The Spinoff presents the video premiere of a new song from Fabulous/Arabia (a collaboration between Mike Fabulous and Lawrence Arabia) called ‘Henry’. Lawrence Arabia says: The lyrics While I have, in my own way, been gentrifying various neighbourhoods around the world over the past fifteen years, I still have only written maybe a couple of songs … Read more
Absolutely Fabulous is one of the best comedies of all time, no question. Sam Brooks explains why. The first television show I remember falling in love with was Absolutely Fabulous. I was four. Now, I can’t remember why exactly I was allowed to watch Absolutely Fabulous, a show where the two lead characters spend more time high than drunk … Read more
Hussein Moses attempts to assess all 20 songs on the longlist for this year’s Silver Scroll Award. Take that New Zealand Music Month t-shirt back out of your cupboard because supporting local music this year is not over yet! Without any hype preceding the announcement whatsoever, the longlist for this year’s APRA Silver Scroll Awards … Read more
The Block NZ is back, and it’s time to rejoice like we just won a Bosch kitchen upgrade that includes both a griddle and a hand blender. Tara Ward power ranks. Somewhere in the pristine new suburb of Hobsonville Point lies four new couples on four new mattresses inside four new townhouses, which are as empty … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. On this week’s Real Pod, Alex is exiled to snowy South Island (like foot island, but lower), leaving Jane and Duncan to struggle on as a duo. Jane’s already daunting task of hosting without Alex … Read more
Harlots returns to Lightbox tomorrow with a second season full of intrigue, feminism and corset-ripping good times. The show is full of famous faces, but where have you seen them before? Samantha Morton Who is she playing? Margaret Wells! She runs a brothel in 18th century Britain, and her brutal upbringing working in Lydia Quigley’s brothel … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Eddie Johnston, the man behind Lontalius, about living and working in LA and his first new music in two years. Eddie Johnston, who makes music as Lontalius (and also as Race Banyon, but that’s another story), grew up as some sort of Wellington indie rock prodigy – going to cool shows … Read more
Wellington Paranormal, the TV spinoff of Taika Waititi’s hit movie comedy What We Do In The Shadows, debuts on TVNZ tonight. So what’s it like? There’s a bit in last week’s episode of Police Ten 7 where Officers Kevin and Bevan (I know) go looking for a rough sleeper who’s skipped a court date and now … Read more
One of this year’s must-see moments of NZ television aired at 10am on a quiet Sunday morning and almost everybody missed it. It’s not often that New Zealand television presents debate as you’d imagine it: critical, emotional, and at risk of derailing at any moment. The last election debates between party leaders, though pitched as … Read more
Westside is back for a fourth season tonight on Three. Sam Brooks visited the set and came back with thoughts on how the show mythologises our country’s recent history. If there’s one thing I know for sure about the 80s, it’s that there was a lot of smoke. Correction: If there’s one thing I know about Westside, … Read more
The final tribal council is inching closer and closer with just a few weeks left in the game, and the twists, turns and blindsides just keep on coming. This week we watched as our remaining castaways embraced capitalism, smashed some perfectly good crockery, and betrayed longtime alliances. There’s drama up the wazoo, so let’s get … Read more
Tonight, four enthusiastic New Zealand couples begin their journey along the giblined highway to renovation glory. Tara Ward on what to look forward to in this season of The Block NZ. That’s right, our favourite reality show The Block NZ is back to suck us into its murky depths, and I’m more excited than Ling and Zing … Read more
For a time in the late 2000s, youth of all backgrounds in this country began to dance. Don Rowe remembers the brief flash when techno became a unifying force in New Zealand. Since the beginning of time humanity has yearned to dance. From the cha cha to the charleston, trap arms to the twerk, dance … Read more
Is it a real estate ad if you see more of the Dancing with the Stars judges than you see of the house? Our DWTSNZ power-ranker Sam Brooks investigates. I remember the old days, when people used to look at pictures of houses in the newspaper and then go along to open homes and hope the house … Read more
Australian musician Amy Shark played an intimate set at S @ Spark Arena earlier this week. She spoke to Lydia Burgham about being vulnerable with her songwriting, her Amy Winehouse obsession and working with Jack Antonoff. Releasing a debut album is a momentous occasion in the career of any artist, but for Amy Shark the release also … Read more
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not knowing what beautiful nightmares await us in next week’s season finale. Tara Ward recaps the penultimate episode of the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Time flies while you’re having fun in the apocalypse, and several weeks have passed since we left June bleeding on the … Read more
It might have Helen Clark up in arms, but Eden Park neighbour Toby Morris can’t see the problem with live music at the stadium. Rising above the hedges and wooden villas it’s impossible to miss: a giant hulking pile of steel and bulbous clear plastic, like a space craft crashed into leafy Auckland suburbia. It’s … Read more
Yesterday, Jogai Bhatt talked with the people behind creative collective Nah Zone. Today, she talks with one of its closest musical collaborators, Church & AP. Church & AP is a rap duo comprised of Elijah Manu (Church), Nah Zone’s head writer, and Albert Purcell, the younger brother of Nah Zone’s founding director Jonique Purcell. The … Read more
Listen In, a mini-festival featuring A$AP Rocky, Skrillex, Skepta and Lil Skies, was announced this week. To celebrate, Hussein Moses found five of A$AP Rocky’s best (and weirdest) collaborations. A$AP Rocky, rapper, actor and hopeful saviour of Under Armour (remember Curry 2s, anyone?), is on his way to Auckland’s Spark Arena this September for Listen … Read more
Alex Casey goes for a stroll on the foot-shaped sands of Heartbreak Island, week four. Every relationship hits that point. You know the one. The golden playback dial gets put in the attic, if you know what I’m saying. You move from Foot Island to Dolphin Island, if you know what I’m saying. Mark Dye … Read more
Jogai Bhatt talks to the talent behind Nah Zone, a new underground collective showcasing music, writing and art on the internet and in the club. There’s no shortage of young talent in Aotearoa – it’s just a matter of keeping your ear to the ground. This is the ethos embodied by Nah Zone, an ambitious … Read more
Jam and Jerusalem. Bells and Smells. Tea and Cakes. Murder and Intrigue. Four of the classic double acts. And they all come together in the delightful investigation series Father Brown, five glorious seasons of which are available for your leisurely winter viewing on Lightbox. As any Catholic lapsed or otherwise will tell you, the greatest … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, the old gang is back together with your regular scheduled programming of reality madness. We look back at the whopper finale of Dancing With the Stars NZ, which crowned Sam Hayes … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of Tami Neilson’s ‘Devil in a Dress’, featuring the O’Neill Twins. Tami Neilson says: I was watching the TV series The Fall and there was a scene that directly inspired this song. When a constable wants to use the word ‘innocent’ to describe the killer’s victims in a press release, Gillian Anderson’s character … Read more
Alex Casey, Sam Brooks and Madeleine Chapman round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including the return of TV juggernauts Suits and UnREAL. Harlots S2 (Express from July 12) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmUP1idcOhU If you missed out on the first season of this, what are you doing? Two of England’s best actresses – Dame Lesley Manville (not actually a … Read more
Vincent Lum has taken many different guises within the Auckland music scene over the past decade: drumming in a punk trio, playing bass in a metal covers band, fronting his own blues-rock group, Whipping Cats. Now he’s released a new album, Weird Days, under the name Vincent HL. Gareth Shute talks to him about his … Read more
The season is over but there’s one more power ranking left to do. Who won the season – really? And who truly, truly lost the season? And who the hell is in between? Sam Brooks power ranks Dancing with the Stars one last time. 12. Robert Rakete Poor Robert Rakete. Coming into this competition, you’d think … Read more
It’s the final dance off, fully voted on by the public – and here are your final power rankings. Dancing with the Stars, it is over. ABSOLUTELY NOT: Dai Henwood – Contemporary Interpretative It’s not a super successful parody dance if that dance is better performed than one of your contestants performed just the previous … Read more
We’re into the 11th week of Survivor NZ, and this game is only getting crazier. Luke Harries recaps all the action, including a new immunity idol, a chocolate feast, and non-blindside strategies. Things got tense at last week’s tribal council, and after putting up a good fight, we said goodbye to Renee. The drama didn’t stop … Read more