What's New in New Zealand Music?

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Concord Dawn.

Don't know how new they are but they are new to me.

mentalist (mentalist), Friday, 20 August 2004 02:42 (nineteen years ago) link

the new ed cake is ok.. not as good as bressa creeting cake, but certainly better than goldenhorse.. the new bats album is due at the end of september (its called 'herbert' and is being mixed at the moment by john kelcher).
yes ther terminals are still going strong, though not much in the way of new material.. most the band lives in chch these days. i managed to book a gig with them earlier in the year, alongside the renderers and hamish kilgour doing a solo acoustic set. was a GREAT night..
maryrose has a new album due under the name 'maryrose crook and the renderers', and brian has a new solo album recorded too.. though it might be a wee while before he releases it.
oh and keith - i love the new brunettes, jonathan's a really striking song-writer these days.. the new alec bathgate is almost ready, and according to tim bathgate its a lot more 'rock' than the first album.. he reckons its really good.

chris andrews (fraew), Friday, 20 August 2004 02:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Hi-Tone Destroyers and Ho'Dogs R.I.P.

Russ (Russ), Friday, 20 August 2004 04:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I wish Drag Street Trash'd play again

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 August 2004 07:17 (nineteen years ago) link

andrew, roddy lives with me in london now. constant pain are playing our first gig in almost a year (when zarakov and greg cairns were here)next friday.

cameron, Friday, 20 August 2004 10:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh that's cool, hope you record something. Got the CP singles out a week or so ago, they're GOOD.

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 August 2004 11:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh wow I just realised I have this big H Kilgour painting "Dunedin Star" or something in my closet but it's entirely trapped behind heavy boxes, what a bummer

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 August 2004 11:31 (nineteen years ago) link

Well at least it's not a Hotere I guess

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 August 2004 11:47 (nineteen years ago) link

If it was I might be tempted to move the boxes tho

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 August 2004 11:48 (nineteen years ago) link

thanks andrew . we are gonna work on getting some form of the long-threatened-touted-blah-blah-drunkenly-bragged-about-never-seen-the-light-of-day double album 'terminal peace' out somehow. someway. maybe w. live at the windmill tracks! mind you, if we can just hold off two more years, it'll be our tenth 'anniversary'.

cameron, Friday, 20 August 2004 13:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Does anybody want copies of those ultra-limited clear vinyl singles that David Kilgour released ages ago? I'm selling them for any reasonable bid. E-mail me.

southern lights (southern lights), Friday, 20 August 2004 15:28 (nineteen years ago) link

dudes y'all forgot the futurians, cortina, batrider and rainy mcmaster. otherwise you got it covered. (i want to kiss everyone who mentioned the international telepaths on the bottom!)

The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Friday, 20 August 2004 21:47 (nineteen years ago) link

hey i didn't, i mentioned the futurians.. missed batrider though (fucking excellent lead solos from julia, tobys a great, active bass player..etc) haven't heard rainy and only a bit of cortina (which is pretty great).

hey cameron, i run the http://thebigcity.co.nz nz music site, and you guys keep coming up, but ive got fuck all info on contant pain or your and roddys other stuff..

chris andrews (fraew), Friday, 20 August 2004 22:00 (nineteen years ago) link

my bad, you did too!

The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Friday, 20 August 2004 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

hey di, how long is duane away for?

did you get a copy of the ep?, i seem to be getting good comments about it so far.. i might do a 2nd run if the foxy digitalis review comes out positive

chris andrews (fraew), Friday, 20 August 2004 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link

i haven't been down to roy's yet, sorry! i have been avoiding record stores like the plague, but i will pick it up on my next payday. duane isn't away, i was just talking to him last night.

The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Friday, 20 August 2004 22:14 (nineteen years ago) link

i caught the brunettes when they playe here in sydney a few weeks ago. a bit on the twee side but very nicely done. their track 'boyracer' is a goodun.

goldfoot, Saturday, 21 August 2004 00:12 (nineteen years ago) link

goldie!

purple patch (electricsound), Saturday, 21 August 2004 00:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Hey Cameron one night I got drunk and told Duane I'd finance releasing "Terminal Peace"'s release, it was a good idea but I'd rather you guys did it

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 21 August 2004 01:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Well that was a good sentence, maybe I'm drunk right now

Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 21 August 2004 01:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Armpit
Wardagger
I dunno if Demarnia Lloyd is still recording, but her record a few years ago was really lovely.

Brian Turner (btwfmu), Saturday, 21 August 2004 05:29 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah she is - though current the band are spread across the world.. i got an email from her a couple weeks back..

chris andrews (fraew), Saturday, 21 August 2004 07:01 (nineteen years ago) link

who's wardagger?, geez its a bit weird when y'all yanks know about our bands before we do!

chris andrews (fraew), Saturday, 21 August 2004 07:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Wardagger are a kinda Swans-y sludgy band, fuzzed out, kinda Burzumy but even lower-tech. It's on Battlecruiser, a sidelabel of Campbelle Kneale's Celebrate Psi-Phenomenon. One kinda long track that hits the spot.

Brian Turner (btwfmu), Saturday, 21 August 2004 14:50 (nineteen years ago) link

chris, i will try to compose some kinda deluded, self-mythologising spiel about c.p. and our various other shadow organs and will send it to you. it might take a week or two before i have time tho'.

cameron, Monday, 23 August 2004 10:40 (nineteen years ago) link

excellent, thanks cameron

chris andrews (fraew), Monday, 23 August 2004 23:10 (nineteen years ago) link

heh, both people i thought of when i saw this thread title posted to the thread. one of them i didn't even know posted/read ILM. hi geoff!

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 23 August 2004 23:27 (nineteen years ago) link

Happy to surprise you fh. Been a while. Back in Montreal for a bit, then off to Helsinki for a bit. And I've been shortlisted for a job at Victoria Uni in Wellington. Hence my question. Which leads me to ask what people thought of that Chris Knox soundscape-y thing. I haven't heard it. I know that's probably a classic stereotype of the non-NZ New Zealand music fan, but I know it raised some hackles. I haven't been a fan for years now (though I admit to looking forward to Alec Bathgate's new one).

Guymauve (Guymauve), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 00:27 (nineteen years ago) link

hey thats good timing.. those in the wintry south take note:

btw, im the bass player for the idols, and dj as 'self-titled'.. Fleurs' got a great night planned!

chris andrews (fraew), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 02:04 (nineteen years ago) link

whoops, clicky on the linky:

http://thebigcity.co.nz/posters/images/100904.jpg

chris andrews (fraew), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 02:07 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...
Atlas

...formed from the ashes of popsters zed they have a nifty tune out called 'crawl' which is blooody good considering I don't normally like the angsty indie guitar pop shit

The blush response

...a kiwi super group of closet 80's synth pop lovers that sounds almost better than the real thing and could almost be lost masters from an original 80's band with promise whose tunes never got released

pollywog, Monday, 2 April 2007 01:07 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.finnatics.de/Tim/cov-tf-ik.jpg

Geir Hongro, Monday, 2 April 2007 12:45 (seventeen years ago) link

seven years pass...

Fantastic new NZ Indiepop compilation, definitely will follow up on a mess of these bands:

http://fishriderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/t-e-m-p-o-r-a-r-y

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 29 September 2014 23:44 (nine years ago) link

ten months pass...

Hmm this probably didn’t help – it’s mostly pretty hard to access if you don’t live here!

Eleven years later, things are a bit better! To hear about Kiwi music, Radio New Zealand's Music 101 show archive is a revelation, hours of interviews and features every Saturday, mainly NZ artists. The NZ On Air Music page on Soundcloud shares a lot of new tracks too, a bit hit-and-miss by nature. But even those two don't come close to covering everything.

Young Gifted & Broke is a music/art collective with some cool stuff on it. @Peace (At Peace) have split up now, but they left off with an album last year, @Peace & the Plutonian Noise Symphony, very woozy and spacey, got compared to Outkast a lot. They also featured on 'May 11th' with Team Dynamite. The two @Peace MCs are now in Australia as the Average Rap Band (funny interview with Tom Scott and Lui Tuiasau here). Some other tracks I like on the same label – 'Heartbeat' by Esther Stephens and the Means ft. Hone Be Good, and 'Culture Clash' by Estère. Hmm this probably didn't help.

flyingtrain (sbahnhof), Tuesday, 11 August 2015 00:22 (eight years ago) link

http://urbankill.tumblr.com/post/125341800988/youre-not-invited-new-zealands-underground

This is an amazing collection of what is good in NZld underpants now and recent past.

Hinklepicker, Tuesday, 11 August 2015 09:02 (eight years ago) link

two months pass...

The Stream of Nonsenseness EP's video has dropped – or in this case, five videos. This Average Rap Band is above average if you ask me. The intention was for Scott and Tuiasau to record some rap 'exercises' as a respite after their previous projects, and it shows – it's great fun.

Video playlist is here (for all the tracks except the interlude)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK2e613BYic&index=1&list=PLWNq0iKxaFQrmpSxEjg7DuF2qaT-wbikT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Ke1ccRxG4

flyingtrain (sbahnhof), Sunday, 25 October 2015 02:36 (eight years ago) link

three months pass...

Now for the best bit of the thread, where we see what NZ music finished 453rd in the ILM End-of-Year 2015 polls! Well, this some of it – there may be more Kiwis in there. At this point it's basically "what etc put" (hope etc doesn't mind), and omitting stuff already mentioned here.

Descriptions are from the artists/Bandcamp and other wordy people. Suffice to say, there's some cracking stuff in here...

ALBS

Girls Pissing on Girls Pissing – Scrying in Infirmary Architecture (comedy folk gothic industrial no wave post-punk religious)

Ron Gallipoli – Agrocomplex (ambient experimental industrial tropical Auckland)

She's So Rad – Tango (fuzz)

Mareko – Hong Kong Food City (all the real life shit…)

Coolies – Kaka (punk reggaeton beatmaking female mc oi)

(mine:) Caitlin Blake – Neo Tokyo EP (samamammmple-based)

TRAKES

She's So Rad – "Cool It" ("mad Brian May")

and

i.e. crazy – "You're a Stranger (to me now)" (alternative blood yodel breakups)

And with a staggering 2 votes, The Magnets with their excellent song "Lorde", well done her. Yet another prestigious award :)

sbahnhof, Tuesday, 2 February 2016 10:01 (eight years ago) link

Lately I've been easily impressed with:

Scuba Diva's "Marimba" (a sparse yet hooky slice of... uh... good)

A great interview with Mille Lovelock from Astro Children http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/201787465/astro-children

And a new track from these guys and girls: Stack & Piece x CampusKit - "Break Control" (feat. Diaz Grimm, LarzRanda and Samahra Eames)

^ Clearly, it's a celebration of the cricket season, through the coded messages

"I won't let it bounce away"

and LarzRanda's

"I feel less afraid and a lot more BOWLED"

http://img.cricketcb.com/i/news/fth/300x200//stories/2015/mar/28/prv_97813_1427603303.jpg defend dammit

sbahnhof, Tuesday, 2 February 2016 10:02 (eight years ago) link

I quite like Death And The Maiden, Fazerdaze, and Shifting Sands. All sort of neo-shoegazey indie.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 2 February 2016 16:51 (eight years ago) link

five months pass...

Awesome

albvivertine, Saturday, 30 July 2016 08:33 (seven years ago) link

Really enjoying what Margins is doing https://marginslabel.bandcamp.com/releases

mickcsmith (micarl), Sunday, 31 July 2016 01:03 (seven years ago) link

^ Thx! Love that K2K track.

Not an entirely new song, but the new Poi E movie is really good. It's not so much a doco about the song as about the people who were involved – perhaps that's why it seems (to me) to also be a film about loss. Even as the song endures, some key players are no longer around to talk about it, and a question is asked in the movie, "what if Poi E hadn't existed?". It's still well worth remembering how unlikely a hit it was.

The Maui Dalvanius Prime documentary on NZ on Screen covers slightly different ground, but it tells some of the same story.

sbahnhof, Monday, 8 August 2016 09:25 (seven years ago) link

one month passes...

Silver Scrolls awards are on just now - http://www.radionz.co.nz/collections/silver-scrolls/silver-scrolls-2016, with live video on RNZ.

sbahnhof, Thursday, 29 September 2016 06:34 (seven years ago) link

three months pass...

Not quite a "best of 2016", but Loop's mixtape from May was pruddy good. Featuring Bailey Wiley, Miloux and Yoko-Zuka:

https://soundcloud.com/loopcrew/lpmt007

But the year belonged to Aaradhna:

http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/refusing-award-aaradhna-stays-true-to-brown-girl

http://thespinoff.co.nz/music/18-11-2016/repost-the-spinoffs-july-2016-aaradhna-interview-on-racism-and-the-music-industry/

A previous NZ Music Awards event had inspired her to pen ‘Brown Girl’, she said. “There was this guy and my friend heard him shout so many racist things, and that’s what pushed me to write this song.”

“I have always dealt with those moments ever since I was young.”

In solidarity with Aaradhna's courage, we at ILM have decided to place a bunch of bands in the category of white people, or something

sbahnhof, Monday, 2 January 2017 22:40 (seven years ago) link

seven months pass...

Thinking of making a thread on this subject (not only for NZ):

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/201853309/apra-aim-for-gender-equity

sbahnhof, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 05:45 (six years ago) link

I wonder if that's a result of the Equalise My Vocals & assoc panels/agitation? Fingers crossed, eh.

Like what I've heard from the new SWIDT album, Stoneyhunga.

Glad Kings & Alien Weaponry made the Silver Scrolls longlist but I suspect/dread it's gonna go to one of the alt-folk-y types this year.

k2k's got a new EP out on Margins if you haven't heard it, sbahhof.

etc, Wednesday, 2 August 2017 09:35 (six years ago) link

I thought the k2k ep was getting a 7" vinyl release but I can't seem to find it..

mickcsmith (micarl), Wednesday, 2 August 2017 22:09 (six years ago) link

two months pass...

What's been new in 2017?

TELL ME

Apart from

Estère, who's on fire rn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-h2dS2GUlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUbtgDsVmoE

So far she's released half the album, My Design, also including "Ambition" https://youtu.be/zJdyRmg5n1s

So Below in club banger mode

https://soundcloud.com/sobelowsound/ruin-sombear-remix-1

Indi (Indira Force) is having a good year – a solo album Precipice (title track here) and an astonishing ambient collaboration with violinist Anita Clark, The Dying Light:

https://newdawn1.bandcamp.com/album/the-dying-light

And K2K's extremely chill EP, as mentioned [NOT VINYLED YET]

https://marginslabel.bandcamp.com/album/mar-003-k2k-sugar-ep

sbahnhof, Monday, 23 October 2017 02:31 (six years ago) link

Has anyone mentioned Surf City? They're almost a Flying Nun circa early 90s pastiche but with some great songs. If the Flying Nun roster were like the Premier League table, I'd have the Chills, the Bats, the Clean and Straitjacket Fits occupying the Champions League spots, Surf City would be somewhere towards the bottom of table with Garageland.

Grantman, Monday, 23 October 2017 10:00 (six years ago) link

In Rolling non-US rap thread 2020 I posted Randa's "Rock Bottom" single that I named the G.O.A.T., mainly thanks to the brilliant video with Hamish Parkinson. Having said that, Randa's follow-up "Toughen Up" is probably a better song, continuing their run of great tracks – a celebration of niceness with an anti-macho message. And the song's 'tough' rock sound would make it ideal for Radio Hauraki playlists, except that it doesn't suck

Randa - "Toughen Up"
- https://larzranda.bandcamp.com/track/toughen-up

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0167685671_7.jpg

sbahnhof, Monday, 6 January 2020 10:56 (four years ago) link

I'm not saying life in Auckland is exactly like Aroha Bridge, but the hottest ticket in town was Imugi playing the closure of a food court:

- https://youtu.be/3iB2m9254CU?t=45m30s

...so yeah, in the struggle to catch up on 2019, I'm just up to Queen's birthday. Haven't even heard Chloe Swarbrick's "OK Boomer (Remix)" yet

sbahnhof, Monday, 6 January 2020 10:57 (four years ago) link

2019 ILM poll NZominationz :

Starting with a nomination on the metal poll – Beastwars made a shock return, reuniting in the unhappy circumstance of Matt Hyde's illness. The band's frontman went through cancer treatment in 2018, just before they made their fourth album. It seems he's doing well, as they're now on an Aus/NZ tour.

You can hear, listening to the album, how cathartic it is.
The new album is simply called IV, and its cover is the work of artist Nik Keller (who also did their previous three). The Greek goddess of health, Hygeia towers over a fallen soldier, a snake coiled around her shoulders, and a sword in her hand. – (RNZ)

BEASTWARS – IV
- https://beastwars.bandcamp.com/album/iv

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2948879241_7.jpg

On ILM's poll, art-pop duo Purple Pilgrims' album is nominated, as is the track "Sensing Me". The album features guitar from Roy Montgomery (friend of ILM!) on "Ruinous Splendour":

Purple Pilgrims – Perfumed Earth
- https://purplepilgrims.bandcamp.com/album/perfumed-earth

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0378203621_7.jpg

On the ILM tracks poll:

Mermaidens – "She's Running"
- https://mermaidens.bandcamp.com/track/shes-running

Broods – "Falling Apart"
- https://open.spotify.com/album/3emsEOWvKnlvAOj80KEqLE

And there are album noms for THE DEAD C and Aldous Harding.

sbahnhof, Wednesday, 15 January 2020 08:40 (four years ago) link

UTR's various contributors reviewed the year

UTR's 2019 Favourite Music Moments
- https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/16760/UTRs-2019-Favourite-Music-Moments.utr
-

sbahnhof, Wednesday, 15 January 2020 08:40 (four years ago) link

Some great tracks from later in 2019:

"ROULETTE" – CHURCH & AP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTJjQigWQ8Y

SWIDT – "BUNGA"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBEJQJ7_JQ

Disciple Pati – "The Boy Who Cried Woman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66UD_8RSfGc

^ That's a debut single from December (more info here).

Also in December, Soccerpractise brought out their second electronic album, Te Pō (The Night) with noticeably more guitars, more reo Māori, and their Banger Ratio is up by about 300%, which = bangers. It's also available as a dizzying "visual album".

SOCCERPRACTISE – TE PŌ
- https://open.spotify.com/album/3He6sMx8TLPhEwUNtV3KGv

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k3zjqlR0kHk/mqdefault.jpg

sbahnhof, Wednesday, 15 January 2020 08:42 (four years ago) link

A few more 2019 releases – Punk band Miss June brought out their first album, Bad Luck Party after several years together, with a more conventional '90s alt-rock sound but some rough edges still there ... Electro producer BAYNK released Someone's EP II to some acclaim, and he's launching a U.S. tour next week ... Surf-rockers Soaked Oats made their 3rd EP, Sludge Pop ... And pop singer/songwriter Theia wrote a beautiful new Christmas song, "Te Kaiwhakaora O Te Ao".

Other stories:

Very Obscure Vinyls: there's an exhibition about lathe-cut records that were made in tiny numbers in NZ. Some of the lathe-cuts (a cheap alternative to vinyl) are now valuable, if you're into Aldous Harding anyway. The exhibit's coming to Lower Hutt in February.

Boomer/Millennial soundclash: can choral singing prevent ageist intolerance?

Kia māia (Be bold) - Ria Hall spoke at the 2019 Silver Scrolls on the disregard for women and reo Māori music in sectors of the industry, and encouraged them to change. (Just in case it isn't clear, this thread is not "the way it is" in real life. Inclusion here is almost a guarantee that an artist will be as obscure as a 19th-century war)

sbahnhof, Wednesday, 15 January 2020 08:44 (four years ago) link

Another ILMy nom I forgot, by Chaos In The CBD - the second track on this record from the house DJ brothers, last February:

"Green Dove" is an upbeat trip that's also mellow and weird, including more retro rave influences complemented by lush atmospheres. An intro of synth washes picks up another bumpy melodic bassline. The brothers then chop up the vocals, creating an immersive soundscape that invites you to shut your eyes.
– (Resident Advisor)

Chaos In The CBD – "Orange Blank" / "Green Dove"
- https://chaosinthecbd.bandcamp.com/album/orange-blank-green-dove

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0976911012_7.jpg

sbahnhof, Thursday, 16 January 2020 23:58 (four years ago) link

one month passes...

Radio New Zealand have decided that youth radio is the future and they might build a station with a heavy focus on Kiwi music. Good luck with that! :-D

So, I'd like to a take a sec to mention some other places where New Zealand music is played and covered – and plz add others that you like, if any. I wrote before about RNZ's weekly show, Music 101.

IWI RADIO is where the largest number of NZ songs are broadcast every day, on the regional stations in each Māori tribal area:
- http://www.irirangi.net/iwi-stations.aspx
Three good ones for reo Māori music are Moana Radio (in Tauranga), MFM/Maniapoto FM (Te Kuiti) and Tūranga FM (Gisborne), and honestly the general pop mix on Atiawa Toa FM is better than anything that bigger and more cynical companies can come up with. The iwi stations do a great job on very low budgets, helped by the passion of volunteers, and sometimes by the automatic DJ machine that was going to take over RNZ Concert. (Don't praise the machine.)
An airplay chart is also compiled, Te Reo Māori Top 20.

UNIVERSITY MUSIC:

- BFM (Auckland), the show "Freak The Sheep" / video channel
- Radio Control (Palmerston North), "The Local Show" / vids
- RadioActive.fm (Wellington), "The NZ Music Show" / vids
- RDU (Christchurch), video channel / "Te Ahi Top 10"
- Radio 1 (Dunedin), "The Local" / vids

...Until now I didn't know about Radio Control's mixcloud, and neither does anyone else in the world apparently. The show that I stream the most often is R1's. New host is a bit full-on, tho

EXCITING WEBSITES:

- https://basefm.co.nz/category/video/local-eyes/
- https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/
- https://nzmusician.co.nz/
- https://nztop40.co.nz/

And further off the radar, there's always the Bandcamp tag New Zealand and Aotearoa.

sbahnhof, Thursday, 5 March 2020 11:09 (four years ago) link

A superb live band, L.A.B. have had their first hit together, and it's become the biggest Kiwi song of the moment – from their album L.A.B. III

L.A.B. - "In The Air"
https://labmusic.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-air

On the charts, some local musicians have had a very good summer. In 2020 so far, L.A.B. and Benee have reached No.2 and 3 on the main singles chart, where the last New Zealander to hit No.1 was in 2017.

sbahnhof, Thursday, 5 March 2020 11:10 (four years ago) link

The collaborative song "Ka mānu" is the current top song on the reo Māori radio chart:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIj3cKbWgRE

sbahnhof, Thursday, 5 March 2020 11:11 (four years ago) link

Ria Hall (heard in "Ka mānu") brought out her new album last week. A tribute to classic reggae bands, it's a a good follow-up to Rules of Engagement, but at 7 tracks may've been more rightly labelled as a generous EP. The instantly iconic cover is by the artist Robyn Kahukiwa.

Ria Hall - Manawa Wera
- https://riahall.bandcamp.com/album/manawa-wera

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3428938539_7.jpg

sbahnhof, Sunday, 8 March 2020 02:16 (four years ago) link

Metal band Shepherds Reign released their first Samoan-language track as a tribute to the country of heritage of their vocalist Filivaa James and guitarist Oliver Leupolu. It's possibly the first metal track to be sung in le Gagana Sāmoa, though that's hard to ascertain. The band were supporting Alien Weaponry last week.

Shepherds Reign - "Le Manu"
https://www.thecoconet.tv/songbook/islandjams/shepherds-reign-le-manu/

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2668439964_7.jpg

sbahnhof, Sunday, 8 March 2020 02:18 (four years ago) link

And for maximum tonal whiplash

NADIA REID - Out of My Province
- https://nadiareid.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-my-province

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4145199521_7.jpg

The indie-folk star's third album, its title quoting Janet Frame, was written while Reid was travelling the world. Alongside guitarist Sam Taylor, the violinist Anita Clark (Motte) returns to her live band.

Nadia Reid - "Get The Devil Out"
https://youtu.be/VoRc9nBYwHo

sbahnhof, Sunday, 8 March 2020 02:19 (four years ago) link

L.A.B. - "In The Air"

A huge hit, the song eventually rose to No.1 overall, where it's stayed for 3 weeks now. A very rare achievement for a Kiwi artist.

Benee may get her first No.1 here soon – her track "Supalonely" has gone feral on TwitClock. On an unrelated note, she's also gonna try to take over the U.S., it can't be that hard.

- https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9337519/benee-interview-supalonely-emerging-artists-spotlight

OTHER STUFF: bKIDD featured new vocalist Jarna on his rap track "Can't Take This" (a 'Visualizer' is a music video with no budget?) ... Electro artist VASILI has a stunning new album, Hidden Inside, his tenth(?) in 7 years ... Yumi Zouma released their new record, Truth or Consequences ... Some prominent Various Artists have made a Katherine Mansfield album, GET YER OWN IDEAS, MATE ... (that's not the title) ... Rappers Shiraz & LSJ had some success last year and unveiled their most polished track yet, "Whitney". They had it mixed & mastered and everything ... Estère played a session track, "Mad about Your Sea" from her upcoming album ... And, the NZSO will stream its Bach concert live on Wed 25 March at 19:30 NZT on https://nzso.co.nz/live

The coronavirus is affecting New Zealand and its musicians like anywhere else – there's a page for artists who are facing problems with money, mental health and other things:

- https://nzmusician.co.nz/news/covid-19-vs-nz-global-music-industry

sbahnhof, Saturday, 21 March 2020 03:44 (four years ago) link

Ah, that one music video TV channel we have is back! for a few months.

I guess they don't mind the comparison with Radio with Pictures...
- https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/radio-with-pictures-1976/series

sbahnhof, Friday, 27 March 2020 19:44 (four years ago) link

WOMAD festival was one of the last events to be held, in March.

But... there was a problem.

Wellington publisher Mary McCallum went to Womad with 17,000 people each day, just before the lockdown.
It’s a fortnight since people headed home from Womad in New Plymouth, some going straight into self-isolation as a preventive measure.

The problem with Womad
- https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/03/31/1107877/the-problem-with-womad

sbahnhof, Thursday, 2 April 2020 02:03 (four years ago) link

two weeks pass...

If a song called "Supalonely" can't get to No.1 during a human quarantine crisis, something unusual must be happening

sbahnhof, Saturday, 18 April 2020 08:37 (four years ago) link

The rapper Melodownz signed to Def Jam last year; his party piece is probably the track "Peace Signs, Gang Signs", he also did a long-distance collab with UK MC Coops on "Infinite" in 2018.

His latest single is a change of direction, heavily influenced by drill.

'“There’s a lot of drill and darker themes in music at the moment which I love also, but I just wanted to create something that makes people happy and comfortable.” Melo describes.'

MELODOWNZ - ‘Fine’
- https://basefm.co.nz/melodownz-fine

reason I stick with this dude is goofy lines like
"I don't hang with nobody who not nice"

sbahnhof, Saturday, 18 April 2020 08:38 (four years ago) link

From last year, but whadevva:

LOU'ANA - "Move Along"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd3STQPI6PY

sbahnhof, Saturday, 18 April 2020 08:39 (four years ago) link

two months pass...

Old time occasional poster/long time lurker who just retrieved his password here to say that GRG67 just put out their new album on Rattle Records last week and are very good at the jazz. Their release show was terrific and they're playing again on Thursday.

https://rattle-records.bandcamp.com/album/happy-place

Also went to the Cakekitchen release show last week. Wasn't overwhelmed by the selections from the new album on a first listen, but when you're competing against the career highlights on almost 40 years that's an occupational hazard, and a new track (recorded during lockdown) was one of the highlights of the whole damn show.

https://allyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/trouble-again-in-this-town

Coming to stages in Auckland in August: black metal legends Ulcerate, whose new record is a monster.

https://ulcerate.bandcamp.com/album/stare-into-death-and-be-still

(Since The Beths have their own damn thread I assume mentioning them here is redundant...)

dillamonster, Sunday, 12 July 2020 05:56 (three years ago) link

three months pass...

I hadn't heard GRG67 before! Happy Place is a great album, thx.

Sorry for implying earlier that Radio 1's Henny G was too "full-on", as I now realize that she is the world's funniest broadcaster and her emergency music show in lockdown was the best one of those. Furthermore, the playlist starts with someone called Lee F Blower and then the latest banger "Heatwave" by Randa, whose yet-to-be-completed album will, I maintain, be the Alb of the Decade if they do it right.

- https://www.mixcloud.com/Radio_One_91fm_Dunedin/nz-on-air-presents-the-local-9420-with-ashley-adelaide-henessey-sam-tom

It's not quite true that I spent the last ten months listening to that Soccerpractise album on repeat, but pretty close.

Election special: Underground doomcore merchants The Beths helped the Green Party back to parliament by performing at their campaign rally in Titirangi ... Meme MP Chlöe Swarbrick got a booming result in the vote in central Auckland, an achievement maybe even bigger than her appearing in JessB's first video in 2018 as a netball official ... The opening track on the Ulcerate album, "The Lifeless Advance", also happens to sum up the far-right party of that name ... And there's a Cannabis Referendum but the electoral commission were too stoned to count the results for about two weeks. Obviously, There Is No Weed-related Music in New Zealand, so I'm not sure why I'm mentioning it here.

This band "Dick Move" might be a bit political as well :-D
- https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/17818/Dick-Move-Touring-New-Album-Chop!-In-October.utr

sbahnhof, Sunday, 25 October 2020 22:40 (three years ago) link

What's Old and Still Fresh in New Zealand Music? Well for instance this 'un I wrote about long ago in the Voice:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008 AT 4 A.M.

Die! Die! Die!

Promises, Promises (SAF)

"So much for blue skies! What about the future?" Thus New Zealand's young punks Die! Die! Die! yap back at a preacher's "You must believe!" They aren't really asking, but they also aren't really that close to no-future angels of '77. Of course not---too many things under the bridge, including bridges---and while these neo-classic cage-rattlers demand come-on comparison, they don't cling to it. They've got their own sonic reflux, absorbing the news and vice-versa. So even Die! Die! Die!, with their shrieky little name and shrieky little songs (tattooing ear canals), find themselves pausing just long enough to explain, quite reasonably, "Well sir, this winter, I cannot believe." "Blue Skies" is the last stop on Die! Die! Die!'s second album, Promises, Promises. Their Steve Albini–recorded, self-titled 2006 debut's flying shards of impulsive/compulsive encounters were caught by walls thrown up, tracks tightened till they imploded: 10 songs, in just over 20 minutes. But now, on this Shayne (of Straitjacket Fits) Carter–produced set, walls are pushed out as inner space-junk expands; shards reappear as pieces of Wilson's personal blue skies, of old hopes and dreams. His shattered, scattered voice and guitar can't help planting some bizarre memory garden of l-u-v. The eloquent guts of Lachlan Anderson's bass will never digest such seeds very easily, and drummer Michael Prain's Keith Moon-style soloing-as-accompaniment dents craters in a common labyrinth-in-a-maze, where Wilson and "You!" grapple in reflective gear.
Die! Die! Die! play the Music Hall of Williamsburg March 29 and Highline Ballroom March 30.

dow, Monday, 26 October 2020 01:32 (three years ago) link

This might be new:

Die! Die! Die! - "450" / "I Seek Misery"
- https://diediedie.bandcamp.com/album/450-i-seek-misery

sbahnhof, Sunday, 8 November 2020 18:27 (three years ago) link

Vanessa Worm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZREmKORfWNI

stirmonster, Sunday, 8 November 2020 19:09 (three years ago) link

xpost Thanks! Should have known they'd be on bandcamp.

dow, Sunday, 8 November 2020 20:57 (three years ago) link

The NZMAs, now named the Aotearoa Music Awards, are happening tonight and broadcasting on The Edge TV and Three.

Haven't followed the charts much this year, but it looks like a very promising nominee lineup – there are sure to be prizes for the some of the ones mentioned above based on popularity and maybe artistry.

Paige, who collaborated with JessB last year, is up for the breakthrough artist and pop award. Meanwhile, Troy Kingi's band are four years into their project to make 10 albums in 10 genres with the new one, The Ghost of Freddie Cesar, and he's nominated for best single for "All Your Ships Have Sailed".

Troy Kingi - The Ghost of Freddie Cesar
- https://troykingi.bandcamp.com/album/the-ghost-of-freddie-cesar

Chaii ain't gonna win, but I love her

CHAII - Lightswitch EP
- https://soundcloud.com/chaiimusic/sets/lightswitch-ep-1

Jawsh 685's "Laxed (Siren Beat)" is up for best single because it became popular worldwide as a 20-second snippet, which is handy, as there's nothing more to the track. The video's pretty good tho.
(Then Jason Derulo saw an opportunity, etc etc)

sbahnhof, Sunday, 15 November 2020 03:52 (three years ago) link

five months pass...

the cuticles & n.t. honey (typo'd elsewhere as m.t. honey but it's n.t.) are good. crude is doing stuff again but i only heard 30 seconds of a recent gig on someone's instagram post. heazlewood has a new band called consolidated fuzz, they're probably good, i haven't heard them. i'm in a band again too, good. why do people like the veils, they're terrible.

unknown or illegal user (doo rag), Thursday, 13 May 2021 05:47 (two years ago) link

Arm Up Ehoa; The Pigs Want To Open Carry by Captain Cooked on #SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/G4AbY

unknown or illegal user (doo rag), Thursday, 13 May 2021 08:49 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

Fazerdaze has a new song out: https://open.spotify.com/track/2qkAa6IrUy5WWizVE1rpeh?si=9u0qWliWSou70CfEOntp4g

It's got a great mid-nineties alt rock vibe. Less shoegazey than her previous work, with plenty of fuzzy grit.

It's been five years so hopefully a new album is coming soon!

The Ghost Club, Thursday, 4 August 2022 01:52 (one year ago) link

nine months pass...

I like the new Tiny Ruins songs, pretty indie-folk with memorable hooks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4feBg1lmrU

aphoristical, Sunday, 21 May 2023 01:11 (ten months ago) link


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