We rocked up to the Becks Berlin Sessions at Galatos on Saturday night, and after an embarrassing moment where the door host couldn’t find our names, we ended up paying our good money in to find Nick D djing to about 40 people. Galatos is a weird venue – it has a bit of school hall feeling to it, and it takes a nice big crowd in there to get things going. So we stuck to the bar while the place began filling up. A wee gripe aside (if a gig is sponsored by Becks, you’d think they could sell them for less than $8 a bottle...), we eventually got right into it. Up and comer Shaveer was on after Nick D with a mix of the kind of deep tech-house associated with headliners Ame. The duo were recently voted one of the house/techno innovators of the decade after initial releases on Jazzanova’s “Sonar Kollective” label, before setting up their own “Innervisions” imprint.

Posted by Kat in Culture, Events, Music

Tags: Berlin, Dance music, House, Techno

Yes ok, THROWSHAPES is about New Zealand. But this is super awesome, and free. New Weird Australia #3 has just been released. Guest blogger Steph from Throwshapes.com.au checked it out:

Remember when music blogs happened? Wow that was a great moment. It was 2003 for me - I lived on the North Shore so EXCUSE ME - but when I finally did get at them, shit got obsessive. Taking notes continuously, name-checking sites gratuitously, and ostentatiously inserting their finds into whatever conversations I could to dole out my new cultural currency; hundred-dollar bills shaped like Menomena, Malajube, Tapes ‘N Tapes, Ra Ra Riot, Dungen... I was a total twit. (I am still a total twit.) Like those first rapturous, grasping and breathless party-pashes of teenage-hood, it felt like me and my peers had discovered something that had never been found or tried before. With the cynicism of age comes the realisation that this wasn’t the case – but man was it exciting at the time....

Posted by claire in Music

All pics by Nicola Castle

Thursday 29 October 2009

Pre-Halloween Dream Team: Drab Doo-riffs, The Conjurors, Shit-Scared DJs

at Cassette Number Nine - yea!

Click on pics to see gallery ->

Posted by claire in Music

Throwshapes guest reviewer Linus Junya headed out to see three awesome bands for us last weekend. Cheers Linus! Here's what he had to say:

A Macbook, Danelectro bass, vocoder and Mike Logie make up F In Math. However there was no sonic emptiness to whine about during his set, and his playing of that bass akin to someone playing in a thrash metal band made a captivating visual impression. This being the first time I have seen him play in this incarnation, I was smacked in the face by what I had been missing in The Mint Chicks live shows since he left in 2007. I had a creepy feeling he somehow managed to put Richard D. James from Aphex Twin inside his computer and make him jam 8-bit percussion under threat of erasure; the nefarious plan working perfectly. His driving bass melodies, though hidden away...

Posted by claire in Music

Tags: F In Math, gigs, Linus Junya, Motocade, The Tutts

Our friends at Cheese on Toast have totally busted the sound barrier of cute with this latest clip.  To wit: "Cheese on Toast took The Brunettes to play a concert at Mt Roskill Primary School – and the children had learned the words and made up actions for B-A-B-Y – so joined in for the song. The Brunettes also answered some questions about being in a band and the importance of Maths and Reading."

Posted by claire in Music

Saturday October 24 2009

Shayne Carter is sexy. He just is. Shayne Carter and his guitar and the love he makes to his music – sexy.

Supporting Dimmer on Saturday nights show at Auckland’s Bacco Room is Dimmer guitarist and current boy-wonder James Duncan, performing songs from highly acclaimed debut album Hello-Fi,. Flanked by a stunning line-up comprising Finn Andrews (The Veils), Chelsea Metcalf (Teacups), and Sean Donnelly & Chris O’Connor (SJD), Duncan played an electric half-hour set to a mesmerised crowd.

Posted by claire in Music

Tags: Bacco, Dimmer, gigs, James Duncan

All photos by Nicola Castle

Bands included Artisan Guns, Piece War, Brand New Math & The Naked and Famous

Posted by claire in Music