Want to know the best carparks in town to get you to soundcheck on time?

Wondering why it always rains at Big Day Out?

Auckland Libraries High Frequency panel discussion has the answers.

Join us for an entertaining evening of sound thoughts, old arguments and true stories about the highs and lows of making music in Auckland.

Our esteemed panelists include writer/musician Gareth Shute, venue manager Rohan Evans, producer/engineer Dave Parker, record label boss/DJ Andrew Maitai and the infamous Street Chant.

Following talk and refreshments, Lisa Crawley will be at the grand piano to perform an intimate set of songs from her upcoming album.

Where: Level 2, Central City Library
When: Friday 20 May, 6.00pm

Cost: Free

NZ Music Month is over for 2010, so I thought it was time to have a look back at some of our events. If you're anything like me you didn't have time to make it along to everything we had going on. Lucky for us Matthew was on hand throughout the month with a camera. Click the image to enlarge.

   

A massive thanks to everyone who played, and to everyone who came along to listen.

~Ashley

"Before the days of digital downloads, there was the record store: a place where music lovers could go to indulge their passion, where friendships and romances began, where bands formed, and where information was shared. It was a place that nourished the heart and soul of every music lover – a haven for creative people of all stripes…"
Introduction to Record Store Days, by Gary Calamar & Phil Gallo. 

So many songs we hear are connected to memories, and for us collectors, so many memories we have are connected to songs. Not just a tune, but album artwork, names in the credits, the weight in our hands, the smell of new vinyl or the dusty fingers from hours in the Second-Hand bin. 

The havens that were record stores may have dwindled in the face of iTunes, but the record clubs and vinyl appreciators have lived on. And today, black is back. Real Groovy is selling more vinyl than ever before, and more record players. JB Hifi is growing a healthy stock of new LPs, and independents like The High Seas have started to regain some territory. 

And all the while, hidden in the Central Library’s basement & Heritage shelves, our own extensive collection of rare and interesting records have been waiting for a chance to spin again. 

So come along to Auckland’s Central Library at 6pm on Wednesday 12 May to see the jewels of our vinyl collection, listen to some classic tunes, and share some sound opinions, memories and stories of our audible history. 

~Matthew

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/ xslim/ / CC BY 2.0

This month we're packing up a stack of Auckland bands both past and present and sending them on a tour of some of Auckland's hottest venues - our community libraries.

During May we're sending selections from our Made in Auckland collection collection to a few of the community libraries to let everyone all about it. Normally housed in the Central City Library, the Made in Auckland collections makes CDs produced by local artists available to library users for absolutely no charge.

A sad fact about local music scenes is that no matter how vital and amazing things are, sometimes things get missed. Not everyone gets a record contract, and not everything gets kept for future listeners.

That's what makes the Made in Auckland collection so awesome. Any Auckland band that makes a CD can submit it to our collection and have it made available for our library members. Not only that, like everything else in our library we preserve it for future listeners. Even when the shoebox of 50 CD-Rs under the drummer's bed is long out of stock we keep local music available for all Aucklanders.

Check out the full list of Made in Auckland CDs, and don't forget to catch the collection on tour near you.

Panmure (Mt Wellington) - now until the 14th May
Mt Roskill (Three Kings) - 15th May - 30th May
Epsom - Now until 7th May
St Heliers - 8th May until 14th May
Mt Albert (St Lukes) - 15th May until 30th May

Thanks to groups like the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestraand the Play It Strange Trust the ukulele is becoming more and more prevalent in New Zealand. It's easy to see why, as ukes are lightweight, small, and pretty easy to learn quickly. Unlike recorder lessons in primary school, songs learnt on the ukulele are worth remembering and fun to play.

It really is super easy to play the uke, and websites like Ukulele Huntmake it easy to find the music for songs you want to play (yes, they've got 'Hey Ya').
It's not just here in New Zealand, either. Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) has been touring round the world these last two years doing Ninja gigs on her days off which she announces on Twitter. She just shows up with her uke and does songs for whoever showed up for as long as they feel like it. A ukulele is perfect for this kind of thing, because it's small enough and light enough to take it with you.