Search Results: staffpick
Displaying items 1 to 40 of 659
Alex Cameron
Jumping the Shark [ Secretly Canadian / CD - released 19/Aug/2016 ] Sydney's strange,artistic Alex Cameron's 'Jumping The Shark' on Secretly Canadian weaves intelligent, poignant lyricism with primitive 80s synths and seemingly minimalist arrangements recalling David Bowie and Ariel Pink, all under a Lynch- like... |
Alice Coltrane
The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda [ Luaka Bop / CD - released 5/May/2017 ] Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda's devotion to spirituality was the central purpose of the final four decades of her life, an often-overlooked awakening that largely took shape during her four year marriage to John Coltrane and after his 1967 death.... |
Avishai Cohen
Big Vicious (LP) [ ECM / LP - released 27/Mar/2020 ] Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his exuberant, home-grown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up players to shape the music from the ground up, and co-authoring much of its newest... |
The Beths
Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe LP) [ Ivy League Records / LP - released 16/Sep/2022 ] On The Beths' third studio album, Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes' songwriting places her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs are autobiographical, but they're also character sketches of relationships and, more... |
Bill Callahan
Gold Record [ Drag City / CD - released 18/Sep/2020 ] For his first record in....uh, well, just over a year (woot!), Bill Callahan gives us a Gold Record. For Bill, preparing to tour for Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest meant considering being away from home for long stretches of time - months, seasons,... |
Carnivorous Plant Society
The New King [ CD - released 16/Mar/2018 ] It was in a dystopian world (with a working title of Dismal Imaginary Place deemed too depressing) that Carnivorous Plant Society's sophomore album The New King was born, simultaneously aspirational and pragmatically nihilistic. With fables penned by... |
Carnivorous Plant Society
The People Below (Graphic Novel) [ Carnivorous Plant Society / Book - released 2/Aug/2019 ] The People Below The People Below is a story of an unlikely and very wrinkly hero named Shid. The novel explores class inequality in a city trapped in a floating bubble, suspended from an alien's mouth. It features a small, wretched man and his... |
The Cleves
The Musical Adventures of The Clevedonaires, Cleves & Bitch [ Frenzy / CD - released 18/Apr/2015 ] Every now and then an exceptional album will arrive on the scene that rewrites the history of local music. With the release of The Clevedonaires, aka The Cleves, aka Bitch the best kept secret of a few is now available for all. Recorded between... |
The D4
6Twenty One (LP) [ Warner NZ / LP - released 28/Oct/2022 ] Kiwi rock band the D4 are celebrating the 21st anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut record, 6TWENTY. To mark the occasion there will be a limited run of 180g vinyl, a new-take on the album cover, and extensive liner notes written by Dion... |
David Byrne
American Utopia On Broadway (Original Cast Recording) [ ADA / Warner / 2 CD - released 22/Nov/2019 ] David Byrne's sold out international tour in support of his first-ever chart-topping album was the most critically lauded tour of 2018, with fans and critics comparing it to his legendary Stop Making Sense tour with the Talking Heads. In... |
Dudley Benson
Zealandia (LP) [ Golden Retriever Records / 2 LP - released 10/Aug/2018 ] Composer and performer Dudley Benson's long-awaited third album Zealandia is a love record to a drowned continent. An album that explores our identity through twelve meticulously arranged pop songs, Benson's most accomplished work yet was eight years... |
El Michels Affair
Return to the 37th Chamber [ Big Crown / CD - released 21/Apr/2017 ] Return To The 37th Chamber is El Michels Affair's highly anticipated follow up to 2009's underground cult classic Enter the 37th Chamber. This time, in addition to re-interpreting the Wu compositions for a live band, EMA pays homage to the... |
Faye Webster
Underdressed At The Symphony (Black Vinyl LP) [ Secretly Canadia / LP - released 1/Mar/2024 ] Late last year Faye Webster released two of the album singles, teasing the forthcoming project. "But Not Kiss" was a tension-filled first peek at the record. "It's damn near ecstatic in ambiguity, but it's not a song about indecision. Webster knows... |
Faye Webster
Underdressed At The Symphony (Blue Vinyl LP) [ Secretly Canadia / LP - released 1/Mar/2024 ] Late last year Faye Webster released two of the album singles, teasing the forthcoming project. "But Not Kiss" was a tension-filled first peek at the record. "It's damn near ecstatic in ambiguity, but it's not a song about indecision. Webster knows... |
GRG67 & Roger Manins
Happy Place [ Rattle Records / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] GRG67 follow their Jazz Album of the Year (2019) release, "The Thing", with an album of equally vibrant new compositions. |
Jonathan Crayford
East West Moon [ Rattle Jazz / CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] Teaming up once more with the same killer rhythm section on the critically acclaimed Dark Light (2014), Jonathan Crayford returns with another beautiful album. Recording again with engineer Mike Marciano at Systems Two Studio in New York, East West... |
Julia Jacklin
Pre Pleasure [ Polyvinyl / CD - released 26/Aug/2022 ] This breathtaking third album sees Jacklin as her most authentic self, delivering the most intimate, raw and devastating ten songs of her career to date. An uncompromising and masterful lyricist, always willing to mine the depths of her own life... |
Kendrick Lamar
DAMN. (Double LP) [ Interscope / 2 LP - released 30/Jun/2017 ] "DAMN. is a widescreen masterpiece of rap, full of expensive beats, furious rhymes, and peerless storytelling about Kendrick's destiny in America. Life is one funny motherfucker, it's true. "DUCKWORTH.," the last song on Kendrick Lamar's fourth... |
Lana Del Rey
Norman Fucking Rockwell (Double Gatefold LP) [ Polydor / 2 LP - released 28/Feb/2020 ] NFR was mainly produced and co-written with Jack Antonoff and includes 'Venice Bitch,' 'Mariners Apartment Complex,' 'hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but I have it,' and the current release, a cover of Sublime's 'Doin' Time'. |
Lianne La Havas
Lianne La Havas [ Warner UK / CD - released 17/Jul/2020 ] Lianne's third album and her first in five years is an album of startling beauty and insight. Working on writing and exploring her own identity, La Havas spent a lot of time moving back and forth between the UK and the States. As a result, 'Lianne... |
The Liminanas
Malamore (LP + CD) [ Because / LP/CD - released 27/May/2016 ] On their new LP 'Malamore' they keep their lyrics mostly in English, yet their sly use of the French dialect is pure heaven to any fans of Serge Gainsbourg who also enjoy their side of Velvet Underground, and it's a deadly combo to the uninitiated,... |
Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie
Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie [ East West Records / CD - released 9/Jun/2017 ] Longtime members of Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have joined together to record their first-ever album as a duo. The collaboration began three years ago, when McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the group's "On With The Show"... |
Little Dragon
Slugs Of Love (Limited Edition Clear Vinyl LP) [ Ninja Tune / LP - released 7/Jul/2023 ] The iconic Swedish 4-piece Little Dragon - spearheaded by vocalist Yukimi Nagano - return with a new and utterly beguiling blend of avant pop on their album Slugs of Love out on Ninja Tune, inviting outright legend Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) and... |
Lyle Lovett
12th of June (LP) [ Verve / LP - released 15/Jul/2022 ] Lyle Lovett returns with his first new album in over 10 years. The album is an eclectic collection of new originals and beloved interpretations that will please existing fans while inviting new ones. It highlights the dynamics of Lyle and his... |
Mitski
Be The Cowboy (LP) [ Dead Oceans / LP - released 17/Aug/2018 ] Hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock following the breakout success of 2016's Puberty 2, Mitski returns with Be The Cowboy. Mitski's carefully crafted songs have often been portrayed as emotionally raw, overflowing confessionals from a fevered... |
GARETH FARR
Farr: Warriors from Pluto New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. Strike. Deborah Wai Kapohe, Marc Decio Taddei [ Trust / CD - released 7/Dec/2001 ] New recording featuring two startlingly dramatic works for chamber orchestra |
Phoebe Bridgers
Punisher (LP) [ Dead Oceans / LP - released 19/Jun/2020 ] Phoebe Bridgers doesn't write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. 'Punisher,' her fourth release and second solo album, is concerned with that subject. To say she writes about... |
Princess Chelsea
Everything Is Going To be Alright (LP) [ Lil' Chief / LP - released 7/Oct/2022 ] Princess Chelsea crafted her "nervous breakdown album" Everything is Going to be Alright, at home in pastoral Aotearoa. The album is a comforting offering. These aren't wallowing sad songs, instead, they chronicle Chelsea Nikkel's recovery, and... |
Recitals
Orbit I (Clear Vinyl LP) [ Papaiti Records / Flying Nun Records / LP - released 26/Aug/2022 ] Flying Nun Records are pleased to announce their latest signing, Recitals, a 7-piece band based in both Te Whanganui-A-Tara and Tāmaki Makaurau. They are made up of Xanthe Rook (Bass/Vocals), Tharushi Bowatte (Trumpet), Carla Camilleri (Keys/Vocals),... |
Reuben Bradley, Roger Manins & Brett Hirst
Shark Variations [ Rattle Jazz / CD - released 16/Jun/2017 ] One of New Zealand's most revered drummers and jazz composers, Reuben Bradley teams up with Roger Manins (sax) and Brett Hirst (bass) for his fourth Rattle release. Recorded after their New Zealand tour in September 2016 (by Rattle's in-house... |
Robert Plant
Carry Fire [ Nonesuch / Warner Music / CD - released 13/Oct/2017 ] Carry Fire, Robert Plant's eleventh solo album and first full-length release since 2014's acclaimed Lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar, was produced by Plant in the west of England and Wales, at Top Cat studio in Box, Wiltshire with additional... |
Taylor Swift
Folklore - In The Trees [ Republic / CD - released 7/Aug/2020 ] Most of the things Taylor Swift had planned for the summer of 2020 didn't end up happening but…there was something magical that did happen, the surprise release of her 8th studio album, folklore. "Before this year I probably would've overthought... |
Taylor Swift
Folklore (Double Gatefold LP) [ Universal / 2 LP - released 27/Nov/2020 ] Most of the things Taylor Swift had planned for the summer of 2020 didn't end up happening but…there was something magical that did happen, the surprise release of her 8th studio album, folklore. "Before this year I probably would've overthought... |
Tiny Ruins
Ceremony [ Ursa Minor / CD - released 28/Apr/2023 ] A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins are etched into the memories of crowds and critics worldwide. Traversing influences that cross genre and era, the artistry of Hollie Fullbrook and her band... |
Troy Kingi
The Ghost Of Freddie Cesar [ Triple A Records / CD - released 11/Sep/2020 ] Multi-award winning artist Troy Kingi take us on a deeply personal discovery through an album dedicated to 70s funk, lost souls and memories. The Ghost of Freddie Cesar is Troy Kingi's most personal work to date - one that invites the listener to... |
Tyler, The Creator
Igor (LP) [ Sony / LP - released 11/Oct/2019 ] Produced entirely by Tyler, IGOR features guest appearances from Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, Kanye West, and Jerrod Carmichael, along with backing vocals from Santigold, Jessy Wilson, La Roux, CeeLo Green, Charlie Wilson, Slowthai, and... |
Vera Ellen
Ideal Home Noise (LP) [ Flying Nun / LP - released 31/Mar/2023 ] Ideal Home Noise is a record unearthed from much introspection and an attempt to find some comedy and lightness in an otherwise dark period for Vera Ellen. With two "voices" battling throughout the album, the instrumentation is sometimes light -... |
Vera Ellen
Ideal Home Noise (Red Vinyl LP) [ Flying Nun / LP - released 31/Mar/2023 ] Ideal Home Noise is a record unearthed from much introspection and an attempt to find some comedy and lightness in an otherwise dark period for Vera Ellen. With two "voices" battling throughout the album, the instrumentation is sometimes light -... |
PHILIP GLASS
Glass: Piano Works (2LP) Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) / Siggi String Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon LP / 2 LP - released 31/Jul/2002 ] "Ólafsson's interpretations inhabit a unique, distinct and extraordinary world all their own...[he] possesses that rare gift of illuminating a familiar work in unexpected ways, revealing hidden depths and drawing out its best qualities." Gramophone |
The War On Drugs
A Deeper Understanding (2LP) [ Atlantic / 2 LP - released 25/Aug/2017 ] This is the band's first album since 2014's universally acclaimed 'Lost In The Dream'. For much of the three and a half year period since the release of 'Lost In The Dream', The War On Drugs' frontman, Adam Granduciel, led the charge for his... |
