Music at Elsewhere

Joe Henry: All The Eye Can See (digital outlets)

26 Feb 2023 | <1 min read

Although singer, songwriter and producer Joe Henry hasn't won as many Grammys as his sister-in-law Madonna (three for his production work, to her seven), he enjoys wide acclaim from illustrious peers and those he's produced, a diverse list which includes Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Allen Toussaint with Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, Salif Keita and Solomon Burke. Although often described as... > Read more

RECOMMENDED RECORD: Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune/digital outlets)

26 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes as a single album with a large fold-out poster with the (necessary) lyrics. Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . Trying to decode Edinburgh-based trio Young Fathers' third album is akin to peering into a kaleidoscope and attempting to describe... > Read more

Drum

Julian Reid: Julian Reid (digital outlets)

25 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

In the many decades I wrote for the New Zealand Herald – as a freelancer, then on staff for 17 years, then freelancing again – I never wrote about my three sons' various bands, even though they toured with Shihad, were regulars at places like Pod and the Powerstation, recorded for Wildside and so on. More fool me, I thought journalistic integrity meant I shouldn't be seen to be... > Read more

Break the Sun

Scalper: The Shine (digital outlets)

24 Feb 2023 | 2 min read

Many years ago when his name was well known, I did an interview with the very funny and smart Thomas Dolby who'd enjoyed a hit with the catchy She Blinded Me With Science. He'd abandoned England to live and work in the States and gave an interesting reason: in England people expect Morrissey to be miserable all the time but in the US they know the difference between the artist and the act.... > Read more

Stars in Their Eyes

Silk Cut: Our Place in the Stars (digital outlets)

19 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

In the jargon of classic British police dramas, Auckland singer/songwriter and guitarist Andrew Thorne of Silk Cut has “considerable prior form”. He has helmed Splitter, Thorne and the Wilburys-like Calico Brothers, and has been in bands for Don McGlashan, Bic Runga, Dave Dobbyn, Tim Finn, Jan Hellriegel and Greg Fleming. He's written and... > Read more

Kimbra: A Reckoning (digital outlets)

19 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

Pop may be mostly about instant gratification but it can also be surprisingly enduring. Gotye and Kimbra's Grammy-winning Somebody That I Used To Know is more than 10 years old, however her vocal as the emotional pivot remains compelling even now. Somebody wasn't the first, nor the last, recognition for her flexible voice and sophisticated songwriting (she's won seven music awards... > Read more

RECOMMENDED RECORD: Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World (Matador/digital outlets)

16 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes as a double disc (the fourth side blank). No download code unfortunately but a great collection to have on vinyl. Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . Many years ago, in The Onion I think it was, there was a piece about the roof at a Yo La... > Read more

Apology Letter

Alan Fletcher: The Point (MGM/digital outlets)

12 Feb 2023 | <1 min read

Not having seen Neighbours since Kylie left, the fact that 65-year old Alan Fletcher played Karl Kennedy in it means nothing to me. Probably doesn't to you either although my information says he'd been there for 27 years. So we forgive him the day job because what we have on this debut solo album is of much more interest. He mostly writes and sings in that low-rumble... > Read more

Various Artists: The Kiwi Music Scene 1970 (Frenzy)

12 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

The diligent Grant Gillanders continues his chronological excavation of New Zealand music and arrives at 1970 – by which time pop and rock had long parted company. This 53 song double album includes a few familiar songs (Fourmyula's stoner suggestions on Otaki and the lovely Turn Your Back On the Wind, Quincy Conserve's terrific Ride The Rain) but mostly brings to light material by... > Read more

The Eyes of Love, by Bunny Walters

RECOMMENDED RECORD: John Cale: Mercy (digital outlets)

5 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes as a double album in a gatefold sleeve with lyrics. No download code unfortunately. Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . John Cale's remarkable career began in avant-garde classical music and, in the 55 years since his tenure in the Velvet... > Read more

Miriam Clancy: Black Heart (digital outlets/Southbound)

5 Feb 2023 | 1 min read

In late 2019 when expat Miriam Clancy returned from her Pennsylvania home of five years to promote her third album Astronomy, she was a very different artist than the singer-songwriter of previous albums. Astronomy was abrasive electropop-cum-Goth rock, and solo on stage she hammered foot pedals in an extraordinarily physical performance. “I got really frustrated with the... > Read more

Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers (digital outlets)

30 Jan 2023 | 1 min read

In 2004 this Glaswegian indie-pop band was nominated for Britain's Mercury Prize and the following year voted Best Scottish Band Ever in the online magazine The List. They are however an acquired taste: some hear their lighter songs as mannered. But over 11 previously acclaimed albums since 96, they've created a body of lyrically clever and literate work wrapped in catchy melodies.... > Read more

Iggy Pop: Every Loser (digital outlets)

30 Jan 2023 | 1 min read

At 75, the “Godfather of Punk” Iggy Pop lives a quiet life of exercise, eating well and longtime sobriety in Florida. But put him on a stage or in a recording studio and he can access his search-and-destroy persona of The Stooges, the band that burned his outrageous reputation into rock more than half a century ago. In his solo career – Every Loser the 19th album under his... > Read more

Numün: Book of Beyond (Shimmy-Disc/digital outlets)

27 Jan 2023 | <1 min read

From our distance, this New York trio could probably not be more obscure and unfamiliar. Their label Shimmy Disc (Bongwater, Kramer, Jad Fair, Daniel Johnston etc) might be the sole connection. But unfamiliarity has never stopped Elsewhere from turning an ear, so let us introduce Bob Holmes (from SUSS) with Christopher Romero and Joel Mellin (from Gamelan Dharma Swara) who are... > Read more

Lighter

Deceptikonz: In Perpetuity (digital outlets)

22 Jan 2023 | 2 min read

The Deceptikonz rap crew out of Manurewa helped define the sound and unique culture of South Auckland when signed to the Dawn Raid label in 2001. If rap gives voice to the voiceless, Deceptikonz – Mareko, Savage, Frisko and Devolo – told their stories across three albums, Elimination in 02, Heavy Rotation (06) and their farewell Evolution: Past, Present and Beyond (10).... > Read more

SUSS: SUSS (Shimmy-Disc/digital outlets)

18 Jan 2023 | <1 min read

The adjective “atmospheric” is perhaps too liberally applied these days, but it is certainly the appropriate word for the sound of this New York three-piece of Jonathan Gregg (pedal steel, dobro), Bob Holmes (mandolin, guitars, harmonica, violin, keyboards) and Pat Irwin (guitars, harmonium, keyboards, melodica, loops). Describing themselves as “ambient... > Read more

Kingman, AZ

Liela Moss: Internal Working Model (Bella Union/digital outlets)

16 Jan 2023 | <1 min read

British fashion muse, serial collaborator (Heritage Orchestra playing Giorgio Moroder, Nick Cave and others) and member of the indie-rock guitar band Duke Spirit, the striking Liela Moss here again works some of the brittle electronica end of the spectrum with this album propelled by the urgency of global issues, from the economic meltdown to the climate crisis and social division. With... > Read more

ONE WE MISSED: Sylvie: Sylvie (digital outlets)

16 Jan 2023 | 1 min read | 1

We discovered this delightful, gentle album by chance, and it confused us. A friend passed on one of those cover-mount compilation CDs which came with an English music monthly late last year. As we heard it, one of the songs was called Sylvie by someone called Sylvie (but it was a male singer) from the album entitled Sylvie, although the song itself was an old one written by Iain... > Read more

Sylvie

Lord of the Isles: Subtle Thoughts (digital outlets)

9 Jan 2023 | 1 min read

You don't need to know much about British history to guess that electronica composer Neil McDonald – who goes by the name Lord of the Isles – is a proud Scot. Lord of the Isles was the ancient title handed down to ruler of the islands and some of the mainland in Western Scotland, today the Lord of the Isles is Prince William. The original clan which held the title were the... > Read more

RECOMMENDED RECORD: Arooj Aftab: Vulture Prince Deluxe Edition (vinyl only)

6 Jan 2023 | <1 min read | 1

From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one originally released in 2021 which now comes on heavyweight vinyl as a double album with an additional track not on digital platforms. Check out Elsewhere's other Recommended Record picks . . . . This beautiful album – which was in Elsewhere's best of 2021 selection... > Read more