Posts Tagged ‘New Zealand’

MARLON WILLIAMS – ” Marlon Williams “

Posted: February 11, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Marlon Williams Album Cover1

The 24-year-old New Zealander already having fronted Christchurch outfit The Unfaithful Ways’ debut LP and co-helmed weird-country triptych Sad But True Vols I – III (with Delaney Davidson), Williams‘ solo debut was overdue. The former chorister delivered on every promise, summoning the vocal performance of the year with an antique penny thrown into a haunted mineshaft: see “When I Was a Young Girl”, Williams‘ desolate take on American folk standard “One Morning In May”. From Western TV-theme charge “Hello Miss Lonesome” to “Dark Child” – a flaying indie-rock elegy for a youth destroyed and birthright forfeited – to haunted house phantasy “Strange Things” (‘she left me alone in a seven-bedroom home built upon the bones of fallen soldiers’), Williams shrouds so much timeless country-folk brilliance in the same creeping, lingering sense of disquiet.

MARLON WILLIAMS – ” Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore ” (with Aldous Harding)

Posted: February 9, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Marlon Williams - Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore

Marlon Williams recently released his new single “Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore” from the upcoming album Make Way For Love set to be released early this year. This single is a duet with fellow New Zealand singer/songwriter Aldous Harding and it feels a lot like we have dipped our ears into their conversation. The two voices blend seamlessly as the title becomes a mantra between them in the chorus. This guitar-driven ballad is timeless and melancholy as it muses over themes of defeat and surrender.

Marlon Williams — “Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore” (with Aldous Harding) (Official Video) Album Make Way For Love available February 16th, 2018 on Dead Oceans

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SALAD BOYS – ” No Taste Bomber “

Posted: January 31, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Summing up a two-song barrage in the KEXP studio by New Zealand’s Salad Boys, DJ Kevin Cole remarked that the band sounds like “the best of The Feelies, The Velvet Underground and Yo La Tengo in one song.” While it makes a lovable racket — channeling those and other legendary bands from its hometown Flying Nun label — the Christchurch trio dreams bigger and woozier, infusing all kinds of influences (classic indie rock, fuzzy dream-pop) into its energized psychedelic sound.

Singer-guitarist Joe Sampson took the band’s name from misheard lyrics of The Feelies’ “Fa Cé-La,” thinking he’d heard, “You said it was the salad boys / Everything is all right.” But those last words couldn’t be more true when you listen to Salad Boys‘ exhilarating session in the KEXP live room.

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Salad Boys came together at the end of 2012 with members from other illustrious Christchurch groups T54, Bang! Bang! Eche! and the Dance Asthmatics. Recorded, the Salad Boys are deceivingly charming, presenting a careful but curious balance of well-informed pop melodies, hypnotizing rhythms and heady instrumentation.

The group’s self-titled mini-album released in 2013 caused something of a mini-sensation, receiving praise from the likes of Stolen Girlfriends Club, Mess and Noise, hhhhappy.com and many more. In real life, the Salad Boys perform a wondrous assault: a charged up blitz of clanging guitars, intoxicating drones, head-down acid repetition and an abundance of dazzling pop hooks. This notoriety has scored the group a wealth of engagements up and down New Zealand including slots at the Camp a Low Hum and Chronophonium festivals, gigs with Sebadoh, The Bats, & Parquet Courts as well as a highly honorable spot performing as backing band for David Kilgour of legendary NZ group The Clean.

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2015 finds the band prepping their proper full-length debut “Metalmania” out in September on Chicago label, Trouble In Mind Records & routing a full coast-to-coast US-tour in Sept/Oct including a stop at Gonerfest in Memphis, TN.

SALAD BOYS – ” This Is Glue “

Posted: January 23, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Life has ways of letting you temporarily forget that it’s one big shit show, ultimately balancing things out to a bearable normality. The sophomore album from New Zealand outfit Salad Boys cushions the blow of front man Joe Sampson’s less-than-cheery observations within fuzzed-out, lo-fi garage guitars, the sounds of jangling indie-pop circa 1987 and Sampson’s own calm-cool-collected vocals. The lo-fi production suits the mood, recalling the melancholy charm of indie acts like The Chills and The Bats.

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“Blown Up” kicks things off with Krautrock rhythm and an aggressive flurry of guitars, as Sampson laments the pressure to constantly “concentrate and utilize our time.” “I’m useless to to myself and doomed to follow/Someone else,” he sings on “Psych Slasher,” the punk energy and triumphant vocals turning all that angst into a good time. “Scenic Route To Nowhere” takes things in a Parquet Courts direction, the angular guitar lines emphasizing Sampson’s mention of “anxiety,” “choking” and “stumbling.”

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The SHIFTING SANDS – ” Run “

Posted: January 14, 2018 in MUSIC
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Mike McLeod booked studio time at Manny’s Estudio International in East Los Angeles. Far less glamorous in reality than it all may sound says Mike. Joining the Shifting Sands for the sessions was guest guitarist Steven Schayer – a then LA-based musician with NZ connections, having played in The Chills during the early 90’s US-based “Soft Bomb” album era.  Steven brought a different flavour to complement the independent DIY No. 8 wire approach of The Shifting Sands.

Manny Nieto also brought a different flavour to the table, producing the tracks. Manny has worked with Steve Albini and has recorded bands like the Breeders and Los Lobos.

Whereas previous albums had been layered in fuzzy guitars and synthesizers, this session involved less layers, but more harmonic breadth within the layers. Tom added bass tracks on an 8 string bass, Mike adding a bass 6 – a guitar tuned down one octave.

While there are less layers of harmonic distortion – a characteristic component of the Shifting Sands sound – there is still a lot of harmonic complexity, just realised in a different way to the approach the Shifting Sands took on their first two LPs. These songs reflect a special moment in time, in the sweltering heat of Los Angeles, while the band were far from their busy normal lives and able to spend time purely focused on making music, in a vastly different environment to their home town of Dunedin,

“Run” is one side of a new 7″ single from The Shifting Sands due for release late in January 2018.

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Band Members
Mike McLeod
Tom Bell
Jake Langley
Steven Marr

FAZERDAZE – ” Morningside “

Posted: January 4, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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I was surprised not to see this album on more year end lists. Its blissed out bedroom pop that is in the same realm as the better-known Jay Som. For my money though, Fazerdaze has a better hit ratio.

Do artists still make songs that are intended to be heard from loud speakers or do they assume their songs will be heard through a cheap pair of earbuds? I don’t know if that thought ever crossed New Zealand’s Amelia Murray, but her bedroom pop from half a world away buzzes your brain in both scenarios. Songs like Misread and Lucky Girl would have been staples on 90’s alternative radio, but also sound great on your home made playlist.

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Recorded and produced by Amelia Murray

 

DATEMONTHYEAR – ” March “

Posted: December 29, 2017 in MUSIC
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DateMonthYear; photo credit Brooke Baker

DateMonthYear is not a band. DateMonthYear is a way of making music in the 21st century. DateMonthYear tends to make music that blends pop melodies, rock dynamics, and movie atmospheres

“While ‘March’ bears a striking resemblance to Low with hints of Cat Power, the quintet steer closer to Sharon Van Etten and Feist on ‘Numbers’. DateMonthYear is a welcome addition to any playlist and a great taste of what’s to come for the band in 2018 as they wet listeners’ appetite with dynamism, consistency and sincerity. Free, harmonious and skillfully crafted compositions. ‘March’ eludes to the process of grief and loss, delivering a strong message with hard-hitting lyrics, music and video. The band worked with local production team Bad George in Hamilton to produce and film their new music video.

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New Zealand outfit DateMonthYear has announced their forthcoming single ‘March’ on the trail of their well received single ‘Numbers’, released earlier in 2017. Based in Hamilton, DateMonthYear is a five-piece comprised of Trevor Faville, Emma Koretz, Brooke Baker, Hayely Schwass and Tyler Leet.

The SHIFTING SANDS – ” Zoe/ Run “

Posted: December 20, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Check out the Shifting Sands, the name of a psychedelic guitar-oriented rock band out of New Zealand and whose atmospheric sound is a bit reminiscent of Australian group the Church. Consisting of singer/guitarist Mike McLeod, bassist Tom Bell, drummer Jake Langley and guitarist Steve Marr, the Shifting Sands is one of bands who are part of the Dunedin Sound that emerged sometime in the early ‘80s in the university town of Dunedin in New Zealand.

The band released its debut album, Feel, in 2012; three years later, the Shifting Sands returned with Cosmic Radio Station. It is perhaps one of the most gorgeous-sounding albums you’ll hear these days . Its for fans of jangly guitar, pop melodies, and atmosphere,Cosmic Radio Station is nirvana from the almost anthemic “Waiting for the Sun” and gauzy-sounding “We All Fall Down,” through the driving and shimmering “Abstract Objects” and the moody Neil Young-like “Dreaming to Keep Awake.” A trio based at the legendary Chick’s Hotel at Port Chalmers near Dunedin, they create Southern symphonic psychedelia, alternating between slow lush lullabies and almost space-rock psychedelic noise songs.

The Shifting Sands present “Zoe”/”Run” as a classic 45 rpm 7″ single

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releases January 31st, 2018
The Band
Michael McLeod – Vocals, guitars
Tom Bell – Bass
Jake Langley – Drums
Steven Schayer – Guitars

Fishrider Records is a Dunedin, NZ record label specialising in psych-pop, no wave, post-punk, jangle & subversive DIY pop

BRUNO MERZ – ” Breathe Less “

Posted: November 8, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Today I present you a folk pop artist who carries the seeds sown by Nick Drake years ago. A New Zealander who now resides in Canada, Bruno Merz produces what is best called “Bohemian Folk Pop”. But Nick Drake is just one of his influences and just one element of his sound, which also shares territory with Iron and Wine, Simon and Garfunkel, Joe Purdy, José González, and John Renbourn. Tomorrow is release day for Bruno Merz’s new single ‘Breathe Less’ single.

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Bruno Merz grew up in New Zealand to Dutch parents. Around the age of twenty, possessing only a cheap guitar, he travelled through France working on farms for food and pocket money, until he eventually found his way to Amsterdam. There he worked a number of jobs and recorded his first album of demos written during his travels, called ‘Through Darkness into Day’. As word quickly began to spread and demand for shows grew, what began as a cathartic hobby had to be viewed more seriously and he recorded his first EP entitled ‘Departing from Crowds’ in 2009. Just last month, Merz released the single ‘Whisper Turn’, which met with wide acclaim from publications in at least four continents.

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Full length album ‘Highways’ was released in 2014 to great reviews. The single “Emmeline” recieved millions plays on Spotify in the months following the release with well over 300,000 listeners per month. Bruno currently resides in the UK where he also works as an illustrator. He has also composed music for a 40 minute children’s ballet for Northern Ballet and written other compositions for dance.

NADIA REID – ” Reach My Destination “

Posted: November 3, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Folk singer Nadia Reid’s second album could be aimed heavenwards too. Lyrical clues are embedded in most songs and the first and last tracks are as spare, self-contained and hummable as hymns. As on her 2015 debut – released when she was only 24 years old – Reid has a lovely way of lingering on some notes and clipping others short. She has just returned from touring to her hometown, Christchurch New Zealand, where her friends and fellow folkies Marlon Williams and Aldous Huxley live too. All sing in a style beyond their years – what is it in New Zealand’s untroubled waters?

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