Blueberry boat / Fiery Furnaces
Coming hard on the heels of their debut, this album is an 80-minute epic. Far more dense than their first, Blueberry boat is an astonishingly ambitious work, forever twisting and changing, with each track consisting of several parts. Not easy to digest in one sitting, the album definitely rewards repeated listenings. (Neil P.)

 

Complete discography / Minor Threat
Exactly what it says, this is a re-issue of the complete recorded output of the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk band from the early 1980s. They kick-started the straight-edge movement, released a bunch of fast, furious and to-the-point songs and then broke up the band while barely into their 20s. (Neil P.)

 

Tepid peppermint wonderland : a retrospective / Brian Jonestown Massacre
A two-disc collection of some of the highlights of this prolific Californian band’s output over the last 10 years. Almost 40 songs, from both singles and albums and including several unreleased tracks, are represented and illustrate the range of material Anton Newcombe and his many colleagues have produced on their long strange trip. (Neil P.)

 

Truly she is none other / Golightly, Holly
Ninth solo album from the former Thee Headcoatees guitarist and singer. She appeared most recently on the latest White Stripes album, and here she continues her idiosyncratic foray into mostly-acoustic Nancy Sinatra-type pop with attitude. And she’s in Wellington on 10th March! (Neil P.)

 

Open the iron gate, 1973-1977 / Romeo, Max
Leaving behind his earlier career singing smutty novelty songs, Max Romeo reappeared in the the mid-70s with this fantastic collection of religious and political reggae. Most of the tunes are twinned with their dub versions and are produced by Lee Perry. Angry and eloquent, these tracks are 70s reggae at its best. (Neil P.)

Based on a true story / Fat Freddy’s Drop
This is the best album I’ve listened to in so long now. Full of amazing vocals and harmonies, lots of funky beats and bass, it stayed in my stereo for a long time! This seven-piece Wellington band play dub, jazz, dance-music and soul, all packed into one tightly-orchestrated album. Guest vocalists Hollie Smith, Ladi6 and P Digsss lend their voices, while some other well-known NZ musicians lend their musical talents to the pool. The rhythmic melodies will warm the soul through the cold winter days and nights! (Hannah C.)

Loverbatim / Eskimo
Driving, Jesus & Mary Chain-style rock from New Zealand’s most assured-sounding trio. The album marks Dave Mulcahy’s return after a stint with Superette and a solo career, and promises great things for the future. (Neil P.)

 

 

Free your mind.. / Funkadelic
35 years old and still sounding fresh, this is the ultimate stoned soul album. Backwards vocals, wild stereo panning, freaky psychedelic guitar and funky all over, with lyrics to live your life by. An absolute classic. (Neil P.)

 

 

Devils & dust / Springsteen, Bruce
Springsteen returns to his singer-songwriter roots with his latest album sans the E-Street Band. Moving away from the stark acoustic sound of The Ghost of Tom Joad, Springsteen surrounds the songs with a warm texture of horns, strings, fiddle, synths, guitar & piano. A low-key effort that grows with repeated listens, showing that after 30 years in the music business he can still produce albums that are relevant as well as creative. Stand-out tracks include the title cut, an ambiguous meditation on soldiers in Iraq, and ‘Matamoros Banks’ sung from the point of view of an illegal immigrant who has just died attempting to cross the Rio Grande into the U.S. (Mark L.)

The best of / Birkin, Jane
Birkin is the quintessential chanteuse de sixties, breathing her way through a lifetime of sultry French lounge-pop numbers in this great compilation. The tracklist kicks off with “Je T’aime Moi Non Plus”, her unforgettable ’68 duet with crusty ‘make-out’ legend Serge Gainsbourg (a performance that can only be described as ‘orgasmic’), and plinks and plonks its way through another two decades of chansons chic de l’amour. Despite the arrangements being totally naff, and the lyrics twee, the sound has aged gracefully and can be played to suit a variety of moods. And Birkin is, amazingly, still recording. (Thomas L. H.)

Von / Sigur Rós
This is ambient outfit Sigur Ros’ 1997 debut, released for the first time outside of Iceland. As such, the work is not as clearly defined as in their more well known albums Ágaetis byrjun and (). The first couple of tracks are a difficult start to the album, resembling a train ride through a frozen netherworld of disembodied children. But as the journey through the album progresses, the trademark ethereal vocals appear and Von becomes more accessible. Sigur Ros are at work on their fourth album; for a more recent taste of their sound try “Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do” – a short work produced as the companion piece to an art installation. (Thomas L.H)

69 love songs / Magnetic Fields (Musical group)
Quality & quantity, “69 Love Songs” is just that: 69 beautifully eccentric & eclectic songs exploring the many sides of love. There are a multitude of great lines in these songs: ‘My heart’s running round like a chicken with its’ head cut off’, ‘Reno Dakota there’s not an iota of kindness in you’, ‘I’m the ugliest guy, on the lower East Side. But I got wheels & you wanna go for a ride’. Front-man Stephen Merritt is a genius; you could thrash this album for years & still not grow tired of the bittersweet honesty, quirky sensibilities & undeniably catchy nature of these masterful tunes. (Brett M.)

Alien lanes / Guided By Voices
Sure, the songs often seem fractured and half-finished, buried under a layer of lo-fi hiss, and don’t always make a lot of sense lyrically. However that’s all part of GBV’s charmingly sloppy act. On ‘Alien Lanes’ they produced a multitude of simple, no-frills, but instantly catchy songs, equally referencing classic British acts such as The Beatles and The Who, and the American indie bands that emerged during the 80s. Despite 28 tracks in 41 minutes, amazingly there’s not a moment of filler to be heard. This album along with their preceding effort ‘Bee Thousand’ are generally considered the band’s most consistent efforts, and are well deserving of their cult-favourite status. (Richard P.)

Spiderland [bonus DVD] / Slint
Quite possibly one of the most emotionally intense and eerie albums ever recorded. Through the course of the album’s six lengthy songs, the band experiments with movement between loud/soft dynamics, building up tension only to plummet the listener back down to earth again. Subject matter within the songs is dark, with reference to a classic horror figure in ‘Nosferatu Man’ and Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ in ‘Good Morning Captain’, both accentuated by the sinister atmospheric nature of the music. Despite their short existence Slint has left quite the legacy, being an obvious influence on modern ‘post-rock’ groups such as Mogwai. (Richard .P)

The Magic Numbers / Magic Numbers
Comprised of two pairs of siblings, the Trinidad/New York/London based group eschew anything approaching an electronic beat, and instead focus backwards on harmony based groups like The Mamas and Papas, Lovin’ Spoonful, and The Everly Brothers. Jangly guitars meld 60s and 70s folk/pop influences with three part harmonies, disguising songs of lost love, loneliness and heartbreak in layers of tuneful melody. A surprise word-of-mouth success story in the UK, this anomaly of a band seems immune to the hype and marketing that is the focus of other blander sibling based pop outfits. (Mark L.)

50,000 Fall fans can’t be wrong… : 39 golden greats / Fall (Musical group)
A good two disc introduction to this long-lived English post-punk band. This collection, despite some minor discrepancies, presents a relatively concise overview of the band’s career. Their eclectic mix of musical styles, ranging from punk, to off-kilter pop and even quasi-dance music, coupled with Mark E. Smith’s sneering cynicism and lyrical wit, demonstrate why this band has become such a favourite with music fans the world over. All up, this CD provides a great introduction to those new to the ‘Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall’. (Richard P.)

Picaresque / Decemberists
Rollicking songs about child monarchs, barrow boys, engine drivers and marine revenge, played on accordion, theremin and pedal steel guitar. The Decemberists, from the Pacific Northwest, are not your average pop band, but well worth the effort if you’re after something a little different. (Neil P.)

 

Valid / Starlings
Venomous New Zealand classic penned by ex Dance exponents Guitar Slinger Chris Sheehan. Break beats and heroin form an uneasy alliance that roots around the detritus of failed relationships and bad habits. (Mark H.)

 

Antony and the Johnsons / Antony
Made five years ago but interest has revived recently with the release of their new album I am a bird now, featuring Boy George, Lou Reed and Rufus Wainwright. The debut album is intense and sexually ambiguous, and delivered in Antony’s distinctive soaring vocal style. (Neil P.)