George gets everywhere on the music dial and then he treats us to an appreciation of the often under-appreciated.

Book of the Week: The world's greatest band, 1981-82 The exhilarating, celebrated and tragic story of Dunedin legends The Clean

Book of the Week: The world's greatest band, 1981-82 newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/16/b...

Book of the Week: The world's greatest band, 1981-82 The exhilarating, celebrated and tragic story of Dunedin legends The Clean

My review of @rubbasoul.bsky.social's oral history of The Clean has just been published on Newsroom.
newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/16/b...

Cheers Russell. And the music is gonna be great. The goodwill toward The Clean is quite something.

Thank you Martin.

NZ's DIY music pioneers 'The Clean' Pioneers of New Zealand's DIY music movement, The Clean - were one of the first bands to be described as "indie rock". Both a fan and friend of the band, Richard Langston, has documented the history o...

A divine half hour devoted to landmark NZ band The Clean, with their biographer @rubbasoul.bsky.social www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Here Come The Clean, 1989 - Article | AudioCulture After reforming in the late 80s, The Clean toured the US and UK for the first time, and found word had already spread among underground influencers, half a world away from Dunedin. An excerpt from Ric...

The Clean break into the USA - an extract of the book published on our favourite music site AudioCulture - www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/her...

AudioCulture Quiz - Article | AudioCulture Welcome to the weekly AudioCulture Quiz. Clue: answers are on the site or, for those in a hurry, at the link below. AudioCulture Quiz, 6 April 2026 A Clean-themed quiz. On Thursday 9 April, The Clean:...

It may be a long weekend, but the AudioCulture Quiz is here :) This is a Clean-themed quiz, set by Richard Langston. His book The Clean: in the dreamlife you need a rubber soul, is out this Thursday. So, did you clean up in the quiz? @rubbasoul.bsky.social
www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/aud...

The Great Witchdoctor Q&A: Richard Langston on The Clean - Witchdoctor Richard Langston has been a friend and fan of The Clean since the start, so who better than to put together a 366-page tome on NZ’s legendary indie pop/psych/punk legends.

www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/the-gre...

His one problem is - and it’s an insolvable problem - he has the mind of an American. He does not understand the country he lives in.

Going to be good to talk to Russell. We first chatted about music when we were reporters on the Christchurch Star in 1981. We bought The Clean’s Tally Ho single off a record store guy called Roger Shepherd.

The first time Jim pops up in the book is when he makes the crucial decision to invite The Clean to play the Gladstone in Christchurch in 1981.

Yes the emotional honesty, coupled with some memorable phrases…’scrawny apathy crawling through a fog of apathy’ …Peter Gutteridge describing his state of mind at same point in 1987 to Martin Phillipps.

What year Paul, ‘89? Or ‘90? Btw, the book will be published by feralhouse.com in the USA and UK and released same day as NZ edition - April 9.

And thanks so much for being in it.

Hold on to the Rail: the Dunedin Letters - Article | AudioCulture There were numerous close friendships within the Dunedin music scene of the late 1970s and 1980s and some significant and lifelong; none more so that between three of its leading performers, David Kil...

This is very special: letters from 1987 between David Kilgour, Martin Phillipps, and Peter Gutteridge, which show the bond between the musicians as they find their sound and take it to the world. Richard Langston @rubbasoul.bsky.social was given the letters...
www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/hol...

Hold on to the Rail: the Dunedin Letters - Article | AudioCulture There were numerous close friendships within the Dunedin music scene of the late 1970s and 1980s and some significant and lifelong; none more so that between three of its leading performers, David Kil...

When Dunedin rock’n’roll people wrote letters to each other - a fascinating insight into the thinking and ambitions of David Kilgour, Martin Phillipps and Peter Gutteridge.

www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/hol...

At the very least it needs a blue plaque to mark the spot of where it all began. The Clean’s earliest gigs in the hall are a feature in the book. #inthedreamlifeyouneedarubbersoul#aucklandunivpress

Stopped me in my tracks this morning Russell when I read Victoria’s post. What a sorry loss. Tks for your words.

Like to get a hold of a copy …

A book I’ve been working on with members of The Clean and their circle. Great project to work a visual treat and great stories. Published April 2026 by Auckland University Press.

Another recent release based on the NLNZ multitrack digitization is this Bailter Space live LP, mixed from 16-track 1" tapes

bailterspace.bandcamp.com/album/fused

Thanks for posting Michael - that is a good read. Very good point about how a lathe cut or 45 can represent the sprouting of a small music scene to escape suburban boredom.

No, not one of mine. But would like to have!

Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly - Article | AudioCulture An excerpt from Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly, by Craig Robertson (Auckland University Press, 2025), published with permission. -- In the late 1980s Chris Knox worked out his solo songs at home with h...

It's release day for Not Given Lightly, Craig Robertson's biography of Chris Knox, and we're thrilled to share an excerpt. "Songwriting was partly a physical process, he told Russell Baillie..." We're also giving away a copy in next week's newsletter...1/2 www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/chr...

Tho Hamish Kilgour does sing one of the ‘offending’ lines …’sit all day and drink piss at the pub’ pretty clearly. Imagine being censored for describing a popular Kiwi pastime. Hilarious really.

I wish there were pictures of them
Listening to The Clean cassette! It was pretty raw stuff. Surprised they discerned lyrics.

'Cause, when it all comes down to dust Can I say that Craig Robertson's bio of Chris Knox is anticipated? It is, and it's arrived.

I said I'd write a few words about Craig Robertson's much-anticipated Chris Knox bio, which I love.

These are personal reflections on what will likely be the definitive history of a man who changed indie/alt music globally

opdiner.substack.com/p/cause-when...
#aotearoa
@audioculturenz.bsky.social

The Clean and The Verlaines sent to the naughty corner by radio’s Politburo.

Doug sang for The Clean by their second gig in June 1978. He did one or two more gigs and then left for Auckland to manage The Enemy. Chris Knox had suggested Doug sing for The Clean. Doug himself said he was a reluctant singer. But he could sing!