Fifteen tracks, 22 guests, one album. The Spinoff Music listens to Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project and considers why each track really shouldn’t work – and the sometimes surprising reasons why they do. 1. Beautiful People – Khalid Khalid and Ed Sheeran are two of the biggest stars in the world right now – … Read more
The Auckland Harbour Bridge turns 60 today. Don Rowe revisits some of its finest moments to celebrate. Sixty years ago today, then-governor general Lord Cobham was chauffeured into the Northcote Toll Plaza, walked past a Navy guard of honour in his big bowler hat, and officially opened the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Aucklanders lined the streets … Read more
Forget his problematic Instagram and his pet monkey, Justin Bieber made his most evocative piece of art during a whirlwind trip to New Zealand in 2010. Cast your mind back to 2010. Donald Trump was just a guy asking budding entrepreneurs to manage a doggy day care on his reality TV show. The Social Network … Read more
Mary Sea has been gorging on pop music and she’s found the Top 40 is a different world at 40 when you have little ears to consider. But never fear, she has a solution to inane patriarchal ditties. Having kids changes you in ways you can never predict. One of the biggest surprises for me … Read more
Queenstown has some special systems and facilities to cope with billionaires, movie stars and VIP’s. But here’s our guide to Queenstown for the VVIPs – like CIA director James Comey, FBI director Mike Pompeo, and other Five Eyes bigwigs expected in Queenstown this weekend. Queenstown is a lovely, unspoilt mountain resort in the South Island … Read more
Sacha Judd finds Justin Bieber’s Purpose World Tour concert at Mt Smart Stadium lacking in fun, energy and, um, purpose. I was pretty excited when my friend gave me a free ticket to Justin Bieber’s Auckland concert on Saturday. I wouldn’t describe myself as a dedicated fan, but the Biebs won me over with his … Read more
The twelfth episode of our weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week the couch is overrun by Bieber … Read more
The tenth episode of our weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they discuss 5SOS’ ode to Duran Duran, … Read more
Bringing together the TV moments on the week, including Bieber on Story, Trevor Noah’s Daily Show debut and farewelling two local gems. Contributions by Alex Casey and Calum Henderson. Good Mourning for Two Kiwi Classics It was with great sadness this week that we learned of the impending demise of TVNZ’s long-running lifestyle show Good … Read more
The third episode of our weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they discuss Justin Bieber’s cool guy … Read more