Something Elsewhere

Subscribe to my newsletter for weekly updates.

AND THE VNZMA ARTISAN FINALISTS ARE? (2019): Behind the scenes, the makers and creatives

10 Oct 2019  |  2 min read

Music which connects with an audience doesn't just drop from the heavens courtesy of a bandcamp or Soundcloud posting. Hundreds of songs out of bedrooms and cheap studios arrive on those portals every day, so somewhere along the line the music needs professional shaping and sharpening, a bit of promotion (video is logical) and a nice bit of packaging if it is an album.... > Read more

RIA HALL'S SPEECH AT THE APRA SILVER SCROLLS (2019): Be brave, be bold

3 Oct 2019  |  <1 min read

Singer Ria Hall was invited to present the APRA Maioha Award at the 2019 Silver Scroll award. The finalists were: Ka Ao by Tyna Keelan, Angelique Te Rauna, and Mātauranga Te Rauna Korimako by Emily and Charles Looker, performed by Aro Paiheretia by Kaaterama Pou Te Kete Aronui by Mara Te Kahika and Cory Champion, performed by Mara TK And the winners were Tyna Keelan,... > Read more

VODAFONE NZ MUSIC AWARDS/NGĀ TOHU PUORO O AOTEAROA FINALISTS 2019: I'd like to thank . . .

26 Sep 2019  |  4 min read

And let the discussions begin. The finalists for this year's Vodafone NZ Music Awards to take place at Spark Arena on Thursday November 4 have just been announced. We bring you here the finalists and have highlighted artists or albums which Elsewhere has written about. For more on the awards go here.  All finalists are eligible for the Vodafone People’s Choice Award | Te... > Read more

THE APRA SILVER SCROLLS 2019: And the finalists are . . .

21 Sep 2019  |  3 min read

When you look back and try to identify pivotal years in New Zealand popular music one stands out: 1965. That was the year that youth culture – in the wake of the Beatles, Stones, Cilla, Dylan and many others – became a driving force. Young people had the money for concert tickets, records, entry to dances and so on . . . and so New Zealand musicians could actually make a living... > Read more

THE WAIATA MAORI MUSIC AWARDS FINALISTS (2019): Kia kaha and kon-gratulations

13 Aug 2019  |  3 min read  |  1

Now in its 12th year, the Waiata Maori Music Awards celebrate excellence in Maori music, honouring the keepers, teachers, promoters, creators and performers of Maori music. And now, during Te Marama Puoru Waiata Maori - Maori Music Month - comes the announcement of the finalists for the 2019 Waiata Maori Music Awards, with four nominations each to Kora brothers-founded group L.A.B. and... > Read more

RIP IT UP, RECOVERED (2019): Music and culture on the printed page

16 May 2019  |  3 min read

You don't have to be nostalgic or a grumpy senior to lament the decline in music journalism since the advent on the internet. Where once there were lengthy interviews, overviews and reviews there is now click-bait, links to something the posting person didn't write (and often didn't read) and Instagram as a substitute for insight. But to be grumpy and nostalgic on a personal note, there was... > Read more

DISCOVER LIVE, INTRODUCED (2019): An invitation across the nation in NZ Music Month

1 May 2019  |  3 min read

In the interests of New Zealand Music Month, the musicians and the venues, we share this from Discover Live about some of the many things going on. . . . Aotearoa has an abundance of world-class talent that you can see on stages across the length and breadth of the country.  In clubs and pubs, community centres and RSAs, theatres and school halls, and so many other venues,... > Read more

MUSIC TO LOOK AT (2019): Two exhibitions celebrating NZ Music Month

30 Apr 2019  |  1 min read

Two exhibitions of photos, posters and more to celebrate NZ Music Month of May open this week at two sites in Auckland. From the Pit curated by Dave Simpson and Reuben Raj (aka SomeBizarreMonkey) from Under the Radar and Radio 13 respecitively is installed in Flying Out on Pitt Street, just off K Rd. The exhibition features the work of a number of respected photographers and many of... > Read more

THE TAHI ALBUM, INDUCTED (2019): Number one, the first, and first of many

17 Apr 2019  |  2 min read

At the 10thannual Taite Music Prize awards held on April 16, I was invited to induct the Tahi album by Moana and the Moahunters into the category of the Independent Music New Zealand Classic Record category. This is what I said, ad libs excluded. – Graham Reid Kia ora e te whanau. It is my privilege to be here at the invitation of Moana Maniapoto to induct the album... > Read more

SOUTHBOUND'S RECORD STORE DAY 2019: See you round, like a record . . .

4 Apr 2019  |  11 min read  |  2

There was an article doing the internet rounds recently in which some sage from the US announced that the CD was “dead”. One of the things you learn if you've been around a bit is you are unwise to write anything off as dead. I'd guess I've seen “rock is dead” being announced with certainty at least half a dozen times, but –... > Read more

PACIFIC MUSIC AWARDS 2019: Celebrating 15 years of Pasifika sounds

4 Apr 2019  |  4 min read

One of the most enjoyable, celebratory and colourful events on the Aotearoa New Zealand music calendar is the annual Pacific Music Awards . . . and this year is a special one because it is the 15th year of these awards. ome of the names of finalists announced will be familiar to mainstream audiences -- notably Kings and SWIDT who have five nominations each -- but others will be up'n'comers... > Read more

THE 2019 TARANAKI WOMAD TIMETABLE: The world in your backyard

31 Jan 2019  |  1 min read

As anyone who comes to this site knows, Elsewhere has had a many decades long engagement and interest in music from other parts of the planet beyond home, London, New York, LA and so on. Right from the start when we launched we had the World Music in Elsewhere pages of reviews and interviews, and in more recent times announcements about the Woad in Taranaki as well as an overview after the... > Read more

LANEWAY 2019, AN UNREQUIRED CONSIDERATION: I can't get no . . .

29 Jan 2019  |  8 min read  |  2

Many decades ago when the Rolling Stones came to Auckland and I was editing the entertainment pages of the New Zealand Herald I had what I thought was an inspired and amusing idea. Rather than me review the show, why not send some writer who was decades beyond their demographic to see what he -- and I had someone specific in mind – made of the whole circus? The person I was... > Read more

THE 2019 LANEWAY FESTIVAL TIMETABLE

25 Jan 2019  |  1 min read

As we have said previously when we posted video clips from this year's Laneways acts, it's always a good idea to get to such festivals for the opening acts because those artists can often deliver something quite exceptional . . . and you will be right down the front for it (as with last year's Laneway when Wax Chattels were extraordinary). So here then is the running order for this year's... > Read more

THE 2019 AUCKLAND LANEWAY FESTIVAL: A video primer

21 Jan 2019  |  2 min read

The annual Auckland Laneway Festival – once again in the pleasant surroundings of central Albert Park – is on this Monday January 28th (Auckland Anniversary Day). As with all such festivals – think the Big Day Out, Womad, Auckland City Limits, Sunsplash etc – it is often the little-known acts who can provide the most excitement. (Last year Moses Sumney wiped the... > Read more

THE APRA SILVER SCROLL FINALISTS 2018: The shortlist of long talents

2 Oct 2018  |  4 min read

Since 1965 the APRA Silver Scroll has been awarded to writer(s) of the year's best song, as voted on by fellow songwriters. So the award can go to a great song, regardless of how few or how many copies it sold, how few or how many others out there heard it. The Silver Scroll is considered a most prestigious honour by songwriters because it comes from their artistic peers, not by popular... > Read more

FIVE ODD ALBUMS NO ONE SHOULD OWN: But I do . . .

1 Oct 2018  |  4 min read

Elsewhere has been down this blind alley a few times with couple of columns on 10 Odd Unplayed Albums, a series of 10 Shameful Record Covers, 10 Good Albums in Bad Covers, Five French Albums I'm Surprised I Own, 10 Unusual 10 Inch Records . . . and so on. This time though just rubbish I seem to have on my shelves. And I do wonder why. . Various Artists:... > Read more

REMASTERS, REISSUES AND CREDIT CARD-KILLING SETS COMING UP (2018): Living in a box (set)

30 Sep 2018  |  5 min read

By any measure 1968 was yet another remarkable year in rock history, it built on the astonishing debut albums of '67 and established artists like the Beatles and the Stones unleashed some of their most seminal work. So needless to say the next few weeks sees the remaster/reissue and expanded anniversary treatment of some of that stuff. But then also factor in – not attached to any... > Read more

FINALISTS FOR THE 2018 VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND MUSIC AWARDS: . . . and I hope we passed the audition

29 Sep 2018  |  5 min read

With a new and colourful Tui award designed by Dick Frizzell for the mantlepiece, a number of artists will be getting pretty excited by being nominated in theis year's music awards. Those in with a good chance will be Six60, Alien Weaponry, Drax Project and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, all of whom have four nominations.Marlon Williams has three nominations; Robinson, Julia Deans, Tami... > Read more

GRAHAM JOHN CLAVERHOUSE REID (b. Edinburgh 1951 - ): In search of my name in Scotland

23 Sep 2018  |  8 min read

When I was in primary school, at least once every year, I’d be teased about my name. Not the unexceptional one on this article, but my full name which some sneaky kid would discover by going through the teacher’s roll. For a couple of days after, there would be finger-pointing kids in the playground, and me running red-faced behind the bike-shed at Mt Eden Primary.... > Read more