I haven’t spent a lot of time with Janelle Monáe yet, but she’s impressive; able to enjoy popularity despite an uncompromising approach. While there are clear antecedents to her use of science fiction concepts in the R&B genre, with Parliament in…
Bob Dylan’s a major musical figure who I haven’t covered on this blog yet. He has a huge discography, brimming with greatness – and I’ll tackle his 1960s albums and later highlights sometime. But I wanted to participate in blog dylan, a…
King Crimson aren’t so much a band as a series of bands, all featuring idiosyncratic guitarist Robert Fripp. With a demeanour that resembles a University professor more than a rock star, Fripp’s plotted an erratic course for his band. The…
Welcome back for the 4th and final episode of my run through of New Zealand’s 30 greatest pop songs – today we look at the final 6 songs. If you missed them, the first three installments are part 1, part…
This post is part of the collaborative blog series on compilations organised by Vinyl Connection. Welcome back for the 3rd installment of New Zealand’s 30 greatest songs, as voted by APRA in 2001. Today I’ll count down from #15 to #7…
This post is part of the collaborative blog series on compilations organised by Vinyl Connection. Welcome back for the 2nd examination of New Zealand’s 30 greatest songs, as voted by APRA in 2001. Today I’ll count down from #25 to #16…
Welcome to the Various Artists/Various Blogs Festival! Check out this page at the Vinyl Connection for all the posts as we go along! ———- In 2001, members of the Australasian Performing Rights Association voted for the top 100 New Zealand songs…
Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly doesn’t have a lot left to prove with the 23rd studio album of his career. While he’s never broken big outside of Australia, he’s a beloved songwriter in his own country; he’s a member of the…
Tommy Keene passed away unexpectedly in his sleep this week at the age of 59. The critically acclaimed power pop musician had recorded an album with Robert Pollard, and collaborated with The Goo Goo Dolls, Paul Westerberg, and recently with…
Mark Kozelek has steadily released a handful of brilliant songs on most of his albums, ever since the Red House Painters’ 1992 sad sack, slo-core debut Down Colorful Hill. His songs are usually coloured by his own nylon string or…
