Righto folks. I've just spend three hours writing something serious that I wish I hadn't had to write, so there will be no prognostication, contemplation or sufferation in this week's Friday Music Post. Just the tunes and strictly the tunes.
I mentioned the Kiwi FM Short Sets last week and in particular the one from Arthur Ahbez, who is now with band. He didn't let me down. I reckon this is bloody great:
You can hear more of the short sets, which continue at 4pm weekdays on Kiwi FM till the end of the month, here. Here's next week's schedule -- note that it includes a set from Great North at 10am on the Saturday.
Kiwi FM is aso behind Covered! a show next Thursday at the Kings Arms where Voom, Tyra hammond, Pikachunes, The Eversons and Tom Lark will also play songs by other New Zealand artists.
(Further out, note the excellent lineup for 95bfm's 2014 Fancy New Band Showcase on May 31 at the King's Arms.)
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Flying Nun has released a set of remixes of tracks from Grayson Gilmour's new album Infinite Life!, which you can buy for $5.999 on Bandcamp:
Apart from anything else, I'm grateful for the fact that the mini-album introduces me to a cluster of new electronic artists. The only one of the remixers I'd heard of was Wellington's Race Banyon, but I look forward to investigating India's Jivraj Singh and Yosi Horikawa of Japan.
I'm pleased to see Grayson leading Fying Nun into this sphere as well. I think it's one that holds promise for the label.
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So here's another singer-self-producer apparently out of nowhere. Ciaran McMeeken has a little more life experience than some of his contemporaries, but there's still a similar feeling of his having appeared with a strong musical identity:
McMeeken is from Dunedin, and in an interview with Insider's Dunedin, he notes that a friend told him one of his songs sounded like a cross between Rihanna and Bon Iver. He should hang onto that.
His mum (I never talk to any of these kids, only their mums and dads) told me on Twitter this week that some significant things are happening for him. I'm not surprised.
Staying with Dunedin, Jeff Harford has a wonderful interview with Graeme Downes about the Dunedin Double EP and all that.
And The very much revived Chills are playing Auckland, Christchurch and back home in Dunedin at the end of the month.
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Gutter Black, the memoir completed after the death of Dave McArtney last year, gets its due in a session at the Writers Festival next Friday evening, May 16. Karyn Hay and Dave's friends, family and musical colleagues get together to salute the man and his work. I'll be going along.
I have one double pass to give away for that. Just click the email link below and email me with "Gutter Black" in the subject line and I'll draw a winner tomorrow.
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The Dastardly Bounder is back with a new tune, 'Mother Ayahuasca', which samples (with permission) the words of the writer Graham Hancock from a later-removed TED Talk about ayahuasca and his personal journey with addiction. With its prowling bassline and heady content, it's really not your average dance record:
The cover image is by Android Jones and also used with permission.
At TheAudience, some nice, spacey neo-soul from out of the Third3ye camp:
That's a free download if you click through and become a fan.
And lastly, just a little disco bootleg ...
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