The White Albun is the sixth and final studio album by Australian alternative rock bandTISM, released on 24 June 2004 by Madman Entertainment. The title is a reference to and deliberate misspelling of The White Album, an unofficial name for the albumThe Beatles. Appropriate to TISM's humour and mockery of the music industry, the album is only available as part of a larger package containing two DVDs. The first DVD is titled A Film By Antonionioni which is, in fact, not a film but a live concert called "Save Our TISM" featuring, in true TISM style, a fake telethon running behind the band. The second DVD is TISM: A Docunentary which features lengthy interviews of the band and a history of TISM. Also on the disc is rare or previously-unreleased footage from TISM concerts ranging from their first-ever show through to the present day. The disc also features every TISM video clip including the banned video for "I Might Be a Cunt, but I'm Not a Fucking Cunt". The original pressings did not feature the video for "Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me", but it was added when the album was re-released on 10 November 2004 in a standard Amaray case.
Disc 1: TISM. A Film by Antonionioni.
Background information
The first disc of this release is a live concert, titled "Save Our TISM" it was recorded at Max Watt's House of Music on 26 September 2003. The title of the disc itself refers to Madman Entertainment, who released the Albun. Ron Hitler-Barassi stated: The title of the disc can be seen as an expansion on this statement, claiming that their live concert was filmed by acclaimed director Michelangelo Antonioni.
The concert
The concert features a telethon hosted by "Marcel Proust" in which TISM need to raise a million dollars before the end of the concert or they will split up for good. This comes about after it is revealed that Powderfinger wish to merge with TISM, but TISM deny the merger because Powderfinger refuse to "get a sense of humour". This concert, as with all TISM concerts, contains many events which occur on stage. Along with the telethon running constantly in the background, the concert includes: audio snippets of some of the callers and a re-occurring host to update us on the telethon, TISM members Jon St. Peenis and Les Miserables push wheelie bins around the stage, Humphrey B. Flaubert peeling a piece of fruit, several members hitting inflated rubber balls into the crowd with cricket bats and a fan is picked from the crowd to sing on " Ol' Man River", along with other incidents.
Extras
The "extras" on this DVD are interviews with the crowd before and after the concert, an option called "Ron-Cam" which is an edit of the footage where Ron Hitler-Barassi is always in shot and an optional "Audience Edit" of Forty Years - Then Death. The "Audience Edit" came from talks with TISM and Madman Entertainment, the creator/distributors of the disc. This extra allows the viewer to select from any four of the camera's footage at any time and view their results on-the-fly with near-instant results for their own edit of the song. A bonus of this feature is that this extra does not need DVD-Rom support and very few stand alone DVD players would have trouble with the feature.
Disc 2: The White Albun
The White Albun is a full-length studio album featuring sixteen tracks. The title of the album, as stated earlier in the article, is a deliberate misspelling of the Beatles album, The White Album. The title was chosen because, as Ron Hitler-Barassi put it: The only single released off the album was Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me, the video of which was chosen in a competition. The winner was Bernard Derriman and his "bunny" clip. Made in flash, the video enjoyed popular internet success through the ease of flash file distribution online.
Disc 3: TISM. A Docunentary.
The third disc in the set, the second DVD, contains the most content. It is filled with interviews with Ron and Humphrey and a tour of Melbourne highlighting places which have been important throughout TISM's career. Also on the disc is rare and some unseen footage of TISM concerts ranging from their first ever gig through to 2002, their full video collection and other rare footage.
Track lists
The White Albun
All songs written by TISM except "Bone Idol" by TISM and J. Weaving and "As Seen on Reality" by TISM and Mike Rudd.
"I Rooted a Girl Who Rooted a Guy Who Rooted a Girl Who Rooted a Guy Who Rooted a Girl Who Rooted Shane Crawford"
"The Birth of Uncool"
"As Seen on Reality"
"The Song of the Quarter Time Siren "
"Diffident Strokes"
"Ken Bruce Has Gone Mad"
"Sorted for D'n'M"
"Cerebral "
"Tonight Harry's Practice Visits the Home of Charlie "Bird" Parker"
"Somebody Start a Fight or Something"
"Neck It"
"TISM Are Shit"
"As Seen on Reality" is built around a sample of the main riff from the Spectrum song "Launching Place, Part II". The outro to "Cerebral Knievel" is a reference to "Revolution 9" by the Beatles and features many samples, including an old tape of Tokin' Blackman laughing that was recorded at Noble Park Youth Club in 1977 and some extra recording from the Princes Highway and Sans Souci in 1995.
Save Our TISM concert
The "Save Our TISM" parts are spoken word pieces of the telethon running behind the band during the concert. They are not actual songs, nor are the first and last tracks listed.
