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New library ‘Wellington’ music releases on CD: August – Wellington City Shake-‘Em-On-Downers/Pisces/The Warratahs/Reuben Bradley

Every month, Wellington City Libraries acquires new CD’s for its large, broad, eclectic collection, and Wellington music is no exception. We regularly inspect Bandcamp, local music websites, trawl music vendors latest releases and check out independent labels like Flying Nun, Arch Hill, Rattle and Lil’ Chief for the latest in Wellington and New Zealand music. So, with this influx of mint music in mind, every month we’ll provide the latest titles and artists added to our Wellington music collection…

Cover imageLive at Orange / The Wellington City Shake-‘Em-On-Downers.
Wellington’s finest New Orleans swing septet. A tasty gumbo of Dixieland jazz & New Orleans swing that mixes in some vintage standards as well as some original compositions. The soundtrack to every Speakeasy you never went to. ‘Live at Orange’ was recorded at Ferrymead’s Orange Studio, off the back of a whirlwind week-and-a-half tour of the South Island. Singer and accordionist Emma Wollum lays down some sultry vocals on a few tracks, while the band brew up a storm. Buy it here. Watch them here.

Cover imageRunaway days / The Warratahs.
Wellington stalwarts ‘The Warratahs’ return with their 7th studio album, and their first in nearly a decade. What can you sat about these guys? Consummate pros, every one of them. While its been a while since they’ve been in the studio, they’ve still kept a hand in in recent years with plenty of live gigs and you can really feel the 25+ years of experience filtering through the genuine excitement of making some new music together. Caroline Easther (Chills, Lets Planet) stops by to help out on a cover of the Johnny Cash classic ‘Ring Of Fire’. Top tracks: ‘The Wheel Inside’, ‘Kupe’s Tears’ and the title track. Buy it here. Read about it here. Listen to Nick Bollinger reviewing it here.

Cover imageLordy lordy.
‘Pisces’ is the moniker of Lyall Bay singer-songwriter-guitarist Martin Andrews. ‘Lordy lordy’ is a great mix of rock/bluesy/folk tunes. Andrews is just as comfortable rocking out on tracks like ‘In The meantime’, as he is on mellow tracks like ‘Portrait Of The Young Man As An Artist’. A nice degree of varying song textures, with a couple of tracks featuring some nice back up vocals from Carly Neemia, and a nice horn section on ‘Only A Fool’. Shades of ‘Americana’ colour a few of the songs. Buy it here. Watch it here.

WellingtonMusicBlog12_Cthulhu rising.
The words ‘Jazz album’ and cult horror writer H.P Lovecraft aren’t ones that really seem to go together – which is part of what makes jazz drummer Reuben Bradley’s new album ‘Cthulhu Rising’ work the way it does. Backed by Grammy-nominated American pianist Taylor Eigsti and NZ bassist Matt Penman, Bradley creates a series of original compositions based on Lovecraft’s work that are free and searching, yet also inherently melodic. There’s a dark sense of claustrophobia here, as well as a gentle playfulness. You never quite know where the track is going to go next…but that’s part of the fun. And I can hear all you Jazz purists saying: ‘But does it swing?’. Yep, it sure does…Get it here.Read about it here. Watch it here.


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