Release Roundup: Vera Ellen, MELODOWNZ, Mazbou Q, VSS CLUB, Keepsakes, TEMPORARY DISRUPTION, Porcelain, Gareth Thomas, Data Animal New and recent sonic gems from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dive into our Release Roundup — Aotearoa highlights from Vera Ellen, MELODOWNZ, Mazbou Q, VSS Club, Keepsakes, TEMPORARY DISRUPTION, Porcelain, Gareth Thomas and Data Animal 📸

Poetry as Music, 1 - Article | AudioCulture Some of this country’s best-known songs began as poems. ‘God Defend New Zealand’ was originally written as a poem in the 1870s by Irish-born Thomas Bracken. ‘There Is No Depression In New Zealand’ sta...

Nick Bollinger on poets in NZ music, from Katherine Mansfield, Hone Tuwhare and Sam Hunt to Bill Manhire, Hinemoana Baker and Ruby Solly. There are two new music/poetry collaborations coming up soon in Wellington and the Wairarapa🧵https://audioculture.co.nz/articles/poetry-as-music-1

Fancy some Friday winnings? The competition closes at midday :)

Comics are IRL in the newest @theimage04.bsky.social print edition!

Introducing: MUSIC COMICS by me CC 🎵

Thank you to THE IMAGE team for the invitation to contribute 🎩

A cabaret against licensing laws held in the Sapphire Room of Otto Groen's restaurant, The Gourmet, Auckland. The bass player is George Campbell, the comedian Barry Linehan. Photo: Otto Groen Estate.

#OnThisDay in 1919, a refurendum almost outlawed the sale of alcohol in NZ - but the votes of overseas-stationed soldiers overturned it.⁠ This is a fascinating story by @garethshute.bsky.social about the relationship between music and alcohol over the years. www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/mus...
⁠

This is how Bruce Springsteen opened his concert in Los Angeles last night. 🔥🔥

Footage from @margaret_nagle on Threads.

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...

Jazmine Mary - AudioCulture Jazmine Mary grew up rurally, in Gippsland (Victoria, Australia) where one of the main entertainment options was horse-riding. An attempt to ride through the McDonalds drive-through in a nearby town ended in failure. Having a music career seemed like it wa

Imaginative musical and lyrical choices led to Jazmine Mary’s first album, The Licking of A Tangerine (2021), receiving the Taite Music Prize for Best Independent Debut.
Starting out making music as Him, Jazmine gradually found ways to draw in new listeners... www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/jazm...

Jazmine Mary - AudioCulture Jazmine Mary grew up rurally, in Gippsland (Victoria, Australia) where one of the main entertainment options was horse-riding. An attempt to ride through the McDonalds drive-through in a nearby town e...

I got to write up the intriguing story of Jazmine Mary - from arty experimentation through to some very catchy, smart indie pop tunes!

www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/jazm...

Princess Chelsea and The Dream Warriors - Apartment Residency Announced Aotearoa songwriting superstar performs with her band on 27th & 28th April.

Princess Chelsea is continuing a run of intimate pop-up gigs — assembling her supergroup The Dream Warriors together for a double night residency at Tāmaki Makaurau's The Apartment!

With special guests Half Sister & The EE Machine, get tickets via UTR 👑

Oh dear … lol

Release Roundup: The Sour, DC Maxwell ft. Bonnie Prince Billy, Sogg ft. David Kilgour, Dion Lunadon, WHO SHOT SCOTT, JHL + More New and recent sonic gems from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Happy Easter! Dive into our Release Roundup — new & recent Aotearoa highlights from The Sour, DC Maxwell ft. Bonnie Prince Billy, Sogg ft. David Kilgour, Dion Lunadon, WHO SHOT SCOTT, JHL, Dalyan RD aka LION DIXON, lucky pollock, Chainmailer, and Total Violation 🐇

Here’s some of the best publicity stunts by NZ music acts in case you are looking for inspiration or just a laugh…

Music feature: Songs for a Cause There's a long history of Kiwi musicians writing songs to support a good cause. Audioculture Te Iwi Waiata's Gareth Shute has been investigating the songs and the stories behind them. He chats to Jess...

Here’s my chat about terrific/terrifically-terrible charity songs on RNZ:

www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Ten Songs For A Good Cause - Article | AudioCulture Telethon, 1981 There’s often something a little hackneyed about songs that have been written for the sole purpose of supporting a good cause. Usually, they’re written very quickly and have to cover to...

Radio news: Gareth Shute is going to join Jesse Mulligan on Afternoons at 2.30pm today to talk about this fun article, 'Ten Songs For A Good Cause'. That's very soon!
@garethshute.bsky.social
www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/ten...

Release Roundup: Richard O’Brien, Hun Lynch, The Spectre Collective, ZIPS, Crook, TOOMS + More New and recent sonic gems from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dive into our Release Roundup — new & recent Aotearoa highlights from Richard O’Brien, Hun Lynch, The Spectre Collective, ZIPS, Crook, TOOMS, Arthur Ahbez, Maebh McCurdy & Finn Johansson, STONEHEDGE AOTEAROA, and dORKWIND 🪓

Love this song!

The Mint Chicks to Receive IMNZ Classic Record + Best Independent Debut & Music Journalism Award Finalists Announced Aotearoa punk legends to be recognised at this year's Taite Music Prize ceremony.

The Mint Chicks will receive the IMNZ Classic Record for their roundly beloved 2006 album Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! + the 2026 Best Independent Debut & Music Journalism Award finalists have been announced, including UTR's Chris Cudby 🏆

Super interesting new episode of the Ethan Hein's music theory podcast, discussing rock harmony.

"There's no bread."
"Let them watch Robbie Williams."

Rewatching Max Max as research for next month onwards

Cover of the Venus Trail by the 3Ds. Artwork by David Mitchell.

I hadn't given the 3Ds' 1993 magnum opus a listen in a long while but was inspired to do so again after reading @garethshute.bsky.social excellent feature about this essential album. Your NZ Indie collection isn't complete without it!

#3DS #TheVenusTrail ☄️

au.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

This is a good time to do some homework and read up about Kiss & Make Up Club over on @audioculturenz.bsky.social!

Written by @garethshute.bsky.social!

Sound foundations YouTube video by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

A little video about The Lab recording studio and the 50s dance hall that preceded it in the space (The Crystal Palace). It goes along with my article in the latest Heritage Magazine:

youtu.be/zCnPQ6bpMnA?...

The videos in this piece are super funny - all those of-their-time celebs. Looking at the original Red Nose Day song, can’t help wondering- where are Lana Coc-Kroft and Greer Robson now? Lols

Rolling Stone Deep Dive: The 3Ds, 'The Venus Trail' We take a closer look at the quintessential Dunedin album of its era, despite the 3ds containing three Auckland-bred musicians.

Wrote about one of my fav LPs!

au.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Attn. local music freaks

New FERBY! Don’t think I’ve heard te reo on a trap-influenced rap track before. Worth checking out:

Would you like to win Bic Runga's lush new album Red Sunset on vinyl? We're giving one away!
Answer the question in our current newsletter by midday tomorrow (March 6th) – we'll announce the winner in our new newsletter tomorrow afternoon. mailchi.mp/2f16d7c403d4...

Spark Arena Community Fund Announces $100K Pilot to Future-Proof Auckland’s City Centre Independent Music Venues | NZ Music Commission The Spark Arena Community Events Fund (SACEF) has today announced a landmark venue support initiative, providing more than $100,000 in initial resource support to independent music and comedy venues across Auckland city centre.

The Live Nation-owned Spark Arena doing what the government wouldn't for Auckland's small music (and in one case, comedy) venues. The $100k for capital improvements given here is tiny in the scheme of things, but it will make a huge difference to the grassroots venues. nzmusic.org.nz/music-indust...