Currently spinning: New Zealand Music thread

[ZEN MISTER]

Cannot load the clip, but Larrys Rebels " Let's Think of Something".....

 

.......probably the first ENZ song I bought as a 45. Still think it's a classy bit of pop.

Billy.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Zen Mister
Clip won't load

[cafe67]

continuing the DCD link

 

 

and in similar vein

 

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by cafe67

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Nice! Keep it coming.  And that removes a few from my list too.  Including Michael Nyman for his "The Piano" score. But since we are discussing soundtracks, there is a story to this next composer.  He works with award-winning musicians in his day job...

 

 

and by way of a footnote, he provided lyrics for a Death Metal collection that is a fannish tribute to another of his movies.

 

 

Staying with the movies but looking for something a little less ear-bleeding, we watched the rather wonderful 20 Feet from Stardom and were reminded of these albums and singles. Let it be said that Mr Jackson did not get to #1 in Perth, West Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Citroen]

What's the NZ music there ThirdDrawDown, apart from Suzanne?

 

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Hi @Citroen you got it - she sings on all of them.

[Citroen]

Ah  

[BuzzzFuzzz]

Just saw these guys pop up on the Youtube thread...

 

Schnell Fenster 'OK Alright A Huh Oh Yeah' 1990 WEA Records.

I don't know anything about them though.

[ThirdDrawerDown]

@BuzzzFuzzzThe guys from the Swingers and Split Enz come up with possibly the worst band name ever and get surprised when their second album sinks without trace. Who'd a thought?

 

Useful bio on wikipedia but it does the "Our" thing ("Our Schnell Fenster") by listing a bunch of New Zealanders and saying the band was Australian. Hilarious.

 

Quote

Schnell Fenster were an Australian pop, rock band formed in 1986 by Noel Crombie on drums and percussion, Nigel Griggs on bass guitar and backing vocals, Phil Judd on lead vocals and guitar, and Eddie Rayner on keyboards and piano – who were all former members of New Zealand-formed rock group, Split Enz. Fellow founder, Michael den Elzen on lead guitar had worked with Tim Finn Band – another Split Enz alumnus. Briefly named, The Wanx, Rayner soon left and they changed their name to faux-German for "quick window", because it "appealed to [their] perversity". The group formed the core members of Noel's Cowards, a short-term ensemble, whose sole output was six tracks for the soundtrack of a feature film, Rikky and Pete, in 1988. Schnell Fenster released two studio albums, The Sound of Trees (1988) and Ok Alright a Huh Oh Yeah (1990), before disbanding in 1992. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989 they were nominated for Breakthrough Artist – Album for The Sound of Trees, Breakthrough Artist – Single for "Whisper" and Best Cover Art for Judd's graphic art. (schnelles Fenster is German for "fast window")

 

I have the first album and it's spotty with occasional brilliance - not just good, but brilliant.

 

Here's allmusic, who must be referring to another band, maybe they got their facts about nationality wrong, I must write in.

 

 

Quite a few Flying Nun bands have been mentioned already and here we are at just Day 8 of New Zealand music month.  It's been a necessary thing but sometimes there's a risk of Flying Nun's narrative becoming the Approved Version of the story of New Zealand music, in the same way that in the USA, Rolling Stone magazine became the gatekeeper for who was Canon and who was infra dig.  For example, in the Rolling Stone narrative, there is a British Invasion. In the Invasion, the Beatles, Stones and Who are OK but don't mention the Kinks. Oh, and don't mention 1977 punk, with the Members, Buzzcocks, Stranglers and so on (but the Sex Pistols and the Clash are officially OK). So don't expect lots of Flying Nun in later postings.

 

But tonight we must, because we have discussed many aspects of Flying Nun but until now haven't mentioned the band that is, in my opinion, the label's finest.

 

The JPS Experience, also known as the Jean Paul Sartre Experience until the estate of the late French philosopher showed themselves to have (a) no sense of humour (b) lots of nasty lawyers.  This was the single from their shoegaze bid for major stardom, the album Bleeding Star (1993). 

 

 

I keep coming back to Bleeding Star but it's unfashionable, because it was better produced than the first two albums there was a backlash from those who discovered the JPS Experience early on.  Some of the earlier songs are stronger but the albums aren't as consistent, and yet everyone finds a JPSE song from somewhere in their output to fall in love with and take into their heart. The bands entire output can be bought in one collection, reviewed here and strongly recommended.

 

Edit: and this is an even better review, with sound bites

 

Tip: review includes the observation "better than the Jesus and Mary Chain". True.

 

Meantime, we continue with last night's theme of Oscar winners. In this particular instance the musician found fame in by changing his career but he never ditched his band. He has some chops, so do the other members of the band, but no matter how many times I play this album absolutely nothing stands out. All the bits are there, there are songs and there is playing, and even one or two engaging bits, but even the D4 is considerably better than this, and Noiseworks is better than both of them.  Earlier tonight I bought some of that silicon stuff that that you put between the meat and the barbecue to stop the meat from sticking.  I think some sort of silicon thing lies between this album and me.

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by ThirdDrawerDown

[Citroen]

2 hours ago, ThirdDrawerDown said:

I keep coming back to Bleeding Star but it's unfashionable, because it was better produced than the first two albums there was a backlash from those who discovered the JPS Experience early on.  Some of the earlier songs are stronger but the albums aren't as consistent, and yet everyone finds a JPSE song from somewhere in their output to fall in love with and take into their heart. The bands entire output can be bought in one collection, reviewed here and strongly recommended.

Yeah, that's me!

 

I think Love Songs is definitely their finest.

 

 

GARETH FARR - Owhiro: Works for String Quartet

 

Portrait: Gareth Farr - Composer, percussionist, entertainer, drag queen

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/78834041/national-portrait-gareth-farr--composer-percussionist-entertainer-drag-queen

 

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Citroen

[Citroen]

Luke Hurley - Make Room

One of Auckland's best-known street musicians

https://www.lukehurley.co.nz/

 

 

 

 

[ZEN MISTER]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y69AG0gSYik&sns=em

 

....excellent PROG from AIRLORD and their only album "CLOCKWORK REVENGE".

Oddly and sadly, only in Cd format from a Euro needle- drop source.

Its ok for what it is, but I will hang on to my much played record for now.

Billy.

[ThirdDrawerDown]

ZM - That's like owning a Ragnarok album! 

@Citroen my first partner's best friend was deeply enamoured of Mr Hurley back in the day. But as a catch, his prospects didn't look overly bright

 

For a change, some books. Also some web sites.  Please post yours

 

https://www.allmusic.com/

Took the approach of the Rolling Stone Record Guide and put it on the web. Sufficiently diverse number of reviewers so that it doesn't suffer from the whims and fancies of any one silverback reviewer.  It is US-centric and its gaze is a bit blurry when looking towards the South Pacific but it's still the first convenient port of call. I do wish its subscriptions and adverts would go away. The workaround is to search on a well-known search engine and then right-hand click on the results to find your way into archive.org for the Wayback Engine.

 

http://www.radionz.co.nz/music

The archive at Radio New Zealand is surprisingly deep as is their love and knowledge of New Zealand music.  Keep an eye on the documentaries - they change often and include live and rare footage.  Here's today's screen grab, for the Blerta fans among us.  Tip: NZMM hashtag

 

http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/graham-wardrop

Audioculture is well worth a rummage. Sound clips, narrative, biographies, memoires, and a scrapbook layout.

 

http://rockonvinyl.blogspot.com.au/

A wonderful resource for its links and the band biographies.  The site is sprinkled throughout by New Zealand musicains, even though only about a dozen are directly found under the subject "New Zealand".  

 

http://www.countingthebeat.gen.nz/2008/01/links-and-resources.html

Podcasts and catalogues, and a useful bunch of links that were even more useful ten years ago (that's forty real years because an internet year is about 3 months in real terms). Tip: use the archive.org tip, above, to track things down.

 

Stranded in Paradise was the essential guide to New Zealand popular music and for those interested in its era, it still is.  This comprehensive book is solid as a roadmap and not too bad in its opinions. The only errata I've found is Dix failed to get the releases of the Kal-Q-Lated Risk right. The intricacies of band memberships in Dunedin circa 1979 are described for the main bands but the offshoots and eddies are not covered. It is also occasionally harsh in his opinions - the description of Mother Goose's stage show as not as amusing on the third or fourth viewing stung at least one member of the band quite deeply.  Overall however it's a successful labour of love, and well written too! You can feel the stickiness of the carpet as you read.  Available here.

 

 

It's no surprise that the next book takes up where Dix left off. It is slightly less detailed in its coverage and is more interested in storytelling - you'd think that someone, somewhere would say where the D4's 6twenty got to on the charts - but it's a good effort. (I had to find an archived version of the original NZ charts and in a "previously" note saw that it reached #28 in the album charts).  Available here.

 

 

 

The Smithies has surprised me. It is a lovely book.  The production is clean, the photography is excellent and there's more than 118 albums here, because there's chat about the "other music" that a band produces. All the best rock music writers can write clearly and with passion about their joy in the music, and Smithies is among this class of writers. As an editor he is pretty good too.  He invites a diverse, indeed it's fair to say eclectic, bunch of people to write about their favourites. So you get Sam Neill on Split Enz's True Colours and Chris Knox on the Dunedin Double.  Graeme Downes breaks down the chord structures of the Clean. Auckland hip hop and soul music is mentioned as well as pasifika. Smithies keeps a steady hand on the narrative tiller, so that while you appreciate and understand why Sam Neill in his convertible in London was enraptured by True Colours, there are reasons that Second Thoughts holds a place in the hearts of those who discovered the Enz early. I had not heard of many of these albums and it has been a pleasure to track them down, it truly is that good a book.  Agree or disagree, it's a book to engage with, and the title is excellent, for I suspect that for many people the albums in here are central to the soundtrack of their lives. Available here

 

 

And we finish with one that got away. I couldn't afford it at the time, missed it when it was remaindered, and it is now out of my reach. A good review is here although, truth to tell, Sneaky Feelings songs were generally a bit thin-sounding. Delicate is nice, but wispy is not quite so good.

 

[Citroen]

18 hours ago, ThirdDrawerDown said:

And we finish with one that got away. I couldn't afford it at the time, missed it when it was remaindered, and it is now out of my reach. A good review is here although, truth to tell, Sneaky Feelings songs were generally a bit thin-sounding. Delicate is nice, but wispy is not quite so good.

 

Whimsical and light, not wispy!

Sneaky Feelings - Hard Love Stories

In Love With These Times, very engaging read from the man who made Flying Nun.

 

[ThirdDrawerDown]

http://www.sergent.com.au/music/nzmusic.html

Comprehensive web resource for the 60's 70's and some 80s. The link to the bio of the #1 selling artist at the foot of this posting comes from sergent's web site, but before getting there it's time for this #1 selling artist, Hayley Westenra.

 

 

Quote

Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987)^[1][2] is a New Zealand singer, classical crossover artist,^[3] songwriter, and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Pure is the fastest-selling international début classical album to date, having made Westenra an international star at age 16. In August 2006, she joined the Irish group Celtic Woman, was featured on their Celtic Woman: A New Journey CD and DVD, toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour, and was also featured on their DVD, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection, released in 2008. Westenra has produced five New Zealand number one studio albums, holding the title for the most number one records for any New Zealand act, a record shared with alternative rock band Shihad since the release of their 2014 album, FVEY.

Across classical music to easy listening, folk and pop style songs, Westenra has performed songs in English, Māori, Irish, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Latin, Japanese, Standard Mandarin Chinese, Catalan, and Taiwanese Hokkien.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Westenra has performed for dignitaries all over the world. She is the second youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date and has contributed to charities around the globe.^[9]

Wikipedia's summary is curiously silent about Westenra's soundtrack work, Lesbian Vampire Killers.

 

 

Westenra's fame comes from this sort of music, Celtic Woman:

 

 

and from her own albums.  We turn again to allmusic.com:

 

Quote

New Zealand-born classical crossover vocalist who has sold millions with her mix of opera, art pop, and folk styles.

....

At 19, Westenra was one of the most popular singers in the English-speaking world, excepting the United States, and had already sold more than three million records. Her albums are usually a mixture of opera arias, hymns, pop songs, tunes from musical shows and traditional Maori, Australian, and Irish songs and whatnot, but it is not the material that her fans are interested in so much as her voice -- pure, light, and clear with no vibrato, yet well-pitched.

We have a number of Ms Westenra's CDs here in the third drawer down, and her voice is very good indeed.  It has changed over the years.  Her early recordings show an untrained voice and a lack of studio polish. (Even though George Martin produced her first CD,  "Pure", it is exposed on a good high end stereo). Her phrasing and control has grown along with the seamlessness of the production until now she is producing extremely professional work, and she is very well placed for a long and interesting career, even though she's already had a musical journey that has outlasted many of her peers.  Those who would dismiss Westenra as a lightweight are urged to hold off on your opinion until after reading this review of Paradiso, her collaboration with Ennio Morricone. 

 

 

 

We go back fifty years to the 1960's and another international #1 artist.  I'll let her music speak for itself, and will note here her backing bands: Max Merritt and the Meteors, and the Easybeats. We know what became of one, but whatever happened to the other?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ian McP]

 

[ZEN MISTER]

https://youtu.be/O93EzrqZ6DY

 

......probably another example of my theory that a crap name can sink an otherwise interesting band. HELLO SAILOR had a lot to offer - sort of halfway between DRAGON and MI-SEX . I believe singer Graham changed cosmic address in 2015.

 

On a different note, it's good to see the excellence of ENZ music being recognised and celebrated  here, because if you check the New Zealand site, ain't a damn thing happening. What gives???

Billy.

[Citroen]

 

 

 

[ZEN MISTER]

What's the deal Cliff?  The New Zealand branch should be booming. It's a Ghost Town.

Billy.

[Citroen]

Unfortunately the old AudioEnz site left a bitter taste in many mouths due to its lack of functionality when they changed forum platforms. It has never recovered since, even after Stereonet took it over.

[ZEN MISTER]

Such a shame. Any opportunity to take ENZ music to the world should be embraced. What would it take to get the ball rolling again.? 

Billy.

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Friday night and the anthologies are out on the platter.  Both of these are essential on vinyl, and AK 79 is essential on CD because the CD version has more tracks and guess what? The extra tracks are taken from Hits and Myths. 

 

I've played Hits and Myths many times and really like the way it takes a broad approach to what non-Top 40 music meant in New Zealand.  Bands such as Dragon, Split Enz and Pop Mechanix weren't mainstream but they weren't punk and definitely were not part of the Doc Martens brigade. Hits and Myths set out to highlight some rare and compelling singles, and some more well known songs.  It didn't matter as long as they were good songs and you weren't likely to hear them on the radio.

 

There are no duds on this album. For decades now I've been meaning to find out more about Schtung and their "They Sleep Early in Cologne".

 

AK79 gets the critical raves. As the vinyl 2LP re-release says:

 

"A collection of demo tapes recorded by various bands in Auckland City over a period of about one year, ending in late '79. Whether it represents a high point of the band's career at the time, or merely a beginning, each track nails down a moment during what was a hot time for New Zealand rock'n'roll." 

 

Although technically my direct quote is not correct because the original is in ALL CAPS. The Scavengers, Terrorways, Proud Scum, Swingers, Primmers, Toy Love, Suburban Reptiles, Swingers - these are names to conjure with.  It does contain some bands who the boot boys followed, in other words the dickheads who destroyed the scene, and the music for that audience is accordingly unsophisticated, somewhat simple, and has an arsehole factor.  What can't be denied is the energy. So I have a love-hate relationship with AK79 and it is not really such a close friend as Hits and Myths.

 

 

 

 

Because boot boy punk is not my thing I decided to play some Brian Eno to ease my musical soul.  (Eno is my go-to musician. Indeed, among my ten desert island discs there are six that are not by Eno, I think I have the balance about right, there is plenty of room for other artists there).  An Eno track is on this LP.  There may well be music from musicians represented above, too.

 

None of this is Hayley Westenra singing Christmas carols.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by ThirdDrawerDown
spelling mistakes

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Here's something less than five years old - a metal-influenced rock band whose first album I picked up on my travels.  Very much the sound of a band still establishing themselves. The band players are strong - the drummer is great, the lead guitarist can strut out, the rhythm section combine well - but like so many bands they are let down by the vocals and by a sense that the vocalist wants to sing something other than the shredding metal/ poppy "let's do Jane's Addiction on steroids" crossover thing the rest of the band wants to do.  As a result the songs are half cooked or hybrids.  The singer could do with an editor, lyrically, and in the percentage of a song that he occupies. They are now onto their second album (you can read about it here) and the band has changed membership and direction but not their ambition.

 

Tip: no matter how fervid your promo, it is not a good thing to misspell "Colin" as in "Sir Collin Meads" [sic]. (For local readers, the Australian equivalent would be misspelling "Chris Grant".)

 

 

After this I needed some melodic rock so I chose another ambitious band that at one point was the finest on the planet and it all came true.  We highly recommend the Cherry Red 3CD release.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of their members went on to become an architect and lecturer.  Here's his portfolio, some interesting work there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by ThirdDrawerDown

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Continuing in that line of NZ bands named after famous people, The Hasselhoff Experiment was Andrew Tolley and Brendan Moran, vox/guitar and drums respectively.  Tolley hung his guitar at knee level and the Experiment played punk thrash surf rock at pace. They won best new band at the NZ industry awards in 1997 and were simply a fun live experience whose star kinda faded when the White Stripes started doing a similar amplified lo-fi thing and hit the big time and every band without a bassist got lumped in with them. More punk and less blues than the Stripes, and with less distinctive vocals, which may be a good thing for some. Bonus points for the fastest garage version of "How Was the Air Up There?" put to vinyl.

 

 

Quote

While enthusiastically embraced in New Zealand, Australia would prove less welcoming for The Hasselhoff Experiment. An initial showcase at a suburban bar in Melbourne at the turn of the century was disappointing.

I woz there.  It was about the same time I saw the White Stripes play at a barbecue at the back of a local record shop.  More energy in the Hasselhoff Experiment. "Out Of The Sandpit And Onto The Drive", their third album, must have sunk without trace or maybe due to record label inertia.  It's now $90 on discogs.

 

Time for some pop music.

 

 

 

 

One of these three went on to marry a former member of the KLF and is doing design and polemic in London. Interview here and bonus points for keeping much of the punk ethos although the price tags are pure KLF. Riot shields are available from  http://www.misspokeno.com/about/

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by ThirdDrawerDown

[ThirdDrawerDown]

This time it's one of the first NZ artists to be signed by a major label for writing her own material. Her Greatest Hits collections are worth picking up if you like radio-friendly rock/pop piano-driven singer-songwriter material.  O'Neill's bio is here.  "So taken by Sharon was the Australian industry that she won the APRA Top Top Female Vocalist Award in 1978, 1979 and 1980. She also won the Countdown Rock Awards three times between 1980 and 1985 and the Sounds Pop Poll in 1983 and 1984."

 

 

 

Artist makes it big in NZ, is groomed in Australia and has some hits, checks the contract, goes into dispute, sits out until the end of the contract singing backup for others, finally signs a deal with another record company and sinks without trace.  The tips appear to be:

- (CBS) always check the contract before signing it

- (CBS) don't lose the person who is your linkman and champion in the record company, even when that person gets promoted

- (Polydor) don't sign up for a "Outside the UK only" deal - they won't distribute you and so the records die a death except for copies that are crazy-costly-like-printer-ink on discogs.

 

Quote

Sharon O’Neill created songs that our country’s baby boomer generation will never forget but the singer disappeared from view after her 1983 hit ‘Maxine’. She loved working with CBS Records in New Zealand, but went to war with CBS Australia and her career was derailed....

 

After the four year legal dispute with CBS, O’Neill tried to rebuild her career with two albums for Polydor.

 

In Shake! magazine (Dec 1987) O’Neill advised, “Take a record contract to a couple of lawyers. Get the fine print checked out. I was quite surprised it happened to me. You have to be careful with the business side of it.”

 

What we do know is that O’Neill had a perfect working relationship from 1978 to 1981 with CBS New Zealand and John McCready, the MD who signed her. When he moved to CBS Australia he was there for the planning stage of recording the Foreign Affairs album in Los Angeles.

The singer’s recordings had grown in confidence, substance and budget in her time with CBS NZ but the chance to record in Los Angeles was a dream fulfilled.

The singer told Real Groove (October 2001): “Recording Foreign Affairs was a highlight for me because it was done on the West Coast of the USA with a very important person in my life at the time, John Boylan [who produced Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s], who was so enthusiastic over my songs and pulled it all together and pulled in so many friends."

 

“Tom Scott on sax on ‘Maxine’. One day we were missing a harmony on one track and John Boylan the producer said, ‘Hang on cutie’ as he used to call me and left the room and he came back with Don Henley. He just happened to be in the building and came in a sang the harmony and left and that was that. Totally gratis. That was unbelievable as I was such a fan of the Eagles. Karla Bonoff, Timothy B. Schmidt, Bill Payne. I could go on, wonderful people.”

 

Time for a band that was not so much sidelined as ignored. As allmusic tells it:

 

Quote

Though criminally overlooked in their own lifetime, Galaxie 500 later emerged as one of the pivotal underground groups of the post-punk era; dreamy and enigmatic, their minimalist dirges presaged the rise of both the shoegaze and slowcore movements of the 1990s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThirdDrawerDown]

For @Zen Mister