Music
By Stephanie Cairns | October 6, 2008
I sat down for a chat this afternoon with Joshi Jenkins and Jackson Hobbs of the slightly deranged, loud, and brilliant local band Sharpie Crows. They’ve existed for the past two years under various different incarnations, and are making a name for themselves with their angry, distraught, frenetic, never cheerful but always unique garagey rock music, with manic and poetic lyrics. Comprised of these two, guitarist Casey and vocalist Sam, they’ve already released an album (We Fought the Great White Whale) that’s enjoying Radio Active airplay, and are shortly to head to Australia to tour. Here’s the most interesting extracts from a very long interview… More
By Alan Wells | October 6, 2008
NZTrio, St Andrews on the Terrace, 18 September
Composer Competition, Adam Concert Room, 19 September
STROMA, Ilott Concert Chamber, 24 September
Thonthorstrok, Hunter Chamber, 28 September
NZSQ Workshop, Adam Concert Room, 29 September
None of the events reviewed here have been covered by the Dominion Post. More
By Ryan Eyers | October 6, 2008
Never quite understanding why everyone went on about their 2004 breakthrough album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, I was first drawn to Kings of Leon via their third LP Because of the Times. Even though the ridiculous overplaying of lead single ‘On Call’ was enough to put anyone off listening to the whole album, ‘Charmer’ and ‘Fans’ intrigued me sufficiently and I discovered a marked improvement on previous work, although a disjointed one. More
By Ashleigh Barrowman | October 6, 2008
The greatly anticipated release of Ladyhawke’s first, self-titled album does not disappoint. Although predictable and repetitive it’s all deliberate. Pip admits she wanted her music to give off a sense of nostalgia even when listening for the first time, and the album has certainly achieved this. Heavily influenced by the 70’s and 80’s, the happy dance beats are combined with somewhat melancholy lyrics to emit handclaps and sing-a-long choruses which become embedded in your brain long after the music has died. More
By Tristan Egarr | October 6, 2008
When El Schlong burst on to the Dunedin metal scene earlier this decade, they were essentially a System of a Down imitation, with bouncy guitar solos and clear, maniacal vocals about tripping and torture. By the time they put out EP loudious deepthroatus in 2005, singer Jake had gone for more of a cookie monster growl, but the songs were still snappy and accessible. More
By Stephanie Cairns | October 6, 2008
Thomas Voyce, one of the core members of Rhombus, is also a tutor of Sonic Arts at the NZSM, and he once gave me a crap mark for a composition I did in a first year paper. Granted, the piece was pretty uninspired, devoid of creative spirit and rushed out in a couple of days, but it was pretty wounding. More
By Eleanor Bishop | October 6, 2008
Today I’m going to analyse Peaches in a feminist context. Mainly because it’s easy and I’m a bit worn out from feminist analysis (I had my 489 due in this week).
Peaches is a Canadian singer, famous for “her hypersexual brand of rap, raw electronics and rocked-up burlesque.” She played at SFBH last week, is total feminist which is awesome; her chosen activist platform being her music, she called her 2003 album Fatherfucker in an attempt to destabilise the power of the word motherfucker. More
By Ashleigh Barrowman | October 6, 2008
I said to my friends as we walked to SFBH on the night that was, 25th September, “It’s going to be such a great show cause it’ll be full of mad Peaches fans purely there for her” and I was right to an extent. Yet there were still those who for some reason or another can’t seem to grasp the concept of a ‘gig’ and that pushing, shoving, stomping and least of all dancing are mandatory. More
By Salient | October 6, 2008
Let us reflect for a moment: The 2008 Big Day Out first announcement was branded as one of the most unexciting in the festival’s history. This is really something considering three of the headlining acts were revealed in one overexcited giggle, as though the organisers predicted that the very thought of these bands was going to make peoples fucking minds explode and just couldn’t hold it in. More
By Salient | October 6, 2008
To farewell the Salient music pages for 2008 we were planning a tedious 2008-Musicin- Review piece for our final edition, but deciding that is a) lame and b) boring we decided to look over our favourite albums released over the year. Realising that there actually weren’t enough from 2008, we extended the list to our favourite albums in recent years, but not before 2006. Here’s what we came up with in a rough order of preference (it’s way better than the Film list): More
By Christopher Gilbert | September 29, 2008
I put a record on, a vinyl record. It’s Wolf Parade’s new album At Mount Zoomer.The needle protests as it is reluctantly dragged from its cradle and dropped carelessly onto the spinning black vortex below. More
By Stephanie Cairns | September 29, 2008
I don’t know if I should be disgusted by this pointless rehash of the worst of 80s cock rock, or simply mystified. After all, this ‘artwork’ passed through so many hands before it got to me. Songs were written, worked on, performed, recorded, mixed, produced, compiled into an album that was pressed, designed and publicised and finally sent in to the Salient office. More
By Christopher Gilbert | September 29, 2008
The sobering tones of Cold War Kids (CWKs) second full-length release Loyalty to Loyalty has received a sound lashing from trendster music sites (yes, yes Pitchfork etc.). Admittedly, this is in part justified as CWKs have followed an astonishing debut (Robbers and Cowards) with a less endearing and accessible album, which makes the listener work harder to enjoy it. More
By Matthew Proctor | September 29, 2008
Norma Jean -vs- The Anti Mother opens with a bang. ‘Vipers, Snakes, and Actors’ kicks in with a very heavy riff, traditional death metal vocals, and a bassline for stomping to. It is good stuff. There is a breakdown, back to normalcy, and a delicate fadeout to post-rock influenced ambience. 9 minutes later the track finishes. It is hot. More
By Matthew Proctor | September 29, 2008
Narrow Stairs isn’t a bad album. In fact, there’s very little to complain about at all. But.
The Photo Album was one of the best of the albums from the second wave of emo that developed in the 90s. Transatlanticism built on this, to be, in my opinion, straight up one of the best albums of the decade. More
By Stephanie Cairns | September 29, 2008
Back in the day when I still had a ‘favourite band’, The Beatles were my favourite band. I’m over that phase now, but they still hold a very special place in my heart, and in my CD collection. And if I had to admit to being nerdish about anything, the Beatles are surely it. More
By Stephanie Cairns | September 22, 2008
Fuck I hate the scene. It’s full of emaciated 20-something kids, with skinny black jeans and vintage Reeboks and giant neon t-shirts, with elitist but narrow-minded musical tastes. The bands all play synth-heavy dance rock with inane lyrics, none of the people will even look in your direction if you aren’t wearing the right shade of fluoro green mascara, the crowds spend every gig screaming in-jokes at each other and dancing like epileptic patients, and I never get invited to their parties. More
By Alan Wells | September 22, 2008
With the number of events occurring this month, perhaps September (rather than May) should have been designated New Zealand Music Month. Admittedly, not all were in the public spotlight. The SOUNZ Contemporary Award, for example, was an easily overlooked adjunct to the APRA Silver Scrolls. More
By Tony Barnao | September 22, 2008
Saturday 13 September
Michael Fowler Centre
Che Fu is the master of uplifting, inspiring melodies and lyrics. Che can bring shivers to the back of your neck. And an orchestra has been known to have exactly the same profound effect upon the audience. The combination of the two was bound to be the recipe for an epic performance. More
By Christopher Gilbert | September 22, 2008
When I first heard Amanda Palmer was working on a solo album I immediately questioned her motivation. The theatrical singer/pianist and principal songwriter of The Dresden Dolls only has one other member in her band – drummer Brian Viglione – so how much could she possibly accomplish sonically and personally by simply dropping the other half of her band for an album? More
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