Amiria Grenell comes from a musical family. This lady from the deep South has a clear, ethereal vocal delivery that can sit in any number of musical styles, and would own them. She’s chosen the path of the indie/folk singer/songwriter. I’m glad she has, because if latest single Romeo is any kind of barometer, the…

You will always get my attention when you perform in the beautiful, indigenous languages of the peoples of this world. I’m Welsh, born and bred. Despite living outside of Wales since the very start of the 1990s, and in New Zealand since 1997, I still have my accent, and I know my native language. This…

I’ll clarify something straight away, just to set the scene. The 1980s was not just a time. The 1980s – for us Generation X folk – was, and remains, a place. Tangible and filled with paradoxes. The Cold War, famine, social upheaval everywhere as political ideologies took hold in the West, and began to crumble…

I listened to Breakdown Breakthrough several times, and watched the video several times. Then I sat and thought. And I didn’t post a review. This was on the weekend. I’ll explain why I’m posting it pretty much forty eight hours later. Breakdown Breakthrough is an exceptional pop song. Queenstown native but Auckland based Kiwi alt-pop/dream-pop…

When it comes to listening to music, I’m usually more of a Rock fan than Hip-Hop. I do like the genre though, and one of the things I find exciting about it is the relevance the artists bring with them, with regard to what surrounds us all in this currently malfunctioning, dysfunctional world we inhabit…

I know Andy Kerr well. We go back a long way in the Wellington live music scene on the Golden Mile area of Courtenay Place, Cuba Street and surrounding environs. I remember first hearing and seeing Jacky Tar at the sadly missed Molly Malones and equally missed Kitty O’Shea’s, and catching the energy and slightly…

Hamilton’s rising alt-pop-rock duo Bird Machine (Luke and Jenna Grbin) release their eagerly awaited new single ‘Hellos and Frowns’ today. And if you grew up at a time when Grunge and its sub-cultural anti-vibe appeared, you’ll want to know about these guys. The band explains the meaning of the song in that it provides a unique viewpoint into…

Yay! I get another Nova single to review. Eliza and Bryn have followed up Temple with an absolute belter. See You Dancing is about, in the bands words “coming into a grounded, confident version of yourself and allowing that to be expressed through movement and sharing the dancefloor through the night with people who have…

Say Or Do, the brain-child of well travelled Kiwi guy Sam French, has already made a splash around the country with its first release, the EP Watching The World Pass By, ten years ago. Sam certainly didn’t live by the title, subsequently getting on his bike and seeing the world. The time spent overseas, and…

A bit of melodic rock! Oh yeah! This Silent Divide has delivered us a touch of punky, up-tempo indie/hard rock with their latest release Morning. Lyrically, it raises the subjects of vulnerability and how one tightrope walks through the personal relationships in an uncertain life that we all experience. Recorded in Wellington at Surgery Studios,…