Victor Dimisich Band ‎– Mekong Delta Blues (1988)

The Victor Dimisich Band was without a doubt a Christchurch band. 1980 and 1981 were the years of greatest activity. They played a number of 'gigs' at a pub called "The Gladstone", often over a three-night stint, with two other bands on the bill. The 'headlining' spot being rotated each night. Steven Cogle, Allen Meek, Tony O'Grady and Peter Stapleton would generally set up on the stage unassumingly, but once in gear the sound was like a runaway rollercoaster - rushing dips and fragile peaks, but somehow following a chosen direction on the night. Their sole studio legacy was a 5-track EP which came out in 1982 on Flying Nun. This recording demonstrates (with rare aural clarity) the genuine songwriting prowess of Steven Cogle and Peter Stapleton. The Victor Dimisich Band’s recordings (an original Flying Nun EP and the extremely lo-fi live document Mekong Delta Blues – a cassette only Xpressway release) are highly collectable and very hard to find (despite being reissued with bonus tracks in 1997 on the Medication label), and show Cogle and Stapleton just developing their dark and morbid style (after spending time with Bill Direen‘s many bands).

Music here

Victor Dimisich Band ‎– My Name Is K (1997)

Few musical family trees within New Zealand music are as artistically rewarding as the Victor Dimisich Band/Scorched Earth Policy/Terminals trifecta, and that's not even mentioning the psychedelic twang of Brian Crook's Renderers. The Victor Dimisich Band was the first, releasing a single 12" EP within its lifetime. Containing the spellbinding, swirling intensity of "Native Waiter," the 1982 self-titled release remains a classic of the brooding Christchurch scene that counted the Pin Group and Bill Direen's Bilders among its legendary roster. The Victor Dimisich Band featured Stephen Cogle and Peter Stapleton in their earliest recorded partnership; the haunted baritone of the former is unmistakable, while the propulsive, thundering drums of the latter offer a perfect accompaniment to Victor Dimisich's tales of quiet, droning desperation. In 1988, Xpressway released a live Victor Dimisich cassette called 'The Mekong Delta Blues.' 'My Name is K' collects select tracks from this profoundly lo-fi document and the original EP in its entirety. I've included notes on the exact details of recording.

Music here