#002 ER 2011
MB 13 SEPTE
– LANNEL LAND ‘92 F E H T W ZEA JAM TWENTY FLYING E N N I A NIRVAN N PLAYS PEARL LIAM FIN GIN’ – G MEETS O T L T B O Y C D S A STE ’S TOM W E R B E HOM BROWN L L E EGAN S R S L U E R G I N HOLE’S KED!” A E K I L HEAD PLAY NA A N N O “I’M G
I wasn’t there to witness Nirvana make history in the unloved concrete surrounds of Auckland’s Logan Campbell Centre on 9 February 1992 – and I should have been. My mate and I, Heath McCormack, had missed out on tickets for a show that had sold out weeks prior, but we weren’t about to let that stop us seeing the band play what would be their only New Zealand show. That afternoon we made our way across Cornwall Park, intent on sneaking our way into a venue we knew our way around – we were local kids and we’d seen everyone from Split Enz to R.E.M. play there. It was easy enough to get in too – the side-ofstage doors were wide open as a small army of road crew set up for that night’s show. Rows of chairs were stacked up stage-left, and we squeezed our frames under them, sticking around long enough to hear soundcheck, but we lost the nerve to wait out the five hours till the band would take the stage. Ahead of the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, issue two of VOLUME goes behind the scenes of that show. And we go behind the scenes of another anniversary, as Pearl Jam kick off their 20th celebrations with a festival that included Queens Of The Stone Age, Mudhoney, The Strokes and Liam Finn. History made.
EDITOR Sam Wicks sam.wicks@volumemagazine.co.nz WEB EDITOR Hugh Sundae hugh.sundae@nzherald.co.nz DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME SALES John Baker john.baker@volumemagazine.co.nz DESIGN Xanthe Williams WRITERS Day Barnes, Gavin Bertram, Keegan Fepuleai, Duncan Greive, Jessica Hansell, Joe Nunweek, Janina Percival, Felicity Perry, Nigel Regan, Hugh Sundae, Aaron Yap PHOTOGRAPHERS Brendan John Allan, Ted Baghurst, Amos Chapple, Graham Hooper, Shaun Jones, Janina Percival, Milana Radojcic AN APN PUBLICATION Team McMillan BMW
ONLINE ROAST There was something addictive about listening to the full audio of the Jordan Luck and Keith Quinn Talking Heads feature last week. The pair of them singing various national anthems was a highlight, but VOLUME’s fave was Quinn’s gradual realisation over the 30 minutes or so that Luck really knew his shit. And Quinn’s voice – soothing, familiar. Elsewhere, the Pajama Club
HOW DOES IT FEEEEEL?
album stream went great guns. The album is out now and if you need to experience more Finn-kerfuffle, keep an eye out for our live online chat with Neil and Sharon on Monday from midday – it will be easy to find on nzherald.co.nz. We’ll take your questions but, more importantly, we’ll try and get to the bottom of those crazy-ass tweets Neil keeps firing off. As for this week? We’re streaming the brand new long player from Bulletproof, Dub Me Crazy, streaming through till Sunday at nzherald.co.nz/music.
TOURETTES? How does it feel to have finished the Wonderful World of Weird tour with Jay Roacher and Alphabethead? It was good, man. We’re three people who came from quite traditional roles in hip hop, and went on divergent paths – it makes sense to bring us together. Who’s the most eccentric character between the three of you? Definitely Alphabethead – he’s a lunatic on the road and behind the decks, and he’s always drinking cups of tea and being peculiar. What’s the soundtrack in the tour van? RadioLIVE – Willie Jackson and JT’s show. Today’s topics were ‘where do the prettiest girls in the world come from?’ and ‘who’s going to win the World Cup?’. What’s the best place in the South Island to get a vegan feed? Oh man, I’ll probably have to pass on that one. I’ve just been eating chips. Are you any closer to your mission statement of getting the words out of your head and into ours? This is definitely the closest I’ve come, but then new voices keep appearing so I guess that’s another album. Tourettes’ new album Tiger Belly is out now on Round Trip Mars – Tourettes curates My Mother Says I’m Talented at Auckland’s Basement Theatre on Wednesday 28 September – Saturday 1 October.
CARLA POTTER – TOUR MANAGER Basically we take care of the show – you look after the band, coordinate with all the suppliers and venues, the ticketing outlets. One of your main jobs is to look after the money and make sure your ticketing’s done correctly. Good tour management is organisation skills. It’s risk management too – there are things that are out of your control, like your gear van might blow a clutch or you might get a venue owner who’s not used to dealing with bands. You can’t just hit the road thinking everything’s sorted – I spend two-to-three days doing pre-prep, ringing all the venues, the accommodation, suppliers, crew, band, support acts, so when you hit the road it’s all completely sorted. You’re doing anything from 15-20 hours a day, every day, back-to-back. I take it very seriously – the band and promoters pay me to be on to it.
SEND ME A POSTCARD
Ladi6 is currently based in Berlin and working towards the follow up to last year’s The Liberation Of…. Ladi’s been nominated for three Tuis at this year’s Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Music Video and Single of the Year for ‘Like Water’.
TERRITORIAL PISSINGS
95bFM is marking its territory around the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind with Where Are You Sleeping Tonight?, a Nirvana tribute show at Auckland’s Kings Arms on Friday 23 September featuring Sherpa, god bows to math, $noregazZzm, Mean Girls, X-Ray Fiends and Nevernudes. Free entry with your bCard, or cop one for a cheap-aschips $9.50 on the door.
Golf-mad guillotine enthusiast Vincent Furnier brings his latest nightmare to Auckland’s Trust Stadium on Thursday 22 September, a day out from the release of his new Bob Ezrin-produced album Welcome 2 My Nightmare. Question is, will he play anything from Killer, the best Alice Cooper album ever? We’ve got two double passes to Cooper’s show up for grabs. For your chance to scoop the loot, email loot@ volumemagazine.co.nz with your most horrific nightmare.
I’MMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT... For a while I thought I was acting like an egotistical mid-20s chancer. Throwing my toys out of the cot because I wasn’t getting a big box of free CDs. Then I heard Wayne Mason on the radio agree with me. If Wayne agreed with me, my opinion was valid.
MORE GRAVY
WE ALL LIKE to bitch about the various music awards. Back in 2004 (the year has a margin of error of plus/minus two years) it wasn’t about who didn’t get what or who wasn’t nominated, it was the judging. My student radio brethren and I may have been broadcasting to all and sundry that our own awards (the bNets) were the one true judge of merit, but I was still pretty excited to be asked to participate on the judging panel for the Tuis. You know, the ‘real’ awards. The problem was that the judges weren’t provided with the music they were meant to be judging. The justification at the time was as laughable as it was flawed. In a rather heated discussion I was told I must know all of the albums that had been released that past year because I worked in the industry. Well, enough to judge them against each other. All 70 or so. Including the ones that never would have even made it across my desk in the first place. They also told me it was fairer because they were increasing the amount of judges. More
judges not listening to your music. Part of me still thought I was just peeved at not getting a big box of CDs, so it was nice to hear Wayne being interviewed the next day by Linda Clark on Radio New Zealand National, joining in the cause. In the years since, much has changed. Most awards seem to employ some sort of online listening service so judges can hear what they’re judging, and my guess is that those who are asked feel more of a responsibility to get it right. But they never will. There is no one ceremony that will get everything right any more than there is one album everyone will like. Someone else is paying for a big party, and if you’re lucky you might enjoy some of the bands playing. If nothing else you’ll witness a couple of slurring celebs and some misunderstood jokes (I’m looking at your “lovely boner”, Liam Finn). Take what you want and leave the rest. Congratulate the winners, buy the unsuccessful a drink, and go back to enjoying the music you enjoy.
If you’re reading VOLUME then you’re most likely an early-adopter. In which case – you’re probably reading this on Tuesday. In which case – it’s the Silver Scrolls tonight! Long known as the country’s most prestigious music awards (hosts are more likely to be heckled by a tipsy Judith Tizard than a drunken one-hit wonder), much is made of the judging being on a song’s merit alone and also on it being judged by musical peers. The real reason is the musos get a sit-down dinner at the Town Hall and everyone stays around at the end for a jam. Either way, we’re going to attempt to stream the whole thing live. It’s a risky business, print, having to commit in advance to doing something without really knowing if it will work. But we pulled it off for the V48 Hours Grand National Final and I’m kind of confident we can do it again. If you’re reading this after Tuesday, we’ll probably have performances from the night available to replay. Either way, follow Sam and I at @__volume__ and @Hugh_Sundae, and we’ll tweet the shit out of it.
RUSSELL BROWN The online world has opened up the lines of communication for media commentator Russell Brown and Home Brew/ @Peace MC Tom Scott, both prolific writers and keen observers of local culture. For Talking Heads, the two met to talk about the overlaps between their crafts. Photography Ted Baghurst RUSSELL BROWN: You mention right through Home Brew and @Peace, a lot of it is almost hyper-local. The Last Week record, you’re talking about street corners and places around your house. Have you always written about what’s immediately in front of you? TOM SCOTT: Yeah, I guess so. To me, that’s what makes any lyricist good in hip hop – I don’t think it’s as important in other forms of music, but to talk about your life is what separates you. What is more different than your life? I like custard squares. I think it’s just important to involve that. Plus, as a journalist, as a MC, you’re the poet of the tribe – you’re there to speak for everyone, so I try to tell stories of the people. There’s a lot of good images on the @Peace record that... is it in ‘Nobody’ that there’s somebody with green bananas looking like Quasimodo? That’s a really great image. Oh, thanks man – crossing the zebra crossing. Yeah, suddenly I could picture it. Yeah. Well, those stories go untold unless you tell them, but sometimes I feel, are they my stories to tell?
Nah, you’ve got to do it, you’ve got to tell them – it’s a journalistic thing. As a writer, you’re the same? Yeah, I mean – I’ve been in two riots, the Aotea Square one and the Poll Tax one, and both times, A – I didn’t feel threatened, and B – I thought I’ve got a right to be here ’cause I’m going to tell the story. They had the Royal Commission, and my stuff for Rip It Up was used by the commission. It was kind of cool, actually. That’s dope.
“AS A JOURNALIST, AS A MC, YOU’RE THE POET OF THE TRIBE – YOU’RE THERE TO SPEAK FOR EVERYONE.” – TOM SCOTT Have you actually read any poetry or anything, or is it purely the poetry of rap? Nah, I don’t read poetry – I’ve probably heard a lot more hip hop than the average person. I definitely just study music – but poetry not so much. You know, in school we were shown Shakespeare and all that stuff, and I’m not saying that’s wack or anything but it just doesn’t appeal, so straight off the bat you’re not really keen for poetry. You don’t realise you’ve been listening to poetry your whole life. They don’t tell you Biggie’s poetry or things like that. But I hate it when people make rap out
& TOM SCOTT to be poetry – just let rap be rap, and then it can be something.
Did you know when you made that @Peace record – ’cause I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a pretty significant record – was there a point where you realised, ‘shit – we’re really on to something here’? Um, there was a point where I was happy with it, but I don’t think you ever think ‘shit – we’re really on to something’. I just think you’re happy with your work for the week – ‘I did a good job on the lawns – good, happy – sit down next week’. ’Cause as a musician, your work gets old really quickly, so as soon as we made it we were really happy with it but then we’re like, ‘what are we going to do next?’ You seem super productive to me. You’ve got a double Home Brew album next up. Yeah, we got a double album coming up – that’s a big call, but it’s coming along. I make music everyday so I try to just bang a lot of shit out. How about yourself, bro? How do you feel when you write something and you can’t use it for anything? Ah, that’s why I’ve got a blog, ’cause I can write anything I want. There’s a couple of things I’m reasonably good at, there’s some things I’m terrible at. I can’t do music, I can’t sing in tune. Neither. But I can speak. Weirdly enough – and it puzzles me – is that I can’t sing in tune but I’ve got really good control of pitch and timbre in my voice. Should be a rapper. Yeah, I know! Maybe, like Jay-Z – he can’t sing. Writing’s the one thing I can really, really do, and I can do it really quickly as well. I’m a bit like you I guess, is that I can’t help it. I think the internet changes both what we do because you can be more productive
with your writing and get more out, and it’s the same with music. You can release stuff everyday instead of going through the radio and waiting for the record label to clear it and all that. Yeah, it’s brilliant isn’t it? You can follow an artist and you can get something sometimes every week, and you’re part of the action. To listen to the full audio of Russell Brown and Tom Scott in conversation, head to nzherald.co.nz/volume – live from 2pm Tuesday. Russell Brown presents TVNZ 7’s Media7 on Thursdays at 9.05pm – his Hard News blog is online at publicaddress.net. Find Tom Scott and Home Brew at homebrewcrew.co.nz – @Peace’s debut album is available to download from at-peace. bandcamp.com.
3 2
1
4
7 6
5
9
10
11
8
16
14
12 1: Liam Finn and manager Sam pose side-of-stage prior to Finn joining Pearl Jam on ‘Education’. 2: Boom Gaspar’s road case has some sweet-as Aotearoa representation. 3: Backstage trail(er)s. 4: Trailer shenanigans by Liam Finn.
13 5: Trailer shenanigans by Elroy Finn + gat + Dan Ward. 6: Eddie Vedder + Liam Finn + big-ass monitors. 7: The New York Times sweet-as travel piece on Wellington fails to talk about hacky sacks or dub but LOTR is mentioned heaps, which is good.
15 8: Pearl Jam’s Sunday setlist. Cough. 9: Elroy whacking, day two. 10: EJ Barnes makes crucial wardrobe decisions. 11: Tried to convince QOTSA to come to the pool, but they weren’t keen. I’m not calling Josh Homme a pussy, but I’m not not calling him that either.
12: Elroy drums. Liam sings. 13: Jol Mulholland plays bass. Elroy drums. Liam drums. EJ sings. 14: If you squint you can see Vedder playing cowbell during ‘Little Sister’. 15: A PJ tech helps to string. 16: Vedder drums. Liam plays gat.
Seattle stalwarts Pearl Jam kicked off their 20 th anniversary celebrations over Labour weekend in the US, bringing acts like Queens Of The Stone Age, The Strokes, Mudhoney and Liam Finn to the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. VOLUME’s Janina Percival was in amongst it, armed with a Polaroid camera. Text Janina Percival Photography Janina Percival/Brendan John Allan in the band making a point of WALKING THROUGH A sea of joining the various acts on day bogans chanting “USA! USA!” two. Mike McCready, Jeff Ament then crossing the barrier into a and Matt Cameron with Joseph sea of musicians who define a Arthur, Eddie Vedder having a generation of American grunge whack on the drums with Liam and rock, one becomes very aware Finn, a spine-tingling hoon on of the thin lines that demarcate. ‘Juicebox’ with The Strokes, and The physical barrier between giving the fans more cowbell backstage and the Pearl Jam on QOTSA’s ‘Little Sister’. To Twenty punters meant jack a handful of New Zealanders shit in the grander scheme plunked into the heart of Middle of communal celebration and America to celebrate the 20th camaraderie. Everyone from the dude who played Hyde in That anniversary of this seminal band, 70’s Show, to the 17-year-old it was buzzy-as. backstage security who tried to deny Chris Cornell from going onstage because he didn’t have the right pass, to the 40-something year-old cougar We have two copies of Pearl Jam who’d travelled miles in various pieces of leopard print Twenty published by Allen & Unwin to design, everyone was there to join PJ in blowing out their give away – email loot@volumemagazine.co.nz proverbial candles. Pearl Jam themselves with a Polaroid pic of your choice drove this home throughout the festival, each musician for a chance to win.
A column in which Duncan Greive scours the world’s charts in the hope of finding, if not the perfect beat, then something worth whistling at least. THE WORLD
The entire planet seems to be slowly, deliberately reversing off a precipice right now. The United States is indulging in nonsensical games of political brinkmanship. The EU is staring down the barrel of multiple defaults. London’s literally burning. The Middle East is caught between repression and revolution, while even the Chinese juggernaut seems to be showing unforeseen frailties. In times like this we traditionally turn to pop music to make sense of the chaos. Psychedelia and Vietnam. Punk and urban decay. Gangsta rap and the LA riots. The financial crisis and... David Guetta? Strange times indeed. In the absence of any reflection of these troubled times in our charts, I figured it was worth following the Greek top 10 of last week with a trip to the safest European economy, Switzerland. In a great episode of the Planet Money NPR podcast they visited that nation to find out how it was fairing through the most recent shocks to the global economy – which had sent the reliable Swiss Franc (neutral Switzerland never joined the Euro, see) ever higher, with a corresponding impact on their normally rock solid exports sector. Looking at the Swiss chart there’s a sense that they’ve figured out a small scale way of combating the US/UK flow into the safety of their currency – sending their cultural
francs into some pretty exotic locations. So the top five features Jamaicans, Swiss, French, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards. That’s a pretty audacious way of combating a rush on your currency.
THE LOCALS
Radio One’s Top 11 might be the most reliably esoteric chart in the country – always representing its hometown beautifully, while allowing in many who mightn’t get a look in elsewhere in the country – even in the more weirdo-friendly bNet. Case in point: the trio of New Zealand songs which occupy the podium this week, featuring the wounded chamber pop of St Rupertsberg, Thundercub’s blasting ‘Falcor’ and another superbly sinister single from Haunted Love.
THE ’NET
Despite the noble intentions of sites like RCRD LBL – which every week throws up free original songs by great new artists – a lot of the time people are just on the ’net for something familiar. Two of the site’s top three most downloaded songs of summer are versions of Foster the People’s snoozy indie smash ‘Pumped Up Kicks’, while the top 10 is 80% remixes, most of them fairly uninspired. Bummer – but make sure to go snag the Aeroplane remix of Grace Jones’ ‘William’s Blood’, because, y’know, it’s totally amazing.
RCRD LBL SUMMER QUARTER CHART 1 Foster the People – ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ (Grouplove & Captain Cuts remix) 2 Beastie Boys – ‘Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win’ ft. Santigold (Major Lazer remix) 3 Foster the People – ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ (Chrome Canyon remix) 4 Cults – ‘Go Outside’ (Menahan Street Band remix) 5 Grace Jones – ‘William’s Blood’ (Aeroplane remix) 6 Ladytron – ‘White Elephant’ 7 Mayer Hawthorne – ‘A Long Time’ (Chromeo remix) 8 Grouplove – ‘Colours’ (Foster the People remix) 9 Matt and Kim – ‘Block After Block’ (Douster remix) 10 Mr Little Jeans – ‘The Suburbs’ (Arcade Fire cover)
SWISS SINGLES CHART 1 Sean Paul ft. Alexis Jordan – ‘Got 2 Luv U’ 2 Lucenzo ft. Don Omar – ‘Danza Kuduro’ 3 DJ Antoine vs. Timati ft. Kalenna – ‘Welcome To St. Tropez’ 4 Sak Noel – ‘Loca People (What The F**k!)’ 5 Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – ‘Moves Like Jagger’ 6 Alexandra Stan – ‘Mr Saxobeat’ 7 Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer – ‘Give Me Everything’ 8 Adele – ‘Set Fire To The Rain’ 9 77 Bombay Street – ‘Up in The Sky’ 10 David Guetta ft. Sia – ‘Titanium’
RADIO ONE TOP 11 1 St Rupertsberg – ‘In Albania’ 2 Thundercub – ‘Falcor’ 3 Haunted Love – ‘San Domenico’ 4 Tom Waits – ‘Bad As Me’ 5 Björk – ‘Crystalline’ 6 Is/Is – ‘Pretty Girl’ 7 Jens Lekman – ‘An Argument With Myself’ 8 St Vincent – ‘Surgeon’ 9 The Sami Sisters – ‘Oh Boy’ 10 Made In China – ‘Joseph’s Bed’ 11 Samiyam – ‘Pressure’
TOP FIVES
TOP FIVE ALICE COOPER MOMENTS 1: Anything from Killer 2: The Spiders – ‘Don’t Blow Your Mind’ 3: The 1970 Cincinnati Pop Fest pie incident 4: John Lydon auditioning for the Sex Pistols singing along to ‘I’m Eighteen’ 5: Screaming Lord Sutch (Eh? Who is the real King of Horror Rock, Mr Furnier?)
Ascension (Caldo Verde) THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR and voice that opens Jesu’s third proper album largely belies what follows. While Justin Broadrick is capable of gentleness and nuanced playing, it’s the sharply drawn distorted tones that soon kick in that define Ascension and the majority of Jesu’s output. But it’s generally not a crushing type of distortion, nor are these songs gratuitously heavy, at least not sonically. In fact, Jesu may provide the best definition of metalgaze thus far, as this is heavy music that’s deeply introspective rather than battering, and full of sorrow rather than aggression. That’s mirrored in the monumental, glacial constructions at times redolent of New Zealand’s own Bailterspace (whom Broadrick has cited). The guitars and monolithic rhythms are complimented by WOLF GANG Suego Faults (Atlantic) Prodigous Max McElligott has crafted a firmly zeitgeisty package here. ‘Lions In Cages’ is the sort of jubilant pop crafed by Phoenix, or more locally, The Naked And Famous (his tour mates, in fact). Elsewhere, he attempts the expansive balladry of Florence and The Machine, and melodramatic chug of Interpol to alternately impressive and saccharine results. Odd future, but don’t kill them all just yet. SETH HAAPU Seth Haapu (Sony) We’re gluttons for this sort of thing – unabashed pop music with a hint of something going on under the surface. Haapu is as liable to recall a more fleet-footed Rufus Wainwright as he is a male Gin Wigmore, particularly in his selfdeprecating motormouth love songs (‘Trashing My Heart’). Opening with an abstract hip hop collage and taking in Tin Pan Alley on the way, it’s a restlessly enjoyable treat. ELITE GYMNASTICS Ruin 1/Ruin 2 (Acéphale) A simply spectacular pair of EPs from this Minneapolis duo. More omnivorous
SLOW BOAT RECORDS – Wellington
effected synth lines and Broadrick’s emotionally charged vocals. It’s an intoxicating and moving combination, at its most powerful when the tempo is measured, as on ‘Broken Home’ or ‘Birth Day’, which loom like great sad albatrosses, circling an apocalyptic, frozen landscape. It’s impressive that Broadrick has managed to create a new template of heart-rending heavy music after the scarifying dirges of Godflesh. In Jesu he’s crafted something even more powerful, with the anger replaced by sorrow. Review Gavin Bertram
than most electronic indie artists, they pursue a relentless sonic maximalism. They’re keen on searing bursts of static (the murderous end of ‘Little Things’), but also overdriven drum’n’bass loops that provide a nice tension/release to their moments of eerie synth beauty. Key track: ‘So Close To Paradise’. THEE RUM COVES Thee Rum Coves (Magic Bag) The latest from Magic Bag Records is charismatic and accomplished garage rock. The most interesting parts tend to weave around the periphery of the songs – the organ and reverb opening up on ‘Time Passes’, for example, suggesting that if the band worked on another EP or two, they could become an Auckland staple. Pity that they rhyme “tonight” and “all right”, though. CULTS Cults (In The Name Of) Playing out a little like a more reverb-soaked Brunettes, Manhattan’s Cults make up what they lack in originality with turn-on-a-dime tempos and the occasional spot of gussied-up drum programming to augment their girl-group pop (see highlight: ‘Never Heal Myself’). Breezy, sweet, but forgettable.
JEREMY TAYLOR’S TOP FIVE SANDWICHES
1: Le Moulin baguette, jamón ibérico, vintage gouda, iceberg lettuce, a little mayo – the King of sandwiches 2: South African Marmite, salted potato chips, butter on wholegrain – an updated Kiwi classic for the World Cup 3: BLAT – bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato. On rye. Obviously brilliant. 4: Knobleiner German sausage in a bun, with mustard and sauerkraut (from Nelson markets) 5: Grilled cheese and caramelised onion. Simple. Excellent.
LEADER CHEETAH Lotus Skies (Spunk) Adelaide fourpiece’s Americana is almost innocently indebted to early ’70s Neil Young or CSN, and actually does best when it tries to avoid scruff and dirt and goes for that odd sort of manna purity (see: ‘Crawling Up A Landslide’, ‘Our Love’). Their stormier moments feel grafted on, giving it an unfortunate grunge aftertaste where it should be elegantly wimpy. PHOTONIC Riff Mountains (Frequency Media) Craig Scott’s now largely solo project has compacted into something deliciously nasty, brutish and short. They lumbered as a threepiece somewhat back in the 2000s, but here the repressively canned beats bind tight around snarling, ultracompressed guitar. Abstract doommetal done in wee, brilliant bursts. VARIOUS ARTISTS Muppets: The Green Album (Walt Disney Records) A well liner-noted compilation of Muppets songs, with DVD extras, wouldn’t go amiss – these are all fantastic, well-worn show tunes, written with wit and charm. Most of
the covers on this nostalgia comp have neither – Weezer’s take on ‘Rainbow Connection’ and The Fray’s on ‘Mahna Mahna’ being especially slapdash. The fine exception is Andrew Bird’s virtuosic, affectionate version of ‘Bein’ Green’. GOTYE Making Mirrors (Eleven) Gotye (Australian Wally De Backer) makes mannered electronic pop out of minor ripples and shuffles. It’s hugely populist, but Wally sells it – ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, for example, is great because of its huge Sting/Phil Collins swell of vocal fiat, not by dint of having Kimbra on it. It goes on from strength to strength – best when he’s flirting with embarrassment (the Motown pastiche of ‘I Feel Better’) than playing it safe. WE ARE AUGUSTINES Rise Ye Sunken Ships (Oxcart Records) We Are Augustines is promising for all of 40 seconds in a “oh, I remember Interpol way” before Billy McCarthy’s vocals complete the picture. Like some ghastly honking combination of Kings Of Leon and Bon Iver, he dominates a set of ponderous, throaty songs that lovingly do for The National what Stone Temple Pilots did for Nirvana. Reviews Joe Nunweek
Nirvana visited New Zealand in early 1992 just as Nevermind blew up worldwide. To mark the 20 th anniversary of that album’s release, we revisit the Seattle band’s sole Auckland visit. Text Gavin Bertram Photos courtesy of Paulette Pirovich with the assistance of Jules Barnett
DOUG HOOD REMEMBERS being the first New Zealander to hear Nirvana’s Nevermind, before its September 1991 release. Then the owner of the Looney Tours promotions company, Hood met Australian promoter (and now Modular Recordings boss) Steve Pavlovic at Auckland airport. Pav, as he’s widely known, had just been in America hanging out with Nirvana in the studio, and he had a cassette copy of the freshly mastered Nevermind. “He said ‘I’m going to play you a tape – listen to this’,” Hood recalls. “It was the sound that was the thing that stuck. It wasn’t the songs, it was the production and the ginormous sound. It was extraordinary. We drove up to the top of Mt Eden and listened to it.” Shortly after this introduction to the newly polished sound of the Seattle trio, as engineered by
producer Butch Vig and mixer Andy Wallace, Pav booked the band for the inaugural Australian Big Day Out. Hood booked an Auckland show to follow that tour, for 9 February 1992, to take place at the The Powerstation. He says it was virtually the day Nirvana left the United States for Australasia that they became the hottest rock act on the planet. “The record company (DGC) were spewing that they were down in this part of the world when all hell was breaking loose in the States,” Hood says. “But they’d made this deal with Pav, and he was their mate so there was no way they weren’t going to do it.” Because of the rapid chart ascent of Nevermind and single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ all over the world, The Powerstation show soon sold out. It was moved to the Auckland Town Hall, and finally to the Logan Campbell Centre as demand grew. While there
was much anticipation of Nirvana’s visit, the band was struggling. Front man Kurt Cobain was desperately ill throughout the Australia tour, and all the band were exhausted when they arrived in New Zealand. “There were all these stories from Australia,” Chris van de Geer says. His band Second Child was one of the local support acts, along with the 3D’s. “Kurt was sick, and I heard that he’d taken all this stuff just before they left Australia.” “I never had much to do with them,” Hood reflects. “They were out
of it the whole time they were here. They were drunk on stage, and I think the show was only 45 minutes, maybe 50 minutes. They were absolutely shattered from the Australian tour, and Kurt had really terrible stomach pains. He was really crook; he was wrapped in blankets, and looked pretty awful.” Popular opinion suggests Cobain’s ailments were largely due to his heroin addiction. Despite his health woes, the singer managed a now legendary shopping trip to Real Groovy Records. Shop founder Chris Hart served Cobain, who bought a record by Christchurch band The Axemen, among others. “I didn’t actually recognise him,” Hart admits. “He was really quiet, and just brought the records up and paid for them. It was a quiet afternoon and Kirstine Gee (Pauly Fuemana’s
“THE RECORD COMPANY WERE SPEWING THAT THEY WERE DOWN IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD WHEN ALL HELL WAS BREAKING LOOSE IN STATES.” THE STATES.
Nirvana in concert – Auckland, 9 February 1992
honest. Afterwards everybody was talking about the 3D’s, and I think it was because Nirvana were exhausted.” While Nirvana’s solitary performance and their 24-hour stay in New Zealand might not have been their finest moment, the visit has still left a lasting impression. “We’ve had a lot of people through the shop over the years,” Hart reflects. “But that seems to be one that people hang on to.” “When I talk to kids about Nirvana, it’s like they’re the Sex Pistols,” van de Geer says. “And they go ‘did you really support Nirvana?!’” To mark the 20 th anniversary of Nevermind, Universal Music is releasing several new versions of the album on Monday 26 September including a two-CD Deluxe edition, a four-CD + DVD Super Deluxe, and a DVD Blu-ray of Live at the Paramount Theatre.
widow) and Ricky McShane who played in the Chainsaw Masochists were working. As he was leaving, Ricky said ‘I think that might have been Kurt Cobain’, so they ran after him and brought him back in and got him to sign a couple of albums each.” The support acts didn’t have the opportunity to have anything signed though, as Cobain arrived at the Logan Campbell Centre slightly before playing and left immediately after Nirvana’s short set. A copy of the set list from the show, which was recently for sale for US $3000 on the recordmecca.com site, shows they played 18 songs. That included the majority of Nevermind, Nevermind four songs from 1989’s Sub Pop debut Bleach, along with We’ve got two copies of the two-CD ‘Aneurysm’, ‘Been a Son’, and ‘Sliver’. Although Nirvana were largely Deluxe edition of Nevermind to giveaway appreciated by those who attended, Hood says it was Dunedin’s 3D’s that – email loot@volumemagazine.co.nz with people were most impressed by. your Nirvana story for a chance to win. “They were excellent,” he considers. “The 3D’s blew them away, to be
THE CHANGE-UP Director David Dobkin Starring Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde, Leslie Man (Universal Films)
IF IT WAS the aim of director David Dobkin (The Wedding Crashers) to make the filthiest body-swap movie he could with The Change-Up, then he’s probably succeeded. Loaded with scatological gags, potty-mouthed dialogue and gratuitous babies-in-peril humour, it’s like a Freaky Friday that’s been defiled by the Farrelly Brothers and, despite its adult content, even more intellectually stunted than that Disney flick.
The primary source of entertainment here is watching Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds play off each other. They’re not on the same identitystealing level as, say, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in Face/Off, but the pair are surprisingly deft at mimicking each other’s tics and mannerisms, their boisterous energy helping to enliven a strictly formula-bound script. Maybe the most unanticipated thing is the casual randomness of the bodyswap premise: two drunk men pissing into a magic fountain, declaring their envy for each other’s lives then getting their wish. As per genre standard, they’re forced to live out the various nightmares and pleasures of their respective polar opposite routines: Bateman’s family-man lawyer Dave Lockwood enjoys the freedom of Reynold’s single, aimless Mitch Planko, while Planko learns the hard way about parenthood and responsibility. Like its characters, The Change-Up grows an emotional conscience in the final stretch, but it’s a little too late – the crudities foisted upon the audience from the opening baby-defecating scene has already left a stench so strong it only goes away once you’ve left the theatre. Review Aaron Yap
SHORT REEL Josh Brolin has signed on to star in Spike Lee’s remake of Korean revenge thriller Oldboy. There’s also talk of Christian Bale coming on board as the baddie.
Bruce Willis is due to have another bad day in the Russiaset Die Hard 5, which now has a director: Irishman John Moore (Max Payne). Eddie Murphy will be hosting next year’s Oscars, beating fellow comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Billy Crystal who were also in the running. Carnage, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmine Reza’s play, premiered to positive reviews at the Venice Film Festival, with trade rags Variety and The Hollywood Reporter praising the performances of the cast.
G-NEWS
CATHERINE Atlas (PS3/Xbox 360)
REVIEWING A GAME like Catherine is like the word of God and the parable of the sower. You never know if the message you’re preaching is going to reach fertile soil. Especially when it seems like a mash-up of the worst ideas ever. Imagine a game that mixes Japanese dating-simulation mechanics with a more sophisticated version of Q*bert (1982). Then add some exploration elements and a story regarding every stereotypical man’s nightmare, commitment. Vincent is being pressured to marry by his long-term squeeze Katherine, when one drunken night he meets Catherine whose laissez-faire attitude to amour strikes a chord with his own marital misgivings. One thing leads to another, and Vincent is trapped between a devoted beauty and a buxom blond. Poor bastard.
At night Vincent’s claustrophobia manifests itself as nightmares in which he has to climb a mountain of crumbling blocks, some of which he must push and pull to help him escape. The puzzle element makes up the lion’s share of the gameplay, offering a real challenge and a lot of fun. That doesn’t mean that the story progression and relationship choices are merely token inclusions. Indeed the context of the story and interacting with the characters is superbly handled. With complex adult emotions, a great story line, superb artwork, and challenging gameplay, Catherine can’t easily be pigeonholed. Currently it is only available via import, which is a travesty and means my words of high praise may still fall on stony ground. Review Day Barnes
For gamers this is the most blessed time of year. Forget E3 and TGS, people want games and from here on it’s all gravy. Deus Ex, Resistance 3, Arkham City, Battlefield 3 and SSX: that’s just the next two months. But blockbusters only tell part of the story – we’re not elitists at VOLUME – worldwide mobile gaming will generate $9.6 billion this year. A good chunk of that comes from advertising (roughly $100 million). Angry Birds alone makes a cool million a month from adverts. A new PSP and a cheaper PS3 have been released in the UK. Hopefully they’ll make it here as well as confirmation that the PSP Vita will not expand beyond Japan until next year.
HISTORY MADE...
HEAD LIKE A HOLE Nigel Regan first got his kit off onstage when Head Like A Hole played The Powerstation on Friday 13 December 1991. Photography Graham Hooper
DRIVING TO AUCKLAND in Gerald Dwyer’s van, I was sitting in the back thinking, ‘Mark’s got his look down – dreaded leather monster – and Booga and Andrew have theirs down as well’. I was still dressing like a bogan, and, for a guy playing guitar in a rock band, I was totally ‘uncool’. To this day I will never know why the thought popped into my head, but I blurted out, ‘I’m gonna play naked tonight!’ At this point it was probably 85% bravado and 15% bullshit. As soon as I said it, I saw Gerald’s eyes lock onto mine in the rear vision mirror. He started stuttering and stumbling over his words as he said, ‘if you did that, it would be... wow!’ We get to Auckland and he corners me in the motel room and starts convincing me that I definitely should ‘play naked’. So I said to Gerald, ‘I’ll do it but we have to be allowed smoke, lights – the works’. I was sitting there shitting myself, thinking ‘what the hell have I got myself into?’ That’s when I came up with the idea of painting myself so that I wouldn’t look like a pasty bogan up onstage. After procuring some tubes of highly toxic paint, Amanda Clarke – who was videographer for the tour – went about painting my entire body including my weenie, which she painted bright blue. So then I’m thinking, ‘How the fuck am I going to get into the venue without people seeing?’ At that point, a trench coat was procured which I draped around myself. I hastily made my way backstage. Lance from S.P.U.D. sneered at me and said, “What are you doing? Trying to pull some chicks?” to which I replied, ‘If I was I could think of better ways to do it’. And the rest is history. POSTSCRIPT: When we played the Big Day Out main stage, I did the naked thing again. The bass player from Future Stupid was with a bunch of his mates, and as soon as we walked on stage he said, ‘I bet that guitar doesn’t move an inch’. So I played the loudest E chord ever and lifted the guitar straight above my head. I mean, if you’re going to do it, don’t do half-measures, right?
THE DRAB DOO-RIFFS W/ THE HOLLOW
...AND IN THE MAKING
GRINDERS & ALAN PITTS
THE WINCHESTER, AUCKLAND FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER Text Joe Nunweek Photography Milana Radojcic
MY PICK FOR the most underutilised venue in Auckland (well, this or Point Chevalier’s The Ambassador)? The Winchester is the closest you can get to a Melburnian corner pub venue in our fair city (ie: the kind of place where all the good bands usually play), but the really memorable gigs and events where it opens its doors are few and far between. Competition with the Panther And The Zoo gig at the KA the same night (oh, and apparently there’s some other event of some sort happening tonight) means it’s a far-from-capacity crowd, but this might be another one to add to the slender tally. First off: it’s the Drabs’ night – their EP release, printed up by the same pressing plant that Jack White’s Third Man uses – so it makes sense that the openers are of a piece, odd curios that appear to have stepped out of some mystical New Zealand past. We’re treated to a brief but wonderful performance by a lovely older gentleman on the musical saw, for a start – then we hear from the Hollow Grinders. For several years now, they’ve been one of the only peddlers of razor-sharp surf rock in
Hamilton. Although I always want these bands to give vocals more of a shot (if only because D-Super remain one of my all-time faves) their chops are lean, mean and to the point. It’s a privilege getting this sporadic opportunity to see them. As for Karl Steven and Co – well, what of it? On the one hand, the DDR’s live show hasn’t changed a lot in the past year in terms of energy and style (or, ‘you had to be there’). On the other, that’s what makes them the best live prospect in Auckland. Steven and Caoimhe Macfehin are, by now, a positively lethal call-and-response team (the mannered but exquisitely weird frontman/frontwoman antics of classic punkabilly act X come to mind). The songs on A Fistful of Doo Riffs are still hot, as both the EP and the performances indicate, and here they’re augmented by occasional trumpet and throwbacks that remind us what a good run they’ve had since 2009. They’re unequivocally worldclass nowadays. We should be so lucky to keep them in our grasp.
AUCKLAND TUESDAY 13
Russian Circles with Jakob and Guests – Kings Arms, Newton, 8pm, $30 Tuesday Night Jazz Series: Doctor Dog – Faculty Quartet – Kenneth Myers Centre, Auckland CBD, 7:30pm, $10–$15 Pop Panic ft. Ricky Rile – Cassette Number Nine, Auckland CBD, 9pm, Free Date Night with Ino Pio – Chapel Bar & Bistro, Ponsonby, 6pm, Free Pink Floyd – Double Feature – Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, Royal Oak, 8pm, $35
Vankan Bros – The Crib, Ponsonby, 9:30pm, Free Joe – The Good, The Bad & The Sexy Tour – Vector Arena, Auckland CBD, 6:30pm
WEDNESDAY 14
Teenage Kicks – Cassette Number Nine, Auckland CBD, 9pm, Free Auckland Blues Club’s Blues Jam – The Winchester, Newton, 8:30pm, $5 Frank E Evans Band at the Auckland Bluegrass Club – The Bunker, Devonport, 8pm, $5–$8 Simon Comber – The Right to Talk to Strangers EP Release – Bar Tabac, Auckland CBD, 8pm, $10 Jason Eli – Sale St, Freemans Bay, 7:30pm, Free Rewind – The Ginger Minx, Mt Eden, 7pm, Free Ben Fernandez & Maria O’Flaherty – C.A.C. Bar & Restaurant, Mt Eden, 6:30pm Live Latin and Brazilian Music – The Mexican Cafe, Auckland CBD, 8:30pm, Free Salsa Night – The Kingslander, Kingsland, 8pm, Free
THURSDAY 15
Anika Moa & Barnaby Weir – The Acoustic Tour – Hopetoun Alpha, Auckland CBD, 7:30pm, $38 Cassette Allstars ft. Aza Pony, Dirty Uncool, MTron & More – Cassette Number Nine, Auckland CBD, 10pm, Free Chris Cope – New Brew Tavern, Albany, 5:30pm, Free Mixtape Sessions – Sponge Bar, Ponsonby, 8:30pm, Free
Anika Moa & Barnaby Weir
FRIDAY 16
Anika Moa & Barnaby Weir – The Acoustic Tour – Ascension Wine Estate, Matakana, 7:30pm, $38 Claim The Throne (AUS) With Guests – Kings Arms, Newton, 8pm Mr Mime & Friends – The Bacco Room, Auckland CBD, 10pm, $10 Agent 99 – New Brew Tavern, Albany, 8:30pm, Free Mosaic – Fu Bar, Auckland CBD, 10pm, $10 Liberty (USA/Solfege Records) – InkCoherent, Newton, 10pm, $10 Acapella: The Club Night – The Supper Club, Newton, 9pm, Free The Hush Mix – September Edition – Hush Lounge Bar, Rosedale, 9pm, Free Jazz In The Basement With Roger Manins & Friends & T–Rice – 1885 Basement, Auckland CBD, 8pm, Free DJ King Salsa – The Mexican Cafe, Auckland CBD, 11pm, Free Proud Mary with Zowie, MC Kyla, Bridge & Fanny Burney – 4:20, Newton, 10pm, $10 Tall Poppies – The Crib, Ponsonby, 10pm, Free
SATURDAY 17
Anika Moa & Barnaby
Weir – The Acoustic Tour – Harrington Hall Theatre, Pukekohe, 7:30pm, $35 High Society, Mean Girls, Poor You, Poor Me – The Lucha Lounge, Newmarket, 9pm, $5 Mountaineater & Left Or Right – Frozon & Freezor NZ Tour – Kings Arms, Newton, 9pm, $15–$20 Creedence Clearwater Revival Tribute Show – East Coast Bays RSA, Browns Bay, 8pm, $20 Funkadelic Masquerade Party – Waiatarua Community Hall, Waiatarua, 6pm, $20 DeeWhy & Grant Marshall – Sale St, Freemans Bay, 7pm, Free Gran Fiesta Chilena Celebrations – El Dieciocho 2011 – Flo Bar & Cafe, Newmarket, 8pm, $15 The Mafia – The Crib, Ponsonby, 10:30pm, Free The Coda Lounge Opening Party – The Coda Lounge, New Lynn, 6pm, $10
SUNDAY 18
The Furys and Red House Rockers Reunion Gig – Kings Arms, Newton, 3pm, $10 Back to the 1980s – Kings Arms, Newton, 3pm, $10 Auckland Vintage Jazz Society – Takapuna Boating Club, Takapuna, 7:00pm, $10–$15 Shae Snell – Sale St, Freemans Bay, 2pm, Free Sunday Sessions hosted by Club Groove – Flo Bar & Cafe, Newmarket, 4pm, Free Shore Thing Brass Quintet – St George’s Church, Takapuna, 2pm, $2–$5
MONDAY 19
Traditional Irish Music Session – The Clare Inn, Mt Eden, 7pm, Free
NORTHLAND SATURDAY 17
Ratima Bros – Mangawhai Tavern, Mangawhai, 10:15pm, Free
SUNDAY 18
Opshop at the Festival of Light & Art – Quarry Arts Centre, Whangarei, 4pm, $15
powered by eventfinder.co.nz
WAIKATO THURSDAY 15
Liberty NZ Tour – FLOW, Hamilton, 9pm, $5 Simon Comber – The Right to Talk to Strangers EP Release – The Bay Bar and Brasserie, Taupo, 8pm, Free
SATURDAY 17
Kiwi Cream – A Showcase of Contemporary New Zealand Music – Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, 7pm Smokefreerockquest National Final 2011 – Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, 8pm, $20
BAY OF PLENTY THURSDAY 15
Bay Salsa – Buddha Lounge, Tauranga, 8pm, $2 LSG Group – The Pheasant Plucker, Rotorua, 9pm, Free
FRIDAY 16
Fiji – The Commercial Hotel, Whakatane, 8pm, $35
SUNDAY 18
Batucada Sound Machine – Cornerstone Pub, Tauranga, 6pm, $35
MANAWATU / WHANGANUI TUESDAY 13
Alizarin Lizard – Mad As a March Hare Tour – Turoa Ski Area, National Park, 9pm, Free
WEDNESDAY 14
Alizarin Lizard – Mad As a March Hare Tour – The Royal, Palmerston North, 9pm
FRIDAY 16
Simon Comber – The Right to Talk to Strangers EP Release – Space Monster, Wanganui, 8pm, $5
WELLINGTON WEDNESDAY 14
Going Global Music Summit Showcase – San Francisco Bath House, 6pm, Free Nerines, Major Major and Old Grey Wolf – Mighty Mighty, 9:30pm, $5 The Short Blacks – Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, 12pm, Free TV Party – Meow, 8pm, Free
THURSDAY 15
Chris Bryant – El Horno, 9:30pm, Free The Clash vs Pixies – The Garden Club, 9pm, $15 Alizarin Lizard – Mad As a March Hare Tour – Mighty Mighty, 9pm, $10 Russian Circles with Jakob – San Francisco Bath House, 8pm
FRIDAY 16
Cut Off Your Hands – San Francisco Bath House, 8pm, $20 Mountaineater & Left Or Right – Frozon & Freezor NZ Tour – Bodega, 9pm, $15–$20 Poppy Dust – St James Theatre, 6pm, Free
SATURDAY 17
Fiji with Lapi Mariner – Hill 16, Porirua – Mana, 8pm, $35–$40 Atomic – San Francisco Bath House, 9pm, $10 Russian Frost Farmers – Seth Frightning, Mt Pleasant & Wives – Mighty Mighty, 8pm, $5 Spring Acoustic Showcase – Salvation Army Hutt City Corps, Lower Hutt, 7pm, $5 Darren Watson & The Real Deal Blues Band – The Lido Cafe, 8:30pm, Free Jane Keller – St James Theatre, 6:30pm, Free In Like Flynn with Ainslie Allen – D4 on Featherston, 7pm, Free The Dijretts – The Garden Club, 8pm, $20 Simon Comber – The Right to Talk to Strangers EP Release – Meow, 8pm, $10
SUNDAY 18
Bella Kalolo and The Soul Symphony – Downstage Theatre, 7pm, $35 Sunday Live Music – The Library, 8pm, Free The Boptet – The Lido Cafe, 7pm, Free The Sunday Jazz Club – Public Bar & Eatery, 7:30pm, Free Tim Jaray & Joe Callwood Jazz Duo – Lembas Cafe, Raumati, 3pm, Free
NELSON / TASMAN SATURDAY 17
Gypsy Pickers Half–way to St Patricks Party – Motty Malones Irish Bar, Motueka, 9pm, Free
CANTERBURY Jazz Night – Christchurch Casino, 8pm, Free Live and Loud Heartland Tour – Bealey Hotel, Arthur’s Pass, 8pm, Free
Half Wild: Carnivalesque Tour 11 & Resident Evolution – Revolver Bar, Queenstown, 9:30pm, Free Portobello Years – Knox Church, Dunedin, 8pm, $15–$20 Beyondsemble – Golden Gate Lodge, Cromwell, 7:30pm, $15–$25
FRIDAY 16
SUNDAY 18
THURSDAY 15
Christchurch Arts Festival – The Phoenix Foundation – North Hagley Park Events Village, 10pm, $20 The D’sendantz – Christchurch Casino, 1:00am, Free
Beyondsemble – The Church, Dunedin, 7:30pm, $15
SATURDAY 17
Beyondsemble – The James Cumming Wing, Gore, 8pm, $25
Family Cactus – Spirit Lights Tour – The Brewery, 9:30pm, Free Christchurch Arts Festival – The Phoenix Foundation – North Hagley Park Events Village, 10pm, $20 Eddie Simon – Christchurch Casino, 7pm, Free
OTAGO THURSDAY 15
SOUTHLAND WEDNESDAY 14
FRIDAY 16
Rhythmonyx – Wachner Place, Invercargill, 5pm, Free The Kposs Krackdown Hip Hop Night – Saints and Sinners, Invercargill, 10pm, Free
SATURDAY 17
Guns at Dawn Tour – Eminence (Brazil) – Saints and Sinners, Invercargill, 9pm, $20
Eminence/Darklight Corporation Guns At Dawn Tour – Revolver Bar, Queenstown, 8pm, $20
FRIDAY 16
Family Cactus – Spirit Lights Tour – Revolver Bar, Queenstown, 8:30pm, $10 The Heart of the Drawing Room – Knox Church, Dunedin, 8pm, $12–$15 Beyondsemble – Roxburgh Town Hall, Roxburgh, 7:30pm, $10–$20 Friday Jazz Club – Les Alpes Restaurant, Queenstown, 7pm, Free Eminence/Darklight Corporation Guns At Dawn Tour – ReFuel Bar , Dunedin, 8pm, $20
SATURDAY 17
Hunting Bears – Eye Contact With Strangers EP Fundraiser – The Church, Dunedin, 9pm, $10–$20
has teamed with Eventfinder for gig listings. To get your gig listed, go to...
VOLUME launched last Monday night at the Lucha Lounge with performances from the X-Ray Fiends, Tourettes, and the best one-handed father-daughter DJ team in town, all fuelled by beer and pizza... Last Friday night in Auckland – never seen one like it – well, maybe not since the ’84 riot – the fireworks were topped off by a cracker Drab Doo-Riffs show – The Hollow Grinders returned to Auckland to open for the Drabs... bFM’s Nirvana night at Kings Arms on Friday 23 September features god bows to math, the X-Ray Fiends, $noregazZzm, Mean Girls and Nevernudes – expect some covers and covers of songs Nirvana covered... god bows to math are wrangling dollars to master their new album in Chicago – why can’t it be done locally?... There’s lots of excitement that Fucked Up are opening for Foo Fighters but also hope that FU may play a side show... Murray Cammick is very excited about the new pie shop opening in Britomart for the RWC –
X-Ray Fiends expect a consumer report next week... Poloroid (ex-Birds Nest Roys, The Tufnels, 3D’s) debut at Tabac soon... the return of Hieronymus Bosch in a few weeks... Beach Pigs new video featuring Danny Manetto exVoom is a slow burner and has lots of blood... congrats to Hello Sailor and Dragon for their forthcoming inductions into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame... Real Groovy has moved its counters and a tattooist is now where the counter used to be... Collapsing Cities are rehearsing ahead of gigs in support of upcoming new album Strangers Again… Mr Axe Attack, Paul Martin, and his band World War 4 are recording new tracks... Asinine will debut new material when they support a reformed Ishtar in the first week of October... Supergroove’s rehearsing for the Kiwi Cream gig in Hamilton on Saturday 17 September...
The Marimbians from Ponsonby Primary School impressed at the opening of Black Asterisk, as did Salon Kingsadore… The Datsuns play a one-off show for RWC in October and possibly a small show – watch this space.
Off the back of Bella Kalolo and The Soul Symphony touring the UK and US, Kalolo releases her debut album with a performance at Wellington’s Downstage Theatre on Sunday 18 September... Rich Decibels is presenting a series of DIY synthesiser workshops from 20 September–1 October, where you can make your own synthesiser from his new workspace – richdecibels. com... Electric Wire Hustle and Little Bushman play the San Francisco Bath House on the 23 and 24 September... Don Luchito has replaced Redbird Jr as the host of the morning Amplifier show on Radio Active, 10am to 1pm Monday to Friday… Wellington space jazz dance band Orchestra of Spheres have been signed to Fire Records in the UK – they will release their album Nonagonic Now worldwide through Fire, before heading to Europe/ UK for a tour which will include a performance at All Tomorrow’s Parties... This year’s Reel Brazil Film Festival runs at Paramount Theatre between 22–28 September – some interesting Brazilian music docos, a sci-fi film and some great contemporary art house films... the October/November issue of Fishhead Magazine – a Wellington lifestyle mag – is edited by film critic Graeme Tuckett, and will feature some of their most out-there content yet... Wellington eight-piece girl band St Rupertsberg have just released their debut EP, which was financed by crowd-sourced pledges through the pledgeme.co.nz website, New Zealand’s version of kickstarter. com... Wellington shoegazers The Golden Awesome are gearing up to release their debut album worldwide on M’Lady’s Records from NYC, on delicious vinyl no less.
New group Greyhound features members of The Unfaithful Ways, The Eastern and staff from The Sitting Room which is relocating to Lyttelton... Tiny Lies EP release show is this week… the Dream
Jay Roacher Team MC battle in Brighton on Friday 16 September sees match-ups between the likes of Jay Roacher and Karizma, Jyo and Lowkey, and more... The Phoenix Foundation play Hagley Park as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 September… the Family Cactus tour hits The Brewery this Saturday... new shops are opening in a bunch of shipping containers in the middle of town, with some cool ones like Hunters and Collectors in there – it’s the first retail action in the red zone.
Made In China to release longawaited new album on 23 September... Ink Mathematics EP is due to drop soon... metallers Mirakachinist have just released an EP called Forced Forged... Two Cartoons new video is out soon… Thundercub’s EP release party with T54 is at ReFuel on Wednesday 14 September... The Enemy’s old pad on Warrender Street is about to go under the wrecking ball... Chicks Project part 2 set to start very soon... Delgirl off to Nelson Arts Festival for four shows mid-October... Hunting Bears EP out soon... David Kilgour home from successful US shows – the Heavy Eights are set to play the Port Chalmers Seafood Festival... Knives At Noon will play a bunch of RWC showcases... Radio One is still going – budget negotiations continue with OUSA… The next Onefest will be at XII Below on the 30 September and 1 October, and is headlined by Home Brew and Lawrence Arabia with more to be announced... MANTHYNG have shot a video for their song ‘The Shaman’ and new album Lovechild is out in October... Ink Mathematics have a new EP out, Boredom You Conqueror.
GALAXIE 500
Dean Wareham brings the sound of Galaxie 500 to home turf when they play Wellington’s Bodega on Friday 14 and Auckland’s Kings Arms on Thursday 20 October. Originally born in New Zealand, Wareham recorded as Galaxie 500 in the late-’80s and formed Luna with ex-Chill Justin Harwood in the early ’90s.
RUSSIAN CIRCLES Tuesday 13 September – Kings Arms, Auckland Wednesday 14 September – Whammy Bar, Auckland Thursday 15 September – San Franscisco Bath House, Wellington
MULATU ASTATKE
Ethio jazz is an infectious music dating back to the 1960s that combines Latin jazz and early soul and funk with traditional Ethiopian harmony. The Godfather of the sound, Mulatu Astatke, will play one show in Auckland on Friday 25 November at The Powerstation. This will be the first time the master has played New Zealand, and he’ll be ably backed by the Black Jesus Experience. Expect an interview with Astatke in VOLUME soon.
MONO
Saturday 1 October – Kings Arms, Auckland
FUCKED UP RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS We love bagpipes at VOLUME
– think ‘A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock’n’Roll)’, ‘Mull of Kyntyre’, and now ‘bagrock’, a fusion of traditional pipe tunes and contemporary anthems. Scotland’s Red Hot Chilli Pipers cover ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Thunderstruck’ and more – if the YouTube clips are anything to go by, this should be a hoot (-s mon!) Friday 30 September – Vector Arena, Auckland Saturday 1 October – Town Hall, Dunedin Sunday 2 October – Revolver Bar, Queenstown Tuesday 4th October – The VenueMusicbar, Christchurch
FRENZAL RHOMB Friday 28 October – Bodega, Wellington Saturday 29 October – Kings Arms, Auckland
Shameless Canadians (how else do you describe them?) and Matador recording artists Fucked Up will open for the Foo Fighters at Auckland’s Western Springs on 13 December. Towels off Tuesday, Mr Damian?
PORTISHEAD
RUMOURS
Thursday 15 December – San Francisco Bath House, Wellington Friday 16 December – Kings Arms, Auckland
The Damned and Beirut looking good for New Zealand dates... Coromandel Gold has a handful of tickets left, and we hear Horace Andy will be performing side shows with a local heavyweight... Ladi6 is also returning for summer shows over the yuletide break... Henry Rollins spoken word, The Low Anthem, The 5.6.7.8’s, The Sonics, Redd Kross, the Dum Dum Girls are touted as well – not to mention Big Day Out, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, and Soundwave acts crossing the ditch.
Thursday 10 November – Vector Arena, Auckland
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
FLEET FOXES
Friday 13 January – Hunter Lounge, Wellington Saturday 14 January – Town Hall, Auckland
ELZHI
FU BAR, AUCKLAND THURSDAY 8 SEPTEMBER Text Keegan Fepuleai Photography Amos Chapple
FOR THE PAST 50 years Detroit has given birth to genres that would be heard worldwide. Motown’s deep back catalogue, house and techno are all musical exports of this great city. We even have our own little taste of the
‘D’ in Auckland by way of DJ/producer Recloose. It was time again for Detroit to shine on Thursday when Elzhi – one of Motor City’s many hip hop exports – played the first of two New Zealand shows. Elzhi first got the attention of producer Jay Dee through his recordings with DJ Houseshoes and Waajeed, and went on to rhyme over unreleased Jay Dee beats and feature on his Welcome To Detroit album. Joining Detroit hip hop luminaries Slum Village during the recording of their third album, Trinity (Past, Present and Future), he quickly fell in with the influential act, adding a new sense of life to the group. Elzhi’s ability to flip cyphers and
take the root of a word and transform it into something the dictionary can’t define is second to none. His dextrous wordplay was on display at Auckland’s Fu Bar as he ran through solo material and his collaborations with Slum Village, as well as cuts from Elmatic, Elzhi’s homage to one of
“IT WAS TIME AGAIN FOR DETROIT TO SHINE.”
the classic LPs in the hip hop canon, Nas’ Illmatic. Elzhi’s crisp diction and energy were well received by the local crowd – this was one of the clearest and most concise hip hop performances the city has witnessed in recent times.
THE BUSINESS STREET POSTER 2COL NUCHCH_THE BUSINESS STREET POSTER 2COL NUCHCH 30/08/2011 09:24 Page 1
NEW ZEALAND TOUR
NOVEMBER 2011 PLUS GUESTS
B DUNEDIN U L C S N A I HE MUSIC MUSIC BAR CHCH T V O N 2 WED 0 NOV THE VENUE GTON THURS 03 NOV BODEGA WELLINUCKLAND FRI 04 THE KINGS ARMS AL GROOVY RECORDS(W(AKELL)L), ORDS Z, REA V SAT 05 NO TICKETS FROM UNDERCTH4ERCOAFFDAEER.C(COH.NCH),ANSDLOCOWSMBOICATCORRECNER (DUNEDIN)
@PEACE
SAN FRANSCISCO BATH HOUSE, WELLINGTON FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER Text Felicity Perry Photography Shaun Jones
“Make some noise for your motherfucking life right now,” Tom Scott urged the charged crowd. This was hip hop as it’s meant to be – music that scoops you up off your feet, charges your mind, and makes you glad to be alive. @Peace kicked off their set with ‘Home’ from their self-titled debut – although the group hail from Auckland, it felt like they were home at the Bath House on Friday. Having given Wellington an intimate taster of the @Peace experience a couple of weeks before, there was much anticipation around this show. And it was deserved.
“TOM SCOTT AND LUI TUIASAU HAD THE AUDIENCE EATING THEIR WORDS UP LIKE A LATE-NIGHT KEBAB.” Against a body-moving soundscape created by El Truento on beats, B-Haru on keys and drums, and Dick Dastardly on beats and sax, Tom Scott and Lui Tuiasau had the audience eating their words up like a late-night kebab. It was clear that Scott and Tuiasau wanted to be there, and they had shit to say. No rhymes about bitches or gun-running here, just realistic portrayals of the life of two ‘Nobodies’ who “stand in the WINZ line”. Getting the crowd to chant “fuck John Key” in their stand-out track ‘Be Like’, @Peace reminded us that, at its roots, hip hop – like reggae, blues and funk – is party music underlined by the daily struggles of the underclass. Those looking for some ‘real’ New Zealand hip hop found it on Friday, piece by peace.