What's New in New Zealand Music?

And at the NZMAs in November, Williams won best album for Make Way for Love. Other highlights included JessB's medley performance featuring Rubi Du, and Upper Hutt Posse's Te Kupu, who filibustered the broadcast for 15 minutes by listing the names of everyone they'd ever worked with.

END OF 2018 is near, so if you want you can post your best of the year... perhaps using the classic "fake awards ceremony" style, such as "Best gangsta indie EP" or "Most improved DJ".

This was Chelsea Jade's debut album Personal Best, 10 tracks of VERY tight pop tunes, and one o_O title track

- https://open.spotify.com/album/05JyBFPtta56x6uBvIfnal

https://nztop40.co.nz/assets/record_covers/cover_5_1532656962.jpg

The new album by Yoko-Zuna and a host of guests, Voyager, continuing their cool electro-hip-hop-jazz thing. Though with the cover artwork, they're positioning themselves as the Daft Punk of New Zealand :-)

- https://yoko-zuna.bandcamp.com/album/voyager

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3135319595_7.jpg

Coco Solid and Queen Kapussi feature in the 9-piece rap collective Fanau Spa:

- https://fanauspa.bandcamp.com/album/fanau-spa

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0752519859_7.jpg

We each possess a different lens, voltage and ancestral life that the world rn needs to hear from - and we know this record serves a purpose bigger than what we could do as individuals. Ngā mihi mega ki a mātou katoa.

- (UnderTheRadar)

There's a whole heap of recent stuff I still need to hear, but in the meantime, from earlier in 2018, some unofficial awards:

Best conscious rap / Most conscious rap: STOP THE VIOLENCE produced by Icepro, who's worked with youth musicians in Palmerston North for years

Best song title you wouldn't think was necessary in this day and age: CHILDREN DON'T BELONG IN JAIL, Luke Buda & Don McGlashan

I have felt very upset and outraged by the reports coming out of Nauru, especially the stories of children as young as five engaging in serious self harm.

We wrote this song to raise awareness of what is happening in offshore detention, in the hope that more people will sign up to the campaign to pressure the Australian government to end the horror they have created for these little kids and their families.

Best compilation imo:

Shoegaze emo band from Wellington, Bad Friend, released their Best Of, so far. It is eleven minutes long

- https://badfriendnz.bandcamp.com/album/best-of

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0842844951_7.jpg

The bad friend EP is great, yeah - in associated acts, the namesake EP that's just come out is v.dreamy: https://namesake.bandcamp.com/album/4-songs

Some EOY stuff:
Under The Radar's best albums/videos/songs moments: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/15341/2018-End-Of-Year-Roundup.utr

The Spinoff's best local albums/singles: https://thespinoff.co.nz/music/21-12-2018/the-definitive-very-best-new-zealand-music-of-2018/

Great to see the Shiraz & LSJ video "Where Tha Pape$ @" in the former - their "Clubsmoking"'s another great no-fi video.

Namesake are very chill!

Two tracks nominated for the ILM 2018 EOY that weren't already mentioned:

Yumi Zouma's beautiful dreampop song "Powder Blue / Cascine Park", from their EP III:

- https://yumizouma.bandcamp.com/album/ep-iii

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3174856807_7.jpg

With EP III, they grab us by the hand and take us out on a gorgeous adventure.

“Powder Blue / Cascine Park” is the first destination, and it's spellbinding. Delicate beats, a chiming guitar, and (Christie) Simpson’s stirring vocals recreate the feeling of summertime bliss. – (TheRevue.ca)

Dance track "Arbuz" by Kiwi-Italian-Melburnian producer Chambres, with vocals from Abigail Knudson:

- https://chambresband.bandcamp.com/album/arbuz

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1753870535_7.jpg

I'm stunned that October got two separate nominations, that's my AOTY! Thank you, nommers. (and sorry for calling you nommers)

A few other 2018 things...

The solo debut Shine Your Light by Kaaterama, who's in the successful pop group Maimoa. Her first single "He Iti" is getting the iwi radio plays, but most impressive imo are her soulful tracks "Mr. Man" and "Paiheretia", with the choir of Te Reanga Mōrehu o Rātana:

- https://open.spotify.com/album/1mOUoRm61WqW68aA4wE2KA

https://www.muzic.net.nz/images/news/8188.jpg

Maybe even more chill than Namesake(!), the first EP by twin-sister duo Tāl (Shalina and Shantini Sandran), including Indian tabla and sitar:

- https://talduo.bandcamp.com/album/t-l-ep
- https://nzmusician.co.nz/music/tal-tal-ep

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0630431439_7.jpg

In other Māori-language music in 2018, the collaborative album Te Kākano went to number 1 on iTunes in September, recorded by Pere Wihongi, Mere-Arihi Pipi-Takoko, Makaira Berry and Hamiora Tuari.

On the artier side, Allana Goldsmith brought out The Waka Kura Sessions, and Gisborne's Miss Pou made her debut.

Kiko released a blues-rock EP, Ranginui Blues, including the video to "Patupaiarehe", in which the band get attacked by the fairy-like being of the same name, it's a good watch

Also, taonga pūoro! - Rolling Classical 2018

In the singles chart this week, Six60's "Vibes" ended 6 (six!) months as the top NZ song. "Long tail"/"dumb algorithm" doesn't begin to describe it...

The new No.1 is Bene and her laid-back track "Soaked" - https://youtu.be/ubE_ac2wYPQ

We posted about the Broods single earlier – their album will be called Don’t Feed the Pop Monster. Hopefully it'll turn out to be the best thing ever and/or a Gaga rip-off, just so we get more funny interview quotes like

Caleb: "I left my phone in LA so I’ve just been off the grid. It’s amazing. I have no idea what’s going on in the world. Or what time it is. I’m just watching the sun."

and

Georgia: "I don’t like the word lucky. I think we’re fortunate."

that Bene song is so good. Looking forward to the Broods album, all of the tracks they’ve released so far have been enjoyable to varying degrees.

It's only Bene's second song to be released - the first was "Tough Guy" in 2018. Guess she must've played more songs live this summer.

Apparently "Soaked" first became a radio hit in Australia, on Triple J's 2018 EOY list.

And Broods' album is out, UNLEASH THE MONSTER

- https://open.spotify.com/album/1zVzO9st0ZXLCH6YmgAzYF

1-listen review: it's good! I like it nearly as much as the Chelsea Jade album, with which it shares quite a lot in common sonically, nice word. Critics seem to agree it's a 5.0 out of 10.0, and skim-reading their equally mediocre numerology, it's because the band haven't changed their sound. Which reads more like a dig at electro-pop than anything. (There's one track that might be a baggy Madchester tribute... if that helps.) But "Peach" is prob the bangin'est song on there.

Another album from the ILM poll:

By experimental electronic musician OMIT, Clinton Williams – the vast 5-album set Enclosures 2011-2016

- https://endofthealphabetrecords.bandcamp.com/album/enclosures-2011-2016 (also released on Picadisk)

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2370721155_7.jpg

OMIT employs home-built instruments constructed from modified electric motors and salvaged sound sources to create a startlingly original soundworld. It is a world he inhabits alone, isolated in the small town of Blenheim in southern New Zealand, but it involves a deep exploration of the human condition. Over the years OMIT’s music has become less noisy and more sparse and minimal, as open signal patterns and oblique textures pass each other in haunted spaces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDJq5Wu-Lvc

Nadia Reid's new song, and a radio interview:

- https://podcast.radionz.co.nz/aft/aft-20190213-1310-nadia_reid_live_and_solo-128.mp3

"She will release her third album later this year, and previews one of the songs from it, which was written after a New Years Eve in Levin. It's called 'All Of My Love'." – (RNZ)

And as mentioned in the interview above, Teeks has got an orchestra!

- https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/music/teeks-apo-soul-man-orchestrates-next-big-move

Teeks is also performing at WOMAD 2019 (Aotearoa section) along with Nadia Reid, Charlotte Johansen, Finn Andrews, KORA, Niko Ne Zna, Ria Hall and The Black Seeds.

https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/15611/CHAII-Shares-Debut-Single-Digebasse-Enough--Video.utr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q00SjA7DSc

“My concept was simply a commute. A journey through places and people, spreading loving vibes. At the same time, putting a positive light on the middle east. I was doing this in respect to all the underground artists who have to hide away because of their art. Covering up felt empowering and badass.”

– UnderTheRadar.co.nz

https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2018690578/auckland-rapper-mo-muse-dedicates-friday-to-the-victims-of-the-christchurch-attack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go5gvtQ8WLg

A benefit concert is taking place in Christchurch on Wednesday, featuring nearly everyone in NZ music. Absolutely no idea what it'll be like, but please give generously.

The concert will be live on the radio from 07:00 GMT / 19:00 NZT, and locally on TV Three.

Some related links:

- https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2018690891/marlon-williams-in-auckland

- https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/111954347/shihads-jon-toogood-on-being-muslim-changing-his-bands-name-and-keeping-the-faith

- https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2018689779/illbaz-racism-in-the-music-industry-it-s-always-there

https://cdn.eventfinda.co.nz/uploads/events/transformed/1268658-564668-34.jpg

In the U.S., there are two benefit concerts: in Jersey City (Wed.) and Los Angeles (Thursday), with music by New Zealand artists who are based there. Like the concerts in New Zealand, they're named You Are Us/Aroha Nui

- http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1904/S00104/us-iyou-are-usi-concert-announcement.htm (Archived)
-

The concert will be live on the radio from 07:00 GMT / 19:00 NZT, and locally on TV Three.

Worldwide livestream video too, here.

It was a triumph, for the most part – showed NZ music in a fantastic light, and was planned in such a short time. The full concert video is online at the moment, with TV Three's ad-riddled and vapid coverage. Enjoy!

https://www.radionz.co.nz/assets/news/192543/eight_col_P4179695.JPG
Estère! - (Article on RNZ)

NZ music is at a low ebb in popularity, so they'd probably raise more money by asking the All Blacks to sing, or getting Jacinda Ardern to pander to the business community. But that's beside the point. :)

A slight dampener: it turns out NZ's most successful apolitical party band are not so bright

"How dumb do you gotta be to sing a song with the lyrics 'I'm a loaded gun, got my aim on you' and 'Turns out you ain't bulletproof' at a benefit concert for a mass shooting?"

The song was Six60's "Vibes", mentioned earlier - they'd already played at the Auckland benefit concert and didn't notice any problem with it. Possibly even dumber, the Otago Daily Times printed this actual headline:
"Six60 blasted for inappropriate lyrics at Chch concert"
The band probably didn't change anything at all from their usual concert - they also introduced their own song as a "national anthem" when the show included the actual anthem and Dave Dobbyn.

Other things:

Should Spotify be forced to play more Kiwi music? (yes, duh)
- https://thespinoff.co.nz/music/05-04-2019/the-music-quota-debate-has-finally-arrived-on-spotify

or Spotify could help music even more by shutting down, frankly

AND Tom Scott has won the Taite prize for the rap-jazz Avantdale Bowling Club – some astonishing poetry on that album.

Name-change alert - hitmaker Bene has changed her name to Benee, possibly for google reasons like when the Beetles did it.

Her follow-up track to "Soaked" was "Evil Spider". One-listen verdict: she's lost it! nah just kidding, it's more of the same.

- https://youtu.be/uQ983htswu8

ILM fan's favourites Yumi Zouma are one member less, and they've gone weird with their weird single, "Bruise" (Warning: not weird)

- https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/bj9748/yumi-zouma-is-back-with-a-new-unexpected-single

They're also trying to get into one of those endless "band photo" threads

https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5ce46f88d10c93000bb3840b/lede/1558536018603-Yumi-Zouma-Henry-Hargreaves-II.jpeg?crop=0.7762xw%3A0.6678xh%3B0.0844xw%2C0xh&resize=700%3A*

Olivia Foa'i released her second solo song, after her band Te Vaka's great success with the Moana movie soundtrack. "My Way" includes lyrics in Tokelauan, and good god she can dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8iaJoTsw88

Maisey Rika has posted some demos from years ago, it's the new Basement Tapes

- "TUHOE"

- "KEEPING IN CONTACT" AD JINGLE (for Telecom, before it became a television channel)

- "CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS JINGLE DEMO" ... Maisey Rika with the "O Superman" voice effect. Track of the year

On TV, Aroha Bridge is back for a series of full episodes - with the voices of hip hop's Coco Solid and Rizván, about the adventures of their band Hook Ups

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWeQxZe2t4

Also, Moana Maniapoto has become the country's most serious journalist in her show, including the immortal line, "Coming up after the break: How can we avoid the apocalypse?"

This is an extremely useful thread. Many thanks sbahnhof for your diligence.

Making good progress catching up on this year's music, I'm nearly at mid-April.

Astro Children's Millie Lovelock goes solo on her confessional debut album, she's never been better

Repulsive Woman - Relief
- https://repulsivewoman.bandcamp.com/album/relief

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3712362028_7.jpg

Ria Hall has seriously found the core of classic reggae as protest music. Almost as if it's still relevant today! #ihumātao

Ria Hall - "Cause and Effect"
- https://riahall.bandcamp.com/track/cause-effect

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3393789660_7.jpg

Imugi can't get any cooler, it's not humanly possible

Imugi 이무기 - "Be Here Soon" / "Greensmoke"
- https://soundcloud.com/a-label-called-success/imugi-be-here-soon
- https://youtu.be/Psce1BtWC-g
-

Yes, I would like to listen to the Kora/Katchafire supergroup from Whakatane with slight Dire Straits influences, thank you for asking

L.A.B. - "Personify"
- https://labmusic.bandcamp.com/track/personify

And an album curated by Hinewehi Mohi, Waiata / Anthems, has some of NZ's biggest music stars doing their songs in Māori, released for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori - it was a heck of an effort:

“It was initially meant to be a bilingual album, but the artists said to me ‘I want to do it all in Maori’. Only one is a fluent speaker, so for most of them this was their first real opportunity to sing in Māori. The artists have been brave and inspirational through the recording process which has ultimately been extremely challenging for the majority of them having little or no Maori language skills,” said Mohi. “It is testimony to how important they each view Te Reo Maori as the cornerstone of our culture. This music will help us all to feel like we can participate and celebrate in the uniqueness of our national identity.”
– Music News - Introducing Waiata/Anthems, music.net.nz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFFXEhpthI

Unsatisfied with the old Views, JessB brought out her New Views

Her 2nd EP features tracks with Paige and Church Leon, who is not a man of the cloth, I fear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF5DAeMHcG0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDOhuyx76QQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft-nT9dizLo

Nadia Reid's third album will be out in March 2020, Out Of My Province

- https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1912/S00045/nadia-reid-announces-new-album-out-of-my-province.htm

“The song [Best Thing] is about relationships, childhood and nostalgia. It is about intimate love and about the love between a mother and a daughter. In it, I am rigid and almost emotionless. But perhaps that is because we shot in Dunedin at 6 am... in the wintertime!” Reid quips. – (The Label/Scoop)

You've heard the quips, now see the vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWgE_Y5Z0M

Nadia Reid is so good.

Six60 are so bad.

Are they as interesting as that? :-)

It is strange how popular Six60 are in NZ, breaking some chart records recently... More popular than Lorde, and their concerts this summer might make them the country's biggest act ahead of Ed Sheeran. If it's any consolation, on their radio session they kinda looked like they couldn't be arsed. Only gave the poor drummer a tambourine. I can't see much reason other countries would take to them, though they've nibbled the Aussie charts this year.

Ooh, what is everyone's favourite NZ track or album of the 2010s? (apart from ilm's obvious faves The Beths and Six60.) Would love to know. I'm still not very familiar with 2010-2014 – will post a few retrospectives that are online later.

My favorite NZ albums of the 2010s:
John White - The Inkadies (2010)
Die! Die! Die! - Form (2010)
Cut Off Your Hands - Hollow (2011)
Punches - Etheria (2011)
Opossum - Electric Hawaii (2012)
The Shifting Sands - Cosmic Radio Station (2015)
Bespin - Osiris EP (2015)
avoid!avoid - Particle And Wave (2016)
Doprah - Wasting (2016)
Street Chant - Hauora (2016)
Fazerdaze - Morningside (2017)
Death And The Maiden - Wisteria (2018)
David Kilgour - Bobbie's A Girl (2019)

I dig The Beths, Aldous Harding, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Mermaidens, etc but have never fallen for entire albums.

Cheers, Gerald! I need to give Doprah another spin, I really loved Indira Force's other band New Dawn.

If I'd known before now that the choreographer Parris Goebel did a rap album where she shouts song titles over a banging donk, I would've listened solely to that for the past three years

each to their own of course but that list up there is pretty dull and leaves off a whole shit tonne of great music -heres another decade perspective:

Maxine Funke - Lace
Negative Nancies - You Do You
P.H.F - I Hate Myself
Centre Negative - Emotion is Cringey
Coolies - Kaka
SWIDT - Bunga
Unsanitary Napkin - Orgasmic Capitalism
Coco Solid
Opposite Sex - Hamlet
Kraus -Pudding Island
It Hurts - Estuary
Piece War- Apathy
Thistle Group
Futurians - Robots in Disguise
Randa - Orange Juice , singles etc
Vincent H.L - Weird Days
Terminals - Antiseptic
Purple Pilgrims - Perfumed Earth
Pumice - Puny
The Biscuits - The Dolly Dog Seems Alright

prob some I have forgotten ten yrs is a long time

Thank you for these dangerous sounds! That's my Christmas party sorted.

But please, less of the "pretty dull" comments - everybody's perspective is welcome.

Having this many recommendations is a nice surprise, especially when there aren't so many fans of Kiwi music on here

https://i.postimg.cc/fygTbBnQ/aroha-bridge-audience.png
(visual approximation)

UnderTheRadar: years gone by
From the archives, these were the UTR site's best-of lists during this decade:

2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018

* (2015 page was lost, possibly Kim Dotcom has it)

Radio New Zealand has done a staff poll of the 2000s + 2010s combined. It somewhat dilutes everything by trying to cover a 20-year period, but perhaps they never did a 2000s albums list.

As you'd expect, it's a triumphant victory for Pacifier, nah just kidding

"RNZ Music's top 21 NZ albums of the 21st century"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2018724138/rnz-music-s-top-21-nz-albums-of-the-21st-century (Archive)

More from the 2010s, what did real people actually listen to? These are the NZ artists' charts for each year.

While Lorde is the biggest name internationally, at home it's much closer - the decade's two best-sellers have been Six60 and the pop-opera trio Sole Mio, who topped the EOY album chart four times from 2013–2017.
(Note* The all-NZ chart wasn't around in 2010, recorded as starting on 31 October 2011.
Streaming was added to the charts in 2016.)

2010 Singles ★ 2010 Albums*
2011 Singles ● 2011 Albums
2012 Singles ★ 2012 Albums
2013 Singles ● 2013 Albums
2014 Singles ★ 2014 Albums
2015 Singles ● 2015 Albums
2016 Singles ★ 2016 Albums
2017 Singles ● 2017 Albums
2018 Singles ★ 2018 Albums

HIGHLIGHTS from ☆ KIRIHIMETE ☆ (Xmas) and ◴ TE TAU HOU PĀKEHĀ ◷ (Hogmanay)

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music113/v4/95/e5/03/95e503f7-3e22-eee0-8460-7f71445f7c18/190295292133.jpg/268x0w.jpg
(?)

An album with something for everyone, everyone:

"Top Māori artists lift spirits with new visual album Mōhau
Rob Ruha, Ria Hall, Troy Kingi, Bella Kalolo, Majic Paora, Kaaterama and the East Coast Tira Waiata (Choir) sensation Ka Hao have united to create a powerful visual album, entitled Mōhau (For you)."

“Some songs were originals like 'Aue Wairua' which I wrote in the 90s, and some songs are new," Ruha explains. ... “Although this is the season to give, there are some people who we know are less fortunate and so they are discouraged in a way. So we thought as a collective that this project can be presented as a gift, something they can share among their family and loved ones.” – (Te Ao news)

Various Artists - MŌHAU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEl7sFAYfjg

Now, I know we all thought Benee's breakthrough hit "Soaked" was a breath of fresh air, but because of that, she's started pumping that sound for all it's worth and "Glitter" began 2020 as the no.1 Kiwi song after becoming a meme on Ticktock, god I hate the internet

Benee - "Glitter"
- https://youtu.be/D3gmU0GOTXI

"Is being a TikTok dance good?"
"Benee probably won’t make money off TikTok, but there are few platforms as powerful for building an immediate and global following. At over 11.5 million streams on Spotify, ‘Glitter’ has been listened to almost twice as much as ‘Find an Island,’ which might surprise anyone who’s been listening to the radio lately."

Marlon Williams popped up on the Australian new year's eve concert on the ABC (on his birthday, in fact), performing two covers – a moving rendition of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy", and also "Common People", in which the mild-mannered crooner danced around the stage like a man possessed. Guess which song this link leads to:

- https://youtu.be/2CeJ23f80LY?t=1h23m16s

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

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

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.

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
-

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

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)

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

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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.

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.

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

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

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

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