Albums·Music·NZ music·Recordings·Thought Piece The best NZ album you never heard in your life – Spacesuit (1997) April 30, 2022 Gary Steel In this occasional series, GARY STEEL pays tribute to lesser-known records that really rock. Today it's Spacesuit's turn. Read More
Concerts·Music The reluctant storyteller – Scheherazade like you’ve never heard her before April 29, 2022 Richard Betts As the APO prepares to play a New Zealand premiere by the world’s leading composer, RICHARD BETTS looks at the many lives of Scheherazade, Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear #18 – Echo by Gracious April 24, 2022 Matthew Kelly Reunion albums often suck but they're rarely as godawful as this egg-on-face progressive rock travesty, writes MATT KELLY. Read More
Albums·Music·NZ music·Recordings The resurrection of The Body Electric – NZ’s first all-electronic band April 19, 2022 Gary Steel GARY STEEL was there when Wellington synth-pop band The Body Electric’s ‘Pulsing’ took off in 1982. Here’s his take on the phenomenon. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before Your Hear – Paul Lekakis’s Tattoo It April 16, 2022 Matthew Kelly The 'Boom Boom Let's Go Back To My Room' guy didn't even have one entertaining album in him, MATT KELLY discovers. Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings·Thought Piece Ragnarok’s 1970s NZ space-rock masterpiece reassessed April 16, 2022 Gary Steel Kiwi space-rock band Ragnarok’s 1975 debut has been rediscovered and reissued. GARY STEEL with an in-depth assessment. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear #16 – Manic Street Preachers’ Resistance Is Futile April 13, 2022 Matthew Kelly The Manic Street Preachers' depressing schtick gets well and truly tired on an album that MATT KELLY wished never existed. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear #15 – Nicky Wire’s I Killed The Zeitgeist April 12, 2022 Matthew Kelly Why did the Manic Street Preachers let Nicky Wire out to sing so horrendously on his solo disc? MATT KELLY can only sigh. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear – The Fast Food Rockers’ diabetes-enhancer April 1, 2022 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY valiantly warns the unsuspecting music fan to stay away from the horrendous 2003 comeback of Stock (of Aitken Waterman). Read More
Interviews·Music Forty years ago… NZ post-punk band Rank And File March 31, 2022 Gary Steel Back in 1982 GARY STEEL had a bit of a chat with Auckland post-punk group Rank And File. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear – The Stranglers’ 10 March 30, 2022 Matthew Kelly The last gasp of the original Stranglers lineup, 10 is an execrable, lame and indefensibly weak way to bid adieu, writes MAT KELLY. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 albums you must die before you hear – The Stranglers’ Feline March 22, 2022 Matthew Kelly The bad boys of rock'n'roll complete an appallingly swift transformation into a bad pop band on Feline writes MATT KELLY. Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings·Thought Piece Oddly alluring outing for former Muttonbirds guitarist March 8, 2022 Gary Steel You can hear his music in Peter Jackson’s movies and he once played guitar for The Muttonbirds. GARY STEEL reviews David Long’s new album. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear – Florence Foster Jenkins March 7, 2022 Matthew Kelly She sang so badly that people turned up in their droves to laugh at her sad attempts to "wow" New York. MATT KELLY on Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings·Thought Piece A shot in the arm just when we really need it – Die! Die! Die! February 25, 2022 Gary Steel GARY STEEL raves like a lunatic about a group whose new album is a real shot in the arm just when we need it. Read More
1001 albums you must die before you hear·Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear – Pink Floyd’s The Endless River February 24, 2022 Matthew Kelly MATT KELLY has a big soft spot for "the Floyd" but the group's studio epilogue is more like an endless death rattle. Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings Recordings reassessed: AGF – Words Are Missing (2008) February 20, 2022 Gary Steel Every week GARY STEEL pulls another random album from his bulging shelves to cast a critical eye over. It's your turn, AGF! Read More
Life·Music I woke. Now I must just be. February 20, 2022 Guest Contributor This time last year singer-songwriter JOHN HANLON was in Auckland ICU with toxic shock and expected not to survive. Here's what happened next. Read More
Concerts·Music Live shows from long ago… Shriekback February 18, 2022 Gary Steel In 1987 Shriekback toured NZ in support of their fourth and biggest album. GARY STEEL reviewed their show in Christchurch. Read More
Albums·Music·Recordings 1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear – #9: Paul Simon – Graceland (The Remixes) (2018) February 18, 2022 Matthew Kelly Read on as Paul Simon allows his classic album to be totally fucked over by a bunch of EDM savages. MATT KELLY is not Read More