Category Archives: Reviews
Richard Hawley – Standing At The Sky’s Edge (Album Review)
Sheffield’s favourite son has abandoned the lush strings and twangy rockabilly of his previous work replacing them with wah wah pedals, Indian drones and psychedelic guitar freak-outs. It’s new musical ground for Hawley, but ground that has been walked on … Continue reading
Beach House – Bloom (Album Review)
As Beach House, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand figured out what they wanted to sound like fairly early in the piece. The Baltimore duo laid down a spartan but alluring recipe for success – partly artful button-pushing (Legrand conjures up … Continue reading
The Journey Is Long – The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project (Album Review)
Jeffrey Lee Pierce is one of many rock & roll casualties who never got much attention, fame or acclaim while he was alive. Pierce fronted The Gun Club, a dirty blues-punk outfit that also included at one time or another … Continue reading
Frank Turner – Kings Arms (Concert Review)
The British invasion continues. Last week it was the Kaiser Chiefs, before that, Elbow and now Frank Turner. All three acts are capable of filling much larger venues than what they played here in Auckland. Turner recently headlined at London’s … Continue reading
Keane – Strangeland (Album Review)
The first time I listened to Strangeland, Keane’s fourth studio album, I had it on as background music, and I must say, to that end, it served its purpose well. But on closer inspection the beautiful sheen created by the … Continue reading
Best Coast – The Only Place (Album Review)
Judging by the first track on Best Coast’s follow-up to their uber-hipster fave, 2010’s Crazy For You, the LA duo is vying for an opening slot of The Beach Boys’ 50th Anniversary Tour. The titles track finds Bethany Cosentino raving … Continue reading
Kaiser Chiefs – Powerstation (Concert review)
It was their first show in New Zealand, and they played to a sold out crowd at Auckland’s Powerstation, so the good money was on the Kaiser Chiefs to be at the top of their game, and they didn’t disappoint. … Continue reading
Mystery Jets – Radlands (Album Review)
Evidently the Mystery Jets have been an on-going musical entity since the early 90s, when lead singer Blaine Harrison was but 12 years old and his dad, Henry, played in the band. They didn’t start releasing albums until 2006, so … Continue reading
UrbanTramper – Internet Freedom Is Love (Album Review)
UrbanTramper is a member of Wellington’s Home Alone Music Collective which is, well, a collective of musicians based in Wellington. The band has been around in one form or another since at least 2004, has released two previous albums and … Continue reading
George Harrison – Early Takes Volume 1 (Album review)
This 10-song collection of previously-unreleased demos comes in the wake of Martin Scorsese’s documentary, George Harrison: Living In The Material World. The recording details are sketchy, but 6 of the songs are from 1970’s All Things Must Pass, the other … Continue reading
Big Daddy Wilson
Kaiser Chiefs
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
