Today would have been the 67th birthday of broadcasting legend Sir Paul Holmes. To celebrate, Pete Douglas looks back on that strange time when a broadcaster could release an album on a major label for seemingly no other reason than shits and giggles. “Hi there – do you … Read more
Over lunch at Balmoral Chinese restaurant Spicy House, Henry Oliver asks David Dallas about how growing older, getting married and watching Roger Federer all influenced his new album, Hood Country Club. This has been the longest gap between albums for you, right? Everyone’s saying that. It doesn’t seem as long as it is, but when … Read more
The Spinoff Music critics on Aldous Harding’s new single (and video) ‘Imagining My Man’. Henry Oliver When I first heard Aldous Harding’s ‘Horizon’, I was stopped cold. I’d listened to her album Aldous Harding a few times on its release but hadn’t kept up with her output (the primary medium of which seemed to be YouTube … Read more
When your first album sees you described as the savior of folk music, how do you turn around and make a second album that’s even better? Nadia Reid talked with Calum Henderson about her new album Preservation, released yesterday. For months after Nadia Reid’s debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs came out, … Read more
While walking through the Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa exhibition at the Auckland Museum, Henry Oliver thought to himself: which decade had the best music? Rather than telling you his answer, he’s asking for yours. This week, round two: only the strong decades survive. The votes are in, the first round is over. Time to … 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
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
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
Last night’s LATE at Auckland Museum panel discussion delved into the relationship between artists, audiences and critics. Russell Brown reports on what went down – including some surprising revelations about how musicians respond to their harshest reviews. Surely, I thought, they’re not going to spend all night talking about the critics. But they did, and … Read more
As we come to the end of NZ Music Month, Joanna McLeod remembers the most iconic times that NZ music weaseled its way onto international prime time television. The year was 1994. It was stinking hot, because of course it was. May in Tokyo was sweaty, and the American School I attended didn’t have air conditioning. … Read more