The return of the Roots
Trinity Roots Citizen (Self-released) When beloved Wellington group Trinity Roots rallied themselves for a series of reunion concerts in 2010, it became clear that the public weren’t that keen to let […]
Movements
Public criticisms of the established New Zealand music industry aside, Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgensen might be best known for organising the well-loved Camp A Low Hum music festival during the late […]
The world comes to Taranaki
Between 13 and 15 March, the New Zealand WOMAD festival returns to Brooklands Park and TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth for yet another weekend of incredible music, arts […]
Taking it to Tokyo
Fat Freddy’s Drop, live at Unit, Tokyo, 9/11/2014 At just past 1am on Sunday 9 November, Fat Freddy’s Drop, our very own hi-tech soul stalwarts, took to the stage inside […]
Surviving the sophomore slump
Electric Wire Hustle Love Can Prevail (Okayplayer/Somethinksounds) With their self-titled 2009 debut, Wellington trio Electric Wire Hustle paid homage to the rich traditions of African-American soul, jazz, hip-hop and […]
Legends and soon-to-be legends
Flying Lotus You’re Dead (Warp Records) Almost every time the great American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis released an album, it was worlds apart from his last work. And yet, […]
Blindsiding
FKA Twigs LP1 (Young Turks) Young Jamaican-English-Spanish singer-songwriter and dancer FKA Twigs (real name: Tahliah Debrett Barnett) has been compelling listeners and viewers across the globe since 2013, when her […]
Further afield
Carsick Cars 3 (Maybe Mars) For their third album, Beijing’s Carsick Cars — perhaps the pre-eminent Chinese indie rock band — travelled to New York to record under the watchful […]
Rattle and No Hum
Jonathan Crayford Dark Light (Rattle Records) Recorded in New York City last year, Dark Light sees nomadic New Zealand pianist Jonathan Crayford playing alongside Ben Street (bass) and Dan Weiss […]
July Music Review
Shunkan Honey, Milk and Blood (Art is Hard Records) As Shunkan, 20-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist and DIY record producer Marina Sakimoto creates bedsit indie-pop songs, which while drenched in an emotional register […]
