Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The music I listened to

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  • Blake Monkley,

    Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves is my Album of the year. Everything bad about 80's music mashed into a gem of a sound..

    A new release from Bradford Cox‘s solo project, Atlas Sound, is on high rotation in our house at the moment.

    Auckland • Since Jul 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Caleb D'Anvers, in reply to Simon Chamberlain,

    For me, Mogwai 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' and the 'Earth Division' EP were great (as were Mogwai live).

    Agreed , though I haven't (yet) managed to catch Mogwai in concert. (And following Stuart Braithwaite on Twitter isn't quite the same.) I love this song and video:

    and this was one of my favourite tracks of the year:

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    ..and I meant to say Gin Wigmore has done well!
    I saw two TV shows in a row the other night
    (one Aust and one American) that had her songs in them...
    Good on her!

    It's the new reality if you're a composer. Sync deals are a more reliable source of income than record sales -- and they might also just make you a star.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Well, Adrian Sherwood was great last night. He played everything from roots classics ('Chase the Devil'!) to out-and-out dubstep. I was glad to have my earplugs and my body aches a bit today, but it was very cool.

    Also: lots of mums 'n' dads having an E. Bless.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I saw two TV shows in a row the other night
    (one Aust and one American) that had her songs in them

    Recently stumbled on a long scene from Chuck of all things that featured a certain familiar tune (10 million views). Struck with the power of layering our worldview over someone else's story.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    How could I forget these strokes of brilliance?

    Local boy done good David Dallas:

    Kwaito-infused Afro-futuristic township tech:

    (So much more than this single, of course).

    Drake, singing drunken emotion like I've never heard. The rest of his album touches the same places.

    Did everyone else consume most of their new music through YouTube? And was there any good music made by women? A rhetorical question of course, but it seemed that this year was as bad as any for the promotion of women in music, pop superstars excepted.

    Lykke Li.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to George Darroch,

    And was there any good music made by women?

    I’m utterly intrigued by Lana Del Rey.

    The whole thing is a confection, of course (two years ago she was aspirant singer-singwriter Lizzie Grant) but that’s where I think the Nancy Sinatra thing actually hits home. ‘Video Games’ and the new one ‘Born to Die’, are successors to the theatrically-produced hits of Lee and Nancy.

    When ‘Video Games’ came out, she and her managers and producers were also trialling a completely different sound for her – ‘Diet Mountain Dew’, for example, is okay but not great in a Lilly Allen style.

    So they’ve road-tested it online, initially with a came-from-nowhere cover story which isn’t entirely untrue. I wonder if they anticipated that there’d be a takedown request from Disney for the original version of the ‘Video Games’ collage video that snuck onto YouTube. That would be a great way of making the early adopters – people who’d seen or better yet grabbed a copy of the original.

    They may have jumped the shark already with the are-we-really-to-believe-this narrative around the “leaking” of the video for the new single ‘Born to Die’ (from Russia, no less) but it’s fun to watch.

    And having played ‘Born to Die’ several times quite loudly as I cooked this afternoon, I think it’s an awesome pop song that defies the grinding conventions of much modern-day pop.

    Video:

    MP3 here.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP, in reply to Russell Brown,

    And was there any good music made by women?

    I’m utterly intrigued by Lana Del Rey.

    +1

    Also, I quite like this.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • Bull Shite,

    And was there any good music made by women?

    This album is fiyah !

    Goapele - Break of Dawn

    Since Dec 2011 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • hamishm,

    And, although already mentioned once, P.J.Harvey's "Let England Shake" is about the best thing evah.

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    The Clean doing a great version of 'Getting Older' a couple of weeks ago.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock, in reply to George Darroch,

    And was there any good music made by women?

    Well, I've been rocking the Annabel Fay album pretty hard. Really under-rated, in my opinion.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

    Oh, I crack myself up.....

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • william blake,

    Since Mar 2010 • 380 posts Report Reply

  • william blake,

    Since Mar 2010 • 380 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,


    I remember listening to this…
    I remember Chris filming it at our place
    (well his and Barbara’s, I just flatted there)
    I think those may even be my sheets on the
    lounge walls (no expense spared at Studio Hakanoa!)
    I remember all those young folk, Tex and Ged, too…
    I just didn’t remember that I was in it, albeit briefly!
    …accidental immortality!

    Thanks Mysterex

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I love this guy. Only 17 when he made the above record. And 16 when he put this down:

    I've liked too many records this year to count or remember then all, but I blogged a few that matter to me here.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I just didn’t remember that I was in it, albeit briefly!
    …accidental immortality!

    At about 2:17 if anyone wants to ID the youthful ID.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Oh, man.

    We wrapped the last Media7 for the year last night, went to dinner, then some of us went on to Keegan Fepuleai's party at Rakino's and saw @peace play there. Wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Those guys have something very special going on.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Bull Shite,

    Kuedo
    Pinch and Shackleton

    Indeed. Lullaby instrumentals to nod off to in the dark after a long days doing whatever it is you do during the long days that you need winding down from before sleep takes you to wherever it is sleep takes you in the dark. In that vein you can't also go past

    Submotion Orchestra - Finest Hour

    Difference being, these guys are real musos playing real instruments with a real vocalist who can really sing and engineered by an ex dubstepper who can really twiddle the knobs to sublime effect.

    http://www.mixcloud.com/outlookfestival/submotion-orchestra-minimix/

    Since Dec 2011 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock, in reply to Rich Lock,

    I also rediscovered my metal roots via Kyuss Lives! back in May. Playing the Power Station on Fri 13th. Clearly it was fate.

    I’d also be remiss here if I didn’t mention that the support act – Doug Jerebine and Billy TK Snr. Who were awesome. Photos here.

    And Black Sabbath are reforming with the original lineup. We are, indeed, living through The End Times.

    Since it’s Christmas, and all the metalheads have crawled out of the gaps in the geometry of the non-euclidean woodwork, an ozzy/black christmas-themed ‘music I’ve listened to’ as an antidote to all that snoopy and bloody drummer boy.

    Black Sabbath – Snowblind. Hey, it mentions snow. That must be Christmas related, right?

    Original Hawkwind lineup with Lemmy – Motorhead. ‘Goes up like prices at Christmas’, indeed….

    Lemmy – run rudolph run

    Merry Christmas to one and all.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Bull Shite,

    ...ban me if you must, but here's some albums i liked from this year.

    http://pollywannacracka.blogspot.com/2011/12/choice-albums-from-2011.html

    Since Dec 2011 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Supremely disappointed that I will be out of the country when Death Cab For Cutie play their one Wellington concert. But my daughter has pointed out the irony that I will be in Hipster City (Portland OR) instead.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

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