CREDITS Creators Murray Cammick Alistair Dougal Publisher Grant Hislop JAME S M A C M I L L A N c o n d u c t o r JO N ATH A N L E M A LU b a r i t o ne
HEAR & FAR NEW Z EAL AND SYMPHONY OR CHESTRA presents
CRESSWELL The Clock Stops (new commission) MACMILLAN Woman of the Apocalypse MACMILLAN The Confession of Isobel Gowdie
Fri 9 May WELLINGTON Sat 10 May AUCKLAND
The best of contemporary New Zealand music meets the best of contemporary music worldwide.
ON SALE NOW
Editorial Manager Tyler Hislop - tyler@harkentertainment.com Designer Greta Gotlieb - greta@harkentertainment.com Sub-Editor Louise Adams Sales Director Pauline Cousens - pauline@harkentertainment.com Distribution Jamie Hislop - jamie@harkentertainment.com Accounts Gail Hislop - accounts@harkentertainment.com Cover Illustration Credit Katey Peacham Contributors Katey Peacham, Skye Pathare, Jacqui Swift, Sebastian Mackay, Ren Kirk, Alexander Bisley, Laura Weaser, Riccardo Ball, Nick Collings, Reagan Morris.
Rip It Up Magazine is published by Hark Entertainment Ltd Office 2a Waverly Street, Auckland CBD, New Zealand Postal PO Box 6032 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, New Zealand Phone (09) 366 4616 Website ripitup.co.nz Printers Webstar | Blue Star Group Limited | Shit Hot Printers
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CONTENTS
39. Sherpa 16. The Phoenix Foundation 28. Lawrence Arabia
37. Paolo Nutini 20. The Bily T Nomine s 22. Lily Allen
8. What Goes On/On The Rip It Up Stereo, 11. Sheep, Dog & Wolf, 12. Watch This Space, 14. So What…/Tweet Talk, 16. The Phoenix Foundation, 18. This Month In Metaland, 20. Who’s Next? – The Billy T Nominees, 22. Lily Allen, 24. This Month In Clubland, 26. Style Like Alisa, 28. Style Like Lawrence Arabia, 29. Blacklistt, 30. Gadgets, 32. Geeks, 34. Film Reviews, 36. Album Reviews, 37. Paolo Nutini, 38. Album Reviews, 39. Sherpa, 40. Cage The Elephant, 42. Pixies, 44. KT Tunstall, 45. Artist Q&A – Ingrid Hagan 46. Heath Franklin, 48. Gary Numan, 50. #Winning, 51. On The Record – Ben Hurley
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THE CONVERSE CONS STAR PLAYER
WHAT GOES ON
PHARRELL
BLUES & ORANGES
This week marks a new era in the New Zealand Music Charts with the breaking of a near 40-year Singles Chart record. As of this week, Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ has occupied 15 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart. The feat sees him break the record for longest running #1 Single in NZ, set more than 35 years ago by Boney M and the 1978 double-sided single “Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring”. The Caribbeanfoursome held the title of #1 Single for 14 weeks in 1978 and - until now - no one has been able to dethrone them.
Following on from the announcement Sherpa’s album Blues & Oranges is to be released on Friday 16 May comes the news the band is to take the album on the road. Kicking off with an album release celebration show at Cassette Number Nine, they carry on down country finishing up in Christchurch.
a congratulatory message to Columbia Records US chairman, Rob Stringer, who was honoured with the prestigious Strat Award at the Music Awards in London. In the tongue-in-cheek message to his record label boss, David joked: “When he asked me if I minded if he took a few Saturdays off from his duties as percussionist on my new album this year in order to catch the Luton Town football club fixtures, how could I refuse? It’s the least I could offer to the man who with his own hands pulled my album to Number One throughout the world.”
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FROM UTR.CO.NZ SEE TOURS AND EVENTS FOR DATES
ARMAGEDDON Stars from the TV series ARROW have confirmed they will be coming to New Zealand for the Armageddon Expo in Wellington following the earlier Hamilton event. Michael Rowe (Deadshot) and David Ramsey (Diggle) plan to join the line-up of guests in Wellington who will be in the country for the hugely popular pulp-culture events. For more information head to armageddonexpo.com.
DAVID BOWIE
ARMAGEDDON EXPO 2014
David Bowie has hinted that he is working on a new record. He has seemingly let slip he is making a “new album this year” during
SAT 24 MAY – SUN 25 MAY CLAUDELANDS ARENA, HAMILTON SAT 31 MAY – MON 02 JUN WESTPAC STADIUM, WELLINGTON
ON THE RIP IT UP STEREO
IGGY AZALEA – THE NEW CLASSIC (2014) ALDOUS HARDING – ALDOUS HARDING (2014) LIAM FINN – THE NIHILIST (2014)
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COURTNEY LOVE – ‘YOU KNOW MY NAME’ (2014) TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB – BEACON (2012) WOODKID - THE GOLDEN AGE (2013)
CLEAN BANDIT FT. JESS GLYNNE ‘RATHER BE’ (2014)
INFECTIOUS GROOVES – SARSIPPIUS’ ARK (ALBUM 1993)
ALLEN STONE – ‘SLEEP’ (2012)
DAVID DALLAS – ‘RUNNIN’ (2013)
Featuring the hit singles Hard Out Here, Air Balloon and Our Time www.lilyallenmusic.com
SO WHAT...
Kanye West is planning to release a spoken word album. West will reportedly make the three-hour recording available on vinyl, and it will feature everything from his views on the environment to life with fiancee Kim Kardashian and their 10-month-old daughter North. A source said: “Kanye loves the sound of his own voice and this will be the ultimate in self-indulgence. He has very strong views on everything from music and art to politics and the environment. He’s forever recording his opinions on tape.” Kanye is said to be excited by the “groundbreaking” record and has set his sights on it winning awards.
‘Die Hard’ director John McTiernan finds his movies “embarrassing.” The filmmaker - who has given his first interview since release from prison in February - is best known for his action films including ‘Predator’ and ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and despite his success he finds it difficult to watch a movie back without being critical. He told Empire magazine: “I find all of my movies embarrassing. I’m not saying they’re bad but I sit there groaning. Cuts I’m not happy with, parts where I f**ked up. I find them emotionally difficult.”
T WEET TALK “Just when I didn’t think I could cry more on a daily basis, Sam Smith comes along” Whitney Cummings @WhitneyCummings
“‘Welcome To The Jungle’ featured in new Gatorade commercial. I suppose at this point it hardly matters but still I cry.” Tom Morello @tmorello
“Where is the jig when it’s not up? I want a postcard from there. Any takers?” Carrie Fisher @carriefisher
“Who takes the best selfies in LA? I need someone good to do mine.” Seth MacFarlane @SethMacFarlane
“I signed some dudes ass in Wanaka with him promising to tattoo it there in return for a lifetime entry to my gigs. I wonder if he did.” Hollie Smith @holliejsmith
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Avril Lavigne has defended her new music video for the track ‘Hello Kitty’ claiming it is not racist. The pop star released the promo which sees her singing Japanese phrases surrounded by an group of Asian dancers, but it was later deleted due to the controversial content, and now the singer insists the video was specifically for Japanese fans. Avril took to Twitter today (24.04.14) to defend the video, posting: “RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video ... specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan. (sic)”
THE BLACK KEYS TURN BLUE NEW ALBUM OUT MAY 9 www.theblackkeys.com
ALEXANDER BISLEY
THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION in years. Hopefully the new album will be something new again. Future world music I reckon, so like a post-apocalyptic world music sound. Like if you could imagine cyborgs around some eighty-gallon drums, chanting at the remains of the moon. AB: The Dave (Flaming Lips) Friddman mixed track ‘Asswipe’ is energetic, too. LB: You know it’s got four basses? The riff is actually all bass and not guitars. No lyrics, just: “Pom-gum-td-td-td”. The first thing Sam [Scott] said is “That’s undeniably fun” and so I said “Undeniably fun – yes, tick! Let’s go for that one!” So maybe there’s a lesson in there for all of us – follow the fun. AB: From Fandango, my faves are ‘Sideways Glance’ (not just because I have one myself) and ‘Inside Me Dead’. It’s that lovely, ‘All In An Afternoon’ian chord progression around 3:43.
“THERE’S LIFE IN the old dog yet,” Luke Buda quipped from the Big Day Out stage. The Phoenix Foundation were in sensational form. One highlight was the unleashing of ‘Bob Lennon John Dylan’, the Dave (Flaming Lips) Fridmann mixed track from May EP Tom’s Lunch. Over a cup of tea at his bohemian Aro Valley home, the funny co-frontman and I discussed invigorating their “marijuana psychedelic” sound, trying new things musically, and the golden trickle. ALEXANDER BISLEY: What are you hoping people take away from new tracks like ‘Bob Lennon, John Dylan’? LUKE BUDA: A lot of reviews of Fandango said you gotta stick with it, you gotta keep listening to it and then it’ll open up and show its charms. After five albums of that kind of review, I wanted to do something that had more immediate exuberant energy. I enjoy playing ‘Bob Lennon John Dylan’ – people seem to like it at gigs. I just hope that they’ll enjoy Tom’s Lunch! AB: Exuberant energy was the feeling during your superb Big Day Out set. ‘Fiscal Pickle’ is another bangingly entertaining Tom’s Lunch
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track: “Work like a dog and she never pays me, the trickle down drip’s just a way to haze me.” LB: The first line is “Seems like I’m the only one who daily dreams of the lonely Iron Lady.” And last line is: “Waiting for the golden trickle when you’re in a fiscal pickle.” Are you familiar with the trickle-down theory? The idea is that if workers’ rights are completely smashed into the ground, and get paid less and have less benefits, ultimately that’ll be better for them. Because everyone up the top, the elite, will be able to make more money and that means more of it will trickle down to us. That’s just one of those amazing neo-liberal things that somehow seem to have managed to sell to huge number of the population that actually, if they give up their rights and have a worse life, ultimately, things will be better. I find it completely ridiculous. It’s re-imagining that as like a golden shower, really. AB: Discussing Fandango, we talked about the Phoenix sound being “marijuana psychedelic.” Any progression with Tom’s Lunch? LB: It’s got faster energy. The first two tracks are quite a lot more immediate and quite a lot more raucous than anything we’ve done
LB: ‘Sideways Glance’ is definitely a live favourite now. At the end of it we get to cut loose. I really like ‘Inside Me Dead’, too. We want to keep really busy, despite what people might think about musicians [being lazy]. My son and I just watched a documentary on David Bowie. He would just make an album, tour, come back and make another album, through basically the whole 70s. That’s the way to do it isn’t it? We’re already working on a new album. [Drummer] Chris is coming down from Auckland next week for three months. We’ve already got a few tracks down and we’re going to workshop hard, looking for some new sounds. We’re going to have it out before the end of the year, and then hopefully hit Europe in February. AB: I have one complaint. One of the strengths of the Phoenix sound is your diversity. Where’s really fun rap ‘Dalston Junction’? LB: ‘Dalston Junction’ is coming out very soon, don’t worry. I think it always had to be put out by itself. Some of the industry people have heard it. Really buzzing about that one. I mean, you can’t deny a hook. ALEXANDER BISLEY IS EDITOR-AT-LARGE OF THE LUMIERE READER.
NEW EP: TOM’S LUNCH OUT FRI 16 MAY SEE TOURS AND EVENTS FOR SHOW DATES
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RICCARDO BALL
THIS MONTH IN METAL AND BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE METAL BAR. MONDAY’S 10PM JUICE TV SKY CHANNEL 112 NEWS Mastodon has announced the title of their sixth album. It’s Once More Round the Sun and includes song titles ‘High Road’, ‘Ember City’ and ‘Diamonds in the Witch House’, which features guest vocalist Neurosis’s Scott Kelly. 8 Foot Sativa are off to Europe in October opening for SOiL, American Headcharge and Hed (pe). Members of As I Lay Dying are carrying on with a brand new band after singer Tim Lambesis pleaded guilty to a felony murder solicitation charge in February. The new group is named Wovenwar and As I Lay Dying’s Jordan Mancino (drums), Nick Hipa (guitar), Phil Sgrosso (guitar) and Josh Gilbert (bass) have recruited Oh, Sleeper’s Shane Blay as their frontman. The new group have signed a deal with Metal Blade Records.
New Jersey thrash metal veterans Overkill will release their new album, White Devil Armory, on July 18, 2014 via Nuclear Blast. The effort was tracked at Gear Recording and will be mixed by Greg Reely, who also worked on 2012’s The Electric Age. Polish Tech Death masters Decapitated announced that they entered Hertz Studio on March 10 and now have let fans know they’ve made a decision on who their new drummer will be. Michal Lysejko, who toured with the band opening for Lamb Of God at the beginning of the year, is now officially a full-time member of the band.
2. What’s your poison these days? Michelob Ultra man - girl beer, 98 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs 4.2 percent alcohol - not bad man. Haha I’m readin’ the bottle: 12 fluid ounces. 3. Weirdest fan encounter or request? I dunno man - so many. You stumped me on that one.
5 MINS WITH JIMMY BOWER FROM DOWN 1. First album you heard that made you fall in love with heavy metal. Kiss Alive 2 man, a friend from down the road bought it and after we heard it we went back and got Destroyer and Love Gun and we used to hold concerts with light sabres and shit. I’m not kidding dude, Kiss were awesome.
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4. Grossest touring habit of anyone you’ve toured with? Masturbation, man, and that’s a fact.
DOWN DOWN IV - PART II Down have undergone changes of late. There was the loss of former Pantera bass player Rex Brown before Part I of the E.P and then, before Part II was written, the immense Kirk Windstein announced he was leaving to concentrate on his own band, Crowbar. Those changes would have killed lesser bands. However, Down bounced back. With Patrick Bruders on bass and Bobby Landgraf on guitar they have discovered that the earlier groove that made the band so vibrant and addictive, while retaining the dirty, sleazy sludginess, has always been their signature. Opener ‘Steeple’ reminds you that Black Sabbath are responsible for inspiring what you’re about to hear, while ‘We Knew Him Well’ is classic Down and ‘Conjure’ is a beautifully textured eight minute journey through a Lovecraftian world filled with smoke. This is the best thing that Down have released since A Bustle In Your Hedgerow, in my humble opinion.
GIVEAWAYS
3 X COPIES OF DOWN IV - PART II
UPCOMING RELEASES FRI 09 MAY KILLER BE KILLED KILLER BE KILLED FRI 09 MAY DOWN -
FRI 16 MAY SABATON HEROES FRI 13 JUN DEATHSTARS THE PERFECT CULT FRI 11 JUL SUICIDE SILENCE YOU CAN’T STOP ME
Zakk Wylde has survived an alcohol addiction, blood clots and more impressively, over 20 years as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist. Black Label Society IS Zakk. It’s the band he put together as his creative outlet during the down times and Catacombs Of The Black Vatican is the tenth studio album he’s released. The clarity and focus of this record really stands out and it’s safe to say this is the best Zakk and his band has sounded since 2003’s The Blessed Hellride. ‘Beyond the Down’, ‘My Dying Time’ and the opener ‘Fields of Unforgiveness’ are stand outs as future classics while ‘Heart of Darkness’ is the heaviest slab of riff on offer. Wylde’s guitar playing is exemplary but it’s his vocal that really stands out - especially on ‘Scars’ and ‘Damn the Flood’. It’s more heavy blues than heavy metal but the attitude is the same as ever.
WATCH THE METAL BAR TO WIN
DOWN
PART II EP
5. If a kid asks you what’s heavy metal which album do you hand them? Martin Scorsese’s recordings of Son House. Dude, listen to that shit for real.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY CATACOMBS OF THE BLACK VATICAN
WIN
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Semi-Permanent provides a refreshing look at the current state of the art & design world both educational and inspiring, it’s not to be missed. Whether your interested in fashion, design, digital or photography, SP has it all. Tickets on sale now www.semipermanent.com
REN KIRK
WHO’S NEXT?
2014 NZ INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL THU 24 APRIL - SUN 18 MAY COMEDYFESTIVAL.CO.NZ
What’s been your best gig so far and why? When I was fifteen, my mum and dad had some friends over for dinner and I pretended to be a South African exchange student called Joost for the whole meal. No one in the room really knew what was happening and the performance ended with mum chasing me out of the kitchen with a knife sharpener but that has probably been my best gig so far.
GUY MONTGOMERY What got you started with the whole standup thing? I was always better at being funny than anything else. You don’t really get told you can turn that into a career option growing up but when nothing else leaped out at me I thought I might make a go of it.
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What does being a finalist for the Billy T Awards mean to you? Getting nominated is very flattering, especially with the number of funny young comics on the scene.
Because he was making fun of himself the whole time it levelled the playing field for him to make fun of everything around him. He helped New Zealanders learn to laugh at themselves. What shows, do you think will be highlights of the Comedy Fest 2014? I would recommend heading along to anything you can. The festival is stacked this year. Sam Simmons from Australia is different from anything else you’ll see, Sara Pascoe is amazing and support all the young local comics. PRESENTS A SUCCINCT AND CONCISE SUMMARY OF HOW HE FEELS ABOUT CERTAIN THINGS
And being the Billy T Awards, what do you think really set him apart as a comedian? Just the ability to get away with anything.
TUE 29 APR - SAT 03 MAY WELLINGTON
What’s been your best gig so far and why? I did a mid-year Christmas lunch for the MS Society. I got to stay for the lunch AND watch the folk-carollers who were on after me. I remember the ham was really well cooked. Wait, the question was what gig gave you the best ham, right?
and he went out and nailed them.
BRENDON GREEN
What does being a finalist for the Billy T Awards mean to you? It’s a friendly reminder that I’m heading in the right direction. The nomination is like the guy who hands out drinks to marathon runners, except instead of Powerade, he’s handed me a plastic cup of self-belief.
What got you started with the whole standup thing? I started out in a duo with my mate Dave Wiggins who was already a great solo stand up. But then he left to have “a wife” and “a family,” leaving me all alone on stage. What a dick.
And being the Billy T awards, what do you think really set him apart as a comedian? The fact he was in control of everything. I love that not only was he the funniest person in the room, he also had the ambition and skill to do everything he wanted to do. He had big ideas,
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BILLY T JAMES changed the face of comedy in NZ, some might even say he was the face of NZ comedy, forging a hugely successful career out of making people laugh. To celebrate his memory and achievements the NZ Comedy Trust created the annual Billy T Award to support up-and-coming comedians. Ren Kirk caught up with the nominees for the 2014 Billy T Award (who will be judged on all aspects of their 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival show) with high expectations of some quick wit and some verbal repartee.
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Any word or saying you think is underappreciated and should be bought back in to circulation? I remember saying ‘mantis’ a lot at Massey High School. It’s such a positive description of being good at something. “You’re the mantis at rugby and I’m the mantis at going to the library at lunch time, we’re all the mantis!” What shows do you think will be highlights of the Comedy Fest 2014? I’m really looking forward to Markus Birdman and James Acaster’s return shows. They killed it last year, so now the bar has been raised in 2014. No pressure, guys. SOME MORE MR NICE GUY WED 07 MAY - SAT 10 MAY WELLINGTON TUE 13 MAY - SAT 17 MAY AUCKLAND
Where do you get inspiration for your material from? Mostly I source material from conversation. It’ll just take a word, or a sentence, something odd that can be plucked out and reconsidered. Like the topic of foreskins, they’re just hilarious.
STEPHEN WITT What got you started with the whole standup thing? I was in sales before starting stand up and I was bored as. After watching a show at The Classic one night I was convinced that I could do what the comics on stage were doing. So I signed up for the 2012 Raw Comedy Quest. Around the same time I was offered a job as a children’s entertainer playing Popcorn the Clown.
TIM BATT What got you started with the whole stand up thing? My brother lived with some comics in Wellington and I remember going to see them and thinking to myself, “I’m AT LEAST as good as the worst guy here.” Turns out I was wrong, I was way worse than the worst guy. But I got a taste for it so kept going back for more punishment.
What does being a finalist for the Billy T Awards mean to you? It means everything to me. I left my job to perform, and being nominated for an award as prestigious as this tells me it was the right thing to do. Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, and Rhys Darby are just a few of the New Zealand comedic icons who were in the running for this same award. That makes me incredibly proud.
Where do you get inspiration for your material? At the moment, my childhood. There’s so much comedy in the innocence of youth. Like how I didn’t know the difference between rations and Rashuns. So I thought that during World War II everybody ate cheese and bacon flavoured corn snacks.
What shows, do you think will be highlights of the Comedy Fest 2014? I’m looking forward to Kraken, by Trygve Wakenshaw. He’s from NZ originally, and his act looks buzzy as. He’s won many awards for his first solo show SQUIDBOY, and his new show seems to be following suit. ODD TUE 06 MAY - SAT 10 MAY WELLINGTON
And being the Billy T award, what do you
TUE 13 MAY - SUN 17 MAY AUCKLAND
What’s been your best gig so far and why? The Billy T Showcase was quite fun. I was super nervous and got out there and knew I couldn’t do the regular thing I like to do, which is bound onto stage with a lot of energy and just start ripping into jokes. So I disassembled the stage, sat down, lightly abused the audience and had a grand old time in the end.
And being the Billy T Awards, what do you think really set him apart as a comedian? He was a man prepared to break the right rules at the right time. Here was a trained performer through and through, incredible musical ability and theatrical abilities and he decides to play a character donning a singlet and yellow towel sending up his own Maori heritage.
What does being a finalist for the Billy T Awards mean to you? It means as much to me as I imagine it must to a talented young Otaginian getting into the Golden Shears. The difference is, in the Golden Shears you actually have to be good at a useful skill. In the Billy T, technically you could win it making really great dick and fart jokes nobody has heard before.
Any word you think is under appreciated and should be bought back in to circulation? Kerfuffle - what other word has that many f’s and starts with a k? Bloody nothing! Hilarious. If you know a Welsh person, get them to say “What’s all this kerfuffle?” and try not to laugh. TIM BATT SAVES PLANET EARTH TUE 29 APR - SAT 03 MAY WELLINGTON TUE 13 MAY - SAT 17 MAY AUCKLAND
What’s been your best gig so far and why? Probably 2012’s Last Laughs at Sky City. I was still very, very new to stand-up and went on just before Rhys Darby. We were both pacing backstage and he said to me, “How you feeling?” And I said, “Thanks.”
JAMAINE ROSS
think really set him apart as a comedian? Aside from being funny, I think it was his diversity, and his honesty. He poked fun at all the right places. At places kiwis really needed to laugh. He did it through music, through sketch, and through stand up. His talent, and controversial material saw him reach every TV set in the country.
Most embarrassing on stage moment to date? Probably the final night of The Medium Rare Comedy Showcase last year when I decided to open my set with a rap song. It was told from the point of view of my mum at 15 years old, who went to school with Optimus Prime, who she would bully relentlessly for being a Transformer. The audience wasn’t feeling it. What does being a finalist for the Billy T awards mean to you? It means that there are at least five people out there that think I’m good at what I’m doing.
And that feels awesome. And being the Billy T awards, what do you think really set him apart as a comedian? Being Maori, it was a pretty big deal to me as a kid that he was Maori. He was a guy that talked and laughed just like my uncles, except he was famous. So I guess that set him apart for me. What shows, do you think will be highlights of the Comedy Fest 2014? Stuart Goldsmith - He Wolf! He’s the loveliest guy and way too funny. I hate him. James Roque - Roque To Self. He’s a friend of mine who paid me $50 to plug his show. He’s also very very funny. Steven Boyce - Monster Baby. JAMAINE SAYS FUNNY THINGS TUE 06 MAY - SAT 10 MAY WELLINGTON MON 12 MAY - SAT 17 MAY AUCKLAND
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LILY ALLEN WIN
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HARDLY THE RETIRING type, Lily Allen has plenty to say with her comeback album Sheezus. But then we wouldn’t expect anything less from the ‘LDN’ singer, who is back despite having announced her retirement from music in 2009. Back then, she wanted to concentrate on being a good wife to builder and decorator Sam Cooper, whom she married in June 2011, and mum to daughters Ethel and Marnie, age two and one. “I had every intention of being a stay-at-home mum though I don’t think I really meant I was retiring for good,” she says with a giggle. On her third album, Sheezus – the title a tongue-in-cheek reference to Kanye West’s Yeezus – she takes a pop at supermodel Cara Delevigne, singer Rita Ora on the song ‘Insincerely Yours’ and on the title track she name-checks the ladies who are dominating music. “Riri isn’t scared of Katy Perry’s roaring, Queen B’s gone back to the drawing board, Lorde smells blood…we’re all watching Gaga, LOL like haha, dying for the art so really she’s a martyr, second best will never cut it for the divas, give me that crown bitch I wanna be Sheezus.” Says Allen: “I’ve not written about it to be controversial, it’s simply me being honest and my views on it all.”
like ‘yes, you know who I am.’” The bitter feud started after Banks said Allen’s children were “ugly” and described her husband as looking like a “thumb”. Allen retorted by branding the rapper a “one-hit wonder” and posted a picture of a penis in reference to her. “And then I just bashed it all out. It was like two years of writing before I found my voice.” She heard through a friend that Kanye West had heard about her album name and even joked that fiancée Kim Kardashian was “going to fight her for it.” Though any fighting over her songs might be closer to home. Allen could be heading for a domestic after her song ‘L8 Cmmr’, embarrassed her husband. On the song – which she wrote about her husband’s work in the bedroom – she sings: “Lyrics are my lover/Shoots and scores like he’s Maradona / Undercover, under the covers/My man is a bad motherf**ker”. She admits: “He wasn’t happy. But I think people know me for being candid about everything. I can’t just suddenly get married and not talk about sex. “Sam knew what he was getting into when he got together with me. Though he has told me to tone it down now I’m a mum,” she confesses.
“It was like two years of writing before I found my voice.”
models like Jourdan Dunn who endorse brands for money and fame or turn up at parties and premieres. “I hate that world. It’s soulless and elitist,” Allen states. “I also think that whole idea of taboo or things that we know one should or shouldn’t do is ridiculous. There are number of ways to smash that on the head. It’s not until you start being open and honest, talking about things that others won’t, that we can break it down. “I think people are so driven by fame and fear in this society.” Allen’s first single, ‘Hard Out Here’, made it a controversial comeback for her. On the track she sings: “Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits/It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard out here for a bitch/If you’re not a size six, then you’re not good looking/Well, you better be rich, or be real good at cooking.” The video shows Allen twerking and receiving liposuction (not at the same time). Allen says, “I guess maybe I go places other people don’t go but, it’s not really intentional, that’s just the way I am. My thing is I write about social observations.
“And I have - slightly,” she laughs. After leaving the city for a life in the countryside, Allen had tried but failed to start writing again but found it “too forced”. But then following a Twitter spat with Azealia Banks, she soon got vocal again. She says, “I tried to write through my pregnancy with my youngest, but the hormones were really weird and it was just really forced and sounded terrible. It wasn’t until I stopped breastfeeding, six months on, and Azealia tweeted me, that I was
“It was really funny last week because I took them to sound check before my gig. I was there with one of the dancers and my eldest was screaming – she just wanted to be held. But I had to practice my dance routines. So there I was. Twerking. With my eldest in my arms and I was like, ‘This is really weird.’ All the roadies are like, ‘Niiiice.’” Allen says she’s had a go at
“What’s the point of doing a video if you don’t want people to make it a big deal? The whole point is not shock factor but you want it to be something people share and talk about. “At the start that song was perfect because it felt like the right time. There was so much being talked about in terms of new feminism. I was so excited to be a part of that. But then when people got annoyed, it
upset me.” Allen was also labelled “racist” for making a video featuring barely dressed black dancers. “The racism thing took me by surprise. It had nothing to do with race. Instinctively, I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. I wanted to comment and explain to people but actually, as soon as you start doing that, it just gets worse, so you don’t. “I would be sad if people were genuinely offended. You know, I grew up in London the 1980s. It was strange to be called racist.” There’s also heartache on Sheezus. ‘Take My Place’ is a moving ballad about Allen losing her son, who was stillborn after she contracted a viral infection in November 2011. Allen was six months pregnant at the time. Lyrics include “How can life be so unfair/This is more than I can take” and relives the devastation she went through. But now with two young daughters, Allen says she’s trying to work out how to tour, be a mum and not be away from them for too long. “I just hate not being near them,” she says. “ They are both so little, so I don’t really want to unsettle them. It’s about finding out what’s best for them and playing it by ear. “I will tour – but having them with me and being a working mum is my life now.” NEW ALBUM: SHEEZUS OUT FRI 02 MAY
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NICK COLLINGS
THIS MONTH IN CLUBL AND FOR EXTENDED INTERVIEWS CHECK OUT RIPITUP.CO.NZ/CLUBLAND
TURNING THE TABLES WITH… L-VIS 1990 & BOK BOK
host a radio show called Night Slugs on the infamous Rinse FM in London.
1. The Night Slugs name first came into existence in 2008 when L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok started a club night dedicated to a brand new hybrid sound.
7. L-Vis 1990 took his name from a Sigue Sigue Sputnik record from the 80’s. “There was an intro to one of their tracks with a deep voice, it described how the ultimate band was going to change the future by revisiting the past. That band was called L-Vis 1990.”
2. Night Slugs launched as a record label in 2010 signing releases from Mosca, Girl Unit & Kingdom. 3. All label and release artwork is done by Bok Bok himself. 4. When an artist is ready to release a single on the Night Slugs label, they are asked to approach BokBok with a word (ie: “give me something catholic”) that they feel represents the work and Bok Bok interprets that and presents it to the artist.
8. L-Vis 1990 has a Chicago ghetto house side project called “Dance System”. 9. L-Vis 1990 had a big hit called “United Groove” that was signed to Diplos Mad Decent record label in 2009. 10. Bok Bok is set to release a new EP called ‘Your Charizmatic Self’ before his extensive OZ/NZ TOUR in May/June 2014. SEE THEM DJ: L-VIS 1990 & BOK BOK
5. The Night Slugs label philosophy is that club music should not be disposable and it should be something immersive. 6. L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok co
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(UK) SUN 01 JUN CASSETTE NINE, AUCKLAND
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE KULKID Simply stated as from “The Alps, France”, new comer Kulkid is wasting no time cementing his spot as a talent to watch. With several remixes under his belt for acts such as Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey, Mumford & Sons he is firmly looking to take his own creations to another level. Clubland scratches the surface of Kulkid. Coming up in electronic music, who was your DJ/ producer hero? I’ve always been a huge fan of Jamie xx’s work. The guy’s always going back and forth between synths, and real instruments, breaking frontiers between electronic and acoustic music. I also love Four Tet for this too. And I think you can easily hear/feel their influence on my work.
What track of yours do you recommend to people who have never heard your music before? I think ‘U Were The One’ is a good example. It works on dance floors and is also perfect for sunny afternoons by the swimming pool. Are there any DJ/producers you have met that are nothing like how you thought they would be? When I met Foals in Le Zénith (Paris), they did an awesome performance, really electric, the crowd was crazy. And then, when I met them backstage, they were all calm, just like any other person. And a tiny bit shorter than I thought. KULKID ‘FORGOT ABOUT KUL/I NEED YOU’ IS AVAILABLE AS A FREE DOWNLOAD NOW.
THE FUTURE OF NEW ZEALAND CLUBLAND Clubland investigates the future beat curators of Aotearoa to celebrate New Zealand Music Month 2014.
Production Name: Chores Location: Auckland Style Produced: House Who Taught You To Produce: Sam played the guitar and piano all through high school so he was able to adapt his theoretical background to electronic production quite easily. And we now share a studio with Terace and both the boys have been instrumental in helping us through teaching and generally guiding us thus far.
Production Name: Echo Inada Location: Auckland Style Produced: Drum & Bass Ultimate Label You’d Like To Sign With? I would love to do more work with Hospital Records. I keep in touch with Tony (London Elektricity) quite regularly and we hung out a bit backstage at Northern Bass a few years ago. I love a lot of the stuff they put out and they treat their artists really well.
Production Name: Habit Location: Wellington Style Produced: Drum & Bass Production Highlight To Date: I had two tunes played at EDC in Las Vegas last year. That was pretty cool, as a lot of people go to that event. ESSENTIAL LISTENING: ‘ANATOMY’ (2012) ‘FRUIT CAKE’ (2013) ‘FORCE FIELD’ (2014)
ESSENTIAL LISTENING: ALWAYS WONDER “RUDEBRAT” (LUMSUM REMIX) (2013) BIG CITY LIFE “MATTAFIX” (LUMPSUM
‘STAND STILL’ (CHORES EDIT) (2013)
Production Name: Ian Munro Location: Auckland Styles Produced: Trap, Moombahton, House Production Highlight To Date: Diplo or UZ liking my music for sure.
CHORES & DITTO FT. MILOU - ‘AT THE
ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
NIGHT’S END’ (2014)
IAN MUNRO & KYLE VAN RIPER -
OWL EYES - ‘SOMETHING ABOUT US’
‘SWING IT’
(DAFT PUNK COVER) (CHORES EDIT)
GWEN STEFANI - ‘HOLLABACK GIRL’ (IAN
(2014)
MUNRO BOOTLEG)
ESSENTIAL LISTENING: ‘EM’S TRACK’ (2014) ‘THE TRUTH’ (2014) ‘FREE’ (2014)
ESSENTIAL LISTENING: FLIGHT FACILITIES FT. MICKY GREEN -
Production Name: Lumpsum Location: Christchurch Styles Produced: Dubstep and Drum & Bass Where Do You See Yourself In A Year? I took 2013 off to focus on my career, so this year I want to release my second EP, several singles and more videos.
REMIX) (2013) LUMPSUM FEATURING MAYA WOLFF “TRUSTING YOU” (2013)
‘TWERK SOME’
Production Name: Club22kids Location: Auckland Styles Produced: Electro House/ Progressive House First Release: Our first ever release was in March 2014. It was a track called ‘Elevators’ that came out on TRXX, FFW & Promobits, all imprints of Miles Dyson’s label Plasmapool. ESSENTIAL LISTENING: ‘ELEVATORS’
Production Name: Gesshoku Location: Auckland Style Produced: Electronica Years Producing: I have been writing and playing music professionally as a freelancer for three years. I have over ten years of experience in sound design, composition and production for games, advertisements and film trailers.
‘CALLED UPON’ (2014)
Production Name: Liberty30 Location: Auckland Styles Produced: House, Electronic, Electro, Hip Hop, R&B, Pop Where Do You See Yourself In A Year? We see ourselves creating a new path for EDM, owning a new sound, something fresh with multi-genre integration and giving listeners and DJs a new trend or style to embrace.
‘THROUGH A LIFE TIME’ 2014
ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
ESSENTIAL LISTENING: ‘FORBIDDEN DANCE’ (2013)
Production Name: Michael Deans Nz Location: Palmerston North Styles Produced: Variations of House, Drum & Bass and Trance. What Do You Do As A Paying Job? I’m 14 so I’m still at school, but I do get paid for my DJing so I guess that could count. ESSENTIAL LISTENING: MICHAEL DEANS NZ & MINIROLL ‘BROKEN HOUSE’ AVICII - ‘WAKE ME UP’ (MICHAEL DEANS BOOTLEG) PORTER ROBINSON - ‘THE WILDCAT’ (MICHAEL DEANS BOOTLEG)
‘WHAT I WANT’
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ST YLE LIKE ALISA
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THE HORRORS NEW ALBUM
TUNE-YARDS NEW ALBUM
ST YLE LIKE L AWRENCE AR ABIA
The Swanndri Messenger Bag, $199.99, barkersonline.co.nz . Sigfred Summer Boucle Knit Jumper, $239, goodasgold.co.nz Gunnar Shirt - Organic Summer Blues, By Nudie Jeans Co, $249, superette.co.nz . Memoir Eau De Parfum Spray 50ml, $559, fishpond.co.nz Lawrence Arabia, The Sparrow CD, $29.95, realgroovy.co.nz . Swanndri 1000 Acre Blazer, $599.99, barkersonline.co.nz Yellow Trafalgar Pocket Square, $69, crane-brothers.com . Plane Cufflinks, $49.99, barkersonline.co.nz . Battle Scene Watch, $115, iloveugly.co.nz Brogue in Tan, $289, facebook.com/drmartensausnz
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SEBASTIAN MACKAY
BL ACKLISTT IF YOU WILL imagine Blacklistt’s members; Damian Alexander, Marcus Powell, Karl Vilisini and Gareth Fleming brandishing chainsaws or better yet, as a family of inbred psychopaths hunting down whomever is so unfortunate to cross them. The one question that remains to be asked is which one would be Leatherface? Alexander with his blood-curdling screams or Powell brandishing one of band’s kick-your-teeth-in-riffs? It wasn’t a question I was about to ask and frontman Damian Alexander’s laugh, when he cuts the Texas Chainsaw Massacre analogy short, is oddly reassuring. “It would be Misery,” he says, “because it’s lovingly painful.” Misery (the 1990 film) is about a wildly obsessed fan who gets her hands on the author of her favourite series of novels, only to find she has access to the manuscript of the series finale. At this point it seems needless to say but: the wildly obsessed fan is also capable of murder. After those warning signs, someone better versed in psychology probably wouldn’t have asked Alexander if he was worried people wouldn’t care about Blacklistt; after all, he did just liken them to psychopaths. “Of course,” he says. He’s soft spoken and, obviously, nothing like Leatherface. “It’s like anything. If you’re a young single guy and you see someone and then ten years later you see them again, you wonder if it’s going to be awkward or strange.” The self-titled album was received better than a once lost mistress would be (I imagine). During the build-up, it took the band a couple of years to get Alexander back in the studio. He’d always wanted to return to music and there’s a moment of
reflection before he speaks again. “The longer you spend away, the more productive and richer you are when you come back to it. That was at the heart of it for us. People will say your last record came out a year ago, you’ve got to write another one. But that isn’t us.” There was another potential project culminating in the back of Alexander’s mind. Something far from Blacklistt and closer to Portishead (a band he’s a big fan of). “Something twisted and dark,” he says. “Without the band pushing me and saying we’ve got to keep going I would never have done it. It’s not that I’m a lazy person, it’s that I have other commitments.” Productive and enriched when he returned to the band, Alexander says they’ve made an album that’ll stand his personal test of time.
“The longer you spend away, the more productive and richer you are when you come back to it. That was at the heart of it for us. for a record and if that works for them, that’s great. But it doesn’t work for us.” It leaves the door right open for album number two. He says it could be anything, and “I hate to use Kanye as an example but you can reinvent yourself as many times as you want. As long as we remain true to the core values of Blindspott.” There’s one thing that Alexander’s adamant about and that’s that any form of Blacklistt “definitely won’t be a dance band! It’ll be something within reason.” He laughs as goodnatured as ever…but then again that may have been chainsaw in the background.
“Being true and remaining true and being honest” are what he says he’d want Blacklistt to be remembered for. Within those values, the band will run like blood wherever their musical prowess takes them. From receiving the music for ‘From The Blindspott’ over email, to thinking no one would care if they made a come back, to releasing the self-titled album and now hitting the road on their second tour, Blacklistt may just make the transition from lovingly painful to chainsaw wielding psychopaths. One thing that’s clear is that on the tour they’re going to be doing some murdering of their own. VISIT RIPITUP.CO.NZ FOR TOUR DATES
Core values are important.
BLACKLISTT.CO.NZ
“I can honestly say that in 20 years I will look back on this album and feel that it’s still relevant. I said what I needed to say and it was honest. That’s not something I can say about other parts of my career.” The dynamics of Blacklistt come from the band not having a blueprint when they were writing. It led to over a hundred pieces of music being written, which include everything from cheesy, to heavy to “Indian restaurant,” Alexander laughs. It is, noticeably, less aggressive than anything to come out of Blindspott. Alexander says they didn’t set out to write the type of record people would expect – let alone write a record they felt they had to write. “We didn’t say we have to write heavy songs here and there… some bands will choose how many heavy songs they write
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GADGETS
Yonanas Healthy Dessert Maker, $129.99, thewarehouse.co.nz . Wolfenstein: The New Order, $98+, ebgames.co.nz . Titanfall, $98+, ebgames.co.nz Xbox One Titanfall Limited Edition Wireless Controller, $98, ebgames.co.nz . Instax SHARE is $249, jbhifi.co.nz . Samsung Galaxy S5, $1049, jbhifi.co.nz Wave速 music system III - digital with free OE2i headphones, $999.00, bose.com
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GEEKS
PRINCE OF PERSIA RUMOURED TO RETURN
SLY TRILOGY PS VITA The Sly Cooper Trilogy, a rerelease of the classic Playstation platformers, follows the capers of three best friends who also happen to be expert thieves. Sly, the leader of the gang, is a smooth talking Racoon. Bentley, the brains behind the operation, is a bespectacled turtle, and Murray (or The Murray as he is eventually known) is the brawn, and what I assume is a hippo? The first game in the trilogy, aptly named Sly Raccoon, is about a family tome, the Thievius Raccoonus, being stolen from Sly by another gang of thieves, led by Clockwerk, a mechanical owl. Each member of the gang becomes a boss battle in Sly’s attempts to recover the book. Honestly, I didn’t think much of this one. It was the kind of platformer that didn’t seem to do much beyond what was already out in the market at the time - and this is 12 years later. And then I played the second title and all became clear. Obviously Sucker Punch had been given a bit of feedback on creating a game about thieves that involved little to no stealing. Sly 2: Band of Thieves starts off in a very similar way to the first, but now we have thievery! And best of all, it involves having to break into places to get as much information
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as possible via a recon mission before even planning the heist. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is the last in the trilogy and builds upon what Sucker Punch created with Band of Thieves. It’s more of the same but with what seems like extra polish. The game is broken into episodes (just like the other two), you take control of the main three characters to set up and pull off heists, and this time there are a few extra characters along the way. It’s definitely my pick of the three mainly due to the main villain we meet at the start of the game. In the end, I’m sold. These games seem to hold up really well despite it being almost a decade since the third released. I’ll be interested to see if the upcoming feature film will be able to capture what the series has created, but that trailer sure is promising. REAGAN MORRIS
Ubisoft is reportedly working on a new Prince of Persia game, but in contrast to recent titles in the series, it’s said to be a 2D title that harks back to the franchises origins and makes use of the UbiArt framework. The UbiArt engine allows developers to easily create and animate 2D, hand-drawn game art without having to go through the
LAST OF US ARTIST MOVES ON Nate Wells, lead artist for The Last of Us, has confirmed that he has left Naughty Dog and joined The Unfinished Swan developer Giant Sparrow. Wells announced the move on Twitter, saying that he joined the indie studio on Thursday the 3rd of April. Before joining Naughty Dog in 2012, Wells spent 13 years with Irrational Games, where he most recently served as art director for BioShock Infinite. The Unfinished Swan, the first game from Giant Sparrow, was
process of drawing sprites frame by frame. UbiArt was first seen in 2011’s Rayman Origins, and has since been used for Rayman Legends and the recently released Child of Light. The last Prince of Persia game to be released was 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, but if the rumours are true, the new title would be the first 2D game in the series since Prince of Persia 2 released way back in 1993 (which was a classic game loved by many).
met with a warm reception when it came out for PlayStation 3 in 2012, and went on to win two BAFTA awards for Debut Game and Game Innovation. Wells is the third high profile departure from Naughty Dog in less than two months. In early March, Uncharted series creative director Amy Hennig left for unknown reasons, and has since joined EA’s Visceral Games to work on a new Star Wars project. Later that month, Uncharted 4 game director Justin Richmond left to join Riot Games.
FILM REVIEWS
LAURA WEASER
DIRECTED BY MARC WEBB STARRING ANDREW GARFIELD, EMMA STONE, JAMIE FOXX
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Despite two years between the introductory reboot and the electrifying sequel, Rise of Electro, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 holds on to the momentum of the first film by upping the ante in every aspect: more action, more villains, more gratuitous city swinging scenes. And while this high-flying follow-up treads a fine line between exciting and excessive, its character development stops it from falling into the trap of failed comic book blockbusters. Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is living life on the edge: he’s already broken his promise to Gwen’s (Emma Stone) late father to stay
away from her, and balancing his real-life with his persona behind the mask is proving increasingly difficult. And with new villains – including Electro (Jamie Foxx), a troubled Oscorp employee, and old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) – back on the scene, he’s got enough to keep him busy. But it’s his father’s mysterious death that’s forever plaguing on his mind and as new secrets come to light. Peter’s slowly unravelling a web of deceit that is set to end in disaster. At nearly three hours of jam-packed plot and new character introductions, this film demands your attention. Much like the first,
DIRECTED BY NICK CASSAVETES STARRING CAMERON DIAZ, LESLIE MANN, KATE UPTON
THE OTHER WOMAN They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and by that mantra The Other Woman is exactly what you’d expect – a lukewarm reimagining of previous “girl power” chick flicks, designed to dispel female stereotypes while falling into other ones with ease. Blonde beauty Carly (Cameron Diaz) is smitten with her boyfriend Mark (Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), only to discover he
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is married to Kate (Leslie Mann). Accidently revealing herself to Kate as “the other woman”, the two become friends and soon find out that Mark has been cheating on them both with Amber (Kate Upton). The unlikely friends bond together and quickly seek revenge to teach the cheater a lesson. Like an adult version of John Tucker Must Die and a not-so-good adaptation of The First Wives Club, The Other Woman
plot development and relationships are valued as much as a good rough-and-tumble, citydestroying fight sequence. Real life loves Stone and Garfield have undeniable chemistry that drives the action and the audience’s emotions – after all, we can’t forget that he is just a college kid juggling first-time love with saving the world. Their compassion and companionship is genuine and it’s a pleasure seeing them on screen. That said, Garfield’s bond extends beyond his girlfriend. Whether he’s sharing a scene with Sally Field as Aunt May, or Dane DeHaan as Peter’s best friend Harry, there’s a believable nature to their interactions, which means when things go pear-shaped, it doesn’t feel hokey or contrived. New addition Jamie Foxx makes an exciting villain as Electro – from ordinary man to extraordinary bad-ass, he plays each side of the coin with the same strength and strikes fear into your heart as an almost unstoppable force. Plot twists and turns put you in Peter’s unitard as he seeks answers to what Oscorp has been up to, but the ongoing search is well-punctuated with fights (both physical and emotional), funny moments and heartfelt sentimentality – not to mention motion sickness-inducing first-person flight as the viewer literally sees the world through Spidey’s point of view. A sequel that’s worth swinging into cinemas for.
*****
reaffirms the age-old Hollywood values: a) cheaters never prosper, b) all men are horrible and c) the sisterhood is strong. These three myths are, of course, totally untrue, but are designed to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling of female friendship as the credits roll. Director Nick Cassavetes (the man behind tearjerkers The Notebook and My Sister’s Keeper) tugs on the heartstrings, using every trick in the book, but the 2D caricatures of our female leads fail to illicit any real feelings from the viewer. There’s careerdriven Carly, dowdy wife Kate and big boobs Amber – and none of them inspire or evoke sympathy for their predicament. Mostly, it’s just frustration at their involvement in this façade of feminism. With attractive co-stars Nicki Minaj (what the f***?) and Taylor Kinney (Lady Gaga’s man) as set pieces – even Coster-Waldau is reduced to a shadow of his TV self – The Other Woman is average chick-flick comedy at its best, but if you don’t mind laxative gags or public humiliation, you may be able to overlook its flaws.
*****
FILM REVIEWS
LAURA WEASER
THE FIFTH REEL BRAZIL FILM FESTIVAL 2014 love, Janaina, also in reincarnated forms. Together, they push on for the cause, despite the consequences, in hope of a better future. Rich, detailed, almost anime-like animation provides an aesthetically distracting medium in which to recount the disturbing elements of Brazil’s past. Wars, abuse, rape, torture – all become muted thorough the beauty of the visuals, in turn creating a viewer discomfort that serves to highlight the reality of these actions. Instead of a slap-to-the-face call-to-arms film that’s designed to inspire through rousing music and heroic monologues, Rio 2096’s message is more subtle through the narrative repetition, and as the final scene pauses, overlooking the city of the not-so-distant future, the reality of how far the city has come and how far it still needs to go dawns on you. But while the conclusion is somewhat bleak, there’s a flicker of hope as viewers are encouraged to keep fighting for what you believe in, no matter the barriers you need to constantly overcome – a core message that can be taken from the smallest domestic drama to the biggest citywide issue.
DIRECTED BY LUIZ BOLOGNESI STARRING SELTON MELLO, CAMILA PITANGA, RODRIGO SANTORO
RIO 2096: A STORY OF LOVE AND FURY Using graphic novel-style animation and contemporary music, Brazil’s troubled history gets a colourful retelling through the eyes of an immortal warrior. Skipping through decades and various moments of significant, spanning 600 years, our hero’s struggle for freedom is always the same – driven by the passion of both
fury and love. From 1566 to 2096, every battle is the same, whether it is the protagonist as a Tupinambá tribe member, or a student guerilla in the 1970s – the oppressed are fighting back against those in a position of power. Narrated by our hero, who is reincarnated with a variety of names and appearances, the different time periods are linked by his continual search for his true
unDeR the RaDaR pReSentS
PLANETARIUM
LIGHT SHOW
S Rt e o b pp to ceD u S n u o n n a
Tuesday Night Double Feature Includes two glasses of wine and a snack.
For all inFormation and ticketing visit www.undertheradar.co.nz
R18
8PM 13 MAY 20 MAY 27 MAY
Doors for all shows are 8pm - R18 sorry www.facebook.com/thephoenixfoundation www.thephoenixfoundation.co.nz
book now at stardome.org.nz /09 624 1246
ALBUM REVIEWS *****
ALDOUS HARDING ALDOUS HARDING LYTTELTON RECORDS
Don’t tell my wife, but I’ve fallen for another woman. Aldous Harding has the kind of voice that will either repel or seduce, depending on listener preference. To me, it’s the essence of introspective femininity, an up-close and intimate voice that plays on tiniest subtleties of inflexion, using the roof of the mouth and the tongue and the lips in its delirious execution of her astonishing, seemingly Celtic inspired tales. Clearly, talent runs in the family: Aldous is the daughter of the sadly underrated
PIXIES INDIE CINDY
*****
PIXIESMUSIC /[PIAS] AUSTRALIA
Pixies are back! Without Kim Deal. An album following a 23 year hiatus from recording. Black Francis sounds deranged as ever on the title track, and ‘Magdalena 318’ - the band even raps a little on ‘Bagboy’. The re-jigged lineup still resonates substantially and have gotten death-metal heavier on the guitars (subtext of rage at Deal’s departure?), but now lacking the former garagejamming charm of their tonality. There’s richness to their sound which was never there before, particularly on closer ‘Jaime Bravo’ and ‘Another Toe in the Ocean’. This isn’t necessarily positive. The stringiness, the seemingly unpremeditated craft on Doolittle and Surfer Rosa was what made the Pixies the Pixies. This record almost sounds Weezer-ish. Which isn’t necessarily negative. Santiago’s guitar solos are wiry and exquisite as ever. But, it’s the Deal-factor that’s missing. Come back! SOONG PHOON
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** EELS THE CAUTIONARY TALES OF MARK OLIVER EVERETT
**
AXEMEN DERRY LEGEND
*****
Canterbury singer-songwriter Lorina Harding, but she has found her own way with music. The sound is mostly sparse, with fingerpicked acoustic guitar, and the occasional supplementation of violin, ghostly choir and spooky theremin. Her accent is so strong that she appears to be singing in some ancient, witchy dialect, and it perfectly matches the dark-woods flavour of the songs. If you can’t handle the likes of Joanna Newsom, then Harding may irritate. Everyone else can be assured of an experience to take you out of the humdrum. GARY STEEL
KEVIN DREW DARLINGS
*****
LUXURY
ARTS & CRAFTS
Entering his second half-century, Mr. E appears to be taking stock. Never one for unnecessarily collating slap-happy life joys on an Eels release, the heavylidded melancholy of Everett’s ‘cautionary tales’ will surprise few. It’s the simplistic, backwardfacing aspect of TCToMOE’s majority that serves to differentiate it from its discography peers. This turns the bittersweet ruminations Everett is so capable of into the rather neatly tied up ‘tales’ of the albums’ title and, in effect, turns his beautiful grit into Pixar soundtrack (with full apologies to Randy Newman/Jon Brion). A few curiosities perk up proceedings (an undeniably Procol Harum organ line here, a Tom Waits-doingInchworm impersonation there) but unless you’re looking to score your own Buzz and Woody, you’re pretty safe in politely shrugging this one off.
Axemen were (and are) the most eccentric of all the groups to emerge during Flying Nun’s golden era, and Derry Legend, originally released on that label in 1986 but now reissued by an American company, is probably the most accessible starting point for anyone investigating the prolific Axemen discography. There are remnants of that infamous Dunedin strum (they’re actually from Christchurch,) but one of Axemen’s numerous strengths is their ability to confound expectations at every turn. The album is stylistically diverse, even containing a twisted proto-rap on ‘The Tragic Tale Of The Rock’n’Roll Legend’, and the unifying factor is the unending wanton anything-goes creativity. In an era marred by black jerseys and morose mumblings, Axemen brought a genuine sense of levity and sometimes outright satire to the table, and the great thing about Derry Legend is that you can laugh along with the humour as you enjoy the music.
Kevin Drew emerges as a heart-melting crooner on his first debut album - without the support of Broken Social Scene. Instrumentation is lush and layered; twinkling guitars, reverb on keys, even light distortion on snare and bass drums, and it all operates to ethereally then palpably swoop its arms around you and give you an embrace, while Drew gently sings to you; ‘Good sex never makes you feel hollow / Good sex it never makes you feel clean’. The tracks are varied - some simmer with earnest, traditional ‘indie rock’ urgency, ‘Mexican Aftershow Party’ is electro-oriented, and the others are surging love ballads. Could Drew be aspiring to be the new poptimistic Stephen Malkmus of Terror Twilight-era? Singing about love to you, and only you. He may be close to climbing that Everest; only he’ll be climbing the Billboard 100.
SARAH THOMSON
GARY STEEL
SOONG PHOON
E WORKS
JACQUI SWIFT
PAOLO NUTINI “This album certainly reflects the journey I’ve been on these last few years.”
PHOTO CREDIT: SHAMIL TANNA
And being back in the public eye has taken time to get used to, confesses Nutini.
AFTER ALMOST FIVE years away, Paolo Nutini returns with Caustic Love - the half-Scottish, half-Italian singer’s careerdefining album. With the infectious ‘60s soul number ‘One Day’ and the stylish falsetto of ‘Diana’ he’s hit a peak. Like Adele’s 21 and Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, Caustic Love is a modern day soul classic that sets Nutini apart from his contemporaries. And it arrives after a considerable time away from the industry when Nutini tried to live an anonymous life, learning to cook and to make things. He says, “I learned how to fix things in the house, do some woodwork, I drew a little bit too. I wrote poetry and stories too. These were all challenges for me but not in front of anyone. I didn’t have an audience.” Following the international success of 2006’s These Streets and 2009’s Sunny Side Up, a number one, were huge hits and the Scottish/ Italian singer needed “to try and experience something else.” “The success was a difficult thing for me to get my head round and the way I react to it all,” he admits. “I don’t trust a lot of
people and I like to do things for myself. Then I tend to take it all on and as a result, at times I just need to disappear to sort my head. But I’m back and I’m really happy with my record. It definitely sums up where I’ve been – I’m always moving forward.” On Caustic Love, Nutini has worked with Bill Withers’ drummer James Gadson and American R ‘n’ B singer Janelle Monae as well as co-producing the album with Snow Patrol and REM collaborator Dani Castelar. “I’ve grown up and I’ve learned a lot on this record,” says the 27-year-old. “When writing you collect ideas and want a song to sound a certain way. Co-producing allowed that to happen. And with each challenge that comes your way, the way you react forms who you become. “James was absolutely brilliant. He played with such enthusiasm and vigour wanting to do take after take, and sang along while he was playing. “Janelle was another great person to get involved. I just asked really and luckily she really liked the song.
“It’s a big challenge stepping out in front of all those people,” he admits. “It’s never felt entirely natural and I don’t think it will. Walking on stage scares the shit out of me, big time. But it’s not a bad thing because those nerves drive me.” Nutini travelled from Glasgow, where he lives, to London, Los Angeles, Ireland and Spain to make Caustic Love. “I was playing shows and writing on the road. Recording where and when I had the time. It’s been a long, drawn-out process but I wanted to wait until I was really happy with it before I put it out.” And the long wait is paying off. Caustic Love is the fastest-selling record of the year in the UK so far, shifting over 109,000 copies in its first week at number one. This stunning ballad sees Nutini get political and includes a Charlie Chaplin’s speech from the 1940 film, The Great Dictator. “It’s about what’s on offer for everyday people,” he says. “The more I watch politicians in action, it just makes me angry. I watch certain politicians being asked questions that need answers and they just prance around with a big laugh and smile on their face. These are people’s lives we are dealing with. Politicians have an arrogance that I just do not understand. I’ve seen more constructive debates in high school. People get disillusioned and voting has little value to some people – that’s sad.“
Nutini says: “People change. I don’t know if I am changing for the better or for the worse, I really don’t, but I do try. I don’t think I’m any more reliable than I was when I was 19. I certainly don’t feel like I’m taking this any more in my stride than I used to. “That song is about appreciating being with somebody, rather than feeling restricted and tied down. But it’s just my perspective. Not every song on the album is about the meaning of life.” Does he think his job makes it difficult to hold down a relationship? “I don’t know, really. This job doesn’t go hand-in-hand with relationships. The reality of being in a relationship is not something I can offer while I am doing this. “But I admit there are times when there is so much you want to share with a special person but you can’t as you’re on tour or in the studio. I can completely understand how it can drive someone nuts because it kind of does that with me too.” And after nearly half a decade away, Nutini has no plans to take so much time out again. He says: “I’ve been absolutely blown away by people’s reactions to the album. “I’m ready for the shows and more music. I won’t take so long out again.” NEW ALBUM: CAUSTIC LOVE OUT NOW
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ALBUM REVIEWS IGGY AZALEA *** THE NEW CLASSIC
*
ISLAND
Australian pop-hop sensation Azalea’s second release is a bit hit-and-miss - we’ve all heard the best tracks, released earlier this year: ‘Change Your Life’, ‘Fancy’, ‘Work’ and ‘Bounce’ - the rest are flat, excepting ‘Fuck Love’. Rapping in a Southern-American accent, which some find ‘disingenuous’, Azalea proficiently incorporates orchestral strings, acoustic guitar, shimmering electro-keys, and compensates for a sub-par T.I. verse, with: “We spent our winters in the summer of
*****
KAISER CHIEFS EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION & WAR
*****
*****
SOONG PHOON
*****
CHET FAKER BUILT ON GLASS
JAYSON NORRIS SAVE MY SOUL
4AD
FUTURE CLASSIC
DIGITAL RELEASE
This is the sixth effort from British band The Kaiser Chiefs, always aspiring to sound like The Clash, The Fall, one of the ‘The’s’ of the seventies. Unfortunately getting Michael Brauer to mix the album, who formerly worked with Coldplay, was a ghastly decision. This is the Chief’s attempt to sound propulsive and thrilling. They nearly grip the listener on a couple of the tracks on the album; ‘Misery Company’, let’s say, but then vocalist Ricky Wilson starts singing “Ha ha ha ha ha ho ho ho!” Is Christmas coming? Possibly for them. Abysmal guitar solos that sound like ‘Whitey’ White has been practicing on Guitar Hero fail to aid the cause. The best effort comes from new drummer Vijay Mistry. Ultimately they sound like an egregiously unbearable and dull version of U2, which, face it, is a really, really bad thing.
Christopher Taylor’s (a.k.a. SOHN) Tremors wants to talk big emotional EDM/R ‘n’B game. Defining the quakes of the album’s title as the vibrations of past traumas that continue to reverberate and inform our greater wholes (…or something), Taylor wants to bloodlet with you in the minimal, crisp Viennese dawn. But therein lies the rub. Bloodletting is messy, cathartic. Tremors, though it skates the perimeters, is not. The glut of these pulsations, organically and mathematically precise to near-sterility, bear the indelible datestamp of being immediately post-Weeknd and post-Blake (with a vague stab at being post-In Rainbows) without producing any other indelible qualities of their own. Which is a shame, as Taylor’s talents shine far brighter when allowed beyond his strictures to embrace filthy artifice and purging muck (see: the aptly titled ‘Artifice’).
Moist. That’s the sound of Melbourne’s slow groove assassin, Chet Faker. It’s in the late-night electric piano tones of ‘Release Your Problems’ and the soul seduction of Faker’s voice, and the supple tension of the rhythms. What differentiates it from the standard nu-soul release is the exploitation of instruments like harmonica and sax, which are processed into the musical vortex. Inevitably, the imprint of James Blake is revealed in Faker’s fruity emotionality. But mostly his sound is a slightly new iteration of the style that evolved out of what they once called acid jazz, and then instrumental hip-hop as it incorporated those clipped and clapping drum machine rhythms and an occasional rap or guest turn. This is smooth, silken soul with a fair smidgen of sonic invention, although at times I yearned for less of Faker’s voice – ‘Melt’, which features vocals from Kilo Kish, made for a welcome change.
Fans of Tiki Taane or Kora will love this five-song EP, the title tune of which sets its sights on that mainstream barbecue skank that we love so much, cleverly incorporating that relaxed groove with a bit of a guitar wig-out and just enough of a mainstream rock’n’soul cadence to cross culture and status barriers. ‘27’ boasts reverberant acoustic and electric guitars, while Norris sings like Jack Johnson hanging out with Lenny Kravitz. ‘Waterfall’ is electronically enhanced and dubbed-up, with a harmonica-drenched coda. ‘Closer To You’ is a cello-enhanced ballad that further advertises the emotive qualities of Norris’s vocals, while ‘All I Need’ defers to a relaxed, summery vibe that will have had mums and dads swaying in the breeze. While the lyrics never risk the threat of originality, Londonbased, Kaitaia-born Norris sounds sweeter and wiser for the tutelage of producer Taane, and Save My Soul is a pleasing taster.
SOONG PHOON
SARAH THOMSON
GARY STEEL
GARY STEEL
UNIVERSAL
SOHN TREMORS
Australia eating crumpets with the sailors on the acres without the neighbours / We fast-forward four years more, we a long way from piss-poor / And all the shit we endured, I told you what you was in for”. Tracking her journey from impoverished in Australia to millionaire in LA, it’s a record that seeks to inspire; an ‘aspirational’ one, cheesy at times, but satisfying.
SEBASTIAN MACKAY
SHERPA shouldn’t be taken as complete representation of the album. “There’s this notion that bands can’t do anything they’ve done before,” Ho says, thinking over the bands evolution “and they can’t release the same album twice and I don’t really believe in that.” It’s the pursuit of perfection. “If you’re trying to get a certain sound but you don’t get there the first time you should be able to have another go at it.” They’ve taken similar arrangements to the first album and instead of turning their amps up to 11, they set their minds to building on what’s come before. The result is more finely tuned, more refined, more personal and the best they can deliver. But it’s an illusion to think they turned SHERPA. NO, NOT the Nepalese ethnic group. The psychedelic rock band (this is Rip It Up, after all). The masterminds behind new album Blues & Oranges. The natural progressers who don’t believe in not repeating themselves but instead believe in working towards perfection. Having a solid go at something and if it doesn’t work doing it until it does. Those guys. Their album is out Friday 16 May and when it comes to harmonies, singer-guitarist-interviewee Earl Ho says their eyes are set on puncturing the heart. You see, listening is so debut album, but feeling – that’s where it’s at. Any band can make you feel you something, sure. But the trick, the point of the energy focused on the musical harmony, is that you feel something independent of the lyrics. We’re not talking the Killswitch Engage wall of death feeling you get from concerts, we’re talking
about experiencing the music. Experiencing it not as a vehicle for lyrics and ideas (and Blues & Oranges isn’t short of ideas. There’s a song about a blind university lecturer who falls for a hippie. The hippie gives him acid and he can see through his third eye), but experiencing it as you would with jazz. Being involved in the sound. With that that in mind, and speaking of acid, the music video for ‘Quittime’ is one of the weirdest things you’ll see this week (unless your life isn’t particularly weird, in case it’ll be the weirdest). But it’s Blues & Oranges first public foray and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. It captures an aspect of the musical harmonies that Sherpa have championed on the album and, while Ho says the album is “a complete work” in a world of singles, he also says you should buy it “because it’s creamy” – ‘Quittime’
most useful piece of advice: focus on your successes and what you’ve already done, don’t forget about it. Past success shows capability and for Ho that means not waking up in cold sweats every night…but still waking up. “I don’t wake up in cold sweats about things I’ve said. More about the quality of the work and if it was really any good.” He laughs. If you hear Blues & Oranges and think he’s insane, then there should be club for that. But at almost nine in the morning Ho is one of the most genuine people you’ll meet. And it’s abundantly clear that whatever self-doubt plagues him the album is better for it. Some of the songs were written and rewritten and written again. Which is important, because while says they do risk losing
“I’d feel like a fraud if I wrote something that was out there just to draw more people in.” up to the studio and placed their hands on the Holy Grail. Ho sells insurance and there’s a lot he’s learned from working a full-time job, “it taught me that [working full-time] really isn’t what I want to be doing and I need to focus on my creative life.” His creative life is dogged with challenges, specifically black dogs. As he says himself, “self-doubt is a very nasty character.” Ho is riddled with it, likening it to the black of dog of depression he says whatever he accomplishes, it’s always there. “People over think too much about what other people think and they work their heads up into this storm.”
that feeling of being natural, if it he wasn’t writing what he knew, he’d feel like a pop star (read: fraud). “I’d feel like a fraud if I wrote something that was out there just to draw more people in.” The stark reality is that musicians have to be economically viable. Bills to pay and mouths to feed, as we all know. Being true to themselves is equally important and it’s something that all of Sherpa hold close to who they are. With that, they’ve written an album that’s creamy. By creamy, Ho means, that the cream always rises to the top and the cream, well, that’s the best part. NEW ALBUM: BLUES & ORANGES OUT FRI 16 MAY
The answer to the storm, as Ho found himself, was Google. The
SEE TOURS AND EVENTS FOR SHOW DATES
SEBASTIAN MACKAY
CAGE THE ELEPHANT “We didn’t want to rely on to poetic statements,we wanted to come out and say how we were feeling.” bound by time constraints. A monumental change when your first album was recorded in ten days and the second two and a half weeks. “With [Melophobia] we spent the better part of a year writing the songs and then we were two and a half months in the studio.”
THERE ARE TWO things you can’t keep in a cage: 1) a boxed jellyfish (it needs to be in a tank, or better yet, the ocean), and 2) emotions. Cage the Elephant’s guitarist, Brad Shultz, has had something of an experience with both. Through talking to him it becomes clear if he had a boxed jellyfish, it would spend more time out of the tank. “They’re better than guard dogs,” he quips. “I could keep it in a tank and when someone was bothering me I could throw it at them.” (Jellyfish come in at three metres long and a sting will tattoo the victim with an imprint of the tentacles. Or it might just kill them). Perhaps in a less than lethal way, human emotion can pack the same sting as a jellyfish. And on the recent Cage the Elephant album, Melophobia, (which means fear of music - but I’ll get to that later), Shultz and the band are, dare I say it, opening the cage. Becoming more honest musicians and better communicators is at the heart of what they’re doing. But there’s more to it than writing new songs: they’re keeping themselves shut away from the pressure of being a modern day band.
says) keeping the pressures at bay is important. And part of that comes down to the album title.
Shultz says it was enough time to get their ideas together and learn each others’ strengthens and weaknesses. Helpful when you want to make an album that’s different from the first two. With a healthy dose of paranoia and honesty they pulled it off.
“It’s about the fear and pressure that get put on bands.” The consciousness of that fear means that “we’re writing songs and we’re digging them and we’re loving every part of the songs.”
It’s worth noting that the fear of repetition comes not from the music but from the fear of repeating the vibe of a previous album. As Shultz says, they want to keep it fresh for both themselves and their listeners.
In the words of Billy Talent, “try honesty, try honesty.” And what the band has come up with is quite unlike anything they’ve struck before. Shultz says as well as the fear “honesty, communication, and being able to put how we’re feeling into the music” were also at the forefront.
Fair warning: it’s not so different that the band is now master of the dance floor. Quite the opposite and Shultz reasons that without hacking a new one, you can’t stray too far from the path. The band are constantly growing as people and it’s reflection on that growth that’s propelling them forward.
“We didn’t want to rely on to poetic statements,” he says about reworking the writing process and lyrics. “We wanted to come out and say how we were feeling.”
“For us, moving forward is the right way to go. It might be too forward for some but if it is then so be it.”
Shultz says the band haven’t been so contrived as to set out to write songs with people connecting to them in mind. The opposite is true. They’ve written the songs they needed to hear and while he says the band never go into writing with what people need to hear in mind. He’s stoked they’ve made an album that serves a purpose for themselves and other people.
That step forward means there are some cool tricks in the songs. In ‘Teeth’ they’ve substituted the guitars for a horn section run through distortion, and it also means that the band have continued their search to be better communicators. A point that Shultz stressed and is absolutely central to the impact and power that Melophobia carries. NEW ALBUM: MELOPHOBIA
“[There’s] pressure on bands these days…to fit a genre or to be pop enough to get on the radio or be a cool band. We don’t let any of that affect us, it’s in the forefront of our minds not to let that affect us.” For a band that are focused on experimentation and exploration (“we want to explore our minds and see what’s inside there,” Shultz
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The move to be more honest was one they’d agreed on when they came together to write the record (after the first break they’d had from each for several years), they were all feeling different directions from intimate to visceral to experimental and psychedelic. Piecing the album together was a challenge in itself but, for the first time ever, they weren’t
OUT NOW
REN KIRK
PIXIES it was Coachella’s first sellout festival, moving 50,000 tickets for both Saturday and Sunday). “Coachella was when we knew the people really wanted the reunion.” The next surprise announcement, both to fans and the band, came last year with the departure of Deal: “She had booked a plane for the next day, and still to this day I have no idea why.” Such big news that many fans thought the band wouldn’t be able to continue, the ordeal touched a nerve for band members too: “I just got up and left. I don’t know if it’s rude, maybe it is, but I just go, “Fuck this then.” She might as well have said she was unhappy, but I don’t know,” Sanitago admits.
JOEY SANTIAGO AND Black Francis (born Charles Thompson) met while studying at the University of Massachusetts, coming together over a shared love of music and a mutual desire to make some of their own. Speaking from Berlin, Santiago tells how he had to make a trip back to his parents’ to retrieve his guitar not long after starting Uni, and soon after the pair were jamming together every day and just enjoying it. “We both wanted to start a band, it was my main goal... apart from the degree, which is what my parents wanted.” Santiago and Francis spent 1984 working in a warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his guitar and penning lyrics on the subway. By ’86 they were ready to start a band, so placed a classified ad for a female bassist who liked both folk music stalwarts Peter, Paul and Mary and the band Hüsker Dü. Kim Deal was the only person who responded and even though she auditioned without a bass she’d never played before - she made the cut, because, well, they liked her: “She had a good personality and she was into what Francis was showing her.” Hot on the heels of Deal was drummer David Lovering, and pretty soon they were gigging at bars around Boston. These humble beginnings were the derivation of the Pixies; a band that was quickly (and somewhat surprisingly in Santiago’s eyes) raised to icon-status within the alt-rock scene, thanks to an unorthodox mix of surf music and punk rock incorporating (and popularising) extreme dynamic shifts and stop-start timing. “In the beginning it was all of us in the room just jamming out. I’d go to Charles’ apartment and work on songs too... like ‘Where Is My Mind’, he showed it to me and I came up with
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this riff and it worked instantly.” For some fans, the “real” Pixies will only ever exist on recordings made in that original 1986-93 incarnation, after which they went their separate ways for a number of years. But cracks were appearing as early as 1989, post the release of Doolittle: “It was everyone’s first band and we didn’t know any better. The tension did kinda stink, but I just thought it was a natural process.” After a pause Santiago continues, “I mean there’s these intense relationships with multiple people, four egos meeting in one room.” After a brief hiatus the band were back on track and went on to release Bossanova (1990) and Trompe le Monde (1991). But in ’93 Francis decided he’d had enough, calling Santiago on the phone to let him know the band was over. “He was talking to me about something and I was just like, “Ok.” Everything has to end. It’s just like a break up; when I break up with a partner, or they break up with me, I just move on, fuck it.” In 2003 another round of phone calls led to some rehearsals, resulting in the decision to reunite: “It was always gonna be a positive experience, or one of us woulda said, ‘No, I don’t feel like it.’ It was easy, we just had to start over with a clean slate, bury some hatchets.” By February 2004 a tour was announced and tickets for nearly all the initial tour dates sold out within minutes. The Pixies played their first reunion concert in April 2004 at The Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, followed by an appearance in the Colorado desert at Coachella (also featuring Radiohead, The Cure and The Flaming Lips,
But continue they did, and after whetting appetites with a series of EP releases the Pixies have unveiled their first full length studio album, Indie Cindy, since 1991’s Trompe le Monde. It would be impossible for the band to release new material without being weighed down with some expectation - we’re talking a band that has artists such as David Bowie, Thom Yorke, PJ Harvey, U2’s Bono and Kurt Cobain citing influence and/or admiration of the Pixies – but Santiago shrugs it off: “There was no pressure at all cause we prepared for it. We also had great songs.” “We’re always gonna sound like the Pixies, the way we work has always been the same,” Santiago says of the recording process and Indie Cindy’s musicality. One might argue this isn’t entirely true, with an album that’s missing some of the raw hellfire from the Surfer Rosa era, but the band do find some great, gritty melodies and there are moments of excellence. Raucous opener ‘What Goes Boom’ makes way for the intricate surf guitar of ‘Greens And Blues’, which smacks of old school Pixies. Francis has a snarl at social media on the strutting ‘Bagboy’ while the heavy, swaggering rock of ‘Blue Eyed Hexe’ has an unsettling edge. Then livewire powerhouse ‘Snakes’ and introspective soul searcher ‘Jaime Bravo’ finish things off nicely. Love it or hate it, or maybe in between it, the Pixies latest offering, “is what it is”, Santiago sums up. “When we go to the studio we do what we do, and we do it damn well. And that’s all you can ask for.” NEW ALBUM: INDIE CINDY OUT NOW
REN KIRK
KT TUNSTALL Tunstall’s done plenty of performing since and accomplished what many strive for and only a few achieve, to work full-time as a musician. But despite the money, the tours, the success, she wasn’t happy: “I was always jumping to the next thing – next album, next tour, chase chase chase!” she pauses, “It’s stopping that becomes the scariest thing.”
SPEAKING TO KT Tunstall on the phone from Colorado (taking a break from the slopes for a few interviews), our allocated time flies by, with very few of my scribbled questions even asked. But this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, the interview will quite comfortably find a place among the favourites because it’s more analogous to chatting with an old friend; an old friend sharing stories with a new emotional intelligence and insight. These tales are usually the result of pain and grief – and Tunstall is no exception – but it can go either way, and just as easily result in someone on a never-ending quest to keep moving, to outrun the feelings. But thankfully not this someone: Tunstall’s voice, both literally and metaphorically speaking, has only grown stronger. Tunstall’s most recent release, Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon, sees her slow things down considerably – a musical about-face compared to the shiny production and up-tempo pop of 2010’s Tiger Suit and an artist who once described her debut as “girl-stomp”. This fourth album sees most of the stomp washed away and replaced by quiet reflection, coloured with melancholy. She presents a series of deeplyfelt musings on life, love and loss, a record heavily influenced by the death of her father, David Tunstall, and the end of her marriage to Luke Bullen. “You have a choice with all the emotions,” she says. “You can choose to hide from them and avoid them or you can make yourself feel everything. From complete devastation to sadness and shock…all of it. You have to go through it and realise that this is it; this is life, this is everything.” Much has transpired since the young busker took to the stage on Later with Jools Holland in 2004, pumping her Akai E2 Headrush loop pedal (affectionately named “Wee Bastard”),
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into infectious rhythms and beats. She quickly became an inspired alt-country singersongwriter, with rich vocals and intimate lyrics that mesmerised fans and critics alike. She also went on to release records that produced a number of anthemic best-selling singles such as ‘Black Horse and The Cherry Tree’, ‘Other Side Of The World’, ‘If Only’ and the Ivor Novello Award-winning ‘Suddenly I See’. Unlike many who manage to make a successful career out of music, Scottish-born Tunstall didn’t come from a musical family. “I always felt envious of kids growing up in musical households, who had these massive back catalogues of seminal records.” Although she did play instruments from an early age, learning classical piano and flute, it wasn’t till she picked up the guitar at 15 that she really found her niche. “There were no lessons for guitar or singing and it was really liberating… not having someone tell you how to do it.” At 15 Tunstall also had a penchant for acting, and while attending a week-long course in Glasgow, found “all these kids who were obsessed with music…it was just a barrage of everything and anything.” From PJ Harvey to Tom Waits and Ella Fitzgerald, Tunstall received a crash-course in popular music, which continued later that year via Top Of The Pops, after her dad got a satellite dish. “It all happened when I was 15.” It was a quick switch from acting to music, ironically enough, thanks to the acting course. “I was turned off by the pretentious element of the acting world. I’d also taken my guitar along, so when it came time to do a skit at the end of the week I decided to sing a song. It was my first time performing in front of people, and it was a formative moment,” she reflects.
So, the latest album and the inspiration for it? “I wasn’t planning on doing one,“ she states matterof-factly. Jaded by the major label process and the competitive rat race of the music industry, she was struggling creatively. But after meeting Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, he suggested she come to Tucson and do some recording; “…just see what happens, no agenda.” Wanting to experiment, the pair recorded reelto-reel tape, which also allowed Tunstall’s voice to be the hero. “‘Made Of Glass’ we recorded in just one take,” she offers with just a hint of pride. “But Howe just gets everyone ready to play well, instead of warming up. And it’s easy to get lost in the music…unlike making music with your eyes when it’s all on a computer.” She adds with a laugh, “The tape machine and I developed a very rich relationship.“ Invisible Empire//Crescent Moon evolved from two sessions led by Gelb in the Tucson desert during 2012, split by the dramatic and devastating events in Tunstall’s personal life. Despite its weighty themes, the album isn’t dark, in fact it’s probably the warmest, most organic record to date, thanks in part to Gelb’s production. Opening track ‘Invisible Empire’ begins as a solo acoustic until the piano and backing vocals give the plaintive tune a tender warmth, while the blurry ‘Crescent Moon’ is anchored by Tunstall’s soft and smooth piano melody. ‘No Better Shoulder’ begins as a shimmering acoustic ballad that evolves into a soundscape of layered textures and the album closes with the upbeat band jam ‘Feel It All’. Yes, it’s a serious album that looks deep, but the songs find truth in interesting places. A touching and intelligent offering, with lyrics that express how vulnerability isn’t just the price to pay for humanity, but also a gift. As for KT Tunstall, she has no hesitation in quietly asserting, “It’s the best stuff I’ve done.” SEE HER LIVE: KT TUNSTALL SAT 03 MAY STUDIO, AUCKLAND SUN 04 MAY BODEGA, WELLINGTON
ARTIST Q&A
INGRID HAGAN PRINCIPAL BASSOONIST - AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA Who’s in the dead supergroup for your dream hologram show? Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin - the four ‘J’s. Actually, make that five and add John Lennon too. What’s an upcoming film you’re jazzed about? Horrible Bosses 2. Where can your stalkers find you during the weekend? If I’m not in Sydney with my better half, I’d be at Depot. I love that place. What happens when you mix Coca Cola with Pepsi? Nothing. But if you add a few shots of Jack Daniel’s, then something might happen. Your fantasy spirit animal is… Jaws.
The best place for a date night is… Depot, Coco’s Cantina, Cafe Hanoi. Meredith’s if you are rich. You’d get arrested if the police knew that you… You mean the fashion police? Occasionally I overdose on leopard print anything. People say you look like… Katy Perry, and Zooey Deschanel when I have bangs. Five celebs on your f**klist? Well I’m engaged, so obviously I don’t have a list. But Tom Brady, Joseph Gordon Levitt, JT, Channing Tatum and Alexander Skarsgard are pleasant to look at. Kittens or puppies? Puppies. What generic current affair has your blood boiled? Powdered alcohol? The worst idea ever. SEE HER PERFORM: INGRID HAGAN WITH THE APO
Your signature “I’m an amazing cook” dish is… Pizza on the grill. The best TV show around at the moment is… Game of Thrones.
SLAVONIC DANCES THU 01 MAY TOWN HALL, AUCKLAND
SEBASTIAN MACKAY
HEATH FR ANKLIN “People really like that Chopper will go on an angry tirade about one thing or another but he never really loses his nut.” A touch of mystery and the blurred lines between fact and fiction in the Chopper mythology are what keep it fun for Franklin. After all, this is the same person that snaps from “quite charming, ultra violent, intelligent” and then, inevitably “do something really dumb.” The character we know and love (or hate - and with Chopper there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground), has a line he won’t cross.
“I’VE DONE IT hundreds of times, nearly a thousand times,” says Heath Franklin, the man behind Chopper, sounding amused over the background of children’s happy shouts. He’s talking tattoos, specifically Chopper’s tattoos. There’s a striking symmetry to them - no the matter the photo they always look exactly the same - it’s thanks, in part, to the stubbornness of a Sharpie. “It doesn’t hurt that they don’t come off as easy as I’d like and they leave marks so you can trace over them.” Franklin’s a family man (and you can tell, ever apologetic for the sound his children are making, and, obviously enough, given that there are children). Chopper, on the other hand; he’s a criminal. In Franklin’s words, a “moustache-wearing scallywag.” The two couldn’t be further apart and yet there’s a point where
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they overlap. And it’s Franklin learning from Chopper. “I started doing stand up as myself a couple of months back…I’ve noticed that people really like that Chopper will go on an angry tirade about one thing or another but he never really loses his nut.” The lesson for Franklin was to incorporate tirades in one form or another. But the similarities between the man and his character end there. So much so that, even from the beginning, Franklin says he doesn’t involve himself in the life of Chopper, the notorious criminal and murderer, as inspiration for his shows. “He [Chopper] makes jokes about shooting people in the face but when you read about [the real] Chopper shooting someone in the face it’s like ‘that’s not as funny as I first thought.’”
His ability to cut through the fat, so to speak, and deliver the most obscene jokes in a way that draws the crowd, quite clearly, isn’t where that line exists (have you heard the one about the homeless women charity?). Grossing people out and swearing is part of what Chopper does Franklin says that anyone offended by it is wasting their time. Chopper comes at sensitive issues like a blunt instrument and is happy to smack ‘em around the head. Clearly, the line isn’t there but Franklin isn’t trying to be a Bill Hicks and he hasn’t set out to offend people for the sake of it (the loathers will need a minute for that one to sink in). “I’m not going to talk about shooting sacred cows,” Franklin says. But as with all things, he agrees, there is a time to be offended. And for him being offended about extreme poverty is time well spent. With that, there’s a touch of political savvy add to the row and, as everyone knows, Chopper doesn’t stand there and whinge, he aims and fires. “If I want to talk about something, the way Aussies treat migrants is disappointing…I have to filter it through Chopper’s lexicon.”
That said, Franklin backs every word that comes out of Chopper’s mouth and if anyone is offended, he’s happy to have a chat (out of character, of course). Comedy, for Franklin, is about extremes and there’s no one better to encompass that than Chopper. As he says, Chopper does what he wants to do and for the first time it’s about to catch up with him in a very big way. The show, Repeat Offender, is almost about growing up but it’s also about Chopper’s past and him being, in Franklin’s words, a “douche bag” to people. “It’s about realising you’re doing something that has consequence,” Franklin says. “About being frustrated and acting on it and having to deal with it and understanding how to let go.” Tough lessons for a Chopper that’s used to grabbing life by the horns and shooting it in the face at point blank range. But it won’t be all be growing up and maturity, and if Chopper was to be a super-villain (can you imagine it?) Franklin says he’d be a man with a killer moustache. Literally, a moustache that kills. “His moustache would come off his face and he could use it as a type of boomerang. Conk someone on the head with it and then it would come back and land on his face again.” The “scruffy mongrel bogan”, as Franklin describes him, is in for the shock of his life and there’s not pair of hands better placed to deal to him than the hands of his creator. VISIT RIPITUP.CO.NZ FOR TOUR DATES
SEBASTIAN MACKAY
GARY NUMAN “If you have nothing new to offer, you deserve to be abandoned and forgotten.”
of his personal life into the fray than ever (honesty, it seems, for every artist is growing in importance). The album looks back at what was turbulent seven years. “I was diagnosed with depression and all of the difficulties that came with that. My career suffered, my marriage suffered, so many things. It’s probably the most emotional album I’ve ever made.” His trials, “make for a more interesting experience for the listener.” But also, he hopes, “possibly help other people going through similar things.”
GARY NUMAN IS worried that people are going to stop caring. He’s also not too fond of the idea of nostalgia – easy money for a little work – he calls avoiding it “vitally important”. Take any notion of Numan being washed up and past his prime (‘Cars’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ still haunt him, but at this point in his career there are a few things that do), and burn it with your VCRs and cassette tapes because music careers are about moving forward. Not backward. Not sideways. “If you have nothing new to offer, you deserve to be abandoned and forgotten.” Numan’s words. He’s released two albums in seven years. “Pretty pathetic. Not something I will let happen again.” He’s an advocate for releasing albums regularly. For the first 15 years of his career he released an album each year, because “we are all easily replaced by a vast amount of talented people waiting for their chance.” He knows all too well about musicians being replaced. His career has spanned 35 years and in that time he’s seen many musicians rise and fall. It’s surprising that he believes he should have fallen with some of them and it’s as though he tallies his mistakes on his fingers. “I have handled my career so badly until recently, and I can barely believe I still do this for a living.” Almost “from day one” he says. It’s something he puts down to luck and talent, but more luck than talent. “No one ever has a
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long career, no matter how talented they might be, without being very, very lucky.” (Did you hear that, Falling In Reverse? It’s only a matter of time…) He’s not been replaced. People still care. Splinter was released last year. To say things are looking up is to imply his career was ever looking down. But Numan, and he has no tricks (I asked), is still relevant, is still offering something new because he’s a man that’s always looking forward. So far forward, he confesses, that he has no idea how the genre’s grown and changed. “It may be bordering on sacrilege to say this but…I don’t really care that much.” Numan’s interested in what’s next. For himself and for electronic music (I make no apology to the purists. He, however, does), because for him, having a 35-year-long career has come down to an intense aversion to everything that’s ever come before (and the luck, don’t forget luck). “You don’t need a trick [to stop you from repeating yourself] when the very reason you want to make music is to specifically not do what you’ve done before.” “My reason for making music,” Numan says, “is still to try to find new sounds, new textures, new ways of mixing and merging those sounds and textures. Update the technology constantly, keep moving forward.” Splinter is the embodiment of that and it’s also an album that’s seen him bring more
Numan may be focused on the future when it comes to his music. But he’s not a man that’s lost touch with the present or, and to a little less dismay than previously, the past in the form of ‘Cars’ and ‘Are Friends Electric?’ There was a time where he wanted to shake those songs – this a man with 24 albums under his belt so it’s no wonder why – but over time he’s come to appreciate at them again. “For a long time I resented them because they seemed to get in the way of what I was trying to do next...then I began to realise that I should be proud of the success they had.” And, of course, continue to have. ‘Cars’ is used on ads all over the world and Numan says it’s constantly covered and sampled. He goes so far as to say, “I think most songwriters would sell their own mother to have written something that’s been that successful.” They’re two songs that have truly stood the test of time (even if they are all the uninitiated know). That, well, that’s not the point to this. And while he’s not complaining, the point is where they fit into his setlist. The answer? “It’s still true to say that they are not the high points of the set for me.” SEE HIM LIVE: GARY NUMAN FRI 23 MAY STUDIO, AUCKLAND
“SIMMONS IS A GENIUS… WITH A DASH OF MIGHTY BOOSH...” – CHORTLE, UK
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ON THE RECORD
BEN HURLEY COMEDIAN AND LOVER
UNCOMPROMISING ENERGY New Zealand Agent: House of Fine Foods Ltd, Auckland Email: wayne@houseff.co.nz
Your house is on fire, what do save? I’ll take it that wife, children and pets are a given so probably my collection of classic British heavy metal records. Favourite ‘90s TV show? Hands down, Seinfeld. Dream job as a kid? Professional cricketer, rock star or wacky neighbour in a popular sitcom.
Which joke do you wish you wrote? Chris Rock’s “I love black people, I hate n—rs” Is one of the bravest, most controversial and undoubtedly brilliant pieces of stand up ever written. Having said that, I don’t think I could get away with it. Biggest fear? Accidentally shaving a large chunk out of my beard.
If you weren’t a comedian, what would you be? A lady who lunches.
First comedy gig in attendance? Brendhan Lovegrove at the Wellington Fringe festival in a tiny room of about 15 people. He was brilliant.
Ultimate festival line-up. From this year? Reginald D. Hunter, Jason Byrne, Steve Hughes, Urzila Carlson and Jared Christmas.
Any vices? Used to be drinking, then I toned it down a bit so ceased being a vice and just a wonderful way to enhance life.
Who would play you in a film? Ryan Gosling for me now and George Clooney for me in ten years. Definitely.
Favourite lyric? ‘Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree” from ‘Space Cowboy’ by The Steve Miller Band.
How do you discover new comedians? I watch a lot of comedy live, that’s really the only way to see it. I see great new talent coming through the ranks every year. It’s one of the reasons I ask to host the Next Big Things Showcase every year. Worst job you’ve had? Hosting the NZ Music awards.
SEE HIM PERFROM: BEN HURLEY IN THE RECKONING TUE 29 APR - SAT 03 MAY LOFT @ Q THEARE, AUCKLAND MON 12 MAY - SAT 17 MAY SAN FRAN BATH HOUSE, WELLINGTON
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