The Bats - Raw Eggs (2006)

In 2006 the group stormed the North American shores for a brief tour. That's where Raw Eggs comes in. Sold in a limited run of *gulp* 100 copies at US shows, the 18-track CD was comprised of demos, outtakes and alternate versions from the National Grid sessions. By popular demand, the tour-only CD, was made available for online mailorder through the C86-friendly folks. Independently of the sound of the record, with a high quality but devoid of a good production, we can contemplate a first more authentic and primitive vision of the songs, which will grow after the listening, to get its definitive version. This Cd-R will help to those who welcomed At The National Grid with lukewarmness in appreciating the record, whereas it is possible that other ones can appreciate the freshness that is transmitted by the first versions that we have been able to listen here.

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The Henchmen - Lust For Glory (2000)

Underappreciated but never underproductive, West Auckland punks The Henchmen had grit and belief. They played and recorded when and where they could, releasing We’ve Come To Play, one of the great New Zealand punk rock albums, in 1983. There are some things you don’t do without expecting some kind of menace. Like invoke the spirit of Iggy Pop. But invoke Iggy’s spirit they did and whatever pact The Henchmen signed with punk’s dark prince, it ensured the West Auckland Detroit-punk outfit were never forgotten.

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Ghost Club - Suicide Train (2006)

Suicide Train is the second album of New Zealand band, Ghost Club released in 2005. It was recorded in a single day in the basement of a squatted Hackney pub in 2005. It was released in 2005 on Flying Nun Records in Australasia and in Europe on Hellsquad in 2006.

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Ghost Club - Ghost Clubbing (2001)

Amidst the millennial guitar rawk revival, when Detroit was the new Detroit, and groups like The White Stripes and The Datsuns were shooting up the charts and shuffling on your iPod, a cadre of New Zealanders settled in London and wielded a Ghost Club, and the hard rock sound got roundly clocked. For most dedicated New Zealand music fans, these fellows need no introduction. David Mitchell has been melting down guitar amps since the 80s in many seminal New Zealand bands from Plagal Grind to The Exploding Budgies, Goblin Mix and Chug to The 3Ds. Denise Roughan is also no stranger to live audiences, serving us wonderments in Look Blue Go Purple and The 3Ds. Flying Nun newcomer Jim Abbott has been grounded in local NZ bands joining the now-london based Ghost Club full time. The band first caught our attention when David and Denise recorded two quiet, acoustic songs in January 1996 that were released by Flying Nun as a 7" single. The band have played sporadic live shows in London, as well as a couple of stunning solo efforts by David Mitchell (playing Ghost Club tunes) at the 2000 Dunedin Sound Festival & in Auckland with The Clean.

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Betchadupa - Aiming For Your Head (2004)

This article was written back in the days when Liam Finn (son of Crowded House's Neil Finn) hadn't yet gone solo. And it was written in the days when Wayne Rooney was just a young whippersnapper, learning his trade at Everton. This is what journos call 'setting the scene'. Now that I've done that, you can read on... Betchadupa were a revelation at Auckland’s Big Day Out this year, where they outshone every other homegrown act (and on a bill that included The Datsuns and The D4 that was no mean feat). When you have a live show as good as theirs it's a logical step to go analogue and record an album "as live" - so that's exactly what they've done. Aiming For Your Head is a definite progression from Alphabetchadupa (their quiet-bit-loud-bit Nirvanalike debut). This time they're bolder and tougher, able to take a few chances and surprise you a bit. The lolloping pyschedelia of 'My Army Of Birds And Gulls' is a fantastic way to start, laced with conspiracy theories and paranoia. Elsewhere, unexpected tempo changes make songs zip about like flies, with ‘Running Out Of Time’ and the title track being particular highlights. They're less convincing when they play safe, as on former single 'Move Over' and it's B'side 'The Bats of Darkwell Lane'. Perhaps they sense themselves that they can do better than that now. All in all though there's enough to suggest that one day Betchadupa are gonna record a five star, solid gold record. This isn't quite it but it's a step in the right direction.

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Betchadupa - The Alphabetchadupa (2002)

Coming after three increasingly well-received EPs and released just after the youngest member of this New Zealand quartet, Betchadupa, turned 18, Alphabetchadupa is the first full-length release by a band that's unfortunately always known as "the band led by Neil Finn's son." Liam Finn is no Frank Sinatra Jr., however. Despite a superficial vocal resemblance to his father's mellifluous pipes, Liam is very much his own man throughout Alphabetchadupa. Considerably mellower and more melodic than their sometimes noisy EPs, many of the songs on Alphabetchadupa recall the mellow vibe of UK bands like Coldplay and Travis, yet even on ballads like the deeply emotional "Lucy's Song" or "Easy As It Seems," Liam avoids the prevalent trap of sentimental mopiness that ruins so many similar albums. More important, he's got a real knack for writing extremely catchy guitar pop tunes like the sublime first single, "Supa Day," and the sassy riff-rocker "Filthy McNasty." Neil Finn was the same age as Liam when he joined his older brother's band, Split Enz, and remade it in his own pure-pop image; Alphabetchadupa shows that precocious pop smarts run in the family.

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The Clean - Live At The Otago Arts Festival (October 2001)

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High Dependency Unit ‎- Metamathics (2008)

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The Black Panthers ‎– The Black Panthers (2001)

While we're on the subject of The Panthers, try this sucker on for size. This is their only album. Recorded in 1999 by Rob Mayes at The National Grid studio back in Christchurch, NZ. 200 copies on black vinyl exist. Some cd's floating around. Thankfully on the day of the recording everything came together and everyone played really well and behaved themselves.

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Robert Scott - The Creeping Unknown (2000)

Robert Scott's charm has evolved into a very subtle, subdued update of the signature New Zealand sound he helped create. Infamous for his work with New Zealand's influential early-'80s chart toppers the Clean, and later the Bats, Scott delivers some of the expected--ingratiating jangle pop--on The Creeping Unknown. However, melodies are built more gradually, and songs are introduced with drawn-out, loping, circular movements (at times recalling fellow New Zealander and guitar atmosphericist Roy Montgomery). Over 19 tracks and about 60 minutes, The Creeping Unknown draws the listener in with lazy summer guitar mirages, sparse piano, odd loops, and some tape manipulation. While the longish length idles rather than builds heavy momentum, the more experimental passages are inoffensive and pleasantly droning. It's the keyboard-laden, Yo La Tengo-like gems such as "Fog and Wind" and "When Shade Was Made" that will satisfy die-hard fans of Scott and New Zealand pop. But vocals are few and faint (sometimes mimicking transmissions from another universe), giving The Creeping Unknown the feel of a haunted desert ghost town on the cinematic instrumentals, and on the more traditional pop songs as well. The foreboding title of this disc is a bit deceptive. While Scott's minimalist pieces can often be moody, they aren't the horror movie soundtrack you might expect. Instead, you get some truly inventive instrumental pieces that sound like aural snapshots of a quirky otherworld. The work here has all the best qualities of work by Brian Eno, Peter Noone, and Michael Brook, with a grittier atmosphere that sets it apart.

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Scorched Earth Policy - Keep Away From The Wires (2000)

Never has a name been so apt. A cauldron of prairie fire and brimstone, the sweltering beauty of Peter Stapleton's Scorched Earth Policy lies in their ability to conjure visions of austere desolation, sun-drenched despair, and loves lost and buried with a raucous, tumbling fury not found in the subdued murmurings of the Victor Dimisich Band. While those were delivered in the hushed tones of quiet desperation, these are the tortured cries of a soul slowly succumbing to the hypnotizing lull of insanity. It is the creeping, lingering shadow of the mid-afternoon sun as it tantalizes and mocks, an intangible harbinger of the darkness to come. Rising from the ashes of Victor Dimisich, Scorched Earth Policy was active from 1982 to 1986; during that time they released two EPs on Flying Nun, 1984's 'Dust to Dust' and 1985's 'Going thru' a Hole in the Back of Your Head.' Two live cassettes followed, one a posthumous Xpressway release. 'Keep Away from the Wires,' a collection released on Stapleton's Medication label in 2000, compiles the two EPs in their entirety along with outtakes and live selections. The main separating factor between Victor Dimisich and Scorched Earth--aside from Stephen Cogle's imitable baritone--was undoubtedly the contributions of guitarist Brian Crook to the latter. A spine-tingling blend of poetic menace and bite defines Crook's playing; it is impossible to imagine either Scorched Earth Policy or the Renderers without it.

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Steriogram - This Is Not the Target Market (2006)

2006 album from the New Zealanders, their first album since leaving the comforts of Capitol. The album is an excellent mix of Alternative Rock that has been very well received so far, shifting thousands of units in Japan and NZ in the first month of release.

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Steriogram - Schmack! (2004)

New Zealand's smartass retort to Sum 41, Steriogram honed its hodgepodge of heavy metal chuggery, white-boy hip-hop, and outsized funk tomfoolery around its hometown of Auckland before hitting international pay dirt in 2004 with the low-culture anthem "White Trash." The song dated from 2001, when its video clip -- featuring the exuberant rapping of Steriogram drummer Tyson Kennedy -- caused a stir in NZ. A previous single had already gained Steriogram some notice, but the response to "White Trash" spurred the band's decision to install Kennedy as full-time MC/frontman and incorporate a greater hip-hop influence into its already lively clang. Kennedy, guitarist/vocalist Brad Carter, bassist Jake Adams, and guitarist Tim Youngson asked drummer pal Jared Wrennall to join the crew, and parlayed the single's buzz into some higher-profile gigs. Capitol noticed, and signed Steriogram in late 2002. David Kahne (Sublime, Sugar Ray) was tapped to produce the resulting recording sessions, and when the Schmack! LP appeared domestically in May 2004, it boasted a huge, radio-friendly sound and loads of loopy humor.

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The Mutton Birds - Flock. The Best Of The Mutton Birds (2002)

Over 4 full-length releases throughout the 90's, New Zealanders the Mutton Birds displayed a serious knack for extremely hummable, consistently satisfying guitar pop (check out "While You Sleep," "Anchor Me," or "Dominion Road."). The songs of Don McGlashan rival those of fellow Kiwi Neil Finn for the earnest-yet-catchy quotient, but McGlashan also adds a flair for dark storytelling that brings his native land's mystery and vastness into the mix, with songs like "A Thing Well Made," "Queen's English," and "Envy of Angels." This is a well-chosen overview, that includes many--but by no means all--of the band's finest moments, and should have you wondering how you went so long without ever hearing of these guys, and will send you back online to get your hands on whatever other Mutton Birds CDs you can find.

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High Dependency Unit - Fire Works (2001)

New Zealand's High Dependency Unit call themselves psychedelic punk rock. Somewhat misleading, the self-applied term could provoke thoughts of ugly hybrids. Punk Floyd sounds like a bad concept, as does Stiff Little Elevators. Ditto for Subterranean Pillow. What HDU actually sounds like is a powerhouse rock trio, a predominantly instrumental one, that doesn't so much align itself with the trickiness that math rock implies as they vaguely suggest it or loom above it. With their ultra-accomplished musicianship, they could easily blow holes through any given band that tries its darndest to apply as many bizarre time signatures as possible. Tristan Dingemans, Neil Phillips, and Constantine Karlis have more in common with bands like Shellac and Band of Susans, bands that can apply textures and hypnotic passages just as well as dynamic, riff-based passages. As a matter of fact, it's the slower, less crunching third of Fire Works that impresses most. The middle of the record, a ten-minute stretch comprised of "Giant Overpasses" and "Sasparilla," is where you should head for evidence that HDU is anything but a garden variety rock band; the latter displays a masterful control of effects and feedback, using a slow-motion teeter totter effect to such a wonderful extent that you all but forget the jackhammering aggression of the preceding songs; it only melds directly into "Sasparilla," continuing the off-kilter nature with subtle electronic bleeps, eerie clusters of noise, and a persistent drum pattern. Where oh where is an American label to release their records? Mogwai not for sale; hunt down HDU instead.

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Dimmer ‎- Degrees Of Existence (2009)

Degrees Of Existence is built on the strongest and most consistent lineup of the band and with regular live shows they have become taut and economical with their approach and delivery. Listening to the album it is clear that worked wonders in the studio, such is the flow and ‘in the zone’ feel of the music. Degrees of Existence is his strongest album under the Dimmer moniker and one senses it is the closest he has got to the essence of his songwriting. Maybe Carter named the band Dimmer because he was stepping away from the bright lights of the commercial music industry, or maybe it was a signal he was stepping into the shadows, closer to the place where his best songs exist.

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Dimmer ‎- You've Got To Hear The Music (2004)

It says something for the quality of Shaynes' musicianship that he can experiment with new sounds and musical direction, but still retain the quality that hallmarks his work with Straitjacket Fits, this album is "funkier" than "I Believe You are A Star" but still as experimental, not in a whirrs and bleeps way, but by the blend of aural textures and rhythms, as well as styles. He of course, always manages to infuse emotion into his songs, "Only One that Matters" is breathtaking in its intimacy, its like watching a seduction. Backwards has a slightly off kilter bass/percussion combo that sounds like it has been looped backwards, to add to the backwards vibe of the song, iin fact, as backwards songs go, it reminds me a little of "30 Frames a Second" by Simple Minds, in that you get the "going backwards" vibe in that as well. Cool. Takes you back to where you started, 30 frames a second" - magic.

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Dimmer ‎- I Believe You Are A Star (2001)

The title has the feel of a mantra about it, as if it might be something Shayne Carter has repeated to himself during the seven years since he last made an album. It’s been so long that the man who was once hailed as this country’s most likely rock star now has to reintroduce himself. Not only that, he has completely altered the parameters of his music.  His previous band, Straitjacket Fits, broke up without fulfilling their promise as the last great hope of Dunedin guitar rock. But Carter could have ridden the momentum they created by promptly launching another axe-wielding line-up. Instead he cleared the decks, and began a long process of finding, and then refining, a whole other concept. And those who hailed Carter as the last guitar hero needn’t be disappointed either. On repeated listening, one realises there is much more guitar here than initially appears. But instead of what Carter once called "the anthemic school of glory chords", you’ll find looped riffs that peck and scratch like something out of Sly Stone, shards of notes that might be the fallout from a Hendrix detonation.  Of course Carter isn’t alone in this brave new world of virtual rock. It’s similar to the one Radiohead shifted into with Kid A, that Portishead have inhabited from the start, and that German groups like Can sketched out decades ago. One might even be tempted to see Carter’s electronic shift as opportunism, latching onto post-rock electronica before the rock ‘n’ roll boat goes down forever. But it’s not really like that. As Carter sings in just one of the album’s many enduring cuts, "it’s all evolution". Dimmer’s debut has been a long and perhaps difficult time in the making but it emerges with its own uneasy beauty.

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Graeme Downes - Hammers & Anvils (2001)

Hammers and Anvils, the first solo release by ex-Verlaines leader Graeme Downes, is reminiscent of his band's best and another artist, Lou Reed, both alone and with The Velvet Underground. A monastic intensity clings to these 13 tracks. Hammers and Anvils opens with the title track: a complaint against love and the industry accompanied by stark solo guitars. It ends 40 minutes later on a vamp, "Mastercontrol", about hedonism's last stand. In between, Downes revs ("Alright by Me", "Cattle, Cars and Chainsaws") and ruminates (the gorgeous "Song for a Hollywood Road Movie") with equal compassion. His attentive, impressionistic lyrics avoid cliché. He delivers salient observations about disparate subjects - Cole Porter, Gucci, aimless Sunday afternoons, AIDS - which never feel fractious or incongruous. Casting his net wide, on Hammers and Anvils Graeme Downes captures a bounty.

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Headless Chickens - ChickensHits (2002)

The one New Zealand band that has consistently managed to blur the lines between the dance & rock camps is the Headless Chickens. At turns bright, expansive & ambitious, the band can also turn light into shade - you'll find a huge range of emotions on this 2002 compilation of material plucked from throughout the Headless Chickens' recording career. The band were given free-range to pick 17 tracks to release on 'Chickens Hits'. From the New Zealand no. 1 single 'George' to the hit-picks from double-platinum album 'Body Blow' & on through to the early years, the music is as vital as ever. The bonus disc presented here features contemporary remixes from the likes of Dick Johnson, Greg Churchill, DJ Phully, Roger Perry/Joost Langeveld, Player One, & Digital Primate.

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