As for non-FN, Roy Montgomery is my fave. I adore it when he sings, too. Dead C have their moments, but I'd be hard pressed to say I actually like them all that much.
― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Alasdair, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― electric sound of jim, Monday, 21 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― DUANE, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― XStatic Peace, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Alasdair, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― duane, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
As long as this thread's being revived.....Search: Renderers "A Dream of the Sea" from 1999.
― Curt, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Alasdair, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
how about:
the clean - getaway weta - geographica blair parkes - the end range - all the way to lunch the wrong records dollar mixture compilation letterbox lambs - not a private joke poultice - three beefmeisters and a french movie cloudboy - down at the end of the garden
can't find 'em? try noizyland.com
― James Guthrie, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Good luck finding much worth buying in New Zealand. I certainly didn't have much luck when I was there.
I did, however, get a very funny Dead C story. I wound up dropping off a hitchhiker at a friend's house and began talking with a person there. (In Christchurch, as I recall.) Anyway, I mentioned that I felt like I'd do okay meeting people if I moved there or something, because I have specific interests, like New Zealand music ... like the Dead C. ...
her eyes lit up, and she took me next door. Next door was a musician and recording engineer. He was not in the Dead C. Nor was he related to the Dead C. in any way. However, he had a Dead C. record that he couldn't get rid of, and both of them were absolutely delighted that an American had come all the way from Texas to take the Dead C. CD in question off their hands.
They were so delighted I couldn't bear to tell them that the CD, TRAPDOOR FUCKING EXIT, was one of the only Dead C. CDs I had at the time. I wound up giving it to the radio station when I got home. I think they also gave me a copy of Pieters/Russell/Stapleton's LAST GLASS, which I also already had.
On the other hand, I got to see Fence and Sandoz Lab Technicians at a club Alastair Galbraith runs in Dunedin (the Arc), and I went to the museum Michael Morley works at there as well.
Search: Omit, instrumental Roy Montgomery, Alastair Galbraith, Dead C., Doramaar, Surface of the Earth, Chris Knox, Tall Dwarfs, some Peter Jefferies.
Destroy: Flies Inside The Sun, and the Bilders records don't do much for me.
forgetting a bunch.
― doug, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― hamish, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Curt, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― , Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mel, Thursday, 4 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― , Saturday, 6 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Darryl, Thursday, 25 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― fritz, Thursday, 25 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― unknown or illegal user, Thursday, 25 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Currently I really enjoy thrashing Goodshirts power pop albulm "Good",
― kiwi, Sunday, 9 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Oh, the Sferic Experiment are awesome too.
Who gets the obscure prize?
― Andrew, Monday, 10 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Benjamin Morgan, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
oh yeah, & the upcoming Clean Anthology looks to be the BEST THING EVER.
― Ess Kay (esskay), Tuesday, 15 October 2002 08:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
If anyone's interested, there's an entire concert by The Enemy available here. Not great sound quality, but "Iggy Told Me" at the very least is worth hearing.
I'd also like to stick up for the Bats' Couchmaster - excellent album, with some really nice use of textural feedback that doesn't appear in much else that they've done.
― clotpoll, Wednesday, 26 September 2007 05:13 (sixteen years ago) link
so from the sounds of it, a safe bet for someone getting into NZ music would be to get albums from the clean, the bats and birchville cat motel? any other necessities?
― Emily Bjurnhjam, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:15 (fifteen years ago) link
the chills are the best
― mizzell, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link
The Terminals
― wilter, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link
EXPONENTS!
― obamaloverholeinyohead (Mackro Mackro), Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:34 (fifteen years ago) link
No love for The Shocking Pinks?
― Treblekicker, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Messages From The Cakekitchen, This Kind of Punishment, Alaistar Galbraith are all pretty essential.
― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Verlaines first album "Juvenalia" is a favorite of mine.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 8 October 2008 21:50 (fifteen years ago) link
― Treblekicker, Thursday, 9 October 2008 08:46 (1 hour ago) [IP: 86.151.0.227] Bookmark
no they are rubbish
― thereminimum chips (electricsound), Wednesday, 8 October 2008 22:51 (fifteen years ago) link
Man, this post must be pretty confusing for someone new to the joys of NZ music who's trying to figure out what to buy in 2008. Just read the query above about the albums worth getting being those by the Clean, the Bats, and Birchville Cat. Birchville Cat? Also, it's no use going on about the likes of Dead Famous People, Shoes This High, No Tag, This is Heaven, and Ballon D'essai—amazing as they were, no person who hasn't been the sort of geek to get at that stuff already is likely to find those records quickly, or cheaply.
A quick survey of the immortal (well, for the first decade) Flying Nun could be had by going and downloading (for research purposes only, mind you) the four-CD box set from one of the blogs posting it. The early bands are well represented, and the first two cds are very strong; the third CD is about half good, and the fourth is weak. But overall, the set might give someone a sense for what they’re getting into. Keep in mind that you aren't getting any of NZ's punk sounds from labels like Ripper or Propeller, or the more experimental rock that the Xpressway label would deliver.
If I were new to the NZ game and wanted to go online and order a bunch of cds, I’d want someone to make sure I got something like these Flying Nun heroes:
Clean – either the old Compilation cd or the newer double cd on Merge. The Merge cd obviously has more, but leaves off some of the first cd’s stuff.
Chills – Kaleidoscope World CD
Verlaines – Juvenalia CD
Bats – Compiletely Bats CD. The early 12”s (except the amazing “Four-Song” 12”). Or Daddy’s Highway.
Able Tasmans – A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down CD
Chris Knox –There’s a CD that compiles Seizure and Croaker.
Tall Dwarfs – Hello Cruel World CD or Fork Songs CD
And one of the early comps like Tuatara, In Love With These Times, or Getting Older. Or all of them.
From the less jangly side of NZ:
Gordons – The CD with First Album and Future Shock
Terminals – Cul-de-sac CD
This Kind of Punishment – the CD with In The Same Room + 5 By Four (This is the Jefferies brothers band after Nocturnal Projections)
Dead CD – Trap Door Fucking Exit
Peter Jefferies – The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World
And two Xpressway comps: Making Losers Happy, and Pile=Up
From the earlier wave of NZ punk and new wave, you might scare these up:
Bilders – “Max Quitz” CD of early vinyl micro releases. Post Velvets diy.Nocturnal Projections – Nerve Ends in Power Lines CD. Jefferies brothers. My NZ fave. Ringing goth punk, experimental grinders, acoustic lullabies.Toy Love – Cuts double cd of LP, 7”s, and unreleased. Chris Knox.AK79 – Great NZ punk rock.It's Bigger Than Both of Us is a nice survey of early punk, new wave, jangle, and commercial misses.
These bands were less important to me, but they’re loved by many and certainly worth knowing:
Jean Paul Sartre Experience – The Size of FoodSnapper – Shotgun BlossomCakekitchen – Messages from the…Straitjacket Fits – HailBailter Space – Bailterspace comp CD
And last, and least, a pitch for some lesser-known faves that still got cds out, if belatedly:
Scorched Earth Policy – Keep Away from the Wires. Pre-Terminals and amazing. "Green Cigar" defines the NZ sound for me. "Too Far Gone" also. "Maniacs"!Double Happys – NervesBird Nest Roys – CD that compiles the first LP and earlier stuff.
For those new to the game, just understand that every NZ band is connected to another. Just start pulling on the threads....
― Michael Train, Thursday, 9 October 2008 00:31 (fifteen years ago) link
The Bats are far beyond awful
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 00:39 (fifteen years ago) link
S: Fat Mannequin
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 00:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I guess that's a common opinion on The Bats because i can recall seeing their records in used bins everywhere for a while, but I think they're pretty good if not with much of a sense of humour and regret not picking those cd's up while I had the chance.
Search also the Flying Nun documentary on youtube, newcomers and everyone else
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:06 (fifteen years ago) link
I strongly disagree.
― sleeve, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:20 (fifteen years ago) link
What do you like about them?
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:22 (fifteen years ago) link
mostly the bass sound, the focus on the low end as instrument/integral part of their sound. the physical presence.
this may have a lot to do with seeing them live.
― sleeve, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:44 (fifteen years ago) link
i like their tunes and lyrics and sound
― thereminimum chips (electricsound), Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Well that's a little hard to argue about... how do you rate them comp to the Chills, the Clean, etc? Or the Gordons for that matter
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:51 (fifteen years ago) link
I defer to electricsound as far as comparisons but I will say that as far as relatively upbeat and poppy NZ stuff goes it is totally unfair to characterize The Bats as "far beyond awful". to me, that would suggest, like, Miley Cyrus or something.
― sleeve, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:55 (fifteen years ago) link
You mean something that actually sells? Oh, the horror. I'll take MC over the Bats ta
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:58 (fifteen years ago) link
I just really hate the Bats, it isn't all that rational
― Niles Caulder, Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:59 (fifteen years ago) link
chills have higher highs but less consistent i think. i'd probably say the same for the clean. gordons ok but they don't excite me all that much. miley cyrus has too many crying teenagers in her videos
― thereminimum chips (electricsound), Thursday, 9 October 2008 01:59 (fifteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyObGLciBRA
― donald wears yer troosers (doo rag), Thursday, 12 October 2023 18:38 (seven months ago) link
Hey do rag I was thinking of you - and George Gossett - when xyzzzz and I saw the Dead C in London this summer - good times
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 12 October 2023 19:49 (seven months ago) link
takes all sorts i guess
― donald wears yer troosers (doo rag), Wednesday, 25 October 2023 06:54 (six months ago) link