We all tend to regard Christmas as a a deadline, official or otherwise. Perhaps that's why three NZ On Air-supported videos I've been waiting on have all emerged at once this week. They're each distinctly different affairs, but I like them all.
Firstly, there's the great Alexander Gandar video for Watercolours' 'Pazzida', whose launch I mentioned last week (it took place in the room in which the video is shot, but chock-full of art pop kids). This video contains Jacinda Ardern's chairs. Please, nobody tell The Standard that Jacinda Ardern has middle-class chairs:
You can buy 'Pazzida' for a buck or more, here on Bandcamp.
Then a completely different sort of clip -- a home-movie love-note to Auckland (with random bits of Wellington) for @Peace's 'Home'. Tom put it this way on Twitter: "We didn't want it to look too much like a bbq reggae video but you know what, I like BBQs and I like reggae. Fuck you." Heh.
And the fun, boisterous video (directed by guitarist Emily's sister Claire Littler) for 'Sink', the single that surely signals the long-time-coming second Street Chant album is almost within sight:
You can buy 'Sink' for whateverthehellyouwannapay here on Bandcamp.
Also new this month - the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra have done a 95bFM Roundhead Session. This is a verion of The Bats' 'Boogey Man', which, like quite a few Robert Scott tunes, commends itself to the massed ukulele. Lead vocals, you'll note, by Gemma Gracewood, of the Famous Flying Gracewood Family:
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If you missed Morrissey last weekend, or you simply want to relive the glory, a recording from Vector Arena on Saturday:
The perfect summer thing -- a rocksteady mixtape full of old hits of the past. Hat-tip to Peter McLennan, who has the track listing. But beware! This is a 500MB+ WAV file. Sounds very fine in your iTunes, not very small:
This was at the top of the daily chart on The Audience when I looked. It strikes me that country and roots artists have more to gain than most from exposure on TheAudience. If you're a rock, electronic or hip hop artist, you've got a show of student radio play if you're any good. But although West Coaster Katie Thompson has achieved quite a lot, what radio would there be for her and her peers? (This is actually a serious question. I'm interested.)
And finally: I initially thought about doing a post full of Christmas songs, then got frustrated because I hated most of them. I decided we needed something outside my area of competence, so I asked our resident choral singer, James Butler, and he came up with 'O Magnum Mysterium' by Javier Busto, sung by the New Zealand Youth Choir in 2003.
James says: "This video is amusing mainly for containing a future Mobil Song Quest winner, a future What Now! host, a future New Zealand Idol winner, and a pimply yours truly."
Excellent! a game we can play at home!
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