An in-depth Spinoff investigation reveals exactly who invented What Now gunge and unravels the mystery of the secret recipe. Calum Henderson reports. “I was gunged while wearing a huge chicken suit in 1999.” “I was gunged in the presence of Lana Coc-Kroft.” “I was gunged on completion of the High Flyers course during a Shrek … Read more
Russell Baillie investigates The Features, the short-lived Auckland post-punk band whose 1979-1980 output has just been re-released. When it came to nailing the ‘post-‘ to punk, there was no shortage of New Zealand groups swinging the hammer. But among those banging that hyphen into place hardest and earliest were The Features. The Auckland band lasted … Read more
Alex Casey rejoices in the return of a humble New Zealand television icon to Mozart in the Jungle, of all places. The other day my beloved colleague Madeleine Chapman regaled me with her joy at seeing the return of fruity fizzy drink ‘Mirinda’ to the shelves of her local Pak ‘n Save. I have to agree. … Read more
Kate Robertson’s seven reasons why Little Mix are the best Top 40 act right now. I could spend a solid eight hours collating a list of reasons why Little Mix are brilliant. I could rate the choreography from each of their music videos, compile track-by-track analyses of their albums, and discuss at length how they’ve managed … Read more
Henry Oliver listens to every song ever recorded about John Key to come up with the definitive listicle on the matter. For all his popularity, political skill and steady, centrist economics, John Key was disliked by many, including, apparently, a few musicians who were inspired to write songs about him. So, with his resignation, he’s … Read more
Every night the television news happens at 6pm and current affairs shows happen at 7pm. Normally nothing much has happened. Yesterday though, John Key resigned, so Duncan Greive watched our nation’s finest broadcasters try and figure out what it all meant. Yesterday – you may have heard – our prime minister resigned after eight fun-filled … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. Run The Jewels – ‘Legend Has It’ Run the Jewels, the duo of Killer Mike and El-P, are tearing it up with renewed post-election anger ahead of their third album (which I assume will be called RTJ-3). On ‘Legend Has … Read more
Tara Ward delivers her Shortland Street power rankings for last week, including sexy fish and chips and the return of some old friends. 1) Leanne sails back into Ferndale Our favourite triage admissions clerk sailed her ship back into Ferndale’s dank and dirty waters this week. While Leanne was bright and shiny from the splendours … Read more
Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases. ALBUM OF THE WEEK Various Artists – The Hamilton Mixtape Cover albums are never as good as originals. But The Hamilton Mixtape – a reimagining of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, by some of today’s biggest voices – comes pretty damn close. They’re not … 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: Murray Cammick joins host Henry Oliver to talk about the late Ray Columbus. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to (among other things) Rip It Up co-founder Murray Cammick about Ray Columbus, an icon … Read more
Tara Ward watches the iconic TVNZ 1 series Shed of the Year, and brings together some key criteria for an average shed to reach shed glory. I have a confession: I love sheds. My new love blossomed last Tuesday night, when George Clarke strolled onto my screen in Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year. He … Read more
Henry Oliver spends two days listening to the Pixies ahead of the announcement of their show in March next year. These are his decisive findings (at least until he deep dives again in March). Best song: ‘Debaser’ When you listen a band’s discography a few times over a day or two, you can really zoom … Read more
The year is 2001 and the music business is under existential threat from the latest teen craze: CD bootlegging. Its response involved draconian fines, an embarrassing txt-speak slogan and Dave Dobbyn made up to look like a burns victim. Robyn Gallagher explains. Cast your mind back 15 years ago, before the age of streaming and … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we go through Lightbox’s extensive online catalogue for shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman peruse the new content dropping in December. NCIS (S10) Helicopter crashes, cyber-terrorists and car accidents come thick and fast in the tenth season of NCIS, one … Read more
When The Spinoff’s José Barbosa made a video last week assembling TV’s finest moustaches, he made one crucial error regarding the authenticity of Westside actor Will Hall’s moustache. South Pacific Pictures responds. The moustache has long been a celebrated adornment of masculine prowess so it’s not surprising, in the spirit of Movember, The Spinoff released … Read more
Murray Cammick – co-founder of Rip It Up and founder of Southside Records and Wildside Records – remembers Ray Columbus, the New Zealand mod icon who died yesterday. Last time I saw Ray Columbus on stage was at the Wild Things Spectacular at the Monte Cristo Room in Auckland, 2007. The Breakaways, The Pleazers and … Read more
Katie Parker chats to the brains behind thedownlowconcept, the Kiwi battler production company that are now in development with US heavyweight network FX. Since Nigel McCulloch, Ryan Hutchings and Jarrod Holt met as fresh-faced undergrads and formed production company thedownlowconcept, their ascent to wunderkind New Zealand TV royalty has been swift. From their radio show … Read more
Songwriting has been accepted as a Level 3 NCEA subject from 2017. Play It Strange CEO Mike Chunn got the scoop and asked some of New Zealand’s best songwriters what they thought about it. This is a watershed moment. Songwriting is now an NCEA subject. Specifically – Level 3 with the Achievement Standard number of … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Nadia Reid – ‘The Arrow & The Aim’ The first single from her forthcoming sophomore album, Nadia Reid’s ‘The Arrow & The Aim’ sounds exactly like a sophomore record should: assured, confident, taking the best of … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street, including #warnerproblems, more fruit mince pies and a bunch of bad Santas. 1) So much Santa drama it felt like an early Christmas cliffhanger Nothing upsets the fragile testosterone balance in a hospital like three Alpha Santas on a pastry bender. It was an inevitable as … Read more
We indulge our gadget-curious side at Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa There’s no shortage of weird and interesting stuff to be discovered at Volume, the New Zealand music exhibition at the Auckland Museum. There is, of course, handwritten lyrics, posters, t-shirts, records … all the things you’d hope to see at a popular music exhibition. … 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: Kate Robertson and Matthew McAuley join host Henry Oliver to talk about this month’s new releases. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to contributing critics Kate Robertson and Matthew McAuley about the month’s best … Read more
Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases. ALBUM OF THE WEEK Georgia – All Kind Music It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on here. Are the NY-based duo improvising in real time with real instruments? Toiling away on laptops? Cutting up samples and sticking them back together? Jamming out on … Read more
To celebrate Outrageous Fortune finishing six years ago this month, plus a nomination in the Lightbox People’s Choice Awards, we’ve assembled some of the best Cheryl West moments of all time. In November 2010, the final episode of the dark family comedy Outrageous Fortune aired on New Zealand screens. After six tumultuous, leopard-clad seasons, one … Read more
Tara Ward watches The Job Interview, an awkward fly-on-the-wall series that goes inside one of life’s most hellish experiences. A new show began on TVNZ1 this week that confirmed several popular beliefs about job interviews: they suck, and nearly everyone sucks at them. Filmed in a fly-on-the-wall style, The Job Interview promises to reveal what really … Read more
As we near the end of Movember, José Barbosa wades through the history of television to present the most fertile grounds for upper lip accessories.
With the Terry Teo reboot arriving on television screens this Sunday, co-creator Gerard Johnstone looks back at the original series that started it all. When my producer Luke Sharpe and I stumbled onto the idea of rebooting Terry Teo for a modern audience, it felt like a no-brainer. Even the mere mention of his name made … Read more
Rather than ask people to help fund a particular project, Coco Solid is asking supporters to help pay for her life. Henry Oliver asks her about crowdfunding and the changing nature of making a living as an artist. Coco Solid (aka Jessica Hansell) is a musician, writer, and multi-disciplinary artist. She makes rap music as … Read more
With TV3’s sketch show Funny Girls wrapped up for another year, we got the writing team to pick their favourite sketches from season two. Laura Daniel During a brainstorm session, I sat down with Joseph Moore and we talked about how we really wanted to make a full-length, romantic ode about getting the booty call … Read more