Peter Jefferies ‎– A Chorus Of Interludes (1996)

"A Chorus of Interludes" compiles singles and B-sides he's recorded in recent years. All of Jefferies' musical inclinations are on display here: lo-fi punk ("Guided Tour"), odd sonic jumbles ("Lassitude") and raucous pop ("Wined Up"). But the main focus is Jefferies' delicate, haunting lyricism, and nowhere is that more evident than on the four masterful piano-acoustic guitar pieces he recorded with Robbie Muir, originally released as the "Swerve" EP. This compilation throws his craftsmanship into high relief.

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Peter Jefferies & Jono Lonie - At Swim 2 Birds (1987)

Originally released on Flying Nun Records and then xpressway – at swim 2 birds saw Peter Jefferies team up with Dunedin folk musician Jono Lonie on this instrumental release, one that is at times both pastoral and experimental. Peter Jefferies is truly an unsung hero of New Zealand music, having formed nocturnal projections with brother Graeme in the 1980s they went on to record as this kind of punishment. they were a band ahead of their time – and one that still sounds as fresh as when it was released. following this he embarked on a string of solo records – tracks of which have been covered by the likes of cat power and Amanda Palmer. This collaboration with Jono Lonie was another inspired creative turn. titled after the surreal Flann O’Biren novel, this album is a varied affair from piano-scapes, ambient noise, minimalism to experimental moods and homemade instruments.

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Peter Jefferies - Substatic (1998)

New Zealand produces more left-field pop music geniuses per capita than any other country. Consider the likes of Dead C, Split Enz, Chris Knox, Bailter Space, The Bats, and so on. Even in this company, Peter Jefferies stands out by making stark, emotional music that commands your attention. When he sings, his voice is naked, brittle, and sharp, like a male version of Jean Smith of Mecca Normal; Jefferies sounds as if he could burst into tears or fly into a rage at any moment. Substatic, however, is an instrumental album, and as such, it lacks nothing. Jefferies is a renaissance man, playing drums, keyboards, guitar, and bass with equal skill. Able to milk the most desolate or rich sounds out of his arrangements, his instrumentation ranges from the somber, introspective piano of "Three Movements" to the soaring tape loop and guitar tapestry of "Kitty Loop." The songs themselves can travel a wide breadth of emotions, too. In "Index," Jefferies regularly slows down and speeds up the music to shift the tone of the song from joyous to fearful, only to strip most of the instruments away by the end, leaving a lone piano and a wave of uncertainty. Substatic is made up of only five songs ranging from 4 to 16 minutes, but they're all highly charged, mostly toward the negative end of the emotional spectrum. It's not an album you can just slap on at any time, but at the right moment, it's fantastic.

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Shayne Carter & Peter Jefferies - Randolph's Going Home (1986)

Randolph’s Going Home is a gentle, heartfelt nod from Carter to Elsey, mixed with Peter Jefferies’ sonically quirky but structured sound, that, combined with the emotional sentiments have made this song so enduring. While on the b-side is the equally haunting Hooked, Lined and Sunken.

“Randolph was written about the loss of a friend and is still one of the best songs I've been involved with. I wrote it while between bands and played it to Peter Jefferies when he came around to my George Street flat in Dunedin one day for a jam. He added his signature drum line and suggested repeating the chorus at the end. He also said we needed to record the song immediately which we did - within days at the Chippendale House art venue, on four track, the stairwell of the venue adding natural reverb to the vocals, one guitar and drums with one guitar overdub to make the chorus kick.  I've seen this song bring people to tears more than once and it's a good feeling to be associated with a piece that can still wield that kind of power.” – Shayne Carter. 

“For me, Randolph’s Going Home is one of the most enduring things I’ve ever been involved in doing. There are times when mining the soul can produce something that transcends anything that could have been expected as an outcome. And never more so than this”. – Peter Jefferies.

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Peter Jefferies - Electricity (1994)

Peter Jefferies (This Kind of Punishment) released his brilliant sophomore album Electricity in 1994. While his solo debut, 1990’s The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World, has drawn comparisons to classic singer-songwriters like Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt, Electricity is a far more sparse and nocturnal affair. Jefferies’ earthy baritone weaves between piano, guitar, cello and analog tape machine noise, pulling in listeners to the deep pastoral life of his music. With guest appearances from heavyweights in the New Zealand music scene (Straitjacket Fits’ Shayne Carter, Plagal Grind’s Robbie Muir and the Dead C’s Bruce Russell), Electricity has garnered a cult following among fans, yet the songs possess a singular quality—every note, utterance and flourish reflect back to Jefferies alone. The simple arrangements, in particular on ballads such as “By Small Degrees,” convey fiercely intimate moments as well as Jefferies’ tremendous range and playfulness as a writer. This first-time vinyl reissue includes four bonus tracks from 1992’s Swerve EP and is highly recommended for fans of Flying Nun Records, John Cale and Jim Shepard. An extremely under rated solo release. Features guest spots from a lot of the Xpressway favorites as well as re-done versions of "Crossover" & "Wined Up".

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This Kind Of Punishment ‎– In The Same Room/5 By Four (1993)

The final TKP release stripped the band down to its core members the Jefferies brothers, though they brought in a number of guests to help out, including such notables as Alastair Galbraith, Michael Morley and Shayne Carter. The resulting effort covers much stylistic ground while still clearly being the focused effort of the siblings and their at-times aurally dank but always compelling musical and lyrical vision. Peter again handles most of the vocals in his semi-chanting way, though Graeme has his tracks here and there (his vocal-and-guitar "The Men by the Pool" is a definite highlight, at once gentle and unusual); even Morley takes the lead on one number, the measured stomp "Holding," which he also wrote solo. "Overground in China" is one of the lightest things TKP tried, with gentle guitar strums and uplifting piano counterpoint providing most of the music, yet Peter's quietly gripping vocals mark this as no other band but TKP. "On Various Days" is actually a bit of a ringer, having been recorded during the Beard sessions, but fits in here well as the album's center track, with Graeme turning in some excellent guitar work to carry the song. Interestingly, Peter avoids piano on many tracks, preferring instead to play his other main instrument, drums, while Graeme plays guitars, creating an even more stripped-down and "close" sound than before -- slightly ironic given that the record was made in an actual studio and not on a portable four-track! Straightforward guitar thrash turns up more than once, as on "Immigration Song" and the quiet-into-loud "Don't Go," yet Peter's vocals remain the cryptic calm point in the storm throughout. In retrospect, Same remains a fine, striking conclusion to TKP's underneath-the-radar career.

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This Kind Of Punishment ‎- Live '85 (1988)

A chilling live document of This Kind of Punishment's 1985 tour. This was only released on cassette and is the second release ever put out by Xpressway. The line up of this band features Peter & Graeme Jefferies, Chris Matthews & Johnny Pierce.  This is not the best place to start with this band, but if you already have the albums and want more, definitely pick this up!

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This Kind Of Punishment - A Beard of Bees (1984)

Spare yet astonishingly powerful at the same time, TKP's second full release remains an unjustly ignored highlight of post-punk rock, building tension in ways not far removed from the likes of Joy Division and the Comsat Angels, but too, building with their own distinct, restrained qualities, heightened by the instrumental variety throughout, from mandolin to electric viola. The recording's claustrophobic feel resulting from its four-track origins could earn the album a 'lo-fi' classification if it weren't for the fact that TKP relentlessly avoid the sloppy clichés that such a category might call to mind. Beard avoids conventional drum rhythms at many points, relying instead on odd percussion boxes and Peter Jefferies' careful, imposing piano to support the low end along with the bass. Beginning with the ominous instrumental "Prelude," with Peter handling keyboards and brother Graeme on plucked violin, the album wends a haunting way through fractured lyrical portraits of existential dilemmas, eschewing "grand statements" in favor of intimate portraits, like the ex-party goer in "The Horrible Hour," well-sung by adjunct member Chris Matthews. Though the Jefferies brothers perform just about everything on most tracks, with Peter taking the lion's share of the vocals, various others add contributions from time to time, including "smashing of beer crates" on "East Meets West," which starts calmly enough but has a frightening, though low-key midsection with sudden screams and other buried noises. Quite wisely, not everything is completely awash in gloom. "An Open Denial" for instance, while not a knee-slapper by any means, captures the ear with its flat-out beauty, Peter's deep yet wistful vocals matching well with his piano as Graeme adds shading from violin, guitar, and bass. It could almost be something from Bark Psychosis or even late Talk Talk years before its time -- one of many ways Beard stands clearly apart from the era of its creation.

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This Kind Of Punishment - This Kind of Punishment (1983)

This Kind of Punishment formed from the remains of Nocturnal Projections, a post-punk band that was heavily rooted in the gothic sounds of Joy Division. Led by brothers Peter and Graeme Jefferies, whose chilling voices were the perfect icing on the cake, Nocturnal Projections released a few cassettes before breaking up in 1983. Soon after, the Jefferies brothers recorded the first This Kind of Punishment album at home on 4-track, abandoning punk rock for a stripped-down, quiet approach. The self-titled first album shows the formation of the This Kind of Punishment sound--retaining the moodiness of Nocturnal Projections, but with mostly keyboards, piano, and guitar. The driving "After the Fact" opens the album, building to a climax with pounding drums and ringing electric guitar. It's one of the most accessible This Kind of Punishment songs, with the refrain "Doesn't it always?" sung over descending piano figures and creating a dark, beautiful wall of sound. The somewhat experimental "Don't Take Those" contains some twisted vocals that may be a bit of an acquired taste, but the song is a good illustration of the dark, brooding intimacy of This Kind of Punishment. "If An Axe is an Arm" is a beautiful acoustic song (with both brothers singing together) that shows This Kind of Punishment at their most perfect. Third member Chris Matthews takes vocals on the morose "Just Another Funeral" and "Some More Than Others" is a jarring critique of imperialism. "Two Minutes Drowning" sounds like it could have influenced the slowcore movement, except that virtually no one ever heard this album. Flying Nun's original 1983 pressing of 1000 copies quickly sold out and except for a brief cassette reissue on Xpressway, this record was unavailable until Roof Bolt's 1998 CD reissue.

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Nocturnal Projections - Nerve Ends in Power Lines (1995)

Capturing the nascent recordings of Graeme and Peter Jefferies, 'Nerve Ends in Power Lines' collects the best of the Nocturnal Projections' recorded output; the moody, post-punk outfit was formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1983 after releasing two albums--one a cassette release limited to 100 copies--two EPs, and one single. You may remember "Walk in a Straight Line" from the Xpressway Pile=Up compilation. From aggressive, jerky rhythms to plaintive folk-inflected ballads slightly reminiscent of the Axemen's quieter moments--now that was a fun band--the Nocturnal Projections' songs offer a taste of the hypnotic darkness later perfected by the legendary This Kind of Punishment, the brothers Jefferies' next and most widely-known musical venture.

NOTE: Following "Restoration," the final four unlisted tracks of the compilation--collected from self-released cassettes-are ordered as follows:

12.1 - The Down Song
12.2 - Alone in the Corner
12.3 - Obsessions
12.4 - Inmates in Images

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Peter Jefferies - The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World (1990)

Peter Jefferies' debut solo outing, 'The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World,' was originally a Xpressway cassette release in 1990; the album was reissued on CD by Ajax in 1991 and fortuitously featured the classic 7" single "The Fate of the Human Carbine." That song, telling the sparse, surreal, and strangely poignant tale of its titular figure, and its B-side, the propulsive, dynamic "Catapult," are among the best work of Jefferies' career. The album employs a characteristically primitive recording aesthetic, lending such tracks as the relentlessly bleak "On an Unknown Beach" an air of austere intimacy. This is an impeccably crafted wonder of restrained beauty that is laced with a distinct sense of tension; it is an album perpetually poised before an intangible abyss.

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