Music at Elsewhere
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The Chills: Silver Bullets (Fire/Flying In)
31 Oct 2015 | 3 min read | 1
In the past few decades we've become so conditioned to long periods between albums (talkin' 'bout you Blue Nile and Scott Walker) that these days we think nothing of a gap of five or even 10 years. But to learn that the British post-punk band Penetration are releasing their first album in 36 years – yes, thirty-six years -- still catches you off guard. Jeez, how many people... > Read more
America Says Hello
IN BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
27 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. The Brian Jonestown Massacre; Mini Album Thingy Wingy (Southbound): Aside from the interesting but hardly essential Musique de Film... > Read more
Mercury Rev: The Light In You (Bella Union)
26 Oct 2015 | <1 min read
With their breakout album Deserter's Songs (98) and its follow-up All I Dream (01), New York's Mercury Rev were the gold standard for an elegantly psychedelic alt.rock band, and their association with Flaming Lips (Rev's multi-instrumentalist Dave Fridmann has been a longtime Lips producer) enhanced their allure and status. Then there were diminishing... > Read more
Rainy Day Record
B2KDA: Rising (b2kda.com)
25 Oct 2015 | 1 min read
New Zealand's Batucada Sound Machine were rightly hailed -- that is, danced furiously to -- by audiences across the globe for their well oiled take on horn-driven upbeat party music with a South American vibe. But that was then and this -- at least on this exciting and more musically diverse album from a phase two of the band -- is a beast of another bloodline. With a change of... > Read more
We Do It
The Broken Heartbreakers: How We Got to Now (brokenheartbreakers.com)
24 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
While the Broken Heartbreakers were preparing for their current New Zealand tour (see dates below) it was the first anniversary of the passing of their longtime friend and sometime collaborator Sam Prebble/Bond Street Bridge, whose death has left a gap in the musical life of this country which remains impossible to fill. It may be possible to discern Prebble and the loss the BH suffer in... > Read more
Tripping Through the Ruins
Derek Lind: Solo (Someone Up There)
19 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
For two decades from the mid Eighties, Derek Lind confirmed himself as among this country's finest singer-songwriters. He had a Herald entertainment cover for his exceptional '90 album Slippery Ground, an album of resonant songs which stand up today for their lyrical depth, insight and allusive breadth. There were further albums its equal, all of which were acclaimed by those who... > Read more
The Only Song I Got
Battles: La Di Da Di (Warp)
19 Oct 2015 | <1 min read
Once you come to terms with the taut but sometimes meandering and shapeshifting six-plus minutes of the opener The Yabba here, the intent of this incarnation from New York's electronica experimentalists Battles becomes more clear. On this, their third album, they have dispensed with guest vocalists as on their previous Gloss (2011) and so hone their sound down to cosmically-inclined... > Read more
Summer Simmer
IN BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
19 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. Low; Ones and Sixes (SubPop): Now 20-plus years into their career and the band that defined the slowcore movement, Low here deliver a... > Read more
Kid in the Corner by Low
Freddy Fudd Pucker; Hourglass Wine (Monkey)
19 Oct 2015 | 1 min read
When Tom Young from Dunedin emerged as Freddy Fudd Pucker many, many years ago he'd chosen a name which seemed determined to condemn him to the margins. FFP either sounds rude, like he's a comedy act or, for any curious American, something to do with a hamburger chain. That he was none of these (although his humour could be acerbic) just made it more of a shame that he got little serious... > Read more
The Sorrow Finds Its Song
Opposite Sex: Hamlet (oppositesex)
12 Oct 2015 | 1 min read
If the previous album by this Dunedin-based trio (plus pals) was a little hard to get a bead on, this intriguingly fractured and sometimes fractious follow-up makes it no easier. But that's what rewards repeat plays here, even if singer Lucy Hunter is stretched to the very edge of her limited range . . . and then goes beyond it on the harrowing Oh Ivy which, for Elsewhere's money, is... > Read more
She Said
SHORT CUTS: A round-up of recent New Zealand releases
11 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
Facing down an avalanche of releases, requests for coverage, the occasional demand that we be interested in their new album (sometimes with that absurd comment "but don't write about it if you don't like it") and so on, Elsewhere will every now and again do a quick sweep like this, in the same way it does IN BRIEF about international releases. Comments will be brief.... > Read more
Goodbyes by Amiria Grenell
IN BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
5 Oct 2015 | 2 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. This is the Kit; Bashed Out (Brassland): Although much acclaimed in UK folk circles, this third collection of literate songs by Kate... > Read more
All in Cahoots by This is the Kit
Various Artists: Loop Select Mixtape 0004 (Loop)
2 Oct 2015 | <1 min read
More goodness from Loop . . . another in their series of free mix tapes. Yep, free to stream or download. Tracks by Mark de Clive-Lowe, Electric Wire Hustle, Cahmbres and more. Here's who is on it. 01. Take It From Me by Bailey Wiley 02. Rising One by Sacha Vee 03. Sundae by BAYNK 04. Circles by Commune 84 05. Smokelight (Instrumental) by Chambres 06.... > Read more
Keith Richards: Crosseyed Heart (Republic)
28 Sep 2015 | 2 min read | 1
Before we answer the only question anyone seems to be asking about this album — “Is it any good?” – let's just declare our hand: For many decades it's been our firmly held opinion Richards' ragged solo spots on Stones albums were often the highpoint beyond the hits. Cracked classics like Coming Down Again and All About You for example captured a piece of... > Read more
Robbed Blind
Sunken Seas: Glass (digital only)
25 Sep 2015 | <1 min read
This Wellington two-piece impressed Elsewhere mightily with their 2012 debut album Null Hour, notable for its controlled intensity and sonic density. It was nominated for Taite Award in 2013. Their follow-up EP Cataclysm got them international notices and they've opened for The Black Angels, Wooden Shjips and Bailterspace, all travelers in similar territory. This new album -- the band... > Read more
Poppy
Kurt Vile: b'lieve I'm goin (deep) down (Matador)
25 Sep 2015 | <1 min read
Vile's previous Wakin on a Pretty Daze captured an audience for its benign tripped-out vibe and although this isn't as strong he should consolidate his fanbase with these slightly ambling, sometimes downbeat songs which also have flashes of humour (check Dust Bunnies) and the accomplished diversity. Some of these songs are self-indulgent or lyrically shallow: The stoner opener Pretty... > Read more
Life Like This
Girl Band: Holding Hands with Jamie (Rough Trade)
25 Sep 2015 | <1 min read | 1
Here's how you subvert expectation. Call yourself Girl Band and give your debut album a cute title like Holding Hands With James . . . then deliver atonal noisecore, aggressive thrash and declamatory lyrics over lo-fi sonics. This all-male Dublin four-piece might have emerged in the post-punks days alongside The Fall, Chrome, Pere Ubu and clank'n'grind experimentalists, but here... > Read more
Baloo
Tami Neilson: Don't Be Afraid (Neilson Records)
21 Sep 2015 | 2 min read | 2
The backstory to this album -- how Neilson's singer-songwriter fatherRon died earlier this year, a little over a month before she went in to record -- has been much essayed, and she mentions it in the brief liner notes. But far from being a maudlin collection (some songs were written already) this typically excellent collection kicks up its heels at times, notably on the lively... > Read more
Holy Moses
In BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
21 Sep 2015 | 2 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. Bryce Dessner/So Percussion; Music for Wood and Strings (Brassland): One of the most innovative and exploratory guitarists around,... > Read more
When the Nights Are Cold by Joe Ely
Destroyer: Poison Season (Merge)
14 Sep 2015 | 1 min read | 1
While the world may be awash with pretty good albums which are enjoyable in their own right, every now and again something comes along which you recognize as not just a keeper but one which reveals more on each hearing. Dan Bejar of Destroyer -- who, despite the name, are as far from black metal as you can imagine -- has created an album of odd dimensions built around three separate and... > Read more