Music at Elsewhere
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Pitch Black: Filtered Senses (pitchblack.co.nz)
2 Sep 2016 | 1 min read
Longtime electronica artists Pitch Black out of Auckland were always in the vanguard of son et lumiere shows which could deliver punishing heart-hitting beats or drop the moods towards stateless, sonic landscapes of the mind. And also effortlessly bring in influences from dub and dancefloor. It has been some while since their last album – nine years during which the duo of... > Read more
Dub Smoke
The Veils: Total Depravity (Nettwerk)
29 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
Anyone with a passing interest in this band fronted by Finn Andrews already knows the tone of this one: In interviews Andrews has referenced David Lynch's rebooted Twin Peaks, there is darkness and menace as a pervading ethos (British reviews have said “unsettling” and “gloriously sad eyed rock that preaches to the perverted”) and so on. From the title inward,... > Read more
House of Spirits
Eva Prowse: Humid Nights (evaprowse.co.nz/Aeroplane)
29 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
Wellington singer-songwriter Prowse's debut album I Can't Keep Secrets made Elsewhere's best of the year list in 2010 and at that time we noted her performances with Fly My Pretties, her appearance on her father's excellent Trouble on the Waterfront album and so on. Since then however she fetched up in London where she turned her attention to electro-pop (as H & EVA with expat... > Read more
No Man
Lesley Gore: Boys Boys Boys (Ace/Border)
29 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
When this great, early Sixties pop sensation died in February 2015 a newsreader on New Zealand television began the item with, “You won't have heard of her but . . . “ That kind of condescending comment – clearly the older frontman was making a pitch for millennials – wouldn't be applied to a sports star from the same era (no matter how obscure) or politician.... > Read more
Don't Call Me
Scott Walker: The Childhood of a Leader (4AD)
29 Aug 2016 | <1 min read
And here Elsewhere performs a readers' service for those few who still follow Scott Walker's idiosyncratic and often brilliant (if demanding) career. The master of disturbing music and disruptive arrangements here presents his soundtrack to the film of the same name. It is set in Paris 1919 and the “leader” of the title refers to the cute-faced young boy whose manipulations... > Read more
Third Tantrum
Martin Phillipps: Live at the Moth Club (Fire CD/DVD through Southbound)
26 Aug 2016 | 3 min read
For Martin Phillipps of the Chills – a songwriter, lyricist and arranger of rare skill and often genius – the successes of this moment must feel like vindication. In the past eight months Phillipps – whose career seemed to be finished when he broke up the Chills on stage n the US in 92 – has ridden a long overdue wave of recognition in the US and Europe where... > Read more
Pink Frost (live)
IN BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
22 Aug 2016 | 3 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. The Felice Brothers: Life in the Dark (YepRoc/Southbound) Once again channeling - but with even more refinement -- the... > Read more
Lydia Loveless: Real (Bloodshot/Southbound)
22 Aug 2016 | <1 min read
Now onto her fifth album 25-year old Lydia Loveless (born Lydia Ankrom) draws a thread between brittle power pop, whatever passes for alt.country these days and classic guitar jangle with a smidgen of post-punk energy. As a lyricist she nails down some alarmingly visceral imagery (“If self control is what you want I'd have to break all of my fingers off” she yowls on the... > Read more
Out on Love
Matthew Barber and Jill Barber: The Family Album (Outside/Southbound)
22 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
On the same Canadian label which recently signed Tami Neilson (a no-brainer I would have thought) comes this quietly delightful sibling-pairing on songs – a balance of originals and classic covers – which essay those seemingly unfashionable ideas of domesticity, the comfort of family and friends, and taking pleasure in life. In a world awash with albums which wallow in misery... > Read more
The Partisan
RECOMMENDED REISSUE: Faith No More; We Care a Lot, Deluxe Edition (Universal)
19 Aug 2016 | <1 min read
Now available on double vinyl and CD with extra tracks, demos, live versions and remixes, this impressive '85 debut – before Mike Patton took over vocal duties from soon-to-depart Chuck Mosley – hit a midpoint between US punk, funk metal and indie.rock. With a dollop of cynical humour (the title track alluding to consciousness-raising and ever-so caring rock stars with... > Read more
As the Worm Turns
SHORT CUTS: A round-up of recent New Zealand releases
15 Aug 2016 | 3 min read
Facing down an avalanche of releases, requests for coverage, the occasional demand that we be interested in their new album (sometimes with that absurd comment "but don't write about it if you don't like it") and so on, Elsewhere will every now and again do a quick sweep like this, in the same way it does IN BRIEF about international releases. Comments will be brief.... > Read more
IN BRIEF: A quick overview of some recent international releases
8 Aug 2016 | 3 min read
With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists, in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks up New Zealand artists. Comments will be brief. Chris Robinson Brotherhood; Any Way You Love We Know How You Feel (Southbound) Let's start at the bottom: Highly recommended. Anyone... > Read more
Michael Kiwanuka: Love & Hate (Universal)
5 Aug 2016 | 3 min read
Although this quite outstanding album invokes the spirits of gospel, blues, Motown and Otis Redding, touches of soul-funk and much more, there are some fundamental points of difference. Notably in the overt Marvin Gaye tropes which this Londoner born of Ugandan parents adopts and adapts. But more of that soon . . . His debut album Home Again of 2012 introduced his undeniable... > Read more
Black Man in a White World
Dinosaur Jr: Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not (Jagjaguwar)
1 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
Any band which refined and defined their sound and attitude over three decades ago is bound to have hit a burn-out/overly familiar factor some many years ago. Surely? But . . . Although Elsewhere has just written a retrospective piece about this musical idea (as much as a band) helmed by J. Mascis, we have to concede this new one sounds as thrillingly noisy, focused and as... > Read more
Lost All Day
Andrew Keoghan: Every Orchid Offering (Fuchsia Kick/Rhythmethod)
1 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
While many acts remain genre-specific -- in metal, rap, indie.guitar rock or whatever -- there has been a generational shift the past two decades where musicians blur the boundaries between styles. Artists like Beck and Bowie, unexpected characters like John Cale -- and of course TV on the Radio, Flaming Lips, Grizzly Bear and so on -- have been longtime players in this endless landscape... > Read more
No Simple Doll
Steve Abel: Luck/Hope (Kin'sland)
1 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
While it may seem contradictory to criticise Aaradhna for her downbeat Brown Girl and be favourable about this almost funereal folk, that has been Steve Abel's idiomatic reference point -- he entered and won the Saddest Song in the World compeition in Germany in '09 -- and these eight songs (coloured by scraping and lachrymose violin) are all of such a piece that they form a... > Read more
Dance
Aaradhna: Brown Girl (Universal)
1 Aug 2016 | 1 min read
After her excellent if overlong Treble and Reverb of four years ago (which picked up a shedload of awards and acclaim), expectation has been high for this new one. The title track first single – with its reference to the Jamaican children's song Brown Girl in the Ring made famous by Boney M – was a beautifully produced, clever piece of self-referencing soul and a slow burner... > Read more
Drunken Heart, Smokey Mind
Fleetwood Mac, Mirage Expanded Edition (Warners)
29 Jul 2016 | <1 min read
After the mega-success of their self-titled album in '75 and its follow-up Rumours ('77) which sold even more multi-millions, the Big Mac took a left turn with Tusk ('79, well worth rediscovering) and toured relentlessly. By the time they got to Mirage ('82) they were bickering and burning out. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had released solo albums. Ironically, Mirage... > Read more
Brian Wilson; Brian Wilson and Friends (BMG CD/DVD)
20 Jul 2016 | 1 min read
There is certainly no shortage of Brian Wilson music about these days. We've had a couple of versions of SMiLE (including the excellent box set) and more recently the 50th anniversary reissue of Pet Sounds (again in an impressive expanded edition). Then of course he has released solo albums like No Pier Pressure (none of which have done much in the way of recapturing the old magic).... > Read more
Don't Talk (ft Mark Isham)
Various Artists: Late Night Tales, Olafur Arnalds (latenighttales/Southbound)
18 Jul 2016 | 1 min read
Elsewhere has always had an affection for compilations in the Late Night Tales series (as it did with the not dissimilar Back to Mine) because it is a triple opportunity: You can be introduced to a compiler you'd not previously encountered; it is highly likely you wouldn't know half the artists included so it's a doorway into new music and the albums segue from one piece into another so... > Read more