 2' 
   'Smile and Nod' 
   'Whitey'
   '22.10.03'
   'Nanocreep' 
   'Coldwaver' 
'Wretched Five Volume 1'
'wretched Five volume 2'
'Wretched Five Volume 3' 
'Wretched Five Volume 4' 
'Wretched Five Volume 5' 
'Fumes'
'Slurries Volume One' 
'Slurries Volume 2' 

'Slurries Volume 333' (latest)



mp
           3MP3s         

  

  Free Mp3 albums past/present: 

'The Mine' mp3.com.au    [defunct]
'Fuel The Feud' mp3.com.au  [defunct]
     'Film Sound' mp3.com.au [defunct]
'Crude Live' mp3.com.au [defunct]
'Nanocreep'-aklass.org [current]
'Slurries Volume 2' [currenT]

Noise Suite 2006 [defunct]

Purchasable Downloads :
'Inner City Guitar Perspectives'

ONE CAN NOW PURCHASE ANY CRUDE ALBUM AS A DOWNLOAD

THE AESTHETICS

Cassette
'Dunedin Punks 77' - dirtlove or stabbies and the rocket 1995

Lathes 
a couple on stabbies i think 

12" VINYL 
oohh the classic 'MY RIGHT TO RICHES' - ECSTATIC PEACE 1997 
---UGLY AMBITION - ARTLESS INTENT 2009 !!!!

CD
'OFF' - Mental Telemetry 2000


ALL ELECTRIC 

Cassette 
'A pilgrim in search of the picturesque' - Dirtlove 1996

 7" Lathes
'The Romance of the Iron Road'- Dirtlove 1997
'Vertigo/Tactique' - Dirtlove 1998 

CD-R 
'The Personal Tradgedy of Flooding' - dIRTLOVE 1999 

with SPACE DUST

12 " vinyl 
'First to the Future' -  ? 1999 

----------
Matt Middleton also appears on many recordings by underground new zeland bands
and artists in a supporting or role.

   performances of note: 
   'lines of flight' 2000 
   aesthetics support sonic youth 1998 
   crude at nun fest 1996 
   crude instore at crawlspace 1998 
   the other week at Chicks Hotel 
crude goes to an ATM 

© matt middleton 2007-2487 


  
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