"The greatest rock and roll group in Australia" - Jon Dale
"The Lost Domain were and are one of Australia’s best kept secrets, the centre of gravity for a whole scene... who re-wrote the free rock manifesto as radically as The Dead C. " - David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue
Brisbane's The Lost Domain (and the sometimes confusing circle of bands around them, especially their earlier 90s iteration, Invisible Empire) represent one of the more fertile and dense canons in Antipodean music, but its not exactly as well known a story as it would otherwise be.
A comparison to what (along with David Keenan above) I'd peg as their closest contemporaries at the time, the Dead C - who were glibly speaking, noise rock in the same way that the Lost Domain could be glibly described as noise blues, and had a similar longevity - is interesting in so far as it demonstrates the startling range of the Domain (and also perhaps the networking and positioning skill of the Dead C's Bruce Russell.)
Over the twenty year lifespan of the band - or more precisely perhaps the core creative relationship of mainstays guitarist John Henry Calvinist (David MacKinnon) and singer Ragtime Frank (Simon Ellaby) - they created essentially a new idiom for dealing with their view of the history of music, applying a combination of an intense and scholarly study of music history filtered through post punk performance and what the band describe as "mood disorders".
David MacKinnon died this week after a two year battle with cancer.
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Playlist:
1. The Lost Domain, 'At Sea The Storm' from Sailor Home From The Sea (2004)
2. John Henry Calvinist, 'In The Rigging' from King Solomon Hill (2006)
3. The Lost Domain, 'And Yet The Sea Is Not Full (excerpt)' from And Yet The Sea Is Not Full (2003)
4. The Lost Domain, 'Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed (excerpt)' from Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed (2007)
5. The Lost Domain (Invisible Empire), 'Requiem For The Slow Drag' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
6. The Lost Domain (Invisible Empire), 'Indian Pacific' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
7. The Lost Domain, 'Sun House ii' from An Unnatural Act (1990, re released 2006)
8. The Lost Domain, 'Fuck the White Race' from An Unnatural Act (1990, re released 2006)
9. The Lost Domain, 'Suicide Drive' from An Unnatural Act (1990, re released 2006)
10. The Lost Domain, 'Death Funk' from Wayouthere (2006)
11. The Lost Domain, 'Guilty' from From Son to Sun (2002)
12. The Lost Domain, 'Two Trains Running' from White Man At The Door (2006)
13. Two Poor Boys, 'Casey Jones' from The Dead Set (2006)
14. The Lost Domain, 'Stack O'Lee' from The Empire Never Ended (1999)
15. John Henry Calvinist, 'Broken on the Wheel' from Shackles First To Fit (1993, re released 2000)
16. John Henry Calvinist, 'Hospital' from Shackles First To Fit (1993, re released 2000)
17. The Lost Domain, 'Pearline' from White Man At The Door (2006)
18. The Lost Domain, 'In My Time of Dying' from White Man At The Door (2006)
19. The Lost Domain, 'Alain Fournier's Dream' from Alain Fournier's Dream (2002)
20. Grubbage, 'Chicken Wire' from Pie-Eyed and Mulish (1995)
21. Neil Armstrong Experience, 'Down in the Hole (excerpt)' from Now Wait For Last Year (2000)
22. The Lost Domain, 'The New South' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
23. The Lost Domain, 'Pearline' from The Empire Never Ended (1999)
24. The Lost Domain, 'Prayer of Death' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
25. The Lost Domain, 'Indian War Whoop II' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
26. The Lost Domain, 'Air' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
27. The Lost Domain, 'Memorium' from The Dead Set (1995)
28. The Lost Domain, 'Second Mystery' from The Mystery of the Lost Domain (2008)
29. The Lost Domain, '(On) The Waterfront' from Sailor Home From The Sea (2004)
30. The Lost Domain, 'Night Boat' from Sailor Home From The Sea (2004)
31. The Lost Domain, 'Boll Weevil' from White Man At The Door (2006)
32. The Lost Domain, 'Funeral March for Charley Patton' from An Unnatural Act (1990, re released 2006)
33. The Lost Domain, 'Last Go Round' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
34. The Lost Domain, 'Sun Zoom Stomp' from The Empire Never Ended (1999)
35. The Lost Domain, 'The Wall in the Window' from An Unnatural Act (1990, re released 2006)
36. The Lost Domain, 'Indian War Whoop I' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
37. The Lost Domain, 'Frankie and Albert' from White Man At The Door (2006)
38. The Lost Domain, '(I Walk a) Lonely Avenue' from Blondes Chew More Gum (1995, re released 2011)
