Leonard Cohen has died. Sean Donnelly, Samuel Flynn Scott and Bill Manhire reflect on his music and life. I stepped into an avalanche It covered up my soul In trying to write something about ‘Avalanche’, I’m listening to it and, again, I’m just floored by it. As a songwriter, I want to ask him which … Read more
Pete Douglas recoils in horror at the cover of the new Metallica record, placing it top of his worst album covers ever chart. Metallica are a mess of contradictions – the best heavy metal act of the 1980s, a massive corporate machine built to sell t-shirts and vast masses of pointless ephemera, a totem for … Read more
Duncan Greive reviews the NZ on Air-funded Pike River, a docu-drama blending dramatic recreations and interviews with those most affected by the 2010 tragedy. “29 men died on the 19th of November. Is that OK? How can that be,” she asks, “in the 21st century, in New Zealand?” These are questions posed by Kath Monk … Read more
Who will host 7pm current affairs show The Project when it comes to TV3 next year? Tara Ward makes some very early, very plausible predictions. All my dreams came true in one press release when Mediaworks announced the launch of current affairs panel show The Project. Scheduled in the troublesome 7.00pm timeslot, Mediaworks promises The Project … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Miranda Lambert – ‘Pink Sunglasses’ The first lady of country’s new double album The Weight Of These Wings is chocka with hits (and she plays around with vocal personas nearly to the same extent Beyoncé did … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street, including TK’s testosterone, fruit mince pies and a wild Warner week. 1) Chris goes commando and all is right with the world again Colour me happy, because that was the best Warner week since 1992. In truth, it should have been terrible. Chris couldn’t turn the TV … Read more
Reflecting on Aaradhna’s speech at the New Zealand Music Awards and the subsequent media coverage, Mana editor Leonie Hayden reflects on language, race and how racism is covered in the media. Just listen. I’ll admit I laughed when I saw that Aaradhna had been given the same lazy headline as Efeso Collins after his family … Read more
This morning Māori current affairs show The Hui devotes a full episode to the extraordinary story of Ruka Hudson, who had his legs taken from him in Vietnam and returned there this year with his whānau and reporter daughter to make peace with the land. If there was ever a man who had the right to be … 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: Leonie Hayden, Duncan Greive and Damien Vaughan join host Henry Oliver to talk about everything that happened with Aaradhna and the Urban/Hiphop Album award at this year’s New Zealand Music Awards. Spinoff Music editor … Read more
Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases. ALBUM OF THE WEEK Bic Runga – Close Your Eyes Last night, Bic Runga was honored with the ‘Legacy Award’ at the New Zealand Music Awards. Today, she released her fifth album, Close Your Eyes, and, as shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, it’s … Read more
This weekend, Spark presents Seamless, an all ages show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork. Henry Oliver gathered two of the bands and the promoter in The Spinoff’s boardroom to ask if the kids are alright. On Saturday night, Auckland venue The Tuning Fork will host Seamless, an all-ages show featuring four young New Zealand bands that … Read more
Yesterday, Henry Oliver embarrassed his future-self with predictions for last night’s New Zealand Music Awards. Today he updates that post with the actual results and the requisite quippy commentary. Yesterday: The biggest night of the musical year – the New Zealand Music Awards, brought to you by some communications services company – is tonight! was last night! And … Read more
A call for submissions on a new NZ on Air television funding strategy closes today. Duncan Greive looks at the familiar biases hidden in the new strategy – most notably a continuing bias towards television, a medium which ratings numbers sourced by The Spinoff show is plummeting in popularity for younger audiences. A few months ago NZ … Read more
Aaradhna explains why she declined the Urban/Hiphop Album award at the New Zealand Music Awards. It’s something I’ve always thought – this is unfair, I’m a singer and we’re being put against hiphop. I’ve always felt – why am I in this category? I’m a singer. My music is a blend – it’s R&B, it’s soul, … Read more
Last night we saw Aaradhna step on stage at the New Zealand Music Awards and electrify the night with a speech which spoke about her feelings on being in the ‘brown people category’. Here we re-post an interview with her from July of this year which talks about where that speech came from, and why she … Read more
Aaradhna just stopped the New Zealand Music Awards in its tracks with an incredible speech in which she declined to accept the Best Urban/Hip-Hop Album prize. This is what she said. Update, 21 June 2017. The Vodafone NZ Music Awards today announced a number of changes to the categories for this year’s awards, including splitting … Read more
Before Jono and Ben, before Taika Waititi, before Paul Ego fell off the stage… there was Stu Dennison wearing overalls in Avalon Studios. Alex Casey recaps the 1978 NZ Music Awards, just in time for the 2016 VNZMA’s tonight. With the VNZMA’s arriving faster than a free bag of bagel chips hitting the open gullet … Read more
Two solo dads chat about the joys and challenges of parenting and how life changed forever when their daughters were born. One is Vodafone NZ Music Awards Breakthrough Artist of the Year nominee KINGS, the man responsible for the smash hit ‘Don’t Worry ‘Bout It’. The other is Ben Tafau, author of the popular blog … Read more
Henry Oliver embarrasses his future-self with probably-inaccurate-and-on-the-internet-forever predictions for tonight’s New Zealand Music Awards. The biggest night of the musical year – the New Zealand Music Awards, brought to you by some communications services company – is tonight! And just in case there’s still a market for predictive data-driven (okay, not really) journalism after a … Read more
Pete Douglas seeks to find some light in the dark as we near the end of a horrific year, lining up some incredible TV women who have risen above The Worst Men Ever. 2016 has been a rough year, especially so for women. Between the subhuman treatment of a young woman by the Chiefs rugby … Read more
Elle Hunt leaks her Facebook chat with Joseph Moore and Ciaran O’Regan about the Chainsmokers, the world’s favourite pop bros, and ‘Closer’, their globe-smashing hit. ELLE: Even if you don’t know the Chainsmokers by name, or their previous work (mostly: a song called ‘Selfie’, about selfies), you will have heard ‘Closer’. I dislike it with … Read more
Tara Ward, The Spinoff’s supreme queen of the period drama, tells you why you should bravely enter the court of Victoria. It’s 1837 and Queen Victoria is up to her ears in worries. Is her head too small for the crown? Are her ear plaits symmetrical? Is her uncle plotting to dethrone her and seize … Read more
Leonard Cohen has died. Bic Runga recalls memorising his songwriting advice, driving to his monastery and supporting him on tour in 2010. There aren’t too many artists I would call myself fanatical about, but Leonard Cohen is one of them. When I first started to write songs, I memorised huge chunks of an interview he … Read more
Television reboots of classic movie franchises are becoming a phenomenon, one of the latest being a reimagining of The Exorcist. Aaron Yap explains why the show is neither a hit nor a flop. If there’s one thing the modern prolificacy of remakes has taught us, it’s to be cynical. Instead of maintaining an open mind, we’re … Read more
Lightbox are currently running their grand annual People’s Choice Awards, giving you the chance to win a trip for two to New York. Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman aren’t allowed to win, but that won’t stop them explaining who they would be voting for and why. Best hero: Captain Flint, Black Sails The pirate market … Read more
Last week – before Trump won and the Earth shook in fear – it was announced that Mike Puru was being replaced as the host of The Bachelor New Zealand by Dominic Bowden. Alex Casey sat down with with Puru on the day the news broke. He’s got his fingers in a lot of pies, … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK The xx – ‘On Hold’ The first xx album pre-dated the likes of Miguel and Drake, but its melancholy and longing and preference for a pulse over a beat make it seem of a piece with … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Bella’s move to Raglan, Chris Warner’s afternoon delight, and Boyd being miserable yet again. 1) Bella makes like a tree and leaves It took sitting on a park bench for Bella to realise that the universe was telling her to leave Ferndale. “Get out,” … 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: Leonie Hayden and Duncan Greive join host Henry Oliver to talk about the state of the music festival. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver, Spinoff editor and publisher Duncan Greive and Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden chat … Read more