The Cat Alley

Wintersun Hotel, Geraldton, WA

Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

University of Tasmania, Hobart

Saloon Bar - Hotel Tasmania

Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns

JazzyJD in the forums has contributed his recollection of the evening.

Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns

The "dot info kids" strike back - DVD Premiere

As you might have known, we had a competition to win passes to the DVD Premiere party, and plenty of forum-goers headed out on Wednesday night. Who were the ones to get dressed up, corner the band, and boogie into the night with them? Why not read what happened for yourself, there's photos an everything.

The tour is now just around the corner - check out all the dates in the gigography: it starts on the 17th in Cairns. You're guaranteed a whole bunch of new songs, so get in there and let us all know how it went.

On The Attack DVD Easter Eggs

Got your copy of On The Attack yet? Have you found all the Easter eggs? Here are three (as reported by Mailman in the forums) that you can try:

"Hello Lost Verse" Easter Egg:

Select 'Encore'
Then select 'Menu'
'Hello Lost Verse' should now appear underneath 'Play'

"The Chariot" Easter Egg:

Select 'Setlist'
Higlight 'Menu' (but do not select) and move up using your remote.
'Egg' should now appear to the top-right of the screen.

"Play All Encore":
Select 'Encore'
Highlight 'Menu' (but do not select) and move right using your remote.
'Play All Encore' should now appear in the top-left of the screen.

Know any more? Let us know...

Week 11 News!

So the latest news entry is up and it looks like the next one will be all about their escapades here in Australia!

This is a fairly obscure route.
This meant we used a fairly obscure budget airline.
This meant they had a small plane.
This meant the small plane had small doors.
This meant the small, small-doored plane could not accommodate an enormous double bass...

Band News

Week Eleven

WOMAD festivals consist of amazing bands - of a world music-ish bent - that you probably haven't heard of, and interesting food. We’re huge fans of both of these. What's more, WOMAD happens all over the world. So far we've played WOMAdelaide, WOMAD Singapore, and WOMAD Reading. Next on the list: WOMAD Eden.

The Eden Project in Cornwall (the pointy home of Cornish pasties in the southwest of England) is home to 140,000 plants, which represents more than half the species that can be found on Earth. So much of our society relies on resources that come from plants, and the Eden Project believes that if we help these plants to survive, rather than just trying to stay away from them, we’ll all be around for much longer. We’ve been half-assedly spreading the message that trees aren’t just for hippies, so it’s our kind of place. The two biodomes on the site, housing warm temperate and humid tropical climates, sure are a welcome change from the Cornish weather. It's no wonder they've had over 5 million visitors in three years. It’s a great site for the WOMAD festival too: world music and ecological conservation seem to go hand in hand. On the bill this year were Susana Baca, ourselves, Asere, Laye Sow, Dreadzone Sound System, Charlie Gillett, and David Lowe’s Dreamcatcher project. We hadn't heard of the others either.

We were in Edinburgh, and had to get to Eden, which is sort of near Newquay. We all shuddered at the memories of Newquay last year - our windowless accommodation smelt like pappadams and vomit, so we slept in the lanes of a bowling alley - but were still pretty excited about playing another WOMAD festival. The closest airport is Exeter. So we flew from Edinburgh to Exeter.
This is a fairly obscure route.
This meant we used a fairly obscure budget airline.
This meant they had a small plane.
This meant the small plane had small doors.
This meant the small, small-doored plane could not accommodate an enormous double bass.
I found this hard to believe. If I can fit my bass in a Ford Laser, and still take two passengers, I can fit it in anything. I once fitted it in a rented Mazda 121 in Byron Bay. You know, those mid-1990's bubbly ones. The FlyBe staff were adamant, though. And so we set off, bassless, to Exeter.

It's a bloody lot easier to travel without a double bass. Most of you know this, having never travelled WITH one. We're used to seeing a certain look on the face of whoever's manning the desk we decide to aim our luggage barrage at - it's a simultaneous roll-of- and widening-of-the-eyes that yells, "I’ve never seen this before in all my years of luggage handling." Not surprisingly, without the double bass, we must have looked like any other party of seven. There was something strange about FlyBe. The “Be” stands for British European. This is confusing enough. But I also noticed that the same girl who checked us in downstairs was also taking our boarding passes when we got on the plane. The speech mannerisms of the woman announcing flight information at the airport were nothing short of fascinating. I’d have called it monotonous, as this is a commonly accepted synonym for “repetitive”, but she seemed to be singing the same five notes for every announcement. We wrote a bassline inspired by the pentatonous announcement for our flight’s final call to kill some time.

Next week: farewell to Edinburgh, a short stay in Melbourne, some red carpet, and the start of another tour.

Intro

T H E
C A T
E M P to the I R E
...

William,
He's banging something all the time
Du ga
One of a kind and a dirty mind
When he's pumped up
ya better shake down
on drums it's the mighty sound of Will Hull-Brown

And now..
It's the certified unidentified flying object
Low on the radar
The tsar on any subject
Earth-shaking, bread-baking, skin peeling
Creating strong feelings
With strings like double helix
(In the Matrix
Rizza on the bass
fat like a dominatrix)

Oh no here comes a solo bam
When Ollie lets loose he'd make
A nunnery jam
There's blood on the keys
Oliver please
Play something funky
make us weak in the knees

Watch out ladies,
here comes Jum-Jumshady
Scratching like a crazy man
who understand Socrates
Believe anything you want
and it has to come true
Jumps saw a tiger
jump a cow over the moon

H to the A to the double R Y
The sound of his trumpet Rumble in the sky
The first time we met
Set this town on fire
Since then blows the battle horn
Of the Empire

Are you looking for a thought
Are you looking for a style
Are you looking for a dance
Are you looking for a smile
Are you looking for a look
Are you looking for hip-hop
You might be looking for Felix
Otherwise known as SRECKO!

The Horns!
Or should we say the horny section?
In took a while but now they got direction
Playing them cat riffs
Turning out fat hits
About to show you why you bought tonight's tickets

On The Attack Bonus CD

This is the bonus CD included with the On The Attack DVD. This is not available separately.

Tracklisting

1. Intro (5:02)
   
2. How To Explain? (10:57)
   
3. The Crowd (7:37)
   
4. The Rhythm (11:18)
   
5. The Lost Song (5:35)
   
6. The Sun (6:54)
   
7. L'Hotel de Californie (4:40)
   
8. Days Like These (7:19)
   

This is a copy controlled disc.

Two more guitar tabs!

Greg has put the final touches on two more guitar tabs for two more songs: One Four Five and Rhyme and Reason. So if you've got the hankering to pick up a guitar or, say, a ukulele, check them out. Don't forget the rest of our music resources like tabs and MIDIs.

Rhyme and Reason

This can be downloaded as a text file here.

The Cat Empire - Rhyme and Reason

Chords used
Cmin G# A A#
--3----4---5---6--
--4----4---5---6--
--5----5---6---7--
--5----6---7---8--
--3----6---7---8--
-------4---5---6--

Cmin
Rhyme and reason
G#
Reason and rhyme
A#
We asked the old man
Cmin
“What is the time?”
Cmin
The time he said
G#
“I do not know.
A# Cmin
The clock stopped working some time ago”
Cmin G#
“What a disaster” was our reply
A# Cmin
“We don’t know if it’s 1 o’clock or half past 5”
Cmin G#
The man kept talking things were fine
A#
Looking at the sun he said
Cmin
The time was for reason and rhyming

Bass line
------------------------------------------
----------5~--6--------6---5--------------
--3---6-------------------------6---3----3
--------------------6---------------------

(continue the strumming pattern)(same chords)
Reason and rhyme
Rhyme and reason
We asked the old lady “What is this season?”
The season she said
“You can’t be sure.
The weathers changed, can’t tell you any more”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god what a thing!
We don’t know if it’s summer, autumn, winter or spring”
“But wait,” she said
“This might be pleasing.
The time has come for rhyming and rhyming and reason”

Rhyme and reason and destination
We ask ourselves, what is this nation?
This place they say is no mans land
And terra nullius is written in the sand
So what
With all these spaces
Can’t we be independent and combine the races
Well we will see what we can do
Like time and season
We’ll rhyme and then we’ll reason along

145 (One Four Five)

The Cat Epire - 145
Tabbed by Greg Sher

Chords used
Dmin   Amaj   Dmaj   Emaj
--5--  --5--  --5--  --7--
--6--  --5--  --7--  --9--
--7--  --6--  --7--  --9--
--7--  --7--  --7--  --9--
--5--  --7--  --5--  --7--
-----  --5--  -----  -----

intro bass line
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
-------6p7--6p7-----------------
-5~-5------------------6p7------
-----------------5~-5-----------

Verse:
Dmin
Listen doctor I have pain
Amaj
that grows inside myself
Dmin
shelf me please

I just can’t ease the pain
Amaj
I need some drugs to help
     Dmin
ah pollution fills my lungs
          Amaj
and convolution fills my mind
       Dmin
ah my legs do ache
     Amaj
I  contemplate
Dmin     DMin         Amaj
that living’s less than fine
              Dmin
my spine does tingle

when I think of being
Amaj
freed from this curse
             Dmin
but what is worse I feel

life is a bubble
Amaj
blown until it’s burst
     Dmin
oh doctor I am desperate
        Amaj
to get rid of this feeling
    Dmin    DMin
oh doctor I am desperate
Amaj Amaj Amaj
for some good soul healing

     Dmin
The doctor turned and gave a grin
     Amaj
and reached into his bag
     Dmin
but instead of an injection
        Amaj
got a record with a tag
         Dmin
that said listen to this daily
         Amaj
with hip shaking and such things
        Dmin
then he puts the record in
  E
grabs a mic and starts to sing

you need some

Chorus:
Amaj Dmaj Emaj times lots :)
One four five

to make you high to make you high

to make you high to make you high

when heaven falling from the sky

to make you high to make you high


Verse (continue same chords)
Doct or I am feeling better
what was that you sang
did you write it or recite it
or just steal it from a band
ah my bones are feeling stronger
and my spirit’s feeling fresh
ah that dose of 145 has put the life
back in my breath
‘yes yes yes’ the doctor said
then he sat me down and say
‘young man don’t think I wrote
these chords they’re written in
your brain’
and when you hear them
there’s a shakedown that begins within
the mind
cos these three chords make people
feeling better all the time ah
they keep repeating
like a scratch on a cd
but it’s quality cos these three harmonies
breed positivity
protecting against insanity
of modern insecurities
believe me when I tell you
all you need is to be hearing all that

Chorus
One four five
to make you high to make you high
to make you high to make you high
when they said what and you said why
to make you high to make you high

Verse
The doctor turned and gave a grin
and reached into his bag
but instead of an injection
got a record with a tag
that said listen to this daily
with hip shaking and such things
then he puts the record in
grabs a mic and starts to sing
you need some

Chorus

One four five
to make you high to make you high
when you could not count to pi
when you’re told you can’t fly
to make you high to make you high
times like these you need some
One four five .... hhhuuummnn

On The Attack DVD

Dvd featuring live footage, recordings and profiles on each band member. Released September, 2004.

DVD Set List

1. Intro
2. How to Explain?
3. Nothing
4. Days Like These
5. The Rhythm
6. The Crowd
7. Hello
8. The Lost Song
9. The Chariot

DVD Encore:

The Sun (USA 2002)
Two Shoes (UK 2002)
The Empire Dancers
Extreme Merch
In the Cage
Other skits and scenes.

On the Attack! on its way...

Anyone who reads their email regularly will already know most of this, but here's hoping we can surprise a few.

The ON THE ATTACK dvd will be available in-store on Monday Sept 13. Full of band antics, backstage and on-stage footage, footage set to Two Shoes and The Sun (previously unreleased) as well as an 8 track bonus disc.

Personally, i'm looking forward to all the forum action that will result from our regulars going "I'm 3 rows back from the guy with the dreads in frame 105145... at least, I think it's me."

DVD Premiere Winners announced

This week we've been running yet another competition, giving away double passes to the upcoming DVD premiere in Melbourne. The winners have been announced in the forums:

Shakalak
Andy C
beanni
KJ
orangejimmy

Congratulations to all the winners! And for the rest of us, it means that we've got five people guaranteed to tell us all about the night so we can live vicariously :-)

As usual, there's lots more in store for the site, so keep checking back.

The Lullaby

Submitted by Flecktone
-about 95% correct, i'm quite happy with it.

*disclaimer by Felix Riebl*
"This is a dirty song."

I cannot say oh sweetness like he could
‘Cause I cannot play a lullaby like it should

CHORUS

But I’ll give you all-night movie marathon
And a triple espresso so you can stay awake
It might be late, but, it’s never too late for that loving, my sexy babe
Something’s always telling me save your prayers before dawn
Coz what happens when I’m with you
Makes me shake my head then smile and yawn
I’m worn out but I’m beaming,
And it seems that we are dreaming
As we head out to that strange old morning dawn

I used to cry but now I have to laugh
Because she’s got that torment to a fine art
Smart like a fox she as crafty as a cat
I’m looking up as I’m lying on my back
By the feast if I want a big piece of the pie
But she’s taken the feast in the blink of an eye

I cannot justify what’s going on
It feels so right when it seems so wrong
Like a plot hatched in that sweet spot of that trap
Ask her what she schemes she say ‘oh, this and that’

Then she snaps like a camera and black with a flash
Puts the drum in the drummer, The hand in the clap
She’s a map with no bearings attached, no,
A safety in this match, fire you could catch
Then zap I was struck by that bolt before dawn
And by breakfast, honey, we were signed and sworn

Chorus
She give me all night movie marathon…

This game is no game but it’s played all the same
And I love her deep and if it makes me deranged
She’s like tears in the rain
Burning spears in my brain
Cause me pain sometimes
Make me drain
But I cannot complain
I’m mad, the ugly, good or bad

Had some happy with my sad
And some tricks in my bag
When it’s up run amok
Like a bull and just fuck
When it’s down, it’s a drag
And you fight with no a-t-t-tack

At times I would dive in the sea
To escape the rising and crashing, we'll
Drink tea with a fat fish, and find a golden key
And rise to the surface and open my baby
And maybe she’d say we are crazy
Two of us together, Melbourne weather
Be like balls in a maze
See we rolling along in obscurity
When we meet in the middle
Say ‘mmm it’s a treat.’

Chorus

We had some…

Solo Section

So:
Dramatically
Emphatically
Ecstatically
Sexamatically

Chorus

I just had some…

...by George! I think I've got it!

"This is a dirty song"

-Felix Riebl

Ladies and gentlemen, I've managed to spend some time with my ears to the speakers listening to the same 6 minutes of audio over and over and over and over and over and over..........and over again (*phew) to bring you:
The (probably) complete lyrics for The Lullaby.

I think it's about 95% accurate, but please post a comment if you think otherwise.

Enjoy!

Competition: Win Tickets to the DVD Premiere!

We have yet another exclusive competition here at TCE.info. To celebrate the release of the live DVD, On The Attack, there will be a premiere in their hometown of Melbourne on September the 15th. It's an invitation-only party, but we've scored some double passes and want you to go!

Check out this thread in the forums for details on how to win. Good luck!

Thanks go to everyone at The Cat Empire for their continued support, both of this site and their fans in general. Show them some love!

Sunday Update

Anyone who was watching Music Max - The Sessions last night would've not only seen a fantastic set from the cats which featured previously unreleased tracks such as The Lullaby and In My Pocket, but may have spotted out very own rock stars of the front rows; Casey, Claire, Shakalak, Anonymity man, Kat and others getting funky like someone called a shakedown.

For those who missed it, it will be replayed on the following:

Sat September 4th, 6:30pm,
Sun September 5th, 8:30pm,
Mon September 6th, 8:30pm,
Tue September 7th, 12:00 noon,
Wed September 8th, 9:30pm, and
Fri September 10th, 4:00pm.

In other news, I've just finished tabbing Feline for bass guitar. It's a fairly simple riff, but oh-so-fun to play!

-Enjoy

Feline (Bass)

The Cat Empire - Feline
Bass Tab
Tabbed by Rick Reeves
Email: flecktone@hotmail.com

G ------8-------|--6-5---------||

D ----10--------|--------------||

A --------6-----|--------------||

E 8-8-------6-6-|4-----5-5-6-7-||

Week 9

The Week 9 tour diary is up!

But...no way. That would be too much of a coincidence, especially considering I had been reading a book on coincidences at the time. The feeling boiled up inside until I couldn't hold it down anymore and it burst out with a "Nyaaaaaah!" and I ran across the road, Frogger-ing around various vehicles on the way...

find out what ryan is talking about here

Week Nine

The following background material will be required in order for this week's entry to make any sense whatsoever:

In our past two years' visits to the Edinburgh Fringe, we have often visited a Moroccan restaurant called "Taste of Casablanca".
"Taste of Casablanca" is run by a quirky Moroccan man, who is happy if we call him "Mohammed". This is not actually his name.
Whenever we ate at "Taste of Casablanca" it was clear that Mohammed was the only person working there. He would greet you at the door, show to you your table, take your orders for drinks and food, cook everything, serve it to you, and then clean up afterwards. The food was bloody amazing.
It is general knowledge that Mohammed also runs a junk shop somewhere else in the city. He worked there until 5pm every day, and then worked at the restaurant all night.
Last year Mohammed told us that, sadly, he would have to close down the restaurant before the 2004 Fringe came around. His partner in crime at the restaurant had to leave to pursue other job opportunities. This, in conjunction with slow business, meant it was hard to keep both shops running.
Okay, the background's out of the way now. Here's the story.

When we arrived in Edinburgh we dropped our bags at our accomodation, and then met everyone outside to head down to the Spiegeltent. While waiting for everyone to get their collective shit together, I noticed a shop across the street called "Le Chariot Express". We have a song called "The Chariot". I said to the others, "Wouldn't it be cool if the Casablanca guy worked there?" This was greeted with expressions of doubt, queries as to how I could leap to such a wild conclusion, and maybe even a little derision on the side. We continued waiting.

But it was killing me. I had to know.

But...no way. That would be too much of a coincidence, especially considering I had been reading a book on coincidences at the time. The feeling boiled up inside until I couldn't hold it down anymore and it burst out with a "Nyaaaaaah!" and I ran across the road, Frogger-ing around various vehicles on the way.

I stepped in, past the old shoes and statues of snakes, and made my way up the stairs to the counter. Guess who was sitting there.

YEEEEAAAAHHH!! This actually came out loud. Mohammed must have wondered why I felt so victorious in finding his shop. But he didn't flinch. I managed to put together, amid the excitment, the words, "We're the band from Australia...?" A huge smile suddenly broke out across his face, and straight away he asked, "Is the girl with you?" He was talking about our manager, Correne. She was always the favourite. I nodded, ran outside, nearly tripping on a fifteen-quid plastic Foosball table, and returned, agape, to the rest of the band.

Their initial annoyance that I was holding up the procession quickly subsided. Ollie bought an old Selmer speaker box, and Harry was tempted by a singing lobster.

Next week: our most fringe experience at the Fringe.

Video of Rove Performance online

Clear some space on your harddrive and some time on the modem: thanks to Michael, we've now got the footage of The Cat Empire playing Hello on Rove Live. There are three sizes to suit your viewing needs, check them out in the discography entry:

It's a great clip, and the boys are all playing well. This was recorded at the end of 2003, so it's a little bit of a blast from the past, too...

Europe Tour CD cover art online

In the discography, we now have the cover scans for the "Touring Europe and the UK 2004" tour CD. It's more classic TCE / Ian McGill artwork, with some interesting information on the inside cover.

Word in the forums is that these CDs were almost sold out before the Edinburgh festival, so they're probably well and truly gone now. Remember this is the only release with Feline on it, an unexpected bonus!