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…
The regenerative principle.
New Kapiti based soul/dub & blues/reggae band, a project of Newtown Rocksteady guitarist Tim Key. Socially conscious grooves based around a quote from ‘Understanding Shiva’ by D.K Hari and D.K Hema Hari. The resulting album sounds more cohesive and musically diverse than the premise would suggest. Bandcamp here. Website here. Facebook here. Music.net review here.
Unwind / Hayden Chisholm, Norman Meehan, Paul Dyne.
Following Small Holes in the Silence, an album of exceptional settings of New Zealand poetry performed with vocalist Hannah Griffin, Hayden Chisholm and Norman Meehan have teamed up again, this time with renowned Wellington bass player, Paul Dyne. Recorded at the end of Hayden’s New Zealand tour in November 2016, ‘Unwind’ features a set of original compositions beautifully played by this fine jazz trio. Lovely and mellow, full of elegant ballads and wistful moods. Buy from Rattle here. Elsewhere review here.
Rook.
Brendan Conlon is a Wellington based musician who has played in bands and solo since the early 1980s. In 1993 he migrated to southern France where after a year of busking and playing in café’s he released his first solo album, Thinking. He subsequently moved to Ireland and spent the next 10 years writing and singing his own songs in pubs around Dublin. After arriving back in New Zealand Brendan formed Black Wings, who released their album, Meltwater, in 2010. Brendan has returned to playing solo and has released a new album, Rook, on Powertool Records. Bandcamp here. PowertoolRecords CD here. Facebook here.
Material hardship.
More raw noise from the Razored Raw label, with the sophomore release from ‘powerviolence’ trio Stress Ghetto. Lo-fi bursts of grinding hard-core. Bandcamp here. Six Noises review here.
People used to live here.
The post-metal stylings of previous efforts, 2011’s Brighter & 2015 Rainmaker are gone, in favour of moody atmospherics, understated guitar lines, doom laden chord progressions, and clean melodies. Less reliance on specific genre elements opens up the songs for a broader sound, and the stripped down tracks create a more challenging musical palette than the heavy/soft dynamic that dominated previous albums. Spotify here. Facebook here. Buy from Pelagic Records here. Review here.
For Pete’s sake : the political songs of Peter Conway.
In the early 2000s Peter Conway founded Not The Day Job, a band of trade unionists and community activists who would regularly meet and play their brand of political folk songs to diverse audiences. When Peter passed away in 2015, NTDJ made the decision to record an album of Peter’s songs. The CD is the product of the decision, a project that saw NTDJ augmented with a group of musician friends. Bandcamp here.
The hill temple.VINYL
Awesome new album from the ‘witches’ of Hex, with new cohort Jason Erskine. Beautifully soaring harmonies, delicious melodies, crunching guitar lines. All the best elements of indie rock surrounded by a fierce female empowerment aesthetic. Bewitching. Album of the day from Bandcamp. Elsewhere review here. Listen on Bandcamp here. Buy Vinyl here. Facebook here. UTR interview here.
Scorn of Creation.
Scorn Of Creation is comprised of well regarded members of the local Metal community, sharing past and present personnel with bands like Bulletbelt, Backyard Burial, Saving Grace, Depths and The Dauntless. Their brutally short debut album is a tribute to the old school death metal sound with the precision that modern approaches to recording and technology can bring, sounding fresh and direct without being self indulgent. Facebook here.Bandcamp here. Website here. Band interview here.
Bird of a feather.
Berlin based singer originally from Eastbourne. Debut album ‘Bird of a Feather’ is a conglomeration of funky guitar folk, various other musical elements, and quirky song-writing reminiscent of Ani DiFranco and that 90s era of musically eclectic female singers. Facebook here. Website here. Stuff article here.
Merrin.
More patented Merrin madness from the Hutt hard rockers. Following on from earlier singles Mr. Dominant & Sin Merrin follow up with an album chock full of big riffs and melodic rockers. Some spoken word tracks frame a Demonic subtext that allows for some more progressive musical shadings and darker tones. Facebook here. Website here. Buy CD here.