Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Frank Ocean’s continued glory, Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett’s indie-dream collab, and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Frank Ocean – ‘Provider’ Frank’s post-Blonde productivity continues Four loose singles into his post-Blonde period, Frank Ocean’s transition from quasi-recluse to mercurial and erratically prolific auteur seems pretty much … Read more
On the first day of Spring, we present to you all the content sprouting forth in September for you to enjoy on Lightbox. Happy Valley (S2 available now) The second season of the British chiller returns with Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood back on her murder beat. With a string of homicides hitting West Yorkshire, and … Read more
After some scared principals blamed Westside for all their woes, Sam Brooks investigates what other carnage the Outrageous Fortune prequel has caused. Earlier this week, five high school principals in West Auckland blamed Three’s fictional series Westside for driving children away from their schools. Let’s be straight here: this is balls-out stupid. What would that conversation even … Read more
Welcome to Take Me Out, a semi-regular series wherein Kate Robertson, music critic and dating blogger, finally combines her expertise by going on a date with a musician and then sharing it with you. First up, Kate takes Kane Strang for coffee ahead of his appearance at The Others Way festival. Dating is one of … Read more
Every week Chartlander travels back through time, landing in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we continue our tour of classic general elections in 1990. The date is the 27th of October, 1990. Tonight the National Party will land a crushing … Read more
As Suits clocks up its 100th episode, Tara Ward rounds up more shows on Lightbox that have soared past triple digits. Only very special things make it to 100, like the Queen Mother, Kiwi shoe polish and legal drama Suits, which celebrates its 100th episode today on Lightbox. Suits has wrangled its way through seven … Read more
Tonight on TVNZ1 at 7pm, Jacinda Ardern and Bill English will go head-to-head in the first leader’s debate of the 2017 election. To make the viewing experience all the more exciting, we’ve assembled the mother of all drinking games. We strongly advise using non-alcoholic beverages. Take a sip when you hear/see: “Let me finish” “With … Read more
With the announcement today that Roger Waters is heading back to New Zealand for a tour next January, Pete Douglas takes a look at his intermittent and sometimes misunderstood solo career. It’s hard to imagine now, but when Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, he initially struggled to match the success of his remaining … Read more
It contains one of the most memorable lines in New Zealand advertising, but what else went into making the iconic Vogel’s O.E. ad? Maha Albadrawi, with help from Lucy Zee, investigates. As a kid, I watched a lot of TV. I still do, really, only now we call it ‘consuming content’ and it can be done … Read more
Thirteen years after she would walk past him every morning on the way to work, Kiran Dass talks to Matthew Bannister of Sneaky Feelings about the band’s return and its place in Flying Nun folk lore. With their bright ringing guitars, melodies, and soul-kissed pop songs, Dunedin’s Sneaky Feelings seemed to be outsiders among the diverse Flying … Read more
New Zealand’s search for a bona fide celebrity builder to carry the torch lit by Cocksy may finally be over with the arrival of TVNZ 1’s no nonsense new home reno show. It all seems so long ago now, but there once was a time when the only home renovations on New Zealand television were … Read more
Erena Shingade meets Auckland-based singer and producer Miloux, who recently released her second EP of languid electronica. It’s a Thursday in New Zealand Music Month and pedestrians are glancing through the tinted glass of Morningside bar Flight 605. Haunting synths shimmer from a three-piece electronic set, bass notes vibrating the 1930s led-light windows. This is … Read more
Henry Oliver watched ten hours of Neil Finn live-streaming in case you didn’t have time to. These were his highlights. Every Friday evening for the past four weeks, Neil Finn has live-streamed a recording session from his own Roundhead Studios, joined by, in his words, “a loose knit collection of impassioned and slightly random people, … Read more
The good news is that The Real Pod team are back to talk some guff about reality TV and real life in New Zealand. The bad news is that there’s still a pile of rubbish outside Jane’s house. Another week of literal and metaphorical rubbish on The Real Pod this week, as Jane continues to … Read more
Following last night’s love fest, Tara Ward walks back down a very long aisle of dramatic Shortland Street nuptials. Romance flowed like a punctured box of cask wine on last night’s episode of Shortland Street, spilling its emotional load over Ferndale in a sparkly celebration of all things love and motorbikey. With the groom’s eternal … Read more
Jane Yee recaps the week on The Block NZ, including illuminating dart boards and an X Factor NZ cameo for the ages. Calling all penises! It was Garage Week on The Block and according to the male Blockheads, Mark Richardson and even bloody Jason Bonham, garages are all about guys, so basically it was a … Read more
Pete Douglas listens to the new Queens of the Stone Age album and discovers a band still finding ways to make rock n’ roll sound fresh. Over the course of the first fifteen years of their existence, Queens of the Stone Age at times seemed less like a band, and more like a broad banner … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of ‘You’re So Cool’ by Jonathan Bree, and the video’s director of photography, Benjamin Zambo, explains how it was made. Jonathan pitched ‘You’re So Cool’ to me as a performance-based music video in the style of a mod era TV broadcast. We were both big fans of the 1960s and … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, featuring Taylor Swift’s return and an attempted relevance revival for Rod Stewart and Hot Chocolate… LEISURE – Alone Together Ahhhh Leisure, the sex gods of New Zealand music, and maybe the world. I think all of us except for killjoy Henry Oliver can agree the band’s self-titled … 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 Leonie Hayden and Kate Robertson about the Silver Scrolls finalists. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Spinoff staffer Leonie Hayden and contributor Kate Robertson about the 2017 Silver Scrolls finalist … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Auckland-based producer/singer/artist October about her new single ‘Pure’ and the return of the guitar. A year or so ago, October’s single ‘Cherry Cola’ struck me out of nowhere. Someone tweeted it, I clicked on it, put it on repeat, and within days it seemed all sorts of people were tweeting about … Read more
The Real Pod team assemble back in the boardroom of dreams to tackle musicals, social media stars and rubbish bin woes. In this week’s #realpod Alex, Jane and Duncan are all collectively put in chokey by the Matilda musical – especially the galaxy of stars who came out to watch it. Alex revealed her technique … Read more
Yesterday, APRA announced the five finalists for the 2017 Silver Scroll Award. Today, exclusively for the Spinoff, the five artists discuss each other’s work. Lorde on ‘Horizon’ by Aldous Harding The first time I heard ‘Horizon’ – late at night, alone at Electric Lady – I specifically remember this feeling of my head snapping back and … Read more
New Zealand’s unlikeliest spokesmodel is at it again, fronting a strangely timely apocalypse-themed ad campaign for Arnotts. But what other products should Steve Hansen put his unique talents behind? Lucy Zee has some suggestions. Some of you might know Steve Hansen as the All Blacks coach who led us to victory at the last Rugby … Read more
Tara Ward heads to the big apple with Our Rachel and a butt-tightening machine in Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty. Welcome to New York, the city that never sleeps, the city filled with bright lights and naked cowboys. It’s here that Rachel Hunter kicked off her second series of Tour of Beauty, a place filled … Read more
Every week Chartlander travels back through time, landing in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we continue our tour of significant election moments. The date is Thursday the 14th of June, 1984. Tonight, New Zealand’s prime minister Robert Muldoon will get … Read more
And the history making five finalists for the 2017 Silver Scroll Award are… ‘Close Your Eyes’ by Bic Runga (written by Bic Runga and Kody Nielson) ‘Green Light’ by Lorde (written by Ella Yelich O’Connor, Jack Antonoff, and Joel Little) ‘Horizon’ by Aldous Harding ‘Life of the Party’ by Chelsea Jade (written by Chelsea Jade … Read more
The NZ Music Hall of Fame currently inducts two local artists a year, but is it really enough? Hussein Moses talks to Peter Grattan who’s petitioning for a total overhaul of the system to give New Zealand musicians the recognition he feels they deserve. Salmonella Dub made headlines recently when they turned down an offer to … Read more
Sam Brooks watches the new Eva Longoria vehicle Decline and Fall and finds a show more British than a pint of lager and a packet of crisps. Decline and Fall is maybe the most British show I’ve ever watched. How British is it? First of all, it’s based on a 1928 satirical novel by Evelyn … Read more