INDEPENDENT NEWS

Bic Runga, Eddie Numbers, Alastair Riddell + more!

Published: Fri 23 Nov 2012 09:32 AM
Bic Runga, Eddie Numbers, Alastair Riddell + more!
Kia ora ,
It's getting to be about time for us all to go off on holiday... Well, not quite yet, but I'm certainly craving it. My desk fan is only just keeping the humidity at bay, Amplifier Towers are finalising plans for our Christmas function already... and, of course, more and more summer events are being announced now, including Tuborg Sounds On and the Catlins River Festival. Ah yes, the summer couldn't come any sooner for us music fans.
In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Mr Editor
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Album of the Week
Bic Runga - Anthology
Bic Runga's unique pop songs and hauntingly beautiful melodies have earned her a very special place in the pantheon of New Zealand song.
Anthology features every hit from Bic's multi platinum, award winning studio albums plus a selection of rarities and fan favorites.
Since the release of her debut single in 1996, Bic has been fittingly awarded virtually every musical honour in New Zealand, including the APRA Silver Scroll Songwriting Award, a brace of Tui's and multi-platinum discs.
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Single of the Week
Eddie Numbers - Numbers Game
Eddie Numbers releases Numbers Game from the forthcoming EP Numbers Game.
The track was mixed by the band's multi-instrumentalist turned audio engineer Ben Healey and mastered by Auralux Mastering engineer Angus McNaughton, better known for his work with Che Fu and 3 The Hard Way.
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Album
Tayla Alexander - Songbird
Classical crossover has experienced huge growth globally with leading kiwi artists like Hayley Westenra paving the way for other emerging local talent. It is rare to find an undiscovered treasure like Tayla Alexander, a young soprano singer on the cusp of making her mark.
Tayla's voice, as evidenced on Songbird, is mature beyond her eleven years and will only advance further with time and dedication, both of which she has in spades.
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EP
Two Cartoons - Tiny Terrors
Tiny Terrors is Two Cartoons' second EP, named after their first single.
Fresh from a slew of jocular high-energy gigs across New Zealand, and having been announced on the line-up for the 10 year anniversary of globally renowned New Years' festival Rhythm & Vines in Gisborne, the tight-knit duo consisting of Brad Craig and Isaac McFarlane, both fantastically enthusiastic, self-described obsessive musical fanboys from Otago University, hit the recording studio running to lay down their refreshingly explorative new material.
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Single
Alastair Riddell - Last Of The Golden Weather
This single is Alastair Riddell's first track from his forthcoming record Trick Of The Light, the first album release since his 1982 offering Positive Action.
Last Of The Golden Weather was recorded at Riddell's home studio in the leafy enclave of Titirangi. It's a vibrantly seductive guitar driven pop track that at once celebrates and pines for the freedom of youth.
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Free Download
Farah Loux - Dark Dog Dances Delightfully Dead
Alt-folk band Farah Loux (formally known as Alaska) visited the studio at 95bFM during weekly New Zealand music show Freak The Sheep, hosted by Silke Hartung, following the release of their album Flaws. They treated the listeners to a live performance of Dark Dog Dances Delightfully Dead - and it's now available to you here as a free download.
Using a range of unconventional instruments (including harp and peruvian clarinet), Farah Loux write and execute unique arrangements that add honesty to their songs and emotional clarity to their lyrics.
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Album
Craig Terris - Bleat Your Heart Out
Bleat Your Heart Out is the debut solo release from Craig Terris.
It was produced and performed by Craig with contributions from a host of local players (Julia Deans, Bachelorette, Will Ricketts, Toby Laing, Tom Watson), the album was mostly recorded at the Car Club and Craig's home between 2007-2010. Mixed by Brett Stanton and mastered by Dale Cotton.
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Single
PlasticGroove - Strange Lands Fall
Following the inane funk-driven debut Right Now, Wellington's PlasticGroove, 80s retro-kings extraordinaire, show their deeper side with the dark, Ultravox-inspired Strange Lands Fall.
This powerful track is a homage to the darker side of the decade of decadence.
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Vinyl
Bilders - High Thirties Piano
High Thirties Piano is an assemblage of songs and fragments from a bunch of wild live-in-the-studio sessions, rising from the creative pressure spring of Christchurch at the time of early Flying Nun.
Bilders' original 7" was released as a private pressing in 1982 (100 copies). This was restructured from a recently discovered alternative mix including unreleased songs and outtakes from a private session.
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Single
Zionhill - Foot Soldier
This is the re-recorded brand spanking new version of Foot Soldier by Zionhill, taken from the 2011 album Inside Of You.
In the Rastafari movement, "Zion" stands for a utopian place of unity, peace and freedom; a safe, spiritual homeland, like in Heaven, or a kind of peace of mind in one's present life. It's fitting then, that a band hailing from Raglan on the majestic west coast of New Zealand's North Island, should adopt such sensibilities.
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Album
Greg Johnson - Exits
Exits is Greg Johnson's 10th studio album and the second on his own JMA label. The album is self-produced and was recorded over the last 12 months at Greg's Birdhouse Studios in Santa Monica, The Lab in Auckland and St Croix in the Caribbean.
Johnson, who will celebrate his 20th year on the road with a tour of New Zealand in November, wrote all the songs with exception of 'Made To Be Mine', which was co-written with Richard Rudolph, the Los Angeles based songwriter who has written many hits including Minnie Ripperton's 'Lovin You'. Exits is an upbeat record that sees Johnson is fine form. Guests on the record include fellow kiwi singer Flip Grater, singer Mathe De la Torres, ex-Goldenhorse mainstay Geoff Maddock, Los Angeles Philharmonic double bass player John Kibler and many more.
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EP
Strahan - Water & Fire
Water & Fire is not songs of a preacher. They're not ballads to lilting love. They are just alms to that old, worn faith. Skin for the skeleton. The sound of someone looking for a resurrection.
From the opening throes of Hallelujah to the closing refrain of Resurrection Song, Water & Fire is the sound of someone who travels with dust on his feet, connected to the earth, but eyeing heaven.
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Album
Esther Melody Band - Edge Of Time
Edge Of Time, EMB's new release is their first full album as a band. This self produced project features; classy vocal and instrumental musicianship, strong melodic focus, inventive harmonies, sophisticated rhythm, thought provoking lyrics and a 3rd millennium creative spin on life and relationships.
Having written much of the material on her solo album Secret Message while still a teenager and with a couple of subsequent EP projects under their belt as a joint production team, Esther and Caleb see this as a definitive statement of what they are now about as musical artists. Their excitement about this project is added to by having outstanding illustrative designer Jeremy Kyle come on board as part of the team.
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Single
Luke Casey & Tinpot Guru - Holiday Hair
Holiday Hair is the new single from Luke Casey & Tinpot Guru.
Luke Casey has an impressive musical pedigree. Born in London in 1972, he was exposed to music at a very early age. His uncle, Andy Parker, was drummer for legendary English rock group U.F.O.
Video of the Week
Artisan Guns - Heights
Another great single from Artisan Guns' debut album, Coral.
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Amplifier Release Chart
01. Kora - Light Years
02. Deach - Slow It Down (Remix) - Single
03. 1814 - Relax
04. Shapeshifter - Monarch - Single
05. Various - Songs From The Inside (CD/DVD)
06. Various - Boy - Movie Soundtrack
07. Sons Of Zion - Good Love - Single
08. Soulovus - Love Foundation
09. Aaradhna - Treble & Reverb
10. The New Zealand 28 (Maori) Battalion - AKE, AKE, KIA KAHA E! - Songs Of The New Zealand 28 (Maori) Battalion
11. Maisey Rika - Tangaroa Whakamautai - Single
12. Various - Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox
13. Flight Of The Conchords - Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That) - Single
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Saturday 24 November
RDUnited Launch Party
w/ Electric Wire Hustle, Tali Live, Estere, The Transistors and Bang Bang Eche
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