It’s this time of the year I realise that putting a list together to sum up my favourites for 2008 is a stupid idea. Building these lists are such a flame war waiting to happen, I think it’s better to leave it to the ‘experts’. Take a look at Paste’s Top 50 for 2008, or [...]

The undisputed king of jazz-electronica (in my eyes, no-one writes catchier music), Mr Scruff (Andy Carthy) cracks his 6 year hiatus like only he can, marching beats, eclectic samples, Roots Manuva and Alice Russell. Like his previous solo efforts, Carthy pulls elements of jazz, blues, breakbeat and hip-hop to concoct a mix of tracks that [...]

It’s been a few years since anyone but Shihad did pre-BDO gigs in Wellington, but thankfully that’s going to change this year. From UndertheRadar.co.nz ARCTIC MONKEYS kick start 2009 with shows in Wellington and Auckland alongside their Big Day Out performance. WELLINGTON TUESDAY 13 January TOWN HALL, ALL AGES Tickets: Ticketek & www.ticketek.co.nz AUCKLAND THURSDAY [...]

As a man who has kept life rolling by featuring in some of the best hip-hop and pop tracks in last 18 years (as well as ATCQ, think back to Dee-Lite’s ‘Groove is in the Heart’ and forward to Chemical Brothers ‘Galvanize’) it seems fitting that Q-Tip’s finest solo hour is not actually solo at [...]

What is it about this album that kills me every time I listen to it? There’s nothing particularly original about it. The references to 60s pop and 90s indie are obvious, and the songwriting never gets anywhere near “complicated”. The album as a whole can be broken down into snippets of dreamy hazy folk-pop, so [...]

Neil Finn consistantly punches outside of his weight – for a boy from Te Amamutu, he’s really out-achieved what would seem possible from someone from this part of the world. For me, his solo work and the first Finn Brothers albums are his legacy; and of course the 2001 concerts he did in Auckland with [...]

In what is shaping up to be the best line-up this year, Rhythm and Vines drop their biggest headliner yet today by announcing the mighty Public Enemy will be spending New Years Eve in Gisborne. Whether or not you like to admit it, we are in some seriously good company – Public Enemy have been [...]

News today that Greg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) is hitting Wellington (and Auckland) at the end of January heightens my suspicion that he will be joining the other acts for the Australian summer music bonanza that is the Big Day Out. Wellington gets the pick of the shows, with the SFBH hosting Gillis and his [...]