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Tag: Music Page 1 of 7

Why do we listen to K-pop? Because of INFINITE!

As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!

This time, I would like to introduce you to INFINITE! INFINITE is a 6-member boy group formed by Woollim Entertainment in 2010. The original members include Sungkyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungyeol, L, and Sungjing, but Hoya left the group in 2017. The name of the group represents the idea that “both the members and the group have an infinite possibility in music and other areas.” Their fanclub name is “Inspirit” and the official colour is Pearl Metal Gold (Hex code: #80643f).

INFINITE is well known for their perfectly synchronised choreography. When they came back with their second mini album, “Evolution”, the choreography of the title song, “BTD (Before the Dawn)” helped them receive a lot of public attention because despite its difficulty, the members still performed it with absolute precision.

But what really made INFINITE successful was their first full-length album, “Over the Top”, and the title song “Be Mine.” INFINITE won their first music show award with this song, and it’s now known as one of their masterpieces (it’s my favourite as well!). “Be Mine” has a catchy melody, neat choreography, and very sad lyrics that describe a man’s one-sided love; it became a popular song at the time. Since then, INFINITE has released many more popular songs, like “Paradise”, “Lately”, “Only Tears” and become one of the most popular boy groups in Korea. They have paused their group activity since 2018 because of their military service.

Today, all of the INFINITE members have finished their military service and are more focused on their individual careers as soloists. However, with the help of other members, group leader Sungkyu has launched an agency, Infinite Company, to help and manage the group’s related projects as the group members have left the Woollim Entertainment and are under different agencies now. It is very touching to see after around 5 years, INFINITE finally made their group comeback again this July, with their 7th mini album, “13egin” and received a great result.

via GIPHY

INFINITE albums we have at the library

Infinitize / Infinite

INFINITE’s third mini-album, “Infinitize” was released in 2012 following their successful debut in Japan. The title song, “The Chaser” was chosen by Billboard as the best K-pop song of that year.

My Personal Picks:

The Chaser
Feel so bad
Tears

New challenge / Infinite

INFINITE has come back with their fourth mini-album, “New Challenge” in 2013. The title song “Man in Love” has a delightful and happy vibe that is different from their previous title song. The 6th track, “60sec” is Sungkyu’s solo debut song, and the group specially covered it for their fans.

My Personal Picks:

Man in Love
Still I Miss You
60sec (INFINITE Ver.)

Be back / Infinite

“Be Back” is a repackaging of INFINITE’s second full-length album, “Season 2,” which was released in 2014. This album also contains members’ solo songs and sub-units’ songs.

My Personal Picks:

Last Romeo
Back
Alone (INFINITE H)
Memories
I Need U Back

That’s a wrap for my sharing about INFINITE! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite INFINITE song on our list! 안녕히 가세요!

via GIPHY

Why do we listen to K-pop? Because of BTS!

As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!

This time, I am going to introduce you to the most popular Korean boy group in the world, 방탄소년단 (BangTan Sonyeondan, which means “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” literally) BTS! Formed by HYBE Entertainment, BTS debuted on 13th June 2013, and its members include Jin, SUGA, j-hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. According to j-hope, the meaning of the group name is “to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim at adolescents like bullets, to preserve the values and ideals of today’s adolescents” (Source: Affinity). The group was rebranded in 2017, adding another meaning to the group’s name, which is “Beyond The Scene”, and new logos for the group and their fan club, A.R.M.Y (Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth). BTS does not have an official colour, but they have their specific official light stick, Army Bomb.

The main music style of BTS is hip-hop. Members RM and SUGA were underground rappers before they joined, and had already released several self-written songs. Their song “Hip Hop Phile” was talking about how much they love hip-hop and shout out to those hip-hop artists who influenced them like Epik High, Nas, Eminem and much more. Since the release of the “School Trilogy Project,” BTS has broadened their music style by trying different genres, like pop rock (Spring Day), synth-pop (Dionysus) and tropical house (Save Me).

Since their debut, BTS members have written, composed and produced most of their songs, with rap line members, RM, SUGA, and j-hope participating the most in songwriting. Their creative works are well known for their poetic and literary lyrics (Author’s note: I really admire how literary their lyrics are! I will recommend: Butterfly, Serendipity, and DNA). On SUGA’s YouTube video, RM describes rap as “poetry with rhythm,” showing how the group conceives of their lyrics as contributing to the field of literature.

BTS has always tried to convey different messages to society through their songs, with each album embracing a different theme. The School Trilogy Project discusses teenage dreams (2 Cool 4 Skool), happiness (O! R U L8, 2!), and love (Skool Luv Affair). Meanwhile, in the Youth Series, BTS talk about their hopes for ‘youth’ — even with all the uncertainly and insecurity (The most beautiful moment in life pt.1), the youth who embrace the pain and bittersweetness of live and keep running (The most beautiful moment in life pt.2) are in the most beautiful moment of their lives (The most beautiful moment in life: Young Forever). They talk about love, social issues, mental health, and all the topics they believe they should share with the public.

BTS is truly a group that has brought K-pop into the next chapter, and to a whole new audience. They’ve broken many music industry records, including being the first K-pop group to hit the 1st place on the Billboard Hot 100, the first K-pop group nominated for a Grammy Award, and the first K-pop group to speak at the United Nations. Today, BTS is focusing on the members’ solo activities as they complete their military service, and is expected to reunite and come back as a group again around 2025. Jin and j-hope are doing their military service and released a single, The Astronaut, a debut solo album, Jack in the Box respectively before they proceeded with their conscription respectively. RM released his first full-length album, Indigo last December and is preparing his second solo album. SUGA just released his first full-length album under his stage name ‘August D’, D-Day in April and is doing his show on BTS’s YouTube channel. Jimin also released his first solo album, Face in March and has received a very good result. Jungkook is expecting to release his first solo album around July and V had filmed a variety show, Jinny’s Kitchen, that was on air in February.

via GIPHY

BTS albums we have at the library

Love yourself : answer / BTS (Musical group)

LOVE YOURSELF 結 ‘Answer’ is a repackaging of  BTS’s third full length album, LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear’ that released in August 2018. This album also marked the end of their “Love Yourself” series. After taking about the brightness side of love (LOVE YOURSELF 承 ‘Her’) and the pains of love (LOVE YOURSELF 轉 ‘Tear’), this album concludes the message that “Loving yourself is where true love begins”.

My personal picks:

Euphoria
Serendipity
DNA
dimple
Trivia 承: Love
Fake Love
Trivia 轉: Seesaw
I’m Fine
Idol
Answer: Love Myself
Magic Shop
Best of Me
Mic Drop
Go Go


Proof / BTS (Musical group)

This album is BTS latest anthology album and their last album before they pause their group activity because of the military service. This album contains 48 songs, including 3 new songs, their lead singles since debut, members solo tracks, subunit songs and the demo version of their released songs.

My personal picks:

Born Singer
Boy in Luv
I NEED U (my all time favourite!!!)
RUN
Burning Up (Fire)
Blood Sweat & Tears
Spring Day
Boy With Luv
Life Goes On
Yet To Come
Moon
Friends
00:00


Books about BTS available at the library

BTS : rise of Bangtan / Stevens, Cara J.
“This unofficial biography tells the story of BTS and their global ARMY, which helped propel them to the top of the charts all over the world. Extensively researched, Rise of Bangtan explores the lives of RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, V, Jin, and Jungkook, the story behind how they all got together, and their amazing rise to fame–from their start in East Asia to their dominance across the globe.” (Catalogue)

BTS : the ultimate fan book / Croft, Malcolm
“BTS: the ultimate fan book” is a spectacular celebration of the best and brightest K-Pop group from South Korea. Inside you’ll explore the songs, the moves and the fashions that have led the Bangtan Boys to worldwide success. Beautifully illustrated with photographs that highlight the band’s kaleidoscope of personalities and passions, this is a must-read for any fan who just can’t get enough BTS!” (Catalogue)

BTS : K-pop kings : the unauthorized fan guide / Brown, Helen
“BTS: Kings of K-Pop is the must-have commemorative celebration of BTS, the Korean boy band with a global army of fans.” (Catalogue)

BTS army handbook / Smith, Niki
“There are few who have made a mark on 2018 quite like BTS, the seven member Korean K-Pop group that is singlehandedly reviving the Age of the Boyband with their electric tracks, explosive dance routines and unnervingly perfect hair. BTS may have been catapulted to international acclaim this year, but there’s still a whole world of facts and stories from the six years it took for them to become the first K-Pop act to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Become a fully-fledged ARMY and learn about the members, the songs, and all of the stages along their journey from pre-debut training to global stardom.” (Catalogue)

Larger than life : a history of boy bands from NKOTB to BTS / Sherman, Maria
“Larger Than Life is a history of boy bands in popular music, from the 1990s to 2010s.” (Catalogue)

That’s a wrap for my over-sharing about BTS 방탄소년단! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite BTS song on our list! 안녕히 가세요!

via GIPHY

Youth Nights Come to Kilbirnie Library!

It’s been a long time coming, but we’re super excited to announce that our popular Youth Nights are finally coming to the queen of gorgeousness herself, the wonderful Kilbirnie Library!

On Saturday the 22nd of July, Kilbirnie Library will be open after hours, from 5.00 – 8.00pm, but only if you’re a teen. Bring along your student ID to prove you’re over 14, and your Emotional Support Adult to sign you in, and the fun shall commence! Our Youth Nights are LGBTQIA+ inclusive and we can’t wait to welcome you 🙂

If you’ve been to one of our Youth Nights at Karori or Johnsonville Libraries before, you know the drill — there’s free pizza, board games, music, crafts, anime, VR (can you beat the librarians at Beat Saber? Only time will tell…), chill vibes, good friends, and oh so very much more! (Did we mention free pizza? There’ll be free pizza.)

Also known as the Ruth Gotlieb Library, after the late legendary former City Councillor, stalwart library enthusiast, and fashion icon Ruth Gotlieb, Kilbirnie Library offers the following amenities for the discerning teen library-goer:

  • In honour of Matariki, a cosy ‘fireplace’ perfect for listening to gentle stories about the stars and doing celestial crafts with your pals
  • Magical ring lights in the ceiling that will ensure every selfie is perfectly-lit (as long as you are specifically taking them in the children’s picture book section)
  • Stunning views of the bustling Kilbirnie Crescent precinct and surrounds (I guess they might not be so bustling at night, and ‘stunning’ may be a strong word to describe ‘across the road from St Pat’s’, but you’ll be chilling indoors with pizza and friends so what does it matter?)
  • Books! Shelves! Comfy chairs! Cushions! Cool librarians! Unicorns! Enthusiasm for literature! Places to be yourself! And much, much more!

What kinds of Mischief, Hijinks, Tomfoolery, and Other Miscellaneous Examples Of Harmless Fun will we get up to at Kilbirnie Library’s Youth Nights? Well, that’s up to you to decide. Get in touch with us by email or message us on Instagram if you want more info, otherwise, we’ll see you there!

Why do we listen to K-pop? Because of Girls’ Generation!

As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!

This time, after two boy groups, I am going to introduce you to my favourite girl group, “지금은 소녀시대!앞으로도 소녀시대!영원히 소녀시대!”, the Girls’ Generation (or SNSD, GG)! Formed by SM Entertainment, Girls’ Generation debuted on 5th August 2007, with the song, “다시 만난 세계 Into the New World” from their eponymous first single. The original members include Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun, making Girls’ Generation the biggest girl group in Korea at that time. Their fan club name is S♡NE (소원, sounds like “So one,” meaning Wish in Korean) and the official colour is Pastel Rose Pink (Hex code, #ff4980). The group was carefully planned, having practiced their single “Into the New World” for around a year before their debut.

Since their debut, Girls’ Generation have always challenged themselves to try different music genres and concepts. At first, as their average age was just 17.4 when they debuted, their image was sweet, cute, and high-energy, while the music genres they focused on were teen-pop and bubblegum-pop (“다시 만난 세계 Into the New World”, “소녀시대 Girls’ Generation”, “Kissing You”, and “Baby Baby”). Then, they changed their concept to a more mature image, and started trying dance-pop and electropop, as in “Gee”, “소원을 말해봐 (Genie)” and “Oh”. After “Oh”, the girls began to present darker and stronger concepts (Run Devil Run and Catch me if you can), incorporating other musical styles like hip-hop (I Got a Boy and You Think), retro style (훗 Hoot and Lion Heart) and much more. Among all these different concepts they have tried, the group members themselves choose “Genie” as the song that represents them the best, from the concept itself to the song and its choreography.

Today, members of the Girls’ Generation are focusing on their solo activities. After their sixth full-length album, Holiday Night (from the two title songs, Holiday and All Night) which was released on their 10th anniversary, Tiffany, Sooyoung, and Seohyun decided to leave SM Entertainment, while remaining members of the group. Leader Taeyeon has a very successful solo singing career. She just released her third full-length album, “INVU” last year and is expected to release a new mini album this year (Author’s note: I will recommend 11:11, Wine, and Blue, however all of her songs are super good). Hyoyeon works as a singer and DJ. The other members are more focused on acting careers and have achieved good results respectively. The group had a full-group comeback last August for their 15th anniversary, and released their 7th full-length album, “Forever 1” (after five years, like finally!!!).

The Girls’ Generation means a lot to the whole of K-pop history. They have shown us, girls can be sweet and cute, but also strong and cool, encouraging us to be whoever we want, do anything we want. At the time of their debut, most of the popular idol groups were boy groups, and the girl groups tended not to survive long in the industry. The longevity of Girls’ Generation has attracted the public and forced them to pay more attention to “girl groups”.  They prove that girl groups can achieve the same results as boy groups — better, even. Moreover, their debut song, “Into the New World” has found renewed life in protest activities in Korea, because of its meaningful lyrics and the powerful message the girls have conveyed:

I love you, just like this. The longed-for end of wandering.
I leave behind this world’s unending sadness.
Walking the many and unknowable paths, I follow a dim light.
It’s something we’ll do together to the end, into the new world.

— Girls’ Generation, “Into the New World”

via GIPHY


Girls’ Generation albums we have at the library

Mr. Taxi / Girls’ Generation

Mr. Taxi is the repackaged edition album of Girls’ Generation’s third full-length album, “The Boys” which was released in 2011. “The Boys” has received a very good result in Korea and also internationally. The title song “Mr. Taxi” of this album is an electropop and R&B song, and the Korean version of their first original Japanese song.

My personal picks:
— Telepathy
— Say Yes
— Trick
— How Great is Your Love
— Sunflower


I got a boy / Girls’ Generation

Girls’ Generation released their fourth full-length album, “I Got a Boy” in 2013. The title song “I Got a Boy” is a hybrid genre song that includes bubblegum pop, electropop, electropop, and R&B, while the pre-release single “Dancing Queen” is a remake of Duffy’s “Mercy”, used to plan to release with “Gee” together. This album has received a very good result as well, and “I Got a Boy” has become one of their iconic title songs.

My personal picks:
— Baby Maybe
— 말해봐 (Talk Talk)
— Promise
— Express 999
유리아이 (Lost in Love)
— XYZ
— 낭만길 (Romantic St.)


2011 Girls’s Generation tour / Girls’ Generation

This is the live album of their second concert tour, the 2011 Girls’ Generation Tour. They performed some of their Japanese singles on this tour, and each member had a solo stage.

My personal picks:
— Let It Rain
— Lady Marmalade
— Devil’s Cry


Girls’ Generation – TTS is the first subunit of this group, made up of vocal members Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun. This subunit has a different music style compared to the Girls’ Generation. Their performance I like the most is their cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Cater 2 U” which shows how powerful their vocals are.

Twinkle / Girls’ Generation

Twinkle is their first mini album which was released in 2012, with the title song “Twinkle”. Twinkle is a medium-pop dance song. This album contains most dance-pop songs and some pop songs.

My personal picks:
Baby Steps
— Library
안녕 (Good-Bye, Hello)
— 처음이었죠 (Love Sick)



Holler : the 2nd mini album / Girls’ Generation

Girls’ Generation – TTS released their second mini album “Holler” in 2014, with the title song “Holler”. “내가 네게 Whisper” was released three days earlier as a promotional single. Member Seohyun had written the lyrics for the song “Only U”.

My personal picks:
아드레날린 (Adrenaline)
내가 네게 (Whisper)
— Stay
Only U
— Eyes


That’s a wrap for my over-sharing about Girls’ Generation! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite Girls’ Generation song on our list! 안녕히 가세요!

via GIPHY

Why do we listen to K-pop? Because of Super Junior!

As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!

After SHINee, I am excited to introduce my all-time favourite boy group, and also the reason I have started listening to K-pop, 우리는 슈퍼주니어 에요, Super Junior! Super Junior is a boy group formed by SM Entertainment and debuted on 5 November 2006, with the title song “Twins (Knock Out)” from their first mini album, Super Junior 05. They were the largest boy group in Korea when they first debuted with a total of 12 members: Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kibum. When Kyuhyun joined the group six months later, the suffix “05” was taken out and Super Junior 05 became Super Junior as we know them today. After Han Geng, Kibum and Kangin left the group in 2011, 2015, and 2019 respectively, there are now ten members in Super Junior, although Sungmin no longer joins group activities. Their fan club name is E.L.F. which means Ever Lasting Friends, and their official colour is Sapphire Blue (Hex code, #0F52BA).

Super Junior gained a lot of popularity following their debut as all the members worked hard to join different shows to promote the group. But what brought Super Junior international success was their third full-length album, 쏘리 쏘리 Sorry, Sorry. With catchy lyrics and melodies, and smooth and clean choreography, the title song “쏘리 쏘리 Sorry, Sorry” was a real hit in South Korea and also in other countries around the world. After the success of “쏘리 쏘리 Sorry, Sorry”, Super Junior maintained their frequency of releasing an album every year, becoming one of the most iconic K-pop groups in the world today.

Super Junior’s title songs are more focused on dance pop like “Mamacita(아야야)”, “Black Suit”, and “House Party”, with media outlets praising them for creating their own genre, “SJ Funky.” Aside from dance-pop, they have also experimented with other music genres like ballad, R&B, Latin and much more. As with SHINee, I like their ballad and R&B songs the most, and I recommend “너라고 It’s You” from the repackaged version of Sorry, Sorry, “사랑이 멎지 않게 Raining Spell for Love” from Mamacita, “같이 걸읅까 More Days with You” from The Renaissance, and Lovely Day – Rearranged Studio Version from their concert, Super Show 4.

Super Junior is also the first Korean group which started doing sub-unit activities. There are five subgroups, which are Super Junior-K.R.Y., Super Junior-T, Super Junior-M, Super Junior-H, and Super Junior-D&E, formed in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2008, and 2011 respectively. Each group consists of different members who perform in different music genres.

  • Super Junior-K.R.Y. focus on ballad-style songs, as this group is formed by the main vocal members, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung (When We Were Us).
  • Super Junior-T focuses on Trot music, the oldest form of Korean pop music (첫눈에 반했습니다 Love at First Sight).
  • Super Junior-M is a group that releases songs in Mandarin (Break Down).
  • The main music genre of Super Junior-H is bubblegum pop — the H stands for Happy! (요리왕 Cooking? Cooking!).
  • Super Junior-D&E was formed by members Eunhyuk and Donghae to do the music they like and enjoy, including hip-hop.

Aside from the subgroup activities, members of Super Junior also do a lot of solo activities, including musicals, solo albums, TV programmes, acting and much more. Super Junior is one of the longest-running K-pop groups (the oldest after Sechskies and Shinhwa) and they just celebrated their 17th anniversary last November! They also released their 11th full-length album, “The Road” last year with three title songs, which are “Callin”, “Mango”, and “Celebrate”. As a card-carrying E.L.F., I am very proud and looking forward to see what they will bring to us in the future!

via GIPHY

Super Junior albums we have at the library:

Mr. Simple / Super Junior

Mr. Simple is Super Junior’s fifth full-length album which was released in 2011. The title song “Mr. Simple” became one of their most popular songs and the album won several awards after release. This album contains various music genres like synthpop, electropop, R&B, and ballad. Members Donghae and Eunhyuk also wrote the lyrics for some tracks.

My personal picks:
— Walkin’
— Storm
— Memories
— Sunflower
— Y
— My Love, My Kiss, My Heart

A-cha / Super Junior

A-cha is the repackaged edition album of “Mr. Simple” that features four new songs and a new title song “A-cha.”

My personal picks:
— Superman
— Oops!!
— A Day
— Andante

Spy / Super Junior

Super Junior released their 6th full-length album, “Sexy, Free and Single” in 2012 and this album also become a hit in Korea. “Spy” is the repackaged version with 4 new songs and the new title song, “Spy”. “Spy” has the most complicated choreography and the members refused to perform it in the shows or concerts anymore (so E.L.F.s are always teasing them to perform it!)

My personal picks:
— From U
— Only U
— Haru
— Gulliver
— Someday
— Bittersweet
— Daydream
— A ‘Good’bye

The beat goes on / Donghae & Eunhyuk

This is the first mini album of the subunit, Super Junior-D&E which was released in 2015. With the title song “Growing Pains” written by the member Donghae, this mini album received a good result overall. This subunit is still active now compared to other subunits which have stopped working because of a range of reasons. Super Junior-D&E announces that they will release a new mini album this year and have a new concert tour after that.

My personal picks:
— Growing Pains
— 1+1=Love
— Love that I Need
— Sweater & Jeans
— Mother
— Still You

That’s a wrap for my over-sharing about Super Junior! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite Super Junior song on our list! 안녕히 가세요!


via GIPHY

Why do we listen to K-pop? Because of SHINee!

As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!

The first K-pop artist I would like to introduce to you is 빛나는샤이니: SHINee! SHINee is a Korean boy group formed by SM Entertainment and debuted on 22 May 2008. The original group members included Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. All the members had been trainees for around two to three years and received a lot of training in singing, dancing, and RAP before their debut. Their fan club is named 샤이니 월드 (SHINee World), with fans calling themselves Shawols or S.W. Their official colour is Pearlescent Aquamarine (Hex code #79e5cb, for anyone who wants to theme their Tumblr dash appropriately!).

SHINee debuted with the title song “Replay (누난 너무 예뻐)” from their first mini album “Replay.” They have gained a lot of attention since gaining the title of ‘Rookie Grand Slam’ following their debut. Defined as a “Contemporary group,” SHINee’s main music style is contemporary R&B, but they also have challenged musical boundaries by incorporating various music genres like Hip-Hop, EDM, and Deep House into their style. I personally like their pop ballad songs the most (my top three: Jo Jo from 2009, Year of Us, Don’t Let Me Go from 1 Of 1, and Symptoms from Everybody). Moreover, they always received a lot of compliments for their live performances because of their powerful vocals, exceptional choreography, and perfect synchronisation.

Today, the members of SHINee are focusing on their solo activities while waiting for the youngest member, Taemin, to complete his military service in early March 2023. Leader Onew is doing his solo concert in Japan and has been cast in several musicals, and Key is doing a lot of variety shows and has released his second full-length album “Gasoline” last August, while Minho has finally released his first solo mini album “Chase” with his new drama “The Fabulous” premiering on Netflix last December! Although member Jonghyun passed away in 2017, he was always one of SHINee’s most talented members, and his songs still have the power to heal us now (End of a Day).

We are lucky enough to have some of SHINee’s albums in our CD collection (editor’s note — do the kids still listen to CDs these days? Anyway, they’re free to borrow this year!), so check out some of my favourite picks below!

via GIPHY


SHINee albums we have at the library:

Sherlock / SHINee

Sherlock is SHINee’s fourth mini album which was released in 2012. The title song “Sherlock (Clue + Note)” is a “hybrid remix” of two songs, which are both from the same album: the second track “Clue,” and the third track “Note.” World-famous choreographer Tony Testa has done the choreography work for the title song and “Sherlock” has become one of SHINee’s masterpieces (Sherlock, Everybody, and View are always mentioned when we talk about SHINee’s outstanding and unique performances).

My personal picks:
–The Reason
–Honesty


Dream girl : the misconceptions of you ; Why so serious : the misconceptions of me / SHINee

In January 2013, SHINee announced that they were coming back with their third full-length album. The first chapter “Dream Girl – The misconceptions of You” was released in February with the title song “Dream Girl” and chapter two “Why So Serious – The misconceptions of Me” was released in April with the title song “Why So Serious”. Chapter 1 contains more happy and delightful songs, while Chapter 2 has more dark and gloomy songs. The complete album, The Misconceptions of Us, was released in June with an additional two new songs.

My personal picks:
Chapter 1 “Dream Girl – The misconceptions of You”
–Spoiler
–Girls, Girls, Girls
–Aside

Chapter 2 “Why So Serious – The misconceptions of Me”
–Excuse Me Miss
–Sleepless Night

The misconceptions of Us
–Selene 6.23
–Better Off


Odd / Shinee

Odd is SHINee’s fourth full-length album released in 2015 with the deep house genre title song “View.” The lyrics are written by member Jonghyun and describe how love intensifies people’s senses. It has received a lot of good reviews because of Jonghyun’s beautiful and sophisticated writing.

My personal picks:
–Love Sick
–View
–Farewell My Love
–An Ode To You
–An Encore


Ace : the first mini album / Taemin

Ace is SHINee’s member Taemin’s first solo mini album which was released in 2014. He is also the first member of SHINee who starts a solo career. With the title song “괴도 (Danger)”, Taemin has proved that he is not only good at dancing (he is the lead dancer in SHINee and well known as one of the best dancers in Korea) but also good at singing as well. Ace had received many good reviews in overall and Taemin has continued his solo career along with the group activities since then.

My personal picks:
–Ace
–Pretty Boy


Base : the first mini album / Jonghyun

My favourite member, Jonghyun released his first solo mini album, Base, in 2015. He was the second member after Taemin to start his own solo career. As the lead vocalist in SHINee, Jonghyun had always been praised for his singing skills, as well as his songwriting skills since his debut. He wrote all the lyrics for this album (not only this album but also all his solo albums that had been released after Base) and cooperated with other composers to write the music. This album explores various genres, including R&B, ballad, and soul.

My personal picks:
–Déjà-Boo
–Hallelujah
–Mono-Drama


That’s a wrap for my over-sharing about SHINee! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite SHINee song on our list!

via GIPHY

Youth Nights Come to Karori Library!

You heard it here first, folks! After a successful trial run during Out On The Shelves in June, our popular Youth Nights are coming to Karori Library on the regular!

Starting this Saturday the 20th of August, Karori Library will be open after hours, from 5.00 – 8.00pm, but only if you’re a teen. Bring along your student ID to prove you’re over 14, and the fun shall commence. Our Youth Nights are LGBTQIA+ inclusive and we welcome folks of all stripes 🙂

via GIPHY

If you’ve been to one of these at Waitohi, you know the drill — there’s free pizza, gaming, music, crafts, anime, VR (can you beat the librarians at Beat Saber? Only time will tell…), chill vibes, maybe a spot of D&D or so, and oh so much more! (And did we mention the free pizza?)

We are just so extremely excited to be starting a new season of Youth Night at Karori Library. Who’s to say what Mischief, Hijinks, and General Tomfoolery we might get up to at the library after hours? Some of our favourite episodes from Season Waitohi include:

  • The one where we spontaneously held a wedding (don’t worry, it was fully platonic, even if there was cake. And fancy dress.)
  • The one where we accidentally built a pirate ship out of cardboard boxes and hope (miraculously, it stayed up in the library for like three weeks!)
  • The one where we did a good ol’ fashioned sleepover (complete with bedtime stories of bad Harry Potter fan-fiction, a pot-luck dinner, watching Cats (the bad one), and several rounds of Among Us IRL)
  • The one where we forgot to plan anything so we just sat around eating pizza and ranking the characters of classic ’90s cartoon Gargoyles on a scale according to their relative hotness (Goliath and Demona came first, obviously)

What will Youth Night Season Karori bring? Well, that’s up to you to decide. Email karori.youthnight@wcc.govt.nz if you’d like more info — otherwise, we’ll see you there!

Books About Stuff and Other Things: New Non-fiction for Teens

Librarians spend a good deal of time scouring publication lists and trawling through horrifying numbers (like, you have no idea) of online reviews to settle on which books we should buy for our collection. Among the comics, fantasy epics, dystopian hellscapes, romantic comedies, and other fictional titles that routinely land on our desks, are analysed, and then purchased in their hundreds every month, we also seek out books about ~shock of all shocks~ reality. Stuff, things, and other such delights. Our non-fiction collections comprise books on just about every topic under the sun (and even some topics beyond the sun, but that’s a conversation for another day.)

Today, for your delectation, we are serving up some brand new books about nerdy stuff, hip-hop, jobs and careers, sex and sexuality, neurodivergence, and the environment — head down to your local library (or smash that handy and convenient “Reserve Now” button) and dig in!

Can’t stop won’t stop : a hip-hop history / Chang, Jeff
“From award-winning author Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop is the story of hip-hop, a generation-defining movement and the music that transformed American politics and culture forever. Hip hop is one of the most dominant and influential cultures in America, giving new voice to the younger generation. It defines a generation’s worldview. Exploring hip hop’s beginnings up to the present day, Jeff Chang and Dave “Davey D” Cook provide a provocative look into the new world that the hip hop generation has created. Based on original interviews with DJs, b-boys, rappers, activists, and gang members, with unforgettable portraits of many of hip hop’s forebears, founders, mavericks, and present day icons, this book chronicles the epic events, ideas and the music that marked the hip hop generation’s rise.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Depression : insights and tips for teenagers / Cognevich, Christie
“This book offers relatable situations and strategies to guide teens struggling with mental health–including identifying signs of struggle, recognizing stress factors, and offering strategies to escape harmful mental habits which can leave individuals feeling vulnerable, helpless, or in despair.” (Catalogue)

Queerly autistic : the ultimate guide for LGBTQIA+ teens on the spectrum / Ekins, Erin
“From coming out to friends and family through to relationships, self-care and coping with bullying, being out and about in the LGBTQIA+ community and undergoing gender transition, this book is filled with essential information, advice, support and resources to help you on your journey, and also works as a primer on all things LGBTQIA+ for non-autistic teens just figuring it all out.” (Catalogue)

Coming out : insights and tips for teenagers / Endsley, Kezia
“This book addresses the hows and whys of coming out, as well as potential concerns teenagers may have–including how to know when you’re ready to come out, who to tell first, and how to deal with unsupportive people. First-hand accounts from teenagers provide personal insight throughout.” (Catalogue)

Marvel monsters : creatures of the Marvel universe explored / Knox, Kelly
“All Super Heroes need a monster to fight, or a monstrous sidekick to help them. Some are even monsters themselves. This comprehensive field guide to Marvel flora, fauna, and beasts great and small shows off claws, teeth, tails, and wings in sumptuous, never-seen-before detail. From tyrannosaurus rexes from alternative worlds and genetically modified deinonychuses from the future, to purple cat-sized dragons and swamp monsters, the Marvel multiverse is brimming with creatures both heroic and villainous. Explore swamps and the Savage Lands and more. Discover aerial beasts, artificially created creatures, and even monster team ups. This anthology is a beautifully curated guide to the best and the worst and ensures you will never get Fin Fang Foom and Tim Boom Ba mixed up again! © 2021 MARVEL” (Catalogue)

Hothouse Earth : the climate crisis and the importance of carbon neutrality / McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino
“As hurricanes, droughts, floods, and wildfires are increasing in regularity and intensity, climate change can no longer be ignored. Melting permafrost, forest dieback, ocean acidification, and other processes are creating positive feedback loops which could, if not aggressively and quickly addressed, spiral out of control and take global warming past the point of no return. Hothouse Earth examines how science, politics, and social justice must all be part of the equation to counteract climate change.” (Catalogue)

The world of Critical Role : the history behind the epic fantasy / Marsham, Liz
“A guide to the massively popular fantasy RPG livestream offers previously unreleased photos and artwork, sharing cast insights into its origins and storylines as well as the diverse array of art and cosplay that Critical Role inspires.” (Catalogue)

Let’s talk about it : the teen’s guide to sex, relationships, and being a human / Moen, Erika
“Growing up is complicated. How do you find the answers to all the questions you have about yourself, about your identity, and about your body? Let’s Talk About It provides a comprehensive, thoughtful, well-researched graphic novel guide to everything you need to know. Covering relationships, friendships, gender, sexuality, anatomy, body image, safe sex, sexting, jealousy, rejection, sex education, and more, Let’s Talk About It is the go-to handbook for every teen, and the first in graphic novel form.” (Catalogue)

Love your career from the start : making decisions for your future – a guide for young adults / Sandford, Caroline
“This practical book for 15-25-year-olds introduces the four key stages involved in making good decisions for your future. It contains easy exercises that will help you: understand who you are and who you want to become, explore the options that are right for you, create an action plan that ensures you have what you need to realise your goals, identify the strategies your need to create the future that YOU want.” (Catalogue)

Support Local: New Zealand Music Month 2021

It’s May 2021, which means that New Zealand Music Month | Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa is upon us once again. We like music here on the Teen Blog, so we thought we’d share with you some of the cool stuff you can see, hear, or do to mark the occasion.

Album art for the following albums by Wellington artists: Kugels, Raven Mavens, Estere, Stalker, Flowz, David Harrow, Ariana Tikao, Spook the Horses, Julie Lamb, Phoenix Foundation, Neil Johnstone, and more.

A festive panoply of recent additions to our collection of Wellington music.

Find local music at the library

The theme of NZMM21 is simple: ‘Support Local. Stream Local. Follow Local. Buy Local.’ I’m not sure if there’s some kind of subliminal messaging at play here, but I think it’s possible that the kind folks at the New Zealand Music Commission are encouraging us to check out local artists. This is a message we at Wellington City Libraries wholeheartedly support. Our Customer Specialist for Music and Film, Mark, runs the Wellington Music blog and Facebook page, and if what you’re after is a constant stream of local Wellington content — interviews, videos and performancesanecdotes, new releases and more — well, he definitely has you covered. Check out his exhaustive Artist Directory for lists of literally hundreds of Wellington musicians and bands going back to the 1940s, complete with links to their material. It’s the best place you could start if you’re wanting to explore the music of this place.

On the off-chance that you are the kind of person who still likes to bust out the odd CD or vinyl record and give it a spin, we actually have a massive collection of both, at our Te Awe branch on Brandon Street, and Te Pātaka, our Collection Distribution Centre in Johnsonville. Use the Artist Directory to search by artist/composer/band, or browse the whole gosh darn collection at once:

If you’re into classical music or jazz, we have a bunch of awesome resources for you to check out — from the score and songbook collection and classical and jazz CD collections (including the music of prominent New Zealand composers like John Psathas and Gillian Whitehead), to the truly massive and amazing online repositories of the Naxos Classical and Naxos Jazz Libraries — free with your library card.

Make music with the library

If you want to make music of your own but don’t have the means, you can actually borrow audio equipment like mics, PAs, field recorders, even the legendary Synthstrom Deluge synthesiser/sequencer/sampler/marvel of engineering from the library. It’s super easy — just pop your details in the form, tell us what you want and when you need it, and we’ll make it happen. One of our librarians will even sit down with you and show you how it all works if you need.

If the home studio isn’t quite the vibe you’re going for, you could also use our free recording studio at Tūhura/The HIVE at Johnsonville Library. For up to two hours at a time, you can have free use of the studio and all its gear to do whatever you want — record, jam, noodle, rehearse, whatever you need. Because the space is heavily used, bookings are essential — email johnsonville.library@wcc.govt.nz to book your spot. Here’re the specs on the studio software and hardware available to you:

  • Software: Logic Pro X, Garage Band, Da Vinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro X
  • Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Gen3
  • Microphones: Rode NT-1a, Shure SM57, Shure SM58, AKG P170
  • Audio Monitors: Mackie CR4BT 4″ Multimedia Monitors
  • Control Surface: Korg nanoKONTROL Studio
  • MIDI Keyboard: Icon Pro Audio iKeyboard 8Nano
  • Electric Drums: Alesis Nitro Mesh 8-Piece kit
  • Electric Guitar: Squier Bullet Mustang
  • Guitar amp: Marshall CODE50
  • Bass Guitar: ESP LTD B10

Gig guide

While our librarians have a well-documented propensity for being musical performers themselves, we also accept that there might be some cool stuff happening outside the library too. Thankfully, the excellent people behind NZMM21 have put together this fabulous calendar of live gigs for your edification and enjoyment. Make sure to visit their website for the full picture.

There will be more to come on New Zealand Music Month-related goodness in and around our libraries, but until then, remember: Support Local. Stream Local. Follow Local. Buy Local. Local is where all the best stuff is, anyway.

From the Vaults IV: Printed Music

Heads up, music nerds, this one’s for you! This week’s post in our From the Vaults series features some of the more niche content we hold in the vast warren of shelves that is Te Pātaka, our Collection Distribution Centre — printed music.

In the time since the Central Library closed, you may well have forgotten that it contained a massive collection of music scores and songbooks, covering all styles and genres of music from pop to classical, jazz to musical theatre, and much more. Whether you need a score for a music exam or NCEA performance at school, or just want to chill out at home learning some new tunes, there’s bound to be something in our collection for you.

How our classical, jazz, and popular sheet music collections are often[citation needed] described!

But how to find it, you ask? Sadly, it’s not quite as easy as just typing “classical music” into the catalogue search and hoping for the best. Your best bet is to know a little about what you want before hitting the keyboard. Here are a few different ways you can go about it:

1. Search by Composer

This is probably the most straightforward way to go about finding sheet music in our catalogue. First, go to our catalogue. Go to the “Advanced Search”, and click in the “author” field. Here you can type the name of the composer — it doesn’t matter what order you put their names in. For example, “Bach, Johann Sebastian” and “Johann Sebastian Bach” will return the same set of results. If you’re looking for guitar tabs for your favourite band, the band name itself is the “author,” e.g. “Green Day” 0r “Ed Sheeran.”

Once you’ve done your search, you may be confronted by an intimidatingly long list of results. Fear not! Your next step is to filter by format. Click on “Format” on the left-hand side, and then select “Score.” Now, your results will show just printed music, and you can browse and reserve the items to your heart’s content! The librarians/gremlins/mystical shelf beings at Te Pātaka will hunt down that score and send it wherever it needs to go.

Behold, the magic of catalogue filtering!

2. Search By Instrument

This feature is a little less reliable and a little more clunky than the above, and it can only be used for classical music and jazz, but it can still be useful if you’re looking for pieces to learn for school or leisure! Here’s how you do it:

  1. Go to our catalogue homepage
  2. Click on “Advanced Search”
  3. Using the drop-down arrow, select “Call Number” from the list and “begins with” in the middle column
  4. Type “score” followed by the following numbers (or you can click the links below to take you right there!):
    1. Vocal music — 780
      1. Part songs — 780.4
      2. Sacred music — 780.5
      3. Choral scores — 780.6
      4. Musical theatre and Opera — 780.7
    2. Instrumental music — 781
      1. Flute and piccolo — 781.11
      2. Recorder — 781.112
      3. Oboe — 781.12
      4. Clarinet — 781.13
      5. Bassoon — 781.14
      6. Trumpet — 781.15 (jazz trumpet 781.1598)
      7. Horn — 781.16
      8. Trombone — 781.17
      9. Saxophone — 781.18 (jazz sax 781.1898)
      10. Bagpipes and accordion — 781.19
      11. Harp — 781.2
      12. Lute — 781.24
      13. Guitar — 781.25
      14. Violin — 781.3
      15. Viola — 781.34
      16. Cello — 781.35
      17. Double bass — 781.37
      18. Piano — 781.4 (jazz piano 781.48)
      19. Harpsichord — 781.5
      20. Piano duets — 781.6
      21. Organ — 781.7 and 781.8
      22. Percussion — 781.9
    3. Chamber and orchestral music — 782
      1. String trios — 782.1
      2. Piano trios — 782.2
      3. String quartets — 782.3
      4. Piano quartets — 782.4
      5. String quintets — 782.5
      6. Wind ensembles — 782.6
      7. Orchestral scores — 782.7
      8. Miniature scores — 782.77

3. Virtual Shelf Browsing

If you’re the kind of person that likes wandering through the shelves, revelling in the possibility of serendipitous discovery, there’s some good news — with our online catalogue, you can (sort of) replicate that experience! Here’s how you do it:

  1. Go to our catalogue homepage
  2. Click on “Advanced Search”
  3. Using the drop-down arrow, select “Call Number” from the list
  4. Enter “score” or “songbook” in the search
  5. When the list of results come up, select “View As: Flow” in the top right corner
  6. Finally, select “Sort By: Call Number” in the top left. The result will be all of the scores and/or songbooks held in the library collection, organised in order of where they would be on the shelf. If we have an image of the book cover, you will see that as well (but a lot of these books were added to the library catalogue before computers or the Internet existed, so we don’t have cover images for all of them!)

Just the same as browsing a physical library shelf… right?

So, if printed music is your jam, make sure you check out this veritable cornucopia of shtuff. It’s there for you to enjoy!

Music and Other Distractions

School’s back today, which I’m sure everyone’s very excited about. Sometimes the best thing to do after a hard day’s distance learning is to chill out with some music. I know that’s what I like to do after another day churning out content for the library’s blogs. My irrational love of Alanis Morissette is already well-attested in this very publication.

Well, we got music for you. But first, it’s time to sing for your life. The New Zealand Choral Federation (the very same peeps who bring us The Big Sing every year) is running The Virtual Sing — an awesome project where rad people like your fine selves get to be part of a whole virtual performance of A Te Tarakihi by Alfred Hill, arranged by Wellington’s own Brent Stewart. Want an idea of what it will be like? Check out Eric Whitacre’s epic virtual choir of nearly 4,000 voices singing his Water Night below. YOU COULD BE AS COOL AS THAT TOO. Check the link for the deets.

If that ain’t your jam, there’s still plenty of free musical goodness the library can provide. First up are the awesome Naxos Music Libraries. If you’re classically inclined (I know you’re out there, dear classical readers!), the Music Library and Video Library provide access to, oh, hundreds of thousands of free performances of classical music from around the world, including live concerts, ballets, operas, studio recordings and more. The Jazz Library is the same, but it’s jazz, folks! Miles Davis, saxophones, weird chords, the lick — what’s not to love?

Before we leave the database side of things, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about Lynda.com. Plug in your library card number, and you’ll be set for life with guided tutorials on everything from music production to home studio setups, how to get creatively inspired, how to read and write music, and so much more. And it’s all totally free.

Finally, if you want to keep up with the latest happenings in the Wellington music scene, our friends over at the Wellington Music blog have you covered. New releases, exclusive interviews, sneak previews and more — it’s all going on there. We’re also hosting live music performances (#quarantunes) every night over on the Johnsonville Library Facebook page. Join in on the fun if you just want to chill out to some zen realness every night, but also get in touch if you want to be involved! We’re always keen to showcase local talent.

Alright, that’s it for now, folks. Until next time, stay cool.

All about Music

To mark the New Zealand Music Month why don’t we read books related to music? It’s a subject that I love and the first two books in the list are my favourites.

Syndetics book coverEleanor & Park / Rainbow Rowell.
Bono met his wife in high school, Park says. So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be, she says, we’re 16 . What about Romeo and Juliet? Shallow, confused, then dead. I love you, Park says. Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers. I’m not kidding, he says. You should be.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits–smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverPlaylist for a broken heart / Cathy Hopkins.
“When Paige finds an old mix CD in a local charity shop, she can’t help but wonder about the boy who made it and the girl he was thinking of when he chose the songs. The tracks tell the story of a boy looking for his perfect girl, a story of being alone, being let down, misunderstood and not knowing where to turn. Following the clues of the music, Paige sets out to find the mysterious boy, going from gig to gig and band to band, hoping to track him down. But will who she finds at the end of the trail, be the boy she’s imagined?” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverHold me closer : the Tiny Cooper story / by David Levithan.
“Especially for those of us who ordinarily feel ignored, a spotlight is a circle of magic, with the strength to draw us from the darkness of our everyday lives. Watch out, ex-boyfriends, and get out of the way, homophobic coaches. Tiny Cooper has something to say–and he’s going to say it in song. Filled with honesty, humor, and “big, lively, belty” musical numbers, Hold Me Closer is the no-holds-barred (and many-bars-held) entirety of the beloved musical first introduced in Will Grayson, Will Grayson , the award-winning bestseller by John Green and David Levithan. Tiny Cooper is finally taking center stage . . . and the world will never be the same again.” (Syndetics summary)

Syndetics book coverCoda / Emma Trevayne.
“Ever since he was a young boy, music has coursed through the veins of eighteen-year-old Anthem-the Corp has certainly seen to that. By encoding music with addictive and mind-altering elements, the Corp holds control over all citizens, particularly conduits like Anthem, whose life energy feeds the main power in the Grid. Anthem finds hope and comfort in the twin siblings he cares for, even as he watches the life drain slowly and painfully from his father. Escape is found in his underground rock band, where music sounds free, clear, and unencoded deep in an abandoned basement. But when a band member dies suspiciously from a tracking overdose, Anthem knows that his time has suddenly become limited. Revolution all but sings in the air, and Anthem cannot help but answer the call with the chords of choice and freewill. But will the girl he loves help or hinder him?” (Syndetics summary)

NZ music highlights

Hopefully you’re celebrating NZ Music Month with us by listening to more local artists! I thought I would highlight a few recent-ish NZ releases we have in our collection, with some help from very music-savvy fellow librarian Kim. Let us know what you agree or disagree with, and please leave us some of your favourite NZ artists in the comments!

The Love Club EP by Lorde

Dating earlier than her hit album Pure Heroine, The Love Club EP (first released for free on SoundCloud) contains the ubiquitous ‘Royals’ along with four other songs not on her full length album. ‘Bravado’, ‘Biting Down’, ‘Million Dollar Bills’ and ‘The Love Club’ are all excellent songs, and have a slightly different sound to Pure Heroine – perhaps a little cheekier? In any case, any Lorde fan needs to listen to this EP.

Brightly Painted One by Tiny Ruins

I saw Tiny Ruins a.k.a Hollie Fullbrook when she opened for Calexico last year and they were both excellent! Morphing from gentle and folky to classical-sounding with strings and looping back around again, Tiny Ruins keeps it interesting. She has been compared to Beth Gibbons from Portishead AND Nick Drake, so if that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is.

Goin’ Steady by Newtown Rocksteady (adult collection, costs $1)

13-piece Newtown Rocksteady’s extended EP documents their musical progression over the last four years, representing and reinventing the 60s Jamaican vibe known as rocksteady. Rocksteady mixes together reggae, dub, ska and dancehall music, all perfect for a good boogie which they provided in droves at the Newtown and Womad festivals earlier this year. If you get the chance to see them live, do! They provide amazing entertainment and you’ll be blown away by their collective talent, not to mention their 5-piece horn section.

Louis Baker by Louis Baker (adult collection, costs $1)

Wellington local Louis Baker is sometimes mellow and completely soulful. His sound has been compared to Jeff Buckley – these are some amazing comparisons being made to our local talents! He’s very talented and grew up in Coromandel Street, Newtown. His self titled EP made it to number 8 in the NZ charts, check it out for yourself!

And then we have some faves that don’t have CDs out in the library yet:

Brockaflower Saurus-Rex (and the Blueberry Biscuits)

This 9-piece band’s first album is full on but spacious, allowing everyone their own instrument space – an impressive feat with so many people and instruments demanding attention. But they make it work, and very harmoniously, too. As for genre, they’re a bit funk, a bit psychedelic and a bit “neo-soul” (who even names music genres these days?) and they’ll keep you grooving with each song full of energy. They have an album out titled “Build It” but we sadly don’t have it in the library. You can listen to it in full here on SoundCloud though!

Estère

Speaking of genre names, Estère’s probably takes the cake – “electric blue witch hop”. She is a singer/songwriter/beatmaker/producer from Wellington and this whole album was made and recorded in her bedroom. She uses loops of live instruments, has an MPC named Lola and has been likened to Erykah Badu with her sometimes raspy and always stunning vocals. Although we don’t have her album here in the library yet, you can listen to it on SoundCloud for free, and even download it for free from Estère’s Bandcamp page!

More Divergent countdown trivia

In anticipation of the Divergent movie coming out, there’s also the Divergent soundtrack to look forward to. It’s available a couple of weeks before the movie, and the tracklisting is:

1 ‘Find you’, Zedd, ft. Matthew Koma and Miriam Bryant
2 ‘Beating Heart’, Ellie Goulding
3 ‘Fight for You’, Pia Mia, ft. Chance the Rapper
4 ‘Hanging On’ (I See MONSTAS remix), Ellie Goulding
5 ‘I Won’t Let You Go’, Snow Patrol
6 ‘Run Boy Run’, Woodkid
7 ‘Backwards’, Tame Impala and Kendrick Lamar
8 ‘I need you’, M83
9 ‘In Distress’, A$AP Rocky, ft. Gesaffelstein
10 ‘Lost and Found’ (ODESZA remix), Pretty Lights
11 ‘Stranger’, Skrillex, ft. KillaGraham From Milo & Otis & Sam Dew
12 ‘Dream machines’, Big Deal
13 ‘Dead in the water’, Ellie Goulding

The big winner is Ellie Goulding!

We will be getting this! We have other movie soundtracks in the Young Adult collection also: The Great Gatsby, Catching Fire, City of Bones, Avengers, Glee (lots of Glee, lots and lots of Glee) and much more.

Winging Your Way Through The Weekend, August 10-11

There’s no shortage of shindigs to get you out of the house and into the streets of Wellington this weekend. Here’s a quick run-down of what we’ve circled with our highlighter.

The New Zealand International Film Festival continues and included is the world premiere of Fantail. Rachel and Rebecca made some picks in last week’s Trailer Tuesday. Also in film this weekend is the fundraising screening of documentary Maidentrip about kiwi-born Laura Dekker’s solo adventure around the world aboard yacht Guppy. Proceeds to Wellington Ocean Sports.

One of Wellington’s best and formerly hidden treasure troves of Zines and art, Matchbox Studios has a grand opening at its new street front location.

The next round of New Zealand’s Got Talent auditions stop into the St James.

Museum of Wellington City & Sea continue with their L!VE Music sessions on Sunday.

Wellington’s gonna get a pop-up chocolate factory on Queens Wharf this weekend – YUM! If you need more convincing their website has a puppy picture.

Newtown’s National Hockey Stadium will host matches between Capital & Southern.

The always thought-provoking World Press Photos exhibition is in town and hanging out on Willis Street.

If you haven’t had a chance to yet Young & Hungry is in its last weekend at Bats. It’s well worth the outing.

In new music for the playlist this week Indie band Typhoon, from Portland Oregon, have released a sneak peak of their new album White Lighter. They’re a bit of a well kept secret and it’s not really a sneak-peak it’s a peak in entirety. If you’re a fan of indie bands like the Fleet Foxes, Beirut, Boy & Bear, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Band of Horses etc we reckon you’ll dig these guys.

Have a good one!

Winging Your Way Through The Weekend, 13-14 June

This weeks weekend is all about the stars, every pun intended. It’s official Matariki celebrations have started and as a continuation from last weekend there are a host of events about the town to keep us all entertained.

Like any good New Year shindig Matariki’s all about reflecting on the year that has past and ushering in, hopefully, an even better one. While looking back and forward can mean a whole lot of different things to all of us the spirit of the season is to come together, share and celebrate. So with that in mind here’s a run down of Matariki inspired events to get us out and about with our municipal kinfolk.

As usual our shiny waterfront centrepiece Te Papa has a plethora of things on. They’re putting on a concert series with some great artists appearing Friday night including; Whirimako Black, Mihirangi and J & his geeks for all you NZ’s Got Talent fans. A clebration of the last year in New Zealand film making will happen on Sunday under the moniker of Matariki Film Festival: Whanau Shorts 2013. A Matariki craft village will also pop up on Saturday in the foyer to showcase a wide range of crafts for all you bohemian folk. This year there is an emphasis on navigation and it could be a great time for all you young adventurers to scrub up on South Pacific exploration.

Just outside Te Papa there will also be waka tours on Saturday.

One of our other swell museums, the Museum of Wellington: City & Sea is currently running an exhibition celebrating the creativity of us all here at Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui (the head of Maui’s fish).

If you’d prefer something a bit more literary and find yourself over the age of 15 Patricia Grace’s Tu has been adapted by Hone Kouka and is running at Circa Theatre.

Want to hang with stars in another way? Author Mal Peet will be popping into the Central Library on Sunday to run a special one off creative writing course for young writers.

In sport the local roller derby girls meet again in TSB for a bout between Smash Malice & Brutal Pageant.

If you’ve tuned in to find something for your playlist this week why not try Portugal. The Man. Off of their new album Evil Friends here’s ‘Atomic Man’. Happy weekend!

Winging Your Way Through The Weekend, 8-9 June

What up! Another weekend looms and here’s some sweet stuff to do with it.

No doubt you’ve heard about The Great Gatsby (a lot) by now, it feels like they’ve been building hype for eternity. It’s finally here and it looks pretty suave! (Rated M)

But did you know it was a book first? Sure was, it’s an American Classic by one great F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also, it’s not The GG’s first dance across the silver screen.

Matariki 2013 celebrations start up in Poneke with the arrival of waka Te Matau a Maui. There’s a calender load of events to keep you busy over the next few weeks of the Maori new year celebration.

Sporty peepz!  The Championship Tournament of the Woman’s Basketball League is at Te Rauparaha Arena over at neighb’s Porirua. Maori ball game Ki o Rahi will have a Matariki special in Waitangi Park from 6pm Friday night (brought to you by body R2R).

The other big thing this weekend is our (Wellington’s) Jazz Festival. Before you scoff take note, Jazz is the original bad boy of music. You can thank it for paving the way to all our modern jams and the term “hipster”. Appreciate. There is a caps worthy TONNE of events going down for it. One pretty special looking one is the pop up jams planned for the city streets Friday and Saturday – keep your eyes peeled.

Shakespeare fans beware this Globe On Screen viewing at Lighthouse Cinema (a nice follow up to the recent Sheila Winn festivities).

Feeling exhausted yet?

Here’s a diddy for the weekend playlist. Lorde’s most recent ‘Tennis Court’. Peace!
Tennis Court by LordeMusic

Winging Your Way Through The Weekend, 18-19 May

Greetings!

Here’s our weekly run down of what’s on about this splendid city during the weekend.

The mind blowing moving image exhibition “Moving On Asia” has only a fortnight left at Wellington’s City Gallery.

Our freshest up and coming young comedians perform at Bats theatre in “Class Comedians“.

After some free film? The New Zealand Film Archive is currently hosting Samin Son TV – a self titled exhibition of Son’s time in the Korean Army. It sounds pretty interesting and is… the big ol’ price of NOTHING.

The Documentary Edge Film Festival continues.

In music news it’s still New Zealand Music Month. Lorde released the music video for Royals (below) this week – she’s going to be a superstar. The Naked And Famous snuck this single, ‘A Source Of Light’, into the webosphere off of their upcoming remixes and b-sides follow up to Passive Me, Aggressive You.

Big international drops for the weekend playlist include The National’s ‘Trouble Will Find Me’ (itunes streaming), Daft Punk’s  ‘Random Access Memories’ (itunes streaming) and Vampire Weekend’s  ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’.

Canada’s most famous (and only) astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield returned to earth this week but not before gifting planet earth another of his amazing videos. Music + science = awesome!

Happy weekending!

On a high note…

High note… Geddit? Music puns are such fun. Since you’ve all been reading about music after last week’s list in honour of New Zealand Music Month, this week we thought we’d let you know what’s happening!

Unfortunately for us, Auckland seems to be getting most of the action 🙁 HOWEVER, based on this list of Wellington events, at least lots of the events here are free 🙂

NZ Music Month is a promotion run by the NZ Music Commission that takes place each May, in association with other organisations including NZ On Air, RIANZ, APRA, Independent Music NZ, and the Radio Broadcasters Association. You can find out more about the organisers here. NZ Music Month is a 31 day celebration of our homegrown talent across the length and breadth of the country. So get involved! Go to a gig, buy some merchandise, or just rent some New Zealand music from the library this month! Here are our personal favourites:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0014DBZXS/ref=ase_wellingtoncit-21Flight of the Conchords because, if nothing else, we love a good laugh. And because Bret McKenzie was in the library the other day. But mostly because no one combines comedy and music quite like they do. Don’t believe us? Check out our exstensive collection in the library or check out this rather amusing charity song written for Cure Kids last year.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0017UOUGW/ref=ase_wellingtoncit-21Essentially that video plays like a who’s who of New Zealand music, including the wonderful Brooke Fraser. We love her, not only for her incredible talents as a singer and songwriter, but also for her willingness to use her fame to get behind a cause. As well as Cure Kids, there’s World Vision (which inspired the song “Albertine”) and in 2010 while on tour in the States, she raised over $54,000 for charity: water to build clean water wells in Ethiopia.

The favourite that you may not have heard of: Ivy Lies. I fell in love with these ladies after hearing “Never Enough” and it’s safe to say the rest of their album, Little Mind Games, is just as good. The girls of Ivy Lies have perfected pop-rock with high energy, aggressive drums and assertive rock guitar, making music that makes you pound your invisible drum sticks.

Not your thing? Come check out the New Zealand music selection here at the library. In case you didn’t know, the YA CDs are FREE on your YA card so really, what’s to lose?

We’ll leave you with some photos of NZ Music Months gone by…

R n R

Synesthesia

is when one of your senses is triggered but it causes an involuntary response by one or more of your other senses. In this case, we hope you’ll be reading words but hearing music! Or something. It’s a serious disease though.

In a roundabout way, this is a welcome to New Zealand Music Month, and we’re kicking it off with novels about music, musicians and playlists! It’s a challenging thing to write about musicians or bands in a way that is engaging for readers, since the author has to somehow describe the feeling, tone, content and emotion of something which is expressed purely through sound. Here we’ve selected ten who we think have done this pretty well.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsFat Kid Rules the World, K.L. Going

Troy Billings is seventeen, 296 pounds, friendless, utterly miserable, and about to step off a New York subway platform in front of an oncoming train. Until he meets Curt MacCrae, an emaciated, semi-homeless, high school dropout guitar genius, the stuff of which Lower East Side punk rock legends are made. Never mind that Troy’s dad thinks Curt’s a drug addict and Troy’s brother thinks Troy’s the biggest (literally) loser in Manhattan. Soon, Curt has recruited Troy as his new drummer, even though Troy can’t play the drums. Together, Curt and Troy will change the world of punk, and Troy’s own life, forever.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsLemonade Mouth, Mark Peter Hughes

Be warned, this is not the same book as the Disney movie. As is often the case, the character’s in the book are much more complex although the gist remains. This is the story of how five outcasts in Opoquonsett High School’s freshman class found each other, found the music, and went on to change both rock and roll and high school as we know it. Wen, Stella, Charlie, Olivia, and Mo take us back to that fateful detention where a dentist’s jingle, a teacher’s coughing fit, and a beat-up ukulele gave birth to Rhode Island’s most influential band. This is a book that utilizes multiple points of view really, really well. Especially during the concert chapters, where the point of view changes between about 10 different people.

book cover courtesy of Syndetics6X: The Uncensored Confessions, Nina Malkin

Four teens suddenly rise to stardom in their band 6X, taking the world by storm and learning the truth first-hand about the real backstabbing world of show biz. The band is made up of 4 members, contradictory to what the book title suggests. There’s Kendall (The Voice), Rich (The Body), Stella (The Boss) and A/B (The Boy) and together they’re on the fast track to pop-rock superstardom. Along the way though, they’ll have to do some serious soul searching, face some hard truths and learn to survive in the glamorous, backstabbing world of pop music.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsNick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

This high-energy romance follows two high-school seniors through a single, music-fueled night in Manhattan. Nick, the nonqueer bassist in a queercore band, is playing with The Fuck Offs, when he spots his ex-girlfriend, Tris. Once offstage, he propositions a girl he has never met, hoping to make Tris jealous: Would you mind being my girlfriend for five minutes? Norah, also heartbroken (and hoping Nick will drive her home), agrees. What begins as a spontaneous ploy turns into something surprising and real in the course of one night as Nick and Norah roam Manhattan, listen to bands, confront past hurts, and hurtle toward romance. What we loved about this one is the characters’ wild yearning for love, and music, which feels powerful and true.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThe Disenchantments, Nina LaCour

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev’s band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she’s abandoning their plans – and Colby – to start college in the fall. But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev’s already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what’s next?

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsNaked, Kevin Brooks

Britain in the 1970s sounds like an incredible place to be. Chaos and punk culture went hand in hand and this book is set right in the middle of it: summer of 1976. It was the summer of so many things. Heat and violence, love and hate, heaven and hell. It was the time I met William Bonney – the boy from Belfast known as Billy the Kid. William’s secrets have been kept for a long time, but now things have changed and the truth is coming out. The story begins with Curtis Ray; hip, cool, rebellious Curtis Ray. Without Curtis, there wouldn’t be a story to tell. It’s the story of a band, of life and death . . . and everything in between.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsThis Lullaby, Sarah Dessen

Raised by a mother who has had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician. Remy goes on a whirlwind ride, avoiding, circling and finally surrendering to Cupid’s arrows. More than the summer romance of this novel, we loved the cast of idiosyncratic characters who watch from the sidelines. There’s the trio of Remy’s faithful girlfriends, all addicted to “Xtra Large Zip” Diet Cokes practical-minded Jess, weepy Lissa, and Chloe, who shares Remy’s dark sense of humor as well as Dexter’s entourage of fellow band members, as incompetent at managing money as they are at keeping their rental house clean. Potential spoiler: it’s far from the fairytale happily-ever-after ending.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsAudrey, Wait!, Robin Benway

California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, “Audrey, Wait!” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous! Now rabid fans are invading her school. People (magazine) is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. (And the Internet is documenting her every move!) Audrey can’t hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi. Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsFive Flavors of Dumb, Antony John

High school senior Piper, who began to lose her hearing at age six, has mixed feelings about her parents dipping into her college fund to pay for cochlear implants for her hearing-impaired baby sister. But one thing is clear: Piper has to replenish the funds. Opportunity knocks when a disorganized rock band named Dumb invites her to be their manager. However, it soon becomes apparent that the members’ egos are more substantial than their talent. Although Piper’s hearing is a characterizing detail that could have been used solely as a gimmick, her abilities are seen as assets: while lip reading allows her access to public conversation, she is not above using sign language to obscure her intentions. The parallel attention to Piper’s hearing family and the strain her parents’ decision to treat her sister with cochlear implants adds to the greater story and informs the novel’s direction and ending in a satisfying way.

book cover courtesy of SyndeticsRock Star Superstar, Blake Nelson

Music is Pete’s life. He’s happiest when he’s playing his Fender Precision bass, whether he’s jamming with his dad at 2 a.m. or covering Top 40 hits. Pete doesn’t care about playing the hottest club or getting the cutest girl. For him, it’s all about the quality of the music. Until he meets the Carlisle brothers. Pete could play circles around Nick and Billy Carlisle-the guys are amateurs. But there’s a power in their sound that’s exciting, and they need a new bass player. Pete joins their band, not quite sure what to expect. Before he knows it, he’s on a wild ride that transforms him from jazz band geek to potential rock god. Is Pete ready for superstardom? More importantly, is it even what he wants?

Hopefully that’s enough to kick of 2013 New Zealand Music Month for y’all! Stay tuned for updates and our favourite homegrown acts.

R n R

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