Wed, 10 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
I guess we should give J. Williams and Scribe a quick round of applause for making it all the way to number two after only four weeks on the chart. You Got Me moves up three spots this week, nudging out Jason DeRulo, and I'm genuinely excited that we might finally get a local number one single that didn't come via Australia. It's really been too long.
But as for the song itself, I'm not too sure. There's no doubt that the chorus is infectious as hell but I worry that we're just following the butt-end of a trend with all these manipulated vocals that J. Williams clearly doesn't need. Dude can hold his own vocally and someone needs to give his stylist some props too because he's finally honing in on what it is to be the 'total package' (something which, up to now, he's only alluded to).
But let's be honest - how terrible is that verse from Scribe? I feel like I'm one of the few people that would still give Scribe a chance after listening to his last album but this is just cringe-worthy....
Tue, 09 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
Connan Mockasin just released his new album, 'Please Turn Me Into The Snat,' at the end of last month and he's just announced that he will be heading out on tour in support of it.
'Please Turn Me Into The Snat' is Mockasin's (real name, Conan Hosford) first album since his previous band Connan and the Mockasins
(confusing!) went their separate ways. Mockasin recorded the album over
an 18-month period in both the UK and New Zealand and he's also managed
to make a bit of a name for himself overseas.
Last year, Mockasin guested on the Brighton Port Authority album 'I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat.' Brighton Port Authority is an alias for producer Fatboy Slim and the album also featured appearances from Iggy Pop, Dizzee Rascal, David Byrne and Jamie T.
Now Mockasin is back in New Zealand and heading out on a tour across
the country, which will see him hit all the main centre's over the next
couple of weeks. The dates are as follows:
Sat 13th March – San Francisco Bath House,...
Mon, 08 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
One of the most renowned and important band's to come out of Dunedin have announced that they are heading out on tour. The Verlaines formed in 1981 and helped spawn the 'Dunedin sound' with bands like The Chills, The Clean and The 3D's.
The band released their latest album 'Corporate Moronic'
last year, which received praise both locally and internationally and
Verlaines lead-man Graeme Downes has been writing a new album over
summer which will hopefully be released later this year.
Downes has said that the band will play older material as well as songs from recent albums 'Corporate Moronic' and 'Pot Boiler.'
Joining the band on tour is Simon Comber and Anthonie 'Tono' Tonnon. Comber is set to release his sophomore album 'Endearance' soon and Tono is also prepping a new EP for release.
The Verlaines w/ Simon Comber and Tono
Sat 13 March - Otago Uni Main Common Room, Dunedin.
Fri 19 March - Monte Cristo Room, Auckland.
Sat 20 March - Gravity Bar at Altitude, Hamilton
Fri 26...
Mon, 08 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
It's pretty short notice for those down south, but we're going to try to not complain too much. Sola Rosa have just announced that they will play a series of shows across the country, and they start this Friday in Dunedin.
The group have so far announced shows in Dunedin, Christchurch and
Wellington and we're also told that more dates will be announced soon.
Sola Rosa are renowned for their live shows and they recently played at
Raggamuffin in Rotorua alongside overseas big names, Lauryn Hill, Shaggy, Sean Kingston and fellow locals, Katchafire and Sweet & Irie.
Their latest album 'Get It Together' has also recently gone
Gold in New Zealand and last year they were nominated for Best
Electronica Album and Best Video at last years New Zealand Music Awards.
The group are also releasing a limited edition eight-track version of 'Get It Together' on vinyl. It will be available from April 2 and there are only 500 copies of it available.
Sola Rosa New Zealand Tour
Friday 12 March...
Fri, 05 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
We really weren't expecting to wait this long, but Sam McCarthy (previously of Goodnight Nurse) and Jordan Arts AKA Kids Of 88 have just released their brand new single 'Just A Little Bit' to radio and the video for it will be out this week.
The new song comes hot on the heels of the news that Goodnight Nurse
have decided to call it quits for now. As we reported, the group took
to their MySpace page to announce that they were going on a
"well-deserved break".
Just to prove their popularity, 'Just A Little Bit' debuted
at number 13 without even releasing the video for it. This follows on
from last year when the group went top five with their infectious (and
sometimes annoying) hit 'My House'.
Kids Of 88 also did an official remix of Ke$ha's number one
single 'Tik Tok' last year. So far the song has been played over
600,000 times on MySpace and you can hear it by heading to Ke$ha's page right now.
In other news from ex-Goodnight Nurse members, bassist Rowan Crowe has formed...
Fri, 05 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
That's right -- Nesian Mystik, arguably New Zealand's best hip hop/R&B/pop group are back with a new single and new album.
Their new, as of yet untitled album, is due out for release on 5 April and their new single 'Sun Goes Down'
impressively moves from number 33 to 8 this week. Considering the group's
past achievements on the chart, we're going to take a guess and say
that this one won't be going anywhere soon.
Nesian Mystik have released three albums in the past, all of which
have entered the top 40 in New Zealand. But it's their string of
singles that have been most successful with the group releasing four
top 10 singles from their previous album 'Elevator Musiq' alone.
On top of that the group had a number one smash two years ago with 'Nesian 101' and now they've also had 11 singles enter the top 10 locally making them the only New Zealand artists to do so.
On top of writing the new album, one of the band members has also
been keeping himself busy contributing to...
Wed, 03 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
So it looks like things are finally shaping up quite nicely. This week see's four local singles in the top 10 and since two of these songs are pretty much brand new, they could both go top five or higher within the next couple of weeks. The most interesting thing that happened this week is Nesian Mystik shooting from 33-8 with their new single Sun Goes Down. This is the group's 11th top 10 single in New Zealand, which is just incredible by any standard. What I don't get is if they're so successful then why aren't there more local R&B groups trying to do the same thing? Step your game up, people.
Another big move this week comes from Train who move 14-3 with their middle-of-the-road, ukelele-driven, snorefest single Hey Soul Sister. I'm not sure if I dislike this song more than If We Ever Meet Again but regardless, I'll be disappointed if it goes any higher. And so that leaves us with David Guetta and Kid Cudi's new single Memories to cruise straight into the top position next week....
Wed, 03 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
A series of New Zealand's hottest alternative bands have been chosen to play at one of our favourite summer concerts happening this Sunday.
95bFM's Summer Series will be the host to Mint Chicks, The Naked & Famous, Bandicoot, Bang! Bang! Eche! and An Emerald City, all of whom will play for FREE, no less, in the centre of the Auckland CBD.
2010 is the 20th year that the Summer Series has hosted a mini-festival at Albert Park and we've been told that there will be heaps of food stalls and the liquor ban has even been lifted for the event.
Mint Chicks are one of the most highly anticipated acts of the day and they will be playing in support of their new EP, Bad Buzz. The group recently released the EP on a USB only and they have also been building anticipation by playing a couple of secret shows in Auckland in the past couple of months.
See you there!
95bFM Summer Series
Featuring: Mint Chicks, The Naked & Famous, Bandicoot, Bang! Bang! Eche! and An Emerald City
Sunday March...
Wed, 03 Mar 2010
by Hussein Moses
Clap Clap Riot, the messy-haired four-piece that won last years MTV Kickstart competition, have announced that they will play a series of shows across the country in May.
The group embark on the tour just as New Zealand Music Month kicks in so expect some great things happening that month. The band play in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Lyttleton, and they will also be joined by Aussie rockers The Scare.
Apart from releasing a couple of singles, the group have been considerably quiet since winning the Kickstart competition (now renamed the MTV 42Unheard competition) but they have also announced that they are prepping their debut album for release later in the year. The album will also be pre-empted by Clap Clap Riot's brand new single 'Yoko Ono' which is dropping soon.
The band recently received an award for Best Unsigned Artist from the MySpace People's Choice Awards. After the tour in May, the group are also planning on heading off to Australia to play a series of shows with...
Tue, 02 Mar 2010
by Kit Lawrence
We left a sticky Auckland as night fell and spent the drive to the Coromandel musing on alcohol smuggling and getting lost, turning around so many times on one barren road it felt like we were attempting huge, slow donuts. We needn’t have schemed like East Germans at Checkpoint Charlie as the alcohol search amounted to a quick scout for obvious bottle clinking and a girl asking us if we had any booze (we did, a plastic juice bottle of red wine that remained on the back seat all weekend heating to lava like temperatures).
Car parked and acid dropped we walked the 10 minutes to the main stage. One of the reasons I have never been to a UK festival is I have no intention of tramping for hours between stage and campground surrounded by thousands of my countrymen at their dirtiest and tiredest, yet walking into of Splore by night is like a ravey version of the party scene in the final Lord Of The Rings. Glowsticks, fire jugglers, blue-faced (painted) ravers, red-faced (sunburned) boozers...