Geoffery Gurrumul Yunupingi is a Yolngu man from Elcho Island. Blind since birth he has been playing guitar since he was a young boy. In 2009 his solo album won the ARIA, the Australian Record Industry Awards, for best Album. This day is an introduction to his music through his solo career and his bands before that.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.gurrumul.com
GURRUMUL HISTORY (I WAS BORN BLIND)
DJARIMIRRA
WIYATHUL
YOTHU YINDI
Gurrumul's early career was spent playing in Yothu Yindi with his Uncle Mandwuy. Yothu Yindi, which means mother and child in Yolgnu Matha, are perhaps the widest known Aboriginal band in Australia. Now touring less, owing to Mandawuy Yunupingi's poor health, they along with the Warumpi band (see extras below) did a lot in the 80’s and early 90’s to make Aboriginal culture known. The following tracks are Treaty, Mainstream, Tribal Voice.
The song Treaty was written in the early 90’s and reflects back on the Hawke promises of a treaty being signed in 1988 to mark the bicentennial of Australias invasion, a chance that was seen by many as an opportunity to rectify and address the 200 years of occupation. The painting that is being painted is the Barunga Statement, a statement written and given to Bob Hawke and the Australian Government in 1988 (the text can be read below). Sadly, 21 years on, Australia still has no treaty and is in fact the only country out of the 76 countries in the Commonwealth not to have a treaty with its first people. And for that reason is as many Aboriginal Activists rightly state: still at war!
TREATY
MAINSTREAM
TRIBAL VOICE
SALTWATER BAND
After Yothu Yindi Gurrumul was in the Saltwater Band. This is one of the only tracks that I could find online.
SALTWATER BAND
Extras
Cultural warning: For aboriginal and Torres straight islanders the following day contains images of deceased people. Hopefully they do not cause too much distress.
One of the first, if not the first, Aboriginal fronted bands from the Northern Territory that made it big around the country, thanks in part to the 1986 Whitefella/Blackfella tour with Midnight Oil which you can see some of below.
The Warumpi band formed in the desert town of Papyuna and consisted of George Burarrwanga, N (who sadly passed away in 2007). This song was written by Neil the whitefella of the band and is about Elcho Island, Georges and Gurrumuls' Home.
WARUMPI BAND & MIDNIGHT OIL: WHITEFELLA/BLACKFELLA – DEAD HEART
Warumpi Band: My Island Home
Warumpi Band: Blackfella/Whitefella (1987)
The Chooky Dancers
Hailing from Elcho Island the Chooky dancers became an international hit in 2007 when they put a traditional Yolgnu dance to a techno version of Zorba the Greek. Little was known at the time but the dance was a thank you from the lead dancer to a Greek woman who lived in Darwin who was the carer for his disabled sister. A film of this story was made in 2008 and premeried at the Northern Territory short film festival in Darwin.
ZORBA THE GREEK-YOLGNU STYLE
TRADITION, TRUTH & TOMORROW
An essay by Galarrwuy Yunupingi, Mandawuy brother and Gurrumul Uncle, reflecting on the Barunga Statement, the bark petition and the Yolgnu struggles with the Politick of Australia.
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p.s. RIP: Andrei Voznesensky, Peter Orlovsky. Hey. I'm thinking it's a pretty safe bet that the great majority of you are as brand new to the music of Geoffery Gurrumul Yunupingi as I was before setting up this very rich post by our friend and d.l. Paradigm. My guess is you'll be as taken and impressed as I am. Please spend time with Yunupingi's work and story today, and tell your guest-host Paradigm what you're thinking, okay? Thanks, P, thanks, everyone. It's the usual cleaning/ exile morning at the Recollets, so I'll not be dawdling. ** Paradigm, Yeah, agreed about Holler's work. Thank you so much for hosting this place today. I find Yunupingi's work exhilarating and kind of revelatory, so, yeah, thank you. Sadly, there are not one but two RIPS today. It's been a bad week on that front. ** David, Elemental, that's nice, that's a good way to put it. ** Statictick, Oh, you were joking about that slave being Aaron? Right over my head, that one. I do have a little earnestness problem sometimes. ** David Ehrenstein, Excellent latest FaBlog, needless to say. ** Alan, I think the coldness might just be what photographs have done to things that are basically dependent on in-person interactivity and that deliberately play in a space between the look of fun and a sterile appearance. That message board comment you quoted really nailed it or one big part of it. There was a related protest here in Paris yesterday. I saw a few seconds of it on the news, and it looked healthy. That's all I know about it so far. There are so many protests going on here in Paris in recent weeks, against Sarkozy's austerity gestures, new immigration moves, the burqa's imminent banning, and so on that the individual actions and their purposes are getting kind of lost, I think. ** Kier, Dude, you want know depression's deepest depths, start doing crystal meth. Avoid that one at all costs. I'm so sorry the meds have been wussing out on you. It must be so weird to be tinkered with and to have to pay attention to the different changes in your mood. ** Bill, Thanks, Bill. I'll try to do your pix proud. The Hague. Never spent much time there at all in my Dutch days. I think there might be a really good contemporary art museum. ** Wolf, That's okay. Utterly understood. Diplomacy is so protracted and full of secrets. ** Sypha, I need to get my order in for 'IB'. ** Slatted Light, Yeah, absolutely re: Israel. Emotionally, it seems like the government might have finally reached most of the world's breaking point. What ultimately ends up happening to cornered bullies? You can only stall for time for so long. It's a big, hideous confusion. Glad you thought Holler's work was interesting. It's funny, because I was sort of spacing out yesterday during the p.s., and it was only later that I remembered that bottoming constitutes a centrally important thing in the novel I'm working on. Unless I change my mind and plans, you can tell me what results. I was hoping you'd say your world was a world of books run rampant, I don't know why. A Schuylerian sexuality ... I'll have to ponder that to know what it means. You feeling notably better? ** Mark, Hey. That theater piece you're creating visuals for sounds pretty interesting. Everyone, while d.l. Mark has been away, one thing he's been doing is creating the video content for this theater piece. Have a look. Gosh, if you get to Paris, obviously give me a shout. Hopefully, if you do come, I won't be Brest then. ** Bollo, That does sound like hell, yeah. The rogue alarm. I'll have to watch that video again. I didn't notice whether Holler joined in. I did wonder if the intrusion was all part of one his fun-seeking plans. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ben. Nice video/alert. Heck, I'll imbed it down below for maximum exposure. Everyone, the might Yuck 'n' Yum zine co-masterminded by the blog's very own _Black_Acrylic, presents an announcement and solicitation at the very bottom of this p.s. Have at it. ** Brendan, Dude. ** JoeM, I would say $90 is at the very low end of what it costs to see a doctor in the US. Oh, Joe, are you sending me recommendation after recommendation to enter contests on Facebook, or has your message sending system been co-opted. No problem, if it's you, but I just wondered. ** Pascal, I knew you didn't mean herd as a criticism, and neither did I, actually, even if my turn of phrase made it seem that way. The Pixar thing is a very, very, very long shot, obviously, but weird/cool that they're even considering it. ** Koes, I like shyness, yes. Can't be a huge surprise to hear that, I guess. Jonathan's a little less shy if you speak French. He thinks his English is much worse than it is, and he hesitates to use it unless he's had a bit of wine or beer. Glad your birthday didn't decimate you. You sent me a song? I'm so behind on my email, grr. I'll go hunt it today. Thank you, K. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Oh, right, South Africa, duh, I knew that and totally spaced. Having relocated over here, at the drop of a hat in my case, and sans an iota of regret as far as being here goes, I'm a big thumbs up on the goodness of that change. ** Joseph, Wow, you were totally nude. And I guess you still are since we are but raw material for our video evidence. I wonder what would happen if HTMLG imbedded those videos and tried to get the ball rolling. Would that freak you out? I bet Steven Trull would raise his hand. I'm not sure about the rest of those guys over there. Anyway, nice poems, man, ha ha. Truly, though. Nice poems. And Dipierro's cover is totally terrific. He is awfully good. Okay, I'm going to send the folks over there now, or try. Everyone, first, here is the cover of our fine pal, the fine writer Joseph Goosey's upcoming book, designed by the stupendous artist/illustrator Luca Dipero. Now, here is that very same fine writer and pal aka Joseph reading two poems, one written by himself, and one written by the fine writer and 'New Wave Vomit' editor Ana Carrette, while stark naked. The naked poetry reading revolution begins there. Did I already ask you if I can do post here about your book to help officially christen it? I think I did. If not, I'd love to, and send me stuff when the time's right, if you feel like it. Hope your dad helps wrangle you that apartment. Near a subway, sweet! Thanks, Joseph, old buddy. ** Trees, Hey, man. I missed you. Holler's work is even much better in the flesh, no surprise. I liked 'The Swan Rag'. That was really good. So, yeah, no doubt a reading with him and Mr. Halpern rocked. Oh, 'Lustmord'. Is that the non-fiction book about sex killings. If so, I have that book, and I think I might even be quoted in it or something. I'm good over here, busy, good. You getting to write much? How are the tips? ** Chris Goode, Hey, Chris. Some people I know think what's his butt's turbine hall thing worked. I'm blanking on his name. You know, who does that all mystical-ish, ethereal installation work with light and mist and stuff. Damn. Anyway, I think he did like a big spooky sun or something in the Turbine hall? I don't know. Yeah, totally reserve judgement until you get to see Ron's work for real. Honestly, I haven't seen a new piece of his in a long time, so I don't know. Video of your new piece, yum. Do alert me, okay? Yeah, Orlovsky and Voznesensky the same day. Poetry's not safe of late. Very, very best to you. ** Chris (British), It's 24 degrees here today. Not quite summer, but definitely not winter. Policy, interesting. So, you just send out your resume or whatever as per more usual seeming jobs? ** Justin, Yeah, the canaries are real, and I guess they've been trained to sing something in particular. The hair, yeah, that's what I meant. No, I'm not joking about Pixar. Even though the narrator smokes pot constantly, making it not Pixar friendly on that level, it's kind of the only book of mine that big places like that would ever sniff at. Maybe it's kind of a depressing novel, I guess. Most of it takes place inside a videogame, but I guess that could be depressing in and of itself. ** Will Decker, Ha ha, well, if I go to the party, I'll definitely report back. Me, I mostly wish I could read the book. I didn't know 'The Good Heart'. I'll watch the trailer to begin with when I get back from my Recollets exile. Thanks, Will. ** Frank Jaffe, Oh, yeah, I liked 'Blue Boy'. It's a good novel. Basically, the winner was determined by a point system. Each judge got this giant pile of novels in the mail, and we read them, and we gave each book a number from 1 to 5, and the book with the most points overall won, and it was 'Blue Boy', obviously. It would have been fun to be able to meet up and argue for our choices and stuff, or, mm, maybe not. We argued a little by email, and I guess it could have gotten a little hot under the collar, actually. Have a lovely, boyfriend-filled trip. ** Creative Massacre, Well, that's a big whew! Great! Hopefully, that news gave your general mood a lift, yeah? ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Yeah, you seemed very yourself yesterday. You done yourself good. Mm, not sure yet when we'll go to Amsterdam. Maybe in very late June at the soonest. I have this crazy schedule for the next while, so I'm the problem. You worked out, that's good, right? I hear working out is good for you. I should try it. I'd put 'Green Acres' in the top 10 greatest TV shows of all time myself, so 'Return' just sounds like the worst idea ever. I saw that pic of JFK and Marilyn. Yeah, it's very cutting room floor, that one. Naomi Watts as Marilyn ... why not? I really like NW most of the time. Oh yes, I know about the Cleopatra musical/film with music/songs written by God Himself. My buddy James Greer, who posts here once in a while, wrote the screenplay. I'm keeping my eye heavily on that project. Last I heard, it's still on hold. My day: First, Oscar and I went to see this new show at the Centre Pompidou called 'Dreamland' about theme park/ utopian/ Vegas/ Dubai/ etc. architecture that I've been really excited to see, but we forgot until we got there that the Pompidou is closed on Tuesdays. So, we went to the Apple Store instead 'cos I hadn't been there yet, and we wanted to play with an iPad. So, we did. iPads are pretty sweet. I'm not going to buy one yet, but I probably will at some point. Then I came home and worked on my novel. Gisele finally called me in the afternoon, and we talked about the theater piece, and we're on the same page about what needs to be changed and fixed, so that was good, and we're going to meet and strategize maybe later today. The photographer who shot the photos of me to go with that long magazine interview I did a couple of weeks ago sent me a few of the photos he took, and they're the most grotesque, least flattering pictures of me that I think I've ever seen. I look 1000 years old, and one of them is going to be on the cover of the magazine, and I'm just going to be avoiding newsstands for a month or so. I think that was everything the day wrote apart from eating, showering, smoking, hanging with Yury, and all that. What did today bring you? ** Misanthrope, I'm sure Lucas has an ultra-iron grip on the Star Wars franchise. They should just make Battlestar Galactica movies or something instead. I'd bet a big reason why older people are given the roles is because really young actors have all these severe time restrictions on how much they can work each day, not to mention that the filmmakers would have to deal with their obnoxious parents. ** JW Veldhoen, Do I believe in objective reality? No, but I think about and imagine what an objective reality would be all the time, and that notion of objective reality influences me thoroughly, and I find seeing my life in its fantasy light very useful. I'm really into communicating precisely, you know. A formulation of objective reality is central and key to how my writing works. So, I like to escape 'o.r.' sometimes, but I like to pick and choose the times and places. ** Math, Excellent! ** With that, I leave you to Paradigm, his post, and his subject matter. Enjoy everything, talk to P., and I'll see you as soon as you think.
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