Welcome to BlogRoddus. This is my Blog dedicated to Music, Tramping and any other things that tickle my fancy. Thank you for visiting my Blog and I hope that you enjoy your time here.
One of the many bands lead buy the busy Craig Williamson, bass player, singer and songwriter. Arc of Ascent are heavy stoner rock/doom metal which will give you a pretty good idea of what this sounds like. blazing guitar, thunderous drums, Sabbath esq riffs, this is a pretty fine damn example of the genre IMO. This was AOC's second record from 2012 and I think the first track, "Celestial Altar" is the best track. The record motors along relentlessly and although it is a great record, it doesn't drift far from the formula and the vocals tend to sound the same for each track, but play this fucking loud and disappointed you will not be if you like this sort of music. Rating 3.5/5
A short lived three piece garage power trio from Dunedin, this "EP" was released in a limited number edition of 100 copies back in 2011 buy Monkey Killer Records, which was run buy one of the members of this band.
An excellent 5 track mini LP, the lofi grungy garage rock here really gets my motor running and has become a firm favourite since I managed to secure probably one of the last copies available not all that long ago. Rating 4.5/5.
Perhaps Christchurch's premier indie rock band at present, The Salad Boys are mostly Joe Sampson and a revolving number of local muso's playing with him when needed. This was Salad Boys second full album on vinyl, although they have some other very limited cassette releases.
Pretty straight ahead jangly catchy indie pop/rock, with some pretty cool guitar and melodies, plenty to keep the foot tapping, strong songs and a pretty good recording. Nice mix of fast and slower numbers showing off Joe's song writing chops and it can also get a bit heavier at times just to mix it up a bit. A strong album and their best so far as these melodies worm their way into my subconscious. Live they really kick arse. Rating 4/5.
Wellingtons Orchestra Of Spheres is another kiwi band I came to after they already had a couple of albums in the wild. This was their debut release from 2011. A four piece with a big sound and exotic instrumentation, Orchestra Of Spheres inhabit quite a unique niche in New Zealand music and are one of the most creative bands going at present. This first album is great and steams along a a pretty fast tempo with its strong funky African rhythms, fueled buy electronics and things like, Gamlan, Theremin and Carillan, what ever the hell that is, judging from when I saw them live last year, it's some sort of Oud like guitar. Some nice experimental parts on this record and a bit of Sun Ra sounding weirdness just to enamor them to me even more. A real danceable album with heaps of interesting things happening throughout, a recent New Zealand Classic IMO. Rating 4.5/5.
The Spines were a band of whom I was familiar with their name and remember seeing their records around back in the day but didn't actually get round to checking out their music, much to my regret. As I am rediscovering New Zealand music now, I found I was familiar with at least one of their earlier songs from back in the day but the rest of their music was unknown to me.
That changed recently with exposure to a couple of their songs that turned up on a compilation I acquired as well as additional exposure via a New Zealand Music podcast I listen to frequently., so I was keen to pick up a copy of this record when it came up for sale via a seller in a Facebook Group I am a member of.
Idiot Sun was their third and last album but their first on Flying Nun. The music is a sort of alternative experimental pop, well recorded, easy to hear everything that's going on in the recording, and not hiding behind layers of effects and distortion like so much rock music. The songs are just wonderful and quirky, very well constructed and occasionally fleshed out with some cool sax over the Bass, Drums and Guitar. They certainly had a unique sound of their own and I have totally fallen for this record and it's idiosyncrasies to the point that it is now firmly cemented in my all time NZ Top Ten. Rating 5/5.
Graham Humphreys and Peter Keen were members of the Flying Nun Band, The Abel Tasmans who put out four albums between 1986 and 1995. They got together for this sole release from 2009, another limited edition release that has been ignored by almost everybody, as I was still able to pick up a copy fairly recently from their bandcamp page, although I think I may have got one of the final copies.
This is and will be a New Zealand classic. A wonderful pop record of epic proportions, brilliant detail, catchy, awesomely creative, and so much to be revealed over repeated listens. I love this record and need to give it much more attention. There is a real Canterbury feel to this record, i.e Caravan at their poppiest, and perhaps a bit of Belle & Sebastian as well. Fantastic record and get a 5/5 rating.
This three piece instrumental surf band hails from Wellington I believe, and this was their second LP from 2013, with my version being the limited to 150 copies blue version, which just goes to show how under appreciated this great music is that I can still pick up a limited edition copy something like four years after it was released.
The music is surf orientated but has a slightly more experimental bent in places and a little distortion on the guitar in places and there is no bass guitar, the third member playing organ. A little lofi, but in this country that is far from unusual, but the songs are all catchy and creative and I like this set a lot, will be looking out for their first record too, although that is ever rarer. Rating 3.5/5.
Bachelorette is the vehicle for the musical output of one Annabel Alpers, from my hometown of Christchurch. I have come late to her output but have managed to pick up about three of her releases on vinyl from the now defunct Galaxy Records shop in Christchurch.
My Electric Family is the second of four albums she put out between 2007 and 2011 and what a wonderful slab of beautifully constructed chamber pop it is, great melodies from her lovely vocal delivery backed with intricate electronic instrumentation that has coalesced into a strong album of wonderful pop music. In an Ideal world this is the sort of pop music our radio stations would be playing. No weak tracks here just wonderfully consistent quality. Roddus Rating of 4/5.
About a year ago, I was down in Dunedin for a weekend and managed to catch a gig by the Mermaidens, who were touring in support of their debut album. Supporting the Mermaidens was a young local Dunedin combo called Koizilla. I was very impressed with their set and so was pretty keen to see them playing again, this time supporting their new album that they had just dropped via bandcamp.
The first band of the night supporting the group were a duo of a couple of young Australian bloked going under the moniker of Bleeding Gums Murphy. Playing Guitar and ukulele, these lads played a kinda comedy folk and were pretty catchy and played some nice lines, not to be taken too seriously but more enjoyable than I anticipated.
Nervous Jerk, I had seen once before and also had a track on the excellent "Sickest Smashes From Arson City" CD compilation so I was looking forward to seeing then play too and I wasn't disappointed, the sound mixing was pretty damn good and their classic punk was fast n' furious and fairly melodic. The Guitarist/singer was pretty impressive and ripped out some damn fine rifferage and solo stuff and was well supported buy the rhythm section. A great set.
Koizilla are obviously pretty well totally unknown here in Christchurch, the audience was pretty much only about 6-8 paying punters with the rest being the members of the other acts who supported. This was a shame as these guys are a fantastic group with a very strong album they just dropped and despite the minuscule crowd, they played with energy and much enthusiasm. The sound was great and it was totally infectious, a great live set and it was interesting to have it fleshed out with the young lady on flute and keys. Their music had a real touch of the progressive but heavier than on the album. I highly recommend checking these guys out.
The great Polly Harvey's debut album burst onto the music scene in 1992 and in my humble opinion might be one of the best debuts ever. I've had this on CD since it first came out and it was a massive fave back in the day and 26 years later still sounds as awesome as the first time I played it, actually it has grown in stature in the meantime. I surely don't need to describe the music on this by now. If you have not heard it then you need to ASAP. This a;bum gets a Roddus Rating of 5+/5.
The Beths had just released their first album, Future Me Hates Me" in August and it is already contender for one of the best New Zealand releases of 2018. A beautiful collection of up tempo indi rock with punky overtones and fantastic melodies and great playing, so I was pretty excited to see how it came across live.
The wife had also liked their record so this was one of the rare gigs where we could go together.
There were to be two support acts this night, one being a Wellington outfit called Hans Pucket, of whom I knew nothing, and also a singer songwriter called Holly Arrowsmith. I had heard of Holly and was aware she had a vinyl record out. I checked her out on Spotify and liked here Americana tinged minimal folk so was looking forward to hearing her play and picking up a copy of her record.
Unfortunately Holly had taken sick and was unable to make the gig, so a fella called Jed Parsons stepped in to fill her spot. Jed's name was one I has seen on The Flying out website as he too had a recent record out but I did not know if he was even a Kiwi let alone an actual Christchurch homeboy. So I was going to play closer attention to see if I would be interested in picking up a copy of his record.
Jed and band duly hit the stage and presented us with several songs from his record, poppy indie stuff that was OK, but really did not overly inspire me to grab the record, although I suspect repeated exposure may present a capable and enjoyable record, financial considerations prevented by just buying the record for the hell of it. I though his set was and music was average but I did tap my toe somewhat, the wife was not so impressed.
We headed down the back of the venue for the next band as Lynn needed to sit down as her back was sore from work that day so we sat out Hand Pucket and frankly their music was not really of interest to me much at all. Pretty nondescript indie really and I was pleased when they finally finished their set.
The Beths hit in with the title track from the new album and I was instantly struck with a feeling that this was not going to be a jaw dropping set to stick in my memory for a long time. The band played very well, the sound was very good and the music, which by now was pretty familiar to me, is great, but even though Lynn and I both enjoyed their set, I was still just a but underwhelmed. I understand they had been living and gigging in the States while recording the album so I expected a tighter and more energetic gig perhaps. There is a indescribable and intangible magic that happens with gigs sometimes and not everyone can pull it off every time, some nights are better than others, this night was very good but not great. Still we both enjoyed it enough to be glad we went. Next time I see then, they might totally blow my sox off.
A big day in the city doing chores, attending a Record Fair, watching a great All Blacks game at a sports bar and finishing off the day with this gig at Space Academy.
Roy Irwin was who drew me to this gig, I have both his records and thought I would check him out live. It turns out that Roy had just come along for the ride with P.F.H and he preforms his songs solo unlike his records where he has a backing band. It is a pretty difficult task to pull off preforming solo like this. Something special is needed from the performer and strong songs. I have seen several local artists that I really like on record preform like this and only some of them pull it off. Roy, unfortunately didn't for me, his records patchy affairs but he does have some great songs that I am familiar with but I only recognized one of them during his short set. He finished his set abruptly half way through a song, with the comment "Fuck it! I'm done".
Previously to Roy, Wurld Series played. A four piece indi band that I really have enjoyed the other times I have seen them, a cross of Flying Nun and Pavement with catchy tunes and plenty of energy. It was interesting after the last gig I went to a couple of nights earlier where the PA was cranked to overload and ear damaging volumes, compared to the sound of these guys this night. It appears that only the vocals were coming through the PA during their set in this small venue and so thew rest of the players we were hearing just their guitar amps direct and the drums naked and it sounded bloody good, pretty clear and well separated sound. It worked really well in this venue. Don't know if this was deliberate. Again really enjoyed their set.
P.H.F were completely unknown to me, from Auckland, this four piece hit right into some great punky tunes with the singer pretty snotty and often singing on the floor in front of the stage. They were tight and fast and really mixed up their set with some poppy stuff, some slower stuff, some grungy stuff and the best of the lot some cool punk rock. I was most impressed and the small audience was actually asking for more at the end. Just listening to their Bandcamp stuff as I type and they are much better live.
It's been an undeveloped relationship with Bailterspace for me over the years, mostly me ignoring them and their music, not for any particular reason apart from never actually getting round to exploring it, but mostly because they are NOT The Gordons. Bailterpapce(although not originally), consists of the three original members of Christchurch's legendary post punk, pre grunge alt band The Gordons. The Gordons are unquestionably my all time favourite New Zealand band and even better is that they hailed from my hometown of Christchurch. Their first Album is just the greatesr NZ record ever and although many fans don't rate their second record as much, I love it almost as much and both were big records in my youth. So after they split and went on to form Bailterspace, my attitude was they'll be anywhere as good as The Gordons, and in my opinion they are not.
Recently though I have bought both of Bailterspaces recent albums and did also score some of their early CD's and discovered that they had indeed produced some NZ classics I was familiar with.
Hearing that the original three Gordons were doing a rare tour as Bailterspace(they have never played under The Gordons Moniker since the mid 80's), I thought I had better go.
It was an added bonus that the support act was Wax Chattels, a band from Wellington that I had recently become familiar with after procuring their excellent self titled debut album a couple of months back.
The place was pretty near full, I even had to que a bit to get in, which was a first at Blue Smoke. I was admiring the massive PA speaker stacks and the monster Marshall amps on the stage before Wax Chattels started their set. I had been warned that Bailterspace play it loud and they certainly had the rig to do so. I was prepared with those little foam ear plugs and got them in pretty quick when Wax Chattels started to play. I though, although very loud, the rig sounded bloody good, one of the best I have heard in a while and I find it frustrating that I had to use the ear plugs as they do muffle the sound somewhat while protecting our hearing, I did pull them out a bit just to hear better and Wax Chattels did sound bloody good. They played pretty much the stuff off their new album and I recognized some songs but the record is still new to me so not all was familiar or perhaps just sounded different live. They put on a great show and really threw themselves into their music, the drummer played especially wildly. This three piece consists of bass. drums and electronics and sometimes remind me of their fellow Wellingtonians, All Seeing Hand. A great and pretty wild set from this excellent alternative band.
I was a long wait between sets but Bailterspace finally made it onto the stage. Loud! Yes it was fucking loud.. Even with such a good rig, they feel they have to crank the thing into overload, the bass was so loud that the place fairly shook and you could certainly feel it through the body, I think they just pushed it too far and with it distorting and vibrating the speakers and almost drowning out the guitar. Bailterspace are considered a noise rock band but on record it is easier to hear the subtleties inside the dirge they produce but live it all ends up being just a wall of noise. Alister Parkers singing sounds a lot different live also, a lot more snotty sounding. The drummer varied very little the beats he played, each song having a relentless but not flashy beat that rarely varied and just motored along, quite a contrast to the wild drumming of Wax Chattels. Highlight of the set was the playing of The Gordons Machine song and at least one or two of the classic songs I kinda knew from their rather large back catalog. I did have to remove my ear plugs for the Gordons song and also loosened them later to try and get a better appreciation of the noised they were making on the stage but I am now paying for it 24 hours later even from the short unprotected exposure I did have. I did enjoy moments of their set but it did get a little monotonous in the end and when the band finally finished, I did not stick around for the encore, especially as it was a weeknight and I still had the usual hours drive home.
One of the Fishrider Records stable out of Dunedin, Death & The Maiden are definitely my favourite band from a very strong roster, with both their albums being very strong and the latest, "Wisteria", is perhaps my favourite NZ record of 2018. So I was pretty keen to go see them live.
They had enlisted 3 other bands to support them, a couple of Christchurch groups and one from Wellington.
First up was not actually a band but local artist, Motte, whom I have seen several times lately and who released a great LP last year,. that I really like. Motte first played one of her newer pieces where she uses some heavy deep electronic pulses to back her looped violin pieces. I was pleased to see she had got her voice back, after, I believe, she was not able to sing for a period due to health reasons and she preformed my favourite song from her album.
Next Motte, also played in the next act, The Ben Woods Group, where she played keys and violin. I had seen The Ben Woods Group recently at one of the Melted Ice Cream gigs a couple of weeks earlier, their lofi droney shoegaze is ok but not not overall really inspiring, but I don't mind watching their set. Their best song is the one they have on the Melted Ice Cream sampler CD and is much more poppy and brighter than the rest of their music, I really like it.
Plains are from Wellington and I had never heard of this three piece band. They played a sort of post rock kind of music with vocals and they sounded cleaner and clearer through the Space Academy PA and they got off to a great start with a great song that had stops and timing changes and I really was impressed and their next song was quite strong also, although the rest of their set did plod on a bit with their songs sounding all similar. They did not have a very strong singer either which is a common occurrence with many of the local amateur bands.
Death & The Maiden are also a three peice with guitar, bass and electronics and the bass player on lead vocals. I thought the soundman struggled to get the sound right for this band as the bass was massively distorted and the guitar slightly lower in the mix than perhaps it should have been and it was bloody loud, also the vocals were a little hard to make out. The band on record are subtle and dark and beautiful but live is quite different but just as good. Sound issued apart, I thought they were fantastic, and knowing most of the songs they played as well as I do, I was almost dancing to the groove and just totally enjoyed their set as much ans anything I had seen recently, and there was some tough competition. The young lady on guitar was very impressive and I thought her playing was even better than on the records and it is really nice on them. A most impressive gig.
Night three and I'm excited to see Salad Boys and Dark Matter, having records by both groups and having seen both play live before. This final night is at my most visited of local venues, The Darkroom. I arrived just before 9pm and they still have not opened the doors so I wait in my car for several minutes untill doors open and get myself my only drink of the night as I soon find my wallet I left at home and I only had $5 left in my pocket. The first band sets up quickly and soon we are entertained by The Teasers, a drums and guitar duo with the White Stripes set up of female drummer and male guitarist and singer. An enjoyable if somewhat unmemorable set if my tired mind remembers correctly but I liked some of their songs and the added backing vocals from the drummer.
Next up is Dark Matter, bass, drums, guitar, violin and electric cello. I really liked their first LP. Some of the line up, especially the legendary lead singer/guitarist, Steve Cogal, also play as The Terminals, another legendary Christchurch underground band. They play with energy and tempo, creating a real dirge/wall of sound with the violinist fiddling madly at the back of the stage and the drummer going full tilt. It is kinda hard to make a lot out from the wall of noise but it is still pretty cool, and I always like Steve Cogal's singing, he has a real distinctive voice. Their songs do tend to blur together and sound the same with so much loudly amplified music going on.
Third band are Salad Boys, perhaps one of the best known local indie acts with two full albums out and a great live act IMO. The band is the brainchild of Joe Sampson with a revolving catalog of local musicians playing with him under the Salad Boy Moniker. Their set tonight is perhaps the best and most intense I have seen from them with Joe's guitar playing fantastic and the speed and energy of the three players the best of the three nights. Their cover of Wire's Ex lion Tamer was a surprise and a highlight in amongst the strong self penned songs that I knew from their records. This is one band that although they make great records, live they are even better. Brian Feary was again drumming in this band.
Lastly was perhaps the newest band from the three nights, Pavolvs Puss. This time it is our man Joe Sampson on guitar again with bass, drums and lead singer. The singer turns out to be another of those extroverts I had seen in the audience over the last couple of days and he was certainly pretty outspoken. He kinda sings/speaks/shouts his lyrics which sorta reminded of Sleaford Mods. Joe's guitar noodling in this band were not the power cords he played in Salad Boys but much more restrained and clear sounding and were pretty damn cool. This band will sound fucking cool on record I believe and were really enjoyable live. They ended their set but were threatening to play on maybe improvising some stuff as I think they had played all their repertoire, but I chose to opt out at this point as it was past midnight again and I wanted to get home again before I turned into a pumpkin. Last night was the best but all three night were totally enjoyable and worthwhile.
Second night of the Melted Ice Cream "Sickest Smashes from Arson City: Legacy Edition" Release Shows, and this time we are at Lyttelton Records in Woolston, a nice but small venue that I have only been to once before.
We see some of the same faces from the previous nights gig plus some new faces as well as noticing that a good proportion of the small audience are actually members of the bands from tonight, last night and it turns out tomorrow night, just showing how this is a tight knit little scene I have entered into. This I think is the biggest crowd of the three nights.
PGX are a fairly new band whom I did see play late last year at some gig and was impressed enough with this all Girl four piece then. Playing post punk agit pop with their American? singer, they play some great catchy tunes with well written guitar riffs and tonight they really rip it up with a great energetic set that I think is the highlight of the night for me.
Next are Les Baxters whom I am still looking forward to their album coming out sometime and I have now seen live at least three times. Dave, who use to run Galaxy Records plays electric keys along with a young lady on electronic beats, I think, john on Theremin, and another gentleman on various pieces of equipment including discmans with pre recorded voice samples. I like their sounds and and reminded a little of early Cabaret Voltaire at some stages of their set. It is interesting and different music from the rest of the indie stuff getting played at these gigs.
Brian Tamaki And The Kool Aid Kids are a band who's name I had seen come up many times over the last couple of years on various gig listing round town but this was the first time I have seen or heard them. It turns out that the Brian of the group is actually Brian Feary, the man behind the record label and the gigs and in this case behind the drums. Another pretty big band with three guitarists which made for a pretty intense racket and wall of sound as they rocked out their set. Brian set a thunderous beat for them to play to, probably hitting the drums as hard and as enthusiastically as any other over the weekends shows. I did enjoy their set but had reservations about the three guitars and the female vocalist. The male singer I think is the same singer in Wurld Series, and he was great. They did play with great energy and I would see them again.
Cowboy Machine were a three piece of guitar, bass and drums and their singer/guitarist was one of those extroverts who had stood out in the crowd over the last two nights and I suspect was a little wasted. Their punky power pop started out pretty good but I thought the set deteriorated and the songs got slower and the singer talked a lot and seemed to kinda loose it a bit vocally. I kinda lost interest in them a bit and decided to head home before their set finished as it was now after midnight. Overall another really good and memorable night of music.
Melted Ice Cream is an independent music label in Christchurch New Zealand run by Brian Feary, who also announces an NZ indie show on the local alternative radio station RDU(ex university radio station). Melted Ice Cream release mostly cassette releases with some great vinyl issues that I have in my collection and downloads on Bandcamp. They did a download only compilation of local Christchurch bands on Bandcamp back in 2013, "Sickest Smashes From Arson City". Now just over 5 years later the label release the second volume of this compilation and this time on CD (a first for the label)"Sickest Smashes From Arson City:Legacy Edition". In support of the CD release, Brian organized three nights of showcasing 12 bands from the CD at three different venues across the city.
This first night was held at Space Academy, a venue readers will know I have been to several times before and seen some great local bands there.
I got there pretty early after popping in to see a record stall at a local boutique brewery where Galaxy Records(recently closed) was trying to sell off the rest of his stock. I found out then that the Opawa 45's were playing across the road from Space Academy first up before the Melted Ice Cream Gig so I popped in for a while and checked them out. I had seen them before but I thought this time they were playing much slower numbers, a lot were covers, in their surf//rockabilly style.
I did not watch their full set but wandered across the road to Space Academy to see how the gig was shaping up over there. Things were waiting for the gig across the road to finish and then as people trickled in things got off to a much later start than I anticipated.
First up was Motte with her violin and sound effects and loops doing her usual interesting neo classical soundscapes with some beats backing her on occasion. I really like what she does. On her last number she was joined but some other musicians on drums, bass and guitar and made some interesting drony noise.
Next Band Adam Hattaway and the Haunters were completely new to me. A big band with something like six members squeezed onto the small stage, I was taken buy the clarity of their sound with so many people playing together, which so often sounds like a big dirge when playing live, so it made it easier to make out what they were playing, especially as I did not know their music. Any how with brass and percussion as well as the usual drums and a couple of guitars etc, I was very impressed with their great poppy rock songs that were most accessible and very catchy. They were actually the highlight of the night for me, although I ended up leaving before I saw Wurld Series(who I do really like) as they were running way behind schedule, it was after midnight and I still had an hours drive home and work in the morning.
Therefore the last band I did see for this first gig was the Ben Woods Group, another band I knew nothing about. It turned out that this was the same bunch who had joined Motte at the end of her set and indeed she did join them as part of the band. After Adam Hattaway, I though this band sounded quite murky in comparison and a bit louder so it did make it a bit more difficult to make out what they were playing, but it was quite droney and I did think there was some interesting stuff discernible in the murky sound. The cut they have on the CD sounds a lot more poppy than what I heard that night. Still I did enjoy their set and overall it was a fairly enjoyable night of cool music. A good start to my three night of music.
What a contrast from the previous night's indie pop gig at the same venue. This was the biggest crowd at the New City I have yet seen, pretty much sold out and confirming Berastwars as one of the country's top heavy metal/hard rock bands. First time I have seen this band, bought their last LP but have not any of their earlier stuff. This band have been around a few years but they are certainly not young men with plenty of grey hair and beards in evidence and looking older than I am.
I haven't played their album a lot and although it is pretty good, it is not fantastic, but they are highly regarded and I decided I did not want to miss them live. The band have been out of action lately, with the singer battling cancer, which is now in remission and so the band are back out on the road and spoke of a new record in the new year.
Three other bands were supporting Beastwars this night, but due to watching the first half of the Super Rugby Final, I missed the first band, just catching the last song of their set.
The place was packed as Yarnspinner played next, doomy heavy rock with growely vocals, they played some cool riffs and longish numbers, slow and fast., long haired guitarist riffing intensely, a dark Gothic chick on Bass and massive beard on vocals. Enjoyable set and I think I saw them at the Doomfest at the same venue last December.
Pieces Of Molly were next, a great hard rock/classic rock band with some great riffs and classic rock style guitar playing. Probably the most commercial sounding band of the night but definitely rocked out, and I definatlky enjoyed their melodies and was thinking how goos their music might sound on record. The live sound did get a little samey and I was glad when they finished but I would buy their music on record. Reminded me a bit of Wolfmother. Singer was the best of the night.
Beastwars hit the stage just past 11:30pm, to a great roar from the crowd. As they hit their heavy grooves the mosh pit was heaving and it was fucking hot in this barn, so I stayed near the back by the sound desk. The band certainly are good live and I think they had their own PA instead of the usual venue PA, which sounded much better. I think they were pretty good live although this is another gig that won't stick in my memory as unforgettable or awesome but I did really enjoy their set and was tapping my foot and nodding my head along to the heavy groove. The crowd were pretty into it though and there was plenty of moshing at the front and some stage diving a couple of times. It was definitely worth going to see them.
Dunedin band Ha The Unclear's name had been on my radar for a little while but I really knew little about them or their music. Information about their new record had filtered through the vine a few weeks back and it became known to me that there was to be a vinyl version as well as CD and download. I am always partial to vinyl copies of NZ albums when I can get them and so hopped onto their Bandcamp site and sampled the wares therein. I was not immediately taken with the music but after a couple of goes I decided it was good enough to get hold of their record, and seeing as they were playing near me in support of that record, after a lot of procrastination, I finally decided at the last minute on Friday nigh,t to go check them out.
I was expecting a bigger crowd after the early bird tickets had all been sold but it was actually a modest turnout of less than 100 people I think. I got there pretty early, just after doors opened at 8pm, as online ticket sales had finished just before I decided to go, and I wanted to make sure I got in via door sales.
The support act was a solo lass named Laura Lee Lovely, She basically had pre programmed disco/techno type pop tracks to which she sung along in that pop.style that plays on commercial radio. It was horrible, She did have a good voice and perhaps the tunes were original but it was the sort of act I'd expect to see in some low class nightclub or perhaps a young persons evening at a local Workingmans club. I hope I never see the likes again.
Ha The Unclear finally hit the stage and entertained up with their quaint indie pop, the first songs or two was not the best sounding from the PA as their soundman was in the audience with his laptop adjusting things as they played(as he did with their support act), but the sound improved and was pretty acceptable for the rest of their set. Live, the band were a bit more energetic sounding that their recording and I enjoyed the bass players lines on many of the songs. It was an enjoyable set and the songs were pretty good but it is not a gig that will stick firmly in my memory I think but I am still glad I went.
All Seeing Hand are touring a new album and I think they are perhaps one of the most important New Zealand Bands around at present. I did see them live last year at The Darkroom when they played a short set on the night of the cancelled Darkspace night, where a lot of the bands didn't make it to town due to heavy rain and flooding.
I was hoping to pick up a copy of the new album but it turns out that it will probably be a download only release although did have cassettes of it but they all sold out in the previous gig in Dunedin and I don't have a tape deck anymore.
The gig was at a Cafe in Lyttelton called The Lyttelton Coffee Co, My first visit and according to a fellow I meet at the gig from a Facebook group I belong to, has pretty regular gigs.
It was a pretty informal setup as punters slowly drifted in to the venue, where the musicians had set up their gear in one corner of the old brick walled building and the tables had been moved aside for standing room, a lot like Space Academy in Christchurch where I had seen several gigs over the last couple of years.
First up of the night was a female trio called Fem Scream, they started off with some sampled loops just left on repeat then they left their equipment for a while then, drifted back one at a time and started adding in their electronics and guitar effects to create a sonic soundscape to to far removed from Throbbing Gristle's efforts back in the late 70's. They did a lot of screaming vocals which were pretty much undecipherable but it was mildly interesting.
Next was Motte, a solo act with violin and electronics. I really like Motte, I have her vinyl record, which is great and I enjoyed her set this time a lot more than the last time I saw her play, although a lot of people talked all the way through her set which was not loud so it was a bit distracting.
All Seeing Hand then hit the floor after changing into their outrageous costumes they play in. It was difficult to see as the place was pretty full now and as there was no stage, I could not see the band too well from in the crowd. They play a kinda of Industrial Techno music with drums and electronics and the singer doing all sorts of pyrotechnics with his vocalizing and throat singing. I did recognize at least one song from a previous record I have but it is the sort of music that takes a lot of listens to get ingrained into your head and is not exactly infused with catchy melodies, but I guess most of the material was from the new record and it was great throbbing toe tapping head nodding music and I really enjoyed their set.
