Music at Elsewhere

Brendan Benson: My Old, Familiar Friend (Shock)

12 Oct 2009 | 1 min read

Singer-songwriter Benson had already pumped out three albums under his own name before he came to greater attention as a member of the Raconteurs alongside Jack White. That profile will gain attention for this often hugely poppy outing in which he seems to channel the spirit (and sometimes the chord changes) of those old, familiar songs and bands he fell in love with while listening to radio... > Read more

International Observer: Felt (Dubmission)

11 Oct 2009 | <1 min read

The first thing to note about this new album by producer/dubmeister Tom Bailey is that there are 12 tracks. No noodling around or nodding off going on here, Bailey doesn't let any groove outstay its welcome. And throughout Bailey also adds in interesting elements to keep your attention: Is that a tongue-in-cheek suggestion of Eighties synth-pop on Popcorn Slavery? What's that strange... > Read more

International Observer: Binman Dub

Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk (Spunk)

11 Oct 2009 | <1 min read

Given who these people are -- Conor Oberst aka Bright Eyes, M Ward, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket (aka Yim Yames) -- you might be forgiven for thinking this is some kind of neo-folk meeting on the mountain top, or possibly a younger, more serious and sprightly version of the Traveling Wilburys. But in the hands of producer -- and fourth Monster -- Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis)... > Read more

Monsters of Folk: Baby Boomer

Paloma Faith: Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (Sony)

5 Oct 2009 | 1 min read

For the past few months it seems to have been impossible to miss Pixie Lott: posters and interviews (none of which I've read I must admit), her poppet-features poking out of every corner of popular culture. It came as a surprise to me then to learn just last week that the ubiquitous Pixie -- clearly a talent whose genius requires our on-going interest -- has only just released her debut... > Read more

Paloma Faith: My Legs Are Weak

Jimmy Webb and the Webb Brothers: Cottonwood Farm (Proper/Southbound)

5 Oct 2009 | 1 min read

Anyone who has followed the career of the great songwriter Jimmy Webb (interviewed at Elsewhere here) will attest to two things: he crafts memorable material (all those hits for Glen Campbell, the gorgeous minimalism of The Moon's A Harsh Mistress made famous by Joe Cocker, the baroque McArthur Park) and he ain't much of a singer. Like Burt Bacharach, you usually need to hear Webb's... > Read more

Jimmy Webb and the Webb Brothers: Where the Universes Are

David Bremner: Gung-Ho (Atoll)

5 Oct 2009 | <1 min read

Subtitled "Virtuoso works for Trombone" this debut album by Bremner of the NZSO is a finalist in the Best Classical Album category at the 2009 New Zealand music awards*, and even if trombone isn't your thing (jazz by Tommy Dorsey perhaps, classical maybe not?) you'd have to concede this is extremely impressive. It does feel a little like a show reel as he engages in duets with... > Read more

David Bremner: Allerseelen

Ray Columbus and the Invaders: The Definitive Collection (Zodiac/Ode)

4 Oct 2009 | 2 min read | 1

The point to note about Ray Columbus and the Invaders being inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame at the 2009 Music Awards is that it is Ray Columbus AND The Invaders. Columbus might have been the charismatic and energetic frontman, but as this 45-song double disc reminds, he had a band that were as good as it got in this country during the early Sixties -- and no surprise that... > Read more

Ray Columbus and the Invaders: Cat's Eyes

Great North: Soldiers (Great North)

4 Oct 2009 | <1 min read

New bands often make great claims for themselves -- that is forgivable -- but I especially like the humour of what this Auckland five-piece say of their music: "It is the sound of Bruce Springsteen having a tumultuous affair with Gillian Welch" and "the songs were delivered by angels. Drunk angels. The kind you don't invite round for fear they will break your teapot or burn their... > Read more

Great North: Jericho

Chris Smither: Time Stands Still (Shock)

4 Oct 2009 | <1 min read

As on his earlier Leave The Light On, this grizzled singer-songwriter now in his mid 60s, covers a Bob Dylan song, this time It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry. He also adds in Mark Knopfler's Madame Geneva's and that's a more useful reference, because Knopfler explores roots music -- but Smither lives it. His low grumble isn't too far removed from Knopfler's although comes on... > Read more

Chris Smither: I Don't Know

The Raiders: Indian Reservation/Collage (Raven/EMI)

4 Oct 2009 | 1 min read

When this band emerged as Paul Revere and the Raiders in the Sixties they were a rocking, sometimes salacious and rather terrific garageband (albeit one which dressed kinda funny) and so, quite rightly, a compilation of their Greatest Hits appears at Essential Elsewhere. By 1970 the world had turned through hippies, horn-augmented bands like Blood Sweat and Tears, jamming outfits and so on.... > Read more

The Raiders: The Boys in the Band (from Collage, 1970)

Mark Knopfler: Get Lucky (Vertigo)

4 Oct 2009 | 1 min read | 2

For man who made his reputation with mercurial guitar work and not his rather undistinguished voice, former Dire Straits frontman Knopfler (profiled here) takes a real chance on this solo outing: there’s barely a guitar lick in the first two songs and the album opens in a distinctly Celtic mood with fiddles and flutes, then steps in with some soulful balladry. With some songs which are... > Read more

Mark Knopfler: Hard Shoulder

Jordan Reyne: How the Dead Live (www.jordanreyne.com)

1 Oct 2009 | <1 min read | 1

I guess when Creative New Zealand were looking for someone to write music to raise awareness of the country's historical and cultural heritage they wouldn't have had a long list. Right at the top would have been Reyne anyway. One of this country's most gifted, probing and intelligent writers, she delivered (if nothing else) the stunning Passenger album a few years ago based on her train... > Read more

Jordan Reyne: The Brave

Tim Finn: Anthology; North South East West (EMI)

28 Sep 2009 | 1 min read

Anyone who considers the Tim Finn timeline would quickly conclude that here was a man who always did it his way: the theatrics and manic energy of Split Enz combined with alarmingly engaging and durable music; solo albums which were sometimes uncomfortable for their self-analysis; others which were snappy and poppy; soundtracks and side-projects . . . So a double disc overview of his... > Read more

Tim Finn: Straw to Gold (from the album The Conversation)

Grand Archives: Keep In Mind Frankenstein (SubPop/Rhythmethod)

28 Sep 2009 | <1 min read

It would be fair to note that after saying very favourable things about this band's impressive debut The Grand Archives, I fully expected to never hear another note by them. Not that they would break up, but that their particular charms would go past so many people that whatever they did next might not get released in New Zealand. It is my great pleasure to announce therefore . . .... > Read more

Grand Archives: Oslo Novelist

Pearl Jam: Back Spacer (Universal)

28 Sep 2009 | 1 min read

Just as some would have you believe there were "Beatles fans" Vs "Stones fans" back in the day (usually by old people styling themselves Stones fans to appear cooler than they actually were at school), so too there was that weird schism set up between Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Nirvana were, of course, "authentic" and Pearl Jam were somehow just pretend-grunge in... > Read more

Pearl Jam: The Fixer

Various: Albums from the Smithsonian Folkways series (Folkways/Southbound)

28 Sep 2009 | 1 min read | 1

The Smithsonian is one of those great American institutions which, if it says "we're here to help" actually is. In their Smithsonian Folkways collection they have short audio examples of 40,000 tracks and through their Global Sound website they are all available for download. And they have the original liner notes for the relevant albums which you can view for free.Which might make... > Read more

Big Chief Ellis: Dices Blues

The Wailin' Jennys: Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House (Shock)

27 Sep 2009 | <1 min read | 1

On the release of their Firecracker album a couple of years back I noted that you'd be forgiven for getting burn-out on this whole old-time country music sung authentically by people who are probably middle-class and well educated. Still, people like Gillian Welch do it so well, and you don't want to open up that whole "can white people sing the blues?" discussion. So if you... > Read more

The Wailin' Jennys: One More Dollar

John Fogerty and the Blue Ridge Rangers: Rides Again (Verve)

21 Sep 2009 | 1 min read

The odd thing about hearing the great Creedence Clearwater Revival on the recently released Woodstock set was that they sounded exactly like themselves: that's what happens when you keep your music simple and sharp, and you have a voice as distinctive as John Fogerty's up front. Fogerty is still out there playing Creedence songs and new material (and sounding damn good at it) but here... > Read more

John Fogerty: I'll Be There

Taken by Trees: East of Eden (Rough Trade)

15 Sep 2009 | <1 min read

This ethereal and exotically charming album by Swedish singer-composer Victoria Bergsman (aka Taken by Trees) is something of a rarity: she travelled to Lahore where she encountered not just the local musicians but a certain, shall we say, unusual attitude towards unmarrried women in Pakistan. None of that tension is here in the music however where her languid vocals float over tabla, flute... > Read more

Taken by Trees: To Lose Someone

The Duke and the King: Nothing Good Can Stay (Shock)

14 Sep 2009 | 1 min read | 3

The singer-songwriter behind this gorgeously tuneful, lyrically probing debut is Simone Felice of the terrific Felice Brothers, two times Best of Elsewhere artists (2007, 2008) for their amalgam of ragged-but-right country which owed huge debts to the early Band and country-styled Bob Dylan, but who put their own stamp on proceedings. The songwriter/drummer has left the band and teamed up... > Read more