Michael McClelland has been a active and productive fixture of the NZ indie music scene for the past few years, playing in bands (Team Ugly, Centre Negative), writing for the Corner (rip), booking tours for local and international acts as Michael McClelland Taxi Services (also the name of his one-person taxi/comedy operation) and facilitating the growth of Christchurch based record label Melted Ice Cream. His solo project turned 6-12 member lo-fi orchestra Centre Negative are to tour Australia next week.
Early September will see The Other's Way festival taking over K Road, in their follow-up to last year's debut. Run by Flying Out and 95bfm, the festival is becoming the NZ equivalent to traditional music industry-festivals such as CMJ or SXSW.
Along with classic NZ and Flying Nun associated acts such as The Phoenix Foundation and David Kilgour, there are appearances from hyped Aussie acts Twerps and Scott and Charlene's Wedding and many more. We've chosen our own stand-outs from the line-up below.
i.e. crazy is dark and powerful; she paints herself as the "deranged ex-lover who won’t leave you alone; the batty neighbour spying through the fence; the stranger at the bus stop who holds your gaze that fraction too long." Her live performances are immersive and intimate - drawing you in with quiet, nervous banter between crushing vocal and guitar deliveries. Currently she only has a couple of songs on bandcamp, stream-able below, but you can also watch this milky video for her single 'You're a stranger to me now'.
Grayson has been making dense, textured pop music for about a decade now. Though recently his focus has been soundtracks (producing some incredible work for the feature films The Most Fun You Can Have Dying and Shopping, among others). Always a joy to watch. We have a few of his albums here.
The Shocking Pinks are the ever-evolving project of Nick Harte. 2014/2015 saw the formation of a new lineup and completion of an approximately 60-date world tour. One of the best live acts in NZ at present, and who knows if you'll get another chance to see this particular (my favourite) lineup.
PS. The festival isn't all live music, Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd will also be doing a reading from his recent memoir of the label In Love With These Times.
Tickets are available from undertheradar.co.nz and Flying Out
PPS. (i.e. crazy is also a regular performer around Auckland if you're not interested in the festival atmosphere, watch for shows on their facebook page)
Lawrence Arabia is the creative outlet for multi-instrumentalist musician, James Milne, one of New Zealand's most well-known indie musicians. His trajectory is somewhat similar to that of Don McGlashan - another musician who is known for the strength of his songwriting and willingness to try new things. In Lawrence Arabia's case, his drive to break new ground has meant playing in unusual venues such as art galleries and libraries or writing/performing music that was played live alongside a silent film (as he did at last year's film festival) or for live plays.
Before he became Lawrence Arabia, James Milne was the guitarist/keyboardist/bassist in indie pop group, The Brunettes. During this time, he wrote one track for the band, 'You Beautiful Militant', which was sung by their singer Heather Mansfield on The Brunettes' second album, Mars Loves Venus (2004). However, the original demo of this tune has recently appeared on Lawrence Arabia's soundcloud page and gives an early indication of his skill at writing a hooky chorus melody...
Next up, Milne decided to form his own band, The Reduction Agents, drawing in the Brunettes' drummer, Ryan McPhun (who has his own group, The Ruby Suns) along with Jol Mulholland (Gasoline Cowboy, Mulholland) and Ben Eldridge (from Heavy Jones). The band produced only one album, The Dance Reduction Agents (2006). However they also featured on the soundtrack of the Taika Waititi movie, Eagle Versus Shark - the film used both "80s Celebration" and the catchy rock number, "The Pool." The latter also happens to have a great video of Milne swimming at Pt Erin Pools at night...
Simultaneous with the release of the Reduction Agents album, Milne also released the first self-titled Lawrence Arabia (2006) album. This album lacked the raw energy and drive of the Reduction Agents, but made up for it with some quirky production and super sharp lyrics. His new approach is most apparent on the track, "Talk About Good Times", which features this witty run of lines: “You’d always condescend to take us back to your boxy-shaped apartment/ you showed us that we’re poorer than you are/ and you’re an undiscovered star/ but now you’re at the bottom of the ocean you’re forgiven and we talk about the good times..."
The news has finally arrived that Roger Shepherd has finished his book on Flying Nun - In Love With These Times - and it is scheduled for release through Harper Collins at the end of next month (no doubt timed to coincide with NZ Music Month). This is a long awaited arrival since there has never been a complete account of how Shepherd's little label from Christchurch managed to achieve a cult following across the UK and US during the late eighties and early nineties, leading to dozens of drooling reviews in the pages of NME.
The closest we've come to a firsthand account so far was given by Matthew Bannister in his book, Positively George Street, though his scope focused around his own band (Sneaky Feelings) rather than encompassing the wider Flying Nun ouvre. Though if you're interested in the very early years of the label, then there's some great material in Have you checked the children by Wade Churton. It's packed with great anecdotes and quotes from the local seventies punk scene and the indie acts that followed soon after. However, be warned - it's a very lo-res production and the book takes the annoying approach of dividing events strictly by year, so just as the story of one band gets going, it has to abandon it for forty pages to fill out everything else that happened at the same time.
If you looking for some more recent books on music to read while you wait for Shepherd's book to come out, then I'd recommend checking out How bizarre by Simon Grigg. You'd think that a story about an artist with only one hit song would not provide much opportunity for a whole book, but this work provides an amazing picture of how the worldwide music industry works and the clash of cultures that happens when a young man from South Auckland finds himself in the midst of it all, feeling like he can trust no one and, as a result, lashing out at those around him at the most inopportune moments.
Last year also saw the release of two fascinating autobiographies by highly-respected musicians. Elvis Costello has a lot of ground to cover in his career which spans back to the seventies, but his book (Unfaithful music and disappearing ink) remains poetic and vital throughout its 674 pages. Equally fascinating, but considerably shorter is Carrie Brownstein's Hunger makes me A modern girl, which charts her path to success in riot-grrl act Sleater Kinney and then her second life as an actress (in TV show, Transparent) and comedian (in Portlandia).
It's also worth mentioning a few new music books that have been added to our catalogue as eBooks. First on my list is Your song changed my life, which has NPR music host Bob Boilen questioning a wide range of contemporary musicians on the song that had the strongest effect on them personally - his subjects include Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), and the afore-mentioned Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney). Alternatively, if you have kids that you'd like to foist some edgy music upon, then I'd recommend the picture book, What is Punk? (also available in a print version).
If you've enjoyed any recent music books yourself, then do leave a comment below. There's always a little more room to add more books to the pile beside my bed...
It's been a six year hiatus for the notoriously prolific Nick Harte of the Shocking Pinks, but the former Flying Nun and DFA artist is set to release a forthcoming triple (!) LP titled Guilt Mirrors.
Featuring Gemma Syme (Holiday With Friends, 47 Diamantes) on guest vocals, hear 'St Louis' from the forthcoming record via the Soundcloud widget below. The album comes out on February 18 on the Brooklyn based record label Stars & Letters.
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