Great North – Up In Smoke (Dirty/Dawn Raid) ALBUM REVIEW
Great North’s latest takes big gesture rock into an insular space, and it has a certain grace, without being totally ace. Or so says
Various Artists – Aretha Franklin & Otis Redding Together (Rhino/Warners) CD REVIEW
Double CD by the greats gets assessed by Cold Blue Steel.
Sony UDA1S USB DAC Amplifier REVIEW
Sony’s wee ‘high resolution’ amplifier punches well above its bantamweight, according to Steel.
Luluc – Passerby (Sub Pop) ALBUM REVIEW
An album to enjoy but not critically engage with, or give up your first-born for, writes Steel.
Sia – 1000 Forms Of Fear (Inertia) ALBUM REVIEW
Would you like some tongue with that song, Sir? Gary Steel gets hung up on Sia's singing style.
Death Vessel – Island Intervals (Sub Pop) Album Review
There are elves. And a chap with a very high voice. Unfeasibly high. Oh, and glockenspiel. Sound a bit twee? Gary Steel reviews Death
Buckshot & P-Money – BackPack Travels (Dirty/Dawn Raid) ALBUM REVIEW
This old-school hip-hop collaboration is tired and thin-sounding, reckons Gary Steel.
Various Artists – What Did You Do In The Beat Era… Daddy!!! (Frenzy Music/Ode) ALBUM REVIEW
It's not all great, but here's an indispensable compilation of beat-era Kiwi pop/rock that's bursting with the sniff of freedom of a dawning era.
Mikey Jamieson – Totem (Tasman Records) ALBUM REVIEW
Local guitarist has all the ingredients for a great debut, but it comes out of the pan deeply flawed.
Jonathan Crayford – Dark Light (Rattle Jazz) ALBUM REVIEW
Just when you weren't expecting it: a jazz trio album that really does deserve your attention.
The Nomad – 7 (Nomad Music) ALBUM REVIEW
Gary Steel finds The Nomad's new album a frustratingly hot and cold experience.
Status Quo – The Frantic Four Reunion 2013 (Fourth Chord) CD REVIEW
An indifferent live double by an aging troupe of ham-fisted boogie merchants. What's not to like? Um, quite a bit writes Gary Steel.
Awolnation – Megalithic Symphony Deluxe Edition (Red Bull) CD REVIEW
Sometimes, success is inexplicable. Especially when it's tarted up in a deluxe package with endless remixes, reckons Gary Steel.
The Decayes – Aquarium (Imgrat) ALBUM REVIEW
In the first of a new series - Unknown Pleasures - where he writes about worthy but under-recognised albums and artists, Gary Steel puts
Crimson ProjeKCt, The Studio, Auckland, Tuesday 24 June, 2014 CONCERT REVIEW
Amazing gig; poor attendance. The Crimson ProjeKCt are so much more than a faux-King Crimson, or just a tribute band, reckons Gary Steel.
Paolo Nutini – Caustic Love (Atlantic/Warner) ALBUM REVIEW
With its risible attempt at "authentic" soul moves, Paolo Nutini's new album has pacific Steel screaming profanities at his stereo.
Alexis French – The Cut (Rattle/Ode) ALBUM REVIEW
Rattle is an exceptional label, but The Cut doesn't quite make it.
Um.. – yeahyeahabsolutelynoway! (Rattle Jazz/Ode) ALBUM REVIEW
Two electric guitars and loud drums make for an album that's jazz and rock without a whiff of indulgent fusioneering.
Joe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate – Faya (Cumbancha Discovery/Ode) CD REVIEW
This kora has wings. Not so this collaboration with between instrumental virtuoso and rap producer, writes Gary Steel.
OUT OF TIME: Jive Bombed
Out Of Time (OOT) is a column that blithely ignores consumer dictates and release schedules. This time, Gary Steel looks at an album by
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