It’s week two on Dancing with the Stars and one star must combust. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey power rank the contestants with varying levels of expertise and insight. ELIMINATED: Gilda Kirkpatrick (and Shay) – Samba Look, if Gilda’s insta story from last Sunday night is anything to go by, her elimination is a tremendous loss to … Read more
Martyn Pepperell talks to Alexander Green of Wellington electronica act Groeni about their new album, Nihx, and new sandwich and coffee shop, Good Boy. At the end of March, Groeni, the vocal electronica project of Wellington musicians Alexander Green, James Paul, and Mike Isaacs, released their debut album Nihx. Around the same time, Groeni members Green … Read more
It’s week three of Survivor NZ, and it’s one week closer to finding out which one of our castaways will be allowed to return home to participate in the next season of Dancing With The Stars, and who will be left marooned in the Thai jungle for the rest of time. Luke Harries recaps. Eve’s … Read more
Alex Casey dissects episode three of The Handmaid’s Tale, including cereal gags, serious twists and a Gwen Stefani cameo, of all things. First of all: I’m sorry. I tricked you with a delicious sugary cereal snack and a pun headline, just like episode three of The Handmaid’s Tale tricked me into relaxing a bit before … Read more
What was the best ’90s pop compilation: Kickin’ or The Rhythm? And which volume? Craig Major think it’s time to settle this debate once and for all. For me, and an entire generation of New Zealanders coming of age in the mid-90s, the music of my youth only came in the following forms: the radio, … Read more
Nine musicians and producers from this year’s SongHubs, a collaborative song-writing retreat presented by APRA AMCOS with support from NZ on Air, share their experiences. Five rooms at Roundhead Studios, each containing three songwriters and a producer, pumping out a brand new song every day for a week – could there ever be a more … Read more
British miniseries galore, Joanna Lumley travelogues, plucky teens putting on a musical about 19th Germany – May on Lightbox has got it all. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey run down what’s coming to Lightbox this month. Love, Nina (May 2) Who doesn’t love a delicious Nick Hornby adaptation to soothe the weary soul? Based on the … 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, we are on a high after an extremely strong two episodes of Dancing With the Stars NZ. Which star is basically The Real Pod come to life? Which star … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Barnie Duncan about his upcoming comedy/DJ show. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to actor, comedian and DJ Barnie Duncan about Juan Vesuvius: I Am Your Deejay, a live … Read more
On the first day of New Zealand Music Month, Max Tetlow introduces a new monthly round-up of some of the best things to happen in New Zealand music in the previous month. Unknown Mortal Orchestra drop Sex & Food ahead of a world tour This album made headlines for two reasons. First, it’s very good. Second, during … Read more
Light up your bleak office life with our cut-out-and-circulate Dancing with the Stars NZ Sweepstake kit. Please feel free to repurpose as bingo or a drinking game or whatever. To print, click here for PDF. Brought to you by Toby Morris, Tina Tiller, Mad Chapman & Alex Casey This content, like all television coverage … Read more
Alice Snedden’s Bad News is a new TVNZ OnDemand show in which Alice Snedden investigates the issues she’s interested in – and makes it all about herself. Sam Brooks talks to her. Alice Snedden is a special comedian. I remember the first time I saw her perform, in the 2016 RAW Comedy Quest; she came onto … Read more
We’re two nights into the dance off, and now we’ve seen all the acts. So with a lot of trash talk, but absolutely no back-walking or mascots, we’re going to do a power ranking. Dance off. These are the power rankings for the first week of highly anticipated not-dropping-dancer-celebrity show, Dancing with the Stars NZ. In … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Wellington artist and producer Estère about technology, attention and her new album My Design, On Others’ Lives. Estère has had one crazy year. She’s released a conceptual double album, My Design, On Others’ Lives (recorded with help from NZ on Air) opened for Grace Jones toured Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, UK, South Korea, Australia and … Read more
It’s week two of Survivor NZ and Luke Harries is jumping back in the drink to see what our Kiwi castaways got up to in the Thai jungle. Cracks start to show in Khang Khaw Viewers got an extra special treat during the first reward challenge as Matt climbed out of the drink to reveal … Read more
They challenge you to a dance-off. No trash talk, no back walk. Dance off. These are the power rankings for the first episode of highly anticipated celebrity-moving show, Dancing with the Stars NZ. From its first moments, it was clear Dancing with the Stars NZ came here to play. They knew they had stars, they knew … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey goes to The Jim Henson Retrospectacle: Live in Concert and cries a bit. ‘Tis a wild sensation indeed to get whole-body starstruck by a bit of felt and some faux fur. But as the house lights went … Read more
After blowing up The Mint Chicks in spectacular fashion, the Nielson brothers are back together, with Kody recently joining Ruban’s acclaimed act Unknown Mortal Orchestra. “Brothers can have a volatile relationship,” he tells Hussein Moses, “but at the end of the day we’re still brothers.” The first time Kody Nielson heard a mysterious new band … Read more
Alex Casey reviews the return of The Handmaid’s Tale, available exclusively on Lightbox with new episodes every Thursday. Sweaty palm on heaving heart, there is simply no other television show that elicits such a violent, physical reaction in me like The Handmaid’s Tale. You should know the story by now, because it’s one that may … Read more
They formed in 1965, had their biggest hit in 1990 and in 2018 they’re coming to New Zealand with Def Leppard! Get ready with a quick guide to the last half-decade of German hard rock veterans Scorpions. Scorpions? Sorry mate, never heard of them. You have almost definitely heard at least one of their songs. … Read more
As revealed on The Real Pod this week, cats Brian and Christine Rice-Green are having a second chance at living with New Zealand TV royalty. In a shock twist straight out of any M. Night Shyamalan thriller, The Spinoff has learned that the feline friends of Matilda Rice and Art Green are not who they … Read more
Bridie Chetwin-Kelly talks to Sarah Thompson of the Melbourne-based band Camp Cope, who have called out festivals for male-dominated line-ups and led a campaign against sexual misconduct at concerts. Trying to calm my inner fangirl and act cool, I jumped on a call with Sarah Thompson, also known as ‘Thomo’ the drummer of the Melbourne-based … 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, we dive into the still Thailand lake of Survivor NZ season two. Alex brings all the exciting gossip from the premiere event at TVNZ, and we get to … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Kimbra, the Hamilton-raised, New York-based art-pop star, about her new album, Primal Heart. Since leaving New Zealand ten years ago (and topping the singles charts of twenty-something countries with Gotye seven years), she’s moved to LA and then to New York where she set up a home studio to write what … Read more
Long-lost siblings? A high-stakes and seemingly pointless quest? A fake death? Sounds like a good time. Sam Brooks celebrates the forgotten Kiwi drama Seekers. Before Filthy Rich was even a glimmer in Gavin Strawhan’s eye, Seekers brought the unpredictable and improbable drama to New Zealand primetime television. Straight off the bat, Seekers is an extremely weird high-concept premise for … Read more
Last week, Auckland-based producer and musician October released her debut album, Ultra Red. She tells Henry Oliver about how, two months before the album’s intended release, she took the recordings back and remade it by herself. “I had my pre-album release freak out – no big deal, I just reproduced the entire album, as you do,” … Read more
With The Handmaid’s Tale season two arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Thursday, Alex Casey assembles a handy list of ways you can bide your time. I wish I could tell you everything about The Handmaid’s Tale season two, I really do. I wish I could tell you why I was silently wincing at my office … Read more
On Friday, fans of The Killers turned out for a packed show at Spark Arena – the band’s first in New Zealand since 2009. Jihee Junn sat down with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr before the show. When Hot Fuss came out in 2004, I was instantly in love. I loved the sparkly synth rock, the … Read more
It’s the OG, the king, the grandaddy, and it’s back – New Zealand-style. Luke Harries recaps the first episode of season two of Survivor NZ. The first of anything is never that good. It’s like when you make pancakes and the first one is really burnt because the pan was way too hot. You eat it … Read more