99

Thee Ideal Gus began in Hamilton, New Zealand, in the early '90s, sprung from the same gene pool and time as Armpit, GFrenzy, and Pumice. It's participants include Sugar Jon Arcus, Clayton Noone, Indira Neville, Kaatarama Motty Morehu, Stefan Neville, Witcyst, Dan Eemonk Powell, and Rachel Garbott, but membership has never been settled or defined. The band have released numerous cassettes and lathe-cut records on such cult labels as Plop, Root Don Lonie for Cash, and Stabbies and the Rocket Recordings. Thee Ideal Gus love double-barreled year numbers, so during the year 1999, they conducted daily recordings in Whangarei and Wellsford in the far north of New Zealand, and Dunedin in the far south. Diaries were kept, artwork was assembled, and tapes were mailed up and down the country. In 1999, Stabbies and the Rocket Recordings released the resultant material as 1999, in an edition of 20 lathe-cut double LPs. 99 is a selection of material compiled from that ridiculous obscurity by Clayton Noone and Stefan Neville. The music Thee Ideal Gus made that year documented the days as they happened. It charted weather patterns, prophesied the future, and celebrated team sports. Eddie Murphy and Yoko Ono are held in equally high regard. Nude drunk partying and the New Zealand general election of 1999 are all there in this record, on which a rusted clothes line is played alongside an elementary school xylophone, sampled techno records, and ukulele through a heavy metal pedal. It is mundane and marvelous. Edition of 200 copies in very elaborate packaging, including prints on acetate, Xerox inserts, and several hand-drawn original artworks.