Music at Elsewhere
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William Onyeabor: Who is William Onyeabor? (Luaka Bop/Southbound)
2 Dec 2013 | <1 min read | 1
In some circles Onyeabor's name is one to drop. In part that might be because of this Nigerian funk and psychedelic soul master's obscurity (this is a hard-won collection of late Seventies to mid-Eighties songs he was reluctant to have reissued) as it is to his spaced-out grooves. And although many of these deftly bantamweight pieces stretch past seven minutes and a few beyond 10,... > Read more
Why Go To War
Filthy Boy: Smile That Won't Go Down (Shock)
2 Dec 2013 | <1 min read
This young London four-piece – which includes twins Paraic and Michael Morrissey (no relation to Morrisseys you know) – may not be genuinely dirty but they certainly deliver a neat line in salaciousness where the rubber glove snaps in a darkened room of discipline, a wife conducts an adulterous affair while her husband waits outside and stories explore sex and fantasies over... > Read more
Spiral Eyes
Paddy Burgin and the Wooden Box Band: Old World (Burgin)
1 Dec 2013 | 1 min read
Wellington guitar maker and musician Burgin has recorded some understated and finely crafted albums of what he calls "Kiwi urban folk" or "unoffical Kiwi folk" and after his 2009 album My Sweet Town we had him answer the Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire here to point to his more recent one Gentle Landings. This time -- again with a reliable cast of equals on bass,... > Read more
Step By Step
Trentemoller: Lost (In My Room/Southbound)
29 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Aside from deftly peeling off shadowland intimacy on his own albums, Danish electronica artist Trentemoller also crafted one of the best selections in the LateNightTales a couple of years ago (see here) and the sheer number of vocal tracks on it suggested he had a keen ear for seductive and singular singers. This time out a full seven of these 12 tracks feature vocals, opening with the... > Read more
Come Undone
Various Artists: Bob Dylan, Constructing the Legend (BDA/Triton):
27 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
As songs from the Sixties come into public domain (after 50 years) we can expect to see more albums like this. Here, alternating, are Bob Dylan's songs from his debut album released in March 1962 with the songs which inspired them. Given that all but two songs on that original album -- Talkin' New York Blues and Song to Woody -- were covers or adaptations of traditional songs (Man of... > Read more
See That My Grave is Kept Clean
T54: In Brush Park (Flying Nun)
26 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
Although it must be irksome for some of the younger Flying Nun bands to find their music constantly being referred to in the context of their predecesors like the Clean, Chills, Bats and so forth, some (eg Surf Friends' Confusion) invariably invite the comparison. And certainly when this excellent album kicks in with the dreamy Nails Painted and there is a pulsing bassline prominent you... > Read more
Biscuit City Sisters
Jake Bugg: Shangri La (Island)
25 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
Although this follow-up to his self-titled debut of a year ago cannot have the same frisson of discovery, there's no denying the sheer energy on display here as Bugg kicks up some gutsy rockabilly and folk-on-speed originals backed by a tight band . . . and manages to sound like no one else but himself. All those overplayed "new Dylan" references which attended his debut are here... > Read more
Pine Trees
James Reid: Saint (Broken Records)
24 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
It's a measure of the enmity some have towards the Feelers that when it was announced their singer-songwriter James Reid (no relation) had this solo album coming out that some took to Facebook to deride it, without even listening to it. Certainly the inconvenience of having to listen to an album must make it easier to review or hold an opinion, but it's an option which does such people... > Read more
No Horizon
The Drab Doo-Riffs; Home Surgery (Liberation)
18 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Because Elsewhere has had to adopt a policy of not reviewing EPs (just so many full albums without inviting that particular landslide) Auckland's Drab Doo-Riffs -- three EPs and the vinyl-only Aquatic Ape Theory -- haven't had a mention in these pages. We sneakily rectify that because Home Surgery 2009-2013 is a 17 track compilation of songs pulled from their back-catalogue (five from... > Read more
Tesla Girl
Blitzen Trapper: VII (Shock)
18 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Curiously, the edgy take Portland's Blitzen Trapper brought to Americana hasn't caught on in this country which embraces Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and singer-songwriters like Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, all of whom this five-piece have referred to in the past. Their American Goldwing two years ago should have broken them but didn't, and it's hard to see how this one could given... > Read more
Oregon Geography
The X-Rays; Booze'n'Speed (Cargo/Southbound)
18 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Umm, you can perhaps guess the sound of the contents here from the album title alone, but if you need more clues then here are some of the titles of the 26 flat-tack, lo-fi songs: Nitro Burnout, Hittin' the Booze, Trashed Out, Good for Nothing, Dragstrip Killer, Arrogant Fucked-Up Shit, Don't Fear the Repoman (that's funny), Grease Monkety Go, Special Agent Whore . . . We could go on (right... > Read more
Trashed Out
Various Artists: Legendary Wild Rockers 3 (BBE)
17 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
After the previous, somewhat unhinged collection of late Fifties/early Sixties garage rockabilly and surf rock this one counts as something of a disappointment. Across 20 songs -- compiled by UK DJs Keb DeBarge and Little Edith -- there are of course a few standouts (the B-grade horror of I'm The Wolf Man by Round Robin, the weird cat screech on Geraldine by Ole Miss Down Beats, the... > Read more
The Raging Sea
Various Artists: George Harrison's Jukebox (Chrome Dreams/Triton)
13 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
Although no one would seriously argue that people should have fewer choices, it's interesting to observe that before the balkanisation of radio into genres and demographics which ensured audiences would ony listen to music that was narrowly focused, most people before the Seventies grew up listening to a wide range of songs. Because in the Fifties and Sixties one radio station would have to... > Read more
Raunchy (1957)
The Courtneys: The Courtneys (Conquest of Noise/Flying In)
12 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Dunno about you, but sometimes when you've heard enough polished pop you just want a bit of fun-infused, lo-fi, unschooled but thoroughly enjoyable pop-rock where fast strummed, chiming guitars and simple drumming are about as sophisticated as it gets. Enter then this trio from Vancouver -- Courtney Loove (sic), Sydney Koke, Jen Tynne Payne -- who might just have quite a number of Clean and... > Read more
Manion
Tumbleweed: Sounds from the Other Side (Shock)
11 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Wollongong's loud and hairy Tumbleweed enjoyed a decent reputation here in the Nineties on the back of a couple of fine albums (notably their self-titled debut of 92) and some live showings which confirmed their reputation as the post-psychedelic hard rock band for stoners who liked to party. Although they went through periods of inactivity and had some line-up changes, the good news... > Read more
ESP
Tiny Lies: The Oaks They Will Bow (Lyttelton/Southbound)
11 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Not to be confused with Tiny Ruins (Hollie Fullbrook), this Lyttelton-based duo of Harley Williams and Charlotte Ivey here deliver a debut album of dark and often bittersweet country-folk embellished by lap steel (from labelmate Delaney Davidson), violin (Anita Clark), pedal steel (John Egenes) and other appropriately evocative instruments. Ivey's melodic harmonica playing brings a... > Read more
Old Heart
RECOMMENDED DIGITAL REISSUE: Golden Harvest; Golden Harvest
11 Nov 2013 | 1 min read
With six out of 10 music purchases now being downloads, Elsewhere is happy to recommend albums now available on iTunes which have no physical release (or which may be hard to find or prohibitively expensive). The good people at www.recordedmusic.co.nz who look after licensing, copyright and so forth have a major project underway of trying to get every New Zealand album up online and... > Read more
All Along the Watchtower
Robert Ellis: Photographs (New West)
10 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Although this album was released two years ago, we bring it to attention now because Ellis from Texas is appearing in Auckland this coming week (details below) and it's never too late to discover a country singer who frequently comes off like a softer version of George Jones. In many ways he is very traditional and also in the lineage of Randy Travis, although there's as much of the LA... > Read more
Westbound Train
Arcade Fire: Reflektor (Sonovox)
10 Nov 2013 | 1 min read | 1
In these times when artists stick with an identifiable sound (Gee, what might the next Coldplay album sound like?) you don't expect anyone to offer a reviewer that humorous line, "Hope you like our new direction?" So it's hats off then to Arcade Fire who here across a double disc get in touch with their inner Eighties and at times conjure up the spirits of Tears For Fears/Duran... > Read more
It's Never Over
Nightmares on Wax: Feelin' Good (Warp)
9 Nov 2013 | <1 min read
Now this is downbeat electronica which effortlessly keeps the beats and pulses moving, but also puts the trip-hop in the same emotional space as touches of reggae (Now is the Time) and the electro-glitch stuff (the very cool Tapestry). NoWax is George Evelyn (first signing to the now legendary English label Warp) and although much of this can drift past you in the manner of the best... > Read more