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Tag: New Zealand Music Page 2 of 4

Twelve Poems About Twelve Albums

 

 

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

glee 4

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

glee 5

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

sing-off

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

chiddy bang

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

jessie j

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

cee lo

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

avril lavigne

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

justin bieber remixes

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.

Latest Sounds

clubbers guide spring 2010

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

far east movement

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

black eyed peas

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

bring me the horizon

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

mumford & sons

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

the script

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

Best Of 2010 : Music

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?

Now That’s What I Call Haiku

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

New Music And A Year-Old Joke

taylor swift

Speak Now – Taylor Swift

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

camp rock 2

Camp Rock 2 : The Final Jam

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

bruno mars

Doo Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars

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

john legend

Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots

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

macy gray

The Sellout – Macy Gray

Apparently to
sell out means bizarre Velvet
Revolver guest spots

concord dawn

The Enemy Within – Concord Dawn

Music is for drum
and bassers, cover is for
entomologists

New Music, New Haiku

linkin park

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

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

shihad

Shihad – Ignite

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

kelis

Kelis – Flesh Tone

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

scott pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim vs. the world : original motion picture soundtrack

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

interpol

Interpol – Interpol

Self-titled release
indicates return to roots,
results may vary

BIg Day Out 2011

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.

Haiku Review: Volume Two

jack johnson en concert

Jack Johnson – En Concert

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

pitbull

Pitbull – The Boatlift

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

gaslight anthem

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

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

american idol

American Idol : Season Nine

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

beirut

Beirut – Lon Gisland

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

scouting for girls

Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV

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

opshop

Opshop – Until The End Of Time

I heard the singer
has a bunker in his yard
like Ned Flanders does.

Bandcamp And BARB

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.

Reviews As Haikus

kele

Kele – The Boxer

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

moby

Moby – Go, the best of Moby

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

stroke

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

Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels

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

groove armada

Groove Armada – Black Light

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

as i am

Alicia Keys – As I am : the super edition

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

basement jaxx

Basement Jaxx – Singles

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

sia

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.

 

The Newest Music

eminemI seem to remember Eminem retiring for a while back there, but he’s now on to “comeback album” number two. I guess he wasn’t all that serious about moving to Florida, taking up golf and enjoying earlybird specials after all. So it’s back to the tried and true, rhyming about his troubled past and taking pot-shots at celebrities. Recovery will be a welcome addition to any Eminem fans’ reserve queue.

metricCanadian indie-rockers Metric’s third album, Fantasies came out late last year and signalled the band’s intentions to make the step up from underground favourites to overground rock stars. So it’s pretty much the same catchy rock formula, but with extra polish. This gives the songs a shine they lacked previously, kind of like how in every single teen movie when the previously nerdy girl removes her glasses for the prom – nothing’s really changed, but more people like it.

crystal castlesMore from Canada, this time electro, with Crystal Castles self-titled debut. The Toronto based duo make confrontational punk rock, but with synths in place of guitars. It was a favourite in Teen Blog Towers back in 2008 and nearly made our end of year best of list, until we decided we couldn’t really justify the inclusion of an album that wasn’t in our collection. It’s here now though, can something released in 2008 be considered for a 2010 list?

placeboVeteran glam-rockers Placebo collected together all their singles up until 2004 for Once more with feelings : singles 1996-2004. It’s a good entry point for new listeners unfamiliar with the band’s pre-emo (premo?) riffage and nasally anthems. All the big hits are present, including Nancy Boy, Pure Morning, Every You Every Me and Taste In Men.

dum dum girlsNoise rock pin-up girl Dee Dee Penny and her Dum Dum Girls have released their debut full length I Will Be on the back of several killer, buzzworthy singles and it is a real treat. Classic pop sensibilities covered in layers of feedback and sass, completely deserving of the blog-hype and message board anticipation. It’s Synthesiser Patel’s pick of the week!

glee regionalsGlee : the music : journey to regionals needs no introduction, it is after all the fifth (fifth!) Glee soundtrack on the shelves. Judging from the title, I’d say it’s the musical chronicle of the Glee crew’s eventful journey to the regional finals of the big glee-club-offs. Includes these songs Faithfully, Any way you want it ; Lovin’ touchin’ squeezin’, Don’t stop believin’ (regionals version), Bohemian rhapsody,  To sir, with love, Over the rainbow. Yup.

Local drum and bass/dubstep-er, Bulletproof, has released the loftily titled, Soundtrack To Forever. It features a wide array of guests including Tiki Taane, Boh Runga, Isaac Aesili, Deva Mahal, PNC, David Dallas, Milon Williams and Evan Kiljoy. If you’re digging on the New Zealand dance scene, this is a must have.

Five New CDs

Rap veterans De La Soul took a look back upon their careers in 2003 and realised they had accumulated enough “hits” to seperate out the “greatest” ones onto a CD and make a nice sounding compilation out of it. Timeless was the aptly named result. Includes the fantastic; Me, Myself and I, Ring Ring Ring (Hey Hey Hey) and the fantastically named; Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa

Progression Vol. 2 promises on the cover to be “A journey through the big room club sounds of 2009”. A quick google search sheds no light on what exactly big room clubs sound like, but as it’s a Ministry Of Sound compilation, big trance records are a good guess. Features remixes of tracks by Oliver Twizt, Juan Kidd, Cunnie Williams, MDX and other artists.

After looking through the liner notes of Bi-On-Ic, Christina Aguilera’s new album, I can inform you that she’s taken a leaf out of the Lady Gaga book of fashion. Has she been similarly influenced music-wise? Probably. The cover is pretty exciting, it’s a hologram that when tilted at the correct angle, makes her look like a robot. +1 for robots.

Local dubsters, Fat Freddy’s Drop have been to the UK recently. They played some shows and whatnot and now we have live documentation, Live at Roundhouse London. It only has six songs on it, but they are all well over 10 minutes long. So don’t be fooled looking at the tracklisting and thinking you’re getting “shortchanged” somehow.

Hey, remember Pluto? Their rhythm section formed a side project called Nightchoir, which has now turned into a middle project (that’s the opposite of side project, right?). Anyway, 24 Hours Of Night is what they’ve come up with and early reviews call it “staggeringly beautiful” a “focused vision” and “alt-country”. Pretty much sums it up for me.

Here, Listen

rolling stonesThe Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main St. has been given a deluxe reissue, presumably for its 38th anniversary. On disc number one is the original classic (really, classic) album from 1972, considered by many as the definitive Rolling Stones work and on disc number two are ten bonus tracks originally left on the cutting room floor, but recently given a re-working. Kind of a borrow one free, get another one free deal there.

glee 3Glee : the music. Volume 3, Showstoppers deluxe is the latest from the Glee stable of cover versions. Included on this volume are Glee-a-fied tracks by The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Lionel Richie, Parliament and a whole lot more. It also features a guest spot from Olivia Newton-John. So far five Glee soundtracks have been released – that’s a lot.

jack johnsonThis month polite soft-rocker Jack Johnson released his latest, To The Sea. Mellow acoustic strumming and sleepy grooves with introspective lyrics sit side by side on this one. Jack Johnson fact: he was a professional surfer at the age of 17, but injured himself in his first competition and decided music was the better route. Then his first five albums went platinum and it seemed to be a wise choice.

black keysThis is a short paragraph about an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers. This album is their sixth and it seems to be their big commercial breakthrough, reaching number three on the Billboard charts on debut – deservedly so, because it is great. Once I saw them play live and the drummer was playing so hard he broke one of his sticks, but then he picked up another one out of his kit and kept playing without missing a beat. Good stuff.

Australian drum and bassers Pendulum have a new one called Immersion on our shelves. It includes an appearance from Prodigy’s Liam Howlett. Pendulum have received a lot of praise from the drum and bass community since their beginnings in 2002 and it has continued with this release. Make your house sound like a commercial for a snowboard shop.

Local hip-hopper David Dallas used to be known as Con Psy and was one half of Frontline. He dropped the moniker for his solo career because he never introduced himself to people using his alias and felt more comfortable using his birth name. Anyway, his second, Something Awesome is now available.

lcdA contender for Teen Blog album of 2010 is This Is Happening by James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem. Murphy has stated in interviews that this will be his last album as LCD Soundsystem and if so, boy oh boy has he gone out on a high note. More excellent dance music for the rock kids, especially the David Bowie sampling All I Want.

The CDs, They Keep On Coming!

Here are the latest CDs to arrive in the YA collection. There have been a lot lately, but there’s even more on the way if you can believe it.

glee madonnaFirst up is Glee : the music : the power of Madonna. This features Glee cast members singing Madonna songs, as if you couldn’t guess from the very informative title. It’s the soundtrack to the fifteenth episode of Glee, which hasn’t aired in New Zealand yet, which means it’s kind of a sneak preview. Listen to the future! Sort of.

twilightTwilight : music from the original motion picture soundtrack has been deluxe-ified with the addition of a DVD and some bonus tracks. Alongside the original hits from Paramore, Muse, Iron and Wine and the rest are remixes, live versions, acoustic re-workings, interviews, videos and all that sort of jazz. One of the interviews is with Hayley Williams from Paramore, making it a must have for Paramore fans and Twi-hards alike.

ellie gouldingBritish electro-pop starlet Ellie Goulding released debut, Lights, last year to positive reviews after becoming a hit in the blogosphere. Imagine the middle ground between Florence and the Machine and something more poppy, like say, Atomic Kitten and you’ll be right about on the money. If that sounds like a cup of tea you’d enjoy a sip of, you know what to do, issue it obvs.

Taylor Swift’s Fearless has also be given a deluxe-ing and the result is Fearless : platinum edition. Now it includes previously unissued tracks + DVD with music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, photo gallery and awards footage. No word on whether the awards footage includes a bonus interrupting Kanye West. Though it would be an absolute travesty if it didn’t. There’s quite a few extras anyway, so probably worth a look-see if you enjoyed it the first time around.

The Phoenix Foundation’s latest, Buffalo, is here. It’s a continuation of the freak folk/alt-country/pop stylings they’ve been crafting for over a decade now. They’re from Wellington and it’s still New Zealand Music Month for a week or so, which means you should support them by issuing their albums, they’re good.

Former Guns ‘n’ Roses (back when they were awesome) guitarist, Slash, has an album out called Slash. It’s not quite a solo album because every song features at least one of a cast of extremely varied guest vocalists. Which hopefully means there is something for everyone, examples: Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie, Chris Cornell, Adam Levine, Dave Grohl, Kid Rock and Iggy Pop. Quite a mix, huh?

Also, some new DVDs. Totally spies! : the movie, Doctor Who. The masque of Mandragora, Whip it, Doctor Who. Peladon tales, and Naruto. Collection 2, Episodes 14-25

So Many New CDs!

usherWhen I first heard the title of Usher’s new record, Raymond vs Raymond, I thought perhaps it was a concept album based on the 1979 Dustin Hoffman starring drama, Kramer vs Kramer. I was sort of right. In the movie Dustin Hoffman and his wife divorce, leaving him to raise his son on his own, whilst in real life Usher and his wife recently divorced, leaving him to raise Justin Bieber on his own. None of that is all that relevant to the quality of the album though, which is top-notch.

mgmt2008’s crossover success story MGMT recently released their oddly covered second album, Congratulations. It’s a more toned down effort this time around, missing are the obvious hit singles like Kids and Electric Feel, but anyone who enjoyed their less immediate, more psychedelic numbers should be pleased with this one.

david bowieDavid Bowie’s excellent two-disc career overview, Best Of Bowie, is now in our collection. Do yourself a favour and track this down, because he is responsible for some of the best rock music ever made. Every song’s a winner, from his Ziggy Stardust days – The Thin White Duke, to whatever he called himself in the early 80s when he seemed to dance about in outback pubs a little too much.

pixiesMy favourite ever band, Pixies, are now in the collection with a best of called Wave Of Mutilation. Don’t just trust me when I say they’re great, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has openly admitted they were trying to rip off the Pixies on their first album, Kurt Cobain also shared a similar admiration. Noisy, weird and endlessly fun to shout along with.

Volume 2 / Brotha D & the Dawn Raid Family is a compilation showcasing the hip hop and R&B talent on Auckland’s Dawn Raid label. If local hip hip is your thing you’ll be glad to hear from the likes of Monsta Ganjah, Deceptikonz, Aaradhna and more.

xxUK indie buzz band The xx were the subject of much fawning in the music press last year for their debut The xx. Sometimes so much hype can set a young band up for a fall, but The xx overcame the magazine covers to deliver a solid album that should see them on the road to a nice career. If the genre dream-pop sounds appealing, this is for you.

More indie-pop, this time from Local Natives with Gorilla Manor. Described as “afropop-influenced guitars with hyperactive drumming and hooky three-part harmonies”, you know they’re going to be fun to listen to. A more easy listening Animal Collective, perhaps?

80’s goth/pop favourites The Cure are a band you should familiarise yourself with, and what better starting point is Greatest Hits? All the best bits from the post-punk days in 1979, to the elder statesmen pop days of 2001. It’s also a good starting point for the great, great British alternative scene of the 1980s.

Speaking of 1980’s alternative British bands, The Smiths were one of the most influential, and the most pleasingly literate (this is after all a library blog). As a colleague said when we were out buying these CDs, “The Smiths will always have a place in the hearts of teenagers, right?” Right. The sound of The Smiths is a very well compiled best of from Manchester’s finest.

If you’ve ever listened to a rock song and thought to yourself, “this is fine, but it’s a bit over-complicated”, rest assured The Ramones thought the exact same thing. Hey ho let’s go : greatest hits is a great overview from the original punks and the self-described Beatles on speed. It’s not stripped down rock and roll, it’s distilled rock and roll.

Ten is enough for now, but there’s a lot more on the way…

O.S.T. Competition!

NZ Music Month 2010 logoAs part of New Zealand Music Month and Youth Week we’re asking Wellington Teens, in particular the readers of this blog, to re-imagine any YA book in our collection as a movie and compile the soundtrack. Hence the name O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack)

All you need to do is email us your track listing, the name of the book your movie is based on, your name and your library card number to teenblog@wcl.govt.nz, or, fill out one of the forms at the library. Easy! And you could win prizes (Music Works vouchers, CDs).

Entries close at 5pm on Monday 31st of May and you can enter as many times as you like.

*This is only part one of the O.S.T. Competition, so check back here for further information for more chances to win prizes. Prizes!

Our Newest Music

There are six new CDs in the YA collection. Here they are…

justin bieber my worldsFirst, and most exciting, is My Worlds by Justin Bieber. This is a handy collection of both of the autotuned youngster’s previous EPs, therefore it represents the easiest way to carry them home. Includes that one song with the video where he organises a party in Usher’s house while he’s out doing groceries and they go crazy with the dancing and silly string. The rascal.

timbalandTimbaland presents Shock value II features quite the spectrum of guests, there’s something for everybody. Visiting friends include Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Keri Hilson, Jet and, ummm, Chad Kroeger from Creed. Is there anyone famous he hasn’t worked with? Probably not, he’s clearly a popular man.

jason deruloLady Gaga’s opening act, Jason Derulo has also been topping charts lately with his debut, Jason Derulo. He’d been writing songs for Diddy and Sean Kingston for a while and decided he should keep some for himself and make an album. Good decision, his R&B styled pop has seen him become a bankable star in his own right.

Evermore by Evermore is a retrospective compilation from Feilding’s second most famous that includes three new songs. Along with all the familiar hits is a DVD that chronicles a European tour in support of P!nk along with a performance at London’s O2 Arena that should have fans excited.

New Zealand singer/songwriter Hollie Smith is back with Humour and the misfortune of others. It’s already made number one on the local charts, so it seems her dubbed out soul will again be heard at cafés throughout Wellington.

Also new in the New Zealand collection is Dane Rumble’s The Experiment. Those of you that remember The Fast Crew will know him as the voice of said group. Those that don’t should expect poppy hip hop.

Music, Music, Music

gorillazDamon Albarn and his cartoon pals, Gorillaz, return with Plastic Beach. The so-called virtual hip hop is as catchy as ever, with the album’s many guests (including Lou Reed, Mos Def, De La Soul and the ever grumpy Mark E. Smith) turning in top performances. But adding in the visuals really puts the project over the top, as always the videos are stunning, but this time there’s even a game. What band could more embrace media than a band made entirely of media?

white stripesIf you, like me, have been enjoying Jack White’s side projects (The Raconteurs, Dead Weather) but have been longing for the simple old days of  the one guitar, the one drum set and three colours approach of The White Stripes I have good news. Under Great White Northern Lights is a 92 minute tour doco that follows Jack and Meg through an exhaustive tour of Canada. They play favourites old and new in bowling alleys, fishing boats and daycare centres, then they package it with a CD to boot. Treat of the week!

mint chicksSelf-described “troublegum” purveyers The Mint Chicks released Screens late last year and now the library has it. You’re welcome. After listening to the always great art-pop on the CD, head over to their website and have a go at designing a t-shirt for them and you could win prizes. Sweet, sweet prizes. They get my vote for best band going in New Zealand at the moment.

I Like Turtles is a mix put together by the omnipresent tastemaker, Diplo. It’s designed for the dancefloor and includes remixes of tracks by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nirvana, Queen, Mr. Vegas, Sizzla, Bart Simpson and others. Bart Simpson you say? Well, back in the days of cassettes he had a hit single with Do The Bartman, reaching number one in New Zealand. Here’s the video for anyone who wants to relive the wackiness that was 1990.

Californian metallers Atreyu say their latest Congregation Of The Damned is “darker” and “heavier” than albums previous they also say “it makes more sense” than earlier efforts. While coherence isn’t a necessity for a good metal album, darkness and heaviness certainly are. If you never heard Atreyu before, but fancy you some rifftastic loudness, this is a good starting point.

Also, two soundtracks and a compilation; Avatar : music from the motion picture and Fame : original motion picture soundtrack along with Now that’s what I call music 32

Songs On Discs

WHITE DENIMAustin, Texas’ White Denim have released two albums to date, we have both at once. Good deal. Fits : Exposion is a double disc of the finest and funnest indie-rock in the entire collection. White Denim seem like they started a band only so they could party more frequently and just by luck happen to be really good. HGHLY RCCD.

massive attackTrailblazing trip-hoppers Massive Attack keep plugging along almost 20 years after their debut with Heligoland, surprisingly just their fifth effort given the career length. They keep things current on this one with appearances from the likes of Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe.

Local joke metallers Deja Voodoo continue the schtick on The shape of grunge to come. For those who haven’t heard, think The Darkness, but strip away anything vaguely grandiose and replace with songs about beer. The thinking man need not apply.

Meticulously dishevelled Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro release a fifth, Only Revolutions, despite having a name like they’re a joke pop starlet. Aggressive pop tunes in the vein of Green Day and Blink-182. Reviews seem to indicate that this is their best work yet, perhaps it could be a breakthrough for them and teen bloggers will no longer be confused by their name.

Two more things. What kind of week would it be if there weren’t a three disc dance compilation? Last week apparently, back to form then with Classic big tunes 2009, the name says it all. And in musical DVD news, Metallica’s Seek & Destroy is a collection of live footage from whence or where I know not, the box is in German. I can say though, that there is a nearly 15 minute long version of Seek & Destroy that should test neighbour’s patience.

I’ve put some preview songs on our bebo page for you to listen to.

Here Are Some More CDs

If you’re in the mood for some cute indie-pop, and really, when is anybody not, give The Gladeyes’ Psychosis Of Love a spin. With influences such as The Velvet Underground, The Shangri-Las and Animal Collective you can’t go wrong. Some of the coolest and most charming music coming out of New Zealand at the moment. Their myspace is here.

South Auckland hip-hopper Tyson Tyler released Reality Cheque late last year and now it’s arrived in the YA collection. It’s an incredibly slick sounding record that could’ve come out in the U.S. based on the production levels. It includes appearances from Temple Jones, Red Eye Society, Pieter-T, Cyphanetik, Ethical, Monsta Ganjah, Young Sid and Flowz. That’s a lot of guests.

Wellington’s own Trei makes the sort of drum and bass sounds that appear so frequently on advertisements for snowboarding stores. With the Winter Olympics in full swing the arrival of Innuendo would seem rather apt. Pick it up and practise your 540 McTwists to it. If you want to that is.

There are also a few new compilations. PHAT 10 is “a 4-day celebration of bass heavy dance at Inangahua, West Coast”. Includes tracks by The Upbeats, Salmonella Dub, Whirimako Black, State of Mind, Concord Dawn and others. Rocked 09 includes rockers from Mudvayne, Kid Rock and Eskimo Joe. Now that’s what I call music 16 (UK Edition) includes hits from 2004 for a mildly retro pop trip.

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