Various Artists: Kiwi Animals (Strangelove Music/ bandcamp)

 |   |  1 min read

Various Artists: Kiwi Animals (Strangelove Music/ bandcamp)
Were the Eighties the most exciting time for different and innovative music in New Zealand?

Seems so.

Alongside the emergence of political Pacific reggae (Herbs et al) and numerous independent labels (Ripper, Jayrem, Flying Nun, Xpressway, Braille etc) there was From Scratch and the flourishing of avant-garde music, some of which is now being reissued by the Rattle Echo imprint.

If punk kicked the door down to allow entry to anyone with an idea on noise-making, then the post-punk era saw dozens and dozens of artists and groups stream through.

This compilation – with the subtitle Future/Primitive Aotearoa '82-'91– gathers 11 pieces which roam from spoken word/song (Kim Blackburn's percussive Lizards in Love) and the cut-up language of The Kiwi Animal (Brent Hayward and Julie Cooper) on Woman and Man Have Balance, through Drone's Nothing Dormant, Headless Chickens' monochromatic menace on Throwback, Tom Ludvigson and Graeme Gash (the latter of Waves, the former of numerous projects) on Uallang Jnr and to Ballare's electronica Dancing.

Despite the seeming disparity of these people ploughing their own furrows, this holds together remarkably well, a thread of minimal melodicism and spare instrumentation being one binding aspect.

Few of these pieces have been readily available – perhaps only the Blams' dub-influenced Respect – and many come from rare sources.

Chris Knox's home-recording take on Martin Phillipps' Whole Weird World appeared on the limited edition cassette Roger Sings The Hits (500 copies only) recorded for Flying Nun's 10thanniversary in '91. Knox appears as “Roger Knox”.

There are beguiling miniatures here (Norma O'Malley's piano and vocal piece Some Tame Gazelle is an art song from the margins) alongside quirky sonics (Ludvigson and Gash's exotic contribution).

Given what is still out there and how well this has been received already let's hope this enjoyable trawl through archives and tape boxes is just the first of many from Strangelove.


This album is available through bandcamp here and there is a vinyl edition with download code (if you have Pay Pal).

.

These Further Outwhere pages are dedicated to sounds beyond songs, ideas outside the obvious, possibiltiies far from pop. Start the challenge here.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Further Outwhere articles index

ROTOR+ CONSIDERED (2013): A beautiful journey into the black

ROTOR+ CONSIDERED (2013): A beautiful journey into the black

For many decades Avis, the international rental car outfit, had slogans which were variations on its position as number two in the market. Among them was “When you're only No 2, you try... > Read more

Al Fraser: Toitu te Puoro (Rattle)

Al Fraser: Toitu te Puoro (Rattle)

About a third the way through these sometimes weightless, sometime deeply grounded taonga puoro instrumentals – which are spacious and evoke states of mind as much as environments -- I... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

LEAVING THE HERALD: Good-bye to all that

LEAVING THE HERALD: Good-bye to all that

Aside from the speeches, a big card and drinks at the Shakespeare Tavern afterwards, I don't remember much about my last day at the Herald in late 2004. But I can certainly remember why I left... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Darren McShane of Superturtle

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Darren McShane of Superturtle

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Darren McShane has previously appeared on an Elsewhere questionnaire – five years ago – but on the back of the new Superturtle album which... > Read more