Another Thursday (NZ time), another quiz. Can you identify these famous opening lyrics? They’re famous, yet eclectic. I scored 18/19 – I don’t know much about Nine Inch Nails, apart from the song that Johnny Cash covered. Can you…
Split Enz are still perhaps New Zealand’s best-loved band. In their early days, they were art-rockers, releasing the strange art-rock of Mental Notes. When a teenage Neil Finn replaced original songwriter/guitarist Phil Judd, they steered closer to new wave pop.…
Rob Freeman and Ian McLintock had a wide-ranging career in the 1960s, covering Bo Diddley, being managed by Brian Epstein, and playing with Deep Purple. Credits 3 LISTEN TO THE SKY – Sands (U.K.)(Ian McLintock/Pete Hammerton/Robert Freeman/Paul Stewart) PERSONNEL/PAUL STEWART:…
Welcome back for another week of quizzing. Can you click 10 music artists born in the UK? If you click one of the 10 decoys, you’ll die trying. There’s a nice, eclectic range of artists. I scored 10/10 with…
I know it’s obligatory to insert a comment here about how terrible the year 2020 was. Down in New Zealand, however, we were well insulated from the coronavirus pandemic and life was relatively normal. From the list below, I’d only…
Two distinctive artistic visions this week. Enjoy the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach of British neo-soul singer Raye, and the arty precision of Wendy Eisenberg. Wendy Eisenberg Wendy Eisenberg 2026, 7.5/10Wendy Eisenberg combines country instrumentation like banjo and pedal steel with the precise…
If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says fifteen miles to the …. Looove …. SHACK! The B-52’s In 1976, Cindy Wilson, her older brother Ricky Wilson, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, and Fred Schneider…
Welcome back for another week of quizzing. Can you identify these songs with highfalutin’ vocabulary? I scored 25/25 with 52 seconds to spare. I was on a train, so I bet you can beat my time. Congratulations to Tony,…
Japanese-American indie-rock musician Mitski is one of the most interesting figures currently working in popular music – Iggy Pop famously labelled her as “the most advanced American songwriter that I know”. While guitar rock can sometimes feel stale in the…
My 11-year-old daughter is obsessed with Olivia Rodrigo. She’s been her favourite pop artist for three years. She’s helped me write this article – we voted for ten songs each, and she helped write the blurbs. Her 2023 single ‘Bad…
