Music at Elsewhere
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Tipene: Heritage Trail (digital outlets)
1 Sep 2021 | 2 min read
There is a remarkable and strong lineage of Māori hip-hop which runs from Upper Hutt Posse's Against the Flow through Dam Native's Kaupapa Driven Rhymes Uplifted to this ambitious, crafted album by Tipene Harmer who – like those illustrious predecessors – knows exactly who he is and where he's from. On the lyrical and rhythmical Ariki here he says, “I'm walkin' with the... > Read more
Mauri ft Ariana Henare
The Roulettes: Demosphere (bandcamp)
30 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
Pop music of the old style (verse/chorus, three minutes) appeals to Elsewhere and this Auckland band around guitarist/singer Justin McLean has always delivered something akin to power pop (yes!) and just enough from the glam/T Rex/Bowie end of the spectrum. This collection was recorded at home in Auckland or Hanoi where bassist/singer Ben Grant lives – hence the title and cover art... > Read more
Steve Gunn: Other You (Matador/digital outlets)
30 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
For someone whose music is heard regularly around the Elsewhere mansion, it's surprising that American singer/guitarist Steve Gunn's albums have only appeared at Elsewhere a few times (although we did do a major interview back in 2017). Inspired by the British folk styles of the Sixties (Davy Graham, Bert Jansch etc) and cult figures like Mike Cooper and Jack Rose, Gunn has as a broad... > Read more
James McMurtry: The Horses and the Hounds (New West/digital outlets)
23 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
Elsewhere has had a long affection for this exceptional singer-songwriter since interviewing him in late '89 on the release of his debut album Too Long in the Wasteland. I'd been immediately impressed by his dark, literary songs (the son of Larry) and leaving a Christmas function after exactly the right number of drinks for the phone interview I found him chatty, serious with a dry humour... > Read more
The New Existentialists: Poetry is Theft (bandcamp)
23 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
It's odd to note that this is the first finished studio album by Auckland's excellent pop-rock outfit the New Existentialists fronted by songwriter and singer George D Henderson (of the And Band in the early Eighties then the enjoyable Puddle). Their previous release Didn't Have Time of last year was a terrific collection of “work in progress, 2019 – 2020” of which... > Read more
RECOMMENDED REISSUE: Various Artists: Accident Compilation (Failsafe/bandcamp)
21 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
Subtitled “Alternative Music from Christchurch New Zealand 1980-1984”, this excellent double CD collection – remastered from the original cassette by Rob Mayes of Failsafe – is very timely in the year Flying Nun celebrates its 40thanniversary. During the Eighties the indie sound and approach of Flying Nun was widely embraced by critics, student radio and audiences.... > Read more
All Over the World by the Newtones
ONE WE MISSED: DuhkQunt: Space Communion (Muzai/digital platforms)
20 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
This Leeds-based producer passed our ears a year or so back with an EP but now with a full-length album of his glitchy samples and a sonic collage of electronica with vocal snippets over nailed-down beats we can throw the spotlight on him . . . albeit a little late because this album came out in July. Not that timing matters, we doubt it has had too many reviews and he does... > Read more
Stephan Micus: Winter's End (ECM/digital outlets)
16 Aug 2021 | <1 min read
This German multi-instrumentalist – the subject of this Elsewhere Art – is somewhat of an acquired taste because he is so hard to put in any particular box . . . other than one marked “Quiet”. Playing literally dozens of instruments collected on his global travels – notably in Africa for this his 24thalbum on ECM – in addition to singing (often what... > Read more
Yola: Stand For Myself (Easy Eye Sound/digital outlets)
16 Aug 2021 | 2 min read
When Belfast-born Van Morrison relocated to the US in the late 60s he said, “I'm into a completely different thing now, there is no limit to what I can do”. The result was his seminal 1968 Celtic soul album Astral Weeks, much of which drew on his past seen from a physical and emotional distance. For many artists, a new location can mean the opportunity for a new... > Read more
Durand Jones and the Indications: Private Space (Dead Oceans/digital outlets)
14 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
This beautifully slinky, synth-soul album slips around you like a comfort blanket from the glorious opener Love Will Work It Out through to the final falsetto soul of I Can See. But don't be fooled by the subtle grooves and warm synth-string backing because there are real messages here. That opener includes lines like “Folks overtaken by disease. All the people lost made me fall right... > Read more
Negative Nancies: Heatwave (Fishrider)
9 Aug 2021 | <1 min read
As Flying Nun celebrates its 40thanniversary, the spirit of independence and post-punk DIY attitude it (and many other indie labels) advanced is as evident today as it was then. This mature Dunedin trio – keyboard/singer Tess Mackay, drummer/singer Emile Smith and guitarist/singer Mick Elborado – deliver a thumping and sometimes excoriating noise (the hypnotically repetitive and... > Read more
What Would John Say
Royal Blood: Typhoons (Warner/digital outlets)
9 Aug 2021 | <1 min read
It has been a long time since this hard-rock Brighton duo passed our way (a great set at the 2015 Laneway in Auckland) so it seemed time to tune in, especially given overseas folk have been using the word “disco” about this album. That might be catching with rock bands: Foo Fighters doing the Bee Gees is fun but a bit surplus to requirements. Here Royal Blood don't go disco... > Read more
Daphne Walker: The TANZA Recordings 1955-1959 (Frenzy)
7 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
Daphne Walker might not have liked some of what she sang (notably the ever-popular Haere Mai (“everything is ka pai”) or even the songs of Sam Freedman which he gave her, but the effortless purity of her voice sold them in the Fifties when she was backed by the bands of Bill Wolfgramm and Bill Sevesi. The style of the era was Hawaiian tropical warmth and that is what... > Read more
Mapuana
The Wallflowers: Exit Wounds (New West/digital outlets)
4 Aug 2021 | 2 min read
When Elsewhere interviewed Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers almost two decades ago he was 32 and onto his fourth album with his band of 10 years, so there was a lot to talk about other than what he politely called “the peripheral stuff”. That being the famous surname. Given his achievements at that point, his dad was a subject easy to not let into the conversation.... > Read more
Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever (Interscope/digital outlets)
1 Aug 2021 | 1 min read
Anyone who thinks contemporary pop is just working familiar tropes – and let's be honest, much of it is – should turn their attention to recent releases by the likes of Squirrel Flower, Merk, Jane Weaver, Virginia Wing, and Billie Eilish whose 2019 debut When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was an astute, subtle and largely understated and downbeat outing from the then 17-year... > Read more
Kikagaku Moyo and Ryley Walker: Deep Fried Grandeur (Husky Pants/digital outlets)
29 Jul 2021 | 1 min read
Although the name of the Japanese psych-rock band upfront here may not be familiar (we were underwhelmed by their Masana Temples album), many will know of American singer-guitarist Ryley Walker whose reference points are in the experimental Anglo-folk of Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley and John Martyn (and of course Nick Drake) as well as Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison (alluded to on his Primrose Green... > Read more
Salmonella Dub: Soul Love Trippa (Salmonella Dub/vinyl release)
26 Jul 2021 | 1 min read
The mighty Salmonella Dub out of Christchurch who, alongside Pitch Black, paved the way for dance-electronica and magnificently produced soul-infused dub-dance were trailblazers. Without them the path for the likes of Fat Freddy's Drop, Black Seeds, Shapeshifter and many others might have been more difficult. After a dozen or so albums, many EPs and scores of remixes down the decades... > Read more
RECOMMENDED RECORD: Squirrel Flower; Planet (i). (Polyvinyl/digital outlets)
25 Jul 2021 | <1 min read
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which comes on orange vinyl, has an eight-page booklet of lyrics and offers a download code . . . . This second album by American Ella Williams (aka Squirrel Flower) is one of those slow-grow albums which exists between alt.folk and indie.rock as she and her small band explore cold fury,... > Read more
Anthonie Tonnon: Leave Love Out of This (Slow Time/digital outlets)
12 Jul 2021 | 2 min read
Despite more than a decade of recording, touring (locally and internationally) and a Silver Scroll nomination for songwriting, Whanganui-based Anthonie Tonnon – who first appeared as Tono and the Finance Company – seemed destined for that netherworld reserved for “critics' favourite”. Yet his music has never been especially difficult or challenging. Yes, along... > Read more
When I'm Wrong
RECOMMENDED RECORD: The Cinematic Orchestra: Ma Fleur (Border)
12 Jul 2021 | <1 min read
From time to time Elsewhere will single out a recent release we recommend on vinyl, like this one which is a double album on clear vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with three bonus tracks . . . . Although the great soul singer Fontella Bass appears (with great restraint) on a couple of tracks on this widescreen, evocative and yes, cinematic, 2007 album, the real attention in the... > Read more