We at the All Things Musical blog would like to wish all our lovely readers a happy and safe Christmas and holiday period. To get you in the season's spirit we thought we would share this video from The Christmas Club. We are unsure of who this mysterious yet wholesome band is - or where they came from - but they sure look a lot like some of the members from Auckland band Tom Lark. 

Meri Kirihimete, Manuia le Kerisimasi, 圣诞快乐 and Happy Channukah to those currently celebrating!

tomlarkmusic.com
Find Tom Lark on the Auckland Libraries Catalogue.

Written by: Anna C

Earlier this month Auckland-based singer-songwriter Nadia Reid released her second album 'Listen To Formation, Look For The Signs'. Funded from contributions through the crowdfunding platform PledgeMe, the album was recorded in Lyttleton with Ben Edwards, co-founder of Lyttleton Records.

These are beautifully crafted modern folk songs, buoyed by Nadia's self-assured, lilting delivery and an evocative sonic palette that is at once propulsive and sympathetic. Nadia's tales of love and loss are deftly illustrated by her precise and delicate songwriting. This is an intimate and transportive record from an emerging yet fully-formed talent.

To listen/buy visit: nadiareid.bandcamp.com.

Written by: Anna C

Raggamuffin is Australasia’s premier reggae and roots festival and features an unrivaled line-up of top international and local artists. After seven years in Rotorua, the event has found a new home in Auckland to be closer to its strong fan base.

Headliners include British reggae royalty UB40 ft Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey Virtue, Jamaican reggae revolutionist Chronixx  and iconic hip-hop legends Ice Cube and Cypress Hill. acts also set to include leading Pacific reggae artist Fiji and Jamaican queen Etana.

They will be joined by more top-shelf Kiwi acts including Katchafire, House of Shem, Che Fu & The Kratez, Sons of Zion, Aaradhna with full band, P-Money, Sammy Johnson featuring Brownhill and Tomorrow People.

Get your name down for the new Raggamuffin VIII album to listen to these fantastic artists.

Read more » |

Matthew Young is an Auckland artist producing new school R&B jams. With production and songwriting collaboration from Djeisan Suskov of Cool Rainbows, it's fresh and futuristic music that'll appeal to fans of Frank Ocean, Miguel and The Weeknd. Check it out via the Soundcloud widget above.

New Zealand's music community is mourning the recent passing of Sam Prebble. Sam was a prolific musician who lent his talents to a number of projects, culminating in the late 2013 release of his critically acclaimed Bond Street Bridge album The Explorers Club: Antarctica. Our thoughts are with his friends and family. Rest in peace Sam.

In this episode of the All Things Musical podcast we play some live recordings from The Conjurors' performance at Auckland Libraries in May, we talk to Gareth Shute from the band about where he buys his socks, plus we listen to tracks from Scott Mannion, The Cosbys, Lawrence Arabia and the Ruby Suns. As well as being a multi-instrumentalist, Gareth has written five books which you can find in our catalogue. Head to our podcasts page to listen to the podcast via a web player, or right click and 'save as' here to download it to your computer.

Emily Littler of Street Chant has been working on solo material under the name of Emily Edrosa. With drum machine beats and sparse backing, her lyrical style comes more to the fore over six stunning tracks. It's being released digitally and on a run of 50 cassette tapes via her own Pasta Tapes label. Check it via the Soundcloud widget above.

Via Noisey.

Broods and Yumi Zouma

It's been a big year for Kiwi acts Broods and Yumi Zouma. The two bands have very different origins and takes on electronic pop, but have similarly found themselves darlings of the international blogosphere. While the former is a brother/sister duo produced by Lorde producer Joel Little, the latter formed when all three of their members were based in three different countries (and funnily enough they'll be touring with Lorde in the US).

The two acts have found themselves signed to overseas labels and blog aggregator Hype Machine has them both sitting in their 2014 (and a half) ones to watch list. Head over there to check out what they had to say and listen to the rest of the blogosphere's heir apparents.

www.broods.co
www.yumizouma.com

Dream pop savant Chelsea Jade (Watercolours, Teacups) has released a brand new single. With her usual blend of poetic lyricism and ethereal production, the track marks her first release under the new name of Chelsea Jade after performing as Watercolours in recent years. Listen/buy it via the Bandcamp widget below, and if you get a hankering to hear some of her back catalogue you can borrow the Teacups album Forest Fiction or the Watercolours EP Portals via Auckland Libraries.

Anthony Metcalf from the band Glass Owls and formerly of the little known but critically acclaimed Howick podcast Hello and Welcome to the Internet stopped by the Auckland Central Library to talk.

Topics covered include his favourite flavour of ice cream, some anecdotes and thoughts about Waiuku and recording the Glass Owls album Out From the Darkness there, why Ben Affleck isn't going to be a good Batman and how Spoon is a great band with cool drums.


You can play the podcast either using the above web player, or right click this direct link to episode two and select 'save link as' to download it straight to your computer.