1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings World’s Worst Records: Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots April 2, 2025 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY is surprised and shocked to find that without the collaborations that are his stock in trade Damon Albarn has a yawningly empty Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music·Recordings NZ rock still… rocks! We Search For Yeti! March 26, 2025 Gary Steel They probably won’t be performing at Spark Arena anytime soon, but GARY STEEL reckons Wellington-based independent rockers Search For Yeti are well worth a Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music Matthew Bannister’s The Dark Backward reviewed February 21, 2025 Gary Steel Matthew Bannister’s latest album is packed with 15 charming songs of sneaky feelings and revealing couplets, writes GARY STEEL. Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music Unwind’s Embers album a healing balm February 18, 2025 Gary Steel The world's in a state of chaos, right? Here's an album that will give you gentle solace, writes GARY STEEL, who reckons taking a Read More
Albums·Concerts·Interviews·Music Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins – Witchdoctor Q&A February 3, 2025 Gary Steel For a while in the mid-1980s, the Thompson Twins were the biggest thing in pop, but when Tom Bailey retired the project in the Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings World’s Worst Records – David Hasselhoff’s Looking For Freedom January 7, 2025 Matthew Kelly In Part 3 of a survey of the complete musical works of Sir David Michael Hasselhoff, MATT KELLY dissects the risible Euro-'80s muck that Read More
Albums·Interviews·Music·Recordings From The Archives: Sly Dunbar talks December 5, 2024 Gary Steel That time GARY STEEL chatted with drummer Sly Dunbar of the famed Jamaican rhythm section, Sly & Robbie. First, the story. After, the unexpurgated Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings World’s Worst Records: Cattle Decapitation’s To Serve Man December 5, 2024 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY actually likes Cattle Decapitation but this early blunder is especially bad in a multitude of ways and is endlessly deserving of derision. Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music Let there be drums! November 27, 2024 Gary Steel Six diverse percussion compositions performed by virtuosic musician Justin DeHart challenge common notions about the most primal of instruments. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings World’s Worst Records: Alison Gold’s Shush Up November 21, 2024 Matthew Kelly Gold's follow-up to 'Chinese Food' was so regrettable and tasteless that she had to change her name, writes our dean of tack, MATT KELLY. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings World’s Worst Records: David Hasselhoff’s Lovin’ Feelings November 11, 2024 Matthew Kelly In part 2 of a survey of the complete musical works of Sir David Michael Hasselhoff, MATT KELLY describes a truly horrible record. Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music·Recordings·Vinyl Dance around the world with Corben Simpson October 29, 2024 Gary Steel He won a Silver Scroll award in 1971. He sang for Blerta. He recorded an album in bed. After more than 50 years Corben Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings The format wars suck October 14, 2024 Gary Steel GARY STEEL has been thinking about vinyl vs. streaming vs. compact discs (etc) and just wants it all to stop. Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings Who you jiving with that cosmic debris? Zappa’s Apostrophe (’) at 50 October 6, 2024 Gary Steel Frank Zappa’s most popular album gets a chunky six-disc elaboration. GARY STEEL wonders whether it warrants the attention. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music World’s Worst Records – Dizzee Rascal’s The Fifth September 19, 2024 Matthew Kelly Dizzee Rascal has made some acclaimed albums but The Fifth isn't one of them, writes MATT KELLY, who rues just how low the rapper Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings Guilty Pleasures: Electric Light Orchestra’s Eldorado August 19, 2024 Gary Steel ELO’s grandiose 1974 monstrosity is an over-the-top masterpiece, according to long-time appreciator GARY STEEL. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music World’s Worst Records – Fallout Boy July 9, 2024 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY is so fed up with Fallout Boy that he writes his own review of this utter dreck in verse. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music World’s Worst Records – Bruno Mars June 27, 2024 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY digs up a record that Bruno Mars might just want to forget in which the pop phenomenon is caught literally taking his Read More
Albums·Concerts·Music·Recordings The long-delayed release of a legendary 1968 performance by Zappa/The Mothers June 23, 2024 Gary Steel Frank Zappa and his Mothers would never be hotter than they were the week in 1968 when this gig was recorded. GARY STEEL takes Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music World’s Worst Records – David Hasselhoff June 10, 2024 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY presents Part One of a survey of the complete musical works of Sir David Michael Hasselhoff. Eek. Read More