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Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Twelve Poems About Twelve Albums
24.03.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Get ‘Em Girls – Jessica Mauboy
What is “‘em”? And why
should girls “get” it? Answers are
on track number one.

Glee: The Music, Volume Four
Three of these songs are
Britney Spears covers. Rejoice,
fake Britney lovers!

Glee: The Music, Volume Five
Similar to the
above entry, but with Biebs
instead of the Brits.

The Sing-Off: The Best Of Season Two
I think this is like
American Idol, but
acappella-y.

The Preview - Chiddy Bang
Two dudes making rap
but with “alt” samples preview
upcoming album.

Who You Are – Jessie. J
Spikily lipped Brit
does the Lady Gaga thing,
only with black hair

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
Despite swearing at
them, it is still possible
to make ladies swoon.

Goodby Lullaby – Avril Lavigne
Still in and out of
love, but with sk8er men, no
longer sk8er bois.

Never Say Never: The Remixes – Justin Bieber
Biebs re-imagined.
Biebs re-upped. Biebs re-loaded.
Biebs re-volutions.

Future Is Now – Cornerstone Roots
Future is never
actually now. Now is
always the present.

Pefect Flaws – Black River Drive
Flaws are defined as
imperfections. Another
title is debunked.

EPIC - Various Artists
Iggy Pop, Pixies,
Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx,
Nick Cave, Korn, Tricky.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Latest Sounds
17.02.11 | Permalink | Comment?

Clubbers Guide, Spring 2010
If you are aware
of Ministry of Sound you
know what to expect

Free Wired – Far East Movement
Does electro-hop
sound like something you would be
interested in?

The Beginning (deluxe edition) – The Black Eyed Peas
The hologram man
includes some of the end with
the beginning

There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret – Bring Me The Horizon
When Death Metal and
Emo collide, it seems that
long titles result

Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
Neatly attired folk
singers nominated for
Grammy with this one

Science & Faith – The Script
Celtic soul trio
get their Maroon 5 on with
the soft rock numbers

Aotearoa Dubsteb Allstarz
Optimus Gryme has
collected New Zealand’s
finest dubsteppers
Music, Synthesiser Patel
Best Of 2010 : Music
23.12.10 | Permalink | Comment?

At the end of every year, every single website is contractually obligated by the internet to publish a list of their top ten albums released that year. Not wanting to void our contract and, let’s be honest, because it’s fun too, here’s ours.

The rules are that it must have been both released and catalogued into the YA collection in 2010.

10. BARB – BARB
Local goodness from Liam Finn, Connan Mockasin and pals. Felt like this one flew under the radar a little bit, undeservedly so.

9. Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be
The best of the lo-fi indie girl band bunch in a year that said bunch was of a ubiquitously high quality.

8. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son Of Chico Dusty
On this album Big Boi proved that he is far from just “that other dude from Outkast”

7. Connan Mockasin – Please Turn Me Into The Snat
My favourite NZ release of the year. It’s a psychedelic pop gem.

6. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Apparently this is the last album from Damon Albarn’s cartoon band. If so, it was a great one to go out on.

5. The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights
No new material, just some great live performances of old favourites, rarities and a brilliant behind the scenes DVD

4. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
The noisiest and most “punk rock” electro band returned with their second and it stayed on my ipod all year long.

3. Pavement – Quanrantine The Past
Do greatest hits albums qualify for lists like this? Seeing as it’s my list, I’d say yes. More so because this is some of the best indie rock ever made. Ever.

2. The Black Keys - Brothers
This album not only features the best use og guitar and drums this year, but also the cover features the best use of Cooper Black.

1. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Pretty much the perfect electro album. Which is more than enough to qualify for album of the year.

So there you go. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section. Perhaps write your own, discussion generating list?
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Now That’s What I Call Haiku
09.12.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Now That’s What I Call Music 34

Erstwhile collection
doubles runtime in thirty-
fourth incarnation

Evolution - Deceptikonz

Is “evolution”
“transformation”? If so, I
expect rapping cars

Humanoid City Live - Tokio Hotel

The last emos in
town turn on the bright lights, turn
dials to eleven

City Limits/Neon Sunrise - I Am Giant

Local X-Games
enthusiasts cut album
full of skater riffs

The Runaways – O.S.T.

Cherry-bombing girls
get biopic that sounds like
a roller derby
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
New Music And A Year-Old Joke
16.11.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Speak Now – Taylor Swift

I was going to
write about this but Kanye
interrupted me.

Camp Rock 2 : The Final Jam

Jo Bros. holiday
productively by kicking
out jams they then sell.

Doo Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars

Rising Hawaiian pop-
-star seemingly writes music
only whilst napping.

Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots

Legends – self procaimed
and other – shake us gently
awake from slumber.

The Sellout – Macy Gray

Apparently to
sell out means bizarre Velvet
Revolver guest spots

The Enemy Within – Concord Dawn

Music is for drum
and bassers, cover is for
entomologists
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
New Music, New Haiku
08.10.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Not even the light
from a thousand suns can pierce
maturities’ gloom

Shihad – Ignite

Stalwarts of local
scene truck on, introduce new
colours to palette

Kelis – Flesh Tone

Being overlooked
results in a move to the
dancefloor it would seem

Scott Pilgrim vs. the world : original motion picture soundtrack

Graphic novel as
film offers up better sounds
than most of its ilk.

Interpol – Interpol

Self-titled release
indicates return to roots,
results may vary
Jack, Music, Pencil it in your diaries
BIg Day Out 2011
30.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?
The line up for next January’s Big Day Out was announced yesterday. There are usually another couple of announcements before the actual event, so while this list will be added to I thought it a good idea to highlight the artists we have in our collection to further inform the decision on whether or not to drop the $150 on a ticket before they go on sale October 8.
- Tool – Opiate
- Rammstein – Liebe ist fur alle da (in adult collection)
- M.I.A. – Kala, Maya
- Iggy and the Stooges – A million in prizes : the anthology (in adult collection)
- LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver, This Is Happening
- Shihad (playing The General Electric)
- Lupe Fiasco – The Cool
- Grinderman – Grinderman, Grinderman 2 (both in adult collection)
- Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist (in adult collection)
- The Black Keys – Brothers
- The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You
- Wolfmother – Wolfmother
- The Jim Jones Revue – The Jim Jones Revue
- Primal Scream (playing Screamadelica) (in adult collection)
- Booka Shade – More!
- Vitalic – OK Cowboy
- Kids of 88 – Sugarpills
- CSS – Cansei de Ser Sexy
- Plan B – The defamation of Strickland Banks
- Ratatat - Classics
- I Am Giant – City limits ; Neon sunrise EP (in adult collection)
- Die!Die!Die! – Form
- Bulletproof – Soundtrack To Forever
- Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles II
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Haiku Review: Volume Two
16.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Jack Johnson – En Concert

Jack brings his guitar
around the world, along with
a tape recorder.

Pitbull – The Boatlift

A man names himself
after a breed of dog and
raps about strippers.

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Four guys who enjoy
Springsteen make alt-punk music
and put out record.

American Idol : Season Nine

Did you watch the ninth
season of Idol? No, well
here is a recap.

Beirut – Lon Gisland

Can’t think of a thing
to say about this one. So
I apologise.

Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV

Everybody
Wants To Be On TV is
by Scouting For Girls.

Opshop – Until The End Of Time

I heard the singer
has a bunker in his yard
like Ned Flanders does.
Isn't that cool?, Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Bandcamp And BARB
01.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Hello, I’ll get to the new CDs later in the week, for now I just wanted to tell you about a site called bandcamp (watch the intro video, it explains the site better than I could possibly hope to). A lot of newer bands and artists have started to use it as a platform to release music over the past couple of blog years. Searching the tags is a great way to discover new bands and a lot of them are giving away mp3s and sometimes entire albums away for free. Free! Once you’ve found something cool it’s very easy to share on facebook, blogs etc. here is a song by Liam Finn and Connan Mockasin’s new band BARB

Incidentally, BARB is one of the new CDs on the shelf. If you enjoyed the track above, why not get the full album out from the library? Hmmm? It’s very good.
Music, New, Synthesiser Patel
Reviews As Haikus
28.08.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Kele – The Boxer

Bloc Party frontman
releases solo debut,
the indie kids dance.

Moby – Go, the best of Moby

Outspoken vegan
makes enough singles to just-
-ify a best of.

Various Artists – Stroke: songs for Chris Knox

Tributes for legends
should all be as good as this.
Get well soon, Chris Knox.

Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels

“I’m from Ancient Greece”
- Marina Diamandis
That’s a weird claim, huh?

Groove Armada – Black Light

It’s the “dark album”
hi-NRG synth-pop tunes
abound on their sixth

Alicia Keys – As I am : the super edition

What makes it super?
The DVD probably.
Soulful as usual.

Basement Jaxx – Singles

Another dance group
collects songs and puts them on
a disc. Repackage.

Sia – We are born

Sunshine pop from a
blonde-haired, blue-eyed lady from
the antipodes.

Nesian Mystik – 99AD

The Nesian Mystiks
return, Scribe shows up, so does
a guy called Wise. Chur.

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